How cool can libraries be in an era of iPods and Kindles? Morethan you think．Only if youknow where to go.

Central Library: Seattle, Washington, United States

The Central Library in Seattle is modern and fashionable and hastourists from around the world paying visits and taking tours. It was designedby Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and American designer Joshua Ramus. Tours beganin 2006, two years after its opening. The library holds various artexhibitions, book signings and other events, while visitors can stop by theChocolate cart for a coffee and scan through the gift shop anytime.

Trinity College Library: Dublin, Ireland

The Trinity College Library in Dublin is the oldest library inIreland, founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I. It is the largest single libraryin the world, also known as the Long Room, which contains more than 200,000 ofthe library's oldest books. The Long Room houses one of the oldest harps（竖琴）in Ireland.Dating to the 15th century, the old harp is the model for the symbol foreland.

Geisel Library, University of California: San Diego, UnitedStates

At first glance, it looks like a spaceship. Architect WilliamPereira, who helped design actual space launch facilities at Cape Canaveral inHouston, Texas, designed the library in 1970. It has been featured in sci-fifilms, short stories and novels. The library hosts “Dinner in the Library,”which invites readers for cocktails, and also a special speech fromdistinguished authors．

TU Delft Library: The Netherlands

The library at the Delft University of Technology wasconstructed in 1997 and has more than 862,000 books, 16,000 magazinesubscriptions and its own museum．The buildingitself exists beneath the ground, so you can't really see the actual Library.What makes it interesting is the roof, which is a grassy hill. The roof covers5,500 square meters. And it has become one of the most striking and greeneststructures in the area.

    I believe in the power of holding on. What do I mean by holding on? Hugging, or holding on, is the power we possess when we put our arms around someone. It can change relationships, makes a patient a person, an acquaintance a friend.

    My grandmother taught me about holding on, whenever she gathered me in her strong, loving Irish arms. She always hugged even when her back became curved .My mother hugs my children the same way—heart open and arms wide, breathing them into her soul.

    Once I became aware of its power, I started experimenting: I held my mother-in-law a moment too long then moved onto my sisters-in-law, aunts, nieces, nephews, and cousins. I tried it with a friend who had made my life rich with laughter, but I was too embarrassed to tell her, and acquaintances that I wanted to be friends with. Some were bothered, others accepting, but all had one thing in common—the next time I hugged them, they hugged me back.

    For me, holding on has become more than a physical interaction; it has become a way of thinking. My answer to life's dilemmas and tough choices, it's a mixture of acceptance, forgiveness, and patience—not always easy or understood but it guides me to be quiet and listen, look for the good, have a sense of humor and laugh, stop worrying and be patient because if I let it, something will change.

    I've often wondered how different my life would have been if I hadn't learned the power of holding on. If during that time in my life, when I was crumbling into myself, my mother had stopped holding on to me, I might have missed something so vital to my existence. I believe that a hug is like a battery charger—a good one can keep me going for a long time.

    There are two factors (因素) which decide an individual's intelligence (智商). The first is the sort of brain he is born with. Human brains differ greatly, some being more capable (有能力) than others. But no matter how good a brain he has to begin with, an individual (个体) will have a low order of intelligence unless he has opportunities to learn. So the second factor is what happens to the individual—the sort of environment in which he is brought up. If an individual has less chances environmentally, it is likely that his brain will fail to develop and he will never arrive at the level of intelligence of which he is capable.

    The importance of environment in deciding an individual's intelligence can be shown by the case history of the twins. When they were three months old, their parents died, and they were placed in different homes. Peter was brought up by parents of low intelligence in a separate community with poor educational opportunities. Mark was brought up in the home of well-to-do opportunity to be encouraged intellectually.

    This environmental difference continued until the twins were in their late teens, when they were given tests to measure their intelligence. Mark's IQ was 125, twenty-five points higher than the average and fully forty points higher than his twin brother. Given equal opportunities, the twins, having similar brains, would have tested at roughly the same level.

