Kamal Prashar

New Game on Facebook Helps People with Diabetes Improve Everyday Behaviors

Kamal Prashar — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:12:26 +0000

Disclosure: Being diabetic means I keep a look out for all things related:

A new game called HealthSeeker(TM) launched today to more than 400 million active users of Facebook®(1), with the goal of helping adults with specific lifestyle and nutritional challenges. While the benefits of the game are available to anyone, HealthSeeker specifically helps people with diabetes make more informed lifestyle decisions in an innovative way that complements their daily use of social media.

HealthSeeker is a unique online experience that combines a supportive social networking environment with important information on managing diabetes. The game utilizes the player’s own Facebook friends as sources of inspiration and support along the road to better health. There are MISSIONS and ACTION STEPS to help players achieve several LIFESTYLE GOALS. The MISSIONS and ACTION STEPS that players select must be completed in order to advance in the game. The LIFESTYLE GOALS include eating healthier, achieving an optimal weight, lowering blood sugar levels and lowering cardiovascular risk factors. As ACTION STEPS are completed and players return to report their progress, they receive experience points and other awards for their achievements.

HealthSeeker is a unique collaboration between experts, advocates and industry partners who are on the front lines of diabetes care. It was developed by Diabetes Hands Foundation in collaboration with Joslin Diabetes Center, with support provided by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

“With HealthSeeker, we wanted to harness the Facebook phenomenon to help people with diabetes make necessary changes in their daily lives,” said Manny Hernandez, president, Diabetes Hands Foundation, who has been living with diabetes since 2002. “I cannot overstate how important a source of support, information and inspiration social networking tools like this one can be for someone living with a chronic condition like diabetes.”

Many people with diabetes struggle with the lifestyle changes that are needed to help manage their condition, such as adding more fiber, fruit and vegetables to their diets, or increasing their daily activity. HealthSeeker can help people with diabetes stay motivated by presenting simple, everyday steps to help them achieve their lifestyle goals.

“As a clinician who has been treating people with diabetes for more than 30 years, I can tell you that food is often the most frustrating area of concern for people with the condition,” said Richard Jackson, MD, an endocrinologist and director of medical affairs, healthcare services, Joslin Diabetes Center and assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School. “We hope this novel and engaging game will break down some of the barriers that prevent people with diabetes from building a successful lifestyle approach to their condition.”

HealthSeeker can be accessed free of charge at www.healthseekergame.org. The game was designed by Ayogo Games, Inc.

Support from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for HealthSeeker is part of a global initiative that includes a collection of creative online diabetes games reflecting the company’s commitment to transforming one way that people learn, through innovative education.

Building Demolition Fails: A Compilation

Kamal Prashar — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:16:30 +0000

Following the events in Vancouver where a demolition of a three storey building went very wrong, splattering the road with concrete and almost causing injury (almost but not quite, so that the demolition company could say with a degree of truth that it was a good news story because nobody was hurt) I thought I would post up some examples of other classic demolition fails that can be found on Youtube:

WORLD CITY MUSIC VILLAGE

Kamal Prashar — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:10:12 +0000

30 JUNE – 11 JULY 2010

200+ OUTSTANDING WORLD ARTISTS FROM LONDON BLAZE A CREATIVE TRAIL ACROSS THE CAPITAL WITH 75 PRESENTATIONS OVER 12 DAYS AT 8 VENUES

FESTIVAL WEEKENDS
FESTIVAL CLUB
EVENING CONCERTS
SCHOOLS PROGRAMME
LIVE RADIO BROADCAST
FAMILY SUNDAY

FREE ADMISSION TO ALL EVENTS
www.culturalco-operation.org | 020 7264 0007

FESTIVAL WEEKENDS 1 – 9 pm daily
8 PERFORMANCES EVERY DAY
CHILL TO THE RHYTMS OF THE WORLD IN TWO OF LONDON’S BEST LOVED OUTDOOR SETTINGS.
IDEAL FOR A LAZY ALL DAY PICNIC WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS.

