A Manhattan judge has backed the right of artist Arne Svenson to photograph his neighbors through their windows, according to The New York Post.

Last May, New Yorkers were outraged when Svenson's images of people taken through their apartment windows were put on display in a Manhattan gallery.

Called "The Neighbors," the photographs captured the people in the building across the street from Svenson's Greenwich apartment going about their daily lives and doing mundane activities like eating breakfast and cleaning. No one was recognizable in the images.

Svenson's large prints were put up for sale at Julie Saul Gallery in Chelsea, starting at $7,500.

But residents of the glass-walled luxury residential building that Svenson had photographed never consented to being subjects for his works of art.

Needless to say, they were livid, especially two parents who realized their children had been photographed. The couple, Matthew and Martha Foster, sued Svenson and asked a Manhattan judge to bar him from showing or selling the images.

But on Monday, Judge Eileen Rakower ruled in Svenson's favor and dismissed the case, according to The Post.

“The value of artistic expression outweighs any sale that stems from the published photos,” Rakower wrote in her decision.

The judge also said that the end of the gallery exhibition and Svenson's promise to delete images of the photographs online were also factors in her ruling.

But sources told The Post that photos from the exhibit sold "briskly," and that Harvard Business School now owns a shot of a woman in a green dress cleaning her floor.

SEE ALSO: The 20 Most Visited Museums In The World

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Facebook held an amazing summer party for its employees.

There was a Ferris wheel, magic bubbles, a petting zoo, and a jousting platform. 

Some Facebook employees posted photos on Facebook just to make the rest of the world jealous. 

Welcome to the carnival!

And here's a nice overview of all there was to do.

One more at a lower level that overlooks all Facebook offered its employees.

Happy Shark Week!

In honor of the One True American Holiday (all other holidays are less true, due to lower shark content), I spent about an hour reading about sharks on Wikipedia.

Important findings from a solid morning's research: sharks often have weird names.

For example: the birdbeak dogfish. That's a real animal! Ditto the flaccid catshark and, perhaps weirdest of all, the porbeagle, which doesn't sound like a fish at all.

This article originally appeared on PopularScience.com August 14, 2012.

Find Us On Facebook — Business Insider: Science

Dumb Gulper Shark

The dumb gulper shark (Centrophorus harrissoni), also known as the dumb shark or Harrison's dogfish, is an extremely rare deepwater shark native to the areas around Australia and New Zealand. It's wildly overfished for its meat and its liver oil and its population may have decreased by 99% since the 1970s.

Birdbeak Dogfish

The birdbeak dogfish, Deania calcea, lives in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, mostly in the seas around Japan, southern Australia, New Zealand, and western Africa. It is listed as being harmless to humans.

Tasseled Wobbegong

Wobbegongs can also be called carpet sharks. But why would you ever call something a carpet shark when you've been given the opportunity to say "wobbegong"? (The word means "shaggy beard" in an Aboriginal Australian language.)

Related: wobbegongs are often eaten in Australia. If you order a fish and chips there, there's a pretty good chance you're actually having a wobbegong and chips.

The National Football League is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated sports leagues in the United States. Its fans revel in the excitement of watching their favorite teams play each week in hopes of securing a coveted Super Bowl title.

Of course, NFL players are not only highly celebrated — they’re highly paid, too. But even the highest-paid athletes can experience money problems if they’re not careful. What happens after the cash flow dries up?

A Sports Illustrated report revealed that nearly eight in 10 NFL players file for bankruptcy or suffer financial distress just two years after retirement. Unfortunately, this is a common theme, not just in the NFL, but also across many professional sports.

Gerri Walsh of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority told CBS News that short careers and “family members, financial advisers and others [who] put a target on their backs for potential scams” contribute to the problem.

Making bad investments and personal spending choices, dealing with child support issues, and even being too generous are among the reasons NFL players have been known to struggle with holding on to their money.

The good news is there are some athletes who have been able to defy the odds by managing their cash well after putting down the football. Here are six players who manage money well in their retirements.

6 NFL Players Who Have Successfully Boosted Post-Career Savings

Not all of the following NFL players have earned recognition for their successes on the field. But since exiting the league, they’ve set an impressive example of how to grow bank accounts post-retirement.

1. Dhani Jones

Dhani Jones was a linebacker for a number of teams, including the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals.

He entered the league in 2000 and spent the next 10 years making his mark on the sport. During his stint, he was able to score some nice contracts, including one for $5.1 million with the Bengals.

On retiring, he jumped into action by landing a Travel Channel show called Dhani Tackles the Globe and opening the Bow Tie Café in the historic Mount Adams neighborhood of Cincinnati.

