Space agencies engaged in spaceflight are in the United States (NASA), Russia, the European Union (ESA), China, Canada, Japan and India. The United States, Russia and China are the only countries to have placed people alone in space. India and Japan say they intend to do so in the coming decades. According to https://mathassignmenthelp.org/ stats, European and Canadian astronauts fly with NASA and the Russian Space Agency and participate in the International Space Station.

You can see the EU budget for 2005 was € 2.98 billion (about $ 3.5 billion), but many European countries also have their own space agencies, funded independently. So it's not a fair comparison.

The budget of NASA for the last 40 years. In 2005, NASA had a budget of $ 16.2 billion; This includes not only the division of spaceflight, but also other engineering projects, as well as scientific projects funded by NASA. The total budget of the federal budget in 2005 was about $ 2 trillion ($ 2 trillion), which makes NASA a 0.8% share of the budget. By way of comparison, about 19% of the budget was spent on the military, 21% on social security and 8% on interest payments on public debt.

Cities such as San Francisco, Chicago and New York have extensive public-transportation systems. They carry millions of people by train, bus, boat and light rail. The recent expansion of private vehicle options like Uber, Lyft, and Google Bus give commuters more choices, but they can also undermine public transportation.

It raises the question: will people continue to use public transportation in the future?

There are already alternative options that thousands of commuters are using every day. For example, Chariot, a privately-run vanpool option in San Francisco, can cut a 40-50 minute commute by train and bus to just 20 minutes, for roughly the same cost.

All of which raises a very important point: if we want public transportation to continue to be available, we need to improve it.

Of course, some may not see the need for public transportation, but that’s a question we’ll leave to the policy makers. For now, we’ll break down the how, what, and why of public transportation, including costs, detriments, positives, and potential improvements.

Costs of Transportation

In reality, why would anyone use public services if private services can do the same thing more efficiently? Private bus or car services are more pleasant and just as cost effective. Privatization could potentially save billions. Privatizing public bussing has the potential to save government entities $5.7 billion a year, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Some researchers will argue that public transit is a monopoly. The government doles out tax dollars and subsidies to transit companies which allow them to operate in environments where some other ventures wouldn’t be able to. The downfall is that the government regulates all non-governmental transportation services, which can drive private business operators out of the market.

But, even with all the government help, most metro areas have budgets insufficient for maintaining their public transit systems. New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) carries more than 6 million passengers every day and has a $15 billion budget; yet, it is constantly in danger of shutting down. Private companies like Chariot and Uber Pool run without subsidies, yet still continue to have infusions of cash from venture capitalists.

Many would argue that the private sector is the better option. The private sector can innovate, use new technology, and consider customer input in ways government can’t. Government can only worry about the customers it is currently serving.

When thinking about public transportation, consider the costs associated with:

• Being a slave to transit schedules
• Space and privacy limitations on crowded trains or buses
• Unforeseen delays from adverse weather conditions or mechanical failures
• Close proximity to strangers
• Paying for every trip, both one-way and round-trip

However, though there are certainly many negatives to public transportation, we can’t ignore the positives.

Public Transportation Benefits

Cities with public transportation have the opportunity to offer transit service to the underserved. The local government can also choose to provide vouchers for people considering private options.

Chariot of San Francisco has recently met with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and offered to work with them in filling the gaps in underserved areas. Since one-fifth of Chariot trips are to or from public transit stops, the agency can collaborate with private services to improve the public transportation system.

Transportation projects can also positively impact a community’s economic development objectives, like increased productivity, new employment, new business activity, increased property values, new investment and increased tax revenues.

Transportation projects that improve overall accessibility to businesses, retail, education, and employment, and reduce transportation costs, can increase economic development and productivity.

When you live in a region with reliable public transit, the American Public Transport Association reports that you can save over $10,000 per year on transportation costs. The estimate of savings includes the costs associated with car payments, maintenance, repairs, fuel costs, and parking fees.

Many people choose alternate transit options for other reasons, such as

• Reducing one’s carbon footprint
• Increased well-being and decreased stress from driving
• Time gained to work, read or relax
• Decreased wear and tear on personal vehicles
• Health benefits from walking to and from public transit stops or stations

Given the benefits of public transportation, are there ways that the technology of the private sector can improve the efficiency of the public sector? Read more about future transportation .

First  post!  I truly believe the first steps of the space age is upon us.  This might seem fictional and crazy to most people, even laughable for now, but it'll only be a matter of time where all this space society will become important.  So happy to be a part of this!!!

