Issue number one hundred and seventyone (April 2015) from the WorldU3A Service, sent on the first of every month to U3A members anywhere in the world.

Feel free to copy any or all of this information in your newsletters.
 Please send items of possible interest to the editor, Tom Holloway.


BRISBANE U3A INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE NEWS: For complete details click here >>>
Arriving in Brisbane by plane? Apply here for a special AIRTRAIN discount for conference delegates.
First visit? The Brisbane Greeters are happy to help you with a guided tour of the city.
The Stradbroke Island day tour is popular - see our major sponsor, Odyssey Travel
We'll be welcoming delegates from UK, Portugal, Mauritius, India, Bangladesh, China, Singapore, New Zealand, as well as delegates from Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia.

U3A Asia Pacific Alliance: We are pleased to announce that U3A Iceland has been accepted as a new member of the U3A Asia Pacific Alliance.

We will be joined at our regular monthly teleconference meetings (courtesy of the UK's Open University) by the U3A Iceland delegate, Ingibjorg Gudlaugsdottir, seen here on the left with a U3A friend. We extend to her a very warm welcome.


FREE courses with FUTURELEARN: The University of East Anglia and partner Universities offer a very wide range of courses. There is a certificate available on completion. For a very clear description of how it all works view the video here >>>

Book Groups: Language Groups: Give books away. Get books you want. BOOKMOOCH

There is a wide range of languages available and the Sitemap for non-members is very useful -- to learn more click here >>>

The University of the Third Age (U3A), Malaysia program aims to promote healthy, active and productive ageing through lifelong learning activities. Since 2008, U3A Malaysia has organized over 50 different courses on health and exercises, languages, arts and craft, music, computing, gardening, photography, as well as many other hobbyist or living skills-related subjects. All members are encouraged to attend a complimentary lecture series on Adult Development and Ageing. The courses are held at Universiti Putra Malaysia's campus in Serdang, the Hulu Langat Community College, Kajang and other locations in Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur. Senior citizens can choose to register and participate in any of the courses taught by professional instructors and facilitators from public, private or civil society organizations.

Music Groups: The Free Music Archive is an interactive library of high-quality, legal audio downloads.

The thorny issue of music downloads and 'Creative Commons and the open source software movement' is explained at http://freemusicarchive.org/about/

Player/Musicians may also find very useful the Petrucci Library - also known as IMSLP, the International Music Score Library Project   It contains information on 90,444 works · 308,819 scores · 34,142 recordings · 12,450 composers · 328 performers.

Languages: Sharpen your language skills with Duolingo -- an amusing and slightly addictive online game. Available for nine languages, including Irish. Very easy to play and can be set for beginners level or more advanced.

If you're looking for more free language-learning materials, you can also try BBC Languages.

(Thank you Dr Vyasamoorthy).

International Womens Day: From our friends of Aging Nepal comes a heartfelt plea for the rights of older women in Nepal, as in many parts of Asia. The attached three-minute YOUTUBE clip shows clearly the dreadful discrimination shown to elderly women - especially those that survive their husbands.

This is particularly true of Hindu widows, who are often shunned as being "unlucky" and so they may not wear any ornaments or attend any auspicous occasion or celebration. They become 'uglified' and tens of thousands die in abject poverty every year. See more here >>>

History Groups: BBC History has a happy knack of finding and explaining the background to bits of history we thought we knew well. Stalin's early years is an example; included is an interview with his English interpreter, who remarks on Stalin's vanity concerning his pockmarked face. Also, the fascinating history of fashion reveals what Tutankhamun wore under his kilt.

Review the many podcasts to be found on the HISTORYEXTRA website. They can be downloaded and played back at any time on a wide variety of machines.

Yes, you've seen these 12 energy-saving tips before, but actually acting on at least two of them, starting today, will make you feel good. Which two will you choose?
UK GROUPS - Latest from ORDNANCE SURVEY
OS Open Map Local provides a customisable backdrop for users to map, visualise and fully understand their data. This new product provides the most detailed level of buildings in OS’s open data suite and is designed to be used with other open data products.
OS Open Names is a reliable location search product for when you need to find something fast. It’s a new, better quality, consistent index for all the location names in Great Britain. Users can search a particular location or look for somewhere in a number of ways.


U3A Online: A complete GEMs Archive - Rick Swindell's newsletter - pdf printouts of all prior editions can be found at www.u3aonline.org.au

Do you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter in future? Ask them to email tom@worldu3a.org with a request and they will be put on the list. This webpage may be printed onto both sides of an A4 page and distributed to those with no Internet.