Buying your first car is no walk in the park — it's easy to make mistakes or succumb to common, yet costly, tricks employed by car salesmen.

Without any prior experience, it's hard to know what questions to ask beyond "How much does it cost?" and "Is it a four-wheel drive?"

To help first-time buyers navigate the car purchasing process, we consulted Scott Chesrown, who spent nearly a decade working in auto dealerships before transitioning to VP of Strategy and Business Development at Vroom, a New York City-based car sales startup that brings the car buying, financing, and selling process online.

Chesrown recommends that first-time buyers buy used, since models with a history are often available for a fraction of the cost of brand-new ones. This does mean, however, that you have to ask some specific questions.

Below, Chesrown shares the critical questions to ask if you're a first-timer buying a used car. But even if you have your heart set on something brand-new, take a look: Many of these smart questions can help any buyer.

SEE ALSO: A former car salesman reveals 4 tricks dealers use to get you to spend — and how to outsmart them

Why do I need the car?

"Start with a question to yourself, the buyer," Chesrown advises. "What is the purpose of the car? That's going to make a huge impact on what type of car you should be looking at."

If you recently landed a new job, it may be for commuting purposes, in which case gas mileage would be important to consider. If you're a college student, it may just be to get around campus, and a sun roof may be more important to you than gas mileage.

Figure out exactly what you want to get out of the car before you begin the search process.

What are my must-haves?

Once you've determined what the overall need is, ask yourself, What are my must haves?

These are highly personal, Chesrown notes. If you're living in a big city and will be parallel parking often, a rearview camera may be a must-have. If you're going to be spending a lot of time commuting or sitting in traffic, a good stereo system may be important to you. If you're anticipating raising a family in the near future, you may want extra trunk space and a very safe, reliable car.

Deciding what you really need in a car will help narrow your focus even more when you embark on the search process.

How much can I afford?

The last — most important — question to ask yourself before shopping is, How much can I afford?

"Set your budget and be really realistic," Chesrown advises. "Look at your must-haves, know what you're comfortable paying per month, and live within that budget. Not stretching yourself on your first car is the best step you can make."

You have to look past just the sticker price of the car, Chesrown emphasizes. Don't forget to factor in costs such as gas, car insurance, your state's license and registration fees, and maintenance. "You need to be cautious of how much driving you're doing and how that's going to impact your car," warns Chesrown. If you're going to be driving 20,000 miles a year, you'll want to make sure to set aside money for parts of the car that may wear out, such as tires, breaks, and windshield wiper blades.

One of the reasons remaining within budget is so important is because buying your first car and financing it with a loan can be an opportunity to establish strong credit — if you make your payments on time, that is.

"As a first time car buyer, you don't have a lot of auto credit history, so it's a really good opportunity to start building credit," Chesrown explains. "Even six months of payments on a car loan is significantly going to help your credit." Strong credit can often be used to negotiate lower interest rates, meaning you'll be setting yourself up for a better position in the long run, when you're ready to upgrade to — and finance — a new car.

What's the tread depth of the tires?

Once you've determined what type of car is ideal for your lifestyle and have established a budget, it's time to start shopping. 

When buying used, there are three key questions you'll want to have prepared before heading to the dealership, Chesrown says.

First, ask about the condition of the tires, specifically the "tread depth" of the tire. The tread depth is measured in thirty-seconds of an inch. When your tread depth is three thirty-seconds of an inch (3/32) or two thirty-seconds of an inch (2/32), you're getting to the point where it's dangerous to drive the car, Chesrown says, and will have to replace the tires very soon. If they're 4/32 or 5/32, the tire is about halfway worn out.

"If you don't take into account tire replacement costs, you could find yourself with a $500 t0 $600 tire replacement bill much sooner than you expected," says Chesrown. "That's one cost that tends to slip under the radar for most people, but it's important to ask about, as tires are usually the first thing you're going to have to replace in a car."

Even if you're buying a new car, it can't hurt to ask about the tires or put in some time researching how long they will hold up. The last thing you want is a surprise bill within a few months of owning your first car.

