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 7^th

          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 5^th

          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 6^th

          An Update on the Cotsword 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 6^th

          Eyots and Aits -Thames Islands, by Miranda Vickers. The Thames has 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.ukwww.canalmuseum.mobi

                         Tel:020 77130836

    LUKLA, Nepal(Xinhua) – Qomolangma, known as Mount Everest in the West, once negatively recognized as the “world's highest junkyard”, is set to become cleaner as 30,000 porters（搬运工）have been mobilized（动员）for waste collection and disposal from the mountain's southern side. The cleanup drive was launched recently near Lukla airport, one of the world's most dangerous airports yet a vital gateway to the world's highest peak.

    “Our major task is to keep Everest, which is the pride of the world, clean. This campaign aims to transport 100 tons of nonburnable garbage from the Everest region to Kathmandu in 2018,”Ang Dorje Sherpa, chairman of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee said.

    The SPCC, an environmental conversation organization, has made it mandatory（强制性）since 2013 that every climber should carry down 8 kilograms of trash, but for trekkers（旅行者）there is no such regulation. Due to this, more than 100 tons of waste gets collected in the region annually.

    According to Nepalese government statistics, nearly 50,000 domestic and foreign trekkers visit the Qomolangma region annually, while more than 400 mountaineers attempt to scale the peak. The collected waste mostly includes empty beer bottles and cans, oxygen bottles, torn tents and sleeping bags, food bins, and discarded mountaineering and trekking equipment. The trash was collected by local groups in more than a dozen villages while the waste was transported down the mountain in sacks（麻布袋）by porters and yak-hybrid animals as zopkyos. The cleanup covered settlements from up to 5,000 meters near the base camp, to Lukla airport located at an altitude of 2,805 meters.

    On the first day of the campaign, several tons of waste was sent off to Kathmando from Lulka on planes belonging to Tara Airlines, one of the leading private airlines in Nepal. The airlines have set an ambitious target of flying out 100 tons of waste from the region in 2018, as a part of its commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals against climate change. The company's CEO Umesh Chandra Rai said: “We hope that this campaign will help the local people to maintain a pristine（原始的）, natural and unspoiled environment so that more trekkers will come from everywhere, making the trekking industry here more sustainable.”

    There are plenty of beauty schools throughout the country that can help you to start a career in cosmetology(美容业). Nowadays, young people may not be able to afford a four-year college. Students can look forward to attending a beauty school program which will only take a few months to complete and start their career right away to earn money.

    There can be many benefits of going to beauty school. The expense is much less than attending a four-year university. Besides, attending beauty school is mostly a hands-on(动手的) experience which appeals to many people. Some students don't like sitting all day listening to lectures and then having to study at night. What's more, most beauty school programs keep up with the changing trends and fashion. So you will always be working on different hair types which can be fun and will give you a lot of experience throughout the years of your career.

    If you are worried about finding a job after graduation, many beauty schools will offer assistance for immediate job placement and give you peace of mind that you will not be stranded looking for a job. Most colleges and universities are not equipped to do that because of the large number of graduates each year.

    Cosmetologists will also make a good salary. The average salary will depend on your location, but you may earn a salary around $3,000--$3,500 a month. This is not including tips which could be $600 or more a month. Not only can young people go to cosmetology school, but people of all ages can start this career. As you can see, there are many benefits of beauty schools that can be the perfect opportunity for anyone to become a great cosmetologist.

    Although his 1-year-old smart-phone still works perfectly, Li Jijia already feels the need to replace it.

    “There are many better ones available now. It's time to upgrade(更新）my phone.”

    Li's impatience is shared by many. Shortly after the season when new products are released（发布，发售）, many consumers feel the urge to upgrade their electronic equipment, even though the ones they have still work just fine.

    As consumers' minds are occupied by Apple's newly released products and debate whether the Google tablet is better than the new Amazon Kindle, it might be time to take a step back and ask: “Do we really need the latest upgrades?”

    According to Donald Norman, an American author, “planned obsolescence (淘汰）” is the trick behind the upgrading culture of today's consumer electronics industry.

    Electronics producers strategically release new upgrades periodically, both for hardware and software, so that customers on every level feel the need to buy the newest version.

“This is an old-time trick—they're not inventing anything new,” Norman said. “This is a wasteful system through which companies--many of them producing personal electronics-- release poor-quality products simply because they know that, in six months or a year, they'll put out a new one.”

    But the new psychology of consumers is part of this system, as Norman admitted, “We now want something new, something pretty, the next shiny thing.” In its most recent year, Apple's profit margin(利润) was more than 21 percent. At Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest PC maker, it was only 7 percent.

    Apple's annual upgrades of its products create sales of millions of units as owners of one year's MacBook or iPhone line up to buy the newest version, even when the changes are slight.

    As to Li Jijia, the need for upgrading his smart-phone comes mainly from friends and classmates. When they are switching to the latest equipment, he worries about feeling left out.

    “Some games require better hardware to run,” said Li. “If you don't join in, you lose part of the connection to your friends.”

    If you have the opportunity to visit some places in New Zealand, then the list below is our recommendation.

    Fiordland National Park

    This park is part of the South Westland World Heritage Area and is New Zealand's largest national park and one of the largest in the world. The scenery in Fiordland is nothing short of extremely beautiful, with steep mountains, wild waterfalls, and abundant rain forests. Being able to come back and forth in its deep bay attracts most of the visitors.

    The area has some of the world's greatest walks including the world famous Milford Track, which was described as the finest walk in the world in the early twentieth century.

    Abel Tasman National Park

    Abel Tasman may be New Zealand's smallest national park, but the attractions are huge. Located in one of New Zealand's sunniest spots, the area also has the best beaches in the country.

    The popular Abel Tasman Walk is a great way to see this park. It takes 3-5 days to complete. Sea taxis are also available and can drop you off at any number of beaches within the park.

    Rotorua

    Accessible from New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland, Rotorua is famous for its volcanic activities. Rotorua is also famous for its plentiful lakes which are great for swimming and fishing. The surrounding area contains plenty of native bushes and some famous walks.

    Rotorua is also the best area in the country to experience and learn about Maori culture.

    Mt Cook National Park

    Mt Cook as well as the surrounding area is an alpine(高山的) park within the World Heritage listed in South Westland. The biggest peaks in all of Australasia are here. The park doesn't contain many trees or plants due to the altitude. Walks range from a two­hour walk to difficult tracks suitable for experienced mountaineers only.

    A helicopter or plane ride gives visitors excellent views of the mountains with the option of landing at the top of Tasman Glacier, a true permanent snow­covered alpine environment.