There are many people claiming the pandemic will result in “the death of the office.” However, for many jobs, specifically collaborative, high-skill, and high-value roles, working from home doesn’t cut it. Working from home has its benefits—freedom and flexibility being just a couple of them—and so it may not become a thing of the past entirely. One solution for the future is an organized hybrid model that recognizes the benefits of flexibility on the productivity and overall well-being of employees.

Back To Office

77% of managers would take action if workers do not come back to the office, and 2-thirds of U.S. and U.K. workers who experienced more work flexibility during the pandemic want employers to prioritize work-life balance moving forward.The hybrid model may be the future for many organizations, but they will have to work at creating a healthy culture that supports different types of roles and employees

Managers May Fire People Who Don't Return To Office

Going forward, organizations will do well to teach people how to create work—to learn how to make the time in the office beneficial for themselves as well. It’s almost an entrepreneurial mindset that needs to come in. If an entrepreneur is forced to spend time in a certain place, they are allocating much of that time to networking, building business, and sharing ideas. Senior people in organizations understand this and are doing it.

Be An Entrepreneur In the Office

Leaders are weighing the benefits of some forms of remote schedules against company-wide efficiency.


remotework

Remote Work

career

Career

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Why your boss might fire people rather than allow remote work

The wedding industry as we know it essentially emerged in the 1920s. One hundred years ago, people were recovering from the influenza pandemic, women first got to vote, and you could buy a new house for $6,000. The average cost of a wedding was $400 (about $5,000 today).

The birth of the wedding industry

<ul><li>1920s. Society weddings, movies and radios gave rise to a celebrity culture where brides wanted to look like those in the movies. This caused department stores to invest in bridal and gift registry departments.</li><li>1930s. The Great Depression cause silk and lace to be too expensive. This led to the invention of a more cost-effective rayon.</li><li>1940s. With World War II, the number of weddings spiked as grooms were shipped overseas shortly after. The groom's wedding ring became a symbol to connect the couple while apart. De Beers' "A Diamond is Forever" campaign created a demand for diamond rings.</li></ul>

The 1920s to 1940s

<ul><li>1950s. Portable cameras with flash revolutionised Post-WWII wedding photography. Now you could get action and detail shots. Cake toppers became popular.</li><li>1960s. The 747 jumbo jets made it affordable for honeymooners to visit exotic destinations. Social revolutions ushered in mini-skirt wedding attire. Weddings were still held in churches, homes, or city halls, while receptions were held at home or hotel ballrooms.</li><li>1970s. Couples opted for destination weddings or getting married outdoors. Brides started wearing headpieces, and grooms began wearing colour.</li></ul>

1950s to 1970s

<ul><li>1980s. The wedding of Charles and Diana advanced the wedding industry quicker than any other era. Couples wanted to recreate it, with wedding planners, designers, florists, and more. The wedding cake doubled in size and became the centrepiece of the wedding day. Live bands and entertainment grew more mainstream at wedding receptions.</li><li>1990s. The Father of the Bride launched a wedding craze. Wedding coordinators, planners and designers became mainstream. Elopements and intimate ceremonies grew in popularity.</li></ul>

1980s

<ul><li>2000s. Weddings moved from churches to country clubs, hotel ballrooms, and other non-religious venues. Writing your own vows became popular. The rise of social media brought about the wedding dance craze and other unique traditions.</li><li>2010s. Wedding websites became the norm. Custom wedding venues became popular. Cinematic wedding videos became accessible to more people.</li><li>2020s. COVID-19 brought a new wave of technological advancements and a return to simple home-style weddings.</li></ul>

2000s to 2020s

We're celebrating 100 years of the modern wedding industry! Check out all the amazing advances — and beautiful gowns the industry has seen.

fashion

Fashion & Beauty

100 Years of Weddings: How the Wedding Industry Has Evolved

The gala is a fundraiser dedicated to New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute – formally named The Anna Wintour Costume Center, in homage to the American Vogue's editor-in-chief, who has been a chair member of the museum's gala since 1995.The benefit founded in 1948 by publicist Eleanor Lambert was to encourage donations from New York's high society, and happens on the first Monday of May.

