The discipline of design is increasingly the place where data and the drawing board collide, with almost all of the designers on stage at Design Indaba 2017 touching on, one way or another, how they apply their skills to help make sense of an info-saturated world.

Also from Ijeoma, 'wage islands' project an ingenious interactive installation, (gotta love alliteration), which sees a 500-piece laser-cut acrylic model raised or lowered out of a water tank to convey the issues of wage and housing inequalities in NYC, demonstrating at the touch of button where one can afford to live in New York based on income. As in the previous example providing a tangible picture of an abstract concept.

Ijeoma takeouts: Think like citizens not just creatives", "Use data for people not just consumers, and the quotable clincher Let's make conversation-pieces not just masterpieces".

Her book entitled Dear Data, co-authored with friend Stefanie Posavec contains 'data postcards' from the project, which saw the pair mail postcard-size, data-inspired illustrations to each other every week for a year.

You can give it a try. All you need is paper, some coloured pens and a commitment to visually map/plot/graph any mundane aspect of your daily life, for example how many times you check the time in a week, the number of thank yous given and received, or the number of times you smiled at strangers. This is really the essence of spatial mathematical thinking and might be considered in primary schools to advantage.

As one of the nicknames for Cape Town is Slaapstad (rhymes with Kaapstad, Afrikaans for Cape Town, and means 'sleep city'), Design Indaba seemed an appropriate target audience for the invitation to participate in the project via an app, featuring the music of Marconi Unions Adrift, apparently the most relaxing music ever produced. Download it and sleep your way through this global research project.

Gathering biodata is also seen in the work of local award-winning Red & Yellow School graduate Carina Bonse, who has developed a wearable based on her research monitoring the Ecoli levels due to sewage on Cape Town beaches, via a smart armband.

Images courtesy of DesignIndaba.com.

For more, visit our Design Indaba special section for all the latest coverage!

Link:

#DesignIndaba2017: Dances with data - Bizcommunity - Bizcommunity.com

Spoon River College students got a break from the books recently in their Personal and Physical Mental Health class, taught by Elaine Lucas, health science educator. Meditation, aromatherapy and coloring inside or outside of the lines were the assignments for the day.

Spoon River College students got a break from the books recently in their Personal and Physical Mental Health class, taught by Elaine Lucas, health science educator. Meditation, aromatherapy and coloring inside or outside of the lines were the assignments for the day.

Taking even ten minutes a day to quiet the mind can have a significant impact at lowering stress and staying mentally healthy, and I wanted students to experience that, not just listen to me tell them that, said Lucas.

Students working towards an associate degree are required to take a health science class, regardless of their intended major. Lucas says that occasionally students grumble about it, thinking it wont be relevant to their course of study.

I tell them, no matter what your major, youll get something out of this class. We talk about everything nutrition, physical fitness, STDs, sex, drugs, alcohol, addiction, death and dying, and more, Lucas said. Its life.

Excerpt from:

SRC students learn meditation - Canton Daily Ledger

Continuing its path leading attendees to mental, spiritual and physical health, the Olean Meditation Center will soon offer the next in a series of themed presentations.

The next, titled Contemplative Prayer: The Experience of a Franciscan Friar, will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the center, 2275 Dugan Road, Olean. Franciscan Br. Joe Kotula will lead the talk.

The tradition of contemplative prayer goes back to the early Christian communities, most notably to the Desert Fathers, and has been carried on in monastic practice over the centuries, says Dr. Richard Reilly, president of the Olean Meditation Center.

The influence of Thomas Merton a Trappist monk whose career writings, including while at St. Bonaventure University, earned international acclaim has boosted the contemplative prayer tradition the last 50 years, Reilly says. He also credits many other faith practitioners. The tradition has become more accessible to laypeople.

Br. Joe, a friar in residence at Mt. Irenaeus since 1989, has had a profound influence on generations of Bonaventure students, Reilly says. Br. Joe shares St. Francis love of nature and has a particular passion for hiking. Our community is very fortunate to have this opportunity to become acquainted with contemplative prayer through the lived experience of a Franciscan practitioner.

