Last year was the first time I had ever been to South by Southwest (SXSW), a popular tech, film and music event in Austin, Texas that draws tens of thousands of people.

I thought I was going prepared, but I ended up making a lot of rookie mistakes.

The conference begins this week. If it's your first time attending SXSW, here's everything you need to know before you board the plane.

As soon as you know you're attending SXSW, book a hotel room.

Last year, hotel rooms in Austin were completely sold out for SXSW's interactive portion by early December.

This year, it was even worse. All of the hotels within a 20-mile radius have been booked since October.

If you haven't gotten yourself a room, go on SXSW's site and register for housing. You can email the housing committee at SXSW to advise you on next steps. There's also Airbnb, but rates are as high or higher than local hotels, and most of those rentals are booked up too.

I called 13 hotels in downtown Austin and found a few with openings that weren't listed on the website. The rooms were absurdly expensive, but there will be some last minute cancellations, so you might get lucky if you call early in the morning.

But your best bet may be to surf LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for others in your situation. People have set up message boards to help stragglers find housing.

Try as hard as you can to get a hotel within walking distance of the convention center. If you can't, rent a car.

Last year, there were only 700 cabs in Austin and SXSW had 30,000 attendees. There were a lot of pedicabs, but no bikers is going to take you across the highway or miles to your hotel. Uber hasn't launched in SXSW either, so calling a car isn't an option either.

While Austin is a walkable town, getting home is tough and the hotel shuttles stop running late at night. Your best bet may be to rent a car and stash it in a nearby lot during the day, and either stay sober at the open bars or come back for it in the morning.

If you have to stay driving distance from the convention center, don't buy an R&R Limousine shuttle pass.

SXSW pushes R&R Limousine's shuttle service to attendees because it is the official transportation sponsor of the event. Don't fall for it.

The pass costs $70 for five days or $20 per ride.  But it doesn't operate on a set schedule. It will roll up to your hotel when and if it feels like it.

The service says to expect the shuttle every "30-45 minutes"; It also warns people not to waste the company's time calling if you don't see an R&R shuttle.  

I magically caught the shuttle service three times while in Austin. The other times I bummed a ride or shared a cab with other attendees. It makes more sense to rent a car than to cross your fingers and pray a ride shows up.

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Apple's next iPhone will probably launch at some point this year.

There haven't been any rumors or leaks of what the phone's next design will look like but French tech site, Nowhereelse.fr has commissioned graphic designer, Martin Hajek to imagine.

Hajek draws inspiration from the current iPad Mini design and offers the device in two different screen sizes.

We like how the device has no edge to edge bezel and no home button. Instead of a physical home button the function is imagined to resemble Apple's MacBook trackpad invisible button. 

Designer Martin Hajek has imagined a new design for Apple's next iPhone. The concept comes in two different sizes.

The home button has been removed and replaced with a clickable bottom component, similar to Apple's MacBook trackpads.

The edge to edge display is something iPhone owners have wanted for a while now.

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Despite a spate of recent cruise ship disasters, cruising is still a popular way to vacation in the U.S.

TripAdvisor property Cruise Critic just released the results of its annual Cruisers' Choice awards, based on reviews submitted by cruisers for trips taken during 2012.

Of the dozens of ships sailing the high seas, these are the best large ones, according to Cruise Critic users.

#10 Oasis Of The Seas

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas is five centimeters smaller than world's largest cruise ship, her sister ship, Allure of the Seas.

It features seven-night cruises from Fort Lauderdale throughout the Caribbean. Destinations include  St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Jamaica, and Cozumel, Mexico, and these packages start at around $900 per person.

Onboard amenities are an ice skating rink, a theater showing "Hairspray," and the deepest pool at-sea for diving performances.

#9 Celebrity Silhouette

Celebrity

This ship offers seven-night cruises from Fort Lauderdale throughout the Caribbean for around $700.  It also has a trans-Atlantic voyage to Italy, a 14-night trip for $700.  

