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Everything you might have missed in the new 'Westworld' season 2 trailer

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Dolores army Westworld season 2

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Westworld" season two, including speculation of future events.

HBO released an epic new trailer for the coming second season of "Westworld"  during the 2018 Super Bowl and announced the April 22 premiere date. The new footage (set to composer Ramin Djawadi's piano cover of Kanye West's "Runaway") shows Dolores, Maeve, and the Man in Black engaged in an all-out-war for control of the Delos park.

We're here to break down the most important details from the trailer you might have missed. Keep scrolling for a closer look at what's to come on "Westworld" season two.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best TV show seasons of all time, according to critics

Let's start with all the faces we weren't sure to expect back. We saw Logan (William's ne'er-do-well friend) at a swanky party.

Logan's fate was left unclear at the end of season one when William (aka the Man in Black) sent him off into the far reaches of the park. But Jimmi Simpson, who stars as William, told INSIDER last year that he thought it was just part of his character's plan to make Logan seem unstable.

 

 



So it looks like Logan in a part of the Delos park complex where guests decompress before going back to to real world.

We know he's not among humans, because you can see the majority of people in the room are frozen hosts — only Logan and a mysterious blonde woman (Angela, perhaps?) next to him move in the shot.

 



Peter Abernathy — the host who played Dolores's father in the early episodes from season one — is also back.

It looks like Delos employees are strapping Abernathy down under duress. When we last saw Abernathy, he was placed into storage by Bernard (who whispered something mysterious to him). What happened to him since then? Why are the Delos employees hurting him? 



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8 signs you're not ready to get married

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mindy project

Whether or not you're in a relationship, most of us tend to ask ourselves what the future will bring. Marriage is a big deal, so it requires a lot of meticulous thought — after all, a wedding day is supposed to be a once in a lifetime experience.

So, if you plan on it being your first and only rodeo, you want to make sure you’re ready for the ride. Although a little hesitation prior to such a big commitment is completely normal, it is in your best interest to watch for potential warning signs that you may not be prepared to tie the knot.

You’re not willing to compromise.

Any happy, successful relationship — romantic or not — requires compromise. Yes, it’s ok to be a little selfish — meaning you should make yourself and your physical, mental, and social health a priority, but if you find it difficult to care about the health and happiness of your partner even a little bit, you have a problem.

"Typically, commitment phobics are inflexible and loathe compromises," Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT specializing in codependency and marriage counseling wrote on her professional blog."Relationships revolve around them."

I’ve been with my fiance for six years, and we both agree that compromise has been the anchor that has kept our relationship grounded. It’s something we made a promise to embrace from the beginning, and I remind myself of it every day. It keeps us humble and understanding of each other, so it’s really important.  

Remember, compromise doesn’t have to be the ultimate sacrifice, it just shows that you care about the wishes and desires of your partner as much as you care about your own.



You have trust issues.

Some people's trust issues stem from past experiences or insecurities, and that's ok. But you have to be transparent about them with your partner to keep them from ruining your relationship. No one likes feeling like they're not trusted, especially when they haven't done anything to warrant it.

Often, an unwarranted breach of trust "deals with pre-existing issues," like family or childhood trauma, Lynda Cameron Price, Ed.S, LPC, AADC, licensed professional counselor and certified addiction professional told INSIDER. "Trust is significant because it's one of the core issues we deal with," she said.

If your trust issues are rooted in an unresolved issue between you and your partner, that's where the situation gets extra sticky. They will only bring resentment and bitterness in the future, so it's best to confront them and work through them before walking down the aisle.



You're not done "exploring."

Obviously, this piece only applies to those who are interested in monogamous relationships. You love your significant other, but you can't shake the feeling that you're missing out on new and different sexual experiences with other people. There's no shame in having those feelings, but if you're experiencing them, you may not be ready to say, "I do."

If you think your partner may share these feelings, it may be worth having a conversation about to see if an open relationship is right for you.

"If you are truly interested in an open marriage, you should have been practicing polyamory or swinging long before you headed up the aisle," Tammy Nelson, Board Certified Sexologist, Certified Sex Therapist, and the author of The New Monogamy told Huffington Post.

Communication is key. It's your relationship, and you can do whatever you want with it, as long as you're both happy. That's the beauty of love.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

8 details you may have missed in the new 'Avengers: Infinity War' trailer

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captain america vision black widow

Disney didn't only bring a "Star Wars" trailer to Super Bowl 2018. It surprised fans with a new teaser for the next "Avengers" movie coming this summer. 

While you were busy freaking out over Spider-Man teaming up with Doctor Strange and Iron Man, there were a few smaller moments you may have overlooked.

Keep reading to see everything you may have missed in the new "Avengers: Infinity War" trailer.

SEE ALSO: All 49 of Netflix's notable original movies, ranked from worst to best

Iron Man is showing off a new suit.

Tony Stark never misses an opportunity to show off a new suit. Redditors were quick to spot that the billionaire's latest suit is a nod to one from the comics called "Bleeding Edge Armor."

Unlike previous suits, people think it's a suit that's kept inside Stark's body until he mentally wills it on his body made from the extremis formula introduced in "Iron Man 3."



Captain America is showing off a new shield from his new best bud.

Steve Rogers abandoned his shield at the end of "Captain America: Civil War." What will he fight with in "Infinity War"? 

