In Brazil and the United States, a firm handshake is expected. This would be off putting in the UK, as the British like to greet each other with a lighter handshake. 

Every country has a unique set of customs, and it is important to recognize and respect cultural differences, especially when conducting business around the world.

We created a helpful guide for handshake etiquette across 14 countries, thanks to information from BBC and Mental Floss:

Kathleen Elkins contributed to an older version of this post.

SEE ALSO: 22 business-etiquette rules every professional should know

For the past few years, Joe Grabinksi has chronicled the most hilariously bad Amazon reviews of popular movies.

Grabinski's Twitter account, "Amazon Movie Reviews," has amassed almost 200,000 followers, and is a pitch-perfect mixture of extremely misguided reviews and just plain wacky ones.

We asked Grabinksi to update a list of his favorites he put together for us last year. These are the best of the bad. The ones he chose range in tone from clueless to angry, to some that we truly hope were meant as a joke. A few things we noticed: Parents tend to blame movies for everything, and at least one person still really cares about VHS.

Get your popcorn ready.

Hunger Games (2012)

Sinister (2012)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 (2014)

It's only April and automakers from Mercedes to Lamborghini have already shown off some truly stunning, new cars.

We rounded up the priciest cars already unveiled in 2017. From SUVs to coupes, these cars appeal to our inner desire to ride in style.

Scroll down for a closer look:

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk: The new Roadster will be Tesla's fastest car — but you'll have to wait

1. Lamborghini's much-anticipated Huracán Performante made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show. Its 5.2-liter, V10 engine produces a very respectable 640 hp.

The roughly $275,000 car can hit 60 mph in just 2.9. The Huracán Performante recently achieved a new production car record on Germany Nürburgring Nordschleife race track with a time of 6 minutes and 52.01 seconds.

Get a closer look at the stunning Lamborghini here.

2. Mercedes has built the most expensive SUV in the world: the G650 Landaulet. The car, priced at $$666,400, was added to the automakers Maybach luxury line in March.

2017 is the 40th anniversary of "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope," the first entry in one of the most beloved motion picture franchises of all time. Over those forty years, "Star Wars" grew to include numerous sequels, prequels, spin-offs, animated series, and video games (of widely varying quality), and the brand is showing no signs of slowing down. The most recent film in the saga, "Rogue One," brought in over one billion dollars at the global box office.

So whatever happened to the folks who starred in those first three space movies? Some of the cast of the original "Star Wars" trilogy went on to become household names, some of them faded into obscurity, while others are sadly no longer with us; forty years is a long time, after all. Let’s take a look back at the major players in the ensemble cast of the greatest sci-fi story ever told and see what they’re up to today. 

Here's what happened to everyone who starred in the original "Star Wars" trilogy:

SEE ALSO: The 18 worst new TV shows of the year so far, according to critics

20. James Earl Jones/David Prowse

Darth Vader, the conflicted villain of the "Star Wars trilogy", was chiefly played by two actors: David Prowse and James Earl Jones. Prowse stood at 6’5″, establishing Vader as an intimidating force to be reckoned with. Before "Star Wars," Prowse had a great many credits as a hard-working actor, usually playing a tall monster of some sort, including Frankenstein’s monster in the 1967 comedy spoof, "Casino Royale," and Android in four episodes of the 1970s version of "The Tomorrow People." In the years since the end of the trilogy, Prowse has more-or-less faded into obscurity, sometimes popping up on British television or Star Wars fan projects. Most recently, he made an appearance in the web series, "Mission Backup Earth."

While James Earl Jones never wore Vader’s iconic black suit, the actor’s booming voice became one of the most iconic elements of the entire "Star Wars" saga. Jones reprised his role as Vader in multiple "Star Wars" projects, including 2005’s Episode III, 2016’s "Rogue One," and several episodes of "Star Wars Rebels." Outside of "Star Wars," Jones has had a variety of high-profile roles in movies such as "Coming to America" and the "Jack Ryan" movies starring Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford. Jones’ most notable leading role came long before "Star Wars," when he played a boxer based on the legendary Jack Johnson, one of the greatest fighters who ever lived, in 1970’s "The Great White Hope." He’s currently set to reprise his other iconic voice role, Mufasa, in the upcoming live-action remake of "The Lion King."

