Hamburg - Sometimes there's nothing worse than having a song stuck in your head. It's particularly frustrating if you picked up a melody somewhere, but don't even know the artist or title. The internet may ease your pain. Specialized online services are helping identify those nameless favourites.

There are a variety of ways to name that tune. The Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology records the user singing the tune and tries to identify it against a database of melodies, an approach known as "Query by Humming." The technology was developed at the Fraunhofer Institute in Ilmenau.

Hamburg - Are you an oniomaniac - a shopping addict? Up to 10 per cent of all consumers in Western industrialized countries are addicted to shopping to some degree, according to German researchers, who say they have developed the first anti-shopping-addiction therapy that actually works.

Oniomania, the scientific term for "pathological addiction to shopping," was first recognized a century ago by the Leipzig psychiatrist Emil Kraeplin, who wrote a scientific treatise about people in large cities who simply could not resist the urge to buy pretty things which made them feel better - even if they stashed away the items at home unopened, never to be used.

Hamburg - Horses, dogs and cats make children happy, topping the wish list of most children under 10 years, a survey conducted by the German Toy Manufacturing Association found.

Although there were differences according to age and sex, some 21.9 per cent of the children interviewed said that having a horse, dog, cat and even a tiger would make them happy.

The wish list changes among children over 10 years with boys especially preferring to have a computer, according to the poll.

Hamburg - Taking time out for a hike lasting several weeks is becoming an increasingly popular pastime with the 900-kilometre St James Way in Spain experiencing a renaissance with thousands of people reviving a tradition dating back to the early Middle Ages.

Such a "pilgrimage" is no easy walk in the park and need plenty of advance preparation.

If you heed a few common hikers' guidelines and are reasonably healthy, you can walk such a long route without having to give-up in frustration with blistered feet, backache or other physical limitations.

Hamburg - It's time to take a break from gaming's guns and ammo. 

This season's handheld console aficionados will be prone to taking up swords, guitars and the occasional ladle when they do electronic battle. In addition, there are two new motorcycle racing games set for release. Additionally, publisher Square Enix has come up with a new installment of its seemingly never-ending Final Fantasy series.