By the early 1940s, World War II was in full swing, with battles raging around the planet. The US, however, was largely spared the effects of the global conflagration.

But that doesn't mean the war didn't affect Americans on the home front.

Nationwide, workers and civilians mobilized for the war effort, getting jobs in factories, raising money through war bonds, and showing their patriotism and support in front yards and main streets all across the country.

The colorized photos below, taken between 1942 and 1943 and compiled by the Library of Congress, depict life in the US during World War II and show how Americans at home contributed to winning one of the largest and most destructive wars in modern history.

SEE ALSO: Gorgeous color photos from the Great Depression show life in one of America's darkest times

A combat crew receives final instructions just before taking off in a YB-17 bomber from a bombardment-squadron base at Langley Field, Virginia, May 1942.

A woman aircraft worker at Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, California, shown checking electrical assemblies in June 1942.

A woman working on an airplane motor at a North American Aviation Inc. plant in California, June 1942.

The world's largest hacker conference just wrapped up in Las Vegas.

Def Con is an annual four-day hacker event, which, along with the Black Hat and B-Sides conferences held around the same time, are referred to as "hacker summer camp."

This year's 24th Def Con was held at the Bally's and Paris hotels, and in between the many talks, contests, and seminars on everything from social engineering to lock-picking, we checked out the vendor area.

Here's what you can find:

SEE ALSO: Hackers show how they tricked a Tesla into hitting objects in its path

Welcome to Def Con 24, the annual hacker conference that brings security pros, hackers, and federal agents all under one roof.

This year's conference was its biggest yet, with more than 22,000 in attendance.

Since there is no preregistration and almost everything is handled in cash, the organizers eventually ran out of the supercool badges they give to attendees. Luckily, I got mine.

If you were asked to name sources of caffeine, perhaps you'd list green teas, venti lattes or just plain coffee. But the stimulant pops up in some every day items, and consumption of these stealthy sources could potentially lead to everything from unexpected jitters to insomnia.

According to the Mayo Clinic, 400 mg (roughly four cups of coffee) is the recommended amount of caffeine for healthy adults to consume each day. Anything greater could contribute to insomnia, nervousness, elevated heart rate and other such effects. If you’re pregnant, have a health condition or are particularly sensitive to caffeine, then overdosing on it could have even more serious effects. 

And considering that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require manufacturers to label how much caffeine is contained in their beverages, food, supplements and other consumables, we could potentially be upping their daily levels without realizing it. To ensure you're informed, here are six unexpected sources of the stimulant. 

Decaf coffee

That's right. Coffee beans are stripped of their caffeine through a process that involves dousing them in a chemical bath. Said process, however, doesn’t rid the beans of all of their stimulant. According to data gathered together by Mayo Clinic, a single eight-ounce cup of brewed decaffeinated coffee may contain 2 - 12 mg of caffeine. If a consumer orders a ‘venti’ brewed decaf coffee at Starbucks (which begs the question of why anyone would order that much decaf), they’ll be consuming 30 mg of caffeine, per Caffeine Informer’s Starbucks’ caffeine chart.

Decaf brewed coffee isn’t the only café order with an unexpected dose of “whoa.” Decaf espresso also contains traces of caffeine — in fact, one shot can have anywhere from 3 - 15.8mg of caffeine. While this may not be as extreme as, say, popping a Zantrex 3 (which apparently has around 300 mg of caffeine per two capsules), it's still something to keep in mind — especially if you're looking to avoid caffeine altogether. 

Weight loss pills

Despite an initial drop in sales for dietary supplements due to studies showing that many ingredients and benefits in said supplements are questionable at best, sales, weirdly, continue to grow. But if you're still ingesting pill and powders in hopes of going down a few belt notches, be aware: manufacturers are notorious for taking advantage of the fact that they aren’t required to report their caffeine quantities, or even mention that caffeine is present at all. Therefore, a supplement consumer could conceivably go over the recommended daily amount of caffeine with just a pill or two.

According to a 2004 USDA report, out of 63 dietary supplements studied, 10 of them had 201 - 300 mg of caffeine per serving. In fact, if taken at the maximum recommended amounts per the label, more than 50 percent of those supplements offer 200 mg of caffeine per day. Meaning? More caffeine than two cups of brewed coffee. In fact, in 2015, government researchers found that, of the roughly 23,000 people who reported to an emergency department due to issues with supplements or vitamins, more than half of those visits were due rapid heartbeat, chest pain or heart palpitations due to weight loss or energy supplements.

Pain relievers

Caffeine is a go-to ingredient for many over-the-counter drugs that treat pain — specifically headaches. Why? Because just like your average American office worker, pain relievers work faster and better with caffeine. But it's good to know that taking something for a pulsing head can be the equivalent of downing a cup or more of coffee. According to the Cleveland Clinic, two Excedrin Migraine tablets could contain 130 mg of caffeine. Got cramps? A pair of Midol Menstrual Maximum Strength caplets could contain 65 mg of caffeine. 

