October Newsletter from the Chairman

It may be October, but someone has forgotten to tell the weather forecasters this year.  I hope you are all enjoying our ‘Indian Summer,’ where temperatures are forecast to be in the upper twenties this weekend and beyond’.

It was good to see so many of you at our September meeting – especially all those new members!  Jane Scotchmer certainly gave us a super analysis of Myanmar today – including the tragedies that have occurred following the army takeover of the country some two and a half years ago. 

I am sorry that our mobile microphone for our guest speaker stopped working 15 minutes before she finished.  We are currently looking at a better system with a clip-on mike to improve the sound quality from our guest speakers.

Also, we have tried to reserve the front two rows in our hall for those who have some form of hearing loss – please make use of those two rows if you are in this category.

This month we have a very different speaker, Stephen Cottle, with a light-hearted look at the life of a jockey.

 I am not taking bets on how long his talk will be, or whether the going is soft on Wednesday 25th, but I am sure his talk will be entertaining.  I look forward to seeing you on the 25th - lets hope he is a winner!

Do you have ‘some time on your hands’?  Perhaps now is the time to consider one of our many groups.  There are vacancies in the following Edenbridge groups – contact the group leaders if you would like to join.

  1. Family History Group
  2. Table tennis
  3. Short mat bowls
  4. Current Affairs

The number of groups and the variety of subjects they offer is what makes our u3a stand out in Kent.

Changing the subject totally – the use of QR codes

Although QR codes were in existence before the covid pandemic it was during this time that their use became more common. QR stands for “Quick Response”. So, what is a QR code? Putting it simply they are a two-dimensional version of a barcode.  The one shown here is from a table in a Spanish bar.  Scanning it using a smart phone brings up their menu and prices on your phone.

The first QR code was made by a Japanese company called Denso Wave, who made and supplied parts for the Toyota Car Company. They were designed to be attached to all the component parts they manufactured for Toyota car production to accelerate the logistic processes of supplying these car parts to Toyota. 

Now they are everywhere but particularly used in pubs, and restaurants where their use with a mobile phone means the organisation doesn’t have to produce paper or card menus. (thus, avoiding possible transmission of infections through the physical handling of the tradition menus).

Of course, to be able to benefit from the QR code you must be the owner of a smartphone.

This Spanish bar goes one step further in communication! You can send a signal to the person serving and ask for your bill  electronically.

Oh, what an exciting world we live in!

Chairman                  Email ([email protected])

 

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Previous editions  of our newsletter can be found in the Newsletter archive