E-sports Gamer: a Dream Job?
Dear Teresa,
I’m so sorry. I have no choice but to turn down your kind invitation to dinner once again since I really can’t rearrange my schedule. The thing is, our next tournament is coming. My teammates and I need to seize every moment to practice, and we will receive an intensive three-month training from now on. Actually, in my typical daily routine, I do gaming activities for 14 hours a day. Can you believe that? Playing games is now a job to me, so I have to take it more seriously. As for the dinner, I will definitely make it up to you next time, after the tournament! Hopefully you can understand....
Best, Sean Have you ever dreamed of becoming a professional video game player, just like Sean? Do you want to win large amounts of prize money by playing online games? If your answers are “yes,” you will surely be interested in “esports”! Esports, which stands for electronic sports, is about online video game competitions. As technology continues to advance, video games have become more complicated and difficult than before. If players want to win now, simply having great gaming skills is no longer sufficient. Intelligence, quick responses, and gaming equipment are also keys to success.
Therefore, more and more people consider playing video games not only a sport but also a job nowadays.
To many teenagers, being a full-time e-sports gamer seems to be an ideal job. They may think all that they have to do is play games all day, and they can earn money without leaving home. What they need is simply a computer, and they will broadcast their gaming videos on the Internet. If they are good at global games, such as Hearthstone and Arena of Valor, they may even get to take part in popular e-sports tournaments overseas.
As a matter of fact, making a living by playing games involves a lot of hard work.
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Most top players spend at least fourteen hours a day playing games to compete at a high level. They may sacrifice their schoolwork, friendships or even family, but only very few of them will become rich and famous. What’s worse, too much screen time may cause them health problems. When a fun hobby becomes a job, it may not be so “fun”
anymore.
Being a professional gamer may sound like a dream job if you love playing video games. But it may not be as awesome as you imagine. It is actually much more than fun and games. Thus, before you decide to let an activity you enjoy turn into a demanding job, it seems that there is a lot that you should consider.
Crazy Challenge, Special Change
Can you buy nothing but necessities for a whole year? How about wearing the same clothes for 100 days? Is it possible for you to live without using any plastics?
Believe it or not, these are some things that people have done to challenge themselves to make special changes. Let’s see how these people accomplished their crazy missions!
“NoBuy Year” Project
I used to go shopping whenever I felt depressed or stressed. I would purchase a lot of items even though I didn’t need them. In order to kick my awful shopping habit, I challenged myself to buy only what I needed on a day-to-day basis for a whole year.
During this no-buy year, I recorded my experiences on YouTube. I began to face my problems and learned how to control my desire to shop. Finally, I discovered that I no longer had to depend on spending money to make myself happy.
“One Outfit 100 Days” Project
The problem of fashion waste is becoming more and more serious around the world. Thus, I started a new project: I decided to wear the same dress to school for 100 days so as to teach my students a lesson about sustainability. I did this because I thought there is really no need for us to wear different clothes every day. After the project was completed, I suggested that people should choose to buy eco-friendly clothes, wear them often, and recycle them when they were no longer needed.
“Plastic-Free Challenge” Project
I carried out an experiment by living my life without plastics for 3 weeks. During this challenge, I insisted that I should not buy or use any plastics. First, I got rid of more than 500 plastic items in my house. Also, I bought food from the local market and wrapped it in newspaper. On a rainy day, I chose not to use a plastic umbrella and simply covered my head with a piece of cloth. Through this challenge, I tried to call for other Japanese citizens to cut down on their plastic waste and care more about our planet.
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Are you interested in launching a special challenge like one of these? Perhaps not everyone is able to do such extraordinary challenges like these individuals, but we can all do something different in our own way. Let’s make a change for ourselves or the world, and all we have to do is start with our own daily lives!
Don’t Worry. Be Happy!
Are you happy today? I mean, do you really feel content with your life? For most people, the answer to these questions might be “maybe” or “I don't know.” Nevertheless, the answer is mostly “yes” in Denmark, which is one of the happiest countries in the world. It is all to do with their attitude toward life.
What a Joyful Country Denmark Is!
One key to their happy life is the concept of “hygge,” which is pronounced
“hooguh.” It is all thanks to hygge, which means to create a warm atmosphere and enjoy good things. The remaining parts of the world are fascinated by this concept.
Now, more and more people around the world have started to try out this idea and hope to live happier lives.
How Easy a Dream Hygge Is!
Hygge is possible, and it is easy to put this idea into practice. It could be as simple as having a warm cup of coffee on a cold rainy day or having a summer picnic with your best friends.