The majority of Internet users consider each URL as a website. The thing is that many of these sites are not sites at all. They are web apps. For the end user, all these terms don't matter. But they matter to you and your business when you contact a development agency and try to explain what you actually need.

Another reason to learn the difference between web app and website is the future of your business. If you want to use your software for a long time, develop and improve it, you should also understand how to do this in a case of web app and website. That is why we decided to dot the t's and cross the i's and finally find out what are the key difference between a website and web application and what type of software will fit your project requirements better.

Difference between website and web application

Before we compare the notions of website and web application, let's find out what each of them means and what set of peculiarities they have.

What is website?

A website is a static page on the Internet which isn't very functional. Its main purpose is to provide an end user with some particular information. Users in most cases do nothing but read (or watch or listen to) the information which a website contains. The brightest examples of typical websites are news, recipes, weather, blog portals.

The main idea of this type of software is that a customer has little or no interaction with the program. For instance, on the news website, you can choose news section. Another example is a subscription form which can also be present on a site. But nothing more. A user doesn't input any information to a website.

If you want to see a real-life example, visit our website The Match Player . The full project includes an iOS and Android application and a landing page where you can read about it. The Match Player is a program where users can create accounts and look for competitors for a golf match. Apart from that, there's also a dating part with a chat, where everyone finds a date. The comprehensive review of the Match Player app you can find in our blog.

Match Player: Website by Cleveroad

What is a web app?

A web app is an interactive page. It allows users to input, get and manipulate data in different ways with the help of interaction. Such software programs usually have a very tight connection with the server and send lots of requests to it.

If you need a clue of what a web app is, think about an online content editor, which processes users' files. Another example is a social network. Here users can communicate, share content, post news and so on. It's a web app too.

Cleveroad has created lots of web apps. One of the most recent is a Shirt App project. Shirt App is a web-based application where anyone can create a custom design of a T-shirt for himself or for a present and order it.

Shirt app: Web application example

Another great example of a web application that we've created is a Train Away project. The full scope of work included an IOS and Android app development plus a web application. The project helps people all around the world find a plate for trainings with the needed facilities. The program also allows users to pay for a visit or to buy one-week or monthly subscription.

TrainAway: Web app by Cleveroad

As a matter of fact, nowadays, we see that these notions integrate into each other and it makes even more difficult to identify the website and web application difference. Some web apps can work as a website until you log in or buy a premium account. To make it easier, we'll try to follow the generally accepted classification in this particular article.

https://www.cleveroad.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-website-and-web-application-choose-what-fits-your-business

Every night I look at the stars and wish I could fly.  Today,  I have become a citizen of Asgardia!

I'm ready to begin this amazing journey!

I can not wait for this journey to begin. I am  a hard working man, a family man, and hope I can get a position in police or security, I know I would be a great asset to assuring the safety of my fellow Asgadrians.

What is Camera Effects Platform ?

Before all else, let’s get closer to the subject and clarify what the Camera Effects Platform is and what it is needed for.

Camera Effects Platform is a set of tools that allow developers to use the camera as an AR platform. Mark Zuckerberg saw huge potential here because now almost everyone has a smartphone with a good camera and enough processing capacity to work with AR technologies (thank you, Mark!). Earlier, we believed that only VR goggles are capable of this.

The platform is powered by an augmented reality engine, which provides face tracking features, 3D rendering and JavaScript framework for free.

Business opportunities with Camera Effects Platform

Camera Effects app platform can become a pot of gold for those who understand all the opportunities it gives. The biggest benefit of the platform is that it doesn’t require any additional expensive hardware to use. Actually, it’s vice versa. The platform works on a piece of hardware that almost everyone already has . On a smartphone! Which means that you can use all the opportunities of the Camera Effects Platform without any extra expenditures.

Let’s see how businesses can take advantage of the Frame Studio, at first:

Frame Studio business opportunities

Users encouragement

You can also encourage users to create the best photo frame for your company or brand and then choose one, rewarding the winner.

Brand awareness

If you create a frame, designed in the colours and style of your company brand, you can improve brand awareness and users’ engagement. For instance, your users can take a selfie with your photo frame and post it in social media for a reward, a discount or bonuses. To make it even more fun, you can pin your frame in a particular place, only for a short period of time.

With AR camera Studio , your business can do much more. There are thousands of ways you can benefit with it. Let’s take a look at some of them:

AR Studio business opportunities

Virtual comments

With the feature to add notes to real objects, you can allow customers of your restaurant (or a cafe or a bar) to leave comments on the walls of your place, so everyone can read how others rated you. It is a new fun way to engage users to participate.

