Christopher Herwig didn't plan on taking 9,000 photographs of bus stops across Central Asia, but that's how the last 23 years have panned out.

A small fraction of those photos — taken in places like Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, and Ukraine — now make up the pages of Herwig's new book, "Soviet Bus Stops."

Each stop reimagines the simple construction of a bench encased by glass. Even in the middle of nowhere, they are functional pieces of art.

"People get this feeling that something's been discovered," Herwig says, "even if it's sitting out in plain view."

The disputed region of Abkhazia lies adjacent to Georgia. Though many have never heard of the region, Herwig says it contains many of his favorites from the collection.

Like this one, whose architect skipped designing a roof on artistic principle, Herwig says. "It's just so monumental."

Elsewhere in Abkhazia the designs are slightly more industrial.

From Bill Clinton to Oprah, life coach and author Tony Robbins has coached some of the most powerful and famous people in the world.

His five best-selling books and popular self-help seminars have made him rich. WealthX estimates that he's worth at least $440 million.

Robbins owns a resort in Fiji, travels by private jet, and is an owner of Los Angeles' Major League Soccer team. He's made the most of his success.

Born in downtown Los Angeles in 1960, Tony Robbins comes from humble beginnings. His stepfather, a former minor league baseball player who was working as a salesman, struggled to get by, and the family often couldn't afford to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Source: Business Insider

At a young age, Robbins decided that he wanted to be rich when he grew up, so that he could help people in need. He succeeded: By 24, he'd become a millionaire thanks to his five best-selling books on personal growth.

Source: GoBankingRates

Robbins has coached some of the world's most high-profile people, including Oprah Winfrey, Andre Agassi, Bill Clinton, Paul Tudor Jones, Serena Williams, Leonardo DiCaprio, Nelson Mandela, Princess Diana, and Mother Teresa.

Source: Business Insider, TonyRobbins.com

Mountain goats are amazing. They can climb super high on really steep cliffs like it's nothing. 

They hang out on mountaintops for most of the year, shedding their shaggy winter coat when they lower their elevation for the spring and summer. 

How do mountain goats climb so well? What are their secrets?

Here are some facts about the nimble-footed mammal. 

Mountain goats are only found in North America, concentrated around the Rocky Mountains. There are about 100,000 of them today.

Source: Defenders of Wildlife

But they're not actually goats. They're part of the antelope family.

They use the precipitous heights of their mountain homes for protection from predators.

Americans are falling in love with small-ship yacht adventures, and cruise lines are scrambling to launch smaller ships in the hopes of securing the loyalty of adventure seekers that want to experience the world’s finest hidden harbors on their own terms.

Three new yachts — Ponant's Le Lyrial, Windstar’s Star Legend, and Crystal Espirit — entered service this year.

Here are ten yachts to consider if you seek the ultimate in personalized service and intimate access to destinations around the globe.

SEE ALSO: A Russian billionaire is reportedly building the world's largest sailing yacht

Crystal Cruises

Yacht: 62-passenger Crystal Espirit

The stunning all-suite, all-inclusive Crystal Espirit debuts December 2015 with an emphasis on “storied waters and hidden harbors.” The yacht begins its inaugural year in the Seychelles and will then spend most of 2016 exploring the Adriatic coastline. The newcomer to Crystal’s fleet will offer impeccable service and promises Michelin star-level gourmet cuisine, which can also be found aboard Crystal’s larger ships: Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony. Where this little sister excels is in the very intimate ports of call the yacht can reach.

Insider Tip: Crystal turns the traditional yacht experience on its head by offering unusual amenities like a two-passenger submarine for undersea exploration. Reserve your excursion upon embarkation. The ship is also outfitted with two 10-passenger Zodiacs, a 12-passenger Wider 32-foot super yacht tender, water skis, wake boards, kayaks, and jet skis as well as fishing and snorkeling gear.