The Met Gala

The Met Gala also marks the opening night of the Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibit. 
The theme of the exhibition sets the tone for the event and invitees must dress accordingly.

The Theme Of The Event

Other than Anna Wintour, each year the event brings honorary chair members. The late Karl Lagerfeld and Gianni Versace were the first designers chosen to co-chair the night, in 1995.Since then, among many designers and fashion insiders, the gala has also made room for celebrities (and even royalty) to participate: Caroline Princess of Hanover was a chair of the 2005 Met Gala, Beyoncé was a chair member in 2013, and last year saw Rihanna, Amal Clooney and Donatella Versace co-chairing the event. Donatella is also a sponsor of the exhibition.

The Chair Members

Without being an actress, model, musician, Vogue editor, A-lister's plus one, or wealthy enough to donate hundreds of thousands to the Met Museum and become a sponsor, it's not easy.Tickets go for approximately £23,000, while tables cost £211,000 – and that's before you get your hands on a Met-worthy designer dress costing around $30,000.

How To Get A Ticket To The Met Gala

The Met Gala: Everything You Need To kKnow About The Biggest Fashion Event On The Calendar

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

What is the Met Gala & why is everyone so damn obsessed with it?

As we pass the pandemic's two-year anniversary, employers are officially welcoming more people back to the office. One of the most difficult changes during the pandemic has been our ways of communicating and collaborating. Constrained to a computer screen and videoconferencing, we've adopted unnatural and habitual ways of working with each other. When we return to the office, we won't necessarily bounce back to some pre-pandemic way of working.

In-person gatherings are blooming again

Research can pinpoint exactly what is happening in our brains when we connect over screens. <ul><li>Connecting with others over video conferencing requires our brains to work harder to accommodate the millisecond delay in sound.  </li><li>At the same time, we have multiple eyes staring at us, sometimes unnaturally sized or too close, which our bodies can see as a threat.</li><li>We’ve lacked the unscripted and unexpected moments of being together in person, like the surprise of bumping into a friend or the spontaneous whiteboarding of a new idea.</li></ul>

Our shared reality has suffered

Going back to the office will be new terrain. To help ease into collaboration and communication, pay attention to the following: <ul><li>Don’t overschedule yourself. Allow yourself some open, non-task time and space to readjust.</li><li>Set an intention for connection. Research shows that our minds wander 37% of the workday. Returning to the office can lead to distraction, which is not ideal for collaboration and connection. Try to set an intention to reorient your attention.</li><li>Get more sleep. Extra commuting, catch-up socializing, and mental overload will be tiring.</li></ul>

Looking forward

Research shows that social isolation was the top challenge for those working from home. If your staff returns to the office, consider the following.<ul><li>Talk. Have a return-to-office plan and keep talking about it. When there is clarity about the strategy and plan, employees have 36% more pleasant feelings about being back in the office.</li><li>Organize schedules by key moments, not by days of the week. Plan in-office days when your team will most benefit from a shared reality.</li><li>Design office spaces for different ways of interacting.</li><li>Have agenda-free social interactions.</li></ul>

How leaders can create spaces that nurture connection

It’s time again for shared reality. Melissa Afton of Potential Project explains how to ease back into working with others IRL.


Is your brain ready to go back to the office?

The exact configuration of lines and swirls that make up your fingerprints are thought to be unique to you. Similarly, your browser fingerprint is a set of information that’s collected from your phone or laptop each time you use it that advertisers can eventually link back to you. By combining this information, it’s possible for advertisers to recognise you as you move from one website to the next. Multiple studies have found that around 80-90 % of browser fingerprints are unique. Fingerprinting is often done by advertising technology companies that insert their code onto websites.

What Is Fingerprinting?

