When I was six, Dad brought home a dog one day, who was called “Brownie”. My brothers and I all loved Brownie and did different things with her. One of us would walk her, another would feed her, then there were baths, playing catch and many other games. Brownie, in return, loved each and every one of us. One thing that most touched my heart was that she would go to whoever was sick and just be with them. We always felt better when she was around.

    One day, as I was getting her food, she chewed up(咬破)one of Dad's shoes, which had to be thrown away in the end. I knew Dad would be mad and I had to let her know what she did was wrong. When I looked at her and said, “Bad girl,” she looked down at the ground and then went and hid. I saw a tear in her eyes.

    Brownie turned out to be more than just our family pet. She went everywhere with us. People would stop and ask if they could pat her. Of course she'd let anyone pat her. She was just the most lovable dog. There were many times when we'd be out walking and a small child would come over and pull on her hair. she never barked(吠) or tried to get away. Funny thing is that she would smile. This frightened people because they thought she was showing her teeth. Far from the truth, she loved everyone.

    Now many years have passed since Brownie died of old age. I still miss days when she was with us.

    At UMOM New Day Centers, volunteers are the heart of our mission. We exist entirely through the generosity of individuals within the community. Through the giving of their time and talents, volunteers help homeless men, women and children find hope in the future.

    Child Development Center

    Type of help needed: Assist teachers with art projects, reading, singing, games and play projects for children aged one to five.

    Requirements: Ages 16+ only, must obtain an Arizona state fingerprint card, and must obtain a TB Test.

    Hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00am-12:00pm.

    T.A.P. (Teen Activities Program)

    Type of help needed: Assist TAP coordinator (协调员) with weekly activities. Coordinate and help with field trips, 5ports, cooking, music and other forms of entertainment. We welcome your ideas for teen activities,

    Requirements: Ages 21+ only, have graduated from high school, and must obtain an AZ state fingerprint card.

    Hours: Monday-Friday, 3:00pm-6:00pm and Saturday & Sunday 1:00pm-4:00pm.

    Summer hours: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:00pm and Saturday & Sunday 1:00pm-4:00pm.

    In-Kind Donation Assistant

    Type of help needed: Moving, repairing, organizing furniture and other donated items.

    Requirements: Must be comfortable with physical labor, being outdoors, and be able to lift at least 50 lbs (磅).

    Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 9:00am-3:00pm.

    Docent (讲解员)

    Type of help needed: Help screen visitors and volunteers and answer questions provide directions. Offer non-program-related assistance to residents to enhance customer service needed. Accept donations, event assistance and other projects as assigned.

    Requirements: Ages 18+ only, must obtain an AZ state fingerprint card, and be able to lift 50 lbs.

    Hours: Monday-Friday, l:00pm-4:00pm. Tuesday evening, 5:00pni-9:00pm.

    Saturday& Sunday, 9:00am-5:00pm.

    Kitchen Helper Program

    Type of help needed: Support kitchen staff in food preparation, serving and other duties as needed.

    Requirements: Volunteers must be 13 years and older to volunteer in the kitchen.

    Hours: Dinner: 7 days a week from 4:00pm-7:00pm;    Lunch: Monday Friday from 10:30am-1:00pm; Brunch: Saturday & Sunday from 9:30am-12:00am.

    With smart technology increasingly influencing all aspects of our lives, it is only a matter of time before someone invents “smart” shoes—ones that can be made based on personal needs. Called “ShiftWear”, the sneakers are the brainchild of a team of businessmen, and engineers led by New York-based designer David Coel.

    The adaptable shoes can be customized by using a smart phone app. Shoe owners will have the option of selecting a design from a variety of HD pattern by famous artists or creating one themselves. The company's founders imagine a marketplace where artists can not only share but also sell their designs to others. Despite being electronic, the designs are clearly visible even in the brightest sunlight. What's even cooler is that by switching on a backlight, users can even show off their designs in the dark!

    According to Coel, the sneakers will keep their charge “forever” if only images are displayed. Though they will need periodic recharging, active users have nothing to worry about. That's because the shoes are equipped with special walk-n-charge technology that powers the shoes—with every step. Inactive users also have options of charging the sneakers without using wires.

    The bottom part of the shoes is covered with Kevler fibers, a kind of strong material, reducing normal wear and tear. Even better? They are completely waterproof (not let water through) and can even be thrown into an ordinary laundry machine for a quick wash! The company predicts that the shoes will range the price from $150 to $1000 depending on the size of the E-panels where the designs are displayed.

    This is not the first time that electronics and shoes have combined. Lithuania-based iShuh Technology has come up with a similar concept that connects e-reader panels to a smart phone app via the Bluetooth. Whether these smart shoes become as popular as our smart devices remains to be seen, though they surely are attractive.

    One of the great concerns that ornithologists have is that climate change will throw the nesting activities of birds out of sync (同步) with the availability of food for the raising of chicks. For one species, the pied flycatcher, a new study shows that some of its clan are proving to be remarkably adaptable.

