As in the global survey, we are concerned with platform business models and the design choices that allow these business models to grow. We find the term platform, which is well-established in economic and management literature, offers a more useful and accurate term than some of the terms that have been used such as "share economy companies," "internet companies" or, even more broadly, "tech companies." Network effects are a key characteristic that distinguish platforms from other business models. As more users engage with a platform, the more attractive the platform becomes to potential new users. When more users attract more users, a dynamic is created that in turn triggers a self-reinforcing cycle of growth.

It had always been Katherine Goble's great talent to be in the right place at the right time. In August 1952, 12 years after leaving graduate school to have her first child, that right place was in Marion, Virginia, at the wedding of her husband, Jimmy Goble's, little sister Patricia. Pat, a vivacious college beauty queen just two months graduated from Virginia State College, was marrying her college sweetheart, a young army corporal named Walter Kane. Jimmy's other sister and brother-in-law, Margaret and Eric Epps, had journeyed from Newport News, and the newlyweds planned to accompany the Eppses back to the coast, hitching a ride to their honeymoon at Hampton's segregated Bay Shore Beach resort. "Why don't y'all come home with us too?" Eric asked Katherine. "I can get Snook a job at the shipyard," he said, using Jimmy's family nickname. "In fact, I can get both of you jobs." There's a government facility in Hampton that's hiring black women, Eric told Katherine, and they're looking for mathematicians. It's a civilian job, he told her, but attached to Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory--the oldest outpost of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA. Katherine listened intently as her brother-in-law described the work, her thumb cradling her chin, her index finger extended along her cheek, the signal that she was listening carefully. She and Jimmy made a living as public school teachers, but their paychecks were modest. The needs of their three growing daughters seemed greater by the day, and the couple could only just cover their basics and squeeze out a little extra for piano lessons or Girl Scouts. Deft with a sewing machine, Katherine bought fabric from the dry goods store and stayed up nights making school outfits for the girls and dresses for herself.

A full-body virtual autopsy of an ancient Egyptian mummy showed visitors he was likely murdered. By combining visualization techniques with interactive multi-touch tables and intuitive user interfaces, visitors to museums and science centers can conduct self-guided tours of large volumetric image data. In an interactive learning experience, visitors become the explorers of otherwise invisible interiors of unique artifacts and subjects. Here, we take as our starting point the state of the art in scanning technologies, then discuss the latest research on high-quality interactive volume rendering and how it can be tailored to meet the specific demands of public venues. We then describe our approach to the creation of interactive stories and the design principles on which they are based and interaction with domain experts. The article is based on experience from several application domains but uses a 2012 public installation of an ancient mummy at the British Museum as its primary example. We also present the results of an evaluation of the installation showing the utility of the developed solutions. Visitors walk into Gallery 64, the Early Egypt Gallery at the British Museum, eager to see and learn about one of the most famous and oldest mummies in the collection. Known as the Gebelein Man, he was buried in a crouched position in a shallow grave during the late pre-dynastic period at the site of Gebelein in Upper Egypt.

Artificial intelligence has become more of a philosophy than a programming tool at Facebook. Laced across the company's products, it holds the power to analyze data at the massive scale required by a social network connecting a quarter of the world's population. In a speech today at Web Summit, Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer laid out a vision for the role artificial intelligence and machine learning will play in the company's ambitions to improve global connectivity, technology accessibility, and human computer interaction. "People want to stay connected and close to other people, so whatever is the best current technology to deploy that is the business we want to be in," said Schroepfer. Large companies like Facebook play an incredibly important role in the artificial intelligence and machine learning ecosystem.

A U.K. startup that uses artificial intelligence to help banks and other financial firms with anti-money laundering compliance received $8.2 million to fund its expansion in Europe and North America. The financing for London-based ComplyAdvantage is being lead by British venture capital firm Balderton Capital. The company, which said in a statement it has 200 clients globally, said it would use the money to expand its operations, adding to its current team of about 50 employees. It will also open a sales office in New York this week. Complying with the growing body of anti-money laundering and know-your-customer regulations around the world is becoming an expensive headache for financial institutions.

Vinci believes in a future where your headphones are the central hub of your connected world. Over the last two years we've been testing and perfecting a smart, wireless headphone that is controlled by your voice and powered by cloud technology, with no connection needed to your mobile phone. Wire-free and phone-free, Vinci is perfect for joggers, travelers and all music lovers. Vinci allows you to voice control your music when manually choosing songs on your phone is inconvenient. No matter what you're doing - walking, running, or commuting - you can tell Vinci exactly what song or artist you want to listen to, say a specific genre or mood, or let Vinci pick a song for you.

Poaching is a massive problem for the elephant and rhinoceros populations in countries like South Africa and Kenya. The World Wildlife Fund has recently implemented some new technologies in wildlife preserves to combat poachers. Thermal imaging from tech company Flir lets rangers keep their eye on endangered animals at all times, and stop poachers in their tracks. These thermal imaging cameras, whether they're mounted on poles, attached to moving vehicles, or held by hand can see as far as a mile. The fixed-position cameras feedback to a central command where an artificial intelligence algorithm trained to detect human movement sends out an alert when poachers are spotted.

The footage reveals a glimpse of North Korea's capital city, Pyongyang in May 2016 Numerous landmarks can be seen, including the Kim Il-Sung Stadium and Kumsusan Palace of the Sun Groups of people walking around the city, and cars driving on the streets can be seen in the footage The footage reveals a glimpse of North Korea's capital city, Pyongyang in May 2016 The video, taken by the Iris camera on May 30, provides a distant look at life behind the city walls, with sparse traffic and even pedestrians visible in the clips. How fusion reactors could change the world: Experts explain... Global warming scarred the surface of Mars: Deep canyons and... Why atheists appear so angry: Study finds their... Google's humanoid robot goes off road (and this time,... How fusion reactors could change the world: Experts explain... Global warming scarred the surface of Mars: Deep canyons and... Why atheists appear so angry: Study finds their... Google's humanoid robot goes off road (and this time,... The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun can be seen in the footage as well. 'The world doesn't get many peeks behind North Korea's walls, nor at its capital city, Pyongyang,' Theras A. Gordon Wood wrote in a UrtheCast blog post. Footage captured from the International Space Station has revealed a rare glimpse at North Korea's capital city, Pyongyang.

The'smart' speakers that won't stop talking to each other: Watch Amazon's Echo Dot get stuck in an'infinite loop' chatting to Google's Home Google's $130 Home speaker went on sale earlier this month Amazon's Alexa has been a huge hit with 5.1m sold Both can do everything from control lights to answer questions Google's $130 Home speaker went on sale earlier this month Amazon's Alexa has been a huge hit with 5.1m sold Has YOUR Google account been hacked? Researchers say... Apple goes Red for World AIDS day as firm is revealed to... Britain traded with the Middle East 1,300 years ago: Bitumen... The original human ancestor'Lucy' was a tree climbing... Has YOUR Google account been hacked? Researchers say... Apple goes Red for World AIDS day as firm is revealed to... Britain traded with the Middle East 1,300 years ago: Bitumen... The original human ancestor'Lucy' was a tree climbing... Google Home AI speaker (left) shows the incredible potential of a smart home assistant - but still has a little bit of learning to do before it become indispensable.

Rumors are flying about the latest Samsung flagship smartphone. Presumably to be called the Galaxy S8, it'll attempt to revive Samsung's burned edges from the Galaxy Note7 debacle. Here's everything we have heard so far about what Samsung is putting together. The details are pretty much in the rumor category at this point, but we'll continually update this article as we get more information. The latest Samsung phone usually wins the "best display" crown from Displaymate.