There's a new "Halo" game for the Xbox One — "Halo 5: Guardians"— and it's absolutely gorgeous. Even better, though, is the game's concept art. It's downright beautiful:

And that's just the beginning.

Tech Insider was sent two dozen concept art images from "Halo 5: Guardians," care of 343 Industries lead concept artist Darren Bacon; 343 Industries is the internal Microsoft studio in charge of the "Halo" franchise. Half of the images are Bacon's creation, and the other half are from Nicolas "Sparth" Bouvier, 343 Industries' art director. The images are presented below for your enjoyment — please enjoy!

Some of the concept art ended up directly informing the game, while some didn't. The city seen below, for instance, isn't a major setting in "Halo 5: Guardians.'

But this piece looks very similar to one the multiplayer maps in the game's "Warzone" mode.

A 300-year-old property owned by the former chairman and president of Morgan Stanley is now on the market for $17.5 million.

Listed by Plantation Services, the South Carolina property was once a home for the late S. Parker Gilbert and his wife, Gail Gilbert, according to The Wall Street Journal.

S. Parker Gilbert died in May at 81.

The couple purchased the home for $2.55 million along with 800 acres, according to the report.

The historic property is the third-oldest plantation in South Carolina, and was built by Thomas Broughton, who went on to become the royal governor of South Carolina in 1735.

Scroll down to see the house and two guest houses, situated 45 minutes outside Charleston.

Welcome to the Mulberry Plantation. The property is vast and surrounded by water, ...

... and full of arching, ancient trees.

Here's the main house, known as the Mulberry House — aka Polly or Salt Point.

There's never been a better time to get rid of cable. 

There are more ways than ever to watch movies and TV shows without paying a cable or satellite company.

We've rounded up some of the essential apps to make it easy for you to get streaming.

No contracts, no rented cable box. Quit whenever you'd like! Sound good to you? 

Let's jump in!

Netflix

Netflix has transformed itself from a DVD by mail company into the largest subscription streaming service in the world.

Now, it's focusing on original and exclusive programming, and it's more than just "Orange is the New Black" and "House of Cards." New shows like "Jessica Jones" and Aziz Ansari's "Master of None" will keep you bingeing for days. 

Cost: Plans start at $7.99 per month, but the most popular plan is $9.99 per month.

Available on: A wide variety of smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, game consoles, streaming media players, and PCs.  

HBO Now

You used to need a cable or satellite subscription to get HBO. But this year, HBO started offering HBO Now, an on-demand service that gives you everything you'd get with HBO through your TV provider. 

So now you can watch "Game of Thrones" and "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" without paying a cable company.

Cost: $14.99 per month.

Available on: PC/Mac, streaming media players from Amazon, Roku, Google, and Apple, Android and iOS smartphones, and Amazon, iOS, and Anrdoid tablets.

Hulu

Hulu is a great option for cord cutters because unlike Netflix, it has many current season TV shows available to stream the day after they air on TV.

It also recently acquired the streaming rights to "Seinfeld," so you can watch any of the show's 180 episodes at anytime.

Cost: You can watch for free, but the selection is limited. Subscriptions start at $7.99 per month, and a new commercial free option is available for $11.99 per month. 

Available on: A wide variety of smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, game consoles, streaming media players, and PCs.  

Whether or not birth order affects the makeup of personality and behavioral traits is an extensively-researched topic with convincing arguments on both sides.

Regardless of which side you come down on, you can probably identify with at least a few of the stereotypes associated with your birth order.

While most studies have focused on the role that birth order plays in personality, recent research conducted by the Journal of Financial Therapy suggests that your birth order can also affect financial decision making. Here’s what your birth order says about your finances.

Related: Here’s Your Plan of Attack for This Year’s Savings Goals

SEE ALSO: 5 ways your parents' success hurts you more than it helps

The oldest child

The oldest child in the family tends to be mature, confident and, more often than not, a perfectionist. As a result of the responsibilities and expectations placed on them by parents at an early age, older siblings are well organized and generally in control of their lives.

