Stop thinking platforms, start thinking markets

Today, platform wars ain't what they used to be. On the one hand, there's Facebook - playing a textbook game of platform strategy, but slowly suffocating the utility of its own network. On the other, there's Apple - ignoring many of the rules of platform strategy, but radically redesigning the long-suffering mobile value chain with the iPhone App Store.
The App Store's name is revealing: it tells us that Apple doesn't see a platform to be manipulated, but a market to be made. It is that understanding that's at the heart of Apple's furious domination of the mediascape.

The little lighthouse that could

All you East-coasters will appreciate this remarkable video of a lighthouse on the coast of France being battered by waves.

Mother Nature’s kaleidoscope of colours

Colour is how the human eye perceives the reflection of different frequencies of light. It provokes us, it enchants us and our whole world revolves around it.

The kaleidoscope of colours presented in this series of spectacular lake images, expresses the incredible natural beauty of Mother Nature’s most colourful works.

An Immaculate Conception?

Ricky Martin becomes father of twins

They were born "via gestational surrogacy", which means that Ricky didn't have to have sex with anyone to fertilize the eggs.

Could the rumours about Ricky's sexuality actually be true? Let's hope so!

Do the Chinese think Westerners look all alike?

This video seems to suggest so. In the West, there's some who think Asians, especially those from China, Japan, and Korea, look pretty much the same.

But perhaps less-than-honed cross-border facial recognition is a universal problem. It seems in China, Westerners all look the same too.

In this clip, a BBC reporter is confused for U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps. Hilarity ensues.

Conservative countries + scantily clad Olympic athletes

In Beijing, Roqaya al-Gassra of Bahrain won her heat in the second round of the women's 200-meter dash while wearing long pants, long sleeves, and a head covering, in keeping with her practice of Islam. Many female Olympians wear athletic clothing that does not cover their bodies; are their events broadcast in conservative countries?

A rounder face 'means men are more aggressive'

A Canadian team studied 90 ice hockey players and found the rounder the face, the more aggressive the players....
"The facial structure of a man provides an indication of how aggressive he will be in a competitive situation," says Prof McCormick.
"Therefore, we are able to predict, with some accuracy, the behaviour of men on the basis of their facial features.