It looks like his new buddy, T'Challa aka Black Panther has hooked him up with a new-and-improved shield made with some of his envious tech. Just like his original shield, it should be made of Vibranium. T'Challa's home of Wakanda is plentiful in the valuable resource that is able to absorb any vibration.

In "Spider-Man: Homecoming," it was hinted that a prototype shield for Cap was being transported to the new Avengers' base, so maybe we'll see him get one by the end of "Infinity War."



There are two more people here with Captain America and his crew that you may not have noticed.

If you re-watch the trailer, you can see another two people walking behind Captain America and Black Widow. The flash of red hair behind Cap makes us believe that's Wanda/Scarlet Witch since she has been seen at Vision's side in other footage released. 

We're thinking it's either Falcon or Cap's friend Bucky/Winter Soldier hiding behind Black Widow. We've already seen them all together in the first "Infinity War" trailer.

 



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McDonald's and Taco Bell are locked in a cutthroat value menu war — and the winner is clear

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McDonald's Taco Bell Value Menu Dollar Menu

  • Both McDonald's and Taco Bell have unveiled major overhauls to their value menus recently. The changes have been seen as an appeal to win over budget-conscious customers. 
  • McDonald's new dollar menu is tiered, ranging in price from $1 to $3, while Taco Bell's menu items are $1 across the board.
  • Both menus have pretty fantastic deals, but in the end, Taco Bell's ends up being the best value. 


Once again, the drums of war are sounding across the nation — the drums of a fast-food war. 

The value menu battles have been waged across multiple fronts in the past few years, with Wendy's, McDonald's, Burger King, and Taco Bell all vying for supremacy over budget-wary consumers.

And with McDonald's release of the new $1 $2 $3 Dollar Menu, the guns are blazing once more. McDonald's has struggled to lure in cost-conscious diners since it axed the Dollar Menu in 2013. The "McPick 2" deal bridged the gap for a while, but this new dollar menu is a huge step forward in the budget battles. 

Taco Bell entered the fray yet again with an overhaul of the Tex-Mex chain's popular dollar menu, adding several new items and sneakily calling out McDonald's in a press release. And Taco Bell's CEO, Brian Niccol, is incredibly optimistic about this shot of adrenaline to the dollar menu. "People ask the question: Who orders from the value menu?"Niccol told Business Insider's Kate Taylor. "The real question is, who doesn't? ... It doesn't matter if you're making $40,000 or $140,000, young, old."

But the actual question is this: which chain offers the better deal? We decided to take a look at each menu through the lens of four variables: pricing, quality, creativity, and value, the last of which was determined by a final averaging of the first three.

SEE ALSO: Taco Bell is taking aim at its fast-food competition with $1 fries — here's how they stack up against the other major chains

They're both pretty appetizing deals on the surface. But excluding what one may desire at any given moment (maybe you're just craving a burger more than a taco, regardless of cost!), we're going to get to the bottom of which deal is the best bang for your buck.



Pricing: McDonald's.

McDonald's pricing method is somewhat unclear; some items have prices that make sense — a triple cheeseburger for $3 — while others don't feel like much of a deal at all, like this sausage McMuffin that also costs $3. Why not the real ham McMuffin? Feels like a cop-out. 



Pricing: Taco Bell.

This one's pretty simple: Taco Bell's menu is always a dollar — no more, no less, excluding prices in cities like New York.

Point: Taco Bell.



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Photos show what Philadelphia looks like the morning after the Super Bowl

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super bowl

After the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history, fans in the city stormed the streets to celebrate.

On Sunday night and early Monday, crowds flipped over a car, set another vehicle on fire, took down and climbed streetlights, smashed windows, scaled the gates of City Hall with a keg, and littered streets with beer cans and other debris. The Philadelphia Inquirer also reports that, between chants of "Everything is free," several fans looted a gas station.

Philadelphia has started to clean up — and photos on social media show some of the morning-after mess.

SEE ALSO: EAGLES WIN THE SUPER BOWL! Here are the big plays and moments everybody will be talking about

Trucks are sweeping the streets.



Traffic signs are lying on their sides.

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer



Candy bars and trash surround the gas station in these photos by Michael Boren, a reporter for The Inquirer.



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Social media is a modern necessity — here's how bosses can help employees avoid getting addicted

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woman, college student, phone, campus, working, textingTechnology addiction is damaging our personal and work lives.

Studies suggest people are increasingly unhappy with their use of screen time and social media. The endless refresh cycle of major apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, and so on are highly addictive and designed to distract.

But people still need to use social media and technology at work.

People who work in engineering, marketing, sales, recruitment or communications need to be on social media during the day, and they would reject paternalistic efforts to reduce tech use.

For the past 10 years I've helped organizations of all sizes use gamification to engage employees and customers. I believe things have gone too far, and I know intimately how important these addiction-algorithms are to most contemporary businesses.

Now I dedicate my time to helping people achieve tech-life balance, through my work with Onward, an app that helps people manage their tech use through machine learning. In the battle for your employee's wellbeing, here are a number of techniques that can really help.

SEE ALSO: Bill Gates and Steve Jobs raised their kids tech-free — and it should've been a red flag

Create distraction-free time.

