From Enron to Bernie Madoff, there seem to be countless cases of once-successful people ending up on the wrong side of the law. 

So what causes smart, successful people to get wrapped up in illegal activities and unethical behavior? Dr. Muel Kaptein of the Rotterdam School of Management tackled this question in a paper about why good people do bad things.

These major crimes usually escalate from smaller offenses or lapses in judgment that are rationalized by a slew of psychological justifications. 

Business Insider previously collected insights from Kaptein that explain a few of the various reasons why good people lie, cheat, and steal— but that was just the beginning. Below, find 13 more reasons good people do bad things.

This is an update of a story originally reported by Max Nisen and Aimee Groth. 

SEE ALSO: 13 bizarre sleeping habits of super-successful people

DON'T MISS: 8 ways to make your money work for you

Self-serving bias

Few people believe they're average; most think they're smarter and more ethical than those around them. 

That can lead to feelings of injustice. If somebody else gets a promotion, it's not down to their performance and capacity, it must be something else. Those feelings, and overestimation of other's biases can lead to unethical behavior.  

Source: Muel Kaptein

Conspicuous consumption

Extreme wealth, or environments that reflect it, can lead to unethical behavior. For employees, seeing others receive excessive bonuses or perks may create feelings of injustice and jealousy, which may lead them to unethical behavior.

Research by Kathleen Vohs shows that the mere presence of money makes people more selfish, since they focus on success and individual needs over other factors. 

Source: Muel Kaptein

Obedience to authority

Obedience to authority is ingrained in our culture and workplace. When someone in a position of authority asks an employee to do something unethical or illegal, they can find it difficult to say no. 

It's easier to justify bad behavior, and when people see themselves as an instrument of another's wishes, they feel less responsible. 

Source: Muel Kaptein

Apple included some new visual goodies in its latest updates to macOS and tvOS. 

The Apple TV got 24 new nifty flyover screensavers, from cities like Los Angeles and Dubai, and landscapes in China and Greenland. iDownloadBlog did the work categorizing the new flyovers and extracting direct download links. 

And because Apple's new MacBooks have screens with better color display, Apple needed some new wallpapers to show them off. 

If you want to check out the new visuals on Apple TV, you can see the download the additional cityscapes by going to Settings > General > Screensaver.

To check out these new macOS visuals, simply update your operating system, right click on a blank part of your desktop, and choose one of the the new wallpapers.

You can also check them out below: 

SEE ALSO: The 10 best iPhone apps of 2016, according to Apple

Los Angeles

Download the video file here. 

Hong Kong

Download the video file here. 

Dubai

Download the video file here. 

Most of us have heard of Google's well-publicized moonshots: Self-driving cars, smart contact lenses, internet-beaming balloons, and more.

While those products and services sound amazing, most of us can't use them just yet. But the company actually has a bunch of other ones that are incredibly useful that you might not even know existed. 

For example, did you know Google has a massive free font library?

Here are some of the under-the-radar services Google offers.

Jillian D'Onfro contributed to an earlier version of this story.

SEE ALSO: Google reveals the 20 most popular searches in 2016

Google Keep is a killer notes and reminder app that works across both desktops and smartphones.

Watch the YouTube video here. 

You can set a timer on Google (and get an alarm to sound when time is up) by Googling any amount of time followed by "timer."

Source. 

Google.com/sky lets you explore the far reaches of the universe using images from NASA satellite, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and the Hubble Telescope.

Kroger has some of the best bargains in the business. But savvy shoppers know that there are ways to save even more at the grocery chain. 

Even as Kroger increases its organic offerings, Kroger is working to maintain its position as a value-centric retail chain. The company has invested $3.6 billion in beating out the competition when it comes to prices, Kroger said in an earnings call in June.

While the company is investing to keep price low for all shoppers, there are some secrets to saving more money than the average customer. 

Here's how to get the most out of every Kroger shopping trip.

SEE ALSO: 16 shopping tips to save big at Costco

Sign up for a digital account

Linking a digital account to a Shopper's Card (Kroger's loyalty card) means you can load online coupons on the card, instead of bringing your clipped coupons to the store. The digital account also lets you keep track of your fuel points, shopping lists, and prescriptions, so it's a convenient (and free) way to shop more efficiently.

