The 7-Day Book Cover Challenge

Rules. Every day, for seven days, post a photo of a book cover on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, without including an explanation or a review. Then tag a friend to play along.

Many of my friends have challenged this activity because we had to stay at home during coronavirus. However, the 7-day book cover challenge seems to start many years ago to hand down the culture of reading books. I didn’t know and I’ll challenge it!

Day 1 Factfulness

If the author is here, he might give us better ideas to fight against coronavirus... 

Day 2  Sapience

The author gave us messages to have to cooperate with the world to overcome coronavirus immediately. His words that I love are “Money, in fact, is a story, it’s a fictional story”

Day 3 What if 

In the world, people have interesting questions. I was attacked in those thoughts, answers, and how to solve them. 

Day 4 Who moved my cheese? 

In the past, I had studied English by using those, though, the CD is already out of date…

 

Day 5 Alice’s adventures in wonderland 

Everyone who studies English must read this book. I mistakenly bought the book of right of the photo.  The left one is more difficult than right, though, so many great expressions are used. I recommend the left one. 

Day 6 Christopher Robin

This is a book of Pooh!! I watched the movie also. The most favorite scene was that the owner of Christopher Robin said surprisingly, “Paid Holiday?”

Day 7 a Little Golden Book

When I was a kid, I was given the book from my father who passed away some years ago.

The Way We Work 2

The secret to giving great feedback 

Summary 

This is a complicated story. It’s because if you’re a great feedback giver, the receiver mightn’t want to listen to what you say. First, it’s important for the receiver to prepare for listening. (It’s obvious.)

The speaker’s secret is that the great feedback giver is to actively ask for feedback, to be a learner always, and to get the power. 

And then, we can use four formulas that the speaker suggests how to give effective feedback. 

First, it’s better to begin asking a short question. 

Next, to show your data point and the impact statement. 

And then, to wrap feedback messages with a question again!! I understand that giving feedback messages means to have the receiver answer a question. Even if it’s constructive, it won’t be good to criticize. 

Words in this story 

con·struc·tive /adj/ serving a useful purpose, tending to build up. 

Con·fu·cius /kənˈfyo͞oSHəs/ (551–479 bc), Chinese philosopher

The Way We Work 1

6 ways to improve your relationship with money 

Summary 

We think strongly that it’s difficult not to worry about money. This time, the speaker suggests that 6 ways to improve your relationship with money. 

Talk about money. 1) Don’t talk about our stresses of money and don’t say that my bank account does not align with my dreams but have a better relationship with money. And then, ask yourself about hope, dreams, fear, what, when, you can do, and etc. 

Understand what money is. 2) Money is not all but the mechanism to accomplish what matters to you. 

Identify what matters to you. 3) Identify!! What are you saving for? It includes short-term goals and long term goals. 

And then you really picture it. 4) Visualizing what you’re really trying to accomplish. 

It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep. 5) Wait 24 hours when you want something! Hahaha (It’s often said that. )

Be good to yourself. 6) For improving, it’s okay to have mistakes. You must improve it. 

Words in this story 

accomplish/ achieve

Mohamed Hijri : A simple solution to the coming phosphorus crisis

Mohamed Hijri·TEDxUdeM
A simple solution to the coming phosphorus crisis
Summary
The speaker didn’t speak English. Thus l didn’t understand well by only reading the story. My English listening skills are not good, I mightn’t be able to catch, though, l maybe feel some nuances more if the speaker used English.

The speaker studies arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF).
Phosphorus crisis means that phosphorus is used too much as chemical fertilizers. It's essential to our lives and in mines, there are only a few but there is no replacement.

However, the speaker found that the blue algae were growing too much on lakes. It means that extra phosphorus went into soil and lakes. The result was that 85 percent had been lost from farms.
Furthermore, from studying fungi, he suggests that microscopic mushrooms are better as a fertilizer. It gives phosphorus and plants can get 90 percent of it. The remaining in the soil is very small and it’s natural.

The speaker wants us to know about mycorrhiza. It must really work to fight against the shortage of food.

Words in this story
phos·pho·rus /ˈfäsf(ə)rəs/noun/ the chemical element of atomic number 15, a poisonous
my·cor·rhi·za /mīkəˈrīzə/noun/ a fungus which grows in association with the roots of a plant in a symbiotic or mildly pathogenic relationship.

