2017 was an influential year for artificial intelligence (人工智能), not just in terms of the advancement of the technology itself, but also for the development of our understanding of AI's impact on our society.

    When we talk about AI, often we focus on the belief that it is going to take away certain types of jobs. However, we often ignore the fact that this technology will also slowly spread into most of our lives.

    Thanks to the development of AI, we are on the highway of IA, (human) intelligence augmentation (增强). Despite the great steps we've made in AI development and will continue to make in 2018, we are still years away from AI fully replacing human jobs. However, we are much closer to seeing the impact of AI spread into almost every job and the growth in human intelligence.

    Take a doctor for example: AI will soon be able to detect and diagnose common diseases more quickly and accurately than humans. Now, doctors can spend more of their time explaining the possible diagnoses, communicating with patients and developing unique, reliable treatment plans that are most effective for each specific patient.

    However, AI is so powerful and its adoption will only accelerate as it begins to help our work and allow us to focus on the parts of our job that are most important. But part of why AI is so attractive is also why it's so dangerous. That is, that same power allows AI that are making incorrect decisions to do so with greater speed and impact than humans have ever had.

    This is why, as AI becomes more useful in 2018, it will also become more closely examined. 2018 will be the year when companies purchasing AI products don't just ask about the power of AI—they will make sure that it is tested carefully in advance, minimizing their potential unexpected impact.

    While the U.S. is still debating about getting rid of the penny, Sweden is rapidly moving towards abolishing currency (货币) altogether. Though this may sound radical(过激的), it is a natural evolution in this digital society.

    Sweden, which was the first European country to introduce banknotes in 1661, has just been working harder to convince its residents that digital payments are a safer alternative to carrying cash.

    Over the years, the idea has gained popularity with residents, especially the younger generation that is much more comfortable with technology. Today many banks don't even have ATMs and some have stopped handling cash altogether!

    Tickets to ride public buses in most Swedish cities can only be purchased via cell phones. Numerous businesses are also moving towards accepting only digital payments. Even the homeless that sell street paper to make ends meet have to start accepting this mode of payment!

    But despite its growing popularity, some people don't like this radical idea. They include the homeless, elderly people as well as those living in rural areas who are still uncomfortable with mobile phones and computers. But the officials are confident that in the very near future, they will be able to convince everyone to move this safe and more cost-effective payment system.

    Sweden is not the only country trying to abolish paper currency and coins. The movement is rapidly gaining ground in Denmark and Finland as well. In 2014, Israel announced a three-step plan to go cashless and just last week the vendors(小贩)of a popular street in Sydney declared they would stop accepting currency from customers. Whether this phenomenon spreads remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure—With increasingly advanced payment systems being introduced every day, pulling out cash is rapidly becoming "uncool".

Urban Transportation in Canada

    Public transportation & Transit passes

    All cities and most major towns in Canada have a public transportation system with one or more modes of transportation (bus, subway, train, etc.). The bus is the most common form of urban transportation in Canada. To use public transportation, you must purchase a ticket or a transit pass. Transit passes allow you unlimited use of public transportation for a specific period (one month or more). They are usually cheaper than buying many tickets if you plan to use public transportation often.

    Transportation for people with disabilities

    Public transportation often has features to assist people with disabilities. In many cities and towns, there are also transportation services available specifically for people with limited mobility, such as specially equipped buses. You can find out about these services in the same way you would learn more about other public transportation options.

    Etiquette on public transportation

When taking public transportation such as a bus or train, it is important to understand the unspoken rules of conduct in the shared space. Here are a few things to note:

    Be polite and respectful to others around you. For example, maintain an appropriate noise level when talking or making a phone call.

    If you are carrying a backpack or a large shoulder bag in a crowded public transit vehicle, keep it close to you, preferably at your feet to avoid hitting people with it as you walk by.

    Avoid pushing or touching others in order to make more room for yourself. Sometimes public transit can become very crowded, but it is important to keep calm and give others appropriate personal space.

    Have your proof of payment accessible in case you are asked to show it.

