A brisk walk in nature can provide mood-boosting benefits, a new UK report says.
If you're struggling with stress, anxiety, or worry, get back to nature, advise British health experts.
The mental health charity Mind just released a report showing scientifically backed findings on the mental health benefits of "ecotherapy" - programs designed to promote well-being through outdoor activities in nature, such as walking groups or community gardening.
The organization has funded 130 projects in England through an organization called Ecominds, with a reported 69 percent of people experiencing improved mental health through the program.
Mind also surveyed 100 people who took part in "green exercise activities," such as gardening, walking groups, or running, finding that 90 percent of respondents said that the combination of exercise and nature is "most important in determining how they feel."
A separate report released earlier this month from UK charity Ramblers and Macmillan Cancer Support found that as little as two and half hours of walking or gardening per week can save lives by lowering stress levels and keeping us healthier and happier.
Scientific research also supports walking as good medicine: a recent study in the British Medical Journal found that brisk walking is just as good as taking medication for some health conditions, including heart diseases. Also, a separate study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention revealed that walking at least an hour a day could significantly cut a woman's risk of breast cancer.
(wot nxt, Creative Commons) Getting in touch with nature can have a significant effect on your wellbeing, and can help prevent depression.
T"Greentherapy," also known as ecotherapy, is gainingtheattention of researchers, nature enthusiasts, andpeoplein search of alleviating symptoms of depression. Being in nature is has long been associated with being mindful and meditative, but only recently hasthescientific community researchedthemental health benefits of outdoor immersion.
A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Essex and published by the mental health organization Mind found that taking a walk in nature reduced depression scores in 71 percent of participants. Researchers compared the effect with a control group who also took walk, but in a shopping centre. Only 45 percent of theshopping center walkers had reduced depression scores, while 22 percent of them actually felt moredepressed.
“Our research shows people commissioning mental health services and social carethat a holistic treatment like ecotherapy delivers not only health benefits, but wider social benefits and cost savings that medication could not,” Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said. Mind has funded several “Ecominds” projects that bringpeople at risk of developing mental health problems to become involved in green activities like gardening or environmental conservation work. The organization has found that 69 percent of people had an increased sense of well-being after participating.
Nature Deficit Disorder
Other studies have shown that reconnecting with green can help lift depression, improve energy, and boost overall well-being and mental health. As American authorRichard Louv says in his book The Nature Principle,people living in high-tech societies often suffer from what he calls "nature deficit disorder."
A 2006 study investigated the benefits of contact with nature and found that it could help prevent mental health disorders. Researchers suggest that contact with nature could be applied in early intervention as well as treatment, along with physical activity and social connectivity. “The case example illustrates how ‘active,’ ‘social’ and ‘adventurous’ contact with nature may be combined with a treatment intervention to protect and enhance the health of individuals experiencing chronic mental, emotional and physical health difficulties,” the study authors write.
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Another study published in 2010 in theJournal of Environmental Psychology showed that spending even just 20 minutes outside per day could boost energy levels. “Research has shown that people with a greater sense of vitality don’t just have moreenergy for things they want to do, they are also more resilient to physical illnesses,” Richard Ryan, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester and an author ofthe 2010 study, said.
But what about the differences in the mental health of people who live in a rural area versus the mental health of urban-dwellers? Interestingly, even though taking walks in nature can help prevent depression, research has shown that the prevalence of depression is significantly higher in people who live in rural areas compared to urbanareas in the U.S. This difference may be due to differing population characteristics. A similar study conducted in Canada in 2011 found the opposite: Rural people had a lower risk of depression and anxiety due to a “stronger sense of community belonging.” Likewise, another paper published in Urban Geography proposed a urban-rural happiness gradient, which showed that though “there are many benefits of big-city living,” but “high levels of happiness are not among them.”
There certainly is still no clear answer as to where happiness lies but perhaps it’s all about finding a balance between nature walks, social community, and just enough green to boost your well-being.
Following on from Depression Awareness Week, Joanna Lowy looks into research that claims wearemore depressed at work thanthe rest of Europe.
Last week was Depression Awareness Week and apparently, we Brits aremore depressed at work than the rest of Europe.
Depressing, huh?
According to theImpact of Depression in the Workplace in Europe (IDEA), conducted last year, 26% of British workers have received a diagnosis in comparison to only 12% of their Italian counterparts,the poll of 7,000 Europeans found.
Subsequently, we are also among those most likely to take time off work due to depression, and spend longer than average on sick leave - 41 days compared to the European mean of 36.
“The UK workforce works the longest hours in Europe and the extra hours in the workplace mean thatpeoplearen’t spending enough time doing things that they really enjoy”, an article on NHS Choicesexplains.
And according to Head of Psychology at Birmingham City University, Professor Craig Jackson, this is compounded by the fact that the overtime is unpaid, which is a “massive problem in the UK – possibly bigger than any other country - because we as workers allow that to be expected of us and it’s an absolute disgrace.”