The workday is filled with distractions, whether in the form of meetings, casual chit-chat, or the endless buzzing of social media notifications. By encouraging employees to create distraction-free time, you can dramatically improve their productivity and happiness.

This can even include auto-responders and a little desktop note card saying things like "Shhh ... I'm concentrating" for those real-life situations. Be sure to give all employees headphones if they don't already have them as well.

Though it seems obvious, your encouragement and offering the right tools to your team can make a big difference.



Encourage screen-time boundaries.

There are times when screens are valuable and times when they aren't. Encourage team members not to check their devices right upon waking up or immediately before bed.

Try running creative meetings that involve no screens (mobile, watch, or laptop) whatsoever and watch focus increase. Be sure to enforce a no-device rule during important company wide gatherings and social events as well.

By clearly articulating, "This is a no-device time" for specific events, you will have a greater impact on people than a blanket ban on all devices, so use it sparingly.



Make lunch a thing.

One of the most powerful and paradoxical negative effects of social media is that it makes people feel less connected and socially supported than before.

It's important to establish regular face-to-face time for your team, and lunch is a great, easy way to do it. At my startups, we have lunch as a team together each day at noon. The team loves the camaraderie and looks forward to the lively conversation.

When you visit corporations with a "great corporate culture," you will also notice how big a deal lunch is each day.



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Netflix surprised everyone by releasing the 3rd 'Cloverfield' movie right after the Super Bowl — but it's getting torn apart by critics

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The Cloverfield Paradox

  • Netflix released "The Cloverfield Paradox" right after the Super Bowl.
  • Critics are calling it a "trainwreck," and it has a 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
  • This is a surprise, since the other two movies in the franchise were well-received by critics, especially 2016's "10 Cloverfield Lane."

 

Netflix released a trailer for "The Cloverfield Paradox," the highly anticipated third movie in the "Cloverfield" franchise, during the Super Bowl on Sunday night. And then it released the movie on Netflix right after the game. This was shocking given that, as of early January, Paramount was set to release the movie in theaters in April.

The reveal stunt was great, but unfortunately critics hate the movie. Right now, it has a 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The first movie, "Cloverfield" (2008), has a 77% rating, and the second movie, "10 Cloverfield Lane," has an impressive 90%.

So why is "The Cloverfield Paradox" so bad? We collected some of the rotten reviews from critics to give you an idea.

You can watch the trailer below, and you can watch "The Cloverfield Paradox" on Netflix right now. 

 

SEE ALSO: Danny McBride told us how he got involved in that fake 'Crocodile Dundee' movie, which was actually a $27 million ad campaign for Australian tourism

"A trainwreck of a sci-fi flick bent on extending a franchise that should have died a peaceful death almost exactly one decade ago."

The Hollywood Reporter



"Perhaps what makes The Cloverfield Paradox so frustrating is that it squanders the gifts it has been given."

Slashfilm



"The true paradox of this movie is that those enjoyably wild twists alone would've made this film a whole lot of fun to watch with a big multiplex audience, even as inconsistent and ultimately illogical it turns out to be."

The Playlist 



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This is the most annoying — and potentially dangerous — thing about new cars

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Chevy Volt

  • The old-school P-R-N-D gearshifts are being replaced by confusing joysticks.
  • The change frees up valuable space, but there's a learning curve.
  • At least one prominent death was blamed on the new shifters.


We've started to notice a theme in many of the new cars and trucks, including SUVs, that we test out here at Business Insider on our Transportation team: confusing automatic-transmission shifters.

We're not talking about stick shifts here; those are still, mercifully, relatively straightforward.

But the good old park-reverse-neutral-drive setups of old, when you simply moved a shifter up and down, have given way to more elaborate systems. In some cases, such as when the shifter is replaced by buttons, this isn't so bad.

But when the shifter is modified to be more of a joystick-type interface, it doesn't always make sense and requires practice to sort out.

Sometimes it doesn't get sorted out, as was reportedly the case in 2016 when actor Anton Yelchin, who played Mr. Chekov in the rebooted "Star Trek" movies, was killed in a freak accident in Los Angeles when he thought his Jeep was in park when it was in neutral. The car rolled, pinning him against his mailbox.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles had recalled Yelchin's model, along with over 1 million others, because of a confusing shifter design.

So in some cases, these new shifter designs are more than an annoyance — they're a danger.

FOLLOW US: On Facebook for more car and transportation content!

This is the gearshift in the new Toyota Prius. It's from the latest generation of the car.

I own a 2011 Prius, so I'm used to this setup, but compared with every other car I owned before, there was a needless learning curve with this thing. It isn't a shifter in the old-school sense so much as a joystick. You toggle it up or down to get reverse or drive. Park, as you can see, isn't an option: There's a button for that to the left of the shifter.



Here's the shifter on a new Lexus RX 350, which uses the more familiar P-R-N-D arrangement. Not much of a learning curve here.

I'm always so happy when I get into a car that still does it this way. No chance that I'll be trying to execute a quick three-point turn and get stuck in the middle of the street figuring out how to get back into drive.



Stick shifts remain the easiest option. This one is from a Jaguar F-Type.

Manuals haven't changed much in decades — only that gears have been added beyond the traditional four or five.

