As most of work involves using my computer I spend a lot of time sitting on my bottom. I decided that its about time I spend a bit more time getting fit. It is, however, really hard to find the time and by the evening I am usually just too tired to make it to the gym. That's why I have taken the rather painful decision to start running in the mornings. My new exercise regime involves getting up at 6am in the morning and going for a 30 minute run. Having never run before in my life this is proving no easy feat. The first day of running was two weeks ago and I honestly thought I was going to die. That day I spent more time walking, than running. Since then I have been running 6 days a week with a day off in the middle of the week to allow my muscles to recover. Every day I seem to be able to go a little further and I can now manage all of the 30 minute circuit followed by a short walk. I am already starting to feel fitter and slimmer so although it hurts I will continue to run. Perhaps after a few more weeks I might start enjoying it.

If you want longer legs then you might want to consider a leg lengthening clinic. Based in Russia the clinic claims it can literally add inches to your legs. The article cites two examples the first where a lady had her legs lengthened by 3 inches and another where a man has the procedure to correct the fact that he had one leg longer than the other. In both cases the treatment appears to have been successful. It does, however, sound really painful. The treatment involves having your legs broken in several places before being attached via metal pins to something called the IIizarov Frame. The frame provides a support of a cast and uses metal spokes to pierce the flesh and fix the bone in position. Rather than setting the bone the device gradually moves the two sections further apart causing new bone to grow and seal the break. It is possible to lengthen the bone as much as 2 inches in a month. I am lucky to be quite tall already but this procedure seems an awful lot of pain for the sake of a few extra inches. Ouch.

These little guys are so adorable. They were born at the West Midlands Safari Park and are unusual because white lions are very rare. According to African folklore white lion cubs are a lucky charm and are born just once every 100 years. These cubs belong to two lionesses who gave birth within a month of each other and are the only white lions in the UK. White lions are thought be extinct in the wild and at the last count in 2004 there were only 300 left, all in zoos.

I always loved going to the doctors surgery when I was younger because it was one of the few places around that had a rocking horse. This gadget has been described as a rocking horse for the wealthy. It is in fact a simulator which lets people ride in their own home. The virtual reality riding machine includes a mechanical horse with electronic sensors and a screen. It allows users to trot, canter and perform various dressage manoeuvres but unlike a real horse produces no mess and does not require feeding. Its an interesting concept but personally I think the real thing is much better. For me part of the joy of riding was building up a mutual relationship with my horse and of course the fact that you can never predict what a real horse will do, no matter how well you know it. Its an interesting variation on the rocking horse, though but not cheap at just under £40,000.

It comes as no surprise to read this article which suggests email phishing scams are up by 180%. The payments body APACS has reported that there have been 20,600 phishing incidents involving UK bank customers in the first six months of 2008 compared with only 7,200 in the same period in 2007. The most common scams seem to be emails that pretend to be from a bank requesting that you follow a link and enter your account number and password. It still amazes me that people get caught out by these scams, whilst the emails do sometimes look genuine, it is widely publicised by banks that they will never send an email asking for your account details or password. The message here is clear, if there is any doubt, don't click on it, just delete it. If your bank does really need to contact you, they have your address and phone number.

According to this article makeup for men is becoming more popular with Superdrug stocking a new range of makeup for men called Taxi Man. The makeup is aimed at men who want to enhance their features. It will include eyeliner for men which is thicker than normal eyeliner to make it easier for men to grip. Later this summer the range will also include a concealer and a lip balm. I wonder how popular it will be, I can't see my husband liking the idea very much.

Unagi Nobori is a rather strange drink made from eels. It has been launched in Japan with the translation of the name meaning "surging eel". The drink is a yellow liquid which contains eel extract and vitamins that are found in the fish. It has been launched to coincide with the start of Japan's annual eel eating season which starts on the 5th of August. Its main ingredients include extracts from the head and bones of eels, and five vitamins – A, B1, B2, D and E.  Apparently it tastes similar to broiled eels, an acquired taste perhaps?

This luxury yacht has been designed by a company called Wally. It is big enough to include a garden and a full sized swimming pool. It can sleep up to 40 crew and 24 guests and would have a gaming room, library, cinema, gym, spa and sauna. The yacht would measure 325 foot long and is fully customisable. It is still to be built and the price tag has not been set but I'm guessing it will be very very expensive, I wonder what sort of person would be able to afford one?

I buy a lot of things online but I also like to be able to send things back if I don't like them. That's where I think La Redoute have the right idea. Although they charge £3.99 post and packing you can do what is called a replacement order. Basically how this works is you receive your parcel, try everything on and then decide what to send back (with me there is always something). Then you decide which other items you want to order to try instead. Once you have the catalogue numbers of the items you want to try, then you give them call. Simply say you want to place a replacement order, let them know what is going back and what you want instead. Then they arrange a courier to pick up the items that are going back and you get a new parcel of goodies to try without having to pay another £3.99 postage. The best part is you can do this as many times as you want, so can quite happily work your way through the catalogue without worrying about being stuck with an item you don't like and can't return. The only way they could improve this service is if they let me do my replacement order online. I wonder whether they might consider adding this option to their website.

I notice that spam seems to come in waves. You seem to get one email followed in the next few days and weeks by thousands of similar ones. The latest wave seems to be these emails that try to convince you there is a parcel waiting for you at customs, such as the email below. I'm currently receiving around a hundred of these every day. I can't help wondering whether anyone actually believes that they do have a parcel to collect and responds to the email.

Dear Sirs,

We have received a parcel for you, sent from France on July 9. Please fill out the customs declaration attached to this message and send it to us by mail or fax. The address and the fax number are at the bottom of the declaration form.

Kind regards,

Your Customs Service