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The 12 best new apps you might have missed recently

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iPhone 6 Plus

With more than a million apps out there and more launching every day, it can be tough to keep track of them all.

Luckily, we have collected the best apps of the past month so you can find something new to try out.

There's a new iPhone keyboard that makes it easy to send songs to your friends, an app that lets you create a button that does (almost) anything you want, and the most beautiful game we've seen this year.

 

Alto's Adventure is the most beautiful game of the year so far.

Alto's Adventure puts you in control of a snowboarder as you try to make it as far as you can down the endless mountain, chasing llamas, performing double back flips, and grinding rails for points along the way. The physics-based gameplay and beautiful night and day animations combined with a stunning environment make this game worth the download.

Price: $1.99 (iOS)



Fresh Air is our new favorite weather app.

Fresh Air is a gorgeous new weather app that emphasizes visuals with its minimalist weather graph. You can scroll forward in time to see how the weather will be in the future, and it also connects to your calendar app to give you forecasts on upcoming appointments.

Price: $3.99 (iOS)



ESPN's new app is the sleek way to stay in the know about the latest scores.

ESPN's new app replaces ScoreCenter to be your go-to hub for scores and sports news. The new design makes it easy to follow your favorite teams, and the widget allows you to quickly jump into live audio broadcasts and check up on scores.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)



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Amazing artifacts from the rise and fall of Atari, the first great video game company

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atari cover

"Atari" used to be synonymous with video games — the Atari 2600 console wasn't the first home video game system (that was the Magnavox Odyssey), but it was the one that brought it into most people's living rooms.

But the video game market crashed in 1983. Atari never recovered.  

At this week's Game Developers Conference 2015, the Videogame History Museum celebrated the first big video game company with a showcase of Atari artifacts from back in the day.

"Atari started it all. Atari is what brought video games into the mainstream," says Sean Kelly, director of the Videogame History Museum, which plans on opening its doors to its first permanent location in Frisco, Texas later this year. 

You're not going to believe some of the stuff they've got. 

The collection paid special attention to the Atari 2600, the company's biggest hit. "The Atari 2600 was the s**t, bar none, in that period," Kelly says.



When the Atari 2600 — initially known as the Atari Video Computer System (VCS) — came out in 1976, it caused a massive Atari craze, including entire lines of merchandise, including t-shirts, frisbees...



...and Halloween costumes.



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What it's like to live in 24 hours of darkness at the northernmost edge of the civilized world

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Dog sledding 36

Every January, my wife and I go on an annual, unusual hunting trip. We seek to see the beautiful aurora borealis northern lights.

A few weeks ago, I was unexpectedly invited to Oslo, Norway, as part of a business trip to meet with a new Norwegian client. It seemed destiny was hellbent on sending me to the Northern latitudes in winter, but I had already been to Norway before to chase auroras.

On all my other trips, I had experienced 20 or so hours of darkness but never the ultimate full 24 hours of polar night. I researched my options and learned that the home of the northernmost permanent settlement on Earth, the town of Longyearbyen, is administered by Norway and accessible via a (relatively) easy journey from Oslo. It was two flights away.

This was likely the closest I would ever come to visiting the North Pole, itself.

And that's how I found myself on a 3.5 day trip and dog sledding expedition in total darkness at the northernmost point of civilization on earth.

The red arrow points to the Svalbard Archipelago, home to the town of Longyearbyen, the northernmost inhabited community on the planet.



My trip began in Oslo, where I was greeted by this unusual Welcome sign. Longyearbyen is two flights away.



I'm surprised to see a whole row of Teslas, charging in the center of Oslo. My hosts tell me Norway is the biggest market for Teslas outside the US and they are a "dime a dozen" here.



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RANKED: The 50 US state economies from worst to best

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The US economy is making a big comeback, with GDP growing and unemployment falling.

Of course, that economy is the sum of 50 state economies, each with its own quirks and unique interactions with the others.

