Napping Gets a Nod at the Workplace (Reading Class)

Napping Gets a Nod at the Workplace

A growing number of companies are encouraging employees to snooze at work—and boost their productivity.
From Thomas Edison and Winston Churchill to Bill Clinton and George Costanza, the nap has had many famous champions. And with good reason. Ever since sleep scientist David Dinges helped found the modern science of napping in the early '80s at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, short periods of sleep have been shown to improve alertness, memory, motor skills, decision-making, and mood. All while cutting down on stress, carelessness, and even heart disease.
With Americans averaging fewer than seven hours of sleep per night—and around 20 percent suffering from sleepiness during the day, according to a recent Stanford University study—many companies have turned to the humble nap in an attempt to stave off billions in lost productivity each year. Following the rise of workplace perks like lactation rooms, gyms, and child-care facilities, Nike (NYSE: NKE - News) workers now have access to nap-friendly "quiet rooms" that can also be used for meditation. Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG - News), a forerunner in employee perks, has a number of futuristic napping pods scattered throughout its Mountain View (Calif.) campus.
Jawa, a small mobile technology company in Scottsdale, Ariz., has two resting rooms—one with a similar pod, the other with an old-fashioned couch—that are popular among programmers working long hours. Many airlines, including Continental (NYSE: CAL - News) and British Airways (NYSE: BAY - News), allow pilots to sleep during long international flights while colleagues take over the controls. (The practice is prohibited for domestic flights by the Federal Aviation Administration.) Other companies, such as Ben & Jerry's, have no official policy but provide unofficial space for the practice and don't bat an eye when someone spends an extra half hour snoozing in the massage room. "If you have employees working 16-hour days, you want to give them an opportunity to take a power nap," says Melissa Gierginger, a spokeswoman for Jawa.

Other companies have opted to outsource their daytime sleeping solutions. Yelo, a napping spa in midtown Manhattan, has provided its services to Hearst, Newsweek, and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX - News). It offers naps in a "cocoon-like" treatment room in which clients can adjust aromatherapy, sound, and lighting. A 20-minute nap goes for $15. (A half-hour "Nap Plus"—including a 10-minute foot rub—costs $40.)
"Over the last few years, there's been a lot of focus on exercise and nutrition, but adequate sleep is arguably the most important element of productivity," says Christopher Lindholst, co-founder of MetroNaps, which markets a napping chair called the EnergyPod to such companies as Google, Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG - News), and Cisco Systems (NasdaqGS: CSCO - News). The EnergyPod, which looks like Pacman with a really long tongue, boasts ergonomic support and a built-in music system with a headphone jack to eliminate background noise. "The EnergyPod is designed to provide some privacy, but it's typically installed in a common area so you create an environment of awareness and acceptance," says Lindholst. MetroNaps rents its EnergyPod for $795 per month.
"Tiny naps are much more refreshing than people tend to realize," said Jim Horne, director of the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University in England. "A short nap in the afternoon will get rid of sleepiness without interfering with nighttime sleep." That said, it's best not to depend on napping as a permanent replacement for lost sleep. "On occasion it will get you over the hump, but whether it gets you back to peak is an open question," says Dr.

Roger Rosa, a senior scientist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. "If you've lost an hour of your previous night's sleep, a nap may be just the ticket. If you've been up all night, it may give you a hangover effect" known as "sleep inertia."
According to Dr. Sara Mednick, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego, not all naps are created equal. Mednick believes that naps weighted toward different stages of the sleep cycle confer different benefits. "If you do physical labor, you need more Stage 2 sleep," says Mednick. "If you are doing memorization or verbal work, you need more slow-wave sleep. And if you do creative or visual work, you need more REM sleep."
Dr. Mednick has devised an "Optimized Napping Formula" so ambitious nappers can maximize the desired phase of sleep. Napping newbies can purchase a device called Zeo ($199), which promises to track your sleep cycles for you via your brainwaves with a special headband. Those looking for a simpler contraption might prefer the Dream Helmet ($29.95), which serves as mask, pillow, and earplugs all at once.
Some researchers are skeptical about efforts to cultivate a given phase of sleep. "On a practical level, all a person can choose is how long they sleep," says Dr. Rosa. "You can't change the pace of the sleep cycle without sleep deprivation, which would be counterproductive." A strict dozing regimen, such as the kind employed by sailboat racers, military pilots, and astronauts, can replace nocturnal sleep altogether for a limited time. Leonardo da Vinci experimented with erratic sleep schedules, but it wasn't until the early 1980s that Italian researcher Claudio Stampi invented "polyphasic ultrashort sleep," which breaks up the day into several equal sections, each of which ends with a brief nap. As long as these mini "days" are kept intact, one can then whittle the naps down to as little as two hours of sleep per 24 hours—at least according to research published in Stampi's 1992 book, Why We Nap.
Such daring sleep habits are not for everybody. "Going ultrashort is like running a marathon or climbing Mount Everest," writes Dr. Mednick in her book, Take a Nap! Change Your Life. "You need careful training and a generous period of recovery." However, the simple "productivity nap" does hold an undeniable appeal for time-crunched workers. Most sleep experts welcome the consequent uptick in nap-friendliness at work, though some are leery of its unintended consequences. "It can get out of hand: If you start encouraging the workforce to sleep in the afternoon, you're encouraging them to have late nights," says Horne. "Our society is getting more used to napping in the workplace, but it is still seen as something that could get you fired."