19. Kenny Baker

Before being cast as rambunctious droid R2-D2 in "Star Wars," the 3′ 8″ Kenny Baker worked in a traveling troupe of little people. During the pre-production of the original space fantasy, George Lucas found Baker to be the only person that was both small enough to fit inside the R2 frame and strong enough to operate it, and just like that, a sci-fi icon was born. After attaining stardom as the most popular cinema robot of all time, Baker went on to appear in a bunch of movies, including "Labyrinth,""The Elephant Man," and "Willow."

In 1999, he returned to play R2 in "Episode I: The Phantom Menace," and stayed on for the entire prequel trilogy. All told, he’s one of just a handful of actors to appear in the same role across the first six "Star Wars" films. For "Episode VII: The Force Awakens," Kenny Baker returned as a consultant, but did not operate R2-D2 himself, as the actor had been suffering from severe respiratory problems for many years. On August 13, 2016, Kenny Baker died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 81.

18. Anthony Daniels

R2-D2 was rarely seen without his friend and counterpart, C3PO, played by Anthony Daniels. Like Kenny Baker, Daniels played his character in all six entries of the first two "Star Wars" trilogies. However, he also returned in the golden suit for "Episode VII," and even made a brief cameo in "Rogue One." With this, Anthony Daniels became the only actor to appear in all eight live-action "Star Wars" movies. He has also voiced C3PO in numerous spin-offs, such as "The Clone Wars,""Rebels," and even in a brief scene in "The Lego Movie," alongside Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian (but more on him in a bit!).

Outside of "Star Wars," Daniels is likely best known for providing the voice of Legolas in Ralph Bakshi’s animated version of "The Lord of the Rings," and for starring opposite Helen Mirren in two noteworthy episodes of "Prime Suspect." No matter what else he does, Anthony Daniels will forever be loved and remembered for playing C3PO, the endearingly anxious protocol droid who keeps on finding himself trapped in situations which call for the exact opposite of etiquette and protocol.

Smartwatches have thus far been a bit of a disappointment, although there's some early evidence that they're beginning to displace traditional watch sales.

I stress "beginning," as people who like wristwatches, particularly luxury ones, have separated their world into the Rolexes and Cartiers on one side and the more geeky smartwatches on the other.

In this context, the Apple Watch and various Android-powered devices should be considered the first wave of ... something. Of what, we're not entirely sure, because watch lovers still tend to favor "real watches," and the true snobs will only look at mechanical movements, ideally of the vintage ilk.

I've been fairly unimpressed with the Apple Watch and the other smartwatches, with the exception of the Tag Heuer Connected, which is quite expensive. That said, some of the typical smartwatch functions are appealing. 

I'm not alone in thinking this. Chronos, a wearables startup based in the Bay Area, is selling an innovative device that can be attached to the back of almost any watch — I say "almost" because the gadget is about as big as a quarter, round, and isn't going to fit square watches or particularly modest timepieces, such as those designed to be worn by women.

Chronos let me borrow one of its $99 "smart discs" and included a rather nice watch from another Bay Area design company called Elliot Havok. It was the "Oxford Havok Watch," which at $95 and 40 millimeters, with a black leather strap, quartz movement, and fairly simple face that combines sportiness and dressiness, was fun to wear. There was the added benefit of being able to get a more custom fit when the Chronos was attached, thanks to the strap.

I also chatted with CEO Mark Nichol about the device and why he thinks it's the solution for owners of elegant or exceptional "dumb" watches who are aren't thrilled about wearing fitness trackers.

Here's the rundown:

SEE ALSO: The 8 biggest reveals from Baselworld, the year's largest watch show

The Chronos disc is about the size of a quarter — and about as thick! It attaches to the the back of most timepieces by means of micro-suction.

Chronos sent along the Elliot Havok watch to use for the test. It's a nicely designed timepiece that combines dressiness and sportiness. There's a quartz movement and a comfortable fabric-lined leather strap.

The Chronos device itself is a sandwich of technology. "We made it as sleek as possible," CEO Mark Nichol, a watch enthusiast who previously worked in finance, said. "We understood how important thinness was." The casing is made of the same stainless steel you would find on a Rolex.

Every year, billions of dollars in illegal narcotics circle the globe, driven by the demand of millions of users.

At every step, authorities try to intercept the drugs and apprehend their purveyors.

In response, traffickers have developed a variety of inventive ways to obscure their cargos.

In August 2016, US border agents uncovered more than 4,000 pounds of marijuana hidden among limes.

