When life gives you lemons, it’s time to read this list.

We researched all of the miraculous things you can do with lemons, from the juice to the peel. Uses include making you healthier, more beautiful, cleaner, and a better cook (obviously), plus so much more.

Here are 66 things you can do with a lemon:

DEODORIZING

Clean the garbage disposal: Freeze lemon slices in plastic ice cube trays with vinegar. Once frozen, you can place a few cubes down the disposal, turn on the water, and run it for 30 seconds to clean and deodorize.

Freshen your fridge: Soak a cotton ball or sponge in lemon juice and leave it in the fridge for a few hours — your fridge will smell so much better, and it works even better than baking soda.

Make a DIY room freshener: Throw lemon peels, cloves, and cinnamon sticks into a pot of simmering water. It will make your whole house smell amazing, get rid of odors, and humidify the air, too.

Deodorize the humidifier: Pour in lemon juice with the humidifier water. Turn it on and let it run — the lemon juice will naturally deodorize the machine plus make the room smell fantastic.

Make your breath smell better: Drinking lemon water and combat the bacteria in your mouth. Just make sure to rinse with water afterwards since lemon juice can erode your teeth.

Deodorize trash cans: Throw a few peels into the trash can to keep everything smelling as fresh as possible.

Make the fireplace smell amazing: Use dried citrus peels like lemon and orange as kindling — to prepare, let them sit out on the counter for a few days so they can fully dry. They’ll act as a flame starter and will make the fire extremely aromatic.

Remove odors from hands: Whether it’s garlic or fish, cooking can make your hands smell horrible. Wash them with lemon juice and some soap to eliminate unwanted odors.

Neutralize cat-box smells: Make your home smell better by neutralizing the acidic smell of your cat box with a few lemon slices placed nearby in a bowl. It will have the same effect as store-bought air fresheners.

CLEANING  

Polish furniture: Make a homemade furniture polish that will smell better and cost less than typical polishes out of lemon oil, squeezed lemon juice, and olive or jojoba oil. Combine the ingredients and buff with a cloth.

Remove food build up from a microwave: Place a bowl of water, lemon juice, and slices of lemon into the microwave. Heat on high for three minutes and remove the bowl. Any leftover food that used to be caked on will wipe right off and your microwave will smell amazingly clean.

Clean windows: Because it's acidic, lemon juice is great at cutting through grease or grime build up on windows and glass. You can also mix it with cornstarch, vinegar, and water for an even better window cleaning treatment.

Remove hard water stains from faucets: Hard water can make your tub dingy and leave you with unsightly stains on faucets and shower heads. Remove build up by taking a cut lemon and rubbing it on your shower fixtures — they’ll look shiny and new when you’re done.

Clean cutting boards: Freshen your dirty, greasy cutting boards with a handful of coarse salt and a cut lemon. Sprinkle salt on the cutting board and then rub it in with the cut side of a lemon. Wipe off the salt or rinse the board in the sink — easy. You can do the same thing with rolling pins and wooden salad bowls.

Revive your old coffee maker: Run your coffee maker through a full water-only cycle. Then, mix a solution of lemon juice and water together and pour it into your coffee maker water tank. Allow it to sit before turning it on and letting it run through the cycle. Make a fresh solution and repeat the process. Run another water cycle and soak the carafe, filter, and coffee reservoir in dish soap and water to remove any lemon taste.

Clean marble: To remove rust stains from marble, sprinkle baking soda on the stain and add some lemon juice. Scrub and add more lemon juice and baking soda as needed. Wipe immediately with a clean, wet rag. 

Polish brass and copper: Combine equal parts lemon juice and vinegar and then wipe the mixture on the metal with a paper towel. Polish with a soft cloth until dry. You can also combine lemon juice and baking soda to make a paste and have a similar effect to remove tarnish.

Polish silverware: Mix a tablespoon of lemon juice with 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 cup instant dry milk. Let the silverware sit overnight and then rinse and dry. If you’re in a hurry, simply pour some lemon juice on tarnished pieces of silverware and buff with a clean cloth.

Make your dish soap more effective: Add a teaspoon of lemon juice to dish soap to cut through grease on dishes and make your soap even more effective.

Bleach plastic Tupperware: If your Tupperware is soaking up colors from your favorite spaghetti or tomato soup, rub with some lemon juice and let it dry in the sun to bleach away the stains. 

Clean the toilet: Pouring in 1/2 cup of lemon juice and letting it sit will make toilet stains easy to tackle with a brush (and make the bathroom smell citrusy). You can also add 1/2 cup of borax for extra stain fighting powers.

Unclog a drain: Pour boiling water down the drain and then half a box of baking soda followed by 8-12 ounces of lemon juice. The lemon juice will react with the baking soda causing it to turn into a foam. Then pour more boiling water down the drain to rinse away the foam and the clog.

Remove water stains on shower doors: Cut a lemon in half and dip one half into baking soda. Rub onto the glass and then rinse and dry. 

Create an all-purpose cleaner: Combining water, baking soda, vinegar, lemon, and lemon essential oil will create an amazing all-purpose cleaner for the kitchen or the bathroom. Get directions here.