Do's and Dont's of Dozing
Napping at work has become acceptable at some companies. Yet pulling off a "productivity nap" at the office isn't easy. Here are suggestions from sleep scientist Dr. Sara Mednick, author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life.
1. Make Time and Space
Twenty to 30 minutes is all you need to reap the rewards of midday slumber. The best time is the early afternoon when your body is tired—so consider reserving the second half of your lunch break for shut-eye. If your employer doesn't have a nap room, a yoga mat beats a bathroom stall, though the most comfortable option may be a parked car.
2. Set the Proper Conditions
In the dark our brains produce more of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, so close the blinds, turn off the lights, and consider using a sleeping mask. Keep the temperature on the warmer side. If you must nap sitting up, use a travel pillow to avoid the dreaded "nap nod." And don't forget to turn off your cell phone.
3. Careful With the Chemicals
Avoid caffeine for a few hours before a nap. The same goes for nicotine, diet pills, and antidepressants. Although alcohol makes it easier to nod off during the day, it interferes with sleep and should also be avoided. Refined sugars and carbs may keep you up, but meat, dairy, and some nuts have tryptophan, which our bodies break down into melatonin.

Special Thanks to:
Source:
http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/110498/napping-gets-a-nod-at-the-workplace

Would-be purse snatcher thwarted by his own photobomb (Reading Class)

Would-be purse snatcher thwarted by his own photobomb

We know that a picture is worth a thousand words, but is a picture worth a stolen purse?
That's certainly the experience of the Myers family, who recently visited Madison, Wisconsin, to attend a wedding. The family shared a pretty remarkable tale with Gizmodo. The Myers clan posed for a  picture outside of the Wisconsin State Capitol building at the same moment that someone decided to walk off with one of the family's bags. When the Myerses took a closer look at the photo their camera had snapped, they noticed that they had caught the robber in the act — a felonious photobomb, if you will. Take a closer look:


In an email to the tech website, they describe what happened next:

When I saw the guy with his hand in my bag, I ran back inside and found the Capitol Police. They were amazing. They immediately sent out a description of the thief using the photo I took. In a few minutes, one officer had found him still in the area. The thief had dumped some things from the bag in a nearby trash can — the flash for my camera, a small backpack of kids toys, a bag of cables, extra SD cards, my mini tripod — but still in my bag were my wallet with cash, credit cards, hotel keys, rental car keys, and my iPad.
The Police recovered everything and hauled the guy off to jail.

So there you go ... a happy ending, on the other side of a Kodak moment.

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Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100825/od_yblog_upshot/would-be-purse-snatcher-thwarted-by-his-own-photobomb

Korean Soccer Players Who Went Abroad Critiqued (Reading Class)

Korean Soccer Players Who Went Abroad Critiqued

JULY 10, 2009 07:35
The summer transfer season in European soccer has heated up. Clubs are debating which players to buy or sell, and this could involve players who hail from Korea.

Manchester United of England has offered a contract extension to midfielder Park Ji-sung, and Paris Saint-Germain of France is considering signing striker Lee Keun-ho.

Since the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by Korea and Japan, quite a few Koreans have played abroad. The number of Korean players who have moved to overseas clubs is around 40.

The Dong-A Ilbo interviewed 10 FIFA agents and officials to get a better understanding of the successes, failures and needed qualities of Korean players abroad.

○ Most successful: Park Ji-sung and Cha Bum-kun

Most of the respondents called Park one of Korea’s two most successful players overseas. After the 2002 World Cup, Park moved to the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, following former Korea national coach Guus Hiddink.

After an impressive two years in the Netherlands, Park was purchased by United in 2005. He has emerged as a key player for the Red Devils, and became the first Asian to play in a Champions League final this year.

The second successful player is Cha Bum-kun, who coaches the K-League team Suwon Samsung Redwings. He went to Germany’s Bundesliga in 1978 and over the next 10 years, he scored 98 goals in 308 games for SV Darmstadt 98, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen.

When Cha played in Germany, the Bundesliga was the strongest league in Europe.

○ Disappointments: Lee Chun-soo and Lee Dong-gook

Lee Chun-soo is considered Korea’s most disappointing transfer abroad. In 2003, he became the first Korean to play in the Spanish Primera Liga, but left soon after showing a poor performance.

He transferred to Feyenoord of the Netherlands but failed to adapt there over a year. One respondent said, “Lee’s second transfer was very disappointing but it was good that he could transfer to a new club on decent terms.”

Lee returned to Korea in July last year and joined Suwon, but was released in December last year after he reportedly snubbed team practice without notice.

Jeonbuk Hyundai’s Lee Dong-gook, the K-League’s leading scorer, is also considered a disappointment. He transferred to Werder Bremen of Germany in 2001 and Middlesbrough of England in 2007 but eventually returned to Korea in failure.

The transfers of Kim Nam-il from Vissel Kobe of Japan to SC Excelsior of the Netherlands and Kim Dong-hyun from Gyeongnam FC of Korea to SC Braga of Portugal were also named as disappointments.

○ Skills, physical strength and mental strength

Many Koreans players dream of joining a team overseas. When asked what such a player needs to play abroad, the respondents cited skills and physical and mental strength.

One said, “In the European leagues, soccer players need to move quickly for 90 minutes. Without physical strength, no one can survive.”

On which Korean player has the biggest potential to succeed in Europe, most respondents said midfielder Ki Sung-yueng of the K-League’s FC Seoul. They said he shows a good balance in attacking and defending, but that he needs to improve in both areas. Most of all, they cited Ki’s ability to control the ball and perform free kicks.

The FIFA scouts and officials also warned players against holding illusions about joining overseas clubs.

“Moving to an overseas club does not guarantee success,” one said. “It is just the first step. If you want to move to an overseas club, you have to fully enjoy soccer while overcoming loneliness and discrimination.”



