In preparation for Cyber Monday and the holiday season, Amazon has hired an additional 50,000 employees to work in its 40 fulfillment centers across the country. 

Last year on Cyber Monday, online retailing's answer to Black Friday, Amazon sold more than 200 items per second. It's expecting this holiday season to be its biggest yet. Early reports have Amazon's holiday sales up 40 percent over last year.

That doesn't happen by magic. Amazon plows billions into its fulfillment centers. As Cory Johnson of Bloomberg TV notes, Amazon has made $5.3 billion in capital expenditures in the past five years. $2.3 billion, or 43% of that, has come in the last 12 months.

NBC's Diana Alvear recently got a look inside Amazon's largest fulfillment center.

This Phoenix, Arizona-based fulfillment center could contain 28 football fields.

This fulfillment center is home to thousands of items waiting to be ordered. It's the largest of Amazon's 80 fulfillment centers around the world.

Last Cyber Monday, Amazon sold more than 200 items per second.

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If the recession taught us anything, it's that the rules of the work world have changed. As companies streamlined their operations and new industries emerged as dominant forces, there's no turning back.

The keys to surviving in this new era of work are flexibility, entrepreneurialism and big ideas, according to Kyle Westaway, a social entrepreneurship attorney, Harvard lecturer and thought leader. We met Westaway in Las Vegas last week, where he spoke about the future of work at Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh's Catalyst Creativ Week. (Hsieh is currently spending $350 million of his own money to transform Vegas; Catalyst Week is intended to draw creative thinkers from around the country to share their ideas.)

Westaway gave us permission to run his PowerPoint presentation from the event. Also read more here about Hsieh's Downtown Project.

Get ready to take your career to the next level.

But first, follow Westaway and his blog on Twitter.

The recession has completely changed the world of work.

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The Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks will square off tonight at the Barclays Center for the first time since the Nets moved into New York City this offseason.

And there's never been more interest in the two teams' matchup as there is this season.

With all eyes set on the playoffs and both teams sharing the city's spotlight, a revitalized rivalry could be in the works.

We looked at some of the intriguing elements in the history of the matchup and what to keep an eye on as the rivalry heats up this season.

HISTORY: Which franchise has had the most successful run to this point? (Knicks)

The Knicks actually have a losing record all-time (2570-2589), but that's outweighed by their 41 playoff appearances and two NBA titles. They've been to the NBA Finals eight times since joining the league in 1949.

The Nets have two titles, but they both come during the team's days in the ABA. The team's troubled NBA existence, which began in 1976, includes 16 playoff appearances, two NBA Finals trips, but just a 1216-1700 overall record.

HISTORY: Who owns the all-time series? (Knicks)

The Knicks own a 85-82 record over the Nets in the regular season. In the postseason, however, both teams have won five games against the other.

HISTORY: Which team has been better over the last decade? (Nets)

The Nets have struggled over the last few seasons, but one cannot discount how successful the franchise was early in the new millennium. The Nets went to the playoffs six straight years beginning in 2002, including two finals appearances.

The Knicks have gone the past two seasons and in 2004, but have failed to register a series win during that time. They were swept by the Nets in 2004.

Over the last 10 seasons and the first 12 games of this season, the Nets have won 26 more games than the Knicks.

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California is slowly advancing toward its goal of building a $69 billion high-speed rail network connecting San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Despite an ongoing legal battle and some tremendous engineering challenges, construction is set to begin next summer.

Until the project is complete, American rail travelers will have to settle for Acela trains, which hit 150 mph.

While impressive compared to highway speeds, that's nothing next to what real high speed rail can do. Among the fastest in the world, these trains regularly top 200 mph and even crack above the 300 mph mark.

Travis Okulski contributed to this story.

11. Belgium's HSL-1 has been in service since 1997. The 186 mph top speed means it takes less than 90 minutes to get from Paris to Brussels.