In two incidents in July, border agents found well over 200 pounds of meth hidden in shipments of jalapeños and cucumbers.

But food isn't the only method of concealment.

Fake carrots, real doughnuts, catapults, drones, submarines, and the human stomach — here's a non-exhaustive list of the clever ways traffickers have smuggled drugs.

SEE ALSO: 'Like a block of cheese with holes in it' — How Mexican cartels will subvert and avoid Trump's border wall

Stuffed chili peppers and fake carrots

Drug traffickers have mixed legitimate business with their illicit activities, in part so that the former can conceal the latter. Vaunted drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, now awaiting trial in the US, was no exception.

“He opened a cannery in Guadalajara and began producing thousands of cans stamped 'Comadre Jalapeños,' stuffing them with cocaine,” Patrick Radden Keefe wrote in a 2012 New York Times Magazine profile of Guzman, before "vacuum-sealing them and shipping them to Mexican-owned grocery stores in California."

In one instance, according to a court in San Diego, 1,400 boxes of canned peppers, filled with "hundreds of kilos of cocaine," were intercepted at the border.

In January 2016, agents in Texas discovered a shipment of marijuana wrapped in orange tape and a concealed within a cargo of carrots. The bust uncovered more than a ton of weed worth a half-million dollars.

In October 2016, Customs and Border Protection agents stopped a tractor trailer loaded with a commercial shipment of carrots. Among the carrots, agents found 159 packages of 88 pounds worth of what was thought to be meth.

Watermelons, pineapples, and other produce

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In February 2014, just a few days before Guzman was captured for the second time, it was reported that authorities in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, seized more than 4,000 cucumbers and plantains stuffed with cocaine.

In another case, a checkpoint in Arizona came across a shipment of marijuana that had been packaged in green plastic with yellow streaks — giving the bundles the appearance of watermelons.

Authorities on the US-Mexico border have also discovered crystal meth hidden in pineapples.

Drugs hidden within food shipments can make it deep into the US. In December 2016, police in Chicago were tipped off to the arrival of a tomato shipment with 54 kilos of cocaine in it — drugs with a street value of almost $7 million.

Bananas are especially popular

Colombia is a major producer of bananas. Colombia is also a major producer of cocaine.

Traffickers have seized on that overlap.

In September, Spanish police busted a 2,000-pound cocaine haul hidden in a commercial shipment of bananas in the southern city of Sevilla.

The bananas don't have to be real, however.

In November, Spanish police in the southern coastal city of Malaga and the Mediterranean coast city of Valencia uncovered 37.5 pounds of cocaine— just over 15 pounds of it concealed in fake bananas made of resin, with the rest hidden in the flaps of the cardboard boxes the bananas were shipped in.

I joined Spotify during my sophomore year of college. For awhile, I enjoyed the playlists and didn’t mind listening to the ads every now and again. But once I was back home in New York City for the summer and away from the plentiful campus WiFi, I found myself burning through data.

After a few weeks of warnings from Verizon that I was approaching my data limit, I decided to take the plunge and become a Spotify Premium member. For more than two years, I enjoyed my ad-free listening experience, and I made the most of my Premium membership.

But everything changed a month ago when I decided to de-link my Facebook account from my Spotify. I thought it would be a simple process, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find any way to do it. Eventually, I reached out to the Spotify support team, and they informed me that since I had created my account using my Facebook login, it was impossible to de-link the two.

The only solution, I was told, was to delete my Spotify account and create a new one. So that’s what I did. They gave me credit for a free month of Premium to make up for the time that was left on my other account, and transferred all my songs and playlists over for me.

For one reason or another, once my month of Premium was almost up and Spotify started asking me for my credit card information, I got cold feet. After two years with one streaming service, it was time to see what else was out there.

This week, I signed up for Spotify’s biggest rival: Apple Music. Here are my first impressions.

SEE ALSO: Apple just released a huge new update for iPhones — here's what’s new

The user interface is confusing

When Apple Music first came out in summer 2015, I did the three-month free trial but I ditched the app after the first day because it was just a headache to use. However, the introduction of iOS 10 brought about a redesign of Apple Music, and I was ready to give it another shot.

Though the interface is now much better than I remembered, there is still a learning curve. Unlike Spotify, which brings you to its home screen full of playlists and albums when you open the app, Apple Music starts you at your library. In my case, my library was empty, and I had to figure out how to fill it.