Once the ship Europe, it offers 12-night vacations with destinations in Malta, Greece, Turkey, and Croatia for around $1,400.

Silhouette has many great features such as a half-acre grass lawn, art galleries, and a variety of restaurants, but many of these attractions cost an extra fee on this ship.

#8 Serenade Of The Seas

Royal Caribbean

The ship offers seven-night cruises from Dubai for around $700.  It also offers longer trips with destinations in Italy, Spain, and Greece starting at around $1,200.

It has glass walls all over, including elevators which provide passengers with spectacular views from nearly every public room.

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We speak from experience when we say that translating the jargon-filled, mind-numbing world of personal finance into readable, engaging material for young people is no simple task. 

But it looks like H&R Block and DoSomething.org might be on to something.

The two companies have launched a quirky new campaign to get young people motivated to save more and spend less. 

At the center of the campaign, which features celebrity PSAs from Far East Movement and comedian Michael Kayne, is a simple, teen-friendly challenge: "The Craziest Thing I Did To Save Money." 

Via the site's Facebook app, young people can either upload a photo or text ("WYR" to 38383) some of the craziest things they've done to save. And instead of "liking" or giving a thumbs up to photos, users can "Call BS" or say "I Believe It!" There's also real cash at stake in the form a $4,000 scholarship for the best saving strategy.

Clever. 

Submissions are accepted through April 30, but we had a great time picking out our favorites among the dozens that have already been shared. 

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Following our publication of aerial shots of Hong Kong's tiny "caged" apartments, we were reminded of another aerial shot photography project from Alejandro Cartagena.

In "Car Poolers", Cartagena took his camera to a bridge in suburban Mexico to catch shots of car poolers on their way to work. It's a fascinating glimpse into modern Mexico.

You can see the pictures in person at Kopeikin Gallery in LA where Cartagena is having a solo exhibition until April 6 2013.

Cartagena shot the images on Monterrey's Highway 85 over the course of a year.

The carpoolers are heading South to San Pedro Garza Garcia, one of the richest cities in Central America.

The images shows the stark contrast between the rich and the poor in Mexico.

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National home prices are expected to climb 0.6 percent in the next year, according to the latest home price report by Fiserv Case-Shiller.

But over the next five years, home prices are expected to rise 3.3 percent.

We drew on Fiserv Case-Shiller's latest data to identify the best housing markets for the next five years.

The top 15 cities are ranked by the projected annualized change in home prices between Q3 2012 and Q3 2017.

We also included the median home price, median household income, unemployment rate, and the change in home prices since their peak, to offer a broader view of the local economy and housing market.

Note: The median family income and home price is for Q3 2012. Unemployment data is as of December 2012, and population data for the metros is for 2011.

Norwich-New London, Connecticut

Annualized expected growth from 2012 - 2017:
7.9 percent

Home prices in Norwich-New London have tumbled 23.4 percent since their Q2 2006 peak.

It has a population of 273,502, an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent, and a median family income of $80,500, above the national median of $63,800. It also has a median home price of $225,000.

Data provided by Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes

Tucson, Arizona

Annualized expected growth from 2012 - 2017:
7.2 percent

Tucson's home prices have plunged 40.4 percent since their Q1 2006 peak. The metro has a median home price of $165,000.

It has a population of 989,569, a median family income of $57,800, and an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent.

Data provided by Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes

Visalia-Porterville, California

Annualized expected growth from Q3 2012 - Q3 2017:
7.2 percent

Home prices in the Visalia-Porterville metro area have plunged 52.9 percent since they peaked in Q1 2006, and the city has a median home price of $145,000.

It has a population of 449,253, an unemployment rate of 14.9 percent, and a median family income of $48,200 below the national median.

Data provided by Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes

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Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has declared a financial emergency in the city of Detroit.

He has also threatened to have an emergency financial manager take control over the troubled city after March 12 if local officials don't come up with a plan to remedy the city's troubled finances.

Detroit has a $327 million budget deficit, and it's drowning in more than $14 billion in long-term debt.

