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DEUTSCHE BANK: These Are The 50 Best Stocks To Buy Right Now

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bull fighting

Deutsche Bank's David Bianco thinks stocks go higher from here as long as a few conditions are met.

"The S&P should climb to 2000 or higher by yearend if confidence remains solid in at least low single-digit EPS growth next year," Bianco wrote on Sunday.

His forecast for 4.5% year-over-year earnings growth in 2015 assumes oil at around $85 per barrell and the Euro falling to $1.20 by the end of 2015.

Bianco's research note included a list of 50 large-cap stocks to buy now. They're all rated Buy by Deutsche bank's analysts. They all have PE ratios below 22, expected earnings growth rates above 3%, and market caps above $10 billion.

Dollar General Corp

Ticker: DG

Industry: Consumer Discretionary

Price Target: $73

2015 P/E: 17.9

2015 EPS Growth: 9%

Comment"As we enter the third quarter, we are seeing our sales momentum pick back up and expect that momentum to build as our initiatives gain traction with our customers," said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, in the company's second quarter earnings statement.

Source: Deutsche Bank



Dollar Tree Inc

Ticker: DLTR

Industry: Consumer Discretionary

Price Target: $60

2015 P/E: 19.1

2015 EPS Growth: 13%

Comment: "In challenging macro environments, consumers are increasingly relying on Dollar Tree to be part of the solution in managing their family's budget," said Chief Executive Officer Bob Sasser in Dollar Tree's second quarter earnings statement.

Source: Deutsche Bank



Macy's Inc

Ticker: M

Industry: Consumer Discretionary

Price Target: $64

2015 P/E: 13.2

2015 EPS Growth: 10%

Comment: "We were particularly pleased with the continued strength in the center core categories, especially handbags, the good performance of our back-to-school businesses, including junior, Impulse, Active and kids and the rebound in our Furniture and Mattress business after a tough first quarter," said Karen Hoguet, Macy's Chief Financial Officer, on the second quarter earnings call.

Source: Deutsche Bank

 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A Complete Look At Google's Biggest Android Update Yet (GOOG)

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Android Lollipop

Google is preparing to unleash its biggest Android update yet — Android 5.0 Lollipop.

With its newest version of Android, Google has revamped the entire user interface in addition to adding some under the hood improvements.

As per usual, Google's line of Nexus smartphones and tablets will be the first to get the update.

Google also says Lollipop is designed to work seamlessly across all types of screen sizes, ranging from smartphones, to tablets, watches, and even televisions.

Here's a quick tour of what to expect when Android Lollipop rolls out over the next few months. 

Here's what the home screen in Android L looks like. Notice how the navigational buttons at the bottom now consist of simple shapes.



Google has also added another folder called "Create" with its productivity apps, in addition to the standard "Google" app folder.



You can really see the influence of Material Design in the app drawer. Notice how app icons look as if they were drawn on paper.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

HOUSE OF THE DAY: Bruce Willis Has Bought A New York Countryside Getaway For $9 Million

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Bruce Willis Bedford Home

Bruce Willis and his wife Emma Heming just bought up 14 acres of prime New York countryside real estate, according to real estate website Trulia.

Located just one hour outside of the city, their new getaway home sits on Bedford’s highest points and provides breathtaking 180-degree views of the valley and reservoir below. 

The 8,000-square-foot home has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a swimming pool with a heated cabana, and a tennis court.

Talk about country elegance. 

Plus, Willis and his wife will have plenty of star company. Their new neighbors are Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Doguals, Martha Stewart, and Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, Trulia reports.  

Welcome to Croton Lake Road, in Bedford New York. The massive home sits on a 14-acre property.



The gorgeous shingle-styled home blends classic and rustic elements.



The interior living space of the house has been meticulously crafted.



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Striking Photographs Show The Accidental Beauty Of Brooklyn's Toxic Gowanus Canal

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gowanus pollution

The Gowanus Canal  the 2-mile waterway that connects the factories and industries of inner Brooklyn to the New York Harbor and the rest of the world — is widely considered to be one of the most polluted areas in the world. 

Photographer and artist Steven Hirsch set out to capture the pollution, but along the way, he found unexpected beauty in the area as well.

Hirsch's photographs of the canal depict the multitude of contaminates and chemicals floating on the slimy surface. It certainly doesn't look like clear, clean water, but those unsettling characteristics also create odd and sometimes striking geometric shapes, swirls, and a variety of psychedelic colors, likened by many to abstract painting. 

