IAUTA, the International Association of Universities of the Third Age,
announce their Conference and Workshops on "International Cooperation
and U3A" Toulouse, France June 3rd and 4th 2014.
To download further details click here >>>

Issue number one hundred and fifty-eight (February 2014) 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.

Win a British food hamper! The nice people at BritishCornerShop.co.uk, ardent admirers of U3A, are offering to send a hamper full of British food to the first email with the correct answers to the questions below. If the winner lives outside of Europe the prize will be a £70 gift voucher. To enter simply email your answers to marketing@britishcornershop.co.uk saying which U3A you belong to. Here are the questions:

What was PG Tips originally called and why?
 What is the meaning of the word Marmite?
 What does the 57 on a bottle of Heinz Tomato Sauce represent?
 What does the HP stand for in HP Sauce?
Which pudding has "an honest face" and who said it?
Which cake may be found in a French church and an English law court?
Bovril was invented in 1871 by John Lawson Johnson as a way of feeding Napoleon's hungry army, but what was it's original name?

Book-lovers, Film Groups: We recommended this wonderful blog two years ago and, shamelessly, we do so again. More than just descriptions of the written works of authors or reviews of films, it offers thoughtful commentaries on many subjects - philosophical, literary, psychological, polemical. Beware! It is difficult to click away once you start down the list of books, films, writers, singers, gurus, you-name-its. The blogger, Robin Bates, has a refreshing open style which just suits this editor.
Blogging at its best. Try it and see for yourself >>>
The British Library has nearly 2,800 new maps online. You can also view virtual books and with 'Turning the Pages' software leaf through our books, musical scores, manuscripts and art collections and magnify the details. Turning the Pages is an award-winning interactive display system developed by The British Library to increase public access and enjoyment of some of its most valuable treasures. Visitors are able to virtually "turn" the pages of manuscripts in a realistic way, using touch-screen technology and animation.

World Time Buddy (WTB) is a cross between a time zone converter, a world clock converter, and an online meeting scheduler. It's one of the best online productivity tools for those often traveling, in flights, in online meetings or just calling friends and family abroad.
Dementia Carers: The Virginia Center on Aging in the USA have published at article "TimeSlips: Creativity for People with Dementia". This describes the impact of an activity using storytelling instead of reminiscence, and the shift in emphasis from memory to imagination is often more effective. The report may be downloaded from here >>>
(Thank you YVSR Moorty, U3A Visakhapatnam, India).
Connecting a laptop to a TV screen by wireless: If you have a laptop or desktop computer with an average sized screen, you've probably thought "Wouldn't it be great if I could magically beam my computer screen to my nice big flat panel HDTV in the living room?"

Well you can! Some computers can connect directly to a television set with an HDMI cable, effectively turning your HDTV into a second monitor. But this is practical only over relatively short distances, and the cables can be messy and expensive. Computers that don't have HDMI outputs can make a wired connection to an HDTV by using a converter box such as the Manta VGA to HDMI with 1080p Scaler by Sewell. Read more here >>>
(Taken from Rick Swindell's U3AOnline GEMS, with thanks).


A 21-member delegation of Senior Citizens Council of Delhi led by its President J.R. Gupta visited Australia & New Zealand between 13th and 26th October, 2013. During their visit they participated in the U3A Asia Pacific Alliance International Conference held on 14th & 15th inMelbourne.

Shri J.R. Gupta represented India & addressed the Conference and briefly highlighted the benefits and privileges available to Senior Citizens in India. He also mentioned the various activities of the Council particularly protection of lonely senior citizens from abuses/humiliations at the hands of their own children and others. For further information click here >>>

Walking Groups, Natural History Groups: The Forestry Commission plants many millions of trees every year, to create new woodland and they sustainably harvest almost four million tonnes of wood every year from England and Scotland's public forests.

Different individuals, groups and organisations within society have diverse needs and expectations of trees and woodlands. Increasingly, they also expect to have an opportunity to contribute to sustainable forestry decisions. Research into ‘People, Trees and Woodlands’ therefore seeks to engage with people to understand the current and potential contribution of forestry to contemporary society. For information about ways in which U3A groups might help such research please click here >>>

Planned Art Group visits: Compton Verney is the award winning art gallery in Warwickshire. It re-opens on the 15 February and until August 31st it will be celebrating its 10th anniversary season this year with a fantastic exhibition of works by Henry Moore and Auguste Rodin.


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

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