As it deals with its ongoing financial crisis, the city has instituted mandatory unpaid days off for many city workers and it has left many of its key service departments such as the police and fire departments underfunded.

Once a prosperous hub for the American automotive industry, Detroit has seen its population dwindle from 1.8 million in 1950 to 706k in 2011.

The beleaguered city has seen its neighborhoods abandoned, its properties vandalized, and its homes stripped of any valuable materials such as copper piping and roofing.

And the images are stunning.

Photographer Kevin Bauman has collected beautiful photos of 100 abandoned Detroit homes.

Source: 100AbandonedHouses and Kevin Bauman via Flickr

Source: 100AbandonedHouses and Kevin Bauman via Flickr

Source: 100AbandonedHouses and Kevin Bauman via Flickr

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Professional athletes rake in tons of money every year for playing the game they love.

But the real money comes when you own the show.

Forbes put out its annual Billionaires list on Monday and the billionaires of the sports world aren't out there on the field, they're the ones behind the scenes.

#1 Stanley Kroenke

Net worth: $5 billion

Stanley Kroenke is all over the place when it comes to sports team ownership. Kroenke owns the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche, the St. Louis Rams, and Premier League soccer club Arsenal.

Forbes

#2 Malcolm Glazer

Net worth: $4.4 billion

Glazer owns not one, but two sports teams. Glazer bought the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1995, and the EPL soccer team Manchester United.

Manchester United went public in August 2012 and became the first sports team to ever be valued at more than $3 billion in January 2013.

Forbes

#3 Bernie Eccelstone (and family)

Net Worth: $3.8 billion

Bernie Ecclestone owns 5.3% of Formula One, an elite car racing league in the U.K. Ecclestone turned Formula One into a popular sport across the globe.

Much of his fortune is sitting in trust funds for his daughters Petra and Tamara.

Forbes

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The Geneva Motor Show begins tomorrow, and, like in Paris in September, the world's automakers will be working to put a good face on the catastrophic state of the European auto market.

The dozens of new models set to make their debuts at the show may not save the industry, but they will include some of its best hopes and most exciting prospects, especially on the luxury end of the spectrum.

After a catastrophic 2012, PSA Peugeot-Citroën is working to prove it's not totally obsolete. 

High-end automakers BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz have had more success on the continent recently, and are bringing the next generation of luxury cars to Switzerland.

Top of the line brands Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and McLaren will be on the scene as well, with their new offerings.

Two years ago, Alfa Romeo brought the 4C concept car to Geneva. This year, it's bringing the production version. With a jet fighter-style cockpit and 240 hp propelling its 2,100 pounds, the 4C should go from 0 to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds.

We were quite happy with the 2014 Corvette that Chevrolet finally revealed in Detroit last month. In Geneva, they'll show off the convertible version for the first time.

Audi is bringing the A3 e-tron, the plug-in hybrid version of its hatchback. Set to go on sale later this year, the e-tron will go from 0 to 60 mph in 7.6 seconds and have a top speed of 138 mph.

[Source: The Telegraph]

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Nothing seems to be able to stop the stock market from closing in on an all-time high. 

Sure, there are plenty of signs that suggest this bull market is stretched and due for a sell-off.

However, the bulls' case has made this market bulletproof to bad news.

Yes, global growth is slow.

But the economy is still growing, and S&P 500 companies are actively increasing exposures to regions where growth is hot.

Yes, profit margins are near all-time highs.

But it's a mistake to think things revert to the mean just for the sake of mean-reversion.  There are plenty of reasons why margins will stay high.

Some skeptics think that the stock market is being driven by easy monetary policy.  And they warn of a time when the Fed tightens.  But evidence shows that stocks can continue to rally amid a tightening Fed. And the Fed is expected to remain easy for a long time.

As you'll see, the bull case for stocks is quite robust.

The US economy may be anemic. But the US economy and the stock market are very different.

Nearly half of S&P 500 revenues come from foreign countries, where growth may be higher than in the US.

Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices

Many US companies are exposed to the emerging markets and their consumers, which constitute the biggest growth opportunity in the history of capitalism.

Source: McKinsey, Business Insider

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China has built copycat versions of everything from world landmarks to Apple stores, but one of its more ambitious knockoffs has to be Florentia Village, a replica Italian town replete with canals, mosaics, and ornate fountains.

The village, which sprang up near the port city of Tianjin in 2011, is actually an outlet mall with more than 200 shops. And while classic Italian brands like Fendi, Gucci, and Prada are represented, there are also British, US, and China-based retailers in the mix.

But people don't just come to Florentia Village for designer goods.

"It's better than the Italian Embassy building in Beijing,"one visitor told The Telegraph."The architecture here is truly splendid, so I came to enjoy the aspect of the place and take pictures. I'll try to sell them to the tourism websites."

And unlike a knockoff version of an Austrian village that had residents of the original town in an uproar last year, Florencia Village has a stamp of approval — it was built by an Italian developer.

Welcome to Florentia Village, on the outskirts of Tianjin in northern China.

Accessible from Tianjin and Beijing by high speed rail, it gets between 10,000 and 25,000 visitors a day.

The Telegraph

The shopping center, which covers around 50 acres, was constructed in a former cornfield and opened in June 2011.

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Jeff Gundlach's latest webcast, which he's titled "The Big Easy," has just wrapped up.

The title refers to the worldwide central bank easing that has kept interest rates low.

Gundlach worries about the long-term implications of these actions.

But for now, he believes that interest rates will remain low.  And he believes that talk of a bond bubble is a myth as investor exposure to bonds is actually quite low.

In fact, Gundlach notes that DoubleLine has actually increased its exposure to Treasuries.  He believes that 2 percent on the 10-year note and th 3.25 on the 30-year bond  are both attractive.

In the Q&A he joked that he thought the 10-year note would end the year at 1.63 percent "to pick an absurdly pinpoint number."

As usual, Gundlach has compiled a series of important charts on central banks, federal debt, inflation, stocks, bonds, and other critical global macro indicators.

Gundlach has nailed his calls on Apple, the Nikkei, the Yen, the Shanghai composite, and natural gas.

If you want to understand how the bond god thinks, then you must see these charts.

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In an age when the Next Big iGadget is always around the corner and people go through cell phones like pairs of socks, it's nice to know there are some products that can never be replaced. 

In a popular Reddit thread, more than 500 users shared the "trustiest" products they've relied on for years –– and in some cases, a lifetime. 

We rounded up 22 of our favorites. 

"My Gameboy color is still going strong as well as my Pokemon games."

"Samsung Blackjack II. Dropped it a million times, still works perfectly. I've had it for over five years."

"2001 Honda Accord. Not a single problem in all my years of ownership."

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Ten miles from Key West and 100 miles from Havana, Cuba sits the newly listed island Ballast Key.

The remote, 24-acre island even includes a beach-side mansion with eight bedrooms.

The 4,000-square-foothome has amazing views of the ocean as well as enough space to land a helicopter or boat when you're traveling to or from one of the other Florida Keys.

It's currently listed for $15.8 million through Realtor.com.

Ballast Key is a part of the Florida Keys.

Source: Realtor.com

It's just 10 miles west of Key West and 100 miles from Havana, Cuba.

Source: Realtor.com

The two-story home is on the southern end of the island, and gets plenty of sun throughout the day.

Source: Realtor.com

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It's a classic he-said-she-said — except she is Forbes' Senior Editor Kerry Dolan and he is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, considered to be the richest man in Saudi Arabia and one of the richest people in the world.

They're fighting over how much the Saudi Arabian prince is worth.

Alwaleed believes the number is a $29.6 billion, while Forbes disagreed and placed him at number 26 on its annual billionaires list with a net worth estimate of $20 billion.

Regardless, Alwaleed is still rich beyond belief from his stake in his Kingdom Holding Company, his Saudi real estate investments, shares in Arab media companies, and investments in public and private companies globally, including Twitter.