"“I would sit there on the side of the canal, and what looked like a giant painting by Monet would be there in front of me, hovering on the surface of the water," Hirsch says. 

The photographs will be on display at the Lilac Gallery in New York City starting on November 12. Hirsch shared a selection of the images here. More of his work can be seen on his website.

When the area we now know as New York City was first being settled and developed in the 1600s, the Gowanus Canal was a tidal inlet full of plant life and vegetation. As early as the first part of the 1700s, however, the waterway developed into a high-traffic shipping channel and its shores became a popular site for industry, like mills, factories, tanneries, and warehouses.



With its long history of industrial and commercial use, the Gowanus Canal has a tradition of pollution. Today, its waters are widely considered to be some of the most contaminated in the world.



According to the EPA, "as a result of years of discharges, storm water runoff, sewer outflows and industrial pollutants," the area was named a Superfund site in 2010.

Source



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Take A Tour Of Norway's Unbelievably Luxurious Prison

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Halden prison

Norway's prison system is known as one of the most humane in the entire world.

It may also be one of the most radical. 

"This is prison utopia,"American prison warden James Conway said in "The Norden," a made-for-TV documentary. "I don't think you can go any more liberal — other than giving the inmates the keys." The production explored Conway's experience visting Halden.

Click here to see the surprising accommodations »

The 75-acre facility tries to maintain as much normalcy as possible, an important concept in the Norwegian prison system, Jan Stromnes, deputy head of the prison, said in the documentary. That means no bars on the windows, fully equipped kitchens, and friendships between guards and inmates. 

"Every inmates in Norwegian prison are going back to the society,"Are Hoidel, Halden's director, said in another production by Gughi Fassino and Emanuela Zuccalà. "Do you want people who are angry — or people who are rehabilitated?"

Like many prisons, Halden seeks to prepare inmates for life on the outside with vocational programs: wood-working, assembly workshops, and even a recording studio.

Norway hasn't imposed the death penalty since 1979. Life sentences don't exist, putting the focus on rehabilitation instead of punishment.

The Scandinavian country has an incarceration rate of 70 per 100,000, totaling 3,571 inmates for the entire country. The US' rate is more than 10 times Norway's — 707 per 100,000, or 2,228,424 people behind bars.

At Halden, it's sometimes hard to tell the inmates and guards apart.

Source: "Welcome to Halden Prison"



Uniforms aren't required.

Source: "Welcome to Halden Prison"



And the guards and prisoners are friendly with each other.

Source: "Welcome to Halden Prison"



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Check Out These Mesmerizing Photos Of Ceramic Poppies Spilling Out From The Tower Of London

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Poppies

London's famous tower is awash in a sea of red poppies to commemorate the day Britain entered World War I.  

This summer, 888,246 ceramic poppies were poured into the Tower of London moat; each flower representing a British military fatality during the conflict. 

Now, the installation, created by artist Paul Cummins and called "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red," is drawing more attention than ever as Armistice Day, which marks the day an armistice was signed between WWI allies and Germany,  approaches on Nov. 11. 

These photos capture a "powerful visual" reflection of WWI, with sweeping shots from above, and visits from the Queen and war veterans. 

A Yeoman Warder walks amid rain through hundreds of thousands of poppies.



They surround the historic Tower of London —"Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress."



The Queen visits the poppies with husband Prince Philip.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

10 Cool Tech Companies To Work For In New York City

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Birchbox, April 2012, bi, dngSilicon Valley may be known as the core of America's startup scene, but Silicon Alley can certainly hold its own. New York City is home to more than its fair share of cool startups and small businesses.

That's why Hired.com, which specializes in recruiting startup and tech talent, recently measured which New York-based companies are most intriguing to job seekers.

By looking at companies on its site with the highest number of interview requests and first-round interviews, it compiled a list of some of the hottest places to work in the Big Apple. While it's not a definitive list, several companies stood out to Hired users.

Here are 10 of the coolest NYC startups to work for. 

Levo League

Levo League provides networking tools for professional women. The site allows women to search for jobs, connect with other women, and receive professional advice. 

Levo League hosts weekly "Office Hours" where successful visitors, including Sheryl Sandberg and Warren Buffett, share career advice. The Levo offices are also home to the company's mascot, a dog named Bauer. 



Handshake

Handshake helps sales teams write and process orders more quickly. Users can take and manage orders through the application, as well as instantly send them back to the office from a conference or trade show. 

The Handshake office is sleek and modern, with both foosball and pool tables. 