While there’s little transparency around the companies that run fingerprinting scripts, the practice is verifiably widespread across the web. Many of the websites you visit will fingerprint your device; research from 2020 found a quarter of the world’s top 10,000 websites running fingerprinting scripts.New ways of fingerprinting are being created too. For instance, earlier this year researchers proved they could create fingerprints of GPUs to identify people. Tracking people across different browsers is also possible.

So How Bad Is It?

A principal security researcher at Kaspersky, says the technique can often be used as a way to spot potential fraud, such as banks using it to identify suspicious behavior.However, the widespread use of fingerprinting for targeted advertising and tracking people’s online movement raises legal problems. Across Europe, regulators have been calling for a clampdown on cookie banners, which appear on websites asking people if they give their permission to be tracked.

Not all fingerprinting is bad

Unlike cookies, it’s hard to stop fingerprinting. Cookies are stored in your browser, and it’s possible to delete your cookie history, block them, or turn them off entirely. With the fingerprinting, it's all invisible. Various browser plugins claim to help reduce or stop fingerprinting, but there’s a mix in quality. A 2019 study by a researcher from Snap and two US academics found many anti-fingerprinting tools aren’t that useful. The biggest thing you can do to stop fingerprinting is pick a browser that limits tracking and increases privacy.

How Can You Stop It?

Cookies are on the way out—but not enough is being done about browser fingerprinting. So what is it?

technologyandthefuture

Technology & The Future

cybersecurity

Cybersecurity

The Quiet Way Advertisers Are Tracking Your Browsing

From the 1980s to the early 2000s, the first era of the internet saw services built on open protocols managed by the internet community. This caused people or organisations to grow their internet presence, knowing that the rules of the game would remain unchanged. In the second era of the internet, from the mid-2000s to the present, for-profit companies built software and services that outpaced the capabilities of the open protocols, such as GAFA - Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon. Users eventually migrated from open services to centralised services.

The first two eras of the internet

While billions of people got access to free technologies, it became more difficult for startups and creators to grow their internet presence. Centralised platforms could change the rules at any moment, taking away their audiences and profits. Centralisation could also create societal tensions. We see this in debates over fake news, state-sponsored bots, EU privacy laws, algorithmic biases.

Consequences of centralised software and services

A response to centralisation is for governments to impose regulations on large internet companies, assuming the internet is like the phone, radio, and TV networks. But, hardware-based networks of the past are fundamentally different. They are almost impossible to rearchitect. Software-based networks can be rearchitected. The internet is a software-based network with a simple core layer connecting billions of computers that can run whatever software they want. In time, core internet services will be enabled by crypto-economic networks with abilities that will exceed those of centralised services.

"Web 3": The third era of the internet

Centralised platforms have several problems:They follow a predictable life cycle and try to recruit users to make their services more valuable. Platforms are systems. When platforms move up the adoption S-curve, they grow their power over users and 3rd parties. But when they are at the top of the S-curve, they can really only grow by extracting data from users and competing with complements over audiences and profits. Over time, the best entrepreneurs, developers and investors will tire of building on top of centralised platforms.

Decentralisation is important

Cryptonetworks are built on top of the internet that<ol><li>use consensus mechanisms such as blockchains.</li><li>use Cryptocurrencies to incentivise consensus participants.</li></ol> Cryptonetworks use multiple mechanisms to ensure that they stay neutral as they grow.<ol><li>the contract between cryptonetworks and their participants is enforced in open source code.</li><li>they are kept in check through mechanisms for "voice" and "exit".</li></ol> Cryptonetworks ensure network participants band together toward a common goal - the growth of the network and regard for the token.

Cryptonetworks

Decentralized networks can win the third era of the internet just like they won the first era: because they won the hearts and minds of entrepreneurs and developers. A centralised competitor might have a better product to start with, but an active community of volunteer contributors, governed by an ehtos, will improve at a much faster rate.