Eva Galperin : What you need to know about stalkerware

Eva Galperin·TEDWomen 2019
What you need to know about Stalkerware
Summary
Stalkerware is monitoring software or spyware that is used for stalking. The term seemed to coined when people started to widely use commercial spyware to spy on their spouses or intimate partners.

And then, if you have Stalkerware on your computer or on your phone, it can be really difficult to know whether or not it’s there. It’s because antivirus companies often don’t recognize Stalkerware as malicious. (The reason is that for GOVERNMENTS, getting full access to your device is really tempting. There seem to be hackers on either side.)

The speaker is a cybersecurity expert. The goal of her and her team is to educate people about those problems and to convince the antivirus companies to change the norm in how they act around this very scary software. The most important thing is not to escalate to violence when it removes. Some companies start to find 2,500 problems that couldn’t be classified as Stalkerware. It must be considered normal to detect Stalkerware by only downloading any antivirus.

Words in this story
call on / pay a visit to (someone)
ma·li·cious /məˈliSHəs/adj/ characterized by malice; intending or intended to do harm

Damon Brown : How to choose your news

Damon Brown·TED-Ed
How to choose your news
Summary
I didn’t know that the story has already been told last year. This time, in this coronavirus situation, I've tried to do the best ways that the story showed, though, there is too much information but l couldn’t keep myself distance from those. ( l got stressed and l was carried by an ambulance. ) Watch the last part of this video, please. You can see me drowned in much information.

The best ways that the story shows us how to choose your news is to get original news unfiltered middleman and to find the actual material and judge for yourself.

It’s because every citizen can be reporters early with social media, blogs, and online video. It means that there’s no true reporter, information turns into their opinions or even the fact themselves are not different sources. 1) People forget that the media has biases but cannot trust. 2) Jist people have an interest in influencing coverage. 3) Falsehoods and rumors survive for a long time more than the fact. 4)


My opinion is that people watch TV too much 💢
Don’t tell me that TV announced 💢
Judge and think for yourself.

Colette Pichon Battle : Climate change will displace millions. Here's how we prepare

Colette Pichon Battle·TEDWomen 2019
Climate change will displace millions. Hear’s how we prepare
Summary
Last summer, when the Meteorological Agency of Tokyo announced that a really big typhoon would hit in my city. There are two big rivers in my city but it'd lead to a flood. The day before, people who were especially children and the elderly could stay the community center of the city. There was food, water, and blankets prepared. Luckily, the typhoon was not big. Some people said that it’s not necessary, though, this must be the best preparation! Last year, some other prefectures had damage from a typhoon. Preparing is important.

The story also tells us about preparation. Due to climate change, it’s predicted that more than 180 million people will be displaced or communities will be disappearing.

The speaker’s idea is to reframe our understanding of the problem. Too much consumption of global imbalance has to change, climate change is not a problem. Restructure our social and economic system.
Establish a new social attitude.
Receive and provide housing, food, water, healthcare, and freedom from over-policing for everyone, no matter who they are, and no matter where they're from.

Words in this story
dis·place /verb/ take over the place, position, or role of (someone or something)

Angelicque White : What ocean microbes reveal about the changing climate

Angelicque White·TED@NAS
What ocean microbes reveal about the changing climate
Summary
What ocean microbes reveal is that ecosystems have not collected yet. 1) Oceans are very much alive.

The speaker is a biological oceanographer who studies microbial lives in the Pacific Ocean. Simply, the forests of the sea are microbial and it’s beautifully green. Oceans cover 70 percent of our planet, so ocean change is planetary change, and it all starts with microbes.

However, contamination is starting, harmful algal blooms 2) and it turns out that it links to aspects of climate. 3)

However, if we give them a chance, microbes can absolutely bounce back. They are really resilient ecosystems. She said that the work of the generation of scientists is pointing us to take better care of our oceans and to nurture the microbes that sustain us.

Words in this story
re·ju·ve·nate /verb/ give new energy or vigor to; revitalize
mi·crobe /noun/ a microorganism, especially a bacterium causing disease or fermentation
bi·o·log·i·cal /adj/ relating to biology or living organisms.