The event will be free and open to the public, although donations will be gratefully accepted. Refreshments will be available.

+11

Remaining programs in OMCs free Tuesday evening series include:

Olean Meditation Center events span topics pertinent to a broad range of religions. Most recently, the center hosted an interfaith forum titled Compassion: When a Stranger Knocks on Your Door.

The panel discussion, including speakers from various area houses of worship and religious organizations from Christianity to Islam to Hinduism addressing The Golden Rule treat others as you would like to be treated.

More here:

State & Union: Meditation center to host Franciscan friar - Olean Times Herald

More and more we hear about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness but many of us can find it challenging to be still in that way. I hope this will help.

If you are new to tapping, it will be beneficial to also watch the first episode in the Tap Out Your Fears series which explains the basics of EFT click here.

As with any of my tapping videos, this is an abbreviated process for releasing uncomfortable feelings and enhancing good ones. Some folks may find their fear dissolve after just one tapping session, but for others, it will take some repetition, bringing the discomfort down little by little each time. (Still others may uncover specific issues that are best addressed directly with a wellness practitioner.) In any event, this brief video should help at least take the edge off the discomfort, freeing you up to enjoy life much more. Let us know how it helped you!

For a picture of the tapping points and more info on EFT click here.

Tapping can sometimes bring up long-buried emotions, which is why I state that, before tapping along, folks must take full responsibility for their own well-being. For more information about that, please read this disclaimer.

Until next time, feel free to tap along with any of the many videos I have on YouTube or the many recordings I have at http://www.TapWithBrad.com.

For EFT with kids, please visit: http://www.TheWizardsWish.com.

For more by Brad Yates, click here.

Follow Brad Yates on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tapwithbrad

Read the original post:

WATCH: Meditation and Mindfulness - Huffington Post

There will be several big names on the open market when the new NFL year kicks off March 9.

One of those names is Adrian Peterson. The Pro Bowl running back is set to hit free agency after the Minnesota Vikings declined to excercise the $18 million option on Petersons contract for the 2017 season.

Peterson is expected to have several suitors, as he could bolster the backfield of almost any team. The New England Patriots could be in the business of adding another running back, and Peterson reportedly would consider taking a team-friendly contract in order to head up to Foxboro.

A source close to Peterson told the Herald that since AP has already earned a ton more than $97 million is his career its certainly something hed consider, the Boston Heralds Karen Guregian writes. Peterson knows how it worked out for Darrelle Revis and Chris Long. But naturally, there will be a lot of teams in the mix, including the Vikings. And, of course, the Pats would have to want to bring in an aging back with an injury history, not to mention baggage.

If the Patriots were able to sign Peterson for short money, it would be a low risk, high reward move for the team. With LeGarrette Blounts future in New England up in the air, the Patriots could be looking to acquire a power back to complement James White and Dion Lewis.

For Peterson, joining the Patriots would be as a good a chance as any to contend for a Super Bowl. New England is a perennial playoff team, and typically is one of the powerhouses in the AFC. The only question is, would Peterson be willing to sign for less money in order to compete for a Lombardi Trophy?

While the Pats would be just one of several teams inquiring about Peterson, their illustrious history could prove to be a powerful recruiting tool.

Thumbnail photo via Matt Kartozian/USA TODAY Sports Images

View original post here:

NFL Rumors: Adrian Peterson Would Consider Less Money To Join Patriots - NESN.com

VARANASI: PM Modi visited the Gadhwaghat Ashram on the final day of campaigning for the Uttar Pradesh assembly election, potentially triggering some worry in the Samajwadi Party camp.

The ashram is revered especially by the Other Backward Classes and the SP counts Yadavs, who are part of OBCs, as its core support base. The PM on Monday spent about an hour at the ashram, located along the Ganga on the outskirts of Varanasi city, and met its head, Guru Sharananand.

Monday was the third and final day of the PMs hectic campaigning in his Lok Sabha constituency as part of the BJPs strategy to ensure a clean sweep in Varanasi district and ensure majority in entire eastern UP.