But his biggest splash came when he founded VMG Creative in New York City. The 10-employee advertising and design firm boasts major a few high-profile clients, including Proctor & Gamble. All ventures included, Jones reportedly brings in $3 million annually.

2. Ryan Diem

Ryan Diem was lucky enough to play his entire career with the Indianapolis Cults, which scored him two AFC championships and one Super Bowl ring.

His hard work as an offensive lineman didn’t go unnoticed. Over a seven-year period, he held a contract worth $36 million — that after starting his career with a cushy $6-million signing bonus.

Before retiring in 2012, Diem managed to jump start another source of income by founding Modern Muscle in Oswego, Ill., a shop specializing in restoring cars and building performance engines.

Diem reportedly brings in $800,000 annually.

3. Alex Bernstein

Alex Bernstein had a relatively short career in the NFL, playing only four seasons as an offensive lineman for a number of teams, including the Baltimore Ravens.

Five years after retiring in 2001, he founded North Venture Partners, a software and technology incubator in Oakland, Calif.

Since getting its start, the company has launched or invested in 11 companies, including North Social, a Facebook design service that sold for $25 million.

Bernstein’s success has helped him bring in a whopping $2 million annually.

4. Eugene Profit

Eugene Profit is a former cornerback for the Washington Redskins who spent four seasons in the NFL. When his career ended in 1990, Profit decided to use his Yale education to kick off the second half of his career as an investment manager.

He first began as a financial consultant at Legg Mason and, after spending two years there, went on to start his own investment management firm, Profit Investment Management, which he heads as President and Chief Executive Officer.

The company has grown substantially since its inception in 1996, growing from $300,000 to approximately $2 billion under management as of 2010.

5. Rick Mirer

Rick Mirer was a quarterback for several teams between 1993 and 2004, including the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders.

A few years after ending his 12-year career, he founded Mirror Wine Company, a five-person winery in St. Helena, Calif., that sells cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc online and to distributors.

A percentage of the company’s proceeds benefit the Mirer Family Foundation, which assists children in his hometown of Goshen, Ind. The earnings from his wine company are estimated at $400,000 annually.

6. Chafie Fields

Chafie Fields had a short career in the NFL, playing only two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos and New York Jets, the last of which released him prior to the 2002 regular season.

While he was unable to make his mark as a player in the league, he has been able to turn his knowledge of the game into a second career as a sports agent.

Though his income as an agent is not readily available, the philosophy he carries and instills in his players is. He shared in a 2012 Forbes article the importance of financial security for NFL players.

“It starts with surrounding himself with people who actually care about him and have his best interests at heart,” he said. “A lot of times, these young men get caught up in a web of people — whether that be family or service providers — agents, financial planners, whatever the case may be — who are in their respective business for the wrong reasons.”

As a sports agent, he hopes to teach players a more responsible way of managing their careers and money. Hopefully, his philosophy — and the examples set by the other players in this list — can help more players manage their money carefully.

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It's truly incredible what human beings can do when they are pushed to their limits.

And no other genre of literature proves this quite like non-fiction survival books.

The following eight stories are all true accounts from survivors of natural disasters and tragic accidents that illustrate just how enduring the human spirit can be.

"Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors" by Piers Paul Read

On October 13, 1972, an Uruguayan Air Force plane carrying a team of rugby players and their families crashed in the Andes. For ten weeks, the 45 people on the plane lived in the shelter of the wreckage without food and waiting to be rescued.

Eventually, after an avalanche and with more than half of their party dead, two of the young men hiked for 10 days across the mountains to alert authorities. Author Piers Paul Read interviewed the 16 survivors for this harrowing tale.

"Touching The Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival" by Joe Simpson

This is the story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, two climbing partners who had just reached the top of a 21,000-foot peak in the Andes when disaster struck. Simpson plunged off the vertical face of an ice ledge, breaking his leg. A blizzard began, and Yates was forced to cut the rope that bound him and Simpson so that he would not be pulled to his own death.

Yet Simpson survived, and managed to crawl his way back to base camp to Yates before he climbed down the mountain. The book follows both men's feelings of abandonment, guilt, and ultimately their enduring friendship.

"Left for Dead: Surviving the Deadliest Storm in Modern Sailing History" by Nick Ward

Nick Ward set off on the 600-mile course of the UK's Fastnet sailboat race in August 1979 with perfect weather. But within 48 hours, the deadliest storm in the history of modern sailing had thrown the race into chaos and claimed the lives of fifteen sailors.

