I recently booked a flight from New York City to Milan for a quick getaway. Faced with the choice of flying Delta or Emirates, both of which had round-trip economy-class tickets for about $800, I quickly opted for the Middle Eastern airline.

Emirates, which is owned by Dubai's government, has exploded onto the US market in the past several years. It is regularly rated one of the top airlines in the world, and I was psyched to experience it on the eight-hour flight.

The trip did not disappoint. I ate salmon and saffron risotto, drank complimentary (and surprisingly decent) wine, and watched a bunch of movies, including the recent Oscar winners "Birdman" and "Whiplash."

Even before I boarded my flight from Milan to New York, I could tell this would be different from a flight on most domestic airlines. Any passenger — not just those in business class — could take a newspaper or magazine for the trip.

Freshly poured mimosas were available upon boarding, but unfortunately for me, those were reserved for business-class travelers.

The flowers hanging by the bathroom were a nice touch. They came down before takeoff.

Managing your money well doesn't have to be complicated.

New York Times columnist, author, and financial planner Carl Richards boils down his wisdom into black-and-white "napkin sketches"— little bits of insight that you could reproduce with a marker and a napkin.

Here, in honor of his newest book "The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your Money," Richards provides an informative sketch from each chapter and, in his own words, what it can teach you.

Your financial plan can be as short as a single page.

People worry about money for a lot of reasons.

The amount of time we spend worrying seems to go up exponentially when we don't have a plan. Enter the One-Page Financial Plan. Instead of getting bogged down in hundreds of pages and financial details that won't be relevant in a year, a one-page plan offers a snapshot.

You list the three to four things most important to you with specific action items that support your goals. It can take a little time to set up, but investing in a one-page plan will save you hundreds of hours of worry each year.

You can't make one, though, until you've pinpointed why you care about money.

Why is money important to you? It's a simple question, but it's not always easy to answer.

It's also a question that feels more appropriate for a therapy session, not financial planning. However, this question helps reveal your values.

Those values then become the checkpoint for your financial plan because you can't make a plan if you don't know why you're planning.

Plus, without knowing your "why," financial decisions can feel incredibly complex. But once you have your answer, you gain the clarity to know which strategies will work best for your particular situation.

Saving without a purpose isn't going to work.

When you plan a trip, you decide where to go first.

Then, you weigh your travel options, like whether to fly or drive. After all, driving won't get you to Paris if you're starting in New York.

You need to use the same logic with money. Yes, you may want to save money, but for what purpose?

Your one-page plan reminds you of "why" you're saving money, helps you weigh the different options, and makes it easier identify the best path for getting you where you want to go financially.

Drones are everywhere from the battlefield to the backyards of America. For such a simple concept, the possibilities for how we can use drones is vast and still being explored.

One of the most interesting ways to utilize drone technology is photography. Photographer Amos Chapple knows this better than most. As soon as consumer drones came on the market, Chapple knew he needed one. After purchasing one and learning how to fly it, he began traveling the globe, photographing famous landmarks before such photography was made illegal. 

"There was a window of about 18 months where it was possible to fly these things anywhere and people were excited to see it. I’m glad I made use of that time," Chapple told Business Insider.

Now, with drone use illegal in many of these locations, his collection of beautiful drone images are some of the only aerial photos of their type. Chapple shared many of them with us and told the stories behind his shots. Check out more on his site.

Photographer Amos Chapple captures the world’s most famous landmarks — from the Taj Mahal to the Kremlin — using a drone.

When the commercial drone first hit the market in 2013, Chapple says he sifted through new product reviews, searching for the right model to help his art take flight.

Finally, Chinese technology company DJI came out with the Phantom drone and Chapple was sold.

When choosing where to apply to medical school, there are a ton of things to consider. Some schools specialize in research while others highlight patient care. 

We asked a panel of 15 doctors with different backgrounds and specialties to weigh in. Each panelist listed which schools they believe train the best primary-care doctors based on their experience and professional opinion.

The panelists are affiliated with some of the best hospitals in the country, including the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Mount Sinai, and Boston Medical Center.

We broke ties using the schools' average Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores and acceptance rates.

The University of Washington took the No. 1 spot, followed by the University of California at San Francisco and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. While big state schools beating out Ivies for the top spots might seem counterintuitive, these schools line up with other primary-care rankings and show how doctors feel.

