Staying fit and healthy and losing weight are the two most common New Year's resolutions in America, but choosing the right diet depends heavily on what you hope the diet will achieve.

US News evaluated 38 of the most popular diets based on how easy they are to follow, their ability to produce short- and long-term weight loss, nutritional completeness, safety, and their potential to help prevent or manage diabetes and heart disease, and chose the best one in nine different categories.

Tried and true, Weight Watchers was rated the best diet choice in three out of the nine categories.

Whether you're trying to lose weight, manage your diabetes, or simply eat healthier, check out the diets that will help you stick to your New Year's resolution.

SEE ALSO: Dietitians, nutritionists, and food psychologists got together and ranked the best diets of 2016 — here's their top 10

AND: Here's why it's so hard to keep your New Year's resolutions

BEST FOR WEIGHT LOSS: Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers has been around for years, but now that Oprah is behind it, the diet has again spiked in popularity.

The diet, which claims you can lose up to two pounds a week (a safe amount, according to the UK's National Health Service) operates on a SmartPoints system that supports choosing healthier foods that will fill you up (think protein and fiber) over foods that are lower in nutritional value. 

Weight Watchers puts no restriction on what you can eat and is flexible for those with dietary restrictions, but the point-counting process can be tedious and the program can cost anywhere from about $20-$70 a month.

BEST FOR LOSING WEIGHT FAST (TIE): HMR program and the Biggest Loser diet

The Health Management Resources program (HMR) tied with the Biggest Loser diet for the best rapid weight-loss diet.

HMR depends on meal-replacement shakes, bars, and cereals for weight loss. Experts say that meal replacements lead to three times as much weight loss compared to traditional diets. Meals are delivered to you, which is another pro; however, shakes and bars can become bland after a while, and the diet makes it difficult to go out to eat.

The Biggest Loser diet, based on the reality TV show of the same name, drills in the importance of exercise as a companion to a healthy diet. The diet emphasizes portion control with nutritionally dense foods and getting "up off the sofa." It's a lot of work and a bit expensive, but it's effective and offers no restrictions on the foods you can eat.

BEST FOR HEALTHY EATING: The DASH diet

"DASH"stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, and the plan involves lowering sodium intake to prevent and lower high blood pressure, which, if left untreated, can cause heart and kidney disease, stroke, and blindness.

DASH was not developed for weight loss and can be more work-intensive and a bit pricier than other diets, since it emphasizes fresh groceries, but it's heart-healthy and nutritionally sound.

The DASH diet recommends working down to a maximum sodium intake of 1,500 mg a day (the FDA daily recommendation is less than 2,400 mg) and eating fresh produce, lean protein, whole grains, and low-fat dairy.

Do you consider yourself a stunning beauty or just "average"? Now there's a website that will tell you for sure where you fall.

The Computer Vision Laboratory and the folks behind the BLINQ dating app paired up to create Faces — a website which guesses age, gender, and then gives people an attractiveness rating.

Rating people from "hmm" and "ok" to "stunning" and "Godlike," the website certainly isn't scientific, but still fun to use. 

Here's how it works. 

Here's a look at the website. You can upload your own picture or use one of their stock photos.

To try your own face head here. 

There are some guidelines."Have fun and don’t take the results too seriously," the website explains. (Note: Faces' algorithm is based mainly on pictures of BLINQ users, who are predominantly Swiss.)

To try your own photo, click "upload your own."

If you're going to learn anything, you need two kinds of prior knowledge: 

• Knowledge about the subject at hand, like math, history, or programming

• Knowledge about how learning actually works

The bad news: Our education system skips one of them, which is problematic, given that your ability to learn is such a huge predictor of success in life, from achieving in academics to getting ahead at work. To succeed over the longterm, you have to master skill after skill. 

"Parents and educators are pretty good at imparting the first kind of knowledge,"shares psychology writer Annie Murphy Paul. "We're comfortable talking about concrete information: names, dates, numbers, facts. But the guidance we offer on the act of learning itself — the 'metacognitive' aspects of learning — is more hit-or-miss, and it shows."

To wit, education research shows that low-achieving students have "substantial deficits" in their understanding of the cognitive strategies that allow people to learn well. This, Paul says, suggests that part of the reason students perform poorly is that they don't know a lot about how learning actually works. 

It's a cultural issue.

Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel, psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis and coauthors of "Make It Stick: The Science Of Successful Learning," say that "how we teach and study is largely a mix of theory, lore, and intuition."

So let's cut through that lore. Here are learning strategies that really work. 

SEE ALSO: This simple realization could make you a much happier person

Force yourself to recall.

The least-fun part of effective learning is that it's hard. In fact, the "Make It Stick" authors contend that when learning is difficult, you're doing your best learning, in the same way that lifting a weight at the limit of your capacity makes you strongest. 

It's simple, though not easy, to take advantage of this: Force yourself to recall a fact. Flashcards are a great ally in this, since they force you to supply answers.

Don't fall for fluency.

When you're reading something and it feels easy, what you're experiencing is fluency.

It'll only get you in trouble.

