What is it like to follow one of English football's perennial non-achievers? Hugging Strangers is a celebration of what it means to support your club through thick and thin. It speaks to all who love the game but are lumbered - by way of family, geography or plain bad luck - with a team whose glory days are few and far between. At the end of the 1963/64 season Birmingham City stayed in the first division by winning on the last day of the campaign. In the 55 years that followed, the Blues kept either survival or promotion for the final fixture on a further 12 occasions. Stir in nine relegations, eight promotions, along with play-off failures and embarrassing exits from cup competitions and you'll have an idea of what it means to be a Blues fan. But you don't have to be a Birmingham fan to enjoy this book. This light-hearted collection of tales from a lifelong, hopeless football addict will strike a chord with anyone who has asked themselves quite why they allow this simple game to assume such importance in their lives.

What is it like to follow one of English football's perennial non-achievers? Hugging Strangers is a celebration of what it means to support your club through thick and thin. It speaks to all who love the game but are lumbered - by way of family, geography or plain bad luck - with a team whose glory days are few and far between. At the end of the 1963/64 season Birmingham City stayed in the first division by winning on the last day of the campaign. In the 55 years that followed, the Blues kept either survival or promotion for the final fixture on a further 12 occasions. Stir in nine relegations, eight promotions, along with play-off failures and embarrassing exits from cup competitions and you'll have an idea of what it means to be a Blues fan. But you don't have to be a Birmingham fan to enjoy this book. This light-hearted collection of tales from a lifelong, hopeless football addict will strike a chord with anyone who has asked themselves quite why they allow this simple game to assume such importance in their lives.

Discover the healing power of hugs and how they can improve your life and your world in twnty-one days with this amazing guide. Dr. Stone’s prescription is for a twenty-one-second hug today and every day. One of the many benefits of hugging is that longer hugs have proven physiological benefits. Hugs are good for your immune system, your stress response, your sleep patterns, and so much more. Hug Therapy brings to life the meaning of hugging. In this book, you will discover: What it means to really, truly give yourself and others the profound gift of a hug How to be powerfully in action and more aware of what matters to you most That you may choose to begin hugging some strangers . . . with their blessing of course And perhaps most importantly, that together, one literal or metaphorical hug at a time, we make the world a better, healthier, and more connected place. Hug Therapy shares a full-on, unconditional hug from Dr. Stone Kraushaar. In this book, he invites you to wrap your arms around yourself, your life, and everyone around you in a whole new way. A good embrace?a hug?squeezes every ounce of fear, worry, and negativity out of your spirit, leaving you with nothing but warmth, inner peace, and a feeling of connection. Most people have difficulty remembering the last time someone gave them an all-encompassing hug. Hug Therapy encourages you to change that, one physical or metaphorical embrace at a time. It’s a “do good and feel great” book that will help you live more in the moment and stay tuned into what really matters. Praise for Hug Therapy “A re-envisioned, expanded, and brilliant twist that richly brings out the power of hugging in just 21 days. It teaches about the self-hug and how to bring it into one's outer circle, creating balance and harmony for the traveler.”?Kevin Zaborney, BA, MDiv, founder of National Hugging Day “Hug Therapy disrupts the simple act of a hug, turning it into a way to spark connection within you, your community, with strangers . . . and it may just end up bringing our planet to awareness of being one. Crazy, awesome hugs?of course you should become a part of this movement!”?Mich Hancock, co-founder of TEDxGatewayArch, host of MichMash Podcast

"Since 2007, Richard Renaldi has been working on a series of photographs that involve approaching and asking complete strangers to physically interact while posing together for a portrait. Working on the street with a large format eight-by-ten-inch view camera, Renaldi encounters the subjects for his photographs in towns and cities all over the United States. He pairs them up and invites them to pose together, intimately, in ways that people are usually taught to reserve for their close friends and loved ones. Renaldi creates spontaneous and fleeting relationships between strangers, for the camera, often pushing his subjects beyond their comfort levels. These relationships may only last for the moment the shutter is released, but the resulting photographs are moving and provocative, and raise profound questions about the possibilities for positive human connection in a diverse society. -- Provided by publisher."--Publisher's description.

Csoti emphasises the benefits of learning communication and social skills for children with special needs, including better friendships and self-esteem. The numerous tasks and practical examples enable parents, professionals and carers to work with children on improving their social skills and awareness, and respecting themselves and other people.

The bestselling and heart-warming picture book that shows us ways to be affectionate while social distancing, from the team behind The Hug.Hedgehog and Tortoise were the best of friends. They wanted to give each other a great, big hug. But they weren't allowed to touch. "Don't worry," said Owl. "There are lots of ways to show someone you love them." So the two friends wave to each other, blow kisses, sing songs, dance around and write letters. And even though they can't hug and they can't touch, they both know that they are loved. A gorgeous, uplifting, inspiring picture book that makes social distancing fun!

Going from the philosophy and concepts to the implementation and user study, this book presents an excellent overview of Japan's contemporary technical challenges in the field of human–computer interaction. The next information era will be one in which information is used to cultivate human and social potential. Driven by this vision, the outcomes provided in this work were accomplished as challenges to establish basic technologies for achieving harmony between human beings and the information environment by integrating element technologies including real-space communication, human interfaces, and media processing. Ranging from the neuro-cognitive level to the field trial, the research activities integrated novel perceptual technologies that even exceed human ability to sense, capture, and affect the real world. This book grew out of one of the CREST research areas funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency. The theme of the project is “the creation of human-harmonized information technology for convivial society”, where 17 research teams aimed at a common goal. The project promotes a trans-disciplinary approach featuring (1) recognition and comprehension of human behaviors and real-space contexts by utilizing sensor networks and ubiquitous computing, (2) technologies for facilitating man–machine communication by utilizing robots and ubiquitous networks, and (3) content technologies for analyzing, mining, integrating, and structuring multimedia data including those in text, voice, music, and images. This is the first of two volumes, which is contributed by nine team leaders. Besides describing the technical challenges, each contribution lays much weight on discussing the philosophy, concepts, and the implications underlying the project. This work will provide researchers and practitioners in the related areas with an excellent opportunity to find interesting new developments and to think about the relationship between human and information technology.