Go online on Fridays

Every Friday, shoppers with Kroger.com accounts can visit the Free Friday Download website to get a coupon for a free item. Past offers have included bread, yogurt, pet food, and candy, reports the Krazy Coupon Lady.

While you can only claim the coupon on Friday, you can use it while shopping any time for the next two weeks.

Keep track of your fuel points

For every $1 customers with Shopper's Cards spend at Kroger, they earn 1 fuel point. One hundred fuel point is equal to 10 cents off each gallon of gas.

Be sure to check your current fuel point count, which resets every month, at the bottom of your receipt or online, so you can be strategic in your fuel point strategy — if you have 1,000 fuel points, and you're filling up your tank with 35 gallons of gas (the limit for a fuel points fill-up), you can save $35.

While Christmas in the US may conjure up visions of sugarplums and holiday hams, in Japan a certain fast-food staple takes center stage — and it's all thanks to a clever marketing ploy by KFC. 

Over the last four decades, KFC has managed to make fried chicken synonymous with Christmas in the country.

An estimated 3.6 million Japanese families eat KFC during the Christmas season, reported the BBC. Millions of people weather long lines to order fried chicken weeks in advance to carry on the tradition.

Here's a look back at how KFC became a Christmas tradition in Japan. 

SEE ALSO: We visited a restaurant that's powered by machines instead of people — here's what it's like

KFC's Christmas promotion was the brainchild of Takeshi Okawara, who managed the first KFC restaurant in Japan. He would go on to become CEO of Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan from 1984 to 2002.

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Here's the BBC article on KFC's Christmas marketing in Japan. 

Just a few months after the first KFC opened in Japan in 1970, Okawara had the idea to sell a Christmas "party barrel," inspired by the elaborate American turkey dinner, but with fried chicken instead of turkey.

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The promotion went national in Japan in 1974 under the name Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii: Kentucky for Christmas.

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2016 was the year that Facebook recognized the threat Snapchat poses to its core business, and started relentlessly cloning the app's core features. It makes sense considering Facebook unsuccessfully tried to acquire Snapchat in 2013; CEO Evan Spiegel rebuffed a $3 billion offer from Mark Zuckerberg.

The result is that Instagram, Messenger, Facebook's main app, and even WhatsApp look much more like Snapchat than they did one year ago. And Zuckerberg now believes that the future of how people communicate on Facebook will be through the camera — a concept Snapchat pioneered.

Here are all of the ways that Facebook copied Snapchat in 2016:

SEE ALSO: If you think it's crazy that Snapchat might go public, here's something to consider

The first indication that Facebook was wading into Snapchat's territory was in March when it acquired the app MSQRD, which lets you swap faces with goofy effects, similar to Snapchat's unique filters called "lenses."

Source: Business Insider

Then, in April, Facebook added scannable Snapchat-like QR codes for profiles in Messenger.

Source: Business Insider

Disappearing messages were added as a test to Messenger in May — a feature Facebook has yet to roll out globally.

Source: Business Insider

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships so we may get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

As smartphones have become more ubiquitous, the number of things they can actually do has expanded.

There's a whole industry devoted to making add-ons for the computer in your pocket, and while a good chunk of them aren't exactly necessary for day-to-day life, they're often fun and creative enough to be worth it for the right niche of people.

No one device gets more of these weird little add-ons than the iPhone, so here are a few accessories for Apple's flagship device that we enjoy, even if they aren't totally practical.

This article was original published on 6/13/2016.

SEE ALSO: Bose’s latest Bluetooth headphones are one of the most well-rounded pairs you can buy

SEE ALSO: Amazon has slashed the prices of its newest Echo smart speaker and Kindle e-readers

External camera flash

If you find the flash of the current iPhone camera to be subpar, Concepter wants to help with the iBlazr 2. It connects to your phone via Bluetooth and integrates right into the default camera app on iOS — all you have to do is point and shoot.

You can adjust the iBlazr 2's light temperature and power on the device itself, and activate the flash by double tapping its back. Its creators say the light created by the iBlazr 2 is comparable to a "small but powerful flashlight." So while you shouldn't expect the same results you'd get in broad daylight, the iBlazr 2 will provide significantly more light than the standard iPhone camera's flash.