"The [state] schools have state support with a mission to produce primary-care physicians," said Dr. Ronald E. Drusin, a professor of medicine at Columbia. "They are not private, research-based schools."

25. University of Kansas Medical Center

Average MCAT score: 30

Acceptance rate: 8.5%

The University of Kansas Medical Center is the only medical school in the state. With a main campus in Kansas City, and two others in Salina and Wichita, KUMC offers a top-notch education at an affordable tuition. Graduates match into some of the best residency programs in the country, including Johns Hopkins Hospital and New York Presbyterian. More than half of the class of 2014 planned to become primary-care physicians.

24. Mayo Medical School

Average MCAT score: 33

Acceptance rate: 1.8%

Mayo Medical School is part of the famous Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Small class sizes and an emphasis on patient well-being in all areas of practice make Mayo graduates some of the best-trained medical professionals. After med school, 98% of Mayo grads report matching with one of their top residency program choices.

23. Boston University

Average MCAT score: 34

Acceptance rate: 2.9%

When Boston University School of Medicine began it was the first medical school to admit women. The class of 2014 matched to top residency programs, including the UC San Francisco Medical Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. About 37% of 2014 graduates matched in primary-care specialties.

North Korea's military equipment looks as if it could belong to a 1970s Soviet army — but the country's massive forces could still prove formidable. 

The country's missile development and huge stocks of artillery are particularly threatening to South Korea and the rest of the world.

The US Pentagon's most recent report on the state of the North Korean military sizes up the country's ground forces, navy, and air force.

It's one of the world's most secretive countries, so the information largely comes from other sources. But the state's propaganda efforts mean there are plenty of pictures of the country's colossal military capacity.

The largest part of the military is the Korean People's Army Ground Force, which includes about 1 million active personnel and millions more civilians who are effectively reservists.

North Korea's ground forces are numerous but equipped mostly with out-of-date Soviet-era small arms, or copies produced by North Korea or China.

The air force has some semi-modern fighter jets, like the MiG-29, which was built in the later years of the Soviet Union, but most of its air force is made up of "less capable" jets and even biplanes.

Data shows that happy employees are better employees.

Workers who enjoy their jobs achieve their goals 31% more often and are 36% more motivated than those who aren't satisfied, according to a 2012 poll done by the Wall Street Journal and the iOpener Institute for People and Performance.

How can you help your employees feel as happy as possible in the office?

Globoforce, an international HR firm, has determined five research-backed ways to engage workers and improve overall company performance.

We've published Globoforce's presentation here with its permission. The ideas are explored further in Globoforce CEO Eric Mosley's book "The Crowdsourced Performance Review."

TripAdvisor recently announced the winners of its 2015 Travelers’ Choice awards for Destinations.

Millions of TripAdvisor users weighed in and voted for their top travel destinations in the US.

New York City was voted the No. 1 destination in the US for the second year in a row, with Chicago coming in right behind. Several destinations in the south made the list too, including Nashville, Savannah, Charleston, and New Orleans.

Award winners were based on millions of TripAdvisor reviews of hotels, attractions and restaurants for different cities over a 12-month period.

25. Austin, Texas

24. San Antonio, Texas

23. Los Angeles, California

Operation Foal Eagle 2015, which runs from March 2 to April 24, features US and South Korean Marines practicing amphibious beach assaults along with aerial and naval operations. 

The operation involves 12,500 US troops, along with an astonishing 200,000 of their South Korean counterparts.

Because Foal Eagle takes place in South Korea, North Korea views it as a possible practice run for an invasion. Pyongyang has ratcheted up the rhetoric and has threatened that Foal Eagle 2015 would be greeted with a "merciless baptism by fire." 

In response to the start of Foal Eagle, North Korea launched two SCUD missiles into the sea outside of South Korea on March 2. On March 12, North Korea fired an additional seven surface-to-air missiles to protest against the exercise. 

Operation Foal Eagle is carried out in the spirit of the 1953 South Korea-US Mutual Defense Treaty, which obligates the US to intervene if the north ever invaded again.

The bilateral exercise is conducted by South Korea and the US. It allows the two nations to practice land, air, naval, and sea operations.

The drill features the use of smoke screens during an amphibious invasion ...

Before last year, I was a Las Vegas virgin.

I had never walked the Strip, taken a ride on the New York New York roller coaster, or even gambled. The only things I knew about Vegas were what I had seen on TV.

I ended up having a blast — it's impossible not to in Sin City. But there were quite a few things I didn't realize about Vegas until I went.

