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30 Amazing Before-And-After Snapshots That Show How New York Has Transformed Over Time

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nyc grid before and after

Graphic designer Paul Sahner has been taking pictures of New York's streets since he moved to the city nine years ago. He loves the feeling of capturing an ever-shifting urban landscape for posterity on his blog NYC Grid.

Inspired by the changing shops and street corners he saw while walking around, Sahner started a before-and after-series on NYC Grid. The photographer would match his own photos of New York City with old pictures from the Library of Congress or Flickr to showcase the transformation of the city's landmarks and streets.

"I don't share the hopeless sense of loss that many other NY bloggers and writers express,"Sahner writes. "I don't dislike modern architecture, I don't fear gentrification, I enjoy change and relish new ideas. But I do feel there's something special about the time we're experiencing here. Once this time, this moment, has passed it will never return."

Over at NYC Grid, readers can use a toggle function to compare the old and new photos interactively. We've presented them here back-to-back in slideshow format so you can get the full effect of each image.

1900: Mott Street has been the center of New York's Chinatown for more than 100 years.



2013: Even today, the buildings remain largely unchanged, with the exception of modern conveniences and signs.



1907: Bowling Green is the oldest public park in NYC, built in 1733.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A Silicon Valley Banker Is Selling His Enormous Mansion With A Speakeasy And Ballroom For $27 Million

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kelly porter houseKelly Porter, a managing partner at investment bank Woodside Capital Partners, spent seven years and millions of dollars renovating his Tudor-style home in Los Altos Hills, Calif. And now, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal, he's put it back on the market for $27 million. 

Porter originally listed the property for $45 million in 2008, then later chopped the price down to $36 million before listing it at its current price. 

The 30,000-square-foot house received landmark status when it was completed by former Stanford University trustee Percy Morgan in 1914. It has seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms, and decadent gold-leafed ceilings and marble statues can be found throughout the property.

There's even a speakeasy hidden behind a false shelf in the library. 

The house sits on a 7.5-acre lot in Los Altos Hills, part of Silicon Valley.



It's a gated property, with an ultra-private driveway leading up to the front entry.



There are lots of classical details both inside and outside the home, including this statue by the entryway.



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Billionaire Mark Cuban Launched A New App Described As 'WhatsApp Meets Snapchat'

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Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban is a man of many talents. He is the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks and one of the fearsome judges on ABC's "Shark Tank."

Now Cuban is attempting to dive deeper into the mobile-app arena with his latest project, Cyber Dust.

Forbes writes that this iOS app is described as "WhatsApp meets Snapchat."

It's a free texting app that lets you send messages and photos in a sort of chat room, but the messages self-destruct after 30 seconds. 

The app leaves no trace of the messages, and they are not stored anywhere. It alerts you if the person has taken a screenshot, and it provides send and read confirmations so that you know if someone viewed your message. If your friend hasn't viewed the message within 12 hours, it will expire and be deleted forever.

This could be a viable Snapchat replacement. It promises more security and has more features coming in the future. You can only send pictures and texts for now, but videos are coming. Of course, a chatting app is only good if your friends are using it, too.

The market for these kinds of apps is becoming crowded, so we took a dive through Cyber Dust to see how it's different from the rest. 

Tap New User/Log In to get started.



The setup process is simple. Type in your email address, password, and birthday.



Next, create a username. This can be anything you want.



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America's First Astronauts Had To Undergo This Grueling And Painful Selection Process

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mercury 7

Fifty-five years ago today, on April 9, 1959, NASA introduced America's first seven astronauts, the Mercury 7, to the public.

The Mercury 7 were military test pilots with college degrees in engineering who were all in excellent physical condition. To be chosen they underwent one of the world's most competitive selection processes, including interviews, written exams, mental evaluations, and stress tests.

Even after selected, they participated in two years of intensive training before risking everything to become the first Americans to rocket into space.

John Glenn is the only living member of the original seven, which included Alan Shepard, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, Gus Grissom, Deke Slayton, and Gordon Cooper.

Selection of the Mercury astronauts began in January 1959. Due to the rigors of space travel, only military test pilots from the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps were considered for America's first manned space program.