Prince Alwaleed was born into Saudi royalty.

He is the son of Prince Talal and Mona Al Solh.

His maternal grandfather was the first prime minister of Lebanon and his paternal grandfather, King Abdulaziz, created Saudi Arabia.

He attended a California school for college.

It was while attending Menlo College in Atherton, California that he acquired what many believe to be a Western world outlook, making him the go-to Saudi investor for American businessmen.

He got his big break when he invested in a little company called Citicorp.

He received a $30,000 gift, a $300,000 loan, and a house from his father after graduating, and slowly began investing.

In 1991, when Alwaleed was 36, he made a high-stakes decision to invest in Citicorp, which made him $800 million. By 2005, that had turned into $10 billion.

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On Tuesday, the Dow closed at an all-time high. It's up 120 percent from its March 6, 2009 lows.

Ever since the low, experts from both the bearish and bullish camps have presented their arguments for why investors should sell.

Sure, there have been dips along the way. Ultimately, though, the trend has been up.

To be clear, none of the people we identify here are idiots, and we don't want to give that impression.

But this epic bull market run has certainly made a lot of people look and feel like idiots.

March 2009: John Mauldin say bulls will get their hopes crushed over the summer

“So, I know a lot of you have stayed in the market the whole time it has been falling and are now wondering what to do. If you have a ten-year time horizon you probably can buy here and do OK. But I wouldn't. I think this market is going to have more problems as we confront the real possibility that we will get some really poor earnings for the first and second quarters. The economy is simply weak, and that weakness is hitting more and more companies. From exporting companies to the big international firms, a global slowdown is hitting almost everyone. Even hospitals are being challenged. We could see a real bear market rally lure investors back in, just to crush their hopes this summer.”

—John Maudlin on March 14th, 2009

Dow Then: 7,223

Dow Today: 14,254

March 2009: Nouriel Roubini predicts new lows in the next 18 months

"During the last recession, the economy bottomed out in November 2001 and GDP growth was robust in 2002 but the U.S. stock markets kept on falling all the way through the first quarter of 2003. So not only were the stock markets not 'forward looking,' they actually lagged the economic recovery by 18 months--rather than lead it by six to nine months.

"A similar scenario could occur this time around. The real economy sort of exits the recession some time in 2010, but deflationary forces keep a lid on the pricing power of corporations and their profit margins, and growth is so weak and anemic, that U.S. equities may--as in 2002--move sideways for most of 2010. A number of false bull starts would occur as economic recovery signals remain mixed.

"Thus, most likely, we can brace ourselves for new lows on U.S. and global equities in the next 12 to 18 months."

—Nouriel Roubini on March 12, 2009

Dow: 7,170

Dow Today: 14,254

May 2009: Andy Kessler says "this sure smells to me like a sucker's rally"

"Is this the dawn of a new era? Are we off to the races again? I'm not so sure. Only a fool predicts the stock market, so here I go. This sure smells to me like a sucker's rally. That's because there aren't sustainable, fundamental reasons for the market's continued rise.

—Andy Kessler on May 12, 2009

Dow: 8,469

Dow Today: 14,254

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It’s tax time!

And while you’re busy scrambling to get together your return for this year, a new Time article points out six new (incredibly strange) taxes that may be coming your way in the very near future.

A few have even already passed.

Take a look at some of the potential taxes>

Entertainment Taxes

A 5% sales tax has been proposed in Ohio for entertainment such as circuses, museums, bowling and tickets to sporting events and concerts. This proposed tax would even include tickets for high school sporting events.

Drinks

Taxing soda is not a new idea, but the concept has come up again in Vermont, where a bill was recently advanced to add a 1 cent-per-ounce tax on every sugar-sweetened beverage sold there.

Environmentally Friendly Cars & Bikes

If you think you’re doing some good by driving or riding an environmentally friendly vehicle, think again. States make money off the gas sold to fuel vehicles, and as such Washington state is adding a $100 annual tax on electric cars. The state is also considering another additional $25 tax on bike that retail for $500 or more. The argument is that motorists feel cyclists aren’t paying their fair share to build and maintain roads.

