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These tweets take on a whole new meaning when you see where they were written

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LarsonShindelman TrumanShow

Since 2009, Marni Shindelman and Nate Larson have embarked on an unusual project. They scan publicly available Twitter feeds for geotagged tweets and then travel to those locations to photograph them.

The two try to imagine what the Twitter user was thinking or seeing when they composed their sometimes humorous and often poignant tweets.

For Shindelman and Larson, the project is about looking for some of the real people behind the 500 million tweets sent each day. "Our act of making a photograph anchors and memorializes the ephemeral online data in the real world and also probes the expectations of privacy surrounding social networks," they write on their website.

Larson and Shindelman shared some of their photos with us here; you can see the rest on their site.

The “Geolocation” project began in 2009 when the duo discovered Yahoo Pipes, a web tool that someone had used to map tweets that had been geotagged. At the time, there were only a few tweets, but this one in front of an investment bank in Chicago caught their eye. “We took this right after the Recession hit and there was something impactful about someone walking out after getting fired and sending this sad, funny tweet,” says Larson.



At the time, Shindelman was living in Rochester, New York, and Larson was living in Chicago. Each did their own version of the project focusing on their location.



Over time, the two found better applications for the project. Shindelman now uses Bing Twitter Map, while Larson uses Tweetspot and Streamd.in.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

10 ways to make your Android phone run faster

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android rocket

When you invest hundreds of dollars in a new smartphone, you expect it to last for a while.

Unfortunately, there are tons of tiny factors that could be slowing down your phone that you might not even be aware of.

If you're Android phone is feeling sluggish, try a few of these easy fixes. 

First, restart your phone.

It's easy to forget that our phones need a good restart every once in a while, just like any other type of computer. Before you take any other measures, try shutting down or restarting your phone. 



Make sure your system is up to date.

If your phone is running slow, it's possible that you may not have installed the latest Android software update. Head over to Settings >About device >Software update to see if there are any updates available. 



Delete old photos, apps, and anything else you don't need anymore.

If your phone is still slow, try getting rid of files you don't need. It's easy to forget to delete old photos and music files, but getting rid of content is one of the easiest ways to get your phone running smoothly again. Apps could be using resources from your phone to perform processes in the background, which could be slowing down your phone. The less clutter, the better. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Apple designer Jony Ive's favorite cars (AAPL)

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jony ive bono carApple is reportedly working on an electric vehicle, codenamed "Titan."

If it ever reaches the market, Apple's car will doubtlessly bear the influence of the company's chief designer, Jony Ive.

Ive is a car fan who's owned a number of interesting and expensive rides, according to a biography of him by Leander Kahney.

Ive drove a Fiat 500 when he was in school.



He once helped his dad restore an Austin-Healey Sprite.



Ive used to own an Aston Martin DB9, but he crashed it near San Bruno, California.



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This is the next-generation military hardware Russia is buying with its surging military budget

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russia moscow parade APCs

Russia may be in the middle of an economic crisis, but the country's defence budget is surging.

Military spending is set to rise by an astonishing 33% this year, according to the Associated Press. That follows double-digit percentage increases in previous years, and will make it Russia's highest defence budget ever, running to 4.2% of GDP, according to the Moscow Times.

What's it being spent on?

Russia is modernising a huge amount of its military equipment, much of which has been languishing with Soviet-era design for the past three decades. This includes new equipment for Russia's ground forces, as well as new tech for its Navy and Air Force, combined with territorial expansion into the Arctic.

The RS-24 Yars is currently replacing Russia's more outdated intercontinental nuclear missiles. It reportedly carries between four and ten nuclear warheads that can each hit different targets.



This Sukhoi T-50 fighter is Russia's answer to the latest US Raptor jets. It's Russia's first stealth fighter, and it's still in testing, ready to be rolled out in the next couple of years. It's got a top speed of 1,300 mph, faster than an F35.



The Black Sea fleet will receive at least one of the Admiral Grigorovich class of frigates in 2015, according to the Moscow Times, adding to the one it already has. The fleet is being enhanced now that Russia controls Crimea.



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The insanely large paychecks of 19 TV personalities

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the daily show jon stewart

Tuesday, Jon Stewart announced he'll be leaving "The Daily Show" later this year.