According to clinical psychologist Dr. Mark Harrold in his Irish Times article, firstborn children enjoy more attention from doting parents. Not only do these individuals connect more with their parents, but they also generally earn better grades and pursue more conservative, lucrative careers such as in law, accounting, banking and information technology. 

The personality traits associated with firstborn kids might also translate into good spending habits, as these children tend to be diligent about managing money and more financially stable overall.

“I certainly see different ways in which birth order seems to affect behavior with money,” said Jerry Linebaugh, II, founder and CEO of JLine Financial. Linebaugh went on to add, “Firstborns handle money differently. I see a pattern in a lot of people that I know. They are viciously protective of making sure bills are paid on time and living within their means, which includes building savings and investments.”

The oldest: How to overcome your natural inclination

The innate desire to come first in everything apparently doesn’t end at birth, as many older siblings are achievement oriented and thrive in leadership positions. As the firstborn child of your family, you might find that there are a number of financial priorities pulling you in different directions. 

For example, you might be chasing 20 percent annual returns in your retirement account while simultaneously building a six-month emergency fund and contributing toward college savings accounts for your kids.

Unfortunately, this internal drive for perfection can cause you to set unrealistic goals that can sabotage even the best-laid financial plans. If this sounds like you, remember that pursuing too many financial priorities at once can lead to unnecessary levels of stress. 

Play to your strength in organization and make a list prioritizing both your long- and short-term goals. Use this list as a roadmap and take small steps each month toward achieving objectives.

The middle child

While the oldest child is often given the lion’s share of attention from parents, and the youngest can typically do no wrong, the middle child might feel lost in the shuffle. Experts refer to this condition as “middle child syndrome.”

According to marriage and family therapist Lisa Bahar, “Middle children may fly under the radar screen at times and are more flexible, more apt to be open, take the centered approach, and sometimes (are) more balanced with money.”

Middle children are resigned to the fact that someone is always both ahead of and behind them in terms of familial structure. As a result, they are often found to be naturally gifted problem solvers with excellent negotiation skills. And when it comes to financial habits, the middle child is a born saver, with nearly 65 percent of the group contributing money to their savings accounts each month, according to Business News Daily.

Ralph Lauren launched interactive mirrors in its New York City flagship store on Wednesday. 

You can now change the lighting in the fitting room, request a different size, browse through other items in the store, or interact with a sale associate through the mirror. 

I went to Ralph Lauren to check it out and my shopping experience will never be the same.

SEE ALSO: I went to Best Buy and encountered a robot named Chloe — and now I'm convinced she's the future of retail

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I went to Ralph Lauren's Polo flagship store on 5th avenue in Manhattan to check out a cool new feature that was added to the store.

After picking out some clothes to try on, an employee led me to the fitting room where I was excited to find the interactive mirror.

It's a touch screen — similar to an iPad or tablet — and includes all the necessary features shoppers might need while trying on clothes. When I entered the fitting room, all of the items I wanted to try on were already scanned and entered onto the interactive mirror.

Franklin, da Vinci, Edison, Ford. 

These names are known for how their inventions and ideas changed the world.

But there can only be so many legends. 

History is full of failures — creations that confused, appalled, disgusted, injured, or even killed people.

Maybe these flops can help us. Next time, we can get things right.

Hydrogen blimps.

As early as 1908, blimps filled with hydrogen — the Earth's lightest element and a far cheaper alternative to helium — were set aloft.

But hydrogen's flammability quickly became apparent when ships started bursting into flames.

Though the Hindenburg disaster is perhaps the most iconic blimp malfunction, it wasn't the first case of a hydrogen blimp exploding.

In fact, the 1937 tragedy was one of the last before manufacturers switched to helium forever.

Leaded gasoline.

As early as 1921, manufacturers believed using leaded gasoline would significantly enhance a car's performance.