Example: Say, for instance, you're at the airport and you're trying to remember which gate your flight to Chicago is waiting for you at. You look at the terminal monitors — it's B44. You think to yourself, Oh, B44, that's easy. Then you walk away, idly check your phone, and instantly forget where you're going. 

The alternative: You read the gate number. Then you turn away from the monitor and ask yourself, What's the gate? If you can recall that it's B44, you're good to go. 

Connect the new thing to the old things.

"The more you can explain about the way your new learning relates to prior knowledge," the "Make It Stick" authors write, "the stronger your grasp of the new learning will be, and the more connections you create that will help you remember it later." 

When you're weaving in new threads into your pre-existing web of knowledge, you're elaborating. 

One killer technique is to come up with real-life examples of principles you've just uncovered. If you've just learned about slant rhyme, you could read poems that exhibit it. If you've just discovered heat transfer, you could think of the way a warm cup of coffee disperses warmth into your hands on a cold winter's day.

The American middle class is losing ground.

"After more than four decades of serving as the nation's economic majority, the American middle class is now matched in number by those in the economic tiers above and below it,"writes the Pew Research Center in a report that analyzes the changing size, demographic, and economic status of the American middle class.

Pew Research defines middle class as "those with an income that is 67% to 200% (two-thirds to double) of the overall median household income, after incomes have been adjusted for household size. Lower-income households have incomes less than 67% of the median, and upper-income households have incomes that are more than double the median."

In addition to no longer being the majority, income growth for this segment of Americans is sluggish, the report finds. Since 1970, median income has risen for all classes of households, but the increase for upper-income households has outpaced the middle class increase by 13 percentage points. (And middle class median income outpaced that among lower-income households by another six percentage points.)

"The state of the American middle class is at the heart of the economic platforms of many presidential candidates ahead of the 2016 election," Pew Research writes. "Policymakers are engaged in debates about the need to raise the floor on wages and on how best to curb rising income inequality."

Read on to see the changing face of the middle class in nine revealing charts: 

SEE ALSO: 80% of Americans own an unbelievably small portion of the country's wealth

For context, here's the household income required to be considered middle class and upper class, adjusted for household size:

RAW Embed

In 1971, the middle class represented the majority of American earners. In 2015, 120.8 million adults were in middle-income households, less than the 121.3 million who were in lower- and upper-income households combined.

RAW Embed

As the upper class has grown in size, America's aggregate income has shifted away from the middle class. In 1970, the middle class held 62% of America's aggregate household income and the upper class held 29% — in 2014, the middle class held 43%, while the upper class held 49%.

RAW Embed

Abercrombie & Fitch has been fighting to retain its relevance with trendier clothes and tamer ads, but back in its heyday, it was a go-to destination for teens, with its preppy apparel and racy ads.

It also happened to serve as a launchpad for many celebrities' careers.

College Candy dug up some photos of celebrities posing in Abercrombie & Fitch's signature photos, and we picked 15 of our favorites — including Jennifer Lawrence, Taylor Swift, and Channing Tatum.

Check them out.

SEE ALSO: Abercrombie is poised to become the comeback of the year

Karlie Kloss posed for Abercrombie in 2006. Now, she's a household name, and she's known for strutting the Victoria's Secret runway.

In 2003 — a few years before her hit "Teardrops on My Guitar"— Taylor Swift gave the appearance that she actually was crying onto her guitar for Abercrombie.

Jennifer Lawrence might have told Graham Norton that she wasn't cut out for modeling ("they wanted natural pictures so they made us play football on the beach," she said. "The other models played football in a pretty way but not me. My face was bright red, and I was sweaty with flaring nostrils"), but she looks like she's having fun in this 2006 photo.

Source: Business Insider; Daily Mail

Companies die for all sorts of reasons, ranging from poor management to simply missing the next big trend. But some factors are out of a company's control, and even the best company in a dying industry has its hands full trying to survive. There are various industries slowly withering away today, often due to technological change.

Many of these industries will stick around for quite some time in a state of decay, but there are a few that may exhale their dying breath in 2016. Here are three industries that our contributors think might bite the dust this year.

1. Coal

Tyler Crowe: It's a little too early to say that coal will be completely dead by the end of 2016. After all, it still is responsible for more than one-third of all electricity in the U.S. However, it is quite possible that the coal industry is dead in terms of viable investment opportunities going forward.

Here's a crazy statistic that really illustrates the slide of coal companies: In 2010, the market capitalization of the nation's four largest coal miners by total volume produced -- Peabody Energy(NYSE:BTU), Arch Coal, Alpha Natural Resources, and Cloud Peak Energy(NYSE:CLD) -- was $32 billion. Today, those same four companies now have a combined market cap of about $340 million.

One of them -- Alpha -- has gone bankrupt. Two others -- Peabody and Arch -- are desperately looking for ways to restructure to avoid bankruptcy, and Cloud Peak doesn't look that far behind them. With coal prices still facing pressure from cheap natural gas, declining demand, and seemingly perpetual oversupply from unprofitable mines continuing to produce to avoid costly closure procedures, the investment landscape for coal that we have known for decades will likely have a very different face.

