Can you remember the first time you learned to ride a bike or drive a car? Learning theses kills changed your life forever and opened up new horizons (视野).Learning about computers can be like learning how to ride a bike or drive a car. Once you have employed the time to master the skills, you will never go back to the old days. The new technology is just too convenient and too powerful.

    Technological developments all through the years have enabled us to do more with less effort. We have continuously looked for better ways of doing things. Each invention and new development has allowed us to extend our capabilities. Today we see one of the most dramatic technologies ever developed—the computer. It extends the capabilities of our minds.

    Computers have saved organizations millions of dollars. Furthermore, these same computer systems have opened up new opportunities that would have gone undiscovered or ignored. There is no doubt that computers have a positive influence upon people's life, and the growth of computer usage is surprising. On the other hand, the computer can do serious damage. Invasion of privacy (侵犯隐私), fraud (欺诈),  and computer-related mistakes are just a few shocking examples. So the computer is like a double-edged sword. It has the ability to cut us free from some activities, but it can also cut deep into financial profits (利益), personal privacy and our society in general. The choice is yours, and only through a knowledge of computer systems will you be able to avoid the dangers while enjoying the many, many benefits of the computer age.

    For Zack, the shave was more than just a way to fund lifesaving research. It was a way to honor his late brother, Taylor Frink.

    Taylor, a volunteer firefighter in North Carolina, was killed in a car accident last September. Before his passing, Taylor was an eager supporter of St. Baldrick's. He went bald（秃头）for the cause in 2015, supporting kids with cancer and raising money to find cures.

    As a local hero, Taylor was beloved by the community. When he died, more than 1, 000 people attended his funeral to pay their respects. Zack looked up to his brother and this was the reason why he decided to become a junior firefighter himself. They did everything together. Zack remembers.

    Zack knew his brother had planned to shave again in 2016, so without hesitation he decided to fill his shoes and registered to shave at the local St. Baldrick's event in Kinston, N. C.

    “He was always goodhearted, and I want to make my brother proud,” shares Zack.

    As part of Zack's kindnesses, he raised more than $ 1,000 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation primarily by selling T-shirts he designed. Leading up to the event, Zack also visited his city council, commissioner's office and challenged the local official department to get involved.

    “We are not going to let Taylor's name be forgotten. That is what I love about St Baldrick's,” says Jean Culbreth, volunteer event organizer. “Zack gets it. He gets that what he is doing is keeping his brother's name alive.”

    The day finally came and Zack took his seat under the clippers (剪具), not only to honor his brother but to help kids with cancer. It was a special moment for all, and by the end of the day the event had raised more than $ 22,000!

    We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn't even lift her eyes from the book. Mum pointed at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down. While I watched mouth open is surprise, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold. She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop. She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, "Very dirty floors. "

    "Yes, I'm glad they've finally decided to clean them, "the nurse answered. She looked at Mum strangely and said, "But aren't you working late?"

    Mum just pushed harder, each swipe(拖一下)of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall. I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book.

    After a long time Mum came back. Her eyes were shining. She quickly put the mop back and took my hand. As we turned to go out of the door, Mum bowed politely to the nurse and said, "Thank you."

    Outside, Mum told me, "Dagmar is fine. No fever. "

    "You saw her, Mum?"

    "Of course. I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow. Dad will stop worrying as well. It's a fine hospital. But such floors! A mop is no good. You need a brush."

    It warmed my heart today to walk into the Thirsty Camel downtown in the Thanksgiving Day, for a quick lunch before a haircut and library trip. Ilan, a food shop owner, said that he was refusing to take money today because it was Buy Nothing Day. To increase awareness(意识) of the stranger's over-spending nature of our society, Ilan suggested a trade for food today. He simply asked that you offer something of equal personal value for the meal you received.

    At first I was really uncomfortable, wondering if it would be fair to exchange a yet to be determined “I Owe You” (IOU) for food? What could I give him of equal value? After all, his food is the best in the town!

    We ended up writing our IOU's with promises of a book, some paintings and the offer of work in a variety of ways if he needs it.

    I think the idea isn't that the trade is “equal” so much as the importance of the kind of transaction. We put thought into our offer and we had an even greater understanding for the meals we ate.

    We don't buy a lot, especially at this upcoming time of year. We don't give gifts at all in fact. The holiday time is spent enjoying each other's company and doing things together with family and friends. This is what seems most sensible.

    Ilan is a good person. We are all lucky to have someone like this in our community.

    Ahead of the summer travel season, airlines in the United States usually compete to sell tickets and fill seats. But the airlines that operate the grounded Boeing 737 Max planes have a new problem: there are not enough seats to meet the demand.

    The revenue(收益)is right in front of them. They can see it, but they can't meet it, said Mike Trevino. He is an airline industry expert for Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, The grounding of Boeing's 737 Max came after two deadly crashes in five months. Southwest Airlines is the world's largest 737 Max operator. The company has 34 of the planes.

    American Airlines operates the second-most, with 24. These planes have been removed from use until at least August, The grounding of the planes has led Southwest to cancel 160 of its 4,200 daily flights between June 8 and August 5.

    American Airlines will cancel 115 daily flights, or 1.5 percent of its total summer flights .Southwest only flies Boeing 737s. It had estimated $ 150 million in lost revenue between February and March 31--mostly because of MAX cancellations.

    The 737Max was grounded worldwide in March following a deadly Ethiopian Airlines crash. It came five months after a Lion Air crash in Indonesia. All on board both planes died.

    Boeing is under pressure to provide additional software. Experts are examining the original software as a possible reason for the crashes.

    Boeing must prove to worldwide regulators that the plane is safe to fly. That process may take more than 90 days. Planes in the United States are usually mostly full during the months of June, July and August.

    When I first married my wife, I lived and worked in Ontario, moving from small town to big city as I pursued my career as a radio broadcaster. We have two sons, both of whom were born in Toronto and moved with us to Ottawa. They went to school, grew up there, and then pursuing their own careers, they also moved. One went to Canada's east coast near a city called Halifax and the other headed to the west coast Vancouver. We had a dilemma; we were left in the middle.

    The problem wasn't pressing at the time because I was still working and my job was in Ottawa. However, as we began to considering retirement we wondered where we should spend our final years. We couldn't be close to both of our children and there was no telling when they might again relocate. For several reasons, we settled on a small town on Vancouver Island. At least we were close to one of them. However, he had his sights set on Hollywood and, when an opportunity presented itself, he left Canada and headed south. So, there we were, and still are, in our little west coast town. We love our little corner of paradise (乐园）but we paid a price. We have not been there for some important events such as the births of two of our grandchildren. We have missed watching them grow up, backyard barbecues, and the normal, noisy households. Our home, while comfortable, is also very quiet.

    Every fall we travel to see the children and try to spend a week or more with them and we make the even longer trip to see our grandchildren, who are now teenagers, actually into their twenties. They seldom come to visit us. The distances are just too great and it is costly.

    Fortunately, both our boys are doing well and our grandchildren are growing straight and tall. We love all of them and they love us but the reality is that they don't need us. We have done our jobs and at least in theory，we can sit back, relax and enjoy the time remaining to us. In fact, we're happy but there were times I think about the things we didn't see. They have also missed having a set of parents and grandparents around.

    Life has been good for our family but we have paid a price.