We ranked the states' economies on six measures: recent change in housing prices, nonfarm payroll job growth, unemployment rate, GDP per capita, average weekly wage, and state government surplus and deficit.

While we didn't factor them into the ranking, we also looked at the Fortune 500 companies that have their headquarters in each state and which industries were disproportionately important in each state. This helped us get a little more insight into what makes each state economy tick.

For more details on the sources and methodology, click here.

50: Mississippi

Mississippi came in as the weakest state economy in our ranking. The state has disproportionately large forestry and logging, furniture manufacturing, and wood-product manufacturing industries.

Mississippi came in dead last on three metrics: It had only 0.02% growth in nonfarm payrolls between December 2013 and December 2014; it had the highest December 2014 unemployment rate among the states at 7.2%; and it had the lowest 2013 GDP per capita of $32,421. It also finished second to last in Q2 2014 average weekly wages, at $705 a week.



49: Maine

Maine has the most forested land of any other state by percentage, and this shows up in the state's economy. Forestry and logging, paper manufacturing, and wood-product manufacturing account for a larger part of Maine's employment than they do in other states.

Maine scored poorly on many of our metrics. Maine saw only a 0.84% increase in jobs between December 2013 and December 2014. Maine's 2013 GDP per capita was also low at $38,518. Maine also had a low Q2 2014 average weekly wage of just $746.



48: New Mexico

Mining is a big part of New Mexico's economy, with mining support activities, oil and gas extraction, and other mining all contributing outsize shares of employment.

New Mexico's housing market saw limited improvement between Q3 2013 and Q3 2014, with housing prices rising just 1.24% year-over-year. The state government's finances were also weaker than most, with a 2013 surplus of just about $608 million, compared with an average of about $4.2 billion among all states. Average weekly wages in Q2 2014 were also lower than those of most other states, at $794 compared with an average of $879.



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RANKED: The best smartphones in the world (VZ, T, DT, S)

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samsung galaxy note edge and galaxy note 4The spring is going to be a big month for smartphones. Both HTC and Samsung recently announced their new flagship phones: The HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 6.

But if you don't want to wait until April, there are plenty of great phones available to buy today.

We update this list approximately once a month. Our rankings are based on a variety of factors including design, software and hardware features, content selection, carrier availability, and price. We only consider phones that are available in the U.S. at the time of publication. We list approximate prices for what phones cost without a contract. Prices vary from carrier to carrier and retailer to retailer. You can see February's smartphone rankings here.

#15 BlackBerry Classic

BlackBerry has gone back to the basics.

Its latest phone, the Classic, looks a lot like the BlackBerry Bold from a few years ago. It has a physical keyboard, trackpad, and larger screen. If you want a phone with a keyboard, the Classic is the best phone to buy.

Price: $449 unlocked from BlackBerry.



#14 Nokia Lumia 830

The Nokia Lumia 830 is one of the newest phones from Microsoft. It runs the Windows Phone 8 operating system and has a sharp 5-inch screen.

Price: About $450 on AT&T.



#13 HTC One M8 For Windows

The HTC One M8 For Windows is the best phone you can buy running the Windows Phone operating system. It has a gorgeous metal body and the new version of Windows Phone, 8.1, which includes the excellent digital assistant Cortana.

Click here for the HTC One M8 for Windows review >>

Price: Around $600.



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These fascinating diagrams reveal how to manage people in different countries

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japan management

Japanese managers do their best to avoid telling anyone what to do.

This strategy, which is diagrammed on the right, is essential in a culture driven by honor, and it is possible thanks to strong intuitive communication traits.

In fact, every country has a unique management structure like this, according to linguist Richard Lewis, who has given us permission to publish the fascinating if sometimes mystifyingly complex management diagrams from "Cross-Cultural Communication: A Visual Approach."

To hear Lewis speak, sign up for his talk on the challenges of going global on April 22 in San Francisco, with a free webinar and article available for our readers.

