Dear Friend ,

    The recent success of children's books has made the general public aware that there's a huge market out there .And there's a growing need for new writers trained to create the $3 billion worth of children's books bought each year … plus stories and articles needed by over 650 publishers of magazines for children and teenagers .Who are these needed writers ? They're ordinary folks like you and me .But am I good enough ?

    I was once where you might be now . My thoughts of writing had been pushed down by self-doubt , and I didn't know where to turn for help .

    Then , I accepted a free offer from the Institute to test my writing ability , and it turned out to be the inspiration I needed .

    The promise that paid off

    The Institute made the same promise to me that they will make to you , if you show basic writing ability :

    You will complete at least one manuscript（手稿）suitable to hand in to a publisher by the time you finish our course .

    I really didn't expect any publication before I finished the course , but that happened . I sold three stories . And I soon discovered that was not unusual at the Institute .

    Since graduation , I have authored 34 nationally published children's books and over 300 stories and articles .

    Free test and brochure

    We offer a free ability test and will send you a copy of our brochure（小册子）describing our recognized home-study courses on the basis of one-on-one training .Realize your writing dream today . There's nothing sadder than a dream delayed until it fades forever .

Sincerely ,

Kristi Hill , Instructor

Institute of Children's Literature

    You get anxious if there's no wi-fi in the hotel or mobile phone signal up the mountain. You feel upset if your phone is getting low on power, and you secretly worry things will go wrong at work if you're not there. All these can be called “always on” stress caused by smart phone addiction.

    For some people, smart phones have liberated them from the nine-to-five work. Flexible working has given them more autonomy（自主权）in their working lives and enabled them to spend more time with their friends and families. For many others though, smart phones have become tyrants（暴君）in their pockets, never allowing them to turn them off, relax and recharge their batteries.

    Pittsburgh-based developer Kevin Holesh was worried about how much he was ignoring his family and friends in favour of his iPhone. So he developed an app — Moment — to monitor his usage. The app enables users to see how much time they're spending on the device and set up warnings if the usage limits are breached（突破）. “Moment's goal is to promote balance in your life,” his website explains. “Some time on your phone, some time off it enjoying your loving family and friends around you.”

    Dr. Christine Grant, an occupational（职业的）psychologist at Coventry University, said, “The effects of this 'always on' culture are that your mind is never resting, and you're not giving your body time to recover, so you're always stressed. And the more tired and stressed we get, the more mistakes we make. Physical and mental health can suffer.”

    And as the number of connected smart phones is increasing, so is the amount of data. This is leading to a sort of decision paralysis（瘫痪）and is creating more stress in the workplace because people have to receive a broader range of data and communications which are often difficult to manage. “It actually makes it more difficult to make decisions and many do less because they're controlled by it all and fell they can never escape the office,” said Dr. Christine Grant.

    My 17-year-old daughter went off to college and having her away from home brought back memories of watching Peter Pan when she was little. In the classic TV production, one scene in particular impressed me: when Mrs. Darling puts her children into bed. As she turns off the last of the night light, she takes one last look at the bedroom and says, “Dear night lights, protect my sleeping children.” As a mother, I know how much she loves her children.

    It has been several weeks since we took our daughter to college and she seems to be adjusting well after a short period of homesickness. For us, though, it's another story. Like most parents, I love checking in on my children at night. But now she's gone, and I find night times the hardest. I miss her most at night.

    In my neighborhood, most of the parents whose kids are off to college are dealing with similar melancholy. My husband is filled with anxiety. One friend talked about getting this sick feeling in her stomach as she prepared for the college drop off. We complained that many of us were too busy to truly enjoy being with our children while we had them.

    For us moms, seeing Toy Story 3 only made the sadness worse as we watched the character Andy, who is the same age as our kids, say goodbye to his childhood as he prepares to leave for college. And it's not just “first-time” parents like me. Two moms who have kids already well into college said the separation didn't get any easier. You feel like something has been taken away from inside you,” said one of them.

    I imagine things will get easier with time, especially as I see my daughter adjust to college life. Meanwhile, as I keep my cell phone close to me in bed and text my daughter goodnight and sweet dreams every night, I like to think that messages serve as a night light that keeps her safe.

    Most people agree that eating healthy food is important. But sometimes making good food choices can be difficult. Now, there are apps that can help people learn about the food they eat to improve their health and their dining out experience.

    Happy Cow app

    Vegetarians do not eat animal meat. Vegans do not eat any animal products. The HappyCow app is made for both groups. Users can search for vegetarian-vegan restaurants and stores around the world.

    Open Table app

    Open Table app helps people choose restaurants when they want to go out to eat. It is a free service that shows users restaurant available based on where and when they want to dine. It gives users points when they make reservations(保留，预定), which can add up to discounts on restaurant visits.

    Local Eats app

    Restaurant chains, like McDonalds, can be found almost anywhere a person might travel. But sometimes travelers want to eat like locals. The Local Eats app is designed for that. It can help you find local restaurants in major cities in the US and in other countries. It costs about a dollar.

Where Chefs Eat app

    "Where Chefs Eat" is a 975-page book. Most people would not want to carry that around. But there is a much lighter app version of the same name for just $15. Six hundred chefs provide information on 3,000 restaurants around the world on the Where Chefs Eat app.

    Visit Nashville, Tennessee, the capital of country music and the home of the Grand Ole Opry. Forty -day bus tour starts from Pittsburgh.

    Departures August 23, September 13, September 27, October 11, October 25.

$185 per person based on double occupancy. Includes private motor coach from Pittsburgh, hotel rooms, reserved tickets for the Grand Ole Opry. Country Festival Friday and Saturday nights, sightseeing tour of Nashville, admissions to places of interest.

    For information, free booklets, and reservations, call 4212 — 6060. Travel and Tours, 2245 Market Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219. 14-day advanced booking required. Visa and Master Card payment welcome.

    A robot created by Washington State University (WSU) scientists could help elderly people with dementia (痴呆) and other limitations live independently in their own homes.

    The Robot Activity Support System or RAS, uses sensors installed in a WSU smart home to determine where its residents are, what they are doing and when they need assistance with daily activities. It navigates (定位) through rooms and around obstacles to find people on its own, provides video instructions on how to do simple tasks and can even lead its owner to objects like their medication or a snack in the kitchen.

"RAS combines the convenience of a mobile robot with the activity detection technology of a WSU smart home to provide assistance in the moment, as the need for help is detected," said Bryan Minor, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

    Currently, an estimated 50 percent of adults over the age of 85 need assistance with every day activities such as preparing meals and taking medication and the annual cost for this assistance in the US is nearly $2 trillion. With the number of adults over 85 expected to triple by 2050, researchers hope that technologies like RAS and the WSU smart home will relieve some of the financial strain on the healthcare system by making it easier for older adults to live alone.

    RAS is the first robot researchers have tried to incorporate into their smart home environment. They recently published a study in the journal Cognitive Systems Research that demonstrates how RAS could make life easier for older adults struggling to live independently.

    "While we are still in an early stage of development, our initial results with RAS have been promising," Minor said. "The next step in the research will be to test RAS' performance with a group of older adults to get a better idea of what prompts, video reminders and other preferences they have regarding the robot."