Why decentralization wins 

Centralized platforms have been dominant for so long that many people have forgotten there is a better way to build internet services.

crypto

Cryptocurrency

Why Decentralization Matters

When the internet and the first personal computers were first invented, marketers had to invent reasons for people to buy them. People didn't immediately rush to the first Apple store they could find to buy a $500 personal computer that could do little more than a digital calculator today.As everyone soon learned, that doesn't even scratch the surface of what computers are great for.This stage of innovation, where people advertise an amazing product by just scratching the surface of its potential so that it can be relatable to people, is where Web3 is right now.

The Internet Wasn't a Fad from The Word Go

Since ancient Egypt, pictures that convey an idea have always been a staple of our civilization, and it seems they've taken on even greater relevance today.In fact, it's gotten to the point that a huge part of every new technology is usually converted, in some way, to serve the needs of memes.When the printing press first became important in Europe, the first newspapers carried memes (which were called political cartoons at the time). When colour printers were invented, the very first thing we used them to do was make even more colourful political cartoons.

Memes: A History

In theory, Web 3.0 is a game-changer. In a lot of ways, Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 were game-changers too — but it's generally agreed that Web 2.0's revolution was the more important of the two. This is despite the fact that some claimed that the internet, in Web 2.0 format, wouldn't be more important than the Fax Machine.Today, we already have structures that are already put in place in preparation for Web 3.0. We have a Bitcoin payment processing gateway and business crypto wallets like Coinspaid. Here you can accept payments in Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and other digital currencies.

The Potential Of Web 3.0

On the blockchain end of things, there are other tools available right now that allow you to access infrastructure, earning yields, and integrate DeFi solutions. Ankr decentralizes Web3 infrastructure, an important next step in DeFi. If “decentralized” infrastructure is centralized, then it defeats the purpose. It becomes vulnerable to attacks and regulations. Polygon and Binance are already using this protocol to supplement their own networks.

Decentralized Finance

The scale of the changes that Web 2.0 brought to our world shows just how immense Web 3.0 could be. Unlike Web 2.0, Web 3.0 will be heavily based on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and will create even more transparent systems for the web to run on.Memes are shaping up to be an important part of the infrastructure of both webs.And that similarity is shaping up to be a huge part of Web 3. There are a lot of components that make up Web 3.0, but of all those components, three stand out right now. The first is the blockchain, the second is a cryptocurrency, and the third is NFTs.

The Memification Of Web 3.0

There are a lot of components that make up Web 3.0, but of all those components, three stand out right now. The first is the blockchain, the second is a cryptocurrency, and the third is NFTs.Crypto isn't the only element of Web 3.0 that has a huge meme influence either.NFTs, which could be a lot more, are essentially being marketed by memes these days. Coincidentally, some of the most expensive NFTs in the world are memes. Right near the top of that list is the NFT of the dogecoin,(a crypto coin based on a meme), which recently sold for four million dollars.

The Building Blocks Of Web 3.0

The Disaster girl NFT, sold by Disaster girl herself no less, sold at around $500,000. The Overly Attached Girlfriend NFT, sold by the girl in the meme herself, raked in $411,000. And lastly, a literal flying, rainbow, Pop Tart cat meme sold for $590,000.In December of 2018, Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency based on a meme joke, was worth around $0.017. In less than two years, the coin went from being worth $0.017 to being worth $0.50, which means it experienced a 20,000% increase in just around three years or so.

Memes Making Money

For some reason, memes and virality are very essential tools for bringing groups of people together. They essentially work like flags — they signal camaraderie, they are a quick way of spreading information, and they are funny.And just like making recipes and the ability to create cookbooks were used to market the very first personal computers, memes can be an important channel for creating the first Web 3 communities. Building more products around memes could just be that magic pill to populate the space, and create the economy needed to truly build a connected Web 3.0.

The Bottom Line

The memification of web3 is pretty inevitable, and meme coins and NFTs will always be important. Can these drive universal adoption?

Web3 and the Meme Economy

In 1993, the first web browser was released. Originally known as Mosaic, it was renamed Netscape. The internet grew in popularity as people began emailing each other, browsing the net and creating their own pages.
Many businesses sprang up to take advantage of the new technology, with some being a success and many being failures. By the late 90s, there was a wide range of goods and services being offered for sale. Google came along and improved the entire experience by making it much easier for people to find the things they were looking for.

