Mini Book Excerpts (节选)

    Biography

    When Salinger learned that a car park was to be built on the land, the middle-aged writer was shocked and quickly bought the neighboring area to protect it… The townspeople never forgot the rescue and came to help their most famous neighbor.

    J. D. Salinger: A Life by Kenneth Slawenski (Random House, $ 27)

    Mystery

    “You're a smart boy. Benny's death was no accident, and you're the only one who saw it happen. Do you think the murderer should get away with it?” The boy was staring stubbornly at his lap again.

    A thought suddenly occurred to Annika, “Did you... You recognized the man in the car, didn't you?”

    The boy hesitated, twisting his fingers. “Maybe,” he said quietly.

    Red Wolf by Liza Marklund (Atria Books, $ 25.99)

    Short Stories

    She wants to say to him what she has learned, none of it in class. Some women are born stupid, and some women are too smart for their own good. Some women are born to give, and some women only know how to take. Some women learn who they want to be from their mothers, some who they don't want to be. Some mothers suffer so their daughters won't. Some mothers suffer so their daughters won't.

    You Are Free by Danzy Senna (Riverhead Books, $ 15)

    Humor

    Do your kids like to have fun? Come to Fun Times! Do you like to watch your kids having fun? Bring them to Fun Times! Fun Times's “amusement cycling” is the most fun you can have in the United States right now. Why spend thousands of dollars flying to Disney World when you can spend less than half to that within a day's drive in most cities?

    Happy And Other Bad Thoughts by Larry Doyle (Ecco, $ 14.99)

    The best tool needed for survival in the event you get lost when you travel is your skill of advanced planning. You must expect the unexpected and plan accordingly. Even if you are going out for just a few hours, pack enough essentials that you can stay hydrated (体内水分), fueled and prepared for any type of weather. Your essentials should include at least:

    More than enough food and water for the activity you plan.

    A compass that you know how to use. You may want a GPS device, but those sometimes do not receive a signal or the battery fails. Cell phones also likely will not work because of a lack of signal.

    Appropriate maps. Study the terrain (地形) and your planned route. Know where you are going and how you will return.

    Comfortable hiking boots, clothes that you can wear depending on the weather conditions and additional socks in case the ones you arc wearing get wet.

    A blanket, flashlight, matches kept in a water-resistant container, and other items that will help you survive overnight if necessary.

    Cheek with the local forest office for special warnings, such as fires in the area, bear sightings, flooding, trail or road closures, etc.

It's also important that once you have planned your outing, tell someone. Give them exact details of where you are going, the trail you plan to follow, when you will return, the vehicle you are driving (and where you plan to park) and how many people will go with you—do not go alone.

    If you do become lost, your most important tool is keeping a positive mental attitude.

    There are many events you can do in our city. Now have a look at them.

    Mindfulness Meditation（冥想）: Learn how just five minutes a day of meditation can benefit emotional, mental and physical health. The Hernando County Public Library System will host this seminar, which introduces some meditation techniques. Presented by Diana Reed of Gaya Jyoti Yoga. 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm. Free. S. T. Foggia Branch Library, 6335 Blackbird Ave, Spring Hill.（352）754-4043.

    Book Discussion Group: Each month, the group discusses a new book. The group is designed for adults. This month's book is The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe. Contact the library for a copy of the book and discussion questions. 1:45 pm to 3: 15 pm. Free. Harold G. Zopp Memorial Library, 9220 Spring Hill Drive, Spring Hill.（352）754-4043.

    What to Do When Your Landscape Sleeps: Seminar participants will learn how to care for a landscape during the cool season and prepare it for spring and summer. 10: 30 am. Free. Harold G. Zopp Memorial Library, 9220 Spring Hill Drive, Spring Hill.（352）540-6230.

    Writers Workshop: The group meets every other Thursday. All levels of experience from beginners to published authors are welcome. Bring pen and paper. 1 pm to 3 pm. Free. East Hernando Branch Library, 6457 Windmere Road, Ridge Manor West.（352）754-4043.

    Low-cost Pet Vaccination（预防接种）Clinic: Sponsored by the Florida International Teaching Zoo veterinary（兽医）staff. Vaccinations are administered by a veterinarian. 6: 30 pm to 7: 30 pm. Rabies vaccinations for dogs and cats are $ 7. Tractor Supply Go. , 18471 Cortez Blvd, Brooksville. (352) 867-7788.

    Is Paperless Office Really Paperless?

    A rising economy increased paper sales by 6 to 7 percent each year in the early to mid-1990s, and the convenience of desktop printing allowed office workers to indulge anything and everything. In 2004, Ms. Dunn, a communications supplies director, said that plain white office paper would see less than a 4 percent growth rate, a primary reason for which is that some 47 percent of the workforce entered the job market after computers had already been introduced to offices.