Argentine managers win over their staff with a "combination of intellectual argument and openly friendly stance."



"The Aussies want their boss to join them in a healthy disrespect for rules and formalism, to lapse into broad speech and cuss a bit, to be affable and ironic at the same time, and to avoid flowery or obscure expressions."



Austrian managers use "a combination of folksy Austrian-accented German and sophisticated French loan-words."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The 20 best places to live overseas

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Tired of your old job? Looking for a new environment? There are a lot of reasons to leave your home country behind in search of greener pastures, but picking where to go can be an overwhelming decision.

There are a lot of conflicting factors: job opportunities, salary considerations, quality of life, safety, and childcare are just a few. HSBC has made the decision a whole lot easier with its latest annual Expat Explorer survey

The survey ranks the best places to go based on experience, economics, and raising children abroad, with subcategories for each group. We've picked out the top 20 places overall. (But you can also personalize the rankings based on which factors matter to you.)

20. Belgium

Belgium ranked highly for raising children abroad, healthcare, and learning a new language.  

The country was below average for overall experience and economics categories but ranked especially low for sports and healthy diet — unsurprising when you consider the beer, chocolate, and waffles.

Belgium is also relatively free of violent crime, though muggings and pickpocketing are common in the country's larger cities.



19. Malaysia

Adventurous expats are likeliest to head to Malaysia. Forty-nine percent told HSBC that the need for "a new challenge" motivated their move.

Those who make the move seem to love it, with expats in Malaysia scoring highly for learning the local language, traveling more, and exploring Malaysia's fascinating culture. 

Malaysia tends to be very affordable, ranking highly for accommodations and local shops and markets.  

The country is only middle of the pack, however, in economic measures and raising children abroad. Education is decent but expensive, and the quality of childcare is not good.



18. Japan

Japan's stagnant economy has it ranking low in economic measures, but the country makes up for it with its exceptional healthcare, travel options, and local culture. It doesn't hurt that the food is healthy and delicious, ranking first in both diet and local food.

In addition, Japan ranks highly in raising children abroad, thanks to its high-quality, affordable education.

One expat described the people in Japan as such:

"The people here are so friendly and go out their way to help you, even if they speak limited English. I feel welcome here."



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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The players from Kevin Garnett's 1995 NBA draft class

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Kevin Garnett, Feb. 1996

The Minnesota Timberwolves drafted Kevin Garnett straight out of high school with the no. 5 pick in the 1995 draft.

20 years later, Garnett is back with the Wolves following a trade with the Nets at the NBA trade deadline.

Garnett is the lone player still in the NBA from the 1995 draft — a class that proved to have some players with lengthy careers as well as some busts.

Today, several of those players still work around or with the NBA, but there are also several college coaches and a couple of players doing charitable work.

Joe Smith was selected first by the Golden State Warriors.



Smith retired in 2011 after playing for 12 different teams in 16 years. He's most recently popped up in the hip-hop world, recording a Donald Sterling diss and dating "Love & Hip Hop" star Moniece Slaughter.

Source: Washington Post, TMZ



Antonio McDyess was taken second by the Denver Nuggets.



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What the world's most popular websites looked like on the day they launched

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Old Confirm button Facebook

Web design has improved a lot since the birth of the internet. 

Long gone are the pixellated and cluttered monstrosities of the HTML era.

Many of today's most successful websites bear only a small resemblance to how they looked when they were first launched. 

Here, New York-based designer Robert Morris of Ninja Essays put together a graphic of nine of the most famous sites on the internet, and compared them with how they looked at their debuts.

Apple has come a long way since it presented Mac OS 8 in 1996.



Pierre Omidyar founded eBay in 1995 as a hobby in his spare time. It is now valued at more than $40 billion.



"The Facebook" was originally open to Harvard students only. Today, almost 1.5 billion people have a Facebook profile.



