Professional economists spend lots of time mulling over government stats on the economy. Popular indicators include the consumer price index and the nonfarm payrolls report.

However, these official reports are always revised, sometimes by amounts so large we wonder why we pay attention to them at all.

Fortunately, we live in an era where massive amounts of information flows freely. And some savvy economists have flagged some seriously unorthodox indicators that reveal the truth about what's really going on in the economy.

Many of us are familiar with some of these indicators like the Big Mac Index and the lipstick indicator.

However, there are even weirder indicators like Kenyan Coca-Cola revenues, alligator populations, cheap romance novel sales, and the intensity of military recruitment ads that are arguably sound in their economic revelations.

Business Insider has compiled a list of the 54 most unusual ones. Take a look.

Eric Platt, Matthew Boesler, and Steven Perlberg contributed to an earlier version of this article.

The romance novel Indicator

The Concept: Bodice-ripping romance novels fly off the shelves during bad times.

The Proof: In 2008, the mega romance novel publisher Harlequin reported that sales were up 32% in 2008. "The publisher credits the increase to its uplifting stories that offer a haven, and to the low prices of the books relative to other entertainment. Harlequin saw a similar sales increase during the recession of the early '90s."

Bike-fatality rates

The Concept: This one's pretty gloomy: During hard times, the number of bicycle fatalities increases. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that as the economy tanks, people try to save money on gas and switch over to bikes.

The Proof: In the UK, the Department for Transport said fatalities jumped 12% year on year as austerity measures took effect in 2011. Cycling deaths also surged 58% during the Great Depression.

The MaMa index

The Concept: The MaMa Index is a unique economic indicator in the Thai market, which suggests that Thai instant noodles are such an integral part of the economy that they reflect what's going on.

The Proof: Preeyanuch Manomathaya conducted a study on the correlation between Thai instant noodles and the Thai economy. During the peak economics recession, when the Thai economy shrunk by 4%, there was a record drop in instant-noodle sales. And, in 2009, Thai President Foods PCL saw the first drop in sales of instant noodles for the first time in 38 years. 

If you're shopping for a new tablet, there are tons of options to choose from.

Whether your preference is iOS, Android, or Windows, today's tablets come in all sizes and cater to specific interests.

Some tablets with large screens, for instance, can act as a temporary laptop replacement when paired with a keyboard, while others are small enough to toss in your purse.

There are also tablets out there that fall in between these two sizes so that they're large enough to watch movies comfortably, but small enough to carry around.

Here's a look at the best tablets you can buy today. 

#10 Nvidia Shield Tablet

Nvidia's Shield Tablet is relatively cheap and great for gaming. It runs on Nvidia's new K1 chip, which is designed to run graphics-intensive games. There's also a stylus tucked neatly inside that lets you doodle and take notes on the tablet's screen. If you're a gamer and you already own a desktop computer with Nvidia's hardware, you can stream games back and forth between the tablet and your TV. 

Price: $300

#9 Microsoft Surface Pro 3

With its Surface Pro 3, Microsoft claims it's crammed all the computing power of a laptop into a super slim tablet. It runs  Windows 8.1 and comes with a gorgeous 12-inch screen, and also includes its own stylus. The Surface Pro 3 is an excellent choice if you primarily use Windows for work, use Office a lot, and want something that's super-portable. Bear in mind, however, that it's still far from being a full laptop replacement. You need to pay an extra $130 to buy Microsoft's accompanying keyboard cover, and even then you can't comfortably use it in your lap.

Check out our review of the Surface Pro 3>>

Price: Starts at $799

#8 Google Nexus 7 (2013)

Google's Nexus 7 may be over a year old, but it's still an excellent choice if you want a cheap, slim Android tablet with a great screen. The battery life is decent too, as we found it lasted for about seven hours during our testing. That's not quite as long as Google initially promised, but it's long enough to satisfy most. 

Check out our review of the Nexus 7>>

Price: $200

At the beginning of the year, not many predicted the stock market would blast to new highs like they did. Almost no one predicted interest rates would stay this low. And few would've guessed oil prices would rally and crash the way they did.

Looking forward, the analysts at Goldman Sachs have been rolling out their 2015 forecasts through a series of notes. They've already offered their top eight trades for the year while forecasting that the S&P 500 would climb modestly to 2,100.

All of their forecasts fit in the context of their "Top Ten Market Themes For 2015."

In a new 23-page report, analysts led by Dominic Wilson predict there will continue to be divergences in central bank policy as the Fed remains likely to raise rates next year while central banks in Japan and Europe loosen policy to stimulate their economies. Major asset classes will see low returns next year, and currency hedging will become an increasingly important component of investing.

We pulled some nuggets from Goldman's report.

1. A broadening recovery

The US will lead the global economic recovery, while growth in developing markets will be boosted by low oil and commodity prices.

"We also have more confidence in our view that the US expansion has several years to run and in the resilience of the US economy to weak overseas demand," the analysts wrote.

