【推荐1】Nowadays, we can read almost all “truths” on social media sites. But are they really reliable? Sites such as the micro messaging service Twitter, the social networking site Facebook and the photo-sharing app Instagram might “misrepresent the real world,” according to a study by computer scientists from McGill University and Carnegie Mellon University.

The scientists warn that gathering information about public views and trends from these sites is unwise. There are still large parts of the population who do not take part in social media activities. Also, there's a risk that many social media users are under- represented. Instagram, for example, appeals to younger adults in urban areas while Pinterest is used mainly by females aged 25 to 34. And only 5 percent of Twitter users are over 65 years old, according Io the study.

However, this is not the only issue, according to the scientific team. The design of a website can influence how people behave online, creating what the researchers call “Internet bias.” For example, micro-blogging sites such as Weibo promote “popular” stories. It saves time for some, but it also limits readers' choice of what they see. In the end, many people open those stories and make them more “popular.” But it's not because they choose those stories. Rather, it is because the content is right in front of them.

Besides, it's possible that not everyone on your social networks is real. There might actually be a few fake accounts among them. Fake “bots” pretend to be human and are often included when measuring or predicting human behaviors online.

The findings might be more important than you would think, since many social media studies “are used to inform and justify decisions and investments among the public and in industry and government,” said Derek Ruths, assistant Professor at McGill's School of Computer Science.

If the team is right, you might have to think carefully the next time you say, “It's true, you know; I read it on Weibo.”

【推荐3】Last summer, two nineteenth-century cottages were rescued from remote farm fields in Montana, to be moved to an Art Deco building in San Francisco. The houses were made of wood. These cottages once housed early settlers as they worked the dry Montana soil; now they hold Twitter engineers.

The cottages could be an example of the industry’s odd love for “low technology”, a concept associated with the natural world, and with old-school craftsmanship that exists long before the Internet era. Low technology is not virtual — so, to take advantage of it, Internet companies have had to get creative. The rescued wood cottages, fitted by hand in the late eighteen-hundreds, are an obvious example, but Twitter’s designs lie on the extreme end. Other companies are using a broader interpretation of low technology that focuses on nature.

Amazon is building three glass spheres filled with trees, so that employees can “work and socialize in a more natural, park-like setting.” At Google’s office, an entire floor is carpeted in grass. Facebook’s second Menlo Park campus will have a rooftop park with a walking path.      

Olle Lundberg, the founder of Lundberg Design, has worked with many tech companies over the years. “We have lost the connections to the maker in our lives, and our tech engineers are the ones who feel impoverished (贫乏的), because they’re surrounded by the digital world,” he says. “They’re looking for a way to regain their individual identity, and we’ve found that introducing real crafts is one way to do that.”      

This craft-based theory is rooted in history. William Morris, the English artist and writer, turned back to pre-industrial arts in the eighteen-sixties, just after Industrial Revolution. The Arts and Crafts movement defined itself against machines. “Without creative human occupation, people became disconnected from life,” Morris said.      

Research has shown that natural environments can restore our mental abilities. In Japan, patients are encouraged to “forest-bathe”, taking walks through woods to lower their blood pressure.      

These health benefits apply to the workplace as well. Rachel Kaplvin, a professor of environmental psychology, has spent years researching the restorative effects of natural environments. Her research found that workers with access to nature at the office — even simple views of trees and flowers — felt their jobs were less stressful and more satisfying. If low-tech offices can potentially nourish the brains and improve the mental health of employees then, fine, bring on the cottages.

【推荐1】Nash equilibrium (纳什均衡) is named after John Nash, an American mathematician. It is a kind of concept, which attempts to determine mathematically and logically the actions that participants of a game should take to secure the best outcomes for themselves.

To find it in a game, one would have to model out each of the possible scenarios to determine the results and then choose what the most satisfactory strategy would be. In a two-person game, this would take into consideration the possible strategies that both players could choose. If neither player changes their strategy knowing all of the information, a Nash equilibrium has occurred.

Imagine a game between Tom and Sam. In this simple game, both players can choose strategy A to receive $1, or strategy B to lose $1. Logically, both players choose strategy A and receive a payoff of $l. If you revealed Sam’s strategy to Tom and vice versa (反之亦然), you see that no player’s choice is different from the original one. Knowing the other player’s move means little and doesn’t change either player’s behavior. Outcome A represents the Nash equilibrium.

