Over one million people have sold items on Poshmark, an app that lets you sell unwanted items from your closet to complete strangers. 

While it might just sound like a way to get rid of that one sweater or pair of boots your never wear, using Poshmark can actually be quite lucrative.

Just ask Evelyne Teman, a California woman started re-selling her clothing on the app three years ago and has since made $500,000. 

Poshmark has grown quite a bit since launching in 2011. Starting on February 11, Poshmark will have a new section called "Boutiques," devoted entirely to purchasing new merchandise directly from stores and designers around the United States. 

"People aren't just selling consignment and from their personal closet anymore," Poshmark CEO Manish Chandra told Tech Insider. "Now you'll find same sorts of styles you'd find in your neighborhood shops. It's like visiting a real boutique on your phone."

Keep reading to find out how to use the Poshmark app. 

Here's what the Poshmark app looks like when you open it. Tap "Get Started."

You can allow Poshmark to send you notifications about sales and items.

To use the app you have to make an account. Use Facebook or create an account with an email address.

As many prepare for the battle between Team Captain America and Team Iron Man in “Captain America: Civil War,” out in May, for now we're taking a detour in the Marvel universe as we’re introduced to one of its most complex characters, Deadpool.

Led by Ryan Reynolds as the character, the new movie adaptation of the comic book, in theaters February 12, is the first look at a Marvel character from an R-rated perspective. Filled with graphic violence and a lot of bad language, 20th Century Fox's effort brings a harder-edged feel to the superhero genre than what we're familiar with from the Disney releases (“The Avengers,” “Iron Man,” etc.).

But there’s more to why “Deadpool” is one of the most unique superhero movies ever made.

We’ve come up with 5 big reasons you should see it:

(Warning: spoilers ahead.)

SEE ALSO: 20 modern classic movies everyone needs to watch in their lifetime

1. Ryan Reynolds making fun of himself

The Deadpool character is a former Special Forces operative who, after an experiment, possesses accelerated healing powers. True, that doesn’t sound much different from any other superhero origin story, but it’s the psychotic persona of Wade Wilson (aka Deadpool) that sets him apart. To harness that on the big screen, Hollywood has called on Mr. Sarcasm himself, Ryan Reynolds.

But “Deadpool” goes a step further than having Reynolds throw a fun line or two. To really portray the character correctly, it had to be brutal. And Reynolds obliged. He plays on his box-office bomb as Green Lantern in 2011, once being People’s Sexiest Man Alive, even taking jabs at his own acting talents.

It’s fun to see Reynolds can take a joke (or five). 

2. Lots of pop-culture references

Don’t fret if you’re not up on your “Deadpool” comics knowledge. The movie is made for both the super-fan and the novice. One of the pleasures is taking in the references to pop culture that are filled throughout. From a Salt-N-Pepa song to Deadpool throwing out lines about Negasonic Teenage Warhead looking like Sinéad O’Connor (and then there’s the scene after the end credits; don’t worry, we won’t give it away), it’s a fun ride for the '80s-and-'90s-nostalgic audience.

One of the biggest threads through the movie is Deadpool’s love for the band Wham!, specifically the group's hit “Careless Whisper.”

3. Breaking the fourth wall

Most superhero movies are focused entirely on the action, but Deadpool is fully aware there’s an audience looking at him, and he can’t help but chat it up. This leads to some enormously entertaining moments, like explaining how he met his roommate, Blind Al, or giving us his backstory while being pummeled by Colossus. And as anyone familiar with Ryan Reynolds' style of comedy knows, he is very comfortable doing that.

We just got a ton of brand new footage from the upcoming "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" film. 

The two-minute trailer (seemingly from an unofficial source) features more from the battle between Batman and Superman than we've ever seen before. We're given more information on Batman's motives, Lex Luthor's role in the story, and new glimpses of Lois Lane and Wonder Woman.

The best part, though, is an incredible tease that Batman is a bigger threat to Superman than anyone realizes.

If you haven't watched it, check it out here.

Good? Let's break down what you just saw.

We kick things off with Alfred (Jeremy Irons).

Instead of a meek butler, he's coordinating Batman's missions from the comfort of, what we presume to be, the Batcave. (You can spot a waterfall in the background.)

Here's the Batwing, one of Batman's many vehicles.

