Quantcast
Channel: Features
Viewing all 61683 articles
Browse latest View live

The 100 Best Tech People On Twitter

0
0

marc andreessen

Whether you use it to find breaking news stories or just to chat with friends, you can't deny the power of Twitter.

We've come up with a list of 100 of the best people in tech who you should be following on Twitter. Some are journalists, others are venture capitalists, and some work in app development or have their own startups. 

Enjoy!

Nitasha Tiku

Occupation: Editor, Valleywag

Handle: @nitashatiku

Why: Nitasha Tiku is Valleywag's new editor, as Sam Biddle steps down to become a writer at Gawker. She tweets a lot about tech, and her takes on Silicon Valley news are always entertaining.



Marc Andreessen

Occupation: Venture Capitalist

Handle: @pmarca

Why: Influential investor who took "Tweetstorming" to another level. A Tweetstorm is 10 or more tweets in a row. It's an acquired taste, but it's pretty great.



Megan Quinn

Occupation: Partner, Kleiner Perkins

Handle:@msquinn

Why: She's an investor at Kleiner Perkins now, and she's had experience working at tech companies like Square and Google. She tweets a lot about startups.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

KFC Is Going Upmarket In The UK With This Fancy New Redesign

0
0

kfc bracknell

KFC has unveiled a radical redesign of its UK restaurants which make its interiors look more like upmarket hipster eateries than fast-food fried chicken joints.

Design Week reports that the "informal and stylish" interiors — which feature exposed ceilings, butchers block tables, low-hanging copper lighting, artwork and textured brick-effect walls — are set to roll out nationwide across KFC's 870 branches from March 2015.

But its Bracknell store has already received a swish makeover. 

SEE ALSO: Google Glass Could Save KFC And Other Fast-Food Companies Millions Of Dollars

The interior of KFC Bracknell was a clean, but a fairly drab affair.



Now it's looking far more cool.



Gone are the garish benches.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

16 Incredibly Impressive Students At Princeton

0
0

julia ratcliff, princeton

Founded in 1746, Princeton University remains a vibrant community of scholarship and learning.

Students who attend this Ivy League school follow in the footsteps of Woodrow Wilson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Eric Schmidt, Meg Whitman, Michelle Obama, Jeff Bezos, and other movers and shakers of industry.

From creating companies to scaling summits, these 16 students are changing what it means to be impressive.

Alison Bick invented a smartphone app that tests for clean water.

Class of 2015

By 2050, at least one in four people is likely to live in a country affected by chronic shortages of fresh water, according to the United Nations. The situation is more dire than ever, and Alison Bick may have the solution in the palm of her hands.

Bick, an Intel Science Talent Search finalist in 2011, holds the patent for a smartphone app that tests water for contamination — a fast, simple, low-cost, and real-time device suitable for use throughout the world. Here's how it works: The user takes a picture of water that has been exposed to fluorescent light (most commercially available cell phones can be programmed to emit the right spectrum of light from their display). Bick's app analyzes the picture and determines the water's organic and inorganic qualities, with a confidence level of 65% and 80%, respectively.

The Short Hills, New Jersey, teen first got the idea when a storm hit her town and the water being pumped into homes was potentially contaminated. Since development began, she independently patented the device and has been in talks with Veolia — a French water treatment firm — and the World Bank to commercialize and implement the invention.

Bick, a chemical and biological engineering major, plans to earn a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and split her time between academic and commercial research. 



Cason Crane is the first openly gay person to climb the Seven Summits.

Class of 2017

In the two years Cason Crane took between graduating from high school and starting at Princeton, he scaled the highest mountain on every continent (the Seven Summits), becoming the fifth-youngest person as well as the first openly gay person to do so. He used the opportunity to raise awareness of issues faced by LGBT athletes; he also raised more than $135,000 for The Trevor Project, a suicide lifeline for LGBTQ youth.

Since arriving at Princeton last fall, Crane has continued his work for The Trevor Project through the initiative he started called The Rainbow Summits Project, as well as talks around the world, including two TEDx Talks.

Another of Crane's passions is entrepreneurship — he served as the chief of staff for this year's Start @ a Startup at Princeton, a conference that brought together 250 undergraduate entrepreneurs from around the country and 30 prominent tech startups, like Dropbox, Square, and Indiegogo. Crane is responsible for managing the $300,000 budget for the event.

When he's not in class or training for Ironman triathlons, Crane is thinking about his future — either in media and communications, or in the tech world, possibly building out an idea he has for a travel-related startup.



Catherine Dennig is launching her nightlife app overseas.