Watch the complete film > 



110 men from a total of 508 service records screened met the basic requirements.

Watch the complete film > 



Candidates had to be younger than 40, no taller than 5' 11", and weigh no more than 180 pounds (due to the small size of the Mercury space capsule). They were also required to hold a bachelor's degree in engineering, have graduated test pilot school, and have 1,500 hours of flying time.



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This Is How Much The Average Person Can Make Working For A Hedge Fund

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will farrell mtv movie awards money suit

Last August SumZero, a social research site for investment professionals, launched a new feature dedicated to compensation trends within our buyside-only investment community. We (SumZero) have since collected thousands of salary reports sourced directly from analysts, associates, and portfolio managers working at hedge funds, mutual funds, and private equity funds around the world. A handful of high-level findings from our database are available below.

“Pay” is just one of several information types that we aggregate on an industry-wide level through SumZero, but it also happens to be a controversial, publicly-relevant topic since (1) participants are generally being paid a lot, (2) performance can be quantified relatively easily, and (3) members of the public are, in some cases, the actual customer footing the fees that pay the salaries.

Compensation data is hard to get. Annual surveys are conducted by a variety of outlets, and the results are sold for thousands of dollars per report. But we have elected to make this information much more accessible...and free.

Contributors span the junior-level to executive-level. They are old and young, generalists and specialists. They work at different types of funds in cities all across the world--although, notably, we do not offer access to quant funds and thus receive no data from them. Some take home millions a year in pay. Many others take home $0 over the course of a full year, which is a reality that the media never fails to ignore.

Using the database, permissioned users can construct elaborate searches like “show me how much a Senior Analyst covering Industrials with 5-7 years of experience at a $500mm Private Equity fund in Singapore made on average in 2013.” From there, one could examine each of the individual reports matching that criteria to examine some of the key differences between them. For the purposes of this article, however, we are looking at much broader trends.

A few, important disclaimers before diving into the data:

1. This is not a rigid statistical analysis. I have not controlled for outliers. I am not drawing from a well-balanced population from within the buyside, i.e. we are heavily NYC-biased, slant a bit younger, and are dominated by hedge funds. Take it all with a significant grain of salt.

2. This is user-generated information. There’s no reason why someone would or should provide misleading information (since the information is collected anonymously), but people do mysterious things.

3. Some results are not statistically significant.

4. Some data points we collect include estimates which are inherently subject to significant margins of error.

5. Our database has not been around long enough to be sensitive to the natural realities of full market cycles.

Over time, we expect the dataset to become much richer, increase in significance, thus become far more actionable. This is merely the beginning.

Now for the data!

The Typical Hedge Fund Comp Package

This is the typical compensation package for an investment professional at a hedge fund (no mutual funds, PE funds, or others). The chart is insensitive to experience, title, location, strategy, etc. Total average yearly comp comes to $409,826. The data is dispersed widely with big outliers on the top end (people getting paid well into the millions).

SumZero Comp reportHow An Investment Career Evolves Over Time

We looked at how experience affects compensation. All fund types, all locations, etc. The drop-off in median income for an employee with 15-20 years of experience is anomalous. We track experience levels up to 30+ years. The longer you remain in the industry; the higher your pay is likely to be.

SumZero Comp reportJob Title Matters

This is the combined data of all fund types, locations, years of experience, etc. and then split by job title. This data is robust on all the different titles, so we’re pretty confident in its directional and proximate accuracy. Note: the data is displayed on a log scale.

SumZero Comp reportBest Cities for Big Bucks

These are incomes of all fund types, seniority levels, age, etc. set against location. Use caution here. While it’s certainly possible that the average analyst does really well in certain cities, it’s far more possible that the fewer number of reports we have from these specific cities came in abnormally high and thus are skewing the data unnaturally.

SumZero Comp reportBattle of the Sexes

This is our data split by gender. It’s exciting to consider the possibilities here, but we are not sure it’s real. SumZero is 5-7% female by user base (which is representative of the industry), and a relatively small number of our female users have entered their comp information. It is possible that this gap is real. Ultimately we are not sure. Fund Women, please join sumzero.com and help make the data better.

