Most foodies (吃货) agree that eating healthy food is important. But sometimes making good food choices can be tough. Now, there are apps that can help people learn about the food they eat to improve their diets and their dining out experiences.

Cheese & Wine Pairing app

Wine and cheese can be a great combination. But which wines go best with which cheeses? Max McCalman’s Cheese & Wine Pairing app can help. It provides information about hundreds of different cheeses and advises wines to pair with each. Max McCalman’s Cheese & Wine Pairing app is free for iPhones and iPads.

Calorific app

What does 200 calories look like? It can be hard to picture. Calorific provides images of 200 calories worth of food. The pictures can help people on a diet and those who just want to eat healthier food. The app is free for iPads and iPhones. There is also a version that provides more information for a price.

HappyCow app

Vegetarians do not eat animal meat. Vegans do not eat any animal products. The HappyCow app is made for both groups. Users can search for vegetarian-vegan restaurants and stores around the world. A free version of HappyCow is available for Android that has ads and requires an Internet connection.

LocalEats app

Restaurant chains, like McDonald’s, can be found almost anywhere a person might travel. But sometimes travelers want to eat like locals. LocalEats is designed for that. It lists locally owned restaurants so users can try foods from that area. The app costs about a dollar.

Database maintenance (数据库维护) is an activity designed to keep a database running smoothly. A number of different systems can be used to build and maintain databases. Databases are used to maintain a library of information in a well-organized, accessible format (格 式).They usually are not static (静态的),because changes are constantly being made as material is added, removed, and moved around. Over time, this can cause the database to start to go wrong. Database maintenance is used to keep the database clean and well-organized so that it will not lose functionality.

One important aspect of maintaining a database is simply backing up the data so that, if anything happens, there will be another copy available. Some database systems actually do this automatically and then send the backup to another location every day, every week, or within any other set period of time. Backups are usually not enough, however.

Database maintenance includes checking for signs of corruption in the database, looking for problem areas, and checking for any detail in the database that might signal a problem. The goal is to keep the database operating smoothly for users, so that ideally they never need to think about maintenance issues. A database that is not maintained can become slow, and people may start to experience problems when trying to access records.

The maintenance of databases is generally performed by people who are comfortable and familiar with the database system and the details of the particular database, although some maintenance tasks can be performed by people who do not have experience. Numerous textbooks are available with information about database management, including how to maintain databases properly. It is also possible to take courses to learn about different database systems and how to care for databases. People can also earn certifications in specific systems which indicate a high level of competence.

Best Gifts for Children

How to Code a Rollercoaster

This is a picture book about coding (编程). This book does a good job of introducing and explaining what code is, how computers understand it, and introducing common coding terms. The book is part of the popular “Girls Who Code” series, but it is intended for younger readers. (Penguin Random House, $17.99)

Marble Circuit

With brightly colored pieces, Marble Circuit doesn’t present as a difficult logic (逻辑) game — but don’t be too confident. After deciding on a card, players must put pieces and allow the right number of glass balls to run into each space at the bottom of the board. Because it requires greater ability to reason correctly than some other kinds of puzzles do, Marble Circuit is suggested for the over-8 crowd. (MindWare, $24.95)

Babu Set of 3 - Roller, Stacker, Rocker

As a classic block-building toy, Babu requires players to balance the blocks on a curved (弯曲的) base, try out different styles of towers or make special cars. (MindWare, $59.95)

Botzees

Kids can follow directions or use their imaginations to build a robot out of the 130 blocks, and then command it to dance, sing, drum and light up with an app on a smart device. Though the robot attracts younger testers, kids aged 5 and up enjoy the toy’s advanced features better. (Pai Technology, $99.99)