Ward was left for dead by his crewmates after he was injured and fell unconscious. After awaking to find the life raft gone and his crew either dead or deserted, Ward was forced to survive the night on the boat alone as the storm raged on until his legendary rescue.

"Ten Degrees of Reckoning: The True Story of a Family's Love and the Will to Survive" by Hester Rumberg

In 1993, Judith and Michael Sleavin and their two children set out to sail around the world. But a freighter off the coast of New Zealand altered its course by ten degrees and collided with the family's boat, killing everyone but Judith.

Somehow, after forty-four hours in the water with a broken back and paralyzed below the waist, Judith survived. This book follows the painful and gripping true story of the night of the fatal crash, as well as the aftermath as Judith confronts her PTSD and the tragedy of losing her family.

"The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition" by Caroline Alexander

In August 1914, explorer Ernest Shackleton and a crew of 27 men set sail for the South Atlantic to try to set foot on the Antarctic continent. They had come within 85 miles of their destination when their ship, Endurance, was trapped in an ice pack and crushed, leaving them stranded on the ice floes.

For twenty months they were marooned, and would attempt two near-fatal escape plans before their final rescue.

The book is accompanied by the original glass plate negatives from the journey that were stored in hermetically sealed canisters and somehow survived months on the ice floes.

"Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Writer Jon Krakauer describes his own experience of climbing Mount Everest during the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, when eight climbers were killed and several others were stranded by a "rogue storm."

In the book, Krakauer recounts the events that lead up to his decision to participate in the Everest expedition, as well as the actual expedition where eight climbers died, including Krakauer's own guides Rob Hall and Andy Harris.

"Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival" by Yossi Ghinsberg

Author Yossi Ghinsberg met three other backpackers in Bolivia, and they journeyed into the  Amazon rainforest together.

But after a freak rafting accident, Ghinsberg was separated from his travel buddies, and forced to survive with only a knife, a map, and his survival training. With his feet rotting due to the intense storms and insects and animals to contend with, this is his personal account of how he stayed alive in the rainforest.

"Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea" by Steven Callahan

Steven Callahan endured a staggering 76 days alone at sea. He was living on an inflatable raft after his sloop capsized, somehow managing to stay hydrated, spear fish, and keep his deteriorating raft afloat.

"Adrift" was on The New York Times bestseller list for more than thirty-six weeks, and still remains one of the best survival books of all time.

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The next time you enter a hotel room, peek at the back of a mirror, under a desk drawer, or inside a bible, and you may find a hilarious note saying something like "This hotel wasn't half bad. It was all the way bad."

For the past seven years, British comedian and graffiti artist David Bussell has been surreptitiously leaving irreverent notes in hotel rooms around the world.

Bussell said that he started doodling because a hotel he was staying in didn't have a working TV, and it has since turned into somewhat of a tradition.

"I tend to just write whatever seems funny in the moment but certain objects have been known to inspire ideas: bathroom fittings, kitchen appliances, Gideon's bibles," Bussell said. "Mostly I just write in places that will only be searched out by the extremely curious though - nosey people like me."

He said that he hasn't seen any backlash from hotel owners yet—but jokes that he'll be checking into hotels using his wife's name from here on out.

Bussell's very candid thoughts on a hotel in Oxford, England.

This note seems like something you'd find in a bar bathroom, rather than a Denver hotel bathroom.

Here's Bussell's take on the Sistine Chapel, scrawled inside a toilet lid in a Denver hotel.

Although having a million bucks isn’t as impressive as it once was, it’s still nothing to sneeze at.

In fact, Reuters reports that in 2009 there are 7.8 million millionaires in the United States. That’s a lot of people and the odds are one or two of them are living near you.

Heck, one of them might even be your neighbor.  In fact, the odds are very good that it is your neighbor.

But, Len, you don’t know my neighbor.  That guy doesn’t look anything like a millionaire.

Well, guess what? A millionaire who is truly financially savvy won't be easily recognizable. 

He always spends less than he earns

In fact his mantra is, over the long run, you’re better off if you strive to be anonymously rich rather than deceptively poor.

She knows that patience is a virtue

The odds are you won’t become a millionaire overnight. 

If you’re like her, your wealth will be accumulated gradually by diligently saving your money over multiple decades.

He serves his guests inexpensive coffee

When you go to his modest three-bed two-bath house, you’re going to be drinking Folgers instead of Starbucks.

And if you need a lift, well, you’re going to get a ride in his ten-year-old economy sedan.  And if you think that makes him cheap, ask him if he cares.  (He doesn’t.)

From LenPenzo.com

For the third year in a row, consulting firm McKinsey & Company has been rated as having the most difficult interviewing process by employees.