Concepter iBlazr 2 LED Wireless Flash, $49.95, available at Amazon.

Attachable shutter button

If you're looking for a way to protect your phone and bring back memories from your old point-and-shoot camera days, consider the SNAP! PRO by bitplay. The case is made out of shock-absorbing material to help your iPhone from the perils of the laws of physics, and the physical shutter button works with the default camera app. The SNAP! PRO also has a grip, which should help cut down on your number of blurry photos.

bitplay SNAP!Pro, $43.99, available at Amazon.

Attachable camera lens

Speaking of interchangeable lenses, Loha Life's solution lets you take macro and wide-angle shots on the go with a level of detail that the iPhone's default shooter can't quite match. This is a newer entry in the add-on market, but it's got stellar reviews on Amazon, it comes with a lifetime warranty, and it works with Android phones too. 

LOHA Premium Camera Lens, $17.99, available at Amazon.

The world is still full of mysterious and fascinating creatures.

While many of us might think we've seen most of what's alive on this planet — or at least on land — the majority of global species are still unknown and uncategorized.

In 2015 alone, at least 163 new species were discovered in the biodiversity hotspot of the Greater Mekong region, a part of Southeast Asia that includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, according to a report released by the World Wildlife Fund today. This biological treasure trove includes a "rainbow-headed snake, a dragon-like lizard, and a newt that looks like a Klingon from Star Trek,"according to the report.

Unfortunately, many of these species are threatened by both the unprecedented pressure for development in the region and by the illegal wildlife trade, one of the largest criminal enterprises on the planet.

With WWF's permission, we've published some of our favorite photos of these strange and recently discovered species here — a glimpse into what we're finding now and the sorts of things that still remain completely undiscovered out there.

SEE ALSO: The most incredible nature photos of 2016

This Phuket Horned Tree Agamid (Acanthosaura phuketensis) looks kind of like a mini-dragon.

This little gekko (Gekko bonkowskii) hides inside remote ka rst cliffs in Laos.

The crew at the WWF believes this rainbow-headed snake's (Parafimbrios lao) shiny head bears a resemblance to Ziggy Stardust.

College professors dole out an incredible amount of required reading to their students.

But what if they could only choose one book?

When asked, professors at America's most prestigious colleges — those in the top 10, according to US News & World Report — shared with Business Insider the single book they think every student should read in 2017.

The topics of the books spanned issues from politics to social science to Shakespearean literature.

Read on to see what professors from schools like Princeton, Harvard, and Yale think you should read next year.

SEE ALSO: 11 legendary leaders share the best books they read in 2016

Jill Abramson, Harvard: 'The Paranoid Style in American Politics,' by Richard Hofstadter

Abramson, a former executive editor of The New York Times and current Harvard English lecturer, recommends students read Richard Hofstadter's "The Paranoid Style in American Politics," first published in 1964.

Abramson says the book is "everything you need to know about the root of Donald Trump's rhetoric and fake news."

FIND IT HERE »

James Berger, Yale: 'Orfeo,' by Richard Powers

James Berger is a senior Lecturer in English and American Studies at Yale University. He recommends the 2014 novel "Orfeo," by Richard Powers.

He implores students to read the book, explaining that:

"It is a story of music and genetics in our contemporary age of terror and surveillance. An idiosyncratic retelling of the Orpheus myth, an elderly avant garde composer who feels he has tried and exhausted every possible musical experiment, returns to his first love, biology, and seeks to inscribe a musical score onto the mutating DNA of bacteria. Yup.

"But his efforts are mistaken to be acts of bioterrorism, and so he flees into the 'underworld' of contemporary America, returning also to the various Euridices of his past. Amazing book —and you'll learn a hell of a lot about music, science, politics ... and even about Life!"

FIND IT HERE »

Eric Maskin, Harvard, and Maurice Schweitzer, UPenn: 'The Undoing Project,' by Michael Lewis

Eric Maskin is a Harvard professor and received the 2007 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. Maurice Schweitzer is a professor of operations, information, and decisions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Both chose Michael Lewis' "The Undoing Project."

FIND IT HERE »

Read Business Insider's December interview with Lewis, in which he discusses the book, the American presidential election, and how Wall Street has changed in recent years.

You've just spent hours slaving away at your keyboard. Your fingers ache, your eyes start to blur.