2. Specialty pharmacy services

George Budwell: While most of the healthcare sector appears to be on solid ground moving into the New Year, the specialty pharmacy services industry might take a major hit, and possibly be done away with altogether in 2016. The basic issue is that major pharmacy-benefits managers like Express Scripts (NASDAQ:ESRX) have taken umbrage with big and little pharmas alike using specialty pharmacies to juice the sales of branded drugs that could -- at least theoretically -- be replaced by cheaper generics. In a nutshell, these specialty pharmacies reportedly hinder payers from switching patients to generics by alleviating doctors from the hassle of reimbursement.

Horizon Pharma's (NASDAQ:HZNP) Duexis, for example, is basically a branded combination of ibuprofen and famotidine used to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. The problem is that Horizon is charging $1,500 for a month's supply of Duexis, with critics claiming that the generic versions of the drug's individual components would only cost around $40. And despite this steep price discrepancy, the company's use of a mail-order specialty pharma helped to drive Duexis's third-quarter sales up by an astounding 150% compared to the same period a year ago, which suggests that this strategy appears to be working. With Express Scripts now vigorously pushing back against this practice, however, we could be seeing the end of an era. 

3. Video rentals

Tim Green: The decline of the video rental industry isn't a new phenomenon. From 2000 to 2010, DVD, game, and video rental revenue declined by about 35%, coinciding with the rise of Netflix(NASDAQ:NFLX), first as an inexpensive DVD-rental-by-mail operation, and later as the streaming behemoth that it is today. Blockbuster, which once operated 9,000 stores, filed for bankruptcy in 2010, unable to compete with both Netflix and Redbox, a DVD rental kiosk business operated by Outerwall(NASDAQ:OUTR).

With streaming quickly gaining in popularity, even Redbox is now feeling the heat. During Outerwall's latest quarter, revenue from Redbox slumped by 9% year over year. The business is still extremely profitable for Outerwall, with operating margins in excess of 20%, but it appears to be in perpetual decline. Meanwhile, Netflix continues to add streaming subscribers at a blistering pace. At the end of the company's third quarter, Netflix had 43 million subscribers in the United States and 26 million subscribers in international markets, with the total subscriber count growing by 30% year over year.

The very concept of video rental may be dying thanks to streaming services like Netflix, and while Redbox and other DVD rental businesses certainly won't die out completely in 2016, the industry is in a downward spiral. With Netflix and other streaming services now creating vast amounts of original content, holdouts have more reason than ever to ditch the DVDs.

There's a lot to consider when purchasing a home, especially when picking a location. From schools to nearby nightlife, location can make up a large part of a home's appeal, or lack thereof.

RealtyTrac, a real-estate analytics firm, has investigated a possibly overlooked element of location: environmental hazards.

The company examined at the prevalence of a variety of undesirable environmental factors — air quality, superfund sites, polluters, brownfields, and former drug labs — for over 7,700 ZIP codes nationwide.

They found that nearly one-third of all homes in the US are in a ZIP code with high or very high risk for man-made hazards. Additionally, they found that prices in those high-risk areas are typically lower than others.

"The median sales price of homes in high risk zip codes for manmade environmental hazards was $251,106 in 2015 on average, 15 percent lower than the median sales price of $295,202 for homes in zip codes with low or very low risk,"said the report.

"Median home prices in high risk and very high risk zip codes were still 1.8% lower than they were 10 years ago on average, even while median home prices in low risk zip and very low risk zip codes were up 5.3% from 10 years ago."

We've taken RealtyTrac's data and compiled a list of the 18 metro housing markets in which at least 95% of the ZIP codes are in high or very high risk areas. We've also included the median sale price for homes in those high/very high risk areas and their appreciation over the last five years.

Check out the housing markets at risk below.

18. Dayton, OH

Percent of ZIP codes in Very High/High Risk area:
92%

Percent in Very High Risk area:
16%

Average Home Price in Very High/High Risk ZIP codes:
$96,703

Average High Risk Home Price Appreciation over 5 Years:
23.4%

17. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI

Percent of ZIP codes in High Risk or Very High Risk area:
93%

Percent in Very High Risk area:
84%

Average Home Price in Very High/High Risk ZIP codes:
$211,301

Average High Risk Home Price Appreciation over 5 Years:
11.7%

16. San Diego-Carlsbad, CA

Percent of ZIP codes in High Risk or Very High Risk area:
93%

Percent in Very High Risk area:
71%

Average Home Price in Very High/High Risk ZIP codes:
$567,277

Average High Risk Home Price Appreciation over 5 Years:
39.6%

The EHang 184 is certainly a sight to behold.

At first glance it looks like someone simply made an enormous drone — and that's essentially what it is — and then slapped a cockpit large enough for someone to ride in on top of the chassis. And to top it all off, there's some stylish gull-wing doors that give it an undeniably cool-yet-crazy look.

Unveiled Wednesday at this year's Consumer Electronic Show, the 184 is the world's first fully autonomous electric aerial vehicle, designed to fly a passenger around short distances at a low altitude (think more like a helicopter than a plane) without the need for you to man the controls.