“It can be attributed to factors such as the weather and our long winters; SAD definitely has an impact”, Executive Medical Director of Capio Nightingale Hospital, Dr William Shanahan says. “In addition the UK is a nation of heavy drinkers smokers and drug users and there is a high occurrence of depression in people who have bad health.
“Perhaps we have reached the end of the “nuclear family”; there are rising numbers of people living alone and without access to the support of communities and the psychological support that networks of friends and families offer”, he continues.
“Britain is not a nation of depressives although we have unique set of circumstances that do not help.”
Dr Lisa Wilson, Counselling Psychologist at City Psychology Group, believes the figures come down to an overriding focus and importance placed upon capitalist ideals within the UK.
“The UK’s largest employer is the financial sector”, she explains. “London is one of the three global financial centres and has one of the largest city economies globally. The highest rates of depression can be found in the countries that place such high importance upon money and it signifying success, identity and status”, particularly “in times of recession and economic decline pressure.
“Money has come to represent happiness – if you earn enough money you will be happy”, she continues.
“Unfortunately, people start to realise that happiness can be elusive no matter how much money you earn. This goal focused living of a bigger house, bigger car, better holidays, often does not bring thehappiness people desire. Consequently they can feel cheated and question the point in what they aredoing.”
“Clinicians are certainly seeing an increase of patients presenting with depression as a result of theeconomic downturn” Dr Shanahan concurs. “An increase in young patients who have graduated from university and cannot find a job, those who are in work and suffering burnout because they areworking so hard to reduce their chances of losing their jobs to the detriment of family life and also those who fear for their futures.” However, he adds, “economic pressure is not a reason in itself; patients have to be predisposed to the condition.”
“Tip of the iceberg”
Professor Craig Jackson, argues that “what they found is likely to be the tip of the iceberg.
“Before you even get to work in the UK you’ve got a hell of a battle on your hands – we have one ofther worst transportation systems in Europe”, he says.
“Scandananavian research shows that if you have to travel more than 30 minutes getting to work, partiuclary via public transport and especially if you're female, it doesn’t bode very well for your mental health. British public transport is so overpacked and unreliable that by the time you’ve got to work you’re already on the edge, and if you’ve got chronic health problems youre going to suffer evenmore becuase of the arduous journey you’ve got 10 times a week.
“Presenteeism is another issue as people turn up to work when they’re not fit to work”, he continues. “They shouldn’t be there but they feel pressurised to be there. Other countries have a much better attitude to be being ill.
“The way public bodies deal with people with long term sickness is different to how the private sector deals with them”, he explains. “The mismanagement and softly soflty approach means public bodies have allowed themselves to be full of people on the sickness gravy train, whereas the private industry would get someone else in. Happier workers will be better workers”, he argues, calling for the “way out of date” public sector to be modernised.
“It could even be a bigger problem than the survey identified, because some people might have been off with depression when the survey was undertaken”, he warns, claiming not to be surprised by theresearch. “We don’t know how to feel happy at work and we do suffer from chronic low mood.”
But Vernon Bryce, Managing Partner of employment solutions company, Kenexa, is susprised by thefindings, keen to point out that there is a difference between clinical and situational depression.
Nevertheless, while he questions the notion that workers in the UK aremore clinically depressed thanthe rest of Europe, his own research has also led him to the conclusion that we are unhappy at work.
“Bad selection will lead to situational depression”, he says, and “under pressure you’ll hate it - even if it’s close to home and nicely paid, the money will not do it. There needs to be a more scientific approach to selecting people to their jobs.
“Poor management of people at work” is also a factor, he continues, citing a “lack of trust, recognition, inclusion, knowing what’s going on, development and leadership.
“Where all these things are low, situational depression will be low”, he explains. “And this can be laid at the feet of leaders and managers in business – their job is to hire and inspire.
“We're not very good at being happy”, he concludes. “We can choose to be positive, but a lot of cultures choose not to. We have a culture that reinforces negativity. We don’t dare to celebrate success in case they ask for a pay rise, we don’t dare to say well done to somebody for being innovative; we’re not generous with our praise. We have learned to be negative.”
Welcomed
Some believe, however, that the research is actually indicative of better awareness and diagnosis than in other countries, and should therefore be welcomed.
"We've got much better over the last six or seven years in this country at identifying depression”, chief executive of the charity Depression Alliance, Emer O'Neill said.
"Peoplethemselves have got better at recognising it, and doctors have got better at diagnosing it and supporting patients.”
“There is an increase in the level of diagnosis and this is party down to the fact that peoplearemoreopen up about depression and bipolar than in the past”, Dr Shanahan agrees. “There has been an interesting change following actresses and actors who are well known suffering from bipolar disorders.”
But Professor Jackson argues that whilst there might be better awareness, it’s still not enough.