But stick shifts are a dying breed, and driving them is a dying art. Carmakers provide them as an option, mainly for motoring enthusiasts, and install them in sports cars.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

These images show how traffic is spiraling out of control around the world

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TrafficVietnam

  • Traffic congestion is something that commuters around the world have to face every day, costing enormous amounts of both time and money.
  • From New York, to Paris, to Manila, commuters spend hundreds of hours sitting in traffic, with the United States alone spending nearly $300 billion yearly in traffic-related costs. 
  • We found some of the most congested cities to see what the daily commute is like around the world.


From bumper to bumper traffic to broken down subways, we all know the struggle of the morning commute. Even when everything goes as planned, it can take as long as two or three hours to get anywhere at rush hour, and even longer when there are accidents, strikes, and storms. In the United States alone, traffic congestion cost nearly $300 billion in gas and time in 2016, according to Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard. All over the world, traffic congestion is escalating and costing consumers time and money. 

Keep scrolling to see some of the most congested cities in the world, and feel a little more grateful for your morning commute:  

 

SEE ALSO: 13 US cities with the worst traffic

Los Angeles, California:

According to a 2016 study by the Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard, Los Angeles has the worst traffic congestion in the world.



Sao Paulo, Brazil:

When everything runs smoothly, it can take up to three hours to get anywhere via public transportation in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The subways and buses are extremely crowded, and are known to break down and leave commuters stranded. 

According to a report on TomTom, commuters typically spend an extra 108 hours a year sitting in traffic.

 

 



Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

Traffic in Rio de Janeiro was ranked at number 8 for cities on a list of global cities with the most traffic, according to the TomTom Traffic Index, which measures congestion in major cities around the world. 

 

 



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The fascinating origin stories behind 20 of America's favorite foods

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Twinkies

  • Many iconic food and drink brands have a fascinating history.
  • Corn Flakes, for example, were originally created as an easily digestible breakfast for sick people.
  • Hershey manufactured caramels before they started making chocolate.
  • Keep reading to find out the story behind 20 food and drink brands the American public knows and loves today.

 
What makes a food brand an icon?

Chances are you can't go through an entire day without seeing at least one of these names — even if you never leave your house. That's a power shared by relatively few brands.

We explored the history behind 20 food and drink brands to find out how they became so iconic.

Keep scrolling to see their stories.

Spam skyrocketed in popularity during WWII.

THEN: On July 5, 1937, Austin, Minnesota-based company Hormel introduced Spam to the world. Originally aimed at busy housewives, many home cooks questioned the concept of meat that didn't require refrigeration.

Enter WWII and a massive need to feed US troops. The US military started shipping it around the world, and the canned pork product was on its way to gaining an international following.

NOW: Spam is an enduring staple of Hawaiian cuisine. It's also a symbol of cultural pride for many Filipino-Americans. Many Korean-Americans can also relate.

To millions of people, it's comfort food on a global scale — the likes of which few other global food products can match.



Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine.

THEN: Dr. John Pemberton of Atlanta, Georgia, created a drink he called "Pemberton's French Wine Coca" in 1885. Among other things, it contained both extracts of cocaine and kola nut. Pemberton shortened the name to the much simpler Coca-Cola in 1886, but cocaine extract continued to be included in the drink until 1905.

In the 1930s, Coca-Cola basically created the image we all associate with Santa Claus to this day — all through advertising.

NOW: Coca-Cola is available for purchase virtually everywhere in the world except for Cuba and North Korea.

What do you do after you conquer the world? Launch new soft drinks, of course. In March 2018, Coca-Cola will launch two new flavors: Georgia Peach and California Raspberry.

For an even deeper dive into Coca-Cola history, check out this piece.



Corn Flakes were invented as an easily digestible breakfast for sick people.

THEN: In 1876, brothers John and Will Kellogg began running the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. It soon became a world-famous place for those seeking wellness, seeing around 12,000 to 15,000 patients per year.

Breakfast foods of the time were extremely heavy, greasy, and difficult to digest — particularly for the very ill. The Kelloggs experimented with more easily digestible foods for some time before eventually creating Corn Flakes.

In 1906, due to a major falling out between the two brothers, Will left the sanitarium to form the Kellogg’s Cereal Company, bringing Corn Flakes to the world.

NOW: That ubiquitous rooster has graced generations of kitchen tables. You saw it when you were little. Even Queen Elizabeth loves it



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The best online flower delivery services to send freshly cut blooms

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

flowers 4x3

The Insider Pick:

  • A bouquet of freshly cut flowers is the perfect gift for your loved ones on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, a birthday, or any day of celebration. We've tested several online flower delivery services over the years to find the best ones, and BloomThat is our top pick with its farm-fresh flowers that are sustainably harvested and beautifully packaged.

Nothing says, "I love you!" or "Happy Birthday!" quite like a bunch of flowers. Whether it's Valentine's Day or some other special occasion, freshly cut flowers are always a hit. If you don't have the time or inclination to head over to your local florist and order a bouquet, you're in luck — online flower delivery services are positively booming.

We've researched and tested several online flower delivery services to find the best ones for different people's needs. All of our top picks offer same-day or next-day delivery on select flower arrangements and all of them are guaranteed to deliver perfect flowers every time.

If you want farm-fresh flowers that are sustainably harvested from well-regarded farms, BloomThat and The Bouqs Co. are our absolute favorites. However, if you want extras like teddy bears and chocolates, 1-800-Flowers and Florists' Transworld Delivery have the best options. These two more traditional flower delivery services also offer same-day delivery — even on holidays.

