Body Fitness

Are tired of the usual gym exercises? Here's great news for you because now, Nintendo Wii is offering fitness games called the Wii Fit. If you have your very own Nintendo Wii at home, this is the perfect time to get Wii fitness games to experience a different kind of feel whenever you want to burn those extra calories.

If you purchase Wii Fit, you will get a balance board and your dedicated peripheral. You can enjoy more than forty activities like ski jumping and hula hooping. You will surely enjoy exercising in many different ways.

Lets take the two examples given; first is the ski jumping. In the game, the player will be given 2 chances to jump farthest while maintaining balance. You have to lean forward to increase speed. You'll go faster and faster if you continue to lean and as you reach the jump, you have to stand straight and make sure that your weight is even on both feet when you land.

Hula hooping is another great exercise. On the screen, you will see a virtual hoop. As you continue to playing, more hoops will be thrown at you. You must be able to catch the hoops and rotate them many times until time runs out.

If you want, you can also play football. You must be able to balance yourself and avoid being hit by the balls thrown at you.

The games are fun and the Wii Fit is divided in four categories; muscle conditioning, aerobics, balance games, and yoga. You can create your own profile and there, your body mass index will be measured. Wii will monitor your progress and performance statistics.

If you have kids, this is a fun way to help them get the right amount of exercise without being bored. Even non-gamers can exercise at home with the Nintendo Wii. If you want to reduce weight, get the Wii Fit games now. You can inquire at major online stores or in your local stores if they have the Wii Fit games since Nintendo released it early in 2008.

Perhaps you will have a hard time purchasing Wii Fit because its a new release but just be patient and shop around. You can ask your friends who already have the Wii Fit where they bought the games. Good luck and with a little effort, you can burn that unwanted body fat away.

South extension market

When invited to F.Chisel, the spa and salon located in the heart of Delhi's South extension market, I didn't quite know what to expect. I mean, a spa which is a collaborative effort of FTV and Chisel seemed like some glamorous but lifeless place where the trappings would take precedence over substance. Man, I was wrong, and how! F.Chisel, though giving an outer impression of just another fitness centre, is quite a pleasant surprise when it comes to quality of service for the kind of price it commands. The three-storied building houses a spa, a fully functional salon and a gym on the top floor. From the elaborate spa menu, I opted for the herbal ball compress which happens to be a healing treatment based on energy flow. Particularly good for relieving muscular pain and inflammation, the therapy involves therapeutic herbs, including ginger, turmeric, kaffir lime, camphor and lemongrass, wrapped in a muslin cloth, soaked, steamed and then applied to the body using soothing and invigorating movements. The hot herbal compress, when applied to the aching muscles in the body, seems to ease residual tension in the muscles and gives a boost to the body's energy levels. I complemented the treatment up with a foot reflexology massage, which felt heavenly. The ambience was good and #8230; with a bubbling jacuzzi in the treatment room itself, though I must mention that the sound of people exercising in the gym upstairs was a bit of a dampener when it came to imagining a tranquil state around me. But what the heck - an entire range of treatments including Thai, Javanese, Balinese, Swiss, Shiatsu, Hot Stone and the works in the average price range of 1000-1500 bucks - what more could one ask for.

Glenn McGrath still loves chicken tikka, to which dhokla and kachauri were added recently. But there is an added Indian attraction this time. The Delhi IPL team speedster, who is in the city before leaving for South Africa, "really likes" Neha Dhupia. The Australian kick-started the Fever 104 Delhi Daredevils Captains Knock on Monday, visiting two lucky winners who, besides a lot of goodies, won season tickets for all the home matches to be played next year. Though McGrath adores Neha, he hasn't watched any Bollywood movies lately. "I need to be updated by Brett Lee," says McGrath, whose "last Bollywood connection was Slumdog Millionaire". With Mohammed Asif of Pakistan out of the line-up, the pacer realises he has to spearhead Delhi's bowling attack. Asked if he, too, is wary about playing in the sub-continent after the recent terror strikes, McGrath says, "What happened in Karachi sure made us think so, but you can't club India and Pakistan. There is no comparison at all." He has always felt "comfortable playing in India", he adds. "Personally, I'm not worried about being here." In his second season as a "Delhiitte", McGrath wishes to expand his Hindi vocabulary beyond "thanda paani". He knows a few abuses, too! Who in the Indian team has he found pretty abusive? And here comes a surprise. "During one match [in Nairobi], it was Sachin [Tendulkar] who sledged at me," he says. "I was shocked." McGrath, like everyone else, is disappointed about the IPL moving out, as "playing cricket in India is a different experience. It's so huge here." But otherwise, he is super-confident. "Delhi will win," he declares. "We have no competition."

