Latest news with #cafe
CNET
16 hours ago
- CNET
Your Phone Should Always Be Face Down When It's on the Table: Here's Why
Picture this: You're having lunch with a friend at the neighborhood cafe. They're sitting in front of you, but it feels like they're not even there. Why? Because they're staring at their phone. Everyone has probably had a similar experience, whether they're the one getting phone snubbed or doing the snubbing themselves. I've been guilty of paying more attention to my screen than my companion, and I feel bad about it afterward. There's nothing wrong with replying to an urgent Slack message or pulling up a funny TikTok to share. But I know I probably spend too much time staring at screens, and a lot of that time is unhealthy doomscrolling. These days, when I'm not using my phone, I try to be more deliberate about keeping it out of sight and out of mind. If I do need to keep my phone at hand, I always have it face down. It could help save your phone battery I have a few reasons for making sure my phone screen is turned away. The first one is practical: Because my screen is face down and won't turn on for each notification, I can save a little bit of battery charge. A single notification won't mean the difference between my phone lasting the whole day or dying in the afternoon, but notifications can add up, especially if I've enabled them across all of my apps. If I'm in a lot of group chats, my screen might end up turning on dozens of times throughout the day (and that's on the low side since many teenagers have hundreds of notifications a day). It also shows that you pay attention Keeping my phone face down is also a good rule of social etiquette: If I'm hanging out with someone, I keep my screen hidden from view as a subtle way of showing that I won't be distracted by it. I don't want incoming notifications to light up my screen every few seconds, especially if I'm in a bar or other dimly lit setting. I want to keep my eyes on the person I'm talking to. "Eye contact is one of the most powerful forms of human connection. Neuroscience research indicates that when two people make direct eye contact, their brain activity begins to synchronize, supporting more effective communication and increasing empathy. This synchrony can be disrupted when attention shifts to a phone, even briefly," says Michelle Davis, clinical psychologist at Headspace. When I'm with the people I've chosen to spend time with, I want to be fully present with them. A sudden notification will tempt me to glance at, or worse, pick up my phone in the middle of a conversation. It minimizes your phone's presence I also have a more personal reason for keeping my phone face down, and I suspect that other people have had this same thought: My phone takes up too much space in my life. I mean that quite literally. My phone is bigger than it needs to be. That's been especially true since I upgraded from my iPhone Mini to a "normal-sized" iPhone. Yes, I got a much needed boost in battery life, but I also got a screen with more pixels to lure me into the next news headline or autoplaying Instagram reel. A small smartphone isn't something that really exists anymore. My phone is bigger and better at grabbing my attention. It competes against my friends and family, books and movies, the entire world outside of its 6-inch screen. It often wins. But there's still one small thing I can do to minimize its presence: I can keep the screen turned away from me whenever possible. It can sometimes feel like there's no escaping from my phone. Whether that ever changes, or phones evolve into a new form factor, I can't say. I can't control everything about my phone, but I can control whether the screen stares at me when I'm not staring at it.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
'There's support out there' - we visit new wellness café in Gwent town
A brand-new mental health café has opened its doors in Pontypool. 'Grounded Coffee & Wellness' created by mental health charity Tidy Butt is Sebastopol's newest mental health space. Last Sunday on June 15 the team welcomed the community inside with a wellness themed launch party. At the party visitors enjoyed locally made coffee, sampled baked goods and enjoyed ice baths and a woodfire sauna experience. The café's brand-new therapy rooms were also on show. Matthew Creel of Tidy Butt wellness café (Image: NQ) 42-year-old Matthew Creel is the brain behind Tidy Butt. Speaking of Sunday's launch he said: 'Seeing people turn up today and the amount of people that have come in support of us is absolutely incredible. 'People of all ages coming in and enjoying the space and that was our decision from the beginning really. 'It's been a labour of love because we've all been working full time, and we've got families but to see the growth of what we've actually achieved with everybody's support within the community has been absolutely incredible It's mind blowing.' Matthew explained how Tidy Butt was created. The inside of Tidy Butt wellness café (Image: NQ) 'I kind of lost out on a promising rugby carer to a heart condition. I never really dealt with the loss of kind of losing my career as such. 'As a result of that at pre lock down I was kind of at my lowest point but with my wife's support I plucked up the courage I went to the doctor. 'I started looking in my local area mental health wise to see if there was anything I could get involved with. I didn't feel like anything fitted for me at that time, so I thought you know what I'm going to start my own.' Matthew had the following advice to anyone struggling: 'If somebody is struggling, they can come in and have a coffee, they can come to have a chat. 'They can access support upstairs via the counselling, and I just think it's another avenue for people to come down.' Matthew Creel with UFC fighter Mason Jones outside the café (Image: NQ) 30-year-old Mason Jones from Blaenavon is a professional UFC fighter and ambassador for the charity. Despite a thriving UFC career, he's also struggled with his mental health. Mason said: 'I went from fighting in front of 18,000 people to having to deal with a lot of problems with my family and injuries it was a lot in one time. 'I've worked with sports therapists before but actually working with someone about my own mental health was massively important.' He added: 'Reaching out to someone who is actually a professional is a big thing.' Emma Robinson outside the Little Lee Therapy rooms (Image: NQ) Also invited to the launch event was 33-year-old Emma Robinson. Back in 2023, Emma's brother Lee Robinson took his own life just aged 42. The family, alongside Pontypool United, held 'Little Lee Fest', a festival in Lee's memory, with all proceeds going to Tidy Butt and managed to raise over £7000. Lee's memory was honoured at the event with the naming of the 'Little Lee' therapy rooms. Speaking of this Emma said: 'We are thankful that they've still got Lee in mind. 'It's a bad day not a bad life help is out there even though you're struggling and when you're in that dark place there is support out there and you can get out of it.' Community reaction to the event was also positive. Helen King and Reg King in the ice baths (Image: NQ) 52-year-old Helen King and 53-year-old Reg King enjoyed the ice bath and sauna sessions. Helen said: 'It is amazing, I think for women of a certain age going through things like menopause, suffer quite a lot with anxiety so it's really helped and having this resource locally is brilliant.' Reg added: 'It looks good I'm glad there's something here for peoples mental support.' For more information click here.
