There's nothing quite as enchanting as a vacation in one of the world's great wine regions, where stunningly beautiful vineyards serve as the perfect backdrop for tasting some of the best vintages available.

And while more and more wine destinations seem to sprout up every year, some places will always set the standard for wine lovers.

Whether you want to taste your way across Burgundy, Piedmont, Sonoma, or the Douro Valley, these 10 essential trips will inspire you to explore the wide world of winemaking.

SEE ALSO: 12 warm places you can travel to this winter without worrying about Zika

Stellenbosch

Where: South Africa

Founded in 1679 by the Governor of the Cape Colony, Simon van der Stel, the town of Stellenbosch is set against majestic mountains and boasts historic, oak-lined streets—the perfect starting point for wine-tippling tours along the Stellenbosch Wine Route. Established in 1971, it's the oldest in South Africa. Dozens of high-quality wineries that produce the region’s signature chenin blanc and pinotage wines are within a day's drive. Don't miss South Africa's only certified biodynamic winery, Reyneke Wines, or a tasting at innovative DeMorgenzon, which pipes Baroque music throughout the estate (see if you can taste the difference).

Insider Tip: Many Stellenbosch area wineries offer additional attractions, such as wildlife adventures or carriage rides, rounding out a wine-focused visit to the Western Cape.

Plan Your Trip: Visit Fodor’s Western Cape Guide

Sonoma County

Where: California

With Napa Valley as its closest neighbor, it's not shocking Sonoma County is pouring prestigious wines, but the region is sometimes overlooked (and thus, lacking in crowds). Just an hour's drive from San Francisco, Sonoma County is quintessential California wine country. There are some 400 wineries to explore — many focus on cool-climate wines such as pinot noirs and chardonnays — set in striking redwood forests and beside rugged coastline environs. Along Highway 116, visitors can make stops at Iron Horse, Merry Edwards, and Paul Hobbs vineyards, or sip flights in Sebastopol, where many area vintners have established convenient tasting rooms.

Insider Tip: Want to take a break from vino? Sonoma County counts more than 50 nature parks with miles of hiking and biking trails (there’s ziplining and kayaking, too).

Plan Your Trip: Visit Fodor’s Napa and Sonoma Guide

Burgundy

Where: France

If you've ever been asked whether you're more Burgundy or Bordeaux, you know Burgundy is one of France's two powerhouse winemaking regions and a must-visit for any true oenophile. Unlike other wine regions around the world, getting in the cellar door is no easy feat (don't expect to turn up at Domaine de la Romanée Conti and expect a tour and tasting). There are a variety of options for gaining entrée, including overnight tours that barge along scenic rivers and canals, passing the area's Romanesque churches and rolling green hills, or day trips departing from the pretty medieval city of Dijon. All organized tours should be booked well in advance.

Insider Tip: Tasting rooms tend to be small, and Burgundy's vineyards rarely allow visits without reservations (read: French-speaking guides), but the legwork will be worth it. Sipping Burgundy's elegant pinot noirs and nuanced chardonnays are the reason to make the trek.

Plan Your Trip: Visit Fodor's Burgundy Guide

New York City is known around the world for its diversity in food, culture, shopping, and recreation. But what truly makes it a standout city are the small businesses that bring its innovative and entrepreneurial spirit to life.

We've scoured the city to spotlight some of the coolest small businesses founded within the last three years.

From a pencil collector's paradise to a hip coworking community space to a chromotherapy spa, here are 25 of New York's coolest new businesses:

DON'T MISS: The 50 coolest new businesses in America

App of Joe

Select locations around Manhattan

What it is: An app for scoring $1 coffee around the city.

Why it's cool: Frequent visits to your local coffee shop for a $2 or $3 coffee can add up — especially if you're ditching the commercial chains for indie spots. The folks behind App of Joe, an iOS and Android app that launched in June, offer a membership-free solution: You can order tea and drip coffee for a flat fee of $1 and "fancy drinks" like a latte, macchiato, or cappuccino for $2 from indie coffee shops — currently about 20 — around Manhattan.

Archestratus

160 Huron St., Greenpoint, Brooklyn

What it is: A combination cafe and bookstore that only sells books about food.

Why it's cool: Inspired by her Sicilian grandparents, Paige Lipari, a former rare-books seller, wanted to open a shop that combined her love of books and food. In fall 2013, she opened Archestratus.

The book selection at Archestratus — named after an ancient Sicilian poet — includes cookbooks as well as fiction and nonfiction books inspired by food. Its cafe offers Sicilian-inspired pastries and dishes like rice balls. Archestratus also holds a number of workshops, cooking classes, and other weekly events.

Common

Williamsburg and Crown Heights, Brooklyn

What it is: A co-living community with full amenities.

