One of the simplest forms of exercise is walking, and the experts tell us that we should aim for 10,000 steps a day as part of a healthy lifestyle. People who use a pedometer tend to walk more than those who don't (on average around 2000 steps or about a mile) so getting a pedometer would be a smart idea.

I've been using an Omron HJ-720ITC (one of the few pedometers that has a USB connection to sync with your computer) for some months and a combination of their desktop app to keep a record for me and gtFtr to manually publish my steps (when I can remember) to help my friends encourage me to keep stepping in the right direction.

Now I've found a better way to track and share my progress though, and it uses a platform that's designed to securely hold medical data and share it under my control - Microsoft's HealthVault.

As a family we're starting to explore ways that HealthVault can let us consolidate the various medical records that at the moment are just hidden in filing cabinets around the house but we love the way we can also use it for day to day type activities...

One of the basic functions of HealthVault is that it allows 3rd party applications to be permitted access to certain data types - for instance the WalkMe application can read my pedometer data that is uploaded to HealthVault via the Connection Center (a simple application that runs in my system tray - once configured with my credentials you just need to plug in the pedometer, wait until it tells you it's grabbed the data and then unplug it and the data gets uploaded automatically).

In addition to letting me analyze my data when I’m using the application, WalkMe keeps my shared widgets and data up to date by automagically syncing with HealthVault (via a secure mechanism called "OfflineWebApplication access").

WalkMe lets me review the data in different ways to track my progress, set goals, compare to friends and ... if I want ... share my progress publicly using a variety of widgets or even an RSS feed.

If you're looking for some suggestion for routes to walk or help getting started you should check out the MSN RouteTracker which can also use HealthVault to help you keep track of your progress, and use Live Search Health to get some general fitness ideas.

Give WalkMe a try, and check out the rest of HealthVault while you're there. The service is in pretty early beta stages so your input can make a lot of difference right now so make sure you leave some feedback as to what features you'd like to see added or improved (or vote on some of my requests!)

I'm planning to wear my pedometer this year to MIX in Vegas. Wonder how far I'll walk around behind the scenes at that event - check back here to see the numbers change ;)

Even when you put your TV in standby it's still sucking energy. The wall wart that charges your cellphone - yup, that's still using juice when your phone isn't plugged in.

The simple answer is to turn devices off or unplug them from the wall but sometimes that's not as easy as it sounds. For instance, the plugs for my home entertainment system are all down behind the cabinet so getting access to unplug or turn things off can be a little challenging.

Belkin think they've come up with the answer to that problem with their new Conserve power strip.

Their solution is actually quite elegant. You get a larger than normal power strip with 8 or 10 sockets and a large toggle switch that is the remote control.

The remote has a wall mount so you can stick it somewhere obvious and it's simple enough my dogs could use it!

The power strip contains a surge protector and for the larger capacity unit the protection also extends to a coax pass-through for your cable connection.

Both versions have two always-on sockets, the others are switched by the remote. This means that you can keep your DVR and Set-top box or VoIP phone always powered up but only send power to the TV, amplifier etc when you need it.

One cool feature is that using the DIP switches to select the channel the remote/power strip are using you can pair a remote to more than one power strip so you can control equipment on different sides of the room or even in different rooms.

For a home theatre set-up this is really easy to install and use. The spacing on the sockets is a little tight but I was able to consolidate two power squids to a single 10 socket Conserve.

Will this actually save me money? I think it probably will. They claim up to $60 in savings a year so should pay for itself by about September. I searched Live Cashback for my Belkin Conserve and got a great deal - you could get an even quicker return on your investment.

I can think of a couple of features I'd like to see added (that of course would make things a little more complex).

For home theatre setups it would be nice if the power strip was switched in two banks.In my setup I have both audio and video setups in the same cabinet and it would be nice to control the audio and video equipment separately (but I don't need a second power strip for that - especially as they recommend not daisy chaining them). Of course the added complexity is that when we're using the Media Center PC we need to power up the amplifier as well as the TV so I'd need to be able to turn both banks on at once.

The Media Center PC solution is the other scenario where the Conserve could be a bit more functional. With a running PC it's bad form to just pull to plug. They can get a little unreliable if you keep doing that to them. It would be great if the Conserve had a USB connection to report UPS type status information to the PC so when the "off" switch is pressed on the remote then the switch can warn connected PCs that it's about to shut down and then actually complete the shut-down a few minutes later. That would allow the PC to either save its state elegantly and in a controlled fashion or, if you're leaving the PC running but powering down some peripherals, let it disconnect from devices in a timely manner.