Microgreens are everywhere these days. You see them in the toppings, in the garnishes and hey also in your friend’s Instagram page.   So what is so great about microgreens that makes everyone go gaga over it? The answer is very simple. More nutrition at fraction of a time! Needs very small space to grow […]

Billy Johnson, a personal injury attorney in Pikeville, KY, said that a greater awareness of the threats facing motorists could reduce the number of vehicle crashes.

Washtech is headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia and has been in the car wash equipment sales and service business for over 20 years.

Leveraging connected car capabilities with 13 top brands reduces customer friction and puts on-demand car care company ahead of the curve

In exciting news, Hydro dipping experts TSAUTOP Hydrographics recently announced they have broken into the European market closing a large deal in Lissoneo, Italy.

In 1920, as its population began to explode, Los Angeles was a largely pastoral city of bungalows and palm trees. Thirty years later, choked with smog and traffic, the city had become synonymous with urban sprawl and unplanned growth.

Yet Los Angeles was anything but unplanned, as Jeremiah B.C. Axelrod reveals in this compelling, visually oriented history of the metropolis during its formative years. In a deft mix of cultural and intellectual history that brilliantly illuminates the profound relationship between imagination and place, Inventing Autopia: Dreams And Visions Of The Modern Metropolis In Jazz Age Los Angeles (Berkeley: University Of California Press, 2009) shows how the clash of irreconcilable utopian visions and dreams resulted in the invention of an unforeseen new form of urbanism--sprawling, illegible, fractured--that would reshape not only Southern California but much of the nation in the years to come.

At 401 pages, it could seem like a daunting read, but those interested in Los Angeles history, urbanization, or the rise of the automobile will find this enjoyable. It's a great compliment to the Metro Library's historic transit and transportation studies collection. Many of these documents, which date back to 1911, have been digitized and are available on our website in full-text PDF.

Axelrod focuses on the 1920s when Los Angeles was growing at a fast clip. As we noted back in July, the number of automobile registrations in Los Angeles County quadrupled between 1914 and 1922 - making it very clear that the city's embrace of the auto would set the stage for decades of congestion and other issues.

Going back further in history is another equally seminal story about transportation in the West. Acclaimed historian Walter R. Borneman has written a dazzling account of the battle to build the first transportation system across America.

Rival Rails: The Race To Build America's Greatest Transcontinental Railroad (New York: Random House, 2010) is an action-packed epic of how an empire was born—and the remarkable men who made it happen.

After the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, the rest of the country was up for grabs, and the race was on. The prize: a better, shorter, less snowy route through the corridors of the American Southwest, linking Los Angeles to Chicago.

Borneman lays out in compelling detail the sectional rivalries, contested routes, political posturing, and ambitious business dealings that unfolded as an increasing number of lines pushed their way across the country.

The author brings to life the legendary business geniuses and so-called robber barons who made millions and fought the elements—and one another—to move America, including:

William Jackson Palmer, whose leadership of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad relied on innovative narrow gauge trains that could climb steeper grades and take tighter curves;

Collis P. Huntington of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific lines, a magnate insatiably obsessed with trains—and who was not above bribing congressmen to satisfy his passion;

Edward Payson Ripley, visionary president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, whose fiscal conservatism and smarts brought the industry back from the brink; and

Jay Gould, ultrasecretive, strong-armer and one-man powerhouse.

In addition, Borneman captures the herculean efforts required to construct these roads—the laborers who did the back-breaking work, boring tunnels through mountains and throwing bridges across unruly rivers, the brakemen who ran atop moving cars, the tracklayers crushed and killed by runaway trains.

From backroom deals in Washington, D.C., to armed robberies of trains in the wild deserts, from glorified cattle cars to streamliners and Super Chiefs, all the great incidents and innovations of a mighty American era are re-created with unprecedented power in this new work destined to be a classic.

Turning now to urban planning, author Patrick Condon discusses transportation, housing equity, job distribution, economic development, and ecological systems issues and synthesizes his knowledge and research into a simple-to-understand set of urban design rules that can, if followed, help save the planet.

Seven Rules For Sustainable Communities: Design Strategies For The Post Carbon World (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2010) clearly connects the form of our cities to their ecological, economic, and social consequences. This book takes on a wide range of complex and contentious issues and distills them down to convincing and practical solutions.

