I recently posted a picture on Facebook from the movie Mad Max, a film where two groups race through the desert in steampunk vehicles, and wrote, “Actual picture of my way to work today.” It was meant to be a joke because of the sandstorms in Beijing, but one of my friends from back home thought it was real.

    I couldn't imagine how they could think that is actually what China is like. China has so many more conveniences and advantages than the West, and many of my friends agree. “I don't know how I will be able to deal when I go back home,” said a friend who is about to end her gap year in Beijing. “I've become so spoiled in China.”

    China seems to be leading the way in innovation(创新) and convenience for daily life. Back home I could never shop, pull out my phone and scan a QR code to pay.

    There have been rumors of starting bike sharing in my hometown for years with little success while bike sharing suddenly appeared in Beijing overnight. I just step outside and scan a code, and I am on my way.

    Going out to eat with a group of friends back home was troublesome for both the group and the servers. Splitting bills and swiping(刷) 10 different cards or making change for each person in the group can be a pain. But with China's WeChat, you can quickly send your friends your part of the bill.

    The list goes on…

    When I first arrived in Beijing, I was dead set on leaving in a month. That month has come and gone. Now, when someone asks me when I'm coming back, I think to myself, “Who knows?”

    While my friends think I am riding through the desert on a motorbike, I am actually taking a Didi for what is the equivalent of $5 in the US.

    With all the conveniences and technology here, I may never want to go back.

    A sense of humor is something highly valued. A person who has a great sense of humor is often considered to be happy and socially confident. However, humor is a double-edged sword. Sometimes it can damage self-respect and annoy others.

    People who use bonding humor tell jokes and generally lighten the mood. They're thought to be good at reducing the tension in uncomfortable situations. They often make fun of their common experiences, and sometimes they may even laugh off their own misfortunes. The basic message they deliver is: We're all alike, we find the same things funny, and we're all in this together.

    Put-down humor, on the other hand, is an aggressive type of humor used to criticize others through teasing. When it's aimed against politicians, as it often is, it's extremely funny and mostly harmless. But in the real world, it may have a harmful effect. An example of such humor is telling friends an embarrassing story about another friend. When challenged about their teasing, the put-down jokers might claim that they are "just kidding," thus allowing themselves to avoid responsibility. This type of humor, though considered by some people to be socially acceptable, may hurt the feelings of the one being teased and thus have a bad effect on personal relationships.

    Finally, in hate-me humor, the joker is the target of the joke for the amusement of others. This type of humor was used by comedians John Belushi and Chris Farley—both of whom suffered for their success in show business. A small amount of such humor is charming, but routinely offering oneself up to be embarrassed destroys one's self-esteem, and fosters depression and anxiety.

    So it seems that being funny isn't necessarily an indicator of good social skills and well-being. In certain cases, it may actually have a negative effect on interpersonal relationships.

    Anew international study shows that some peopled biological clock plays a powerful role for their life expectancy, regardless of lifestyle choices.

Published in the latest issue of Aging on Wednesday, the study has found the most definitive evidence to explain why some people keep healthy lifestyle but die younger than others.

    Geneticist Steve Horvath from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), led a team of 65 scientists around the world to record age-related changes to human DNA, analyse blood samples collected from 13,000 people and estimate their lifespan.

    A higher biological age, regardless of actual age, consistently predicts an earlier death, the study says.

    “You get people who are vegan, sleep 10 hours a day, have a low-stress job, and still end up dying young,” Horvath said in a statement. “We have shown some people have a faster innate aging rate.”

    The findings discovered that 5 percent of the population ages at a faster biological rate, which translated to a roughly 50 percent higher than average risk of death at any age.

    “The great hope is that we find anti-aging interventions that would slow your innate aging rate,” Horvath said, adding that “this is an important milestone to realizing this dream.

    It began as a game: High school and college students studying computer technology figured out they could use personal computers to break into telephone company computers and make free, long-distance telephone calls. These young computer talents soon gained the name "hackers".

