People and regions all around the world have unique phrases and slang that only they would understand, and the intelligence community of spies, analysts, and cryptography specialists is no different.

For people working in the shadows of the intelligence community, "illegal" holds a much different meaning than what most view as a violation of law. The same goes for "assets" or "eyewash."

These are terms that shed light on the secret world of spycraft, and they help professionals at CIA, NSA, or intelligence services of the military talk to one another in a common language and present information to decision-makers.

The website Public Intelligence obtained an unclassified glossary of terms and definitions for counterintelligence professionals created by the Defense Department a couple of months back. At 359 pages, it's a hefty read, so we pulled out some of the most interesting and unique terms here.

"Asset"

No, we're not talking about a stock. In intel-speak, an asset is anything that holds intelligence value. This can be technical — a hacked phone for example — or a human asset: A person working for a foreign intelligence agency who has agreed to share secrets a spy is looking for.

"Asset validation"

Not every source is going to be a meaningful one. Just as a journalist may test a source or press for other information to confirm what he or she is being told, an intelligence asset needs to be "validated"— meaning there is a process to make sure the asset is authentic, reliable, and useful.

"Walk-in"

While spies often have to go out and look for people to turn against their homeland and spill secrets, sometimes a potential asset just shows up at the embassy door. These are referred to as "walk-ins" or "volunteers," although they don't have to literally go to a location.

Former CIA officer Aldrich Ames and former FBI agent Robert Hanssen were both "volunteers" to the Soviet KGB.

"Backstop"

This is an arrangement made to make sure a spy's cover isn't blown. It's the spy's version of an alibi if the spy were to be picked up by the bad guys. If a spy is inside Iran posing as a businessman, then his backstop would be documents, financial records, and a phone number back to his office that would vouch for him, as one example.

"Cover within a cover"

If the backstop may not hold up, a spy may revert to this "Inception"-like phrase. In going to his or her cover within a cover, a spy would admit to doing something less serious than espionage, which would hopefully explain away the suspicious activities the spy was observed to be doing.

"Oh no sir, I'm just a tourist taking pictures."

"Eyewash"

Let's say a CIA officer successfully recruits a member of Russia's intelligence service, the FSB. Because both sides have had problems with their files being given away to the other side, the CIA officer may make an "eyewash" entry to protect the new source.

When writing about the recruitment effort, he or she might write that an attempt was made to get information, but the FSB agent balked at the idea. It's like lying to your personal diary.

"False-Flag Recruitment"

A common piece of trade craft involves a spy's effort to recruit assets by deceiving them into believing the spy is from a different country.

In his book "A Spy for All Seasons," former CIA officer Duane Clarridge writes that "Israelis have often used this technique by impersonating CIA officers when trying to recruit Arabs."

"Illegal"

Illegals are the spies operating in deep cover. They have no overt relationship with their intelligence service, nor do they operate out of an embassy or have diplomatic cover. They are operating in a country illegally and alone.

Sometimes this means they will simply burrow in and pose as just an average person in the neighborhood.

As recently as 2010, the U.S. uncovered a ring of 11 "illegals" from Russia who had assumed stolen identities and reported back to Moscow since at least the 1990s. These types of spies could also be referred to as "sleepers" if they are just there, waiting to be told what to do next.

"Agent"

To intelligence personnel, an agent more often refers to an asset or source from a foreign entity. While movies and media often refer to "CIA agents," the correct term is actually CIA officer. A CIA agent would better describe a mole inside the agency that is under the control of a foreign intelligence service who is throwing secrets its way.

"Confusion agent"

This is a spy who has the goal of screwing up the opposition's intelligence service, rather than gaining any information.

Here's an example: At an embassy function sure to be teeming with military leaders, diplomats, and spies alike, it would be the confusion agent's job to keep the other side's spies occupied with boring chit-chat so he or she can't listen to what the diplomat nearby is saying.

"Active measures"

The use of a confusion agent can also be put under operations known as active measures — which were often carried out by Soviet intelligence during the Cold War— to spread disinformation, manipulate media, and push propaganda.

Former NSA analyst John Schindler wrote about one such operation recently, in which Cuban intelligence was able to influence The Daily Caller website to publish scandalous allegations that U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) was engaging with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.

"Brush contact"

You've seen it in spy movies, of course. Also known as the "brush pass," it's a brief encounter between friendly spies to share a few words or documents. These are risky maneuvers, and there are better and safer ways to pass messages, like having a pre-arranged site that is accessed by each side at different times.

"In the gap"

If it's absolutely necessary that two spies meet up for a quick conversation, they would want to be "in the gap" of surveillance. This means they have no eyeballs, cameras, or microphones pointed in their direction for at least a few seconds, but not any longer than a minute.