SumZero Comp reportCoverage Area Matters...Or Does It?

A multi-year analysis sensitive to the cyclical nature of businesses is needed to draw more actionable conclusions. In the interim, don’t read too deeply. I also would not read into the disparity associated with Generalists. I have spoken with several current and former analysts who have confirmed that Generalists aren’t comped worse than their peers.

SumZero Comp reportHedge Funds Offer Highest Pay

Funds are the core foundation of the site and are responsible for just about all of the content/data creation within it, but we also offer select access to large, institutional investors (i.e. endowments, fund of funds, family offices etc.). They are permitted to post compensation details. Data on the allocators as a group is decent, but not great. The fund data is strong.

SumZero Comp reportCombinations Equal Personalization

The real power of our database is revealed when users activate the multi-variable search functionality, which keys on a total of about a dozen information types. This chart is demonstrative of that. Other variable types include firm strategy, asset class expertise, AUM, etc. It’s all available on sumzero.com.

SumZero Comp report 

About the Author

Nicholas Kapur serves as COO for SumZero. You can learn more about the company at sumzero.com.

 

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A Quick Refresher On The Difference Between Macau, Hong Kong, And Mainland China

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hong kong macau mainland china

The artist who created a super-helpful explainer on the differences among England, the UK, and the British Isles is back, this time with a primer on China.

If you’ve ever traveled from Macau to Hong Kong to mainland China, you’ll notice that your passport gets stamped every time. Each one has its own government, money, police force, schools, and even languages.

But Hong Kong and Macau are not their own countries, despite the fact that Hong Kong had its own team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Check out the video below for the quick, correct, and funny explainer, which will make you feel a lot more confident about any future Macau, Hong Kong, or China references.

SEE ALSO: The Biggest, Most Ridiculous Casinos On The Planet Are In Macau — Not Vegas

DON'T FORGET: Follow Business Insider's Life On Facebook!

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30 Mouthwatering Photos Of Street Food In Korea

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korean street food

The Insadong neighborhood in Seoul, South Korea is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city.

It's packed with a bunch of tea shops, markets, dozens of carts selling various kinds of street food with everything from grilled octopus on a stick to delicious custard cakes. 

I spent an afternoon stuffing my face with as much of it as possible. Here's what I saw.

Disclosure: Samsung paid for a portion of our trip to South Korea for a separate series of stories about the company. It paid for the flight and some meals. Business Insider paid for lodging and all other expenses.

This is a twist potato. The chefs put an entire potato in a special machine that cuts it into this twisty shape. They then put it on a skewer and fry it up.



You can sprinkle it with cheese or chili powder. This was the first thing I ate. It was greasy and delicious.



A lot of stands sell a variety of different foods.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

10 Incredible Pictures From Smithsonian Magazine's Annual Photo Contest

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After sifting through more than 50,000 entries, Smithsonian Magazine has announced the 60 finalists for its 2014 Annual Photo Contest. The photos fall into six different categories: Natural World, Travel, People, Americana, Altered Images, and Mobile.

Voting is now open for the public to select the Readers' Choice winner, and will continue through May 6th. The winners will be announced May 15.

We selected 10 of our favorite images from the finalists, which came from 132 countries. See the full gallery at Smithsonian Magazine.

NATURAL WORLD: "Absolute Head Scratcher" is a photo of a blue macaw, taken in Quebec City, Canada. MacawNATURAL WORLD: Photographer Graham McGeorge spent 6 hours waiting to get the perfect image of this eastern screech owl out of its nest in Georgia.owlNATURAL WORLD: After finishing off a springbok, these two cheetah cubs began chasing each other for who got to hold onto the "prize," a piece of skin left over from the kill. cheetahNATURAL WORLD: During their annual migration, wildebeests are forced to find new river crossings in the Serengeti-Mara region. In this picture, the currents were so strong that the animals had to struggle desperately to get to the other side.wildebeestTRAVEL: This photographer caught Vietnam's famous terraced fields during harvest season.terracedfieldsTRAVEL: As part of a show called "Well of Death," this Bangladeshi biker performs a stunt at a fair to celebrate Rath Jatra, a Hindu festival.bikerPEOPLE: Mourners cover themselves in mud while beating their chests and standing around a fire during Ashura, a religious commemoration of the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali.mournersPEOPLE: Photographer Candy Feng's son is dwarfed by the majesty of a glacier at Fjallsárlón.glacierAMERICANA: Dust swirls around citizens of Black Rock City as they peek into the "Black Rock Bijou Theatre," an art installation at the 2013 Burning Man Festival.bm2013AMERICANA: A champion bronco bucks a champion rider at the Helmville Rodeo.bronco