When he steps down, Stewart will leave television as the highest-paid late night host after nearly 17 years on Comedy Central.

How does Stewart's paycheck compare to other TV hosts?

Last summer, TV Guide released its annual salary report, a list that rounds up the paychecks of some of television's highest-paid actors and TV personalities.

Note: We originally ran this list late last year.

[TIE] 17. Chelsea Handler: $10 million

Handler reportedly signed a $10 million deal with Netflix consisting of several comedy specials and a talk show for the streaming service. Handler previously made between $8 million and $12 million for her E! show over the past two years.



[TIE] 17. Jimmy Kimmel: $10 million

Kimmel's "Lie Witness News" and "Celebrities Read Mean Tweets" segments have been big hits on the ABC late-night show. His fake feud with Matt Damon is always a rating's winner.



[TIE] 17. Shepard Smith: $10 million

The FOX News anchor's contract was renewed in 2013. Smith was also named both the host of "Shepard Smith Reporting" and the managing editor of the network's new breaking news division.



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9 models to follow on Instagram during New York Fashion Week

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Karlie Kloss

New York Fashion Week has officially started. 

Even if you’re not into the clothes, it’s always fun to follow the models behind the scenes, and Instagram is the perfect place to get a glimpse into their lives. 

Whether you want style inspiration or just a better look at what really happens behind-the-scenes, here are the 9 best models to follow on Instagram during New York Fashion Week. 

The up-and-coming Sports Illustrated model Gigi Hadid made her Fashion Week debut only last year, but is expected to be the big star of this year's Fashion Week. In January, she was named the newest face of Maybelline.

A photo posted by Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid) on Jan 19, 2015 at 6:08pm PST

(@gigihadid, 1.8 million followers)



Victoria Secret angel Karlie Kloss has a great Instagram account filled with behind-the-scenes model photos and pictures with her closest friends.

A photo posted by @karliekloss on Dec 18, 2014 at 4:55pm PST

(@karliekloss, 1.9 million followers)



Cara Delevingne is great to follow anytime of the year. Delevingne, known for her envy-worthy eyebrows, posts the most outrageous pictures of herself and her many celebrity friends. Also, she genuinely seems like she is always having fun.

(@caradelevingne, 9.6 million followers)



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Science says people decide these 9 things within seconds of meeting you

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angelina jolie

Psychologists call it "thin slicing." 

Within moments of meeting people, you decide all sorts of things about them, from status to intelligence to promiscuity.

If you're trustworthy

People decide on your trustworthiness in a tenth of a second

Princeton researchers found this out by giving one group of university students 100 milliseconds to rate the attractiveness, competence, likeability, aggressiveness, and trustworthiness of actors' faces.

Members of another group were able to take as long as they wanted. While other traits differed depending on time spent looking, trustworthiness was basically the same.

 



If you're high-status

A Dutch study found that people wearing name-brand clothes — Lacoste and Tommy Hilfiger, to be precise — were seen as higher status than folks wearing non-designer clothes. 

"Perceptions did not differ on any of the other dimensions that might affect the outcome of social interactions,"the authors wrote. "There were no differences in perceived attractiveness, kindness, and trustworthiness." 

Just status.



If you're straight or gay

People can read a man's sexual orientation in a twentieth of a second — the minimum amount of time it takes to consciously recognize a face. 

"The rapid and accurate perception of male sexual orientation may be just another symptom of a fast and efficient cognitive mechanism for perceiving the characteristics of others,"wrote study authors Nicholas O. Rule and Nalini Ambady.



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21 traits of highly successful billionaires

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richard branson

Were billionaires like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Warren Buffet just born lucky — or were they made to succeed?

Aside from the size of their bank accounts, billionaires possess a unique series of traits that most people don't exhibit.

Maybe some attributes they were born with, but most of these traits don't come naturally; they are skills that these billionaires honed and habits that they nurtured on their road to riches.

Because these traits aren't inherent, anyone can work on acquiring these attributes and applying them in their lives to see greater success and wealth. Start developing some of them on your own and you might be well on your way to striking it rich.

