SurvivingHurricane Sandy(飓风桑迪)

Natalie Doan, 14, hasalways felt lucky to live in Rockaway, New York. Living just a few blocks fromthe beach, Natalie can see the ocean and hear the wave from her house. “It'sthe ocean that makes Rockaway so special,” she says.

On October 29, 2012,that ocean turned fierce. That night, Hurricane Sandy attacked the East Coast,and Rockaway was hit especially hard. Fortunately, Natalie's family escaped toBrooklyn shortly before the city's bridge closed.

When they returned to Rockaway the next day, they found their neighborhood in ruins. Many of Natalie's friends had lost their homes and were living far away. All around her, peoplewere suffering, especially the elderly. Natalie's school was so damaged that she had to temporarily attend a school in Brooklyn.

      In the following few days, the men and women helping Rock away recover inspired Natalie. Volunteers came with carloads of donated clothing and toys. Neighbors devoted their spare time to helping othersrebuild. Teenagers climbed dozens of flights of stairs to deliver water and food to elderly people trapped in powerless high-rise buildings.

“ My mom tells me that I can't control what happens to me,” Natalie says. “butI can always choose how I deal with it.”

Natalie's choice was to help.

      She created a website page matching survivors in need with donors who wanted to help. Natalie posted introduction about a boy named Patrick, who lost his baseball card collecting when his house burned down. Within days, Patrick's collection was replaced.

      In the coming months,her website page helped lots of kids: Christopher, who received a new basketball; Charlie, who got a new keyboard. Natalie also worked with other organizations to bring much-need supplies to Rock away. Herefforts made her a famous person. Last April, she was invited to the WhiteHouse and honored as a Hurricane Sandy Champion of Change.

Today, the scars(创痕)of destruction are still seen in Rockaway, but hope is in the air. The streets are clear, and many homes have been rebuilt. “I can'timagine living anywhere but Rockaway,” Natalie declares. “My neighborhood willbe back, even stronger than before.”

    Rome wasn't built in a day, and the Internet didn't come out of a golden egg. Many of today's creations were not born of people who had creative ideas, but who did not stop at simply having an idea. They took one brick of capital (资本), another brick of knowledge, perhaps a brick or two of family and friends, and built their empires (帝国) brick by brick.

    If you want to build an online empire, you cannot settle for simply having a website full of articles, or a website full of pictures—there are already thousands of sites like that, so you need to come up with something new and creative.

    So if you are starting to build something up, ask yourself: what do you really want to do, and what are you really good at? Believe it or not, you can make money at something that you are an expert in, and you need to know what that is.

    Remember, having an online empire does not mean that you have to do it alone. You can take your friends along with you. Having a friend advertise your services online is a good way to attract more visitors to your empire.

    Building an online empire, you will have to be prepared to not only come up with creative ideas, but to carry your ideas through. Talk to people who have already succeeded in building their own empires. Talk to people who are struggling. Join a mailing list that will help you get through your struggle to achieve your goal.

    As you move forward, you will find that you can help other people, and you will have a good many stories to tell—not to mention a lot of money in the bank.

    If you learn the real secrets of creating a long term stable (稳定的) online business then you will have enough money to retire on.

    Student travel promises to be an enjoyable trip. Not only can students visit several places, they also can learn so much on every trip. For first-time travelers, here are some historical destinations for students to travel.

    Athens

    It was the center of knowledge, government and system in the ancient world, and every student would be amazed at how this ancient city grew and evolved. Students can visit Acropolis, Agora, Library of Hadrian, Kerameikos, Olympieion & Southeast Athens. Pnyx, Roman Agora & Tower of the Winds, Arch of Hadrian, City Eleusinian and other ancient sites in this, ancient city of Athens.

    Egypt

    Egypt features 3,000 years old city on the banks of River Nile. Moving your way south from Cairo, the nation's capital, you can stop at Giza where the famous Great Pyramid stands. It was built by Pharaoh Khufu in 2550 BC. Further south, Saqqara is home to the Step Pyramid of Djoser built in 2630 BC. In Dahshur, the Bent and the Red Pyramids are located. And down south at Maidum, the Maidum Pyramid can be found.

    Rome

    See ancient Rome still shine with evidences of Raman structure and architectures built more than 2,000 years ago Rome presents the living timeline from the Roman Empire to the shift of the Middle Ages, to the dawn of the Romantic period and Enlightenment (启蒙运动). Rome preserves its temples, churches, arts, and priceless paintings and murals.

    Peru

    As the center of the Inca civilization, Peru is a great destination for students travel for discovery of South American history. The 500-year old Inca traces could be relived in the Inca Trail that is both exciting and educational. Walk to the Ollantaytambo, Sacsayhuaman, Machu Picchu, and Pisac to have a visit.