Glassdoor's ranking placed McKinsey at a 3.9 difficulty rating out of 5.0, beating out tech giants like Google and Facebook, which were also in the top 25. 

The average interview difficulty rating on Glassdoor is 2.8.

Newcomers to this year's list include BlackRock, Microsoft Citrix, HubSpot, and Vistaprint.

Some companies still ask crazy brainteasers, despite Google's claims that they have nothing to do with success, while others stand out for running candidates through lengthy tests and round after round of interviews. 

25. Rackspace

Interview difficulty rating: 3.3

Tough interview question: “If your day was 20% performing job duties and 80% strategizing then give us examples of what you would be doing with that 80%?” - Rackspace Acquisitions Representative III Interview (San Antonio, TX)

Recent job candidate commentary: “Hour three [of the interview] involved meeting the prospective actual team lead & manager to see how the fit might be. Questions like "Do you get enjoyment out of completing 50 tasks in a shift or do you prefer to tackle very difficult projects that take many hours?" Resume was scrutinized, and questions about if hired, where I wanted to be within the company in 5 years type questions.” – Rackspace Window Systems Administrator II Interview (Austin, TX)

Source: Glassdoor

24. Caterpillar

Interview difficulty rating: 3.3

Tough interview question:"Tell me of a situation when you had to work on safety incident, what was the incident and what was your involvement in providing solution and how it turned out."—Caterpillar Supply Chain Planning Engineer ( SAP IM WM ) Interview (East Peoria, IL)

Recent job candidate commentary: "The interviewer was the hiring manager who is from technical background, so all the questions are purely technical, which were very different from the job description. You gotta be very knowledgeable to go to the next round."–Caterpillar Senior Engineer (Gearbox Analyst) Interview (location, n/a)

Source: Glassdoor

23. Guidewire

Interview difficulty rating: 3.3

Tough interview question: "What is the difference between optimistic and pessimistic concurrency?"—Guidewire Senior Implementation Consultant Interview (Toronto, ON)

Recent job candidate commentary: "Overall it was a great experience and has undoubtedly developed my technical interview skills as well as understanding of some more obscure areas of Java."—Guidewire Solutions Consultant Interview (Dublin, Ireland)

Source: Glassdoor

Around the time "Friends" ended its seven-season run in 2004, Jennifer Aniston was Hollywood's golden girl.

Her rom-com blockbusters "Along Came Polly" and "Bruce Almighty" performed well with critics and in theaters. The latter, headlined by Jim Carrey, raked in $484 million worldwide.

Then an unfortunate string of flops began — enough to earn Aniston the label "box office poison."

Her latest movie, "We're the Millers," about a group of misfits who pose as an all-American family to move a large shipment of marijuana into the U.S., may give Aniston's movie career the second wind it needs.

Co-starring Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts, and Ed Helms, "We're the Millers" opened in theaters late Tuesday night and racked up $6.8 million so far. Despite less than thrilling reviews from critics, it's expected to gross between $35 and $38 million through the weekend.

Here are the misses that led up to Aniston's "We're the Millers" redemption.

7. "Derailed" (2005)

Worldwide Lifetime Gross:$57 million

Production Budget:$22 million

Gain: $35 million

Rotten Tomatoes score:20%

Aniston appeared alongside Clive Owen in this psychological thriller about a love affair gone wrong.

With a ludicrous plot and obvious twist, "'Derailed' is an uncomfortably appropriate title,"one critic wrote.

6. "The Switch" (2010)

Worldwide Lifetime Gross:$49 million

Production Budget:$19 million

Gain: $30 million

Rotten Tomatoes score:51%

Aniston plays a character with no husband or boyfriend, who's fighting the clock to have children. Jason Bateman co-stars.

To put into perspective how bad it was, a "Twilight" parody movie beat it at the box office.

5. "Love Happens" (2009)

Worldwide Lifetime Gross:$36 million

Production Budget:$18 million

Gain: $18 million

Rotten Tomatoes score:17%

The author of a self-help book about grieving (Aaron Eckhart) falls for a florist (Aniston) while dealing with the loss of his wife.

The New York Times called the movie's vital signs, "faint."

The best smartphone games are the ones that keep you coming back over and over again. 

There are a bunch of great examples of iPhone games that have truly cracked the formula for keeping you addicted. Here are a few of our favorites.

Candy Crush Saga is an insanely popular puzzle game.

Chances are pretty good you already play Candy Crush Saga. And if you don't, everyone from your mom to your hairdresser already does. 

Candy Crush is a simple, yet challenging puzzle game that requires you to clear as many candies from the board as possible. It's full of tons of different game modes, and you have the option to purchase powerups to clear levels faster. You'll be hooked after 10 levels.