As early as 1924, however, reports were coming in that employees at the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey were falling ill with "occupational disease."

Really, they had lead poisoning.

It took until 1975 for the Environmental Protection Agency to respect the health risks associated with leaded gasoline. By 1995, all cars had made the switch to unleaded.

DDT.

DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) was first synthesized in 1874, but it didn't get its reputation as an effective pesticide until the late 1930s. During World War II, militaries used DDT to reduce the rates of malaria, body lice, typhus, and the bubonic plague.

And like many dangerous innovations, it worked. Cases of malaria fell from 400,000 in 1946 to almost zero in 1950.

But there were clear downsides. In numerous tests on plants, lab animals, and long-term studies on humans, DDT was shown to have toxic effects in the majority of cases. Animals became sterile, developed cancer, and plant wildlife suffered because of DDT's long half-life in soil.

In 1972, the newly-formed EPA banned its use in the US.

For the third year in a row, Atherton, California, has been named America's most expensive zip code by Forbes.

It's no surprise, then, that the small Silicon Valley town surrounded by tech giants like Facebook and Google is filled to the brim with luxury real estate. The most recent analysis found that the median listing price for a home in Atherton was a whopping $10.6 million. Tech billionaires Paul Allen, Eric Schmidt, Meg Whitman, and Sheryl Sandberg have all called the town home at one point.

Our friends at Point2Homeshelped us find the most expensive homes for sale in Atherton right now. Not a single one of the 15 most expensive homes is asking less than $10 million. 

SEE ALSO: Inside One57, the new most expensive building in New York City

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

Like a hidden oasis, this Atherton mansion is nestled snugly between its landscaped greenery.

Address: 393 Atherton Ave

Price: $10 million

The house itself contains five bedrooms and a whopping eight bathrooms, as well as a gym and home theater room.

This turn-of-the-century estate sits on two pristine Atherton acres.

Address:120 Selby Lane

Price: $10.5 million

It's 11,000 square feet in total, including seven bedrooms. Outside, there's a tennis court and room to store eight cars in the detached garage.

This historic home was built in 1885 and has serious character.

Address:151 Laurel Street

Price: $11.4 million

Modern renovations have brought it up to snuff. The real value, however, is the nearly two-acre lot that's only a 9-minute walk or three-minute drive away from downtown Atherton.

Tal and Oren Alexander want you to know they're not your average salesmen. Calling themselves "The A Team," these brothers have sold some of the most expensive properties in New York City, the Hamptons, and Miami. 

Their most recent listing is a $50 million penthouse at the top of New York's famed Plaza Hotel — the fifth listing of more than $40 million they're currently selling exclusively. They're also working on a brand-new development in Miami, in addition to all of the homes they're marketing in Manhattan.

"Everyday is different and interesting," Oren told Business Insider. "We do laps around this city. We're meeting with some of the most important people in the world in some of the most important residences in the world."

It makes sense, then, that the brothers themselves would make their home in an equally gorgeous space. They recently moved into a fifth-floor loft in a Soho building where Arianna Huffington and Jon Bon Jovi have at different times owned units. 

Tal and Oren gave Business Insider a tour of their new digs — and we found that it was the ultimate upscale bachelor pad. 

SEE ALSO: Go inside an insane $6 million loft owned by a renowned art collector

The Alexander Brothers live in the New Museum Building, a high-end condo building where Arianna Huffington also owns a unit. In June 2014, after more than a year on the market, Bon Jovi sold his penthouse atop the building for $37.5 million.

Each unit is incredibly spacious and open, with a 4,200-square-foot floor plate and 12-foot ceilings. The Alexander brothers' unit was fully renovated six years ago.

A large glass wall can be slid across the floor by turning this wheel. Doing so effectively divides the space into separate rooms.

After deadly terrorist attacks killed 129 people in Paris, France, government officials have condemned the technology industry's embrace of encryption, which ensures user privacy but also makes it harder for government eyes to intercept the communications of terrorists and criminals.