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Credit Suisse: Here's the best stock in each sector of the market (MON, HBI, SUNE, ETE, CELG, TDG, IT, FB)

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colorful gummy candies

Credit Suisse published its latest list of top investment ideas on Wednesday.

Their analysts ranked up to 3 stocks based on a 6-12-month time horizon.

We're highlighting one of their top stocks in each of the 8 sectors.

Note: These are a snapshot of the analysts' top picks in the industries they cover, and should not be viewed as portfolios. Prices are as of the market close on March 3.

Basic Materials

Company: Monsanto

Ticker: MON

Price: $120.20

Price Target: $141.00

Market Cap: $58.6B

Comment: "Increased biotech acres in S. America with stacked traits and the potential for further expansion into E. Europe via MON's hybrid seed portfolio should drive increased revenue and higher margins," wrote Credit Suisse's Chris Parkinson. "While 2015 growth will likely be below the historical average, we remain confident in a reacceleration in 2016 and beyond."

Source: Credit Suisse



Consumer

Company: Hanesbrands

Ticker: HBI

Price: $31.99

Price Target: $130.00

Market Cap: $12.9B

Comment:"Strong and steady free cash flow generator with opportunity to catalyze EPS growth via acquisitions and mix shift towards premium priced products," Credit Suisse's Christian Buss wrote.

Source: Credit Suisse



Energy/Utilities

Company: SunEdison

Ticker: SUNE

Price: $22.74

Price Target: $34.00

Market Cap: $6.2B

Comment: "SunEdison's solar project business is at an inflection point of growth as the company delivers on their solar project pipeline and expands into wind and smaller-scale distributed rooftop solar projects," Credit Suisse's Patrick Jobin wrote. "The company is well positioned with significant benefits of scale, cost of capital advantages given their recently-launched YieldCo vehicle, a low-cost poly JV with Samsung and a road-map to further cost reductions."

Source: Credit Suisse



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Here's the salary you have to earn to buy a home in 15 major US cities

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The mortgage website HSH.com has updated its estimate of how much annual income a household would need to buy a home in major cities in the US according to fourth-quarter 2014 data.

Compared to the previous quarter, home prices, monthly mortgage payments, and estimated salaries decreased across the board.

The site looked at median home prices from the National Association of Realtors, along with interest rates for common 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages and property taxes and insurance costs, to figure out how much money it would take to pay a median-priced home's mortgage principal, taxes, and insurance — and how much you would have to earn to afford it.

Salaries listed are rounded to the nearest $500.

15. Detroit

Population: 921,147

Median Home Price: $135,800

Monthly Mortgage Payment: $828

Salary Needed To Buy: $35,500



14. Phoenix

Population: 1,476,331

Median Home Price: $200,300

Monthly Mortgage Payment: $948

Salary Needed To Buy: $40,500



13. San Antonio

Population: 1,258,733

Median Home Price: $185,500

Monthly Mortgage Payment: $1,058

Salary Needed To Buy: $45,500



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Meet the richest person in 34 major countries around the world

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ernesto bertarelli

There are a record 290 newcomers on Forbes' annual Billionaires List in 2015, but Bill Gates is still the richest person in the world.

Even if you can't be the richest person on the planet, it's still pretty cool to be the richest person in your country.

Many billionaires have held the title of richest in their country for a number of years, but as always, there are several new titleholders this year.

Additional reporting by Max Rosenberg and Paige Cooperstein.

The richest person in Ukraine: Rinat Akhmetov

Net worth: $6.7 billion

Forbes rank: 201

Background: Akhmetov's net worth is comprised of DTEK, his energy company, and Metinvest, his steel producer. Recently, his wealth has suffered from weak demand and slumping prices for his steel and iron ore assets. Akhmetov also once called deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich an ally, which is causing some protest of his business. The ongoing fighting in Ukraine has also hurt his net worth, in the past year, his worth decreased by almost half.