Price: Free

Badland is one of the most beautiful iPhone games.

It's hard to describe Badland other than saying it's one of the most gorgeous smartphone games we've ever seen.

The unique game lets you guide a weird winged creature through a series of mazes on a bizarre alien world. Just give it a try. You'll love it.

Price: $3.99 

Dots is a puzzle game that forces you to think quickly.

Dots is a puzzle game where you clear the board by connecting at least two dots of the same color. You only have a minute to get rid of as many as possible.

You can also create a square or rectangle to blast away all dots of the same color or buy powerups to help speed up the game.

Price: Free

We're going to miss "Breaking Bad"alot. 

Vince Gilligan's AMC series about a chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-cook is easily the best show on TV right now.

The series returns with the first of its final eight episodes Sunday night.

If you haven't re-watched the series in its entirety before its return, we have you covered. 

Even if you haven't watched the series, but still want to tune in with the show everyone will be talking about come next week, here are the basics you need to know for Sunday's premiere.

Warning: There are spoilers ahead!

Chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-cook Walter White thinks he's on top of the world.

He started out as a simple meth cook ...

... and worked his way to big time distributor.

I've been using an early version of Apple's new operating system for iPhones, iOS 7, since the day it became available to developers.

After two months, I can't imagine going back to how my iPhone used to be. It's become the new normal.

With that said, it could still be better. I'm not talking about bugs in the beta either. Those are to be expected, after all.

What I'm talking about are things where Apple still hasn't gotten the design quite there, or features are still missing.

You can't customize which camera app the lock screen shortcut opens

While the shortcut on the lock screen that lets you quickly access the camera is nice, many people probably don't use the iPhone's stock camera app as their primary method of taking pictures.

I'd like to see Apple add the ability to set the shortcut to open the iPhone to Instagram or Snapchat, for instance. Maybe that's not going far enough - why not let us set it to any app?

The voice dictation button is in an awful spot on the keyboard

Putting the voice dictation button next to the space button - the single most used key on a keyboard - seems absurd.

I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally tapped this, only to have to wait a second before canceling out.

Bad service in big cities

The vast majority of my time with my iPhone has been in SF and New York City, two areas notorious for bad service.

While there's probably not much that can be done for that in software, I'm hoping that the new iPhone(s) that come out this fall don't lose service so easily.

Before you order an espresso at a Seattle coffee bar, you can often read where the coffee beans came from, how those beans were roasted—and even a short résumé of the barista who’s making your cup.

“Coffee brewing is a science and an art, and is easy to mess up,” says Erin McCarthy, a barista with Counter Culture Coffee, and the 2013 World Brewers Cup Champion.

“Just because you’re getting a coffee that may have been grown, harvested, processed, and roasted well, it doesn’t mean that these things will translate into the cup if the barista isn’t skilled—or doesn’t care.”

Such passion made Seattle a shoo-in to win the title of best coffee city, according to Travel + Leisure readers. In the annual America’s Favorite Cities survey, readers ranked 35 cities on such features as friendly locals, cultural ambiance, and ice cream.

The results prove that Seattle isn’t alone in elevating the morning cup of joe. At one coffeehouse in Providence, RI, they won’t serve any coffee that’s older than a half hour. In Portland, ME, a purveyor boasts about the local wood used in the roasting process. And in New York City (rated No. 9), a chain hosts coffee-making classes and cuppings, where you can taste and discuss the latest single-origin treasures like fine wines.

Some everyday fans may feel overwhelmed by the sophisticated options, say, whether to order a pour-over versus a siphon or drip. McCarthy says that, when in doubt, just treat your barista like a bartender. “Say, ‘This is what I tend to like—do you have anything similar to that?’ A good barista loves questions.”

More from Travel + Leisure:

• America's Coolest Coffeehouses >
• America's Most Dangerous Bridges >
• The Best All-Inclusive Family Resorts >
• Things To Do In Summer >
• Top Vacation Spots >

This story was originally published by Travel + Leisure

#1 Seattle

Even without the omnipresent, homegrown Starbucks shops, this town of brainy locals was a no-brainer to win the coffee championship again, thanks to the sheer numbers of cozy coffee bars, roasters, and drive-through espresso shacks.

You’ll find the caffeinated cognoscenti at Joe Bar in Capitol Hill and branches of local chains such as Caffe Ladro, Espresso Vivace (which also has a sidewalk stand), and Caffè Vita, which offers a blend infused with local chocolate Theo.