We highly recommend ordering flower arrangements well in advance of any holidays like Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, because you will end up with slim pickings if you wait until the last minute.

Read on in the slides below to learn why BloomThat is our favorite flower delivery service and why The Bouqs Co. is perfect for eco-friendly shoppers, 1-800-Flowers is best for add-ons, and Florists' Transworld Delivery is ideal for classic bouquets.

SEE ALSO: 30 perfect Valentine's Day gifts every woman will love

The best online flower delivery service overall

Why you'll love it: BloomThat makes gorgeous bouquets with sustainably grown flowers and promises next-day delivery in the continental US.

BloomThat crafts exquisite bouquets from responsibly grown flowers that are harvested by farmers around the world. Each arrangement is carefully designed to be unique and beautiful. While many places have hundreds of different options, BloomThat focuses on making a limited number of simple, classy designs.

BloomThat packages the flowers in your choice of in recycled burlap or vase, so you know the end result will be presented on your recipient's doorstep in style. You can also get gift baskets with baked goods, succulents, spa products, and so on.

For Valentine's Day, some flower arrangements also come with BITE Beauty's Persimmon Amuse Bouche lipstick, but you'll have to pre-order those arrangements soon before they sell out. BloomThat even has a crazy person-sized bouquet for $500, if you want to really go all out.

The company promises same-day delivery in the San Francisco Bay Area, LA, and NYC. If you're sending flowers to the rest of the continental US, you can get next-day delivery, which is really awesome, especially on holidays.

As with any flower delivery service, you should order as early as possible to avoid shipping delays. Luckily, BloomThat lets you order online or in a nifty iOS app.

We've sent and received BloomThat bouquets, so we can confidently say that this company truly offers the best flower arrangements.

Pros: Sustainable flowers, beautiful selection, same-day delivery in cities, next-day delivery across the continental US

Cons: Some may sell out

Shop BloomThat bouquets for $42 and up



The best online flower delivery service for farm-fresh flowers

Why you'll love it: Bouqs partners with eco-friendly farmers to ensure that every bouquet is made up of the best freshly cut flowers.

If you care about sustainable farming practices, you'll love The Bouqs Co. This florist partners with eco-friendly farmers around the world to bring only the best flowers to your door. We've sent many bouquets from The Bouqs Co to friends and family, and they have always been perfect.

If you order a Farm to Table bouquet, you can rest assured that the flowers were cut on the day you placed the order. The bouquets are also shipped directly from the farm instead of being re-routed to a middleman. You can even see a picture of the farmer, a map showing where the flowers are from, and a video of the farm. Bouqs also promises that it only cuts the flowers it sells, so there aren't any cut blooms going to waste.

In addition to supporting small farms, Bouqs also works with talented local florists to make the Hand Crafted bouquets. These bouquets can even be delivered on the same day, with some blooms arriving just two hours after your order is placed. Of course, on busy holidays like Mother's Day and Valentine's Day, these bouquets may be sold out or impossible to get.

As with any flower delivery service, the more you plan ahead, the more likely your shipment will arrive on your loved one's doorstep on time. Bouqs makes it easy to see the earliest available ship date for its bouquets, too, so it's easier to figure out which bouquet will suit your timeframe.

If it's your first order, you can get 15% off when you sign in using your email address. You can also get 15% off if you order from now until Sunday February 11, 2018 with the code IGVDAY15! 

Pros: Eco-friendly farmers, same-day delivery on some bouquets, local florists make many of the bouquets, gorgeous flowers, lots of options

Cons: Some bouquets sell out on holidays

Shop bouquets from The Bouqs Co. for $40 and up (use IGVDAY15! to get 15% off)



The best online flower delivery service for last-minute shoppers

Why you'll love it: You don't have to call 1-800-Flowers anymore to get gorgeous bouquets delivered to your loved ones on the same day you ordered them.

1-800-FLOWERS may sound like a retro throwback, but the venerable flower delivery service is still transporting beautiful flower arrangements to loved ones around the country. The 40-year-old company is family owned and takes pride in delivering beautiful bouquets.

Because it's a larger company, 1-800-Flowers has hundreds of different flower arrangements and you can also get bouquets along with teddy bears or chocolates, among other things. The flowers themselves are beautiful, of course, and you have tons of options.

If you want farm fresh flowers, there's a special selection of bouquets to suit your needs. 1-800-Flowers is also offering a lot of classic roses and purple-themed bouquets.

1-800-Flowers has gone high-tech this year. You can order flowers in the app or online, plus Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa can help you order flowers using only your voice.

Best of all, you can get same-day delivery even on Valentine's Day, February 14. 1-800-Flowers does warn that last-minute orders should be placed by 12 p.m. to ensure that they arrive on time. Obviously, the earlier you order, the better, but it's nice to have the option.

If you order soon and choose a delivery date between February 10 and 14, 2018, you can get 20% off with the promo code VDAY.

Pros: Same-day delivery even on Valentine's Day, many choices, mobile app

Cons: Some may sell out, not as eco-friendly as some options

Shop bouquets at 1-800-Flowers for $30 and up (get 20% off with promo code VDAY)



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14 brain-teasers that went viral and stumped the internet

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human chameleon liu bolin

Pattern puzzles are fun to figure out, give your brain a workout, and may even have some cognitive benefit.

