TV channel gone to the dogs

Like human beings animals especially dogs too can suffer from stress or depression. Sometimes you too may have noticed your pet dog behave in a stressful manner or looking at you with a woeful face. Like us, they too need stimulation when depressed and calm when stressed.

Now in the US they have found an answer for this kind of state of mind. A TV Channel for DOGS.

It's called DOGTV - the first-ever network devoted to stay- at- home canines and it will be launched on satellite provider DirectTV.

"DOGTV is the ideal baby sitter for 'home alone' dogs. Research shows that dogs feel better in the company of television, especially when the right content is on," the network says on its Website. House-bound hounds can watch videos that will help them relax from the stress of chasing cats and pining for their next bowl of Alpo.

"Relaxing sounds and music have been created to keep anxious dogs calm," the network said in a statement.

The shows can also help jittery pooches get used to stressful situations, such as blaring car horns and tail-pulling toddlers.And lazy pups who would rather lie around napping all day could benefit from programs that will inspire them to follow in the paw prints of heroes like Lassie and Toto. "Dogs that suffer a lack of stimulation are shown invigorating images and animation along with playful music," the network said.

While the August 1 premiere marks DOGTV's national debut, the channel was test-marketed in San Diego for about six months, and was also available online and on the digital media site Roku. DOGTV has been recognised by the Humane Society, and "uses concepts widely supported by leading organisations," including the ASPCA and the American Veterinary Medical Association, according to the network.

Smart-watch that tests your alcohol level

After a good booze driving a car can take you to two places. One is the police station and the other maybe to the next world! Hence you are advised: "Drunk driving can kill you".

But if you can realise that you are not in the proper state to drive then you can wait till you are sober to get back home. Now to help such drunk drivers who may be in two minds to take the wheel Japanese watchmaker Tokyoflash has launched an innovative wristwatch that not only tests your sobriety with a built-in-game, but tests your blood alcohol level with a breathalyser built into its side.

The Kisai Intoxicated watch, shows the date and time, and offers alarms, as you would expect from any wrist watch. But a breathalyser is also hidden beneath what looks like a watch dial and can be used to rate the wearer's blood alcohol level.. To test sobriety, or a lack thereof, wearers must unscrew the watch dial, wait while its alcohol sensor heats up, and blow into the outlet from a distance of just 2cm. The watch's breathalyser display, to the right of its LCD screen, showcases three levels of drunkenness.

No alcohol detected earns a green light, .001 to .06 is classified as "getting drunk" and is indicated by a yellow light, and results of .061 up to .2 are officially classified as "drunk" and show a red light.

The stainless steel watch with rechargeable battery also features a "sobriety game" for those who want a second opinion, asking wearers to press a button to align a moving column with the centre of the screen.

But in the last page of its manual, Tokyoflash advises: "This watch is designed for entertainment only. The retailer does not warrant that the results obtained from this breathalyser will be completely accurate or reliable and accept no liability for consequences arising from its use."

Piggy-back reporting

India's Uttarakhand state was recently devastated by flash floods and landslides which killed over 1,000 people and made tens of thousands homeless and it was the worst flood to hit the area. The whole world was observing the sorrowful drama with much sympathy and many countries were involved in the rescue operations.

These kinds of situations are god's gifts to news starved reporters and news channels. Hence India's News Express channel sent their experienced reporter to cover the flood situation in Uttarakhand with a video cameraman. Narayan Pargaien, the News Express reporter created much more outrage than even the floods itself. Pargaien, reporting on the flash floods and landslides triggered outrage after a video clip went viral on the Internet showing him speaking into the camera while sitting on the shoulders of a local villager. But in his attempt to get a boost up in his flood coverage ended up in hot water none the less.

News Express Head Chief Nishant Chaturvedi in turn publicly admonished Pargaien's report calling it "very inhuman."

"You cannot ride on someone's back for a story. We terminated him on Tuesday," he said. But Pargaien, far from accepting blame since the report's attack, has since defended it saying the video wasn't supposed to capture himself sitting on the man's shoulders.

"This was entirely the cameraman's fault, who, it seems, almost tried to sabotage my career by shooting from that distance and angle and releasing the video mocking this whole incident, and making me the villain," Pargaien said before his termination from the station.

"His house was in a miserable condition and he had lost a lot in the flood, and was left with very little food and water.

"We helped him with some food and some money and he was grateful to us and wanted to show me some respect [by carrying me across the river], as it was the first time someone of my level had visited his house," he said. "It wasn't my idea to begin with, but there was this man who took me to his home and asked me to report the damage he had suffered," Pargaien argued. "People are talking about us being inhuman and wrong but we were actually helping some of the victims there," Pargaien said.

The journalist also attacked his cameraman for framing the shot so it showed him sitting on the floods survivor's shoulders and accused him of posting the video online.

"The report was supposed to be telecast only with footage of me chest-up. This was entirely the cameraman's fault, who tried to sabotage my career by shooting from that distance and angle and releasing the video," he said. "I was wrong as well. That was the wrong thing to do, and the wrong time to have shot that sequence. But what my cameraman did was even more unacceptable." The video has been viewed more than 33,000 times since it was posted on YouTube and has now been uploaded by various people on their YouTube channels.