Why it's cool: Common opened its first shared living space — dorm-style living for working adults — in Crown Heights last fall and has since opened two more locations in Brooklyn as well as one in San Francisco. In the past year, the company has received over 5,000 applicants looking for a room in one of its community-minded residencies.

Rent commonly runs upward of $1,500, though that includes all fees and utilities. The houses also come fully furnished and fit anywhere from 19 to 50 people.

But it's not just about finding a living space — Common encourages its members to build a strong community and get to know their roommates. Each household has member-led events like potlucks, wellness events, and book clubs.

The INSIDER Summary: 

• Vulture authors read and review 25 books being released in 2017 that have accumulated the most buzz.
• Whether you like dystopian novels, memoirs, thrillers, or comedy, 2017 has something for you to read.

These books are getting some serious buzz. Head to your local bookstore when these books drop and achieve all of your #bookgoals this year.

"4 3 2 1" by Paul Auster

(Henry Holt, January 31) 
Compared to Auster at his most twistingly metafictional, his first novel in seven years is deceptively simple. Archibald Isaac Ferguson is born in 1947 (exactly a month after Auster), whereupon he splits into four different people with wildly divergent futures — though all court the same woman, and all are locked in the prison of one man’s DNA. —Boris Kachka

"A Separation" by Katie Kitamura

(Riverhead, February 7)
When her soon-to-be-ex-husband goes missing from a Greek island resort, his estranged wife must go search for him. What follows in Katie Kitamura’s third novel is more an existential mystery than an actual one, although the sheer deftness of her storytelling is nothing less than thrilling. —Maris Kreizman

"The Age of Anger: A History of the Present" by Pankaj Mishra

(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, February 7) 
The Indian essayist’s ambitious world history of anti-progress backlash would have been almost as urgent if Hillary Clinton were president-elect, but the victory of an idiot demagogue surfing a wave of isolationist rage strengthens Mishra’s far-flung connections: ISIS and Brexit, Putin and Trump, and dozens of smaller shocks of self-destructive paranoia against a system that’s achieved so much, but never its promise of saving us from ourselves. —BK

Making money takes work, but working can suck.

Luckily, there are some ways to make money with little to no effort. Though some of these methods do take some work up front, they can set you up to earn passive income for the long term.

Here are 21 ways to make money with minimum effort.

1. Become a referral source for local businesses.

A lot of small, locally focused businesses — like landscapers, electricians, and home improvement companies — spread by word-of-mouth. Many of them pay referral fees for people to help spread the good word about their business.

So the next time you have your plumber over, ask if they offer referrals. And if they do a good job, make sure to take advantage of that if you recommend them to a friend.

2. Write a book and get royalties.

Okay, so this one takes a bit of work. But lets say you're an expert on a subject. On Marissa Mayer and the company Yahoo!, for example (now available in paperback). Once you actually write the book and put your expertise to paper, then get it published, you're pretty much done.

From then on, whenever people buy your book, you get paid in royalties. The precise amount of royalties are contingent on your contract with the book publisher.

If you self publish on Amazon or another self-publishing platform, there are standardized contracts that pay out depending on how many people download the ebook or read it through Amazon's ebook-lending program.

3. Create an online course and get paid for it.

Let's say you're an expert in a subject, but don't think that a book is the right way to communicate the knowledge you want to share. 

You can do it with an online course. You can make and upload one to Udemy, for example, and set your own price points. Whenever someone buys the course, you'll get paid.

Last weekend, I returned from a trip to Japan to help Business Insider launch its latest international edition, Business Insider Japan.

After spending two weeks in Tokyo, one aspect of the city continued to strike me after I returned: the overwhelming abundance of vending machines.

The proliferation of vending machines is impossible to ignore. They are on nearly every block in Tokyo — down alleyways, in front of convenience stores, in areas both residential and commercial.

At slightly over 5 million nationwide, Japan has the highest density of vending machines worldwide. There is approximately 1 vending machine per every 23 people, according to the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association. Annual sales total more than $60 billion.

And they are marked by an incredible variety. The machines sell any number of types of soft drinks, coffee, tea, cigarettes, candy, soup, hot food, and even sake and beer.

The pervasiveness and variety of Japan's vending machines isn't an unexplored topic. If there's one thing Americans returning from Japan appear to like to write/read about, it's the wild and strange products sold in vending machines.

Among the first results on a Google search for "Japan vending machines": "12 Japanese vending machines you won't believe exist,""18 things you can buy in Japanese vending machines,""25 things you'll only find in vending machines in Japan,""9 crazy Japanese vending machines," and "The 7 weirdest Japanese vending machines."

What interested me, however, was what the vending machines say about Japan's unique culture. An obvious answer stuck out: Japanese people, and Tokyoites in particular, work a lot and therefore value convenience. But so do New Yorkers, as well as any other number of city-dwellers, and still vending machines are not nearly as popular.

