McDonald's is shedding new light on its often-criticized food sourcing and processing practices.

In the face of growing consumer demand for transparency, the Big Mac chain has launched social media campaigns in Canada and Australia to answer consumer- submitted questions such as, "Are McDonald's eggs organic or free-range?" and "Does McDonald's import beef from other countries?"

McDonald's has also added a "Your Questions Answered" section to its U.S. website addressing various customer concerns, including the rumored existence of "pink slime" in its meat and information about which egg dishes are cooked in the restaurant and which ones are pre-made and frozen.

We have selected some of the most commonly asked questions and provided summaries of the company's responses. 

Are McDonald's eggs organic or free-range?

"Our eggs are not organic, nor are they free-range; they are from caged hens," McDonald's Australia writes on its website.

Caged hens produce the cheapest eggs, which helps keeps McDonald's prices low, the company says.

"Our goal is to provide customers with great quality food at great value," the company's answer reads. "The cost of organic or free range eggs would raise the price of our food to a point that our customers may not feel they are receiving the value they've come to expect from us."

In the U.S., however, McDonald's buys a "small amount" of cage-free eggs "as part of a scientific research project McDonald's is part of to better understand different hen housing systems,"the company writes.

"In the U.S., there is no consensus or firm scientific research on whether one type of housing system is better than the other, which leads to a lot of confusion," McDonald's USA adds. 

Why do McDonald's chicken nuggets contain an "anti-foaming" agent?

"McDonald’s frying oil contains a small amount of an additive called dimethlypolysiloxane, which helps prevent oil from foaming and spattering in our restaurants," McDonald's USA explains. 

Dimethylpolysiloxane is also used in some non-food products, such as putty, caulks, and cosmetics.

For that reason, "there have been individuals who have erroneously claimed that these items are also in our food," the company explains.

The company added that scientific names for ingredients can "sound scary" even if they are safe and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"For example, the salt you use to de-ice a driveway is a variation of the salt you use in the kitchen, however they are both sodium chloride," the company writes. 

Does McDonald's USA import beef from other countries?

Most of the beef that McDonald's uses in its U.S. restaurants is raised domestically, "although we import a small percentage of our 100% beef from suppliers in Australia and New Zealand to supplement our U.S. purchases,"the company says.

All of the chicken served in McDonald's U.S. restaurants is raised domestically.

Charlie Munger dropped out of college, served as a meteorologist in the US Army Air Corps, and attended Harvard Law.

And then at age 31, he met Warren Buffett, who convinced him to go into investing.

Today, Munger is Warren Buffett's right-hand man at Berkshire Hathaway and has an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion.

We've compiled a list of his most insightful quotes about business, investing, and life in general.

So step inside the mind of one of the most brilliant investors alive today.

Don't drift into self-pity because it doesn't solve any problems.

"Generally speaking, envy, resentment, revenge and self-pity are disastrous modes of thoughts. Self-pity gets fairly close to paranoia, and paranoia is one of the very hardest things to reverse. You do not want to drift into self-pity. ... Self-pity will not improve the situation."

Source: Charlie Munger USC Law Commencement Speech, May 2007

Those who keep learning, will keep rising in life.

"I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were when they got up and boy does that help, particularly when you have a long run ahead of you."

Source: Charlie Munger USC Law Commencement Speech, May 2007

At a certain point, you have to suck it up and cope.

“There’s danger in just shoveling out money to people who say, ‘My life is a little harder than it used to be. At a certain place you’ve got to say to the people, ‘Suck it in and cope, buddy. Suck it in and cope.’”

Source: University of Michigan discussion 

Thanks to technological developments in hydraulic fracturing, drillers have been able to extract natural gas from America's shale basins.

This has kept the energy production industry busy while domestic gas prices have stayed very low.

"Relentless supply growth and tepid demand led us to reduce our 2015 forecasts," Morgan Stanley analysts wrote. "Thanks to significant growth in US natural gas production, natural gas inventories remain on pace to reach just over 3.5 Tcf by the end of October. Given continued very strong gas production, and delivery, growth for the balance of 2014 and in 2015 is expected to become the major headwind for prices, particularly under normal weather."