    Upon returning to Europe from their African wintering grounds, the flycatchers time their egg-laying to the short period when juicy caterpillars (毛毛虫) are most abundant. During the past three decades this caterpillar peak has advanced by three weeks. Pied flycatchers initially had difficulty adjusting, but over time have started laying their eggs earlier to grab the caterpillars. Some, though, are doing a lot more to improve their reproductive chances of success, according to a study in the Journal of Avian Biology led by Christian Both of the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands.

    Like most bird species, pied flycatchers have long been thought to lay a single clutch of eggs during the breeding (繁殖) season. This was widely considered to be a trait that wouldn't change. Then, in 2007, a Swiss team led by Dr Ravussin began to suspect that clutch numbers were flexible. They discovered a female pied flycatcher that immediately produced a second brood with a new male after raising an early set of chicks. Aware of Dr Ravussin's findings, Dr Both wondered whether this was just a single, odd instance or if second broods might be happening on a larger scale driven by the arrival of earlier springs. So, they cooperate to delve into the data to find out.

    The team studied pied-flycatcher populations in the Netherlands and Switzerland that were known to be among the earliest nesting members of the species. In total, they tracked the egg-laying times and hatchling-rearing success of 8,848 breeding pairs in the Netherlands and1, 372 in Switzerland between1980 and 2018. They found that since 2006, 11 cases of second broods were observed, all of them among the earliest breeders in both populations.

    Further studies ruled out that the birds were making up for a failed first attempt at raising chicks or that the second group of nestlings suffered.

    With no obvious downside to laying a double clutch, Drs Both and Ravussin conclude that the birds are attempting to double their annual reproductive output. While this behavior is still rare, they argue that if the tendency is driven by heritable genes (which it may well be), then a succession of early springs could make the strategy much more common.

    One day a poor man was begging with an old wallet in his hand. As he felt sad at his own bad luck, he kept wondering why some wealthy people were never satisfied and were always wanting more.

    "Here," said he, "is the master of this house—I know him well. He is a wealthy businessman. He should have turned over his business to others, and then he could have spent the rest of his life happily, but he didn't. Instead, he sent his ships to sea to trade with foreign lands. However, there were great storms on the water, so his ships were destroyed and his treasure disappeared in the sea. As for me, if I had only enough to eat and to buy clothing, I would not want anything more."

    Just at that moment, Fortune came down the street. She saw the poor man and stopped. She said to him, "Listen! I want to help you. Hold your wallet, and I will pour this gold into it, but only on this condition: all that falls into the wallet shall be pure gold, but every piece that falls upon the ground shall become dust. Do you understand?"

    "Oh, yes," said the poor man.

    "Then be careful," said Fortune. "Your wallet is old, so do not load it too heavily."

    The beggar was so glad that he quickly opened his wallet, and a stream of yellow dollars poured into it. The wallet grew heavy.

    "Is that enough?" asked Fortune.

    "Not yet."

    "Isn't the wallet cracking (裂开)?"

    "Never fear."

    The beggar's hands began to tremble. Ah, if the gold would only pour forever!

    "You are the richest man in the world now!"

    "Just a little more, add just a handful or two."

    Another piece was added, and the wallet cracked. The treasure fell upon the ground and turned to dust. The beggar had nothing now but his empty wallet. He was as poor as before.

Photo Research

"If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of better stuff." Photographer Jim Richardson shared it with others. He spends a great deal of time doing photo research, looking for great locations to shoot.

Seeing a wonderful place is bread-and-butter photography—it's just part of the job. Getting there is only half of any great photograph's story. The other half is how the photographer prepares to capture the subject once in front of it. It is believed that groundwork is part of photography, as essential as knowing exposure and lighting or recognizing the decisive moment to take the shot. Research sounds like a boring task for many photographers, while for others digging into a subject in advance is part of the pleasure.

Philosophically, photographers seem to divide along that line. On one side are those who desire only to be in the moment. On the other side are the planners. They would never dream of going out the door without a full list of how they're going to approach the shoot. Actually, there is a third group nowadays. They just take photos of the whole scene and do all the creative work in Photoshop after the event. Most photographers do both: research carefully to prepare their schedule and then act in the moment once on site.

Photographers should do a lot of research in order to get ready for a photographic trip. This includes creating a file for each location they are due to visit. They start a file for each place and begin to make a list of the pieces of information. Knowing what the place looks like in advance is invaluable, so it is good to hit several Internet photo sites. Besides clueing them into the photographic possibilities of the location, this can also show what angles have already become overused and which they should therefore avoid. But photographers will also find angles they didn't expect from locations they hadn't imagined. Armed with these they will be better prepared to push the boundaries of what they expect.

"Above all, I'll look for places and events that are seasonal and timeless. I open my mind to what might make a great subject for a picture," Jim said. "Most travelers tend to think only of places they're visiting, without looking deeper into culture, history or meaning. I try to get in time with the rhythm of the place and in tune with its melody. But most of all I just want to be ready. If I'm ready, I can just about count on being lucky."