As one might expect from a centuries-old art form, the world of ballet doesn’t adapt to change all that quickly. For instance, many ballerinas depend on a type of pointe shoe designed more than 100 years ago consisting of paper, glue and fabric. While this style is certainly reliable, it can also create a great amount of discomfort or even injury for dancers. After all, the “pointe” in the shoe’s name refers to the ballerina’s need to stand readily on Continue reading
Much like the retail industry, Hollywood studios did not particularly enjoy 2017. Ticket sales at the nation’s cineplexes fell by an estimated 4 percent, representing the movie business’s lowest attendance in 22 years. What’s more, experts say those numbers would have been even worse without the help of December blockbusters like the new Star Wars and Jumanji films. But as sales at the traditional box office fell last year, business began booming for the subscription-based ticket service MoviePass.
For Continue reading
Over the last few months, we’ve posted a couple of stories about Bitcoin’s enormous gains in 2017. First we marveled at how the cryptocurrency’s value had risen to $4,000 in August after starting the year at just $985. By November, a single Bitcoin became worth more than $7,200. Since then the cryptocurrency has climbed even higher while also experiencing some major fluctuations. Last night, for instance, Bitcoin’s value reached a record high of $17,153 before eventually falling to around Continue reading
The last decade has been a good one for the Danish company Lego. After surviving a brush with bankruptcy in 2004, the famous toymaker regrouped and pursued an aggressive sales strategy focused on creating popular product lines. The plan worked as brands like Lego Architecture and the Mindstorms series attracted thousands of fans both young and old. By 2010 profits had quadrupled from the same time two years before. The company has since released two hit movies while continuing to Continue reading
When Bitcoin launched in 2008, a single unit of the mysterious cryptocurrency was worth just a little more than half a cent. Bitcoin’s value remained under a dollar for years afterward, leading many to wonder why anyone would invest in a strange new currency that couldn’t be controlled by any government or company. Besides being seemingly worthless, Bitcoin also operated through a decentralized network of computers whose owner was impossible to verify. This anonymity extended to Bitcoin’s users as well, Continue reading
Over the course of four decades, more than 80,000 people have learned how to become McDonald’s managers on the the leafy grounds of Hamburger University. The company long considered this 86-acre Oak Brook, Illinois, institution to be the perfect place to train employees while also attracting top-level executives. Then last year McDonald’s surprised staff by announcing the company would move its headquarters out of the suburbs and into the West Loop of Chicago.
Located near an “L” train stop and Continue reading
Since launching 20 years ago, Netflix has transformed from a DVD-by-mail service into the undisputed king of streaming video. The company now has more than 104 million subscribers across the world, a 25 percent increase since last year and quadruple the number of customers from 2012. On any given evening in North America, Netflix streaming accounts for more than a third of all download Internet traffic. The company’s lineup of original shows and movies are also a hit with critics Continue reading