Oprah Winfrey: grateful

The former queen of daytime television doesn't let her $3 billion net worth get to her head. Despite her abundant success, her constant gratitude is truly humbling.

Her legions of fans are inspired by her words of wisdom like, "Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."



Warren Buffet: patient

Warren Buffet, the second richest man in American, built his $67 billion net worth by simply taking his time.

Not a fan of trendy stocks or knee-jerk reactions to market fluctuations, Buffet has a "set it and forget it" investing philosophy, saying, "It's pretty easy to get well-to-do slowly. But it's not easy to get rich quick."



Bill Gates: humble

Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have devoted the better part of their fortune to improving the lives of the world's poorest people. But despite his donations that that already total in the tens of billions of dollars, Gates recognizes that others are making contributions that he says are more meaningful than his.

"I'm not giving up food, or vacation, or a trip to the movies," to give charitably, Bill Gates said in a video interview for Reddit. "I essentially sacrifice nothing that I want, and there are people who are out in the field and they are giving more."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

8 award-winning National Geographic photos taken by kids ages 14 and younger

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1st Place_Weird But True_ Olivia Bertie_UK

The winners of the 2014 International Photography Contest for Kids have been announced, and the winnings photos are awesome.

The contest, conducted in partnership with National Geographic Kids magazine, saw more than 16,000 entries from around the world. Four photos were selected as first-place winners, including a grand-prize winner, in four categories, and four were selected as runners-up.

Entrants had to be between ages 6 and 14 to be eligible for the competition.

Overall winner Grace Chung will receive a National Geographic Costa Rica family adventure. First-place winners get a digital camera, a memory card, and assorted National Geographic kids' books. National Geographic shared the winners' photos with us here.

Second place: "Weird But True" category, taken by 12-year-old American Jack Girton.



First place: "Weird, But True" category, taken by 14-year-old Olivia Bertie from the UK.



Second place: "Wild Vacations" category, taken by 12-year-old Mihail Nikolaev Kamenov from Bulgaria.



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The best restaurant in every state

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Mezzaluna

Good food is everywhere, but some restaurants truly stand out as great.

To find the best restaurant each state has to offer, we sifted through our list of the Best Restaurants in America, The Daily Meal's 101 Best Restaurants in America list, James Beard award nominations, expert reviews, and local recommendations, paying particular attention to fine-dining establishments.

Did we get your state right? Let us know in the comments. 

ALABAMA: Highlands Bar and Grill

Location: Birmingham

Chef: Frank and Pardis Stitt

Though they use French techniques, chefs Frank and Pardis Stitt still infuse southern comfort into every meal at Highlands Bar and Grill. The menu changes daily to incorporate seasonal ingredients, and the restaurant was a James Beard Outstanding Restaurants semifinalist as well as one of OpenTable's top 100 restaurants for 2013.



ALASKA: Jens' Restaurant

Location: Anchorage

Chef: Jens Hansen

Consistently rated the top spot for seafood in Anchorage, Jens' Restaurant was named best overall, best ambiance, and best food, among others, by OpenTable. Not only are the ingredients fresh from the sea, but the menu is too — Chef Hansen updates the selection seasonally to incorporate regional specialties from his most recent travels.

For a lower-key experience, guests can stop by the adjacent wine bar, which features a full menu and more than 40 varieties of wine.



ARIZONA: Kai

Location: Chandler

Chef: Conor Favre

Kai— which means "seed" in the Pima language — serves up a winning combination of modern techniques and traditional Native American flavors. Two tasting menus are available for guests who want to try it all: "Short Story" for $135 and "Journey" for $225.

Kai took the No. 8 spot on OpenTable's Best Restaurants of America list for 2014 and is a AAA Five Diamond Award recipient. The restaurant also has near perfect scores on both Zagat (87/90) and OpenTable (4.9/5).



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Kill cable with these 18 streaming devices and services

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Death of the traditional cable television because of internet tv and streaming

Survey data shows most people plan to abandon cable within 10 years — but why wait?

The cord-cutting movement is here, and thanks to all the available services out there, it's easy to replace cable with one or a variety of streaming options.

First we'll look at the best online apps and services to watch movies and TV shows, and then we'll show you the best hardware you can buy to put all that multimedia on your big screen.

