Category Archives: Mind Uploading

Blended learning a mix of being in class and learning remotely will be a reality in schools in Ireland when they reopen in September, the Minister for Education Joe McHugh has said. But given the experiences of pupils, parents and teachers of mandatory homeschooling during the Covid-19 lockdown, how feasible is it to continue remote learning into the next academic year? We asked parents for their views.

I have two children, one primary, one secondary. While the primary-school teacher is very active using apps such as Seesaw to interact with children, the secondary-school teachers seem a lot more lax.

My primary-aged child misses the routine, and is essentially left to her own devices if we are busy at work (typically one parent will work from home and one go to work). If lucky, well complete a portion of the assigned work a couple of days a week.

The secondary-school child knows that teachers have limited power over the internet. He does a bare minimum, an hour or so a day, after much cajoling. He is a capable child who does well at school, but he is not motivated to study on his own initiative.

They will catch up on the learning (it might take a while to break bad habits), but I am worried about their mental states. As parents, we have taken on the roles of teacher, sports coach, friend and childminder while, in our case, having no change in our roles as full-time employees. The pressure is huge. Im sure Im not the only one ready to crack.

I have no idea how they expect blended learning to work. I have a six-year-old in junior infants. Im lucky if I get 10 minutes schoolwork from him. I also have a four-year-old and a nine-month-old. My nine-month-old had Down syndrome, and while he is thankfully healthy, I have to do physio with him and spend longer with him at mealtimes than a typical baby.

Im due back to work in August, and presume I will be working from home. How on earth Im supposed to manage homeschooling as well as work and the various appointments my nine-month-old has, I have no idea.

I am a single mother of a 10-year-old girl. When schools closed I took our tiny caravan out of the garage and set it up in the garden as our new school. I changed my work schedule to a split shift. I work early in the morning for few hours and in the evening for a few more. At 10am my daughter puts on her jacket and we go to school in the caravan until 2pm.

The school has been very good, setting up homeschooling via an interactive app. On Mondays they send the core material for the week, we receive videos from the teacher, we upload work, do presentations, and we have a blog. I am more aware now of the curriculum my daughter is following in school.

Of course, the social aspect is missing. But my daughter and her friends have spent hours on video calls, while playing their favourite videogames, or dancing or singing karaoke together.

For us, homeschooling has been a positive experience.

I am consistently fascinated to hear Government politicians talking about remote learning continuing in the autumn. When did it start? My colleagues in other countries have had formal video lessons for their kids, but in Ireland this is the exception. The teachers in my childrens school have been amazing and accessible, but sending some worksheets to do at home is not remote learning.

My wife and I both work full-time, so even finding 30 minutes to do school work is a challenge. In Ireland, its always been the assumption that someone is at home to mind children. If this continues to be the assumption from Government in the autumn, many people will be forced out of the labour force to care for their children.

I am a single mum working full-time and have a little boy who is eight. It has been extremely difficult balancing work and a child at home. After numerous attempts, given that doing any work during this time has been confirmed by my sons school as non-compulsory, I have stopped trying and have chosen to use this time to teach my son life skills, like sorting washing, recycling and taking out the bins.

For me, the pandemic has brought back the balance I have longed for, for years. I need only one thing to make it perfect. . . and that is the kids back in school.

I have three boys. The youngest two have autism spectrum disorder. They have not engaged with remote learning, despite the wonderful efforts by their teachers. The change in routine has seen them both regress terribly, huge gains have been undone, and socially they are struggling having been isolated from the familiar faces they see each day. Blended learning will not work for the majority of children with additional needs. They need to be back at school. They need consistency.

The day the schools closed my son cried for the whole day, he has cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability. He has regressed so much and has started pinching his face with stress. He has to be coaxed out of the house. I pray he will get back to school in September full time. Remote learning is not working here.

We have a full programme of schoolwork daily for our fifth-class and junior-infant children. Im self-employed in hospitality, so Im currently off work but spend hours on the computer before and after homeschooling. Its a juggle to get it all done.

There is great variety in the junior infant programme, but fifth class is the same routine and the same books, day in, day out. The school built a fantastic website, and both teachers engage with us daily, but there is no face-to-face interaction.

Im worried about my children falling behind and I carry the burden of their learning on my shoulders. On Sundays I watch videos so I can teach the maths programme. I correct workbooks from answer books sent from the school. We photograph all the other work and send it back through an app. Its never-ending.

I feel under pressure to complete all the work sent home. I know other parents dont, and thats fine, but I want to prioritise their education and give them the best chance in life. We have no idea when this will end. I dont know how Im going to manage when my business reopens.

Blended learning is not sustainable with the lack of broadband infrastructure. The only one of my three children who has had any face-to-face interaction with their teacher has not been able to interact with the sessions, as the rest of his class either cant see him or hear him, or both. Uploading work to Seesaw is also an issue due to connection problems.

If homeschooling continues in September a co-ordinated approach by all schools should apply. The level of homework and the social media used differs not only from school to school, but between classes. Some teachers are providing and marking homework, some are sending videos, some are using textbooks and some are providing handouts via apps, which require a printout or the child to have his/her own iPad/device.

I am a public servant working from home (my spouse also works but I am the homework person), and my kids do well in school, yet it is difficult to find time to manage all the apps and the 20 notifications a day from the school. They say homework is voluntary, but follow up on children who have not done enough.

The children are also comparing with friends so there is peer pressure to complete everything. Schools need to be reminded that not every family has a stay-at-home parent available to homeschool all day long.

I have homeschooled my eight-year-old granddaughter during lockdown. I dont feel she has missed out. When you take art, PE, story time and other extra activities from the school day, her educational learning time isnt that long, so we dont spend all day doing school work. We have done many other things together and have broadened her learning about everyday life, nature and general knowledge. She misses her friends but FaceTimes them regularly.