Class of 2015

The summer of her sophomore year, Catherine Dennig created the nightlife app nofomo, designing and building everything from the business plan to the sales pitch to the app itself. She hired a small team, which is helping her ready the app for beta launch in Auckland, New Zealand, in the next few weeks.

The impending beta launch puts a lot on Dennig's already-full plate, which is already heaped with her senior thesis as well as responsibilities as co-president of the Princeton Social Entrepreneurship Initiative (PSEI) and undergraduate adviser on the Princeton Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee (PEAC).

Through PSEI, Dennig has been expanding the group's mission to make Princeton one of the world's top social innovation hubs. She put the focus on PSEI's 60-second Princeton Pitch contest, doubling the number of pitches as well as the prize money awarded; an iOS app that lists all of Princeton’s current entrepreneurship resources; and stronger ties to the alumni community.

Dennig was one of two undergraduate advisers chosen from a pool of more than 5,200 to serve on the PEAC. She works with faculty, staff, alumni, and graduate student advisers to help the university president implement administrative policy changes in teaching and enabling entrepreneurship on campus.

When she graduates in the spring, Dennig knows she wants to remain involved in the startup world, starting with giving nofomo her undivided attention.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The Most Powerful Militaries In The Middle East [RANKED]

0
0

turkey armed forces tankThe balance of power in the Middle East is in disarray: A three-year civil war has torn apart Syria and opened up a vacuum for the rise of the Islamic State group; Sunni powers led by Saudi Arabia continue to face off against Shi'ite powers led by Iran; other countries are reeling from uprisings in the Arab Spring; and foreign powers are all taking sides.

Faced with this tense paradigm, every country in the region is building up its own military.

Jump to the rankings »

Indeed, four of the five fastest-growing defense markets in 2013 were in the Middle East, led by Oman — up 115% in a year — and Saudi Arabia — up 300% in a decade — according to IHS Jane's.

We have analyzed each country to rank the most powerful militaries in the Middle East. This ranking does not count foreign powers like the US or their support, though we have noted important alliances. After looking over state militaries, we also profiled (but did not rank) some of the increasingly powerful non-state military groups.

The ranking is based on a holistic assessment of the militaries' operational capabilities and hardware, based on our research and on interviews with Patrick Megahan, an expert from the Foundation of Defense of Democracies' Military Edge project, and Chris Harmer, senior naval analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.

Some countries with large yet incapable militaries rank low on the list; some smaller and technologically advanced militaries from stable states rank fairly high.

Others present analytical challenges that are difficult to get around in a ranking format. For instance, Egypt has an enormous military with little in the way of a recent battlefield record. Syria's military is diminished by three years of war, but it has been able to fulfill the Assad regime's narrow battlefield objectives and field an operational air force.

No ranking will be absolutely exact. But here's our idea of where things stand in one of the world's least-predictable regions.



No. 15 Yemen

$1.4 billion defense budget
66,700 active frontline personnel
1,260 tanks
181 aircraft

Yemen's military has struggled in the face of an onslaught from the Houthi rebel movement, which captured the Ministry of Defense's headquarters in the capital city of Sa'ana during a September 2014 offensive. Yemen has all sorts of other problems on its hands as well, like the presence of a major Al Qaeda franchise and one of the highest rates of gun ownership on earth. 

Like a few other countries in this ranking, Yemen is ruled by a government that doesn't really control its own territory, a fact that negates much of the advantage the country might derive from its fairly large conventional military. It's a collapsed state with an outdated arsenal.

The remains of Yemen's hobbled government have also joined up with the Houthi rebels to fight Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. This is actually another sign of the state's weakness. It took a motivated and organized non-state sectarian militant group to confront Yemen's Al Qaeda franchise, something the uniform military hasn't been able or willing to do.

Key allies: Yemen has had a longstanding, if sometimes uneasy, security partnership with the US and allows the US to use armed drones to go after Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on its territory.



No. 14 Lebanon

$1.7 billion defense budget
131,100 active frontline personnel
318 tanks
57 aircraft

The Lebanese Armed Forces is an all-volunteer force, having ended compulsory military service as of February 2007. Historically, the Lebanese military was kept small due to internal disagreements among the various religious groups within the country. During Lebanon's 15-year civil war, a national military effectively ceased functioning as the country was divided between Israeli, Syrian, UN, and militia zones of control. 

Since the Lebanese civil war, the Lebanese military has focused mainly on anti-terrorist and peacekeeping activities within the country. The military has been unable and unwilling to disarm the militant group Hezbollah, which is an even more capable fighting force than the Lebanese army. 

In March the International Support Group for Lebanon pledged $17.8 million to help the country modernize its military, while Saudi Arabia gave a $3 billion grant.

