Tuesday 15/12/2015
Today i read..
Hundreds of Santas set record for world's biggest surf lesson
A pack of 320 surfing Santas have embraced Christmas spirit in Australia and broken the world record for the largest surf lesson.
Guinness World Record confirmed to the BBC that the festive spectacle at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Tuesday exceeded the target of 250 surfers.
The organisers say the record-breaking surf is also an attempt to raise awareness of mental health issues.
The event was kick-started by a local retailer, surf school and surf charity.
RedBalloon, Let's Go Surfing, and OneWave came together to hold the lesson, and rustled up hundreds of participants using social media.
OneWave spokesperson and mental health therapist, Joel Pilgrim told the BBC the surf charity started about three years as a way to bring the local community together and to break down the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
This year the University of New South Wales studied how the OneWave surf program affected people living with severe mental illness - finding overall improvements in life, psychological growth, physical benefit, and social support networks.
The results are also reflected in a world-first pilot scheme in Biarritz, France - which prescribes surfing over medication for a range of illnesses, including depression.
Tuesday's surf lesson participants seemed to agree that it was at the very least an enjoyable experience.
"It's good, it's awesome, a lot of people, a lot of fun, a lot of energy [it's] exciting," one surfing Santa said.
http://www.bbc.com
Thursday 17/12/2015
Today i read..
What's so smart about smart meters?
Replace your old gas and electricity meters with natty new digital ones and you could be helping to tackle "the biggest single challenge that humankind has ever faced" - global warming.
That's according to veteran environmental campaigner Jonathon Porritt anyway.
And you thought smart meters were just about saving a few quid on your gas and electricity bills? Think again.
These gadgets being rolled out in many developed nations around the world will not only save people money, they'll promote more competition, more innovation, and change the way the global energy industry works, proponents argue.
So here's all you need to know about the huge project to introduce digital meters into British homes.
How will smart meters help business?
For business processes that don't have to be done immediately, it makes sense to do them when energy is cheapest or at its most plentiful.
For example, a big food retailer running energy-hungry chiller and freezer cabinets can run them at a colder temperature at night when electricity is cheaper, then use them less intensively during the day when electricity is more expensive, knowing that there is enough stored coldness in the equipment to keep it running properly.
"We can achieve energy savings of 15% to 25% for our customers," says Sara Bell, chief executive of Tempus Energy, a new energy supplier offering this type of service.
http://www.bbc.com
Today i read..
How to avoid 'death by PowerPoint'
Most people who've endured a terrible PowerPoint presentation will have experienced boredom, followed by frustration, then anger that it took up an hour - or possibly even more - of their lives that they will never get back.
so why, in the age of the internet and millions of digital images, do slide presentations seem to belong to an older, duller decade?
And what can the businesspeople of the future do to jazz up their presentations and leave their audiences feeling a little less like zombies?
Swedish crowd-sourcing photo database, Pickit, recently teamed up with professional PowerPoint designers Eyeful Presentations to pick out the top 10 images to avoid in presentations.
Their findings are summarised best with the use of bullet points - that stalwart of PowerPoint presentations.
In March 2014, Getty Images, the world's largest photo agency, made vast swathes of its library free to use, in what some regarded as acknowledgement that pictures were going to be stolen without attempt to pay for them.
Most people looking for images to illustrate their presentations headed straight to Google Images, said Robert Dysell, chief marketing officer at Pickit.
"We estimate that 85% of the photos used in presentations are stolen from Google Images or similar," he told the BBC.
As well as hoping to change this and reward photographers for their work, Pickit is looking to offer more unusual imagery for presentations.
It would, if nothing else, stimulate the audience's taste buds and hopefully keep them awake.
http://www.bbc.com
Sunday 20/12/2015
Today i read..
Cancer mum Heidi Loughlin's premature baby dies
A baby who was born 12 weeks prematurely in order for her mother to be treated for cancer has died.
Heidi Loughlin, 32, discovered she had a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer after falling pregnant with her third child.
Ally Louise Smith was born by C-section on 11 December weighing just 2lb 5oz but died on Saturday.
Ms Loughlin, from Portishead, north Somerset posted a poem dedicated to her daughter on her blog.
In it, the Metropolitan Police officer wrote: "Yesterday afternoon our hearts broke in two. For we had to say goodbye to you."
She added that "the pain in my body and heart and my soul feels it will consume me and leave me un-whole".
Doctors discovered Ms Loughlin's cancer in September after she noticed a rash on her breast while feeding her baby son Tait.
She was given the option of terminating the pregnancy so she could begin aggressive chemotherapy.
But she decided to keep her baby and begin a less aggressive form of treatment which is expected to start on Wednesday.
Writing on her blog after Ally's birth, the mother-of-three said she was "absolutely thrilled" to announce the baby had been born safely.
"She was born today via c section at 1237. She came out foot first and is breathing on her own. She weighs 2lb 5ozs. She has a Laughlin (sic) nose and she has more hair than me!!!"
http://www.bbc.com
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