So why are they ubiquitous? Sociologists and economists have offered a few potential answers.

1. The cost of labor

Japan's declining birthrate, aging population, and lack of immigration have contributed to make labor both scarce and costly, according to William A. McEachern, an economics professor at the University of Connecticut. 

In his 2008 book on macroeconomics, McEachern points to Japan's vending machines as a solution to this problem, by eliminating the need for sales clerks.

Robert Parry, an economics lecturer at Japan's Kobe University, also pointed to high labor costs as a reason Japanese retailers have so enthusiastically embraced vending machines in a 1998 essay on the subject. 

"With spectacular postwar economic growth, labor costs in Japan sky-rocketed ... Vending machines need only a periodic visit from the operator to replenish the supplies and empty the cash," wrote Parry.

2. High population density and expensive real estate

With a population of 127 million people in a country roughly the size of California, Japan is one of the most population-dense countries in the world, particularly when you consider that about 75% of Japan is made up of mountains.

93 percent of the Japanese population lives in cities.

The population density has unsurprisingly led to high real estate prices for decades, forcing city-dwellers to live in apartments that would make New York apartments feel spacious. Though urban land prices dropped during Japan’s economic decline in the 1990s, they’ve gone back up since.

High population density and high real-estate prices has meant that Japanese people don’t have a lot of room to store consumer goods and that Japanese companies would rather stick a vending machine on a street than open up a retail store.

“Vending machines produce more revenue from each square meter of scarce land than a retail store can,” Parry concluded.

3. A lack of crime

Japan has long been known for its exceptionally low homicide rate, but that’s not the only crime statistic in which the country excels. According to a United Nations 2010 crime report, Japan ranks as having one of the lowest robbery rates in the world.

While there has been some debate over why Japan’s crime rate is so low, one thing that is readily obvious is that vandalism and property crime are rare. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, vending machines are “seldom broken or stolen,” despite having tens of thousands yen inside and being frequently housed in dark alleyways or uncrowded streets.

Comparatively, in the US, as Parry writes, “American vending machine companies don’t even consider operating stand-alone, street-side units” due to fears of vandalism and property crime.

In Japan, street-side units are the norm. It doesn't hurt that many vending machines have cameras installed and a direct line to police if any irregularities are reported, like a machine being pried open, according to The Japan Times.

Life in North Korea is still pretty opaque.

Current ruler Kim Jong-un was, unlike, his forefathers, educated in Europe.

His comparatively liberal education hasn't rubbed off as much as you might expect, with the country maintaining a remarkable secrecy despite chronic economic issues and ongoing food shortages.

But he has caved to one pressure of modern life – the internet. 

Up-to-date statistics are hard to come by, but the country is increasingly getting online.

Here's how the country's citizens use technology:

Almost no one uses the internet

The internet as we know it does exist in North Korea, but access is severely limited and only permitted to foreigners and the elite. 

Most people access North Korea's internal internet, called Kwangmyong, which is completely walled off from the outside world. Sites are mostly for North Korea's institutions, but the intranet is opening up for commerce too. The country's first online shopping site, called Okryu, launched in 2015.

North Korea banned Facebook but built a clone

While North Korea has banned Facebook access on the open internet, the regime seems to like the concept. The country built a clone which was discovered by Dyn Networks researcher Doug Madory last year – and then promptly hacked. The clone was fully functional, allowing users to sign up via email and post messages on each other's walls. It isn't clear whether the clone went on to attract more users in North Korea after the hack.

One in 10 North Koreans has a smartphone

Like other developing countries, North Koreans have bypassed landlines, PCs, and broadband to embrace the mobile phone. According to the main carrier Koryolink, there are around 3 million mobile subscribers. PC ownership, on the other hand, is pegged at the hundreds of thousands, according to estimates from Andrei Lankov, author of "The Real North Korea".

WASHINGTON — Nearly half a million people showed up to the Women's March on Washington on January 21, making it one of the largest demonstrations in US history.

I was one of the tiny specks in aerial photos, which helped estimate the crowd at 485,000 souls, and the experience was unlike any other in my life.

To be clear, I'm not a woman; I'm a white, heterosexual, cisgender man who's also a husband, father, photographer, and journalist — and I recognize the many privileges that American society affords me. (If you want to read a woman's perspective on attending the march, a story by my talented colleague Leanna Garfield is a great place to start.)

I also support women's rights, among other egalitarian causes I saw on thousands of signs during the march, and I contemplated walking alongside my wife and baby daughter in support and solidarity.

However, I felt it important to go as an observer and document some of the myriad marchers and their convictions.

Here's what I saw and heard at the Women's March on Washington.