If you look at the top players within a single industry, you might notice an interesting pattern: Many of them once worked for the same person.

That leader is what Dartmouth business professor Sydney Finkelstein calls a "superboss," or a manager who spawns the next generation of talent by turning their employees into stars.

Examples of superbosses include Jon Stewart, former host of "The Daily Show"; Larry Ellison, cofounder and former CEO of Oracle; Alice Waters, owner of the Chez Panisse restaurant; and fashion designer Ralph Lauren.

In his new book, "Superbosses," Finkelstein explores exactly how those leaders go about spotting and cultivating brilliance. He identifies five key traits of a superboss, no matter what industry they work in.

Importantly, Finkelstein notes that the superboss mentality is completely learnable, meaning that any leader can become one, if they embody the following qualities:

SEE ALSO: Larry Ellison, Lorne Michaels, and other 'superbosses' use 3 unusual traits to identify top-performing employees

DON'T MISS: Here's the tricky interview question Larry Ellison asked to hire extremely smart employees

1. Fearlessness

Finkelstein observed that superbosses often demonstrate tremendous fearlessness in their personal lives. For example, Larry Ellison enjoys the dangerous sport of sailboat racing, and the restaurateur Norman Brinker (another superboss) was an Olympian.

Playing competitive sports isn't necessary for superboss status. But in an interview with Business Insider, Finkelstein said that sense of fearlessness often translates to innovativeness at work. Superbosses are rarely content with the status quo, and they encourage and expect their employees to be equally innovative.

In the book, Finkelstein cites former hedge fund manager and superboss Julian Robertson, who would sit in the middle of the office and debate his analysts' ideas. If he thought an idea was bad, he wouldn't hesitate to say so. Employees learned that Robertson wanted innovation in the form of new ideas, and that they shouldn't be afraid of getting pushback from him.

2. Competitiveness

Finkelstein writes that superbosses thrive on competition: "They seek it out, and they create it." At the same time, they manage to encourage collaboration between employees as well.

Robertson, for example, would hold sessions in which a few analysts got to show him what they were working on.

As one hedge fund manager who once worked for Robertson told Finkelstein: "There were always 50 people around the table at different times, and you were competitive with them in that you were fighting for capital, fighting for attention, for being the best person at the firm, the most profitable person in your age group … but we all want to make the pie grow, because that is in all of our best interests."

3. Imaginativeness

"Superbosses are visionaries," Finkelstein writes. "They think intensely about what they could be and are fired up to turn their dreams into a reality."

A former marketing and sales executive for Ralph Lauren told Finkelstein that when he met with Lauren, they would talk about dreams: "If you were skiing in Aspen what would you wear, what kind of comforter would you have, what kind of car would you drive?"

There's no question that the tech industry is filled with high-paying jobs, but it's also an ever-changing job market. One day a skill is hot and the next it's not.

Job site Dice.com recently published its 2016 Salary Survey, which named the highest-paying tech skills.

Dice surveyed 16,301 IT professionals in fall 2015 to come up with this list.

Of course, skills alone won't always guarantee a high salary. Work experience counts, too. But if you're considering which skills to flaunt on a résumé, or which new skills to learn this year, this list is a good place to start.

SEE ALSO: Why it's better to be a morning person and other facts about sleep from genetics-testing company 23andMe

No. 40: Matlab is worth $120,182

Matlab is a programming language from MathWorks that is popular with engineers and scientists worldwide. MathWorks is a company that makes computer software for engineers and scientists.

Pay for jobs involving Matlab has climbed 17.8% in the last year, Dice says.

No. 39: MicroStrategy is worth $120,184

MicroStrategy is a company that makes analytics software, a category that used to be called "business intelligence" but now is called "big data."

All things big data are in vogue and there's high demand for people who can write enterprise apps built on various MicroStrategy products.

Pay for jobs involving MicroStrategy has climbed 10.2% in the last year, Dice says.

No. 38: Groovy is worth $120,484

Groovy is a programming language that builds on the strengths of Java, but has additional features inspired by other languages, like Python and Ruby.

Groovy makes it easier for Java developers to write apps using these updated techniques.

Pay for Groovy-related jobs has climbed almost 12.4% over last year, Dice says.

As luxe toiletries and complimentary services become more and more common in hotels, some are taking their amenity offerings to the next level.