It's a problem felt by authorities and tech companies alike that has become more pronounced. Especially after a number of major companies were embarrassed by the Edward Snowden's leaks, which showed the National Security Agency was sifting through everything from people's email to their Facebook messages and Skype video chats. 

"I don't know anyone who says 'I love what ISIS is doing' [with encryption technology]," Anthony Pompliano, a former product manager at Facebook, told Tech Insider. "But at the same time, I don't know anyone who is saying we should violate people's civil rights to stop that."

So what technologies are terrorists using to communicate these days? It turns out that ISIS members have been passing around a 34-page guide to operational security, which gives a good overview of exactly that. The document, translated by Aaron Brantly and researchers with West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, was obtained by Wired.

Here's what's inside.

Government officials have increasingly come out against the use of encryption in consumer technology products, with some even asking for "backdoors."

But post-Snowden, that's a tough pill for many in Silicon Valley to swallow.

And if there's anything ISIS' manual on tech security shows, there are likely more secure apps than intelligence officials can keep up with.

Remember the PlayStation 2? Those halcyon days of your youth, flitted away on the streets of San Andreas with CJ? They're coming back, only this time they'll exist on Sony's PlayStation 4 console.

Sony confirmed as much to Wired on Thursday evening: "We are working on utilizing PS2 emulation technology to bring PS2 games forward to the current generation." 

In English, that means you'll be able to play PlayStation 2 games on your PlayStation 4. Huzzah!

But hey, maybe it's been awhile since you last thought of the PlayStation 2. What games even came out on the PlayStation 2? We've put together a refresher of some of the best games from the PlayStation 2 era that we'd love to see on the PlayStation 4.

"Grand Theft Auto 3" and "Vice City" and "San Andreas"

This is the no-brainer, right? The "Grand Theft Auto" series came into its own on the PlayStation 2 with the release of "Grand Theft Auto 3" in October 2001, and it blossomed into a blockbuster behemoth by the time "San Andreas" arrived in 2004.

"Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty" and "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater"

Sure, "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty" is a divisive entry in the long-running, beloved "Metal Gear" series, but it's long due for a re-issue. Being able to play it, and its more positively-received sequel, "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater," would be a great complement to this year's magnum opus (and finale), "Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain."

The "Kingdom Hearts" franchise

In "Kingdom Hearts," Disney fans finally found a game aimed right at their hearts. With another year (if not more) until the next major entry in the series arrives, pushing the originals to the PlayStation 4 through PlayStation 2 emulation makes a lot of sense.

Paying off a mortgage can be a long and stressful process.

One Detroit-based couple decided to forgo that financial burden altogether by purchasing a 103-year-old fixer-upper.

Justin Craig, 35, and Alia Polsgrove, 33, left Seattle for Detroit three years ago. Polsgrove, originally from the area, was ready to return, and the couple was eager to start their business RUNdetroit, a running store that also coordinates running events and group runs.

Knowing RUNdetroit would be located in the heart of the city, they wanted to live downtown, but they also didn't want to settle into an apartment or condo.

The most economical decision was pretty clear to the couple: Take on a fixer-upper home with the mind-boggling price tag of just $6,500, plus $6,000 more in back taxes.

While a $12,500 home is unfathomable in most big cities, it's not an anomaly in Detroit — particularly three years ago during the city's financial crisis, when the couple made the purchase. The city promotes new ownership through programs like Building Detroit, which has daily auctions of rundown homes starting at $1,000.

After seeing Craig's story in Credit Sesame, Business Insider reached out to Craig and Polsgrove to find out what it's really like to rehabilitate a home and start a business in Detroit:

SEE ALSO: How one couple earned 7 degrees without taking out student loans — and still saved enough to stop working for 5 years

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"It was as unorthodox as you could possibly get," Craig (pictured above with Polsgrove) tells Business Insider of how they found their home. "In a really roundabout way, we got in touch with somebody in the neighborhood who knew of a couple houses that were not listed, but were technically for sale in a handshake kind of deal."