Source: www.tiptoptens.com

10. With a top speed of 190 mph, the Italian ETR 500 goes from Milan to Bologna in an hour.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

9. The Eurostar connects London and Paris, traveling under the English Channel as fast as 199 mph.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

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A television set made by Apple—just the mention of it is enough to send an Apple fan into a drooling delirium.

Apple currently makes a box you connect to your existing TV. But people want the real thing, not a set-top box—and there are persistent reports that Apple may be working on one. If those are true, the current estimates are we'll see it available to consumers no sooner than November 2013.

That means there's no shortage of speculation about what it will look like and how it will work.

It's easy to picture the hardware, based on Apple's iPads and flat-screen iMacs. But what about the software?

Over at The Verge, a user named Knowledge has laid out his wishlist for the Apple TV by designing a hypothetical interface for it.

Obviously you have to have a good TV guide

"Subscriptions" would make it easy to find your favorite channels in a flash

It should be able to run a number of different apps

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Fast food menu items come and go, but only a select few develop a cult-like fan base.

Some have disappeared from the fast food world, leaving raging fans pleading with the companies to one day resurrect their beloved foods. Others strive on — either as limited-time offerings or permanent menu stalwarts.

We've compiled a bunch of menu items that have developed true cult followings.

KFC's Double Down

KFC originally promoted the Double Down in an April Fools press release, but the sandwich received such a positive response that the chain decided to leave the item on the menu.

Consisting of two thick slabs of bacon, two slices of cheese, and the Colonel's Sauce all sandwiched between two deep fried chicken breasts, KFC's Double Down is considered to be "so meaty, there's no room for a bun!" 

It's also considered to be one of the nation's most unhealthy sandwiches.  But popular demand in America and abroad have kept this 540-calorie menu item alive.

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte

It's practically a national holiday for Pumpkin Spice Latte lovers when Starbucks releases its fall drink menu each September. 

However, this year there was so much demand for the sweet treat that Starbucks ran out of latte making supplies and declared a "pumpkin emergency," much to the dismay of its loyal customers. 

In attempts to get their pumpkin and caffeine fix, some thirsty fans resorted to making homemade pumpkin spice lattes until Starbucks was able to avert the crisis.

Sonic's Cherry Limeade

Two whole limes go into Sonic's Cherry Limeade which is, perhaps, one of the reasons why this sweet beverage has been so successful. 

But fans also gush over the tiny ice pellets, which have a slushier quality than regular ice chips, and the Styrofoam cup, which is said to keep in the chill.

Still not convinced? You can always try one at half price everyday from 2 P.M. to 4 P.M. during Sonic's Happy Hour.

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A lovely villa in Santa Monica is on sale for $3.725 million.

The home has four bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms, and spans more than 5,000 square feet.

Perks include a media room, glass elevator, and security surveillance systems on the property.

Welcome to Berkeley Street in Santa Monica.

The home was built in 1973.

The dining room is on the second floor and has a great view.

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Last week, we visited Deutsch's massive LA office to talk about everything from Super Bowl— don't expect any dogs this year— to the company's digital endeavors.

But when I saw the awesome creative work that was displayed around the office, ranging from vintage Volkswagens to props from Dr. Pepper shoots, I couldn't help but take snap some pictures of Detusch LA's cool office space.

The shop even has a "Like" button that lights up whenever the agency's Facebook page gets Liked.

Welcome to Deutsch LA, the hot So-Cal shop that does creative work for Volkswagen, Dr. Pepper, and Playstation, to name a few.

Need a refresher?

Remember the Little Darth Vader VW Super Bowl spot?

Yeah, that's them.

Orange bicycles, which match the office's color scheme, are located throughout the workspace so employees can bike through Playa Vista to grab some lunch.

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Advertising doesn't have a reputation for being the most honest profession.

While most people know that banner ads from companies you've never heard of that promise to melt away "20 pounds in a week, no exercise required!" should be taken with a grain of salt, some huge and highly respected brands are also guilty of telling their consumers major lies to make sales.