They're kind of like optical illusions, in that they trick your eyes to keep the truth hidden from them.

Some extraordinarily well-designed ones have gone viral in the past few years, as well as some accidental ones.

Here are 14 of them that stumped the internet.

SEE ALSO: 20 tough lessons everyone should learn in their 20s

Do you see the card among the gift bags?

In a puzzle that went viral in December, a Christmas card was hidden among a set of gift bags. It came from the book "Bear's Merry Book of Hidden Things" by the Hungarian artist Gergely Dudás.

Can you find it?



Here's the solution.

The card was hidden in plain sight in the upper-right of the picture. It's the only rectangular-shaped object without a string.



Seem familiar? That's because the same artist made one with snowmen.

There's a panda hidden among the snowmen in this other Dudás illustration, which went viral in December 2015.



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8 fascinating books to read if you're addicted to true crime

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Dennis Rader BTK killer Mindhunter Netflix

  • Netflix's thriller "Mindhunter" takes a look at the early days of psychological profiling.
  • There are plenty of psychological thriller books to hold you over until next season.
  • "The Secret Place" has genre influences ranging from comedy to outright horror.
  • "Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders" takes a deep dive into one of the most disturbing, high-profile serial killers of all time.

David Fincher’s Netflix series Mindhunter pushed all the right buttons. It’s a classy, psychology-driven throwback drama series with great acting and no small amount of grizzly murder. What could be an exploitative parade of serial killer name drops never feels cheap and gives a great look into the early days of psychological profiling. While we wait for Season Two, here are some books that should sate the true crime or left-field murder mystery fans in all of us.

"The Snowman"

The book that launched a thousand memes thanks to the spectacular failure of its movie adaptation and, perhaps more significantly, it’s expensive ad campaign. Still, there’s a reason this book was adapted in the first place: The Snowman is not your average Scandinavian thriller, nor is The Snowman your average killer. That’s all I’ll say. [Amazon, $8.98]



"In Cold Blood"

Truman Capote’s disturbingly empathetic look at real-life murderers blurs the line between an author and a participant. It’s chilling, violent, and, as you’d expect with Capote, just beautifully written. [Amazon, $12.80]



"Mindhunter"

The book that started it all (the TV series, that is.) [Amazon, $7.99]



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'Mario Kart' is finally coming to smartphones — here are 5 things we know (and don't know) about it

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"Mario Kart" has been a big deal for over 25 years. And now — finally— it's coming to smartphones.

Mario Kart Tour

What you see above is the majority of what we know about the upcoming game. We asked Nintendo a bunch of questions, and were told that there's nothing more to say beyond what was recently announced. 

Here's everything we do — and plenty of what we don't — know about "Mario Kart Tour," Nintendo's first ever "Mario Kart" game for smartphones.

SEE ALSO: Nintendo is at the top of its game — here are 11 reasons you should be excited for the coming year

1. "Mario Kart Tour" is a spin-off.

You can tell from the naming convention that "Mario Kart Tour" is its own thing, separate from the main thread of "Mario Kart" games that have come out on Nintendo consoles exclusively. The latest game in that series — "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe"— is the most recent main series entry. "Mario Kart Tour" is a side game, like "Mario Kart Arcade GP."

That's not a bad thing, necessarily. 

Nintendo hasn't made a bad "Mario Kart" game. At worst, some entries in the series have felt obligatory rather than essential. That hasn't been the case in recent years, and there's no reason to suspect that "Mario Kart Tour" will be anything less than good.

That the game isn't a numbered entry isn't the only indication that it's a spin-off  — the fact that it's for a smartphone, not one of Nintendo's own consoles, is another big indicator. Nintendo's approach to smartphone gaming has been focused on crafting its franchises specifically for the platform, rather than trying to force its console games onto a mobile device. This results in spin-off games with controls and gameplay mechanics that only make sense on smartphones and other touch-based devices.



2. Like "Super Mario Run," it's likely that "Mario Kart Tour" will be pared down.

Smartphones are powerful enough to run many console games. In many cases, though, games are built for use with gamepads — smartphones have the horsepower, but not the hardware, for games that require intricate controls.

Thus, in the case of "Mario Kart Tour," it's likely that the game's controls will be pared down significantly from what you do in "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" on Nintendo Switch. 

The core loop of "Mario Kart" is racing (accelerating, braking, drifting, and jumping) and fighting (using power-ups gathered during the race). It's possible that Nintendo will require players to hold down a virtual button on-screen for gas/brake/etc., but it's more likely that the game handles acceleration while players focus on steering, gathering power-ups, and taking down foes.

There's a good precedent to look at here: Nintendo's "Super Mario Run." The game is still essentially a 2D Mario experience. You're running, jumping, punching question mark blocks and stomping on Goombas. But instead of having to careful maneuver Mario left and right, the game automatically handles Mario's running. It's not a perfect facsimile of traditional Mario, but it's pretty close.



3. The game is slated to launch some time between April 2018 and March 2019.

"Mario Kart Tour" was first revealed during an investor presentation by Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima.

Here's the full announcement:

"We plan to release a smart-device application from the 'Mario Kart' franchise, 'Mario Kart Tour,' during the next financial year (from April 2018 to March 2019). We will announce further details at a later date."

