As a grandfather, seeing his grandchildren light up with unbridled joy is something that warms the heart of 70-year-old Richard Yip. While other grandparents may build bonds with their grandkids by means of conversations and meals, Richard has a novel method of sharing happiness with his grandchildren — using digital technology like 3D printing and coding to make toys and gadgets for them.

As a retiree, the days of working in the IT industry are long over for Richard, but he is still a keen believer of lifelong learning. …

Habits are formidable things. They shape our lives, but turn invisible after becoming part of it. They’re difficult to cultivate, and even harder to rid. We think highly of the good ones, but oftentimes we allow the bad ones to outstay their welcome.

Why are undesirable habits so hard to break? If you’ve ever bitten your nails absentmindedly, or dropped a swear word or five in front of an audience of toddlers, you’d know that these things happen without you thinking about them. Habits are, in fact, automatic behaviours that your brain develops to free up “bandwidth” for other more important things. …

If you found yourself teetering on the brink of stir-craziness from being cooped up at home during the circuit breaker, or feeling anxious as a result of 2020’s many curveballs, you aren’t alone if you found yourself turning to new pastimes to… well, pass the time.

We asked you, our readers, what hobbies you picked up this year to keep yourselves occupied, and you weren’t shy about sharing. If you haven’t found something to while away the hours and the days, why not pick a hobby off the recommended list below? …

With 2021 on the horizon, give yourself a leg up by picking up useful skills and knowledge that’ll keep you ahead of the competition. Learn how you can avoid being a victim of cybercrime, grow your business with content marketing, be an effective leader, and even pick up coding skills with your child!

We might not know where you stand on the book-versus-movie debate, but if you ask us, we often find ourselves looking forward to new book-to-film adaptations even if we can never quite seem to pick a side. Through novels, we get to connect with the characters and their journeys on a more intimate level, and through their film adaptations, we get to witness how closely (or differently) directors have envisioned the same story as we did, which is always intriguing.

Of course, these adaptations don’t always hit the nail on the head, especially since films tend to be a lot more compressed in telling the same story. But once in a while, we get cinematic gems like Jonathan Demme’s thrilling 1991 adaptation of Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs, and Greta Gerwig’s beautiful 2019 rendition of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. …

With 2021 just around the corner, why not make learning a musical instrument one of your New Year’s resolutions?

Of course, all instruments are challenging in their own ways and difficulty levels vary with the piece you choose to play. To make your job easier, here are four instruments that:

• Are relatively easy to pick up, so you can start playing simple tunes as you learn
• Are affordable (for entry-level models), which makes them unique and wonderful gifts as well
• Allow you to enjoy playing music on your own without the need of joining an ensemble

Ocarina

The ocarina (“little goose” in Italian) is an ancient wind instrument — a type of flute — that comes in varying materials, shapes and sizes. The more commonly used ocarinas will come with four, six, or ten to twelve finger holes. The complexity of the instrument increases with the number of finger holes, but it provides the diversity to play more notes and therefore more songs and in more keys. The most basic four-hole ocarina is small and light, and can be a nice ornament to carry around. Here’s how it sounds. …

It’s official — the season of gifting and feasting is upon us, and most of us will be spending our holiday at home this year. This doesn’t mean that the season will be any less festive, though. All that’s required is a jazzy Christmas playlist and a good book or two to cosy up with, and it’ll feel just as special.

No matter what kind of reader you are, we have something that will leave you feeling the magic of the festive season, from Christmas classics to family-friendly stories, and even to spine-chilling thrillers. …

Book series aren’t for everyone. As a young adult, you’ve got homework to finish, chores to do, exams to study for… the list goes on. With only 24 hours a day, reading for pleasure might not be high on your to-do list. But with the school vacation well into its fourth week, why not take a break from bingeing on TV and games, and take your imagination for a spin?

Whether or not the books in these series feature interwoven plots to be read chronologically, or standalone plots that can be read in any order, getting into them (or any series) is a rewarding way to spend your time…