With volatility returning to the stock markets, the best idea for investors may be to play long term themes like the ongoing American Shale Gas Revolution.

"The advantages of low US natural gas prices are evident in multiple industries, including refining, chemicals, fertilizers, gas- fired power plants, gas export and gas transportation," write the analysts.

Morgan Stanley picked 16 stocks they believe are best positioned for this big economic story.

Agrium Inc.

Ticker: AGU

Price Target: $101.00

Market Cap (US$mm): $12,288

Dividend Yield: 3.4%

2015 P/E Ratio: 11.8

“Agrium has a unique strategic position to meet widespread agricultural demand, with over half a million
customers globally, significant advantages in our nitrogen and potash businesses and a complementary
portfolio of products and service," said Agrium CEO Chuck Magro in its second quarter earnings report. "Agrium continues to focus on maximizing operational and financial efficiencies across our complementary portfolio of assets, including optimization of working capital and operating costs. Combined with Agrium’s current growth projects, we believe these initiatives will drive higher free cash flow and subsequent shareholder returns.”

Calpine Corp.

Ticker: CPN

Price Target: $31

Market Cap (US$mm): $9,212

Dividend Yield: 0.0%

2015 P/E Ratio: 19.0

“Looking at the balance of the year, our solid operations and robust hedging program continue to mitigate the effects of an unseasonably mild summer in Texas and the Mid-Atlantic, enabling us to reaffirm our 2014 guidance," said Calpine CEO Thad Hill in its second quarter earnings report. "Longer-term, Calpine remains well positioned to capture value as the sound fundamentals in each of our core markets reassert themselves,” said Hill.

Celanese Corp.

Ticker: CE

Price Target: $65.00

Market Cap (US$mm): $9,329

Dividend Yield: 0.9%

2015 P/E Ratio: 11.4

"Our excellent performance through the first six months of the year gives me confidence that we can generate adjusted earnings per share growth in the range of 15 to 17 percent in 2014," said Celanese CEO Mark Rohr in its second quarter earnings report. "We now increase our focus on the Celanese-specific initiatives for 2015 that will help offset the expected headwind related to the expiration of a methanol contract in mid-2015."

We recently laid out the best jobs for pay raises and growth — a new report from financial tools startup SmartAsset. While half of the top 10 careers were in healthcare — showing that these professionals can easily and quickly move up and make more — a recent report from PayScale found that this most definitely isn't an industry-wide trend. 

In fact, healthcare jobs dominated PayScale's list of the worst professions for salary growth. 

To compile its ranking of jobs with the slowest salary growth, PayScale examined the median pay for over 2,000 professions over a 20-year period. They found that pay raises are especially hard to come by in healthcare jobs, including pharmacists, nurse practitioners, and anesthesiologists.

While college professors took the No. 1 spot, the next 10 jobs on the list are in healthcare.

PayScale's lead economist Katie Bardaro notes that healthcare jobs are "somewhat unique," because, while they tend to offer above-average starting salaries, "much of their training happens in school or shortly after starting their career," she explains. "Therefore, they start out with high earnings, due to the barriers of entry associated with these jobs like advanced education, but don't see much accumulated growth as they are basically trained right out the door."

However, this doesn't mean that the outlook for these salaries won't catch up to other, faster growing healthcare jobs. "New technologies and methodologies mean on-the-job training for some healthcare positions is likely to pick up steam in coming years," Bardaro says.

In the meantime, here are the 25 worst jobs for salary growth, according to PayScale, with job descriptions from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

25. Program Coordinator, Non-Profit Organization

They coordinate and supervise social service programs and community organizations and direct and lead staff who provide services to the public.

Growth rate: 29.1%

First year median pay: $33,000

20th year median pay: $42,600

24. Veterinarian

Veterinarians diagnose, treat, and research medical conditions and diseases of pets, livestock, and other animals.

Growth rate: 29.0%

First year median pay: $65,600

20th year median pay: $84,600

23. Licensed Professional Counselor

Counselors work with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health by helping patients deal with addictions and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; and self-esteem.