Finding a song I liked was easy enough; Apple Music’s search feature brought me the results I wanted whether I searched for songs, albums, or artists. But confusion set in when I tried to save a song to my device for offline listening.

I first tried to save the songs by clicking the "+" icon, but I got a pop-up notification that told me I needed to set up my iCloud library in order to add the song. I don’t normally use iCloud, so I declined the notification, and kept looking for an option to save songs for offline play. I eventually gave up and contacted Apple support, which proceeded to tell me that I had no option but to enable iCloud. Once I did, however, I was filling my library in no time.

I have yet to spend enough time in the app to judge how good it is at recommending new music — Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist sets the bar very high — but first looks are promising, and the curated playlists definitely make me want to listen.

Why is everything so large?

The very first thing I noticed when I opened Apple Music was that everything is huge now. The album covers, photos, and video stills take up huge chunks of the screen, and the font is enormous.

Seriously, it’s really, really big. It’s large to the point where it just seems like some higher-up at Apple approached Apple Music’s designers and told them to design the app as if their core audience was older people who bring reading glasses to restaurants so they can see the menu.

Don’t get me wrong, everything looks really nice. You can say a lot about Apple and their products, but you can’t say that they aren’t beautiful. Compared to Spotify’s relatively bare-bones design, Apple Music is a joy to scroll through and explore.

But jeez everything is big.

That said, I'm not ready to jump ship yet

Apple Music is a flawed app. With the Apple pedigree and competition from Spotify, I was expecting a more positive experience from my first few days. But unlike my first go-around with this streaming service, I haven't gotten the urge to throw my hands up and go back to the familiar. 

The curated playlists and recommended music sections are visually appealing and make me curious to jump in and listen. And the promise of Apple Music exclusives, if only for a few weeks at a time, has also caught my interest. 

Despite the fact that it isn't as user-friendly as other music apps, I want to give it a chance to win me over. I'm going to spend more time with it over the coming weeks. Time will tell if it can make a convert out of me. 

The Sony World Photography Awards is the largest photo competition in the world. Now celebrating its 10th year, the awards program has received more than a million submissions since its inception.

One of the contest's top honors is the National Award. For this particular award, photographers are judged against others from their country of origin, regardless of which of the 10 categories the photo was submitted to. This creates competition across various "open" categories, including portraits, architecture, nature, still life, and travel. Ultimately, the panel of judges must choose the best photo from each country, regardless of its subject matter.

 There are 66 qualifying countries, and awards are given to first-, second-, and third-place winners.

Ahead, see the 66 first-place winners of this year's National Awards. Captions include where the photographer is from — which is not necessarily where the photo was taken — along with their name.

SEE ALSO: 13 stunning photos that show why Oman is the next big destination for luxury travelers

Slovenia, Aleš Komovec

Indonesia, Fajar Kristianto

Portugal, Luís Godinho

Like all living things, cities have lifespans. 

Some, like Paris, are ancient — over 2,000 years old. Others are adolescent in comparison.

Here are the maps, paintings, and old-time photographs that show the journeys of our greatest cities.

Drake Baer contributed to an earlier version of this story.

SEE ALSO: This stunning timelapse video reveals how different the night sky looks without light pollution

Rio de Janeiro was founded by Portuguese colonists in 1565.

Guanabara Bay, the second largest bay in Brazil, was one of the main draws.

By 1711, the city had grown.

Amazon announced Wednesday that it was shutting down Quidsi, the subsidiary that runs a bunch of popular e-commerce sites like Soap.com and Diapers.com. 

Amazon will reportedly lay off hundreds of workers and move the inventory on those sites over to Amazon.com.

I was pretty bummed when I read the news. As a city dweller, I'm a big fan of Soap.com, which I use to buy things like toilet paper, paper towel, laundry detergent, and other household items that are difficult to carry home from the store. But I figured the transition would be a good reason to check out Soap's competitors. Perhaps I could find cheaper prices on other sites, like Jet.com.

Jet.com was actually founded by Marc Lore, who also started Quidsi. After Amazon bought Quisdi in 2010, Lore went on to start Jet, which was bought by Walmart in 2016 for $3 billion. 

A lot of my friends use Jet and rave about its low prices, so I decided to give it a try and see how it stacks up to Amazon's Soap.com in terms of product availability and prices. 

I started by looking at my "Easy Reorder" list on Soap.