SEE ALSO: 'Grab America Back': The most eye-catching protest signs we saw at the Women's March on Washington

DON'T MISS: This chart shows which stage of fetal development a new Ohio law will ban abortions

Train tickets cost an arm and a leg, so my wife, daughter, and I drove to Washington DC, on Friday. We somehow avoided gridlock traffic on account of President Donald Trump's inauguration.

Hotels were also expensive, so we stayed with a relative in Arlington, Virginia — just west of the Potomac River. As we settled in, we watched coverage of the inauguration, parade, and related events.

It was more than a little concerning for us to see reports of protesters throwing rocks at police ...

Source: Reuters/Business Insider

Every January, Glassdoor publishes its list of the best jobs of the year. For the second year in a row, the top spot goes to data scientist. 

"This report reinforces that the best jobs are highly-skilled and are staying ahead of the growing trend toward workplace automation," Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor's chief economist, tells Business Insider. He explains that the skills helping workers stay ahead of automation are creativity, judgment, and flexibility.

"Those are aspects of work that are extremely difficult to automate, and having them allows workers to team up with technology to become more productive, rather than simply being replaced by it," Chamberlain says.

"Many of the jobs on this list require proficiency in these 'soft' skills," he explains. "In tech, that includes data science and engineering, which requires the ability to creatively solve problems to deliver business value. In healthcare, that includes physical therapists and nurses, which require the ability to form personal relationships and to be flexible in delivering smart diagnoses and great care to patients."

Glassdoor's 50 Best Jobs in America report identifies careers with the highest overall "job score," which is determined by weighing three factors equally: earning potential (median annual base salary), job satisfaction rating, and number of job openings. 

For a job title to be considered, it had to receive at least 100 salary reports and 100 job satisfaction ratings shared by US-based employees over the past year. The number of job openings per job title represents active job listings on Glassdoor as of January 1, 2017. 

While Chamberlain says that this year's list of best jobs reinforces that tech and healthcare jobs may be great options for people to consider this year, many of the best jobs are also ones that can be found in almost every industry.

"For instance, jobs like accounting manager and communications manager are new to this year's list, but can be found in almost every industry, from tech to healthcare to retail to finance to entertainment," Chamberlain says. "The skills required for these jobs are needed in some capacity in almost every industry across the board, which is encouraging for people with those specific skills."

Below are the 25 best jobs in America right now. And head over to Glassdoor for the full list:

SEE ALSO: The 50 best places to work in 2017, according to employees

DON'T MISS: 11 of the highest-paying jobs at the best companies in America

25. Compliance manager

Overall job score (out of 5.0): 4.3

Job satisfaction rating (out of 5.0): 3.9

Number of job openings: 1,104

Median base pay: $100,000

24. Nurse manager

Overall job score (out of 5.0): 4.3

Job satisfaction rating (out of 5.0): 3.6

Number of job openings: 6,710

Median base pay: $77,000

23. Controls engineer

Overall job score (out of 5.0): 4.3

Job satisfaction rating (out of 5.0): 3.9

Number of job openings: 1,756

Median base pay: $75,400

Tesla has officially gotten the ball rolling on its self-driving car plans.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced over the weekend that vehicles equipped with Tesla's second-generation hardware have officially received the first phase of new Autopilot features. Tesla began installing the new hardware in vehicles in late October.

The new hardware update is improving Autopilot, renaming it Enhanced Autopilot, and paving the way for Tesla cars to become fully autonomous later down the road. Here's a breakdown of the new system:

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk: Fully autonomous Tesla will drive across the country by the end of 2017

Tesla vehicles built between September 2014 and October 2016 were equipped with one camera used for Autopilot. But new Tesla cars now have eight cameras that provide 360-degree visibility and 250 meters (820 feet) of range.

New Tesla cars still come with one radar sensor, but it has enhanced processing that allows it to see through heavy rain, fog, dust, and even a car in front of it.

Tesla is also still using 12 ultrasonic sensors — however, they have been updated to detect hard and soft objects at nearly twice the distance of the previous sensors.

RAW Embed

New York City is never accused of being a place where people are too eager to settle down.

Still, for many New Yorkers, life eventually reaches a point where the time comes for a more serious relationship. And the dating app Hinge, which has gone through some changes of its own, wants to help.

Hinge, which initially existed as a Tinder for your friends-of-friends, launched a new app last fall that is supposed to focus more on relationships (versus hookups). That means less swiping, more of a social-media vibe, and a $7-a-month fee for the full feature set.

To show off the new app's potential, Hinge has put together a list of the 40 most eligible people in New York City. Hinge based the list on how much interest each person's profiles received coupled with success in career and formal education.