Growth rate: 28.5%

First year median pay: $41,700

20th year median pay: $53,600

There is nothing boring about the headquarters of Oakley, Inc. in Foothill Ranch, California.

Besides being the place where about 35,000 sets of sunglasses are made every day, the company has some features that set it apart from other corporate homes, like a working military tank, a BMX track, and a torpedo in the parking lot.

We recently traveled down to Southern California for a conference at Oakley for the Infinite Hero Foundation, a charity for military veterans and their families.

While there, we took a tour of the company that makes everything from sunglasses to boots to backpacks.

Disclosure: Infinite Hero paid for the author's travel to the conference, where he was a discussion panel moderator.

One of the first things you'll notice about Oakley HQ is its many design cues from the military.

And visitors take notice pretty quickly, with a tank-like vehicle parked not far from the parking lot (It looks like a tank, but it's actually an infantry fighting vehicle called a BMP).

This isn't a prop. It's really works. While we were there, Oakley staffers used it to give people rides during the conference.

Since the early days of the internet, retail banks have feared the day when customers would turn away from traditional brick-and-mortar bank branches. With the rise of mobile banking, it's definitely starting to happen. 

BI Intelligence finds that even banks' desktop websites are seeing a loss in use, as smartphone apps become personal finance hubs. Young consumers are also increasingly looking to tech companies for financial services. We've created these slides to preview our report on how digital banking is changing in the mobile era. We hope you enjoy it. 

BI Intelligence is a research and analysis service focused on payments, e-commerce, mobile computing, and digital media. Only subscribers can download the full report on Mobile Banking, as well as the report's individual charts and datasets in Excel, along with the PowerPoint version of this deck. Please sign up for a free trial here.

When you're running the country, eradicating poverty, or disrupting incumbents all day it can be hard to stay in shape. 

This is bad news, given that fitness seemingly has something to do with individual and organization-wide performance. A University of Cologne study of the S&P 1500 index found that companies with CEOs who had finished a marathon were worth 5% more than other CEOs, while those with bigger waistlines were seen as less capable of leading well. 

With that in mind, we looked into how heavy hitters as diverse as President Obama, Mark Cuban, and Anna Wintour stay fit.

President Obama fits in 45 minutes of exercise six days a week.

The President gets his workouts in before his day starts, though he admits that there's "always a tradeoff" between getting sleep and getting exercise.

But he's firm about lifting or cardio being a part of his routine, plus his regular basketball games.

"You have to exercise,"he tells Vanity Fair. "Or at some point you'll just break down."

Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates spends an hour every morning running on the treadmill.

The billionaire and global health advocate takes care of his own health with a trot on the treadmill nestled inside his 66,000 square foot home. 

Since he has an endless appetite for knowledge, he watches courses from the Teaching Company while getting his morning jog in.

To keep up with the Dallas Mavericks, billionaire Mark Cuban gets at least an hour of exercise almost every day.

Owning an athletics franchise doesn't make you fit, but Cuban knows how to do the work.

"I try to do cardio for at least an hour, six or seven days a week, knowing I'll miss a day or two now and then because of travel," he tells the Dallas Morning News. "I do elliptical and the stair gauntlet; play basketball; and take kickboxing and Latin fusion aerobic classes at Lifetime Fitness."

Everyone's always talking about the insanely high rents in the New York City and San Francisco housing markets.

But that doesn't mean people with money should scoop up a 5th Avenue condo and rent it out.

Landlords seeking returns need to consider the difference between the cost of the property and the rent they can potentially bring in.

A report by RealtyTrac found that the average returns were actually the highest in high-risk markets, where unemployment and vacancy rates are higher than national averages.

RealtyTrac ranked these US housing markets based on gross rental yield, which is "the average fair market rent of three-bedroom homes in each county, annualized, and divided by the median sales price of residential properties in the third quarter."

Although rents are high in New York and San Francisco, the property prices are also high, which means that returns are low.

On the other side, these smaller markets have low property prices but relatively high rents — which means that returns are high.

8. Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater, Florida

Counties: Pasco and Hernando

Rent for 3-bedroom: $1,269

Unemployment rate: 7.6% for Pasco county, 8.4% for Hernando county

Rental Vacancy rate: 8.9% for Pasco county, 5.1% for Hernando county

Gross Rental Yield: 17.30%

7. Lake City, Florida

County: Columbia

Rent for 3-bedroom: $1,151

Unemployment rate: 6.8%

Rental Vacancy rate: 11.3%

Gross Rental Yield: 18.42%

6. Detroit - Warren - Livonia, Michigan

County: Wayne

Rent for 3-bedroom: $1,124

Unemployment rate: 11.0%

Rental Vacancy rate: 8.9%

Gross Rental Yield: 19.88%

The gorgeous Fifth Avenue mansion that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich almost bought for $75 million is now available to rent for $150,000 a month, according to The Real Deal.

Almost a year ago, Abramovich was in contract to purchase three of the five apartments in the building at 828 Fifth Avenue from the family of late British real estate developer Howard Ronson, which included the penthouse, a triplex, and a duplex apartment.

The deal fell through after the seller — Ronson's widow, heiress Engelika Ivanc — reportedly held out because she thought she could get more money from the Russian mogul.

Abramovich had reportedly bought another apartment in the building, and was trying to purchase the final unit so he could restore the mansion to its former glory. Now it looks like that dream may never happen.

But for those with $150,000 to throw around each month, the eight-bedroom co-op is now available to rent on Stribling & Associates.

An interesting mix of classic and modern with tall ceilings and eight bedrooms, the home even has a rooftop terrace that looks out over Central Park.

The Manhattan townhouse sits directly across from Central Park Zoo.

It's currently divided up into five units.

Abramovich was hoping to buy them all and create a single-family mansion.

You probably dread work meetings. Most people do. But there's a good chance you're required to attend them from time to time. And when you do — no matter how much you don't want to be there — it's important that you conduct yourself in the most respectful and professional manner, as you'll most likely be surrounded by coworkers, bosses, and current or prospective clients.

That means you need to show up on time, come prepared, and avoid looking at your phone. If broken, these simple rules of meeting professionalism may seriously damage your reputation.

To get a better idea of how to maintain a positive, professional image while in a meeting, we reached out to Barbara Pachter, a career coach and author of "The Essentials Of Business Etiquette." Here's what she said.

This is an update of an article written by Vivian Giang.

1. Be on time.

Make sure you arrive on time, says Pachter. You don't want to waste anyone else's time by not being punctual.

"Leaders need to start on time so people can depend on that," she tells Business Insider.

2. Mingle before the meeting starts.

If the opportunity presents itself, go up to people, introduce yourself (if you don't know the person) and make some small talk, Pachter suggests. "One CFO complained to me that one of her staff members came to a meeting, just sat down, and reviewed his slides. He missed a wonderful opportunity to interact with the higher ups in the company."

3. Make introductions.

If everyone doesn't know one another in the meeting room, you need to make introductions. You should do this by starting with the person of the highest rank first, says Pachter.

For example, "Ms. CEO, I would like you to meet Mr. New Hire." 

The village of Mestervik in Norway, located north of the Arctic Circle, recently got a fantastic view of the Northern Lights, one of the most spectacular natural phenomena on the planet. The colorful light display provides yet another reason to move to the Nordic region. 

Most people are prevented from seeing this light show in person due to the location — the Northern Lights normally shine in remote places like Saskatchewan in Canada or in Greenland. 

Reuters photographer Yannis Behrakis recently took a trip to Norway and got some fantastic shots. We've pulled out some of the best. 

The Northern Lights, also called auroras, are natural light displays in the sky that occur around the Poles.

They are most visible at night, when the bright colors stand out in the dark sky.

Auroras are caused by the collision of solar wind with the Earth's atmosphere at an altitude between 60 and 400 miles above sea level.

The first known Ebola outbreak devastated a small village called Yambuku and the surrounding area in the north of the Congo in 1976.

When it started to kill patients in a missionary hospital, a Flemish nun was infected, and samples of her blood were sent to Belgium. Scientists soon realized they were dealing with something unknown.