"Jack in the Box"

Besides being a restaurant home to always-great waffle fries, "Jack in the Box" refers to a dummy placed in a vehicle to deceive the other side into thinking there are more people inside. If a spy wants to make it seem like he or she is not alone, the spy might put a blow-up doll in the passenger seat.

"Ghost surveillance"

Spies are taught to watch for when they are being watched.

In a vehicle, this might mean taking frequent turns or heading out into the country to see if there's a tail. On the street, a spy's eyes would be looking for people who look as if they might be a little too interested in what they are doing.

But it's much harder to spot "ghost surveillance"— the "extremely discreet and seemingly omnipresent" type of surveillance, according to the manual, which watches the target from out of view.

"Spy dust"

Also known as Metka, spy dust was a chemical compound used by the Soviet KGB that could be applied to a target to mark that person for surveillance. Once applied to clothing, shoes, or elsewhere, the invisible compound could be picked up on infrared by people following, according to Intelligence Reference.

"Rabbit"

Instead of a target, a rabbit is what intel folks would call the person they are watching and/or following.

"Black-bag job"

Think of this as the spy's version of breaking and entering, but instead of burglary, the intention is to enter a target's residence to discreetly learn more about him or her. Also known as "surreptitious entry," the manual says this type of operation is often carried out by FBI agents against foreign intelligence agents operating inside the United States.

"Cover stop"

Spies are usually working "under cover" but still know they are most likely under surveillance. To go where they need to go, and ultimately to steal secrets without getting caught, they may make cover stops, which give what appear to be innocent reasons for going out.

This could be as simple as a trip to the grocery store where a spy makes a brush pass with a friend in aisle nine.

"Rolling car pickup"

This term is fairly self-explanatory. It's a move in which someone is picked up so smoothly, the car hardly stops or seems as if it's moving forward normally.

While not exactly the same, closed-circuit footage from February showed a CIA and Delta Force team capturing a terror suspect off the street in Libya and putting him in a van. The entire sequence took only 40 seconds.

"Hello number"

If a spy is dialing a hello number, it usually means he or she is in trouble. This trade craft term refers to a phone call in which the person on the other end doesn't identify who or where he or she is, giving only a codeword or some other signal the spy would know the meaning to.

Random example: Spy calls the hello number and the person on the other end says "it's raining in Florida right now." To anyone else listening, it could mean the weather is terrible in the Sunshine state, but the real meaning could be that the spy needs to get on a plane and get out of the country immediately.

"Shape"

This refers to activities that try to change the behavior, perceptions, and capabilities of an adversary. Similar to "active measures," this bit of jargon deals with preparation that often happens before people may enter a foreign land.

Military commanders will say they are "shaping the battlespace" by dropping leaflets in a village for instance, before they send in troops to try to gain intelligence.

"Motivation"

Motivation holds the same meaning as you probably think, but it's an important term in the intelligence community for when a spy is trying to recruit a source. An asset's motivation for giving away secrets could boil down to ideological, financial, sexual, ego, coercion, or a combination. If a spy wants to recruit a source, he or she needs to understand the "why" first.

Historically for American spies, the manual says, the motivation has been money. One of the worst intelligence leaks in U.S. history came from former FBI agent Robert Hanssen, who sold secrets to the Soviet Union, and later Russia, for $1.4 million over 22 years.

"Pharming/Phishing"

While some hackers break into computers just out of curiosity or in an effort to score some cash, there are plenty of others who are working in the intelligence community. In the U.S., most are in a special NSA unit called TAO, or Tailored Access Operations (Many other countries have their own versions of this unit).

Put simply, TAO is the unit of hackers trying to break into foreign computers, and one technique they can use is pharming. In a pharming attack, a user is redirected to a website other than what he or she was trying to go to, but the person doesn't know it. For example, TAO could duplicate a bank's website where the target enters in all his or her account information and logs in successfully, but in the process, the data also gets captured by the hackers.

Pharming can be used in conjunction with, or in an independent "phishing attack"— usually in the form of an email that looks friendly but contains links to very unfriendly places.

"SCIF"

The SCIF, as it's referred to by intelligence professionals, is the acronym for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. It's the room or building where the really sensitive and secret information is held and processed, which has physical and procedural methods to keep those secrets in.

Before entering a SCIF, intel analysts usually have to give up their phones, thumb drives, and other media that could potentially be used to take out information. The procedures aren't always followed, as the U.S. Army learned soon after former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning started spilling secrets to the Wikileaks website. 

"Triple agent"

You may have heard of a double agent, which is a spy playing for both sides.

Well, there's also a triple agent. Like the double, this person may "wittingly or unwittingly" withhold significant information from two intelligence services at the urging of a third service.