When you login to Soap, you can find a convenient list of all the products you've ordered in the past. This makes re-stocking very easy. 

I decided I would go through this list and try and find the same products on Jet to compare prices. 

A 24-pack of Charmin double roll toilet paper cost $21.99 on Soap.

I was shocked to see that the same 24-pack of Charmin was only $12.47 on Jet.

Most people don't enjoy paying taxes, but they are vital to financing important programs and projects from which US citizens benefit. 

In a way, taxes are sort of like an investment. Taxpayers (investors) pay federal and state governments money with the expectation they'll get services such as paved roads and operating national parks (a return).

But a new report by WalletHub, the personal finance site, indicates that certain states receive a much higher return on their tax investment. 

Using more than 23 metrics to look at five different categories, the report identified the states with the best taxpayer ROI for 2017. 

According to the report, "Red States," or Republican states, get a much bigger bang for their buck when it comes to their tax dollars with an average ranking of 21.07, compared with "Blue States," or Democratic states, which have an average ranking of 32.15.

Here are some other key findings:

• "Nebraska has the lowest proportion of major roads in poor condition, 5 percent, which is 8.8 times lower than in Connecticut, the state with the highest at 44 percent."
• "Vermont has the lowest number of violent crimes per 1,000 residents, 1.18, which is 6.2 times lower than in Alaska, the state with the highest at 7.30."
• "New Hampshire has the lowest infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births, 4.18, which is 2.2 times lower than in Mississippi, the state with the highest, 9.27."

Following are the top nine states with the highest return on investment for their tax dollars. 

SEE ALSO: These are the watches worn by the most powerful CEOs in the world

9. Texas

Total taxes paid per capita rank: 12

Overall government services rank: 28

Source: WalletHub

8. Missouri

Total taxes paid per capita rank: 5

Overall government services rank: 37

Source: WalletHub

7. Utah

Total taxes paid per capita rank: 18

Overall government services rank: 10

Source: WalletHub

There have historically been two dominant tribes on Wall Street.

There's the sell side, the investment banks, which, as their name suggests, mostly sell stuff. There's also the buy side, the fund managers, which mostly buy stuff.

A third group — including stock exchanges, trading platforms, clearinghouses, and data providers — helps facilitate transactions between the two dominant groups.

Those institutions are sometimes called the "pipes and plumbing of global finance." If you needed a reminder, pipes and plumbing aren't sexy, and neither is this third group.

That's beginning to change.

McKinsey is out with a big report on what it calls capital markets infrastructure providers, or CMIPs, and it's clear that stock exchanges and market infrastructure firms are poised to make up a bigger chunk of the financial services pie.

"This an industry that it's importance to the capital markets ecosystem beyond purely facilitating transactions is growing," Rush Kapashi, a partner at McKinsey, told Business Insider.

• Exchange groups, in particular, are diversifying, setting up businesses in just about every area of the capital markets value chain.
• Information is becoming a key battleground.
• CMIPs are forecast to deliver 5% annual revenue growth through 2020, outpacing revenue growth at sell-side and buy-side companies.

Here's some data:

Exchange groups are moving into new territory.

Exchanges groups are pushing into new areas, including clearing, settlement, information service, technology infrastructure, and alternative venues. The name of the game is vertical integration, or owning just about every part of the value chain.

McKinsey said:

"Diversification into adjacent business areas, driven by margin pressure in some core activities and the need for faster revenue growth, is likely to be the primary driver of CMIP performance over the next five years. It will continue to blur boundaries between different parts of the value chain and offer astute providers the chance to build global portfolios across asset classes and services, reaping both significant revenue and cost synergies."

Information and technology now make up a bigger chunk of their revenues.

The effect of this is that trading and listing revenues now make up less than half of their revenues, with information and technology increasing from about $5.2 billion in 2010 to about $9.6 billion in 2015.

Here's McKinsey's take:

"As a result of diversification, larger players across the CMIP industry now offer solutions through the trade lifecycle and increasingly in information services such as indices, market data, and analytics. Information services are becoming a key battleground, attracting a growing cast of actors, including exchange groups and interdealer brokers. Some established information services providers, meanwhile, have moved in the opposite direction, venturing into trading and technology infrastructures."

There are a handful of dominant global players.

There has been a splurge in dealmaking in the exchanges space, with seven dominant players emerging from more than 20 firms that existed at the turn of the millennium. That's now running into some opposition, as the final few potential deals involve politically sensitive cross-border transactions.