We will be very reluctant to send her into a packed school unless we are 100 per cent sure she will be safe. You wont stop children touching each other. To do so all day long would require the skills of an army colonel, and thats not the environment we want in our schools.

Im a self-employed mother of two. My kids are in third class and senior infants. Irish primary schools are not set up for remote learning. My kids have not had one remote class with their teachers. I understood at the start; we were all struggling to deal with an unprecedented crisis, but three months in, Im less tolerant.

Children need engagement with their teachers; and not via email. There has been no indication of how blended learning will work. I imagine it will mean more dumping on parents, who are also meant to be helping reopen the economy. Years of underinvestment and the biggest class sizes in Europe are coming home to roost. Our children have been treated appallingly. I wont forget this when the next election comes around.

My twins are 10 and go to an all-Irish school. I do not speak or read it well. Their books are in Irish, so I cant help them. I am terrified to be told they will be remote learning in September. They live in a rural setting, ideal in normal times but very lonely now and not good for their mental health. They are missing their school so much.

My kids fourth-class teacher has been fantastic. Using Google Classroom, he uploads a PowerPoint every day for each subject. Work is corrected and commented on every day. There are 32 kids in my sons class. The teacher responds straight away to any questions. He is definitely working hard.

Some parents want Zoom classes, but I do not agree with them, as I dont know who could be watching my kid, off camera, on one of the other kids devices. Also Im worried about Zoom bombings (hackings). My nieces secondary school stopped Zooms because of a boy flashing himself behind his brother on the screen.

My partner and I are essential workers. Homeschooling our three children aged four, 11 and 14 has been a nightmare. I have had to rely on a neighbour to look after my children. I start school work once I come in from work at 5.30pm.

The 11-year-old has managed without any hand-holding. But our 14-year-old suffers extreme anxiety, which has been made all the more apparent during lockdown. She struggled with the volume of work set. She stayed in bed for six days in one period, only getting up to go to the toilet. Fortunately we are already in the system, and I contacted CAMHS, who have tweaked her medication to help her cope.

I could not help with certain subjects such as music or Irish, so these were left to one side. For the rest, we made a plan, schooling from 6pm until 10pm. I set some small tasks to complete while I was at work. She is now on holidays, which is a great relief.

My eight-year-old daughters school refused to continue her resource learning support for dyslexia. The principal emailed to say they were not in a position to do so, and online learning could not replace the classroom. After eight weeks we received one email from the resource teacher with a list of apps to try. A 40-minute Zoom class happened once a week for the class in its entirety. We resorted to hiring a tutor as my husband and I were both working full-time.

I have three children. My daughter (13) is going into second year. Her motivation has gone down the tubes. Some of her teachers were fantastic and did a mix of Zoom and home learning, and others did little or nothing at all. It made my blood boil, as I know other schools were running all-day classes.

Unless more effort is made, my daughter will be completely disengaged by the time school returns full time.

My son (eight) will be changing schools in September, as he is nearing the end of junior school. He did school work 10am-11am, and watching the Home School Hub on RT, a godsend. His teacher put a lot of planning into her homeschool programme, but it was not the most practical, with lots of websites and pages to be printed.

Our six-year-old son is in the ASD unit. The teacher sends work every day via an app. After several meltdowns trying to encourage work, I parked it as it wasnt worth the stress. His new routine involves a trip to the beach. This is heaven for him, and it is going to take an army to get him to leave the house to return to school.

I am worried; the regression is real, the aggression is real. Special-needs kids are the real victims in this pandemic.

Our 14-year-old daughter is self-motivated and has engaged with Zoom classes and schoolwork. She has been content in her learning bubble, but I worry as she is missing out on the social interaction.

Our 12-year-old daughter has high-functioning autism, dyslexia and dyscalculia. She is in sixth class and has been attending an autism unit while being integrated into her mainstream class with an SNA.

Since March 13th she will not engage in any academic activities. I tried a loose routine a walk, half hour schoolwork, half hour dance. She stubbornly rejected any routine being imposed. She no longer enjoys me reading to her as it makes her realise how she is unable read the books her peers are reading. We have tried audiobooks but she cant concentrate. Technology is her best and worst friend.

Thanks to voice recognition she can message her friends and check spellings, but she is fascinated by videos and gets frustrated trying to decipher the hundreds of messages on her friends group chats.

I have resigned myself to functional learning as the school have termed it. We play cards, we bake, she is doing five minutes of Duolingo Spanish a day, we go for walks, play tennis, she grooms our dog. We also incorporate some worksheets sent from school.

This learning will continue until she starts in mainstream secondary school in September. After six months without structure, we are anticipating a very difficult transition.

Read more:

Im ready to crack. Parents on three months of remote learning - The Irish Times

Social media can be a tricky thing. One minute, you think youre uploading the next viral social car video and then next minute you find yourself in cuffs because of it. Thats exactly what happened to an Audi RS6 Avant owner in the UK, who filmed himself, along with a friend in the passenger seat, eclipsing 201 mph on a public motorway. That video did become popular and so popular, in fact, that the police found it. Whoops.

The police saw the video, recognized the stretch of road and the vehicle and found the two 38-year olds who created it. Once found, the driver was arrested and has since been released on bail. The road they were driving on was identified as the M23 between Gatwick and Crawley, which has a speed limit of up to 70 mph, which means the Audi RS6 Avant was traveling at almost three times the legal limit.

What makes this even more intense is that the videos shows the car getting fro 60 mph to about 116 mph in just around five seconds. Thats seriously quick and this was done in the last-gen RS6.