Clean cheese graters: Instead of ruining your sponge, clean your cheese graters using a half of a lemon instead. It won’t matter if it gets grated a little and the acid in the lemon will cut through the cheese easily.

Polish hardwood floors: Make your own lemon-vinegar floor cleaner to fight mold, bacteria, and germs. It also has the added benefit of being non-toxic and will make your floors look great.

LAUNDRY

Gently bleach fabrics: Add lemon juice to hot water and soak your white linens. Then rinse and wash as normal. You can also add 1/2 cup of lemon juice to your cycle instead of bleach for similar results.

Spot treat your shirts: Pour lemon juice on the stain and add some table salt. Rub the stain between your fingers and then rinse. This is especially helpful with dark underarm stains, and will be even more effective if you let the clothing dry in the sun.

Get mildew stains out of clothes: Make a paste with lemon juice and salt and rub it into the infected area. Let it dry in the sun, and repeat until the stain is gone.

Remove grease stains: Mix lemon juice with vinegar and apply to the stain. Let it sit and then rinse off.

Whiten tennis shoes: Spray lemon juice on white athletic shoes and let them dry in the sun. It will bleach the fabric and even make them smell better.

COOKING

Soak fruits and veggies in lemon water to prevent browning: After slicing up your fruit, keep it from oxidizing and turning brown by soaking in a cold bowl of water with lemon juice. Take out produce and pat dry. This works with apples, cauliflower, bananas, pears, potatoes, and avocados.

Revive limp lettuce: When lettuce starts to get soggy, you can soak the leaves in a bowl of cold water with the juice from half a lemon. Refrigerate for an hour and then dry leaves before adding to salads or sandwiches. 

Keep rice from clumping: Add a spoonful of lemon juice while rice is cooking so it doesn’t stick together at the end. Let it cool when it’s done and then fluff with a fork.

Upgrade your ice cubes: Freeze lemon slices in ice cube trays (or cupcake trays if you want bigger ice cubes) and use them to add some zest to a standard glass or pitcher of water. 

Marinate meats: Lemon juice is a brilliant marinade when added with oils and herbs. The acid in the lemon juice will break down the meat so that the oil and spices can flavor it even better. 

Make candied lemon peels: Instead of throwing away your lemon rind, you can make candy out of it that you can put on cakes, into cookies, or just eat as a snack. All you need to do is boil the peels a few times with sugar and coat in sugar.

Keep brown sugar soft: Adding a lemon slice to brown sugar will keep it soft. The moisture from the lemon will keep the sugar from becoming rock hard and unusable.

Boost flavor and reduce salt intake: Studies have shown that if you use lemon juice and lemon zest, you’ll use less salt to boost the flavor of your dishes. It's a healthier alternative instead of constantly reaching for salt and pepper.

Make a buttermilk substitute: If you don’t have buttermilk, add two tablespoons of lemon juice to a 1% or 2% cup of milk. Let it sit so the acid sours the milk for 15 minutes and then add it to the recipe. 

Make a sour cream substitute: Similar to the buttermilk tip above, lemon juice will sour whipped cream if you let it sit for 30 minutes or so. It will also cut your calories if you’re used to adding a dollop of sour cream to a baked potato.

Make lemonade: You know what they say about life giving you lemons. Add some gin if you want a grown up lemonade.

BEAUTY

Lighten your hair: Lemon juice will bleach your hair in the sun. Create your own leave-in hair brightener by combining almond or coconut oil, cinnamon, and chamomile tea with lemon juice. Mix together and spray on your hair before heading outside into the sun. The lemon will lighten strands while the oil will make sure hair doesn’t get too dried out. (Simple lemon juice will also do the trick.)

Fade age spots or freckles: Lemon juice will lighten and brighten skin by reducing freckles as well as fading age spots. Wash you face, pat dry, and then apply lemon juice with a cotton swab.

Make a brightening moisturizer: Mix coconut oil with a few drops of lemon juice to hydrate skin and brighten it at the same time. Since both are anti-fungal, the mixture will also help prevent acne.

Whiten and strengthen nails: Mix lemon juice with olive oil and soak your nails. The lemon juice will brighten the nail while the olive oil will strengthen it.

Fight dandruff: Massage two tablespoons of lemon juice into your scalp and then rinse with lemon water. Repeat until dandruff is gone.

Fight acne: Lemon juice is a natural astringent which will fight the oil and clogged pores that can cause acne. After cleaning your face and patting dry, apply lemon juice to your face. After 10 minutes, rinse off with cool water. Repeat twice daily.

Exfoliate your skin: Combine lemon juice, sugar, olive oil, and honey to create a nourishing scrub for your skin. Apply to your body and face before rinsing off.

HEALTH 

Start your day with lemon water: Drinking lemon water will give you a dose of Vitamin C, potassium, and will aid digestion and give your immune system a boost. 

Soothe a sore throat: Lemon juice has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties which can help a sore throat. It also has lots of Vitamin C to help boost your immune system.

Treat canker sores: Because lemon is both anti-fungal and antibacterial, it will speed up the recovery time of a canker sore. Simply add lemon juice to a cup of hot water. Let steep, and then gargle with the solution. It will sting, but that means it’s working.