Plan Your Yacht Cruise: Visit Fodor’s Crystal Cruises Guide

Ponant Cultural Cruises & Expeditions

Yacht: 224-passenger Le Lyrial

Launched in 2015, Le Lyrial is a sistership to Le Boreal, L’Austral, and Le Soleal. As you’ve probably guessed from the ships’ monikers, Ponant is a French-flagged line and that means an emphasis on luxurious yet tough ship design (the ship’s hull is ice rated so it can sail Antarctica); compelling interiors featuring a crisp white, cool gray, ice blue, and turquois color palette; and gourmet cuisine and wine with a decidedly French flair. Throughout the year, Le Lyrial sails Antarctica, the Greek Islands, and the Mediterranean. Especially popular is the ship’s seven-night round trip itinerary out of Venice, which calls on the Croatia ports of Sibenik, Split, Korcula, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Hvar, Pula, and Rovinj.

Insider Tip: All suites are located on Deck 6, where you’ll also find the pool. For the most spacious accommodations, book the 581 square foot Owner’s Suite. The bedroom and bath with Jacuzzi are separated from two dressing areas, living room, dining area, and guest bath. A spacious balcony with entrances from both the bedroom and dining area afford you the ability to enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner al fresco.

Plan Your Yacht Cruise: Visit Fodor’s Ponant Guide

Seadream Yacht Club

Yacht: 112-passenger SeaDream I and SeaDream II 

Personalized service. That’s a hallmark of SeaDream Yacht Club. The crew seems to know everyone’s name—and preferences for food and drink—from day one. Pampering is pulled off in a sincere way and, with so few other passengers onboard, you feel as if the yacht is truly yours for the week. While the line doesn’t offer many shore excursions, its captains are known to lead complimentary walks, hikes, and bike trips (the ships maintain a fleet of mountain bikes) to tiny beach coves and farmer’s markets. The aft watersports marina is also a true gem, allowing for swimming and snorkeling as well as wake boarding, water skiing, windsurfing, and kayaking. There’s also a sailboat, towable banana boat, and several jet skis. There’s nothing quite like anchoring off St. Barts and jumping into the Caribbean Sea from your very own yacht.

Insider Tip: Head to Reception the moment you step aboard and reserve a special night under the stars. SeaDream will prepare one of its 11 comfy on-deck Balinese beds with fine linens, fluffy duvet, and pillows so that you may sleep under the stars. A bottle of Champagne is provided so you may toast to sweet dreams. (Hint: Ask for the larger and more private Balinese bed at the forward end of the ship.) This experience takes glamping to an entirely new level. 

Plan Your Yacht Cruise: Visit Fodor’s SeaDream Yacht Club Guide

After a year of effort, Hewlett-Packard officially became two huge publicly traded companies on November 1, HP and HP Enterprise.

Monday was the first day that HP Enterprise employees came to their new company and there were celebrations throughout the company, and many giant cakes.

Day One at the new company included many giant cakes like this one.

Employees also got all sorts of cupcakes, like this green one.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/9lejIEk39H/embed/
Width: 658px

Then there were cakes made of cupcakes.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/9l8JnflVqn/embed/
Width: 658px

I like to think I'm a pretty smart guy — but we all do stupid things sometimes.

For example, I graduated near the top of my law school class, but I sometimes question how smart it was to go to law school in the first place.

And I'm reminded of the hour or so I spent not long ago searching for my glasses — only to realize they were perched on the brim of my baseball cap.

Most of us could a little more brainpower.

Writing in The New York Times, Richard Friedman, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, examined the current state of scientific thought on whether we can truly train ourselves to be smarter.

As Friedman points out, it's "hardly an idle question considering that cognitive decline is a nearly universal feature of aging." The brain shrinks physically once we hit age 55, and about 11 percent of people over 65 wind up exhibiting signs of Alzheimer's disease.

Before we dive in, there's a bit of hair-splitting in brain science you ought to be aware of. It's that the goal is defined as enabling people to achieve their personal maximum intelligence — as opposed to increasing it. But either way, you'd be getting smarter.

With that in mind, here are seven keys to understanding what science says you can (and can't) do to increase your intelligence.

SEE ALSO: 24 daily habits that will make you smarter

1. Brainteasers work — but maybe just at making you better at brainteasers.

I'd expect some pushback on this one, because brain-training games are a multibillion-dollar industry. However, Friedman cites a British study that broke a group of students into four classes and tested how well they performed on tests after various forms of brain training and games.

"Although improvements were observed in every cognitive task that was practiced," he writes, "there was no evidence that brain training made people smarter. Scores on the benchmark test, for which subjects could not train, did not significantly increase at the end of the study."