Here are the top 40 singles in New York City, according to Hinge:

SEE ALSO: These are the Ivy League schools with the most attractive people, according to Tinder

No. 40: Tyler McCaine

Work: Analyst at HFF  

Education: Colgate University 

Hometown: Westchester, NY

Neighborhood: Flatiron District

No. 39: Nicole Diamond

Work: Manager, Global Special Events at Ralph Lauren  

Education: University of Miami 

Hometown: Brookville, NY

Neighborhood: Chelsea

No. 38: Josh Shapiro

Work: JPMorgan Chase   

Education: Colgate University 

Hometown: New York, NY

Neighborhood: Lincoln Square

The Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday morning, and there were some surprise nominations and snubs that quickly got movie fans heated.

While we all expected "La La Land" to sweep the nods, which tied for the most ever at 14 (alongside "Titanic" and "All About Eve"), some others snuck into the top of the race, including Mel Gibson, years after his personal troubles that almost sunk his career. And just about anyone who saw Amy Adams in "Arrival" was stunned she didn't get a nomination for her work.

Here are the biggest surprises and snubs of the 2017 Oscar nominees:

SEE ALSO: Why the worst movies of the year always come out in January

While perhaps not a complete surprise, it was comforting to see the Academy, given past protests of its lack of diversity, recognize actors and films that reflect a multicultural US, from "Hidden Figures" and "Moonlight" (both with best picture and acting nods) to documentaries "OJ: Made in America" and "13th," which grapple with the country's deep history of racial division.

Michael Shannon getting a best supporting actor nomination for "Nocturnal Animals" is a shock for many. The movie basically lost steam during award season, but Shannon is one of the movie's brightest spots.

"Arrival" cinematographer Bradford Young's nomination is less of a surprise and more of a historic moment, as he's the first African-American to ever receive a nomination in the cinematography category. And he's very deserving. He's responsible for the lush look of the film that has captivated audiences to the tune of over $160 million worldwide. Hopefully he's celebrating on the set of the young Han Solo movie, which he's currently shooting.

The INSIDER Summary:

• Charcoal activated toothpaste, salt rock deodorant, and volcano ash face masks are a few strange products you should give a try if you want to feel extra clean. 
• Amazon reviewers also suggest using electric hair trimmers and callus removers to stay clean. 

Hygiene is as lax as it's ever been, and that's an amazing thing. Stuff like deodorant and hair removal finally is (and forevermore should be) totally optional, and as someone who's all about the body doing its natural thing, I'm psyched. For that reason, weird but effective hygiene products are my jam.

I'm not going to put something on my skin if it's dangerous or laden with toxic chemicals, and I'm sure as hell not going to put my health at risk just to live up to the outdated beauty standards that are thankfully on their way out the window. As a result, I tend to stick with natural products that are a little bit unconventional, but surprisingly effective for solving everyday concerns like funky breath, sweaty feet, and dry skin.

If you like your body the way it is, sans-shower and all, I'm 100 percent behind that. It's got its own natural cleansing functions in place, and a lot of so-called hygiene products are actually disrupting that by killing essential healthy bacteria and stopping natural detoxification. However, if you're looking to smell fresh and tackle some common hygiene problems the easy and natural way, check out these bizarre but amazing products that people can't seem to get enough of.

1. Keep your mouth clean with activated charcoal powder

Smile Angel Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitener, $22, Amazon

It might seem counterintuitive to smear a bunch of black soot on your teeth for the purpose of freshening them, but this activated charcoal teeth whitener has people raving. It uses super-absorbent activated charcoal to soak up odors and stains on your teeth and around your gums, leaving your breath fresh, your smile white, and your mouth happy.

2. This weird natural paste deodorant that totally works

AC NATURE Deodorant, $16, Amazon

Even though it comes in a weird natural paste form, AC NATURE Deodorant is extremely effective when it comes to keeping you dry, clean, and most important, healthy. It absorbs sweat and fights bacteria with organic ingredients, and it's especially great for people who want to avoid aluminum or have particularly sensitive skin.

"I have tried almost every deodorant that there is," says one reviewer, who "was just mind blown by how long [they] could go without body odor" with this one.

3. Balance your mouth with probiotics for perpetual fresh breath

I Clean Your Teeth Mouthwash, $20, Amazon

This weird but genius I Clean Your Teeth mouthwash doesn't use alcohol and harsh ingredients to kill bacteria. Instead it's infused with probiotics, which replenish the good bacteria in your mouth so that they can heal, balance, and support great breath. It's got an awesome taste and keeps your mouth feeling fresher long-term. "This stuff really works," one buyer says. "After a week my mouth hasn't felt cleaner."

There are few moments in video games that fans remember as vividly as an early scene in the first "Resident Evil" game. Your crew of special agents has split up to explore a seemingly abandoned mansion. You turn a corner and find a humanoid creature bent over another. What's it doing?