SEE ALSO: 37 Breathtaking Winners From Sony's World Photography Awards

DON'T FORGET: Follow Business Insider's Life On Facebook!

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This Is What It's Like Spending A Day Walking Around Augusta National At The Masters

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masters

I was able to attend the Tuesday practice round of the Masters thanks to a buddy who won the ticket lottery and had an extra ticket.

My buddy grew up in Augusta, and had been to the tournament many times. It was great having a local tour guide.

Words and photos don't really do the course, Augusta National, justice, but I'll try my best to explain what it's like walking around in Augusta.

I've been to a few golf tournaments before. Last year, I went to the Thursday round of the U.S. Open at Merion. In August, I covered the Barclays in Jersey City for Business Insider.

Those are both nice events, but they're nothing like The Masters. It's a completely different experience, from the food to the crowds to most importantly, the course. If you like golf at all, you owe it yourself to go there at least once.

Let me show you why…

Here are the practice round tickets. We (my friends and I) started the day in Atlanta, and drove ~2.5 hours out to Augusta.



As we got closer to the course, we saw people looking for tickets. I was told that there is some weird law that says you can't say you're buying or selling tickets, but you can say you need tickets.



After parking the car in the front lawn of someone's house near the course, we walked up.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

GOLDMAN: Here Are The 19 Best Stocks For Fat Dividends And Huge Buybacks

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dollar bills

S&P 500 companies paid out about $800 billion in share buybacks and cash dividends last year, according to Stuart Kaiser and the research team at Goldman Sachs. 

That figure is expected to rise to $975 billion this year, for 22% growth in total shareholders return and cash yields of 5%.

"Cash return to shareholders continues to dominate investment discussions as share repurchase activity and activist campaigns drive outperformance at the stock level," writes Kaiser.

We drew on Goldman Sachs' latest report on dividend and buyback investment strategies, to highlight the 19 stocks with the highest total yield in Goldman's 50-stock cash return basket. Total yield is a combination of the dividend yield and the effective yield generated by buybacks. Note: these 19 stocks are not intended to serve as a well-diversified portfolio.

Coca-Cola Enterprises: 14.0% total yield

Ticker: CCE

Sector: Consumer staples

Market Cap: $12 billion

Buyback yield: 11.6%

Dividend yield: 2.4%

Description: Coca-Cola is a marketer, producer, and distributor of Coca-Cola products including Diet Coke, Sprite, Ocean Spray, Monster etc. and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Source: Goldman Sachs



Interpublic of Companies: 14.3%

Ticker: IPG

Sector: Consumer discretionary

Market Cap: $7 billion

Buyback yield: 11.3%

Dividend yield: 3.0%

Description: IPG is one of the big four global advertising holding companies and is headquartered in New York City.

Source: Goldman Sachs



L-3 Communications: 14.4% total yield

Ticker: LLL

Sector: Industrials

Market Cap ($B): $10 billion

Buyback yield: 11.5%

Dividend yield: 2.9%

Description: L-3 Communications is an American company that provides Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C3ISR) systems and is headquartered in New York.

Source: Goldman Sachs



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

We Expect The New Escalade To Dominate The Shrinking Market For Huge SUVs

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2015 Cadillac Escalade

Last week, we hopped a plane to South Carolina to test out the 2015 Cadillac Escalade, the latest version of the luxury SUV that was a star in the early 2000s.

In recent years, changing tastes and stricter fuel economy standards have pushed the industry away from the big and boxy toward sleeker, smaller crossover vehicles.