Source: Goldman Sachs

2. Developed market divergence lives on

The disparity between both growth and monetary policy around the developed world will continue into next year, with the Fed likely to begin raising rates while the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan keep easing.

The analysts wrote: "This divergence has both an absolute and a relative dimension. In absolute terms, within DM economies, the continuation of softer growth and lower inflation in much of the non-US DM world will continue to keep the US yield structure lower than it would otherwise be. That force is likely to be less intense than it was in 2014, when Bund yields have helped to drag UST yields lower. But it is one reason to be confident that the rise in US yields will continue to be relatively moderate. On a relative basis, we think there is still scope for front-end rate differentials between the US and many others to widen further, which is a key driver of our view of a stronger USD."

Source: Goldman Sachs

3. The new oil order

Lower oil prices (a 5% - 15% deflation) will linger and provide a boost for consumers' disposable income. But this may be a headwind for energy stocks, and commodities like copper and aluminum that use oil in their production.

"The disinflationary impulse from lower commodity prices sweeping across the world is likely to be manifested first in lower headline inflation rates," the analysts explained. "But, by boosting disposable income, there is also likely to be a positive impact on GDP growth in EM and DM oil importers that should become visible as the year progresses."

Source: Goldman Sachs

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For busy, successful people, sleep is a precious commodity — rare and treasured.

So when it comes to getting a solid night of shut-eye, some do everything they can to not let insomnia, pressure at work, or snoring spouses get in the way — even if that means creating a weird nightly routine or napping to get through the day.

Here's a look at the most bizarre sleeping habits of 13 highly successful people.

This is an updated article originally written by Vivian Giang.

Tom Cruise sleeps in a sound-proof 'snoratorium.'

Cruise's snores are apparently so bad, he sleeps in a sound-proof "snoratorium." Once a nursery, Cruise converted the small room at the back of his house to a sound-proof space where he can snore in peace.

"Whoever uses the snoring room cannot be heard outside the locked door," an alleged visitor to the actor's house told the Daily Mail. "It's very small, comfortable, and dark."

Winston Churchill took a two-hour nap every day.

Every day at 5 p.m., the prime minister would drink a weak whiskey and soda before taking a two-hour nap. Churchill said this short "siesta"allowed him to get one and a half day's worth of work out done every 24 hours.

Churchill would often work through the night and became known as quite the night owl. Due to his irregular sleep schedule, he was said to hold War Cabinet meetings in his bath.

Mariah Carey surrounds her bed with 20 humidifiers and needs 15 hours of shut-eye per night.

"I've got to sleep 15 hours to sing the way I want to,"Carey told Interview magazine in 2007.

The singer also admitted to sleeping with 20 humidifiers around her bed, which soothe sore throats and add moisture to dry air. "Basically, it's like sleeping in a steam room," she said.

New Orleans is one of our favorite places on earth. There is literally nowhere else like it, and the spirit of this city represents everything that makes life worth living: good food, good people, good music, and an appreciation of the fact that life is short, so we all might as well enjoy ourselves while we’re here.

And yes, sometimes that means taking a full beer with you in the taxi to dinner. It’s the little things.

If you’ve been to New Orleans, you know that making the most out of every meal is essential to a successful trip. If you haven’t been, you should start planning a a visit now. Either way, we present to you this list of our favorite places to eat in this wonderful place.

There’s really no wrong way to eat in this town, other than to never leave the French Quarter. Get yourself out into the city and amongst the people who live here. They’re all very nice and they’ll certainly feed you well.

Willie Mae's Scotch House

Perfect For:
A Classic NOLA Experience

2401 St Ann St.
New Orleans, LA 70119
504-822-9503

When you head to New Orleans, you’ll hear all about the gumbo, the po boys, the oysters and all that jazz, but one of the best single items you can eat in this city is the fried chicken at Willie Mae’s. Located in the heart of the Treme, this place is old school NOLA at its very best. It closes at 5pm daily, so make sure you get there early. The waits can also be upwards of two hours, but we’ve found the most success hitting it at about 4pm. Results may vary.

Toup's Meatry

Perfect For:
Lunch

845 N. Carrollton Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70119
504-252-4999

A modern take on Creole food with a focus on – you guessed it – meat. Toup’s is the new-ish kid on the block for all things animal, and it’s also a really fun place to hang out and drink pitchers of cocktails (yes, that’s an option). You want to eat all of the cured meats, deviled eggs, the pork chop, the burger and their signature BBQ goat.

Maurepas Foods

Perfect For:
A Lighter Lunch

3200 Burgundy St.
New Orleans, LA 70117
504-267-0072

It used to be a warehouse-filled afterthought, but the Bywater neighborhood of NOLA is now home to some of the city’s best new restaurants, like Mauerpas Foods. Mauerpas is home to a menu full of shareable small plates featuring lots of vegetables, some truly insane desserts, and a “chief intoxicologist.” aka bartender. God bless this town.