They took the plunge in December 2012, and sealed the deal on the four-floor American Foursquare with a couple emails, a few signatures, and a wire transfer check.

"There was no financing. No inspections," Craig explains. "It was as informal as it could get."

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Securing the home was the easy part. In need of significant repairs, their fixer-upper had been in an unlivable condition for about a year and a half. And while Craig and Polsgrove moved in the summer of 2014, they still don't have a kitchen.

"It's a unique living situation for the moment," Craig admits. "But it'll be worth it when it's all said and done."

So far, they've put about $65,000 toward renovations. They expect the finished product — including landscaping and the garage — to cost a total of $120,000.

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"When we bought the house it had been empty for seven years," Craig explains. "And it had changed hands many times before we purchased it, so there was a lot of work that had been started and a lot work that was quite questionable. We basically started from scratch for everything. We had a blank canvas to really make it our own."

Originally, it was completely unlivable, with missing windows and no real door handle. "We had to use a screwdriver every time we came in and out of the house just to get the door open," Craig says.

They stayed with Polsgrove's parents in Monroe, Michigan — about 50 miles from downtown Detroit — for a year, which was nice from a money-saving standpoint, but made for a long commute to work. After a year of 60-minute commutes, they decided to rent a more conveniently located place, one block from their Foursquare.

"After six months of renting we had mostly finished up the second floor to a point where we could move in and be fairly comfortable," Craig says. "That was June of 2014."

If you're a germophobe, you might want to stay away from the New York City subway.

Or if you're a typographer, designer, and photographer with a twisted fascination for germs like Craig Ward, you might want to swab a sample, take it home, put it under a microscope, and snap a picture.

Ward began taking samples of germs from across all 22 New York City subway lines this summer. For each sample, he cultivated the germs into the shape of the train line's name, creating a depiction of the subway system that is both grotesque and captivating. 

While his findings may not be 100% accurate given his less-than-precise process, he told us that his results "are true with a degree of certainty." 

UP NEXT: A geneticist says any new parent should 'roll their child on floor of the New York subway' — here's why

SEE ALSO: Here's what your tears look like under a microscope

To gather samples, Ward used damp sterile sponges that were cut in the shape of the subway line's name. He'd then put the findings into triptych soy agar and seal them in a petri dish, which cultivated growth.

Ward collected his samples during off-peak subway hours, when the trains wouldn't be as crowded. Regardless, no one ever questioned him while he diligently sponged down the poles. "Let's be honest, you can kind of do as you please on the subway," Ward told Business Insider. "People are pretty tolerant."

"Most of what I found was really very common and is no more than you’d expect to find by, say, shaking hands with a group of people before a meeting," he said.

I don't throw around the word "insane" too often, but anyone who's played 'Fallout 4' will agree the word fits here.

A gamer who goes by "Cosmic Contrarian" used a mod for the PC version of "Fallout 4" to see what would happen if 100 Brotherhood of Steel soldiers faced off against 1000 Deathclaws in battle. 

The battle is just as epic as you'd imagine it. Check out the following madness to see which side is victorious:

Yep, that's an army of 1000 Deathclaws. They're notoriously hard to kill and their claw attacks deal a lot of damage.

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They'll be facing off with this 100-strong army of Brotherhood of Steel. They are armed with power armor, miniguns, Gatling lasers, explosives, and the Furious Power Fists.

The battle is about to begin and the tension is unbearable.

Instagram is one of the most popular apps in the world, but many people still don't know everything the app can do.

We've collected the best tips and tricks everyone should know, from how to take the best photos to navigating the Instagram app like a pro.

Send a post directly to someone.

See Instagram's suggested list of accounts you should follow.

See a map of everywhere you've shared to Instagram from.

This week Ikea opened its very first Space10 innovation lab, named for the medium that Ikea works in (space) and the language coders speak (1's and 0's). 

It's in the increasingly cool meatpacking district of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ikea concept innovation manager Göran Nilsson tells Tech Insider that it's a place built to "explore wild ideas." 

Here's how. 

