By leveraging this system with its flat, nationwide network, Dole figures it can cut 20% to 30% off what retailers pay for fresh local produce.

FORBES: Upsetting the apple cart

For less-skilled riders, Ubin also has a network of rolling and flat gravel roads, and even the odd sealed stretch.

BBC: Singapore��s curious bicycle island

Microsoft's Distributed Systems group utilized a new file system architecture, dubbed Flat Datacenter Storage, over a full bisection bandwidth network to burn through the competition.

ENGADGET: Microsoft Research team shatters data sorting record, wrenches trophy from Yahoo

When producing a show for a cable or network channel, Hurwitz confessed that you have to make "flat" programming -- stuff that'll satisfy a huge, huge demographic.

ENGADGET: Ted Sarandos, Mitch Hurwitz and Will Arnett wax poetic about creating content for the internet

That bandwidth overload has meant massive losses for Internet service providers (ISPs) who charge flat rates to users regardless of how much data they send over a network.

FORBES: The Internet's New Shortcut

Carriers have argued (lied, frankly) that such penalties are necessary due to network congestion or financial well being, despite the fact that flat-rate pricing has been perfectly profitable, the costs of delivering broadband continue to plummet, and most well-run fixed-line networks experience limited to no substantive congestion.

FORBES: Yes, Of Course The Broadband Companies Are Gouging You With Data Caps

Past fields of sugar cane and a network of narrow irrigation ditches, a narrow pass leads to a flat area surrounded by hills.

NPR: With Climate Swing, a Culture Bloomed in Americas

Essentially a network of tiny wires, it features a larger surface area than flat electrodes, giving it the leverage it needs to convert more electricity in a smaller form factor.

ENGADGET: Nature-inspired nano-material builds a better electrode, points to greener future (video)

Advertisers agreed to retain the existing system for network TV - which rewards actors each time their ad is shown - but insisted on an increased flat-rate pay structure for cable and the internet.

BBC: Strike-breakers barred from union