You'd have to be pretty dumb to believe some of them. Skechers once claimed that by simply putting on a pair of their shoes you'd magically get buns of steel. Others  went so far as to cite fake studies to prove their false selling points.

Here are the 15 biggest offenders.

15. That Dr. Koch's Cure All cured all.

Starting in 1919, Dr William Frederick Koch created a medication with a drug that he claimed could cure "all human ills, including tuberculosis" and cancer.

But when doctors tested the drug in 1948, doctors found that glyoxylide, the drug in question, contained little more than distilled water. Koch treated cancer patients, many of whom died, primarily with the drug.

Although the FDA was vocal in their disgust with Koch, they couldn't find enough evidence to press charges. Koch ended up fleeing to Rio de Janeiro in the late '40s.

14. That Classmates.com will find your classmates.

Before there was Facebook, people were chomping at the bit to sign up for Classmates.com and contact their old high school friends and flames. The site eventually introduced a "Gold" membership, which allowed members to email their old friends.

Anthony Michaels was lured into the Gold membership after Classmates.com sent him an email saying that an old friend was trying to contact him. That turned out to be a marketing ploy, so Michaels filed a class action lawsuit for false advertising.

Classmates.com ended up paying $9.5 million — $3 per subscriber — in 2010.

13. That Airborne cures colds.

Airborne — marketed as "the one designed by a school teacher"— got failing grades when it became public that there were no studies supporting its claims to kill germs and bacteria that caused flues and colds.

"It was so bad," David Schardt, a senior nutritionist with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told NPR.

In fact, Airborne had as much effect on a cold as a placebo or a Vitamin C pill.

Airborne had to pay $23.3 million in a class-action lawsuit.

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While Charlie Brown and his creator, Charles Schulz, share a first name, the character was actually named after one of Schulz’s art school friends, not after himself. Despite this, the big-headed character shares a lot more with his creator than a name.

In honor of what would have been Charles Schulz’s 90th birthday, let’s celebrate the man and his creation by considering how similar Schulz was to good old Chuck.

This story first appeared on Charles Schulz’s 88th birthday. 

They Both Had Terrible Valentine’s Days

We all know that Charlie Brown never receives Valentines even though he gives them out to everyone else, but he isn’t the only one that Cupid seemed to laugh at. Schulz was skipped ahead two grades as a child and was always shy and awkward around the other students in his classes. For his first grade Valentine’s Day, his mother helped him make up Valentines for everyone in class so no one would be left out. Unlike Charlie, who was ignored by everyone else, Schulz excluded himself. He was too shy to put the box of Valentines at the front of the class, so he held on to them throughout the day—and later brought them back to his mother.

They Mutually Loved The Little Red-Haired Girl

If you’re mostly familiar with the animated Peanuts classics instead of the comic strips, then you probably don’t realize just how unobtainable the Little Red-Haired Girl actually is—she’s never actually shown in the entire comic strip series. Charlie Brown talks about her and on rare occasion he gathers the muster to talk to her out of the frame, but she is never once shown in the strip.

The Little Red-Haired Girl and Charlie Brown’s obsession with her was based on a real-life obsession Charles Schulz had for a young redhead named Donna Mae Johnson. The couple met while working together at Art Instruction, an art correspondence school. Before long they had been together for three years, but when Charles asked her to marry him, she refused, only to marry another man in October of the same year. While the two remained friends, it seems Schulz never completely recovered from his broken heart. He once said of the ordeal, “I can think of no more emotionally damaging loss than to be turned down by someone whom you love very much. A person who not only turns you down, but almost immediately will marry the victor. What a bitter blow that is.”

They Both Loved Their Dogs

It isn’t too surprising to hear that Schulz had a black and white dog during his childhood that later served as the inspiration for Snoopy. Interestingly, the dog wasn’t actually a beagle though, it was a pointer named Spike. Charles’ first published drawing was of little Spike and it was featured in the newspaper comics feature Believe it or Not.