2. Except that they seem to work for older people.

There's a little bit of hope, however. Older participants in the study — those over 60 years old — showed more increase in performance than younger people. So, the researchers continued the experiment with older participants in a follow-up study that lasted a full year.

"Results of this follow-up study, soon to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, generally show that continued brain training helps older subjects maintain the improvement in verbal reasoning seen in the earlier study. This is good news because it suggests that brain exercise might delay some of the effects of aging on the brain," Friedman writes.

3. Believing you can improve helps — at least with younger brains.

Now, we get into some of the really cool data. When it comes to younger people especially, studies have shown that simply convincing them that they can improve their intelligence can create a self-fulfilling prophecy in which they perform better on intelligence tests.

"These findings appear to have profound implications for educating young people," Friedman writes, "because they suggest that a relatively simple intervention ... can have a powerful effect: enhancing learning and motivation."

November is the ultimate shopping month for deal hunters. Not only will you find above-average sales every week, but this month you also get to shop Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.

These days represent the ultimate trifecta for bargain hunters, with price lows that you simply don't see throughout the rest of the year. However, not every sale you come across in November will offer true price lows. Thus, we're here to tell you what you should buy this month.

Need more shopping tips? Make sure you check out our Black Friday predictions and timely features, and consider subscribing to our DealNews Select Newsletter so the best deals of the day are delivered to your inbox.

SEE ALSO: 9 things you should wait until Black Friday to buy

Prepare for an explosion of kitchen deals.

Whether you're a casual cook or an every day chef, November is the absolute best time to buy kitchen goods and appliances. Even high-end devices like KitchenAid mixers and Pyrex container sets will see extraordinary deals. Last year, a whopping 44% of kitchen deals earned our coveted Editors' Choice seal, meaning that they were at their lowest price point ever. By comparison, only 18% of kitchen deals generally get that distinction throughout most of the year. Look for deals from stores like Amazon, Sears, and Walmart.

Now is the time to make that major appliance purchase.

From Dyson vacuums to washer and dryer units, November is the month you want to make your major appliance purchase. Black Friday week in particular will offer an abundance of deals on laundry units, vacuums, dishwashers, and refrigerators.

The best deals will come from Sears, Best Buy, Home Depot, and Lowe's. Also keep an eye out for significant discounts on drills and hand tools, from stores like Home Depot, Sears, Harbor Freight Tools, and Ace Hardware. Some hand tool deals may require in-store pickup, otherwise you can expect the usual free shipping discounts to apply.

End-of-year apparel sales bring stackable coupons.

November apparel sales are easy to predict because retailers tend to offer similar deals to the ones they had the previous year. That means you can expect the average apparel deal to shave 54% off, whereas the best sales will take up to 80% off.

Coupons, of which there will be many, will take as much as 60% off.

However, stackable coupons will be a little more moderate, taking between 20% to 30% off. One thing to keep in mind is that online retailers will start their Black Friday clothing deals early in the week, so don't wait until Black Friday to do your clothes shopping. Instead, start on the Monday of that week.

As someone who is deeply entrenched in plus size fashion as both a designer and a writer, I feel like I am always bemoaning the lack of plus size fashionoptions available as compared to our straight size counterparts.

Change is definitely happening, but when you look at it by the facts, it's clear to see where that frustration stems from.

In an Oct. 2010 interview with New York Mag, chairwoman of fashion design at Los Angeles' Otis College Of Art And Design Rosemary Brantley told the publication that most design students aren't even taught to make plus size clothing.

"Design students have no interest in plus size design, and as a result, few schools offer extensive courses in the specialty," she said.

While one can hope that interest has increased in the five years since, plus sections of the few fast fashion or department stores that actually have them are still tucked away in back corners of brick and mortar stores with only a handful of options. The reality is that being plus size in today's society is still deemed as less desirable than being straight size, and I can't help but wonder if that stigma outweighs the clear need for more options.

In many ways, indie designers are carrying the torch by being size inclusive or plus-focused, but they aren't the only ones. Though it may not always make headlines, more and more designers and brands are continuing to add plus options.

This list of straight size designers and brands that turned size inclusive is hopefully only the beginning.