#2 Portland, OR

Oregon’s hipster haven is probably rolling its collective eyes at coming in second to Seattle, but it may get the last laugh: Portland’s hottest coffee, Stumptown, now has branches in Seattle and is offered in increasing numbers of high-end coffeehouses around the nation.

At Stumptown’s Annex location, you can participate in free public cuppings each weekday at 3 p.m. Serious coffee drinkers also love Barista, in the Pearl District, and Courier Coffee (near famed bookstore Powell’s), where the staff pride themselves on their 23-karat-gold filters and on playing vinyl records rather than CDs.

#3 New Orleans

The Crescent City’s most famous java—the coffee with chicory at Café du Monde or the French drip at Morning Call—is unapologetically old-school, and holds its own alongside the near-obligatory beignet.

For an only-in–New Orleans cup, but with a different kind of kick, try the Café Brûlot Diabolique at Antoine’s, first created in 1890: it’s a hot spiced coffee, flaming with brandy at your table.

The world has watched in awe for three decades as China emerged from obscurity to become the second largest economy in the world.

However, an economy that is so large and growing so quickly is inherently fragile.

The tiniest catalyst could trigger wars, bring down the government, or launch protectionist policies that could send shockwaves through the global economy.

We can think of at least 10 very realistic, destabilizing risks facing China right now.

Rare earths exports could stop.

China accounts for 97% of global rare earth production and is said to have 87% of the world's rare earth deposits. But in an attempt to curb pollution and protect its resources, the country began to slow exports of the minerals.

Critics have also argued that China made this move to draw manufacturing to the country, because the restrictions only extended to the rare earth minerals themselves, not products containing rare earths.

If China stopped rare earth exports this could impact companies around the world since they are used in everything from wind turbines to smartphones.

Inflation could surge.

China has set an inflation target of 3.5% and policymakers watch inflation closely. But consumer prices have been picking up again and policymakers would not want to see a surge in CPI for a few key reasons.

First, rising consumer prices without an accompanying rise in wages could cause civil unrest and policymakers would like to avoid this at all costs. Food prices make up a bigger part of the nation's inflation basket than in developed markets. Second, as the economy slows, a rise in consumer prices limits the ability of the central bank to loosen monetary policy and support growth.

Pollution could spin out of control.

We've seen photos of Chinese cities covered in smog. China has admitted that pollution has caused 'cancer villages.' Pollution, through illness, death, and loss of productivity costs the economy over $100 billion a year. China is set to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to lower pollution and is handing out the death penalty to the worst offenders. 

But experts warn that health care costs stemming from pollution are understated and that this could push foreign companies and investors out of the country.

There's been a lot of news in the app world lately. 

Many of these app makers are raising a ton of money to enhance, remix, or try to take down kings like photo-favorite Instagram, travel comparison service Kayak, and even Apple's own camera app.

Take for example LandCam, a brand new camera that will have you itching to ditch Apple's stock camera. LandCam is packed with a ton of features like separate exposure, aperture, and a ton of filters that'll help you take dynamic photos. 

We're also really into Thunderspace, a relaxation app from the makers of gorgeous weather app Haze. Thunderspace uses stereoscopic 3D audio and realistic lightning flashes to create a thunderstorm around you to help relax. 

The rest of the apps in this list are sure to impress you and help you out in one way or another.

Frontback is a new photo app that lets you take a picture with the front camera and back camera. The app then merges both photos into a single image.

Price: Free

Quip is a brand-new mobile word processing app. Quip is made by Facebook's former CTO. The app makes it easy to create documents on the go, but it still works on your desktop too.

Price: Free

Thunderspace is an app that's meant to help you relax. It takes advantage of 3D audio and realistic lightning to immerse you in a virtual thunderstorm.

Price: $0.99

Professional gaming has become a huge phenomena over the last few years.

What was originally an industry focused around StarCraft competitions in South Korea has blossomed into an international series of leagues and tournaments that allow gamers to earn real money playing the games they love.

But most people have no idea what a professional gaming event would look like. Many assume that it's just a bunch of people playing online for money. It's not like they need a whole stadium like other sports, right?

The reality is that these events are a lot closer to those of other sports than you probably realize.

One might think that gaming events are just teens in fedoras sitting at computers, intensely focusing on the game at hand

But they're actually huge events with massive venues

With audiences captivated by the the competition

Amazon launched it's new Fine Art and Collectibles section earlier this week, and it's getting a lot of buzz in the art world.

Most of the media (including us) has focused on the more expensive pieces of art on Amazon — like the $4.85 million Norman Rockwell painting— and the negative and hilarious comments that quickly piled up.