Let Go of It!
Another important concept in Denmark is “pyt,” which is pronounced “pit.”
Imagine someone who has just finished his art painting. He looks at the painting, looking forward to using it in a competition. Suddenly, he spills his coffee on the painting, and all his hard work becomes useless. “Pyt,” he says, sighing heavily. Yet, without too much hesitation, he quickly starts doing another painting.
Pyt roughly means “Well, stuff happens. Just let go of it!” In other words, it means not to stick to the things we have no power to change. Life is not always perfect. With this thought, it becomes easier to get over the negative emotions and accept imperfections in life.
Now, you might be thinking that the ideas of hygge and pyt are excuses to be lazy or passive. After all, it is easy to say “well” and give up when you encounter frustrations. However, these two concepts actually encourage you to do your best and
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appreciate whatever you have. You should devote your best effort to something and try to enjoy every moment. Yet, let go of it when it does not stick to the original plan.
What's more, be happy again and go on.
Are life's pressures getting you down? Why not give the Danish lifestyle a try? Be thankful for the little things in life and stop being negative and stubborn—you will be happier and healthier!
A Love Coach’s Game Plan?
Contact Us Name: Einar
Email: einaratlisson1234@gmail.com
Subject: A desperate request for advice from Dr. Amo
My girlfriend, Greta, gave me a handmade Valentine’s Day card that delighted me.
Unfortunately, the occasion slipped my mind this year, and I forgot to buy her a dozen red roses. What’s worse, when I tried to make a last-minute reservation to take her out for a candlelit dinner, getting a table proved impossible. Greta is crushed. She assumes I do not truly love her since I spent neither time nor money on our celebrations. I know it’s my fault. What can I do to win her back and show her I really adore her?
I’m looking forward to your reply.
-Einar from Iceland Send Message
To My Icelandic friend: Valentine’s Day and Values Dr. Amo
Feb 16, 2021
Let me begin with a Valentine’s Day shout-out to all my readers out there. I hope your day was overflowing with the love and sweet romance you deserve! Of course, I also hope you singles still searching for true love took full advantage of the occasion to indulge yourselves! After all, until you meet Mr. or Miss Right, YOU are the special someone in your life who deserves to be spoiled like a royal! What I’m about to say next is aimed at assisting our friend from Iceland to win back his love, but it definitely applies to everyone. I’ve changed the couple’s names to protect their privacy.
Tom messed things up with Mary, and he clearly regrets it. Unfortunately, there’s no way to change the past until some mad genius invents a time machine. The best result Tom can hope for in this situation is to try to mend damaged relations and move forward.
First, I have to say, this case illustrates how a romantic event—Valentine’s Day—has been turned into a range of commercial activities in so many people’s minds.
It’s a pity. Tom clearly adores Mary, but because he didn’t prove it by giving her any gifts, she’s acting like he doesn’t care. Fair or not, that’s how Mary sees it, so Tom needs to take action to earn back her affection. Mary obviously feels hurt. It is not until Tom convinces her he really cares about her that she will ever forgive him and put this behind her.
Perhaps Mary is being rather shallow, but let’s face it: Valentine’s Day is equated with big business. There is an expectation that people will spend money, and businesses are waiting to cash in. Flower shops can triple the price of roses since there will be a
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rush for them. Restaurants offering “Lovers Night” dinner packages can charge several times the cost of a comparable meal on a normal night. Outside the door will be long lines of people who are willing to pay for these “special” goods.
You can decide by yourself whether to play the commercial game for the purpose of maintaining a close relationship with your lover. Remember: No matter what advertisements say, you and your partner are free to celebrate in whatever way suits you.
What’s important is that you talk about it beforehand and agree. If you make a mistake, like Tom did, a sincere apology is always the first step. Next, discuss your expectations, assure your partner he or she is the only one, and promise to do better next time. Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog in case you ever come down with love fever.
—Jason Grenier
The Truth About Fake News
You’ve got a message. It’s a link for a buy-one-get-one-free coupon at your favorite coffee shop. You happily say you’ll treat your buddy, and you even share the link with other friends. You order the drinks and show the clerk your coupon, only to find it’s fake.
Across the world in India, thousands of schoolchildren breathed a sigh of relief when they found out they wouldn’t be getting their shots. Doctors were supposed to give them vaccines for potentially fatal diseases. However, upon learning about news stories on social media saying that “vaccines can cause autism,” the school authorities canceled the vaccination. They made such a decision as if the stories had been proven true. Later, doctors conducted thorough tests and concluded that there was no connection between vaccines and autism. Yet, that didn’t stop people from sharing the stories, which might result in the “unnecessary” death of more children.