While some of these amenities come with a price tag, others are completely free of charge.

We reached out to hotels around the world to find some of the most unbelievable and luxurious amenities guests can enjoy.

From free Fender guitars to getting a personal wake-up call from a country star, here are 28 of the craziest amenities you can enjoy during your next stay.

SEE ALSO: 17 things you should definitely ask for the next time you check in to a hotel

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

THE LODGE AT SEA ISLAND: TIE BUTLER

Forgot to pack a tie? That's not a problem if you're staying at The Lodge at Sea Island in Georgia, where a Tie Butler can bring you curated selections of Peter Miller ties, as well as tips for tying both classic and exotic knots. Guests can also purchase a tie for $115. 

WILD DUNES RESORT: BEST MAN FOR HIRE

Taking a cue from Kevin Hart in "The Wedding Ringer," the Wild Dunes Resort in South Carolina offers its Best Man For Hire program, where guys can literally hire a best man for their big day.

In exchange for his hard work being the ultimate wingman, the best man charges $150 for one hour, $650 for half a day, $1,000 for a full day, and $2,000 for a full weekend.

HARD ROCK HOTELS: FENDER GUITARS

The Sound of Your Stay program, which is available at any of Hard Rock Hotels' 23 hotels and 11 casinos, includes free rentals of a Fender guitar with a Mustang look Amplifier and Blue Mo-Fi headphones so you can rock out.

You can also get exclusively curated playlists and Native Instrument mixing systems sent to your room.

Deadpool is a hero like no other.

Nicknamed the "merc with a mouth," the unhinged anti-hero and his wild sense of humor are coming to the big screen.

He's also bringing a few X-Men characters along with him. 

If you're not familiar with Deadpool or his unique ability which separates him from every other character in Marvel history, don't worry. Here's everything you need to know before the movie hits theaters February 12.

Ryan Reynolds will star as Wade Wilson, the mercenary who becomes Deadpool.

Wade Wilson is a powerful mercenary diagnosed with terminal cancer. To save himself, he becomes part of "Weapon-X," the same mysterious program that gave Wolverine his powers.

As a result, three things happen: First, his skin is disfigured horribly, making the Weapon-X scientists assume the treatments failed. The scientists took bets among each other on which of the experimental treatments would be his last, hence the name "Deadpool." They didn't realize that, despite his disfigured face, Wilson developed rapid healing, making him nearly unkillable. This makes him psychotically reckless, which is where a lot of the comic's humor came from. 

The third thing, which makes Deadpool different from all other comic book characters, is that the experiment made him fully aware that he's a comic book character. He frequently addresses the reader specifically and at one point in the comics even wonders aloud about the editing software the comics creators used. No one else in Marvel shares the ability, however, and the other characters interpret this as a delusional side-effect of his experimentation. 

Morena Baccarin will star alongside Reynolds as Vanessa Carlysle, also known as Copycat.

Vanessa AKA Copycat is Deadpool's on-and-off girlfriend.

In the comics, she was born a mutant and has the ability to duplicate the appearance and powers of other mutants. So if she were to copy Storm, for example, she'd not only look like her, but she'd have Storm's powers as well. This makes Copycat extremely powerful.

For now, we're not sure how true to Copycat's comic origins the film will be. If the trailer is any indication, Wade and Vanessa will begin the film as humans and both gain their abilities later. Though we've seen Reynolds both before and after his transformation, we still don't know if Baccarin will have silver hair and skin like her comic counterpart.

Gina Carano is Angel Dust. She chemically supercharges her adrenaline, giving her intense super strength.

We're not quite sure what's up with Angel Dust in the movie. The trailer makes her seem like a villain. She attacks Weasel and later on faces Colossus and Negasonic Warhead. Her character in the comics is much more sympathetic.

There, Angel Dust is an outcast hiding underground with other mutants. She reunites briefly with her parents, who she expected to push her away, and is surprised to find that they miss her and want her home. This doesn't seem to be where they're going with Angel Dust in the movie. But it's likely there's more to her than what we've seen. 

Pindar Van Arman, a technology artist and software engineer, has spent a decade building a robot that can paint, and the art is absolutely breathtaking. 