The richest person in New Zealand: Graeme Hart

Net worth: $6.9 billion

Forbes rank: 195

Background: Hart's company, Reynolds Group Holdings, which manufactures packaging material, has annual revenue of about $14 billion. Hart also owns Carter Holt Harvey, an Australasian paper, packing and building supplies company. The billionaire dropped out of school when he was 16, and once worked as a truck driver.



The richest person in South Africa: Johann Rupert and family

Net worth: $7.4 billion

Forbes rank: 179

Background: Rupert built his fortune on luxury goods, including with the Swiss-based Compagnie Financiere Richemont, which owns brands like Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Montblanc. In 2014, Rupert went on sabbatical and "spent time reading and fly-fishing," according to Forbes.



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The most affordable small town in every state

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Clear Lake, South DakotaCost of living makes a big difference when choosing where to move — and not all places were created equal. 

We found the most affordable small town in every state.

To do this we looked at towns with populations between 1,000 and 10,000 whose households spend no more than 30% of their annual income on housing costs. We looked at the average cost of three types of housing — owned houses with a mortgage, owned houses without a mortgage, and rentals — and took a weighted average of these by the proportion of each type of home in the town.

Click here to read more about our methodology.

ALABAMA: Fayetteville

93% of homes are affordable.

An hour south of Birmingham, Fayetteville is actually named after a town in Tennessee from which early residents migrated. Employing over 33% of residents, retail is the most popular industry here, followed by manufacturing, which employs 15% of residents. 



ALASKA: Healy

91.5% of homes are affordable.

Only 11 miles from the Denali National Park and Preserve, Healy offers several lodging and dining options for park visitors, creating a strong tourism industry in the town. However, more than tourism, coal mining in nearby Usibelli Coal Mine makes up most of Healy's livelihood. 



ARIZONA: Quartzsite

93.2% of homes are affordable.

Just 18 miles east of the Colorado River, Quartzsite is best known for its beautiful assortment of rocks and minerals— as evidenced by its name. On first glance it might not sound like the most exciting industry, but the town's gem trade entices thousands of visitors per year. There is even a two-month-long gem show that starts in January. 



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The 18 richest people in private equity

Science says that charisma can be learned — here are 9 proven strategies

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It's not something you're born with.

"Charisma is simply the result of learned behaviors," says Olivia Fox Cobane, author of "The Charisma Myth.

Use words that people can relate to.

In his book "Why Presidents Succeed," University of California at Davis psychologist Dean Keith Simonton argues that the most effective communicators use concrete — rather than abstract — language.

"'I feel your pain' has association,"he tells the APA Monitor, "but 'I can relate to your viewpoint' doesn't. The most charismatic presidents reached an emotional connection with people talking not to their brains but to their gut."



Express your feelings.

"Charismatic individuals express their feelings spontaneously and genuinely," Claremont McKenna College psychologist Ronald E. Riggio says. "This allows them to affect the moods and emotions of others."

It's called emotional contagionor "the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize expressions."

So if you're really excited about something, other people with "catch" that excitement, too.



Talk about your potential — it's more impressive than talking about your accomplishments.

A Stanford-Harvard study recently cited on Marginal Revolution suggests that accomplishments aren't what capture people's attention — rather, it's a person's perceived potential. 

"This uncertainty [that comes with potential] appears to be more cognitively engaging than reflecting on what is already known to be true,"the authors write



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A chiropractor says we should never sleep on our stomachs

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sleeping on stomach

If you’re a stomach sleeper, chances are you're not getting the best possible night of rest.

“It’s the worst thing,” New York chiropractor Dr. Jan Lefkovitz of Body in Balance Chiropractic told Business insider. “You should never sleep on your stomach — it creates rotation in your spine.”

Unless you rest with your head face down into the pillow, you’re probably turning your head to one side and that can put a lot of strain on your neck and cause misalignment problems, according to Dr. Lefkovitz.

“If you sleep 8 hours a night that’s a 1/3 of your day, so you’re spending a 1/3 of your life with your spine completely rotated,” he explained to us, adding that it can cause severe back and neck pain.  