These solutions are the next best thing to live TV — and you'll be saving much more money in the long run.

First, let's look at the best apps and services...



1. Netflix

Netflix is a best place to start if you want to be able to stream movies and TV shows — including a growing number of Netflix originals — on almost any device you could think of. New content drops each Friday.

Price: $9 per month, $108 a year



2. Hulu Plus

Hulu Plus is still one of the best ways to watch TV shows from the major networks, including NBC, ABC, BBC, and FOX.

Price: $8 per month, $96 per year



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Haunting photos of a deserted mall that is now covered in snow

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snowy deserted empty mall

Rolling Acres Mall in Akron, Ohio used to be a gathering place for the community. 

Today, it is covered in snow. 

Photographer Seph Lawless revisited one of the closed-down malls from his Black Friday book project. He took some haunting images of the interior today. 

You can find more of Lawless' work on his Facebook and Instagram accounts.

All across America, malls are decaying.



Lawless first visited this Akron, Ohio, mall in 2012 for his book "Black Friday."



When he revisited the mall, he found it was covered in snow.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Here's what to do if you forgot to make a Valentine's Day dinner reservation

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Uh oh. Valentine's Day is nearly upon us, and you totally dropped the ball. Don't even bother calling for a dinner reservation because every place in town is booked up.

But fear not: with a bit of creativity, and a lot of conviction, you can still save the day.

For inspiration, we came up with 10 emergency Valentine's Day backup plans. Good luck.

Join the conversation about this story »

The 10 best iPhone widgets you should be using

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iPhone widget

Thanks to iOS 8, apps can now display helpful information right on your lock screen through widgets.

We've collected the 10 best apps that use widgets creatively to keep you up to date and entertained  all from your iPhone's lock screen.

From alerting you to when you've only reached your data cap to showing you the best headlines from The New York Times, these widgets pack some power. 

See the best of the New York Times with NYT Now.

Every day, the editors at The New York Times send their favorite stories to the NYT Now app, along with important articles from other sources. The app's widget shows you the most recent headlines so you can jump right into an article or just skim the day's news.

Price:Free



DataMan keeps you informed about how much data you have left.

If you're always worried about going over your data cap for the month, you should definitely try DataMan. The nifty little app keeps track of how much data you have left, and the app's widget makes checking your usage lightning-fast.

Price:$1.99



Yahoo Weather is the most beautiful weather app out there.

Yahoo Weather has been updated to look incredible on the iPhone 6's bigger screen, and thanks to its iOS 8 app extension, you can now check out the current weather around you with a single swipe down of the Notification Center.

Price: Free



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Check out these 15 cars that need to make a comeback


The incredible story of Brian Williams' rise to stardom — and how it all came crashing down

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Brian Williams

On Tuesday, Brian Williams was suspended for six months as anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News."

The network's announcement comes after Williams was forced to apologize for and recant his story about being on board a helicopter forced down by RPG fire during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Before Williams' news career was called into question last week, the 55-year-old was known as America's most trusted anchor.

Brian Williams' unlikely road to fame >

Until last week, Williams was known as the Emmy-winning anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News." But TV news was initially an industry in which Williams struggled to enter after he dropped out of college.

Recently earning a $10 million annual salary, Williams went bankrupt in his early 20s after "a failed experiment in local news."

It wasn't until a news director in Washington, D.C., took a chance on Williams that he resumed his on-air career years later.

MediabistroTV spoke to Williams about his big break and success after failure.

As Williams grew up in New Jersey, it was "very clear all along that I had to work, I had to support myself. I was working a series of jobs and I had an epiphany [after dropping out of George Washington University] that I had to at least try something that I always wanted to try."

 



"My late mother always used to say about people on local news in New York, 'I think you could do better than some of these people.' I don't know what she based that on, but I loaded up what few belongings I had and moved to Pittsburg, Kansas."



"I worked at a small television station for 13 months and started making $168 a week for a seven-day work week."



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28 Romantic photos of Michelle and Barack Obama

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obama wedding photoWho can resist romance between the commander-in-chief and the first lady on Valentine's Day?

Married on October 18, 1992, Barack and Michelle Obama have captured our hearts with their love for one another.