Have you been working on the next great literary masterpiece?

Or your PhD dissertation?

Nope. You've spent all that time making sure your LinkedIn profile is finally complete.

Let's be real: Few things inspire stress in job seekers quite like LinkedIn. That's because you know that if you get it right, you can build your brand, land jobs and grow your network.

And the good news for you is that I have an insider perspective on this all works. I'm a former employee of LinkedIn and I've looked through thousands of profiles to hire my own employees.

SEE ALSO: A huge mistake I made on LinkedIn may have cost me a few jobs — here are the most common blunders other people make

Step 1: Get found

Keep in mind that hiring managers using LinkedIn aren't omniscient: Just because you have a profile, it doesn't mean that they're going to see it. And if they don't see it, your profile isn't going to do you any good, no matter how awesome it is.

So, the first step is to get found — which means you have to think like a hiring manager. Now, as tempting as it may be, don't overthink this one. Hiring managers are busy and they don't have time to try a million search tricks. Instead, if they're looking to find someone for "X" role, they're likely to enter "X" into that search box. For example, a hiring manager searching for a marketer is going to search for "marketer." Whereas someone looking for the perfect product manager is going to search "product manager."

How do you make sure you get found in that search? Simple, make sure that exact phrase is everywhere that LinkedIn's search algorithm looks. In particular, you want to have it in your Headline and Summary (since those sections are character-limited and less-easily gamed), but also your Experience and Skills sections.

In addition, make sure to have as many connections as possible on the site as, all else being equal, LinkedIn's algorithm prefers to show results who are more closely connected to the searcher (e.g., 2nd degree vs. 22nd degree). You can boost this number by importing your address book and specifically adding as many people as you know in your desired hiring manager's industry. Just make sure you're sending personalized connection messages and not mass-adding people.

Another way to build out your contact list? Keep in mind that there really is no major downside to accepting all requests. Sure, you might see a few strangers in your feed, but you're not sharing your personal stuff with them and if they wanted to access your network, they'd have to go through you anyway. I routinely leverage unknown connections on LinkedIn to help my students get in touch with the people they need (people who use LinkedIn aggressively tend to be pretty generous). To say nothing of the benefit when it comes to recruiters' searches.

Step 2: Win the first impression

Okay, let's say you've finagled your way into the top search results. But how do you actually get the hiring manager to click your profile? After all, a search like "product manager" returns over two million results.

Well, the trick is to win the first impression. Given the sheer number of results out there and the hiring manager's harried schedule, you've got to assume that she's only going to spend a nanosecond looking at your result. And so, in that brief flash of time, you need to immediately wow her with your stellar presence.

You can do this in two ways:

Have a charismatic profile photo

People like to surround themselves with happy people. So skip brooding model poses and fake smiles, and go for genuine charm (the expression you'd make if you just saw your best friend walk into a room). While you can optimize for clothing, scenery, and so on — nothing wins as instantaneously as someone who conveys: "You'd like me." Period.

The single-aisle airliner market is one of the most lucrative and hotly contested segments in the aviation business. But for the past 15 years, that white-hot competition has almost exclusively been between two companies — Airbus and Boeing. 

In recent years, companies from around the world have launched aircraft aimed at breaking the Airbus-Boeing duopoly. 

On Wednesday, the latest challenger made its world debut in the form of the Irkut MC-21.  

In addition to the Russian Irkut, there are a slew of state-of-the-art airplanes from around the world designed to challenge the Airbus A320neo family and the Boeing 737 MAX-Series. 

But before we get to the challengers, lets take a look at the Airbus A320neo and the Boeing 737 MAX.

SEE ALSO: The Airbus A380 superjumbo just lost its biggest order in years

Airbus A320neo family

The Airbus A320neo family of airplanes are updated versions of the company's original A320-family with new-generation engines and optimized aerodynamics.

The line up of medium-range airliners include a trio of models — the 160-seat A319neo, the 189-seat A320neo, and the 240-seat A321neo. All three variants can be equipped with modern CFM LEAP-1A or Pratt & Whitney PW1100G turbofan engines. 

Thus far, Airbus has nearly 4,600 orders for the various versions of the A320neo. The first A320neos entered service in early 2016.

