He was once referred to as the Picasso of poetry. Beloved by Chileans of all classes, he is one of the most widely read and respected poets in history. And this year is the 100th birthday of Pablo Neruda (1904-1973).

    Born with the name Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basolto, he was a tall, shy and lonely boy. He loved to read and started to write poetry when he was ten. The American poet Walt Whitman, whose framed picture Neruda later kept on his table, became a major influence on his work.

    However, his father did not like the idea of having a poet for a son and tried to discourage him from writing. To cover up the publication of his first poem, he took the pen name Pablo Neruda.

    In 1924 Neruda gained fame with his most widely read work “Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair''. Yet his rich experience as a diplomat and exile made him go beyond the theme of love. His work also reflected the political struggle of the left and development of South America. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.

    Neruda loved the sea which he saw as creative, destructive and forever moving. He found inspiration in the power and freedom of the waves and the seabirds on the coast. “I need the sea because it teaches me,” he wrote. “I move in the university of the waves.” He loved how the sea forever renewed itself, a renewal echoed in his work.

    Welcome to Orlando! It has a host of attractions and activities. Ready to join the party and plan a visit to O-Town? Just print out our must-see list.

    Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure

    The addition of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is on the list of must-visits for theme park lovers. Each of the park's “islands”—Toon Lagoon, Jurassic Park, Marvel Super Hero Island, Seuss Landing and The Lost Continent—is unique!(407-363-8000)

    Gatorland

    It bills itself as “Orlando's best half-day attraction”, for in a city people are limited by their time and money. Catch Gatorland's animals and handler shows in the afternoon. There's a nighttime run as well. Other fun add-ons include the Gator Night Shine. Gatorland is known as a theme park bargain.(407-855-5496)

    Aquatica

    As one of the city's most unique water parks, Aquatica is a wonderful world of water rides and white sand beaches. And if you enjoy a side of fear with your water-park fun, be sure to check out Ihu's Breakaway Falls. This towering slide is not for the weak heart. The less adventurous will still find plenty of fun playing from one big wave pool to another or flowing down the lazy river through a world of unusual fish. You can also watch dolphins underwater. (407-351-3600)

    Warbird Adventures

    Warbird Adventures offers you the opportunity to fly like a hero in World War II in the North American Aviation T-6 Texan(also known as the Harvard). Flights last from 15 minutes to an hour. A visit to the nearby Kissimmee Air Museum is a wonderful way to round out the experience. (407-870-7366)

    I went online to check if my pay was in my bank account. To my amazement, I discovered that not only had I been paid, a company I'd never worked for had also paid me! I knew I'd have been beside myself if my own salary was not in my account, so I tried to get the money back to the right person. It is easier said than done.

    The bank couldn't help as it wasn't a bank problem. The human-resource department as the company that paid me was unable to help as I didn't have enough details. I rang the bank again. Thankfully I had sympathetic call operator who gave me a name, so I again rang the company “Daniel” worked for.

    I expected the bank would contact me to arrange to take the money from my account and repay Daniel. I heard nothing for a month and the money remained in my account when Daniel called, explaining he'd tried to get back his money but had been unsuccessful as neither the bank nor his company felt it was their error. He had rung to ask if I could speak to the bank, but after chatting for a few minutes we realized we could probably fix this problem ourselves.

    We decided I would take the money from my account and he would pick it up from me. Due to my busy job I was unable to meet Daniel personally but he left me a lovely bottle of wine in exchange for what was rightfully his. I never had any intention of keeping Daniel's pay, but red tape（繁琐手续）made it difficult to do the right thing. It all came down to two people being able to do what a huge bank and a large company couldn't do — admit a mistake has occurred and fix it.

    I remember the day when I first learned to ride a bike. It was a frightening, yet fun experience. My granddad was the one who taught me, and he helped me when I got hurt. The first time I got on a bike, I had no idea what I was doing, and just about everything went wrong. My granddad told me to just put my feet on the pedals and start, pedaling(骑自行车). He also told me he would hold onto the back of the bike the whole time, yet he didn't.

    As soon as I started trying to balance myself, he let go. I happened to look back just then.  I was scared to death that I was going to fall and hurt myself. When I was scared, my mind went blank from pedaling, and I just wanted off. I forgot how to use the brakes(车闸) and fell right off the bike. My granddad kept encouraging me to get up and try again, and after about 15 minutes, I finally stopped crying, got up and tried again.

    As soon as I started pedaling again, my pants got caught in the chain, and I fell flat on my face and hit my nose. Since that happened, my granddad decided to call it a day and try again the next morning. The next morning I woke up bright and early, and was very eager to try to ride my bike. My nose felt better, so I wasn't that afraid of falling anymore.

    Though I knew there were a lot of difficulties on the way to mastering the skills in riding a bike, l believed I could do well with my granddad's help. After all, riding a bike was what I wanted to do eagerly.

    How much weight a baby gains during its first month could determine its IQ, new research found. The study found that children who gain more weight, and whose heads grow quickly during the first month of life, tend to have a higher IQ when they start school.

    Researchers at the University of Adelaide, in Australia studied 13, 800 children who were born at full-term. They found that those who put on 40% of their birth weight in the first four weeks had an IQ 1.5 points higher than those who only put on 15% of their birth weight. Those who experienced the biggest growth in head circumference(头围) also had the highest IQs by the age of six.

    "Head circumference is an indicator of brain volume, so a greater increase in head circumference in a newly-born baby suggests more rapid brain growth, "says the author of the study, Dr. Lisa Smithers. She added, "Overall, newly-born children who grew faster in the first four weeks had higher IQ scores later in life. Those children who gained the most weight scored especially high on the verbal IQ at age 6. This may be because neural (神经的) structures for the verbal IQ develop earlier in life, which means the rapid weight gain during the first month could be having a direct cognitive benefit for the children."

    Previous studies have shown the association between early postnatal (产后的) diet and the IQ, but this is the first study of its kind to focus on the IQ benefits of rapid weight gain in the first month of life. Dr. Lisa Smithers says the study further highlights the need for successful feeding of newly-born babies." We know that many mothers have difficulty establishing breastfeeding in the first week of their babies' life,” Dr. Lisa Smithers said.

    "The findings of our study suggest that if babies are having feeding problems, there needs to be early intervention(干预) in the management of that feeding."

    When you watch a movie these days, it's difficult to tell what's real and what's created by using computers. Visual effects can even change how movies are made.

    Almost anything that can be imagined by a director can now become reality in the world of movies. "We're really not limited by the technology, '' said David Smith, the CEO of Sony Pictures Imageworks. Mr Smith said that with today's technology, the digital world was more realistic than ever before. For The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Mr Smith's team created a Times Square that was exactly like the real one in New York. "If there are lights inside the stores that are lighting areas inside the store we put those lights there," said Mr Smith.

    But there was still one challenge for visual effects artists, said Paul Debevec of the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies. "We're still trying to figure out how to perfect the human face in movies, " said Debevec. He said the movie — The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was still one of the best examples of computer generated movies, as actor Brad Pitt could be from an aged man to a baby in the movie.

    Mr Debevec added that besides changing the look of an actor's face, there could be another use for digital faces in the entertainment. Last year, effects artists created a digital face of the Asian pop singer Teresa Teng who was dead. Fans could still see and hear the concert on YouTube.

    Mr Debevec expects directors will start to use more virtual production techniques, like those seen in the movie Avatar. Mr Debevec says that with virtual production, there won't be a need for so many people behind the scenes. But visual effects artists agree, even with advanced technology, there is no replacement for a real actor showing a character in a movie.