So if you happen to get a little happy with your pill-popping, you could potentially exceed your stimulant quota — particularly if you're also downing a venti latte at the same time. Mind the label, folks. Mind the label. 

Donald Trump's rallies have featured many things: dance troupes, crying babies, and some occasional violence. Nowadays, the Republican presidential candidate has added something else: charts.

Over the past two days, Trump has featured a number of charts detailing various supposed deficiencies in President Barack Obama's and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's economic policies.

In fact, at an event in Miami on Thursday, Trump said that he has"gotten into the world of charts lately."

We decided to take a look at these charts and break down what they are, what Trump is saying about them, and what they may actually mean.

Two of the charts — the number of commuted prison sentences under Obama and contributions to the Clinton Foundation from foreign nations — are a bit outside of our economic purview, so we have omitted them.

We've recreated a few of the charts, included pictures of Trump holding the others — you can see all of the originals in a video here — and added some context as to what each chart may mean for the US economy.

Check out our breakdown of Trump's entry into the "world of charts" below:

One of the charts featured the homeownership rate.

Trump claims that the rapid decline in the homeownership rate over the past eight years has been a symptom of the Obama presidency.

The chart and Trump's claims that the rate is at its lowest level in 51 years are correct. The homeownership rate as of the second quarter of 2016 is at its lowest level since the third quarter of 1965.

But there are most likely two reasons for the decrease, and neither has to do with the Obama presidency.

On the one hand, the drop-off is mostly because too many people owned homes at the peak. The huge increase in the number of people buying homes in the 1990s and 2000s under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush pushed the rate to a peak of 69.2% in the fourth quarter of 2004.

The increase in the rate, however, was inflated by homeowners who could not afford their homes and eventually led to the bursting of the housing bubble.

Trump also pointed to the peak of the rate to illustrate the decrease, saying, "Obama, Obama" while highlighting the drop. But the rate when Obama took office was already down to 67.3%, down 1.9 percentage points from the highest rate — see the chart above.

In addition to the decrease from the bursting of the bubble, there are also structural shifts — the retirement of baby boomers and the desire of millennials to live in urban centers — that have contributed to the decrease in homeownership.

Trump also pointed out that hedge fund managers — or, as he called them, "killers"— have donated vastly more to Hillary Clinton.

Trump said on Wednesday that, while some hedge fund managers are "friends of mine," he has declined to take money for his campaign from the investors.

His chart comes from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), but it is a misrepresentation of the facts, according to the CRP.

According to Trump's chart, Clinton and funds associated with the election of Clinton have received $48.5 million from hedge funds. On the other hand, Trump's campaign has received $19,000.

This data, however, is from a widely shared Wall Street Journal report on the data, but acording to the CRP, it is a misrepresentation.

CRP in fact wrote a post to "set the record straight" on the data Trump cited. CRP estimates the donations from hedge funds and their employees to be $25.6 million, while Trump has recieved $2,054.

The Journal article, according to CRP, included three firms that were not hedge funds but rather non-hedge fund financial firms. These three contributed $19.9 millon worth of the cited $48.5 million used on Trump's chart.

Additionally, the story and subsequently Trump's chart added in a number of other firms and donors that the CRP does not consider hedge fund mangers or employees.

Interestingly enough, the Trump chart cites the CRP rather than The Wall Street Journal.

To be fair, Clinton still has a much larger donation amount than Trump, but the percentage of her donations are not as high as Trump's chart would indicate.

Trump claims that these hedge fund donations don't come for free and that hedge fund managers are using the donations to influence the Democratic candidate in their favor.

UPDATE: This post has been updated with the corrected stats that were sent to Business Insider from the Center for Responsive Politics.

In a chart that Trump called a "beauty," he highlighted the increase in the national debt under Obama.

The national debt has roughly doubled in the almost eight years since Obama took office, as Trump indicated in the chart.

"Great job, great job, Obama," said Trump sarcastically while showing the chart of increasing debt.

He is also correct that current projections are for the debt to top $20 trillion by the time Obama leaves office.

But what Trump failed to note is that some of the legislation that added to the debt following the recession, including the Economic Stimulus Act and the Emergency Economic Stability Act, were passed in 2008, before Obama took office.

To Trump's point, however, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law by Obama in February 2009, and has cost around $831 billion.

It should be pointed out, additionally, that the adding debt in response to recessions has been a common tool used by US presidents, from Franklin Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan.

Since 2009, the federal deficit — new additions to the overall debt — has continually declined.

The pieces we carry home are nearly as priceless as the trips we take.

We asked writers, designers, and travelers to share memories about the objects that tie them to their travels in What We Bring Home. We also asked AFAR staffers about the craziest/largest/most potentially illegal thing they’ve brought back from a trip.

Here’s what they had to say.