"Clean phone"

A clean phone is a brand-new — usually pre-paid — mobile phone a spy can use that won't be traced. These are burners taken out of the box that ensure more secure communications.

Of course, that doesn't mean a call couldn't be picked up as it travels over the air, but a spy can at least be safe in knowing the purchase or user probably won't be traced.

NOW WATCH: 7 Crazy Facts That Sound Fake But Are Actually True

NOW: Check out the 17 US intelligence agencies that are speaking this language

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This fall, two dozen new shows will compete for your attention on television. 

Get ready to see Laurence Fishburne go from FBI agent on NBC's "Hannibal" to a hip grandpa on ABC, while "Doctor Who" fans can see Karen Gillan transform into a social media Queen on "Selfie."

We'll also see the return of a few familiar faces to the small scree like Ben McKenzie and Debra Messing, along with silver screen stars Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis.

"Forever" (ABC)

Stars: Ioan Gruffudd ("Fantastic Four"), Alana De La Garza ("Law & Order")

Premiere date: Tuesday, September 23 at 10 p.m.

What it's about: The criminal drama follows New York City medical examiner, Doctor Henry Morgan (Gruffudd), who is trying to figure out why he can't die.

Watch the trailer

"Black-ish" (ABC)

Stars: Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross ("CSI"), Laurence Fishburne ("Hannibal")

Premiere date: Wednesday, September 24 at 9:30 p.m.

What it's about: Anderson plays a wealthy black man who is afraid his four children have started assimilating so much at school that they've forgotten their black heritage.

Watch the trailer

"How to Get Away With Murder" (ABC)

Stars: Viola Davis ("The Help"), Billy Brown ("Star Trek")

Premiere date: Thursday, September 25 at 10 p.m.

What it's about: Davis will star as law professor Annalise Keating in Shondra Rhimes' ("Grey's Anatomy,""Scandal") latest Thursday night drama. Keating will be teaching a class on, you guessed it, how to get away with murder which looks like it will come in handy for some of her students.

Watch the trailer

The U.S. economy is in pretty good shape. GDP is growing, unemployment is falling, and we're seeing signs that wages may be on the rise.

However, the U.S. economic story is actually just an aggregation of 50 economic stories.

Previously, Business Insider examined ranked every state by how quickly the economies were growing. This time around, we calculated which states had the best economies outright. 

We ranked each state on seven economic measures: the July unemployment rate; the change in nonfarm payroll jobs from June to July 2014; the 2013 GDP per capita; the 2012 per capita consumption; the 2013 average annual wage; the 2013 exports per capita; and the 2012 government expenditures.

For more details on the sources of the data click here. Or, go ahead and just check out the states.

50. Mississippi

Mississippi faces many challenges, frequently coming in last in state rankings of educational attainment and health. Mississippi came in dead last in four out of our seven metrics:

• The unemployment rate in July was at 8.0%, the highest in the country.
• Gross Domestic Product per capita was just $32,421 in 2013, the lowest among the states.
• Mississippi came in last in personal consumption, the largest component of GDP, with just $27,406 per person.
• Average annual wages were the lowest in the country, at $36,451.

49. New Mexico

New Mexico has struggled to recover from the Great Recession, with labor conditions and demographics stagnant over the past few years. New Mexico had low scores on most of our metrics:

• The average annual wage in New Mexico was somewhat low, at $40,804.
• New Mexico's state government finances were in bad shape, with a 2012 deficit of $1.8 billion, which, on a per-capita basis, is the fourth-worst in the country.
• International exports made up a much smaller part of New Mexico's economy than for other states, with just $1,307 of exports per capita in 2013.

48: Arkansas

Arkansas is the home of Wal-Mart, sitting proudly at the top of the Fortune 500 list. Unfortunately, Arkansas was among the 10 worst states on three measures:

• Average annual wages were only $38,927 in 2013.
• Personal consumption expenditures were the second-lowest in the country at $28,366.
• GDP per capita as a whole was just $39,111.

Private equity exec Marc Holtzman is selling his New Zealand home for $3.94 million (NZD$4.75 million), newspaper Mountain Scene reports.

Holtzman is the chairman of Hong Kong-based private equity firm Meridian Capital. He previously served as Vice Chairman of Barclays. In 2006, he made a run for Governor of Colorado as a Republican. 

Sotheby's International Realty in Queenstown has the listing. 

The home has slightly more than 5,812 square feet of living space.

The home sits on more than 14.5 acres.

Seen here is the entry to the home.

Billionaires and CEOs have something in common with the rest of us: They didn't know everything in their 20s.

The people who start and run awesome companies, write best-sellers, and become household names haven't always known what was best for their money. How do we know? We asked them.