We drove pre-production versions of the Premium Escalade and Premium Escalade ESV (extended wheelbase), worth roughly $86,000 and $89,000, respectively.

Both are powerful, surprisingly efficient, luxurious, and full of thoughtful touches.

And Cadillac isn't worried about the declining popularity of huge SUVs. While no longer the height of style, the segment is "still healthy and it's still important," communications manager David Caldwell said. There are still wealthy drivers out there who have a taste for luxury and lots of stuff to carry.

Based on what we saw down South, a lot of them will be bringing home a new Escalade in the next year.

Disclosure: Cadillac paid for travel and accommodations for our trip to South Carolina to test the Escalade.

The Escalade is important for Cadillac. The extended wheelbase version of the SUV brings in the brand's youngest, wealthiest, and best educated buyers (on average 51 years old, with a $320,000 income).



If you're into the big SUV look, you should like the Escalade. It's imposing.



We're not fans of the super tall tail lights — lit up at night, they look like floating parentheses.



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Dropbox's Newest App Makes It So Much Easier To Share Awesome Photos And Videos

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How To Use Carousel

The best part of having a new smartphone is that you can quickly create photos and videos of your favorite memories.

One downside is that it can be tough to send stuff to family and friends. 

But cloud storage service Dropbox wants to make it just a little easier. The company launched a brand-new photo-organizing and -sharing app called Carousel.

The app serves as a home for all your photos and videos, which are automatically organized.

You can choose to send and share certain images in private conversations and the app will back up everything to your Dropbox account.

Carousel is available for iOS and Android

Once you launch Carousel, you'll be taken through a quick tutorial.



The app will automatically organize your pictures into galleries.



You can share an entire event with a single tap.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

HOUSE OF THE DAY: Sheryl Crow Lists Her 11-Acre Compound In The Hollywood Hills For $12 Million

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sheryl crow hollywood hills home After failing to sell her 11-acre estate in the Hollywood Hills for $16 million, singer Sheryl Crow has relisted the sprawling property for a discounted $12 million, according to Trulia.

Crow first listed the house a year and half ago, then pulled it from the market in December 2013.

The gated estate has three homes. The main house is a Spanish Revival built in 1924, with four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms.

The listing agent for the Los Angeles estate is Myra Nourmand of Nourmand & Associates.

Meredith Galante contributed to this story.

Welcome to Vista Canyon Estate, Sheryl Crow's Hollywood Hills compound.



Crow purchased the main home in 1997, according to a 2012 spread in Architectural Digest.



The two-story entry features a wrought iron staircase, Spanish tiles, and beamed ceilings.



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The Extreme Lengths Samsung Must Go To Make Sure Your Galaxy Phone Works Perfectly

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Samsung Galaxy S5 testing antennaThe last thing you want when you drop a few hundred bucks on a new phone is for it to fail on you within a few days.

That's why manufacturers go through lengthy testing processes to make sure every aspect of their devices work. Samsung does the same with its Galaxy line of phones, including the new flagship phone the Galaxy S5.

We visited Samsung's testing facilities at its headquarters in Suwon, South Korea. There, engineers test everything from how well phones can survive a fall to how many times you can push the home button before it breaks. 

Disclosure: Samsung paid for a portion of our trip to South Korea for this story, including the flight and some meals. Business Insider paid for lodging and all other expenses.

Samsung uses this room to test the radios inside its phones. The foam material absorbs the waves and mimics a wide-open environment without walls.



Samsung uses these antennas to test how the radiation from its gadgets can affect other electronics in the home.



These tubs of liquid mimic the fluids inside the human body. Samsung uses it to test how much radiation from its phones gets absorbed into people's bodies.



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Why 'Mad Men' Paid $250,000 To Use One Beatles Song

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Mad Men, Beatles

Music has always been one of the most important aspects of AMC's "Mad Men."

Which is why, when creator Matthew Weiner wanted to use a Beatles song in season 5's "Lady Lazarus" episode, he refused to settle for anything but the real deal.

Instead of using a cover of the band's "Tomorrow Never Knows," Weiner insisted they use a master recording that cost the production upward of $250,000.