Varanasi, Chandauli and Ghazipur, which are considered SP strongholds, are among the districts where polling for 40 constituencies will be held in the seventh and last phase of the election on March 8. After reaching the ashram, the PM was offered several rudraksh garlands. Before offering his prayers, he visited the cowshed on the ashram premises and fed jaggery, bananas and fodder to the cows.

Later, he met the ashram head. In his last public address in this election season, at Rohania, the PM targeted both the SP-Congress alliance and BSP. He highlighted the alleged corruption in recruitment for government jobs and law and order in the state. The PM said police stations in the state have virtually become SPs office.

Excerpt from:

PM visits Gadhwaghat Ashram, triggers some worry in Samajwadi party camp - Economic Times

NEW DELHI: "This might be the last time we see him in his home," said Khushi, a friend of Atul Arora, when the teenager's body reached his house from the mortuary on Monday. Khushi fondly remembered the good times she had spent with the Class XII student, who was killed in a hit-and-run case late on Sunday night. "None of us liked to go out much after school hours, so we mostly ended up coming to Atul's house either for group studies or to spend some free time," said the grief-stricken girl.

And yet just hours earlier, nobody could have imagined the young student's life would be cut short by a Mercedes Benz ramming into his scooter and killing him. Monday was supposed to be the first day of Atul's final year in school. A month short of his 17th birthday, the boy was eager to meet his friends after a two-week school break.

"He had his bag all packed, the new books neatly arranged inside," said a despairing Ruchi Arora, Atul's elder sister, a teacher. "His uniform was crisply ironed. I had got a new pair of shoes for him, but he never got to wear them."

View original post here:

Boy offered seva at ashram before death: Kin | Delhi News - Times ... - Times of India

The Sabarmati Ashram management is mulling to install additional CCTVs at the Ashram premises to enhance security after replica statues of Mahatma Gandhi's 'three wise monkeys' were stolen over a week ago.

"We are considering covering the Ashram under additional CCTVs as to prevent any further incidents like the theft of replica of the statues of three wise monkeys from the Ashram premises some ten days ago," said Tridip Suhrud, director of Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust.

He said most parts of the Ashram are already covered under CCTVs but some areas like the ground from where the statues were stolen are still uncovered.

"There are 22 CCTV cameras across the Ashram which cover different parts like the museum, shops, archives, and office areas, among others, but we are planning to add more cameras to areas which are still uncovered," said Suhrud.

"While the stolen statues are not of great value, what worries that some one has been able to walk away with it. We have not felt the need to file any FIR in this connection," he added.

The original statues of "three wise monkeys" is kept at National Gandhi Museum in New Delhi, he said.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

Excerpt from:

Sabarmati Ashram mulls to step up security after theft | Latest News ... - Daily News & Analysis

Impossible Foods is now at a local NYC burger chain.

Hamburgers have roared in popularity over the past decade, and everyone has their favorite local joint or cult-like affinity for chains such as In-N-Out Burger and Shake Shack. But those cravings are also matched by an increasing concern over the meat industrys impact, from those occasional foodborne illness outbreaks to deforestation.

Meanwhile, plant-based meat alternatives like Beyond Meat, Gardein and Yves are improving in taste and quality. Another fake meat company, Impossible Foods, hit theheadlines in 2014 with its vegan bloody burger made from coconut oil, wheat and potato protein. The burger appears red when raw and browns when cooked, just like the real thing. And it comes with a side of heme, a ferrous molecule that gives beef that meaty taste many of us crave.

Last year, the Impossible Burger made its debutat a Momofuku restaurant location in New York City. Since then, the burger made it ontomenus at NYCs Public and Saxon + Parole, as well as some high-end restaurants in California.

Last week, Impossible Foods scored a relationship with its first national burger chain at what is for now the small but popular eatery Bareburger. AsMicreported last week, the alternative burger will be offered not on a vegetarian menu, but alongside burgers made from elk, bison and beef.

So can this plant-based delicacy, which Mics Alex Orlov described as the $80 million veggie burger [that] could help fight climate change, sway meat lovers away from cows?

Impossible Foods founder, Stanford University biochemistry professor Pat Brown, says the company is on course to give meat-lovers a product that will eventually be as affordable as beef, but without wreaking havoc on the planets environment.