    For office innovators, the dream of paperless office is an example of high-tech arrogance（傲慢）. Today's office service is overwhelmed By more newspapers than ever before. After decades of development, the American government can finally get rid of the madness on paper. In the past, the demand for paper has been far ahead of growth in the American economy, but the sales have slowed markedly over the past two to three years, despite the good economic conditions.

    “Old habits are hard to break,” says Ms. Dunn. “There are some functions that paper serves where a screen display doesn't work. Those functions are both its strength and its weakness.” Analysts attribute the decline to such factors as advances in digital databases and communication systems. Escaping our craving for paper, however, will be anything but an easy affair.

    “We're finally seeing a reduction in the amount of paper being used per worker in the workplace,” says John Maine, vice president of a paper economic consulting firm. “More information is being transmitted electronically, and an increasing number of people are satisfied that information exists only in electronic form without printing multiple backups.”

    To reduce paper use, some companies are working to combine digital and paper capabilities. For example, Xerox is developing electronic paper: thin digital displays that respond to a stylus, like a pen on paper. Marks can be erased or saved digitally. Even with such technological advances, the increasing amounts of electronic data necessarily require more paper.

    “The information industry today is composed of a thin paper crust surrounding an electronic core,” Mr. Saffo wrote. The growing paper crust is most noticeable, but the hidden electronic core is far larger and growing more rapidly. The result is that we are becoming paperless, but we hardly notice at all. “That's one of the greatest ironies of the information age,” Saffo says. “It's just common sense that the more you talk to someone by phone or computer, it inevitably leads to a face-to-face meeting. The best thing for the aviation industry was the Internet.”

    Last week, Vodafone started a test of the UK's first full 5G service, available for use by businesses in Salford. It is part of its plan to trial the technology in seven UK cities. But what can we expect from the next generation of mobile technology?

    One thing we will see in the preparation for the test is lots of tricks with the new tech. Earlier this year, operators paid almost £ 1.4 billion for the 5G wavelengths, and to compensate for that cash, they will need to catch the eye of consumers. In September, Vodafone used its bit of the range to display the UK's first hologram (全息) call. The Manchester City captain Steph Houghton appeared as a hologram in Newbury. It isn't all holograms, however: 5G will offer faster internet access, with Ofcom (英国通讯管理局) suggesting that video that takes a minute to download on 4G will be available in just a second.

    The wider application is to support connected equipment on the "internet of things" -not just the internet-enabled fridge that can reorder your milk for you, but the network that will enable driverless cars and delivery drones (无人机) to communicate with each other.

    Prof William Webb has warned that the technology could be a case of the emperor's new clothes. Much of the speed increase, he claims, could have been achieved by putting more money in the 4G network, rather than a new technology.  Other different voices have suggested that a focus on rolling out wider rural broadband access and addressing current network coverage would be more beneficial to the UK as a whole.

    Obviously, 5G will also bring a cost to consumers. It requires a handset for both 5G and 4G, and the first 5G-enabled smart phones are expected in the coming year. With the slow pace of network rollout so far, it is likely that consumers will end up upgrading to a new 5 G phone well before 5 G becomes widely available in the next couple of years.

    Why don't quiet carriages work, and how might they be make to? Quiet carriages on trains are a nice idea: travelers voluntarily make their phones silent, turn stereos off and keep chatter to a minimum. However, in reality, there is usually at least one silly babbler (喋喋不休的人) to break the silence.

    A couple of problems prevent peaceful trips. First, there is a sorting problem: some passengers end up in the quiet carriage by accident and are not aware of the rules. Second, there is a commitment problem: noise is sometimes made by travelers who choose the quiet carriage but find an important call hard to ignore.

    The train operators are trying to find answers. Trains in Queensland Australia, are having permanent signs added to show exactly what is expected; a British operator has invested in some technology to prevent phone calls.

    Microeconomics suggests another approach. Fining people for making a noise would surely dissuade (劝阻) the polluter and is a neat solution in theory, but it requires costly monitoring and enforcement. Another way would be to use prices to separate quiet and noisy passengers—in effect, creating a market for silence. A simple idea would be to sell access to the quiet carriage as an optional extra when the ticket is bought. Making the quiet coach both an active choice and a costly one would dissuade many of those who don't value a peaceful ride.

    Charging may also solve the commitment problem. This is particularly tricky, as attitudes to noise can change during the journey. Some passengers would pay the quiet premium but still chatter away when some vital news arrives. Schemes that reward the silent—a rating system among fellow passengers, for example—could help. The idea is that losing your hard-won reputation offsets the short-term gain from using the phone. But such a system also fails the simplicity test.

    A 2010 book by George Akerlof and Rachel Kranton argues that "norms"—feelings about how everyone should behave—also play a role in decision-making. Charging a price, even if just a token amount, means the quiet carriage becomes a service that fellow passengers have bought, not just a preference they have expressed. Perhaps different norms would come into play, encouraging calm. If not, a personal bubble is always an option: noise-canceling headphones start at around $50.