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Source:
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=070000&biid=2009071087808

Baboon on the loose? Girl starts false frenzy (Reading Class)

Baboon on the loose? Girl starts false frenzy

FLORISSANT, Mo. – Police in the St. Louis suburb of Florissant spent a big part of the day looking for a baboon on the loose. A grade school went into lockdown. A woman scattered potato chips on the ground and made monkey sounds to try and lure the primate. But in the end, a 14-year-old girl admitted it was all a hoax after the picture she claimed to have snapped proved to be one she actually found on the Internet.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the girl set off the frenzy Thursday by claiming she took a picture of the primate in her backyard. It was hours later that she told police she actually found the picture on the Internet and took a photo of it with her cell phone.
Police Chief William Karabas said the girl was sorry but she did not offer any explanation for the stunt.
"She was remorseful," Karabas said. "But the total emotional aspect of all this and the why is: who knows?"
The case will be referred to St. Louis County Family Court for review.
The girl's mother went to city officials and news media with the photo, prompting the search. It was after an identical photo was found in an Internet search that the story began to unravel.
Before that, schools took precautions, including keeping children in during recess. Chaos led to rumors. One woman in the neighborhood being searched said she owned a monkey. She made baboon-like noises and scattered Lays potato chips and Cheetos to try and lure the animal. Yet another woman who claimed to own a monkey walked around with a net.
Karabas said at least six extra officers were called in to help with the search.
Despite the trouble, the chief seemed more relived that no one was hurt than annoyed.
"You don't judge the people that do stuff like this, you just deal with it and move on to the next thing," Karabas said.
Adding to the confusion of the day was a statement released late Thursday by the girl's family, maintaining that such an animal was, in fact, on the loose in Florissant, and that the girl's story was not a hoax.
"While that particular animal was not that one, there is in fact something out in the area," the statement read, in part.

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Source:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100821/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_monkey_hoax

What Is a Liger? (Reading Class)

What Is a Liger?

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The liger is a cat born from the breeding of a male lion and a female tiger. This combination produces an offspring with more lionistic features than if the reverse pairing had occured. That would produce a more tigeristic creature known as a tigon. Both are members of genus Panthera.There is no scientific name assigned to this animal because of it’s human assisted ancestory.
A liger looks like a giant lion with muted stripes but like thier tiger ancestors, ligers like swimming. This goes against the nature of a lion but is what makes creature special. It gets the best of both parents. That is not always the case though with crossbreeds. Sometimes the results go the other way and the animal gets theworst of both parents. That would suck! Enjoy the site and I hope you fall in love with the liger, even if you don’t agree with the science… remember it’s not the liger’s fault.

Do These Creatures Called Ligers Really Exist?

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Yes, ligers are the offspring of a male lion and female tiger. The offspring of a male tiger and female lion is called a tigon. Ligers tend towards gigantism and are generally larger than either of their parents, whilst tigons are generally smaller or at least no larger than their parents. Like most hybrids, both are usually sterile, but occasionally a female will be fertile and can be bred back to a male lion or tiger, producing:

Lion + liger = li-liger
Lion + tigon = li-tigon
Tiger + liger = ti-liger
Tiger + tigon = ti-tigon

There is no record of fertile males, so you could never breed two ligers or two tigons together, or a liger with a tigon.
Respectable zoos frown on the breeding of hybrids such as ligers and tigons, as they have no value from a conservation point of view and are taking up space and resources that could be used to breed endangered species. They are basically freaks bred by unscrupulous zoos in order to make money out of people willing to pay to see them.

Today, there is very little chance of them occurring in the wild – tigers are found only in Asia, lions in Africa and the Gir Forest of India, where there are no tigers. Historically, the Asiatic subspecies of lion had a much greater range which overlapped with that of the tiger, so it is possible, though unlikely, that they may once have sometimes occurred in the wild.

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Source:

http://www.liger.org/

Laughter is the Best Medicine (Reading Class)

Laughter is the Best Medicine

The Health Benefits of Humor and Laughter

Humor is infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. When laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy. In addition to the domino effect of joy and amusement, laughter also triggers healthy physical changes in the body. Humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.

Laughter is strong medicine for mind and body

“Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.”
~ Paul E. McGhee, Ph.D.

Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert.
With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health.

Laughter is good for your health

• Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
• Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
• Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
• Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

The Benefits of Laughter
Physical Health Benefits: Boosts immunity Lowers stress hormones Decreases pain Relaxes your muscles Prevents heart disease	Mental Health Benefits: Adds joy and zest to life Eases anxiety and fear Relieves stress Improves mood Enhances resilience	Social Benefits: Strengthens relationships Attracts others to us Enhances teamwork Helps defuse conflict Promotes group bonding

Laughter and humor help you stay emotionally healthy

Laughter makes you feel good. And the good feeling that you get when you laugh remains with you even after the laughter subsides. Humor helps you keep a positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations, disappointments, and loss.
More than just a respite from sadness and pain, laughter gives you the courage and strength to find new sources of meaning and hope. Even in the most difficult of times, a laugh–or even simply a smile–can go a long way toward making you feel better. And laughter really is contagious—just hearing laughter primes your brain and readies you to smile and join in on the fun.

The link between laughter and mental health

• Laughter dissolves distressing emotions. You can’t feel anxious, angry, or sad when you’re laughing.
• Laughter helps you relax and recharge. It reduces stress and increases energy, enabling you to stay focused and accomplish more.
• Humor shifts perspective, allowing you to see situations in a more realistic, less threatening light. A humorous perspective creates psychological distance, which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.

The social benefits of humor and laughter

Humor and playful communication strengthen our relationships by triggering positive feelings and fostering emotional connection. When we laugh with one another, a positive bond is created. This bond acts as a strong buffer against stress, disagreements, and disappointment.