The robot is capable of making beautiful landscapes and portraits either with the assistance of humans or on its own using artificial intelligence. But if you want a custom-made portrait, it will be done with the help of people, which actually adds some fun flair and design elements to the final piece.

Here's how you can get your own custom art:

The typical option is to assist the robot in painting a photo that is already uploaded. To do that, go to crowdpainter.com

Sometimes you'll be prompted to enter a password if the robot is work on a private portrait, but most times you can get right through.

You can email Pindar Van Arman for a password through his website if you want access.

From there you'll be able to assist the robot in its painting! Simply trace the outline of the painting using colors from the toolbar on the left.

Lainie Messina isn't a model, an athlete, a paid spokesperson for an energy pill, or an actress. Her photos on Instagram aren't Photoshopped, and her weightloss journey isn't one that happened overnight, or even in 30 days.

But over the last few years, Messina, who had a mid-life crisis at 44-years-old, started changing her eating habits and her fitness habits. Now she's about 75 pounds lighter than she was in 2013.

She's working hard to keep it off — the majority of people who lose a lot of weight tend to gain some or all of it back — but she knows it'll be just as hard to maintain her weightloss as it was to shed the extra pounds.

A few weeks ago, we talked to Messina about her eating habits before she started changing her life — and what she eats now. You can read about that here.

Now, Messina shares 9 tips for those who are beginning their weightloss journey, or trying to stay on its path.

1. Don’t cut out anything entirely — especially when you're starting out.  

Tell me I can’t have something? Well, now that's all I think about.  Find two or three things you can substitute each week, be consistent in keeping those changes, and over time you’ll see dramatic changes.

2) Don’t think of food as "good" or "bad." 

There are nutrient dense foods we should try to eat as much of as possible.  For example, choose sweet potatoes over white potatoes.  Choose veggies over fruits more often than not.  

3) Know what a portion is.

We're used to huge portions and most people eat 3-5 servings without blinking because they're served on one plate or in one meal. Read labels.  Get to know what a serving of nuts or trail mix is (hint: it's not a handful!).

When you go out to eat, separate your meal into two portions and either box it right away or commit to only eating half and taking the other half home. 

You've got an empty room in your house, a couple of young kids who like to play Nintendo games, and a penchant for DIY projects. What do you do?

This, apparently, if you're anything like Scottsburg, Indiana teacher Rorie Lizenby:

Pretty intense! But Lizenby brushes off the project as little more than a two-week diversion (while working full-time as a teacher, no less). Here's how she did it!

First things first: schematics!

Lizenby based her work on a NES-inspired print, originally created by Allen Swart:

"Initially, my intent was not to create an accurate depiction of the original Nintendo controller, just a generic retro gaming controller," Lizenby told Tech Insider. "

The first thing she did was put up a background for the massive NES gamepad on the wall:

While locals hate the name "Silicon Beach," the L.A. tech scene is becoming a real rival to Silicon Valley.

We've compiled a list of the 25 hottest startups that investors, founders, and networkers in the Los Angeles tech scene are buzzing about. To limit our list, we excluded older than five years, which eliminated some popular picks like Headspace.

Here they are:

SEE ALSO: The 21 most innovative startups in tech

Jessica Alba's Honest Company has created a commerce empire selling nontoxic versions of bath and baby products.

What it is: What started as a line of baby diapers has turned into one of L.A.'s hottest startups. Jessica Alba's Honest Company makes non-toxic and eco-friendly products, ranging from baby supplies to cleaning products. Last September, the company also launched a new beauty line, called Honest Beauty, to make more natural make-up. The company has secretly filed for an IPO, according to reports, so it may be the last year the startup qualifies as such. 

Founded: 2011 by Jessica Alba, Brian Lee, Sean Kane, and Christopher Gavigan.

Funding: $230 million from investors including Fidelity Investments, IVP, General Catalyst, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. 

Ring makes a doorbell that lets you see who is at the door.

What it is: In September 2013, Jamie Siminoff went on "Shark Tank" and totally failed. The judges all rejected him except one, who made a terrible offer. Yet, customers (and eventually Richard Branson) saw something the judge's missed. Everyone wanted a doorbell that could show you who is at the door.

The Ring is simple: when someone presses on the doorbell, it "rings" your smartphone with a video feed. You can reject the video call or accept it and start talking to whoever is at the door. Ring's customers use it to do everything from telling a delivery man to leave the package at the door to telling a neighbor to come around to the back door. 