It slowly turns to look up at you:

That crucial scene from the first "Resident Evil" game, which debuted on the original PlayStation way back in 1996, set the stage for a franchise that has spawned at least 10 games, countless remakes, and a successful film franchise.

On January 24, the latest entry in the "Resident Evil" series launched on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

It's called "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard," and it's an incredible demonstration of how far the franchise has come in the past 20 years.

But it's more than another creepy entry in a creepy series; "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard" is a return to the series' roots. Here's what we know:

SEE ALSO: The next major PlayStation 4 exclusive is unbelievably pretty

DON'T MISS: The hottest 50 video games you shouldn't miss in 2017

The first thing to know about "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard" is obvious — it's very pretty:

Much of the game, if not all of it, takes places in an abandoned plantation home. The house is located in the (fictional) town of Dulvey, Louisiana.

The game stars a man named Ethan Winters. He's looking for his wife, Mia, who has gone missing.

Television's executives, producers, and stars just wrapped up the winter Television Critics Association press tour.

It's an exhausting (and exciting) pageant of the networks' best current programming and upcoming shows for hundreds of critics and reporters from all over the US (and even some international press) who flock to Los Angeles twice a year for the event.

In every press tour, certain themes and patterns from the TV world emerge. They tell us about what the industry is wrestling with and give us a snapshot of what's to come.

Here are the biggest things the industry is facing in 2017:

SEE ALSO: The 22 most exciting new shows of 2017 you have to see

DON'T MISS: Here's when your favorite TV shows are coming back this year

Everyone wants in on the digital game.

Streaming shows and TV everywhere was the talk of TCA. Netflix is so ahead of the curve it didn't even show up for the conference. Showtime is so thirsty (after losing its No. 2 paid cable network spot to Starz a couple years back) that its president, David Nevins, made the network's streaming service a huge part of his executive session introduction.

And in the absence of Netflix, CBS All Access, Crackle, Hulu, and Amazon stepped up their presence at the conference. TV could learn (and is learning) much from the digital companies.

The broadcast network bosses were no-shows.

One of the most important traditions of the TCA press tour are the executive sessions. They typically kick off a network's day of presentations and feature the top bosses facing reporters in an open Q&A. Depending on how their network is doing, they'll be celebrated or verbally attacked by the journalists.

But this year, the broadcast networks decided to bail on TCA. Yes, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox (which later relented to pressure and decided it would attend after all) broke with tradition.

Is the TV industry so in trouble that its bosses couldn't handle 20 minutes of grilling by critics? Are there not enough sports programming and cheesy staged musicals to make up for the lack of live viewing nowadays? Do Netflix, Amazon, and other streaming sites have the broadcast networks running scared?

The truth is nothing they could've said about the state of TV could've been worse than the theories being bounced around the media to explain them being no-shows.

There are still too many TV shows.

You don't have to be a statistician to know that the amount of TV shows exceeds any individual's ability to watch them – quality programming or not. But for those of you who like your numbers, by FX's count there were 454 scripted TV shows in 2016, a new record.

FX Networks President John Landgraf has been waving the red flag on the growing amount of TV shows for years now in a theory he refers to as "peak TV." Though he admits he has been wrong before, Landgraf predicts that the amount of TV shows will hit its peak and thus start to reduce in late-2017 or 2018.

Of course, Landgraf's theory has its opponents – those who believe that there could never be too much TV. That includes many of the digital players, including Netflix, Amazon, and Crackle. And now, even Apple announced recently that it would be getting into the original TV programming game.

Sometimes the journey is the destination, but the digs also really make a difference.

TripAdvisor just announced the winners of its Travelers’ Choice for Hotels awards. These 10 hotels were determined based on millions of reviews and opinions collected on the travel site over the past year.

TripAdvisor honored 7,612 properties in 109 countries, but here are the very best.

10. JA Manafaru – Haa Alif Atoll, Maldives

Average rates are $811 per night »
Most affordable month to visit: June ($677 per night)

9. Tulemar Bungalows & Villas – Province of Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Average rates are $323 per night »
Most affordable month to visit: October ($198 per night)

8. Hanoi La Siesta Hotel & Spa – Hanoi, Vietnam

Average rates are $102 per night »
Most affordable month to visit: June ($91 per night)

Earlier this month, Doha-based airline Qatar Airways gave away free flights to visitors who could find the "Golden Tickets" hidden within the airline's online flight schedule.

While these may have been its most sought-after tickets of late, a seat in the first class cabin on board a Qatar Airways A380 plane, the largest passenger jet in the world, is just as coveted.

In 2015, Qatar Airways was named the Best Airline in the World by leading aviation-consumer website Skytrax.

While it lost the title to Emirates in 2016, AirHelp Score called it the best airline in the world in the same year, based on tops marks for overall quality and service.