GrubHub

GrubHub is a food-delivery service that allows users to browse menus and order online. Although the two operate on independent sites, GrubHub has run parallel to Seamless, another delivery service, since the companies combined in 2013.

GrubHub employees report that the office environment and dress code are fairly laid-back — and there's plenty of free food, of course. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

New York City Keeps The Subway Running By Fixing It Before It Breaks

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nyc mta train subway maintenance

The New York subway system is celebrating its 110th birthday this month.

When you get right down to it, everyone basically loves the subway. It has moved millions for more than a century.

But celebrations aside, when it comes to New York's subway system, New Yorkers — being New Yorkers — have often had plenty to gripe about.

For example, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) closed a major tunnel for more than a year to make repairs after Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012.

But problems like that obscure the fact that most of the time the trains run just fine.

It wasn't always this way. In 1984, trains averaged just 9,000 miles traveled between mechanical failures.

That's about when the MTA began putting real work into keeping trains running. Now, the MTA's Scheduled Maintenance System has the agency fixing aging components before they fail, improving that number to 160,000 miles.

That's thanks to the NYC Transit employees who work at facilities in Coney Island, repairing, replacing, and rebuilding the key components that keep the 40-ton subway cars in working order.

[An earlier version of this article was written by Alex Davies.]

On average, subway cars travel 60,000 miles each year.



Over their lifetime, that comes out to 2.4 million miles.



That means the cars have to run for 40 years. (So if you think a car looks as if it was built in the 1970s, you may be right.)



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The 10 Worst American Airports For Flight Delays

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airport delay waiting

A word of advice for anyone who dreads being stuck in the purgatory of an airport terminal, gazing wistfully at the departures screen: avoid Chicago.

We analyzed data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics for 29 major U.S. airports to highlight which have experienced the least and most delayed departures over a 12-month period (July 2013 to June 2014). And both of the Windy City’s major hubs are among the worst offenders.

At Chicago’s Midway International Airport, one in three planes left behind schedule, earning it the title of tardiest airport—for a second year in a row. Nearby O’Hare International Airport landed at No. 4, with more than a quarter of its flights running late.

Go straight to the airports >

Airports, admittedly, are largely at the mercy of air traffic control and weather when it comes to delays, says aviation consultant Mike Boyd. “The airport itself has really no control whatsoever on reducing delays,” Boyd says. “They care, but they can’t do anything.”

Nor can you always control which airports you fly through. Yet you can plan your travel in a way that lessens your chance of sitting at the gate. For each airport, we identified the time of day to depart. Hint: the times to avoid are often in the afternoon and evening, thanks to the domino effect of cascading delays. “An earlier flight always makes more sense than a later flight,” Boyd says. “But that’s still not a guarantee.”

To find out your odds, see where San Francisco, Dulles, Orlando, and other major hubs rank among the best and worst airports for avoiding delays.

Read more on Travel + Leisure:

10. San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

Flights Delayed: 22.1%

Though ranked second-worst for delays just two years ago, this year the gateway to the Golden Gate scored only a few percentage points lower than the 10th-best airport. Unlike all other destinations on this year’s list, SFO’s delays peak around lunchtime and actually improve as the day goes on.

Best Time Window: Before 10 a.m.

Worst Time Window: Noon–3 p.m.



8. (Tie) Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)

Flights Delayed: 22.3%

If your flight from this outlying D.C. airport is delayed, chances are good you won’t just be late: you’ll be really late. Dulles has posted delays as much as 28 percent longer than the national average. In September 2013, for instance, typical setbacks lasted about 70 minutes.

Best Time Window: Before 11 a.m.

Worst Time Window: 6–7 p.m.; 8–9 p.m.



8. (Tie) Orlando International Airport (MCO)

Flights Delayed: 22.3%

Thought theme-park lines were enough to sour a fairy-tale vacation? Try leaving Orlando at dinnertime or later. At least a quarter of flights departing this Central Florida hub run late throughout the evening. But MCO isn’t all wicked: on-time percentages stay above 90 nearly all morning. And the airport’s giant aquarium and King Kong video arcade will help you pass any added wait time.

Best Time Window: Before 1 p.m.

Worst Time Window: 10–11 p.m.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

FORGET GOLD: Here Are 11 Odd Items People Use To Store Their Wealth

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rare honus wagner baseball card

"Gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head."

That's what Warren Buffett said back in 1998.

Gold has long been considered a safe-haven investment. However, the price of gold has performed dismally in recent years.

For those who don't trust the conventional financial markets, there are alternative more unorthodox ways to put away wealth.

