The concept of franchisingas a distribution model has been around since the nineteenth century. In the 1940’s, McDonald’s was the first company to pioneer the distribution model.
Is the traditional university lecture dead?
The aim of open online massive courses is to provide instruction similar to what students can get in a traditional college atmosphere, only more cheaply and conveniently.
Why would you pay thousands of dollars to sit in a university lecture hall as a professor drones away in front of bored students when you could instead take some of the world’s greatest courses online? For free?
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Why neuroscience is ending the Prozac era
The big money has moved from developing psychiatric drugs to manipulating our brain networks.
Has the psychiatric drug age reached its peak? Mind-altering drugs have are being prescribed in record numbers but there are signs of a radically new approach to understanding and treating mental illnesses. A huge research effort is now devoted to altering the function of specific neural circuits by physical intervention in the brain and the focus is no longer on developing drugs.
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Wild animals are adapting to city life and thriving
A coyote boarded a train in Portland, Oregon.
Cities are seen as the hardest place for the hardiest of animals to exist. They are seen as environmental wastelands. But more and more wild animals are adjusting to life in the city as scientists in the the urban ecology field are finding.
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The future of movie theaters
Is the movie industry dying at the hands of home theaters, Netflix, Redbox, LoveFilm, and Amazon Instant Video?
Jack Valenti, former President of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) once said, “I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.” That was a controversial claim but it helps highlight the fears that emerging technologies can cause amongst those with an interest in the status quo. In this instance, the underlying concern was that VHS-enabled time-shifting meant that viewers could not only copy and distribute copyrighted broadcasts, but also fast-forward commercials, which could discourage advertisers.
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The future of software is all about analytics
Companies that want to sell software to enterprise in the next few years might be wise to start thinking about data. That doesn’t mean they need to become a “big data” company, per se, but at least thinking of what metrics your customers need tracked and how to deliver that information to them.
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Are universities terrified of MOOCs?
The internet has made it possible for people to educate themselves, independently or in groups large and small, on an unprecedented scale.
There hasn’t been much change in universities since the Middle Ages. Universities have the campus with its lecture halls, dormitories, libraries, and laboratories surrounded by leafy quadrangles. They have added giant sports complexes, gyms and swimming pools, and gourmet restaurants, but the basic layout is the same. And the production process hasn’t changed since around 1200. Professors give lectures, students read books and take notes, there are examinations and grades, along with the occasional tutoring session, and a great deal of hanky panky. The professors wear tweed jackets instead of gowns, and the students wear – well, just about anything, including pajamas – but otherwise the university remains one of society’s most conservative institutions.
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232 million people live outside their home country
Nearly two-thirds of all international migrants live in Europe and Asia.
New data released by the United Nations shows that 232 million people, or 3.2 percent of the world’s population, live outside of their countries of birth. This global diaspora has big implications as countries try to balance growth with unease over outsiders. So where are all of these people anyway? And are they helping or hurting their new homes?
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Amazon reports vinyl record sales are up 745% since 2008
Why are vinyl record sales up?
In the era when it seems like all of our music has gone digital, an interesting trend has been reported by Amazon: sales of vinyl records are up 745% since 2008.
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Hospitals now a major source of contracting antibiotic-resistant infections: CDC
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are prevalent in the U.S.
Antibiotic-resistant infections are rapidly increasing in the United States, according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the U.S., more than two million people get drug-resistant infections every year. About 23,000 die from these diseases that are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics in doctors’ arsenals.
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Designing classroom ‘makerspaces’ to transform learning in schools
The Maker movement emphasizes products and processes born from tinkering, playing, experimenting, expressing, iterating and collaborating.
Learning in our schools is poised to be transformed by the Maker movement. This fresh approach emphasizes creation and creativity and counteracts educational standards, testing and uniformity. Its emphasis is on products and processes born from tinkering, playing, experimenting, expressing, iterating and collaborating — and exploits new digital tools to make, share and learn across space and time, DIY style. Museums, libraries, community centers and after-school programs have designed physical and virtual “makerspaces” to host communities of supportive peers and mentors invested in creating everything from nail polish design and webpages to jewelry and robots . . . and now, even school curriculum.
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Top 10 Photos of the Week
We should be able to travel everywhere by “pool!”
Quote of the Day: “You know that look women get when they want sex? Me neither.” – – Drew Carey
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