“Get your hands off me; I have been stolen,” the laptop, a portable computer, shouted. That is a new solution to laptop computer theft: a program that lets owners give their property a voice when it has been taken.

    The program allows users to display alerts on the missing computer's screen and even to set a spoken message. Tracking software for stolen laptops has been on the market for some time, but this is thought to be the first that allows owners to give the thief a piece of their mind.

    Owners must report their laptop missing by logging on to a website, which sends a message to the model: a red and yellow “lost or stolen” banner pops up on its screen when it is started. Under the latest version of the software, users can also send a spoken message.

    The message can be set to reappear every 30 seconds, no matter how many times the thief closes it. “One customer sent a message saying, 'You are being tracked. I am right at your door', said Carrie Hafeman, chief executive of the company which produces the program, Retriever.

    In the latest version, people can add a spoken message. For example, the laptop's speaker will say: “Help, this laptop is reported lost or stolen. If you are not my owner, please report me now.”

    The Retriever software package, which costs $29.95 but has a free trial period, has the functions of many security software programs. Owners can remotely switch to an alternative password if they fear that the thief has also got hold of the access details.

    If a thief accesses the Internet with the stolen laptop, Retriever will collect information on the Internet service provider in use, so that the police can be alerted to its location.

    Thousands of laptops are stolen every year from homes and offices, but with the use of laptops increasing, the number stolen while their owners are out and about has been rising sharply.

    Other security software allows users to erase data remotely or lock down the computer.

    I came to study in the United States a year ago .Yet I did not know the real American society until I was injured in a car accident because after the accident I had to see a doctor and go to court.

    After the accident .my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful and determined to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He had good reason to charge me, he said. And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I'd have to have a good lawyer. And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer. Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.

    But every day I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time .The final examination report consisted of ten lines, and it cost me $215.

    My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to dismiss him. And he made me pay him $770.

    Now I had to act as my own lawyer. Due to my inexperience, I told the insurance company the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time…and I left without getting a cent.

    In an unmanned supermarket, a customer waits to pay. With the use of advanced digital payment technology, including biological recognition and in-depth learning, the man leaves in a minute. There's no cashier in the store. At a large university, students use a hand-scanning machine that authorizes their entry into the gym. Those people are using "smart machines" which identify people by their physical characteristics. These new devices use fingers, hands, faces, eyes and voices. Some machines may even use smells. This new technology, called biometrics, gets information from parts of the body.

    In the past, biometric machines were used mainly in government agencies or in prisons. But now that the cost of the technology is lower, these machines are starting to be used everywhere, from border services to schools.

    Some people, however, are concerned that these machines will mean the destruction of personal privacy. They worry that the machines will get personal information about them, know it seems like these machines are invading our privacy, but actually, biometric machines help to protect it," says Jay Tarkett, who works at a company that develops the machines, "They can be used instead of passwords on a computer, for example. They can also identify criminals at airports. So, really, they help to promote public safety, and all the information stored is kept confidential by the machine itself."

    Some people don't like the idea of using fingerprints because they associate them with criminals, and feel like they are being accused of something, In addition, they don't work for some people, such as bricklayers, who wear down their fingerprints. Yet, face recognition does work well because the subject doesn't really have to do anything, To cash a check at a bank, for example, the customer has to do nothing more than look at a machine similar to an automatic teller. If the face matches the picture kept on file, the customer gets the money with no problems, The need to carry identification with you from place to place, then, would all but cease. It has been found that the hand scan works well ill the college gym. Before this machine was used, students at the college entered the gym using cards similar to credit cards. The problem was that students often lost or forgot their cards. With the hand-scanning machine, however, the problem was solved right away.

    But the machines are still new, and there can be problems. For example, voice recognition works on the phone, but it is not precise, and can be tricked. Another constraint(限制)we notice；, with machines that use face recognition in particular, is that they can be fooled if people color their hair or gain a lot of weight. However, this particular problem may be solved by a new type of technology that scans a person's iris, the colored part of the eye. It can even identify the person from a few feet away, recognizing a customer as he or she approaches the ATM.

    Healthy, convenient and increasingly popular over the past few years, sushi has become as common a dish in the UK as in India or China. It's a popular lunch-choice for city-workers all over the country and you're never far from a restaurant or supermarket selling the traditional Japanese dish. But it turns out sushi may not be as healthy a choice as we thought — leading biologists have warned that it is in fact harming both the environment and our health.