Currently, Lebanon's Special Forces is unevenly equipped, and the country lacks any fixed-wing aircraft. 

It is an incoherent force in a divided country, without much heavy equipment and with only notional control. "They're really far behind," Megahan, a research associate for military affairs at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an analyst for its Military Edge project, told Business Insider.

Key allies: Saudi Arabia and the US, which also provides military aid.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The 17 Things You Must Know To Become A Cocktail Master

0
0

martini cocktail

James Bond famously ordered his Martini "shaken, not stirred."

We're glad his specialty is secret service work.

Fact is Martinis are supposed to be stirred — it's one of the cardinal rules of  cocktail-making.

And if Bond didn't know that, then we're guessing you might not have known that either.

So we're here to share a few cocktail-making tips.

With the help of writer and cocktail expert Robert Haynes-Peterson, we've put together a list of 17 rules of cocktail-making to help you master the craft.

Learn the difference between "strong", "weak", "sweet", and "sour".

There are four basic ways to describe what's going on in your cocktail:

Strong: refers to the main alcohol in your drink. That's your vodka, gin, or whatever your preferred liqour might be.

Weak: refers to the lesser alcohol part of your drink. This might be a liqueur (St. Germain for example) or fortified wines.

Sour: Means that there's a citrus note — lemon, lime, or orange.

Sweet: This one's pretty obvious, but that means there's sugar or syrup involved.



Only stir drinks that contain only spirits.

Cocktails that are made of only spirits should be stirred in order to get the rich, crystal clear look of the drink. This includes the likes of Manhattans, Negronis, and — you guessed it — Martinis.



If your drink has citrus, eggs or dairy — shake.

Cocktails that made with citrus, eggs, dairy, or cream liqueurs need to be shaken in order to properly emulsify the non-alcoholic ingredients. This includes drinks like the Pisco Sour or the White Russian.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

9 Books That Malcolm Gladwell Thinks Everyone Should Read

0
0

Malcolm Gladwell

Having sold more than 4.5 million books, Malcolm Gladwell is one of the most popular authors alive.

He's made a career revealing the hidden factors that affect our lives and livelihoods — for example, by unpacking the personality traits that made Steve Jobs and IKEA founder Ingvar Kampran so outrageously successful.

And like every great writer, Gladwell is a great reader.

After sifting through more than 10 years of columns and interviews with the author, here are nine of the books that have influenced him the most. 

'The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game' by Michael Lewis

Gladwell says that "Moneyball" and "Flash Boys" author Michael Lewis is "the finest storyteller of our generation." 

He considers him a role model.

"I read Lewis for the same reasons I watch Tiger Woods,"he told The New York Times. "I'll never play like that. But it's good to be reminded every now and again what genius looks like." 

For Gladwell, "The Blindside" is Lewis' best, a book that's "as close to perfect" as any work of nonfiction. 

"Supposedly about football (the title refers to the side of the field a quarterback is blind to)," he says, "it's actually an extraordinary story about love and redemption."

Buy it here >>



'Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession' by Janet Malcolm

Gladwell considers Janet Malcolm to be his other role model as nonfiction writer.

"I reread Malcolm's 'Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession' just to remind myself how nonfiction is supposed to be done," Gladwell told The Times.

He loves the confidence she writes with. As he told the Longform podcast, Malcolm writes with the confidence that the reader has no choice but to keep following along — unlike how he fights for the reader's attention with every sentence. 

"Even when she is simply sketching out the scenery, you know that something wonderful and thrilling is about to happen," Gladwell says.

Buy it here >>



'The Person and the Situation' by Richard Nisbett and Lee Ross

Gladwell says that University of Michigan psychologist Richard Nisbett "basically gave me my view of the world."

"The Person and the Situation" is the book that most affected him. 

He read it in one sitting in the summer of 1996. 

In his new forward for the book, Gladwell gave a hint as to why it's so special: 

It offers a way of re-ordering ordinary experience.

We see things that aren't there and we make predictions that we ought not to make: we privilege the "person" and we discount the influence of the "situation."

It speaks, in short, to the very broadest questions of human perception. 

Gladwell says that if you read that book, then you'll see template of the genre that his books belong to. 

Buy it here >>



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

These Chinese Military Advancements Are Shifting The Balance Of Power In Asia

0
0

J-20

As China continues its rise to superpower stature, Beijing is trying to rapidly increase its firepower.

China's attempts to seriously upgrade its military — with next-generation fighter jets, ballistic missiles, and advanced naval vessels — is partly aimed at keeping pace with the US.

The two are in a veritable arms race in east Asia. The US engaged in a "pivot to Asia," focusing military and diplomatic attention on an increasingly important part of the world.