Here's McKinsey:

"Expansion will continue to be driven by diversification, often through mergers and acquisitions with adjacent businesses. Among exchange groups, the consolidation seen among large and regional operators since the start of the millennium will likely continue, but at the moderate pace seen in the past few years as opposed to the earlier frenzied pace. However, this is likely to happen only if cross-border mergers in areas such as trading, clearing, and custody are not restricted. Transactions in less regulated areas, such as information services or technology infrastructure, should be less problematic."

When most people think of the perfect retirement destination, they imagine white-sand beaches or shuffle board by the pool.

But a new study by Bankrates shows that the states people most associate with retirement, such as Florida, are not the states retirees should move to. In fact, they are among the worst for retirees. 

“What people think they want in retirement may not end up being what serves them best over the long run,” said Bankrate.com analyst Claes Bell, CFA.

“It’s about a lot more than sunny skies, beaches and golf courses," Bell added. "As you get older, practical considerations like healthcare, taxes and proximity to family and friends become much more important.”

Bankrate ranked the best states for retirees. It explained:

"The study examined eight key factors which were weighted in line with a nationally representative survey of non-retired U.S. adults. From most to least important, the categories were: cost of living, healthcare quality, crime, cultural vitality, weather, taxes, senior citizens’ well-being and the prevalence of other seniors."

New Hampshire, which tops the list, ranked in the top five for seniors’ well-being, crime, and healthcare quality. Following are the top nine states that are the best for retirees, according to the study:

SEE ALSO: These 9 states are where taxpayers get the most for their tax dollars

9. Wisconsin

Cost of living: 24

Weather: 42

Health care quality: 2

Crime: 16

Tax: 46

Source: Bankrate

8. South Dakota

Cost of living: 26

Weather: 40

Health care quality: 18

Crime: 20

Tax: 3

Source: Bankrate

7. Massachusetts

Cost of living: 45

Weather: 29

Health care quality: 5

Crime: 17

Tax: 40

Source: Bankrate

The talent wars are alive and well in the tech industry, according to salary research site Paysa.

And there's one company willing to go to the nines to win them: Netflix.

Paysa recently looked at hiring, staying, and poaching trends for a number of top tech companies and discovered that Netflix spent more than 10 times the others to acquire new talent from places like LinkedIn, Facebook, and PayPal.

The research firm came up with these stats as part of a bigger project that analyzed salary trends of over 31,000 employment transitions. 

While Netflix was, by far, offering the biggest increases, it wasn't the only one willing to pay big. Here are the top 10 tech companies that pay the most when poaching employees, according to Paysa:

SEE ALSO: The alarming inside story of a failed Google acquisition, and an employee who was hospitalized

No. 1: Netflix was willing to give employees it lured away from other tech companies a median raise of 167%. They were earning $130,814 on average when Netflix sought to hire them, and the company agreed to pay them $329,174.

Source: Paysa

Obviously, such increases in salary imply big promotions as well as more cash and less stock. Senior software engineers at Netflix average $210,244 in base salary compared to $166,403 at Facebook. But with stock and other benefits, Facebook actually pays slightly more in total compensation.

Source: Glassdoor

No. 2: Wikia, the Fandom site that hosts fan websites, pays a 72% premium on average to poach. Employees were earning on average $121,061 at their previous job and increased to $204,077.

Source: Paysa

Whole Foods is trying desperately to shed its "Whole Paycheck" reputation as it loses millions of customers to grocery store rivals like Kroger and Trader Joe's.

While sales of organic food have more than tripled in the past decade, same-store sales at Whole Foods have decelerated in recent years as conventional grocery stores up their organic variety and offer more competitive prices. 

To see how Whole Foods is doing, we visited a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's just a few blocks away from each other in New York's Union Square and compared prices on 28 similar items. 

Overall, our Whole Foods basket was about $30 more expensive than our basket at Trader Joe's.

The final bills came to $115.90 at Whole Foods and $85.33 at Trader Joe's, after we accounted for the products' varying package sizes.

Here's how the prices compared: 

Red peppers

Trader Joe's: $0.99 each 

Whole Foods: $3.99 per pound

One medium-sized red bell pepper weighed nearly one pound, so peppers were far more expensive at Whole Foods. 