Not that thrilling, I know.

Nintendo's American Twitter account had a slightly more exciting take:

"The checkered flag has been raised and the finish line is near. A new mobile application is now in development: Mario Kart Tour! #MarioKartTour Releasing in the fiscal year ending in March 2019."

There was an image of a logo included, and that's it.



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9 TED talks that will make you financially savvy

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  • There are a number of financial and business experts who have imparted advice using the TED talks. 
  • Neha Narula explains how to navigate a future where cryptocurrency is the dominant form of currency. 
  • For those planning for retirement, Shlomo Benartzi advises how to change your mindset to that of a saver rather than a spender. 


TED is a non-profit organization that formed in 1984 with the goal of spreading ideas in areas of technology, entertainment, and design, and has slowly evolved to include everything from global issues to academic topics. Ideas are shared via short "talks"— speeches given by experts in their fields. They've gained even more popularity since the inception of social media, which has allowed the talks to go viral.

Many financial and business experts have given talks about investments, self improvement and discipline related to spending, and more. Here are 10 TED Talks that will inspire you to set financial goals and help you strive to reach them.

SEE ALSO: 20 things you should know about your money by the time you're 35

Shivani Siroya: A smart loan for people with no credit history (yet)

How do you build credit when you don’t have any to begin with? In this TED Talk, Shivani Siroya discusses InVenture, a mobile app that helps you build capital.



Alan Siegel: Let’s simplify legal jargon

If you have ever tried to read a legal document or piece of legislation, and you're not a lawyer, then you might have a difficult time understanding the ideas trying to be conveyed. In this TED Talk, Alan Siegel calls for simplified, plain-English documents.



Rachel Botsman: The currency of the new economy is trust

With the recent popularization of the "gig economy," many people are choosing to be part-time drivers, rent out their spare rooms or home, and even find neighbors to walk their dogs for them. Rachel Botsman discusses how trust plays into this new economy, and even runs it.



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Intel made a pair of smart glasses you might actually want to wear out — here's how they work

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Intel has developed a prototype for a pair of smart glasses that are designed to look normal — or at least, normal for a pair of smart glasses. 

News of Intel's latest hardware broke in February, when Bloomberg's Sarah Frier and Ian King published a report saying the company was looking for a number of investors to take a majority stake in its augmented-reality (AR) unit, which had been developing a pair of eyeglasses that lets you see text and other information in your field of view.

Days after Bloomberg's report went live, The Verge's Dieter Bohn posted a video showing off a physical prototype of the Vaunt smart glasses. Here's a look at how they work:

SEE ALSO: RED announced its $1,200 smartphone is coming this summer — take a look at all its futuristic technologies

Intel designed these glasses to be worn in public without feeling like a technophile.

The horn-rimmed camera-less glasses have a very different look from Google Glass. Intel's Vaunt glasses are designed with minimalistic functionality so the pair only weighs about 50 grams (about a tenth of a pound), and apart from an occasional "red glimmer," the lens display isn't visible to anyone on the other side of the glasses.



The lens can display "simple basic information" into the right eye.



The image is called a retinal projection: A red monochrome projector shines an image on a "holographic mirror," which bounces the image into your eye.

To avoid having text in your line of sight all the time, Intel built the glasses so that the dashboard shows up only when the user glances down at the bottom of the frame.

The second the user looks up, the display disappears. There's no need for hand gestures. 



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Arby's and Buffalo Wild Wings are joining forces to create a fast-food empire — here's what could change

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  • The owner of Arby's, Roark Capital Group, announced it would buy Buffalo Wild Wings for $2.9 billion in November 2017. The deal was finalized on Monday. 
  • The two restaurants will be run separately under the name of a new company, Inspire Brands Inc.
  • With the merging could come some changes for the two chains. 

 

Arby's parent company, Roark Capital Group, confirmed on Monday that its deal to acquire fast-casual restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings has been completed. 

The deal was initially announced in November 2017. Roark Capital, which also owns Arby's and Cinnabon, agreed to buy Buffalo Wild Wings for about $2.9 billion. The two chains will fall under the new name of Inspire Brands Inc. but will be kept as separate and distinct brands, a spokesperson for Arby's told Business Insider on Monday. 

But, we can certainly expect to see some changes. 

"Arby's and Buffalo Wild Wings will share best practices with each other, and most importantly, will have access to a variety of shared resources, such as consumer-facing and back-of-house technologies," the spokesperson said.

Since Arby's CEO Paul Brown took over in 2013, the fast-food chain has undergone a radical transformation. Brown has executed a successful turnaround, resulting in record sales in 2016. 

Investors are hoping Brown can do the same for Buffalo Wild Wings, which has struggled in recent years after being impacted by an industry-wide slump in casual dining. The company's executives have also been accused of mismanagement by activist investor Marcato Capital Management. In June 2017, CEO Sally Smith announced she was leaving the company after Marcato gained control of the company's board.

Here are some of the other changes we could potentially see now that the two restaurants have merged:

SEE ALSO: The private-equity firm that saved Arby's is making a $2.9 billion bet that it can do the same for Buffalo Wild Wings

More signature sauces could appear.

Buffalo Wild Wings is famous for its different sauces and seasonings. It has 16 varieties of sauce in each restaurant. 

Inspire Brands said that this will be the first collaboration between the two restaurant chains. 