    My two- and four-year-old boys love to win, whether they're racing their bikes down the sidewalk or just finishing their snacks. It's true that those with high status, from world leaders and prize winners to athletes and movie stars, are people we like and respect. A recent study published in Nature Human Behaviour showed that we seem to have an innate (天生的) preference for high-ranking peoples—but only if those people aren't hurtful toward others.

    Researchers showed toddlers (aged 21 to 31 months) a scene where two puppets (木偶) approached one another from opposite sides of a stage and one bowed to let the other pass first. Asked which puppet they liked better, 18 of the 21 toddlers in the experiment reached for the puppet who had been allowed to pass. Because respect from others is a marker of status, this suggests that children have a preference for those with a higher status—even before age three.

    However, the results were quite different when two puppets approached one another and one used force to knock the other down before continuing to the other side. In this case, 18 of the 21 toddlers reached for the one who was knocked down. As the researchers concluded, "When approaching others, very young children care not only who wins, but also how." The previous experiment has shown that toddlers know about social status, but this experiment went one step further by proving they have an obvious preference for high status. Since the participants were so young, this might even be an innate human preference.

    In a word, this new research suggests that young children appreciate people who do well while at the same time doing good to others. So, when my four-year-old thinks that he has to get his shoes on first, I'll keep reminding him that helping his brother so they both finish faster is what winning is all about.

    The first newspapers were written by hand and put up on walls in public places. The earliest daily newspaper was started in Rome in 59 BC. In the 700's the world's first printed newspaper was published. Europe didn't have a regularly published newspaper until 1609, when one was started in Germany.

    The first regularly published newspaper in the English language was printed in Amsterdam in 1620. In 1621, an English newspaper was started in London and was published once a week. The first daily English newspaper was The Daily Courant (《每日新闻》). It came out in March, 1702.

    In 1690, Benjamin Harris printed the first American newspaper in Boston. But not long after it was first published, the government stopped the paper. In 1704, John Campbell started The Boston Newsletter (《波士顿新闻通讯》), the first newspaper published in the American colonies. By 1760, the colonies had more than thirty daily newspapers. There are now about 1,800 daily papers in the United States.

    Today, as a group, English language newspapers have the largest circulation (发行量) in the world. But the largest circulation for a newspaper is that of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Dhimbun (《朝日新闻》). It sells more than 11 million copies every day.

    People all have something to say. Some express their passion (强烈的感情) through clothe, art, or community involvement. Others express themselves with poetry, which has diverse poetic forms to express unique thoughts, experiences, and imagination at the fourth annual People's Poetry Festival held Feb. 28 through March 2.

    "The People's Poetry Festival keeps getting bigger and bigger—it's an event we're really proud of," said Dr Mark Hartlaub, College of Liberal Arts Dean at Texas. The festival covered a wide variety of topics including nature, humor, women and history. From the panels to the open microphone night, the islander's community, along with 43 published poets from around the country, local high school students, and the general public came together to share their love of poetry.

    The panels were full of passionate readings and lively discussion. For the first time ever, musical poetry was performed at the event. The "Homebrewed" panel was made up of all local poets. The "From Page to the Stage" panel focused on slam (抨击) poetry, and the "Humor" panel greeted levels of laughter from the crowd. All the panels were live streamed on the People's Poetry Facebook page. "The poetry and poets were all my students wanted to talk about in class this week," said Dr. Chuck Etheridge, professor of English who attended many of the panel readings.

    Celebrating exceptional writers is another part of People's Poetry Festival. On opening night, the People's Poetry Festival committee named Madeline Ricondo of Tuloso-Midway as the winner of the Robb Jackson Writing Award for high school students. This award honors the late Dr. Robb Jackson, Texas A&M University System Regents Professor and professor of English at A&M-Corpus Christi, whose poetry shared his life experiences and observation of Corpus Christi. Ricondo received a $100 gift card, plus, three poetry books with local ties including a copy of Jackson's "Open Heart". The people's Poetry Festival committee also recognized Juan Manuel Perez, award-winning poet and local history teacher, as the 2019—2021 Poet Laureate (桂冠诗人) of Corpus Christi.