Features

  Lisa Abeyta / TNS I recently had the opportunity to attend the Smart Cities Innovation Summit in Austin, Texas, both as a speaker about our mobile platform for cities as well as to learn about the latest innovations within the smart cities industry which spans a broad range of technologies and initiatives aimed at improving the efficiencies, security and ...

  Mexico City / DPA Tiny veteran cars, plastic wrestling figures, trains, rag dolls, a horse carousel slot machine and a giant shark are just some on instantly lovable toys found in a one-of-a-kind Mexican museum. Located on the same street where its founder, collector Roberto Yukio Shimizu, grew up, the Mexican Antique Toy Museum collects the little playthings that ...

  Amanda Pressner Kreuser / TNS For one reason or another, you’re itching to quit your job. Maybe you’ve maxed out your growth at your current company, you want to explore a totally new field, you’re feeling stifled by a new supervisor, or you’re ready to start your own business. The call for independence can be a pretty strong one, ...

  Dusseldorf / DPA There’s a tremendous hullabaloo in the city concert hall as 1,000 primary school children aged between 6 and 10 chatter and laugh. But when the singing teachers step on to the stage and give a signal to each corner of the hall, silence descends in an instant. Moments later the hall resonates with the sound of ...

  John Boitnott / TNS Every new customer converted is a battle won for a small business. It’s no easy task to reach a broad audience and convince strangers to trust your business with their money, especially when you lack the established reputation of a larger company. Luckily, there are many growth strategies for small businesses out there, from segmenting ...

  Laas Geel / AFP Centuries have passed since Neolithic artists swirled red and white colour on the cliffs of northern Somalia, painting antelopes, cattle, giraffes and hunters carrying bows and arrows. Today, the paintings at Laas Geel in the self-declared state of Somaliland retain their fresh brilliance, providing vivid depictions of a pastoralist history dating back some 5,000 years ...

  Heather R. Morgan / TNS Would you like to know how you can increase your online sales without spending a ton of money on advertising? There’s a lot of ways you can drive sales, but some methods are more powerful than others. Even with social media, email marketing is still the number one channel for driving sales, accounting for ...

  Hanau / DPA The world’s oldest carousel, a plaything for a prince, has been restored to working order after many years of painstaking work to fix its wooden horses. Prince Wilhelm IX of Hessen-Kassel wanted a merry-go-round like those seen at fun-fairs and it was completed for him in 1780 in Wilhelmsbad Park in Hanau, now a town on ...

  Jacob Morgan / TNS We’ve all seen Google Glasses (back in the day), Fitbits, and Apple Watches around town, but could these new technological gadgets really make their way into the workplace? The answer to that question is a definite yes. Credit Suisse called wearables the “next big thing” and said the industry could grow by a staggering 1000% ...

Mainz / DPA Where once 10,000 people gathered at a time, all chattering in Latin and guttural German dialects before watching live plays, only weeds now thrive. The ruins of Mainz’ 2,000-year-old theatre are neglected. Only a flimsy fence separates it from a railway station. Wooden benches built 15 years ago on the old stone are so rotten that they ...