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Since 2011, Lakshman Achuthan of the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) has been taking a lot of heat for his controversial call that the U.S. economy would fall into a recession.

In an appearance with Bloomberg's Tom Keene last November, Achuthan clarified that based on the four official recession indicators considered by the NBER — the folks who date recession — the U.S. fell into recession in July 2012. He also said we would know that the U.S. fell into recession by the end of 2012.

Since then, the ECRI head had been off the radar.

Today, Achuthan emailed to Business Insider a brand new presentation titled "The U.S. Business Cycle in the Context of the Yo-Yo Years."  "Yo-Yo Years" was a concept he introduced in March 2012. (Download it here.)

In 17 pages, Achuthan makes his best effort to defend his recession call.

He begins by looking at what gross domestic product (GDP) and gross domestic income (GDI) are telling us.  First, GDP:

As it happened, in January 2013 there was a negative GDP print, consistent with our belief that the recession had begun around mid-2012.

Here we have a chart of year-over-year nominal GDP growth which, after last week’s revision of real GDP growth from -0.1% to 0.1%, is still down to 3.5%.

This chart begins in the early 1980s. Based on the full 65 years of historical data, nominal GDP growth below 3.7%, which is marked off by the horizontal line, has always occurred in a recessionary context – without exception.

This chart is consistent with a mild recession. Yet, we have all heard lots of commentary that we’re in a “2% economy” – not that great, but as long as the economy stayed above recessionary stall speed it would be okay.

And then he considers GDI:

About two years ago the Federal Reserve Board published a study that investigated various stall-speed measures, including GDP and Gross Domestic Income (GDI), which should theoretically be identical to GDP but for the statistical discrepancy.

The Fed study concluded that the best stall-speed measure may be the two-quarter annualized growth rate of real GDI, and when that measure fell below 2% it was a recession signal, because the economy would stall out.

Here is a historical chart of the two-quarter annualized percent change in GDI, with a horizontal line placed at the Fed’s 2% stall- speed threshold. You can see why they believe that historically that has been a fairly reliable recession signal, because it has never dropped clearly below that threshold without there being a recession.

It is not unusual to see this measure drop below the 2% stall speed, pop up briefly, and then fall back as recession begins. So where were we in 2012?

All the way to the right of this 65-year chart we see this measure decline in the second quarter of 2012 to 1.5%, below the stall-speed threshold. And in the third quarter of 2012 it dropped further to 0.4%. So by last summer it had already spent two quarters below stall speed.

You may recall that in the run-up to last fall’s election, the jobless rate was falling so rapidly that some even questioned how real the decline was. But in light of the Fed’s stall-speed measure, their pledge last year of ongoing quantitative easing makes more sense.

While we have yet to hear any of the official agencies declare that the U.S. is indeed in recession, Achuthan continues to be convinced that the numbers speak for themselves.

"So that is the evidence from GDP and GDI, and you can begin to draw your own conclusions about the U.S. economy and if it is in recession," said Achuthan.

"But what about the other key coincident indicators?"

Click Here To See Achuthan's Entire Argument That The US Is In Recession —>

Thanks to ECRI for giving us permission to feature this presentation.  Also, download Achuthan's presentation "The Yo-Yo Years"here.

Achuthan argues that we are in a an era characterized by frequent recessions.

The last four time nominal GDP growth fell below 3.7%, the US was in recession.

Whenever GDI drops 'clearly below' 2%, the US has been in recession.

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A day before election day two weeks ago, Italian authorities halted a screening of a documentary by the former editor of The Economist about the country's society-wide crisis.

The film, "Girlfriend In A Coma"— a play on the Smiths' song speaking to Emmott's formerly intimate relationship with the country — had already been viewed in other parts of the country and hailed by the Italian press, but a screening in advance of the polls was deemed to threaten the country's election laws. 

Emmott of course blasted the decision, and the FT's Fernando Giugliano called the ban "an act of intellectual cowardice." 