As we head into the Season 7 (Part 1) premiere this Sunday, here's the behind-the-scenes story of how one pricey "Mad Men" episode came to be.

"The Band of the 20th Century"

From the real-life ad campaigns to the fashions, most everything on "Mad Men" is authentically 1960s. But for Weiner, there was always one glaring inauthenticity on the show.

“It was always my feeling that the show lacked a certain authenticity because we never could have an actual master recording of the Beatles performing," Weiner told The New York Times. "It always felt to me like a flaw. Because they are the band, probably, of the 20th century.”

That isn't to say that the series has never sampled from the band's catalogue. In season 4 episode "Hands and Knees," Beatles song "Do You Want to Know a Secret" played over the credits. However, it was an instrumental cover which only requires the more affordable publishing rights.

The difference between publishing rights and master rights is that while the publishing rights are controlled by the publisher working for the songwriter or composer, master recordings are owned by record labels. Labels get to set the price for how the song is being used and how popular they think it is.

Acquiring the rights to any music can be costly enough, but gaining the rights to a Beatles recording is extremely expensive and difficult — a fact that Weiner and "Mad Men" would soon come to realize.

Don Draper's $250,000 Beatles Record

For television, the Beatles had always been the "holy grail" when it came to licensing.

Revolver, The Beatles

This meant that "Mad Men" had an up-hill battle, but it helped that the remaining members of the band are fans of the show.

"In the case of the Beatles, they're not known for opening up their song catalogue to everyone," show writer Andre Jacquemetton told the Canadian Press. "It just turns out actually that they're huge fans of the show.

According to The Wall Street Journal, it's common to hear Beatles covers, but not the actual Beatles songs. When it does happen, it typically "involves fees of over $1 million." Such was the case with 2010's "Dinner For Schmucks," which used "Fool on the Hill" for a reported $1.5 million.

In contrast, most other popular songs that are licensed for TV shows can be purchased for under $100,000.

Ultimately, Lionsgate — the studio behind "Man Men"— paid $250,000, and used the song for less than 2 minutes in season 5's "Lady Lazarus," as Don Draper tried to stay in tune with '60s youth culture, but was ultimately left unimpressed.

Watch the $250,000 scene below:

The Beatles and "The End" of "Mad Men"

mad men season 7 don draper

"Mad Men's" use of "Tomorrow Never Knows" was the first time a TV show had used a Beatles master track, and with that distinction came a price that was about five times the average rate.

Yet, even though the costs were high, this may not be the last time "Mad Men" uses the Fab Four's catalogue.

As we head into the series' final season, the music of Paul, John, George, and Ringo may play into Weiner's end-game for the entire series, as he told Grantland:

"I want to leave the show in a place where you have an idea of what it meant and how it’s related to you. It’s a very tall order, but I always talk about 'Abbey Road. What’s the song at the end of 'Abbey Road'? It’s called ‘The End.’ There is a culmination of an experience of people working at their highest level."

SEE ALSO: How 'Game Of Thrones' Producers Persuaded HBO To Let Them Make An $8 Million Episode

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How To Make Your Own Sriracha Sauce At Home

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Sriracha1

Sriracha is officially America's favorite hot sauce.

Five years ago, you probably had never heard of the stuff, but now you'll see Sriracha on most casual dining tables, not to mention in the news: The sauce even has its own documentary, and cult-like following.

But now the beloved condiment is in jeopardy: The Southern California city where Sriracha is produced has declared the factory a public nuisance, and gave it 90 days to make changes or it could be shut down for good.

In case of a nationwide Sriracha shortage, here's a recipe for a version of the sauce you can make it home.

Fair warning: The homemade variety is tasty, but it is not exactly a quick process, plus you'll end up spending more money making it yourself than if you just bought it at the store. The peppers alone ran me about $5, and that doesn't include the sugar, salt, paprika, vinegar and honey. 

On top of the cost, making sriracha is extremely labor intensive. You need to puree the peppers, allow them and the remaining ingredients to sit and ferment for at least two days, puree again, and worst of all, you need to press the mixture through a mesh sieve in order to get the silky smooth product that you're looking for. My arm was absolutely killing me by the time I finished pressing my small batch, which amounted to about two cups  that's not even a full 17-ounce container. 