Lisa Godwin : How teachers can help students navigate trauma

Lisa Godwin·TED Masterclass
How teachers can help students navigate trauma
Summary
The speaker is now a teacher. She experienced severe trauma when she was a child. She was helped by a great teacher. He asked her many times. She didn’t talk for a long time but she wasn’t understood by adults when she started to talk. It’s was easier to believe the abuser rather than a child.

However, only the great teacher and a school guidance counselor continued believing her. The speaker could overcome her experiences, and as a teacher, she thinks that she can do the same things for her students who have serious trauma. She adds that the reason that she can do is not that she was a victim. Be careful not to assume that you already know the ending to the story of students. Navigate them.

Words in this story
un·wa·ver·ing /ənˈwāv(ə)riNG/adj/
steady or resolute, not wavering

Elizabeth Cox : What is a coronavirus?

Elizabeth Cox·TED-Ed
What is a coronavirus?
Summary
I was surprised that for almost a DECADE, scientists seemed to chase the source of a deadly new virus through China’s tallest mountains and most isolated caverns. However, this time, many people died because of coronaviruses, most of the countries cooperated to protect them by lockdown and not going out, though.
The reason is that mutations occur when a virus replicates. This is a mistake, it often occurs but it’s useless, though, it’s sometimes harmful to humans.
The story tells us that a coronavirus has a unique feature: an enzyme that checks for replication errors and corrects mistakes. It makes a coronavirus much more stable, with a slower mutations rate more than other viruses. However, mutations can make a virus less recognizable to our immune system. After all, we need a new flu vaccine every year.

Now, there’s never been an approved treatment or vaccine for a coronavirus and we don’t know how long our bodies remain immune to different a coronavirus. In the past, scientists began developing treatments for SARS and MERS, the epidemics ended before those treatments completed clinical trials.

For a coronavirus, I've heard that clinical trials would start,  though, before completing, the epidemics will end, won’t they?

Words in this story
mutation /noun/ change, alteration
RNA /ribonucleic acid/ coronavirus store their genes on RNA. All viruses are either RNA viruses or DNA viruses.

He starts to wear his mask!

Avi Rubin : All your devices can be hacked

Avi Rubin·TEDxMidAtlantic
All your devices can be hacked
Summary
The talk was told about ten years ago, so we must be aware that devices can be compromised. It means that all our devices can be hacked. Anything that has software in it is going to be vulnerable. It’s going to have bugs. Even if we have a threat model, the attackers can hack easily.
This has been a premise to use the computer in this generation.

Words in this story
compromise / accept standards that are lower than is desirable
premise / a previous statement or proposition from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion.

George Whitesides : Toward a science of simplicity

George Whitesides·TED2010
Toward a science of simplicity
Summary
In fact, everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
You shouldn’t lose function, though, you have to have a low cost. There are many things that you can take to be simple.  1)

I love those sentences and thoughts. Around us, it’s too complex to cut costs. Probably, companies want to sell many things that are expensive. They think about adding.

You know you’ve achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but you have nothing more to take away. 2)
It’s really difficult. Things should be as simple as we can, as cheap as we can, as functional as we can and as freely, interconnectable as we can.
It’s important to combine and pile simple things up.

The speaker’s field is science. He tells us that for medical care, it’s important to be simple, cheap, functional, and reliable.  Good examples that he tells are a birth control pill and litmus paper.

In our world, technology is now really growing thus simplicity must be, l think, more important.

Words in this story
chisel 1, cut or shape (something) with a chisel: carefully chisel out a groove for the hinge. 2, informal, mainly North American cheat or swindle (someone) out of something: he's chiseled me out of my dues.

Rebecca Knill : How technology has changed what it's like to be deaf

Rebecca Knill·TED@WellsFargo
How technology has changed what it’s like to be deaf
Summary
When the speaker told audiences that she was a cyborg, they laughed, though, l thought that it was true, but l didn’t explain it well but l didn’t know that she was deaf.

It’ll mean that we can’t know about differences. For example, there is a child can know about how to use the touchscreen of a tablet. However, if he/she doesn’t know about how to use the computer, he/she has a temper tantrum while touching the computer screen. This time, the table is the speaker and a child is us who don’t know about a cochlear implant.