Space10 describes itself as "a future-living lab and exhibition space."

There are air plants.

And face plants.

Pop culture is full of tastemakers who influence everything from how we dress to what we watch, read, and listen to. 

We decided to take a closer look at some the people who decide what's "cool" in America, from best-selling music artists to the creative directors behind the nation's most talked-about brands. We chose both industry heavyweights who hold serious clout and pop-culture icons whose every move makes headlines. 

Read on to see who's determining your definition of "cool"— whether you realize it or not.

SEE ALSO: The 50 most powerful companies in America

DON'T MISS: The 25 most successful 'Saturday Night Live' alumni

Amal Clooney

International human-rights lawyer

Last year, the human-rights lawyer and international fashion icon Amal Alamuddin married longtime bachelor George Clooney in Venice, Italy. Like Kate Middleton before her, Amal has become a beacon of style and class. In April, after she purchased a mink baseball cap on a trip to New York City, the store sold out of its stock and received dozens of calls requesting the vintage hat.

People are dubbing the 37-year-old one of the best-dressed workingwomen in the world and cataloging her every outfit, from the cream Stella McCartney pantsuit she wore to her and George’s civil service to the custom heels she favors by Italian shoe label Ennio Mecozzi.

Anna Wintour

Editor in chief, Vogue and artistic director, Condé Nast

For more than 20 years Anna Wintour has helmed Vogue, where she curates a fashion handbook for the masses. Wintour is the most watched — and possibly the most controversial — woman in high fashion, with millions of readers and industry peers emulating her style and hanging on her every endorsement. Her fashion prowess earned her a position as artistic director for Condé Nast, where she oversees the company’s 18 print magazines.

We expect to see even more of the fashion icon as the 2016 presidential race heats up. She’s been a supporter of Obama in the past two elections and has already been leading the fashion world in support of Hillary Clinton.

Bridget Foley

Executive editor, Women's Wear Daily

Women’s Wear Daily is widely acknowledged as the Bible of fashion, and for good reason: It’s the go-to trade publication of the industry, providing up-to-the-minute coverage of both breaking news and trends in fashion, making it a must read for everyone from designers to bloggers. The paper converted to a weekly earlier this year, but it is expanding its digital and international coverage.

As the executive editor of the iconic publication, Foley oversees everything that makes it into the paper, essentially controlling which designers and styles are seen and hyped and which don’t make the cut.

USC may be best known for its Trojans football team, but it has a surprisingly deep list of graduates who left a strong footprint in the overall tech industry.

The school's proximity to Hollywood could have played a role in nurturing their creativity, because these are some of the brightest minds in tech.

Take a look at the 9 most famous tech leaders from USC:

SEE ALSO: This School In Rural Illinois Has Produced Some Of The Most Amazing Visionaries In Tech

Marc Benioff — Founder and CEO of Salesforce

Marc Benioff is the founder and CEO of Salesforce, the business software company worth over $50 billion. Many credit him for creating the "cloud" software industry, where software is delivered through the web, instead of having to be installed on each computer.

Benioff started his career at Oracle, where he was a star executive and the most trusted disciple of Oracle founder Larry Ellison. He has a net worth of around $4.2 billion.

Aaron Levie — Founder and CEO of Box

Aaron Levie is the CEO of Box, an online storage platform that helps companies save documents and collaborate in different ways. What started as a scrappy startup is now a public company worth around $1.6 billion.

Levie was a business major at USC, but dropped out after he came up with the idea for Box. He was also once an aspiring movie director, and interned at Miramax and Paramount Pictures during college.

Mike Markkula — Early investor and employee #3 of Apple

Mike Markkula is best known for his role as one of the earliest angel investors in Apple, when he invested $250,000 in the company cofounded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. That gave him a third of a stake in Apple, and he was the company's third employee. He left the company in 1997.

Most people remember Markkula as an investor, but that was only possible because of his engineering background. He made a ton of money with the stock options he got from working at Intel in their early days. He has a bachelor's and master's in electrical engineering.