We took a look beyond economy to see what it's like to fly in style up front. From luxuriously decorated cabins to caviar and designer pyjamas, this is what it's like to fly first class on Qatar Airways, the best airline in the world.

Welcome to a First Class flight on Qatar Airways, which was named the best airline in the world in 2016.

After you've passed the dedicated first class check-in line, make sure you visit the Premium lounge, like this one at London's Heathrow Airport.

There is no reception desk as you enter the "Palm Court, where Arabian water fountains soothe the senses and discreet greeters note your wishes on iPads," according to the airline.

Grab a drink, a snack, or dig into some gourmet dining.

Citing "well-placed" sources, The Guardian just unleashed several details about Samsung's next big smartphone, the Galaxy S8, that reinforce the majority of rumors surrounding Samsung's upcoming flagship smartphone.

Check out the latest report on what the Galaxy S8 will look like and what it'll feature:

SEE ALSO: 17 rumors we've heard about Samsung's Galaxy S8, one of the biggest smartphones of 2017

The displays

The Guardian's report claims Samsung will release two Galaxy S8 models with different screens between five and six inches, which is similar to the screen dimensions on the Galaxy S7 (5.1 inches) and S7 Edge (5.5 inches). Both models will have curved screens like the Galaxy S7 Edge.

Previous rumors point to two sets of screen sizes, including 5.1- and 5.5-inch displays and 5.7- and 6.2-inch displays. It's still unclear from The Guardian's report which set is accurate.

The design

While both Galaxy S8 models will have screen sizes similar to the Galaxy S7 models, The Guardian expects that both S8 devices will generally be smaller.

Apparently, Samsung will achieve this by reducing the sizes of the top and bottom borders, so the screen will cover a larger part of the front-facing panel. The top and bottom borders will be so narrow that Samsung won't have room to place its own logo on them.

The top and bottom borders will be narrow that Samsung will also move the fingerprint scanner to the back of the devices, according to The Guardian. They had been found on the front bottom border.

The camera

The Galaxy S8 will have slightly better cameras than the class-leading Galaxy S7 cameras, according to The Guardian, with improved photo quality, low-light performance, and general speed.

Tough Mudder is making its first steps towards becoming a fully fledged lifestyle and media company.

For the uninitiated, Tough Mudder is an 10 to 12 mile endurance race in which participants have to overcome a number of obstacles that change each year — ranging from high climbing walls, dark muddy tunnels, to walking through wires that emit electric shocks. 

More than 120,000 people participated in the UK Tough Mudder events last year, including its CEO and founder, Will Dean.

But Dean is aiming for half of the company's revenues coming from non-ticket sources in the next three to five years. In 2015 the company generated $100 million in revenue, Dean told Business Insider.

Its new partnership with UK TV channel Sky Sports Mix, announced on Friday, will give those who haven't yet participated in the race a chance to experience it on their TV screens.

In the seven years since it was founded, Tough Mudder has come a long way. In 2010 it was simply a company that held three obstacle races for brave athletes. Now the brand reaches tens of millions of people around the world and raises millions of dollars for charity. Dean talked Business Insider through its growth story and what he is planning for the future. 

The first look at Tough Mudder's partnership with Sky will air on January 24.

The multi-episode TV series, which already aired in the United States on CBS, follows all the competitors in the most gruelling of its 2016 events, the Toughest Mudder race.

The winner of the 2016 race was the Brit Jon Albon, who was the first-ever participant to complete 105 miles and won prize money of $100,000.

More content is already planned to air on Sky after this series is over. There will also be five digital shorts on Sky showcasing the regular Tough Mudder competitors, including one who battled cancer.

"We talk a lot about Tough Mudder being a tribe, being a nation," Dean said "I believe a lot in the values of teamwork and camaraderie and helping people get through things together." 

Content creation makes up one of the core pillars of Will Dean's growth strategy for the future of Tough Mudder.

The partnership with Sky Sports is the only the first step in growing its content production capabilities. It's also in talks with production companies in the UK to develop regional-specific content.

Online formats have also become a key part of its content production capabilities. Tough Mudder saw 42.5 million viewers live-stream the events and it is working with Facebook and Snapchat to develop new formats and ways to showcase the stories around the events.

Growing its sponsorship and product licensing portfolios is something the company hopes to achieve through the content it produces. One Tough Mudder sponsor, the American footwear company Merrell, now produces Tough Mudder-branded shoes.

As a non-traditional sport, it has been more difficult for Tough Mudder to land bigger name sponsorships than mainstream sports but that is changing with the growth it has seen.

The US Army sponsored and co-produced the show on CBS and the company counts Jeep and cider brand Kingstone Press among its British sponsors.

It's not over for Dean, who has big ambitions to continue Tough Mudder's international expansion.

Tough Mudder is currently present in 10 countries, including the United States, Australia and China and it hosted its first event in Dubai in 2016. 