Interactive maps

Just like comments, the notes on walls or the ground can help people to get to a particular place, like your office or cafe. It would also be great to use this feature for quizzes, where customers have to find a place or an object with the help of tips “left” on the walls or floor.

Virtual menu

How cool would it be to come to a restaurant and see the menu on a table? A customer can choose a language and you don’t need to print a set of new books every month or so.

Virtual galleries

Museums and art galleries can use the technology to place notes near articles, to tell their origin and history. Or, an art gallery can come to a customer’s apartment or anywhere a person wants to see it via their camera on a smartphone.

Interactive manuals

Imagine, that there is no need for manuals and instructions. A person who bought an appliance can see how to use it with the help of his camera, at the moment he points it at a device.

Virtual notes

You can create an app where a wife can leave virtual notes on a fridge and an alert on her husband’s phone to check it before leaving for work. An app where a man can leave his love confession on the ground near a house where the girl lives and send her a notification to check it (great way to save community property, by the way).

Virtual objects and devices

Virtual objects added to the real world is not new to us. IKEA, a company that sells furniture and everything for homes, already uses this feature. After downloading the IKEA app, users can “fit” the pieces of furniture they like in their homes. With the new Facebook Camera Effects Platform, everyone will have a chance to add the same feature to their apps. And it is not only about furniture . Mark Zuckerberg offered to create a virtual TV app where people can watch virtual TV everywhere they want, instead of buying real expensive devices.

Games advancement

Games, that already use VR technologies but work only with goggles, soon will be available to anyone who has a smartphone.

Interactive aducation

The platform can be used in educational apps. For instance, a medical student can perform surgeries on virtual patients. Different simulators would also work great.

Virtual tours

Tourists agencies now can show all the views of a place a person wants to visit on an office table.

Virtual makeup

Computer vision recognizes objects and faces, reacts to their changes and changes VR with it. Moreover, 3D masks that cover face and moves with it allows users to create such effects as virtual makeup. Imagine, you can try on something from a shop sitting at home or see how you would look with another hair colour and length and much more.

Lots and lots of ideas can be applied based on the technology so generously offered by Mark Zuckerberg and his development team. Every AR effect that only chosen ones could use is now available to anyone . All spheres and all industries can use it. Now, everyone has a chance to create an awesome application with such great technologies which will only improve in the future.

Fintech App Developers

What is FinTech startup? We decided to structure awarded startups and divide them into 3 categories:

1. Startups for analytical data collection in social media;

2. Startups for recognition of oral and written speech;

3. Startups for financial consulting.

Startups for analytical data collection in social media

Neener Analytics

Area : behavior analytics in social media

Project guarantees 80% of accuracy in determination of FICO score (a key tool for measurement of consumer credit risk level in the USA) on the basis of analysis of one social media profile. Moreover, with the help of this analysis, they can tell you whether your borrower will return funds within the whole period and repay a debt or repay it before/prior to the due date. It is an innovation in FinTech .

Neener Analytics tool for social media analysis

Alpharank

Area : API for data collection in social media

Alpharank in autonomous mode helps understand how clients affect each other's buying behavior. Their technology uses analysis of a user purchase history and social experiences in Facebook.

Alpharank determines the cost of each customer on the basis of the influence of their purchase on others. Developers say that this data will help optimize e-mail marketing, loyalty programs, referral programs and coupons as well as campaigns in social media. The main fields of such technology application are e-commerce, tickets sale, and banking market as well, so it can show the FinTech impact on banks .

Alpharank API for analyzing clients' buying behavior

Startups for recognition of oral and written speech

Capitalise

Area: written speech recognition for asset management.

Capitalise simplifies investment process by recognizing and understanding the text written by investors.

You explain in simple language your investment strategy to a robot that automates the trading process. Automated management of company's portfolio is based on investment scenarios users can analyze and optimize for efficiency increase. In addition to the user request, the platform also suggests alternative and more efficient strategies. Due to the power of FinTech, small business can get benefits from such startup.

Capitalise tool to make your investments smarter

According to founders, only large investors could afford themselves such mechanism, and banks could support personal event managers for such large investors.

Fintech App Developers

What is FinTech startup? We decided to structure awarded startups and divide them into 3 categories:

1. Startups for analytical data collection in social media;

2. Startups for recognition of oral and written speech;

3. Startups for financial consulting.

Startups for analytical data collection in social media

Neener Analytics

Area : behavior analytics in social media

Project guarantees 80% of accuracy in determination of FICO score (a key tool for measurement of consumer credit risk level in the USA) on the basis of analysis of one social media profile. Moreover, with the help of this analysis, they can tell you whether your borrower will return funds within the whole period and repay a debt or repay it before/prior to the due date. It is an innovation in FinTech .