Internet: The Beginning

By 2005, Web 2.0 gave rise to social media websites. Instead of being the occasional source of entertainment or a place to check email, the internet has become integrated with people’s lives. People’s personal finance and social interactions, to name but two domains, have been transformed. 
Now, people essentially live their lives online. Our world has been transformed by the ability to communicate quickly. Citizen journalists have been able to bring global awareness to a host of social and political issues. People can work together on projects regardless of where they might live.

Web 2.0

American companies no longer enjoy local advantages and must now compete against companies from other countries that might have cheaper labour or less regulation. No business is safe from these changing market forces. 
Technology has lowered barriers to entry, making it easier and cheaper for new businesses to start up, meaning many businesses are now competing with one another all over the world. This might be great for new startups in Zambia, but it also means erosion of traditional businesses. Everything is undergoing realignment, which is good for some, but bad for others.

A Global Marketplace

A platform is an ecosystem that scales easily and encompasses features, users and partners. Platforms allow people to contact each other and exchange information. They make third party collaboration much easier. The platform is a business model. 
Even large companies can be platforms. In a beneficent (as opposed to vicious) circle, platforms generate network effects which make the platforms more popular, which generate more network effects.

The Concept Of Platforms

Monopolies don’t socially optimise resources. Monopolies create barriers to entry, effectively preventing meaningful competition. There’s the controversial notion of natural monopolies when barriers to entry are so high that really only one company can succeed. 
AT&T is an example; back in the day, they were pretty much the only phone company. They had a complete monopoly. Some people say this is just a natural result of market circumstances, so it’s cool. Others say the whole idea is in error.

Monopolies

<ul><li>Platforms aren’t monopolies, as they have a low barrier of entry and do not lock users in.</li><li>Platforms don’t have the kind of power in people’s lives the way that monopolies are disposed to have, so they don’t generate the same level of hatred.</li><li>Platform companies tend to have price discrimination, which is to say that the different sides pay different charges.</li><li>Information technology platform firms are different from monopolies.</li></ul>

Platforms Vs Monopolies

Amazon was predicted to fail in 2001. In response, founder Jeff Bezos decided to grow the company as fast as possible. By 2002, it was the first retailer to make a profit on internet commerce. Today it’s a big success. It’s helpful to have First Mover Advantage (FMA). Being the first company to make a significant move in a market puts a company at a distinct advantage.

The Leaders Of The Platform Age: Amazon

Customer experience is important. Amazon puts lots of effort into providing good customer service. The importance of customer experience is magnified due to the potency of network effects. 
Amazon asks for permission when it uses people’s info. This is a good thing to do. They also let people opt out of their emails. Users are encouraged to feel that their concerns matter to the company.

Taking Care Of Customer Experience

At one time, it took 12 clicks to buy something on EBay. In 1997, Amazon introduced 1-Click transactions. They managed to reduce a lot of transaction friction and people gravitated to the site. 
How a platform enables smoother and faster transactions is one of the most fundamental ways it can promote customer adoption.

Platform Technology: Transactions

Powerful business intelligence software allows the site to make relevant suggestions to users without the clutter of ads the users might not appreciate. Users can rate the products they purchase. 
In fact, they can even rate products that they didn’t purchase on the platform. The rating system takes advantage of network effects and allows the site to be even more accurate in the products it recommends to individual customers.

Platform Technology: Suggestions, Recommendations And Ratings

<ul><li>Once upon a time in 1977, there were three fellows, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. They started a little enterprise called Apple Computer. </li><li>Famously, Jobs was forced to resign in 1985, only to return to the company in 1997.</li><li>In the mid-1980s, the company started developing other devices in addition to computers. They designed cameras, CD players, speakers and many other high tech gadgets.</li><li>By the early 2000s, the company was much more than a computer manufacturer.</li></ul>

Beyond The Computer: Apple

Good design is part of the brand; Apple products look good and they don’t have extraneous bells and whistles. They are intuitive and straightforward. 
Simplicity, ease of use and enjoyment are the qualities that made Apple products great. These are also the qualities that make for great platforms. Products like the iPhone allowed partners to create apps, and so Apple became a platform company.