Boeing 737 MAX-Series

Like the A320neo, the 737 MAX is the latest version of Boeing's long-serving short-to-medium range airliner that it has been selling for 50 years.

For MAX duty, Boeing gave its 737 new engines, wings, avionics, and a slew of other updates. The 737 MAX series is made up of four different variants — the 149-seat 737 MAX7, the 189-seat MAX8, the 200-seat MAX200, and the 220-seat MAX9.

The updated 737 is available with new CFM LEAP-1B turbofan engines. Boeing has 3,200 orders for the 737MAX and is expected to enter service in 2017.

Bombardier C-Series

The Bombardier C-Series is Airbus' and Boeing's most prominent rival. Although the Canadian airplane maker has long-been a major player in regional airliners, the C-Series is the first time the company has had to compete against the US and European titans. 

The Bombardier airliner has, thus far, struggled to net the level of sales as the 737 and the A320. But the C-Series has garnered critical acclaim for its performance, fuel efficiency, and design. 

The C-Series lineup consists of two variants of the plane — the 133-seat CS100 and the 160-seat CS300. In the marketplace, the C-Series competes against the Boeing 737MAX7 and the Airbus A319neo. 

Like the A320neo, the C-Series is powered by a version of Pratt & Whitney's revolutionary geared turbofan engines — the PW1500G. The Bombardier C-Series entered commercial service in July with SWISS and has more than 300 firm orders for the plane. 

If you haven't mastered some of the most essential life skills already, it may be time to take a different approach.

Whether you're looking to listen better or negotiate for a raise, here are some of the most surprising ways you can master 152 essential life skills.

SEE ALSO: 13 TED Talks that can teach you how to live a happier life

DON'T MISS: 18 things you should accomplish before turning 30

Listening

It's a surprisingly simple yet underused concept: If you want to listen better, keep your mouth shut.

As Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel once said, "The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent."

Not only does thinking about what you're going to say next take your attention away from the speaker, but hijacking the conversation shows that you think you have something more important to say.

Conserving willpower

As Florida State psychologist Roy Baumeister details in his book "Willpower: The Greatest Human Strength," we all have a finite amount of willpower in a given day. The key to conserving it is to limit the number of decisions you have to make.

Startup founder Julie Sygiel, a very busy entrepreneur, follows in the footsteps of Mark Zuckerberg and President Barack Obama by wearing a uniform every day.

"Almost everything in my closet is black, gray, or blue and every top goes with every bottom,"she tells Business Insider. "The only question I ask myself when getting dressed is: 'Do I need fancy shoes today?' All of my sweaters and pants are versatile and can look casual or dressy, so my shoes are the key piece that determines the overall look.

"It's amazing how much quicker I get dressed in the morning, and it allows me to save more creative decision-making energy for important choices at the office."

Time management

Warren Buffett once said, "The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say ‘no' to almost everything."

If you don't prioritize your time over others', you'll find your productivity will suffer and resentment will mount.

As 2016 winds to a close, Facebook called on 62 global influencers to share the books that made the greatest impact on them this year.

Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, and many others shared their favorite reads with the hashtag #ReadtoLead.

One of those influencers is Joi Ito, the head of MIT Media Lab. Ito picked five titles that should help anyone get a feel for where the future is headed.

Here's what to read in 2017 if you want a leg up on 2018.

SEE ALSO: Librarians recommend the books you should read in each decade of your life

"Deep Work" by Cal Newport

Notifications ding, beep, and buzz for our attention every minute. Author and professor Cal Newport knows this. He just doesn't think our work has to suffer as a result.

In "Deep Work," Newport uses a collection of stories and research data to show that what will matter most in the coming decades — at least in terms of people's productivity — is the ability to focus.

Newport calls this ability "deep work."

The reader learns various strategies to avoid checking their phone every 30 seconds and instead cultivate a distraction-proof bubble in which they can work. 

"Change Agent" by Daniel Suarez

Set to hit stores in April of 2017, "Change Agent" is a novel set in the year 2045 in which CRISPR gene editing technology has become so advanced that black-market traders sell procedures to alter anyone's DNA at will. 

Some nefarious groups even exploit victims of human trafficking for experimentation.

Interpol agent Kenneth Durand is in charge of putting a stop to this underground economy, but his life quickly shifts directions when he's injected with a serum that changes his DNA and turns him into the villain he wants to stop.