Here's how I did it: Full recipe below.Sriracha2Slice the tops off of your jalapeños, then puree them in a food processor until smooth. Add in your brown sugar, salt, garlic and paprika. Puree until smooth. Place the puree in a jar or sealable container, loosely cover the top, then set aside and allow to sit for at least two days. When you see a few bubbles forming in the bottom of your jar, you're ready to go. You can let it sit for up to five days, but if you're impatient, two is enough.Sriracha6Add in your distilled vinegar, puree again, then press through a mesh sieve until you've squeezed all of the liquid out of the puree. 

Sriracha7Place the liquid in a sauce pot, bring to a boil, then reduce until slightly thickened, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes.Sriracha8Place in a clean jar, seal and enjoy! This will keep well in the fridge for up to a week.Sriracha9

Sriracha10Homemade Sriracha

Total Prep Time: 20 minutes + 2 days

Total Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

- 2 pounds jalapeño or serrano peppers (98% of them should be red - this is all about color)

- 3/4 cup brown sugar

- 8 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

- 3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

- 2/3  cup distilled vinegar

- 2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar

Instructions:

1. Cut the tops off of your peppers, slice them in half, and place them in your food processor. Process until completely smooth, at least 5 minutes. Add in your brown sugar, garlic, salt and paprika. Process until smooth, at least another 5 minutes. Pour the mixture into a large jar or container, loosely cover, and store in a cool, dark place for at least 2 days. After 2 days, you will see bubbling happening in the bottom of the jar. This means that the fermentation process as begun. You can start to puree it now, or you can let it get really bubbly and allow it to sit for five days. The longer it sits, the tastier and spicier it will be.

2. When you're ready to puree, place your pepper mixture back into a food processor, add in the vinegar, and puree again for 5 minutes. Press the mixture through a mesh sieve, until you've gotten every last drop of liquid out, and discard the solids. Place the liquid in a medium sized sauce pot, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Add in the honey, bring to a simmer, and simmer until thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Taste, adjust seasonings as needed, and pour into a clean jar or container. This will keep well in the refrigerator for up to a week.

SEE ALSO: Sriracha Fans Will Go Crazy For A New Documentary About The Beloved Condiment

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Here's What Stephen Colbert Is Like In Real Life

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real stephen colbert

Stephen Colbert just landed the coveted "Late Show" gig as David Letterman's successor.

And while most of us are familiar with Colbert's conservative character he plays on "The Colbert Report," we still don't know exactly what the Comedy Central star is like in real life.

On "Meet the Press" in 2012, Colbert described his character as "an idiot [who] is willfully ignorant."

Charles McGrath of The New York Times describes the real Colbert as "a practicing Catholic, who lives with his wife and three children in suburban Montclair, N.J., where, according to one of his neighbors, he is 'extremely normal.'"

Throughout the years, the real Colbert has emerged and opened up about his show, character, and personal life.

We've put together a series of clips that show what his true personality is like. 

Before "The Daily Show," Stephen Colbert was hired as a correspondent on "Good Morning America." Below is Colbert's only segment to make it on air.



Stephen Colbert talks to the ladies of "The View" about his mother. "She taught us to still love life and not be bitter" (after the death of his father and brothers)



Stephen Colbert opens up to Oprah about the loss of his father and brothers

Watch the entire interview here >



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9 Pieces Of Good Advice From Notorious Business People

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Not all leaders follow their own advice.

Zac Bissonnette explores that irony in his new book, "Good Advice from Bad People," which includes some fascinating examples from the business world.

From infamous swindler Bernie Madoff's investing advice to leadership tips from Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld, we've excerpted some of the highlights from Bissonnette's book.

Dick Fuld said a leader provides a safe environment for his followers.

"When you know what you are talking about, others will follow you, because it's safe to follow you," Fuld said in his 2006 commencement speech at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Fuld gave this speech as the CEO of Lehman Brothers, a year before his company's stock hit an all-time high. In 2008, Lehman entered the largest bankruptcy in history, after Fuld had led employees, investors, and lenders into dicey mortgages. It turns out he didn't know what he was talking about.



