A domino is a small rectangular wood or plastic block, the face of which is divided into halves, each half being blank or marked by dots resembling those on dice. A set of these blocks is used to play games of chance or skill, such as a variation on jacks. The word is also a noun, referring to the game itself or a sequence of events that will follow a particular pattern. In a more general sense, the word may refer to a small device that stores information or data, such as a computer or a mobile phone.
When a person or organization has a great deal of power and influence, its actions can have a dramatic effect on those around them. This can be good or bad, depending on how things go. People sometimes talk about “a domino effect,” which means that one event leads to another, resulting in a chain reaction.
The company Domino’s Pizza was started in the 1960s by entrepreneur Tom Monaghan. He opened the first store in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The restaurant was successful because it delivered pizza quickly to customers. Monaghan was also smart about location, placing pizzerias near college campuses where students would be likely to go for a quick bite of pizza.
In 2009, Domino’s launched a campaign that promoted a new company culture. This included listening to employees and acting on their feedback. A major part of this campaign was a video that showed Domino’s leaders and employees reading scathing customer reviews of the company and its pizza. This self-aware attitude helped Domino’s turn things around.
Domino’s also focuses on technology, especially software analytics. It is important for companies to have a way to analyze the results of their projects. This can help them make decisions about future initiatives. This is done using a tool called Domino, which helps manage the entire lifecycle of a project from design to execution. Domino enables developers to track code and data, and links these together as a “Run.” It can be run on multiple computers, allowing teams to share models and collaborate without having to email large files back and forth.
A domino artist is someone who creates incredible structures using dominoes. Some of these are huge, taking several nail-biting minutes to fall. An expert in this art, called Laura Hevesh, says that the laws of physics are essential to these creations. Gravity, she says, is key to a successful setup. When a domino is standing upright, it has potential energy, which comes from its position. When it falls, this energy is converted to kinetic energy, which causes other dominoes to topple. Hevesh’s biggest designs are made of 300,000 dominoes or more. They are so complex that they are often photographed before the dominoes are set up. These photographs can be sold to promote the domino artist’s work. In some cases, this is a lucrative source of income for the artist. Some have even become celebrities in their field.