Using Maslow's hierarchy of needs, evaluate how you were happy in 2007 and what you're up to for 2008:

1. Have you been healthy in 2007? Are there major illnesses preparing for 2008?
2. Have you had sex in 2007? How do you plan to have sex in 2008?
3. Have you had a home in 2007? How do you plan to have one in 2008?
4. Did you feel safe, protected against crime in 2007? How do you plan to feel safe in 2008?
5. Did you have a safety net against accidents or illness in 2007? How do you plan to have one in 2008?
6. Did you have a steady source of income, or otherwise a resourceful environment in 2007? How do you plan to have that in 2008?
7. Did you have close friends in 2007? How do you plan to have/keep close friends in 2008?
8. Did you have close emotional or intimate partners in 2007? How do you plan to have/keep partners in 2008?
9. Did you have a supportive and communicative family in 2007? How do you plan to have one in 2008?
10. did you respect yourself and other people in 2007? How do you plan for respect in 2008?
11. are you proud of yourself and what you did in 2007? How do you plan to be proud in 2008?

How to use this quiz for 2007: answer the questions in order. Then take the number of the first question where you answered no. That is your happiness score out of 10. Now, try to improve this score in 2008.

If you answered yes to all the questions, then you've been happy already! Keep going for 2008.

Only inertia and prejudice, not economics nor the lack of good educational ideas, stand in the way of providing every child in the world with the kind of experience of which we have tried to give you some glimpse.

Seymour Papert (also on wikipedia) & Cynthia Solomon, Twenty things to do with a computer, MIT A.I. memo nr 248, June 1971

In America, people buy stuff in “stores.” Over here, they buy stuff in “shops.”

In America, people find the word “shop” old fashioned. They expect it to designate a small and cramped place where goods are not on display in large quantities.

Now, if we look at three hundred years ago, when people in America had just settled and were still essentially speaking the same language as in England:

• “storehouses” were places where goods were placed to keep for a long time, before they were sold.
• when they were to be sold, they were moved to “shops” and put on display for customers.

And then, gradually, cultural changes made it more convenient for customers in America to go and buy their stuff directly from the shelves of the storehouse — there there was no aesthetic in the display, but goods were available in large quantities.

This has not happened over here, so there we are linguistically.