John Sculley said managers should encourage dissent.

"As an impresario, I encourage and elicit contrarian views and contrasts... Dissent stimulates discussion, prompting others to make more perceptive observations," Sculley wrote in his 1987 book "Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple... A Journey of Adventure, Ideas and the Future."

In May 1985, Sculley joined Apple as its new CEO and quickly discovered that its founder, Steve Jobs, thought he was "bad for Apple." Sculley responded to this dissent by complaining to the board of directors and having Jobs stripped of all his management responsibilities. Five months later, Jobs left the company he created.

Apple's board fired Sculley in 1993 after years of disappointing results. Jobs returned to Apple in 1996 and became CEO in 1997. The rebel that Sculley tried squashing, of course, transformed Apple from a has-been into the world's most profitable and innovative company.



Bernie Madoff said that the average investor should avoid high-risk investments.

"The best chance for the average investor is to put money in an index fund," said Madoff in a 2013 interview with MarketWatch.

Madoff is the mastermind behind the largest Ponzi scheme in history. He fabricated trading records that showed high, steady, risk-free returns — the opposite of what came from his risky and unsuccessful trading strategies — and was able to lure in $65 billion from some of the world's most sophisticated investors. He was sentenced to 150 years in prison in 2009.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Take A 'Game Of Thrones'-Inspired Trip Around Croatia

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"Game of Thrones" is so wildly popular that when Season 4 premiered earlier this week, it caused HBO Go to crashThat's a lot of love for a TV show.

Fans can now relive scenes from the show by visiting some of its filming locations. Several tour companies are now offering "Game of Thrones" trips that take travelers around Croatia

Tour operator Viator is offering a one-day walking tour of Dubrovnik — which became King's Landing in Season 2 — for around $80, while another company, Collete, provides a 12-day Discover Croatia tour with "Game of Thrones" highlights, starting at $2,149.

Tour operators are getting creative to make their tours stand out. Zicasso curated a week-long excursion that includes a visit to the city of Split, a new Season 4 location, and a lesson in falconry — relevant, since falcons play an important part in "Game of Thrones" folklore. The Zicasso tour starts at $3,200. 

"Our guides are experts on Croatia, and they're also big fans of the show," Brian Tan, founder and CEO of Zicasso, told Business Insider. "They have a deep understanding of the show. Because they're all local, they've also seen the filming taking place when the crew is there and they have stories to share with travelers."    

The city of Dubrovnik doubles as King's Landing in the show.



An aerial shot of the ancient walled city, with its characteristic orange-shingled buildings, opens the "Game of Thrones" trailer for Season 4.



"To find a full-on, immaculately preserved, medieval-walled city that looks uncannily like King's Landing, where the bulk of our show is set, that was, in and of itself, just such an amazing find," said D.B. Weiss, the writer of "Game of Thrones."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

CHARTS: Stick To These Games If You Don't Want To Lose Your Shirt In Las Vegas

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The odds are always against you when you’re betting in Las Vegas, but some games win the house more money than others.

Passionate data finder and friend-of-the-site Seth Kadish has made two charts based on one year of Las Vegas gaming data, first published on his excellent blog, Vizual Statistix. The weekly average values were derived from one year of data for all non-restricted locations in the Las Vegas Strip area via the Nevada State Gaming Control Board Gaming Commission.

Kadish found that people lost the most money at table games, in particular 3-card poker, where gamblers lost an average of 32.5% of their bets.

If you do want to head to the tables, bingo (where the house only takes 8.8% of wagers) and blackjack (11.1%) are your safest choices.

Your best bet entirely for losing the least money are the slot machines, particularly $100 dollar slots where the house only takes 3.6%, followed by the $25 dollar and $5 dollar slots. 

Sports betting is pretty safe as well. Betting on baseball will give you slightly better odds than basketball or football, but sports parlay cards are super risky with gamblers losing almost 40% of their money.

So the next time you’re in Vegas, remember where the smart money is and stick to the games closest to the X-axis.

SEE ALSO: Don't Go To Las Vegas To Gamble And Party — Go For The Food

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