SEE ALSO: 12 athleisure brands vying to become the next Lululemon

FOLLOW US: On Twitter

Dorothy Perkins

Dorothy Perkins is a UK-based brand with a 90-year history in the fashion game. The addition of its new line DP Curve offers pieces in U.S. sizes 14-24. It's a change so new that the brand's about page still lists its size range as only going up to an 18. DP Curve features a fairly large selection, and while prices aren't quite fast fashion levels, all items range from $21 to $135.

Rachel Pally

Rachel Pally is a designer known for blending simplicity with glamour and has been sold in over 500 stores worldwide. Upon reading up on this 12-year-old brand, I learned that it's been doing plus sizes since 2007 as Rachel Pally White Label. While you can't find every single piece available in plus sizes, the online store stocks the season's best-sellers in sizes 14 to 22.

Michael Kors

Michael Kors is pretty much a household name when it comes to fashion designers. But what most people probably don't know is that he does plus sizes. In a Sept. 2014 statement to the New Yorker, however, a rep for Michael Kors said that they have been doing plus since 2007 and that "Michael prides himself on being able to dress women of all shapes and sizes." Armed with that knowledge, you can find plus size options on the Michael Kors website, albeit only shown on straight size models.

Victoria's Secret models have to stay in tip-top shape — especially for the annual iconic Fashion Show. 

These woman are anomalies. In fact, runway vet Lindsay Ellingson told Business Insider that L Brands Chief Marketing Officer Edward Razek goes so far to tell the women before the show that "the odds of becoming an Angel are one in a million ...  and then the odds of doing the show 8, 10, 15 times like some of the girls have done is even crazier."

But these model have some tips and advice on diet and wellness that we can utilize. Surprisingly, a common theme is to eat what you want — but within reason.

SEE ALSO: Then and now: how 9 famous Victoria's Secret angels grew into supermodels

Lindsay Ellingson told The Cut that she drinks warm water every morning.

Source: The Cut

Ellingson told Business Insider she focuses on eating good food, rather than dieting. "One of my go-tos is salmon with a kale salad and a sweet potato — so very hearty, energizing food — but it's by no means a diet. It's, you know, good for you," she said.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/2W7n7hEJrA/embed/
Width: 658px

Lily Aldridge nixes wine to prep for the Fashion Show. "The big thing I cut out is wine. And then a week before the show, I stop salty foods," Aldridge said to The Daily Mail.

Source: The Daily Mail

Prompted by legendary businessman Andrew Carnegie, who turned a few nickels and dimes into a fortune, journalist Napoleon Hill researched more than 500 self-made millionaires over 20 years before releasing his 1937 best-seller "Think and Grow Rich."

"It was Mr. Carnegie's idea that the magic formula, which gave him a stupendous fortune, ought to be placed within reach of people who do not have time to investigate how men make money," Hill wrote in the preface.

The 13-step "magic formula"— which involves no mention of "money" or "wealth," but focuses instead on breaking down the psychological barriers that hold us back from attaining our own fortunes — is just as relevant today, 78 years later. 

Here are Hill's 13 steps, in his words and ours: 

SEE ALSO: 6 timeless money lessons from a nearly 20-year-old personal finance classic

1. Desire: You have to want it.

All of the super wealthy started with a certain amount of dreaming, hoping, planning, and desiring before they became rich. They imagined riches before they saw them in their bank accounts, Hill explains:

Wishing will not bring riches. But desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches.

This is not so different from the modern-day concept of visualizing a savings goal with a specific price tag.

2. Faith: Believe that you can achieve your goal.

Growing rich starts with your mindset — with the belief that you can accumulate wealth. Hill writes:

Riches begin in the form of thought! The amount is limited only by the person in whose mind the thought is put into motion. Faith removes limitations!

As self-made millionaire and author Steve Siebold writes, "Being rich isn't a privilege. Being rich is a right. If you create massive value for others, you have the right to be as rich as you want."

3. Auto-suggestion: Use affirmations to reach your goal.

Turning desire for money or success into reality requires sending your subconscious mind phrases and mantras that support your goal. You have to repeat out loud what it is that you want, and how you plan to get it, so you become obsessed with your purpose, Hill explains:

Your ability to use the principle of auto-suggestion will depend, very largely, upon your capacity to concentrate upon a given desire until that desire becomes a burning obsession.