Soothe skin rashes: Soak a cotton ball in lemon juice and apply to the rash. This works especially well with poison ivy.

Stop itchy insect bites: Rubbing a bit of lemon juice on insect bites will relieve the swelling and itching. Just make sure not to go outside with it on since you might attract more bugs.

Reduces phlegm and soothes a cough: Adding a little lemon juice with honey to hot water will reduce mucous build up, which can help you get better faster.

Remove warts: If you don’t want to go to the doctor to treat your wart, try lemon juice as a do-it-yourself option. Dabbing lemon juice on the wart will break it down and it should disappear in two weeks.

MISCELLANEOUS 

Polish leather shoes: DIY your own shoe polish with olive oil and lemon. Combine one part lemon juice with two parts olive oil and let it sink into the leather of your shoes. Wait for 10-15 minutes and then buff with a cloth. 

Make invisible ink: Squeeze lemon juice into a bowl of water and then dip a cotton swab into it. Write a message on white paper and then wait for it to dry before heating the paper close to a lamp or light bulb to see the message.

Sanitize jewelry: Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 1/2 cups of water. This is especially good for sanitizing earrings, but should not be used on pearls or gold.

Repel bugs from your home: Mop your floors with lemon juice and water to ward off roaches and flees, and spray concentrated lemon juice on any areas you think bugs like ants may be getting in. Bonus points if you throw some lemon peels outside of entryways.

Remove pet stains from fur: Pinkish-red stains can sometimes form around your pet's eyes and mouth. To remove these stains, combine baking soda and lemon juice and rub it onto fur. Keep it away from your pet's eyes and wait for about 10 minutes before rinsing off. Always check with a vet first to make sure it's safe.

Remove berry stains from your hands: Berries can dye your hands red if you’re not careful, especially if you’re slicing, rinsing, or cooking with them. To get rid of them, make a paste of cornmeal and lemon juice and rub onto hands, let sit, and rinse off.

Kill weeds: Lemon juice will kill any weeds you don’t want growing in your yard or driveway. Fill a spray bottle with the juice and douse the offending plants.

Make your own dog and cat repellent: If neighborhood cats and dogs are using your lawn as a litterbox, combine lemon peels with coffee grounds and place them where the pets usually ‘go’ — they hate the smell and will soon head to other yards. 

Save hardened paintbrushes: If your paintbrushes look like there’s no saving them, bring lemon juice and a little water to a boil and throw in the brushes to sit for 15 minutes. Wash them with soap and water afterwards and let dry. Bristles should feel soft again.

Did we miss your favorite thing to do with lemons? Let us know in the comments!

SEE ALSO: 59 amazing things you can do with baking soda

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 6 Food Myths That Are Completely Wrong

For some, the three-day Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California, is as much about the parties as it is the music.

And instead of giant parties, this year's festival "saw a new set of unofficially affiliated parties that largely mark a move toward the more intimate and targeted," BizBash noted.

Aaron Paul, Katy Perry, Paris Hilton, Zoe Kravitz, Julianne Hough, and other celebs — including tons of models — all took advantage of this weekend's hottest bashes.

The best party of the weekend is always the Neon Carnival, a late-night outdoor dance party that takes place in the Thermal airport hangar.

Brent Bolthouse created the event six years ago.

Hosted by Paper magazine with PacSun, "Dope" the movie, and Tequila Don Julio, it's complete with open bars ...

For the billionaire buying a guard dog, why go with a standard pup when you can get one that's trained in three different languages?

It only costs $230,000.

CNBC visited the Harrison K-9 facility, a South Carolina-based dog training company that only sells the most highly trained and intelligent German Shepherds to executives and celebrities.

Harrison K-9 has been in business since the 1970s when founder Harrison Prather began training dogs for law enforcement and the US government. Not long after, he learned there was a market for the über wealthy to have not only a guard dog, but a companion as well.

He started an intense training course that taught the dogs to not only attack aggressors and protect their owners, but also be good with children and other animals. The goal was to create sweet and loving companion dogs that could — if the situation arose — snap into action.

The elite dogs are imported from Germany and taught multiple commands such as “come, heel, sit, down, or stay” in both English and German as well as through special hand signals. They are trained in a variety of places such as office buildings, city streets, parks, vehicles, and even yachts so they won’t become distracted or disoriented in a new environment.

The 25-acre Harrison K-9 training facility has obstacle courses where they teach the dogs to do perimeter searches for the home, bite and hold onto aggressors, and complete agility courses. 

To get one of these sweet pups, prices start at $35,000 and average between $40,000 and $50,000. CNBC points out that some of the more top-of-the-line dogs run over $80,000. They are sold when they’re around two-years-old to make sure they’re mature enough for the field and highly trained. 

The most expensive dog Harrison K-9 ever sold was a dog named Julia for $230,000 to a businessman in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Julia was so smart that the head trainer told The New York Times she was almost like a person. “If my daughter Kailee was outside in the woods, I’d say, ‘Julia, where’s Kailee?’, and she’d go out and find her,” she told The Times.