    Monthly Talks at London Canal Museum

    Our monthly talks start at 19:30 on the first Thursday of each month except August. Admission is at normal charges and you don't need to book. They end around 21:00.

    November 7th

    The Canal Pioneers, by Chris Lewis. James Brindley is recognized as one of the leading early canal engineers. He was also a major player in training others in the art of canal planning and building. Chris Lewis will explain how Brindley made such a positive contribution to the education of that group of early "civil engineers".

    December 5th

    Ice for the Metropolis, by Malcolm Tucker. Well before the arrival of freezers, there was a demand for ice for food preservation and catering, Malcolm will explain the history of importing natural ice and the technology of building ice wells, and how London's ice trade grew.

    February 6th

    An Update on the Cotswold Canals, by Liz Payne. The Stroudwater Canal is moving towards reopening. The Thames and Severn Canal will take a little longer. We will have a report on the present state of play.

    March 6th

    Eyots and Aits-Thames Islands, by Miranda Vickers. The Thames had many islands. Miranda has undertaken a review of all of them. She will tell us about those of greatest interest.

    Online bookings: www.canalmuseum.org.uk/book

    More info: www.canalmuseum.org.uk/whatson

    London Canal Museum

    12-13 New Wharf Road, London NI 9RT

    www.canalmuseum.org.uk   www. canalmuseum.mobi

    Tel: 020 7713 0836

    Laptop computers are popular all over the world. People use them on trains and airplanes, in airports and hotels. These laptops connect people to their workplace. In the United States today, laptops also connect students to their classrooms.

    Westlake College in Virginia will start a laptop computer program that allows students to do schoolwork anywhere they want. Within five years, each of the 1500 students at the college will receive a laptop. The laptops are part of a $10 million computer program at Westlake, a 110-year-old college. The students with laptops will also have access to the Internet. In addition, they will be able to use e-mail to "speak" with their teachers, their classmates, and their families. However, the most important part of the laptop program is that students will be able to use computers without going to computer labs. They can work with it at home, in a fast-food restaurant or under the trees—anywhere at all!

    Because of the many changes in computer technology, laptop use in higher education, such as colleges and universities, is workable. As laptops become more powerful, they become more similar to desktop computers.

    In addition, the portable computers can connect students to not only the Internet, but also libraries and other resources. State higher-education officials are studying how laptops can help students. State officials are also testing laptop programs at other universities, too.

    At Westlake College, more than 60 percent of the staff use computers. The laptops will allow all teachers to use computers in their lessons. As one Westlake teacher said, "Here we are in the middle of Virginia and we're giving students a window on the world. They can see everything and do everything."

    Recently, a 1935 letter in which Ernest Hemingway detailed his catch of a 500lb blue marlin(青枪鱼), an adventure that is believed to have partly inspired his novel The Old Man and the Sea, has been sold for﹩28, 000 (£22, 000).

    The handwritten letter was sent by Hemingway on 8 May to the fishing editor of the Miami Herald, laying out in great detail how the author and his friend Henry Strater battled to keep sharks away from the marlin after catching it off the Bahamian island of Bimini.

    Nate D Sanders, the auction(拍卖) company which sold the letter, said it documented for the first time in Hemingway's own words not only the size of the marlin, but also the attack by sharks, reflecting the plot of the novel.

    The company added that Hemingway's account of the marlin catch differed from other anecdotes of it, one of which described Hemingway using a machine gun on the sharks, which is said to have attracted more sharks rather than frightened them away.

    The Old Man and the Sea was also inspired by an anecdote told by Hemingway's Cuban friend Carlos Gutierrez. In 1936, Hemingway wrote in a magazine that Carlos had told him about an old fisherman who caught a great marlin alone.

    Three years later, Hemingway told his editor Max Perkins that he was planning a short story about the old commercial fisherman who fought the swordfish all alone in his sailing boat. Instead, he ended up writing For Whom the Bell Tolls, not returning to the story about the old fisherman until January 1951. It won him the Pulitzer in 1953, and was specifically cited when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1954.