The elections themselves produced two major surprises: comedian and activist Beppe Grillo's party gained as much as 30 percent in some regions. And former prime minister's Silvio Berlusconi's party also made strong gains. But the technical outcome was more disaster: a deadlocked parliament whose majority leader, Pier Luigi Bersani, is struggling to put together a ruling coalition.

We wanted to see what all the fuss in the film was about. After seeing it, you'll better understand why Italian voters are so upset. (Via @pawelmorski)

To check out the film in its entirety, go here.

The story plays off the theme of "good Italy" versus "bad Italy."

We begin with the bad.

How bad is it? On many major levels of development Italy clocks in below many "third-world" countries. GDP: 164th...

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The average person is only aware of a fraction of the Internet.

There is more content out there than any conventional browser can access. These sites are termed "Deep Web" or "Undernet." They exist outside the scope of Google, Facebook, and your RSS reader. It's the digital equivalent of a thriving city that's been domed over and cordoned off.

Click here to jump straight to our tour of the Deep Web >

These sites are locked down so tightly that you need a special browser to access them. It's called the Tor browser, and it offers you an entirely new way of connecting to the Internet.

Where conventional web browsers like Chrome and Firefox make no effort to conceal your location or identity, Tor is built upon the idea of preserving anonymity as aggressively as possible.

What is Tor?

Tor, originally an acronym for "The Onion Router," is an anonymity network designed to keep your identity and location completely secure as you browse the web. When you use the Tor browser (a free download), volunteer servers around the world route your internet traffic from server to server before finally delivering you your content. On top of this evasive routing, data is encrypted a number of times as it travels to you.

Exploring the Deep Web

Michael Bergman of BrightPlanet puts it succinctly: "Searching on the Internet today can be compared to dragging a net across the surface of the ocean. While a great deal may be caught in the net, there is still a wealth of information that is deep, and therefore, missed."

Using the Tor browser unlocks the door to a whole weird and wild world you never would have guessed existed online. Where Google helps you find the needle, Tor lets you "explore the haystack."

There is lots of promise in Tor's value– people use it to protect their communications, to research sensitive topics, and to access information they might otherwise not have access to (if a country is behind a firewall, for example). By guaranteeing such a high level of anonymity, Tor lends itself well to information freedom activists, libertarians, and those who simply want to take their Internet safety to the extreme.

But with such anonymizing power made available for free, some less-than-legal (and even downright malicious) operations claim to operate successfully.

The Dark Side of the Deep Web

There are several websites claiming to offer some crazy goods and services through Tor:

• Silk Road is dubbed the "Amazon.com of drugs." Gawker published a story on the site. Through Bitcoin, a secure and anonymous digital currency that can be exchanged for real money, vendors are able to set up shop digitally and sell their wares through the U.S. Postal Service. (It's important to note that Bitcoins are cash equivalents, so if someone rips you off you have no recourse.)
• EuroArms sells and delivers weapons (without ammunition).
• You can hire assassins through a service called "White Wolves."
• Child pornography is readily available through countless sites.
• The Human Experiment details medical experiments performed on people against their will.

Click here to jump straight to our tour of the Deep Web >

Should we shut it down?

It depends on how you look at it. Just because the Deep Web is a place where the id tends to run wild doesn't mean others aren't finding legitimate and creative uses for it:

• Young & Sick is a Los Angeles-based fashion, art, and music project that released its newest single, "Continuum," via Tor earlier this week. 
• Originally developed for use by the Navy, Tor has plenty of military applications in how it protects communications and intelligence gathering.
• WikiLeaks provides users with means to upload documents anonymously.

Despite being around since 2004, Tor's ability to keep our online identities secret seems to only just recently be coming to public light. 

The Hidden Wiki catalogs several Tor sites that would otherwise be impossible to find. It shows you a number of sites claiming to offer things for sale, both legal and illegal.

It also points you towards where to buy drugs or even download the new Young & Sick song.

We'll let this one speak for itself.

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