    Police arrested a few hackers, but many went on to even more complex hacking. One of them was arrested for making illegal telephone calls and later he used a phone to change a police officer's credit records to get back at the officer for arresting him. He also used a computer to change his college records to give himself better grades.

    As hackers gained experience  they began invading computers at banks, airlines and other businesses. In one case a hacker instructed an airline's computer to give him free airplane tickets.

    The U.S. government is worried that hackers may break into its networks of defense computers. The government's secrets are easily attacked because thousands of government computers are connected by telephone lines that hackers can get into.

    In November 1988, a college student entered a U.S. Defense Department computer network called Arpanet. The hacker injected a computer program that made copies of itself throughout Arpanet. Some hackers use viruses to destroy all the data in a computer. But in this case, government officials shut down the network before the program reached every computer in the system. Shutting down the system angered many researchers who were using the computers. The hacker turned himself in to the police and he was charged with a crime.

    The incident put the spotlight on computer hacking in the United States. Many companies have hired experts to protect their computers from hackers, and many computer experts now advise companies on how to protect their computers.

    The U.S. government believes foreign governments have hired hackers to try to break into top-secret defense computers.

    Experts disagree over whether a computer network can ever be safe from hacking. But in the future, some of the most outstanding minds in the U.S. will be working to frustrate the attempts of computer hackers.

    Even for a first-time visitor to China, it is impossible to ignore the popularity of Quick-Response (QR) codes. These square-shaped black-and-white symbols in WeChat or Alipay where QR codes are scanned to add new friends or make payments.

    The QR Code system originated in Japan. The engineer Masahiro Hara felt the limitation of the one-dimension barcode in use and thus developed the QR codes which could carry data horizontally and vertically. QR codes could hold much more information than barcode due to their extra dimension. In addition, QR codes have larger data capacity, smaller print—out size and higher resistance to dirt and damage, which make them widely applied in many other applications.

    Though the technology of QR codes is complicated, we can easily create our own QR codes with the help of QR code generators, many of which are available online for free. Users could enter the data they wish the QR code to display, and the generator turns it into a symbol that can be printed or displayed in electronic form. The process of creating QR codes could be really fun when we customise the design of the codes according to our specific needs. For instance, we can adjust the color, add a logo, and create social options etc. Moreover, dynamic (动态的) QR codes are also available. They are more various than standard QR codes because they allow users to edit data entered previously whereas data in standard QR codes cannot be edited once printed. Plus, don't limit your QR code to one mobile scanner. Anyone can scan your code with any reader. A lower barrier to entry makes success more likely for you and the user.

    Meanwhile, we must also recognize the vulnerability of QR codes. Due to its easy access, criminals can steal simply by replacing the QR codes with their own, routing cash into their own bank accounts. Hence, we should all become more conscious towards virtual money transactions through QR codes and participate in additional security measures.

    A   RICHMOND EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE

    Learn to act introduces people to a broad range of acting techniques. It is specially geared to those with little or no acting experience. The atmosphere is relaxed and unthreatening and great emphasis is placed on developing the confidence and abilities of people who may initially be a little apprehensive!

    B   WORLD CULTURE DAY

    Brazilian Street Percussion

    2:30—4:50

    Samba percussion workshop. Lift your spirits with the taste of carnival! It doesn't matter whether you're an experienced musician or a complete beginner; you'll be creating complex exotic rhythms in no time.

    African Storytelling

    3:45—4:45

    The magical African storytelling tradition of narration, poetry and proverbs. An event for all the family.

    C   SCOTTISH DANCING

    IT'S FUN

    IT'S GOOD EXERCISE

    ● We have classes for dancers of all abilities.

    ● Previous experience is not essential.

    ● All you need to bring is a pair of soft shoes and enthusiasm.

    ● Classes are held in a number of places and at different times.

    ● We guarantee you a warm welcome.

    D   DRAWING IN COLOUR

    An intensive workshop for beginners

    Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th October

    This unusual workshop offers instruction in effective ways to draw in colour. Activities will include study of light and shade and ways to express mood and emotion in colour.

    The small class(12 students) assures maximum attention for each student. Professional quality materials are included in the fee of ￡95.