We put together a list of some odd assets that have performed relatively well.

But be warned. These assets are very illiquid, and there's no guarantee that their values won't plunge as gold has before them.

Stamps

At a 2010 auction, bond guru Bill Gross said rare stamps were "better than the stock market." Gross has reportedly spent up to $100 million investing in stamps.

It is a lucrative hobby: The GB30 Rarities Index, which tracks the performance of the collectibles market, rose 74% in the six years following the Great Recession as financial markets tumbled. 

Sources: MarketWatch, Stanley Gibbons Investment, Paul Fraser Collectibles



Guns and Ammo

The ability of guns and ammunition to store value makes them an appealing investment option. According to ammo.net, the price of Remington .223 rounds rose 224% from 1999 to 2011 — well above the rate of inflation. Gun sales spiked after President Barack Obama's two election victories, in anticipation of more stringent gun-control laws.

Aaron Clarey, an economist and author, notes: "While an arsenal of 600 guns is an impossible number of guns to even move, let alone use, having 'some' guns not only serves as a safety measure, but also an investment ... Ammo, is very much like coin or currency. Holds value, has intrinsic value, will have value today and certain in a SHTF scenario." 

Source: Captain Capitalism 



Chinese Ceramics

China is a leading producer of ceramic art. The Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index forecasts a 45% increase in their value over the next five years.

"As China was the world's premier producer of Ceramic Art for most of the past thousand years, people are mainly interested in pieces from that glorious period ending about 100 years ago,"notes Richard Mills, chief curator at Chalre Associates. In April, a Ming dynasty porcelain cup with a painting of a rooster sold for $36 million in an auction. It was one of only 19 known to exist.

Sources: Charle Associates, Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The 30 Most Influential LGBT People In Tech

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two people gay lgbt

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday publicly acknowledged he is gay, but his sexual orientation has long been known in the tech community and beyond.

In fact, Business Insider named Cook as one of the most important LGBT people in tech back in December 2013.

In light of Cook's coming-out, we are re-running our list of the most important LGBT people in tech. (We've also decided against ranking this list.)

As Business Insider's Jim Edwards has noted, it's unfortunate that some famous, successful gay people like Cook might feel pressured to talk about their personal lives while straight CEOs can maintain their privacy.

Still, it takes courage to give up that privacy in order to inspire others to be more open or insist on equality for gays.

Cathy Brooks

Cathy Brooks, a lesbian activist, previously worked at Seesmic and founded a digital marketing firm. She also hosts a podcast about tech/society. But Brooks dropped her career to pursue her passion for dogs back in February 2013. She opened up a private dog park and training academy for dogs in Las Vegas and founded The Hydrant Club, a place for cool canines to "romp and learn."



Lisa Brummel

Lisa Brummel has been with Microsoft ever since she graduated from college in 1989. Brummel has held a variety of positions at the tech giant, but has since become the executive vice president of human resources. Brummel is the one who informed employees that Microsoft would axe its controversial stack-ranking system — a system that hurt morale by turning teammates into competitors. 



Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook is the most powerful gay man in technology. Even before he came out publicly on Thursday, Cook spoke out about gay rights and discrimination. 

"Now is the time to write these basic principles of human dignity into the book of law,"Cook said in his acceptance speech for a lifetime achievement award from Auburn University.

Last year, Cook wrote an open letter in The Wall Street Journal encouraging Congress to pass a law that would provide equal rights to gay and lesbian employees. 

Since taking charge of Apple in 2011, Cook has led Apple through significant product upgrades like the iPhone 5S, iPad Air, and iOS 7. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

America's 12 Scariest Real-Life Haunted Houses

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Akron Ohio the childhood bedroom of one of the most notorious serial killers in American history, Robert Berdella also known as the Butcher of Kansas CityForget about those hokey attractions at amusement parks. There are real haunted houses spread across America. 

We're talking about the true-blue, creepy-as-can-be haunted houses.

The houses where local residents claim they hear voices and where serial killers dumped their victims. The places that carry legends of entire families vanishing into thin air and serve as a backdrop for murders and suicides.

Photographer Seph Lawless braved these stories and dilapidated buildings for his new photo book "13: An American Horror Story" to show us just how creepy these places really are. 

Benjamin Albright accidentally shot and killed his son in 1958 in this house in Youngstown, Ohio. He was so wracked with guilt after the incident that he then killed himself and his wife soon after. The home, called the The Nova House, has stood abandoned ever since with some of Albright's original belongings still inside.



