【推荐1】The introduction of the iPad, with its touch screen technology, has allowed even very young children to take advantage of a computer. So what if all children in the school were given an iPad to use in class and take home with them?

Anne Laure Bazin works in a school where every child, teacher and teaching assistant is given a free iPad to use in and out of lessons. The main advantage of everyone having an iPad has been the improvement in communication. Documents can be emailed straight over to workmates during a meeting. Children hand in their homework by e-mail or through the school’s learning environment. Teachers now take the register using the iPad, which means that there is a centralized record of which children are in school, and which classroom they are in.

The use of iPads has encouraged greater sharing of resources among teachers. All communication with parents is now down by e-mail. Working as a group in class is much easier as children can share documents. The whole class can look at one child’s book by attaching the iPad to the whiteboard. Has forgotten the textbook. The teacher can take a photograph of the relevant and send it to the student in class.

While the use of the iPad in schools has revolutionized the way children are taught, it hasn’t completely replaced more traditional methods of teaching. Worksheets are still used in cross as some children prefer the contact. The children all have a textbook and exercise books. In Anne Laure’s school, Parents feared that the iPads would replace and the children would lose handwriting skills. Anne Laure says, “The teachers are not ready to let go of the traditional style of teaching. We have welcomed the iPads in so much as they help communication and widen the resources that can be used. But we are not ready to let go of paper yet. The children themselves still value their exercise books and depend on them for revision.”

【推荐2】The foldable smartphone was shown for the first time on Wednesday during a Samsung developer’s conference in San Francisco, California. The company first announced plans to build a fully foldable phone five years ago.

The phone is designed to fold open to make the device the size of a small tablet. It can also perform some operations of a tablet. When folded closed, the device looks and works like a normal smartphone. The device will permit users to keep up to three apps open at one time. With normal size smartphones, users have to keep changing between apps.

Justin Dension is Samsung’s senior vice president. He introduced the device to people at the conference. He said it marked a major breakthrough in future smartphone technology. Denison said the design of the foldable device was very complex. One of the biggest difficulties was finding a material that was not only flexible but also strong enough to support repeated folding and unfolding of the device. Denison said Samsung would be ready to start mass production in the coming months.

Technology experts see the new foldable design as a way to get users to buy a new device seen as revolutionary. More people are deciding to hold onto smartphones longer because newly launched models do not offer major improvements and can be very costly. This behavior is one reason for a steady decrease in worldwide smartphone sales over the past year.

It remains to be seen whether foldable phones will become popular quickly. The device is expected to cost more than $1,000. The company has not yet announced when its FlexPai device will be available in America. But it is planning to launch the product in China starting next month, at a price of about $1,300.

【推荐3】China’s digital economy is expected to provide a strong boost to global economic recovery, but more efforts should be made to bridge the digital divide and promote data flow, said industry experts and top company officials on Friday.

“China’s digital economy, which is indeed in the fast lane, has become a new growth driver of the country’s economic growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It has and will play an important role in driving economic recovery globally, “said Gong Ke, president of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations and executive director of the Chinese Institute for the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development strategies.

“While data is an important factor of digital economy, more effort should be made to bridge the digital divide to benefit more user groups. To be specific, we need to improve infrastructure (基础设施) construction and the sharing of computing power from leading companies to smaller ones, ”Gong said.

He made the remarks at a sub-forum of the fourth Hongqiao International Economic Forum during the ongoing China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

Liu Jun, president of Bank of Communications, said that a winner-takes-all phenomenon is happening during the development of the platform-based economy because the country’s digital economy has developed at an unparalleled speed with insufficient supervision over the past decade. “Therefore, it is necessary to break down the existing information barriers to promote the free flow of data. The value of data cannot be maximized if a certain company uses it exclusively. Data from various departments, fields and industries must be fully combined and correlated, ”Liu said.

China’s digital economy reached $5. 4 trillion last year in terms of market size, which grew 9. 6 percent year-on-year, the fastest worldwide, said the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology a government think tank.

Such rapid development of the digital economy has attracted companies from abroad to participate. They are also expected to explore more new opportunities in the Chinese market.

To embrace the trend, Omron Healthcare said it will leverage its technological competence to develop more digital innovations for the Chinese market.

The Japanese industrial automation giant displayed a series of digitalized products, including smart healthcare management terminals and glucose (葡萄糖)meters at the ongoing expo.

“The rapid growth of Chinas trade, including digital trade, has produced a strong spillover effect for the world and it will enable China’s economy to maintain a long-term positive trend and thus make a contribution to global economic growth, ”said Zhao Yao, general manager of Omron Healthcare China.

The CAICT report also pointed out that China and the United States are leading global development of the digital economy. The two economies also ranked first and second in terms of the market size of digital economy last year.