Laughing with others is more powerful than laughing alone

Shared laughter is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. All emotional sharing builds strong and lasting relationship bonds, but sharing laughter and play adds joy, vitality, and resilience. And humor is a powerful and effective way to heal resentments, disagreements, and hurts. Laughter unites people during difficult times.
Using humor and laughter in relationships allows you to:

• Be more spontaneous. Humor gets you out of your head and away from your troubles.
• Let go of defensiveness. Laughter helps you forget judgments, criticisms, and doubts.
• Release inhibitions. Your fear of holding back and holding on are set aside.
• Express your true feelings. Deeply felt emotions are allowed to rise to the surface.

Laughter and Relationships

Mutual laughter and play are an essential component of strong, healthy relationships. By making a conscious effort to incorporate more humor and play into your daily interactions, you can improve the quality of your love relationships— as well as your connections with co-workers, family members, and friends.
Read: Playful Communication in Relationships: The Power of Laughter, Humor, and Play

Bringing more humor and laughter into your life

Anyone can join the laughter movement. All it takes is a willingness to risk some loss of control. The timid may start with a few shy giggles. The courageous may jump in with deep belly laughter. A sense of humor is not required. There’s more than enough stress to go around and absurdity abounds in our daily lives. All we have to do is believe, let go, clap our hands and laughter will live again. So will we. Laughter is feeling deeply which allows us to live fully.
Source: We Need to Laugh More, Enda Junkins, LMFT.

Laughter is your birthright, a natural part of life that is innate and inborn. Infants begin smiling during the first weeks of life and laugh out loud within months of being born. Even if you did not grow up in a household where laughter was a common sound, you can learn to laugh at any stage of life.
Begin by setting aside special times to seek out humor and laughter, as you might with working out, and build from there. Eventually, you’ll want to incorporate humor and laughter into the fabric of your life, finding it naturally in everything you do.
Here are some ways to start:

• Smile. Smiling is the beginning of laughter. Like laughter, it’s contagious. Pioneers in “laugh therapy,” find it’s possible to laugh without even experiencing a funny event. The same holds for smiling. When you look at someone or see something even mildly pleasing, practice smiling.
• Count your blessings. Literally make a list. The simple act of considering the good things in your life will distance you from negative thoughts that are a barrier to humor and laughter. When in a state of sadness, we have further to travel to get to humor and laughter.
• When you hear laughter, move toward it. Sometimes humor and laughter are private, a shared joke among a small group, but usually not. More often, people are very happy to share something funny because it gives them an opportunity to laugh again and feed off the humor you find in it. When you hear laughter, seek it out and ask, “What’s funny?”
• Spend time with fun, playful people. These are people who laugh easily–both at themselves and at life’s absurdities–and who routinely find the humor in everyday events. Their playful point of view and laughter are contagious.
• Bring humor into conversations. Ask people, “What’s the funniest thing that happened to you today? This week? In your life?”

Creating opportunities to laugh

• Watch a funny movie or TV show.
• Go to a comedy club.
• Read the funny pages.
• Seek out funny people.
• Share a good joke or a funny story.
• Check out your bookstore’s humor section.

• Host game night with friends.
• Play with a pet.
• Go to a “laughter yoga” class.
• Goof around with children.
• Do something silly.
• Make time for fun activities (e.g. bowling, miniature golfing, karaoke).

Developing your sense of humor: Take yourself less seriously

One essential characteristic that helps us laugh is not taking ourselves too seriously. We’ve all known the classic tight-jawed sourpuss who takes everything with deathly seriousness and never laughs at anything. No fun there!
Some events are clearly sad and not occasions for laughter. But most events in life don’t carry an overwhelming sense of either sadness or delight. They fall into the gray zone of ordinary life–giving you the choice to laugh or not.

Ways to help yourself see the lighter side of life:

• Laugh at yourself. Share your embarrassing moments. The best way to take ourselves less seriously is talk about times when we took ourselves too seriously.
• Attempt to laugh at situations rather than bemoan them. Look for the humor in a bad situation, the irony and absurdity of life. This will help improve your mood and the mood of those around you.
• Surround yourself with reminders to lighten up. Keep a toy on your desk or in your car. Put up a funny poster in your office. Choose a computer screensaver that makes you laugh. Frame photos of you and your family or friends having fun.
• Keep things in perspective. Many things in life are beyond our control—particularly the behavior of other people. While you might think taking the weight of the world on your shoulders is admirable, in the long run it’s unrealistic, unproductive, unhealthy, and even egotistical.
• Deal with your stress. Stress is a major impediment to humor and laughter.
• Pay attention to children and emulate them. They are the experts on playing, taking life lightly, and laughing.

Checklist for lightening up

When you find yourself taken over by what seems to be a horrible problem, ask these questions:

• Is it really worth getting upset over?
• Is it worth upsetting others?
• Is it that important?

• Is it that bad?
• Is the situation irreparable?
• Is it really your problem?

Using humor and play to overcome challenges and enhance your life

The ability to laugh, play, and have fun with others not only makes life more enjoyable–it also helps you solve problems, connect with others, and be more creative. People who incorporate humor and play into their daily lives find that it renews them and all of their relationships.
Life brings challenges that can either get the best of you or become playthings for your imagination. When you “become the problem” and take yourself too seriously, it can be hard to think outside the box and find new solutions. But when you play with the problem, you can often transform it into an opportunity for creative learning.
Playing with problems seems to come naturally to children. When they are confused or afraid, they make their problems into a game, giving them a sense of control and an opportunity to experiment with new solutions. Interacting with others in playful ways helps you retain this creative ability.

