Wires Crossed #22 – January 21

Wii Acts As Doctor

Wii Acts As Doctor
In the past, we have talked about the benefits of Wii, and how it can keep you fit. We’ve even had stories on how surgeons have used the technology in training, use Wii technology, how it has assisted with rheumatoid arthritis rehabilitation and how it has helped Parkinson’s sufferers with their hand-eye coordination. Now a woman is claiming it helped diagnose her with Parkinson’s itself. Seems Julie Wilks, from Leeds in Great Britain, was playing on the Wii when she realised that during a game that required balance she was leaning more heavily on one foot than the other. Noticing a slow deterioration over six months, she thought something was wrong, went to her GP, and was eventually diagnosed with the disease. She believes that she would not have noticed the problem so early if it had not been for the Wii.

Hang On A Minute!
We at Wires Crossed think it’s taking the term “getting your knickers in a knot” to the extreme. A Japanese woman wasn’t kidding when she said she was suing Google after its Street View service showed her underwear hanging on a clothesline.  Seems the woman suffered from an obsessive-compulsive disorder, which was exacerbated when she saw the photo online. Not too sure what was more surprising, the fact she was suing because she thought the pics might make her the victim of a sex crime, or that the court case was happening in Japan, not in the land where most frivolous law suits are born, the USA.

Facebook Arrests Over Teacher Threats
Look, some teachers can be a little overzealous and sometimes downright annoying, but children today have got it easy. Back in the day (showing our age here), getting the cane or other forms of corporal punishment was the norm, but nowadays kids will get a detention or some extra homework, that’s about it. Which is more perplexing why a group of 12 and 13 year old kids in Nevada, US, set up a “Attack A Teacher Day” Facebook page. Six girls going to the Carson Middle School and Eagle Valley Middle School were arrested for setting up the page on Facebook. In America, where school shooting are far too prevalent, they take this kind of thing seriously. The girls claim it was a joke. Yeah? Well, who’s laughing now?

Hol(e)y Toledo Telstra!
Being the biggest kid on the block always means that telecommunications provider Telstra is always going to be the biggest target when people are throwing around brick bats. But the giant telco isn’t doing itself any favours when one of its manholes was in need of repair after a woman fell into it, only for the said hole to be still there almost a year later. The hole, which is in the Northern Sydney suburb of French’s Forest, was fenced off initially, but then nada for the best part of 12 months. Of course when the local newspaper, the Manly Daily, got involved the repair work was carried out quick smart. Funny that.

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