The previous-gen Audi RS6 Avant uses a 4.0 liter twin-turbocharged V8, which can make anywhere between 560 horsepower and 600 horsepower (the video doesnt specify if its the RS6 Performance or not). So its a seriously fast car and one that can easily get you into jail-time speeds, evidently.

To make matters even worse, the driver had just one hand on the steering wheel for much of the video and they were recording it, so their attention was even more divided. That simply cannot happen at 200 mph or people can very easily die. If your car is traveling at 200 mph, its moving at almost 300 feet per second. That means that, at 200 mph, it can cross an American football field in about one second. Thats a huge distance to cover in just one second, which makes the absolute slightest mistake or circumstance chance can be fatal. Theres simply no time to react if anything happens.

We all like watching fast cars blitz down the Autobahn but the famous German highway was designed, and is continuously maintained, with that sort of speed in mind. The M23 in the UK was not designed for 200 mph and no one should drive that quickly on a public road as such. Even if the car is as cool as an Audi RS6 Avant.

See the rest here:

Audi RS6 Avant Driver Gets Arrested for Driving Over 201 MPH in UK - QuattroDaily - Audi Blog, Audi News and Audi Test Drives

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Manabadi AP Inter Result 2020 Released:As per the latest update, BIEAP is all to make the Andhra Pradesh Intermediate Results 2020 on the official website. Currently, Result Data for AP Inter Result 2020 data is being uploaded on the server and soon will be made live through the links given below. Until then students are advised to keep refreshing this page to get the BIEAP Results first.

AP Inter 2nd Year Result 2020 - Direct Link (Result Uploading)

AP Inter 1st Year Result 2020 - Direct Link (Result Uploading)

Students can now check their Manabadi AP Board Inter 1st and 2nd Year results 2020 online. The BIEAP has released the AP Junior and Senior Inter results 2020 online on the official website after the formal announcement. As per the announcement by the Education Minister, the pass percentage in AP 1st year and 2nd Year results 2020 stands at 59 percent and 63 percent respectively. Students will be able to download their AP Inter results 2020 in the online mode only by visiting the official website - bie.ap.gov.in. Keeping the convenience of the students in mind, direct links to AP Board 11th and 12th result 2020 have also been provided below.

The Manabadi AP Intermediate 1st year result 2020 has been declared with subject-wise marks as the Grading system was cancelled. The AP Inter Senior result 2020 has been released with subject-wise grade points for 2nd-year students as the same was followed in their Junior Intermediate results. Students will be able to download their short marks memos from the official website from 15th June 2020 onwards.

Once the AP Board 11 and 12th Result 2020 is published online after the formal announcement today, students will be able to access the same online. It is, thus, important for the students to be familiar with the procedure to access the AP Inter Result 2020. Students must note the AP Intermediate Results 2020 will be available online only. The official website of the Board will have result link on the first page itself. Students will be required click on the AP Inter First/Second Year Result 2020 to check their result. On the web page that appears next, students will need to fill in their details such as roll number, date of birth and other requisite details and submit. The AP 11 and 12th Result 2020 will be displayed on the screen. Students are advised to carefully go through their AP Intermediate Results 2020 and download the same for future admission process. Students must also download a copy of their AP Junior Inter result 2020/ AP Senior Inter result 2020 for future reference.

See the original post here:

Check Manabadi AP Inter 1st Year and 2nd Year Result 2020 Declared, 59% and 63% students pass in 11th and 12th - Jagran Josh

Every day, the ritual is the same. Open the pot with a click, take out a testing strip and put it in the machine. Put a new needle in the lancet and prick my finger. Then I watch as the drop of blood seeps slowly up the strip, until the machine begins to calculate those crucial figures. This is the worst part. It takes only six seconds to register my blood sugar, but those brief moments feel interminable; I breathe slowly through the anxiety. A beep sounds and two figures flash up on the screen. And then theres the moment of elation - or, on a bad day, hours of despair.

I do this four times a day, every day, just to keep my baby safe, because Ive been diagnosed with gestational diabetes (GD). The process - as well as the careful planning of every single item of food that passes my lips - will go on until early October, when my second child is due to be born. And then, the moment the placenta is removed - as if it had never happened at all - my body will go back normal.

Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that only emerges in pregnancy and affects approximately 16 per cent of pregnant women. Hormones excreted by the placenta cause insulin resistance. For most women this just means the baby has time to take energy from her food before it is transported to the mothers cells. But for an unlucky few, insulin resistance is so high that the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to compensate and blood glucose levels rise too high. These women become diabetic. GD can develop at any stage of pregnancy though is most common in the second or third trimester.

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Those numbers on that little screen dictate the future for me and my unborn baby.

If my blood sugar is under the targets set by my midwife, I can relax. If its too high, I need to know why, so I can be sure it doesnt happen again. Did I eat a little too much wholemeal toast with breakfast? Should I have had just two new potatoes instead of three, with my dinner? If I cant explain it, its time to call the midwife. I may have to start taking medication or even injecting insulin every day. Once Im on medication my birth plans will have to change. I probably wont be allowed to deliver any later than 38 weeks.

That thought of that, and of having to give an injection to myself, scares me a lot - but its a far better prospect than the potential complications for the baby and me if I dont find a way to bring my blood sugar down

When I was first diagnosed with gestational diabetes, late in my first pregnancy in 2017, I was shocked. I had none of the risk factors - such as a high BMI, a family history of diabetes, or suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome - and my midwife had said all my routine blood tests were normal. But I knew something wasnt quite right.

While my new NCT buddies were blooming in their early third trimesters, I felt awful. I was exhausted, nauseous and no amount of water could slake my terrible thirst. Then I started getting daily migraines, with visual disturbances so bad that I had to stop driving. I had my blood pressure checked but that was normal. I went to the optician and, yes, my eyesight had deteriorated - but glasses made no difference and the blind spots kept coming.