Of particular importance is how city form affects the production of planet-warming greenhouse gases. The author explains this relationship in an accessible way, and goes on to show how conforming to seven simple rules for community design could literally do a world of good. Each chapter in the book explains one rule in depth, adding a wealth of research to support each claim. If widely used, Condon argues, these rules would lead to a much more livable world for future generations—a world that is not unlike the better parts of our own.

In Last Exit: Privatization And Deregulation Of The U.S. Transportation System (Washington, D.C.: Brookings, 2010), Clifford Winston reminds us that transportation services and infrastructure in the United States were originally introduced by private firms.

The case for subsequent public ownership and management of the system was weak, in his view, and here he assesses the case for privatization and deregulation to greatly improve Americans satisfaction with their transportation systems. How can this be done?

Writing in the New York Times, Harvard University economics professor Edward L. Glaeser points out that:

Because the public sector controls almost all roads, airports and urban transit, we see the downsides of public control on a daily basis, but we don’t experience the social costs that could accompany privatization. A private airport operator might try to exploit its monopoly power over a particular market or cut costs in a way that increases the probability of very costly, but rare, disaster.

The complexity and risks of switching to private provision means that Mr. Winston is wise to call for experimentation rather than wholesale privatization. An incremental process of trying things out will provide information and build public support.

Yet many of Mr. Winston’s recommendations are incremental and can be done without privatization or much risk.

The book covers privatization and deregulation of roads, airports, air traffic control, mass transit, intercity buses and railway networks.

Oh soo cute display. Your finishes always inspire me to do something new.

Welcome to Menu Plan Monday! Affiliate links are included in this post. This means I make a small commission should you purchase product using these links. This is at no extra cost to you. Hi friends! I hope you all had a nice Easter weekend and made the best of the circumstances. We had a […]

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Welcome to Menu Plan Monday! Affiliate links are included in this post. This means I make a small commission should you purchase product using these links. This is at no extra cost to you. Hi friends! How many of you are still menu planning while in isolation? I am but it’s a pretty flexible plan […]

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Welcome to Menu Plan Monday! Affiliate links are included in this post. This means I make a small commission should you purchase product using these links. This is at no extra cost to you. Hi friends! How are you? We are still doing okay here. The good news is our snow melted away so fast. […]

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April 2020 Monthly Recap Hi friends, thank you so much for visiting me here. I so appreciate you supporting me and my blog with your post shares, social media likes and comments. It really helps to allow me to continue to do this. It’s hard to believe this blog will be celebrating 14 years in […]

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Welcome to Menu Plan Monday! Affiliate links are included in this post. This means I make a small commission should you purchase product using these links. This is at no extra cost to you. Hey there menu planners. Hope you are still staying safe and healthy. We are doing okay here. In fact a few […]

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The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has shown the dire need to have essential health goods manufactured in the United States, rather than places like China. Startup company SerraeX is aiming to change this with their ambitious new crowdfunding campaign

The firm received PSN's 6- Star and 5-Star recognition for its Balanced Portfolio for the 5-year period ending December 31, 2019

On our final episode of the year and of the decade we look back on our favorite Xbox games of the decade, including both first-party exclusives and memorable third-party offerings. Plus: a recap of the rest of the non-Xbox Series X elements of last week's Game Awards and more! Happy Holidays and New Year! See you in January!

This article demonstrates how building a smarter API serving Deep Learning models minimizes the response time.

The companies are part of a shift toward deeper integration between online and offline operations.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

Patrick Lencioni, author of "Silos, Politics and Turf Wars." Also: HBR articles "Preparing for a Pandemic" and "Inside the Mind of the Chinese Consumer."

Jon Lukomnik, managing parter of Sinclair Capital LLC and coauthor of "The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping the Corporate Agenda."

Darrell Rigby, Bain & Company partner and head of the firm's global retail practice. Also: Leon Gorman, chairman of L.L.Bean.

John Boudreau, USC Marshall School of Business professor and coauthor of "Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital."

Behnam Tabrizi, consulting professor at Stanford University and author of "Rapid Transformation: A 90-day Plan for Fast and Effective Change."

John Boudreau, USC Marshall School of Business professor and coauthor of "Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital."

Ed Catmull, cofounder of Pixar and president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios.

Michael Watkins, cofounder of Genesis Advisers and author of the HBR article "Picking the Right Transition Strategy."

