Stop wasting your time thinking of reasons for your failures and shortcomings. Instead, realize that the seeds of success were planted within you when you were born. Only you have the power to make those seeds grow.

    The seeds, and the power to grow them, are contained in the most awesome machine ever created: the human mind. Success is a choice and not a chance. You were born a winner. You were born rich. You can be a success if only you make the right choice.

    You cannot be successful without first developing your self-esteem (自信心). Your level of self-esteem is always based on the degree of control that you are able to exercise over yourself, and thus over your life. People with low self-esteem are people who do not believe that they have any power, or responsibility for their lives. They are always victims. They are leaves tossed (摇摆) by the winds of chance blown about with any sudden change in the weather.

    You can exercise control over your life only to the degree that you believe you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance. Successful people realize that they are responsible.

    Everything happens as a result of something. If we can identify the cause, we can control the effect. We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe. One generally rises to the level that one expects. We are responsible for setting our expectations. Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence.

    If you associate with positive-thinking people, you are definitely going to achieve success. On the contrary, the opposite happens. We are responsible for finding, planting, and nurturing (培育) the seeds that contain future victory, born from setbacks (挫折).

    In short, in all areas of your life, whether they are financial, physical, emotional, or spiritual, you are responsible. Once you recognize this, accept it, and firmly believe it. You are on the road to success.

    Luciano Baietti, a retired school headmaster from Italy, holds the Guinness record for the most university degrees. The 70­year­old currently has 15 bachelors(学士) or masters degrees from various universities across Italy, and is getting ready to get his 16th.

    Getting more than one college degree is not exactly unheard­of, but 15 is apparently quite impressive, since it's only been done by one man. Although he spends his days working around his house and garden, like most people his age, at night, Baietti turns into a student again. Every morning, at 3 a. m．， he wakes up and studies by the light of his desk lamp.

    “Thanks to books, I feel free. After all, the words share the same root，” he says, referring to the Italian words libro(book) and libero(free). He is inspired by the 19th century French essayist Louis­Francois Berlin, whose portrait(肖像)is also on display in his study, alongside his many framed university degrees, and whom he describes as “a man of culture and knowledge”．

    Baietti first made it into the Guinness Book of Records in 2002, after his eighth degree. Then he spent the next 15 years adding seven more bachelors and masters degrees to his collection.

    “Each time I set myself a new challenge to see how far my body and my brain can go.” At 70 years old, Baietti thinks he has enough energy for at least one more degree, this time in food science.

    Probably the most important thing about Baietti's achievement is that he managed to get most of his university degrees while working as headmaster of a secondary school, and volunteering with Italy's Red Cross. The secret was always getting up at 3 in the morning to make sure that his thirst for knowledge didn't affect his professional activity and his family life. He spent 3 hours studying every day, and that was apparently all he needed to pass his exams and write his theses (论文)．

    The human beings seem to be facing a crisis （危机）． After Our best Go players were defeated one by one by the artificial intelligence (AI) AlphaGo, we lost our pride of being at the top of the intelligence chain. And in October，when Saudi Arabia gave citizenship to a robot named Sophia, another privilege of being human was take away．It looks like everything that separates humans and AI is at risk fight now．

    But we keep hoping that instead of “everything ”, there's still something left in us that makes us irreplaceable.

    To Hao Jingfang, winner of the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novelette, that “something” is our consciousness. “AlphaGo is intelligent in a certain way, but not intelligent enough to ask the important questions – Do I like playing Co? Do I want to play Go today? Why do I have to play Go when you tell me to?” she once said．In other words, computer programs don't have a choice to say “no”． They probably don't even know what a “choice” is – all they ever do is calculate．

    And to He Huaihong，a philosophy (哲学) professor at Peking University，imagination and creativity are also what make us special. A machine couldn't have come up with the theory of gravity just because it was hit by a falling apple，he said．It's human imagination that connects what seem to be completely random and irrelevant concepts，something that a machine—which works by fixed rules only—can't do，at least for now．

    This is why BBC reporter Viktor Mayer-Schonberger suggested that instead of focusing on how computers have overshadowed us on calculating abilities than humans，we should probably “consider our quality at a different end of the spectrum (光谱)：creativity，originality (原创性)，even plain illogical craziness，instead of hard-nosed (顽固的) logic”，he wrote．

    So maybe in the future，as artificial intelligence becomes even more intelligent，humans and A1 will learn to use each other's talents for good．If AI can handle the boring tasks like calculating and driving for us，we'll have more time to create，think，and be busy with “being human”．

    In this Pennsylvania city, Pittsburgh is shrinking but getting wealthier. Since 2000, its population has declined by 95,000 while its income per capita (人均) has shot up 24 percent. The trend is taking hold in many other cities, like Buffalo in New York, Providence in Rhode Island and New Orleans.

    Some of these areas have created more high-paying jobs in energy, health care or education. Others have managed to reshape their producing industry for a new economy. Higher-paying jobs have a greater effect because they create demand for additional services. "The story in Pittsburgh is very positive, and other areas are looking at it as an example of the transformation that might be possible,” said Guhan Venkatu, who wrote an economic history of the area called “Rust and Renewal” for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

    Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh have helped bring tech jobs and innovation(革新) to the area by sponsoring tech centers that help graduates start companies without moving to Silicon Valley or San Francisco. This has helped keep Pittsburgh's educated young population growing even as the entire population in the city has dropped.

    Pittsburgh has more STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs than other shrinking cities, about 80, 000 or 7% of all jobs. STEM jobs add productivity and income growth to the area. Manufacturers of high-tech medical equipment in the Pittsburgh area also have doubled employment in the last 10 years.

    However, some experts question whether growing income per capita can really make up for a declining population. According to Patrick Adler, a researcher at the University of Toronto, population loss does matter if it means lower-skilled workers have fled because of a lack of opportunity. What's more, high-paying jobs in education and health care can disappear if the population declines too greatly. So it'd be wise to find ways to increase the population.

    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.

If you have a passion for music, art, history and more, indulge it on a Yoyo Odyssey Cultural Tour!

How we travel can make the difference between just visiting a place, or really experiencing it from the inside out, which is why Yoyo has created its new Odyssey Cultural Tours collection.

These small-group, luxury tours offer a deep div e into history, art, music, literature, dance and astronomy, while enjoying everything that a destination has to offer, from exceptional places to stay to the best of local food.

Each holiday has the service of a Yoyo tour manager and we'll take care of you every step of the way, providing a VIP car service to your UK departure point for overseas trips, flights and transfers, all transports to accommodations, travel insurance and much more.

For music lovers; Yoyo has partnered with the Royal Academy of Music to create unique short breaks in London with concerts by talented young musicians from the Academy.

You'll be in expert hands-each tour is accompanied by a specialist in their field who's skilled at sharing their expertise through insight-packed talks throughout the holiday. Backstage, behind-the-scenes visits give a fascinating perspective on new places as well as cities that you may already know and love, all in the stimulating company of like-minded travellers.

ABC Music readers will receive an exclusive 5 per cent discount on all Yoyo Cultural Odyssey Tours-just quote the code ‘ABCR' when booking. To find out more please visit yoyo.uk/COT.