The novel explores a not-too-distant future in which science and morality are forced to collide.

"The Industries of the Future" by Alec Ross

As the former Senior Advisor for Innovation to Hillary Clinton (when she was Secretary of State), Alec Ross has some ideas about what 2026 will look like.

In "The Industries of the Future," Ross delves deep into that 10-year vision. Robotic automation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and renewable energy are just some of the fields that will come to define the 2020s, he writes.

The book also proposes some ideas for dealing with that future and its consequences.

Consumers often pay way more for products than what it costs to make them.

The reasons for high mark-up prices depend on the product. It could be that the item is in high demand or is difficult to make. 

Here are 21 popular products with incredibly high mark-up prices.

Note: For this story, we looked at individual US brands, but price mark-ups are often similar for competing brands.

SEE ALSO: The 6 best items on Chipotle's secret menu

Regal Cinemas and AMC Theaters' popcorn

Wholesale price for a small popcorn:About $0.35

Price you pay:$6.50

Movie theater chains, like AMC and Regal, charge a lot for popcorn (and other snacks), but according to a 2009 Stanford study, the mark-ups allow them to sell movie tickets at a much lower price.

HDMI cables at Best Buy

Wholesale price for a six-foot cable:$2.67

Price you pay:$20

Electronics stores often don’t make much profit off TVs and video game consoles. So to balance out the big items, most retailers mark up smaller items that many people use, like HDMI cables (which allow you to stream content from your laptop to a TV).

Apple iPhones

Cost to make an iPhone 6s Plus: $236

Price you pay: $749

As CNBC notes, the decreasing cost of many iPhone components and smartphone market dominance helps Apple's profitability from iPhones.

If you can wear it, order it, stream it, or 'gram it, we've probably tried it. Much as we hate to admit it, most of the health products we sampled in 2016 were hardly life-changing.

Sure, there was the occasional look of surprise or curious query we got when we were wearing it around the office, but we found most extra gadgets we could largely do without.

These products, on the other hand, significantly shifted our view of some pretty important things — from giving us new insight into what motivates us to be more active to changing how we think about mental health.

Have some life-changing health gadgets you think we missed? They can be apps, online services, wearable devices — you name it. Tell us!

SEE ALSO: We tried the science-backed 7-minute fitness routine that's going viral, and it actually works

DON'T MISS: I tried 23andMe's new genetics test — and now I know why the company caused such a stir

The 7-minute workout app, which made it possible to get our hearts racing without leaving home.

When we first heard about The 7-Minute Workout, an app that promises to grant you the benefits of a sweaty bike ride and a trip to the gym in just a few minutes, we thought it was all hype.

But as it turns out, the app actually, well, works you out.

We tried it for the first time in January, and we're still hooked. It's perfect on the weekends, when one of us can't make it to yoga, or as something fun to do with a friend at home. Here's how it works.

Cost: Free on the App Store.

Fitbit, because it showed one of us that behavior tracking can be great — for some people.

It started out innocently enough. One of us got an old Fitbit fitness tracker from a friend who bought the new model. It was great at first. We were taking the stairs more often at work, walking outside to make phone calls, and even joining in on the occasional "Weekend Warrior" competition, a mini marathon you do with your friends to see who can get the most steps in a weekend.

This type of behavioral change helps a lot of people meet their fitness goals. For some, it's worked for weight loss; for others, it's simply helped them be motivated to move around more.

But we went overboard with all the tallying, and had to take it off after a month-long trial.

"I learned I'm perfectly fine without an external tracker," one of us wrote. "I have a natural internal one that's more than sufficient."

Cost: $120 for the latest Charge model, the Charge 2

Nurx, a service that let us order birth control online and delivered it to our doorstep — for free.

Fact: Getting birth control pills is no easy task. 

But a handful of apps is hoping to change that. They're designed to let you order birth control from your smartphone or computer in just a few minutes — no doctor's visit required.

Having been on birth control for a decade, I decided to try out one of the apps, called Nurx, for myself. The site was easy to navigate and thanks to the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), my birth control was free and shipped to my doorstep in days.

Cost: Generics free; Brand-names vary.

By late 1944, Allied forces had pushed Nazi Germany back in much of Europe, retaking Paris and Rome.