After a harrowing experience with the virus in the lab, Peter Piot, a 27-year-old doctor who was one of the first to examine Ebola, left his pregnant wife in Belgium and set off for the Congo, then called Zaire, to track down the source of the outbreak. There he joined researchers from around the world for a terrifying hunt for the origin of the disease.

Piot wrote about the experience in his book "No Time to Lose: A Life in Pursuit of Deadly Viruses." Using photos from the CDC's Public Health Image Library, we've illustrated their several expeditions into the Congo.

Immediately upon arrival, Piot was swept through the airport — avoiding customs, because his passport wasn't valid — and rushed to meet the others who planned to track down the virus’ source. He’s the third from the left in the middle row here, wearing the colorful shirt.

Their mission was in Yambuku, 700 miles northeast. Stories of birds dropping out of the sky, sick with fever, and of human bodies by the roadsides had terrified pilots who at first refused to fly the team to the closest airfield in Bumba, a town of 10,000 on the edge of the epidemic zone.

After some cajoling, pilots agreed to drop the team and their Land Rover off if they could immediately depart for safety. Hundreds of scared locals surrounded the plane upon arrival, hoping for a way out, but military police beat them back so the researchers could unload.

Many travelers come to Seoul, the capital of South Korea, to experience the slick K-pop scene, which is steadily gaining fans all over the world. However, contrary to common belief, the most offbeat pop culture attractions are not found in the hip neighborhood of Gangnam, which was made famous in Psy's 2012 hit song "Gangnam Style."

According to local YouTube stars Eat Your Kimchi, Hongdae is the best place to see young, indie culture.

I recently visited Seoul, where I discovered cool K-pop fashion boutiques and bizarre theme restaurants — including a Hello Kitty cafe, Zombie coffee shop, and robot bar.

Itaewon, home to colorful street art and the Samsung Leeum museum, is another district worth exploring. I was in awe of Dongdaemun's design plaza, which looks like a silver spaceship. In Myeongdong, I found K-idol makeup and dog-petting cafes.

Click here to see Seoul's K-pop culture >

La Carmina is a travel blogger and TV host, specializing in Asia pop culture. See more of her Seoul recommendations on her blog. 

I visited Simon and Martina, creators of Eat Your Kimchi. They're known for their YouTube videos about K-pop music and life in Seoul.

Eat Your Kimchi's studio reflects their love of cute-meets-weird Korean pop culture.

They told me the young, alternative scene is centered in Hongdae. On a graffiti street near the subway station, I encountered this naughty robot.

New York's annual Advertising Week brings together ad execs from all around the world.

It's filled with panels featuring the most high profile figures in the ad industry, such as Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of the massive firm WPP, and other sessions designed to shine a spotlight on the emerging advertising superstars. 

You might think the entire week is dedicated to learning and starting important conversations about advertising, but there's a completely different side that happens at the end of each day when the panels wind down and the meetings wrap up: the events and the parties. 

As actor Kevin Spacey put it when he addressed a group of industry execs at his very own Ad Week slot earlier this week: "It does in fact look like some of you are still drunk."

Skip straight to the slideshow>>

Advertising Week is as notorious for the conference as it is its parties.

After a busy day, attendees want to blow off some steam and enjoy a drink or two (or three). The parties, while not as notorious as the Cannes Lions Festival with its beach bashes and private yachts, can still be quite lavish.

Some serve surf and turf dinners drenched in a chardonnay sorrel sauce. Others stock open bars with endless bottles of high end spirits and wines, often serving fancy signature cocktails like a potent apple martini. There was even a space-themed party to celebrate one lucky marketer winning a ticket to be one of the first passengers on Virgin Galactic. 

But it's not all drinking. Ad Week attendees are also gifted with celebrity appearances, the chance to do some major deals, weird corporate gifts, massage parlors and a whole lot more.

Ad execs attend panels during the day, some with big celebrities like Jessica Alba.

Kevin Spacey spoke about creative courage at the IAB MIXX Conference.

Perez Hilton stopped by for a panel about story telling in a digital age.