【推荐2】When my friend suggested going to the op shop (二手商店)，instantly I thought “I hope no one I know sees me”. It was the same when my cousin commented on my new furniture and Japanese, fine-bone-china bowls and asked where I got them. They were from the local op shop but instead I said “from the antique shop”.

Many people in my Greek-Cypriot community would look down on me if I said I shopped at the op shop. They may pity me, consider me poor, a failure. Immigrants sacrificed their families and homes for a better life. Buying a house and having enough money to live comfortably, to educate your children and see them also live comfortably, are a big part of the immigrant dream, But has this dream made us materialistic at the cost of our own planet?

Our love for purchasing the latest trendy clothes or furniture, then donating them when we are tired of them has become normal. I was once like this. But after watching the documentary The True Cost I learned donated clothes that don’t get sold are sent to developing nations, many of them ending up in landfills (垃圾填埋地). In addition, your new dress requires electricity and materials to make. But if you buy a second-hand dress, that’s one less dress in a landfill and one less new dress to be made.

A friend introduced me to op shopping only a few years ago. My first item was a dress she gifted me. It was lovely and I loved it. Nobody could tell it was second-hand. This opened me up to purchasing more second-hand high quality branded clothes. Once I visited a friend and was impressed by how she decorated her apartment. “It’s all second-hand,” she said. I couldn’t believe it. The truth is a lot of things sold at the op shop are in new or almost new condition. That’s when I made the decision to only buy second-hand things.

Selling second-hand things isn’t anything new but what the planet needs is more buyers. There is so much excess (过量) production in the world. So stop feeling ashamed, and let’s get shopping.

【推荐1】We know that St.Patrick’s Day festivities may include a little bit of drinking.But there are plenty of kid-safe St.Patrick’s Day events around metro Phoenix,too.Here are the lucky St.Patrick’s Day celebrations for kids.

3/17:Lucky St.Patrick’s Day Cupcakes

Kids can make their own treats at the Children’s Museum of Phoenix this St.Patrick’s Day.Children can make and decorate their cupcakes with rainbow candies and chocolate.To-go containers will also be provided.

Details:1 pm-3 pm,Friday,March 17.Children’s Museum of Phoenix,215 N.7th Street,Phoenix.$3 for members.$4 for non-members.602-253-0501.

3/17-19:Fountain O’ Green Artisan Market

This community festival will include sculptures,paintings,handcrafted jewelry and apparel(衣服) from selected local and regional artists,live music and dance performance throughout the weekend.There will also be a food court.

On Friday,colorful water will shoot from the town’s fountain at noon.Take the kids to see the annual tradition and picnic in the park.

Details:10 am-5 pm,Friday-Sunday,March 17-19.Avenue of the Fountains and Saguaro Boulevard,Fountain Hills.Free.480-488-2014.

3/17:St.Patrick’s Day Party at AZ Air Time

Kids above 12 years old can collect their free,green necklaces and jump for three hours,climb the rock climbing wall or dive into the giant hole of foam(泡沫).Jump socks will be required.

Details:8 pm-11 pm,Friday,March 17.AZ Air Time,13802 N.Scottsdale Road,Suite 145,Scottsdale.$15,saving $14.480-427-2000/480-427-2001.

【推荐2】Online programs to fight depression are already commercially available. While they sound efficient and cost saving, a recent study reports that they' re not effective, primarily because depressed patients are not likely to engage with them or stick with them.

The study looked at computer-assisted cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) and found that it was no more effective in treating depression than the usual care patients receive from a primary care doctor.

Traditional CBT is considered an effective form of talk therapy for depression, helping people challenge negative thoughts and change the way they think in order to change their mood and behaviors. However, online CBT programs have been gaining popularity, with the attraction of providing low-cost help wherever someone has access to a computer.

A team of researchers from the University of York conducted a randomized control trial with 691 depressed patients from 83 physician practices across England. The patients were split into three groups： one group received only usual care from a physician while the other two groups received usual care from a physician plus one of computerized CBT programs. Participants were balanced across the three groups for age, sex, educational background, severity and duration of depression, and use of antidepressants.

After four months, the patients using the computerized CBT programs had no improvement in depression levels over the patients who were only getting usual care from their doctors.

"It's an important, cautionary note that we shouldn't get too carried away with the idea that a computer system can replace doctors and therapists." says Christopher Dowrick, a professor of primary medical care at the University of Liverpool. "We do still need the human touch or the human interaction, particularly when people are depressed."

"Being depressed can mean feeling in your own small, negative, dark world," Dowrick says. Having a person, instead of a computer, reach out to you is particularly important in combating that sense of isolation. "When you're emotionally vulnerable, you're even more in need of a caring human being." he says.