VICTORIA PARK Sat 3 & Sun 4 July
East London’s “People’s Park” hosts the Music Village for the first time ever, in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics.
Directions: Back Walk (between northside of Fishing Lake & Shelter. Enter by Bonner Gate or Crown Gate West/Pavilion Cafe) Tube: Mile End; Bethnal Green.
SATURDAY 3*
TERENCE O’FLAHERTY Charismatic Irish singer storyteller
ADEL ELBRARYNO Stirring sacred vocals from Sudan
ROMANY DIAMONDS Gutsy gypsy strings from Poland
GOURI CHOUDHURY Bangladeshi folk diva sings Tagore & Nazrul
MOSI CONDE & KAIRA KORA AFRIKA Master singers and instrumentalists from Guinea-Conakry
YUSUF MAHMOUD Afghani tabla maestro delves into Sufi vocals
HARARE Zimbabwean modern jit-jive with traditional mbira
CHACON Y SU TIMBA Big band driving Cuba’s newest dance craze
SUNDAY 4*
ANTHAR KHARANA & KHANTARA Colombian, Arabic & Gypsy music
LOS DESTERRADOS Ladino Jewish soul, jazz & flamenco
POETIC PILGRIMAGE Female Muslim rappers from Jamaica
LOKITO YA CONGO Congolese 6-piece blends soukous and Latin rhythms
CONJUNTO SABROSO Traditional Colombian salsa big band
AMEER KHAN Intense Sufi music by London’s top Qawaali singer
MUKKA Vigorous Balkan & Middle Eastern dance music
KASAï MASAï Festival favourites with energetic dances from Congo

HYDE PARK Sat 10 & Sun 11 July
The event returns to Hyde Park, the capital’s most popular green space, for the festival’s thrilling finale.
Directions: The Cockpit, near West Carriage Drive & north side of Serpentine lake; Enter by Speakers Corner and follow the orange dots Tube: Marble Arch
SATURDAY 10*
OZI OZAA Pulsating Ghanaian Afro-beat
SEEDS OF CREATION Berber jazz meets Saharan blues
SHE’KOYOKH Exhilarating Judeo-Balkan dance music
FUERZA VALLENATA Lively Colombian folk accordions
MAVRIKA 1920’s Greek Underground with a London vibe
ANATOLIA Uniting Kurdish, Anatolian & Turkish musics
ZONG ZING Infectious hi-energy Congolese dance music
BOUJEMAA BOUBOUL & GNAWA UK Rootsy Moroccan trance rituals
SUNDAY 11*
PANACHE STEELBAND Soca, calypso, salsa & merengue
DUNAJSKA KAPELYE Balkan, Tango and Klezmer mix
GRUPO LOKITO Irresistible Congolese Latin dance rhythms
JYOTSNA SRIKANTH Virtuoso South Indian violinist
GUILLERMO ROZENTHULER & RIOPLATENSES Soulful Argentine vocalist plus star musicians
WAEIL & THE RIVER NILE BAND Egypt’s finest classical violinist
G.E.A.T.A Intoxicating Ethiopian music meets bass-heavy dub & jazz
DELE SOSIMI QUINTET Legendary Afro-beat pioneer
*Performances start on the hour every hour from 1-8pm. Running order subject to change. Please check CC website for updates.

FESTIVAL CLUB @ OCTOBER GALLERY
Wed 30 June- Fri 9 July 12-2pm (excl Sat, Sun & Mon)
24 Old Gloucester St, WC1 | Tube: Holborn
Nestling in the intellectual heartland of Bloomsbury, the October Gallery is an intimate hub of artistic innovation. It’s sumptuous Club room, Mediterranean courtyard and vibrant gallery with café hosts the festival’s lunchtime storytelling and musical performances, an exhibition by Paris-based Sufi artist Rashid Koraichi, and World City talks & discussions led by experts.
SPEAKERS include: Professor Doreen massey ‘World City in a world setting’; Ranjit Sondhi CBE ‘The importance of intercultural engagement’; and other leading commentators.
PERFORMERS: El Andaluz Duet; Ensamble Criollo; Vayu Naidu; mr Gee; Kathy Hall; zahra Rezaei Afsah & Arash moradi; and Tuup.