“The majority of work forces nowadays are small firms so they don’t have on site occupational health provisions”, he says. “Many managers and colleagues don’t know what to do if someone is showingthe signs and symtoms of depression other than send them home, but that’s not going to take thedepression away – it’s just taking the worker out of the workplace. There may be greater awareness, but people don’t actually have the services in place to help.”
“Employers simply cannot afford to ignore the results of the IDEA survey”, Head of Policy at theMental Health Foundation, Simon Lawton Smith says. “Between issues like rising absenteeism and impaired productivity amongst those who remain at work, mental health problems now cost employers over £26bn a year. Employers still underestimate the prevalence of mental health issues in their workplace and three-quarters of workplaces still have no mental health policy. And until employers put mental health on their Board’s agenda and tackle the stigma and negative perceptions around mental illness, many employees will simply not be prepared to take the risk and disclose their health condition.”
British workers arethe most likely to be diagnosed with depression in Europe, a survey has found.
The worrying extent of the illness in the UK was laid bare by the poll that revealed 26 per cent of Britons had received the diagnosis from their GP, compared with 12 per cent of Italians.
Those in the UK also took the most time off as a result of the illness, recording 41 days on average compared with the European mean of 36.
Stigma? One in four of depressed workers surveyed said they didn't tell their employers about their condition for fear of losing their jobs
The study from the European Depression Association, also revealed than one in 10 working people in Europe have taken time off because of the debilitating psychological condition, which is equivalent to 21,000 lost working days. In 2010, depression was estimated to cost the EU £73billion.
Despite the size of the problem, nearly one in three managers reported they had no formal support or resources to deal with employees who have depression, and 43 per cent called for better policies and legislation to protect employees.
A quarter of employees with depression said they did not inform their work with many saying they feared it would put their job at risk.
The IDEA survey (Impact of Depression in the Workplace in Europe Audit) polled more than 7,000 people in Europe.
MEP Stephen Hughes said: 'Depression in the workplace is an employment and societal challenge that is causing serious damage and which requires attention and action from the European Union.'
Depression is the biggest mental health challenge among working-age people, affecting one in five people at some point in their lives.
However, the poll revealed there is still poor awareness of common symptoms. While 88 per cent identified low mood or sadness as a sign, just a third knew that forgetfulness could point to depression and around half knew it could affect concentration.
When asked what is needed to support employees with depression in the workplace, managers most often cited more counselling services and better government legislation and policies.
Dr Vincenzo Costigliola, President of the European Depression Association said 'The results of the IDEA survey show that much needs to be done in raising awareness and supporting employees and employers in recognising and managing depression in the workplace.
'We ask policymakers to consider the impact of depression on the workforce and charge them with addressing depression and workers and workplace safety.'
Full results of the IDEA survey will be published in 2013.
People living in the countryside are less likely to suffer stress and anxiety than city dwellers because their brains are wired differently, a study has found.
Different parts of the brain are used depending on where you livePhoto: ALAMY
5:00PM BST 22 Jun 2011
Previous studies have noted that those born and bred in cities were more likely to suffer anxiety or mood disorders than their rural counterparts.
The biological reasons were unknown, but new research, reported in Nature, shows different parts of the brain are used depending on where you live.
City residents place more stress on the amygdala, which is involved with emotional regulation and mood, whereas country dwellers show more activity in the cingulate cortex - associated with regulating stress.
Dr Jens Pruessner, of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, said: "Previous findings have shown that the risk for anxiety disorders is 21 per cent higher for people from the city, who also have a 39 per cent increase for mood disorders.
"In addition, the incidence for schizophrenia is almost doubled for individuals who are born and brought up in cities.
"These values are a cause for concern and determining the biology behind this is the first step to remedy the trend."
He and colleagues studied a series of brain scans from healthy volunteers from rural and urban areas to reach their conclusion.
Dr Pruessner said: "These findings suggest that different brain regions are sensitive to the experience of city living during different times across the lifespan.
"Future studies need to clarify the link between psychopathology and these affects in individuals with mental disorders.
"These findings contribute to our understanding of urban environmental risk for mental disorders and health in general.
"They further point to a new approach to interface social sciences, neurosciences and public policy to respond to the major health challenge of urbanisation."
Scientists have confirmed what every urbanite has long suspected – life in thecity is more stressful.
Researchers have shown that the parts of the brain dealing with stress and emotion are affected by living among the crowds.
The findings help shed light on why those who are born and raised in urban areas aremore likely to suffer from anxiety, depression and schizophrenia than those brought up in the countryside.
Country life: Past findings have shown that exposure to green space boosts health and reduces stress
The team of international scientists behind the finding are unsure why city life is so bad for the nerves.
However, past studies have shown that exposure to green space reduces stress, boosts health and makes us less vulnerable to depression. The findings come from the brain scans of 32 healthy volunteers from urban and rural areas.