A new way to reflect

“I bought a hand-carved, hand-painted mirror in Montañita, Ecuador. It survived the 20-plus-hour ride back to Lima and a flight to Spain in one piece—that is, until my sister sat on it!” —Alex Palomino, associate photo editor

The big cheese

“An entire wheel of Pecorino from Italy. The cheese was too good to pass up!” —Katie Galeotti, marketing and special projects director

A leap of faith

“A gorgeous mahogany and brass box from Zanzibar, which I carried from the artisan’s studio to my hotel (it’s large), then from the hotel to DHL in the rain. DHL doesn’t insure from Zanzibar so I took a leap of faith and shipped it without insurance. Now I have a gorgeous, damaged mahogany and brass box sitting in my Brooklyn living room. The labor, the story, and the fact that it cost more to ship than to buy makes the story that much better.” —Barry Brown, executive director, Caribbean

“How has this gone so badly?” I thought.

I was taking the official listening exam in Chinese proficiency, and I could not understand a single word of the recording.

The test was “elementary” level, and I was there, handing the paper to the teacher at the entrance to the classroom, confused. I had studied by myself at home for years, and I had lived for nine months of “full immersion” in my new country. I’d also attended Chinese classes for three hours per week. How could I perform so badly?

When I received by mail the “Not-Passed Diploma”, my confusion turned into frustration. Who was to be blamed for my failure? I had really spent a lot of time studying seriously, religiously, with friends, books, music, movies, and language exchange. Was it me? Was it the teaching system of the school? What was wrong?

It was not my first language learning experience. By the time I began learning Chinese, I was fluent in two languages besides my mother tongue and had studied other languages at a basic level. But this time, I entered into the adventure of an exotic language from a remote place, and I failed.

After some time, things got better, but it was a long and winding road with many obstacles. During the following years, I discovered some secrets about language learning. Certainly, these are not ideas I invented, and most of them have been well-known to many expert learners. But for me they were a discovery, and, in one way or another, made a big change in my perspective of my learning process.

Here’s what I learned…

1. Avoid Shifting Gears Between Languages

A drop of water falling on an uneven surface will follow the direction of the steepest slope. The brain does the same with languages.

In the presence of two messages in two different languages, the brain focuses on the easiest one, often blocking or ignoring the second one.

The brain seems to work at different speeds with different languages. Changing from one language to another implies changing speed, like shifting the gear in a car.

The moment I open a textbook and begin to study, my brain changes gear, which takes a small amount of effort. If for a moment I get distracted by a written text or an audio message in my mother tongue, my brain will shift gear again – no effort needed. In other words, it is easier to “shift gears” from a more difficult language to an easier one than the opposite.

Here’s the simple lesson I learned: while learning languages, don’t get distracted by anything in a language different to the one you are learning. This is more difficult at a beginner’s level, because you might need an explanation in a language you can understand, or you might need to check the dictionary. But I always try to create, as much as possible, an environment without distractions in other languages.

Try it for yourself. Which language are you learning? French? Find a free day in your schedule. Try (as much as possible) not to read, listen or even say anything in a language other than French. From early in the morning (or even from the previous night) listen only to music in French, read the news (even if you understand just a bit) in that tongue, and make the effort to think, with simple phrases, in French.

If you want, you can be more radical with this. Remove all material from your desk that is not in French, and set your computer and your phone to French, so when you sit down to study, there are no “slopes” that will change the gears of your brain to non-learning mode, even if it is just for some seconds. Try this, even for half a day, and you will notice the difference.

2. Plan Exhaustion Into Your Study Goals

We’ve all had the experience of making a clear and decisive resolution: I will exercise twice a week, I will not lose my temper at the office, I will study Japanese every day. After a beginning full of energy and determination, our motivation fades out and we find ourselves in the same situation: no exercise, losing our temper and not studying Japanese.

The problem might be bad planning, unrealistic goals or lack of motivation. But there is another aspect we can take into consideration: often we make plans and take decisions for the times in which we will have a lot of energy. Why not plan instead for those moments in which we will be exhausted?

It is good to ask yourself: how do I rest? Walking in the forest? Reading novels? Listening to music? Watching sports? Doing handicrafts? Painting?

Take your preferred way of relaxing, and add an element of your target language.

Like walking in the park? What about listening a language podcast while you walk?

Enjoy reading novels? Look for a book adapted to your level.

Love listening to music? Have you tried learning a song in your target language?

Is watching sports your thing? Then watch the same sports matches you usually would, but listen to commentary in your target language. If this isn’t possible, then look for sports you can watch with commentary in your target language.

Is your favourite “hobby” spending time with friends? Then make a new friend interested in learning the same language as you. Learn together.

Still stuck for ideas? Then listen to the radio, music or news while doing other things, even if you only understand ten percent of the content.

At the beginning, these new ways of relaxing will feel unfamiliar – perhaps even difficult. You will need time to adapt, but after a while it will be as effortless as the way you used to rest before. And most importantly, your brain will work by itself without you noticing, and will store information that it will bring up again when needed.

You might ask: isn’t it more effective to study with intensity, order and attention? This question is a trap. I am not saying that you should only study in ways that allow you to rest, but there are many moments in which this is the only way you can study. Make the most of your rest time!