Thursday morning, Netflix announced Adam Sandler signed an exclusive four-movie deal with the streaming site. 

Earlier this week, Netflix announced its first venture into original films. It will release a sequel to "Crouching Tiger" next summer, at the same time it will debut in theaters.

According to Netflix, Sandler's films are among the most viewed by subscribers not only in the U.S., but across its nearly 50 global territories from Brazil to the U.K.

The deal makes sense for Sandler, whose films haven't been making as big of a splash domestically as they have been internationally.

His last movie, "Blended," which reunited the actor with Drew Barrymore, was an overall box-office disappointment, and one of Sandler's lowest opening box-office weekends ever. The $40 million film made $46.3 million domestically, but a whopping $80.5 million overseas.

After more than 30 movies, the actor's films have arguably gotten considerably worse and wackier (Sandler played both himself and his sister in 2011's critically panned "Jack and Jill"). Despite 19 Razzie nominations and five wins, Sandler's movies have amassed more than $3.9 billion worldwide.

We've taken a look at his biggest hits based on worldwide gross adjusted for ticket price inflation. Through all of the actors serious and wacky roles, it's clear that the zanier the role, the bigger the cash grab at the box office. Left off this list are animated Sandler films.

11. "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" (2008)

Estimated Budget: $90 million
Worldwide gross unadjusted: $199.9 million
Adjusted for ticket price inflation: $227 million
Rotten Tomatoes:37%/45% 

Sandler plays a man who fakes his own death to live out his dream of becoming a hairstylist in New York City in "You Don't Mess With the Zohan." 

(Box Office Mojo)

10. "Mr. Deeds" (2002)

Estimated Budget: $50 million
Worldwide gross unadjusted: $171.2 million
Adjusted for ticket price inflation: $240 million
Rotten Tomatoes:  22%/60%

The remake of Frank Capra's 1936 film followed Sandler as a pizza shop owner named Longfellow Deeds who comes into a great fortune of money. The film received three Razzie Award nominations including Worst Actor but is one of Sandler's most successful hits.

(Box Office Mojo)

9. "Bedtime Stories" (2009): $242 million

Estimated Budget: $80 million
Worldwide Gross Unadjusted: $212.8 million
Adjusted for ticket price inflation: $242 million
Rotten Tomatoes:25%/56% 

The family film opened during the 2009 holiday season against animated picture "The Tale of Despereaux" and "Marley and Me," easily beating out the first film. The film also edged out "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" at the box office when it debuted.

(Box Office Mojo)

Being a police officer is a very important and demanding job, one that should be respected and taken seriously. But that doesn't mean cops can't have a little fun here and there. The Metropolitan Police Department in Reykjavík sure seems to understand that. 

Their official Instagram is full of zany selfies, pictures with cute animals, and snaps of food. It might remind you of the Instagram feed of one of your sillier friends, except these people are cops. 

We compiled a set of our favorite shots to share with you. 

(via Mic, images via Instagram)

They take ridiculous selfies, just like you and I (with or without the mustaches).

They document their meals just like us, too. They especially like hot dogs.

... and ice cream, too. The Icelandic caption for this picture roughly translates to "Go gently into the weekend, and eat plenty of ice cream!"

As spending in Las Vegas shifts from gaming to everything else, there's more and more reason to go to Sin City to eat.

The city has always been a hotspot for foodies, with high-end options like Joël Robuchon, Guy Savoy, and Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bistro, but it's really blowing up recently.

More than 60 new restaurants have opened, been designed, or plan to open in Las Vegas, according to Travel & Leisure. Many of these are affordable establishments with entrées in the $15-$30 range.

Thanks to Vegas’ nearly 40 million annual tourists, the local restaurant industry rakes in an estimated $8 billion annually, according to Applied Analysis. The demand for great, attainable food is there, and the city has begun to deliver.

Contrast this with a decade ago, when the Vegas culinary scene was an arms race for hotels on the Strip to acquire a five-star restaurant. “When I first came 10 years ago, we felt a sort of competition between the restaurants that were within the casinos to set up these quality restaurants,” Joël Robuchon told Business Insider.