The local sheriff, Donald Caters, shot himself in 1968 after his Buffalo, New York home went into foreclosure. The vacant house has been rumored to now be haunted. Locals claim they hear voices coming from it regularly.



A former Texas bed and breakfast called the Hooley Mansion was turned into a haunted house after it became the site of a few unexplained deaths in the 1970s.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Here's The Maserati That Will Help The Brand Bust Out In The US

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maserati ghibli

The sporty Maserati Ghibli isn't your everyday automobile. The top of the line version will go from 0 to 62 mph in 5 seconds, hit a top speed of 176 mph, and is filled with fancy leather.

But the most remarkable thing about the car is the base price: $65,600.

That makes it the least expensive Maserati by about $40,000, and marks the luxury brand's entrance into a segment dominated by cars like the Audi A7, Porsche Panamera, Mercedes-Benz CLS, and BMW 6-Series.

Maserati's sales jumped 75% from 2012 to 2013, according to Forbes, and the Ghibli is part of the plan to keep that growth going.

For those interested in what Maserati offers for that "affordable" price, here's a look at the Ghibli.

[An earlier version of this post was written by Alex Davies.]

The Ghibli made its American debut at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show.



It's smaller, shorter, and lighter than Maserati's other four-door sedan, the flagship Quattroporte.



The four door sedan has a "coupe-like" appearance, Maserati says. That gives it a sportier look.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

How ISIS Became One Of The World's Most Dangerous Terrorist Groups

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Iraq ISIS Fighters

When the US withdrew its last troops from Iraq in 2011, Al Qaeda in Iraq had been defeated and one of the Middle East's most troubled countries had the chance to carve out a normal existence for itself.

Three years later it had all fallen apart.

Al Qaeda in Iraq turned into ISIS, seized Iraq's second-largest city, took over large sections of Iraq and neighboring Syria, and triggered a full-on regional crisis. 

Between the divisively sectarian policies of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the chaos in neighboring Syria, al-Qaeda in Iraq quickly went from a broken organization operating at the fringes of society to a major military threat.

To make sense of the meteoric rise of ISIS, Frontline, PBS's award-winning news documentary series, produced an in-depth look at the group's ascendancy. Here's what they found about the rise of a jihadist group that has become one of the most consequential players in the Middle East.

The rise of ISIS in Iraq would not have been possible without the sectarian policies of former Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, a Shi'ite who used strong-armed tactics to rule a highly diverse country.



As soon as the US completed the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, Maliki attempted to arrest his Sunni Vice President, Tariq al-Hashimi. Hashimi's security guards were reportedly tortured until they confessed to charges of terrorism on video.



Hashimi fled Iraq, where he was convicted in absentia and sentenced to death. Meanwhile, Maliki continued to arrest thousands of Sunnis on dubious charges. Shia militias also carried out extrajudicial executions of Sunnis throughout Baghdad.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Check Out These Award-Winning Images Of Things You Can't Normally See

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Nikon just announced the winning images featured in its 40th annual Small World Photomicrography contest.

These images showcase the minute structures, cells, and living creatures we might come across in our daily lives but never notice. When magnified, however, these tiny things are revealed in all their breathtaking beauty.

The contest is an annual competition that features the work of scientists and photographers from around the world.

First-time first-place winner Rogelio Moreno of Panama won for his image of a miniscule freshwater creature known as the rotifer. Moreno captured the tiny critter with its mouth open — a chance event.

"When you see that movement, you fall in love. I thought, 'Wow, that is amazing. I can't believe what I'm seeing. This is something very, very beautiful,'" Moreno said in a press release. "I hope now it can inspire others as much as it has inspired me – to learn about science, to look closely and notice something truly amazing."

In addition to the top 20 award winners, we've included a selection of honorable mentions and images of distinction.

First-place winner Rogelio Moreno of Panama captured this image of a tiny heart-shaped freshwater creature known as a rotifer as it opens its mouth to sweep food inside. The name rotifer comes from a Latin word meaning ‘wheel-bearer’ — when in motion, their open mouths resemble a spinning wheel (even though they are not in fact spinning). It has been magnified 40 times.



Charles Krebs took this shot of a colorful jewel beetle carapace near the eye, magnified 45 times.



Noah Fram-Schwartz, an American from Greenwich, Conn. captured this shot of a pair of creepy-looking jumping spider eyes, magnified 20 times. Jumping spiders are known to have some of the highest-quality vision among arthropods. Awesome, yet terrifying.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Inside A Tiny 86-Square-Foot Paris Apartment With A Bed In The Cupboard

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Micro Living In Paris "Maid rooms" in Paris are usually located on the top level of Haussmann-period buildings and are characterized by their tiny size and lack of aesthetic or function, according to Kitoko Studio

They are so small that no one wants to live in them and most have been abandoned or have become mere storage spaces.