Obama mentions his wife in almost every speech he gives, and often seems unable to resist showering his wife with PDA, even when the cameras are rolling.

While President Obama spent the weekend golfing in California, the First Lady sent him a  Valentine's Day message via Twitter.

At the end of his weekly address, President Obama wished his wife a Happy Valentine's Day.

Even though they are across the nation from each other today, we have collected a few of our favorite photos of America's first couple's most romantic moments.

Brett LoGiurato contributed to this report.

Secret Service agents avert their eyes as the Obamas share a private moment on Inauguration Day 2009.



Dancing at the White House during the Governors Ball in February 2009.



Holding hands while heading to Camp David for the first time in March 2009.



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Here's what the world would look like if countries were as big as their population sizes

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Chase Mohrman world population map

Maps are famous for distorting the earth. 

Because they portray our world in only two dimensions, continents and countries become skewed, as does our perception of how big they truly are.

And that doesn't even factor in how many people actually live in these places.

Inspired by a similar 10-year-old map by cartographer Paul Breding that resized countries based on their population size, college student Chase Mohrman decided to create his own updated version.

It quickly went viral on Reddit’s /r/mapporn and began to make the rounds on Vox and NPR

“It took me about three months of casual work,” Mohrman told Business Insider in an email. “It was super fun to make and share. I'm honored that the map is so popular!”

Using Wikipedia as a source and Microsoft Paint as his tool, Mohrman was able to keep the basic shapes of the countries recognizable, and even had a shout out to a few US cities and states including California, Texas, greater New York City, and his native Wisconsin.

“I'm actually a freshman at UW Eau Claire studying Computer Science,” Mohrman told us. “I just have a passion for maps and thought I could help educate people with this one. I think viewing the world in this way is helpful in geo-politics because it's a true representation of the part of the world that's most interesting to us: the people on it!”

Keep reading to see close ups of his incredible map.

Canada becomes a tiny strip on top of the US and greater NYC takes up a large chunk of the East Coast.

Chase Mohrman world population map

The UK and France become almost equal sizes in Mohrman's map and Russia shrinks down by a lot.

Chase Mohrman world population map

Here's the Middle East — Pakistan is double the size of Iran.

Chase Mohrman world population map

Nigeria far outpaces any other African country as a population hub.

Chase Mohrman world population map

China is the biggest country by far on the map. Japan has expanded by a lot too and Greater Seoul takes up half of South Korea.

Chase Mohrman world population map

Australia looks teensy tiny compared to India, which has caught up with China as being one of the world's most populated countries.

Chase Mohrman world population mapYou can see the full high-res map here.

SEE ALSO: 15 Overlay Maps That Will Change The Way You See The World

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

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Chris Hadfield's view from space will completely change your perspective of Earth

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Mauritania.JPG

When retired Canadian Space Agency astronaut, Chris Hadfield, was aboard the International Space Station for the final time, he made the most of it. 

From December 2012 to May 2013, Hadfield orbited Earth 2,597 times and took nearly 45,000 photographs of Earth from the International Space Station. His Twitter stream of photos catapulted him to popularity — he now has more than a million followers. 

Hadfield compiled some of his favorite photographs in his new book "You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes."

In the book's introduction he writes about Earth: "You are here — we all are — for life. Let's get to know the place a little better." With these stunning images he captured of our planet, you can. 

This incredible image depicts clouds twisting into a clockwise, rotating vortex near Africa, Chile in South America, which Hadfield describes as a "a continent of repeating patterns and exaggerated contradictions." The distinct swirls form when currents in the cold Pacific Ocean combine with atmospheric winds. The vortex rotates clockwise because it's in the southern hemisphere.



"The human impulse to impose order on Nature is apparent everywhere in North America," Hadfield writes. Here, he shows a stretch of the Detroit River separating Detroit, Michigan on the right from Ontario, Canada on the left.

 



The Great Salt Lake in Utah is the largest saline lake in the western hemisphere. "No perspective is more radically different than the one you get when you leave the planet altogether and look back," Hadfield writes. And this is certainly true here, where you can see some of the saltiest parts of the lake in red where brine shrimp are raised and magnesium-chloride brine is extracted to produce magnesium metal.



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