The Apple Brand: Good Design Everywhere

The App Store has made a lot of money for Apple.They opened the Application Programming Interface (API), and now the App Store lets them grow even more without having to pay for developers, programmers, servicers or anyone else for these apps. Open APIs made innovation happen faster. Like other major platform companies, Apple figured how to monetize its ecosystem besides selling hardware and software.

The Apple Platforms: App Store

Founder Mark Zuckerberg is a platform genius. He knew right from the beginning that he wanted the site to be a platform, back when no one was thinking like that. It was founded in 2004 by Zuckerberg and two others. He learned from other websites that were gigantic failures and made sure that:<ul><li>Facebook loaded fast.</li><li>It was scalable.</li><li>It had authentic identities of everyone to deter fraud.</li><li>It had various mini platform planks like games, ads, fan pages, messaging and news feed.</li></ul>

Facebook: The Early Years

Sergey Brin and Larry Page incorporated Google in 1998. It didn’t take them long to realise that their search engine was limited. Even if they could search and index the web with breathtaking speed and efficiency, people would use the site more if it did more than simply search. Google added lots of features beyond simple keyword searches, sometimes growing so fast that its purposes defied logic or planning. For example, they scanned the contents of libraries without getting copyright permission from publishers.

Google: Search Engine Plus Everything Else

Google has many planks. This keeps users on its platform. This includes planks such as mobile, maps and streaming video. They continue to add more products. 
As Amazon, Apple and Facebook did, Google has grown by moving sideways. They also monetized the platform with ads; additionally, they raised revenue by charging to bring up companies on user searches.

The Platform Planks Of Google

<ul><li>Google offers a diverse range of services.</li><li>It has deep personalization with the users.</li><li>The search algorithm is tailored and fine-tuned to perfection.</li><li>They offer a majority of their services for free.</li></ul>

The Smart Ways Of Google

There are many properties these four platforms(Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook) have in common.<ul><li>They all have dynamic stability, meaning they are stable and yet always changing.</li><li>They are adaptable.</li><li>They’re all dependent on data and technology. They collect lots of information about people because that helps them make decisions and function better.</li><li>They understand their customers. </li><li>They have lots of partners because that grows their businesses.</li><li>They take advantage of network effects.</li><li>They have communities that are really engaged.</li><li>They benefit from positive feels and have virality.</li></ul>

The DNA: Platform Components and Characteristics

Facebook pioneered the like button, and now it, or something very much like it, is ubiquitous across the internet. Everyone borrows each other’s good ideas. Platforms should also cultivate stickiness, provide lots of different features so that it’s convenient for users to stay on the site as they engage in a variety of activities. The longer people are kept on the platform, the better.

Innovations Made Universal

Major platforms tend to have well known “rock star” executives at the top. Think of Zuckerberg, Bezos, and Jobs. These people didn’t become household names just like that. Platform companies have visionary leaders. They aren’t democratic. Decision making can be done quickly when leadership is strong and there are few protocols requiring them to gain consensus. Once a decision is made, these leaders can then ensure that the decision is acted on.

Rockstar At The Top

Platforms magnify the power of brands. Platform brands can become so powerful they are verb branded, that is to say, the firm’s name describes their core activity. 
For example, googling. For Google, this happened because they did their job better than their competitors. The brand has become seared into public awareness.

Googling And Facebooking

<ul><li>Platforms can offer multiple products and services, which can save customers time from having to go to different places. This will keep your customers from going over to your competitors. </li><li>Your customers will be grateful to have the convenience of having everything in one place, and their loyalty will continue to grow.</li><li>Platforms can help to grow your business in ways that you could never have foreseen. </li><li>Sometimes a platform will start a side business that becomes more and more lucrative and important than the original enterprise ever was.</li></ul>

The Benefits Of Platforms

Platforms can react quicker to changing conditions than traditional firms. New products can be launched faster. They can respond with great agility to unexpected trends. In a world of continuous change, the ability to be light on one’s feet is essential. Don’t let your company languish in the technological Stone Age. Your competition is probably already working on a platform right now.