But due to extremely pricey rents in France's capital, one design studio decided to rethink the entire concept of these forgotten rooms.

Kitoko Studio designed a room based on the “concept of a Swiss army knife,” and somehow managed to squeeze all of the amenities of a full apartment into this tiny 86-square-foot space.

Micro Living In Paris All of the features of the apartment are hidden behind floral painted cupboards. The room has a staircase that pulls out of the lower cupboard and leads up to a compartment containing a single bed.

That compartment can then be completely closed with sliding doors, so that you can close out any unwanted daylight. Cue dramatic "goodbye, cruel world" sigh here.

Micro Living In Paris The wardrobe is located in the cabinet next to the bookcase, and can be pulled out when needed. Just don't throw clothes everywhere as you try to find the perfect outfit because there is virtually nowhere to put them. 

Micro Living In Paris There is even a small dining room table that slides out from underneath the bed compartment. Two stools are stored underneath the table and can be easily removed for use.

The room also has a tiny kitchenette with a sink. 

Micro Living In Paris Yet another cabinet has a bookshelf and a boiler for hot water. The designer even managed to fit a full bathroom with a shower into the 86-square-foot space; a luxury that many small studios don't even have. 

Micro Living In Paris Though this apartment is a great idea in theory, whoever lives here would have to be extremely organized to pull it off. 

Micro Living in Paris Watch the full video to see exactly how the space is used. For more information about the design, check out Kitoko Studio's website here.  

Tiny apartment in Paris (8sqm only) from Kitoko Studio on Vimeo.

SEE ALSO:  I Spent 3 Days In A 'Tiny House' With My Mom To See What Micro-Living Is All About

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13 Things You Never Knew About Halloween

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halloweenHalloween is the spookiest night of the year, when spirits wander the earth freely and children wander the neighborhood seeking candy and causing havoc.

But how much do you really know about Halloween?

We rounded up 13 of the best facts about Halloween, from its history to bizarre laws targeting mischief makers. You might be surprised at what you find.

1. There's a $1,000 fine for using or selling Silly String in Hollywood on Halloween.

The prank product has been banned in Hollywood since 2004 after thousands of bored people would buy it on the streets of Hollywood from illegal vendors and "vandalize" the streets. The city ordinance calls for a maximum $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail for "use, possession, sale or distribution of Silly String in Hollywood from 12:01 AM on October 31 to 12:00 PM on November 1."

2. Dressing up on Halloween comes from the Celts.

Celts believed Samhain was a time when the wall between our world and the paranormal world was porous and spirits could get through. Because of this belief, it was common for the Celts to wear costumes and masks during the festival to ward off or befuddle any evil spirits.

3. The moniker "Halloween" comes from the Catholics.

Hallowmas is a three-day Catholic holiday where saints are honored and people pray for the recently deceased. At the start of the 11th century, it was decreed by the pope that it would last from Oct. 31 (All Hallow's Eve) until Nov. 2, most likely because that was when Samhain was celebrated and the church was trying to convert the pagans.

"All Hallow's Eve" then evolved into "All Hallow's Even," and by the 18th century it was commonly referred to as "Hallowe'en."

4. We should carve turnips, not pumpkins.

The origin of Jack-O-Lanterns comes from a Celtic folk tale of a stingy farmer named Jack who would constantly play tricks on the devil. The devil responded by forcing him to wander purgatory with only a burning lump of coal from hell. Jack took the coal and made a lantern from a turnip, using it to guide his lost soul.

Carved Turnips

The myth was brought over by Irish families fleeing the potato famine in the 1800s, and since turnips were hard to come by in the US, America's pumpkins were used as a substitute to guide lost souls and keep evil spirits like "Jack of the Lantern" away.

5. Halloween symbols aren't random.

Black cats, spiders, and bats are all Halloween symbols because of their spooky history and ties to Wiccans. All three were thought to be the familiars of witches in the middle ages, and are often associated with bad luck.

Bats are even further connected to Halloween by the ancient Samhain ritual of building a bonfire, which drove away insects and attracted bats.

6. Fears of poisoned Halloween candy are unfounded.

One of parents' biggest fears is that their child's Halloween candy is poisoned or contains razor blades.