US Army intelligence determined that the thick evergreen forest of the Ardennes in Belgium would be a good place to rest and reorganize combat units, as enemy forces in the area were largely low-quality troops.

The Nazis, however, were preparing a great counteroffensive, forming up 30 crack divisions that would cut the Allied army in two and push for the Belgian port of Antwerp.

On the morning of December 16, 1944, more than 200,000 German troops and almost 1,000 tanks drove into the Ardennes, across an 85-mile stretch of the front line, running from southern Belgium to the middle of Luxembourg.

Stories abound of German paratroopers dropping behind the lines, of English-speaking Nazi troops impersonating Americans, and of massacres of American prisoners of war at Malmedy.

Bad weather held Allied air power in check, and many American troops were caught off guard. The US 106th Infantry division was encircled in hours, and two out of three soldiers were caught or killed. US forces settled into wholesale retreat, save for a few pockets of soldiers who fought on but were quickly isolated, though they held crucial road junctions.

Allied troops from all over the Western Front rushed to the 50-mile bulge the German offensive pushed into the front lines.

Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army arrived at the end of December, and weather improved, but it took until January 28, 1945, to return the front line to where it was on December 15.

Below, you can see photos from the first weeks of the frigid six-week battle that caused 67,000 American and 100,000 German casualities.

SEE ALSO: It's been 76 years since the Battle of Britain — here are 14 photos of the Nazi onslaught in the skies of England

German soldiers, wearing heavy winter gear, walk past a burning American half-track in the Western Front in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, December 1944. This photo is from a batch of film captured from the Germans by American forces.

German infantrymen pass burning captured American vehicles during the drive into Allied lines on the Western Front in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 during World War II. This photo is from a batch of film captured from the Germans by American forces.

An unidentified young American soldier, captured by German troops during their counterattack in the Belgian Ardennes region, leads a march of prisoners at an unknown location in December 1944.

For the month of September, I emulated a financial plan for retiring earlyand put50% of my disposable income into savings.

After rent, utilities, and all my other fixed costs for the month, I was left with roughly $140 per week to spend on food amd entertainment (even less when you consider I had to factor in an expensive bachelorette party at the end of the month). While that's certainly more than enough money to live on comfortably, it was immediately challenging to adapt to a much lower budget than I was used to.

Over the course of the month, I only made two trips to my local Trader Joe's, which set me back $24 and $34, respectively. While I ate out a few times and was blessed with a free box of pasta that got me through a few meals, that $58 covered more than 90% of my meals for the month.

I followed a few pieces of conventional wisdom to keep my bills low — swap beans for meat, cook in batches, bulk up meals with carbs — but the biggest factor that contributed to my modest total was that I only bought exactly what I needed.

I've followed a simple meal planning strategy for years that forces me to maximize the ingredients I already have on hand and only purchase a limited number of items each week, which helps me avoid ending up with random perishables that inevitably go to waste.

"Meal planning" sounds complex and time-consuming, but it takes me less than half an hour per week. Here's my super simple strategy:

SEE ALSO: I saved 50% of my income for a month — and it wasn't as impossible as I expected

DON'T MISS: I saved 50% of my income for a month and the hardest part wasn't cutting back my spending

First, I make a two column template for the week, leaving spots open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day on the left and a shopping list on the right. Second, I mark down any days I know I already have meals taken care of, and therefore don't have to cook, including everything from meals out with friends to free pizza at work.

Third, I plan to use up any ingredients I've already paid for. I go through my cabinets, fridge, and freezer and take stock of what I already have. If I have any leftovers or items that can be a meal on their own, such as a frozen veggie burger or bowl of pasta, I fill those in first. After that, I start creating meals that can be mostly built with ingredients already in my cabinets, such as rice and pasta. I list out every single item needed for a dish, adding any I need to purchase to my shopping list as I go.

Finally, I add in any meals that require a completely new set of ingredients, again adding each new item to my grocery list as I go. If I know I'm going to have a busy night and won't have time to cook, I don't feel bad about putting "frozen dinner" on my shopping list either — it's still cheaper than ordering in when I'm feeling lazy.

The first-ever “Star Wars” standalone movie, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” has finally hit theaters, so it's time to analyze the heck out of it. That includes everything from catching all the references to past movies, TV series, and novels in the franchise to delving into the footage we saw in the trailers but didn’t end up in the finished film. 