Like its smaller drone counterparts, the 184 uses eight large propellers mounted atop four arms to fly around and hover, though an EHang spokesperson said that it's technically able to land using only one propeller arm if need be. I'm not quite sure how the physics and balancing of that add up, but the company is sticking to that claim.

All aspects of the flight are handled by a tablet in the vehicle's cockpit, allowing the passenger to select their destination and sit back while the 184 handles the takeoff, journey, and landing process. Right now, the weight limit is 220 pounds, and there's a small trunk that can fit a backpack or travel bag. There's also air conditioning in the cabin.

The aircraft stands about 5 feet tall, weighs 440 pounds, and has a battery life that lasts long enough for a 23-minute ride at a speed of just over 62 miles per hour. The 185 takes off and lands vertically, similar to a helicopter. Recharging takes two hours for a fast charge and four hours for a trickle charge.

EHang says it's conducted 100 manned test flights with its current prototype, and says its current design is closer to a finalized production model than a concept.

The four propeller arms can fold upwards for storage, and EHang says the 185 folded up takes up approximately the space of a traditional parking spot.

The first question I had was what would happen if the flight control tablet crashed or some technical issue arose mid-flight. An EHang spokesperson assured me that there's multiple fail-safes in place to take over if there's a specific failure, and there's also a flight control center that monitors all of the vehicles in the sky and can intervene if necessary, similar to the flight control centers at airports.

If an obstacle such as a bird is noticed mid-flight, passengers also have the option to tap the screen to enter into a stationary "hover" mode, which can also be used for some sightseeing.

All of this would seemingly depend upon maintaining a connection to flight control, however, and I'm still not sure what would happen if the tablet or vehicle's cellular connection was spotty or simply dropped altogether.

Even more worrisome is that unlike self-driving cars that allow for a manual override using physical controls, the 184 is only able to be controlled via the tablet within the cockpit — there weren't any physical controls such as a steering wheel or joystick to be found.

This feels potentially problematic, but EHang assured me that its 24-7 flight control center was fully capable of intervening in the case of an emergency.

In spite of lingering questions regarding the safety of its control scheme, EHang is marketing this as a safety-first vehicle that's designed to eliminate the need to ride in dangerous aerial vehicles such as helicopters or small planes.

As self-driving cars could potentially drive down the rate of vehicle-related deaths due to human error, EHang hopes to do the same for personal aerial transportation. It's a good idea and noble goal, but one that also brings up a lot of questions when you think up worst-case scenarios.

In theory, the autonomous aspect of the 185 means that passengers wouldn't need a special license to ride in it, but EHang recognizes that it's in "uncharted waters" at this point, and it could still face regulatory hurdles once it's closer to market.

The 185 feels like a vehicle that's 10 years ahead of its time, but it's certainly an intriguing prototype, and its design is striking. With no firm price tag or launch date — EHang representatives mentioned it would cost "hundreds of thousands"— it sounds like you won't be able to buy or ride a 185 in the next year.

You can see more photos of the EHang 185 below.

The global economy in 2016 is likely to be dominated by concerns over China, the effects of cheap oil, and divergence in US and European monetary policy.

That said, it's impossible to know for sure how the year will go. Investors will find it tricky to navigate.

Alan Mudie, head of investment strategy at Societe Generale Private Banking, and his team have broken the major themes into a huge slideshow presentation.

We've selected a few slides we think sum up the big themes for this year.

Emerging-market corporate debt has rocketed in the past few years, making it a risky bet for 2016.

"Zero interest policies in the developed world have bolstered debt issuance from EM corporates. Only a fraction of EM countries are immune to the current adverse conditions requiring a cautious approach to these markets."

International trade will continue its decline.

"Global trade growth has been anchored below its historical average since the Great Recession, offering further evidence of tepid world economic recovery. Decreasing global demand, especially due to slowing emerging markets, weighs on the outlook for world trade."

US wages will rise, fuelling consumer spending.

"Although salary growth has remained modest so far, continued labour market improvement should fuel wage inflation eventually. On the other hand, the strong USD will continue to cap headline inflation."

Twitter is a minefield of spam, strange bots, the mad ramblings of people obsessed with Jeremy Corbyn, and the SNP — as well as lots and lots of cats. 

But cut through the crazy people, and it can be an incredibly useful tool, especially if you're involved in the world of finance.

Some of the biggest players in Europe's financial sector often take to Twitter to express their opinions, discuss markets, and share charts, graphs, and interesting articles. Some even have so much influence that they can move markets with a single tweet.

It can be hard to filter out the rubbish, and find those must follow tweeters, so Business Insider has compiled a list of the best economists, traders, strategists, hedge funders, and fintech gurus in Europe for you to follow on Twitter.

Check it out below.

The European Central Bank

Handle:@ecb

Occupation: Europe's Central Bank

Why: The most important institution in all of European finance. The ECB's Twitter account provides statistics, reports, and speeches from inside the bank. President Mario Draghi doesn't tweet himself, but this account is the next best thing

Sample tweet: 

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/657125795366875136
ECB Governing Council in Malta. Press conference at 14:30 CET https://t.co/yLTyRIRi76https://t.co/BipeUaECfQpic.twitter.com/TcCgKFnIde

The Bank of England

Handle:@bankofengland

Occupation: Britain's Central Bank

Why: Until Mark Carney gets an official Twitter account, this is the best way of finding out what's going on in the Bank.