Dr Jens Pruessner of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Quebec, who helped carry out the study, said: ‘Previous findings have shown that the risk for anxiety disorders is 21 per cent higher for people from thecity, who also have a 39 per cent increase for mood disorders.
‘In addition, the incidence of schizophrenia is almost doubled for individuals born and brought up in cities. These values are a cause for concern.’
Dr Pruessner and colleagues from the Univerity of Heidleberg in Germany monitored the brain activity of adult volunteers while they carried out mental arithmetic puzzles under time pressure.
The functional magnetic resonance imaging scans revealed that the brains of those living in cities reacted differently to stress, the researchers report in the journal Nature.
Rat race: City life affects the region of the brain which controls stress, according to research
The region of the brain called the amygdala – involved in mood and emotion – was more active among the volunteers raised in cities, they found.
And those with an urban upbringing had a more active cingulate cortex – a region involved in regulating stress – while carrying out the task.
A larger study would be needed to confirm the findings. The researchers are unsure why city life affects the regions of the brain that handle stress.
Pollution, toxins, crowding or noise could all contribute, they say.
However, past studies have shown that access to green space soothes frayed nerves and improves well-being.
In 2009 Essex University scientists showed that as little as five minutes in a green space cut stress.
Other studies have shown that those with access to countryside are less likely to have heart disease or strokes.
Psychologists have argued that millions of years of evolution means the human brain has not developed to cope with life surrounded by thousands of strangers.
The part of the brain that senses danger becomes overactive incity-dwellers when they are under stress
Researchers found that the regions of brain that regulate emotion and anxiety areoveractive in city-dwellers. Photograph: Howard Sochurek/ Corbis
The brains of people living in cities operate differently from those in ruralareas, according to a brain-scanning study. Scientists found that two regions, involved in the regulation of emotion and anxiety, become overactive in city-dwellers when they are stressed and argue that thedifferences could account for the increased rates of mental healthproblems seen in urban areas.
Previous research has shown that people living in cities have a 21% increased risk of anxiety disorders and a 39% increased risk of mood disorders. In addition, the incidence of schizophrenia is twice as high in those born and brought up in cities.
In the new study, Professor Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg of the University of Heidelberg in Germany scanned the brains of more than 50 healthy volunteers, who lived in a range of locations from rural areas to large cities, while they were engaged in difficult mental arithmetic tasks. Theexperiments were designed to make the groups of volunteers feel anxious about their performance.
The results, published in Nature, showed that the amygdala of participants who currently live in cities was over-active during stressful situations. "We know what the amygdala does; it's the danger-sensor ofthe brain and is therefore linked to anxiety and depression," said Meyer-Lindenberg.
Another region called the cingulate cortex was overactive in participants who were born in cities. "We know [the cingulate cortex] is important for controlling emotion and dealing with environmental adversity."
This excess activity could be at the root of the observed mental health problems, said Meyer-Lindenberg. "We speculate that stress might cause these abnormalities in the first place – that speculation lies outside what we can show in our study, it is primarily based on the fact that this specific brain area is very sensitive to developmental stress. If you stress an animal, you will find even structural abnormalities in thatarea and those may be enduring and make an animal anxious. What we're proposing is that stress causes these things and stress is wherethey are expressed and then lead to an increased risk of mental illness."
By 2050, almost 70% of peopleare predicted to be living in urban areas. On average, city dwellers are "wealthier and receive improved sanitation, nutrition, contraception and healthcare", wrote theresearchers in Nature. But urban living is also associated with "increased risk for chronic disorders, a more demanding and stressful social environment and greater social disparities. The biological components of this complex landscape of risk and protective factors remain largely uncharacterised."
"Some thrive in New York city; others would happily swap it for a desert island. Psychologists have found that a substantial factor accounting for this variability is the perceived degree of control that people have overtheir daily lives. Social threat, lack of control and subordination are all likely candidates for mediating the stressful effects of city life, and probably account for much of the individual differences."
Working out what factors in a city cause the stress in the first place is thenext step in trying to understand the mental health effects of urbanareas. Meyer-Lindenberg said that social fragmentation, noise or over-crowding might all be factors. "There's prior evidence that if someone invades your personal space, comes too close to you, it's exactly that amygdala-cingulate circuit that gets [switched on] so it could be something as simple as density."
He said the research could be used, in future, to inform city design.
"What we can do is try and make cities better places to live in from theview of mental health. Up to now, there really isn't a lot of evidence-base to tell a city planner what would be good, what would be bad."
Stress can cause headaches, high blood pressure and stomach upsets.
While we commonly think of stress as too much mental or emotional pressure, physiological or physical stress is also important. Stress can affect how you feel, think and behave as well as how your body works, because your mind and body constantly interact.
What is stress?
Stress causes a surge of hormones in your body. When your body detects stress, a small region in the base of the brain called thehypothalamus reacts by stimulating the body to produce hormones that include adrenaline and cortisol.
These hormones help you to deal with any threats or pressure you arefacing - which is called the 'fight or flight' response.