Then there’s the characters themselves.

There are a lot of  brand new ones, like the movie’s lead Jyn Erso (played by Felicity Jones), while others have been brought back through the magic of CGI (and footage not used in “Star Wars: A New Hope”).

Here we analyze and rank all the characters from best to worst.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead

SEE ALSO: All the "Star Wars" movies, ranked from worst to best

30. Senators Vaspar, Jebel, Pamlo

When these three members of the Imperial Senate catch wind that the Empire has constructed the planet-destroying Death Star, they are the loudest voices in the room that the rebels should run and hide. Thankfully, Jyn and her Rogue One mates have other plans.

29. General Dodonna

More prominent in "Star Wars: A New Hope," Dodonna mostly stays in the background in this movie, but it's another piece of detail director Gareth Edwards uses to link this movie to the original "Star Wars." 

28. Saw Gerrera

There's obviously more to Saw Gerrera than what we see in the finished movie (note Forest Whitaker's bald head in some trailers and his character having hair in the movie), but judging on the few scenes with him in the final cut there wasn't much to take in. Frankly, his portion of the movie is where the movie drags.

This fall, personal-genetics company 23andMe launched a new direct-to-consumer test that complies with the FDA's rules on personal-genetics testing.

The new test gives information on everything from how much DNA you share with our Neanderthal ancestors to how much caffeine you likely consume.

It also lets you know if you're carrying certain genetic variations related to diseases that you could pass on to your kids.

I've been interested in what 23andMe is doing ever since I heard they were planning to develop drugs based on genetic information. But I was also curious to see what kind of diseases I might be at risk of passing down to my kids and whether the health concerns that run in my family could be spotted in my spit.

Here's what it was like:

CHECK OUT: Personal genetics startup 23andMe is back — and it wants to tell you what your genes have to do with how much coffee you drink

NEXT: I shipped my spit to a genetics company to have it tested, 23andMe style — here's what I found out

A few days after ordering, my box arrived! It was colorful and so inviting that I couldn't wait to open it up.

The test came with instructions, a tube for me to spit in and a special sealed bag to enclose the tube in when I was done. Spit is one of the most noninvasive ways to collect DNA.

Spitting into a tube wasn't as easy as I expected. (My apologies to my coworkers who had to hear me do this for about five minutes.) 23andMe needs this much spit just in case the first assay, or analysis procedure, fails, 23andMe Vice President of Business Development, Life Sciences Emily Drabant Conley told Business Insider. That way, they have enough to run it a second time.

The good thing about getting to read a lot of books for work is that I'm constantly challenged to rethink my conceptions of happiness, productivity, and success.

The bad thing is that one time a stack of said books collapsed on my desk neighbor.

Without a doubt, the books that moved me most this year focused on psychology and behavioral science — and as 2016 draws to a close, I'm reflecting on everything I learned.

Below, I've rounded up the most meaningful insights from all that reading.

SEE ALSO: 11 mind-blowing psychology findings that explain the baffling choices you make every day

Money isn't enough to motivate us to do good work

In "Payoff," Duke University behavioral economist Dan Ariely argues that human motivation is a lot more complex than we might be inclined to believe. Case in point: Pizza motivates employees to perform better in the long term than money.

Managers especially should look to harness the power of intrinsic motivation — or the desire to do a good job for the sake of doing a good job.

Emotions always matter

Harvard psychologist Susan David wrote "Emotional Agility" to help people reckon with — not suppress or pass judgment on — their most difficult emotions.

Instead of looking askance at feelings as fluffy, David says it's important to recognize that our feelings hold important information about our values and our potential. We can draw on that information to make important decisions related to our career and relationships.

Plain old practice doesn't make perfect

The concept of deliberate practice— working with a teacher on specific goals and constantly pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone — has sparked a ton of controversy within the scientific community.

In "Peak," Florida State University psychologist Anders Ericsson and journalist Robert Pool argue that this process is the only sure path to expertise, whether in chess, ice skating, or anything else. (Some psychologists disagree.)

To be sure, Ericsson says, deliberate practice involves mistakes and failure and pain, but if you truly want to be the best in your field, it's worth it.