3. Before You Take Your First Step, Decide Where You Want to Go

What is my “level” in my mother tongue? Most probably I would say that it’s at least “advanced”, or “native”. But that is hardly a real description. Am I able to write a contract in precise legal terms? Do I understand the slang of my language from different countries or cities, or even age groups? Am I able to explain the intricacies of grammar to a foreigner? Each one of these abilities could be a goal to attain in my own language.

In the same way, each time I decide that I will start (or continue) learning a language, besides finding a reason to learn the language, I need to set clear goals. Not only dreams, but clear specific goals, including the time and resources I am willing to spend on learning a new language.

For example, it might be that I am learning Russian because I enjoy studying “something”, and it happened that I found a Russian textbook at home. In this case my objective is to enjoy the act of studying. It is a valid objective and studying Russian is just a means to attain that goal.

Perhaps I sing in a choir that sometimes performs songs with French, Italian and Latin lyrics. I would like to understand a bit of these three languages to make the singing more meaningful. In that case what I need is good pronunciation, together with some basic ideas about grammar and vocabulary.

We can imagine a more demanding situation: I want to apply for a scholarship that requires a certain level in Japanese, or my boss just told me that in order to get promoted I need to be fluent (whatever that means) in Finnish.

It is then necessary to set clear goals. Here are some examples of goals:

• Within one month acquire vocabulary concerning seafood products.
• By 10th August be able to read in a loud voice fluently, without stammering, and clearly, even if I don’t understand what I read.
• At the end of the year understand what the evening news is about in my target language.
• In three weeks decide what kind of materials I need to begin learning a language.
• Pass the intermediate level test in Quenya as a Foreign Language in February.
• Survive my trip to Inner Mongolia.
• Teach a university course in French next September.

Some people explain goal setting in terms of motivation – to stay motivated, you need a goal. That’s true, but it’s also about putting in place habits that mean you’re likely to achieve your goal. This could be attending Chinese class on Tuesdays from 1-2 p.m. Or it might be reading for five minutes in the morning, listening to music while jogging on Thursday afternoons, or watching a video course on Saturdays at 8 a.m.

It’s important to connect your big goals with concrete activities that you can do at very precise moments of your schedule. If you do this, you’ll reach your goals.

Making the leap from renting to buying is thrilling and liberating — for many, it signifies the realization of "the American Dream." 

Buying a home is also a long-term commitment, and one that requires strong financial standing. 

If any of these signs strike a chord, you may want to delay taking on a mortgage in the near future.

SEE ALSO: How to figure out if you can afford to buy a home

You have a low credit score

Before considering home ownership, you'll want to check your credit score, which you can do through free sites like Credit Karma, Credit.com, or Credit Sesame.

"The higher your score, the better the interest rate on your mortgage will be," writes personal finance expert Ramit Sethi in "I Will Teach You To Be Rich." Good credit can mean significantly lower monthly payments, so if your score is not great, consider delaying this big purchase until you've built up your credit.

You have to direct more than 30% of your income towards monthly payments

Personal finance experts say a good rule of thumb is to make sure the total monthly payment doesn't consume more than 30% of your take-home pay.

"Any more than that, and your finances are going to be tight, leaving you financially vulnerable when something inevitably goes wrong," write Harold Pollack and Helaine Olen in their book, "The Index Card.""To be fair, this isn't always possible. In some places such as New York and San Francisco, it can be all but impossible."

While there are a few exceptions, aim to spend no more than one-third of your take-home pay on housing.

You don't have a fully funded emergency savings account

And no, your emergency fund is not your down payment.

As Pollack and Olen write,

We all receive unexpected financial setbacks. Someone gets sick. The insurance company denies a medical claim. A job is suddenly lost. However life intrudes, the bank still expects to receive our monthly mortgage payments ... Finance your emergency fund. Then think about purchasing a home. If you don't have an emergency fund and do own a house, chances are good you will someday find yourself in financial turmoil.

Certified financial planner Jonathan Meaney recommends having the equivalent of a few years' worth of living expenses set aside in case there is a job loss or other surprise. "Unlike a rental arrangement with a one or two year contract and known termination clauses, defaulting on a mortgage can do major damage to your credit report,"he tells Business Insider. "In addition, a quick sale is not always possible or equitable for a seller."

It doesn't matter how cultured you are — explosions are awesome. Especially when they're on purpose and nobody gets hurt. That's why controlled demolitions are the best. You get a big kaboom and then an almost graceful collapse as a giant, hulking structure implodes on itself. 

Because everybody likes to watch things blow up, here are a bunch of gorgeous pictures of buildings meeting their end from around the world (especially in China). You really don't need another reason to watch concrete and steel come tumbling down, so enjoy these pictures, courtesy of Reuters. 

A building in Da tong, China, is carefully demolished to protect nearby historic areas.

A cooling tower crumbles​ into itself during a controlled demolition in Binzhou, China.