These are the nine things everyone should know before they travel to Las Vegas for the first time.

1. You can't walk everywhere

All the hotels are much farther apart than they first appear. Technically, the entire Strip is over four miles long, and it will take you at least a 15-30 minute walk to get to a different hotel than your own. Before the weekend is over, you will end up taking a few cabs.

But you should walk at least part of the Strip once. There are fun elevated walkways and outdoor elevators, not to mention plenty of photo opportunities. Just don't do it in 4-inch heels (better yet — leave those heels at home).

2. You can take your drink to go

Are you headed to another club or restaurant, but you're not quite finished with your drink? Ask for a to-go cup!

Seriously — even classy establishments will let you take your drink outside as long as you use a disposable cup instead of their fancy glassware.

Oh, and once outside, you can imbibe with impunity since Vegas lets you drink (most) everywhere.

3. Bring cash — ATMs are crazy expensive

Unless you can find your own bank ATM, the standard fee at most Vegas ATMs is a staggering $5.99 — a charge that may not bother the high rollers, but gets really old, really fast for the rest of us.

If I ever went to Vegas again, I'd bring plenty of cash.

4. You can get free drinks by gambling

There are a few things Vegas casinos do to keep you gambling (no clocks, no windows, plenty of lights and sounds), but the trick that works the best is plying customers with free drinks to keep them playing, and playing poorly.

While I'm not much of gambler, my friend told me to go sit at the bars with the gaming machines built into the counter. You stick in a $20, order a drink, and make minor bets of $.25. I played until I had won all my money back and knocked back a few glasses of wine while I was at it.

Basically, you can just drink for free (but don't forget to tip your bartender).

5. There's art all around

Most of us go to Vegas to gamble, drink, and party. But take a moment to realize there's art all around you on the Strip.

There are sculptures by famous artists behind the check-in desks, in the hotel lobbies, on the street, not to mention the fact that certain hotels like the Bellagio and The Cosmopolitan have their own galleries that display touring collections from around the world.

There's even the Picasso restaurant in the Bellagio, which is filled with sculptures, drawings, and paintings from the late artist.

6. Everyone smokes, everywhere

In Vegas, it's permissible for people to smoke inside casinos. To try and counteract that, the casinos will attempt to cover up the smell with what they call "signature scents."

The smell isn't incredibly offensive (especially if you're in a nice hotel), but if you're sensitive to cigarette smoke, you may want to stay somewhere that is non-gaming, such as the Trump International Hotel, The Signature at the MGM Grand, and Vdara Hotel & Spa.

7. The food is incredible

Almost every single Vegas hotel restaurant on the strip was phenomenal. No one thinks of Vegas as a foodie city, but from sports bars to three-star Michelin establishments, Vegas delivers.

Many of these huge hotels have fantastic relationships with seafood and produce providers, and prepare their meat and make their breads in-house. Personally, I'd make the trip back just for the food.

8. Men must buy tickets (or bottles) to get into a club 

Vegas may be bachelor-party central, but no group of guys is going to get into a club without buying tickets, bottle service, or a table. Period.

I saw several groups of rejected men begging women to join their group to try and get in for free, but at the bigger clubs like XS, TAO, LAVO, and Marquee, that's just not going to happen.

Either chip in together for bottle/table service, buy a ticket to a DJ show, or don't try to go to clubs. You'll just be disappointed.

Ladies, you probably won't pay for anything. Enjoy.

9. Downtown Las Vegas is far away (but worth checking out)

My friend who I traveled with was a seasoned Vegas veteran, but she had never been to downtown Vegas. Neither of us knew what to expect.

Turns out, it's nice to get away from the expensive strip and see a different side of the city. Plus, there's a Mob Museum, you can see the remnants of Old Vegas before the Strip was built (there's still gambling, too), and you can try some kitschy establishments like the Heart Attack Grill.

It's worth seeing at least once, even though it is a $30 cab drive away.

SEE ALSO: We Ate Lunch At Heart Attack Grill, The Las Vegas Burger Joint That Tries To Kill Its Customers

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NOW WATCH: 10 fashion mistakes men make over and over at the office

GoDaddy went public today, nearly 10 months after filing for an IPO in June 2014. 

With a 28% stake, founder Bob Parsons is still the company's largest shareholder. Parsons left his position as GoDaddy's executive chairman in June of 2014. 

