A young Los Angeles actor in need of a second job to pay his bills has come up with a brilliant way to supplement his income-people walking.

    Chuck McCarthy originally considered becoming a dog walker to earn some extra cash, but soon realized that the job required more than walking dogs on a leash. However, walking people didn't require much when they were out on walks. Chuck realized there was money to be made if he walked people around Los Angeles instead.

    It might sound like a joke, but The People Walker, as he calls himself, is very serious about his new job. For $7 per mile, he offers to walk with clients around L.A., listening to their problems or simply making conversations and offering them a sense of security. At 6-feet, 2-inches, and sporting a bulky figure and bushy beard, Chuck doesn't look like the kind of guy you'd want to mess with.

    Chuck's services are aimed at people who need a motivational boost to go walking, those who don't feel safe walking alone in some areas, and those who are afraid that people might see them walking by themselves and think that they have no friends. “I wear my The People Walker shirt upon request and on the first walk with a new client, so they can be 100% sure it's me,” McCarthy says. However, he admits some people are a bit uncomfortable with this policy, as they don't necessarily want everyone to know that they're being walked.

    So far, Chuck McCarthy has already had another five people walkers employed, covering various areas, like downtown L.A., Hollywood, Eagle Rock, or Fairfax. Once he posted signs around the city, his phone started ringing and clients began rolling in. And with all the free publicity he has been getting in the press lately, more requests are coming.

    While he hopes that his acting career will pick up soon, in the meantime Chuck is very happy with his people walking business. After all, it's literally a walk in the park and it pays the bills.

    There was a lot of news related to artificial intelligence, or AI, and machine learning. Among the stories were two dealing with direct competitions between humans and machines.

    In one competition, machines that used AI performed better than human beings in a high-level reading test. Two natural language processing tools beat human in the experiment. One of the tools was built by the American technology company Microsoft. The other was created by Chinese online seller Alibaba Group.

    In another competition, a computer took on humans in live, public debates.

    The event demonstrated how AI-powered computers are increasingly being developed to think ' and sound like humans. The organizer of the debates, U. S. technology company IBM, announced split results. It said a majority of those watching said they felt the machine had done more to improve their knowledge of the subject. But, the human got more praise for communicating their ideas.

    This year, we also explored the many ways AI and machine learning are now being used. For example, some U. S. judges use machine learning systems to help them decide when, and for how long, criminals should be jailed. The system uses computers to examine data from thousands of court cases.

    One fast-growing area of AI is facial recognition, which is increasingly being used for security purposes. Recently, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport became the first in the U. S. to permit passengers to use facial recognition technology to get on flights. A Chinese company showed off an AI system it developed to recognize individuals by body shape and walking movements. The system is already being used by Chinese police in Beijing and Shanghai.

    In addition, machine learning was used during 2018 to predict results of the World Cup soccer competition. The technology also created artwork that sold for a large amount of money. And it is being used to help farmer save time and money, while reducing environment-harming chemicals. Other technology systems are being used to follow farm animals and wildlife to collect information on their activities.

    We can take online joyful learning experiences to a new level by combining the best practices in education with inspiring hands-on lessons that parents and children can enjoy together.

    ◆◇Starting a Writer's Notebook      June 13th-June 17th

    This workshop is to inspire children to see themselves as true authors. The writing activities in this workshop are meant to help young authors develop their sense of voice and enthusiasm for writing. Participants will learn a variety of strategies and techniques for generating ideas and producing meaningful writing.

    PRICE: $27.00 ($22.00 cash payment)      AGE: 6-10

    ◆◇Backyard Science    June 20th-June 24th

    By sharing what we discover in our own backyards, our children will be able to experience firsthand how wildlife, climate, and geographic landscapes differ across the globe. Through this workshop we have the ability to create eye-opening explorations for our children.

    PRICE: $27.00       AGE: 4-10

    ◆◇Be a Peacemaker    June 27th-July 1st

    By practicing mindfulness we discover how to find that peaceful place within ourselves, even during the most difficult times. This online class offers families a way to explore beneficial techniques together in an effort to develop a shared language and common understanding of what it means to be fully present in our lives.