Many NGOs have long insisted that the global meat industry, especially the beef sector, is the worlds largest contributor to deforestation. In contrast, Impossible Foods claimsits product requires 95 percent less land, consumes 74 percent less water and emits 87 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than beef burgers.

With a White House that is now dismissive of climate change risks and appears determined to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency, the reality is that it will be up to the market to reduce emissions. As reported in publications including Forbes, Impossible Foods does not consider its competitors to be the likes of vegan food companies Quorn or Morningstar. Instead, Impossible Foods strivesto be on the menu alongside meat options such as beef and lamb.

The trick is to offer more than a substitute for meat: To be successful, animal-free products have to taste just as good as the real thing, or even better. Beyond Meat, for example, strivesto bring the price of its fake chicken strips made from ingredients including carrot fiber and pea flower down tothe same as chicken breast meat, or even cheaper if possible.

The Impossible Burger is now on the menu at Bareburgers flagship restaurant near New York University. It will appear at other Manhattan locationsthis month and will eventually roll out at Barebugers nationwide, the company told Mic.

But Impossible Foods, which secured at least $108 million in its latest rounds of funding, will have to go beyond a few entrees at hip restaurants if plant-based protein alternatives will truly compete with the global meat industry.

If the companys new space in Oakland, California, can help itscale and lead to a contract with a fast-food or more mainstream casual restaurant chain with a lower price point, then this industry can have a huge impact on consumers food choices.

Considering recent mounting evidence that the meat industry is causing, rather thanpreventing, more deforestation worldwide, the likes of Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are on the cusp of huge breakthroughs, both environmentally and financially.

Image credit: Impossible Foods (press use only)

Read more:

The Vegan 'Bloody Burger' May Soon Roll Out Nationwide - Triple Pundit (registration) (blog)

I find that most people I talk to about animal agriculture don't want to know the details of how the cattle, pigs, chicken, fish and other animals wind up on their dinner plates.

In fact, most people don't even refer to animals as animals once they are killed and processed. They use the sanitized, non-descriptive and generic term meat.

Now we have Fair Oaks Farms, right here in Indiana, attempting to go a step further by turning animal agriculture into entertainment in the form of a Disneyesque adventure.

The farm, about a half hour south on I-65, recently announced plans to add chicken and beef cattle "adventures" to the existing pig "adventure." The programs are being promoted as tourist attractions.

Despite how you feel about eating meat and consuming dairy and eggs, the process of getting those items to your dinner table is anything but a tourist-friendly adventure for the animals or the planet. I will spare you the gory details of the process, which are easily obtained through a simple online search, but any attempt to spin it other than horrible for the animals and planet is just more "alternative facts."

The media coverage of Fair Oaks' plans caught the attention of Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary in New York and California.

"I admire and appreciate farmers they work hard and feed the world," he said in a prepared statement. "It's important to realize, however, that animal agriculture is not a benign force in our world, despite how it is promoted at Fair Oaks Farms in its 'Pig Adventure' and 'Dairy Adventure.'

"In fact, factory farming is a key driver of significant threats to our environment, such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity; it subjects farm and slaughterhouse workers to dangerous conditions; and it can lead to chronic health problems for consumers who eat animal products. And, of course, animals routinely suffer unspeakable cruelty in the production of meat, dairy and eggs.

"Fair Oaks Farms is a marketing operation that manipulates consumers to feel good about supporting an abusive industry," he wrote.

"Dairy cows are repeatedly impregnated, and their babies are taken away so cows milk can be sold for human consumption," he said. "Pigs are confined behind bars; deprived of soft straw beds and pastures, and the chance to romp and play with their young."

"Just like dogs and cats, farm animals have feelings, and they deserve to be treated with compassion and respect, but Fair Oaks Farms encourages people to believe that these animals are ours to exploit as we wish," he said.

I agree with Baur that most people are compassionate and would avoid unnecessary violence if given a choice and the truth.

With truth, there is hope for the animals, the planet and human health.

The opinions are the author's.

More here:

Vegan in the Region: No alternative facts - nwitimes.com (blog)