Here are two examples of people who took everyday problems and turned them around through laughter and play:

Roy, a semi-retired businessman, was excited to finally have time to devote to golf, his favorite sport. But the more he played, the less he enjoyed himself. Although his game had improved dramatically, he got angry with himself over every mistake. Roy wisely realized that his golfing buddies affected his attitude, so he stopped playing with people who took the game too seriously. When he played with friends who focused more on having fun than on their scores, he was less critical of himself. Now golfing was as enjoyable as Roy hoped it would be. He scored better without working harder. And the brighter outlook he was getting from his companions and the game spread to other parts of his life, including his work.

Jane worked at home in her apartment complex designing greeting cards, a job she used to love but now felt routine. Two little girls who loved to draw and paint lived next door. Eventually, Jane invited the girls in to play with all the art supplies she had. At first, she just watched, but in time she joined in. Laughing, coloring, and playing pretend with the little girls transformed Jane’s life. Not only did playing with them end her loneliness and mild boredom, it sparked her imagination and helped her artwork flourish. Best of all, it rekindled the playfulness and spark in Jane’s relationship with her husband.

As laughter, humor, and play become an integrated part of your life, your creativity will flourish and new discoveries for playing with friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and loved ones will occur to you daily. Humor takes you to a higher place where you can view the world from a more relaxed, positive, creative, joyful, and balanced perspective.

Special Thanks to:
Source:
http://www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm

Television's Impact on Kids (Reading Class)

Television's Impact on Kids

Television is one of the most prevalent media influences in kids' lives. According to Kids' Take on Media, a survey conducted in 2003 by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, watching TV is a daily pastime for 75 percent of Canadian children, both boys and girls from Grade 3 to Grade 10.
How much impact TV has on children depends on many factors: how much they watch, their age and personality, whether they watch alone or with adults, and whether their parents talk with them about what they see on TV.
To minimize the potential negative effects of television, it's important to understand what the impact of television can be on children. Below you will find information on some areas of concern.

Violence
Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have examined how violent programming on TV affects children and young people. While a direct "cause and effect" link is difficult to establish, there is a growing consensus that some children may be vulnerable to violent images and messages.
Researchers have identified three potential responses to media violence in children:

• Increased fear—also known as the "mean and scary world" syndrome
  Children, particularly girls, are much more likely than adults to be portrayed as victims of violence on TV, and this can make them more afraid of the world around them.
  
  
• Desensitization to real-life violence
  Some of the most violent TV shows are children's cartoons, in which violence is portrayed as humorous—and realistic consequences of violence are seldom shown.
  
  
• Increased aggressive behaviour
  This can be especially true of young children, who are more likely to exhibit aggressive behaviour after viewing violent TV shows or movies.

Parents should also pay close attention to what their children see in the news since studies have shown that kids are more afraid of violence in news coverage than in any other media content. Fear based on real news events increases as children get older and are better able to distinguish fantasy from reality.

Effects on healthy child development
Television can affect learning and school performance if it cuts into the time kids need for activities crucial to healthy mental and physical development. Most of children's free time, especially during the early formative years, should be spent in activities such as playing, reading, exploring nature, learning about music or participating in sports.
TV viewing is a sedentary activity, and has been proven to be a significant factor in childhood obesity. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada almost one in four Canadian children, between seven and 12, is obese. Time spent in front of the TV is often at the expense of more active pastimes.
A Scientific American article entitled "Television Addiction" examined why children and adults may find it hard to turn their TVs off. According to researchers, viewers feel an instant sense of relaxation when they start to watch TV—but that feeling disappears just as quickly when the box is turned off. While people generally feel more energized after playing sports or engaging in hobbies, after watching TV they usually feel depleted of energy. According to the article "this is the irony of TV: people watch a great deal longer than they plan to, even though prolonged viewing is less rewarding."
As well as encouraging a sedentary lifestyle, television can also contribute to childhood obesity by aggressively marketing junk food to young audiences. According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, most food advertising on children's TV shows is for fast foods, candy and pre-sweetened cereals. Commercials for healthy food make up only 4 per cent of those shown.

A lot of money goes into making ads that are successful in influencing consumer behaviour. McDonald's, the largest food advertiser on TV, reportedly spent $500 million on their "We love to see you smile" ad campaign.

Sexual content
Kids today are bombarded with sexual messages and images in all media—television, magazines, advertisements, music, movies and the Internet. Parents are often concerned about whether these messages are healthy. While television can be a powerful tool for educating young people about the responsibilities and risks of sexual behaviour, such issues are seldom mentioned or dealt with in a meaningful way in programs containing sexual content.
According to a 2001 study from the Kaiser Family Foundation, entitled Sex on TV, three out of four prime time shows contain sexual references. Situation comedies top the list: 84 per cent contain sexual content. Of the shows with sexual content, only one in ten included references to safe sex, or the possible risks or responsibilities of sex. In shows that portrayed teens in sexual situations, only 17 per cent contained messages about safe and responsible sex.

Special Thanks to:
Source: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/television/tv_impact_kids.cfm

Differences between Japanese and Korean students (Reading Class)

Differences between Japanese and Korean students

“According to [Kristina Beckam-Bristo’s study of cross-cultural classroom behaviors(2003)], Korean students believe that offering personal viewpoints in class is highly acceptable (given a rating of 5 out of 5), while Japanese students believe this behavior to be highly unacceptable (given a rating of 1 out of 5)”

“…the data collected [in the same paper] showed that Japanese students found it extremely unacceptable to arrive 7 minutes late to class (given a rating of 1 out of 5), while Korean students found this behavior to be extremely acceptable (given a rating of 5 out of 5).”

That’s doubled the number of academic references that I’ve used this year, so back to my usual generalising/ brainstorming:

- If Japanese are unhappy with the level of their class, it is almost always because they want to go down a level. Koreans demanding to be put in a particular class, e.g. one higher than their placement test would suggest, is fairly common, although less so than some European countries.