    The UK sushi market is worth £69 million a year, but because we're eating so much of it, the tuna (金枪鱼) population in the oceans is dwindling. According to Professor Daniel Pauly and Dr Dirk Zeller, the leaders of British Columbia, Bluefin and yellowfin tuna populations have reached dangerous levels.

    Bluefin tuna is often served in high-end, excellent sushi restaurants, while yellowfin is more common in high-street sushi bars and supermarkets. Increasing global need means tuna populations are being overfished. Most of the UK's sushi comes from the Indian Ocean, but according to Professor Pauly we now only have 2-3 percent of what we had 200 years ago.

    Professor Pauly and Dr Zeller believe it is our love of healthy tuna that's causing the problems in our oceans. The fish is popular not just for its taste but for its health benefits. But while sushi has earned popularity for being low in calories and high in nutrients (营养物), we may have overestimated (高估) its health value.

    In advance of a lecture at the Zoological Society of London lately, Professor Pauly said he believes most high-street restaurants serve sushi that contains plastic microbeads (塑料微珠). “Microbeads are poison pills which take in all the pollutants and they are eaten by little fish which are then eaten by tuna.”

    So what should we eat instead? Dr Zeller and Professor Pauly are asking the public to step away from sushi and eat more fish like anchovies (凤尾鱼) — less attractive, but better for your health and the environment.

    For the business traveler who's all about efficiency: check out these hotels that will get you in and out with a minimum trouble.

    When you're pressed for time on a business trip, nothing can annoy you more than a slow hotel check-in process. On your next trip, try these hotels that offer a speedier check-in process.

    ◆Marriott Detroit Airport

    Another option for business travelers in a hurry: Marriott is rolling out its mobile check-in app to 325 hotels this year, including the Marriott Detroit Airport hotel. (I've tested the app itself but not for a real visit quite yet.) here is the basic idea: you download the iPhone or Android app. The night before, you can "check-in" virtually. When you arrive, you get an alert that the room is ready and your key, which is already tied to your reservation, is waiting for you at the desk.

    ◆Hyatt Regency Minneapolis

    I happened to stay at this hotel recently and liked how fast the kiosk check-in works. The kiosk asks you to insert your credit card, similar to an airport terminal. The whole process took about 3 minutes. When I left, I was equally impressed with the fast check-out: An agent meets you in the lobby with, an iPad and asks for an email to use for a receipt. The big advantage: you never have to wait in line.

    ◆Radisson LaCrosse

    The Radisson is trying to make the kiosk process even faster. At a few select hotels like the Radisson Lacrosse in Wisconsin, you use a mobile app to register and then receive a barcode by email or text. When you get to the kiosk, you can scan the barcode to get your key without any other steps required. It's super fast. You can find this new check-in system at the Radisson hotels in Salt Lake City, Seattle, and Phoenix as well.

    Many of us love July because it's the month when nature's berries and stone fruits are in abundance. These colourful and sweet jewels form British Columbia's fields are little powerhouses of nutritional protection.

    Of the common berries, strawberries are highest in vitamin C, although, because of their seeds, raspberries contain a little more protein (蛋白质), iron and zinc (not that fruits have much protein). Blueberries are particularly high in antioxidants (抗氧化物质). The yellow and orange stone fruits such as peaches are high in the carotenoids we turn into vitamin A and which are antioxidants. As for cherries (樱桃), they are so delicious who cares? However, they are rich in vitamin C.

    When combined with berries of slices of other fruits, frozen bananas make an excellent base for thick, cooling fruit shakes and low fat "ice cream". For this purpose, select ripe bananas for freezing as they are much sweeter. Remove the skin and place them in plastic bags or containers and freeze. If you like, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice on the bananas will prevent them turning brown. Frozen bananas will last several weeks, depending on their ripeness and the temperature of the freezer.

    If you have a juicer, you can simply feed in frozen bananas and some berries or sliced fruit. Out comes a "soft-serve" creamy dessert, to be eaten right away. This makes a fun activity for a children's party; they love feeding the fruit and frozen bananas into the top of the machine and watching the ice cream come out below.