    PRICE: $27.00     AGE: 4-10

    ◆◇Poetry Makers    June 11th-July 15th

    When sharing poems with our children, we not only teach them how to appreciate the beauty of language but also that our words have the ability to affect others in deep and meaningful ways. In this four-week online workshop, we will strengthen our children's understanding of themselves, each other, and the world around them through the power of writing poetry.

    PRICE: $27.00      AGE: 6-10

    We are the CEOs. We are the head designers. We are the top engineers. We are the senior creators. We are the inventors. We are the only maker of our own happiness.

    However, we still have learned that people's views on happiness often change with many outside things. Some people smile happily beside their new cars and homes. Students feel excited when they get better grades. Babies laugh loudly when they get new toys. Maybe true happiness has been lost in these things.

    How could we have allowed ourselves to be cheated for so long? Something outside may give us happiness, but what directs us to real happiness is inner (内在的) spirit.

    Our spirit is so easily broken, yet it is the single strongest thing we own. Why do people with terrible diseases still smile? Why do those with a broken heart still find joy? The inner spirit is powerful, and it is the only thing on earth that can be broken into pieces but can perfectly mend itself with time. Think about those who suffer a lot but still feel happy. Their inner spirit is very strong.

    Our inner spirit will be the greatest gift that we give ourselves. It is our compass (指南针) to happiness, but we are the tour guides.

Every August, teams with players about 10 years old play baseball across the US, with the aim to become Little League1 . In this year's game, Isaiah Jarvis, a Little League batter (击球手),2 the pitcher (投球手), Kaiden Shelton, who threw a baseball that hit him in the head. The3 scene brought tears to the eyes of the crowd in the stadium.

On August 7^th, Kaiden Shelton, from Texas, 4 Isaiah Jarvis, from Oklahoma, at the plate. With two strikes against Isaiah, Kaiden 5 lost control of his pitch. The ball hit Isaiah in his helmet, sending him to the ground. The field staff immediately 6 him and found him to be OK. He decided to remain in the 7 . Yet Kaiden, the pitcher, appeared to be 8 .

Isaiah called a timeout upon seeing his9 battling emotions. He calmly walked toward Kaiden and gave him a big hug, trying to10 him. "Hey, you're doing just great." Kaiden later shared with NBC News. "These11 words from him really helped me."

A video of the moment was posted online and attracted more than 6.5 million views. Danny Graves, a sports announcer, said Isaiah's12 was the best thing he had ever seen in Little League baseball.

The Texas team won the game 9-4 to 13 to the Little League World Series. And Isaiah was also 14 to the game to celebrate its 75th anniversary. The pair told NBC News they think their newfound 15 will last beyond any tournament.

Long ago, poets in Japan listened, watched, and caught the beauty of the earth's songs like the raindrops. They did this with the tiniest poems in the world, called haiku. A haiku is a poem that is just three lines and seventeen syllables long. And the poets who wrote them watched and listened, not only with their eyes and ears, but also with their hearts!

In their haiku, the early Japanese poets caught the colours, sounds, and beauties of the seasons of the year. They sang of their islands' beauties. Their miniature poems were not meant to fully describe a scene or to explain it but rather were a flash impression. 

Interestingly enough, Japanese poetry has had a long and colourful history. In the prehaiku period in the early eighth century, Japanese poets wrote katauta, poems in a question-and-answer form, using two people. Each three-line verse contained about seventeen syllables that could be delivered easily in one breath—just as one would naturally ask or answer a question. This has remained the basic pattern for traditional Japanese poetry throughout the centuries. 

Another form that appeared was the tanka, which contained five lines and thirty-one syllables(5, 7, 5, 7, 7), written by either one or two persons. From that evolved(逐步形成) the renga, which contained more than one verse, or link. Written by three or more people, it could have as many as 100 links! The first verse of the renga introduced a subject. It had three lines and was called hokku, or starting verse. Renga parties became a great pleasure. 

Around 1450, haikai no renga became popular. This style of linked verse contained puns (双关) and was humorous and amusing. The opening three lines were still called a hokku, and from haikai and hokku the term haiku evolved.