Tweets data, reports, and minutes from pretty much all of the Old Lady's meetings and events. Crucial info for any market watcher. 

Sample tweet: 

Key findings and highlights from the Open Forum on financial markets are here: https://t.co/Bl3EAbMokV Let’s keep the conversation going!

— Bank of England (@bankofengland) December 23, 2015

Brenda Kelly

Handle:@brenda_kelly

Occupation: Head Analyst at London Capital Group

Why: Tweets at least ten times a day on everything markets. From oil prices and ECB chatter and all the way to British equities.

Sample tweet: 

$AUDUSD providing a good example of long term trend line resilience. pic.twitter.com/hCzU27NHlg

— Brenda Kelly (@Brenda_Kelly) December 1, 2015

Not everyone can be Mark Zuckerberg and become a billionaire by age 23. But plenty of people have been fortunate enough to become self-made millionaires by age 25.

A Quora thread titled "What does it feel like to be a self-made millionaire under the age of 25?"asked young millionaires to share their experiences becoming so wealthy at a relatively young age.

All the people from the thread who are featured here posted anonymously.

With experiences like awkward encounters with bank staff and difficulties with teachers, we've picked out some of the gems from the thread — but make sure you read the whole thing for yourself.

Teachers treat you differently.

"A couple of my teachers found out that I had some success and it's just not the same. I can skip project dates and they won't even say anything about it, while they give other students a reduction in their mark. Doesn't seem fair to other people but I mean it's nice for me. Sometimes it gets annoying, they ask too many questions about what I do, how I got started, and then blap asking if it's possible if they could do what I'm doing etc."

A visit to the bank becomes an interrogation.

“Nearly ever [sic] trip to the teller becomes some sort of interrogation. 'What do you do, omg good for you, when did you start' etc … Just gets so annoying and some of these tellers have to scream it out so everyone in the bank hears.”

You feel uncomfortable with spending money unnecessarily.

"I am from a poor family and the way I was raised, I always made sure not to spend more than necessary. The weird thing now is that I can spend more and it doesn't really make a difference financially, but it still does psychologically. For example I booked a really nice (and somewhat expensive) hotel, and then I caught myself being reluctant to use the mini bar because some voice deep inside my head told me that mini-bars in hotel rooms are a ripoff."

Disney had a big year in 2015 with two Pixar movies, "The Avengers" sequel, and the return of "Star Wars" to theaters, and 2016 is about to get even bigger.

The studio released its official list of movies planned for 2016. 

Get ready for the first standalone "Star Wars" movie, two Marvel movies, and a few classic Disney animated pictures brought to life. 

Keep reading to see what the Mouse House has in store.

Disney's first movie out this year will be "The Finest Hours," which is based on a true story about a Coast Guard rescue mission in 1952 to save 30 sailors trapped inside a sinking oil tanker.

Starring Chris Pine, Eric Bana, Casey Affleck, it will be in theaters January 29, 2016.

"Zootopia," about a world reimagined with walking, talking animals, will be Disney's 55th animated motion picture.

Why have street-level sidewalks when you can have pathways that seem to float in the sky?

Swedish architecture firm Anders Berensson Architects has released plans for Klarastaden ("clear town"), a set of apartment buildings joined by a winding elevated sidewalk running throughout downtown Stockholm. 

The plans were commissioned by the Swedish government as a way to make the area beside Stockholm Central Station, Sweden's largest railway station, more beautiful and convenient.

Anders Berensson tells Tech Insider that construction will begin in 2018 if all goes to plan.

Taking a stroll in the park has never been this fun.

The new skywalk and apartment buildings will be built beside the highly trafficked Stockholm Central Station.

The firm already predicts the apartment complex and walkway will be the tallest and densest area in Stockholm, a city where the population density is more than 11,000 people per square mile.

By the time it's completed, Anders Berensson estimates there will be 5,800 apartments, 8,000 work places, and 300 shops.

Roughly 90% of apartments will have views of the nearby Lake Malaren, thanks to the buildings' varying heights.

Both apartments residents and the general public will have access to the rooftop green spaces via the sky walks.

Like New York City's Highline, the sky walk will give people unprecedented views of the city.

It will weave in and out of the rooftops and act as a bridge from the heart of downtown to the waterfront.

All the world’s a fashion critic – especially if you’re a woman. From caliphates to communist republics and even in the democratic West, strict laws have governed what people wear. It’s a moral war waged on our wardrobes, and it still rages today.

Take Gambia, newly declared an Islamic republic, where female government workers have just been urged to “use head ties and neatly wrap their hair”. These hapless civil servants may have been “urged”, but for citizens of some countries, straying from the prescribed dress code is altogether more serious, carrying a prison sentence, fine or even public flogging.

So, in the spirit of sartorial solidarity, we take a look at five nations where personal style and political style are one and the same.

