Sometimes, when looking at the things that have been lying around for a long time in our lives, we probably realize that those items may be useful to others. With the development of the internet, online communities have figured out a way to generate profit from the sharing of those underused assets. Using websites and social media platforms that facilitate the buying and selling of second-hand goods, it is now easier than ever for peer-to-peer sharing activities to take place. And this is what we call sharing economy.

One of the things consumers appreciate when using or working in the sharing economy is the flexibility. It offers services to people when and where they want them. For those who don’t care for traditional office work, sharing economies do not require professional working environments, so there is no need to put yourself in an atmosphere that unfits for your personality. It allows people to choose flexible atmosphere to work remotely instead of in one physical office space.

A sharing economy helps consumers to earn money by renting out underused goods or resources. For example, you can rent out a home using Airbnb, expensive tools from one’s garage, cars, or even sharing the groceries before going on a holiday. All of these provide a way for items to be resold and repurposed instead of just thrown away. Therefore, it helps to reduce waste and make or save money for the provider and users.

But the sharing economy is not without criticisms. The sharing economy is developing faster than existing regulations or ongoing supervision. One downside is that in many cases there is a lack of regulation to check the products and services exchanged during these deals. Unlike formal companies, unregulated individuals do not follow certain regulations and this can lead to poorer and inconsistent quality of goods and services and a higher risk of fraud. For example, hotels are inspected to assure quality, whereas some apartments for short-term rental online are not. The digitally-driven peer-to-peer nature of the sharing economy services sometimes doesn’t match well with certain regulations, which on the other hand, helps keep the provided services more affordable.

Another problem is related to safety concerns. Most sharing economy platforms are based on trust, as well as ratings by guests and hosts. But sometimes it happens that one uses a car, or rents an apartment and it is totally different than one imagines. After all, we have heard some unpleasant tales of guests and hosts.

The sharing economy definitely has its lovers and haters. Many are not ready to switch to that model, where others are already using more than four platforms in their daily lives.

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The majority of smartphones enable users to utilize(利用)location-sharing applications that use the device’s GPS functionality to inform friends and family of their precise whereabouts. This technology boasts(拥有)numerous beneficial applications. 【小题1】 Therefore, ensure that you have access to an application or service, and be mindful of your usage practices. Here are some key considerations that could prove useful to you.

Select what suits you best. Some location-sharing services function as games where you can remind others when you arrive at a specific location. 【小题2】 Still others maintain your location sharing until you adjust the settings. Make sure you fully understand how your service discloses your location.

Be aware of who your friends are. 【小题3】 This implies that individuals have the ability to search for your online presence and request to add you as a friend. It’s crucial to bear in mind that sharing your location with individuals you haven’t met in person carries some risk, so it’s essential to handle friend requests cautiously and share your location exclusively with those you are acquainted with and trust.

【小题4】 Certain services stop sending your location automatically after a set time, while others persist in sharing it indefinitely until you manually stop it. Regularly assess your contact list and remove individuals with whom you are no longer at ease disclosing your location.

Update parents. Location-based services are a great way for teens to let parents know where they are without having to call or text. 【小题5】 If you’re heading home late at night, you can also use a service like Glympse to share your location as you drive, so they’ll know if you have car trouble or get stuck in traffic.

For all the technological wonders of modern medicine, health care-with its fax machines and clipboards(写字板)—is out of date. This outdated era is slowly drawing to a close as the industry catches up with the artificial-intelligence ( AI) revolution.

Eric Topol, an expert in heart disease and enthusiast for digital medicine, thinks AI will be particularly useful for such tasks as examining images, observing heart traces for abnormalities or turning doctors' words into patient records. It will be able to use masses of data to work out the best treatments, and improve workflows in hospitals. In short, AI is set to save time, lives and money.

The fear some people have is that AI will be used to deepen the assembly-line culture of modern medicine. If it gives a “ gift of time” to doctors, they argue that this bonus should be used to extend consultations, rather than simply speeding through them more efficiently.

That is a fine idea, but as health swallows an ever-bigger share of national wealth, greater efficiency is exactly what is needed, at least so far as governments and insurers are concerned. Otherwise, rich societies may fail to cope with the needs of ageing and growing populations. An extra five minutes spent chatting with a patient is costly as well as valuable. The AI revolution will also enable managerial accountants to adjust and evaluate every aspect of treatment. The autonomy of the doctor will surely be weakened, especially, perhaps, in public-health systems which are duty-bound to cut unnecessary costs.

The Hippocratic Oath(誓言) holds that there is an art to medicine as well as a science, and that “warmth, sympathy and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug”. There's lots of sense in it: the patients of sympathetic physicians have been shown to recover better. Yet as the supply of human carers fails to satisfy the demand for health care, the future may involve consultations on smartphones and measurements monitored by chatbots. The considerately warmed stethoscope (听诊器) ,placed gently on a patient's back, may become a relic of the past.