For example, if you aim to save $1 million for retirement by putting away money every week, you would repeat, "I will set aside money this week to have $1 million in retirement savings," as many times as possible each day.

Over the past seven seasons, "Shark Tank" has grown into a phenomenon.

Not only is it an Emmy-winning reality show, but it has created recognizable brands like Scrub Daddy, which Shark Lori Greiner has helped take to $75 million in total sales over the past three years.

The show is an entertainment product and a launchpad for hundreds of American startups, requiring a careful combination of high-level production and management.

Through several interviews with the Sharks, we've learned some interesting behind-the-scenes details hidden from viewers. We've collected them below.

SEE ALSO: The 'Shark Tank' investors reveal their investing secrets and most profitable deals

A typical pitch lasts about an hour.

A televised segment lasts about 10 minutes, but it uses footage from a pitch that, on average, lasts an hour. In Season 4, Plate Topper founder Michael Tseng was in the Tank for 2 1/2 hours, the longest of any entrepreneur.

Unlike a typical pitch, the investors know nothing about the entrepreneurs or their products before they enter the room. It's a technique that allows viewers to learn about the people and their companies along with the Sharks.

The footage editors take out contains the "unsexy" material, where the Sharks and entrepreneurs get into financial minutiae that the typical viewer would either not understand or care much about.

An entire season is shot in 17 days, split across two marathon sessions.

The production process is efficient and demanding.

The past few seasons have had 29 episodes each, and shooting was split over a week and a half in early summer and another stretch in early fall. The investors see six to eight pitches per day, and days can last up to 12 hours.

Robert Herjavec said that when he and the Sharks are in their chairs, "We're cold, we're hungry, we're miserable." It's why, he explained, it's necessary that entrepreneurs grab their attention and excite them as quickly as possible.

Pitches start with 30 seconds of silence.

Villy Custom founder Fleetwood Hicks wrote in a 2012 blog post that one of the most nerve-wracking aspects of his Season 3 pitch was the "stare down."

When it's time for entrepreneurs to give their pitches, they walk down a corridor and stop on an "X" on the floor of the Tank for the ideal shot. They are then required to stand silently for 30 seconds so that the camera crew can gather footage of the entrepreneurs and the Sharks smiling back at them, edited together to set the scene of a new segment on the show.

By all accounts, the new "Halo" game is pretty great.

The story of "Halo 5: Guardians" isn't thrilling, but the campaign is still — mostly— a blast to play through. And that multiplayer! It's a real treasure, especially the new "Warzone" mode — the first major evolution in the "Halo" series in years. 

As the game was released into the wild on October 27, players have started discovering amazing hidden secrets therein. These are the five best we've seen thus far.

Ground pound an enemy in the air: you can totally smash an enemy from above while they're floating in the air, preparing to slam down on the ground (what is known in "Halo" parlance as a "ground pound").

RAW Embed

 RAW Embed

 RAW Embed

You can even use the ground pound to steal someone's vehicle (a ghost in this case):

RAW Embed

Source: Imgur

Spot users with Active Camo by their footprints: on one level, you can see the footprints of enemies using "Active Camo" (an invisibility cloak, basically). Check it:

Going invisible:

RAW Embed

See the footprints?

RAW Embed

It's probably safe to say that one of the main reasons people go to college is to find a fancy, high-paying job when they're done.

But, as it turns out, a college education and a prestigious job title do not necessarily mean you'll be raking in cash.

Some gigs, like architect or optometrist, actually pay below what you might expect.

Using data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on the mean salary of full-time civilian workers, we've picked out some of the most prestigious jobs that have surprisingly low earnings. Here are 19 of them.

Max Nisen and Aaron Taube contributed to earlier versions of this article.

SEE ALSO: People with these 20 jobs got the biggest pay raises over the past 12 months

Optometrist

Average annual earnings: $113,010

Job description: They diagnose, manage, and treat conditions and diseases of the human eye and visual system, but make just a fraction as much as some other medical professionals. For comparison, the average pediatrician earns $175,400 a year, and dentists, who undergo a similar amount of training, earn $170,940.

Educational requirements: A bachelor's degree is required, followed by a four-year stint in optometry school to earn an OD. A residency sometimes follows that for those who want to pursue a particular specialty.