One day, after spending most of the morning unable to work, I left my office and went straight to my hospitals Maternity Assessment Unit to be checked over yet again. The consultant who saw me sent me away with a blood sugar monitor and asked me to check my levels regularly and come back in 48 hours. Two days later, she took one look at the readings and sent me for a glucose tolerance test to confirm the diagnosis.

It came back positive. At 33 weeks pregnant, I was diabetic.

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

By cruel coincidence, the final diagnosis came on my birthday. No celebratory cake for me! That night I made the mistake of googling gestational diabetes and frightening myself. If GD is detected early and well managed, the risks can be reduced. If not treated - by changes to diet, an increase in exercise and, if necessary, medication or insulin injections - it can cause major complications, including large babies who suffer injuries at birth, babies born with low blood sugar which can cause brain damage, and even full-term stillbirth - though this is rare.

My midwife told me not to worry as I was being carefully looked after, but it was all the motivation I needed to get my diet in check.

Luckily, a quick lesson in nutrition and how carbs work was all I needed to get my blood sugar under control - and with only seven weeks left until birth, I had a relatively easy ride. Gone were the long-promised cake and tea afternoons of pre-baby maternity leave; in came meticulous meal planning, carbohydrate counting and a new set of digital scales to weigh out my tiny portions of wholewheat pasta, new potatoes and brown rice.

All sweet treats were gone, and every carb had to be paired with a high fat or high protein food to help slow down the glucose as it entered my bloodstream. I lived on diet of cheese, eggs, meat and vegetables; it was like an Atkins bootcamp. The thing I missed the most was breakfast cereal, known among diabetic mums as GD kryptonite.

I had my daughter in August 2017. She was a dinky 6lb 2oz, but her blood sugars were stable and she was healthy.

It was me who suffered most after delivery; despite keeping my readings under control, I still developed post-partum pre-eclampsia, a serious condition caused by high blood pressure and linked to GD. But as promised, the diabetes itself disappeared the day I gave birth.

So, when I fell pregnant again, in January this year, I needed no warning. This time I had two risk factors - gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy and being over the age of 35 - so I went straight to my GP and asked for a testing kit to keep an eye on things at home. By 15 weeks, my numbers were starting to creep up - even though, yet again, I was passing all the official tests.

With so few midwife appointments due to the coronavirus outbreak, its been hard to get taken seriously. But now, at 21 weeks, Im finally under the care of the diabetic team. Im uploading my readings to an app so midwives can keep an eye without seeing my face to face, and using the time saved on commuting in lockdown to try out new low carb recipes to stop the next 18 weeks from getting too tedious in the kitchen. And thats also given me something to keep my mind off the fact that, being pregnant and diabetic, Im high risk for Covid-19 complications.

Four months of summer, and stuck indoors, is a long time to go without ice cream. But at least I know that first 99 with a flake after birth will be well worth the wait.

For more advice on gestational diabetes, check out the latest information on the NHS website, and the dietary advice provided by Gestational Diabetes UK

Follow this link:

Im pregnant in lockdown, and its not only alcohol thats off the menu cake, chips or pasta could harm my baby - The Independent

One of my teaching colleagues returned to school recently to discover a student who hadnt submitted any work this term due to not logging in and engaging with the lessons. Its students like this who have suffered during remote teaching. In one week in the classroom, this student has since completed seven weeks of missing work because of his teachers daily support and encouragement. He is once again on track to pass the semester.

In staff rooms my colleagues and I discuss the future of teaching and whether, as the coronavirus lockdowns ease, there will be more of a push to teach remotely. This is not just a fear for teachers concerned for their long-term prospects, but something that is being discussed as a potentially positive move.

But we should keep in mind how varied the experiences of students have been during this period.

It is true that some students thrived under remote teaching. These are the students who are highly self-motivated, highly literate and are working above the standard in the classroom. They are the students who require extension and enrichment as they lightly hopscotch through the curriculum.

Learning from home has also been a positive for some students with social anxiety, who were given a reprieve from the struggles of managing multiple interactions in a day and dealing with fraught exchanges with peers. There are also the individual needs students who are also requiring individualised support based on their academic and social skills. These students too might be happy to be at home completing basic literacy and numeracy skills.

The students who generally work at a standard level are a mixed bag. These students all overwhelmingly wanted to return to school either because of the challenges of remote learning or because they miss the social interactions with their peers. This group should have been able to manage remote learning due to their basic literacy, however they have different points of need. Some of them are able to manage the work after an explanation, some of them struggle and remain mute, suffering in silence and the errors only became apparent when their work was submitted for assessment.

In the classroom these students are more easily supported because I can see from their notebooks as I walk around the classroom who is struggling, or the students themselves would be able to understand the task requirements because they had multiple opportunities for instruction through my modelling and then by viewing the notebooks of their desk mates. In individual digital silos, they lost so much support.

Then there are the students who have poor organisation and work skills. They require a teachers constant reminders and face-to-face interactions in order to complete the work they need to pass the subject.

We make the assumption that young people are literate with technology because of their interaction with various platforms and social media, however their basic digital literacy is quite poor when it comes to downloading files, naming files, accessing files from Google Drives or school platforms, saving and uploading files, inserting photos or other media, using formatting functions such as changing the colour of fonts or highlighting. There is the need to provide multiple explanations and demonstrations constantly.

The students who work at lower levels are the ones eager to return to school and who have found remote learning difficult.

Some of these students have been identified as below standard and have been placed on modified programs. Others have low ability due to concentration and their inability to process multiple instructions at once and need a slow, step-by-step instructional model, which remote teaching does not lend itself to. Flicking up and down a digital document disrupts their ability to process the learning task and they get lost and frustrated.