From investor Mark Cuban, who laments his misuse of credit cards, to TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie, who cautions against chasing money, keep reading to find out how investors, CEOs, authors, and other highly successful people answered the question: What do you wish you'd known about money in your 20s?

Learn to manage your credit cards.

Mark Cuban, billionaire entrepreneur, investor:

"That credit cards are the worst investment that you can make. That the money I save on interest by not having debt is better than any return I could possibly get by investing that money in the stock market. I thought I would be a stock market genius. Until I wasn't.

"I should have paid off my cards every 30 days."

Skills are worth more than a job.

Tim Ferriss, angel investor, best-selling author of "The 4-Hour Workweek":

"In your 20s, optimize for learning, not earning. Work directly under or with master dealmakers, and acquire skills. This is particularly true for negotiating and hard skills like coding.

"What would you rather have: $20,000 more per year in your 20s, leading to making $100,000 to $200,000 a year in your 30s, or a lower-paying job from 20 to 25 — but one like a real-world MBA you're paid for — leading to making millions in your 30s?  

"It often comes down to prioritizing skill acquisition over immediate postcollege earning. McKinsey or Goldman can be seductive, but it's easy to get trapped in a 20-plus-year path of paying for a bloated lifestyle that is always a bit more expensive than the year before. Serfs can become self-made kings, but consultants tend to remain consultants. The only true job security is a superior skill set."

You need a plan for your money.

Alexa von Tobel, founder/CEO of LearnVest.com, author of "Financially Fearless":

"Not having a financial plan is a plan — just a really bad one! Given what I see as a general lack of personal-finance education, it can be all too easy to wing it with your money.

"I was lucky enough to learn this lesson while still in my 20s, so I had time to put a financial plan into place for myself (and start LearnVest to help people nationwide do the same!)."

Gowanus, the southwestern Brooklyn neighborhood named for the toxic canal that snakes its way through it, doesn't sound like a hot destination. But this neighborhood is thriving — small businesses, artists, and tech startups are moving into the area in droves, taking advantage of the neighborhood's relatively low office rents and fundamentally changing its character.

Genius, a website that annotates music lyrics, literature, and news, made headlines in July when it announced the team would be moving to an extensively renovated warehouse building in Gowanus.

Could this industrial neighborhood, currently undergoing a Superfund cleanup, be the next frontier for New York City tech companies? We headed to Brooklyn to find out.

Gowanus is located in southwest Brooklyn, bordered by Carroll Gardens to the west, Boerum Hill to the north, and Park Slope to the east.

As you walk through the neighborhood's more residential areas, you'll find wide, leafy streets and classic Brooklyn brownstones. Though the streets of Gowanus may seem relatively pleasant now, it hasn't always been that way. Gowanus has long been overshadowed by the affluent neighborhoods that surround it, at times becoming a hotbed for mob violence and crime.

Source: Village Voice

That's due, in part, to the polluted waterway that snakes its way through the neighborhood. Built in 1869, the Gowanus Canal was once a major transportation route connecting the Upper New York Bay and the interior of Brooklyn. For decades, the 1.8-mile channel served as a landing point for mills, tanneries, chemical plants, and other heavy industries. But local legend holds that the canal also served another, darker purpose as a dumping ground for unlucky mobsters.

Source: EPA

Nowadays everyone is on social media — individuals and brands, teens and moms. Everyone seems to have an Instagram account or a Vine presence or a YouTube series. 

One of the interesting outcomes of this trend is that instead of maintaining the idea that these models must always look perfect, they become more likable and relatable to their fans when they post less than flattering photos of themselves.

Twitter lets us listen to what these celebs really think, and Facebook mainly just shows us a more curated profile of their public appearances, but Instagram gives us a unique window into the private lives of those who live in the public spotlight. 

Thanks to Instagram, we get a behind-the-scenes look at the seemingly perfect lives of models like Chrissy Teigen and Cara Delevingne who have graced the covers of Sports Illustrated and Vogue.

Lots of their photos let us see a more down-to-earth, stars-are-just-like-us side of their otherwise very primped and tailored lives.

It's refreshing, and completely different than the often very retouched images we see gracing the magazines we buy each month.

"On set with @kellyrohr being super models!" -Chrissy Teigen (@chrissyteigen), a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue frequenter who has also been featured in Vogue, Esquire, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan

"An airplane bathroom- nowhere else I'd rather be... ha!" -Hillary Rhoda (@hillaryhrhoda), one of the faces of Estée Lauder and a frequenter of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

"Happy bday @kristianlaliberte" -Hillary Rhoda

If you’re a “relatively young, hetero, professional male bachelor who grew up in America,” then we may have just found the apartment of your dreams. 