Thanksgiving can sometimes be a chaotic gathering, where relatives both close and distant travel to give thanks while chowing down on vast quantities of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and pie.

In recent years, many millennials have chosen to opt out of the family chaos in favor of spending Thanksgiving with friends.

In fact, a recent national survey by Dunnhumby found that 42% of 25- to 34-year-olds and 37% of 18- to 24-year-olds plan to spend the holiday with friends this year.

For some, Friendsgiving, as it's known, is a welcome alternative — or addition — to the often tiring, stressful, and family-filled Turkey Day traditions. 

Whether it's your first or your fifth year spending the holidays with friends, here are some tips for hosting the perfect Friendsgiving.

SEE ALSO: The best and worst times to drive around Thanksgiving, according to Waze

SEE ALSO: 15 gourmet Thanksgiving meals for New Yorkers who hate to cook

Outsource your grocery shopping.

Technology is a huge part of our daily lives, and that doesn't stop when it comes to the holidays. According to a recent survey by Dunnhumby, 21% of 25- to 34-year-olds plan to buy groceries for their Thanksgiving meal using a food delivery app like Instacart, Shipt, and Google Express. 16% say they'll use an online grocery delivery service like Peapod, FreshDirect, Amazon Fresh, or BlueApron.

You can use these pre-prepared and delivered-to-your-doorstep meals to keep the cooking to a minimum and easily keep track of expenses.

Or do it yourself.

Chelsea Fagan, founder and writer at The Financial Diet, a blog about the luxury of spending less (in and out of the kitchen), tells Business Insider that putting a Thanksgiving meal together yourself can be just as simple as ordering out — if you do it right. "To save time and headaches (and often money), go the rotisserie chicken route," said Fagan, who's been celebrating Friendsgiving for the past four years.

Rotisserie chickens are "still delicious, but [don't] take a Herculean effort to make, and [are] still festive to carve at the table," she said. Fagan also suggests using frozen veggies because they're cheaper, easier to prepare, and just as delicious as fresh ones when properly sautèed and seasoned. 

Divide and conquer.

Once you've decided whether you're ordering out or doing it potluck style, send out an Excel sheet or Google doc so that everyone can sign up to bring extra side dishes, desserts, or even tables and chairs, if needed. 

You can also stockpile a few recipes to send out along with the sign-up sheet for those friends who claim to be incompetent in the kitchen. Sites like Brit and Co. and The Financial Diet have troves of foolproof and inventive side dish and dessert recipes.

Next time you bite into a slice of watermelon or a cob of corn, consider this: These familiar fruits and veggies didn't always look and taste this way.

Genetically modified foods, or GMOs, inspire strong reactions nowadays, but humans have been tweaking the genetics of our favorite produce for millennia.

While GMOs may involve splicing genes from other organisms (such as bacteria) to give plants desired traits — like resistance to pests, selective breeding is a slower process whereby farmers select and grow crops with those traits over time.

From bananas to eggplant, here are some of the foods that looked totally different before humans first started growing them for food.

SEE ALSO: 7 everyday items that wouldn't exist as we know them without GMOs

RELATED: This painting shows how much humans have changed watermelons

Wild watermelon

This 17th-century painting by Giovanni Stanchi depicts a watermelon that looks strikingly different from modern melons, as Vox points out. A cross-section of the one in the painting, which was made between 1645 and 1672, appears to have swirly shapes embedded in six triangular pie-shaped pieces.

Modern watermelon

Over time, humans have bred watermelons to have a red, fleshy interior — which is actually the placenta — like the ones seen here. Some people think the watermelon in Stanchi's painting may just be unripe or unwatered, but the black seeds in the painting suggest that it was, in fact, ripe.

Wild banana

The first bananas may have been cultivated at least 7,000 years ago — and possibly as early as 10,000 years ago — in what is now Papua New Guinea. They were also grown in Southeast Asia. Modern bananas came from two wild varieties, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, which had large, hard seeds, like the ones in this photo.