Meanwhile, China is trying to expand its territorial reach into the South China Sea, an effort that's already bringing Beijing into conflict with US allies like Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

And China is constantly building its military with a possible invasion of Taiwan in mind.

Already, China has become the world's second-largest military spender, right behind the US. Since 1995, China has increased its defense budget by 500% in real terms. 

Although China's military has a ways to go before it is qualitatively, or even quantitatively, a match for the US, the country's rise has been notable, and counts as one of the major geo-strategic developments of this decade. 

Chengdu J-20

The Chengdu J-20 is China's fifth-generation fighter, its response to the US F-35 and the Russian T-50. The J-20 is a stealth aircraft that is currently in its fourth round of prototypes. 

The J-20 bears striking resemblance to the F-35 and the F-22, likely due to data theft and Chinese imitation of the skeletons of both planes. China may have the design specifications needed to give the J-20 stealth capabilities that are on par with the F-35. 

Although the plane is estimated to have a striking range of 1,000 nautical miles, the aircraft itself is still reliant upon Russian engines and in a relatively early stage of its development.



Shenyang J-31

The Shenyang J-31 is the other fifth-generation aircraft that China is currently developing.

Unlike the J-20, which is heavily based on stolen American plans, the J-31 boasts an indigenous design. The plane is about the same size as the F-35, but has a smaller weapons bay — giving the J-31 improved fuel efficiency and speed. 

The J-31 is also designed to be deployable to China's planned fleet of aircraft carriers. It would join the F-35 as the only two carrier-based stealth fighters in the world. 

The J-31 is scheduled to make its public debut at China's largest commercial and defense airshow in Zhuhai in early November.



Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark

The Shenyang J-15 is a carrier-based fighter aircraft that debuted in 2009. In a 2014 report to Congress, the Pentagon noted that the Fying Shark was conducting full-stops and takeoffs from China's Liaoning aircraft carrier with full weapons payloads. 

When based on the ground, the J-15 should have a combat radius of about 1,200 kilometers. However, since the Liaoning does not provide a useful catapult launch, the aircraft will have a reduced combat radius while operating at sea, the Pentagon reported. 

The Chinese-produced J-15 is based on designs of the Russian Sukhoi Su-33. The plane is a Russian-type design fitted with Chinese radar, engines, and weapons. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

10 Jobs That Are Impossible To Explain To Your Parents

0
0

math

With industry-shifting changes in technology in recent years, many parents have no idea what their adult kids actually do for a living. But they want to understand.

That's a big reason why LinkedIn, the world's largest professional networking site, launched its annual "Bring In Your Parents Day" last year. This week, the company will again invite employees' parents to visit the office on Nov. 6 to attend presentations and tag along with their children to learn more about their work.

In its 2013 global survey of 16,000 adults, LinkedIn found that one out of every three parents has a hard time understanding what their kids' jobs require. Two-thirds of parents want to learn more, and half think that they could better support their children if they did. 

The survey identified the 10 jobs that are most misunderstood around the world. We've broken them out, along with an explanation for any struggling parents. 

Max Nisen contributed to an earlier version of this article.

10. Investment Banker

Parents who don't get it: 43% 

How to explain it to your mom: You match up people who have money with people who need it, by helping companies issue bonds and equity shares and helping companies buy other companies.



9. Sports Team Manager

Parents who don't get it: 43% 

How to explain it to your mom: You make sure your team wins, by managing coaches and athletes, overseeing practices, and making play decisions during the game.



8. Public Relations Manager

Parents who don't get it: 50%

How to explain it to your mom: You make your clients look good by coordinating interviews and providing information about them to the media.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A Canadian Man Is Searching For A Woman With His Ex’s Name To Travel The World With Him

0
0

jordan axani reddit search

A Canadian man's search for a woman named Elizabeth Gallagher is going viral on Reddit.

Not a specific "Elizabeth Gallagher," mind you, but any Canadian woman with that name who wouldn’t mind a free plane ticket around the world with a perfect stranger. 

28-year-old Jordan Axani booked the trip of a lifetime with his ex-girlfriend (named Elizabeth Gallagher) as a Christmas present, but they unfortunately parted ways. Since she understandably no longer wanted to go on the trip with him, he’s now looking for a different Elizabeth Gallagher to take her place.

Anyone familiar with the archaic system that is modern air travel will know that a name change on a ticket is damn near impossible,” Axani explained in his ad. “Moreover, the flights were purchased during a massive blow-up on Priceline and were frankly so cheap and on so many different airlines that they're not worth the headache or money to cancel.”

