The Great War Exhibition

When: Sun 10 Jan, 9:00 am- 6:00 pm

Mon 11 Jan, 9:00 am- 6:00 pm

Where: Dominion Museum Building, 15 Buckle Street, Wellington

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information: Admission Free

The journey is rich in personal stories which tell of the great experience of the battlefields and the hardships at home during war-time New Zealand. The visitors will experience the desperate horrors and the victories of the human spirit that were part of the Great War.

Kaipara Coast Plants & Sculpture Gardens

When: Sun 10 Jan, 9:00 am- 5:00 pm

Mon 11 Jan, 9:00 am- 5:00 pm

Where: 1481 Kaipara Coast Highway (SH16), Auckland

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information:

● Adults: $10.00

● Children 5-13 (under 5, free):$ 5.00

● Groups 10: $ 8.00

● Over 60 & Students (with ID): $ 9.00

Come and enjoy a relaxing art and garden experience. Sculptures are for sale and the display changes completely ever 12 months with the new exhibition opening in December each year to give you a fresh experience each time you come.

Dream Works Animation

When: Sun 10 Jan, 10:00 am- 6:00 pm

Mon 11 Jan, 10:00 am- 6:00 pm

Where: Te Papa, 55 Cable St, Wellington

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information:

● Adults: $ 15.00

● Children & Students 3-15 (with Student ID): $ 6.00

● Children under 3: $0.00

The exhibition features over 400 items, including rare concept drawing, models, interviews, and original artworks. Adults and kids can get creative with real animation tools, and soar above the clouds in the Dragon Flight experience from How to Train Your Dragon.

Balls, Bullets and Boots

When: Sun 10 Jan, 9:00 am- 4:30 pm

Mon 11Jan, 9:00 am- 4:30 pm

Where: National Army Museum, 1 Hassett Dr, SH1, Waiouru

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information: Door Sales Only

The exhibition explores the impact the cruel reality of war had on colonial sportsmen and their loved ones as they were transplanted from the rugby fields of home to fight.

    Businesses are witnessing a difficult time, which has in turn produced influence on consumers, desire to go green. However, shoppers are still laying stress on environmental concerns.

    Two thirds of customers say that environmental considerations inform their purchases to the same degree as they did a year ago, while more than a quarter say that they are now even better aware of the environmental effect on what they buy.

    This may help to influence how shops store goods on their shelves. And the companies should still make efforts to become more environmentally friendly. Two out of three people think it is important to buy from environmentally responsible companies, with about one in seven saying that they had even decided to take their custom elsewhere if they felt a company's environmental reputation was not good enough.

Harry Morrison, chief executive (主管) of the Carbon Trust, sympathizes: "I understand this situation where survival is very important now. But from environmental considerations, the clock is ticking—we don't have much time. In addition, cutting carbon has an immediate effect as costs drop and a medium-term benefit for the brand."

    Larger companies have an extra motivation to look at reducing their carbon footprint, as new rules next year will require businesses to buy carbon allowances to make up for their emissions (排放). Those that have taken early action will have a head start. More than two thirds of consumers are not clear about which companies are environmentally responsible. This suggests that firms that are able to relay clearly their message to the public will be in a pole position to attract shoppers.

The Carbon Trust believes that it can help by informing customers about the good work companies are doing. "When companies are granted (授予) the standard, they can use a logo (标识) in all their marketing which makes it clear that they are working towards cutting emissions," Mr. Morrison said.

    “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.

    Home from the Navy, I started school at Greenville College in my hometown of Illinois. I'd been out of high school for four years, but my high school headmaster, Mr. Gardner, invited me to a Valentine's Day dance party at school. The thought of seeing my former teachers was exciting. So I agreed.

    When Friday came, I cleaned up, dressed up and drove to the high school gym. I chatted with my teachers and approached Mr. Gardner to thank him before leaving. Just then, the band started playing and a young girl stood up to sing. One look at and I was crazy—I had never seen such a beautiful girl!

    I asked Mr. Gardner who she was, and he answered, “That's Marilyn Riley, Cut Riley's daughter.” I was shocked to say the least. They lived just around the corner from me. I walked across the gym floor to introduce myself, “Hi, I'm Jack Joseph.”

    “I know who you are,” was her not-too-friendly response.

