Who is using whom: organize android for smarter daily use.

Each  time you reach out for your phone take a pause and think are you going to use the phone or the phone going to use you even if it’s to kill boredom. With its vast functionality and options one ends up doing nothing over it for hours except endless swiping through multiple homescreens, menus, mindless downloading of crappy apps, theme and wallpaper makeovers, and in the end setting up different settings.

Here’s a simple way to organize Android for smarter daily use so that each time you pick your phone there’s a purpose behind it even if it’s to kill boredom so be it.
Do away with all the clutter your smartphone (Android)    comes packed with distracting you to an extent that within 5 mnts you almost forgets why the heck you opened it in the first place.

1. Use verbs in place of categories.
    wherever possible, whichever way you want to organize
    your smartphone be it its homescreen or application
    section you can always use verbs.

                     

               category/type                                     verbs

In this way it luks more neat and organized and depending upon your need or mood you can easily choose an application from these folders. your mind will also quickly learn where an application is and will not get distracted from what you initially picked up your phone for.
Moreover you can easily shuffle between the above formats anytime.

2. There’s always been a debate over the number of
     homescreens one should keep especially when some
     smartphones providing options from 5 to 7 homescreens.
     It shouldn’t be like you keep swiping through them nor you
     try to put everything in one either. With so many apps on
     board starring at you creates confusion and fatigue.
     moreover some widgets are so big they almost eat away all
     space and you can hardly put any other app or widget there.
     For smarter use of your phone and to manage apps on
     your homescreen you can download Apps Organizer from
     playstore.
    

You can add your own categories here as shown using verbs.
Tap on Apps and check them in these categories.

Put the labels on your homescreen and make best use of available space.

And there you are with your Android organized for smarter daily use. This way you probably will remain focussed on what you want out of your smartphone each time you reach out for it depending on your need and mood.

5 android apps to make you feel same act same and be same for you don’t change when you change your operating system.

As usual shifting to a new operating system could upset your routine until you find functionally identical apps over your new smartphone. Here’s how I managed to get the blackberry feel over sony experia Z ultra running android by selecting few apps from android playstore.

     However, it’s for those who moved from blackberry platform to the android and still can’t get over their bb love, but could still come handy for existing android users too if they share similar interests. When I first joined the android community i got awestruck and was stunned to see the vast app collection. But soon i got distressed by the duplicity and multiplicity of most apps on playstore. It took a while to settle down and choose the best.

1. the first thing in the morning you would like to look at : Time,  city weather,date and most importantly all your commitments for the day.  All this would look Something like this –

  
   

you can download it here- Chronus

Setting up chronus-  first set up yourinbuilt android Calender with your routine like tasks, reminders, activities, appointments, birthdays etc on daily, monthly or yearly basis. Go to chronus and Sync it with your Calendar!
It will remind you of your upcoming events, birthdays(which Bytheway get automatically synced from Fb and Calender as well) right away on your homepage.

2.  Now, Once you’re done with knowing all you need to know how your day gonna be you probably now would like to go through Some news reading with your early morning tea !
After downloading, checking and experiencing most news apps I found News hunt to be most neat,fast, comprehensive and all in one place app. Have a luk-

It also Comes with homepage widget and a cover story section.

Best part it covers Tech news and an inbuilt job search section:

You can download it here : Newshunt

3. This section for those who love music but too lazy to download it or find it cumbersome to download favourite tracks on PC and then transfer it to their phone or are using Web browser on their phone to download it and find it difficult. Also for those who now with unlimited dataplans like to listen to their favourite tracks online directly anytime anywhere.

For online music listeners : Soundcloud

*search your track via artist, band,genre.
*tag it share it put in your playlist.
*can record your own sounds,music.
*share your track or playlist on fb or within soundcloud with your friends.
*CD quality sound.
It comes with a homepage widget too from where you can directly play your last played song or playlist.

Have a look :

You can get it here :Soundcloud

For diehard hindi and bollywood music lovers it has to be Dhingana…!!!

The features are almost same as soundcloud.
You can download it here : Dhingana

Now, those who want to hear it first and then download its Mp3skull for you guys. There are lot many others but this one gets you what you want most of the time.  have a look at it and download here : Mp3 skull music download

It also has an inbuilt ringtone maker where you can edit the track and put it as your ringtone.

