3 . On January 15^th, the Guardian showed off its new, smaller look, shifting from its distinctive “Berliner” format to a tabloid(娱乐小报) shape with a redesigned logo in black type. But the more dramatic makeover is of the financial books of Guardian Media Group (GMG), publisher of the Sunday Observer and the daily Guardian, which may find its new operation in the black next financial year. A newspaper business that two years ago was threatened with existentially worrying losses appears on the edge of breaking even.

The turnaround is partly due to steep cost-cutting, which is a dog-bites-man story in journalism. But the Guardian would manage the achievement while still giving away news free online, and that is a story worth telling.

In January 2016 David Pemsel, the new chief executive of GMG, and Katharine Viner, the new editor-in-chief of the Guardian, informed staff that GMG’s endowment fund, meant to ensure the financial security of the paper in the long run, had lost £100m ($140m) in just half a year, taking it to £740m. Mr Pemsel was advised by industry peers to cut costs and put online news behind a paywall. He and Ms Viner cut costs by 20%, or more than £50m. Alan Rusbridger, Ms Viner’s predecessor(前任), had led the newspaper to global relevance with a large online readership. But he spent without thinking of the consequences. In two years GMG has reduced its employees by 400, to about 1,500.

Yet unlike a growing number of newspapers, the Guardian has not put up a paywall. Instead it has pursued a membership model, asking online readers to contribute whatever they like. About 600,000 now do, with annual payments or one-off amounts. American readers tend to choose the latter option, Ms Viner says. GMG says the total figure amounts to tens of millions of pounds per year. Ms Viner says revenue from readers (including 200,000 print subscribers) is now greater than revenue from advertisers.

The result is steadily declining operating losses: from £69m two years ago to £45m last financial year and, Mr Pemsel says, less than £25m in the year that ends on April 1^st. He predicts breaking even next year. Giving up its own printing presses and going tabloid will help, saving several million pounds a year. The Guardian may now physically look more like its peers, but its turnaround story remains distinctive.

We all need a little motivation when it comes to working out, and GymPact is the perfect way to get inspired.

How does it work? Make a commitment to work out a certain number of times a week. Choose the amount of money you are willing to risk if you don’t reach your goal. If you don’t achieve your goal? Your credit card gets charged. Achieved your goal? You get paid! The days of being paid to work out have finally come!

That’s right. The zombie craze has even reached the fitness world. This action packed app adds an element that is sometimes missing from other workout apps-fun.

Zombies, Run! and Zombies, Run! 2 mix games and stories into your run as you complete missions in a world with zombies. Whether you’re gathering supplies, saving a human, or out-running a crowd of the undead, this app excites your normal jog with imagination and competition.

Sure, you’ve heard of Weight Watchers, but there is a reason this company has been around so long. Their system gets great results—plain and simple.

Weight Watchers Mobile is a great way to track your calorie consumption by using their point system. Not only can you enter and search for different foods in their database, you can scan barcodes for instant information about what you’re eating. The app counts down your available calories by day and also by week.

Weight Watchers Mobile even has a section to find foods from your favourite restaurants, and information on portion control and healthy eating. Their clean-looking, easy-to-use interface makes dieting more manageable and straightforward.

5 . We offer a programme of lectures by members of the MCLL community and other lifelong learning organisations, as well as university faculty members who have been invited to share their research with us on a variety of topics. View Instructions on How to Register Online.

A retired American IT professional, Richard Harris, will take us deep into a social media’s business model, its differences from traditional media, recent examples of its use for misinformation and possible solutions that respect freedom of expression. A lively round-table discussion not to be missed!

Mental health was known to the public quite late. Many countries are finding ways to reduce its impact, but many factors get in the way. However, progress is visible, and hope is justified. Mare Laporta will discuss different aspects of mental health and exchange ideas about ways to improve the situation.

The Silk Road refers to a network of routes, covering over 6,400 km, used by traders from the Han Dynasty of China who opened trade in 130 BCE until 1453 CE. The exchange of information gave rise to new technologies and innovations that changed the Western world. Topics such as gunpowder, the compass (指南针), paper-making and printing will be presented.

Between 1840 and 1930 a million French-Canadians left Canada to work in the United States. Many were employed in textile (纺织品) factories in the New England states. In these areas they set up communities where they maintained the French language and culture. In this lecture Muriel Herrington will describe their working and living conditions and show their impact.

6 . Top Exhibitions to See in London in 2023

Architectural: Vanishing Points

While we like to think of architecture existing purely in the real world, emerging designers and architects are using platforms like Instagram to create structures in the virtual world. This collection of works, which range from the practical to the fantastical, are all by architects who have gathered significant social media followings.

In the Digital Universe at ROCA London. 8 February—31 July, free.

Flowery: Orchids

This annual festival is back in bloom (开花), this time inspired by the beauty and biodiversity of Cameroon. Just like previous years, the orchids are spread throughout the various zones of the Princess of Wales conservatory and accompanied by sculptures that are just as colourful as the flowers on display.