Founded: 2012 by Jamie Siminoff as DoorBot. Siminoff rebranded the company as Ring in 2014.

Funding: $38.81 million from Richard Branson, True Ventures, Shea Ventures, American Family Insurance, Upfront Ventures and others.

Scopely is the mobile game creator Zynga should have been.

What is it: Described by one investor as the "company Zynga was supposed to be," Scopely has spent the last four years creating success after success. The mobile gaming company was founded four years ago and soon launched its first game, Dice with Buddies. Since then, it's released more hits like Yahoo with Buddies and the Walking Dead game, which broke into the top 25 highest-grossing apps in the Apple app store.

Founded: Walter Driver, Eytan Elbaz, Ankur Bulsura, and Eric Futoran

Funding: $43.5 million from Lerer Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Anthem Venture Partners, and Evolution Media Partners among others

On Thursday, a team of scientists announced that they had detected a phenomenon called gravitational waves for the first time.

Rumors are circulating that the discovery is worthy of the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics because it gives humans a brand new way to study our universe.

Gravitational waves are ripples in the universe that contract and expand the spacetime around them. Scientists detected them by measuring this distortion as one of these waves passed through Earth using the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).

But doing so was extremely difficult, and what scientists discovered upon detecting these waves is nothing short of extraordinary. Check out some mind-boggling facts about these waves and this latest discovery:

RELATED: The first discovery of 2 colliding black holes just fundamentally changed our perception of the universe

SEE ALSO: One of Einstein's last theories was just confirmed — but you would be shocked at how underestimated he was during his lifetime

Gravitational waves were first predicted by Albert Einstein 100 years ago. It's taken that long for our technology to catch up to his brilliance and confirm the theory.

Scientists suspect that two merging black holes emit more energy in the form of gravitational waves in the last few minutes before they collide than a single star emits over billions of years.

Gravitational waves contract and expand the fabric of space-time, but only by a very small amount. The LIGO instruments (one shown below) are designed to detect a distortion that is 1 million times smaller than the width of a hydrogen atom.

All eyes have been on Viacom for a while now. But the scrutiny has become intense recently as the company underwent a contentious change in leadership, another sagging quarterly report, and a subsequent double-digit percent drop in its stock price all within the past week.

What's happening at Viacom

Last week, Viacom CEO Phillipe Dauman was elected the board's new chairman after Sumner Redstone, 92 and in declining health, stepped down from the position. Redstone's daughter, Shari Redstone, opposed Dauman's appointment and was the only vote against him. Her father, who remains a member of the board, was among those who voted for him. There's a glimpse into the drama at the top of Viacom. 

Sales in the filmed entertainment division fell by 15% as the company put out fewer releases, according to Reuters. Its movie production has seen more misses than hits, though it does have Oscar nominee "The Big Short" going for it.

But Viacom's TV offerings — which include MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Spike, and TV Land — aren't faring much better. In its most recent quarter, Viacom reported a 3% decline in revenue from its media networks, including TV. The company reported a 6% drop in revenue to $3.15 billion.

Once synonymous with youth and pop culture, Viacom's flagship channels like MTV and Comedy Central seem to have misplaced their finger on what their viewers want. MTV, for example, has been trying for years to create a stable of scripted offerings that resonate with young people and has failed more often than it has succeeded. The network has also seen an exodus of executives in the past year, including the exit of its president.

Business Insider took a close look at Viacom's cable network ratings from the fourth quarter of 2013 through the fourth quarter of 2015 with the help of Nielsen ratings research (Logo was excluded because it didn't meet minimum reporting levels for Nielsen).

The results give a snapshot of Viacom's TV difficulties over the past several years and one explanation for its internal struggles:

SEE ALSO: Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman elected chairman as Sumner Redstone steps down

SEE ALSO: How Spike's new 'Lip Sync Battle' landed its A-list celebrity contenders and became a breakout hit

Looking at the ratings for total viewers of Viacom's cable channels over the past two years shows that they've all experienced a drop in viewership.

The three biggest decreases in total viewership were:
1. Comedy Central -35.8%
2. TV Land -34.6%
3. Nick-at-Nite -28.1%

Viacom's most stable network for total viewership is its country-music station: CMT -7.7%

Here's a snapshot of just the last full quarter of primetime ratings available to us from Nielsen. This gives us a sense of which Viacom networks have the biggest total audience currently.

