The city introduced Barclays Cycle Hire in July 2010, and now the rental program has peak usage of about 24, 000 users a day.

BBC: Rent an electric bike in London

At the program's peak, some 2, 300 tradespeople a day were involved, finishing work on 200 homes a day.

WSJ: NYC post-Sandy home repair program passes 20K mark

There were 70 drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions in 2011, down from 118 in 2010, which saw the peak number of strikes since the program began.

CNN: CIA drone war in Pakistan in sharp decline

By communicating with a smart meter, Nucleus will let people program appliances to take advantage of off-peak pricing plans offered by utilities that have time-of-use electricity plans.

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There were 70 drone strikes in the tribal regions that year, down from 118 in 2010, which saw the peak number of strikes since the program began.

CNN: Drones decimating Taliban in Pakistan

But they have also slowed considerably since their peak in 2010, and have come under harsher scrutiny both in Pakistan and the West, rendering the program's future in the region uncertain.

CNN: Drones decimating Taliban in Pakistan