Sylvain

Perfect For:
Civilized Drinks In The Quarter

625 Chartres St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-265-8123

NOLA is the birthplace of many a classic cocktail (see, Sazerac), and the city is home to a large number of excellent bars and restaurants that serve such a thing. It’s also home to a bunch of places that serve gasoline in a Slurpee cup. Sylvain is one of the former type establishments, a civilized oasis right in the heart of the craziness of the French Quarter. This is one of our happy places. You’re drinking something shaken or stirred here, not frozen garbage.

Sobou

Perfect For:
Feeding Bachelorettes

310 Chartres St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-552-4095
Located inside our New Orleans home away from home, W Hotel French Quarter, Sobou has some slamming, dressed up, Creole-style grub. They also have beer taps on nearly every table, from which you can serve yourself, making this place Perfect For large group dinner. So, if you’re rolling deep and need a centrally located, cool spot to eat a meal before you lose three or four people for good to this town, this is your move.

Bacchanal

Perfect For:
A Chilled Out Daytime Hang (with food)

600 Poland Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70117
504-948-9111

What was once a fantastic, weird little wine shop is now fantastic, weird little wine shop that also serves excellent food. Bachanal is the perfect spot for a super chill day hang, away from the madness of the French Quarter. Order a bottle of wine and some food at the cashier inside, and wait for your meal to be delivered out in the garden. Bachanal turns up at night too, with live music and a cool local crowd. This one is a must visit.

Casamento’s

Perfect For:
Oysters

4330 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-895-9761

Every trip to New Orleans should include some heavy oyster eating, and Casamentos is the spot to do it. This place has been an institution on Magazine Street for over 90 years, and is pretty much what oysters and fried seafood heaven looks like. Go hard on the bivalves (and ask for the special sauce), make sure to get some soft shell crab if its in season, and don’t even think about leaving without tackling the fried oyster loaf sandwich. Just know that Casamentos closes when Gulf Oysters are out of season, from the end of May to the beginning of September. Plan your trip accordingly.

Surrey’s Cafe & Juice Bar

Perfect For:
Breakfast in the Garden District

1418 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-524-3828

Alright, so it’ll probably be more like lunch with eggs than breakfast, but either way, in this town your first meal is often your most important. Located in the beautiful lower Garden District, Surrey’s is only open during daytime hours. Their migas are excellent, as are the pancakes, the shrimp and grits, and all of the juices. Keep it in your back pocket for the first meal of the day, whenever that ends up happening.

Jaques-Imo’s

Perfect For:
Making A Party Out Of Dinner

8324 Oak St.
New Orleans, LA 70118
504-861-0886

A visit to this legendary New Orleans restaurant means eating inside Jacques’ house, an eccentric fella who you will no doubt meet when you dine here. Waits are long and it’s only open for dinner, but Jaques-Imo’s is a party, and it’s an essential New Orleans experience that you should have at least once in your life. By the time you get a table, you’ll be good and buzzed, and ready to tackle Godzilla, aka the biggest soft shell crab you’ve ever seen, laid out across a bed of fried green tomatoes.

La Petit Grocery

Perfect For:
A Finer Dining Experience

4238 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-891-3377

You could go to an old school New Orleans institution like Commanders Palace or Galatoire’s to class up your Cajun experience (both are worth a trip), but we always find ourselves at La Petit Grocery for a proper meal instead. La Petit Grocery is the new best all around restaurant in New Orleans not named Cochon, where Justin Devillier, a former standout from Top Chef NOLA, is the chef. It’s a a modern take on fine dining in an incredible room that will make you want to stay there all night. The food is absolutely tremendous, and there are two things to make sure are on your table: blue crab beignets and pasta with turtle ragu.

Elizabeth’s

Perfect For:
Eating A Thing Called Praline Bacon

601 Gallier St.
New Orleans, LA 70117
504-944-9272

Elizabeth’s is famous for one thing – praline bacon. But all of the other breakfast and brunch food at this classic Bywater restaurant is damn good too. Get in a cab (or, now, finally, an Uber), and take a quick trip to this part of town for a daytime meal. Elizabeth’s also recently started serving dinner, and it’s great for that too.

Cochon

Perfect For:
Having The Best Meal Of Your Life

930 Tchoupitoulas St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-588-2123

There are a lot of things we love about New Orleans. The people, the music, the food, ordering drinks from the bar “to go.” However, there is one thing in particular that draws us back to the bayou like a giant, delicious magnet from the south – the desire to have another meal at Cochon. Bottom line, if you’re planning one meal in New Orleans, it should be at Cochon. And make sure you get your own order of woodfired oysters. You will not want to share.