If you are sleeping on your stomach, the easiest way to transition is to start sleeping on your side. 

Dr. Lefkovitz also recommends investing in a full length body pillow.

“That’s a really, really good way to get off your stomach because it will block you from turning onto your stomach,” he said. “Put one end between your knees from your ankle to your knee and the rest of the pillow should go to the front of your body and you can rest your top arm on it.”

This position will allow the pillow to keep you on your side and stop you if you try and roll over.  Plus, for anyone who has lower back pain, having a pillow between your knees will align your hips and prevents your pelvis from rotating and collapsing.

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21 incredible photographs of space exploration's golden age

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Moon space exploration

Space exploration's golden age was arguably at its very start, when ambition was boundless and progress came in great strides.

A massive collection of vintage photos from this era went up for auction on February 26 at London's Bloomsbury Auction.

The nearly 700 photographs — original prints, not reproductions — come from the collection of a single European collector.

The auction lasted nearly ten hours and brought in a total of £489,440, (or more than $755,500) from more than 300 bidders.

Here are 21 of them, in chronological order, starting in 1946 with the first image of Earth from space.

On October 24, 1946, mankind got its first photograph taken from outer space, at an altitude of 65 miles. A camera attached to a V-2 Rocket, a product of German engineering during World War II, was set up to snap a photo every second and a half. The rocket crashed back to Earth, its film roll kept safe by a steel casing.



Ed White was the first American astronaut to take a spacewalk, on June 3 1965. A cosmonaut (as Soviet space explorers are called) by the name of Alexei Leonov beat him to it by almost three months — though Leonov had a brush with death to do so, as he was forced to let oxygen out of his suit before reentering his spacecraft. Spacewalks are an important part of an astronaut's toolkit, who exit their vessels in order to make repairs on the outside.



Another shot of Ed White's historic spacewalk. "You looked like you were in your mother’s womb," White's copilot James McDivitt later told him.

Source: Bloomsbury Auctions



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If you're looking for the 10 best car engines in the world, here they are

Professor moves out of 6x6-foot dumpster, the world's smallest home, after a year

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Jeff Wilson spent the last year living in a dumpster.

It's not what it sounds like: Wilson — who goes by the alter-ego "Professor Dumpster"— is an environmental science professor and dean at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas who worked with his students and a team of experts to transform that dumpster into a sustainable home that cost under $10,000.

We first came across the project in The Atlantic, and now The Washington Post reports that Wilson's residency in the dumpster has come to an end.

The project's director of operations Karen Magid says that the dumpster's development is far from over, and that they're currently accepting applications from educators to spend a night in the dumpster as a catalyst for teaching their students about the environment and sustainability.

Wilson is now transitioning back to a noisy life full of the usual bills in a normal-sized house with his girlfriend, but plans to begin a new project soon: 99 Nights ATX, where he will spend 99 nights sleeping on couches in 99 different households in Austin.

Here, Team Dumpster shared photos of the 6x6-foot trash receptacle that served as Wilson's home for the last year.

The Dumpster Project was originally intended to be completed in three phases, starting when Wilson took occupancy in February 2014: camping in a bare-bones dumpster (shown here); living in a dumpster "home," with additions such as storage and a bed; and then fine-tuning the dumpster into the ultimate sustainable home, which will continue now that Wilson has vacated.



Earlier in stage two, the project's current stage, a fake floor was installed to store Wilson's belongings and limited wardrobe. This dumpster will probably be preserved mid-stage two, and the team will turn their attention to another prototype.



The dumpster has been hooked up to electricity, although the team is looking at bringing in solar power. As far as water, "the bathroom will always be a sticking point," Magid says.



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9 successful people share the toughest lessons they learned at their first jobs

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Alli Webb Mike Landau

The Success Series is a collection of the best career and life advice from some of our favorite writers, thinkers, and leaders.