It can be implanting 32 computer chips inside your head to rebuild your sense of hearing. It’s not a hearing aid. Hearing occurs in the brain, a cochlear implant is not hearing but able to communicate with you. It’s mind-expanding capabilities and it’s freed up to think more creatively.

Technology has come so far so fast.
I think that new chips must be used in all humans soon, we will be able to understand books, music, movies and etc. without hearing, reading and watching. Our mindset needs to catch up.

Jennifer 8. Lee : Why 1.5 billion people eat with chopsticks

Jennifer 8. Lee·Small Thing Big Idea
Why 1.5 billion people eat with chopsticks
Summary
I’m surprised that there are a great history and a reason why people use chopsticks to eat.
I have had a bad memory of chopsticks. It’s only getting angry with me for unable to use chopsticks well and being taught that not to use it to eat is but the form and dirty.

However, those were not written.
Chopsticks are really well designed for eating small bites of food and good for picking up noodles. Wow!!

There are differences between Chinese, Korean and Japanese chopsticks. Chinese chopsticks will tend to be long and round, Korean one is flatter and often made of metal and Japanese one tend to be round and very pointy.1)
When Asian cuisine has moved from the East into the West, chopsticks went across with it. 2)
There is a history of chopsticks around 3000 years ago in China. It’s used for cooking. Knives and forks are also for cooking, though, into the dining room, it seemed to be the chopsticks. 3)
It’s because this is one of the things about Asian cooking. It often comes in very small pieces. By using chopsticks, it’ll be easy to do and it’s not necessary to cut. 4)
Having a meal around dishes is a good education and a very family-style. You go in with your chopsticks, you put it on your rice, and then you eat individually. It'll be important. 5)

In an old story, people take the same chopsticks and then feed each other in only heaven. In hell, chopsticks are too long to eat. It’s not good to stick chopsticks into a bowl of rice face-up. It’s like incense but it echoes death.

Huang Hung : How American and Chinese values shaped the coronavirus response

Huang Hung·TED2020: The Prequel
How American and Chinese values shaped the coronavirus response
Summary
In the story, an interviewer is American, an answerer is Chinese, and the title is how American and Chinese values shaped the coronavirus response.
Furthermore, I’m Japanese, l thought that there is something that was wrong, and first, the interviewer mustn't have thought that values would be told.

You think that it’s strange from the part of the beginning, don’t you?
First, the answerer said that she went to Paris, and invited friends who had flu and who went to Australia...
In China, coronaviruses must have been spreading already since December. Thus the speaker must have known that she shouldn’t go out. 1)
That time, already, the number of deaths has been high, though, she is not serious and she is optimistic. 2)
When lockdown happens, Chinese people are OK. It’s because they seem to be used to do historically and culturally. 3)
It’s safer for Chinese to has been scanned always. 4)
In a pandemic, the most horrifying things come out of nationalistic sentiments. 5)
And then the story of Dr.Li was really interesting. He raised the alarm the coronavirus, though, people tried to him demonize and he was said a whistleblower. He died because he contracted the disease, Chinese people let him go from a doctor who misbehaved to the hero who warned the people, though, they don’t want to change the system. It means that the government is right. 6)
The last words of the answerer were that the virus was not discriminating against anyone...
The story can help the world from coronaviruses, can’t it?

Addition
I strongly believe that the Japanese strategy against coronaviruses is the best in the world.
1) The number of deaths is much fewer.
2) The number of infected people is also fewer.
3) Not to try to test because it leads to medical professionals to dying and spreading clusters.
4) Japan just made a request to only go outside for essential things. It’s not a lockdown, though, citizens have been following well.
5 )A mild symptom of patients can use Hotels and other facilities not to infect others and to leave beds of hospitals for serious patients.
6) Not to publish the names is to protect privacies, though, teams are checking infection routes.
7) There is no cheating in counting in Japan.
Just, Japanese citizens and can’t tell the world that fewer testing has really good results strongly with courage. We, Japanese, have to win against media, create strong our country Japan, and go to the world to help other countries. We don’t have time to fight each other.

