11-11-143
For three 20-year-old programmers in San Francisco, it took about three days' worth of work. Spurred by the problems that have surrounded the rollout of the official HeathCare.gov site, the trio created an alternative, Health Sherpa, quickly and cheaply. At first glance, it looks like a triumph of tech-startup nimbleness over government inefficiency. George Kalogeropoulos, who created the site along with Ning Liang and Michael Wa**er, said all three of them had tried using the government website to get insurance. The result is a bare-bones site that lets users enter their zip code, plus details about their family and income, to find suggested plans in their area. The Sherpa are an ethnic group in Nepal, some of whom have long served as guides for people climbing Mount Everest and other mountains in the Himalayas. The name has come to be used generically for any kind of guide or mentor. It's not fair to compare the creation of Health Sherpa to the rollout of the more complicated government ACA site, which everyone from President Obama on down has acknowledged as a horribly botched affair.
11-12-13
Surrounded by rubble, children swarm around a public well in this storm-ravaged city, where bodies are still lying in the streets days after a deadly typhoon struck. The children douse themselves with water and fill plastic cups and jugs. The scene on a street in the city of Tacloban is one of many CNN reporters and others have witnessed as residents deal with the d**h and destruction that Typhoon Haiyan left behind when the ma**ive storm tore through the Philippines. A man begged for forgiveness because he couldn't save his daughter from the typhoon's wrath. Many homes in Coron were severely damaged by the typhoon, she said, as the howling winds ripped roofs off houses made of light material like bamboo.
11-13-13
Perhaps nothing illustrates the ambitions of the well-established Gulf carriers -- Emirates, Etihad and Qatar -- and Turkish Airlines so much as the swift expansion of their route networks. Turkish Airlines currently flies to about 190 destinations, and plans to add another 60 to its network in the next five years. Emirates, meanwhile, is expected to soon add to its already gargantuan fleet with a rumored record-breaking order for Boeing's 777X aircraft. When it comes to choosing what routes to launch, it happens that the region's major carriers have a carefully calculated strategy that can speak volumes about emerging markets. Breaking up America? Traditionally, the U.S. has been overlooked in favor of the European market by the Gulf carriers and Turkish.
11-14-13
There are some things to know before you go to Tokyo. The first one is to not tip. Tipping isn't expected in taxis, at hair salons, for doormen or bartenders. Not only are gratuities not expected, they won't be accepted. Some restaurant checks will include a service charge. The second thing is to walk right on the left. Pedestrians on wide sidewalks follow the unspoken rule of staying to the left almost as strictly as cars do. On Tokyo escalators, stand on the left and walk on the right. The third one is drink outside and smoke inside. The more enclosed a space is, the more likely you'll be allowed to smoke there. The smaller and homier a bar or restaurant, the more likely it is to be smoker-friendly. On the other hand, smoking is prohibited on many sidewalks, except around public ashtrays.
11-15-13
As schoolchildren, we learned the names of famous inventors from history: Alexander Graham Bell, Eli Whitney, Thomas Edison. Ask someone to name a famous modern-day inventor, though, and you'll probably get a blank look. Today's heroes are celebrities: Actors, athletes, singers.
But where would we be without the Post-It Note, the smartphone, the luggage with wheels that rolls through the airport? Somebody invented each of those things, and we owe them all a debt for making our lives easier.
The best inventions make us wonder what we ever did without them.
As part of our focus on innovation, CNN is honoring 10 new inventions in technology and related fields.