For one week only, beginning on Tuesday, February 6, it will be offering a new flavor of sauce: a hybrid of Arby's Horsey sauce and Buffalo Wild Wings' Asian Zing sauce with salt & pepper dry rub. Customers will be able to try the new sauce on Arby's Roast Beef sandwiches or with wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. It will be served at two Arby's locations and one Buffalo Wild Wings location in New York. 



Order-ahead technology could be more available.

A spokesperson for Arby's told Business Insider that the acquisition will give it access to different technologies. This could mean that we will see a more efficient ordering system at Arby's.

Buffalo Wild Wings already gives customers the option to pre-order meals online. 



Curly fries could come to Buffalo Wild Wings.

Arby's is famous for its curly fries. For some, this is the chain's main draw.

While Buffalo Wild Wings does offer french fries and potato wedges, it could benefit from adding this popular dish to the menu.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

These 28 bare-faced celebrity selfies are ultimate skin goals

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At Refinery29, we have one rule about makeup: There are none. You do you, however and whatever that may be. Foundation diehard? Allow us to direct you to our favorite ones. More the fiercely fresh-faced type? Here's the skin-care routine that will make your visage glow. We don't ascribe to the mainstream narrative that either one is better, or braver (our least favorite word) than the other.

That said, we've noticed a recent uptick in celebrities who have been jumping on the no-makeup train — currently led by the patron saint of cosmetics-free complexions, Alicia Keys. Our most recent discovery? Superhuman Gal Gadot, bringing new meaning to barefaced beauty. But that's not to say all of Hollywood is throwing its eyeshadows to the curb. Plenty of celebs still sport bold beauty looks on occasion, and also have their moments of free-facing it. Not only does it keep us guessing, it also shows us all the ways we can use beauty to enhance or highlight our features.

Ahead, check out some of our favorite celebs with and without makeup. It's not brave, it's not a reason to gossip, it's not revolutionary — it's just makeup.

Gal Gadot

Even before landing the fitting role of Revlon global ambassador, Gadot earned a permanent spot as our red lip hero.

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To the surprise of no one, Wonder Woman is just as powerful without her concealer as she is with her lasso.

 



Leighton Meester

Historically speaking, Meester has never been one to get as glammed up as the characters she plays on TV — but that doesn't mean she doesn't know when to bring the bold.

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If anyone could convince you to forego the foundation today, it's her. That's what we call a glow.

 



Nathalie Emmanuel

This Game of Thrones actress is often the focus of our bold lip infatuation — and when she pairs hers with a bold set of eyebrows, she can do no wrong.

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Getting a glimpse at Emmanuel without a stitch of Westeros makeup is rare, but the sight has triggered the sudden urge to hunt down her dermatologist. Can you blame us?

 



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14 times Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle wore very similar outfits

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All eyes have been on Meghan Markle ever since the official announcement of her engagement to Prince Harry— especially the watchful eyes of the fashion police.

Though Markle is proving to be a slightly more modern addition to the royal family than Kate Middleton, the two still have a surprisingly similar fashion sense. No matter what they're wearing, they always manage to look stunning and make each look their own.

Here are 15 times the future sisters-in-law wore very similar outfits.

One of their first moments of matching style came when they both tried the "Zarita" dress by Diane Von Furstenberg.

While they both look lovely in the Furstenberg design, they do differ slightly. Markle went for a navy blue color with a shorter length in February 2012, while Middleton wore a longer black version of the same design in November 2014. The Duchess of Cambridge loved this one so much she brought it back in November 2017.



Middleton and Markle kept it simple yet stunning in these svelte gray dresses.

Middleton wore the classic look during a visit to Canada in July 2011. Markle wore a similar style of dress a year later in September 2012.



They are both known to experiment with a bold pop of color, like the deep red of these above-the-knee dresses.

Middleton wore this Katherine Hooker design in November 2014, while Markle wore a slightly deeper shade of red with a higher neckline in January 2016.



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Everyone is obsessed with Laura Dern's new relationship — but you probably forgot about all her other famous exes

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  • Laura Dern recently was spotted with former NBA All-Star Baron Davis.
  • She's spent most of her life acting and being in Hollywood, and her dating history reflects that.
  • She’s dated everyone from Billy Bob Thornton to Kyle MacLachlan.

If having former NBA All-Star Baron Davis carry your purse and make out with you seems like #goals to you, it's actually just another day for Laura Dern.

The "Big Little Liars" actress — our favorite TV villain of 2017— grew up in Hollywood and has an all-star lineup of ex-boyfriends, from Billy Bob Thornton to Kyle MacLachlan.

Here's a quick review of some of her significant others you may have forgotten about.

Dern was linked to Nicolas Cage after they co-starred in "Wild at Heart."

National treasure Nicolas Cage has been linked to Dern in the past.

They co-starred in the 1990 film "Wild at Heart."



Dern was with Kyle MacLachlan for four years.

The "Twin Peaks" star met Dern on the set of David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" in 1985.

They dated until 1989, however, Lynch brought them back together for an on-film romance in his rebooted "Twin Peaks."



Dern met Jeff Goldblum on set when they were filming "Jurassic Park."

Before he was your Internet Boyfriend, Jeff Goldblum starred in the "Jurassic Park" movies with Dern. The two dated from 1995 to 1997.

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