These students are the ones who are already at risk of falling through the cracks in the classroom and are exposed to many intervention strategies, learning programs and engagement programs in order to support them. They succeed because of the school environment that supports them and the relationships they develop with their teachers, and when this is removed from the equation through the digital learning environment they flail and sink.

Now that I have been remote teaching for seven weeks I know one unequivocal and indisputable truth: remote teaching can never replace the face-to-face model for secondary students. These students need schools in order to succeed and develop their academic and interpersonal skills for life.

And I also know that I hate remote teaching. Remote teaching was all of the bad parts of the job the corrections, the administration follow-up, creating digital lessons that werent executed due to internet issues with none of the good the feeling of satisfaction when a lesson was executed well, helping a student with a problem, and the look on my students faces when they achieve an outcome.

Read more here:

I hated remote teaching during the Covid-19 lockdown. It should never replace the classroom - The Guardian

For most brands, the closure of malls and showrooms meant business had to come to a complete standstill. However, it was this time that taught many of them the importance of pushing out effective and relevant communications, to ensure their connection with their consumers remained intact.

Excerpts:

The COVID-19 outbreak has left an enormous impact on brands across all industries. From a drop in consumer confidence, restricted mobility, and loss of jobs, it has caused a recession like situation with subsiding consumerism. With a top priority to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the employees and communities. At Fujifilm, we have always aimed at creating meaningful advancements and in the last few weeks, we have taken several measures to ensure safety, both internally and externally. At the community level, we have introduced various online workshops for camera enthusiasts and even conducted an interactive INSTAX Doodle Art Contest to help our customers utilize their time and give our business a chance to forge an instant connection with them. This month, we also unveiled Pari Layegi Parivartan; a comic series to spread the much needed self-health awareness amongst mothers and the women in our lives.

While it is still early to predict the quantum of impact at the moment but there will be aftermath on the overall economy and consumption. However, in India with shops re-opening post the relaxation by the government, we are witnessing walk-in from consumers to buy products in non-affected areas. We are hopeful that recovery in demand will happen sooner as we learn to live with the virus and find different ways of marketing.

Q) It is imperative to stay connected with your consumers through a crisis situation. How have you done that since the lockdown?

As a brand, we encourage our consumers to stay safe and adopt social distancing guidelines and hence, we have also started a service of providing product demos at their doorstep. We are even organising health check-ups across rural in India, especially in remote areas with our advanced diagnosis technologies and associating with various hospitals to drive awareness around early detection of breast cancer. We are motivating people to stay strong and hope this pandemic ends soon with the minimum possible harm.

There is no denying that these are stressful times and COVID-19 impact has changed the face of many industries. With most of the consumers now at home practicing social distancing, the amount of time they spend online has radically increased. Social media platforms have now become the primary means of communication for brands, consumers and the government as well.

At Fujifilm, we are following a similar approach and are using social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to disseminate valuable messages to our consumers. Building on our customer experience, we recently virtually launched our flagship camera, the X-T4. We were the first ones to modify our product launch strategy in the camera industry keeping in mind our community first approach, especially during these times. As in the end, it is all about adapting your product offerings, marketing language, and availability according to the business environment.

Q) As the leader of the organization, what has your priority been these past few weeks? How are you preparing to face the post-Covid world?

At Fujifilm India, we are adapting our offerings to the current times while testing new content online to identify future sales and consumption patterns. In conclusion, a delightful experience will ensure customers stay hooked. We will remain consistent with who we are as a customer-first company. We are evaluating trends and data daily and constantly seek and listen to customer feedback to ensure were providing the experience and value they want and need.

The Covid-19 has led to a paradigm shift in the consumer behavior. While some of these changes are no doubt temporary, some will be permanent. As the community moves beyond the survival mode, the digital-adoption momentum is likely to carry forward and become permanent. This inflection point will be primarily shaped by two major shifts in customer behavior - the reluctance to mingle in crowded public places and higher propensity for digital adoption.

Marketers across industries are trying to redesign their business models and the imaging solutions industry is no exception. Consumers are likely to opt for online shopping even after the outbreak ends, and this change will be seen in the imaging industry as well.

With our major business focus in healthcare sector, the health, hygiene and safety measures of people have been our utmost priority in todays COVID world.The demand for online health content has been growing steadily for years. A positive by-product of the global pandemic has resulted in greater awareness of healthcare and the steps we can all take to safeguard our families and ourselves. From handwashing to exercising and eating healthy at home to prioritizing mental health, consumers are more engaged in healthcare issues than ever. To get smarter on health issues and guide decisions, consumers are turning to healthcare providers first as COVID elevates our collective esteem for doctors and hospitals on the front lines. We have seen an upward trend in self-diagnosis measures, where consumers want to be more aware of the health issues theyre tackling.

Fujifilms mission to Never Stop transforming themselves and the World, focuses on how the company is leveraging its advanced and unique technologies (AI, IOT, IT solutions ) to create value from innovation and contribute to solving real-world challenges.Our effort is on offering healthcare solutions through AI and IoT solutions in remote areas by supporting radiologists with their imaging workflow and providing quality healthcare services and solutions for Indian people.

With rising numbers of customers on the digital bandwagon, we are revisiting our approaches and making them more tech-savvy. Small but handy initiatives such as uploading the product manual online, price comparisons and detailing the features of our innovative technologies are few such strategies we are adopting. Social media platforms, websites and e-commerce have become the one stop shop for all our imaging technologies.

Q) The advent of smartphones with good cameras has made everyone a good photographer now. How are you as a brand trying to stay relevant?

The photography industry is changing dynamically with each passing year. New applications, mobile apps and printing technology are redefining the ways consumers experience images. The rise in consumption of smartphones with great quality cameras have made people think about the need and importance of owning a digital camera. In fact, the growing trend of capturing moments and sharing further on their social media handles has motivated individuals to click more pictures with cameras that deliver better image and color quality. Hence, leading to an increased adoption of digital and mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses.