As these examples show, fake news, messages, and information which are presented and spread online can lead to both embarrassment and tragedy. So, what exactly is fake news, and why is there suddenly such a great quantity of it? Fake news can be defined as articles, statements, and stories designed to confuse or lie to the public on purpose. Since people now have social media, websites, and chat groups, they can easily get messages spread, which makes them reach huge audiences. Consequently, a lot more fake news is seen than before.
Fake news comes in various forms and is used for a number of different purposes.
One of the most common ways people get fake news is through clickbait. Headlines of clickbait are often too attractive to ignore, such as “Buy-one-get-one-free coupons” at coffee shops. Tempting as these statements are, they include very few details. In addition, they generally exaggerate some facts, omit others, and just make things up. In short, clickbait functions to make people browse websites.
Another common way is propaganda. Although this type seems very believable, it is meant to deceive. These articles spread through propaganda are usually political, but they can also cover other topics, such as vaccines. In general, propaganda is aimed at frightening people—it tells them that doing something like getting a vaccine or electing a particular politician will produce a terrible outcome.
Businesses in different countries have taken action to tackle fake news. For example, several large media companies, including the BBC and The Washington Post, established fact-checking services that help people confirm whether a news story is true.
Additionally, technology firms like Google and Facebook have promised to highlight and report fake news. Nevertheless, this might not really help. Facebook’s fact-checking service might also be “fake”—it has been accused of racial and political bias because some of the organizations involved in the service are connected with violent white
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racists.
What people have to keep in mind is that they should never fall for fake news.
When they read a news story, they can’t just mindlessly accept it. Instead, they have to be on their guard and check whether it is truthful or not. By doing so, more and more people can stay more alert to fake news and misinformation. Hopefully, there will be fewer victims of fake news, and the public will not be swayed easily.
The Woman That Never Dies
There is a photo mounted on my wall of a woman I’ve never met, and its left corner is torn and patched together with tape. It’s the late 1940s, and she hasn’t yet reached the age of thirty. Her light bronze skin is smooth, her eyes still young and dynamic. She is unaware of the lump growing inside her—a lump that would leave her five children motherless and also give rise to the breakthroughs in medicine. Beneath the photo, a brief description says her name is “Henrietta Lacks, Helen Lane, or Helen Larson.” No one knows who snapped that picture, but it has appeared an infinite number of times in magazines and science textbooks.
I first learned about HeLa cells and the woman behind them in 1988, thirty-seven years after her death, when I was sixteen and my biology instructor mentioned her in class. I’ve spent years gazing at her photo, wondering what kind of life she led and what she would think about her cells living on forever. They were bought, sold, packaged, and shipped to laboratories around the world, which helped with some of the most tremendous advances in medicine: the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, cloning, gene mapping, and in vitro fertilization.
There’s no knowing exactly how many of Henrietta’s cells are alive today. One scientist estimates that if we could pile all of the HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 billion kilograms. Another scientist calculated that if we could lay all of the HeLa cells ever grown end-to-end, they’d wrap around the earth at least three times, which spanned more than 350 million feet.
Henrietta died in 1951 from cervical cancer. Before she passed away, though, a surgeon took samples of her lump and put them in a Petri dish regardless of the absence of her consent. Scientists had been trying to keep human cells alive in culture for decades, but they all finally died. Henrietta’s were different: Her cells reproduced an entire generation every twenty-four hours, and they never halted. They became the first immortal human cells ever grown in a laboratory. Henrietta’s cells have now been living outside her body far longer than they ever lived inside. Many people believe that they were one of the most notable discoveries in medicine in the last hundred years.
However, little did they know about the woman.
Years later, I eventually traced a few magazine articles about her from the seventies.
Ebony quoted Henrietta’s husband, “All I remember is that she had this disease, and right after she died, they called me in the office, sounding eager to get my permission to take a sample of some kind. I decided to reject them.” Jet said the family was angry—angry at the doctors’ improper deeds, and angry at the publication of articles about the cells without their knowledge. The family felt that they were exploited and that they were suffering a nightmare.
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The articles all ran photos of Henrietta’s family. The description said the family had found out just a few months earlier that Henrietta’s cells were still alive, whereas at that point, she’d been dead for twenty-five years. Then, I hit on the idea of writing a book that was a biography of both the cells and the woman they came from—someone’s daughter, wife, and mother.