The call for Elizabeth Gallaghers went out on Reddit on Monday and was picked up by VICE, Huffington Post Canada, and more all helping to spread word of Axani's bizarre quest to find a new travel companion.

If Axani does find a replacement Elizabeth Gallagher, she would be traveling with him to New York, Milan, Prague, Paris, Bangkok, New Dehli, and Toronto. She would not be forced to hang out with him in any of the cities or pay him anything for the tickets unless she wants to.

“Really the only thing I ask for is that you enjoy this trip and that it bring you happiness,” Axani says in his Reddit post. “I am not looking for anything in return. I am not looking for companionship, romance, drugs, a trade, or to take selfies with you in front the Christmas Market in Prague.”

If you are or know of an Elizabeth Gallagher, here’s what he’s looking for, according to his posting: 

  1. Be sane, smart and (hopefully) interesting.

  2. Have always wanted to travel, but maybe haven't had the opportunity or cash to see much of the world.

  3. Be named Elizabeth Gallagher and have a Canadian passport.

  4. Be ready for a rather spontaneous life experience that will, one day, be an epic story that you'll tell your kids.

  5. Pay it forward. I’ve been lucky in life and this is me giving back to the universe. Do something similar someday.

So far, Axani says that lots of Elizabeth Gallaghers have reached out to him, including one Reddit user who claims she’s old enough to be his mom but would love to go.

Speaking with VICE, Axani says the response has been overwhelming. “I was so not expecting this at all. But hey, I think there's a positive story here, and it's great people are interested.”

SEE ALSO: This Couple Quit Their Cushy Corporate Jobs Five Years Ago To Travel The World

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

Join the conversation about this story »

NFL POWER RANKINGS: Where Every Team Stands Going Into Week 10

0
0

mark sanchez

More than a decade after they began their rivalry, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are once again on top of the NFL power rankings.

The Patriots crushed the Broncos in Week 9, but if we're lucky the playoff rematch will count for much more.

Elsewhere in the rankings, the Dolphins, Chiefs, and Steelers took leaps while the Chargers, Ravens, and 49ers tumbled.

1. New England Patriots (previously: 3rd)

Record: 7-2

Week 9 result: 43-21 win over Denver

One thing to know: The retooled defense played its best game of the year against Peyton Manning.



2. Denver Broncos (previously: 1st)

Record: 6-2

Week 9 result: 43-21 loss to New England

One thing to know: Wes Welker has really tailed off from where he was 12 months ago. He's averaging 35 receiving yards a game.



3. Arizona Cardinals (previously: 2nd)

Record: 7-1

Week 9 result: 28-17 win over Dallas

One thing to know: Carson Palmer only has two interceptions this year, and Arizona has the 2nd-best turnover differential in the NFL as a result.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

HOUSE OF THE DAY: Massive Duplex Inside New York's Carhart Mansion Hits The Market For $35 Million

0
0

HOTD: Upper East Side Duplex

Tucked away off a tree-lined block in the heart of Carnegie Hill lies the esteemed Carhart Mansion. 

Designed by Horace Trumbauer as a Louis XVI Parisian townhouse, it has been described as“one of the finest examples” of New York City French Classicism. 

The mansion was converted into four exclusive, full service, and grand scale residences in 2005 — and now one of those four homes is on the market for $34.9 million.

Major democratic party donors Dennis and Karen Mehiel are selling their incredible condo, which spans two floors of the Carhart Mansion with 17 grand rooms and over 10,350 square feet of space. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Mehiels first put their condo on the market for $35 million in 2008, right after the financial crisis. “Our timing was very poor,” Mehiel told the WSJ. They pulled it off the market in 2010. 

But due to the luxury real estate boom in New York City, the palatial duplex is back on the market.

Carrie Chiang of Corcoran Group Real Estate has the listing

Welcome to the Carhart Mansion. This Upper East Side home was originally designed in the French neo-classical style.



The grand salon has soaring 20-foot-high ceilings. The condo stays true to its Parisian design with massive French doors.



The newest addition to the building was designed by award-winning Zivkovic Architects in collaboration with London architect, John Simpson. (Simpson's other projects include the Queens Galleries at Buckingham Palace.)



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

This Amazing Airplane Seat Could Change Everything About Luxury Flying

0
0

Butterfly Seats Flip Over

Designers at Hong Kong-based PaperClipDesign have come up with a concept — called the "Butterfly Seat"— that affords passenger airlines an unprecedented level of flexibility in arranging the premium sections of their cabins.

Airlines in search of increased profits have been investing heavily in premium cabins at the front of the plane. First class get suites and beds. Business class gets converted lie-flat seats. Premium economy gets slightly wider coach seats with more legroom.