A dike separating two lakes in Wuhan, China, is spectacularly blown up.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a huge fan of the tiny house trend that's currently sweeping the globe.

From shows like "Tiny House Hunters" to blogs and social media accounts of those who have taken the life-simplifying plunge, tiny houses are everywhere, and minimalism has become the buzzword du jour.

But going small is a big commitment, and not one that most people are willing or able to take.

Getaway House, a Boston-based startup that designs and builds 150-square-foot, eco-friendly homes, wants to give everyone a chance to live little. Getaway rents their "tiny houses in the woods" (currently three outside of Boston and three outside of New York City) starting at $99 per night, and aims to give urban professionals the chance to unplug and get a taste of minimalism.

With such a trendy premise and just six houses available for rent, nights at Getaway aren't easy to come by. So when I saw a Saturday in July open up, I booked it immediately.

Here's what it's like to live in a tiny house — at least for a night.

SEE ALSO: I took the first step to living like a minimalist and it felt surprisingly unsatisfying

Getaway keeps the exact locations of their tiny houses a secret until 24 hours before departure, though they promise that the homes will be accessible by train, and within two hours of either Boston or New York, without traffic.

My boyfriend and fellow tiny-house-goer lives in Connecticut and has a car, so we opted to forgo the extra Amtrak expense and drive to the mystery location in [SPOILER!] upstate New York.

Cell phone reception is a bit spotty on Getaway property, somewhat by design, as visitors are encouraged to undergo a digital detox. Nonetheless, a trusty Maps app got us to our tiny rental in no time.

All three New York Getaway houses are on the same plot of land, although we couldn't see or hear the other guests.

Most of the Northern Hemisphere has been swaddled in the oppressive heat of summer for nearly two months, but south of the equator, high up in the remote Andes Mountain, the weather is frigid — and its having devastating consequences.

In southern Peru, thousands of meters up in the Andes, sheep and alpaca herds have been decimated by bitter cold that often sinks below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The temperatures not only freeze the life out of llamas, alpacas, sheep, and other livestock; the prolonged cold affects the health of children and the elderly.

Despite Peru's $150 million in export earnings from alpaca wool, the roughly 120,000 families, many of whom are indigenous people, that raise that animals and sell their fur usually only get $1,200 a year — less than half of Peru's minimum wage, according to the Associated Press.

Below, see what life is like when frigid winter settles over the harsh landscape of the Peruvian Andes. 

SEE ALSO: Fascinating color photos show how Americans prepared for World War II at home

Peru's Puno region has been particularly hard hit, with some 55,000 deaths among the alpaca herds that range across mountains topping 13,000 feet.

Source: Vice News

Animals that graze in the region's mountains are hearty, but this winter has been particularly tough. What one forecaster called "atypically dry" weather in the Amazon had prevented humid air from moderating the mountain temperatures, which allowed snow to continue to pile up on grasslands and freeze creeks.

Source: Vice News

William Morales Cáceres, the head of Puno's agricultural ministry, told Vice News that 279,000 alpacas, 30,000 llamas, and 370,000 sheep had been affected by sickness or death because of the low temperatures. According to the AP, 50,000 alpacas had died by mid-July.

Source: Vice News, Associated Press

Trying to make some extra cash? Have free time you don't know what to do with? Trying to develop or hone a new skill? You should consider getting a side gig.

FlexJobs, an online service specializing in telecommuting and remote work, recently put together a list of 17 high-paying jobs you can do on the side. To qualify for the list, each job had to be considered "flexible" (and not full time), and had to pay at least double the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, according to the job posting on FlexJobs.

Brie Reynolds, the director of online content for FlexJobs, says "side jobs" are defined as anything part time, including freelance, temporary, short- or long-term, work-from-home, or in-person flexible gigs.

Here's FlexJobs' list of high-paying side jobs you might want to consider:

SEE ALSO: The 13 most meaningful jobs in America

Curriculum writer

Pay: $50 an hour

Type of flexibility:Temporary, part time

Description: Education professionals with experience in curriculum writing will find a variety of part-time and/or temporary positions to assist educational institutions and organizations with curriculum development, writing, and adaption. These jobs seek people who have excellent teamwork skills and who work well under deadlines.

City-guide writer

Pay: $50 to $100 a project

Type of flexibility: Freelance, telecommute

Description: Travel and tourism businesses, as well as real-estate companies, often hire writers to write city and/or neighborhood guides with information about population size, shopping, recreation, culture, entertainment, things to do, climate, transit, and more.

Business consultant

 Pay: $48 an hour

Type of flexibility: Part time, telecommute, freelance

Description: Consultants may work with one local business or a variety of nationwide or international companies to handle questions, review processes, and improve performance. Extensive previous management experience is typically required.

I was 20 years old before I took my first bus or train anywhere, and that was during the first week of my semester abroad in Perth, Western Australia!

Growing up in the suburbs 20 minutes outside the city of Baltimore, there wasn’t really any public transportation available to me.