CNET
a day ago
- CNET
Your Phone Should Always Be Facedown When It's on the Table: Here's Why
Picture this: You're having lunch with a friend at the neighborhood cafe. They're sitting in front of you, but it feels like they're not even there. Why? Because they're staring at their phone. Everyone has probably had a similar experience, whether they're the one getting phone snubbed or doing the snubbing themselves. I've been guilty of paying more attention to my screen than my companion, and I feel bad about it afterward. There's nothing wrong with replying to an urgent Slack message or pulling up a funny TikTok to share. But I know I probably spend too much time staring at screens, and a lot of that time is unhealthy doomscrolling. These days, when I'm not using my phone, I try to be more deliberate about keeping it out of sight and out of mind. If I do need to keep my phone at hand, I always have it facedown. It could help save your phone battery I have a few reasons for making sure my phone screen is turned away. The first one is practical: Because my screen is facedown and won't turn on for each notification, I can save a little bit of battery charge. A single notification won't mean the difference between my phone lasting the whole day or dying in the afternoon, but notifications can add up, especially if I've enabled them across all of my apps. If I'm in a lot of group chats, my screen might end up turning on dozens of times throughout the day (and that's on the low side since many teenagers have hundreds of notifications a day). It also shows that you pay attention Keeping my phone facedown is also a good rule of social etiquette: If I'm hanging out with someone, I keep my screen hidden from view as a subtle way of showing that I won't be distracted by it. I don't want incoming notifications to light up my screen every few seconds, especially if I'm in a bar or other dimly lit setting. I want to keep my eyes on the person I'm talking to. "Eye contact is one of the most powerful forms of human connection. Neuroscience research indicates that when two people make direct eye contact, their brain activity begins to synchronize, supporting more effective communication and increasing empathy. This synchrony can be disrupted when attention shifts to a phone, even briefly," says Michelle Davis, clinical psychologist at Headspace. When I'm with the people I've chosen to spend time with, I want to be fully present with them. A sudden notification will tempt me to glance at, or worse, pick up my phone in the middle of a conversation. It minimizes your phone's presence I also have a more personal reason for keeping my phone facedown, and I suspect that other people have had this same thought: My phone takes up too much space in my life. I mean that quite literally. My phone is bigger than it needs to be. That's been especially true since I upgraded from my iPhone Mini to a "normal-sized" iPhone. Yes, I got a much needed boost in battery life, but I also got a screen with more pixels to lure me into the next news headline or autoplaying Instagram reel. A small smartphone isn't something that really exists anymore. My phone is bigger and better at grabbing my attention. It competes against my friends and family, books and movies, the entire world outside of its 6-inch screen. It often wins. But there's still one small thing I can do to minimize its presence: I can keep the screen turned away from me whenever possible. It can sometimes feel like there's no escaping from my phone. Whether that ever changes, or phones evolve into a new form factor, I can't say. I can't control everything about my phone, but I can control whether the screen stares at me when I'm not staring at it.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Telegraph
Mother forced to remove double-decker bus from driveway
A woman who parked a double-decker bus on her drive to restore it and turn it into a cafe is being forced to move it after her neighbours complained. Wendy Salmon, 55, put the vehicle outside her home in Camberley, Surrey, temporarily to renovate it. But the mother-of-two has received a community protection notice (CPN) and been told to remove it by June 20 after neighbours said it was 'ruining the ambience' of the cul-de-sac. She has accused neighbours of 'rallying' the others on the street against her by complaining it was an eyesore. Ms Salmon, who runs a pub, bought the double-decker bus for £6,000 from a friend's brother in March 2023 and parked it on her private driveway to convert into a cafe to host parties and events. She claimed neighbours started to complain almost immediately and that she was visited by a member of Surrey Heath Borough Council's Corporate Enforcement Department after the bus was reported as abandoned. The council initially confirmed via email that there were no planning restrictions and no further action would be taken. However, it contacted her two weeks later to say a further complaint had been received. 'I received a community protection notice from the council,' said Ms Salmon. 'It said that if I can't comply with the order I could get a fixed penalty notice, be prosecuted, or the bus could be destroyed or disposed of. 'The warning had an impossible timescale, making it extremely challenging to get the bus ready for an MOT to make it legal to drive. A few months after this, the community protection notice arrived. I had no choice but to appeal.' Ms Salmon appeared in court but dropped the appeal and agreed to remove the bus from her drive. She said: 'The wording of the CPN was that it was 'upsetting the ambience of the local area'. Now no one speaks to me. All my neighbours completely ignore me. I'm being treated like a criminal even though I've never committed a crime in my life. 'The whole thing is just ridiculous... There is no way it is impacting or bothering them. It is just snobbery, pure and simple. 'I don't know what the future holds, but I do not like my previously loved home, I don't want to leave the house as I feel bullied, neighbours no longer speak to me or my partner. I have had over a year of sleepless nights, stress and anxiety. My dream of restoring the bus is no longer something that I want to do.'
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Daily Dish: hidden gem in Vanier
Ottawa Watch Your newest hidden gem in the heart of Vanier; Anina's cafe is serving up breakfast food and coffee.