Tokyo market ends

The Tokyo market snapped a two-day losing streak to close modestly higher Wednesday on reports about fresh stimulus measures in China and hopes of market-boosting measures by the Japanese government.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 61.24 points, or 0.85 percent, to close at 7,290.96.
The broader Topix index of all first section issues was also up 5.24 points, or 0.72 percent, to 732.04.
The market opened lower Wednesday, extending losses after Wall Street declined overnight and concerns over domestic politics spread.
The market sentiment was pessimistic during morning trading after the US Dow Jones industrial average extended its losing streak to a fifth market day on persistent economic worries.
Domestic politics also put pressure on the market as Japanese police Tuesday arrested a secretary of Ichiro Ozawa, the president of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, and others on suspicion of having received illegal corporate donations from a construction firm.
But investors put their hopes in Wednesday's enactment of a bill to resume share-buying from banks and returned to buy mainly consumer finance, mining and rubber product issues.
On currency markets at midday (0300 GMT), the dollar traded at 98.44-49 yen, up from Tuesday's 5 p.m. quote of 97.75-77 yen.
The euro traded at $1.2499-2504, down from late Tuesday's quote of $1.2653-55, and at 123.10-15 yen, down from 123.69-73 yen.

Dangerously overworked

Doctors and nurses might be risking their own health and that of their patients by being dangerously overworked, in some cases labouring as many as 17 hours daily, according to a new study.
Fiona McDonald, associate lecturer at the law faculty of Queensland University of Technology, has completed an extensive study, looking at the different laws in place to regulate working hours across six countries.
McDonald said there had been a number of cases in recent years where patient deaths, or serious injuries, were put down to bad judgement calls caused by doctor fatigue, according to a Sciencealert report.
'After a point being so tired has a similar effect to being drunk, so overworked health professionals are at a higher risk of making poor judgements, their reaction time slows and they face increased difficulties completing routine tasks,' she said.
'The working hours of doctors and nurses are a major issue which puts the health of patients and workers at risk. Australian Medical Association believes some work up to 120 hours per week; most are working less than that but it would still be around 80 hours a week,' McDonald said.
'While mistakes may occur because of fatigue, they may also occur when there are multiple shift changes - mistakes often occur as a result of poor communication during handover.'
She said Queensland is in the process of implementing medical fatigue risk management plans, where every district will develop a plan to assess and manage the high risks of working long hours.

Doctors and nurses might be risking their own health and that of their patients by being dangerously overworked, in some cases labouring as many as 17 hours daily, according to a new study. Fiona McDonald, associate lecturer at the law faculty of Queensland University of Technology, has completed an extensive study, looking at the different laws in place to regulate working hours across six countries. McDonald said there had been a number of cases in recent years where patient deaths, or serious injuries, were put down to bad judgement calls caused by doctor fatigue, according to a Sciencealert report. 'After a point being so tired has a similar effect to being drunk, so overworked health professionals are at a higher risk of making poor judgements, their reaction time slows and they face increased difficulties completing routine tasks,' she said. 'The working hours of doctors and nurses are a major issue which puts the health of patients and workers at risk. Australian Medical Association believes some work up to 120 hours per week; most are working less than that but it would still be around 80 hours a week,' McDonald said. 'While mistakes may occur because of fatigue, they may also occur when there are multiple shift changes - mistakes often occur as a result of poor communication during handover.' She said Queensland is in the process of implementing medical fatigue risk management plans, where every district will develop a plan to assess and manage the high risks of working long hours.

oil prices

World oil prices continued their record-breaking run Thursday, reaching a fresh intra-day peak near 124 dollars a barrel despite a larger-than-expected rise in US crude stocks.
The record of 123.87 dollars reached by New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, slightly exceeded the old intra-day high of 123.80 dollars reached Wednesday in US trading.
The contract later was a penny higher at 123.54 dollars in Asian afternoon trade from its record close of 123.53 dollars in New York.
Brent North Sea crude for June delivery was 11 cents higher at 122.43 dollars a barrel.
In London on Wednesday the contract touched an all-time peak of 122.70 dollars, before settling up 2.01 dollars at 122.32 dollars.
Oil prices have crashed through records every day this week, jumping at least seven dollars.
"Right now the market is trading by momentum as market participants tend to selectively focus on bullish news," said Victor Shum, senior principal at Purvin and Gertz energy consultancy in Singapore.
"Heady prices point to a significant risk of a correction," he said.
Some economists fear that surging oil prices could crimp US economic growth, and Wall Street tumbled on Wednesday after the latest spike in oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average of blue chips closed down 1.59 percent while the technology-laden Nasdaq composite finished down 1.80 percent, in turn dragging down Asian bourses on Thursday, dealers said.
America is the world's biggest oil importer but has been threatened by a long-running housing market slump and a related credit squeeze.
Oil prices continued their gains despite a weekly survey by the US government showing that the country's crude stocks rose by 5.7 million barrels to 325.6 million barrels for the week ended May 2.
But Shum said that while the inventory report showed an unexpectedly large crude gain, many market participants zeroed in on draws in distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, and which provided the momentum for a strong close.
Traders said a combination of forces have pushed prices higher, including market speculators and a decision by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel not to hike output quotas.
Prices have also been buoyed by ongoing violence in Nigeria, Africa's largest producer, traders said. Attacks have cut Nigeria's oil production by about a quarter over the past two years.
Angst over oil prices has also been stirred by continuing diplomatic tension over Iran's nuclear ambitions, which Tehran says are peaceful. Iran is OPEC's second-largest producer.