When I realized I would have to learn to navigate a bus and train system in a foreign country, I was petrified! But I not only managed to do it in Perth, I somehow learned the systems in Melbourne and Sydney during my brief holidays there as well.

The experience may be intimidating at first, but you can and will conquer it eventually by using some of these strategies:

The best way to learn is to experiment

One of the most helpful things for me was a scavenger hunt that our study abroad advisors had set up as an orientation for us.

We were to follow the vague instructions of our guides and navigate TransPerthfrom landmark to landmark and get to our final destination: the beach. (It became a vital stop for many of us a couple times each week).

The “Race Around Perth” showed us the city center along with some of the touristy spots we would want to check out later.

You don’t need an advisor – your can set one up yourself!

Look up a list of some of the attractions or hot spots you may be traveling to most often – shopping areas, the bank, the main nightlife neighborhoods, etc. Take a day to just ride the bus and/or the train and find your way from one to the next.

And be sure to check them out at night too, especially for those nightclubs and restaurants! The first bus ride in the dark can be scary because the city looks so different lit by artificial lights, but you’ll get the hang of it after a couple of times.

Pay attention to the landmarks

During that “Race Around Perth,” I learned that when I saw the kangaroo statues just past the Perth Mint, I should hit the button for the next stop.

From there, I could access a main train station, cross the street to my favorite areas to shop in the city, and turn the corner for some delicious food.

It may seem silly at first to think in your head, “Look for the giant kangaroos,” or “Press the button when you see the house on the corner with the yellow door,” but it could be a lifesaver.

These landmarks will allow you to zone out for some portions of the ride. You won’t have to count each stop or be able to read street signs. Choose something you’ll recognize easily and you’ll be golden.

Check the timetables online

Hopefully your city’s public transport system has a website where you can check timetables and routes. If so, bookmark it immediately.

Enter your starting station, your destination and what time you want to leave or arrive by and it should give you all the information you need to take a successful trip.

Be sure to note the last pickup times for each stop so you don’t get stranded.

Some cities’ transport systems may have different hours on weekends. Perth, for example, had very few buses after 5 p.m. on Sundays. Make sure you check those details and leave yourself enough time to catch your train or bus.

In the summer of 1976, two young friends in Northern California agreed to sell 50 computers to a local store for $500 each.

After working for 10 days straight, they pulled it off. That computer went on to be known as the Apple-1, Apple Computer's first product.

Those young men were Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. And now, Apple is the most valuable public company in the world. 

One of the computers they built during that time is now up for auction at Charitybuzz. It's an early Apple-1, and the auctioneers think it might actually be a pre-production version. It's one of perhaps 60 Apple-1 computers still in existence. 

Currently, it's going for $270,000 after three bids. But the auctioneer thinks the one-of-a-kind computer could be worth as much as $1,000,000. 

Take a look: 

The auction doesn't just include the computer. It also has full documentation, including an instruction manual, schematics, and tapes.

The Apple-1 originally retailed for $666.66. This one is currently going for over $250,000. "It’s Apple’s rookie baseball card," an appraiser said.

At the time the computer was built, Apple was based in the Jobs family garage. So Apple used an answering service located at 770 Welch Road, before it moved to Cupertino.

British food often gets a bad rap — it can't be easy being neighbors with countries like France and Italy, which are known for their sophisticated cuisines.

British food might be simple, but that doesn't mean it's dull. The country's fare is unfussy, local, and hearty.

From the widely popular fish and chips to the lesser known kedgeree, here are the top 26 dishes you need to try in England.

A full English breakfast (often shortened to "full English" or "fry-up") is as heavy as it is delicious, and usually includes bacon and/or sausages, eggs, baked beans, cooked tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, hash browns, and black pudding.

Black pudding is another British specialty you have to try. It's a sausage made from pork blood, fat, and oatmeal, and traditionally boiled and served with malt vinegar.

Scotch eggs are hard boiled eggs wrapped in sausage meat, coated in bread crumbs, and fried. The savory treat is a common picnic food.

Outrageous, dramatic, instructional, and even touching reality shows have grown into a huge business in the past two decades.

According to National Geographic Channel's numbers, there were 350 new primetime unscripted series on cable television last year.

Clearly, interest in reality TV isn't going anywhere, but critics of the genre are quick to dismiss these hit shows by calling them "scripted" or "fake."

"I've never worked on a scripted reality series. Good luck trying to get f---ing reality talent to do anything scripted, because they're so difficult. So I don't even know what that means, that accusation," one producer of several reality shows, including Bravo's "Real Housewives" franchise, told Business Insider on condition of anonymity.

"There is a cliché that the truth is stranger than fiction. And on reality, I have consistently found that to be the case," Sean Dash, who has produced nonfiction series, including Discovery Channel's "Bering Sea Gold" and "Deadliest Catch," told Business Insider.

"I think the issue often is your viewer cannot believe what they're seeing because it can be so ridiculous or so absurd, but it is actually, literally, exactly what had happened," Dash said.

The issue often is your viewer cannot believe what they're seeing because it can be so ridiculous or so absurd, but it is actually, literally, exactly what had happened.