Organic avocados

Trader Joe's: $2.29 each 

Whole Foods: $2.79 each 

Organic strawberries

Trader Joe's: $5.99 for 16 ounces

Whole Foods: $5.99 for 16 ounces

Strawberries were expensive across the board.

Welcome to the hot pink Eaton House Studio mansion, listed on Airbnb for £1,800 ($2,248) a night.

Complete with gold glitter walls, flamingos, and unicorns, the house is "an extremely large art piece that is constantly evolving," according to its hosts, 45-year old firefighter and photographer James Lloyd-Roberts and 37-year-old artist Amy Griffith, according to The Sun.

Located in the countryside of Essex, the house has been used as a photo and film location, and, sleeping up to 30 people, is often found accommodating wild hen parties, birthdays, and weddings.

It has even attracted a number of celebrities, including chef Gizzi Erskine and pop star Iggy Azalea, according to The Sun, which added that the house took four years for Lloyd-Roberts and Griffith to transform.

With six official bedrooms (and plenty of other space to crash), a hot tub, indoor and outdoor fireplaces, an outdoor cinema screen, games rooms, a studio space, a light-up bar, and an extensive library, there's plenty to see at Eaton House Studio, which is just a 35-minute train ride into London Liverpool Street.

Special packages are available for the likes of murder mystery nights or alcohol-infused tea parties. Scroll down to take a tour of the mansion, which could be home for the night at the click of a button.

This hot pink mansion in Essex could be yours for £1,800 a night.

Called Eaton House Studio, it's been the home of photo and film shoots. 

The entryway to what Airbnb calls "an extremely large art piece that is constantly evolving" is pretty magical.

The "Pink Bedroom" is one of six, and includes a super-king bed and ensuite toilet.

Anyone who has been with AMC's "The Walking Dead" since the start knows a thing or two about death. The show has said goodbye to more than half of the original cast, as well as dozens of new favorites since its start in 2010.

While the actors behind many of these roles may have moved on, the fandom is still pretty shaken about their brutal and shocking departures. INSIDER has gone through every big death on "The Walking Dead," including the season seven finale, and has ranked the series' most shocking deaths.

Our list starts with some of the more insignificant characters whose deaths may have been unexpected but who you had little attachment to, before building all the way up to the ones that really made you jump back in your seat and clasp your mouth. This ranking keeps in mind how significant each character was to the show and how shocking each death was without being hinted at episodes in advance, something that's become a staple of the series.

Keep reading to see the worst deaths on "The Walking Dead" so far, ranked by shock value. 

SEE ALSO: Who's winning and losing late-night TV under Trump

35. Ed Peletier, Carol's abusive husband, was eaten by walkers.

When a group of the undead unexpectedly wandered into camp, Ed was the first to go. After viewers witnessed his abusive tendencies to Carol firsthand, most would probably agree he had to go.

34. Dr. Edwin Jenner killed himself by staying inside the CDC as it exploded.

With his pessimistic outlook on life, there wasn't a chance Jenner would be around too long. Since Jenner said there was no hope to create a cure for the virus, viewers probably weren't surprised to see that he stayed back for the blast after letting everyone else go.

33. The Governor's researcher, Milton Mamet, was stabbed by his ally after trying to save Andrea and her friends.

Milton spent his time on the show teeter-tottering between good and evil. When he decided to turn on his leader and warn Andrea his group was planning to wage war on Rick, Milton paid dearly for his betrayal.

While we may have Milton's time was coming, we didn't expect him to go down attempting to kill the Governor only to be brutally stabbed by him in return.

Want to know the most popular US stocks among active fund managers?

A Credit Suisse team led by Lori Calvasina looked at "long only, actively managed" small-, mid-, and large-cap funds to find the answer.

Microsoft was the most crowded US stock, with 378 large-cap funds holding long positions. Apple (369) and Google (352) were close behind.

The Credit Suisse team says its ranking, which incorporates holdings of both retail and institutional funds, is more robust than other studies.

The bank advised that "as a general rule, we tend to be wary of owning too many Darlings given less opportunity for differentiation, and potential for underperformance if bad news emerges."

We present the 12 most popular US stocks among large-cap funds, according to Credit Suisse, below.

12. Merck & Co.

Ticker: MRK

Industry group: Pharma, biotech

Market cap: $174.2 billion

No. of large-cap funds: 227

1Q '17 to-date performance: 7.8%

Source: Credit Suisse

Click here for a real-time Merck & Co. chart.