EVENING CONCERTS
Extended sets by outstanding world musicians at 3 welcoming London venues
Nehru Centre, Tue 6 July 7pm
8 South Audley St, W1 | Tube: Green Park
THE TEAK PROJECT Mellow indo-jazz compositions on sitar, tabla and guitar
Museum of London, Wed 7 July 7pm
150 London Wall, EC2 | Tube: Barbican
ADEL ELBRARY SPELLBINDING Sudanese vocalist
ALCAZABA Flamenco-Arabic fusion
Goodenough College, Thu 8 July 8pm
William Goodenough House, Mecklenburgh Sq, WC1| Tube: Russell Sq; Kings Cross
SIMO LAGNAWI Traditional Morrocan Gnawa music

SCHOOLS PROGRAMME
Museum of London & London Transport Museum
Thu 1 & 8, Fri 2 & 9 July
Immersive learning in arts & citizenship skills for 21 school groups from across London. Artist-led workshops in performance, storytelling & design explore Journeys, Histories & Futures. With “show & tell”, matinee concerts & museum discovery trails.
STOP PRESS: FULLY BOOKED: Register for 2012 MUSIC VILLAGE SCHOOLS PROGRAMME and CC’s year round Education Programme scheduled for 2011 onwards.

LIVE RADIO BROADCASTS
30 June & 5 – 9 July
Festival broadcasts on pioneering community arts station Resonance 104.4Fm. Featuring festival performers and leading lights from London’s world cultural scene. www.resonancefm.com

FAMILY SUNDAY @ HORNIMAN MUSEUM
Sun 4 July 1-6pm
100 London Road, SE23 | Tube / Overground: Forest Hill
Enjoy a wonderful day out for the whole family, exploring the unique collections of this hugely popular Museum, set in idyllic gardens. Featuring 8 World City music Village performances on the Bandstand and in the Conservatory.
Featuring Puppeteer Jose Navarro, Romanian gypsy swing with Hai La Drum, Andean and Afro-Cuban music from mauricio Velasierra. Plus Peruvian folk dance ensemble baila Peru, Indian dance company beeja, a fresh take on flamenco by La Tipica, Caribbean dance with live drumming from Debora Alleyne-De Gazon and high energy Zimbabwean dance from Harare.

Saatchi – Newspeak – 2010 – Saatchi Gallery

Kamal Prashar — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 14:47:03 +0000

Newspeak is open at the Saatchi gallery and follows on from last year’s Sensation and stunning New Art from China.

The joy about the exhibition is that it is free but the downside is that sometimes there is a tendency to want to rush through some of the rooms because there is ‘nothing to see’ in police parlance. The mix of artists means that there is sometimes a hit and miss approach so that some things will stun and amaze whilst others will give rise to a shrug of the shoulders.

Here are some shots of what is on display – yes you can take your camera in and you can snap away all you want.

The exhibition runs until October 17 2010.

Reviews for the Newspeak Exhibition at the Saatchi gallery:

MANY DEAD THINGS – THE SPECIMENS OF ALEX CF

Kamal Prashar — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:54:35 +0000

In his first solo exhibition, following the release of his monograph, artist Alex CF offers the public a unique opportunity to see his bizarre specimens in person – objects that have so far only been witnessed by private collectors, such as Maxime Chattam (author) or Reece Shearsmith (actor, League of Gentlemen) who wrote the foreword for his book, and will be lending pieces from his own collection for the show.

