--- title: Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 20 description: Electronic expiration dates, letting refugees work in Uganda, defusing the crisis in Ukraine, the need for strong net neutrality, and more. canonical: https://time.com/3148782/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-20/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-20T16:13:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:43:05.332Z article:section: Ideas og:title: These Are the Best Ideas of the Day og:description: Learn about: electronic expiration dates, avoiding wartime migration in Uganda, uniting Ferguson and the need for strong net neutrality. og:url: https://time.com/3148782/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-20/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Are the Best Ideas of the Day twitter:description: Learn about: electronic expiration dates, avoiding wartime migration in Uganda, uniting Ferguson and the need for strong net neutrality. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 20 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Aug 20, 2014 4:13 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Aug 20, 2014 4:13 PM CUT **1\.** [**Smart labels that monitor food can reduce food-related illness and waste.**](http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/small-data-technology-could-finally-replace-expiration-dates/378766/ "undefined") By Adrienne LeFrance in the Atlantic **2\.** [**With a “Right to Work” law that lets refugees earn a living, Uganda avoids the pitfalls of wartime migration. Other countries can too.**](http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/08/15/340421054/fleeing-war-and-finding-work "undefined") By Gregory Warner in National Public Radio **3\.** [**Integrate the protests: Why Ferguson needs a “Freedom Summer.”**](http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/ferguson-freedom-summer "undefined") By Jay Caspian Kang in the New Yorker **4\.** [**To deter Putin and defuse the crisis in Ukraine, policymakers must be creative, strategic and collaborative.**](http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-strategies-for-deterring-putin-from-ukraine/2014/08/19/9d9084d2-27c2-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a%5Fstory.html "undefined") By David Ignatius in the Washington Post **5\.** [**Extra ISP fees for companies like Netflix only stifle Internet innovation.**](http://www.wired.com/2014/08/save-the-net-reed-hastings/ "undefined") By Reed Hastings in Wired  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3148782/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-20/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3148782/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-20/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 20","datePublished":"2014-08-20T16:13:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:43:05.332Z","description":"Electronic expiration dates, letting refugees work in Uganda, defusing the crisis in Ukraine, the need for strong net neutrality, and more.","url":"https://time.com/3148782/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-20/","keywords":["Innovation","putin","Ukraine","russia","Food","Netflix","protest","Net neutrality","Uganda","Summer","Salmonella","migration","Ferguson topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3148782/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-20/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 20"}}]}] ```