For this installment, we asked CEOs, authors, and entrepreneurs: What advice would you give to someone just starting their first real job?

Read all the articles from this and other installments of The Success Series here.

James Altucher: Don't dwell on failure and its supposed benefits — there are none.

James Altucher is an investor, writer, entrepreneur, and the author of "Choose Yourself." Read more from Altucher at his blog, The Altucher Confidential.

I don't regret anything that has happened since. I've fallen many times. Sometimes I've gotten up, sometimes I've stayed down for quite awhile. But no matter what, I'm glad I ended up right here.

That said, I'm not a big fan of failure. Everyone always says, "You need to fail to learn."

This is total BS. Failure is very painful and ugly and helps nobody. Often it's inevitable as we learn, but it's best to never fail so hard you are scared and anxious for life, family, love, career, whatever.

How can you avoid it? All of the advice is cliché, but I don't care. If I could advise someone who was in my exact position here is what I would say.

1. Make a list of five people you admire the most.

Read everything about them. Write down things you can do to be more like them.

Remember you are the average of the five people you surround yourself with. But don't forget they can be virtual mentors as well as real-life ones.

2. Write down ten ideas a day.

When I was at my lowest points, with no money in the bank and no prospects, I'd go out early, grab my coffee, read a book, and then write down 10 ideas every day.

Sometimes business ideas. Sometimes ideas for books I could write. Sometimes ideas for ways I thought other companies could be improved. And then I would send them those ideas.

Eventually, they responded. Eventually they paid me money. You can do this inside of a company as well.

Always remember: The key to wealth is to create wealth for others, whether you are an employee, an entrepreneur, or an entre-ployee.

Check out the rest of James Altucher's advice here.



Danny Rubin: Say 'yes' to the unfamiliar.

Danny Rubin is the creator and writer of News To Live By, a blog for Millennials that highlights career and leadership lessons hidden in the day's top stories. 

It's December 2007. Fresh out of graduate school, I had a fancy master's degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland-College Park — and zero job prospects as a news reporter.

A week after graduation, I was thrilled to land an "informational interview" at a TV news station in my hometown.

So there I was at 23 years old, nervous and clammy in a suit and tie and fully expecting a 10-minute "nice to meet ya and off you go" conversation.

I sat down in front of Shane's desk. He had demo reels (work samples) from other hopeful reporters piled high on his desk. He looked over my own reel (stories I did in college) and told me the many ways I needed to improve.

I knew I was raw, but the criticism still hurt. I composed myself and told him, "Great tips. I'll work on those things. Thanks."

Just as I felt our chit chat had come to an end, Shane looked up at me, smiled wryly and said, "Do you have ice in your veins?"

I took a gulp and felt a knot in my stomach at the same time. But without hesitation, I shot back, "Yes, I do."

"Good," he said. "One of my reporters is sick today, and we need to cover a submarine deployment at the naval base. Why don't you handle the story, and if I like your work we'll consider using it on the air tonight?"

My response on the outside: "Sure. Thanks for the opportunity!"

My response on the inside: "Holy #%@! Is this happening?!?!"

Check out more advice from Danny Rubin here.



Ryan Holiday: Find canvases for other people to paint on.

Ryan Holiday is the author of "The Obstacle is the Way." He is former director of marketing at American Apparel and dropped out of college at 19. He gives monthly book recommendations here.

When I first got a job as an assistant in Hollywood, someone told me that the best thing I could do as an assistant was to make other people look good.

It ended up being decent advice, but I’ve since come to understand that the wording wasn’t right. It’s not about just sitting there and working on the way people think about your boss or company.

The way I would explain it to a younger version of myself:

Find canvases for other people to paint on.

That is, completely ignore getting credit, getting ahead, even throw out what your job is supposed to be on paper. Instead, focus all your energy on finding, presenting, and facilitating opportunities that help other people inside the company succeed — particularly the people you directly report to.

Check out the rest of Ryan Holiday's advice here.



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