Q) What have your key learnings from this lockdown experience been?

At Fujifilm, we believe that we should take this as a chance to evolve, upgrade and be resilient to change. The key aspect to remember is that we are not the only ones fronting the problem and thereby we should Never Stop hoping for a better tomorrow. We have already stridden well with time and going forward we should keep pacing with determination and precautions. While we are embracing a never seen before and lasting impact of Covid-19, it is important for all of us to stay positive and strong for each other.

Q) Do you think you will be able to get back on track in terms of business targets once the lockdown is called off? How does the rest of the year look?

With the Covid-19, the first quarter of the financial year has been challenging for us. However, as a brand, we have tried to ensure that we are in touch with our customers regularly. Though the consumers mindset, attitude and behavior are always changing but the present epidemic may change them significantly and for a near future. We at Fujifilm are working towards newer strategies to navigate through these difficult times.

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Marketing in the times of Covid-19: Fujifilm India - Business Insider India

While sleep can elude you at any time, COVID-19 is causing more people than ever to miss out on their kip. Research from Public Health England (PHE) has found that four in 10 adults are having more trouble than usual with their sleep during the outbreak.

As a result, PHE has added advice on how to look after your sleep to its Every Mind Matters platform, which aims to support peoples mental health during the pandemic and beyond. You can find that advice about your sleep here.

We spoke to sleep expert Colin Espie, who has contributed to the campaign, about the importance of sleep for your mental health and how you can improve it.

Sleep is a fundamental deliverer of mental health and wellbeing. People who sleep well are protected to some degree from mental health problems, and people who have mental health problems have more difficulty with sleeping. It means if we can improve sleep theres the potential to do a lot of good for mental health.

Sleep is a primary driver of emotional health. During our sleep our memories are consolidated, our emotion is regulated, the important is filtered out from the trivial, and the urgent is prioritised. All that is going on during sleep, and I think people are a little more aware of that fact at the moment. They notice theyve been dreaming more, sleeping a bit different. They should see that as reassuring the brain is working in your sleep to help sort stuff out.

Sleep is not something we do to ourselves its not an action like walking. Its more like hearing or breathing. Its something thats largely involuntary. Good sleepers are not good at sleeping. Theyve not got a skillset. Its more something that requires us to corral it, to find a good space in our life for it.

One of the calls to action I put in the Every Mind Matters campaign is to encourage people to use the opportunity the situation has provided, when our schedules can be more flexible, to experiment and find the best time period start time, end time and total time to be in bed. Maybe youve not got it exactly the way it should be for you.

Theres no value thats right for all people its whatever fits best. Theres a range, most requirements are between X and Y, but you still have to find out whats best for you. If youre somebody who naturally sleeps seven hours, lets say, then if your seven-hour sleep is over a seven-hour period in bed, youre going to have a better experience than if you spend nine hours in bed, because youll have two hours not sleeping. You might still get the same amount of sleep but its more broken.

Its about quantity and quality of sleep. The quality is going to be at its best when youre able to judge, this is the amount of time I need in bed to get the sleep I need. You want to adjust the sleep window to the right duration, so you can fill that period mostly with sleep.

I think the problem arises where the environment that youre in is strongly associated with wakefulness. The prelude to most things is associated with the thing youre about to do. At night we get into our pyjamas, brush our teeth, turn the lights out. All of this triggers a natural progression into going to bed and sleeping. The problem arises if you have things in there that are more connected with other things. Replying to emails, uploading photos to Instagram these things are not obviously connected with the destination point, which is sleep. If sleep has become a problem for you, then they may not be helpful.

However, what Im trying to do is avoid being prescriptive, saying you need eight hours sleep, or shouldnt watch TV in bed. What Im saying is find out how much sleep you need, and Im encouraging people to stand back from their current pattern and try some experiments.

The point of an experiment is to evaluate the results, so you need to have data. That could be from a diary, or simply from your own conclusions. Theres a balancing point between doing all these things. You should do them from the mental perspective that you dont want to overthink sleep. You dont want to try to engineer it. Remember, good sleepers are not good at sleeping were doing these things to set up patterns, working out what the patterns might be, then we let sleep do its stuff. That happens naturally and spontaneously.

This is a time of uncertainty. Of course you could shy away from thinking things through, but maybe sometimes we need to think about them. The point is that when youre tired and lying in bed its not the best time to figure stuff out.

Even if you have things you want to think through, dont do that in your sleep period. Make a point of doing that during your waking day, rather than when youre going to sleep. I call that putting the day to rest. Then if something crops up in the middle of the night, its likely to be something youve already thought about. You can say, Ive already thought about that.

Helping a child settle can break our sleep pattern they're back to sleep and were not. We can get a bit frustrated and before we know it weve got ourselves hyped up and we cant sleep.

If you really struggle to get back to sleep, I usually encourage people to follow what I call the quarter of an hour rule. Give yourself a quarter of an hour or so to fall back to sleep (dont clock-watch, though), but if youre not managing to fall asleep then its all right. Get up, have a drink, potter around, read a book, and soon enough youll feel sleepy. Go back to bed then. Dont overthink it if you cant accept lying awake and trusting that sleep will come, and you need to break a building sense of frustration, then get up and break it.

Sleep is a free gift. Its a biological inevitability. Your dog, the birds, the insects, if theyre good sleepers its not because they avoid caffeine or dont use devices. Theyre sleeping well because this is the rhythm of life. What we need to understand is that were not in control of our sleep, and thats a good thing. The people who sleep well dont try to control it. They have no idea how they do it they just go to bed and fall asleep.