But due to the specialized-nature of the different seats, airlines are limited in the ways they can adjust the cabin layout on the plane. Once the seats are installed, it's extremely difficult to change them. (Regular old economy seats, due to their relatively simple design, are easier to change out.)

PaperClipDesign wants to change that with the Butterfly concept — so-named because the seats can transform.

For example, if a passenger wants to upgrade his or her business-class seat to a first-class seat, it's now possible for the airline to make that change with the press of a button. Instead of having to search for an open first-class seat, the airline can simply convert the passenger's existing business class seat to a first-class bed — and easily reap the added revenue. 

Airlines can modify their mix of seating options, as well, depending on expectations of passenger preferences in different markets or on different routes. 

The basic genius of the Butterfly seat design is that an airline can now have uniform design for its premium cabin. In theory, the cabin can now be all first class, business class, or even all premium economy. An airline can tailor the seating to customer demand.



Everything can be changed at the push of a button!



Here's what the three configurations look like.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The 25 Best Public High Schools In The US

0
0

Stuyvesant High School

When it comes to high school, you don't need to pay a fortune to get a good education. There are public high schools all around the country that are preparing students for the future.

School data site Niche just released its list of the 100 best public high schools in America. Many are magnet schools, meaning they pull in qualified students from around their districts.

Niche ranks over 100,000 schools based on 27 million reviews from more than 300,000 students and parents, who rated schools in areas like academics, teachers, student culture and diversity, and resources and facilities.

25. Henry M. Gunn High School (Palo Alto, California)

Academics Grade: A+

Student Culture & Diversity Grade: A

Teachers Grade: A+

Resources & Facilities Grade: B+

One high school junior said, "The curriculum is advanced and fast-paced; most teachers are awesome, [but] the ones who aren’t still know what they’re doing."



24. Rye High School (Rye, New York)

Academics Grade: A+

Student Culture & Diversity Grade: C

Teachers Grade: A+

Resources & Facilities Grade: A

"Great choices of clubs,"said a senior. "RHS is very talented both in terms of music, theater, and arts as well as in terms of the smarts (science Olympiad, math team, JSA, etc)."



23. Saratoga High School (Saratoga, California)

Academics Grade: A+

Student Culture & Diversity Grade: B+

Teachers Grade: A+

Resources & Facilities Grade: A-

One senior said, "New facilities are constantly being built, and the school just got a new field."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

I Raved On A Boat At 6 AM With The Craziest Crowd of New Yorkers In Startups, And It Was Amazing

0
0

Daybreaker

I never thought I'd go to a wild dance party on a boat at 6 a.m., but now that I have once, I can't wait to do it again.

I'm not into electronic music at all, but I was inspired by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who has said that his experiences going to raves shaped his view on the world and ultimately helped him build his company into a billion-dollar business.

Could I get the same "experiential epiphany" squishing into a room with a crowd of strangers to dance to music I don't even like?

Daybreaker, a monthly, early-morning dance party that attracts techies and startup employees from all over New York,  sounded like the perfect way to try to find out. 

Daybreaker was hosting a Halloween-themed extravaganza on a boat that started at 6 a.m. Business Insider colleague Melia Robinson and I decided to check it out and see what all the hype was about.

Waking up at 5 a.m. was a struggle, but we successfully dragged ourselves out of bed and started "rave-ifying" ourselves with the requisite gemstones and glitter.



It was still pitch-dark outside by the time Melia and I left at 5:30. Our taxi driver was incredulous when we told him what kind of event we were going to.



The boat started loading from New York City's west side at 6 am, and we realized we were in the right place when we started spotting some crazy costumes.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The Most Important New Features Coming To Your Android Phone (GOOG)

0
0

Lollipop

Google is giving Android a major facelift with its Lollipop update, but there are a bunch of other new features that make Android more useful and secure than ever. 

While many manufacturers add their own skins to Android that let you do more with your phone, Google is starting to incorporate this functionality in its stock Android software.

Here's a quick look at all the best features to expect in Android 5.0. 

Multiple User Profiles

With Android 5.0 Lollipop, you'll be able to create multiple profiles on your phone or tablet. So, if you share your tablet with members of your family, you'll be able to create a separate account for each family member. This means you can choose which apps you want to include in your specific profile. 



Google Fit

Android 5.0 Lollipop is the first version of Android to come with Google's new health platform called Google Fit. Similar to Apple's HealthKit in iOS 8, Google Fit allows you to view all sorts of stats from various health and fitness apps in one central location. 