Adrenaline increases your heart rate, raises your blood pressure and provides extra energy.
Cortisol, known as the stress hormone, also temporarily increases energy by triggering therelease of glucose into the bloodstream, to helpthe person fight or run away. At the same time, other bodily functions which are not immediately needed, such as digestion, are suppressed.
The body's response to stress usually regulates itself. As your hormone levels fall, your heart and blood pressure will return to normal.
Everyone needs a certain amount of stress or pressure to live well. It's what gets you out of bed in the morning and motivates you throughout the day. However, stress becomes problematic when there's too much or too little.
Whilst a lack of stress means your body is under-stimulated, stress that is too intense or prolonged, causes your body to release stress hormones over a long period. This increases the risk of a range of physical health problems including headaches, stomach upsets and high blood pressure. It can even increase the risk of having a stroke or heart attack.
More often, stress leads to psychological problems. It can make peoplefeel distrust, anger, anxiety and fear, which in turn can destroy relationships at home and at work. Stress also plays a key role in thedevelopment of anxiety disorders and depression.
Long-term stress can play havoc with your immune system, and a recent study suggests it raises the odds of developing viral infections.
Other research found people who suffered from chronic stress at work were at greater risk of developing metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.
Causes of stress
Many aspects of life can cause stress, such as money problems, work issues or difficult relationships. When a person is stressed, it can get inthe way of managing responsibilities, which in turn can pile on yet morepressure. Having to cope with illness can compound these sorts of stresses.
Thehuman brain has been described asthemost complex object intheuniverse. And, because we all have unique experiences from which we develop our personalities,thecomplexity of human emotional life is immense.
Theword "stress" is an unusual one. It is used to describe negative, difficult, emotions, or even mental ill-health. It's useful to think about three broad groups of causes of emotional difficulties - biological factors, social factors and life events.
Biological factorsarevery important.Thestructure and functioning ofthebrain -thenerves, synapses, and neurotransmitters -arevital to mental health. But human beingsaremuchmorethantheir biology...
People often feel over-stressed as a result of an event or 'trigger'. This doesn't have to be negative, such as the death of a loved one, redundancy or divorce, it can also be seemingly positive like a new partner, new job or going on holiday.
Feelings of stress can occur over a short period of time or can be chronic, for example when someone is coping with long-term unemployment or is stuck in a bad relationship.
People have different ways of dealing with stress. Some situations that may be motivating to one person, could feel stressful to someone else due to their personality type.
Recent research suggests our genes areclosely linked to our personalities and maytherefore dictate how susceptible we are to stress.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/21685448
The impact of QR Codes in ourlives http://www.focusonline.co.za/blog/the-impact-of-qr-codes-in-our-lives/
Communication has and will always be one of the pillars on which humanity can trust to lead us into the future. The danger however is in how we use it. From clicks to grunts, to scratching on walls and painting in exotic oils, we as individuals have always wanted to get ourselves heard, but more importantly to be understood.
As the world gets more connected and thirsty for information,we need to find good ways of communication and try our best to stay away from the dangers of bad or miss communication. We at Focus Online have recently thought of which communication tool was a good sustainable platform, that could crossover from devices to device effortlessly and had the longest chance of surviving the quick paced environment of communication..and after a bit of investigation into differentareas of communication, such as text, imagery, and how we share it (communicate it) such as mobile phone or computer, we discovered the still growing and hugely underused QR Code or abbreviated ‘Quick Response Code’.
Not knowing much on the matter of QR Codes and what not to begin with, We dived in head first, used it on our marketing label for ourFocus Online Marketing seminar wine gift as a web address link, only to find that this recent barcode tool to the greater Western World, is in fact not as recent as first thought and has since 1994 been very much alive in Japan, its Asian surroundings and spreading rapidly. This was strange to us, this revolutionary tool, a two dimensional bar code that could hold chucks of valuable information ready for use in an instant, was available to all since 1994 but not a peep…until now.Why? What could have happened in a decade or so that would change our perceptions on this tool and how it could assist ourcommunication for good, well we feel this is because of the sudden surge in Smartphone and feature phone upgrades, materials and usage, but mainly driven byour human need to know more and share vital information. QR codesare in a sense, the new age of Cave drawings.
Originally QR Codes were created by a Toyota subsidiary company by the name ofDenso Wave, they created the new style of barcode to contain and track information on equipment and parts for vehicle manufacturing, which has since then come along way. Now you can store web addresses, images, text, calender events and more. In essence we are all a Toyota company and the parts and equipment we track are the things in our lives which we wish to share with others.
3 Important things to know about QR codesare:
1 . The more information you add, the smaller the blocks within image become.
You need two things for this QR process to work, namely - 2 . a QR code generator. This is the program which generates the QR code picture for you in a small, medium or large picture size. We like the XZing Progect code generator but your not limited, just google QR code generator and you should find a site that assists your needs.