One thing's for sure — they're loyal. Plus, the company says on its website that having a dog will intimidate criminals far more than security systems and human guards would thanks to its sharp teeth and lack of hesitation to attack.

You can see the current guard dogs that Harrison K-9 is training here. In addition to being extremely expensive, they're also adorable.

SEE ALSO: 14 Services For The Super Rich You Never Knew Existed

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 50 people were asked to reveal their biggest secrets — and their answers were surprisingly brave

Did you watch the NCAA tournament this year? If so, you might recognize the woman on the right.

She became known as "Crying piccolo girl" online just moments after her tear-strewn face was shown on live television following the loss of her Villanova Wildcats to NC State.

The woman, Roxanne Chalifoux, is one of a few people who have accidentally experienced Internet fame. Her face was turned into a meme, along with the Overly Attached Girlfriend, Scumbag Steve, and Grumpy Cat.

Memes are often photos that become cultural symbols; they're passed around the Internet and tweaked by millions of viewers as they go along. Often, memes start with a theme and have text laid on top of an image to describe that theme in a witty way. The Reddit community is responsible for creating and popularizing many memes. Even Obama has been a meme victim.

What do all of these Internet meme stars look like when they're not captured in awkward moments or changed in Photoshop? 

Meet the stars of your favorite memes, and see what they look like in real life.

"Success kid" is known across the web as a symbol of pure joy and excitement. The photo was taken by a mother of her 11-month-old son, Sammy, at the beach in 2007. After she posted it on Flickr, it started going viral.

Sammy is now 8. His mother posted an updated photo to Reddit on Valentine's Day. Now Sammy is using his viral fame to help his father find a kidney transplant.

When Villanova was kicked out of the NCAA Tournament this year, one sad band member who played the flute became a viral meme, "Crying Piccolo Girl."

This post is originally by Geoffrey Ingersoll and Robert Johnson.

Control of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum is a major asset in military operations.

The Marines have demonstrated their painful "heat ray," a weapon that blasts intruders with a wave beam that targets the skin and makes victims feel like they've stepped in front of a blazing oven — all without killing them.

It doesn't cause irreversible damage, but will make someone instinctively back off. 

Modern weapons systems employ radio, radar, infrared, optical, ultraviolet, electro-optical, and laser technologies. 

"The Russians and the Chinese have designed specific electronic warfare platforms to go after all our high-value assets," said Lieutenant General Herbert Carlisle, the Air Force's Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, as reported by Aviation Week.

The US military is developing cyber-capabilities to gain a tactical edge.

Electronic warfare consists of three subdivisions: electronic attack, electronic protection, and electronic warfare support.

According to US military doctrine for electronic warfare planning, electronic attack (EA) involves "the use of electromagnetic energy, directed energy or anti-radiation weapons to attack personnel, facilities, or equipment with the intent of degrading, neutralizing, or destroying enemy combat capability."

Basically, the aim is to wipe out the enemy without getting too dirty. 

The Marine Corps "Heat Ray" raises the temperature on the target's skin by 130 degrees

But it won't kill you.

The Active Denial System (ADS) creates an intense heated sensation lasting 1-2 seconds. It's caused by a radio frequency wave, not radiation or microwave.

“You’re not going to see it, you’re not going to hear it, you’re not going to smell it. You’re going to feel it,” said director of the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, Marine Col. Tracy Tafolla, according to Stars and Stripes.

The 95 GHz millimeter wave has a range of up to 1000 meters. The directed-energy beam only penetrates 1/64th of an inch into the skin.

As a nonlethal weapon, it can be used for crowd control or determining hostile intent before engaging with lethal weapons. That way, ADS can buy life-saving time without inflicting lethal injury on its targets.

This hand-held laser system can temporary blind you

The Phasr was introduced in 2005 by the Air Force. 

As another directed-energy weapon, the Phasr employs a two-wavelength laser system that temporarily blocks an aggressor's ability to see. 

It's like opening your eyes in the middle of the night to someone shoving a blinding flashlight in your face. The Air Force casually calls this effect "dazzling" or "illuminating." Whatever you call it, this hand-held device effectively impairs anyone targeted.

The "Death Ray" can detect and destroy missiles with a deadly laser beam

The US has run several test flight experiments on the Airborne Laser Test Bed (ALTB). So far, they've worked out this killer firing sequence:

1. The ALTB uses one of its six infrared sensors to detect the exhaust plume of a boosting missile.
2. A kilowatt-class solid state laser, the Track Illuminator, tracks the missile and determines a precise aim point.
3. The Beacon Illuminator, a second laser, then measures disturbances in the atmosphere, which are corrected by the adaptive optics system to accurately point and focus the High Energy Laser (HEL) at its target.
4. Using a large telescope located in the nose turret, the beam control/fire control system focuses the HEL beam onto a pressurized area of the missile, holding it there until laser energy compromises the missile’s structural integrity causing it to fail.

The European Space Agency may never have had the glamor of the Apollo missions or space shuttle launches, but they've quietly launched some of the most advanced Earth observation satellites around.

The ESA's Envistat satellite was the largest Earth observation satellite ever built.

