【推荐1】My editor, Michelle, was at a birthday party for her son’s friend recently, when the mom mentioned a company she liked called Joymode. Minutes later, an ad for Joymode appeared on Michelle’s Facebook news feed. When she told me about it, we both wondered: Does Facebook really listen to our conversations to serve us ads?

“I swear I think you guys are listening.” That’s how CBS This Morning host Gayle King put it when she spoke with Adam Mosseri who heads up Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. “Can you help me understand how I can be having a private conversation with someone about something I’m interested in seeing or buying, and an ad for that will pop up on my Instagram feed,” King asked. “I haven’t searched for it. I haven’t talked to anybody about it.”

The truth is, Facebook tracks us in ways many of us don’t even realize and is so good at it, we think it’s monitoring our conversations. Instead, it uses complicated demographic and location data to serve up ads. They put all sorts of indirect evidence together, and you’re marketed to as if they’re listening to your conversations. Remember that Facebook can track what you do on other websites and apps that use Facebook plugins, login and apps.

Most of us know that every time we like a post, leave a comment and tag a friend, that gives Facebook even more information to serve us ads. Every check-in, every comment is more grist for the mill.

There are steps we can take to limit Facebook’s tracking, but face it--if you’re using the Facebook app and interacting with people, Facebook can get most of everything they need. Even if you stop using it, Facebook will still keep tabs on you. Even when we clearly exercise all location controls, Facebook still learns the locations we visit and exploits it for ads.

【推荐2】Twenty-five years ago, most young Britons wanted a job in law, to be a doctor, or, if they were creative enough, to take up singing. But today, things stand differently.

According to a research by Tesco Mobile, a UK company, the “dream job” of young people aged between 16 and 25 in the UK is a video blogger, or “vlogger”. The research, carried out among 1, 002 people, found that as much as 40 percent of them put vlogger as their number one choice on a list of ideal careers.

This change is undoubtedly as a result of the Internet and social media. They have made it so much easier to reach audience around the world, without having to enter a career in show business in the traditional way.

In the past, the biggest stars were trained by the Hollywood studios; now, anyone with a computer camera can become a star. Vloggers are the big stars of today because they are normal people interacting with their fans about everyday life.

However, what people see is only the bright side of being a vlogger and they fail to notice the fact that only those who are successful earn fame and money. For every success there are hundreds of others who never get off the starting line. There are the dreams that come true and the dreams that remain dreams forever.

Although being vloggers is popular, some young people choose to follow careers that don’t necessarily earn them fame, but allow them to make good use of the Internet to share their hobbies. Young Israeli David Leshaw, for example, runs a business called the Finishers Club. It’s an online platform for runners to keep a record of their races. His job allows him to express his fun and is always a learning experience. And that’s enough for him.

【推荐2】When architect Douglas Cardinal was studying at the University of Texas many years ago, he used to drive to the college through the Rocky Mountains from his home Alberta, Canada. “I was inspired by those forms,” Cardinal told an American journalist. “They helped me realize architecture should come from the natural environment of a place.”

While Canadians are familiar with Cardinal's highly original work, he is not alone in taking inspiration from nature and preferring curves (曲线) to straight lines. As a key contributor to an international movement known as organic architecture, Cardinal has had his work and views presented in the book New Organic Architecture: The Breaking Wave by British architect David Pearson. In his book, Pearson expresses the meaning of organic architecture with examples of amazing buildings by 30 architects from 15 countries.

For example, in New Caledonia, Italian architect Renzon Piano has designed a village inspired by native cottages and their relationship to nature. In Palm Springs, California, American architect Kendrick Bangs Kellogg has created a desert house that looks like a bird. The house is earthquake-proof (抗震的) and stores the sun's heat, letting it out at night.

“There's a growing awareness of the need for all architects to influence the environment as little as possible,” Pearson said.“What is new is to link the newer environmental awareness to the passionate (充满热情地) design that can come out of looking at nature and its forms.”

“Organic architecture is rooted in a passion for life, nature and natural forms," Pearson writes.” Its free-flowing curves and expressive forms are in agreement with the human body, mind, spirit. In a well-designed organic building, we feel better and freer."

Cardinal has won an award for his new work. "There's a countless variety of forms in nature and I am continually inspired by observing all these forms," says Cardinal.

【推荐3】Camping wild is a wonderful way to experience the natural world and, at its best, it makes little environmental influence. But with increasing numbers of people wanting to escape into the wilderness, it is becoming more and more important to camp unobtrusively(不引人注目地) and leave no mark.

Wild camping is not permitted in many places, particularly in crowded lowland Britain. Wherever you are, find out about organizations responsible for managing wild spaces, and contact them to find out their policy on camping and shelter building. For example, it is fine to camp wild in remote parts of Scotland, but in England you must ask the landowner’s permission, except in national parks.

Camping is about having relaxation, sleeping outdoors, experiencing bad weather, and making do without modern conveniences. A busy, fully-equipped campsite(野营地) seems to go against this, so seek out smaller, more remote places with easy access to open spaces and perhaps beaches. Better still, find a campsite with no road access: walking in makes a real adventure.

Finding the right spot to camp is the first step to guaranteeing a good night’s sleep. Choose a campsite with privacy and minimum influence on others and the environment. Try to use an area where people have obviously camped before rather than creating a new spot. When camping in woodland, avoid standing dead trees, which may fall on a windy night. Avoid animal runs and caves, and possible homes of biting insects. Make sure you have most protection on the windward side. If you make a fire, do so downwind of your shelter. Always consider what influence you might have on the natural world. Avoid damaging plants. A good campsite is found, not made—changing it should be unnecessary.