First spotted by Gothamist, the ludicrous Craigslist listing (which has since been deleted) is for a three bedroom in Long Island City’s Arris Lofts. The “palace” is 2,000 square feet with two floors, a washer and dryer, enclosed garden area with koi pond, roof deck, gym, pool, and sauna.

Though the amenities and room sound awesome, the two 30-something men who live there do not. “Do not respond to this ad unless you make, at minimum, six-figures a year,” the now-deleted listing reads. “You will not be able to afford to live here or maintain the lifestyle that is necessary to keep up with the rest of us."

Those fresh out of college are not welcome either, along with anyone who can’t speak English, is passive aggressive, or is sensitive to “awesome music played at high decibel levels, the aroma of amazing gourmet cooking emanating through the house, lengthy intellectual debates with people who have an amazing sense of humor, or loud moans of sexual delight creeping out from the various bedrooms at any given hour of the day.”

But don’t worry. They’re also accepting of ladies if you are “an extremely hot (at least a 9), lipstick lesbian with bi tendencies and an exhibitionist streak when you get hammered.”

Charming. And while the listing is now gone, thankfully Gothamist took screenshots of the outrageous ad. Enjoy.

SEE ALSO: New York City's 2-Bedroom, 22-Person Apartment Is Your Worst Nightmare

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It's been 81 years since the repeal of Prohibition, when the nation dried up and hidden bars called speakeasies popped up all over the country.

While the temperance movement is long gone, the secret watering holes haven't changed much, from the passwords required on entry to the caliber of handcrafted cocktails served.

We dug up the hottest and most exclusive speakeasies in the U.S., and even gave away their addresses. Let's keep this one on the DL.

Did we forget your favorite speakeasy? Let us know in the comments.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

The Chapter Room
5600 Roswell Rd., Sandy Springs

Join the Brewniversity craft beer loyalty club to gain access to this modern-day speakeasy in the basement of the Taco Mac, which puts a large emphasis on craft beer. The Chapter Room maintains no fewer than 18 different kinds on draft at a time, as well as many others in bottles. Cozy up to Bobb, the bar's "overseer," and you may also have access to the rare and limited edition beers in his secret stash.

AUSTIN, TEXAS

Midnight Cowboy
313 E. 6th St.

Midnight Cowboy was formerly a massage parlor, and still sports the original "Midnight Cowboy Modeling Oriental Massage" sign out front. Reservations are required, and when you get there you're free to enjoy classic and creative cocktails, as long as you leave all your mobile devices behind — they have no place at this lounge.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

The Owl Bar
1 E. Chase St.

The historic Hotel Belvedere is the resting place of the Owl Bar, which has been serving fancy mixed drinks, beer, and wine for the last 100+ years. The bar served as the stomping grounds for a number of famous and non-famous Baltimore natives, and remained unnamed until after Prohibition. The Owl Bar also has an exquisite food menu, including weekend brunch.

By now, we've all heard that Alibaba — the Chinese e-commerce site that's quickly becoming a huge threat to Amazon.com — is planning to raise $21 billion in an IPO.

But most of us don't really know that much about this e-commerce giant.

Alibaba recently released a video of its roadshow presentation to give prospective investors all the facts and numbers about where the company stands right now, and where it's going.

Business Insider watched the video, grabbed the key slides, and jotted down the key quotes.

Alibaba is the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world with 279 million active shoppers.

The value of goods and services transacted has reached $296 billion in the 12 months leading up to June 2014.

Alibaba aims to build the infrastructure for the future of e-commerce.

They also hope to offer an array of other products and services such as digital media and entertainment.

Online ticketing platform Eventbrite has moved into some bright new offices in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. 

When Rapt Studio set out to design the space — the company's fifth in just eight years — they used Pinterest boards to find out what Eventbrite employees wanted most in their office. 

The result was a space that's both fun and functional, with a fully stocked kitchen, in-office bike racks, and desk arrangements that include hammocks and stadium seating.

Eventbrite's new offices are located on the sixth and seventh floors of a building on 5th Street, in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood.

A lot of Eventbrite employees bike to and from work, so the company added this in-office hanging bike rack.

The office's design is open, with a wide variety of seating arrangements.

Apple's latest hire is industrial designer Marc Newson. Newson is a longtime friend of Jony Ive's, head of Apple's design team.

Like Ive, Newson is a prolific designer. There's a lot to be learned about what he might do at Apple from looking at his past designs.

We've taken a look at Newson's design portfolio to get a better idea of what consumers might be able to expect from Apple in the next few years.

First let's take a look at Newson's charity work. He and Jony Ive designed this take on Apple's EarPods for Bono's charity, (RED).