Enhanced Face Unlock

Android phones have supported facial recognition since Android 4.0 launched in 2012. But with Lollipop, Google has taken its Face Unlock feature to a new level. The software will now be able to unlock your phone as you're reading notifications in your lock screen. In the past, Face Unlock was a separate step, just like typing in a passcode or holding your thumb over a fingerprint sensor. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

This Jumbo Jet Was Transformed Into A Beautiful Hotel — And You Can Even Sleep In The Cockpit

0
0

jumbo stay, jet hostel

If you're looking for somewhere a little "different" to stay for the holidays, you should check out the Jumbo Stay Hostel in Stockholm, Sweden.

Created inside of a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet that used to fly for Pan Am, this cozy hotel features a redesigned interior and the opportunity to sleep in the airplane's cockpit.

With 27 rooms that can hold up to 76 people, this unique hotel is one worth checking out.

This is "Liv," the Boeing 747 that was turned into the hotel in 2008, named after the owner's daughter.



You enter the Jumbo Stay Hostel from the side, and yes, you can walk along the wings.



Inside, many of the seats have been removed for a bar and seating area.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Explore The Forgotten Rocket Bases That Once Sent Americans To The Moon

0
0

abandoned space

The US' space program was one of the most impressive feats of human ingenuity in history — a series of events that captured the hearts and minds of everyone who witnessed them. The amount of research, creativity, and manpower that went into the space program was staggering, even when we look back on it decades later.

But as space technology moves further away from governmental oversight and towards commercialization, for better or worse, what happens to the history and relics of our nation's revered past in space exploration?

Many of the facilities — once used for research, testing, and launching — now sit dormant, decommissioned years ago, now rusting in the sun. Others have met a worse fate, having been demolished and lost forever.

They've almost all been forgotten, but photographer Roland Miller is trying to do something about that. For the past 25 years, Miller has traveled all across the US, photographing decommissioned NASA, Air Force, Army and commercial space launch and test sites in an effort to document them before they disappear.

These photographs will soon be being released in a book titled "Abandoned in Place," which features a diverse selection of Miller's work, spanning more than two decades. You can see more of Miller's work here or contribute to his Kickstarter campaign for the project.

"In the end, my main purpose is to preserve the remains of these historic sites in the only way possible, through photography," Miller said.

Miller was totally mesmerized by space at an early age "like most kids growing up in the 1960s," he says. It seemed magical to him at the time. "I can clearly remember the night Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon," he tells Business Insider.



But it wasn't until the early 1990s that Miller began shooting this project. He was teaching photography in Brevard County, Florida, about a 30 minute drive from Cape Canaveral. A friend of his was cleaning out an office building on the grounds and had discovered an old photo studio. He asked Miller to help him dispose of the old photo processing chemicals safely.



During that time, "I visited Launch Complex 19, the Gemini launch complex, and I knew immediately I wanted to photograph it," Miller says.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

'Interstellar' Animators Made A Physics Breakthrough While Creating A Black Hole For The Movie

0
0

black hole Interstellar

Soon, astrophysicists will receive a physics lesson from an unlikely source: Hollywood.

The movie-making business has, unintentionally, helped make something more: a scientific discovery. One that you can experience first-hand in the film "Interstellar," coming out in US theaters everywhere on Friday, Nov 7.

In the film, a crew of explorers travel through a wormhole to reach distant worlds orbiting other stars. Along the way, they cross paths with a monstrous, spinning black hole.

More impressive than the beauty of the black hole, is that this stunning rendition is the most scientifically accurate image of a spinning black hole ever created.

"Neither wormholes nor black holes have been depicted in any Hollywood movie in the way that they actually would appear," Kip Thorne said in a promotional video from Warner Bros UK.

"This is the first time the depiction began with Einstein's general relativity equations," Thorne said.

Kip ThorneThorne is an American theoretical physicist who has written academic books on general relativity, collaborated with Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, and is one of the world's leading experts on all things gravitational.

He is also the executive producer and scientific consultant for the film. It took Thorne's intellect, 30 special effects experts, thousands of computers, and a year of hard work to produce the black hole audiences see in the film.

You'd think that a black hole — which traps everything, including light — would be invisible. But That's not true.

If you could look at a black hole at different angles, you would see a strange warping motion of the background starlight. This is because black holes warp the space around them, so what you're seeing is an altered version of the real thing — similar to how you see a distorted image of an object when it's immersed in water. See an animation of this warping below:

black holePhysicists know from Einstein's general theory of relativity that a spinning black hole — like the one in the film — warps space differently than a stationary black hole. This process is called frame dragging.

Based on what we understand about frame dragging, Thorne and the special effects team thought that the image they would get out of their computations would be a bright band of light, or disc, around the equator of the spherical-shaped of the black hole. In fact, the wobbling of such a disc led to the first observations of frame dragging in the 90s.