Cochon Butcher

Perfect For:
Having The Best Sandwich Of Your Life

930 Tchoupitoulas St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-588-7675

Located next door to the restaurant, Cochon Butcher is the place to get a sandwich that will blow your mind. Here you can sit down and enjoy things like one of the city’s best muffulettas, a grilled cheese bacon melt, and something called Le Pig Mac, which is basically a double decker pork burger with special sauce. Make time for this. You won’t regret it.

Peche

Perfect For:
Upscale Food From The Sea

800 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-522-1744

The most recent addition to the Donald Link family of restaurants, which also includes Cochon and Cochon Butcher, Peche is their shrine to the sea. The room is amazing, a warm, inviting space that’s built for big groups (take note, bachelor and bachelorette parties). It’s not nearly as good as Cochon is (or La Petit Grocery, for that matter), but it’s definitely worth a stop in for a drink and a bite before you move on to your next destination.

Parkway Bakery & Tavern

Perfect For:
Po’ Boys

538 Hagan Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70119
504-482-3047

If you’ve got “eating all the po’ boys” on your itinerary, Parkway Bakery better be on your list. Note that fried oysters sandwiches are only served on certain days, so if that’s what you’re looking for, check in advance to make sure you swing by at the right time. Hell, this was where Obama came to have lunch when he was in town, so you know it’s good. We’re betting he did’ have to wait in line.

Domilise’s

Perfect For:
More Po’ Boys

5240 Annunciation St.
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-899-9126

A tiny shack that’s legendary for their po’ boy sandwiches, and is another must visit if you seek such a thing. It’s off the beaten path all the way out in West Riverside, but it’s worth the trek and can be worked into a visit to Magazine Street if you plan to head in that direction (you should). The half fried oyster, half fried shrimp is 100% the move there.

Wayfare

Perfect For:
Eating Like A Local

4510 Freret St.
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-309-0069

If you’re looking for a real local type experience, look no further than this up and coming stretch of Feret Street in Uptown. Located near Tulane and Loyola, this area is loaded with good new bars and restaurants, our favorite being Wayfare. Wayfare is a great spot for a laid back lunch with a nice bottle of wine and some cured meats, which they make on site. They’ve also got a great lineup of sandwiches and sides, rounding out a gluttonous daytime meal

SEE ALSO: The 25 Best Restaurants In The World, According To Travelers

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A fortune has to start somewhere.

For Mavericks owner Mark Cuban it was selling garbage bags. For Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett it was knocking on doors and selling packs of gum. For "Shark Tank" icon Daymond John it was a matter of re-purposing pencils for girls he had a crush on.

Looking into how these legends got started reveals a lot about the personalities of the people who create extreme wealth.

Let's get to the stories.

Daymond John wooed girls in his first grade class by customizing pencils for them.

"I never knew anything other than wanting to be an entrepreneur,"John tells Business Insider. Before he made a fortune from launching the clothing line FUBU in the '90s, John learned the power of sales in first grade.

In a recent speech at Rutgers, John explained that he would scrape the paint off pencils and paint his customer's name on them for a fee — and his market was exclusively the prettiest girls in class.

Sales were good until the principal shut down the operation after discovering John was stealing all of the pencils from boys he didn't like.

Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad rode around his tiny Swedish town selling matches.

The man who built Ikea has been looking for a better way to sell since the 1930s.

Now 88, a 5-year-old Ingvar Kamprad was growing up on a farm in rural Sweden when he showed the first signs of the entrepreneurial itch. The kid rode to his neighbors' houses selling matches.

He started earning his reputation for finding efficiencies way back then: He would buy matches in bulk from Stockholm then sell them individually at a markup — but still at a reasonable price.

That business grew into other home supplies, which then turned into furniture. At age 17, he started Ikea.

Mark Cuban learned the basics of business as a 12-year-old selling trash bags.

The billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks and star "Shark Tank" investor started his career as an entrepreneur out of necessity.

When he was 12, he approached his dad one night to ask him for a pair of expensive sneakers. His dad was playing poker and drinking with some friends, which happened to work out in Cuban's favor.

"And one of his buddies popped up ... He said, 'I got somethin' for ya! I've got these garbage bags I need to sell. Why don't you go out there and sell these garbage bags?'" Cuban tells Bloomberg's Barry Ritholtz in a Masters in Business podcast.

The bags were sold in boxes of 100 for $6. Cuban went door to door in his neighborhood and convinced customers that since they'd be buying trash bags anyways, they might as well buy them at a cheaper price from him.

Microsoft makes a whole lot of money selling software. But it also gives a lot of it away for free.

Here's a collection of useful free Microsoft apps for all sorts of devices — not just Windows PCs, but also Macs, iPhones, and even Android devices.

These apps will help you take photos, share them, give you access to your documents, notes, organize your travel and more.

Photosynth lets you create 3D photographs

Photosynth is a tool that lets you create a 3D photograph, known as a synth, which is a collection of overlapped photos. This is available for Windows Phone and iOS, or can be used on the Web. The 3D view allows you to navigate photos in all sorts of ways, whether its a tour of your home or climbing a mountain.

