Signpost 37 (11 January)

REFLECT

• Epiphany was last week, and the Church of England produced an online service in partnership with Embrace the Middle East. This special Epiphany service brought together voices from the UK and the Middle East, including Reverend Debbie Collins from Birmingham, students from Kings College London, and Right Reverend Hosam Naoum Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. You can watch the service here.

CONNECT

• The BBC taster website tests new technology ideas and allows you to try them out. They have recently launched an idea of a personalised documentary, which uses the viewers’ mood, personal preferences and choices they make to show a slightly different version of the story assembled just for them. Instagramification is a documentary that explores Instagram, the world’s fastest-growing social network. Try out the personalised documentary and don’t forget to give feedback through the “rate with Taster” button on the top right of the screen.

• As part of her Bat Mitzvah, 12-year-old Esther, a student from Redmaids' High School, intends to record a video each month of her performing music and reading poems for our residents to enjoy. You can watch January's video here.

LEARN

• From remote forests and silent rooms to the city with the least noise pollution, The Telegraph recently produced an article that explored 15 of the best places for a quiet escape.
• 12 years ago this week, Flight 1549 crash-landed into the Hudson River off the coast of Manhattan Island. The Encyclopedia Britannica website gives a detailed description of the event here, and Condé Nast Traveller shared 8 things that you might not know about the event.

• In 1997 Princess Diana angered defence ministers around the world after calling for an immediate international ban on land mines while she walked through a cleared lane in an active minefield in Angola. You can read more about this here.

DO

• St. Monica Trust’s Charitable Impact Team were delighted to recently support Sight Support West of England to develop a series of seated and standing exercise routines for people with sight loss. You can listen to the audio descriptions here and can watch video versions of the standing exercises here and the seated exercises here.

FUN

• The 11^th January is “Learn your Name in Morse Code Day”. First demonstrated in 1838 by Alfred Vail and Samuel Morse, Morse code soon became commonly used by the military and the aviation industry worldwide. You can find a visual description of International Morse Code and a short video here.