What they saw, however, was something completely different and far more beautiful: Breath-taking circular halos of light across the top and bottom of the black hole, shown below.

black holeAt first, the team thought there was a bug in their system, but Throne soon realized it wasn't a glitch, but a direct result of the calculations. This unexpected light halo offers scientists new insights into how light behaves around a spinning black hole. It was a triumph for both Thorne as a scientist and director Christopher Nolan.

When Nolan first called upon Thorne's expertise for the film, he anticipated that the special effects team would have to tweak the scientifically-accurate image to make it more aesthetically appealing and understandable to audiences.

However, the shocking, gorgeous results that came from Thorne's physics equations was more than Nolan or Thorne could have hoped for and what audiences will see in the film.

"What we found was ...we could get some very understandable, tactile imagery from those equations," Nolan said in the video. "[The equations] were constantly surprising and it spoke to the maxim that truth can be stranger than fiction."

Thorne is planning on writing up the team's efforts in two scientific papers: one for the astrophysics community and one for the computer science community.

Check out the full video "Interstellar — Building a black hole" from Warner Bros. UK:

SEE ALSO: Astronomers Find Amazing Evidence Of A Star Escaping A Black Hole

SEE ALSO: 10 Mind-Blowing Facts About Black Holes

Join the conversation about this story »

11 Staggering Facts About The Texas Economy

0
0

Texas as a percentage of the US GDP

Texas is massive.

If the Lone Star State were its own country, it would have the 13th highest GDP in the world

Over the last 20 years, Texas has become an increasingly important part of the US economy. In 1995, it made up around 6.5% of the total US GDP, and by 2014 it was over 9% (See chart).

A huge part of that growth has been attributed to Texas' bustling energy businesses.

That's why the latest dropping oil prices have rattled a few nerves. Although lower gas prices are great for the average US consumer, they could mean trouble for Texas' economy. And consequently, for the larger US economy as well.

With Texas in focus, let's take a quick look at what makes this major economy tick.

Texas wind farms could power all the homes in Utah and West Virgina.

Although Texas has the installed wind capacity of 12,755 megawatts (MW), the highest output reached was 9,674 megawatts. (A 2 megawatt turbine can provide electricity for roughly 400 homes.)

Which means that Texas produces an estimated amount of wind energy to power all the homes in West Virgina and Utah.

Texas' wind energy production was 12 times larger in 2011 than 2002.

Wind energy accounts for 76% of Texas’ renewable energy consumption, and is 10% of Texas' total energy production.

Source: American Wind Energy Association



In just 3 years, Texas' population increased by an amount equal to the current populations of Vermont and Wyoming.

In 2010 Texas' population was 25,145,561. Three years later, the population was up to 26,448,193.

Wyoming's population is 582,658 and Vermont's population is 626,630.

Source: US Census



35 North Dakotas would STILL have less businesses than Texas.

There are 2,164,852 firms in Texas.

There are 61,546 in North Dakota.

Source: US Census



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Look At All The Crappy Land That Is Being Preserved In London's Green Belt

0
0

Green Belt

In London, the population rose by about 108,000 from mid-2012 to mid-2013. During the same period, only an additional 18,200 houses and flats were completed. That trails behind the 42,000 houses that London needs to build each year to keep up with the growth.

Other cramped cities, like Hong Kong, New York, and Singapore, have similar issues — too many people and not enough housing. These mega-cities are surrounded by water and are restricted from expanding outward. London doesn't have the same excuse.

Instead, housing development is being held back by a series of laws introduced in the 1930s and 1940s that established the Green Belt — a ring of land surrounding London that can't be developed on, other than for agricultural or sanitation uses. The Green Belt is not to be confused with greenfield land, which means the land hasn't been developed on before. This interactive map from the Telegraph shows the massive scale of the building-free area.

Those in support of the Green Belt argue that partitioning off this land prevents urban sprawl and protects rural communities. Many housing experts disagree. That includes London School of Economics Professor Paul Cheshire, who argues that closing off the green space to residential and commercial building is a show of government over-regulation.

One common misconception about the Green Belt is that people think of this area as pristine nature: grass, leaves, swaying trees, chirping birds, etc. In reality, many parts of the protected green space serve as dumping grounds or unused lots.

The Green Belt consists of 1.6 million hectares of preserved land surrounding London. It looks nice and green but ...



Here is what it actually looks like: A quarry near Swanley —16.2 Miles From Central London



A rubbish dump just south of Upminster – 19.9 miles from Central London.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Viewing all 61683 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images