"I certainly see that plenty of times on the shows that I've worked on, and I go see the comments and I just laugh because yes, that did happen. That genuinely was a father and son rolling around the dirt fighting. That's them; that's not us."

That doesn't mean the shows just stand back and film. The producers we talked to say there is definitely a story they're trying to tell. That can take skill to pull off, and some maneuvering when things don't go as planned.

"As a reality producer, you're dealing with real people with their own minds that have their own images that they want to control or they want to be seen. We don't always know what we're going to get," said producer Rahel Tennione, whose credits range from "Real Housewives" to dating shows like "Tough Love," competitions shows including "The Real Gilligan's Island," and serious docuseries like FX's "Black. White."

Business Insider talked to producers about the behind-the-scenes secrets that go into creating the drama you see on successful reality shows. Here are some of the trade secrets behind TV's most popular reality shows.

SEE ALSO: This is Hollywood's dirty secret to make stars look younger

DON'T MISS: The 14 biggest comedy power couples in Hollywood

It all starts with casting.

Obviously, a reality show hinges on the people involved. That's where a show can be made or broken.

"We look for people who have really interesting stories to tell who won't shut down on camera, who are outgoing, dynamic personalities, or willing to expose themselves a little bit, for lack of a better term," the anonymous producer said.

Dash said that not everyone on a show gets equal footing. Many times, the cast needs someone who shines above and beyond the others.

"Frankly, you're looking for a star," he said. "You're looking for somebody to hang the show on. And that is such an intangible quality, because people can be incredibly dynamic when you're sitting with them across the table, but they fall flat on screen. And the opposite can happen. You really have to put them on camera to know. But you're looking for somebody that you just cannot take your eyes off of."

Producers are prepared to cut a cast member.

Many reality shows with ensemble casts will bring in more people than they need, because it's hard to tell if someone will fall flat. In those cases, producers try to help the struggling cast member out.

"One thing I like to tell my casts sometimes is, 'Look, I want you to have a story and if so-and-so is showing up for more scenes, they're going to naturally get more screen time, and they're going to tell your story and you'll have less of a voice to tell your story. It's better to be present and show up and have some screen time. The last thing you want is for someone else to tell your story,'" the anonymous producer said.

"You do everything you possibly can to try to bring out the best of them," Dash said. "You try to see who it would be good to pair them up with, who do they bounce off with naturally, what tends to spark them."

But sometimes it's a lost cause. "Real Housewives" is known to bring in extra women who attend shoots alongside the other ladies. And by the end of shooting, it becomes clear whether they've earned a place in the opening credits.

"If somebody just doesn't deliver, they just begin naturally to fade because the edit bay, honestly, is a meritocracy," Dash said. "The best characters win out and the best stories win out. People who don't deliver just end up on the cutting-room floor."

You have to get inside the reality stars' heads.

In Lifetime's hit "Unreal," which parodies the production of a "Bachelor"-like reality show, producers constantly coax their contestants. The truth is that's a very big part of creating the drama you see on reality TV.

"I like to be like an assassin. I'll try to subtly get the story way before the scene," the anonymous producer told us. "I'll put it into their heads so they think about it organically. I'll trick them. Basically, I'll sort of give them story beats a couple days in advance or remind them what's happening in real life and what we want to see in a subtle way, so they don't know I'm doing it."

Sure, that sounds underhanded, but it can actually turn out to be cathartic for a cast member who may not want to handle confrontation, or who's trying to figure out what's bothering them, according to the producers.

"You simply prompt them and you say, 'Hey, so-and-so, I know you feel this way, tell him about that,'" Dash said. "In a weird way, you're doing on-camera therapy, but all you're actually doing is bringing out the tension that exists between these two people and letting them talk it out. I know this sounds bizarre, but I have seen relationships actually improve because of the intervention of the show in people's lives."

The two biggest hacker conferences in the world take place during the same week every year in Las Vegas.

Referred to as "hacker summer camp," Black Hat USA and Def Con last week brought together hackers, information security professionals, and government agents.

This year, more than 22,000 people showed up to see talks, buy tools and t-shirts, and enjoy Sin City. They also crammed into various villages at Def Con to compete or learn things like lock-picking and safekeeping their online privacy.

Here's what went down.

SEE ALSO: You can buy lock picks, Wi-Fi hacking tools, and more at the world's biggest hacking conference

My time in Vegas started at the Black Hat USA security conference, which was held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

Black Hat and Def Con are closely related, since they were both founded by Jeff Moss (aka The Dark Tangent). DC was his first conference, which began in 1993. He started Black Hat in 1997.

Attended by about 15,000 people this year, Black Hat features briefings, training, and networking opportunities for those in the information security community.

If you love books, libraries are some of the most spectacular buildings in the world.

To celebrate these monumentally important buildings, we’ve compiled a list of the most magnificent libraries on the planet.

From a library hidden in the forests of Beijing to one in Egypt that was designed like a sundial, these are the libraries that all book lovers should visit in their lifetime.