Nash equilibrium helps a player determine the best payoff in a situation based on not only their decisions but also the decisions of other parties involved. It can also be used in many aspects of life, from economics to social behavioral sciences, from business strategies to a house sale and so on.

Unlike dominant strategy, Nash equilibrium doesn’t always lead to the most satisfactory outcome. In most cases, such as in war, whether that is a military war or a bidding war, an individual rarely knows the opponent’s strategy or what they want the outcome to be. It just means that an individual chooses the best strategy based on the information they have. Nash equilibrium can only occur if a player chooses to remain with their current strategy if they know their opponent’s strategy. Furthermore, in multiple games played with the same opponents, it does not take into consideration past behavior, which often predicts future behavior.

Singapore is a small, flat, marshy island that has been developed to become the most important port and business center in Southeast Asia and one of the ten wealthiest countries in the world in terms of gross national product per capita.

Singapore has a population of 3.5 million people and a high density of more than 500 people per square kilometer. The superior infrastructure—especially the excellent port and international airport—has made Singapore the import and transshipment center for the region.     1     These functions are complemented by a large variety of maritime service activities, including banking, insurance, communications, and consulting.

Singapore has diversified its service sector to include a wider range of financial, communications, and management activities and has attracted the regional headquarters of many multinational corporations.     2     This diversification, as well as high consumption levels in the domestic market, allowed Singapore to cope with the 1983 oil crisis and 1997 Asian financial crisis somewhat more easily than did other countries in the region.

Singapore has a population of diverse ethnicity and religion, but it is dominated (77 percent) by overseas Chinese, descendants of immigrants who moved to Singapore in the colonial period and followed the religions of Buddhism and Taoism. Other groups include Malays (about 15 percent) and Indians (about 7 percent, mainly Hindu).     3     The promotion is especially among the highly educated in order to reduce labor shortages and ensure a workforce to support the older population. Colonial Singapore was residentially segregated, with the British living next to the government buildings on the east shore of the Singapore River, Chinatown on the west riverbank, and Indian and Malay neighborhoods farther toward the east.

The government has made serious attempts to foster harmony between ethnic groups and to create a sense of national identity by designating four official languages (Mandarin Chinese, English, Malay, and Indian Tamil).     4     They also enforce Singapore’s image of a clean and crime-free environment through very strict rules against litter and graffiti, media censorship, and licensing of satellite dishes and street entertainers.

【推荐3】Read the following tips given by the different consultants.

Alice A university degree is no guarantee of a job, and job hunting in itself requires a whole set of skills. If you find you are not getting past the first interview, ask yourself what is happening. Is it a failure to communicate or are there some skills you lack? Once you see patterns emerging it will help you decide whether the gaps you have identified can be filled relatively easily. If you cannot work out what the mismatch is, get back to the selection board with more examining questions, and find out what you need to do to bring yourself up to the level of qualification that would make you more attractive to them: but be careful to make this sound like a genuine request rather than a challenge or complaint.

Paul Do not be too dispirited if you are turned down for a job, but think about the reasons the employers give. They often say it is because others are ‘better qualified' but they use the term loosely. Those who made the second interview might have been studying the same subject as you and be of similar ability level, but they had something which made them a closer match to the selector’s ideal. That could be experience gained through projects or vacation work, or it might be that they were better at communicating what they could offer. Do not take the comments at face value: think back to the interviews that generated them and make a list of where you think the shortfall in your performance lies. With this sort of analytical approach you will eventually get your foot in the door.

Rebecca Deciding how long you should stay in your first job is a tough call. Stay too long and future employers may question your drive and ambition. Of course, it depends where you are aiming. There can be advantages in moving sideways rather than up, if you want to gain real depth of knowledge. If you are a graduate, spending five or six years in the same job is not too long provided that you take full advantage of the experience. However, do not use this as an excuse for indifference. Graduates sometimes fail to take ownership of their careers and take the initiative. It is up to your will to make the most of what’s available within a company, and to monitor your progress in case you need to move on. This applies particularly if you are still not sure where your career path lies.

Smith It is helpful to think through what kind of experience you need to get your dream job and it is not a problem to move around to a certain extent. But in the early stages of your career, you need a definite strategy for reaching your goal, so think about that carefully before deciding to move on from your first job. You must cultivate patience to master any role. There is no guarantee that you will get adequate training, and research has shown that if you do not receive proper help in a new role, it can take 18 months to master it.