Newson and Ive also collaborated on this special-edition Leica. Like your iPhone, it, too, has little ornament and only a few buttons.

As well as this chrome red Mac Pro. Might we see more color in future Apple products?

A new kind of spa is taking over and it is exclusively for babies.

Float Baby in Houston, Texas, has gained international attention after opening this past February. So far, 330 clients have visited the spa according to owner and founder Kristi Ison, who claims that the service improves physical and cognitive development “by as much as 50% ahead of non-water peers.”

The spa has babies from two weeks old up to eight months old float for 20 minutes in a small pool while wearing waterproof swim diapers and a specially-designed (and patent-pending) donut-shaped flotation device around their necks to keep their heads above water. The inflatable tubes are sized by staff every visit to keep babies comfortable.

Known as hydrotherapy, the inflatable ring allows the babies to move around easily, all while strengthening muscle and bone structure, according to Ison. The water of the tiny pool is purified and kept at a comfortable 95-98 degrees Fahrenheit, and the pools are washed out daily.

The babies are then taken out of the pool and get a neonatal massage performed by their parents who are coached by Ison, who is a certified instructor in infant massage.

All in all the service costs $65 and runs roughly an hour.

“Parents consistently report that their babies are sleeping better, eating more, and are generally happier and stronger,” she told Business Insider.

As of yet, there's been no research to support Ison's claims that the water will improve strength and cardiovascular health of the infants more than any other exercise. But if the Float Baby testimonials are to be believed, parents love the service, saying that their children are eating and sleeping better.

Ison got the idea from Baby Spa in Kensington London, according to NBC News TODAY, which also has water immersion and massages for infant (given by neonatal and pediatric nurses). The U.K. service costs £60 for one hour.

Ison is now planning to improve her Houston studio experience by adding individual tubs for younger babies this fall, and hopes to open 10 more franchises across the US in early 2015. Get used to baby spas, America.

SEE ALSO: 9 Things That Surprised Me About Being A New Parent

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The Chinese e-commmerce site Alibaba filed to go public last week. It is looking to raise up to $21 billion, which would make it the largest tech IPO ever.

On Monday, the Chinese internet giant began its roadshow, a standard procedure where it will meet potential investors and analysts to create more buzz around its already popular IPO.

Perhaps because of Alibaba, the 2014 U.S. IPO market is expected to be one of the largest ever, according to investment firm Renaissance Capital. It projects up to $80 billion in IPO funding this year, up 46% from last year, and the most since 2000.

We’ve put together some of the tech companies that have already filed IPO papers and are expected to go public by the end of this year.

Box

What they do: Box is an enterprise-focused cloud storage company. Its mission is to “make organizations more productive, competitive and collaborative by connecting people and their most important information.”

Founded: 2005

Revenue:$124.2 million as of Jan. 31, 2014  

Net loss: $168.6 million as of Jan. 31, 2014

Funding so far:$564.1 million (last valued at $2.4 billion)  

Other key figures: 34,000 paying organizations; 25 million registered users; 99% of Fortune 500 companies; Sales and marketing expenses were $171 million, which is higher than its revenue in 2013.  

Fund raising target: $500 million

Lending Club

What they do: Lending Club is the largest marketplace for online peer-to-peer lending. It basically serves as a marketplace for individuals to take out loans from other individuals or investors. Its mission is to “transform the banking system to make credit more affordable and investing more rewarding.”

Founded: 2007

Revenue:$86.9 millio in first six months of 2014

Net loss: $16.5 million in first six months of 2014

Funding so far: $393 million 

Other key figures: Facilitated over $5 billion in loans so far (over $1 billion in Q2 2014); last valued at $3.76 billion

Fund raising target: $500 million

Zoosk

What they do: Zoosk is one of the largest online dating platforms. It’s known for its "data-driven dating" approach, where members are matched based on personal information and previous actions. 

Founded: 2007

Revenue:$178.2 million in 2013

Net loss: $2.6 million as of 2013

Funding so far:$61.6 million

Other key figures: 26 million users worldwide; 650,000 paying subscribers across 80 countries

Fund raising target: $100 million

Apple will return to the Flint Center for the first time in 30 years to announce its newest batch of products, including two new smartphones and the company's first wearable device for the wrist.

That's a big deal. The historic site is where a bowtie-wearing 28-year-old Steve Jobs first took the stage to unveil the world's first truly personal computer: The Macintosh.

And in the same way that unveiling in January 1984 effectively drove the crowd in attendance into a frenzy — and put Apple on the map — Tuesday's event could similarly prove to be Apple's defining moment under the leadership of its new CEO Tim Cook.