At Kew Gardens. 4 February —5 March, &16.50—entrance to the gardens included.

Female Abstraction: Action, Gesture, Paint

Art history has often shone a light on the men of Abstract Expressionism, such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Well, now’s the time to let the most important women of the movement take the limelight in an exhibition that includes works by American artists such as Lee Krasner and Helen Frankenthaler, but spreads the net wider to include the female abstract artists from Europe, Asia and the wider world, with whom most of us will be unfamiliar.

At Whitechapel Gallery. 9 February—7 May, £ 16.50—concessions available.

Powerful Portraits (肖像): Alice Neel

The largest UK exhibition to date of American painter Alice Neel’s work will bring together her figurative pieces from across her 60-year career. Neel went against the popular grain by painting figures when abstract works were most popular, and she painted subjects that other artists ignored — pregnant women, labour leaders, black children, civil rights activists and strange performers. It’s high time we had a major show of her work in London, and the Barbican has duly provided.

At Barbican Art Gallery. 16 February—21 May, & 18.

9 . Can artificial intelligence uncover a liar? It sounds like science fiction, but such an AI system is possible. The question is: How accurate can it be? Rada Mihalcea, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan, has worked on deception detection for about a decade. This is how they constructed one AI deception detector, and how it works.

The first thing that researchers working on artificial intelligence and machine learning need is data. In the case of the work that Mlhalcea did, they began with videos from actual court cases. For example, a defendant speaking in a trial in which they were found guilty could provide an example of deceit; they also used testimony from witnesses as either example of truthful or deceitful statements. Altogether, they used 121 video clips and the corresponding transcripts of what they said—about half represented deceptive statements, and half truthful. It was this data that they used to build machine learning classifiers that ultimately had between a 60 to 75 percent accuracy rate.

One thing the system noticed is the use of pronouns—people who are lying would tend to less often use the word ‘I’ or ‘we’, Mihalcea explains. “Instead, people who are lying would more often use ‘you,’ ‘yours,’ ‘he,’ ‘they,’ and ‘she.’” That’s not the only linguistic signal: someone telling a lie would use “stronger words” that “reflect certainty,” she says. Examples of those types of words are “absolutely,” and “very,” while interestingly, people telling the truth were more likely to use words such as “maybe” or “probably.” “I think people who are deceptive would try to make up for the lie they are putting forward,” she says, “and so they try to seem more certain of themselves.” As for gestures, she points out that someone being deceitful would more likely look directly into the eyes of the person questioning them. They also tended to use both hands when gesturing. Instead of just one—also, she suspects, as part of trying to be convincing.

However, Mlhalcea’s work is “far from perfection,” she concedes. “As a researcher, we are excited we were able to get to 75 percent accuracy.” But looked at another way, that’s an error rate of one in four. Ultimately, she sees technology like this as being assistive for people—it could, for example, indicate that it noticed something “unusual” in a speaker’s statement, and then perhaps have a person “investigate more.”

10 . The Comfort Inn, Ramsgate is a Victorian building located on the coast of the Isle of Thanet, overlooking the English Channel. Previously known as the famous San Glu Hotel, the Comfort Inn, Ramsgate is ranked 3 stars from AA and 3 stars from the London Tourism council.

It has 44 rooms consisting of single, double, twin, family and executive rooms. All rooms offer satellite TV and Internet access.

There is a well-stocked bar, and the restaurant has a menu offering traditional dishes, with a choice of tempting starters, a variety of main courses and desserts, with a pleasant and efficient waitress services. The hotel offers a friendly service with its own car park and unrestricted on-street parking nearby.

Local Points of Interest

The Comfort Inn, Ramsgate is centrally situated in a quiet location overlooking the sea. The hotel is close to the town center and only 1 km from Port Ramsgate.

For inland and overseas flights Gatwick International Airport is only 100 km. The local attractions include Championship Golf Courses, Canterbury Cathedral, and Dover Port. Dartford Tunnel is only 55 miles.

Conference & Banqueting

The Comfort Inn, Ramsgate provides excellent conference and banqueting facilities for 10 to 150 people. Special events include Christmas party nights, Christmas day lunch, Boxing Day Carvery, and our wonderful New Year’s Eve dinner and dance. In addition to the provision of food, wine, bar facilities and function rooms, the Hotel offers the following services:

• Extension of license

• Printing

• Flowers

• Toastmaster

• Bands

• Cabaret

• Cake

• Piano

• Photograph

How to Find the Comfort Inn

From the M25 highway, travelling clockwise (顺时针方向), take the M2 on to A299 and the A253 to Ramsgate, or if travelling anti-clockwise from the M25, take the M26 on to the M20, then the A249 to the M2, A299 and A 253. Once in Ramsgate, head to the harbor, then travel east until you reach the hotel.