- Japanese are quite often of the (wrong) opinion that they already studied enough grammar and vocabulary at school and want their teacher to magically transform that into an ability to express themselves in English. Koreans are much more likely to demand something new, e.g. a list of unknown vocabulary, in every class 

- Koreans are more likely to complain, and much more likely to complain directly to the teacher.

- Koreans are likely to have higher TOEIC and TOEFL scores. For example, there will often be several candidates for a job who all have perfect TOEFL scores, which I have never heard of in Japan. Exam classes in Korea will have less tolerance for warmers and other distractions than classes in Japan.

- Korean classes are more likely to have one or two students who are happy to speak out. Unfortunately, for me that’s makes them more difficult to deal with as those students are also only too happy to dominate the class. You may sometimes get a class where almost everyone is happy to speak out, though, which is a refreshing change from Japan

- Japanese have more tolerance for boring activities like shopping roleplays, especially if the task is manageable and they can therefore boost their confidence, whereas Koreans are more likely to expect roleplays with a twist, controversial topics etc.

- Discussion questions work better in Korea than in Japan.

- Koreans are more motivated by tests than Japanese. In fact, many Japanese will be permanently turned off a school by having a written placement test, let alone regular progress tests.

- The housewife English hobbyist market in huge in Japan (although rapidly shrinking) but very small in Korea.

- Koreans are likely to be motivated by future plans of studying, moving or even emigrating abroad, whereas the Japanese are more likely to be interested in using English on holiday, for short language courses abroad, or just to bring a bit of international colour into their lives.

- Koreans are much more likely to read authentic texts outside class than Japanese.

- Study groups are more common in Korea than Japan.

- Koreans are much more likely to choose “English names” to use in the classroom than Japanese students are. The Japanese are also more likely to stick to their other cultural norms in the classroom, e.g. addressing each other as “Nakamura-san” or “Shimoda-sensei” during English conversations and greeting each other in Japanese with a bow. In my experience, Korean adults are far more likely to stick strictly to English during the class or even ignore each other until the teacher arrives (perhaps to avoid the pretentiousness of speaking English outside class while also avoiding breaking the English-only illusion of the classroom space).

Caveats- Although the ages I taught in Korea and Japan were similar, other things such as motivation and income were probably very different due to the very different schools I worked for. I’ve also only spent two years in Korea, but some of these are things I started noticing with Korean students in Japan, including a mixed and an all-Korean class in the Korean company NHN in Tokyo.

 Special Thanks to:
Source:

http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/teaching/teach-abroad/asia/japan/japanese-korean-differences/

The problems in Japanese Education (Reading Class)

• The problems in Japanese Education

1. The lack of competition among educational suppliers
Students have different characters, and accordingly, educational theories must be diverse. Therefore, many educational curricula should be tried in a competitive manner. However, there is no such thing in Japan. The diversity of school books and other materials is limited, and there is little room for developing new educational materials and methods. Japanese education is far from vital.

2. Free time lost by examination wars
Today, the primary trouble faced by junior high school level is the students' anxiety related to the entrance examinations to high schools. More than half of them go to cram schools, and some of them attend several cram schools. Moreover, younger children have also become affected by the examination wars. It is quite abnormal that elementary school children return home from cram schools after 10 o'clock at night. A survey has shown that 27% of elementary school students and 64% of junior high school children feel fatigue in their daily lives. Examination wars prevent children from growing up with sound minds, which makes their future of Japan gloomy.

3. The risk of the nationally unified education
Since a government agency decides educational content, if the agency makes a mistake, all schools are forced to go along with it. Such a risk can be avoided if the power to decide educational content is transferred to local governments or private schools. A new education system can be tried locally and then spread, before the Ministry of Education makes a nationwide decision. This would be both more natural and desirable.

4. Japanese education rejects individual differences
The students who achieved excellent results in a subject can frequently progress faster or proceed to the next grade in the United States. The absence of a national curriculum allows such flexibility. In situation such as in Japan where educational curricula are fixed by a national curriculum, a student permitted to proceed faster must be considered as favorable discrimination. No educational theory nor educational psychology argues that every child at each grade develops at the same speed.

5. The contradiction that any educational efforts not approved by the Ministry of Education are essentially useless
The Ministry of Education decides educational content in Japan. In other words, any educational efforts not approved by the Ministry are essentially useless. In the current system, doing only what is approved by the Ministry and cutting out (as much as possible) what is not approved is the most effective way to enter a famous university. Community and volunteer activities, home education, and learning styles are all useless. This is the largest contradiction in Japanese education. The definition of education is wider in the United States because the federal government does not decide the content of education. Experience in the real world, such as part-time jobs and social activities, are included in education. American high schools permit part-time jobs, while many Japanese high schools do not. Such differences result from the different definitions of education.
It is a considerable problem that the Ministry of Education has the power to develop or eliminate specific sets of values.

6. Educational system disturbing freedom of thought and education
The description and interpretation of school books on history have been variously argued in Japan. This includes the recent charity argument and the argument as to whether the operations of the Japanese military in Asian countries was advancement or invasion. However, there is no unified interpretation of history among the people and no need to unify it.
Strictly speaking, there are about 1,200 million Japanese nationals, and accordingly, there must be the same number of historical views since all of them were born at different times in different environments.
Today, Japanese schools nationwide teach a unified historical view. However, this system may disturb freedom of education and belief for both right and left wingers. Japanese education should be democratized in this respect as well.