Since then, the Scottsdale, Arizona, resident has dedicated more time to doing charity work, growing his motorcycle collection, and scooping up real estate through his investment company, YAM Properties. 

Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.84 billion — not bad for someone who grew up "poor as a church mouse" in Baltimore.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Parsons was a Marine and did a tour of Vietnam in 1969. He earned a Combat Action Ribbon, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and a Purple Heart for his service.

After selling his first company to Intuit for $64 million, he founded GoDaddy in 1997, at first calling it Jomax Technologies. In 2011, he sold the majority of GoDaddy to a group of private equity investors and left his position as CEO. In 2014, he left his position as executive chairman, but still sits on GoDaddy's board.

Source: Business Insider

Since leaving his day-to-day role with the company, Parsons has used much of his time and wealth in charity work with the foundation he started with his wife Renee. They've donated nearly $72 million to charity over the last three years. Here he is outside of a school during one of several trips to Haiti.

Source: Forbes

Constantly tethered to a wall, trying to give your iPhone extra juice?

Here are some tricks that will speed up the charging process.  

If you plug an iPhone 6 Plus into a regular wall charger and wait five minutes, you'll likely see a 3% or so increase in battery life. Good news: There's a way to double that.

First, put your iPhone in Airplane mode. Your iPhone won't waste energy on notifications, texts, or searching for a signal.

Next, take off your iPhone's case.

The very last thing you do before bed tends to have a significant impact on your mood and energy level the next day, as it often determines how well and how much you sleep.

Successful people understand that their success starts and ends with their mental and physical health, which is almost entirely dependent upon their getting enough sleep.

That is why bedtime routines are a key ritual for so many of them — and why the very last thing most successful people do before bed is read.

1. They read.

Experts agree that reading is the very last thing most successful people do before going to sleep.

Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of "You Can't Be Serious! Putting Humor to Work," says he knows numerous business leaders who block off time just before bed for reading, going so far as to schedule it as a "non-negotiable item" on their calendar. "This isn't necessarily reserved just for business reading or inspirational reading. Many successful people find value in being browsers of information from a variety of sources, believing it helps fuel greater creativity and passion in their lives."

For example, while some successful people use this time catch up on news stories from the day, skim tech blogs, or browse Reddit and Twitter, others enjoy reading fiction novels and ancient philosophy just before bed. 

2. They make a to-do list.

"Clearing the mind for a good night sleep is critical for a lot of successful people," Kerr says. "Often they will take this time to write down a list of any unattended items to address the following day, so these thoughts don't end up invading their head space during the night."

3. They spend time with family.

Michael Woodward, Ph.D., organizational psychologist and author of "The YOU Plan," says it's important to make some time to chat with your partner, talk to your kids, or play with your dog.

Laura Vanderkam, author of "What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast," says this is a common practice among the highly successful. "I realize not everyone can go to bed at the same time as his or her partner, but if you can, it's a great way to connect and talk about your days."

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s former apartment at New York’s Plaza Hotel has gone on sale for $39.5 million, according to The New York Post.

The gorgeous home has four bedrooms and 4,000 square feet of space. It was featured in Architectural Digest last November by the current owners Lisa Cohen, the home editor for DuJour magazine, and her husband James, the chairman of Hudson Media, who use it as a Manhattan pied-à-terre.

The home was gut-renovated in 2011 and redecorated in a modern style. The living and dining rooms were extended and three additional bedrooms were created, one with its own private entry that is wheel chair accessible. 

The condo has 13-foot ceilings and large windows that look out on the Guggenheim, Central Park, and more. The apartment also has access to the concierge, maid, and in-room dining services that are a part of the Plaza Hotel. 

Corcoran Group Real Estate agent Marie-Claire Gladstone has the listing.

Welcome to Frank Lloyd Wright's former suite at the Plaza Hotel. He used the apartment to oversee construction at the Guggenheim in the '50s.

The current owners had the place gut-renovated and redecorated back in 2011.

They used the unit as a Manhattan pied-à-terre, but had a main home in New Jersey.

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've collected the best apps of the past month so you can find something new to try out.

There's a new app from Twitter that makes it easy to broadcast live video to your friends, an app for creating your own time-saving widgets, and the most beautiful photo editing app we've seen this year.

Enlight is a polished and powerful photo editor.

Enlight manages to pack a startling amount of editing tools into a single beautiful app. It's got plenty of filters, presets, sketching tools, and effects to help you fine-tune your photos or transform them into something new.