A Changing Landscape

While platforms are a great business model now in its ascendancy, that doesn’t mean that they are free of problems. Like any field of human endeavour, there is plenty of room for shortcomings and failure. Platforms aren’t always successful, for one thing. 
Sometimes they never get off the ground, sometimes they crash and burn. Platforms have their limits. They can’t sell bad products any more successfully than a traditional business can.

The Perils Of Platforms

Platforms aren’t a perfect solution to all the world’s ills. Lots of people dislike any given platform for any number of reasons. Just because an enterprise is a platform is not a guarantee it will do well. Many platforms are unsuccessful and fail. Some examples of platform failures include Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo!, Myspace, eBay and Enron. We can learn quite a bit from studying the failures of others. Although some of these companies have survived in the long run, they all have missed important opportunities in ways that caused them significant damage.

Failed Platforms

<ul><li>Stay simple and as minimal as possible.</li><li>Eschew bureaucracy. Act small.</li><li>Traditional companies get bogged down in rules and paperwork that can really hinder innovation.</li><li>Nurture the community on your platform by staying open and collaborative. </li><li>Look for extensions — new planks — that fit with your core activity. </li><li>Make intelligent acquisitions.</li><li>Develop lots of ideas. Take small risks. Go down that path to see if it leads somewhere.</li><li>Maintain core business operations even though you innovate too.</li><li>Understand that you’ll fail frequently.</li></ul>

Tips For Building A Great Platform

Perfectionism can be an obstacle to getting things done. Of course, you want to provide a quality product, but at some point, you have to let it go. Focusing on total perfection slows you down. By the time your product is perfect, it might well be obsolete.Start with the greatest capacity that you can. Excess is good. That way you can handle unexpected spikes. That way you can scale up when the time comes.

Perfectionism And Handling Spikes

It’s dangerous to cling to safety. Embrace risk. It’s safer.When you see an opportunity, move quickly. Patience is good in many ways when you build a platform. However, most opportunities don’t stick around for long. The secret is in knowing the opportunities that will best serve your platform and jumping on them quickly.Take advantage of existing planks. It’s a lot of work creating new planks from scratch. External websites, emails, blogs, applications and open source tools can all be harnessed to benefit your platform.

Embracing Risk Is Safer

The Age of the Platform explores lessons of the platform business model. Phil Simon captures some important lessons of platform development and explains why they are relevant to small business owners.

Buoyed by the success of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, companies of all sizes are fundamentally rethinking how they do business. They are creating vibrant ecosystems, and in the process, reaping big rewards. In the tradition of The Long Tail, The Age of the Platform demonstrates how the world of business today is vastly different from that of even ten years ago. Today the most successful companies are operating under an entirely different business model– one predicated on collaboration, rapid development, emerging technologies, and externally driven innovation. The Age of the Platform introduces and describes a critical new business model, one essential to survive in today’s increasingly fragmented and dynamic economy.

business

Business

books

Books

Buoyed by the success of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, thousands of companies of all sizes are fundamentally rethinking how they do business. They are creating vibrant ecosystems and, in the process, reaping big rewards. In the tradition of The Long Tail, The Age of the Platform demonstrates how the world of business today is vastly different from that of even ten years ago. Today, the most successful companies are operating under an entirely different business model-one predicated on collaboration, emerging technologies, externally driven innovation, different types of partnerships, and vibrant ecosystems. Rife with examples, The Age of the Platform is nothing less than essential reading to understand business today--and where it is going.

Phil Simon

The Age of the Platform

Wildfires can spread across millions of acres of land in a very short time. These flames travel up to 14 miles an hour and can overtake the average human in minutes.
The destruction caused by wildfires in the United States has increased. Since 2000, about 72,400 wildfires have destroyed nearly 7 million acres of U.S. land. As more people are moving into rural and wilderness areas, it&#39;s vital to understand how wildfires get started and how to deal with them.