3. You need a QR code reader, this is software that allows your device to read and interpret the barcode correctly. This can be done online via XZing reader but this is where Smartphones are the saviour, as these days its simple to find the mobile app needed to read QR codes and hence reading the barcodes have become more simple. Andoid phones we suggest QR Droid. Blackberrys we suggest the QR code scanner. Iphones can use Qrafter and Window mobile phone users can check out Upcode.
QR CODE STRUCTURE (whats in the small picture) : Based in black and white, the QR code can be contain up to 7089 characters of information depending on what format you wish to Code up, its important to note that not all QR readers can accept that much data..so try not to overload with information. Below is a breakdown of the picture, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Its important to note that with the huge growth in tablets and personal communication devices, such as e-readers and smartphones, the QR code is only set to grow and grow and with more people connecting online, more relevant ways of sharing our information is needed.
Now there have been many articles written about how the QR code can assist yourbrand online and offline, and we have given a link to two articles we feel best showof the QR code and its abilities. We feel its important to know this tool and the reading in the links below are sure to lend some insight into this marketing tool. We express this in the video at the end which shows you just how useful the QR code can be for getting valuable marketing information to existing clients, potential customers.
Video on how Japan uses QR Codes to maximise brand visibility:
We at Focus Onlineare happy to embrace this tool, more relevant online marketing tools at our disposal means we get more people to listen to what we have to say..and as I mentioned at the beginning..from the dawn of time communication has always been about getting your voice heard and more importantly…understood.
We wish all our readers happy QR coding for the future and prosperity through sharing of vital information.
Memories from beyond the grave: Headstones equipped to relive favourite songs and videos
A Kent-based entrepreneur has thought up an ingenious way to give loved ones digital memories and tributes of you beyond the grave – by putting them on the grave.
Wendy Nash, from Tonbridge, has launched a new service which equips gravestones with QR (quick response) codes so that mourners can reminisce over videos, photos, music or even a family tree.
QR codes are unique black and white grids which can be scanned by most smartphone devices.
They are often used by businesses to give more details about a product, competition or their company but this time, however, will be used by the relatives who’ll scan the square and then be directed to a website which shows the precious memories.
‘The idea struck me because I have always had a fascination with headstones and eventually I thought to myself ‘is that it? Am I just going to be a name on granite?’ said Nash, who is launching the service through her memorial firm, Hyphenalia.
‘Most of the time that’s all we get, along with a message that doesn’t tell people much about us at all. It’s such a shame and a wasted opportunity.
‘Imagine if someone in your ancestry had achieved something great, but you know nothing about it. It’s something I would want to know and be very proud of.
‘I think it’s quite an original idea and if someone needs help creating a memorial, I can help them.’
The QR codesforgravestones are weatherproof and can be created not just for the newly deceased but for those who passed decades or centuries ago.
QR codes on headstones offered by Poole undertakers
The QR code is added to thegravestone or memorial to launch a biography web page
A Dorset funeral director is offering interactive gravestones which provide information on the person buried.
When scanned, a 1.5in (4cm) Quick Response (QR) code on the memorial launches a biography web page of the deceased on a smartphone or computer.
Steven Nimmo, of Chester Pearce in Poole, said it was a way of families "keeping their loved one in the forefront of their minds".
The first code has already been added to agravestone in a cemetery.
Mr Nimmo said he had first seen the idea used in the in the US and his interest was further sparked after seeing graves of former presidents in Red Square, Moscow, and wanting to know more about their lives.
The system allows relatives to write a biography and add video or pictures to a web page, with set-up fees starting at £95.
Mr Nimmo added: "It's a simple way of putting more into a memorial than just a few words on a headstone.
"Cemeteries are very sacred places - the codes are very small and don't impose on the headstones too much."
The family of Tim Tuttiett, who died in November 2011, have already used the system.
They said it had "given us a chance to bring what Tim meant to us to many other people".
"Tim would have loved the idea of being at the forefront of a new concept," they added.
Mourning in the digital age: New trend for putting QR codes on gravestones to commemorate the dead with online multimedia content
It's modern technology that has secured its roots in the past.
Just when you thought smartphones had taken over all aspects of life, they are now taking control of death too as they enable messages to come from beyond the grave in the form of digital bar codes.
Digital Legacys, a Philadelphia business, is developing brass QR codes that grieving families can attach to the after-life memorials of their loved ones.
The future from beyond the grave: Digital Legacys is a new business that allows grievers to connect with their passed loved ones through the power of the smartphone
Subtle: The brass colour of the plaque is in keeping with the stone
Leaping into the 21st century, the tags will allow smartphone users to upload personal details about the deceased, accessible by way of an online tribute to those who scan the code.
Lorie Miller, who has launched the new business with her husband Rick, said she is confident the concept will take off.
'It's just a great technology,' she said, adding that other similar companies have already demonstrated success in the sale of such codes.