But with an estimated 150 art dealers and 4,500 artists, these expensive works of art are the minority. Out of some 40,000 items — including thousands of original works — 18,000 are under $1,000 and 29,000 are under $5,000. There's even a $10 work of art for sale. 

"If I go to a big box retailer, they're selling mass quality prints for $100, stuff everyone has in their dorm rooms," said Allen Terrell, the Art Director of Downtown Art Center (DAC) Gallery. "Now I can go online and find original art or limited edition art for the same price. Who wouldn't want to have that hanging in their house rather than a Monet print that everybody has across the country?"

These original and affordable works of art from smaller galleries are the real meat of the Amazon Art section. Galleries are excited because the online retailer will help them broaden their reach and tap into a new clientele. And its good for Amazon because they company gets a 5-20% commission — which is typical for all Amazon vendors, according to the New York Times— on works that could sell for tens of thousands of dollars. 

The real upside of shopping on Amazon for art though is how user friendly it is: You can search by color, size, price, and even subject. Other art vendor websites like Artsy and Artnet on the other hand may have sleek website designs, but they are not as inherently easy to navigate or familiar to prospective buyers.

Buyers are also moving away from the idea that art needs to be experienced in person before it's purchased. "Young collectors are a lot more comfortable buying things online,"Matthew Glasser, the Director of Marketing and Communications for Exception Children's Foundation at DAC Gallery, told us. "So when they go through new artwork, they're willing to purchase the work based on the image alone."

Plus, there are plenty of people who are uncomfortable with the typical brick and mortar gallery experience who would actually prefer to buy art online. There's less judgement about what you like, less pressure in choosing what to buy, and customers can rely on Amazon's return and shipping policies, so there's extra reliability.

Even the higher-end galleries on Amazon's new section are hopeful that their more expensive pieces will find buyers. Bill Rau of M. S. Rau Antiques— the vendor selling the $4.85 million Rockwell — is confident that Amazon can move expensive art. "We have sold things of great value in the seven figure range online before. I'm always surprised when it happens, but it does happen," he said.

And though time will tell just how much of a success Amazon's Fine Art and Collectibles section will be, works of art are already selling: "We sold a piece of art to Germany this morning and another one to California,"Stephen Tanenbaum, Co-Founder of UGallery, told us. "As word starts to get out, I think people are giving it a shot."

SEE ALSO: Detroit May Have To Sell These 11 Masterpieces To Ease Its Debt Problem

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LinkedIn recently published a series featuring a wide range of things that can provide inspiration.

In the series titled "What Inspires Me," LinkedIn Influencers shared what keeps them working, from a harsh rejection they received at the beginning of their career to the hard-working people they see every day in the office.

The people who didn't believe in her

Naomi Simson, founder of RedBalloon, will never forget the pet name given to her by classmates during college: "Num" because it rhymes with "dumb."

"I had an idea that I was not the smartest academic in class – and that there were definitely cleverer students on campus. In fact my own father said to me as I was finishing my degree: 'Just in case your university education does not get you a job – let me send you on a touch-typing course, at least you will have that to fall back on.'"

"At some point I said to myself 'you just wait – I will show you, I will be a success.' I have never thought that people took me seriously. It is as if my need to 'prove' myself has fueled my relentless pursuit to create a best work place, for growth and for being 'world-famous' for what we do. To show all those people that said to me 'you can't' – that in fact I can."

Game-changing people

Richard Branson is inspired by something Steve Jobs once said: "The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."

"My professional inspiration has no separation from my personal inspiration: it is people who will stop at nothing to make a positive difference to other people's lives," Branson writes. "I am fortunate to come across quite a few of these game-changing people, and the desire to help (and keep up with them!) is what drives me.'"

A harsh rejection letter

In the winter of 1976, CNBC's Herb Greenberg interviewed for a job with the Detroit Free Press, but was rejected because the city editor believed the newspaper could find "somebody better."

"Those words inspired one of those, 'Well, I’ll show them!' moments. Being told 'we can find somebody better' is crushing. But at the same time, those words resonate and continually inspire me."

"I keep that memory in my hip pocket and pull it out whenever anybody questions or criticizes my work — or whenever I feel I’m stepping out of my professional comfort zone."

Dreaming the Disney way

BuzzFeed's Jon Steinberg was once a high school intern at Walt Disney Imagineering and hasn't stopped dreaming on building the impossible since then.

"When I'm faced with a challenge or a project that seems too large, I swivel my desk chair and look at the picture of Walt or my badge from my days at Imagineering: It makes me realize that anything can be built, and that decades ago, people with far less technology built things that seem even daunting even today. One day at a time, brick by brick, anything can be built."