Since 2002, it has circled the Earth, collecting invaluable information on our environment and the advancing danger of climate change. Contact with Envistat was suddenly lost in April 2012, but the wealth of information it collected remains.

Every week, the European Space Agency releases a new satellite image taken by Envistat and other Earth-observation satellites launched by ESA and other space agencies. They show incredible places on Earth, from the Sahara Desert to volcanoes in the Congo, in ways we've never seen before.

Clouds sweep across the North Sea in this image from Envistat. Denmark is on the lower right corner and Norway is in the upper center.

This is the Amazon River in the heart of northern Brazil's rainforest. Vegetation has been colored with shades of pink — the darker the color, the denser the vegetation.

This photo of Northern China shows the Yellow River flowing into the Yellow Sea. Beijing and Tanjing are shaded circles in the top-center part of the photo.

Quitting a job isn't easy, no matter what the circumstances.

But there are smart — and reckless — ways to go about it.

LinkedIn recently asked the top minds in business to share their best advice for quitting a job.

Here's what Richard Branson, Suze Orman, and six other super-successful people had to say.

Richard Branson says you should use the opportunity to build bridges, not burn them.

Richard Branson has never had an actual boss to whom he could say, "I quit!" — which is one of the perks of being a lifelong entrepreneur. But he has had talented employees leave Virgin to pursue their own entrepreneurial endeavors.

The ones who have left and have gone on to succeed are the ones that quit gracefully, he explains.

"All of them left with the best wishes of their previous companies, we've all stayed friends, and I'm sure there will be opportunities for us to collaborate further in the future," writes the Virgin Group founder. 

His advice for you: Explain your reasoning; share your vision for the future; and make an effort to keep in touch. "Who knows what the future will hold?"

Maintaining the relationships you have worked hard to create is important. "Think twice before you burn your bridges — build some instead!" he advises.

Read his full post here.

Suze Orman says to trust your instincts.

"Listen when your gut tells you to move on," writes Suze Orman. 

It was the personal finance guru's own gut feeling that prompted her to end her show with CNBC after 13 years and 638 episodes.  

"About a year ago, something started to change. I woke up one morning, and I knew that it was time to end the Suze Orman Show," she explains of her decision. "My heart knew it was time for me to go." 

This decision also put her in the driver's seat: "Lets face it: If you stay on for the wrong reasons, your eventual exit will likely not be on your own terms. By taking the initiative to recognize I needed to move on, I have had the great experience of leaving without regret or acrimony."

Read her full post here.

Robert Herjavec says it's important to remember that quitting doesn't mean you're failing.

"The way I see it, quitting isn't losing," writes the "Shark Tank" investor. "It's simply changing direction."

Herjavec likes to use the term "pivoting," rather than "quitting," because people automatically equate quitting with failure.

"Call it what you will but quitting a strategy, or a job, should not be seen as failure. We can't win at everything we do," he says.

The trick is finding what you're good at, and this opportunity often arises from quitting, which is why Herjavec calls it "a blessing in disguise — an opportunity to pivot to something greater."

Read his full post here.

Moms do so much for us. They feed us, encourage us, and shower us with love.

It's only fair to return the favor, but you don't have to break the bank to show mom you care.

We found 13 gifts under $50 that will make you the favorite child this Mother's Day.

One-up the framed photo this year.

Price: $39.95

Put mom's favorite pictures on a custom iPhone case this year. Casetify has a number of attractive layouts and designs to choose from, and you can even import photos from Facebook or Instagram.

Get it here »

Charm her with this stunning charm bracelet.

Price: Starts at $16

What do moms never tire of doing? Talking about their kids. This stainless steel charm bracelet can be personalized with the names and birthstones of each of her kids. It's also a great gift for grandmothers, who can add charms for all her children's children.

Get it here »

Give her the gift of a green thumb.

Price: $44.95

No window box? No problem. Mom can grow her own herbs in the ZeroSoil mini indoor garden — an attractive and mess-less way to display (and eat) fresh, delicious herbs at any meal. It uses a plant nutrient base instead of potting soil, and bonus: It waters itself!

Get it here »

The Edward Snowden revelations made it clearer than ever that your online messages are not safe from snooping.

With that in mind, technologists are now building better ways for people to shield their communications from prying eyes.

The technology driving most of these programs is called "end-to-end encryption," which means that a message is ciphered before it's sent and then deciphered after its received. This way, anyone looking to snoop on intermediary servers won't be tablet to understand what the message says.

While end-to-end encryption is a known standard, it's a hard practice for the layperson to adopt into their everyday work. Now developers are figuring out new ways to make message-sending as easy as possible using this kind of encryption.

TextSecure

TextSecure is an Android app built for the sole purpose of secure texting. It was created by a group of developers known as Open Whisper Systems, who build suites of completely private communication apps and release the code to the world under an open-source license. TextSecure is OWS’s Android solution. It provides end-to-end encryption both over the air and in the actual phone. The app used to send encrypted messages using SMS standard. Last month, the app decided to nix SMS and send messages using data. This made it possible for users to send messages to TextSecure’s iOS counterpart, Signal. The app requires users to have a unique passcode, which can be used to prove that they received the message.