ICE (Image Composite Editor) creates panoramic images

ICE (Image Composite Editor) works with Photosynth to create panoramic images. The panorama can be shared with friends and viewed in 3D by uploading it to the Photosynth web site. Or it can be saved a wide variety of image formats, from common formats like JPEG and TIFF to the multi-resolution tiled format used by Silverlight's Deep Zoom and by the HD View and HD View SL panorama viewers.

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red by INicR on Photosynth

Xim is a photo-sharing app for mobile

Microsoft Xim lets you share up to 50 photos with friends via your Windows Phone, iOS, or Android device.

Photos appear synchronously on everyone’s devices even if they don’t have the app. Anyone in "a Xim" can advance the slide show or pan and zoom to see specific photo details.

This year, 140 million Americans are expected to shop on Thanksgiving and the days immediately following it, according to the National Retail Federation.

But in hoping to take advantage of Black Friday sales, will stores take advantage of shoppers?

From supermarkets to department stores, retailers are carefully engineered to get you to spend the most money possible.

If you want to beat retailers at their own game, then you'd better learn how they think.

This is an update of an article written by Alison Griswold.

A big, bold "SALE" sign helps get people in the store, where they are likely to buy non-sale items.

Once you enter, there's the shopping cart. This invention was designed in the late 1930s to help customers make larger purchases more easily.

Source: Idea Finder

In supermarkets, high margin departments like floral and fresh baked goods are placed near the front door, so you encounter them when your cart is empty and your spirits are high.

Larry Charles, a key staff writer on 'Seinfeld' and the director of 'Borat' and 'Religulous,' sat down with comedian/podcaster Pete Holmes for this week's episode of his "You Made It Weird" podcast.

The best moment from the episode comes about 1 hour and 26 minutes in when Charles offers up a story about working with Bob Dylan.

He mentions that back in the 90s, Bob Dylan was endlessly touring and stuck on a bus a lot of the time, so to combat his boredom, he would become "addicted" to different genres of movies and watch "every single one of them" during that period.

At one point, he became "deeply into Jerry Lewis" and decided he wanted to star in a slapstick comedy. Not only that, but he wanted to do it as a TV series for HBO. It wasn't long before Charles got a call.

Charles described the whole experience as "very dreamlike" and says he really only took the meeting so he could tell his friends he had a meeting with Bob Dylan. Charles describes the surreal meeting:

"He owns a boxing gym in Santa Monica, I meet him in the back of this boxing gym in a cubicle, he's chain-smoking the whole time...completely smoke-filled...and his assistant comes over and says 'do you want something to drink' and it's attached to this coffee house so I say 'yeah, I'll just have an iced coffee' and Bob responds 'I want something hot. I want a hot beverage,' because that's sort of how he talks, he talks in this very ornate way. So they bring a hot coffee for him, a cappuccino or something, and they bring an iced coffee for me and they put them together in the middle of the table and he immediately grabs my iced coffee and starts drinking the iced coffee.

"And I'm watching him drink it, and I'm not touching the other thing I didn't want the other thing, and finally he almost finishes my drink and goes 'why aren't you drinking your drink' and it's like 'you're drinking my drink,' y'know, and he kinda laughed, and that kinda broke the ice, strangely enough. It's like going to see a sorcerer...'cause it's like all a test...he drank my drink, how would I react?"

As the meeting progressed, Charles got some fascinating and unique insight into Bob Dylan's writing process.

"He brings out this very ornate beautiful box, like a sorcerer would, and he opens the box and dumps all these pieces of scrap paper on the table...and yes, that is exactly what he does...every piece of scrap paper was a hotel stationary, little scraps from Norway and from Belgium and Brazil and places like that, and each little piece of paper had a line, like some kind of little line scribbled or a name scribbled, 'Uncle Sweetheart,' or a weird poetic line or an idea or whatever, and he was like 'I don't know what to do with all this,'...and for some reason I was able to go 'oh y'know you can take this...this is a line, this is the character, and the character could say this line.' And he said 'you can do that?' and it's like 'yeah, yeah you can do that' because I realized that's how he writes songs, he takes these scraps and he puts them together and makes his poetry out of that.

"He has all these ideas...and then just in a kind of subconscious or unconscious way he lets them kind of synthesize into a coherent thing, and that's how we wound up writing, also. We wound up writing in a very cut-up technique, we would just take scraps of paper, put them together, try to make them make sense, try to find the story points within it, and we finally...we wrote this very elaborate treatment for this slapstick comedy which was filled with surrealism and all kinds of things from his songs and stuff. So we say to Bob, 'if you come to HBO with us, we'll definitely sell the project because they won't have the balls to say no to your face,' and he agrees."