MGM Grand did ultimately open a Joël Robuchon, as well as Robuchon's L’Atelier, both of which now boast Michelin stars. For more ultra-high-end dining the Strip, the Bellagio has Picasso, a restaurant filled with works by the late artist, the Mandarin Oriental has highly-rated Twist, Aria has barMASA and Jean Georges Steakhouse, and Caesars Palace has Guy Savoy. The list goes on and on.

If you want to break the bank to eat amazing food, Las Vegas has you covered.

But whereas it used to be all about the fine dining, Vegas restaurants today are placing more value on quality food at affordable prices. Hotels now have sports bars, buffets, and sushi spots with ridiculously good food, and these places are mere doors away from the fine dining powerhouses that used to dominate the scene.

And then of course, there’s the true heart of the Las Vegas culinary scene, which has also seen a revamp: the buffets. From the huge selection at the Bellagio Buffet to the amazing food at the Cosmopolitan’s Wicked Spoon and the high-class fare at the Bellagio’s Jasmine, Vegas buffets are shaking their abysmal reputations. 

There’s no doubt the food scene in Las Vegas will continue to get better as new restaurants open on the strip and add to the city’s burgeoning foodie culture.

So the next time you’re in Sin City, skip the sinning and get right to the food.

DON'T MISS: Here's What It's Like To Dine At The Most Remarkable Restaurant In Las Vegas

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Bartending sounds like a cool job in theory. You learn how to make drinks, watch funny drunk people all night, and are paid to be in a bar.

But the reality is a whole lot less fun since bartending is a service job that can often show the unflattering side of humanity. Sloppy drunks, spills, rude clientele, and annoying orders are what bartenders around the world look forward to each night.

In a recent /r/AskReddit thread, bartenders on Reddit answered the question “What is something that we do at bars that piss you off?” Keep reading to learn how to treat your bartender better.

1. Don’t snap your fingers (or do anything else annoying to get their attention).

“This isn't work. This is a bar. Everyone gets served in a timely fashion unless I'm avoiding you, which I have no problem telling that I am, and you'll have to wait for the other bartender. I'm not your personal bartender, so don't yell at me when I'm taking orders. If I skip you, it was probably an accident (unless I've told you previously that I will not wait on you). Just stay calm and you'll get your drink. Yelling, screaming and waving makes me move towards you slower or not at all. I know everyone thinks it's easy to bartend a high volume bar on a weekend, but it's not.

"Just be respectful and tip accordingly and you will be acknowledged and served all night." - jasanova

2. Don’t haggle.

“Seriously, I don't own the bar and I'm not in any position to give you discounts without taking it from my tips.” - Phr4gG3r

3. Don’t get cute.

"A girl in a nightclub went to pay me once, and then every time I went to get the note she would quickly pull away as if it was some hilarious game. This happened a few times in the middle of a busy shift until I started to take her drinks back and she finally coughed up.

"She wasn't such a fan of the game though when I did the same back to her with her change.” - qwertylaura123

4. Don’t ask why you need to show your ID.

"The folks who throw a fit when I ask to see their ID are the worst. I live in a college town where underage kids are constantly trying to be served alcohol and members of ATF are looking to bust bars. Just hand over the ID! Even if you're not getting a drink, here you have to be 21 to be inside a bar! You're not funny!”

5. Don’t ask for the impossible.

"'Give me something that's strong, cheap and tastes good!' You can have any two of the three." - zerobass

6. Know what you want (and be specific).

“I don't mind being creative and coming up with a drink for you, but you have to point me in the right direction: 'Give me something good with GIN in it ' Alright, now we're talking! ' I don't know what I want, but maybe I will start with a light beer.' Okay good.

