With brown curly hair and a pair of glasses, 19-year-oldNicholas Allegra from New York state, US, looks like a real-life Harry Potter.However, rather than waving a wand, Nicholas is a "wizard " at"jailbreaking ". This is probably why he ended up with an intern­shipat Apple, a job many of his fellow Brown University students dream of.

Jailbreaking is the process of removing the limitations set byApple on devices with the iOS oper­ating system. These devices include theiPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. It allows users to gain full access to theoperating system and download additional materials that are unavailable through the official Apple App Store.However, it is estimated that Apple loses $100 million (640million yuan) fromjailbreaking each year.

Nicholas, with a famous nickname "Comex", is theteenage hacker behind the jail-breaking site JailbreakMe. com. The site tellsusers how to unlock their iPhones using software that is not approved by Apple.The jailbreaking software he made has been downloaded millions of times byusers around the world.

Then Forbes magazine suggested in an article that Apple's securityteam might need him as a new intern. It seems that they do. Little more than aday after Steve jobs stepped down as CEO, Apple welcomed Nicholas Allegra.Nicholas wrote on his Twitter on August 26 that " It's been really, reallyfun, but it's also been a while and I've been getting bored. So, the week afternext I will be starting an internship with Apple.

Apple is not the only company embracing the skills ofhackers. Facebook recently hired iPhone jailbreaker George "Geohot"Hotz as a full-time employee.

However, there are still hot debates about whether employinghackers is a wise solution. The word "hacker" has always had a doublemeaning. In the press, "hacker" means someone who breaks intocomputers. They steal from people's bank ac­counts, download sensitiveinformation and attack legal websites. Among computer lovers, it means a coolpro­grammer who can make a computer do whatever he wants.

Hiring a hacker does have its advantages. A talented hacker isprobably quite capable of finding problems and suggesting corrections. On theother hand, because of a hacker's former behavior, many people doubt theirmorals .Can the company trust them with its valuable assets ? And can someonewho is so used to working alone in the dark fit into a new role within acompany?

One thing is for sure- Comex isn't the first member of thehacker community to land the job of his dreams. It's likely that he won't bethe last.

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

Where: Becket, Massachusetts

When: June 15-Aug 24

    Each summer, this influential dance center presents a number of classes and performances by more than 50 companies from around the world. Highlights (最精彩的部分) this season include the Dance Theater of Harlem's production of Alvin Ailey's “The Lark Ascending”, which opens the festival.

    Many events are free. Ticketed performances start at $22. jacobspillow.org.

Moab Music Festival

Where: Moab, Utah

When: Aug 29-Sept 9

    This area is better known for mountain biking than for music. But since 1992, it has hosted a private festival that brings classical, jazz, Latin and other types of music to the land. This year there will be 16 concerts, including three “Grotto Concerts”, where guests take a 45-minute boat ride down the Colorado River to performances.

Events start at $25. moabmusicfest.org.

Cheyenne Frontier Days

Where: Cheyenne, Wyoming

When: July 19-28

    There's something for everyone at this 117-year-old festival, from an “Indian village” and Old West museum to country concerts. But the competition is still the main attraction, with cowboys and cowgirls competing for major money in the world's largest outdoor stage.

Competition tickets start at $18, and concert tickets at $23. cfdrodeo.com.

The Glimmerglass Festival

Where: Cooperstown, New York

When: July 6-Aug 24

    Each summer, opera lovers from around the country (and the world) travel to upstate New York to watch productions that include stars like Nathan Gunn and Ginger Costa-Jackson. This year's performances include Wagner's “The Flying Dutchman” and Verdi's “King for a Day”, in honor of the 200th birthdays of both composers (作曲家).

Tickets start at $26. glimmerglass.org.

    Residents in the poorest counties in the U.S. face a life expectancy up to decade shorter than their counterparts in the wealthiest areas, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

    Researchers from East Tennessee State University wanted to better understand how socioeconomic status was associated with heath outcomes. To find out they divided the country's 3,141 counties into 50 new 'states' (with 2 percent of the counties in each) based on household income as opposed to geographic proximity (接近).