Strahav Library in Prague, Czech Republic

The most beautiful library in the world, Prague's Strahav Library is housed in the city's Clementium castle complex. It has two halls: the Theological Hall and the Philisophical Hall, both built around the turn of the 18th century. And they're both gorgeous.

In addition to tens of thousands of old, rare manuscripts, they have detailed frescoes on the ceilings and antique globes and statues in the rooms. They're a monument to knowledge itself.

Royal Portuguese Reading Room in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Built in the 19th century, this gorgeous rooms is home to over 350,000 works — and the largest collection of Portuguese works outside of Portugal. 

The library is known for its Neo-Manueline design, which “evokes the Gothic-Renaissance style that flourished during the time of the Portuguese Discoveries,” according to My Modern Met. 

The room is completely covered in books, many of them rare works dating back to the 16th century. It's the perfect destination for anyone who loves to be surrounded by beautiful books. 

George Peabody Library in Baltimore, Maryland, USA

The Peabody Library was funded by the the philanthropist George Peabody. Peabody built the library as a gift to the citizens of Baltimore for their kindness and hospitality. 

Designed by 19th-century architect Edmund Lind, Peabody is known for its interior that has a soaring atrium. The five stories of cast-iron balconies are filled to the brim with books, and the skylight roof showers the library in natural light. 

Moviegoing has long been one of America's favorite pastimes, with blockbuster box-office earnings serving as a reliable predictor of cultural staying power.

Using both IMDb's and Box Office Mojo's lists of the highest-grossing films by year, Business Insider has compiled a chronology of the biggest box-office hits every year since 1975.

We adjusted global box-office receipts for inflation through 2016 using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator. We've also included critic ratings from Metacritic (on a scale of one to 100) and fan ratings from IMDb (on a scale of 1 to 10) for each film.

Several franchises are represented — "Star Wars,""Harry Potter," and "Pirates of the Caribbean" each make multiple appearances — as are Academy Award nominees and winners such as "Titanic" and "Rocky."

We used '75 as the cutoff because we found that worldwide figures before then were spotty and inconsistent.

Read on to find out the highest-grossing movie released the year you were born:

DON'T MISS: The 30 most expensive movies ever made

AND: RANKED: The 10 movies most likely to dominate this summer

2015: "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens"

Adjusted gross: $2.07 billion

Unadjusted gross: $2.07 billion

Critic rating: 81

Fan rating: 8.3

Plot summary: "Three decades after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, a new threat arises. The First Order attempts to rule the galaxy and only a ragtag group of heroes can stop them, along with the help of the Resistance." 

2014: "Transformers: Age of Extinction"

Adjusted gross: $1.12 billion

Unadjusted gross: $1.1 billion

Critic rating: 32

Fan rating: 5.7

Plot summary: "Autobots must escape sight from a bounty hunter who has taken control of the human serendipity: Unexpectedly, Optimus Prime and his remaining gang turn to a mechanic, his daughter, and her back street racing boyfriend for help."

2013: "Frozen"

Adjusted gross: $1.31 billion

Unadjusted gross: $1.28 billion

Critic rating: 74

Fan rating: 7.6

Plot summary: "When the newly crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home in infinite winter, her sister, Anna, teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition."

"Saturday Night Live" has made stars we can never forget: Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler.

They're comedians who found their talents on the legendary NBC sketch show.

But it wasn't that way for everybody. Over the years, "SNL" has been notorious for quickly cycling through some cast members. Some even have horror stories about their time on the show.

These stars, however, made it out and found fame with their acting and comedy anyway.

Here are the most notable "SNL" cast members you probably didn't even know were on "SNL" (they all lasted for only one or two seasons):

Robert Downey Jr.

Seasons: 1

After putting in time in theater, Mr. Iron Man joined a younger "SNL" cast. But facing wide criticism of the cast and poor ratings, the sketch show axed Downey and most of the rest of the cast. Honestly, it probably helped him become one of the biggest movie stars in a generation.

Jim Belushi

Seasons: 2

The late John Belushi is synonymous with "SNL," but his brother joined after John's death. He didn't last long, however, before becoming better known for movies like "About Last Night..." and "Little Shop of Horrors."

Chevy Chase

Seasons: 2

An original cast member, Chase did a lot with his short time on "SNL," including making "Weekend Update" a staple. He exited for an ultimately successful run at movies and left in his wake Bill Murray, for which we're all grateful.

On Thursday, Simone Biles made a strong case for being one of the greatest gymnasts of all time in a dominating performance for the ages.

Biles captured her second gold medal of Rio Olympics, winning the women's all-around by a whopping 2.1 points in a sport that keeps score to the hundredth of a point.

Not only was the performance dominant, it was also visually stunning. Below, we collected 25 of the best photos from photographers for Getty, Reuters, and the Associated Press.

Simone waits for one of the events in the all-around.

Simone sprints down the runway just before the vault.

Biles flies through the air on the vault.