Mrs Miller's inspiration came after the death of her grandparents, whose grave was the first to have one of her brass squares stuck to it.
Entrepreneurial couple: The company was launched by Lorie Miller (left) and her husband rick (right)
Lorie attaches a brass bar code to her grandmother's grave in Philadelphia
Her mother, Mariyn Elias, told npr.org that she hopes her daughter's endeavor will help keep families' memories alive.
'When you come out to the cemetery and you’re just standing and looking at a headstone it’s just looking at printing or writing and you usually walk away feeling teary-eyed or depressed,' she said.
'Now I feel that I come out, and I put my smartphone on, and I can look at my mom and say, "Mom, what were you thinking when you wore that hairdo years ago? I remember when we bought that dress."
'I think you can better feel, and walk away feeling better – maybe even laughing, sometimes.'
Mrs Elias added that she hopes the new technology will help make cemeteries 'come alive'.
New technology: Other similar companies have already demonstrated success in the sale of such codes
Guinna-Pig project: Miller if first trying out the bar code on her grandparents' grave
Whilst Searching through the web, I came across this website called WTF QR CODES and its a site where users upload images of QR codes in weird and wacky places!
http://www.edenproject.com/blog/index.php/2012/04/go-on-the-freaky-nature-trail-and-tour/ As part of our Freaky Nature season, we introduce you to the weird and wonderful world of plants. Freak out on our Trail and Tour: you’ll never look at plants in the same way again!
Follow the Freaky Nature Trail
Follow our Trail to test out your plant knowledge and find some truly weird specimens at our Freaky Nature event (31 March – 15 April and 2 – 10 June 2012). You’ll find out about the amazing ways plants have evolved to survive: they’ve come up with some cunning tactics in order to eat, drink, reproduce and protect themselves from the wind, heat and would-be munchers.
Pick up a Freaky Nature Trail sheet when you arrive at Eden, and then follow the clues and use the map to find the mystery plants: you’ll explore the various zones of Eden: the tropical heat of the Rainforest Biome, the lovely sights and smells of the Mediterranean Biome, and even the mysterious Wild Cornwall area in the Outdoor Biome.
Scan the QR tags with your smartphone
Each plant you find on the Freaky Nature trail will have a label explaining what makes them so special and a QR code (the square barcode-like thing in the corner – you can see one in the picture below). If you have a smartphone, like an Apple iPhone or an Android phone, you can scan the QR code, which will take you to the plant’s very own profile on the Eden website, with even more fun facts and info such as where the plant comes from, what it’s used for and how it protects itself from hungry animals!
How to use QR codes
You’ll need a smartphone, like an Apple iPhone or an Android phone – most of the newer, fancier mobile phones with big screens can scan QR codes.
Download a QR code reader app onto your smartphone from wherever you normally download apps (eg Apple App Store or Android Market) – a variety of reader apps are available, but they pretty much all do the same thing.
Find the plant on the Freaky Nature Trail, and scan the black and white blocky thing with the QR code reader on your smartphone.
Your smartphone will then open a page on Eden Project website with detailed photos and fascinating facts about the plant!
Shhh, don’t tell anyone, but here’s a sneak peek at the profile page for the highland tropical pitcher plant, which is on our Freaky Nature Trail.
Go on a guided Freaky Nature Tour
If that’s not enough and you are after even more crazy plant facts, you can sign up to a free guided Freaky Nature Tour around the Mediterranean Biome, led by one of our friendly experts, such asDavid Diaper or Carla Wentink.
Register at the information desk (on the Link Bridge between the two Biomes) to join the tours, which begin at 11am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm.
Adobe released Edge Preview 3 at the beginning of October 2011. Edge is a web motion and interaction design tool that allows designers to bring animated content to websites, mobile devices, and desktop browsers using web standards. It features an easy-to-use interface, with a properties-based timeline for creating HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript-based animation.
This release includes many new features such as Actions (JavaScript functions), which enable you to handle HTML DOM events and add interactive elements to Edge compositions. For example, you can specify an Action that occurs when an element is clicked. You can also specify Actions to the timeline to listen for playback events, such as "complete," which fires when a timeline reaches its end (or its beginning when playing in reverse). Use the new Edge Actions Editor to add your own custom JavaScript code and edit the behavior of functions.
After creating animations, you can control how they play back. Edge Preview 3 includes the ability to loop animations in a composition. Additionally, the new code snippet library includes pre-built logic that you can customize as desired. The new animation and interactivity capabilities open up a whole new set of possibilities.
In this article, you'll examine a sample project that was presented at Adobe MAX 2011. The site features a fictitious food truck named Rahko's Ramen. The completed website consists of three Edge compositions running in a single page. The compositions are coordinated to play simultaneously once all three have finished loading. The result is an engagingwebsite that combines animation with interactive maps (that update based on the date selected) and a rotating display of the business's recent Twitter posts (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Three Edge compositions populate the top left, top right, and bottom left regions of the Home page.