Signal

Signal is the iOS app made by the Open Whisper Systems project. Like TextSecure, it provides complete security to protect users from any external snooping. It now supports sending and receiving messages from TextSecure, which runs on Android. The app uses the same encryption technology as its Android counterpart.

Telegram (secret chats)

Telegram is a messaging app available on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. It was created by two brothers who helped launch the huge Russian social network VK (formerly VKontakte) in 2012. It offers two different types of chat options: normal chat — which has chats stored in the app’s cloud, and “secret chat” — which uses end-to-end encryption. While the normal chat does not follow the most scrupulous securing processes, if a users sends only secret chats, that person ought to have their security bases covered.

In recent years, the annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival has become as much a fashion show as it is about the music.

This year, trends on the fields included the typical floral headpieces, crazily braided hair, loads of jewelry, and even one floral beard.

But when it's nearly 100-degrees in the desert on the outskirts of Palm Springs, clothing is limited — and sometimes, optional.

Katy Perry (center) rocked a giant, tribal necklace while roaming the VIP area at Coachella with friends.

You can never have on too many jewels at the festival, including on your face.

Or around the waist.

A unique home in the affluent community of Scottsdale, Arizona is up for sale.

Sixty percent of the structure is made from huge boulders. The walls, floors, and ceilings alternate between stucco and rock, creating an extremely earthy feel as well as an interesting floorplan.

In fact, the home is so unique, author and former CEO of Neiman Marcus Stanley Marcus once called it ''the most original home in America."

Estately has the listing, asking $4.3 million.

No this isn't just a random rocky outcrop ...

It's actually a house, built right into huge boulders.

The home uses a combination of stucco and boulders to mark its walls and boundaries.

On Monday, Ricky Gervais posted a picture of 41-year-old hunter Rebecca Francis lying next to a giraffe she had killed.

He captioned the photo, “What must've happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal and then lie next to it smiling?”

Since it was posted on Monday, Gervais’s post has been shared almost 69,000 times on Facebook. Commenters were outraged: “Giraffes are the friendliest animals ever. This b**** needs to be shot,” said one while another wrote “I would probably be smiling if I shot her (the woman, not the giraffe, you morons).”

Francis began receiving death threats on Twitter, too.

@RebeccaFrancis1 How does it feel to be the one being hunted Rebecca Francis ?

— The Rebel Queen (@The_Rebel_Heart) April 15, 2015

Rebecca Francis deserves to die. Just saying.

— Claudia del Castillo (@clauditamaria) April 15, 2015

trophy hunter rebecca francis should be hunted down and shot.

— Dan Hintz (@danielhintz) April 15, 2015

'The hunter always becomes the hunted' Rebecca Francis hope you learn this very soon, you vile disgusting person. #RebeccaFrancis

— LIAM GRAY (@LTGRAY_) April 15, 2015

Really hope someone shoots @RebeccaFrancis1 with a bow and arrow and takes a pic laying next to her dead body. #poeticjustice

— Alyssa S. (@a7bros) April 15, 2015

Though Business Insider was unable to trace where the photo Gervais posted originated from, Francis is a professional hunter who is no stranger to posting images of herself posing with dead animals — she has a gallery on her website of her big game kills such as dead lions, bears, zebras, and more. 

She even became somewhat of a celebrity huntress after winning a reality show called Extreme Huntress in 2010.

Business Insider reached out to Francis to ask her about the controversy, but was unable to reach her. Francis did, however, give an exclusive statement to HuntingLife.com [emphasis ours]:

When I was in Africa five years ago I was of the mindset that I would never shoot a giraffe. I was approached toward the end of my hunt with a unique circumstance. They showed me this beautiful old bull giraffe that was wandering all alone. He had been kicked out of the herd by a younger and stronger bull. He was past his breeding years and very close to death. They asked me if I would preserve this giraffe by providing all the locals with food and other means of survival. He was inevitably going to die soon and he could either be wasted or utilized by the local people. I chose to honor his life by providing others with his uses and I do not regret it for one second. Once he was down there were people waiting to take his meat. They also took his tail to make jewelry, his bones to make other things, and did not waste a single part of him. I am grateful to be a part of something so good.

This is a similar sentiment to what Francis has written on her blog before in 2011:

There is no question that I am extremely selective about the animals I hunt. I feel it is absolutely necessary to hunt older and more mature animals. In a lot of cases, that puts that animal past it’s breeding prime and the animal can actually be kicked out of the herd and replaced with a younger, stronger male to introduce new genetics into the gene pool. Consequently, that animal can not only be bullied by the new male, but also be left all alone to suffer until it’s inevitable death.

Yet even with her new statement, many anti-hunters are not appeased. “Personally I don’t see how she could stand at the side of the animal with a big smile on her face even if she did do it a favor,” one commenter said. “She’s posing like she has a trophy!”

Francis joins Texas cheerleader Kendall Jones for receiving major backlash after posting pictures of herself posing with big game animals she had hunted.

Last year, outrage over Jones’s Facebook pictures posing with dead lions launched a Change.org petition that reached over 168,000 signatures that attempted to petition the American Embassy to ban Kendall Jones from hunting in Africa.