Price: $3.99 (iOS)

Create time-saving shortcuts for your iPhone lock screen with Launcher.

Launcher lets you create customized iPhone widgets that you can access from your iPhone's lock screen to save time. You can open apps, get Google Maps directions home, call your mom, or create a button for quickly messaging your best friend.

Price: Free (iOS)

Breath of Light is a beautiful puzzle game with a relaxing soundtrack.

If you're looking for a new game to pass the time, Breath of Light offers a relaxing experience with gorgeous visuals as you strategically re-arrange rocks and mirrors to guide the mystical energy from flower to flower.

Price: $2.99 (iOS)

Tech CEOs are some of the smartest people in the world.

And a lot of them want to share their ideas with anybody who will listen.

We’ve put together 15 of the best books written by current and former tech CEOs that will give you a peek inside their fabulous minds.

Peter Thiel - "Zero to One"

Author: Peter Thiel, former CEO/founder of PayPal, cofounder of Palantir, and early investor in Facebook and many other companies.

Book description:"Doing what someone else already knows how to do takes the world from 1 to n, adding more of something familiar. But when you do something new, you go from 0 to 1...Tomorrow’s champions will not win by competing ruthlessly in today’s marketplace. They will escape competition altogether, because their businesses will be unique."

Amazon Rating: 4.5/5

Most positive review:"Zero to One is a refreshing intellectual deep dive into the motives behind entrepreneurship. It’s full of unique, practical insights, and discusses success in terms of human nature and culture."

Most critical review:"I had high hopes, but this book was just ok...Instead, the book is basically a series of rambling, disjointed essays that spell out Thiel’s philosophies on the world, none of which are particularly earth shattering."

Order here.

Marc Benioff - "Behind the Cloud"

Author: Marc Benioff, CEO/cofounder of Salesforce

Book description:"For the first time, Marc Benioff, the visionary founder, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, tells how he and his team created and used new business, technology, and philanthropic models tailored to this time of extraordinary change."

Amazon Rating: 4.5/5

Most positive review:"This is a fun to read book chock-full of no-holds-barred advice on everything a growth company faces...In short, this is a practical guide on how to grow a successful business without selling your soul to Mephistopheles."

Most critical review:"This is a well-written book I would have preferred some more in-depth stories rather than a series of management platitudes...In sum, this is a good but not great book."

Order here.

Andy Grove - "Only the Paranoid Survive"

Author: Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel

Book description: "Grove reveals his strategy of focusing on a new way of measuring the nightmare moment every leader dreads--when massive change occurs and a company must, virtually overnight, adapt or fall by the wayside."

Amazon Rating: 4.2/5

Most positive review: "Andrew Grove was at the center of this company from its inception, and this is his story in his own words...Warmly recommended as a must for all students of business."

Most critical review: "The book is chock full of common sense, backed up with case studies from the world of successful -- and not so successful -- American businesses."

Order here.

Europe's property markets are surging.

The Global Property Guide has compiled and analyzed the property price performance of the world's big economies.

We have put together a list of the top 19 markets based on year-over-year, inflation-adjusted price performance as of the fourth quarter of 2014.

The chart accompanying each slide shows the year-over-year percentage change in house prices, with markets ranked from the least to most quickly appreciating.

Netherlands

Home prices in the Netherlands rose 5.09% year-over-year, which was greater than 2013's decrease of 2.71%.

Prices fell 0.24% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide

Mexico

Home prices in Mexico rose 5.11% year-over-year, which was greater than 2013's increase of 4.07%.

Prices rose 1.01% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide

New Zealand

Home prices in New Zealand rose 5.39% year-over-year, which was less than 2013's increase of 9.77%.

Prices rose 7.14% from the previous quarter.

Source: Global Property Guide

In "The Thin Green Line: The Money Secrets of the Super-Wealthy," author Paul Sullivan makes a distinction between being rich and being wealthy.

Rich people, he says, have a lot of money. Wealthy people have the security that comes with knowing how to manage however much money they do have so that they'll still have money tomorrow.

Super wealthy people apply that know-how to an enormous bank account balance.

So, what's it like to be super-wealthy?

Sullivan, who is also the New York Times Wealth Matters columnist, explained to Business Insider seven of the money secrets he's unearthed in his research.