Words in this story
Quai  “乖” /Chinese characters/ complying or willing to comply with orders or requests; submissive to another's will.
mandate /noun/ command, order
an·tag·o·nis·tic /anˌtaɡəˈnistik/adj/ showing or feeling active opposition or hostility toward someone or something, unfriendly
whistleblower / one who reveals wrongdoing or informs authorities about a misconduct

Alex Rosenthal and Pall Thordarson Which is better: Soap or hand sanitizer?

Alex Rosenthal and Pall Thordarson·TED-Ed
Which is better: Soap or hand sanitizer?
Summary
This is a great title because of a coronavirus spreading now.

In fact, we often touch our face unconsciously. If viruses stick our hands, those will infect us. For protecting us from it, we can use soap and water or hand sanitizer.

In this coronavirus situation, the answer about which one is better is that in a water-rich environment, using water to wash your hands is effective and easy and with soap, it’s more effective. It needs one or two seconds. However, doctors recommend at least 20 seconds of hand-washing because our hands' landscape is intricate. The story didn’t say that l think sanitizers should keep for medical practitioners. 1)
If you don’t have access to clean drinking water, by using salt, water, and a car battery, you can make chlorinated water that kills harmful pathogens. It’s safe for your handwashing. 2)
On the go, hand sanitizers are more convenient to use. Just rub your hands together with it until drying. 3)

The process of destroying the virus of the coronavirus is below.
The coronavirus lipids are pin-shaped molecules and its heads can be attracted to water well. By water, those are repulsed and by soap, those are broken.
Hand sanitizers work to collapse the cell membrane.
In the coronavirus situation, both methods are effective, though, for other virses, we need the advice of accredited medical professionals.

Don’t forget to wash your hands, please.

Words in this story
soap /noun/ a substance used with water for washing and cleaning, made of a compound of natural oils or fats with sodium hydroxide or another strong alkali, and typically having perfume and coloring added.
sanitizer /noun/ disinfectant, substance or preparation designed to kill germs
hy·dro·pho·bic /hīdrəˈfōbik/ tending to repel or fail to mix with water. The opposite of hydrophobic
on the go/ very busy, in motion, in action, constantly moving
intricate /adj/ complicated

Alyson McGregor : Why medicine often has dangerous side effects for women

Alyson McGregor·TEDxProvidence
Why medicine often has side effects for women
Summary
This was a really shocking story, especially for women.

Before medicines and drugs prescribed to us, of course, those are tested on cells in a laboratory. First, animal studies, and then clinical trials on human, a regulatory approval process, after those, doctors are available to prescribe to patients. It takes years and needs much money. However, those cells used in this laboratory are only male cells, the animals used in animals studies are also only male animals, and the clinical trials have been performed almost exclusively on men.

The speaker suggests that it can say that it’s based on only haft the population. She also said that she who an emergency medicine doctor were never taught that there were any differences between men and women. Thus medicine often has side effects for women. 80 percent of the drugs withdrawn from the market are due to side effects on women.

Women construct half the population.
Children are not just little adults.
Trance genders must have more complex DNA and cells.
New combination evidence of sex-determining seems to be founded currently.

The speaker suggests that asking your doctors whether the treatment you are receiving are specific to your sex and gender. They may not know the answer yet. However the conversation has begun. We have to know that our sex and gender matter for medicine having side effects.

Words in this story
make up / construct

Joe Smith : How to use a paper towel

Joe Smith·TEDxConcordiaUPortland
How to use a paper towel
Summary
I wanted the speaker to teach me this perfect paper towel technique, when l was a kid. It’s because...

My mother always said to me with anger, Use only one paper towel 💢
One💢one💢one💢
After shaking, use only one💢
You didn’t fold it, thus you could't dry well💢
It’s wrong💢wrong💢wrong💢

Thus l have already had a habit to saving a paper towel, of course, toilet paper too.

How different it is! In the story, the speaker teaches us how to use a paper towel kindly and enjoyably and you can really save it.

P.S. Don’t forget to your hands, please because of a coronavirus

Words in this story
absorbent /adj/ able to soak up, able to take in

Mitch Zeller : The past, present and future of nicotine addiction

Mitch Zeller·TEDxMidAtlantic
The past, present, and future of nicotine addiction
Summary
This was a quiet ironic story.
After all, even if more people die because of nicotine addiction, Tobacco will be sold in the world. Just only an effort to decrease death numbers, and especially nicotine addiction number of kids will be continuing.