7. The Japanese system does not develop unconventionality nor creativity
Recently, Asian countries have been rapidly catching-up to Japan. Since less expensive Asian products are frequently preferred to Japanese products when the quality is the same, Japanese industries must increasingly depend on creativity and being unconventional.
Not all Asian countries can democratize education. There are several conditions to be satisfied before education is democratized. Japan is among the few countries that can satisfy those. Education may indeed be a "hole card", as it were, for Japan. Japanese education should no longer be discussed at the level of examination wars. It is an urgent issue to be tackled to survive in today's world.

8. New social discrimination in the educational field
No one can deny the fact that Japanese diplomatism produces new social discrimination in schools. It would be useless to try to solve the problems of bullying and school rejection unless some measures are taken to dismantle the structure of diplomatism.
All of the above are the problems of Japanese education system. 

 

Special Thanks to:
Source:

http://www.myjapanphone.com/japan_travel_resource/Studying_in_japan/The_problem_in_Japanese_education.html

Korean educational system (Reading Class)

KOREA

Education in Korea Korean educational system is as follows.

Age	Type of School	Education
6-11	Elementary	Primary
12-14	Junior High / Technical	Secondary
15-17	High / Advanced Technical
18-22	University / Etc.	High
23-25	Graduate School

Educational system of Korea is consisted of 6-year elementary school, 3-year junior high school, 3-year high school, and 4-year college. This is because various American educational assistance programs had permeated through Korea after the World War II. By the way, elementary schools were called People's school until recently. However, now, in 1996, they are called elementary school since the name had some problems.


Competition on passing entrance examinations is fierce in Korea. But the situation is not as serious as in Japan, for example, which children face competitive exams even when entering kindergartens. Amazingly, students in Korea take an entrance exam pratically once and for all.


This was the result of "standardization policy" during 1960s to 1980s. The following is the history of the policy.


In 1960s, owing to problems such as lack of finances, junior high school wasn't compulsory yet. Therefore, whether entering junior high school or not was up to the students. However, since students were eager to go on to the next stage of education, and also competition on entering schools was unlimited, it was necessarily competitive to enter schools. As the competition overheated, it became natural for students to take extracurricular lessons for preparation. There also had been problems such as teachers having a part time job at cramming school, and students' overconcentration in prestigious shools.


In order to solve this problem, the school district system was introduced. However, this system was nothing but causing another overconsentration in each of the school districts. Therefore, in 1969, the Government began to carry out a drastic reform. This is the "Standardization Policy."


The heated competition of junior high school went down since the drastic policy was adopted. Entrance exam of junior high schools(national and private) was abolished, and instead, admission was given by lottery. Prestigious schools of those days were closed down and reused as high schools.


But a new problem occured, that the fever of entering schools transfered from junior high to high schools, as a matter of fact. Therefore, the Government adopted a similar reform plan on high schools, and then the situation was improved. But still, there were some students who 'studied away' in 'prestigous schools' in some rural cities, since the policy wasn't permeated enough.


Since that is the case, it was natural that entering good universities became important. Extra-curricular lessons, tutors, crammers etc. made the situation more serious. This time too, a drastic reform was carried out. Things written above were prohibited. To put it concretely, students and teachers who worked as a tutor were dismissed from school or had their teacher's license suspended, and cramming schools were banned (Schools for entrance exam rejectees and repeaters were permitted tacitly). Current circumstances on entering schools are as the following.


Exam for entering universities is the only entrance exam. A day of a Korean high school student preparing for the test is like this. Getting up at 6:00, arriving at school by 8:00, taking a make-up lectures till 9:00, regular classes till 16:00, other supplementary lessons till 18:00, taking supper and then studying by theirselves till 22:00. There are quite a few students who go to crammers and libraries after dinner.


In college, after 2nd and 3rd year, there are a lot of male students who join the army, and an age difference among students in campus become large. Needless to say, it is reflecting educational situation in Korea. We hope that young energy will aim at something else than military affairs.

Special Thanks to:
Source: 
http://park.org/Japan/TokyoNet/aip/HOT/EDUCATION/korea.html

Steven Slater (Reading Class)

America Celebrates Ranting JetBlue Flight Attendant

WASHINGTON, DC – America has fallen in love with JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater, who, after a tense confrontation with a passenger on a just-landed flight to New York, quit his job in the kind of style the rest of us can only envy. Slater went on the public address system, unleashed an angry rant on the entire plane, picked up one or two beers (accounts differ), pulled the emergency-exit chute, slid off the plane, and then went home to Queens, where he was later arrested on felony charges of criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. Whatever Slater's passengers think of him, bloggers, perhaps recalling their own stressful days in service jobs, are cheering his dramatic exit.

Rogue JetBlue flight attendant hailed as working-class hero

Steven Slater's Monday probably started off no different than yours or mine. He might have hit snooze once or twice on his alarm clock before crawling out of bed. He probably had a cup of coffee on his way to work. In other words, to the outsider, Slater's life probably appeared painfully ordinary.
But the way Steven Slater's Monday finished was anything but ordinary. In fact, Slater's Monday turned into something out of a John Waters film, what with a public profanity-laced tirade and an escape down a slide onto the airport tarmac.
He is now, for better or for worse, THE JetBlue flight attendant, with the now-infamous tarmac incident dominating the list of top Yahoo! searches. (Among the variations: "jet blue flight attendant," up 9,175% in one day; "steven slater jet blue"; and "fed up attendant jet blue.") And the term "JetBlue flight attendant" is still the top search term on Twitter as of this writing at noon Eastern the day after the fact, not to mention the outpouring of support he's received on Facebook.

Special Thanks to:
Source: 
http://news.yahoo.com 

NY police find live cat 'marinating' in car trunk (Reading Class)

NY police find live cat 'marinating' in car trunk

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Police say a traffic stop led to animal cruelty charges after they found a live cat "marinating" in oil and peppers in the trunk of a car.