So by trusting sleep I mean that we want to get into the position where sleep can work for us like that. What we do is manoeuvre it into that position. So we go to bed at a regular time, get up at a regular time, and the interval between these things is the right interval for us. People who struggle with their sleep often want to control it, which is admirable, but its a subtle thing you do want to take action, but you want to take the position where the action leads you to trust that sleep is there for you.

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Struggling With Your Sleep During The Pandemic? You're Not Alone, And This Advice Can Help - Coach

Roberto Helou is a new Lebanese YouTuber/vlogger. He started uploading videos on Youtube around a year ago, but his channel is going up fast and his content is original, entertaining, and informative.

With nearly a thousand subscribers so far, Roberto describes his vlogging journey as trying to find my way in the YouTube game. With his most recent vlog, however, it seems to us that he didnt only find his way, but he also reached his destination.

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Join me on #disconnectdecember My relationship with technology started pretty recently. I had my first phone ever at 18 years old. Since then, I never really took a break from social media. But now I decided to take a month completely off the phone to try to requestion my use and truly realize how much it changed our lives, to reflect on how I could optimize the way I use technology in the future and to focus on more authentic relationships. No WhatsApp, no Instagram, no calls, no alarms (that's gonna kill me), no Google Maps, no Strava, no camera, no Spotify, no YouTube. I'm also in need of this zoning out of "distractions" to think about some big life decisions I need to make. If you need to contact me, you can email me at [emailprotected] . Let's see where all this goes Cheers !

A post shared by Roberto Helou (@explorob) on Nov 30, 2019 at 12:31am PST

The Ultimate LEBANON vlog is easily the best vlog about Lebanon weve ever seen. Its description is just as good as the video itself:

We Lebanese people are the source of some of the problems in Lebanon but also the key to change. We have so much potential to make our country thrive.

In one of the darkest times of the Lebanese history, heres a more positive video that focuses on the amazing but overshadowed side of Lebanon, Thats how Roberto introduced the video without even knowing that his vlog will turn out the way it did.

It was only after he watched the footage that he realized the importance of the story that he was about to share.

The YouTuber started off by correcting some of the wrong assumptions about Lebanon, its culture, and its people. The most important one being: No, Lebanon is not a desert.

Believe it or not, we move around using vehicles (sometimes even ones we cant actually afford), but not camels. Most importantly, Lebanon is home to people of all sects and religions and the Lebanese people are peaceful, ambitious, educated, and just love life and having fun.

In Robertos own words: Lebanon defies all expectations. It will surprise you, it will make you wonder, and we will blow your mind.

The vlogger then announces that he will be showing his foreign friends, Adam and Flo, around Lebanon. Both of his friends are visiting Lebanon for the first time ever, and have no idea what to expect.

Not to anybodys surprise, Roberto first took his friends to see Beirut, the city of contrasts, as Roberto calls it in the vlog.

The Beirut Adam and Flo saw for the first time, though, is quite different from the Beirut weve always known. The tourists saw a post-apocalyptic Beirut.

They saw an empty downtown, full of broken glass, anti-governmental graffiti, and barriers. It was empty during the day, and full of protesters in the evenings. The three friends witnessed the good and the bad days of the Lebanese revolution.

Shifting the mood and the scenery, Roberto then took his friends to Our Lady Of Lebanon, known as one of the most peaceful places in Lebanon, with an incredible view of the city and the ocean.

They then made their way to one of the oldest cities in the country: Tyre, south of Lebanon. They visited the famous sea castle where Robertos friends got to discover Lebanons history.

Next, they went to Souk Saida (Sidon) before checking out the recently discovered ruins. They sought to learn more about the city and the unique sights and knowledge it has to offer.

Going back to Beirut was quite the journey, so the friends grabbed a flag and went down to the street where they got a taste of the craziness. They actually climbed a billboard and witnessed a bank being set on fire.

To cool off from the burning tires and banks, they went skiing the next day (pun intended). Later, they explored old mansions and ruins around Beirut city.

Finally, they made their way to Anjar in the Bekaa Valley. There, they met some locals and ate some authentic Lebanese bites.

The day after their trip to the Bekaa, they were met by two other foreign friends. Together, they went hiking in the snow-covered Lebanese mountains, and they brought their Lebanese flag with them.

The next morning, they made their way to Byblos. They checked out the fossil exposition and watched the sunset by the sea.

Being by the sea less than 24 hours ago, Robertos foreign friends were playing with snow and thus witnessing Lebanons most epic miracle.

The vlogger then took his friends to see the Afqa cave and Balou Balaa. And on their last day in Lebanon, the whole group had a classic Lebanese evening, chilling out at Robertos aunts and eating home-made Manakich.

Roberto, as he mentions in the vlog, got to see Lebanon through his foreign friends eyes, and got to love his country all over again. He was just as mesmerized by Lebanons beauty.

In the last part of his vlog, Roberto got real about the situation in Lebanon. He left a heartwarming message for his fellow Lebanese, urging them to see that they all deserve better than what they currently have. His vlog is the perfect proof of that.