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Millennials have a stronger-than-ever influence on the workplace.

They're starting more and more companies themselves, and expect their workplaces to be as digitally native as they are.  

These 10 companies know that, and are completely changing the way we work, start our businesses, hire staff, and collaborate in the 21st century. 

Fancy Hands gives every person access to an armada of assistants.

During an incredibly stressful work day, have you ever just wanted to be able to call someone and have them take care of a few of the things you feel like you'll never get to?

That's exactly what startup Fancy Hands does, the company provides an army of on-demand assistants who can do everything from research, to setting up meetings, to walking the dog because you're working late. It was inspired by founder Ted Rodin's own experience of attempting to juggle a book, a job, and a baby. 

37 Signals takes web collaboration way beyond shooting a document back and forth via email.

Web-based collaboration isn't something as simple as sharing a spreadsheet or document online. When more and more workers are scattered and working on a freelance basis, that just doesn't cut it. 

37 Signals helps fix that with web-based collaboration tools like Basecamp, that create a consistent, intuitive online environment where people, wherever they are, can talk and work together on a project instead of just sending it back and forth. The company helps level the field between freelancers, small businesses, and large enterprises with no setup fees, no termination fees, and no long contracts, which is incredibly important for smaller businesses. 

Box is making collaboration outside the office the standard instead of an exception.

With more than 14 million users across 140,000 companies, Box is starting to change the workplace by sheer ubiquity. Box makes it easier than ever for companies and workers to combine the information they already have with existing systems, and helps make collaboration outside the office easier than ever.

The company works to eliminate the big barriers of the past, big files moving slowly, having files stuck on a work computer, and worrying whether you have the latest version of a document. Mobile access and real-time updates keep workers informed and accountable even when they're on the road.

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A new global league table, produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit for Pearson, has found Finland to be the best education system in the world.

The rankings combined international test results and data such as graduation rates between 2006 and 2010, the BBC reports.

For Finland, this is no fluke. Since it implemented huge education reforms 40 years ago, the country's school system has consistently come at the top for the international rankings for education systems.

But how do they do it?

It's simple — by going against the evaluation-driven, centralized model that much of the Western world uses.

Finnish children don't start school until they are 7.

(Source: NYtimes)

They rarely take exams or do homework until they are well into their teens.

(Source: NYTimes)

The children are not measured at all for the first six years of their education.

(Source: NYTimes)

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With "The Dark Knight Rises" DVD out next week, we're going through the special features on the Blu-ray disc between this week and next.

So, we were in for a treat when the film's Facebook page unveiled 52 new never-before-shared photos from the film that you won't find with the movie.

While some of them are purely set pictures, a ton of them show a look behind the scenes with director Christopher Nolan. 

Nolan speaking with Gary Oldman.

Christian Bale doesn't seem too worried that the Bat's back has been broken.

More of Nolan in the prison cell.

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College is expensive, but if you choose carefully, it really pays off.

PayScale surveyed full-time U.S. employees with bachelors degrees to find out which colleges have the best returns on investment.

This year, Harvey Mudd College took the top spot, edging out Ivies such as Stanford, Harvard, and M.I.T.

And Colorado School of Mines made its first appearance on the list.

For the list, PayScale projected the average future income of each school's graduates. Then it compared the future income to the cost of the college's tuition.

Not surprisingly, technical schools and Ivies ranked pretty high. But small state school and small religious schools didn't fare so well.

This is part of our series on The Best Colleges In America.

#15 Columbia University

30-year net ROI: $845,100

Annual ROI: 9.4%

Total tuition cost: $217,100

Source: Payscale

#14 Colorado School of Mines

30-year net ROI: $851,700

Annual ROI: 11.9%

Total tuition cost: $99,460

Source: Payscale

#13 Cornell University

30-year net ROI: $857,500

Annual ROI: 9.6%

Total tuition cost:$209,600

Source: Payscale

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In a new report to clients, Credit Suisse's Andrew Garthwaite argues that growth stocks will outperform the market.