SEE ALSO: Viral World Cup Model Causes Uproar With Hunting Photo And Crass Caption

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NOW WATCH: Here's how Floyd Mayweather spends his millions

Gerhard Andlinger, an Austrian-American businessman and the founder of private investment firm Andlinger & Company, is the buyer of rockstar Jon Bon Jovi's downtown Manhattan penthouse, according to the Real Deal.

The home was last listed for $37.5 million, though it first appeared on the market in 2013 for $42 million.

The duplex apartment has a massive great room, five bedrooms, and 5.5 bathrooms. Even better, the apartment came fully furnished, and as you can see from the listing photos, the rocker has great taste.

Bon Jovi bought the place for $24 million back in 2007, according to Curbed NY.

The apartment is located on Mercer Street, in NYC's trendy SoHo neighborhood.

It has 11 rooms in total, including a great room with 11-foot ceilings.

Floor-to-ceiling windows mean every corner of the apartment is filled with light.

Home foreclosures plunged in the first quarter.

According to RealtyTrac, 313,487 US homes were foreclosed on during the first quarter. That’s the lowest quarterly total since the first quarter of 2007, a 7% decline from the previous quarter, and an 8% drop from the same quarter last year.

"Some of most stubborn foreclosure cases are finally being flushed out of the foreclosure pipeline, and we would expect to see more noise in the numbers over the next few months as national foreclosure activity makes its way back to more stable patterns by the end of this year,” RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist said in the data release.

Still, some states are struggling.

We drew on RealtyTrac’s report to highlight the 15 states with the highest foreclosure rates last quarter.

Note: The states are ranked by foreclosure rate, i.e., one in every 'X' homes received a foreclosure filing.

Georgia

One in every 466 homes received a foreclosure filing in Q1 2015.

Properties with foreclosure filings: 8,787

Change from Q4 2014: -19.21%

Change from Q1 2014: -25.22%

Source: RealtyTrac

Pennsylvania

One in every 462 homes received a foreclosure filing in Q1 2015.

Properties with foreclosure filings: 12,037

Change from Q4 2014: -12.14%

Change from Q1 2014: -6.63%

Source: RealtyTrac

Oregon

One in every 446 homes received a foreclosure filing in Q1 2015.

Properties with foreclosure filings: 3,759

Change from Q4 2014: 8.58%*

Change from Q1 2014: -60.99%

Source: RealtyTrac

*Actual increase may be lower because of improvements in data collection

Not everybody gets it right the first time. 

It's well known that Nintendo started as a playing-card company in 1889 and that Nokia started as a wood-pulp mill in 1865. You may even know that Apple started by selling build-your-own-computer kits. 

But a lot of the popular startup apps you use every day started the same way. Here are some big-time tech pivots you may not have known about.

Slack started as a weird online video game

Then: The developer Tiny Speck, under the leadership of Flickr cofounder Stewart Butterfield, made a bizarre but popular online video game called Glitch. The game was unique in that it emphasized exploration and socialization over fighting monsters. 

Now: When it became apparent in 2012 that Glitch was not a profitable venture, the game was shut down and the company refocused itself around a new name and a new product: Slack, a chat app for work. These days, Slack is rumored to be valued at $2 billion, and Butterfield is a Silicon Valley celebrity — but he still laments the downfall of Glitch. 

Venmo was a way to communicate with your favorite bands

Then: Venmo launched in 2009 to let users text a band they liked and get an MP3 in return.

Now: After realizing they had built the framework for a killer app, the app's creators built the modern Venmo: an app that simplifies paying your friends. It paid off, with PayPal purchasing Venmo for $26 million in 2012.

Twitch.tv started as a live webcasting platform

Then: Justin.tv was founded in 2007 as a place for users to broadcast live content.

Now: The spin-off Twitch.tv, a place for video gamers to stream to their hordes of devoted followers, proved to be the fastest-growing part of the business, and the company refocused around it. Amazon purchased Twitch for $970 million last year.

After more than 20 years, Gisele Bündchen has retired from the runway.

The world's highest-paid supermodel, the 34-year-old walked in her final show at Brazil's São Paulo Fashion Week.

Known in the industry as simply "Gisele," Bündchen has been the highest-paid supermodel for the past eight years.

She earned a stunning $47 million in 2014, according to Forbes. That's way ahead of second highest-paid model Doutzen Kroes, who raked in $8 million.

But before she was a one-woman empire, Gisele was an awkward teenager with modest aspirations in Brazil. 

We chronicled how she broke into the scene and became a legend. 

Gisele was born in Brazil, but her parents are of German descent. Here she's pictured (center) with her fraternal twin, Patricia, and another sister, Gabi.

Source: Instagram 

Gisele was discovered by a modeling scout in Brazil while she was eating a Big Mac. Her childhood nickname was "Olive Oyl," a reference to cartoon "Popeye's" gangly wife. She won a contest and was sent to Sao Paulo. Here she's pictured in a 1995 interview telling the station about how she hoped to break into the business.

Source: YouTube 

At age 16, she appeared on the cover of a Brazilian teen magazine with the headline "Gisele Bundchen, 16 years old, has gone to the top."