North Korea: long hair for men, trousers for women

“Let’s trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyle” – so ran the title of a five-part series on North Korean state TV, exhorting citizens to choose one of several officially sanctioned haircuts. Hair should be kept 1-5cm in length and be trimmed every 15 days.

Meanwhile, women caught wearing trousers can be punished with forced labour and fines, although these rules are beginning to relax a little, according to reports.

Sudan: trousers for women, make-up for men

North Korea is not the only country where men wear the trousers: in Sudan in 2014, there was outrage as nine women faced 40 lashes for the crime of wearing western-style slacks.

Harsh interpretations of sharia law mean thousands of Sudanese women are arrested each year for “public order” offences such as wearing short skirts and dancing with men. The offences aren’t entirely gender specific: in 2010 seven men, models at a fashion show, were convicted of indecency and fined for wearing make-up.

Saudi Arabia: bare skin for women, cross-dressing for men

It doesn’t matter whether you’re local or foreign – if you’re a woman and you’re in Saudi Arabia, flashing an inch of flesh is a criminal act. Muslim women are required to wear a niqab and long black cloak called an abaya, while foreign women can get away with a long coat and bare head, if they dare.

But clothing restrictions don’t only apply to women: in 2009, the Saudi government arrested 67 men at a private party in Riyadh. The offence: cross-dressing and “behaving like women.”

This week is the most popular time for job seekers to apply for new gigs, according to Monster.com.

The lucky ones will be invited in for interviews, and will probably be asked questions like "What's your biggest weakness?" and "Why do you want to work here?"

Another common one people should prepare for: "Why should we hire you?"

Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of "Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job," says this question is likely the single best opportunity you have to seal the deal in the job interview. "But because it's so broad, it can also lead you down a slippery slope if you're not concise."

When interviewers ask this question, they want you to convince them that you're the best candidate for the job. To ace the response, you must do your homework on the employer and job description so you can align your skills and experience with their specific needs.

"This is an opportunity to say, 'You need X, and I am the best person for the job because of Y.' You want to convey that not only are you a safe choice with minimal risk — but also a great choice," says Taylor.

Before you arrive at the job interview, you should have a general sense of how to communicate this, she suggests. "One useful technique is to have three major points in mind on why you're an excellent choice. This is a default framework you can come back to in the interview to sell yourself. It will become more refined as the interview proceeds."

Here are five tips for answering the common "Why should we hire you?" interview question:

SEE ALSO: What to say when an interviewer asks, ‘How much money do you want to make in your next job?’

DON'T MISS: The 20 best cities for finding a job in 2016

Listen for real-time cues 

"As you hear the finer details of job requirements, jot down some key words from your background that will help you provide a targeted response once the hiring manager asks this question," Taylor says. "If, for example, organizational skills are paramount, you may jot down certain related software programs you use." As you make minor notes, still try to maintain good eye contact and stay in an active-listening mode.

"Since you now have more data on the real requirements, it's time to turn up your pitch a notch," she says. For instance, know your unique selling proposition. What makes you particularly qualified for the job among your peers? What does the firm present publicly and in the interview? How does your unique background align with their mission?

"If, for example, the company's advertising tagline is about service excellence, you can address how your customer-service expertise resulted in quantifiable results, such as in expanded business, training you provided, or client recognition you received," says Taylor.

Focus on key points 

1. Offer the big picture. This is a general overview of the overall match, says Taylor. "You're setting a general comfort zone here." For example, you'll want to talk about how long you've been doing X at what types of companies, your applicable specialty areas, technical skills, training, and education. "Maybe you've been promoted frequently or have been given increased responsibility or staff — which objectively attest to your big picture value," says Taylor. "Share that information."

2. Discuss your accomplishments. This is your opportunity to talk more specifically about a couple of specific projects that showcase your related skill sets and experience. "Results are what count, however, so be sure to mention how the contributions helped your company, and how your expertise could similarly make a significant impact for them," says Taylor. But remember to be concise!

3. Communicate that you have excellent people skills. If you have a few soft-skill attributes that you feel would be an asset to the position (such as team player, motivational leader, strong work ethic, reliable), tell them. 

"By addressing the low turnover in your department, for example, you underscore that you have strong management potential," says Taylor. "Oftentimes, slightly stronger people skills trump minor weaknesses in technical expertise. Unlike technical skills, it's virtually impossible to teach attitude."

Prove you'd be a great investment

"Every manager wants to be assured that you'd offer a good return on investment," she says. "They want to mitigate risk and avert being in the hiring doghouse. This is your chance to use bottom-line examples of why the company will benefit from hiring you. What are some specific, applicable accomplishments that illustrate this? Where possible, give dollar percentages or raw numbers (sans inflation)."

For instance, did you:

• reduce expenses by a certain percent or dollar figure? 

• streamline certain processes?

• develop new programs that increased revenues? 

• reduce turnover?

• secure new accounts or expand on existing business?

"This is not to downplay your overall awards, recognition, kudos, soft skills, and overall success; they still support your market value in a credible way," says Taylor. "A combination of the two is ideal."

So you want to be happier, healthier, and more successful in 2016?

Faced with unlimited advice and little time to spare, it's hard to know where to start.