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For those who didn't know, some protests started in Lebanon October 17th after the government announced an implementation of taxes. But soon those protests grew into something much biggerThe tax raise was the straw that broke the camel's back: A couple of days before, fires burned 3700 acres of forest. A couple of months ago, the country was slowly falling into an economical crisis. And it's been years the country is drowning in corruption, environmental problems, the lack of a basic system like 24/7 electricity for example and all that with the same people in power taking advantage of the situation for individual interests. In a sectarian country that was for years heavily divided by religion, corruption, political parties and ethnicities, it's really incredible to see what's happening in Lebanon right now. The majority of people are putting aside their hatred, personal interests and prejudices in order to fight peacefully for their rights. The HOPE for a better common future united almost everyone within and out of the country with a massive reaction from the diaspora all around the world. This revolution is an incredible first step for change. Honestly, I have no idea of the consequences and if the transitional fase will be tough or not for the country, but it is a necessary step. Some politicians are resigning slowly but surely. Perseverance from us Lebanese will be the game changer. And recently participating in a protest in London made me realize that. All this enlightened me since I noticed the whole world actually is on a massive strike but on micro-levels: Protests in Hong Kong, Catalua, Bolivia, Iraq, Ecuador, Chile, Indonesia, Sudan, Venezuela etc and socio-political movements like Friday for Future and Extinction Rebellion are happening all around the world at the same time!! EVERYONE is fighting for political, environmental, economical, social SUSTAINABILITY. The need for change is clear, the first steps are finally being applied. What a time to be alive. Amazing shot captured by @louaykabalan, check him out!!

A post shared by Roberto Helou (@explorob) on Oct 30, 2019 at 10:28pm PDT

Unity and change are what we need, according to this Lebanese. What struck Robertos friends the most while visiting Lebanon is the outstanding kindness.

They were met by kindness, selflessness, and generosity every step of their journey. Lebanon is full of amazing places and sceneries, but what remains the most beautiful thing about Lebanon is its people.

This is not one of those movies that end with a cheesy message about hope. Its a reminder that we are the best people in the world.

This vlog is a must-see. We can see Roberto Helous bright future as a content creator right in front of our eyes. It is heartwarming that he chose to do so by embracing his homeland!

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This Is Easily The Best Vlog About Lebanon Weve Ever Seen (Video) - The961

LAS VEGAS, May 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Introducing the FIRST fully integrated age/grade digital player card in a Sports Management app!

Protect the integrity of your league or tournamentEliminate eligibility disputesStreamlined document uploading for parents (once a year)Cut Check-In times by over 75%Shared Player Card revenueWeb, Tablet, iPhone, Android compatible

Free dispute resolution if they do arise

All documents verified by our Zorts Team with our National database of youth & HS athletes

Zorts Sports, the ultimate FREE all-in-on sports management solution app for sports leagues, tournaments, and camps has added the Zorts Player Card to our platform.

Good for 12 months, the Zorts Player Card gives peace of mind to parents, coaches, as well as league and tournament administrators. Three levels of eligibility verification to choose from that utilize birth certificates to official state IDS.

Free, simple, and easy to use with a beautiful interface. Create an event instantly on your own or with Zorts helpful staff. The Zorts Sports app has numerous features such as registration, rosters, eligibility, electronic waivers, pool play and playoff scheduling, real-time scores and standings, instant communication tools, social media links, and so much more.

Zorts knowledgeable staff provides personal immediate service and are often seen around the country at partner events.

For information, questions, or demonstrations please call 702-686-0446 or email us at info@zortssports.com

Zorts Sports is a fully integrated Sports Management Solution for youth and adult leagues, tournaments, teams, and camps available on the Web, iPhone, & Android platforms.

A division of App-order.com, Zorts Sports partners with numerous organizations in multiple sports to help them organize and run their events seamlessly.

This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com.

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Introducing The Zorts Player Card! The First Fully Integrated Age/Grade Digital Player Card in a Sports Management App - WFMZ Allentown

Parc & Main, LLChas just announced its move to new office space, and they currently have houses for sale. With Parc & Main, you can begin your search today and browse their incredible real estate listings of homes for sale online. They do not just show you perfect real estate, they also provide top-notch service with years of experience and knowledge that will help you find the perfect home for you and your family.

If you are looking for a superb real estate agent, then contact Parc & Main, with local market experts who will offer you real estate valuation and consulting. It all depends on what you have in mind when you are searching for a house for sale. You may want large or small square footage, or maybe a condo, a townhouse or a traditional home in the suburbs, whichever of those criteria you have in mind, Parc & Main will find it for you.

Finding a home:

At Parc & Main, they want you to take your time browsing from your Dream home, for example, you can learn more about the neighborhoods in Snellville and all of Gwinnett County in Georgia. Get started today by going online to their site and clicking Find a home, and you can begin browsing all the houses.

Parc & Main believes it is essential to take the time to become familiar with not just the house you are looking to buy, but the surrounding areas too. If you are happy with what you see and what you have learned, then proceed with purchasing the house.

Parc & Main Updates:

Parc & Main are consistently updating and uploading blogs and articles on their site with relevant and useful information for homebuyers or sellers. With articles for first time home buyers, giving them solutions on buying their first home, and most importantly, articles about selling your home and help on how to do it.

Parc & Main believes that the real estate market will have a huge boom once this global pandemic clears, and life goes back to normal. The real estate agent linked a site in the article where you can put your house up for sale on the market, and they offer advice once you get in touch.

They even provide useful information on how to save 20% for a down payment if you want to own your own home through its sought-after lease with option to buy program. Parc & Main have found down payment assistance that is run by various cities, which helps their clients to secure the money they need to find a house for sale.

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Parc & Main are so helpful they even offer a full range of valuation products to help you understand your property market position. Depending on if you have unique real estate conditions or real estate services outside of traditional brokerage, the team at Parc & Main has the expertise to achieve these real estate goals.

Contact Parc & Main today and browse the houses for sale they have to offer you, you will not be disappointed with the selection of real estate. Call today on (770) 884-7440 or more conveniently send your details tocontact@parcandmain.com, and they will get back to you with a selection of real estate for sale. Also, go online to their website athttps://www.ParcandMain.comand begin your search on finding the most suitable home.

Source:https://thenewsfront.com/parc-main-llc-announce-their-move-to-new-office-space-with-new-houses-for-sale/

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Parc & Main, LLC Announce Their Move to New Office Space with New Houses For Sale - Weekly Post Gazette