Presently Tobacco is still killing more people each year than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drug murder, and suicide combined. However, a lot of people think that the tobacco problem or the smoking problem has been solved in the United States. It’s because there were great progress over the last 40, 50 years, and smoking rates are at historic lows for both adults and kids.

In the past, publicly, the industry completely denied addiction and completely denied causality. The cigarette kills half of all long-term users prematurely, later in life, 1) if people smoke more than experiments. 2) People think that kids won’t continue to smoke if they give it to them at once. 3)
And then, a lot of advertisements and movies had shown that smoking was cool, thus people smoked more than tests, young people also died and even kids had nicotine addiction.

Now, a new product that is the e-cigarette. However, the story said that kids user is increasing but this is not a harmless product, and when products come to market, our reviews will decide whether it can be existing on the market or not.
It’s irresponsible!!
If e-cigarettes are used correctly and regularly for adults who are trying to transition away from cigarettes, it will be beneficial.

Words in this story
sarcastic /adj/ ironic
transition /noun/ passage, change

A.J. Jacobs : The evolution of the coffee cup lid

A.J. Jacobs·Small Thing Big Idea
The evolution of the coffee cup lid
Summary
The speaker tells us how the coffee cup LID was perfectly designed to give us full SENSORY experience while driving. I was sorry that I thought that the reason why the coffee cup lid that we can drink without opening it was created was just not to spill. Hahaha 〜

This is just a story about a coffee cup lid, though, it comes from the amount of design, passion, and creativity. It’s because there is a huge culture shift where people started drinking coffee on the move and selling a cup of coffee is one of the big businesses.

A lid of the coffee cup that we use now snaps on, an opening, a little latch that opens and closes. It’s really convenient. We can drink coffee anywhere.
In the past, it didn’t have an opening for drinking.

However, for savoring more and for a move, an opening was designed, 1) it could become to peel back a tab and attach 2) and the lid had a protruding rim not to splash your face. 3) It had a small depression in the center for your nose and a tiny air hole to get a maximum aroma. 4)

The coffee cup lid will continue to evolve. Single-use plastic lids must be changing more sustainable in the near future.

Words in this story
iconic/ having the characteristics of an icon
protruding / extend beyond or above a surface
rim / the upper or outer edge of an object
evolve/ develop, progress, advance, mature, grow, expand
move /noun

Debbie Millman The function and fashion of eyeglasses

Debbie Millman·Small Thing Big Idea
The function and fashion of eyeglasses
Summary
Glasses were originally created to overcome physical obstacles. It helps us to see.

The history of glasses seemed to start from 4000years ago. First, eye shields made of animal hides or bone protected people eyes from climates that were snow, but it has no lenses. 1)
People invented vision aid called a reading stone over 1000 years ago. 2)
And then, two magnifying glasses that were hinged together at the bridge of the nose was created. 3)
It took some time for eyeglasses to land on perfect design. On some glasses, a pair of temple tipped for behind the ear comfort. 4)
20th century cinema helped popularize eyeglasses, and then glasses have become so popular as a fashion device. 5)

Eyeglasses now has great function to see and it succeeds as a fashion statement item.

P.S. l like my glasses. However, it’s not to dress up but to hide my small eyes.

Words in this story e'van·ge·list / one who preaches the Christian gospel, any of the writers of the four Gospels
popularize / cause (something) to become generally liked
donning/ put on clothing

Chip Kidd : Why books are here to stay

Chip Kidd·Small Thing Big Idea
Why books are here to stay
Summary
“Don’t lend books to people unless you never intend to see that books again “.
This is a rule that the speaker has. It means that for him, books are really important because he said that people can have relationships like with humans with printed books more than e-books.

The physical object of a book is almost like a person. It has a face, spine, and backbone, a good smell of ink on paper, and records our experience. It lasts and tells for a long time but can’t be turned off with a switch. Those are valuable.

The speaker is a designer who designs the front cover of many famous books, for example, the book is written by Haruki Murakami.

P.S. I like books to read, have, hold in my hand, carry around with me and leave it behind on a shelf, though, I now use e-books more than it...