--- description: Internet and politics in Egypt, early learning grant competitions, Apple Pay, and why Minecraft is worth $2b. title: These Are Today image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Five Best Ideas of the Day: September 10 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 10, 2014 4:16 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 10, 2014 4:16 PM CUT **1\.** [**Could a Saudi Arabia-Iran alliance be the key to stopping ISIS?**](http://carnegie-mec.org/2014/09/03/defeating-islamic-state-requires-saudi-iranian-compromise/hnnt "undefined") By Lina Khatib at the Carnegie Middle East Center **2\.** [**Microsoft may buy Minecraft for $2 billion. Why? Because the game provides creativity, community, and a unique learning experience.**](https://medium.com/message/the-secret-of-minecraft-97dfacb05a3c "undefined") By Robin Sloan in Medium **3\.** [**Apple Pay – the least glamorous of yesterday’s announcements – could upend and vastly expand the mobile payment world.**](http://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2014/09/09/what-apple-pay-means-for-ebay-and-the-future-of-mobile-payments/ "undefined") By Maggie McGrath in Forbes **4\.** [**With extraordinary social media use and Internet access, Egypt may yet have a chance at saving itself.**](http://www.blog.rielcano.org/en/networked-egyptians/ "undefined") By Enas Rizk at the Elcano Royal Institute **5\.** [**The Department of Education is making a smart investment by giving states with strong parental involvement in education an edge in a new grant competition.**](http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2014/09/strong%5Fparent%5Fengagement%5Fplans.html "undefined") By Lauren Camera in Education Week  [_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/3318500/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-september-10/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3318500/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-september-10/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: September 10","datePublished":"2014-09-10T16:16:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:43:03.886Z","description":"Internet and politics in Egypt, early learning grant competitions, Apple Pay, and why Minecraft is worth $2b.","url":"https://time.com/3318500/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-september-10/","keywords":["Innovation","Social Media","Iran","Apple","Internet","Education","Minecraft","ISIS","Microsoft","Saudi Arabia","Egypt","Department of Education"],"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/3318500/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-september-10/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: September 10"}}]}] ```