Alexandra Samuel, director of the Social + Interactive Media Centre at Emily Carr University.

Michael E. Porter, Bishop William Lawrence University Professor and coauthor of the HBR article "Creating Shared Value."

Stefano Puntoni, professor at the Rotterdam School of Management and author of the HBR article "The Color Pink Is Bad for Fighting Breast Cancer."

Douglas Conant, former CEO of Campbell's Soup Company.

John Mackey, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market and coauthor of "Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business."

Russell Sanna, executive director of the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

HBR editors read top posts from HBR.org.

Stewart D. Friedman, Wharton professor and author of "Baby Bust," presents new research.

Emma Seppälä, Stanford researcher and author of "The Happiness Track," explains the proven benefits of a positive outlook; simple ways to increase your sense of well-being; and why it's not about being ecstatic or excited all the time.

Jerry Seinfeld shares his insights into innovation, self-criticism, and how to know when to quit. The U.S. comedian conquered 1990s television with his sitcom and is now finding a new audience for his online talk show, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee."

Aaron Levie, the CEO of Box, reflects on the cloud storage company’s entry into the enterprise market. He was skeptical about pivoting away from consumers, and it was challenging. But by staying disciplined with the product and deeply understanding market trends, they've made the strategic shift from B2C to B2B work.

Ashley Whillans, professor at Harvard Business School, researches time-money trade-offs. She argues more people would be happier if they spent more of their hard-earned money to buy themselves out of negative experiences. Her research shows that paying to outsource housework or to enjoy a shorter commute can have an outsized impact on happiness and relationships. Whillans is the author of the HBR article “Time for Happiness.”

Ryan Buell, associate professor at Harvard Business School, says the never-ending quest for operational efficiency is having unintended consequences. When customers don’t see the work that’s being done in back offices, offshore factories, and algorithms, they’re less satisfied with their purchases. Buell believes organizations should deliberately design windows into and out of operations. He says increasing operational transparency helps customers and employees alike appreciate the value being created. Buell is the author of the HBR article "Operational Transparency."

Patrick McGinnis, creator of the term FOMO, engages business leaders, entrepreneurs, politicians and more about the paths they’ve taken in life – and what they’ve let go of. In this episode, he speaks with Zola CEO Shan-Lyn Ma and Female Founders Fund founder Anu Duggal about how women are driving diversity in the start-up world. "FOMO Sapiens with Patrick J. McGinnis" is part of HBR Presents, a new network of business podcasts curated by HBR editors. For our full lineup of shows, search “HBR” on your favorite podcast app or visit hbr.org/podcasts.

Scott Kupor, managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, says there's a lot about navigating the venture capital world that entrepreneurs don't understand. Some can't figure out how to get in the door. Others fail to deliver persuasive pitches. Many don't know how the deals and relationships really work. Kupor outlines what he and his partners look for in founding teams and business ideas and explains how start-ups work with VCs to become successful companies. He also discusses how Silicon Valley can do a better job of finding more diverse talent and funding new types of ventures. Kupor is the author of the book "Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It."

Nathan Furr, assistant professor of strategy at INSEAD, researches what makes great innovative leaders, and he reveals how they develop and spend “innovation capital.” Like social or political capital, it’s a power to motivate employees, win the buy-in of stakeholders, and sell breakthrough products. Furr argues that innovation capital is something everyone can develop and grow by using something he calls impression amplifiers. Furr is the coauthor of the book “Innovation Capital: How to Compete--and Win--Like the World's Most Innovative Leaders.”

Eugene Soltes, associate professor at Harvard Business School, studies white-collar crime and has even interviewed convicts behind bars. While most people think of high-profile scandals like Enron, he says every sizable organization has lapses in integrity. He shares practical tools for managers to identify pockets of ethical violations to prevent them from ballooning into serious reputational and financial damage. Soltes is the author of the HBR article “Where Is Your Company Most Prone to Lapses in Integrity?”

Ranjay Gulati, professor at Harvard Business School, says the most successful organizations tend to have one thing in common: a soul. Moving beyond culture, the "soul" of a growing start-up -- or a more established company -- is built on clear business intent, a strong connection to customers, and a stellar employee experience. Gulati says that leaders must think hard about preserving all three elements of the soul even as they scale and never lose sight of what makes their company special. He's the author of the HBR article "The Soul of a Start-Up."