1. Super-wealthy people still want to identify as middle class.

As "The Thin Green Line" opens, Sullivan is sitting in an opulent Upper East Side drawing room in New York City, listening to "four men worth tens of millions of dollars argue over who had the poorest childhood."

"It's one of the good and bad things of being an American," Sullivan tells Business Insider. "When you get to the top of the wealth pyramid, people still want to think of themselves as middle class. Where we came from is very ingrained in us — much more so than where we ended up."

2. Many wealthy people aren't sure how to communicate their wealth to their kids.

"In an effort to keep children motivated, parents shelter children from their wealth, as best they can," Sullivan writes. "It is not unlike parents of middle-class children who don't talk about money and leave their kids to guess about how much they have when they might have far less."

This leads to what he calls "sheltered inheritors," or kids who have no concept of how to deal with the massive wealth they have received.

There's another approach, though: Sullivan writes of Doug Ideker, who started and owned a building-supply company in Colorado until he sold it for enough money to retire in his 40s. He always mandated that his two sons either find summer jobs on their own or work for his company ... on the loading dock at 6:30 a.m.

Ideker created two adult sons he calls "inspired inheritors," which Sullivan describes as "a class of kids who are driven in spite of their family's wealth."

3. They realize that it's important to work the tax system — legally.

The IRS can present a major threat to superrich people who are not smart about their taxes.

"The wealthiest people understand that with the proper guidance, they can pay exactly the amount they're supposed to pay in taxes — not a penny more," Sullivan says. "That's a lot less than what people think the bill will be. There's a way for them to work the system without breaking the law."

Blockbuster movie franchises have raised the bar for profitability in Hollywood – with certain series pulling in multi-billion dollar returns.

In spite of mostly negative reviews, and skepticism from series fans, Transformer movies remain some of the most reliable money-makers in Hollywood – joined by countless young adult adaptations, comic book films, and kid-friendly animated movie sequels, among others.

However, while it’s no surprise that established IPs like The Avengers or Harry Potter could pull in record-breaking numbers, what about the films that came out of nowhere, with small budgets, bad reviews, or a niche setup, but managed to strike a chord with audiences – and become some of the most successful series in movie history?

Check out the sleeper hit franchises >

In an industry that’s increasingly dependent on tentpole popcorn movies, where studios and pundits often have a very clear idea of how a film will perform in theaters weeks ahead of release, box office Cinderella stories have become less frequent.

For that reason, we took a look at the most profitable film series (NOT standalone movies) in Hollywood history – and selected 10 of the Most Surprisingly Profitable Movie Franchises.

NOTE: Because we are looking at worldwide box office sales (where available), the following figures are not adjusted for inflation – meaning that readers should keep in mind the release dates of each entry. Rather than comparing/analyzing box office sales within (or outside) the list, the post was written to cast light on surprisingly profitable franchises and the reasons for their success.

"The Fast and the Furious" has made $2.3 billion so far.

Back in 2001, Universal Pictures premiered The Fast and the Furious – a high-octane drama that explored the seedy life of illegal street racing.

Thanks to likable leads Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, along with exciting car stunts, the original Fast and Furious was a success – pulling in $363 million at the worldwide box office.

The film (and its first two sequels) placed heavy emphasis on car culture and high-performance modification – reflective of an increased interest in illegal street racing during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

To that end, marketing for the first three films featured the tag lines: “Live life 1/4 mile at a time,” “How fast do you like it?”, as well as “Speed Needs No Translation,” respectively – until the series took a dramatic shift from street racing drama to over-the-top automotive heist action.

The change in formula from nitro-powered speeding to automotive stunt action nearly doubled box office returns with Fast Five reaching $550 million and Fast & Furious 6 collecting $788.7 million worldwide – for a grand total of $2.3 billion (so far).

The tagline for Furious 7 reflects just how far the franchise storyline has come (“Vengeance Hits Home”) while, on the other hand, trailers for the series’ seventh installment depict some of the most outrageous car-centric stunts in Hollywood history (jumping a Ferrari between skyscrapers, for example). 

The Fast and Furious series might have been a little slow out the gate but, with at least two more films planned for production, Universal’s racing-action franchise is speeding toward a pole position as one of the most profitable franchises in movie history.

"The Hangover" scored a grand total of $1.4 billion at theaters.

Armed with just a clever setup and cast of mostly unproven leading men, including Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis, director Todd Phillips surprised audiences with a memorable one-off comedy misadventure in The Hangover – resulting in $467 million in global box office ticket sales (not to mention a whole new definition for the term “Wolfpack”).