Source: SCStyleCaster

Some homes are built out of spite. Others are left standing as a form of protest.

In China, "nail houses"— homes that remain standing despite pressure from real estate developers to sell — have become increasingly common.

In the cases of many nail houses, owners are protesting what they see as lowball offers from developers who want to build ambitious private projects on their land. A law passed in 2007 makes it more difficult for the government to seize land, but conflicts remain.

The resulting homes often look bizarre juxtaposed against modern high-rises, office buildings, and shopping malls. Some even stand proudly on roads, forcing drivers to take detours around them.

This ramshackle home stood on the square in front of a shopping mall in Changsha, in China's Hunan province, in 2007.

One of the most famous nail houses in China, this home in Wenling, Zhejiang province, belonged to an elderly couple that found their compensation offer inadequate. As a result, it stands in the middle of a road that was paved through their village.

Another nail house in a road, the owner of this home in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, reportedly failed to reach an agreement about compensation for demolition.

Spend on digital ads worldwide is forecast to rise 15.7% to $17.1 billion this year, according to media agency Carat's forecasts.

But how many did you remember? And how many of them encouraged you to buy a product, change your behavior, or have a different opinion about a brand?

Click here to skip straight to the campaigns>>

US trade body, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, asked a panel of marketing experts to take a closer look into the most successful online ad campaigns of 2014, dishing out "MIXX" awards to those which really captivated their audiences and drove business results for brands. Gold-winning brands included Coke, Chipotle, Nike, and some other lesser-known companies from across the globe.

While the ads succeeded for different reasons, a common theme tying them together was interactivity, and campaigns that sought to tackle huge issues, not just push product.

Chipotle — "The Scarecrow"

To help raise awareness of its sustainability commitments, Chipotle and its ad agency Creative Artists Agency created this stunning, poignant 3-minute animated film about a scarecrow that escapes an oppressive, "1984"-esque food regime to seek out a fresh product. It's all set to the theme tune of "Pure Imagination" (made famous by the 1970s movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.)

The video acted as a companion for an app-based game, which offered users free food in exchange for helping the scarecrow character on his mission.

Why it worked

Chipotle's "Scarecrow" was awarded "Best in Show" for "branding beyond the campaign."

The video was watched on YouTube more than 5 million times in its first week and has now racked up more than 14 million views. The mobile game was downloaded some 650,000 times. And the entire campaign was said to have sparked 18.4 million conversations across 17 social platforms.

Why so successful? MIXX Awards judge and global chief creative officer at R/GA Nick Law said: "[It] combines the best of Hollywood and the gaming industry. An intriguing story and a compelling game experience, which are both beautifully crafted with a rare sensitivity for their respective mediums, deliver the brand's powerful message with equal weight."

Inkadate Village — "Rice-Code"

Inkadate, a small village in north-east Japan, has long-depended on rice as its main source of income. But Japanese people are consuming less rice each year and action needed to be taken.

Working with Japanese advertising agency Hakuhodo, Inkadate's farmers began growing extremely detailed works of art in their fields using different colors of rice.

An app called "Rice Code" let visitors scan the fields like a QR code to buy the rice, and people could also make purchases through rice art in posters, and via Facebook photos.

Millions of Americans sit in a cubicle, behind a computer screen, chained to their desk all day, because the vast majority of stable, high-paying professions are "office jobs."

But a new analysis of labor market data from CareerBuilder reveals that hundreds of non-desk jobs are growing and thriving in the US. And some — even ones that don't require a four-year degree — pay really well.

The data for the analysis, which was provided by Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. (EMSI), CareerBuilder's labor market data arm that pulls from more than 90 government and private resources, found that while most of the highest-paying non-desk jobs are medical professions that require a doctoral or professional degree, there are at least 170 non-desk occupations out there that pay $15 per hour or more, on average, and do not require a bachelor's degree.

Aaron Taube contributed to an earlier version of this article. 

Fitness Trainer/Aerobics Instructor

Median hourly earnings: $15.88

Job growth from 2010-2014: 8%

BLS job description: Instruct or coach groups or individuals in exercise activities. Demonstrate techniques and form, observe participants, and explain to them corrective measures necessary to improve their skills. 

Travel Guide

Median hourly earnings: $16.26

Job growth from 2010-2014: 7%

BLS job description: Plan, organize, and conduct long distance travel, tours, and expeditions for individuals and groups.

Massage Therapist

Median hourly earnings: $17.27

Job growth from 2010-2014: 17%

BLS job description: Perform therapeutic massages of soft tissues and joints. May assist in the assessment of range of motion and muscle strength, or propose client therapy plans.

Etsy, the online marketplace that specializes in crafts and other artistic items, went public Thursday morning, opening for trade at $31 per share.

At the opening price, that values Etsy at over $3.7 billion.  

Last year, we checked out Etsy's gorgeous office space in Brooklyn, New York.

Etsy's office is in Brooklyn, in a neighborhood called DUMBO (it stands for "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass").

The lobby of its building — 55 Washington St. — is pretty slick.

Head up to the fifth floor, and you'll find Etsy.