The Macintosh, which was unveiled one year after Apple’s expensive and inaccessible Lisa computer flopped, offered one of the first PCs with an integrated mouse and a graphical user interface to be packaged in a mass market machine.

Jobs described the Macintosh as the third milestone product in the computer industry, following the Apple II computer in 1977 and the IBM PC in 1981.

“Many of us have been working on Macintosh for two years now, and it has turned out insanely great,” Jobs said. “And we are introducing Macintosh at mainstream price point of $2,495, and you can go see a Macintosh in any one of our 1,500 dealers in North America today.”

We're back at all-time highs. 

Despite a jobs report on Friday that disappointed, the S&P 500 closed at a fresh all-time high of 2,007.

In his investment strategy update for September, John Stoltzfus, chief market strategist at Oppenheimer, sees a chance for stocks to run higher still.

"In the near term we expect that investors could just as easily bid stocks somewhat higher as they seek a catalyst for some profit taking. So long as tensions in the Middle East, Ukraine, and elsewhere around the globe remain on the front burner, a certain unquantifiable degree of uncertainty is likely to remain an overhang to market performance," Stoltzfus writes.

Overall, Stoltzfus still reiterates his call for the S&P 500 to finish the year at 2,014, with volatility likely persisting, "as both the bond and stock markets practice price discovery in anticipation of adjustments that could lie ahead in Fed policy and interest rates as the world turns and the economic expansion moves forward."

Thanks to Oppenheimer & Co. for giving us permission to run the presentation.

The U.S. economy is still operating below potential.

Without wage growth, inflation will most likely remain low.

Rates ran too far, too fast at the end of 2013.

Apple will announce the new iPhone at a press event on Sept. 9.

What can you expect?

We've combed the web for leaked photos, rumors, and gossip and rounded them all up here in one place.

The iPhone 6 will be unveiled on Sept. 9.

Apple will hold its press event to introduce the iPhone 6 on Sept. 9, according to Re/code, which has a strong track record when it comes to reporting accurate Apple news. Apple could also unveil its first wearable device, presumably the iWatch, on that day, too. 

The iPhone 6 will probably have a larger screen.

The most prominent rumor surrounding the iPhone 6 is that Apple will bump the screen size up to 4.7 inches. It all started when Reuters reported that Apple was testing 4.7-inch smartphone displays last June. Since then, other reports have been consistent. 

There have also been reports Apple will release a 5.5-inch model of the phone.

Apple may also release an even larger "phablet" version of the iPhone.

If 4.7 inches isn't big enough for you, Apple may release a giant 5.5-inch iPhone as well. Initial rumors suggested that both versions would launch together, but multiple reports have also said that Apple was experiencing production issues with the larger model.  

Newer reports, however, have claimed to show leaked components from both the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the larger model, hinting they could be released at the same time. 

Aram Pan has always been intrigued by North Korea. Everything he saw in the media relating to the country, though, revolved around its leaders, military might, and confidentiality. Pan wondered what he would see if he simply asked nicely to look around. He found out the answer was more than he ever expected.

Pan, who is from Singapore, makes 360-degree panoramas for various clients, including real estate brokers, hotels, and retail stores. Utilizing fairly simple technology and setup (just a DSLR digital camera and a tripod), he creates high resolution, immersive panoramas that allow viewers to virtually explore a space.

Pan wanted to create these in the DPRK, so after submitting a proposal to the government, he was "given unrestricted freedom to photograph just about anything except military personnel, vehicles, and infrastructure," he told Business Insider. His resulting panoramas and photographs, featured at DPRK360, give a totally fresh look into life in North Korea. 

Pan would often ask his appointed tour guides about a certain aspect of everyday life in North Korea and, many times, the guides would lead him directly to it. For example, Pan asked if he could "swim with the locals." His guides took him to a local water park and spa, the Mansu Water Park (be sure to click the links to fully explore Pan's panoramas).

Similarly, Pan wanted to see where people got their hair cut. His tour guides took him to the hair salon at Changgwangwon Health Complex, which has been in existence since 1980.

Pan says going to North Korea for the first time was like "entering an alternative universe.""Suddenly, there are no advertisements or billboards, no internet, and nobody is rushing around at double speed," he told Business Insider. There are certainly no billboards at the Mansudae Grand Monument, which features massive bronze statues of former Presidents Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.

Another thing that surprised Pan was a large trade fair in Pyongyang he attended. "I did not expect to see the sheer amount of businesses entering North Korea and how so much foreign currency was moving about," he says.

Other interesting places Pan visited included the Meari Shooting Range, which allows participants to bring the fowl they shoot at the range to an adjacent restaurant where it can then be cooked for them.

He also checked out the Rungna Dolphinarium, North Korea's equivalent to Sea World.