Dean wants to nearly double the presence in two years, to 18 markets. 

He strongly believes that as the event grows people — who pay up to $200 to beat the obstacles — will come.

"Experiences are the new luxury goods," he said. The rapid growth of Tough Mudder is a testament to that.

Tough Mudder held three events in the year it launched. Two years later, in 2012, it had organized 35 around the world. 

14. Five Guys

I will never, ever, in my entire life understand why more people don’t roast Five Guys for their bad fries. Maybe the locations I’ve been to are terribly run, or maybe the kid dropping the fries was just extra stoney on every day I’ve been there, but all the fries I’ve eaten from Five Guys have been burnt, soggy, and completely saturated with oil. You could wring out a cup of Five Guys fries and have enough oil to fry a whole new batch. They’re hand-cut, soaked, and double fried in peanut oil, which is the correct route to take, so it must be purely based on human error. But damn do those humans seem to error a whole lot.

13. In-N-Out

Talking shit on In-N-Out’s fries is like a dog whistle for SoCal residents to see who really knows what’s up. Anyone who claims that ordering them “well-done” can somehow save these single-fried, undersalted, mealy excuses for french fries is either delusional or just really, really dumb. It’s a noble cause to cut the potatoes fresh in the restaurant, and I have nothing but love and respect for their burgers and corporate ethos, but their fries are just plain sad. Kill your idols, I guess.

12. Sonic

These are just some good-old-fashioned crappy fries. There’s no single reason either; they’re just bad. They’re weirdly pale, never crispy, and their off-putting mealiness is exacerbated by their thick, stubby shape. They're almost like an elementary school cafeteria fry that was cooked, frozen, cooked again, freezer-burnt, and then cooked until it reached room temp. There’s always a good amount of salt on Sonic’s fries, but no amount of sodium can save them. But, to Sonic’s credit, why would you ever order fries when tater tots are an option?  

Move over, New York and San Francisco.

Real estate company Redfin recently released its list of the hottest neighborhoods of 2017, and locales in city-adjacent towns such as Oakland, California, and Bellevue, Washington, dominated over their urban counterparts.

The ranking looked at neighborhoods that experts expect to become up-and-coming hotspots, and highlights a growing trend: Homebuyers want the amenities of both suburban and city life. They're looking for big, renovated houses minus the price tag a place in the heart of a major city would bring. 

"While many of 2017's hottest neighborhoods come with longer commutes, Redfin agents say they offer homebuyers the best balance of everything: quick access to public transit, trendy shopping and dining options, plus larger move-in ready homes with charm and price tags that are a little easier to bear," the report states.

To predict what will be the hottest neighborhoods of 2017, Redfin measured neighborhood growth by analyzing the number of pageviews from visitors to Redfin.com and the number of homes favorited by users on the site. Redfin also consulted local agents to confirm which areas are heating up in popularity. 

From turn-of-the-century homes outside New Orleans to Silicon Valley-adjacent pads in Sunnyvale, California, read on to see the hottest neighborhoods for 2017.

SEE ALSO: The 25 most expensive ZIP codes in America

DON'T MISS: 21 US cities where making $100,000 a year isn't enough to put you in the top 20% of earners

10. Tremé — New Orleans

Median sale price: $199,200

Median number of days on the market: 261

Average sale-to-list percentage: 89.3%

Redfin agent Caren Morgan says:

"Tremé is definitely becoming an 'it' place in New Orleans. It's right on the border of the French Quarter, but somewhat less expensive and historically not as trendy. The neighborhood boasts a lot of turn-of-the-century homes with beautiful architectural details, which are generally very popular, especially among out-of-state buyers."

9. Greenfield — Aurora, Colorado

Median sale price: $455,000

Median number of days on the market: 42

Average sale-to-list percentage: 97.6%

Redfin agent Stephanie Collins says:

"Greenfield has a community pool, a playground, tennis courts, a fishing pond and many trails for people wanting the outdoor, active Colorado lifestyle. Located in the highly rated Cherry Creek School district, it's a prime location — just five minutes away from the Southlands Mall District, with its retailers, movie theater and many restaurant options."

8. Hollywood Park — Sacramento, California

Median sale price: $345,000

Median number of days on the market: 9

Average sale-to-list percentage: 100.2%

Redfin agent Matt Jones says:

"As people get priced out of other neighborhoods near city center, I've seen an increase in interest in Hollywood Park in particular. It's one of the few neighborhoods that's in really close proximity to downtown and yet still has some affordable homes available. A lot of the buyers I've worked with appreciate the unique older homes there and they are willing to sacrifice certain other amenities (like higher Walk Score ratings) in order to have charming homes with character that are still affordable and just a ten minute commute to some of the hippest areas in Sacramento."