"Quality growth only tends to underperform if there is a sharp fall in junk bond yields (unlikely) or a sharp rise in economic indicators (we think only small rise is likely)," he writes.

Garthwaite and his team screened the market for the 29 best U.S. growth stocks based on analyst recommendations (they're all rated 'Outperform'), structural themes (e.g. industrial automation, energy efficiency), and the firm's HOLT model.

HOLT is the firm's proprietary valuation model that ranks stocks based on discounted cash flows.  The stocks on this list have a HOLT score based on "% Change to Best Price," which is defined as  "The percentage difference between the HOLT Default Forecast Warranted Value and the past week's closing share price. A high percentage upside improves the score."

The higher the percentage, the higher the growth potential for each selected stock.

We've collected Credit Suisse's 29 best stock picks for growth, starting with the lowest HOLT score.

Netsuite

Ticker: N

Sector: Business Software & Services

Forward P/E: 208.0

P/B: 33.8

HOLT: -91.1 percent

Netsuite offers cloud-based business management software in addition to industry-specific solutions for over 12,000 companies. In 2011, the company was named the Best Financial Management Software by the Software & Information Industry Association.

Source: Credit Suisse

Volcano

Ticker: VOLC

Sector: Medical Appliances & Equipment

Forward P/E: 62.6

P/B: 4.5

HOLT: -65.8 percent

Volcano Corp manufactures devices to aid in the facilitation of endovascular and cardiovascular procedures. The company combines imaging and therapy to provide optimal patient outcomes.

Source: Credit Suisse

Heartware

Ticker: HTWR

Sector: Medical Instruments & Supplies

Forward P/E: -32.1

P/B: 9.4

HOLT: -63.5 percent

Heartware is a global medical device company that specializes in heart therapies. Over 2,500 patients with advanced stage heart failure have used the company's Ventricular Assist System.

Source: Credit Suisse

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The Bush family is, without a doubt, both polarizing and prominent. With the exception of the Kennedys, the Bushes have the distinction of being America’s foremost political dynasty.

Bushes have served in the executive and legislative branches of our government, and the family provided a pair of Presidents – the 41st and 43rd.

Because of George W. Bush’s close ties to Texas and connections with the oil industry, the Bush family is often perceived as a bunch of oil tycoons.

In reality, however, the oil industry is just one of many which the Bush family displayed their financial expertise. The family tradition, which continues to this day, was founded upon the pursuit of riches through investment banking and wartime business ventures.

This is why the family has had a hand in businesses from Halliburton to Merrill Lynch, and also has a history of owning major league sports teams.

Samuel P. Bush, one of the two patriarchs of the dynasty, had extensive experience as a banking executive.

Samuel served on the Board of Directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and helped found the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. During WWI, he served as Chief of the Ordnance, Small Arms and Ammunition division on the War Industries Board, where wartime business ventures coupled with his connections to the Rockefeller family laid the foundation for the family's fortune.

Source: A Hoover Vignette

George Herbert Walker, the other patriarch, founded the investment bank G.H. Walker & Co. in 1900.

This was the first of Walker's forays into finance. The firm, located on 1 Wall Street, employed various members of the Bush family until it became a part of Merrill Lynch in 1978.

Source: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush

Walker became President of the investment firm W.A. Harriman & Co. in 1920.

The company's owner, Averell Harriman, is seen pictured with President Lyndon B. Johnson. At the firm, Walker used his network of international banking contacts to develop profitable investment opportunities, especially in Germany and Russia.

Source: Britannica

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Tory Burch and her ex-husband, Chris, have been fighting a legal battle that's the talk of the fashion industry. 