"So he showed up at the meeting...and at the time, by the way, I was only wearing pajamas everywhere I went, I used to just wear pajamas, I worked at 'Mad About You' for two years, I started wearing pajamas, everywhere I went,  I would take my kids to events and I'd be wearing pajamas...I probably was having a nervous breakdown and didn't realize, but I wore pajamas everywhere I went."

"So I show up for the meeting in my pajamas...and he shows for the meeting at HBO in a black cowboy hat, a black floor length duster, black boots, he looks like Cat Ballou or something, he looks like a Western guy who's carrying six guns.

"We stride down the hall at HBO, if you can imagine that scene, my hair is super long, beard down to my belly button in f*ckin' pajamas and Bob Dylan is dressed like a cowboy from a movie. We go into the meeting and Chris Albrecht who was the president of HBO says 'Bob, oh,  so great to meet you, look I have the original tickets from Woodstock' and Bob goes 'I didn't play Woodstock' and then he walks over to the other side of the office which has floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city and proceeds to have his back turned to us for the entire meeting.

"He never turns around, I have to start pitching this thing...this is who he is. Gavin Polone was there, who has my manager at the time, and he was like [whisper] 'he's like a retarded child.' So I would go 'Bob's going to do this, right Bob?' and at the end, ironically, despite all this discomfort, they bought the project, indeed.

"They bought the project, we go out to the elevator, Bob's manager Jeff, my manager Gavin, me and Bob, the 3 of us are elated we actually sold the project and Bob says 'I don't want to do it anymore.' He says 'I don't want to do it anymore, it's too slapsticky.' He's like not into it, that's over. The slapstick phase has officially ended. He's not into it anymore, and Gavin Polone said to me 'you gotta get out of this', and I said 'I'm on the Bob Dylan train, I'm going to take this train wherever it takes me' and we wound up re-writing that into kinda like a serious movie, and that's what we wound up shooting, which took another year to do that.' 

The final product, titled "Masked and Anonymous," debuted at Sundance Film Festival in 2003 and received less than stellar reviews despite an impressive cast (pictured below).

The episode of "You Made It Weird" was a quintessential example of what makes the longform, intimate interview podcast so special — Pete's an incredible conversationalist, and Larry Charles was an open book, telling numerous great stories from his lengthy (and still thriving) career. 

Below is a YouTube clip with an abridged version of the story. The full episode is available for free here.

SEE ALSO: The Holy Grail For Bob Dylan Fans Has Just Been Released

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These buildings were the headquarters of Sears, Roebuck and Co., America's greatest retailer for seven decades.

Sears tested its products and printed the famous catalog in the complex just outside Chicago.

But in 1974, the company moved to the Sears Tower and these buildings were left deserted for 30 years. In that time, Sears went from being on top of the world to being one of the most distressed American brands. 

While developers used some of the site to build the Homan Square area in Chicago, some buildings still remained empty and are considered historical landmarks. 

Local photographer Martin Gonzalez took eerie photographs from inside the old headquarters. Despite the decay, many signs of the office life remain. 

The old Sears towers are just outside Chicago.

Source: Martin Gonzalez 

The grounds are unkempt and deserted.

Source: Martin Gonzalez 

The complex is located on Homan Avenue just outside Chicago.

Source: Martin Gonzalez

When it comes to branding, colors are essential.

A study on the impact of color in marketing from the University of Winnipeg, Canada, found out that up to 90% of snap judgements made about products can be based on color alone.  

Many brands have made their colors a substantial part of their marketing strategy. In some cases, they have even trademarked those particular tints: the "Rosso corsa", for example, is a particular shade of red that was used by Italian racing teams in the 1920s, and is now a symbol of brands like Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. 

The corporate color is reproduced on every output from the company, be it a staff uniform, a webpage or packaging. The aim is that every time a costumer comes across that particular shade or tint, he or she will spontaneously remember that brand. 

If you need a hint, you can see which sector the brand sits in by highlighting the black rectangle below. The answer is on the next slide.

Publishing

The Financial Times started using salmon pink paper in 1893, precisely to differentiate the title from its rival at the time, Financial News. Pink paper also used to be cheaper at that time.

Highlight the black rectangle to see a hint.

Family planning

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Who are the most popular men in the US?

You could measure men by the number of Facebook friends they have, but not all profiles are searchable. Luckily there's an app, Lulu, that pulls in men's Facebook profiles automatically.

Lulu is a controversial app that's like Yelp for men. It lets millions of women rate men they know anonymously on everything from looks, to ambition to relationships — even sex.

It has generated billions of profile views and it's used by one in four college women in the United States. Over the summer, it launched a feature for men so they could review the scores women were giving them; it has been used by more than one million guys. Additionally, Lulu recently launched anonymously messages and questions called "Truth Bombs," which generated five million views in its first month.

Business Insider worked with Lulu to find the highest-rated men in every state, according to women who know them. Men are rated on a scale of 1—10.