He even got to visit the newly renovated Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, a place with a strict "no photography policy." The museum documents the history of the Korean wars, from the perspective of North Korea, of course.

Pan tells us this project was an attempt to demystify North Korea. However, Pan says after months of travel all over the country, he didn't see any work camps or starvation, which left him with more questions than answers. In fact, many aspects, such as this beach near Wonsan, seemed almost normal.

Pan hopes the North Korean government will start to trust him more and show him even further behind the curtain, like in the Grand People's Study House, seen below. Pan says that the North Korean government is actually very connected to the outside world, adding that "Yes, they will most definitely be reading this article, too."

Be sure to visit Pan's website to see tons more pictures, videos, and 360-panoramas, and check back often; Pan is planning on going back to North Korea this week. 

(All GIFS courtesy of Aram Pan/DPRK360)

SEE ALSO: The Korean DMZ Is A Surprisingly Popular Spot For Tourists

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U.S. policymakers are girding the American public for a long fight against ISIS, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying that the jihadists could take several years to defeat.

ISIS has one of the most extensive arsenals of any non-state armed group in modern history. But even if not all of their weaponry is applicable to the fight against extremists in the Middle East, it's worth remembering that the U.S. and its partners still have the overwhelming advantage in hardware. 

And it's not just an advantage over non-state groups like ISIS.

The U.S. possesses a range of weapons that the rest of the world simply doesn't have.

Weapons like the MQ9 Reaper Drone, the Laser Avenger, and the ADAPTIV cloaking give U.S. troops the a leg-up on any battlefield around the world — including in the ongoing battle against jihadist groups across the Middle East.

MQ9 Reaper Drone

Manufactured by: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI)

Release date: 2001

The Reaper has been around for over 10 years, but it was used largely for intelligence and reconnaissance until recently. 

Today, squadrons of F-16's are being transitioned into fleets of drones.

The Reaper is the largest of the UAVs in the U.S. arsenal with a wingspan of 84 feet, a takeoff weight of 7,000 pounds, a payload capacity of 3,000 pounds, and a maximum flight time of 36 hours.

The drone can read a license plate from over two miles away while flying at an altitude of 52,000 feet. Capable of carrying 500-pound bombs, air-to-ground, and air-to-air missiles, the UAV fleet is poised to perform the lion's share of American air support in coming years.

At the beginning of this decade, the U.S. already had more personnel training to operate its burgeoning drone fleet than for any other weapon system in its arsenal.

AA12 Atchisson Assault Shotgun

Manufactured by: Maxwell Atchisson

Release date: 2005

The AA12 can fire five 12-gauge shells per second. Because the recoil is engineered at just 10 percent of that of a normal shotgun, it can be fired from the hip with only one hand.

The Atchisson also fires a high-explosive or fragmentation grenade called a FRAG-12 round up to a distance of 175 meters with equal efficiency.

Tests have shown the AA12, designed for long-term combat use, can fire up to 9,000 rounds without jamming or having to be cleaned.

All the user needs to do is hold the trigger down for four seconds to empty the 20-round drum at a target.

ADAPTIV Tank Invisibility Cloak

Manufactured by: BAE Systems

Release date: 2013

Developed and patented in Sweden, ADAPTIV functions over infrared and other electronic frequencies. It can blend the coated vehicle into the background, making it seem to be invisible — and it can also shape the returning signal to appear like something else entirely.

A tank, for example, can be made to look like a car. These pictures show both the combat vehicle disappearing and reshaping itself into the outline of an automobile.

They call it "shockvertising" — ads made to shock their way into your memory by way of gruesome violence, over-the-top sexuality, or other taboo-shredding imagery. 

Ad agencies around the world have adopted the audacious method, with activist organizations like PETA specializing in scandalous imagery. 

Italian clothing retailer Benetton pioneered the style in the 1980s. Its now-iconic campaigns have received mixed reviews, like an award-winning AIDS awareness ad from 1991 that showed a father holding the lifeless body of his son in a hospital bed.

The style is powerful, but it can backfire, like when the World Wildlife Fund drew ire for comparing the 2004 Tsunami disaster to the World Trade Center attack. 

We took print images from the past few decades to give you a look into the global shockvertising scene. It's up to you to decide if they're brilliant, offensive, or both. 

Kim Bhasin contributed research to this article.

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America suggests an imbalance in American legislation. "Little Red Riding Hood." (USA, 2013)

UN Women uses actual Google auto-completes to show how widespread misogyny is. "Women Need To Be Seen As Equal." (International, 2013)

The International League Against Racism And Anti-Semitism made an illustration of systemic racism. "Your skin color shouldn’t dictate your future." (France, 2013)