"I guess the point is that you need to have your shit together. You were not magically teleported to the bar, have an idea of what you want to drink before you get the bartender's attention.” - CobraCornelius

7. Don’t try to get more alcohol by asking for “less ice.”

“Customers that ask for less ice then complain that their cocktail doesn't have any alcohol in it. Less ice = more mixer = diluted alcohol flavor.” - stickeykey_board

8. Don’t tell your bartender to make your drink strong.

"You are essentially asking me to steal from my company to give you more alcohol. And that $1 for the extra $6 worth of booze I just stole from my company is definitely not worth risking my job for.” - FrisbeeKing

9. Don’t order your drinks one at a time. 

"Please order all of your drinks at the same time! Don't order two Makers & Cokes, I go grab the Makers, make the drinks, put it back, and you say 'Make that three.' I go get the Makers, make one more and you say, '... and a vodka gimlet.'

"Just order three Makers & Cokes and one vodka gimlet. Ordering drinks one at a time doubles the transaction time. People are waiting.” - GrammarIsPhun

10. Always order Guinness first. 

"A Guinness takes a relatively long time to make as you have to leave it to settle 3/4ths of the way through pouring it, so you learn to make the Guinness first out of a round of drinks to cut down waiting time.” - MarlonBrandoLovesYou

[Ed note: This is how long it takes to pour a Guinness]

11. Don’t transfer your drink to the dining room. 

"[Don't] order drinks/appetizers at the bar, sit there for 30 minutes and then leave and go to the dining room to eat dinner. We transfer your tab, clean/re-set your seat and then you tip out the server — not us. More of a restaurant policy issue, but as a bartender, I always close my tab when I leave someone else's bar.” - sharkabroad

12. Don’t hit on the bartender.

“Don't hit on me. I'm here to work, not date. Besides in a bar full of drunk and available people, why would you want to hit on the only sober one?” - NoPhilosophy

13. Don’t put trash in your glass.

“Having to cram your hand inside and grope around for [trash] among the dregs of your beer is not pleasant. Its gotta come out before going in the dishwasher so please just leave it on the table or better yet find a bin. Don’t use the glass.” - Beef_souls

14. Be ready to pay.

“When you order drinks, I'll usually tell you how much it will cost up front. This is so you can prepare payment while I'm making the cocktails. Don't sit there and watch me make the drinks and then decide to find your wallet or crumpled up bills when I'm done. Remember, people are waiting.” - GrammarIsPhun

In conclusion: tip your bartenders and stay classy. You can see the rest of the answers here.

SEE ALSO: The Coolest Speakeasies In America

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Fresh off the biggest IPO in history, Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma is now the richest person in China.

Ma is now worth an estimated $25 billion, which includes his 7.8% stake in Alibaba and a nearly 50% stake in payment processing service Alipay.

Ma is a true rags-to-riches story. He grew up poor in communist China, failed his college entrance exam twice, and was rejected from dozens of jobs, including one at KFC, before finding success with his third internet company, Alibaba. 

Jack Ma (a.k.a. Ma Yun) was born on October 15, 1964, in Hangzhou, located in the southeastern part of China. He has an older brother and a younger sister. He and his siblings grew up at a time when communist China was increasingly isolated from the West, and his family didn't have much money when they were young.

 Source: 60 Minutes, USA Today

Ma was scrawny and often got into fights with classmates. "I was never afraid of opponents who were bigger than I," he recalls in "Alibaba," a book by Liu Shiying and Martha Avery. Still, Ma had hobbies just like any other kid. He liked collecting crickets and making them fight, and was able to distinguish the size and type of cricket just by the sound it made.

Source: USA Today, Business Insider

After then-US president Richard Nixon visited Hangzhou in 1972, Ma's hometown became a tourist mecca. As a teenager, Ma started waking up early to visit the city's main hotel, offering visitors tours of the city in exchange for English lessons. The nickname "Jack" was given to him by a tourist he befriended.

Source: 60 Minutes

Beef cuts don’t have to be intimidating.  

Whether it’s chuck, brisket, rib, loin, round, plate, or flank, the most important thing you need to know is how to cook it.

The experts at the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association created a chart of all the different kinds of beef cuts. It’s coded by what part of the cow it comes from and includes the recommended cooking methods like grilling, broiling, stir-fry, slow cooking, roast, skillet, or skillet-to-oven.

SEE ALSO: How To Pick The Perfect Cut Of Beef

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