While there are no perfect scores in the US, a man in Texas and a man in Illinois men both received a 9.7 score. Their friends used the following hashtags to describe them: "#DoesDishes,""#RemembersBirthdays," and "#OneOfTheGoodOnes." (All descriptions in Lulu are hashtags — free form answers could put Lulu's users in libelous territory.) Business Insider blurred out any NSFW hashtags too.

Meet the 50 Most Popular Men In Every State, According To Millions Of Anonymous Women >>

*Each man was contacted by Lulu prior to publishing this list on Business Insider. In a few cases, the leading man in a state refused to give a permission and the runner-up was used instead.

Alabama: Randall Lewis, 22. "#SweetToMom, #LovesBabies"

Average Lulu score: 9.2

Rates high in: Commitment

College/Occupation: University of South Alabama; Wilmer Fire Department

Women describe him as: #OpensDoors #OneWomanMan #SweetToMom #LovesBabies #FlowersJustBecause

Lulu profile

Alaska: Marcus Shaw, 25. "#Dimples, #SmellsAmazeballs"

Average Lulu score: 7.2

Rates high in: Look & Style

College/Occupation: Washington State University

Women describe him as: #Dimples #SmellsAmazeballs #GrillMaster #SkinLikeButta #HopelessRomantic

Lulu profile

Arizona: David Rayas, 21. "#DudeCanCook, #SixPack"

Average Lulu score: 8.7

Rates high in: Look & Style

College/Occupation: University of Arizona; Student

Women describe him as: #Man'sMan #GreatHair #MyFriendsAreJealous #TallDarkAndHandsome #SixPack

Lulu profile

A few years ago, not many people knew the name Benedict Cumberbatch.

Now, the 38-year-old actor has an Emmy-winning miniseries, "Sherlock," and a rabid fan following known as the "Cumberbitches." Dozensupondozens of Tumblr pages are devoted to the London-born actor.

In his latest role, he plays brilliant British cryptanalyst and war hero Alan Turing in "The Imitation Game," opening in theaters Nov. 28th. 

He also plays not one, but two villains in "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies."

Benedict Cumberbatch was born in London in the summer of '76 to actor parents Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton. He said he had a "great childhood," though he was "over-gregarious" and "prone to moments of hyperactivity, then exhaustion and bad temperedness."

Source: ElleUK

His parents tried to dissuade him from acting by sending him to Harrow, one of the oldest, most-respected all-male boarding schools in the United Kingdom. He describes the experience as "a bit embarrassing.""Luckily I was on the rugby team, so I was macho at the same time!"

Source: ElleUK, PBS

While he also painted at school, he couldn't escape the theater. One of his earliest roles was playing Titania, Queen of the Fairies in William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Source: Digital Spy

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The future of mobile is being redefined. The smartphone and tablet markets are nearing saturation. The days of heady hardware growth are long gone.

Mobile growth is moving into media, advertising, software, and services. Meanwhile, new devices are expanding the meaning of "mobile."

BI Intelligence has created a slideshow that highlights the new markets growing up around the multiscreen consumer.  

1. Mobile Commerce

2. Mobile Advertising

3. Mobile Apps

4. Emerging Devices And Platforms

5. Mobile Payments And Banking

6. Mobile Health 

Only BI Intelligence subscribers can download the individual charts and datasets in Excel, along with the PowerPoint and PDF versions of this deck. Please sign up for a membership here. BI Intelligence is a research and analysis service focused on mobile computing, digital media, payments, e-commerce, and the Internet of Things. 

What you eat all day doesn't just impact your health and weight; it affects your productivity, too.

"If you eat high fat, high sugar meals and snacks you will be sleepy and have low energy overall," says Lisa De Fazio, a healthy lifestyle expert and registered dietitian. "High fat foods take more work to digest. Candy causes sugar to spike in your blood stream then crash, and you also may have an upset stomach. Who can be productive with all of this going on?"

But, unfortunately, she says, many people tend to make bad eating decisions during the workday.

"Boredom and stress often lead to mindless snacking on things like sweets and chips,"De Fazio explains. "Also, there may be limited healthy food choices or too many temptations around the office, like candy dishes on your colleagues' desks, cupcakes for birthdays, or greasy pizza during lunch meetings." 

Time — or lack thereof — also plays a part. "One of the reasons people don't stick to their healthy eating resolutions of bringing their own homemade prepared food, rather than ordering or eating out, is because of a lack of time," explains Nicole Maftoum, a Lebanese clinical dietitian. "In a fast-paced world, fast food comes as the optimum solution."

Maftoum says sleep deprivation also affects appetite and pushes one to eat twice the amount of calories that they'd typically consume in a day.

The experts say all of these factors make it easy for us to develop bad eating habits at work — but they're terrible excuses.

Luckily, there are plenty of quick, easy, and inexpensive healthy snack options.

