Teddy moved back to India with his father after the war ended in 1918. Meanwhile, Kaka stayed in England. During those days, many families were away from each other. So, they wrote letters to their families to stay connected. However, mails took many weeks to arrive.

Kaka sent letters to his grandchildren. When they turned five, he started to include longer sentences in his letters to help them learn to read. In his letters, he drew rare animals in India and about the inventions and technology such as the radio and the telephone. He continued sending his grandchildren letters for many years.

Kaka’s letters to his grandchildren remind people that time and distance are nothing if they make extra effort to show their loved ones that they care to keep in touch. In this day and age, it is easy for people to keep in touch and they sometimes take it for granted. But these electronic messages would not remain as treasures. This proves that handwritten letters have magic that could last for thousands of years.

In the second type of network externality, the number of users a product or service has, indirectly influences its value. The common example of this is computer software. The Windows operating system is more commonly used than Mac OS. Because of that, many people prefer using the Windows operating system to Mac OS. So, the number of users continuously increases. The battle between VHS and Betamax is another perfect example of this effect. These two were the video cassette formats in the 1970s to 1980s which were introduced at the same time. Although Betamax offered better quality, many people still prefer VHS because its manufacturers worked faster to get other companies to promote it.

This type of network effect often leads to another. This is called the de facto standard which came from the Latin word meaning “in fact.” This effect is where a standard was established and dominates the market, even without the approval of any organizations or the government. Meanwhile, consumers must be aware of this standard and consider their priorities carefully. They must weigh whether they chose popularity over quality or the other way around.

In the second type of network externality, the number of users decides indirectly how valuable a product or a service is. For instance, the Windows operating system has more users than Mac OS. Because of that, the number of people who use Windows as their software increases. It has also become the market leader for many years now. Another example of this is the competition between VHS and Betamax. Both are the video cassette formats from the 1970s to 1980s wherein both were introduced at the same time. Betamax offered better picture quality. However, the manufacturers of VHS were able to convince other companies to promote their products fast. Moreover, it provided a wider range of rental movies and a good quality for average consumers. As a result, more and more people prefer to use VHS which made Betamax eventually disappear.

In general, people would think that the popularity of products or services is based on their performance. However, their popularity is not always about quality, but it is also about the number of people who use them. For example, people would most likely choose a particular brand that his/her family or friends have been using.

If the number of people using the product increases, the more benefits the users gain. This is called the network externalities or also known as the network effect. A perfect example of this would be the telephone. Owning a telephone would be of no use if there are no other people using it. Meanwhile, if more and more people use a telephone, the more valuable it becomes because it would be convenient for people to communicate.

In one of the two major types of network externalities, the number of users of a product or a service has direct effects on its value. Some examples of this are telephones, fax machines, and all other communication services. Meaning, the value of a product does not depend on its quality but also on how much users it has.

Curling is a sport that requires great strategies. That is why it is called “chess on ice.” To play the sport, players must know the two methods which are the offensive and defensive play. The team must place the stones closest to the center of the house. Also, they need to make sure that their opponents would not be able to do so. A team that has the last-stone advantage also called as the hammer would most likely score points easily. In this sport, it is not always about having the best strategy to always score points, but it is also about ending up as a team that throws last in the next end.

Players often use various strategies that had already worked out before. While others also adjust to the strategies of the opponents during games.

People who have not yet tried playing the sport might say that it is not as exciting as compared with other sports. However, they only need to try it on their own so they could see how much strength it requires the players to play the sport.

Generally, the reason why products and services become popular is that they are better than others. However, there are cases where the quality of the products or services does not depend on its popularity rather, it depends more on the number of its consumers. An increase in the number of consumers who use a product means more benefits for the consumers. This effect is known in economic terms as the network effect. One of the best examples is the telephone. Owning a telephone would be useless if no other people use it, but the more consumers the network has, the more valuable it becomes because there are more people to talk to on the phone. As it gains more and more subscribers, its value continues to increase which reaches to the point where not subscribing on the telephone becomes inconvenient for people. Various services such as discounted price plans are being offered as a telephone network’s number of consumers increases which indirectly makes the network’s value increase even more.

Fair trade is a partnership between farmers and businesses that aims to provide better and equal opportunities to them. It is designed to help small-time producers most especially in developing countries.

There are about 1.7 million farmers worldwide who participate in fair trade activities. Fair trade provides several benefits not only to big businesses but also to small-time producers. One of the benefits it provides is stable prices for most products. They usually set a minimum price that seeks to provide farmers with a safety net to allow them to have long-term planning. Another thing is that fair trade focuses on providing the needs of the producers. Moreover, it helps farmers extend their market opportunities by letting businesses and consumers know the environment-friendly products they offer.

All in all, fair trade finds ways to change people’s lives by giving them a chance to have a decent income and work that they deserve.

Monosodium glutamate or MSG is believed to make people suffer from headaches, nausea, and strange numbness in the body. People who love to eat Chinese food often experience these symptoms after enjoying their meal. They called this the “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.” It is believed that most Chinese restaurants use MSG as their common seasoning.

In 1968, MSG became popular in a bad way because of a letter written by Dr. Ho Man Kwok that explained the possible causes of the “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.” At first, he thought it was the soy sauce but soon realized that he was using the same ingredient at home and did not experience the syndrome after. This is made him consider that it could be the MSG. This went viral and caused many scientific studies to expose ‘the truth’ behind MSG. In fact, there was a study that tested 130 people who said that their bodies react to MSG. They were given a dose of MSG and those who scored above a certain level were tested again with the same dose to see if their reaction is consistent.

According to Kikunae Ikeda, a chemistry professor from the University of Tokyo, MSG is the salt formed from glutamic acid which is considered to be the most stable one. Also, it is the best way to bring out the savory taste of food. Moreover, glutamate is known to be the magic ingredient in MSG which naturally occurs in some foods such as tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, dried mushrooms, and soy sauce.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration claims that the use of MSG for cooking is now GRAS or “Generally Recognized as Safe.”

There are more than 50,000 convenience stores in Japan or also known as Konbini. These stores have been the one-stop-shop for many people because of the services they offer. On top of that, they operate 24 hours a day so people could buy the items they need any time of the day.

Convenience stores sell a wide selection of food such as meals, snacks, instant ramen, and the likes. People could also request their food to be reheated in the stores. Also, customers can find the items they need for personal use. Basically, people can find anything in most convenience stores even ATMs.

Meanwhile, most workers from convenience stores usually cannot keep up from the demands of the work most especially the night shift. Many of them have been collapsing due to lack of sleep and too much exhaustion. Because of that, some stores are having a hard time to look for employers who are willing to work on a night shift. As a result, some companies are considering shortening the operating hours in selected stores.