【推荐1】Insurance companies are starting to use smartbox technology, so good drivers can benefit from cheap insurance rates.

The smartbox, similar to a black box for airplanes, records details about how your car is driven, which can contribute to cheap car insurance for responsible drivers. The device is connected to the electronics in your car and collects information such as time, speed, braking, cornering, acceleration and location. It’s like having an insurance agent sitting beside you while driving.

The smartbox data is wirelessly transferred in real time to the insurance company and provides a profile of when, where and how you drive. This profile is then used to compare insurance rates and to reward low-risk driving behavior with cheap insurance rates.

Drivers are high-risk when they drive irresponsibly such as speeding, frequent lane changing, driving in high-risk locations or at high-risk times such as in heavy traffic or late at night.

These new electronic inventions are intended to practice a new standard in lieu of the previous way to sort drivers into group behavior to determine insurance coverage and premium (保费) payments. For example, young drivers are more likely to drive fast, drive at night and use a cell phone while driving. Statistically, young drivers are more likely to cause an accident, so insurance companies charge them higher rates to cover the costs of accident claims. So even if you’re a young, responsible driver, you will pay high insurance rates because of group behavior. This technology allows you to provide proof that your driving behavior doesn’t fit the pattern of your demographic (统计) group.

All the information collected about your driving can be viewed online — including what you’re doing well and what could be improved. Your insurance premium is then calculated according to your driving profile.

【推荐1】From ordering food to buying a new book to making a charitable donation, more and more decisions that used to be made on paper are now being made on digital devices like tablets, phones, and computers. And this trend towards digitalization has many advantages, in particular when it comes to efficiency and sustainability — but could it also be negatively influencing how we make decisions?

We conducted a series of studies with more than 2, 500 participants across the U. S. and China to explore the impact of the medium you use to make a decision, with a particular focus on decisions with some sort of moral component, such as whether or not to make a donation to a charity, or whether to choose a healthy or unhealthy entrée (主菜) at a restaurant. We asked the participants to make a variety of these sorts of choices using either a paper form or a digital tablet, and despite controlling for all other variables (变量) , we consistently found that people who used paper made more moral decisions than those who used a digital device: For example, participants who read their choices and made a selection on paper were significantly more likely to give money to charity, choose a healthy entree, and opt for an educational book rather than something more entertaining.

Why might this be? Our research suggests that the key mechanism driving this effect is how “real” the decision feels. We asked participants in two of our studies to describe how real a decision felt, as well as the extent to which they believed the decision as representing who they were as people, and they consistently indicated that making a choice on paper felt more real and representative than making the same decision on a digital device.

It may seem like a minor detail, but our research shows that the medium with which your customers, employees, or community members make a decision can have a major impact on the choices they make. This has implications (暗示) for marketers, policymakers, and anyone seeking to encourage any sort of virtuous behaviour. For example, to encourage customers to choose healthier options, restaurants might consider opting for paper rather than digital menus. Similarly, parents and educators might opt to provide students with paper rather than online book order forms, to increase the chances that they’ll choose educational reading materials.

【推荐2】More and more travellers in China nowadays prefer homestays rather than traditional hotels, as they seek private living experiences. The house-sharing model was first introduced by the website Couchsurfing.com in 2003. It is still the largest website for travellers to find accommodation (食宿) without much money to spend.

Encouraged by her great experience of homestays in France, Maggita, 30 considered short-term hire as her first choice in her future trips. She later went back to her hometown Shanghai and ran a “shared accommodation” business.

For travellers, the short-term hire idea enables them to rent a special room at a reasonable price and also enjoy a first and experience of the local culture, compared with traditional hotels. For owners, they can gain much with daily rental. Now Maggita has quit her last job in an IT company and become a host of some 20 homestays, which enables her to earn a monthly income of around 40,000-50,000 yuan.

In recent years, China has see n many homestay booking websites such as Xiaozhu and Tujia. Chen Chi, the founder and CEO of Xiaozhu, said the model is to share rooms or apartments that are not in use with people who need them. Instead of the traditional view that Chinese people feel uncomfortable living with strangers. Chen found that a large number of travellers got along well with house owners.

However, experts have pointed out a series of problems brought about by the fashion. Lacking supervision (监管) to those accommodation sharing websites, the service quality and accommodation safety cannot be guaranteed. Experts suggest that the online websites should closely work together with communities and local police stations to improve the services.

【推荐2】From now on, never spend your precious time thinking of reasons for your failures and shortcomings. Instead, realize that the seeds of success were planted within you when you were born. Only you have the power to make those seeds grow.

The seeds, and the power to grow them, are contained in the most awesome machine ever created: the human mind. Success is a choice and not a chance. You were born a winner: You can be a success if only you make the right choice.

You cannot be successful without first developing your self-esteem. Your level of self-esteem is always based on the degree of control that you are able to exercise over yourself, and thus over your life. People with low self-esteem are people who do not believe that they have any power, or responsibility for their lives. They are leaves tossed (摇摆) by the winds of chance blown about with any sudden change in the weather.

You can exercise control over your life only to the degree that you believe that you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance. Successful people realize that they are responsible.

Everything happens as a result of something. If we can identify the cause, we can control the effect. We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe. One generally rises to the level that one expects. We are responsible for letting out expectations. Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence.

In short, in all areas of your life, whether they be financial, physical, emotional, or spiritual, you are responsible. Once you recognize this, accept it, and firmly believe it, you are on the road to success.

【推荐3】Parents can begin good organization (条理) habits with preschool-age kids, Experts recommend asking them to do small, simple actions on a regular basis with the help of parents. Maybe they open their bags and bring their lunch bag to the kitchen, or take their shoes off at the door and put them in a nearby closet. These won’t save parents much time but they will help develop good habits.

When kids enter primary school, they should be ready for more responsibility. This is the time to teach them about daily routines, and help them take control over theirs. Parents and children might sit down together and make a list of everything that needs to be done to get out of the house in the morning, or get ready for bed at night. Together, parents should figure out how long each activity takes, and when the best time to do them is. Some of the kids might want to get their bags ready and pick out their clothes the night before.

It’s also wise to create a firm schedule for homework. When do kids do their homework? How long do they need? Where do they do it? Where will the homework go once it is done? Figure them out and stick to the schedule as much as possible.

Parents should print up these task lists and help kids finish them step by step. Kids might even check them off each morning or evening. Also, make sure there are clocks in the rooms in which these tasks will take place. Time management is an important part of learning organization, but it can’t be done if kids don’t know what time it is.

Organization gives kids the chance to make it possible to focus on a task and complete it. Kids tend to be more motivated to learn organization skills if they see organization as a challenge to overcome, rather than a fault to repair.