#BIBetter is a 21-day self-improvement program designed for the busy professional, featuring a few habits that will make a big difference and a bunch of tasks that most of us have been putting off for too long.

We recommend participating with at least one other person, so you have more fun and keep each other in check. You can start on any Monday and should complete actions on their specified day when possible.

The following slides go through the days and the science behind them in detail. You can also reference our infographic calendar.

SEE ALSO: 33 business books every professional should read before turning 30

MONDAY, DAY 1: Floss your teeth. Do it every day for the rest of your life.

Believe it or not, as many as 50% of Americans say they don't floss every day. If you are one of those people, then make today the day you start doing it consistently.

How can you get in the habit?

Stanford psychologist B.J. Fogg is one of the foremost researchers on habit formation. The takeaway from all his work: Floss one tooth.

As in, if you're trying to form a habit, it can be helpful to start as small as possible, with a minimum viable habit. The point, Fogg emphasizes, is to insert the structure of the activity in your day, rather than doing it perfectly every time. This way of thinking works for all habits, and it works for flossing, too — and if you floss the whole mouth, then you're doing even better.

Indeed, this core dental hygiene technique will clean your teeth and gums of plaque, protecting your teeth as you age and saving you on dental bills. Some studies have even found that flossing is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, and dementia.

TUESDAY, DAY 2: Break a sweat. Do it every day for the rest of your life.

For a wide range of ailments, exercise is an almost magical cure, which "can improve memory and concentration, lessen sleep disorders, aid heart disease by lowering cholesterol and reducing blood pressure, help sexual problems such as erectile dysfunction, and raise low libido," notes Slate.

Just a little bit of exercise has huge benefits. Research shows that running just five to 10 minutes a day can add years to your life, and if you establish that minimum habit now of doing at least that, you can build on it. A seven-minute workout using interval training can make a huge difference.

Longer workouts are obviously great, too.

Think you're too busy to work out? Tell that to GE CEO Jeff Immelt, who gets up at 5:30 every morning for a cardio workout; or Xerox CEO Ursula Burns who has an hour of personal training at 6 a.m. twice a week; or Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey, who gets up similarly early to take six-mile jogs; or Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who likes to ride his bike every morning.

WEDNESDAY, DAY 3: Write in a journal. Do it every day for the rest of this program.

Psychologists have been studying "expressive writing," or journaling about difficult moments in your life, for a few decades. They've found that a few minutes journaling improves everything from mood to immune system to sporting performance.

It works for work, too: A Harvard Business School study found that people who wrote about their jobs improved their performance by 23%.

"When people have the opportunity to reflect, they experience a boost in self-efficacy," says HBS professor Francesca Gino. "They feel more confident that they can achieve things. As a result, they put more effort into what they're doing and what they learn."

So as a part of this life-improvement adventure, we're asking you to reflect on your day, plus on whatever journeys we send you on. You should also take the opportunity to look at the tasks that lie ahead and start making plans for the ones that require preparation.

If you find journaling to be useful, then we encourage you to keep it up for the rest of your life.

After 17 weeks that seemed to fly by, the NFL playoffs are here!

Saturday presents the first round of Wild Card games, as the Chiefs and Texans and Steelers and Bengals square off on Saturday, followed by the Seahawks and Vikings and Packers and Redskins on Sunday.

These Wild Card games have an unpredictable feel to them, and the teams who secured first-round byes have a multitude of scenarios that could play out that could affect their chances to advance.

Here are our power rankings among the 12 teams that made it to the postseason. 

1. Carolina Panthers

Regular season record: 15-1

Seed: 1st in NFC

Opponent: Bye

One thing to know: According to FiveThirtyEight, the Panthers have the best chance to win the Super Bowl. Nate Silver's models give Cam Newton and company a 20% chance to win Super Bowl 50, and a 38% chance to win the NFC.

2. Arizona Cardinals

Regular season record: 13-3

Seed: 2nd in NFC

Opponent: Bye

One thing to know: The Cardinals may have suffered a blowout loss to the Seahawks in Week 17, but it can be forgiven. They had just rattled off nine straight wins, including wins over the Vikings and Packers. This team is mostly healthy and solid on both ends of the ball, and won't have to see the Seahawks in the divisional round.

3. New England Patriots

Regular season record: 12-4

Seed: 2nd in AFC

Opponent: Bye

One thing to know: Tom Brady sprained his ankle against the Dolphins in Week 17, but it's feeling better and he'll be ready to go after the bye week. Expect to see Brady throw the ball plenty to running back James White, who has either scored a TD or earned a first down in 19 of his 40 receptions this season, per ESPN.

The Chinese mainland’s most cosmopolitan city is a foodie paradise, whether you’re looking for get-your-hands-dirty street treats or dinner prepared by a three-Michelin-star chef. 

Shanghai is also the best city to experience the nuances of regional Chinese cuisine by sampling everything from the spicy flavors in Sichuanese dishes to the lighter fare from Guangdong province.

With a pleasing mix of traditional and modern, you can enjoy Shanghai street food and handcrafted cocktails in the same evening. Here’s our guide for exploring the city’s best bites.