Reading 200 books each year

"Reading has been my favorite pastime since my earliest memory, and in my adult years books have become some of my greatest inspirations," says Twitter head of social innovation Claire Diaz-Ortiz. "I read more than more than 200 books a year, and most of these books are non-fiction. Business, inspiration, and leadership top the charts in terms of what I spend most of my time reading, and I the reason I put so much of my energy into reading these particular categories is because books in this genre, again and again, have changed the way I think."

Doing something unsafe

While on a "solid promotion track within academic health care administration" in the 1990s, Steven J. Thompson followed a unexpected opportunity in the emerging biotech sector in Singapore, which he knew nothing about. It worked out, and today he is the senior vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine and runs Johns Hopkins Medicine International.

"What the leader who gave me the assignment knew, and that I didn’t, is that people with leadership potential often don’t discover it and tap into it until they are faced with a truly difficult challenge, one that pulls them out of their comfort zone and makes failure a real option."

The curiosity of his co-workers

"Curiosity is not found on the resume," says Bloomberg anchor Tom Keene. " You have to drag it out somewhere between the first and fifth interview. You would be surprised at the low pass/fail rate on curiosity."

Donald Trump

VC Richard A. Moran says that a "consistent and reliable source of inspiration" for him is Donald Trump.

"On the one hand he is a bold decision maker and risk taker. He is clear in his communications and uses the media in ways others wish they could. All good. His success could be a source of inspiration and should be considered. But there is that other hand. As a CEO and leader, Donald Trump inspires me to behave in the opposite ways he behaves."

Flawed people

Shane Snow, co-founder of Contently, isn't inspired by Superman, because "he can't lose" and "that's not inspiring."

"Personally, I'm inspired by people who overcome bad fortune or circumstance to fulfill their dreams. Professionally, I'm inspired by people and businesses that do incredible things despite glaring flaws or environmental disadvantages," Snow writes.

"I like flawed people and underdogs. They can't just work hard to overcome their obstacles, they have to work hard and smart. And that leads to amazing things."

SEE ALSO: 17 successful people share the best career mistakes they've ever made

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Hong Kong officials this week seized more than $5 million worth of illegal ivory, rhino horns, and leopard skins — a large and macabre haul of contraband.

The illegal items were hidden in 21 crates on a container ship going from Nigeria to Hong Kong. This contraband obviously wasn't hidden well enough.

Other smugglers who have also gotten caught have gone to even more creative lengths to sneak illegal items across international borders.

These items include illicit animal parts as well as drugs and live animals hidden in extremely creative places.

Here's the massive haul of skins and tusked seized on Aug. 7, 2013.

Earlier this summer, 213 bear paws were confiscated on their way from Russia to China, where they are a delicacy.

In March, another kind of bear was seized en route from Norway to Germany.

I was 18 the first time I ventured outside of the U.S. on my own. 

I only needed eight weeks' worth of clothing, but I packed two huge suitcases, a carry-on bag, an extra backpack and at least half a dozen handbags. 

When I landed in the dead of winter in Salta, Argentina carting 100 lbs of summer dresses behind me, it was a wake up call I've never forgotten. 

I've been learning to travel the hard way ever since – and tripping myself up plenty of times along the way.

I let a local talk me into a $500 bike rental.

I had the chance to check out a public bike share in Montreal for the first time last year.  But since I couldn't read the instructions in French, I asked a local to explain the process.

It was free for the first 45 minutes, he said, and I would be charged a couple of extra bucks every hour after that. 

Unfortunately for me, he forgot to mention the $250 security deposit the company applied to my credit card for each bike. I rented two.

Good thing I had used a credit and not my debit card, because it took well over a week for the temporary charge to disappear. 

I forgot to tell my bank about a D.C. road trip.

After President Obama was elected in 2008, I hatched a plan for the ultimate 48-hour road trip–– from Athens, Ga. to D.C. for his Inaugural address.

I just forgot to tell my bank about it. 

Apparently, swiping my debit card at a slew of gas stations up and down the East coast in such a short period of time spelled "FRAUD" to them. They froze my account and I wound up stranded at a North Carolina pit stop until I could get a representative on the phone to correct the mistake.

If I had been overseas, it would have been an even bigger nightmare. 

I lost some serious haggling potential by not learning the native tongue.

Although I can count the number of Portuguese words I know on two hands, I hoped my decent Spanish skills would help me get by on a recent trip to Brazil. 

I was dead wrong. I could read signs well enough, but anything spoken sounded like pure gibberish.

Learning the language would have made haggling so much easier––especially when ordering at restaurants.