4. If you like to keep yourself updated on pretty much everything from cooking, technology,  blogs,  news, updates in your professional field and lot more then you should think about feedly. It keeps everything of your interest at one place in a most neat and organised manner anything could ever do for you.
Have a look:

*easy reading style
*black and white theme for day and night time reading.
*sharing options to fb Gmail your blog etc.
*probably the only one to provide options to categorise your feeds.
Highly recommend. You can download it here :feedly

5. If you blog you need WordPress as I did. Have a look at it :

*easy to use layout is its strength. Write edit and publish your post to your site and share it on social networking sites.
You can download the app here WordPress

I hope these apps from playstore will keep you sorted. For Blackberry guys i can only say good that you are still holding on to it but anysooner if you decide to jump into android don’t you worry these and many more apps like these will make you feel at home with your Android cum blackberry feel.

My Take On Music.

THE PHYSIOLOGY AND APPLICATION OF MUSCLE ENERGY TECHNIQUES

TECHNIQUES

Isometric contraction

• Post-Isometric Relaxation (PIR).
• Reciprocal Inhibition (RI).

Concentric Isotonic Contraction.

Eccentric Isotonic Contraction.

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF HOW THE TECHNIQUES WORK

Isometric contraction is contraction of the muscle against a counterforce so that no movement occurs. This technique consists of PIR and RI.

The reduction in tone of the agonist                                    
muscle after isometric contraction is referred to as PIR.  The golgi tendon organs located in the tendon of the agonist muscle are sensitive to the stretch reflex and hence inhibit further muscle contraction while reacting to overstretching. Its a naturally occuring preventive mechanism to prevent rupture or further injury to the muscle and thus have a lengthening effect due to sudden relaxation of the muscle under stretch.

1. a strong muscle contraction against equal     counterforce triggers the Golgi tendon organ during PIR.

2. The afferent nerve impulse from the Golgi tendon organ enters the dorsal root of the spinal cord and meets with an inhibitory motor neurone.

3.  This stops the discharge of the efferent motor neurone’s impulse and therefore prevents further  contraction, the muscle tone decreases, which in turn results in the agonist relaxing and lengthening.

RI refers to the inhibition of the antagonist muscle when isometric contraction occurs in the agonist.

This happens due to stretch receptors within the agonist muscle fibres – musclespindles. Muscle spindles work to maintain constant musclelength by giving feedback on the changes in contraction, in this way muscle spindles play a part in proprioception. In response to being stretched, muscle spindles discharge nerve impulses, which increase contraction, thus preventing over stretching. The spindles discharge impulses which excite the afferent nerve fibres or the agonist muscle, they meet with the excitatory motor neurone of the agonist muscle (in the spinal cord) and at the same time inhibit the motor neurone of the antagonist
muscle which prevents it from contracting.

This results in the relaxation of the antagonist therefore is called reciprocal inhibition. When the agonist stops contracting against force, the muscle spindles stop discharging and the muscle relaxes, this has the same effect as post isometric relaxation.

well actually,  when the agonist muscle contracts against equal force (isometrically) two stretch receptors respond.

1. Firstly muscle spindles react to the stretch of the muscle and respond by inhibiting the antagonist (RI),
2. secondly Golgi tendon organs respond to the stretch on the tendon, they act by inhibiting further contraction of the agonist muscle (PIR), as this occurs the muscle spindles also cease to discharge, effectively relaxing the agonist.

Concentric Isotonic Contraction: 

occurs when the therapist’s counterforce is weaker than the contractile force allowing some movement to occur in the direction of the muscle force, therefore shortening and strengthening the muscle. This
technique is used to strengthen physiologically weak muscles.
Eccentric Isotonic Contraction

occurs when the therapist’s counterforce is stronger than the contractile force of the muscle and stretching and lengthening occur in the muscle tissue. This is effective in short, fibrotic muscles allowing a controlled microtrauma to the muscle. This results in a change to the muscles shortened structure and improves elasticity and circulation.

APPLICATION OF THE TECHNIQUES

Possible variations that will affect the results–

Muscle length at starting position.

Effort of the client or therapist.

Duration of the contraction.

Contraction is pulsed or single.

Number of repetitions of the contraction.