SEE ALSO: 19 photos from my stay at the hottest new hotel in China's tech capital

Dumplings

The dumpling is the king of Shanghai street food, which comes in multiple delicious forms. Xiao long bao, dumplings with a piping-hot liquid center, are one of the most common, along withsheng jian bao, pork dumplings that are fried on the bottom. You’ll also find guo tie, Chinese pot stickers, as well as the steamed dumplings served at dim sum restaurants. There are countless, lengthy debates about where to find the best dumplings in Shanghai, but Yang’s Fried Dumpling (2/F, 269 Wujiang Lu) is widely considered to have the best sheng jian bao in town, while Jia Jia Tang Bao is one of Shanghai’s best spots for xiao long bao. Crystal Jade (2/F Xintiandi South Block, 123 Xingye Rd.) and Fu Lin Xuan (Super Brand Mall, 168 Lujiazui Xi Lu) are two good options for dim sum.

Plan Your Trip: Visit Fodor’s Shanghai Travel Guide

East-meets-west breakfast

Breakfast in Shanghai can take two forms, depending on if you’re looking for an authentic, locals’ street breakfast or a decadent brunch buffet at one of the city’s top restaurants. For the former, scallion pancakes are the perfect way to start your day, fried to crispy, chewy perfection by street vendors. Look for the stalls with long lines in the morning. Sesame pastries, sweet and savory steamed buns, Chinese-style savory crepes, and fried dough sticks are other breakfast staples, all of which can be found in many parts of the city, though Xiangyang Nan Lu is known for its breakfast offerings. When its comes to extravagant brunches, Shanghai goes all out, from champagne brunches at Jing’An at The PuLi Hotel and Yi Cafe, to more laid-back late-morning grub at The Grumpy Pig and Mr. Pancake House (877 Wuding Lu).

Plan Your Trip: Visit Fodor’s Shanghai Travel Guide

Noodles

Fried, drowned in soup, hand-sliced, topped with everything from scallion oil to eel: there are a lot of ways to enjoy noodles in Shanghai. Shanghai’s halal restaurants are known for their handmade, Lanzhou–style noodles, hand-pulled to delicate perfection and submerged in a light soup, or hand-sliced for a slightly chewier texture and served with meat. You can find these shops all over the city, though Fangbang Lu is a good place to start. Shanghai fried noodles are another street food signature, served with a hearty mix of vegetables and meat, found at any street food vendor at any hour of the day. Also look for scallion oil noodles, a popular item at Shanghai’s more upscale eateries, for a perfect blend of salty and sweet.

Plan Your Trip: Visit Fodor’s Shanghai Travel Guide

Twenty-one years ago, in 1995, the Internet only had 10 million active users. Only 35 million people used email.

To most Americans, the Internet was a strange thing they'd been hearing more about in media and in movies like Sandra Bullock's 1995 thriller, "The Net."

In February 1996,  Morgan Stanley analysts Mary Meeker and Chris DePuy wrote a massive, 322-page report arguing that that would soon change. They wrote, "the market for Internet-related products and services appears to be growing more rapidly than the early emerging markets for print publishing, telephony, film, radio, recorded music, television, and personal computers."

For about 200 pages, the report examines the growth of the Internet and which companies and industries would benefit from it.

Then, at the end of the report, there's a section called "Morgan Stanley’s Cool Sites — 500 Channels & Everything’s On."

It's a list of 110 sites that were accessible via the Web or your AOL account.

It is nostalgic bliss.

Here's how Meeker and DePuy introduced the section:

So you want to “surf the Net,” but it’s your first time and you’re not quite sure if it’s legal in this country to have a URL, and the last time you heard the word “Yahoo” was when your grandfather’s favorite baseball team won the pennant. It is very likely that somewhere out there on the Internet is everything you wanted to know, plus a whole lot of other stuff that would seem really interesting if you knew it existed. So whether it’s your first time, or you’ve “been there, done that,” we have organized this section into what we consider to be the most important, highly useful, and, simply put, coolest cool sites on the Internet.

If you're 30 or older, you'll remember a lot of the sites.  If you're 30 or younger, you'll look at most of the sites and wonder why anybody bothered.

There are a few sites on this list, however, that show how much promise the Internet held, even so early on. 

In the world of travel, peak season means ideal weather but higher prices that most people don't want to pay.

A recent study by travel deals site Hipmunk identified the ideal time to visit the most popular travel destinations across the US, analyzing the average cost of airfare, the price of a three-night hotel stay, and weather temperatures.

In order to determine the most popular travel destinations, Hipmunk took a look at hotel and flight data from the past year, noting where customers had traveled to the most.

Keep scrolling to see the best time to book your upcoming vacations.

SEE ALSO: This is the most affordable time to visit 24 of the world's most expensive destinations

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ANCHORAGE, ALASKA: August and September

Average price of a flight and three-night hotel stay in August: $831

Average price of a flight and three-night hotel stay in September: $825

ASPEN, COLORADO: March

Average price of a flight and three-night hotel stay: $1518

ATLANTA, GEORGIA: September and October

Average price of a flight and three-night hotel stay in September: $674

Average price of a flight and three-night hotel stay in October: $672