Understanding wildfires

Only 10 to 15 percent of wildfires arise on their own. The rest is caused by humans, such as unattended camp and debris fires, cigarettes, and arson. Natural wildfires can occur during dry weather and droughts, where the vegetation becomes dry, flammable fuel. A spark in the form of lighting, arson, a burning campfire or a cigarette, even the hot sun can cause a spark, warm temperatures can cause combustion, and strong winds can spread fire quickly.

How wildfires start

One of the three conditions that make and sustain a fire must be removed. These conditions are fuel, air, or heat sources that could help spark the wildfire.<ul><li>One method is to douse existing fires with water or fire retardants.</li><li>Another is to clear vegetation from the land around the fire - called a firebreak.</li><li>Lastly is creating backfires, where firefighters fight fire with fire. These controlled fires remove undergrowth, brush, and litter that could fuel a fire.</li></ul>

How wildfires are stopped

Natural occurring wildfires play a vital part in nature. It burns decaying matter and can return trapped nutrients to the soil. It can act as a disinfectant by removing plant diseases and harmful insects. Wildfires also thin forest canopies and undergrowth, enabling the sun to shine on the forest floor, helping new seedlings grow.

Benefits of wildfires

<ul><li>If you become aware that a wildfire is moving toward your area, leave immediately.</li><li>If you live in a fire-prone area, have an evacuation plan in mind with a bag with emergency supplies.</li><li>Keep brush, weeds, and other potential fuels cleared from your property.</li><li>Put away grills, propane tanks and other flammable materials in your yard.</li><li>Close doors and windows, and fill containers with water to discourage fire. This includes sinks and tubs.</li><li>Shut off the gas.</li><li>Wetting your roof may reduce the risk of airborne embers catching.</li></ul>

Wildfire preparations

when itDuring:<ul><li>If you can, leave.</li><li>Listen for emergency alerts.</li><li>Stay inside if you cannot leave. Go to the safest building with the lowest smoke levels. Breathe through a wet cloth if you don't have a mask.</li><li>If you are caught outside, find a body of water to crouch in or a depression with the least vegetation. Crouch low for the best air, and cover yourself with wet blankets, clothes or soil.</li></ul> After:<ul><li>Listen to authorities when it is time to return and when it's safe to drink the water.</li><li>Avoid hot, smoky, or charred items.</li><li>Text friends and family.</li><li>Wear a dust mask.</li><li>Beware of flooding.</li></ul>

During and after a wildfire

In the United States, fire season lasts from June through September. Here’s what you need to know as seasonal winds drive flames across the country.

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Science & Nature

Here's how wildfires get started—and how to stop them

Modern science suggests that the gut may play a role in mood disorders and our mental health.
The gut is covered in nerve cells, or neurons, which are foundational to our brains. This network in our gut is known as the enteric nervous system or "second brain".

What you eat affects your mind

The gut plays a central role in providing the brain with neurochemicals, such as serotonin. One main pathway between the brain and the gut is the vagus nerve. About 80% of these nerve fibres are signalling from the gut to the brain, and only 20% is the other way around. Much of the information comes from gut microbes, which is influenced by diet and stress. The large intestine act as a fermentation organ and is heavily populated with microbes. The microbes break down fibres producing substances that are linked to positive health outcomes.

How the gut affects the brain

Studies show there is less microbial diversity in the intestines of an individual with depression. <ul><li>Patients with depression have less of a particular type of bacteria called bacteroides, which produces a vital chemical GABA. If the brain does not get enough GABA, it can lead to increased anxiety and insomnia.</li><li>A poor diet decrease the bacteria called bifidobacteria in our gut, which is responsible for breaking down the amino acid tryptophan - a vital building block for serotonin.</li></ul>

A good diet = good microbiota = healthy brain

There’s a reason our gut is known as the ‘second brain’ – what you eat has an effect on your mind

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