Biomedical engineer

Average annual earnings: $91,760

Job description: These engineers work on building solutions for problems in biology and medicine.

Educational requirements: Some undergraduate programs offer degrees in biomedical or biomechanical engineering, but other paths include a more general engineering degree and a master's focusing on biomedical applications.

Chemist

Average annual earnings: $79,140

Job description: Chemists study the properties, structures, and reactions of substances and develop new products or processes for making them.

Educational requirements: A bachelor's is the minimum, but research jobs require a master's or PhD.

At the Grant's Interest Rate Observer Conference last month, one presentation got Wall Street talking.

And worrying.

JHL Capital's James Litinsky gave his take on one of the stock market phenomena of our time: How merger mania, fueled by low interest rates and a raging bull market, has turned some companies into massive conglomerates.

To him, it resembles another boom (and eventual bust) cycle — the 1960s Go-Go era.

Back then, interest rates were also low, and hungry investors also collided with aggressive CEOs.

But the music stopped when interest rates rose, earnings started to look anemic, and stocks started to slide.

With JHL's permission, we have the full presentation for you here for your consideration.

No one likes being caught off guard, after all.

Money's been easy for quiet some time.

The same thing happened in the 1960s.

These companies got huge back then.

Aaron Rodgers isn't the most outspoken quarterback in the NFL, but he might just be the most competitive. 

The reigning MVP and four-time Pro Bowler has called himself "obsessively competitive," claims to remember every interception he's ever thrown, will sometimes go days without talking to his teammates because of locker room card game disputes, and last year dropped an f-bomb on "Celebrity Jeopardy!" after missing a question (he went on to win, of course).

This sort of competitiveness is what helped an undersized high schooler with no Division 1 scholarship offers, go from playing junior college football to winning two regular season MVPs and a Super Bowl MVP. It's what makes the Packers a Super Bowl contender year in and year out, and what makes Rodgers arguably the best quarterback on the planet.

Here are 23 anecdotes to illustrate just how competitive the Green Bay quarterback really is.

Rodgers claims to remember every single interception and touchdown he's ever thrown — even from as far back as 8th grade. He also remembers specific high school plays down to the defensive formation.

Source: MMQB

When he was 9, Rodgers' family moved from Oregon to California. To be accepted to his new school, Rodgers needed to do an interview, and when asked what he would contribute to school, he said football. When he was 15, he would show up every morning in his coach's office before class to pick his brain about offensive and defensive schemes.

Source: E:60

In high school, as a senior, he decided to play baseball after getting no Div. 1 football offers. Once, he threw at a pitchers head after the pitcher threw a 94-mile fastball at him while he was at bat. The two were separated moments before the benches cleared.

Source: JS Online

OnePlus on Thursday unveiled a new smartphone called the OnePlus X, and it looks stunning.

It's different from the OnePlus 2 in almost every way. It has a smaller screen, different materials, and different (slightly lesser) specs, too. But it also runs OnePlus' Android-based OxygenOS, and OnePlus fans will be happy to find the alert slider is still there, too.

And if you were worried that OnePlus ditched its signature sandstone back, don't worry. You can add a thin, lightweight snap-on case made by OnePlus with the sandstone texture.

OnePlus will be using its usual invitation system after it launches on November 19 in the US. Come December, the OnePlus X will be available to buy from the OnePlus site for one hour a week, but no one knows exactly when that will be yet. Let the hysteria begin.

Check out the new OnePlus X.

The OnePlus X looks gorgeous, and it costs a mere $249, which is an incredible bargain.

It has a 5-inch 1080p AMOLED display, which makes for inky blacks that makes the screen seamlessly blend with the rest of the phone (if your background in black).

There are actually two models. The Onyx model has a regular glass back, and a limited edition as a fire-baked Ceramic back, also covered in glass. The Ceramic model will only be available in Europe and India. Only 10,000 units of the Ceramic model will be made.

Ian Pearson, a futurologist with an 85% accuracy track record, helped put together a report on what we can expect in the year 2045.

Pearson compiled the report with Hewden, a plant and crane hire and equipment rental company. The predictions focus on "what can we expect to see over the next 30 years in the construction industry."