In reality, this fear is almost entirely unfounded. There are only two known cases of poisoning, and both involved relatives, according to LiveScience. In 1970, a boy died of a heroin overdose. The investigators found it on his candy, but in a twist they later discovered the boy had accidentally consumed some of his uncle's heroin stash, and the family had sprinkled some on the candy to cover up the incident.

Even more horrifically, in 1974 Timothy O'Bryan died after eating a Pixy Stix his father had laced with cyanide to collect on the insurance money, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

And now, parents in Colorado are worried about their children eating candy infused with marijuana. We'll have to wait to see how widespread this problem turns out to be.

7. Halloween and the candy industry supposedly influenced Daylight Savings Time.

Candy makers supposedly lobbied to extend daylight savings time into the beginning of November to get an extra hour of daylight so children could collect even more candy (thus forcing people to purchase more sweets to meet the demand).

halloween candy

They wanted it so badly that during the 1985 hearings on daylight saving time, they put candy pumpkins on the seat of committee members, according to NPR. (The candy industry disputes this account, according to The New York Times.)

8. Candy Corn was originally known as "chicken feed."

Invented by George Renninger, a candy maker at the Wunderle Candy Company of Philadelphia in the 1880s, Candy Corn was originally called "butter cream candies" and "chicken feed" since back then, corn was commonly used as food for livestock (they even had a rooster on the candy boxes).

It had no association with Halloween or fall, and was sold seasonally from March to November. After World War II, advertisers began marketing it as a special Halloween treat due to its colors and ties to the fall harvest.

9. A full moon on Halloween is extremely rare.

Though a common trope in horror movies and Halloween decorations with witches flying across the full moon, it's actually extremely uncommon for the monthly event to coincide with October 31, or any other date, for that matter.

The next full moon on Halloween won't occur until 2020The most recent Halloween full moon was back in 2001, and before that it was in 1955.

10. Halloween is still the Wiccan New Year.

Halloween originates from a Celtic tradition called Samhain, a festival that marked the end of the Celtic calendar year in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They believed it was a time that spirits or fairies could enter our world, and the Celts would put out treats and food to placate the spirits — sometimes, a place at the table was even set for the souls of the dead.

Wiccans still celebrate Samhain as a New Year celebration today.

11. Trick-or-treating has been around for a long time.

Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Versions of trick-or-treating have existed since medieval times. In the past, it was known as "guising" where children and poor adults went around in costumes during Hallowmas begging for food and money in exchange for songs or prayers. It was also called "souling."

12. Trick-or-treating as we know it was re-popularized by cartoons.

Trick-or-treating was brought to America by the Irish and became popular during the early 20th century, but died out during WWII when sugar was rationed. After the rationing ended in 1947, children's magazine "Jack and Jill," radio program "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," and the "Peanuts" comic strip all helped to re-popularize the tradition of dressing up in costumes and asking for candy from door-to-door.

By 1952, trick-or-treating was hugely popular again.

13. Halloween is the second-most commercial American holiday of the year.

The candy industry in America rakes in an average of $2 billion annually thanks to Halloween (that's 90 million pounds of chocolate).

Americans spend an estimated $6 billion on Halloween annually, including candy, costumes, and decorations, according to History.com. (The most commercial holiday in the US is obviously Christmas.)

SEE ALSO: The 18 Most Cliché Halloween Costumes Of 2014

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Look What Happened To LinkedIn's First Employees

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reid hoffman

No matter how you look at it, LinkedIn is one of the stand-out Valley success stories.

It has forever changed how we find jobs and network with business colleagues. Jeff Weiner is ranked as the best CEO in the nation, according one rating service, and cofounder Reid Hoffman is a Valley A-lister, worth almost $4 billion.

But it wasn't always like this. LinkedIn was founded in December 2002, with a couple handfuls of people. And a few months after it launched on May 5, 2013, it was in danger of being a bomb.

People weren't joining the service, until Hoffman "sat down with the team and said, if we don't solve this, we're dead." They came up with one idea: let people upload their email address books to see which of their friends had joined.

Thankfully that worked, the site went viral, and today it's a $25 billion company with 313 million members in over 200 countries, and an employer of 5,700.

Lee Hower: From PayPal to venture capitalist

Lee Hower was part of LinkedIn's founding team in 2002. Today he's a venture capitalist at a firm he cofounded, NextView Ventures, which specializes in seed rounds.

LinkedIn wasn't the first wildly successful tech companies he joined early. He was also an early employee of PayPal in product and business development roles, staying through the 2002 IPO and sale to eBay.