Neener Analytics tool for social media analysis

Alpharank

Area : API for data collection in social media

Alpharank in autonomous mode helps understand how clients affect each other's buying behavior. Their technology uses analysis of a user purchase history and social experiences in Facebook.

Alpharank determines the cost of each customer on the basis of the influence of their purchase on others. Developers say that this data will help optimize e-mail marketing, loyalty programs, referral programs and coupons as well as campaigns in social media. The main fields of such technology application are e-commerce, tickets sale, and banking market as well, so it can show the FinTech impact on banks .

Alpharank API for analyzing clients' buying behavior

Startups for recognition of oral and written speech

Capitalise

Area: written speech recognition for asset management.

Capitalise simplifies investment process by recognizing and understanding the text written by investors.

You explain in simple language your investment strategy to a robot that automates the trading process. Automated management of company's portfolio is based on investment scenarios users can analyze and optimize for efficiency increase. In addition to the user request, the platform also suggests alternative and more efficient strategies. Due to the power of FinTech, small business can get benefits from such startup.

Capitalise tool to make your investments smarter

According to founders, only large investors could afford themselves such mechanism, and banks could support personal event managers for such large investors.

Who benefits of using CRM solutions

The answer is pretty simple. Both sides: businesses and customers. However, before choosing a CRM system, you need to understand whether a client-oriented approach meets the principles of your business. There is no need to use such systems within your business model without a sufficient justification, only because such systems exist and work for some other business.

For example, such businesses as online stores, wholesale companies or beauty salons will not be able to work effectively without paying enough attention to incoming calls. After all, the fulfillment of orders and customers’ satisfaction are very important for each of these businesses. It’s the only way to gain loyal customers .

So, if your business model is based upon the importance of incoming calls or requests (leads) from new customers, or if your business makes effort to obtain and retain new customers, you will gain benefits of using a CRM system.

Benefits of a CRM system for eCommerce

Here are some ways how introduction CRM in eCommerce can help you improve the quality of customer service.

Advantages of CRM software for eCommerce

• Sales growth. Representatives of the sales and customer service department will be able to access information, such as customer order history, payment history, product inventory, and so on. This deep insight will allow to apply a more personalized approach to customers.
• Improved demand and supply planning. Ecommerce CRM software provides demand-driven planning feature as well. Now the company can better predict the demand for its products and better manage its reserves (sales, search, manufacturing, etc.).
• Targeted marketing and advertising campaigns. Due to the centralized information, you can launch targeted and personalized marketing and advertising campaigns.
• CRM solutions allow to create self-service portals for your customers to access the status of their order, track the shipment, check inventory and much more.
• Improved after-sales service. Having all the necessary information, you will be able to better serve customers after the sale, making more personalized offers.
• Integrated RMA Management. Return Merchandise Authorization or RMA may also be among CRM benefits. What does it mean? A support representative who has all need information can find the most suited approach the customer's problem solving on phone or using remote diagnostics.
• Reduced costs and losses. Automatic synchronization of information eliminates the need for manual data transmission, which is subject to errors and can lead to unsuccessful client’s experience.

• How to choose a CRM system

  
  The first step in choosing a CRM system for your business is to identify the goals and objectives you are pursuing. Then, you are ready to investigate the market of currently available CRM systems . Take some time to decide on the functionality and budget that you are willing to spend on implementing your CRM system. Will it be an individual solution or a ready-made option? Let’s figure it out. Here are a few options you should be aware of.
• 
  Cloud CRM system (SaaS)
  The main point is that all information is stored in the cloud. Cloud solution is perfect for small and medium businesses as it does not require extra money for additional equipment and technical personnel.
• 
  Standalone CRM solutions
  Quite obvious that you will have to need your own server. However, unlike cloud technologies, you can fully adapt the system to your needs.
• 
  Individual eCommerce CRM
  The system is tailored to match all your individual business needs and the requirements of your customers.
• 
  Off-the-shelf solutions
  They can be adopted by almost any business. Though they may not be a perfect fit for your company, their development costs and speed to deploy will offset the disadvantages.
• 
  The question is whether to use a ready-made software offered by various vendors, such as Salesforce , Oracle , and Zoho or to develop your own solution from scratch . Therefore, we want to consider the advantages and disadvantages of CRM developed from scratch and customized off-the-shelf solutions with the use of the provided SDKs.