Alex has spent the last five years crafting wondrous relics of an alternate past – a rich tapestry of 19th century cryptozoological artifacts and creatures that challenge our understanding of the natural world: The mummified remains of a vampire child, the taxidermied corpse of a 7-foot-tall adult werewolf, the trappings of scientists and archaeologists pertaining to the study of these species in the form of antique research cases, amongst many other fascinating objects.

The show will encompass a number of works including 6 new pieces and Alex will be signing his book.

Alex’s work has been featured in a number of well-known publications both online and in print, such as Weird Tales, Bizarre, BoingBoing, and io9. His work has also been featured on book covers, and in a number of independent films.

27 May – 2 June 2010

Superette Gallery
66A Sclater Street
Off Brick Lane
London
E1 6HR
United Kingdom

Wordle of the Week – Gordon Brown’s first speech as Prime Minister

Kamal Prashar — Sat, 15 May 2010 10:02:38 +0000

When Gordon Brown became prime minister he delivered a very short speech in which he laid out his feelings about why he wanted to be prime minster and what he had learned while campaigning as well as what he was going to do.

WORDLE is created by Jonathan Feinberg

Wordle of the Week – Chapter 1 – War of the Worlds

Kamal Prashar — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:57:01 +0000

This week’s Wordle of the Week is the first chapter of War of the Worlds by HG Wells. Well regarded and quite frankly the start of the British SF invasion which culminated with Iain M Banks, Calrke, Bradbury etc etc.

WORDLE is created by Jonathan Feinberg

Wordle of the Week – Lord Coe speech for Olympics

Kamal Prashar — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:15:09 +0000

This is the speech Lord Coe made for the Olympics condensed via Wordle.

WORDLE is created by Jonathan Feinberg

Wordle of the Week – UK Government Swine Flu Advice

Kamal Prashar — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:10:23 +0000

With the spread of Swine Flu across the world from Mexico to all points there is more and more information being made available to us to keep us informed, here is the UK Government Swine Flu advice condensed by Wordle.

WORDLE is created by Jonathan Feinberg

Clock Opera and Fenech Soler at the Garage – HMV Next Big Thing – February 2010

Kamal Prashar — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:09:56 +0000

So, its Friday night and it is Highbury Corner. After a day thinking about ice cream and the various flavours that it comes in it was down to the Garage for the HMV Next Big Thing show featuring Clock Opera, Fenech Soler and Marina and the Diamonds.

So what do we know about them so far?

Clock Opera is very familiar to those in the know. With White Noise they have shown just how it is possible to make music that’s good to listen to and which stimulates the minds whilst also being entertaining and they are a fave on this site as you probably already know.

They have a slight change in the line up with Dan (formerly one of the Rushes) taking over from Nick and, of course, Guy’s beard is getting biblical by now so we wait and see if he can part the waters or turn at least turn them into wine.

Fenech Soler – well they sound French and their first single cam,e out on a French label so they must be French? No, they are from King’s Cliffe in Northamptonshire and they do Electro Pop very very well. They have a Marina and the Diamonds remix under their belt and little thing going on with Groove Armada (see them at the Forum later this year with GA) and they have an energy that is quite a sight on stage.

Marina and Diamonds – ’nuff said. There would be pictures here from yours truly but you will have to make do with a quote ‘you cant take pictures of Marina, we have to protect her image’ – courtesy of someone from their management who clearly cant see the difference between me and the dozens of Marina fans up against the front of the stage all with their camera out and snapping away to do what? Put them on their facebook pages and let the world see the protected image of Marina.

Ah well, maybe I should use a smaller camera like the Ricoh Capillo – does raw images and looks like a domestic fun camera so doesnt attract officious management jobsworths. That’s the rant over.

If you like Kate Bush then you’ll like Marina. If you like the eighties then you’ll like Marina. If you like lyrics that are not going to stretch you or your intellect then you’ll like Marina.

Apart from that she’s quite mundane. (I will await comments and flames very soon for being so heretical but hey I cant help that).

So, here are some pictures for you.

Clock Opera

Fenech Soler

Marina and the Diamonds