Downloading and installing Edge Preview 3
If you'd like to follow along with this article and explore how Edge Preview 3 works, download the Edge installer. After downloading and installing Edge Preview 3, check out the Edge API to get detailed information on using the EdgeJavaScript runtime. To learn more about working withEdge, visit the AdobeEdge Preview page on Adobe Labs.
Examining the project assets
Begin by downloading the sample files for this project. The site is comprised of seven different sections:
Truck
Site
Twitter Feed
Maps
SiteMultiComp
Preloader
Modernizr
Note: The Modernizr folder contains a static version of the Home page to deliver a down-level browser experience for older systems that do not support HTML5.
Each section is numbered and contained within separate folder(s). Open each folder to review the Edge JavaScript includes, images, CSS, JavaScript, Edge, and HTML files associated with each section. The Maps feature is compartmentalized into five separate folders that contain the different views that are displayed based on the visitor's interactions.
As you click through the folders to explore the associated files, notice that the code generated for interactivity is placed in JavaScript files that follow this naming convention:
name_edgeActions.js
If desired, you can open these JavaScript files in an external text editor and make changes to the code. However, take care to preserve the Edge comments because the comments are required for the code to function properly when opened in Edge.
Each of the bindings in the code correlates to a UI setting in the Edge workspace. For example, if you open the map_edgeActions.js file in a text editor to review it, you'll notice that the settings applied in the Edge workspace are reflected in the code (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Review the code in the edgeActions.js files to see how the Edge settings populate the JavaScript code.
When you want to add interactivity and animations in Edge, you create triggers that execute code at a specific position on a timeline. You can also bind code to the document, timeline, and specific elements. This code is called in the context of a symbol — even when handling element actions. The current symbol is always stored in the "this" variable. For example, you can call Symbol API methods such as: this.play() and this.playReverse().
In Edge, the stage is also a symbol. The code for each composition and symbol is contained by a closure. Closures are responsible for encapsulating code and preventing Edge code from polluting the window namespace, where it could interfere with other JavaScript code (see Figure 3).
Figure 3. The Action bindings and Trigger bindings are wrapped inside symbol closures.
Examining the production process
If you haven't already, check out the sample site.
The Rhako's Ramen sample site is designed to display acceptably across a wide variety of browsers with varying Internet connection speeds. When you first visit the Home page, a preloader displays an animation until all of the content has finished loading and is ready to play. Additionally, the site is set up to display an alternate page for older browsers.
In the lower left corner, an animation of a bird is displayed before loading the rotating series of posts from a Twitter account's data feed. As you view the final version of the site in a browser, notice how three separate Edge compositions are combined into one HTML page to add different features to the Home page.
The following overview highlights the workflow used to complete this project:
Step 1. The designer creates the page layout and slices the Photoshop comp to produce the assets for the truck section of the composition (see Figure 4).
Figure 4. The assets for the truck animation are created and exported from Adobe Photoshop.
Step 2. The assets are imported into AdobeEdge and the timeline is used to create the animated truck that appears to drive in from the right side and then split open to reveal a hidden seating area (see Figure 5).
Figure 5. The truck animation is created in the timeline.
Step 3. Back in Photoshop, the comp is sliced and the assets are exported for the map composition and the main Home page.
Step 4. Return to Edge to create the map animation. Configure the three different maps to display based on the date the user clicks and add the code to build out the map presentation (see Figure 6).
Figure 6. Set up the timeline to jump to the corresponding map for each selected date.
Step 5. Use the Home page assets generated in Photoshop to create the main index.html page. Animate the blue bird and wire up the Twitter feed to the animated elements so that it cycles through the recent set of tweets. At this point, create the animated preloader (animated GIF) that is displayed on the page until all of the compositions have loaded and are ready to play (see Figure 7).
Figure 7. The bottom portion of the Home page is constructed, the preloader animation is added, and the Twitter feed is set up to cycle through recent posts.
Step 6. Embed the truck and map compositions in the index.html Home page (see Figure 8).
Figure 8. Populate the upper portion of the Home page by embedding the truck and map compositions.
Step 7. Build and incorporate the modernizr.js file to add a (raw) down-level browser experience for older systems that do not support HTML5.
As you can see from this quick overview, AdobeEdge Preview 3 offers many new features you can use to create interactive sites and interesting animations that display across modern browsers and a wide assortment of devices, including tablets and smartphones. Use the provided sample project files to analyze how compositions are constructed and discover strategies for creating your own preloaders and animated elements.
Remember those cool interactive media rich websites that were built with Flash? They would often feature full screen layouts, animated elements and futuristic interfaces that made HTML websites look plain and boring. Unfortunately Flash brought along all kinds of problems from inaccessibility to high processor loads, but these days similar styles ofwebsite are being built using HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript libraries such as jQuery. This post rounds up a collection of super cool HTML websites that feature all those clever effects we loved about Flash websites of years past.