image environment

Intel, the world's top chipmaker, and Nokia, the No. 1 mobile-phone maker, plan to lesson their respective impact on the environment, the companies said separately Monday.
While Nokia has joined the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Savers Program, Intel plans to buy 1.3 billion kilowatt hours a year of renewable energy certificates. That will make Intel the largest corporate buyer of green energy in the United States.
Buying renewable energy certificates is not, however, the same as directly buying and using renewable energy. Intel is making the purchase through Sterling Planet, a company that will then distribute the investment to a variety of green energy producers across the United States. The producers use wind, solar, hydroelectric, and biomass sources to produce energy that they then feed into the power grid. Those producers rely on the buyers of certificates to help fund their businesses, so Intel's investment is important to their success, said Matt Clouse, director of the Green Power Partnership at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Buying renewable energy certificates helps a company such as Intel support green energy even if it finds it difficult to directly buy green energy for use in its operations. Many green energy producers feed their power into the grid, but once they do, power users usually can't discern whether the energy they buy came from the green source or from a coal-powered plant, said Bill Calder, an Intel spokesman.
Some electric companies do have green power offerings, but a company such as Intel with multiple sites would have to work with various providers in multiple locations to try to buy green power from them, which is an expensive undertaking, especially in states where prices are set by a regulatory process, Clouse said. Buying the certificates can help companies track their environmental effect and hit environmental goals even if they find it cost prohibitive to directly buy and use green energy, he said.
Intel may have other reasons for making the investment beyond reducing its carbon footprint. "Many of these companies that are buying green power are customer facing, and they spend enormous amounts of money on their brand and product PR, and this is a way that is frankly a low-cost option to address the environmental aspects that affect their brand and image," Clouse said.
Intel is not revealing how much it will cost to buy the 1.3 billion kilowatt hours per year. However, Clouse estimated that Intel might be paying between $2 and $4 per thousand kilowatt hours, for a total yearly investment of $2.6 million to $5.2 million. "That's a pretty inexpensive media undertaking," he said.
Intel's investment in the renewable energy certificates is in addition to its regular energy costs, Calder said. But by buying the certificates, Intel is helping to fund the production of green power that is fed into the grid, he said. Ultimately, Intel hopes that other companies will follow suit, thus reducing the cost of green energy in the future, he said.
The volume of kilowatt hours that Intel agreed to buy per year equates to about 46 percent of its yearly electricity use in the United States, Calder said.
Also on Monday, Nokia pledged to use green electricity to power half of its facilities by 2010 and reduce overall energy needs of its sites by 6 percent by 2012, announcing that it has joined the WWF program. Nokia also plans to reduce energy wasted by mobile-phone chargers.
Greenpeace recently knocked Nokia from first place to ninth in a ranking of electronics makers. Greenpeace praised Nokia for its efforts to reduce the use of harmful chemicals in its products but said the company has done a poor job of supporting recycling programs in some countries.

A good night's sleep is crucial for y...

Getting just four hours of sleep every night reduces a person's ability to perform complex tasks over the period of a five-day working week, a new EU study has found.
The ongoing study collaborated by researchers at universities from UK, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland has also shown the diverse ways in which the social context of everyday life has profound influences on sleep quality.
In-depth interviews with women in Italy show how women's sleep is severely disrupted by care-giving roles, especially for frail elderly relatives. Analysis of large-scale surveys has found strong social inequalities in sleep problems with poorer sleep recorded for people living in more disadvantaged social circumstances, such as with low income and low educational attainment.
The Chronobiology Group at the University of Surrey has been investigating the effect of blue short wavelength light on circadian rhythms and sleep in the young and elderly. A reduced responsiveness to short wavelength light has been observed in older people and this may have implications for the design of lighting in elderly homes.
The group in Munich and Ingolstadt has first evidence for an influence of a chronic sleep disorder going along with severe sleepiness (narcolepsy) on the processing of emotional stimuli in the brain, suggesting that disturbed sleep regulation profoundly interferes with our well being and the interaction with the environment.
Basic research in the human sleep research laboratory of the University of Zrich revealed clear age-related changes in the impairment of sustained vigilant attention after one night without sleep. This finding is consistent with epidemiological studies and has important implications for the prevention of accidents associated with the loss of sleep.
The group from the University of Zurich, dedicated to animal research, recorded sleep in different mouse models under normal conditions and under enhanced sleep pressure attained by sleep deprivation of a few hours. The effect of pharmacological stimulation of different types of GABAA receptors was investigated. This research aims at opening new avenues for the development of hypnotics. The hypnotic efficacy, when based on normal sleep physiology, should be optimized and lead to less adverse effects.
The mentors recognize the pressing need to bring the results of this research network available to all people. Training of the Fellows includes, in addition to the scientific training, also training in communication with the general public. The Fellows are encouraged to write articles and give general presentations - each of them has written a description of their work, which is available on the website (www.sleep.fi) of the project