Happy New Year friends!

The new year brings with it many good intentions for New Year resolutions and this year we are hoping to post a bit more frequently and hope to build this blog's usage by posting new and interesting technical and digitally-based applications for your information. This post will highlight a few interesting new things online that you may not be familiar with:

Do you need help in keeing your  New Year's Resolutions?

A number of sites have come up with different applications, which helps people to achieve any sort of New Year resolution, like health, fitness, savings and becoming more organized.

Some Digital New Year Resolutions

We've gathered some of the best apps & bits of advice to help you stick to those goals.

1. Put the phone away. 

“I can barely get through a meal or even a movie without checking my phone for a new e-mail, tweet or Facebook message. My name is Joanna, and I am addicted to checking my devices. I don't expect to completely curb my technology addiction, but I do plan to spend more time being present at meal, participating in conversation in my physical world rather than the digital one. My relationships suffer from the digital interruptions and I probably use my phone as a crutch in certain social situations.”

2. Help those in need of tech support.

“While I help my family, friends and colleagues on a regular basis with tech questions -- what phone to buy, how to get a Beyoncé ring tone, why an e-reader over a tablet -- I plan to proactively offer tech advice in 2013. Finally, I resolve to be more patient when responding to questions I find obvious.” You might also want to Join the Digital Champion network today and inspire people to Go ON, get more out of life online.

3. Runkeeper [FREE (IOS, ANDROID)]

“A GPS driven app, RunKeeper allows you to keep track of your workouts, view your progress, and share your stats with friends. Login and create a profile and select an activity, such as running or swimming, create a goal, and the app will load a recommended training schedule. Tap the activities tab to view details about your workouts, or share your stats with friends through Facebook and Twitter to keep you motivated.”

4. Lose It [FREE (IOS, ANDROID)]

“Losing weight always tops the list of most popular New Year's resolutions. Lose It, an app designed to help you lose weight by tracking calories, provides an easy way for you to chart progress. Start by entering your current weight and a goal—lose 15 pounds, for example,--and how many pounds a week you want to lose. The app will crunch the numbers and spit out a daily calorie budget. Lose It also gives users a way to export daily and weekly reports through email as well as the ability to print them.”

5. Fooducate [FREE (Web, IOS, ANDROID)]

“Perhaps your focus this year is on eating healthier, and not necessarily on losing weight. If that is the case, Fooducate provides a unique way to track your nutritional choices. This app allows you to do two main things: scan the barcode of a particular item to get nutritional information and browse food categories to help make healthy choices. From the "Home" screen, select "Scan", and then angle your phone's camera to read the bar code on an item. The app scans your selection, and then gives it a grade as well as breakout of nutritional information, such as calories and carbohydrates. Press menu button to create shopping lists, browse food categories, and get daily tips, too.”

6. Mint [FREE (Web, IOS, ANDROID)]

“If you're just beginning to learn how to budget your money, or if you're looking to improve upon the way you manage your finances, Mint provides a comprehensive solution. This app allows you to create budgets and track your spending by integrating your accounts, including credit cards and loans, into one place. To begin, log on to the Mint.com website to create a budget plan. Once you do so, the app will reflect the allocations you select.”

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"Out with old and on with the new", is an adage often associated with the new year.  Sometimes, however, you can be experiencing a loss or grief just when the world seems focused on only new things.  

We've found this interesting new company (formed in 2012).  They help you remember and honour a departed person through their unique service of helping you design and create a website about them.  Additionally they provide a QR code for the headstone or memorial marker, so anyone who passes by can scan the QR code and this will take them to the website where they can find out all about the departed. Example below:

On their website, they explain: 

"What a Virtual Memorial is…

A Virtual Memorial is an online memorial website that celebrates the personal life story of a departed loved one. Forever Headstone was founded in 2012 and hosts online memorial websites.

Create A Memorial…

If you are dealing with grief, the process of creating an online memorial can be hugely rewarding and often cathartic. It can be an adventure through one of the most unique and powerful experiences you may engage in."

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A New Presentation Technigue

A favourite of ours is PREZI an alternative way to create a presentation.  Here is an example presentation.

Prezi is free to use but if you want a premium membership there is a cost, this is an important feature if you were going to do a presentation with sensitive material in it, as a premium membership will give you privacy and many other things.  Still you can make presentations of non-sensitive subjects for FREE and it is a much more exciting way to present than "death by Powerpoint".

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Here's hoping for a stress-less, prosperous and healthy 2013 to all of you from your BL Union Learning Representatives,

Melanie Johnson, PCS [London]

Iwona Jurkiewicz, Prospect [London]

Marjorie Newson, Prospect [Boston Spa]

Andy Robinson, Prospect [Boston Spa]

Sarah Wood-Ripley, PCS [Boston Spa]