Almonds

Almonds are a great source of protein and healthy fat that is satisfying. "They contain nine essential nutrients; have the highest rate of proteins when compared to other nuts; have the highest rate of fiber (3.5g per 23 pieces) when compared to other nuts; are rich in Vitamin E (23 pieces provide 35% of the daily value of Vitamin E); and contain monounsaturated fats that help increase HDL levels," Maftoum says.

Low-fat popcorn

This low-calorie snack will satisfy your craving for something salty and crunchy, and it’s also a good source of fiber, De Fazio says. 

Fresh fruit

Fruits are packed with vitamins and minerals, and are full of great natural sweetness, Maftoum says. "They are also a great source of antioxidants needed for a stronger immune system and a better performance at work."

Foodies can be hard to please. 

As connoisseurs of food, they direct a lot of their attention to preparing and eating some of the best food out there, which can make finding that perfect gift for them seem like a daunting task. 

To help you come up with ideas, we rounded up some of the best gifts to give all your foodie friends this holiday season. 

Supply your cheese-loving friends with a DIY set.

This is a perfect gift for any foodie that loves cheese and DIY, because this kit teaches you how to make your own cheese. 

The kit makes 30 batches (more than 40 pounds) of different types of cheese. A foodie can make mozzarella, ricotta, goat cheeses, paneer or queso blanco in just one hour. 

Price: $50

Give them a handmade frying skillet.

Not all skillets are created equal.

Investing in good quality kitchen appliances is vital to those with a passion for cooking. Skillets are one of the best kitchen gadgets to invest in because they are so versatile; you can cook a steak on a skillet and you can also bake a pie. 

These Borough skillets are handmade from “100% recoiled iron, melted using waste vegetable oil.” Each piece is hand cast and finished and comes pre-seasoned with organic flax seed oil. 

Price: $280

Let them grow their own salad-ready spices with this micro-green kit.

These kits grow salad-ready USDA-certified organic sprouts in just 7-14 days.  

There are two options: a spice kit and a veggie kit.  

The spice kit grows Japanese mustard, daikon radish, and edible chrysanthemum sprouts. The veggie kit grows red cabbage, mini-carrot greens, and tom thumb pea greens.

Price: $5-$48 

In 2010, photographer Dietmar Eckell was the general manager for Southeast Asia at a German Fortune 500 company, working and living comfortably. But, since his childhood, Eckell says he's felt the strong pull of "wanderlust," so that year he resigned his post and began traveling the world, documenting abandoned and decaying relics of earlier times.

Since then, he's traveled almost 75,000 miles and visited four continents. "I haven't regretted it for one day," Eckell tells Business Insider.

For one of his main projects, Eckell researched and photographed 15 downed planes around the globe. The series is titled "Happy End," because not a single passenger died in any of the crashes. "Pictures of fatal airplane crashes are all over the news. There's no need for me to document graves," Eckell told Slate. "I want to surprise the viewer with stories of heroes and miracles and give their viewing experience a 'happy end.'"

Acting as part detective, part explorer, and part artist, Eckell traveled by any means necessary to some of the most remote areas of the world, tracking down these abandoned planes, many of which were difficult to locate.

"It's just a great feeling to finally sit on the wing of a plane that you've been trying to reach for years," he says.

Eckell has shared some of his photos here with us. For the full story on many of the planes he visited, we suggest you buy his beautiful new book. 

Douglas C-47, part of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Crashed near Snag, Yukon, Canada, in 1950. All 6 survived.

Eckell had no exact location for the C-47 when he arrived in Snag, Canada. After speaking with the locals, he secured a flight with a friendly pilot who flew him over the wreckage. Later, Eckell attempted to reach the plane on the ground, but that proved treacherous as the land around the wreck was very swampy. Traveling by ATV, "we had to pull each other out with the trench every five minutes and maybe made one mile per hour," he says. Finally, he arrived at the wreck and documented what was left before the whole thing eventually sinks into the bog.

Grumman HU-16 Albatross. Suspected drug-running plane. Crashed near Puerto Escondido, Mexico, in 2004. All survived.

Eckell had heard rumors of a "mysterious drug plane" on a remote beach in Mexico, so when found a cheap flight to Ixtapa, he jumped on the opportunity. Upon landing, he rented a car and traveled 45o miles to Puerto Escondido. The locals told him that after the crash, the survivors carried as much cocaine as they could from the wreckage, but were subsequently eaten by crocodiles in the lagoons nearby. Eckell isn't sure if he believes this.

Today, the airplane is almost gone. Eckell told Slate, "I document these structures before nature takes them back. Maybe it's a way to make their stories immortal."

Avro Shackleton. Crashed in Polisario-controlled area of the Western Sahara in 1994. 19 survived.

Eckell found this wreck in the "no-man's land" between Morocco and Mauritania. After days of travel, including 26 hours of non-stop driving and 20 hours on Mauritania's famous iron ore train, he finally arrived at the Avro Shackleton in a remote desert setting. He stood on the roof of his car and held his tripod above his head to get the shot, before making the treacherous drive home.