    “Would you like to dance?” I asked. “No! I'm working,” she shot back.

    “Can I call you next week for a movie date?” I asked. “No,” was her response.

    For the next month I phoned, trying to set up a date. She always had the same answer: No. then one rainy afternoon in March as I was driving home after basketball practice, I saw Marilyn, walking with no umbrella, no raincoat, no hat. I pulled alongside her and asked if she needed a ride, half expecting her to say no. instead, she stepped over the roadside and sat down on the seat next to me. It was only a few blocks to her house, but after pulling into her driveway we talked for 45minutes. It was magic from then on.

    On the night of December 8, 1992, when he was standing in a parking lot talking to friends, Tracy March jumped to the top of a car, as he had done a hundred times before. This time, though, Tracy lost his balance. His head struck the ground, hard.

    All night, Cory, Tracy's mother, stood next to her son, who was lying in a hospital bed, his brown eyes fixed in a lifeless stare. She remembered that Tracy had once mentioned organ donation. Maybe I can spare another family this pain, she thought. When the time came, she and her husband Bill signed the forms permitting his organs to be donated.

    Tracy was declared dead the next day. Twenty-four hours later, in a Boston hospital, Tracy's liver was made part of my husband, David, who was suffering from a hopeless liver disease.

    Months later, we learned from the local organ bank that the donor's parents wished desperately to meet someone who had gained life through the gift from their son. A meeting was arranged by the organ bank to bring together two families linked by the most bittersweet ties imaginable.

    The meeting was risky, but worth it. We talked for 3 hours. They showed us a picture of Tracy. We learned how he had lived and died. We learned something about Bill and Cory too.

    For the Marches, seeing David and knowing he was well seemed to ease their suffering. I'll never forget seeing David's tall figure stopped over Cory, her arms around his waist, as a mother would hug a son. For a long time they held each other tight. It was hard to know if she was saying hello or good-bye. Maybe she was saying both.

WISH YOU WERE MORE CREATIVE?

    I want to ask you a favor. I have a pair of pants. Tell me: How many different ways can I put a pair of pants to use? Now imagine you're an architect. Same question. Now imagine you're Bill Gates. A scuba diver. A medieval knight. You still have the pants. What alternative uses come to mind?

    What you just practiced--the conscious act of "wearing" another self-is an exercise that, according to psychiatrist SriniPillay, MD, is essential to being creative.

    One great irony (讽刺) about our collective addiction to creativity is that we tend to frame it in uncreative ways. That is to say, most of us marry creativity to our concept of self: Either we're "creative" or we aren't, without much of a middle ground. "I'm just not a creative person!" a discouraged student might say in art class, while another might blame her talent at painting for her difficulties in math, making a comment "I'm very right-brained."

    Dr.Pillay, an assistant professor at Harvard University, has spent years overturning these ideas. He believes that the key to unlocking your creative potential is to challenge the stereotyped (陈词滥调的) advice that urges you to "believe in yourself." In fact, you should do the opposite: Believe you are someone else.

    He points to a study showing the impact of stereotype on one's behavior. The authors, psychologists Denis Dumas and Kevin Dunbar, divided their college student subjects into two groups, instructing one group to think of themselves as "eccentric poets" and the other to imagine they were "rigid librarians". The researchers then presented them all with ordinary objects, including a fork, a carrot, and a pair of pants, and asked them to come up with as many different uses as possible for each one. The former group came up with the widest range of ideas, whereas the latter had the fewest.

    These results suggest that creativity is not an individual characteristic but a "product of context and perspective". Everyone can be creative, as long as he or she feels like a creative person.

    Dr. Pillay's work takes this a step further: He argues that simply identifying yourself as creative is less powerful than taking the brave, creative step of imagining you are somebody else. This exercise, which he calls psychological Halloweenism, refers to the conscious action of "wearing" another self. An actor may employ this technique to get into character, but anyone can use it. According to Dr. Pillay, it works because it is an act of conscious unfocus, a collection of brain regions that spring into action when you're not focused on a specific task or thought. Most people spend nearly half of their days in a state of "unfocus." This doesn't make us lazy; it makes us human.

    Imagining yourself in a new situation, or an entirely new identity, never felt so productive. You're making yourself more creative, and you're giving yourself permission to do something you'd otherwise feel guilty about.