He left PayPal to join LinkedIn as head of corporate development, staying until 2004, when LinkedIn was very young, but starting to gain traction.



Chris Saccheri: From building LinkedIn to stay-at-home dad

Chris Saccheri was part of the founding team of LinkedIn, responsible for building the website, a task he worked at for almost nine years.

He rose to the rank of director of web development, managing a team of 30. Since LinkedIn is, at its heart, a website, a lot of the credit for its success was due to Saccheri, his colleagues say.

Today, he's a full-time, stay-at-home dad for his two kids. He describes the job:"Responsibilities include reading books, leading outings to parks/libraries/zoos, setting limits, making up stories, supervising science projects, volunteering at school ..."



Ian McNish: From network guy to angel investor

Ian McNish also joined LinkedIn in 2002 as a founding member and spent the next 10 years building the network and data centers that would eventually support millions of LinkedIn users.

He stayed at the job 10 years, leaving in May of last year to officially join Box, although he'd already been acting as Box's technical adviser.

He's also become a mentor in 500 Startups and is an active angel investor.

He describes his first day at LinkedIn like this:

"As part of the founding team, my first day in our 'office' was in serial entrepreneur Reid Hoffman's apartment. We didn’t have a brand name, prototypes, company-owned or operated computers and we were in a market that had yet to be defined."



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13 Of The Most Popular Tech Company CEOs, According To Their Employees

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edm dj music concertIt’s tough being a CEO. You have to constantly meet your sales goals while coming up with new ideas. You have to motivate your employees and keep expanding the business, too.

Things only get harder if you’re in tech, where everything changes so quickly. And, on top of that, if you’re at a public company where shareholders scrutinize your every move? Forget about it.

That’s why staying popular among employees often gets put on the back burner of many tech CEOs. Yet, the truly talented CEOs manage to keep both their employees and shareholders happy.

Bloomberg put together a list of the most popular CEOs among US public companies, based on a survey done by Glassdoor. We narrowed it down to the 13 tech CEOs who have the highest approval rating.

13. NetApp’s Tom Georgens

Approval rating: 85.5%

CEO since: 2009

Market cap: $13.4 billion

Revenue (2014): $6.3 billion

About: Georgens has more than 20 years of experience in the storage area. He spent 11 years at EMC, before working at Engenio and LSI Logic Storage Systems for 9 years. Georgens is also the chairman of NetApp’s board.



12. EMC’s Joe Tucci

Approval rating: 89%

CEO since: 2001

Market cap: $57.92 billion

Revenue (2013): $23.2 billion

About: Tucci was named EMC’s CEO in 2001, a year after joining the company as COO. He transformed EMC’s business from being mostly focused on a high-end storage platform to visualization, cloud, and security software. Before joining EMC, Tucci worked at network solution company Wang Global and RCA Corp.



11. Cognizant Technology Solution’s Frank D’Souza

Approval rating: 89.9%

CEO since: 1994

Market cap: $29.17 billion

Revenue (2013): $8.8 billion

About: D’Souza is one of the cofounders of Cognizant, an IT consoling service company. Under D’Souza’s leadership, Cognizant has become an S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company, with more than 180,000 employees. He’s also on the board of General Electric Co.



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I Spent 3 Days On A Cruise Ship That Didn't Go Anywhere But Had A Blast Anyway

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SydneyCruise33

I recently spent the weekend on the Celebrity Solstice cruise ship – and I had a ball.

Despite the cruise not actually going anywhere, except out to the Pacific Ocean and back to Sydney, the holiday felt more like a week than 3 days.

I was on the ship to celebrate my aunt’s 50th and my grandfather’s 80th birthdays, but don’t let that define the average age of passengers on the ship. As a 20-something I had my crowd on the ship also – hanging poolside with the family by day, dining with the grandparents by night and clubbing with the partiers into the early hours of the morning.

Our Sky Suite was all we needed space-wise, with 90% of the staterooms including an outside view and 95% of those with a balcony.

The Martini Bar was a tasty treat, with the barmen putting on a show when you order your drink, and the adults’ pool was a balmy retreat that felt 5-star.

The food was pretty good, but I wasn’t blown away. While we only had limited time to try out the specialty restaurants, they will be at the top of my list on my next trip.

Yes, there will definitely be a next trip!

The view from the boarding platform. The life rafts look safe and sound.



Scanning in with you personal photo identification card.



Walking on to the boat, these hand sanitisers are everywhere. Great for a germ-a-phobe like myself.



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