That seems like a boring concept for a report on the future, but it has some interesting theories about how augmented reality and robots will become an integral part of people's everyday life, at home, and at the office.

Here are the eight coolest predictions from the report:

Buildings will be run by an artificial intelligence personality (hello building-version Siri!)

The report envisions that building occupants will be able to talk to the building and place requests, like asking for an indoor temperature change.

Super tall buildings will function like mini cities.

With high-demand and high land costs, super tall buildings may be converted to house low and medium paid workers. They will function like mini-cities with floors dedicated to working out, residential space, and office work. 

Buildings' windows will be replaced by virtual reality screens.

In "Back to the Future II," Marty's future home was equipped with a virtual reality window that could be changed to any scene (pictured above). The report envisions a similar future where buildings don't have windows, but virtual reality screens.

"This could be a very cheap and fast way of constructing cheap residential accommodation,"the report notes.

To Baltimore-based photographer Ben Marcin, cities are hyper-functional places, built to support the crowds of people that pour into them every day. 

"The city is meant to be efficient," he tells Tech Insider. "The shortest path from A to B, that’s what a sidewalk is. Parking garages — let’s stack these cars up 10 floors. But if you focus in on these structures in a certain way, they’re also unintentionally beautiful." 

In his photos, Marcin shoots skyscrapers, parking garages, and even pieces of discarded gum to reveal the patterns and textures that the rest of us miss.  

In Marcin's "Tower" series, he shot skyscrapers, leaving out their tops and bottom, and removed the sky behind them.

These towers are "architecturally beautiful," he says, but also "scary" in the way they're isolated from the rest of the world.

"I want you to have the impression that there’s a thousand people in this thing," he says, "and they're all ants in the hive."

Impressing the hiring manager should be your top priority in every job interview.

"While other people within the organization — the HR or recruiting team, departmental team members, the CEO or another executive — will have input, the hiring manager generally has the last word on the decision to hire you," says Matt Mickiewicz, cofounder of Hired, a site for finding high-paying tech jobs.

"And because you will be working closely with this person, it's important to demonstrate to them over the course of an interview not only that you can do the job, but also that you will be a good coworker and will fit in with the cultural fabric of the company." 

Luckily, there are some very easy ways to stand out from the crowd.

"Rather than trying to get overly creative in an interview, focus on mastering the basics," says Mickiewicz. "Few people do this really well, and you'll stand out if you are able to do these things well."

SEE ALSO: 31 smart answers to really tough interview questions

Do your homework.

Aside from researching the company's history, its CEO and other top executive, take time to read recent press the company has gotten, research any earnings reports or financial statements, check out their blog to see what partnerships and projects they're involved in, "and then reference these during the interview," suggests Mickiewicz.

But don't go overboard. "Referencing details from someone's personal life or veering too far into topics that are outside the scope of the job can come off as creepy and even invasive."

Be enthusiastic.

"Having the skill set for a given position is really only half the battle," he explains. "The interviewer wants to know that you share their passion for the business and that you genuinely want to work there. Try to find specific anecdotes or examples that demonstrate your excitement for what the company does — a time when you used their product or service, a friend who has worked there and spoke highly of the company, or a talk the CEO gave that resonated with you."

Keep a positive attitude.

Avoid negativity at all costs, he says. "Even if you hated your last boss or company, try to put a positive spin on things."

This week in 1983, the first minivan rolled off out the factory at Chrysler. The Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Caravan transformed mobility for the suburban American family. 

Today, the minivan is a staple of the American suburban landscape. But just a couple of decades ago, the idea of a van with the driving dynamics of a car was truly revolutionary. 

At its peak in 2000, automakers sold nearly 1.4 million minivans to American families. Although the crossover SUV has taken over as the sales leader for the family car market, there are still plenty of buyers that prefer the utility and car-like driving experience of the minivan.

Here's how the minivan came to be. 

In 1974, Ford president Lee Iacocca and a team of engineers headed by Hal Sperlich saw the need for a front-wheel-drive, car-based family van.

Fortune

Sperlich's team concocted a special prototype van. Since Ford didn't have a front-wheel-drive platform on which the van could be built, they instead used a chassis and engine from Honda.

Iacocca, who has been credited as the force behind the Ford Mustang, was an auto industry titan by the early 1970s ...