    Here are some music festivals that you might be interested in.

    Boogie

    Tallarook, VIC(26－28 March)

    Boogie is definitely kid-friendly, but with a few rules. Kids are welcome, but need to be fully supervised(监管) at all times and out of the licensed area by 10 pm. Kids under 8 years old are admitted for free. Kids between 8 and16 get in cheaper. There are some activities for kids and a great kid-friendly area.

    Splendour in the Grass

    Byron Bay, NSW(24－26 July)

    Look, Splendour can be pretty crazy, so if you and your kids are out of practice with handling festivals and the stress they can sometimes bring, maybe you should try starting smaller. But if you feel like you can do it, then your kids are welcome to hit Splendour with you. The usual rules apply — you'll need to have them with you at all times if they are under 16 and they can't go into bars. If the child is under 11, then they will get in for free.

    The Gum Ball

    Hunter Valley, NSW(22－24 April)

    We didn't originally include the Gum Ball because they took last year off and we wanted to make sure they were definitely returning. Not because we have anything against them. On the contrary, they are one event that manages to balance brilliant music and a family-friendly vibe(氛围).

    Bellingen Turtlefest

    Bellingen(30 September－2 October)

    Great music for a great cause! Bellingen Turtlefest has been set up to raise funds and awareness for the critically endangered Bellinger River Snapping Turtle, while giving families a chance to enjoy some great music at the same time. There's a kidzone, sideshows, workshops and markets, but also an education center and some guest speakers so that the kids (and you) can learn a thing or two while you're at the event.

    A couple of weeks ago, my oldest son, 9-year-old Hayden, came home from school and told me about his friend Katie's blog. Then he asked, "Can I start my own blog?" I thought it was a great way for him to learn new things. So I asked, "What would you want to write about?" Then we had a chat about a few choices. Eventually, Hayden decided on a particular animal species so that he could help other school kids learn about them.

    That Friday night, we set up a blog for him and Hayden's Animal Facts was born. He has posted four times so far. As we talked about starting a blog, I thought about some problems of a child blogging. Here are a few of the considerations that I had.

    Blogging isn't a popularity contest. At first, Hayden cared too much about how many views he had. After a couple of discussions, he now realizes that it's more important to come up with helpful contents for those who want to learn more about animals.

    Online security. I'm concerned about online security, so I make sure that there isn't too much personal information about him.

    The value of persistence (坚持). In so many ways, blogging is like a marathon. Keeping blogging teaches him the value of persistence.

    Writing and spelling skills. Much to my surprise, Hayden is terrible at spelling. However, he loves writing, has a great imagination and is always working on little books, so hopefully the process of blogging will help him with his writing and spelling skills.

Once upon a time, science fiction was just a style among other styles. There were crime stories, there were horror stories, there was literary fiction, and there was science fiction. But today science themes dominate these other styles. It's difficult to think of much modern crime, horror or "serious" fiction that doesn't involve science.

And its not just books. With every second movie and computer game having a sci-fi element, science fiction seems to have controlled our entire entertainment culture. It's clear that if we want to define science fiction, we should relate it to the role that science plays in our lives.

Although some experts have claimed to be able to trace sci-fi back to ancient times, it is more reasonable to find it in initial form in the 19^th century, when industrial societies arose. One of the features that set industrial societies apart from other kinds was the increasing part that science played in everyday life. Factories with vast machines turned out huge quantities of goods, which were transported by trains, motor vehicles and ships all over the world. Cities were built on the back of technology, with electricity in homes and hospitals helping everyone to lead healthier, more convenient lives. All of these changes had great effects not only on people's real lives, but on their imaginative ones.

Writers began to describe these changing physical and mental landscapes, eventually giving science fiction a large and devoted fan base of especially young readers, who found that it spoke to their curiosity about the future that science would create.

But sci-fiction reflected fears about science more than it did hopes. These typical early science fiction novels might be a UK novel like H. G. Wells' The War of the worlds (1897). With great skill, Wells played upon the fears of technology by imagining Earth under threat by a civilization-that of men from Mars.

The science fiction of today expresses the impact of the computing revolution, robotics and our environmental challenges, while it is less concerned with "little green men from Mar" and other themes of past sci-fiction.

Given that science, technology and polities are always intertwined, contemporary science fiction often has a great deal to say about power. Many recent novels-like American Cory Doctorow's Little Brother (2008)-are concerned with government and security service "conspiracies (阴谋)" against the people, particularly as the revelations of whistleblowers like Edward Snowden sink in. This can give sci-fi writing a "skeptical (怀疑的)" feel.

This underlines one of the features that remains constant between the beginnings of the empire of science fiction and its state today.

As then, so now: We want to read about how fearful the future will be, not how it will be a paradise.