In 1994, the RAND Corporation, a global think tank that's contributed to the space program and the development of the Internet, said they expected us to have animal employees by the year 2020.

"The RAND panel mentioned that by the year 2020 it may be possible to breed intelligent species of animals, such as apes, that will be capable of performing manual labor," Glenn T Seaborg wrote of the corporation's prediction in his book Scientist Speaks Out.

During the 21st century, those houses that don't have a robot in the broom closet could have a live-in ape to do the cleaning and gardening chores. Also, the use of well-trained apes as family drivers may decrease the number of automobile accidents," Yikes, who's going to tell them?

Michael O’Farrell, founder of The Mobile Institute, has been an expert in the technology industry since 1985. But even the experts can make mistakes. In the 2014 book Shift 2020, O’Farrell predicted that 2020 would be the dawn of the "nanomobility era."

In the nanomomoblity era I predict telepathy（心灵感应)and teleportation (心灵传动) will become possible by the year 2020- with both commonplace by 2040," he said. Well, we’ll believe it when we see it.

In 1966, Time magazine reported that the 21st century would be a pretty awesome economic era for just about everybody. In an essay called "The Futurists," they predicted that "machines will be producing so much that everyone in the US will, in effect, be independently wealthy." Without even lifting a finger, the average no-working family could expect to earn an average salary of between $ 30,000 and $ 40,000 according to Time That’s in 1966 dollars, mind you; in 2020, that'd be about $300,000- -for doing nothing. We wish!

For a 1939 issue of British Vogue, product designer Gilbert Rhode was asked what he believed people in the 2Ist century would be wearing -and he had lots of thoughts He imagined that, by2020，we would have banished(摒弃) buttons, pockets, collars, and ties. "His hat will be an antenna(天线) snatching radio out of the ether. His socks- disposable(一次性的). His suit minus tie, collar, and buttons," Rhode declared. He almost described a modern-day hipster(溯人)living in Brooklyn, but we suspect even the antenna hat might be pushing it a little too far.

【推荐2】A modern phone can put the world at the user’s fingertips. Calls, messaging, photos and information access, all make for a better lifestyle. But sometimes, these phones are of little practical use. Leku Wuniure’s 63-year-old mother communicates in the Yi language, because she can’t read Chinese or speak Mandarin and is even unable to read numbers. As a result, a very simple, taken-for-granted feature of any modern phone like finding someone, can prove to be difficult. Whenever she wants to call her son, she has to ask someone to help her to dial his number.

Leku, 25, a young man of the Yi ethnic (彝族) group, naturally, wanted to help. So he created an app that responds to his mother’s request to “call my son” in the Yi language. Once this is said, the app will automatically dial his number. The app is called Yayou. It turned out to be a fantastic aid for his mother and has also benefited many among the more than 8 million Yi people in China.

“With the app, I wanted to help my mom, as well as the Yi people,” says Leku, a college student at Chongqing University. “Besides my mother’s plight, I’ve also witnessed some villagers, who left to make a living as workers in cities, suffering financial losses or misunderstanding due to the obstacles (障碍) in communication.”

The dream is becoming bigger-after more than two years’ development, Leku and his partner Mise Achang are ready to launch an updated version of their app in May. The 2.0 version of Yayou will have several new functions, providing news and entertainment content, as well as online shopping services, in both the Yi and Chinese languages. What’s more exciting, some users will be able to test the new voice assistant function and interact with their smartphone in the Yi language, before its final release.

With the app, users could listen to more songs, watch videos and read news presented on the app in the Yi language. The app, apart from bringing greater convenience, can also serve as an important cultural tool. It can be used as a database to collect oral and written records of Yi culture and help keep it.

【推荐3】Wang Ling, a middle school girl, felt angry with her parents after getting a boy’s phone call. “A classmate called me to discuss homework. We talked for just a few minutes before my parents got mad,” said the girl. “They asked whether I liked the boy. I’m sad I didn’t, but they wouldn’t believe me.”   

Wang’s trouble is not strange at all because puppy love becomes a big headache for both parents and schools. They worry that puppy love will be bad for their study. Her school makes it a rule not to allow any talk or any physical contact between one boy and one girl alone.   

Many students say they understand why parents and teachers are so nervous about puppy love. But some think they are going too far. “We have our own thoughts and we know what to do with it.” said Wang Ling.   

Another girl, Jiang Ting, liked making friends with boys. “Boys and girls can learn from each other,” she said. “My mother asks me to study hard. However, she never stops me from making friends with boys.” Once Jiang Ting told her mother she might fall in love with a boy. Her mother let Jiang make her own decision. Soon Jiang found that she didn’t like him any more because the boy was not as good as what she had thought before. And she did worse and worse in her subjects because she spent much on it. At last she understood the worry from school and most parents about puppy love.