Buffalo police say officers heard the cat meowing when they stopped 51-year-old Gary Korkuc of Cheektowaga to ticket him for running a stop sign Sunday night.

They say they checked the trunk and found 4-year-old Navarro in a cage, his fur covered with oil, crushed red peppers and chili peppers.

Police say Korkuc told them he did it because Navarro was ill-tempered. Korkuc was charged with cruelty and released; his phone number isn't listed.

Police say he told them he was going to cook Navarro. Korkuc also told officers a number of things that didn't make sense, including that his neutered male cat was pregnant.

Animal advocates have cleaned Navarro and put him up for adoption.

 Special Thanks to:
Source:

http://news.yahoo.com

Computer Addiction (Reading / Discussion Class)

Computer Addiction

Computer addiction sounds like an absurd concept when considering the technology-based age we live in. But, identifying where the line between normal usage and addiction falls can keep problems at bay.

The Origins of Computer Addiction

A person becomes addicted to the computer in seemingly innocuous ways. It begins as a game of solitaire during work or chatting online with strangers sharing the same hobby. A person will come home from work and immediately jump on the computer to continue where he/she left off. Children and teenagers spend after-school hours listening to music and playing games instead of going outside.
Most people who own or work with computers engage in these activities at one time or another. However, a problem begins when the computer is the first, last, and only thing they think about. Being on the computer becomes the most consuming thing in a person’s life. An addiction to computers is frequently related to Internet addiction and video game addiction.

Symptoms of an Addiction to Computers

Computer addiction has two distinct categories of symptoms. Many psychological and emotional symptoms are consistent with other addictions. They include:

• Neglect of family and friends
• Becoming annoyed when real-life situations or problems interrupt computer time
• Denial of a problem
• Thinking about computers, computer games, or websites when doing other activities
• Being unable to limit usage time on the computer
• Using the computer to get a “high” feeling
• Using the Internet for gambling, viewing pornography, or engaging in otherwise inappropriate behaviors
• Spending significant amounts of money on computer hardware, updates, programming, and games

Additionally, physical symptoms of computer addiction can appear. These may include carpal tunnel syndrome, back aches, eye problems, stiff necks, or headaches. Addicted users also may have trouble eating regularly and maintaining their personal hygiene.

Treatment for Computer Addicts

Treatments for people addicted to their computer revolve mostly around behavior modification. Learning to use the computer for appropriate things for a reasonable amount of time is key. Computer addicts should be first evaluated by a therapist or counselor, because they may have other addictions or problems (like depression) that will need to be treated in connection with their addiction to computers.
One of the most common forms of therapy in treating computer addiction is the use of cognitive behavior therapy. This is a specialized therapy that focuses on how a person’s thoughts influence his/her feelings and actions. Cognitive behavior therapy changes how we think and therefore how we act. Exercises and small homework assignments are emphasized as part of the treatment, rather than stressing talk-based therapy. Cognitive behavior therapy focuses on the patient learning to monitor his/her own behavior.
Another form of treatment utilizes a 12-step program similar to the one used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Almost all experts agree that computer addiction therapy should be conducted in person and/or via the telephone, rather than over the Internet.
Computer technology is not going to disappear in our lifetimes. As a society, we have become dependent upon computers to help us in our daily lives. Everyone needs to make sure that this help in our school, work, and private lives does not become a hindrance.

Special Thanks to:
Source:
http://addiction.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Computer_Addiction

Look for the Symptoms of Computer game Addiction (Reading Class)

Look for the Symptoms of Computer game Addiction 

 

Players of popular online games such as Second life and World of

Warcraft are well to the fore, with stories of child neglect while parents play on-line games, and children leaping to their deaths acting out World of Warcraft stunts.
It is clearly evident that people are now taking this virtual world much too seriously, with addiction and compulsion the tragic results.
Kids are conditioned to this world with the initial offer of free games. As they grow and mature, they are enticed into the "pay as you go" games which for some become an obsession.
Schoolwork is often one of the first things to suffer, and interest in food and family relationships may wane.
The terms "virtual" and "real" rage, were discussed by Psychiatrist Jerald Block in his study of Columbine killers Klebold and Harris, noting their obsession with the online game Doom.
It is also interesting to note, that The American Medical Association's Council on Science and Public has requested that obsessive behavior in respect of online gaming be classified as a psychiatric disorder. Not surprisingly, computer game industry members have rejected this suggestion.
The AMA have also stated that long term video game players can be more agressive, suffer attention disorders, and generally have more difficulty with schoolwork.Parents are now being encouraged to be on the lookout for signs of addiction, which can include carpal tunnel syndrome, aches in neck or back, problems with sleeping, dry eyes, and poor personal hygiene and nutrition.
And as parents, for so long we thought that it was just the alcohol, or meth amphetamine addictions of which we had to be aware!
Although most online gamers know the clear definition between reality and fantasy, there has been a startling increase in number of revelations about addictions to computer games.


Special Thanks to:
Source:
http://www.addictioncomputergames.com/

Northern Lights Move South (Reading Class)

Northern Lights Move South

Usually, the Northern Lights can only be seen by folks who live far to the north. But this week, the Aurora Borealis is making an appearance in lower Canada, some of the United States, Norway and other countries around the globe.

The reason has to do with solar storms. On Sunday, an eruption on the sun's surface blasted plasma toward the Earth. That plasma is helping to give millions of people a peek at something they'd never seen.

Fortunately for us, these lucky ducks are taking pictures and posting them on Flickr. You can check out several of our absolute favorites here. Enjoy!

Special Thanks to:
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/