11. Home Depot

Ticker: HD

Industry group: Retailing

Market cap: $176.8 billion

No. of large-cap funds: 230

1Q '17 to-date performance: 9.6%

Source: Credit Suisse

Click here for a real-time Home Depot chart.

10. Amazon

Ticker: AMZN

Industry group: Retailing

Market cap: $418.1 billion

No. of large-cap funds: 231

1Q '17 to-date performance: 16.9%

Source: Credit Suisse

Click here for a real-time Amazon chart.

Warning: This post includes spoilers for the finale of HBO's "Big Little Lies."

On Sunday night's finale of HBO's "Big Little Lies," viewers finally found out the truth that readers of Liane Moriarty's book knew all along.

Three of the show's big twists were revealed — and each of them tied into one another.

The first twist was that the son of Celeste (Nicole Kidman) and Perry (Alexander Skarsgård), Max Wright, was the real first grade bully. Jane's son, Ziggy, was just the one taking the blame. Viewers realized that Max picked up on his dad's abusive behavior at home and acted the same way toward other kids at school.

The second twist was that Max's dad, Perry — Celeste's abusive husband — and the mysterious "Saxon Banks" who raped Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley) years ago are, in fact, one and the same.

The last major twist was that the mysterious murderer dangled in front of viewers during the whole show is Bonnie Carlson (Zoë Kravitz), who kills Perry by shoving him down a flight of concrete steps while he's beating up Celeste.

It was a shocking season that kept people guessing the whole way through. But like any good murder mystery, "Big Little Lies" sprinkled breadcrumbs along the way.

Keep reading to see all the things you may have missed:

SEE ALSO: Every HBO show ranked from worst to best, according to critics

It all begins way back in the first episode.

Twenty minutes into the show, there's an awkward scene where the the first grade teacher calls everyone's attention while the parents are picking up their kids from school.

One student, it seems, has been bullying Amabella and tried to choke her. But it's not clear who the bully is.

Amabella points to Ziggy, son of the town's newcomer, Jane Chapman.

Ziggy denies it, and the situation is left unresolved. Is Ziggy a secret bully? Or is this all some kind of mistake?

But during the scene, something weird is going on with Max.

The teacher says that whoever hurt her will have to apologize, because "we always say we're sorry."

While Celeste nods approvingly, the camera moves to the twins' faces. Josh is standing there, happy to be snuggled by his mother. Max grimaces, as if he resents the entire idea of apologizing.

When the teacher tells Amabella to point to the boy who hurt her, Max looks nervous.

His brother tries to play with him by running a matchbox racecar over his head. Max shoves him away and looks on nervously. He's afraid of getting called out.

Queen Elizabeth II employs a lot of people. Most monarchs have around 1,000 staff in their royal homes, and some of the roles are weird and wonderful.

While many jobs in Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and others are what you'd expect — housekeepers, gardeners and chefs, for example — others are a bit more niche.

For instance, did you know there's a person who is predominantly in charge of the swans? Or that The Queen has someone to look after her stamps?

Here are some of the most surprising jobs you can get working for the Royal Family, most of whixh you've probably never heard of.

Reading this make you forget what century we're living in, so this list is ranked by the year each role was created, starting with the oldest.

The Queen's Bargemaster — 1215

Being in charge of royal barges is mostly a ceremonial role nowadays. However, in the 18th century in particular, there was a lot more to do, because the sovereign would travel on the River Thames by barge quite regularly.

The Bargemaster is responsible for 24 Royal Watermen, who each receive an annual salary of £3.50— so it's likely they have other jobs.

Master of the Horse — 1360

The Master of the Horse is another honorary position, held by Samuel Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey. He is required to attend all ceremonial occasions where the Queen might be riding on horseback or in a horse-drawn carriage, such as the State Opening of Parliament and Trooping the Colour. He is also responsible for inspections of the Royal Mews, or stables.

Master of the Queen's Music — 1625

This role is given for a period of ten years to a prominent musician. It's currently held by composer Judith Weir, who was appointed in 2014 after Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, the first to be given the job for a decade.

The post was abolished in 1649 when the monarchy was overthrown, but reinstituted in 1660.

There are no set responsibilities, but Masters of the Queen's Music can compose for royal or state occasions. For example, Weir arranged a special version of the national anthem "God Save the Queen" during King Richard III's re-burial in March 2015.