Top 3
1. Nick-At-Nite– 962,000
2. Spike TV– 725,000
3. VH1– 660,000

Bottom 3
1. CMT – 287,000
2. MTV– 454,000
3. TV Land – 513,000

Usually, most cable networks sell ads for the higher age bracket of 25-to-54-year-olds. But taking into account the younger viewership of many of Viacom's cable networks, we decided to compare them at the 18-to-49-year-old demographic most often used by the broadcast networks.

These numbers give us a sense of which networks are hitting broad, advertising-friendly audiences.

Top 3
1. VH1– 419,000
2. Comedy Central– 375,000
3. Spike TV– 354,000

Bottom 3
1. CMT – 125,000
2. TV Land – 154,000
3. MTV– 292,000

Confidence behind the wheel and perfect car control skills aren't things that come naturally to everyone, or really even anyone. It can take years to become a driving expert.

Drivers' ed might help you get your license and a general understanding of road signs, but if you really want to become a great driver, you'll want to visit some of these great schools.

Skip Barber Racing School

Skip Barber Racing School offers several different programs located at many different race tracks scattered across the US. 

For beginners, the best bang for your buck with Skip barber is their $1,200 high performance driving and racing school combo. In this single day program, you get seat time in sports cars like the Ford Mustang GT, the Porsche 911 Carrera, and some specially-prepped Mazda MX-5 racecars.

There's also classroom instruction time that's used to teach you how to be both a safer driver on public roads, and a quicker, more responsive driver in racetrack-like settings. 

Currently, this combo school is only offered at Road Atlanta, Sebring International Raceway in Florida, and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Northern California. 

Skip Barber also has similar programs and other more in-depth racing courses at racetracks in Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Bondurant School of High Performance

Located in Chandler, Arizona, the Bondurant School of High Performance has courses for everyone between recently licensed teens and seasoned professional drivers.

Thanks to a partnership formed with Fiat Chrysler in late 2015, most of their fleet consists of high-performance Chrysler products like the Dodge Challenger SRT 392, Challenger Hellcat, Viper TA, and Viper ACR. That's a good thing.

Bondurant's asphalt performance driving courses start at $799. They also have off-road and kart racing classes.

DirtFish Rally School

DirtFish has a slightly different approach to the whole car control thing. And by different approach, I mean a very muddy and sideways approach. 

Each car DirtFish has in their fleet is basically built to be a competition-ready rally race car. This means roll cages, racing seats and harnesses, gravel tires, rally wheels, skid plates for underbody protection, rally communication devices, and all of that great stuff. All of these extra bits are used to keep you having fun, in a safe yet very exciting manor. 

Though DirtFish's course lineup is limited to just off-road performance driving, there's still a ton that you can learn that can be easily transferred over to on-road, adverse conditions driving.

At DirtFish there are multi-hour to multi-day courses, depending on how in-depth you want to go with your rally skills.

DirtFish's normal course pricing starts at $475. The rally school is located right outside of Seattle in Snoqualmie, Washington.

Sony sent us their new Xperia Z5 to play with this week.

The Japanese company has put a lot of work into marketing the device's camera, calling it "our best camera phone" and "revolutionary." We have a full review on its way. But first I wanted to compare Z5's much-touted camera to the most well-regarded pocket shooter in the industry: the iPhone 6s.

The first thing you notice with the Z5's camera is the speed of its autofocus feature. Sony claims it'll ready a shot in 0.03 seconds in ideal situations. While I never experienced quite that level of fast, it was remarkable — and noticeably faster than the iPhone 6s.

Below are some images testing the two devices in various situations — outdoors, indoors, in mixed light, and in the dark. The Z5's lens is wider, and its sensor uses a narrower aspect ratio than the 6s. So you'll notice the compositions vary a little between the images. Also, I left both cameras in automatic mode, choosing not to take advantage of the manual settings Sony offers hardcore photographers.

Here's how the two smartphone cameras stacked up.

In broad daylight, there was a surprising degree of difference between the Xperia Z5 and iPhone 6s

The iPhone's camera system did a much better job here. An unmoving daylight scene is usually the easiest situation for a camera to nail, but the Z5 made some obvious mistakes.