Position changes with each repetition.

Client breathing and eye movements in the direction of the force.

*These variables need to be combined and controlled depending on the particular needs of the case.

1: Isotonic contraction using Post-Isometric Relaxation

 a.) In the condition of acute muscular spasm or to mobilise a restricted joint, this PIR can be   used. The   therapist takes the agonist muscle to its barrier of tension and holds the position; the therapist provides equal resistance to the client contracting the agonist muscle with about 20% of their strength, for 7-10 seconds. Client relaxes for around 5 seconds, and then as they exhale, the therapist takes muscle to the new restriction barrier, without stretching past it, and the process is repeated 3 to 5 times.

 b)  In the condition of chronic, fibrotic muscular spasm, the following PIR technique can be used.  The therapist takes the agonist muscle to a comfortable location before its barrier of tension and holds the position; therapist provides equal resistance to the client contracting the agonist muscle with about 30% of their strength, for 7-10 seconds. Client relaxes for around 5 seconds, then as they exhale, the therapist takes muscle to new restriction barrier with an additional gentle stretch past it (without pain), to a new starting point. For safety, and to reduce contraction further, the client can assist in assuming this position. This position can also be held for 10-60 seconds before the next isometric contraction occurs, the process is then repeated 3 to 5 times.

2: Isotonic contraction using Reciprocal Inhibition

2a  In the condition of acute muscular spasm or to mobilise a restricted joint this RI method can be used. It is also a safe substitute when there is pain involved in treating the agonist muscle in the PIR technique. It is exactly as described in 1a except applied to the antagonist muscle instead of the agonist.
2b In the condition of chronic, fibrotic muscular spasm, the following RI method can be used. It is also a safe substitute when there is pain involved in treating the agonist muscle in the PIR technique. It is exactly as described in 1b except applied to the antagonist muscle instead of the agonist.

3: Concentric Isotonic Contraction
(Used for toning and rehabilitation to strengthen physiologically weak muscles.)
The therapist begins with the muscle in resting length (comfortable mid-range) and allows the client to contract the affected muscle with some force as they provide a constant amount of resistance, for 3-4 seconds. This can be repeated 3-5 times, building the strength used by the client as appropriate.

4: Eccentric Isotonic Contraction
(Used to induce a controlled microtrauma to shortened, fibrotic musculature.)
Contraction begins from the restriction barrier, the client contracts the muscle but allows their contraction to be overcome by the effort of the therapist, who forces the muscle to stretch past its original barrier. Contraction should not be longer than 4 seconds and this can be repeated 4-5 times (the client should not experience excessive discomfort). This technique would never be used on head and neck muscles, on frail, pain-sensitive clients or those with osteoporosis.

Simple guidelines to follow if using MET:
• No pain should be caused by met
• Keep contractions light (20-30% of strength)
• Communicate effectively and ensure client is not experiencing discomfort at any time
• Client can help to locate tissue tension or restriction barrier
• Never over-stretch

reference: 

Chaitow, Leon, Muscle Energy Techniques.

Remediating Motor Control And Performance Through Traditional Therapeutic Approaches

Four programs of treatment for patients with motor control problems caused by brain damage were developed in the mid-1950’s and early 1960’s :

1.Rood Approach
2.Neurodevelopmental (Bobath) Treatment
3.Movement Therapy of Brunnstrom
4.Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) Approach of Kabat and Voss.

What’s common between them: the importance of sensation to the control of movement and the need for repetition for learning.

What’s the difference then: The differences have to do with whether conscious attention should be directed toward the movement itself (Brunnstrom and PNF) or only toward the goal of the movement (Rood and Bobath), whether spinal and brainstem reflexes should (Brunnstrom) or should not (Bobath) be used to elicit movement when the patient cannot otherwise move, and whether redevelopment of motor control should be sought in an ontogenetic sequence (PNF and Rood) or in a proximodistal sequence (Bobath and Brunnstrom).

However, none of the approaches addresses methods of developing skilled movement.(which are now addressed by MRP),since they emphasized the fact that when movement get’s ‘normalized’ skilled movements will occur automatically.

Some of the assumptions of these approaches:(The basis).

1. Peripheral motor control theory.
2. Central motor control theory.
3. Recapitulate ontogeny.