A new generation addiction is quickly spreading all over the world. Weboholism, a twentieth century disease, affects people from different ages. They surf the net, use email and speak in chat rooms. They spend many hours on the computer, and it becomes a compulsive habit. They cannot stop, and it affects their lives.

    Ten years ago, no one thought that using computers could become compulsive behavior that could affect the social and physical life of computer users. This obsessional behavior has affected teenagers and college students. They are likely to log on computers and spend long hours at different websites.

    They become hooked on computers and gradually their social and school life is affected by this situation. They spend all free time surfing and don't concentrate on homework, so this addiction influences their grades and success at school. Because they can find everything on the websites, they hang out there. Moreover, this addiction to websites influences their social life.

    They spend more time in front of computers than with their friends. The relation with their friends changes. The virtual life becomes more important than their real life. They have a new language that they speak in the chat rooms and it causes cultural changes in society.

    Because of the change in their behavior, they begin to isolate themselves from the society and live with their virtual friends. They share their emotions and feelings with friends who they have never met in their life. Although they feel confident on the computer, they are not confident with real live friends they have known all their life. It is a problem for the future. This addictive behavior is beginning to affect all the world.

    It was five years since I had become a mother, and I felt like I had slowly been losing more and more of myself. I looked in the mirror one morning and saw a tired, crazy woman, and I just wanted to cry. And just like that my new journey into becoming a “do less” mom began. I remember the first time I tried it. I had rushed to get my kids from school after work, arriving home completely shattered(散架了).

    I made myself a lovely cup of hot tea and headed to the sofa, I lay down and closed my eyes. At this point, all three of my kids stopped speaking and just stared. My eldest broke the silence and asked, “What are you doing mommy?” I replied: “I'm resting.” It took the kids a few more minutes to realize I wasn't going anywhere and they did eventually leave me alone. They even figured out that they should probably take their coats off. I did not cook dinner that night--we ordered in. I did not put on a wash; instead, I told the kids they had better not get their clothes dirty during dinner because they are wearing them again tomorrow. We skipped the bath and watched a movie all on the sofa.

    To my amazement--no one died. The house did not fall apart. The kids were happy and fed but most importantly, when I looked into the mirror that night, I could see that woman I remember. The fun, silly woman who truly thinks she is still 25 years old, who loves ice cream and traveling and music and drinking wine. And I went to bed a bit happier that night knowing that although the road is still long, I am finally on the right track.

    People are divided into two groups in the world. Though each of them has equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.

    People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend (hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing(批评) and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation(模仿). It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.

    Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrongdoings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact(接触) with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.

    Reading may be fundamental, but how the brain gives meaning to letters on a page has been a mystery. Two new studies fill in some details on how the brains of efficient readers handle words. One of the studies, published in the April 30 Neuron, suggests that a visual-processing area of the brain recognizes common words as whole units. Another study, published online April 27 in PLOSONE, makes it known that the brain operates two fast parallel systems for reading, linking visual recognition of words to speech.

    Maximilian Riesenhuber, a neuroscientist at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., wanted to know whether the brain reads words letter by letter or recognizes words as whole objects. He and his colleagues showed sets of real words or nonsense(无意义的词语)words to volunteers undergoing fMRI scans. The words differed in only one letter, such as “farm” and “form” or “soat” and “poat”, or were completely different, such as “farm” and “coat” or “poat” and “hime”. The researchers were particularly interested in what happens in the visual word form area, or VWFA, an area on the left side of the brain just behind the ear that is involved in recognizing words.

    Riesenhuber and his colleagues found that neurons(神经元)in the VWFA respond strongly to changes in real words. Changing “farm” to “form”, for example, produced as great a change in activity as changing “farm” to” coat”, the team reports in Neuron. The area responded slowly to single-letter changes in made-up words.

    The data suggests that readers grasp real words as whole objects, rather than focusing on letters or letter combinations. And as a reader's exposure to a word increases, the brain comes to recognize the shape of the word. Meaning is passed on after recognition in the brain, Riesenhuber says.

    The researchers don't yet know how longer and less familiar words are recognized, or if the brain can be trained to recognize nonsense words as a unit.

    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 7th

    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 5th

    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 6th

    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 6th

    Eyots and Aits-Thames Islands, by Miranda Vickers. The Thames had 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 into:www.canalmuseum.org.uk/whatson

    London Canal Museum

    12-13 New Wharf Road, London NI 9RT

    www.canalmuseum.org.uk   www.canalmuseum.mobi

    Tel: 020 77130836

It's one of the biggest challenges in higher education today: What do you do with the nearly one in five working-age adults who have some college experience, but no degree?

Sokeo Ros was one of them. "I just hated community college," he says. "I made up my mind: I'm never going back to school. I have all these debts, and I don't want to waste my time." Ros,34, was born in Thailand. He dropped out of two colleges, switching majors several times. Meanwhile, he taught dance in Providence, R. I. , struggling to raise his daughter. But in 2012, he found College Unbound that accepts adults, like Ros.

College Unbound is the creation of educator Dennis Littky He is devoted to helping adults make their own path to a degree through College Unbound. Nearly all the students can get scholarship. They are paired one-on-one with advisers who help them make a plan that combines a job with online classes and independent research. Students create online works and show their live exhibitions.

Right now,College Unbound has about 75 students. It makes a great effort to keep the total cost per student under $10,000 per year. So far, the approach seems to be working:85 percent of its students have returned for a second year;60 percent of graduates take less than two years to complete their bachelor's degrees. And nearly nine of 10 College Unbound alumni (校友) are employed full-time.

Littky says College Unbound's goal is to create a new learning experience giving students more than just job training or qualifications. At last it lets adults understand lifelong learning is important for them.

Sokeo Ros experienced that. "At first, I just wanted to get a degree. But I kind of fell in love with the idea that learning is a lifelong experience."