Without question, The Hangover was rich in hilarious situations as well as cameos but where Phillips succeeded, plenty of similarly high-concept comedies fall by the wayside with little attention and underwhelming box office returns.

Thanks to the bankable drug-induced amnesia comedy formula, Phillips returned to the series again in 2011 (to the tune of $586 million worldwide) and again in 2013 (adding another $362 million to the franchise gross) – though, one by one, audiences began to view The Hangover sequels as paint-by-numbers iteration on a far superior original.

Nevertheless, even though the third movie was the least successful of the series, proving it might be time to give The Hangover a break, Warner Bros. still made off with a grand total of $1.4 billion from the franchise – and while Phillips currently has no plans to make a fourth misadventure for Phil, Stu, and Alan, it’s hard to imagine that the studio will be able to resist taking another crack at The Hangover honeypot one day (after letting the series rest for awhile).

The "Jason Bourne" franchise went from surprise hit to a five-movie franchise. The first four films have made over $1 billion worldwide.

Based on Robert Ludlum’s novel series, The Bourne Identity delivered a quality international spy thriller – in spite of a modest budget and relatively niche source material.

The first entry in the series was a surprise hit in America, which was responsible for over half of the movie’s $214 million worldwide gross.

The Supremacy sequel improved upon the first in ticket sales, cementing star Matt Damon as an American James Bond, and with audience’s primed for more, the series’ third entry raked in over $442 million globally.

Despite underwhelming reviews, even the Bourne Legacy, a spin-off starring Jeremy Renner, was financially successful – bringing the franchise’s total box office take to $1.2 billion (over the course of a single decade).

Of course, like other franchises on our list, that number will continue to grow – since a fifth chapter (featuring a starring role for Matt Damon and Jason Bourne) is already slated for release in 2016.

At this point, it’s unclear if Legacy‘s poor response will impact the potential box office for (the currently unsubtitled) Bourne 5 but it’s easy to imagine that the choice to bring Damon back, and ditch Renner entirely, means the upcoming film is poised to be a true successor for Ultimatum - and give prior series installments a run for their money in theaters.

Some people believe that the best high-school educations come from private schools, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Public schools can provide first-class global educations that prepare students for college and successful careers.

The experts at college data website Niche put together a list of the smartest public high schools in the US based primarily on state-assessment proficiency, the colleges that students go on to, AP enrollment and exam pass rates, graduation rates, and composite ACT and SAT scores.

Because there isn't a good 1-to-1 ratio for ACT to SAT score comparison, the SAT composite scores are expressed here as a range. You can read more about Niche's methodology here.

50. Pine View School – Osprey, Florida

SAT composite range: 2020-2070

Pine View is a school for the gifted. Like other high schools, Pine View offers the standard state-required subjects that all students learn, but Pine View also gives students a unique intellectual experience with options for self-pacing, independent study, and electives in subjects such as women's studies and history of the Vietnam War.

49. Poolesville High School – Poolesville, Maryland

SAT composite range: 1980-2010

Poolesville High School has been ranked as the No. 1 high school in the tristate area of Maryland, Virginia, and DC for the past three years running. The magnet school excels in its strong STEM programming and an AP course offering of 25-plus classes.

48. Campolindo High School – Moraga, California

SAT composite range: 1920-1970

Students at Campolindo High School receive exposure to an academic core and a well-balanced smattering of arts and technical classes. The school is often frequented by a number of in-state and out-of-state college recruiters, including Yale and the US Military Academy at West Point.

Hospitality service onefinestay prides itself on high-end, luxury apartments in London, New York, Paris, and LA. The London startup provides temporary travel accommodation using vacant properties.

It lists hundreds of the "finest homes" on its website, and only the best — one in 10, to be precise — make the cut, it says.

The company wants each place to be "individual"and curates each location to suit peoples' needs. I decided to play traveller over the weekend and went to stay at an apartment in west London.

onefinestay describes itself as an "unhotel"— users stay at someone else's place while they're away. The website has thousands of "hand-picked" properties. Mine was in Orsett Terrace in west London.

A concierge meets you there and snacks are laid out. Towels are folded nicely, toilet roll is given the corner treatment, and little mini pots of shampoo are available.

I was also given an iPhone loaded with the onefinestay app, which has lots of information and ideas about what to do myself while staying.