    The researchers broke down the data by county since they found state-level data may hide some 'impact of socioeconomic differences on both the best-off and worst-off counties.' They then examined health data from the wealthiest and poorest 'states' (top and bottom 2 percent) to see how residents differed on factors like smoking, clinical care and excessive drinking. Researchers found that there was nearly a 10-year gap in the life expectancy of men with an average of 79.3 years in the wealthy counties compared to 69.8 years in the poorest. For women, the difference was slightly less - 83 years in the wealthiest counties and 76 years in the poorest.

    The study authors caution that while they found a connection between socioeconomic status and health outcomes, they did not analyze cause and effect. But they suggest that the data shows how policy makers should not just focus on state-wide initiatives (主动性) but more targeted efforts to help those most at risk. “With limited resources, methods of pinpointing the poorest counties can assist in the allocation of resources and programs to those communities that are in the greatest need,'' the study authors wrote.

    I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves，most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact，I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives (观点) by creating worlds we could step into，take part in and live in.

    With this unshakable belief，I，at fourteen，decided to become a writer. Here too，reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say，but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with，or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read，because only through reading other people's writing can one discover what works，what doesn't and， in the end，together with lots of practice，what voice he has.

    Now I am in college，and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction (文学作品)．As a law student，my reading is in fact limited to subject matter — the volume (量) of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road，all from the comfort of my own armchair，to experience，though secondhand，exciting experiences that I wouldn't necessarily be able to have in my lifetime.

    At first glance Esther Okade seems like a normal 10-year-old. She loves dressing up, playing with Barbie dolls and going to the park or shopping. But what makes the British-Nigerian youngster stand out is the fact that she's also a university undergraduate.

    Esther, from Walsall, an industrial town in the UK's West Midlands region, is one of the country's youngest college freshmen. The talented 10-year-old enrolled at the Open University, a UK-based distance learning college, in January and is already top of the class, having recently scored 100% in a recent exam.

    "It's so interesting. It has the type of maths I love. It's real maths-theories, complex numbers, all that type of stuff," she smiles. "I want to finish the course in two years. Then I'm going to do my PhD in financial maths when I'm 13. I want to have my own bank by the time I'm 15 because I like numbers and I like people and banking is a great way to help people." she adds.

    Esther has always jumped ahead of her peers. She sat her first Math GSCE exam, a British high school qualification, at Ounsdale High School in Wolverhampton at just six, where she received a C-grade. A year later, she got the A-grade she wanted. Then last year she scored a B-grade when she sat the Math A-level exam.

    Not content with breaking barriers to attend college at just 10 years old, Esther is also writing a series of math workbooks for children called "Yummy Yummy Algebra."

    "It starts at a beginner level-that's volume one. But then there will be volume two, and volume three, and then volume four. As long as you can add or subtract, you'll be able to do it. I want to show other children they are special." she says.

    If you've ever visited London, it's likely that you've heard the loud chimes（鸣响）of Big Ben, the 157-year-old clock bell of the UK's Houses of Parliament（议会）.

    But on Aug 21, the world's most famous bell fell silent. This is because the Palace of Westminster's Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, needs to be repaired. The workers who'll carry out the repairs don't want their ears to be damaged by the sounds of the huge bell, reported BBC News. Big Ben won't ring again regularly until 2021.

    There's been quite an emotional response to the move. Several members of parliament gathered in front of the Houses of Parliament to hear the bell's last regular chime for four years. A few even shed tears, as if they were attending a friend's funeral.

    But a number of politicians are angry about the lengthy silencing of Big Ben, calling it a symbol of Britain, according to ABC News. And some members of public agree with it. "It's our heritage," David Dummigan, from Cumbria in the north of England, told The New York Times. "People come from all over the world to look at it and listen to it. It's part of British history." This kind of emotional reaction could be linked to "fears about Britain losing its voice and place in the world, which is part of the threat that comes from Brexit", according to CNN. "The reality of losing a place at the top table is being made obvious," it wrote.

    Worries aside, fans of Big Ben will still be able to hear its unique chimes during special occasions such as New Year's Eve. But if we do miss hearing Big Ben on a regular basis, we could always set its sound as our message tone.