Her people say that his new line, C. Wonder, shamelessly copies her eponymous one. Meanwhile, his supporters say that Chris, a retail veteran who invested $2 million in Tory Burch, is the real mastermind behind the success of the brand. 

Tory Burch's company sent us photos from the countersuit against Chris, which show how aesthetically similar his boutiques are to hers. 

We explored both companies' websites and found that many of the products look nearly identical. But C. Wonder's products are much cheaper, meaning that it is essentially selling the same things for less. 

Decide for yourself whether the similarities are the result of preppy inspiration or blatant copying. 

Here's the bright door to a Tory Burch boutique.

This is the door to the C. Wonder boutique.

The inside of Tory Burch's boutique includes bright colors, patterned rugs and built-in shelves.

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Earlier this year we met Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who was just beginning to spend $350 million of his own money to transform Las Vegas. 

He invited us to spend a few days in Downtown Vegas, and we were impressed with what we saw. During our time there, small businesses opened their doors (including clothing store Coterie), and entrepreneurs moved into the Ogden (including the founders of Tech Cocktail), where Hsieh lives and rents out 60 rooms for visitors, startups, and Zappos and Downtown Project employees. 

We visited again this month, and there have already been some big changes. For example, The Beat Coffeehouse, where startups and others go to co-work, was bustling; a new venue, Commonwealth opened across the street (not Hsieh's investment but proof the area is starting to build up); and the Las Vegas Tech Fund had added several companies to its incubator.

Hsieh offered to share with us his latest PowerPoint presentation, where he lays out his big plans for Vegas (it's an updated version of this one he gave in New York City earlier this year).

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At Business Insider's IGNITION conference today, CEO and Editor-in-Chief Henry Blodget discussed the future of digital. 

The team from BI Intelligence put together a great deck covering the future of media, mobile, and apps.

Here are some key takeaways from Blodget's presentation:

• There are more than 2 billion people online.
• Future smartphone buyers will be older and poorer.
• 1/7th of the world's population now use Facebook.
• Mobile is still a tiny fraction of digital ad spending.
• Apple is dominating app revenue. 
• App store downloadsm are on track to hit 60 billion by mid-2013.
• Freemium is the dominant model.
• The future of media is digital and mobile, but it's not mobile-only. 
• We're evolving toward a four-screen world.

BI Intelligence is a new research and analysis service focused on mobile computing and the Internet. Subscribers can download the entire deck as a PDF or PowerPoint, as well as any of the individual charts from the presentation. Please sign up for a free trial here.

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If a superhero is a person with unusual powers who fights evil, then a Yellowstone is a supercomputer that should wear a cape. Its mission is nothing less than saving the world from climate change.

Yellowstone is a brand-new IBM supercomputer. It's the star of a new, 153,000-sq. ft. data center built by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). 

The NCAR is a United States government laboratory filled with weather and climate scientists looking for better ways to predict things like earthquakes and hurricanes and to monitor pollution and climate change.

As of November, Yellowstone is the 13th fastest supercomputer in the world, according to Top500, which ranks the 500 fastest computers. In geekspeak, it operates at 1.5 petaflops, or a quadrillion and a half mathematical operations per second; it has 4,000 nodes, or individual computers, and 70,000 cores, or processors. To put that in perspective, the newest MacBook Pro would be one node with 12 cores.

While most brand-new, $20 million data centers are locked up tight and do not allow visitors, NCAR welcomes them. It's owned by the American people, after all, and its mission is science and education.

Aaron Andersen, deputy director of operations for the Yellowstone project, recently took Business Insider on a VIP tour.

We got to see Yellowstone and the beautiful, new, super green facility up close.

The building is so huge, it wouldn't fit in the frame of our camera. It's so new, they haven't finished the landscaping yet.

Visitors are greeted by a giant cowboy-boot sculpture. It was a gift from the state, the University of Wyoming, and local businesses which chipped in to pay for the new facility.

Everything about this place is oversized, even the two-story foyer.

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