First, the Z5 went a bit too bright, blowing out the clouds and reducing the overall contrast of the image. It also selected a cooler white balance, taking the punch out of the reflected sunlight and flattening the scene's colors across the board. The iPhone went with a warm tone that lent richness and depth to the image's colors.

Here are segments of each shot blown up to 100% size

The Xperia Z5, a 23 megapixel device, offered less detail than the 12 megapixel iPhone 6s. Don't see it? Look at the stars on that American flag. This is partly because the Z5 uses its 23 megapixels less efficiently across a much wider frame, but also because megapixels don't actually matter.

Here's how the two phones handled an indoor scene

Again, the Z5 went brighter and cooler. But in this case it improved the shot.

Everyone has to pay taxes.

As to whether you should prepare your own or work with a tax preparer or accountant, however, there's no one-size-fits-all answer.

Since most people's financial situations change every year, it's a question worth asking annually. 

Americans have two basic options when it comes to filing their taxes:

1. Preparing them yourself. 

You can use tax software, or go through the IRS website.

Popular tax software includes programs like TurboTax (the most basic version is free), TaxACT (again, the basic version is free), and H&R Block (the most basic version offers federal filing for free, and $9.99 for state). 

The IRS does not charge to file taxes, and while you can print out and mail in your paperwork or request the paper forms in the mail, the IRS encourages online filing and directs taxpayers with incomes under $62,000 to available free filing software like that mentioned above. For people with incomes north of $62,000, the site provides free fillable forms.

2. Hiring a tax preparer to file for you.

The only professionals qualified to help you are tax lawyers, CPAs, and enrolled IRS agents. You can search for appropriately credentialed preparers at taxprepareregistry.com.

Preparers generally start at around $100 and vary depending on where you live and how complex your taxes are, and accountants might very well charge at least twice that, with similar variations in price according to location and complexity. According to a survey conducted by the National Society Of Accountants, federal and state tax preparation with itemized deductions costs an average of $261.

Note that if you itemize your deductions, you may be able to deduct the cost of your tax preparation from next year's taxes.

So, should you prepare taxes yourself or hire someone to help? For most people, it's not just about the price. Ultimately, it comes down to what you're most comfortable with, but these guidelines could help you decide.

SEE ALSO: 8 common tax mistakes that can cost you hundreds

Do your own taxes if:

You have a straightforward tax situation.

That probably means you don't have dependents, investments, or significant assets or charitable contributions, and you don't own a business.

Those basic, free versions of tax preparation software mentioned above were created for people like you, who have few deductions and factors to take into consideration.

You have the time and patience to deal with it.

Taxes probably aren't the kind of thing you should do with Netflix on in the background. Expect to set aside some time to give it your undivided attention — in 2012, the IRS estimated you'd need 16 hours to do all of the preparation work for the basic form 1040. 

35,000 people could live inside CITE, a new city being built in the deserts of New Mexico — but they never will. 

Instead, CITE, which stands for the Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation, will be used to test new technologies, like alternative energy sources and smart transportation systems, such as driverless cars. 

"New technologies can be tested at scale, allowing researchers and manufacturers to manage the unpredictability of product performance before being introduced into the market,"the CITE website explains.

A contemporary ghost town, CITE will have all the features of a typical, modern city, including houses, a hospital, and a police station. The project, budgeted at $1 billion, is backed by technology development firm, Pegasus Global Holdings. 

In 2012, Business Insider reported that construction was slated to begin, but the project was put on hold for a few years after CITE ran into issues finding a location, CNN reports.

Now, CITE is just waiting on commercial licenses that will allow them to break ground as early as this year.

Keep reading to learn more about the $1 billion "human-less" city.

Here's an aerial view of the proposed city, which will span 15-square-miles.

And here's an animated look at CITE.

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Underneath the city, CITE will be connected and monitored by its operations system, or "Backbone." The Backbone is divided into three systems: energy, water, and data.

Professional ballerina Misty Copeland, 33, made history last year when she became the first African American woman to be named principal dancer with the legendary American Ballet Theatre.

This week she's making headlines with a recent Harper's Bazaar photo shoot she did that recreated images from the famous paintings and sculptures of French artist Edgar Degas. 

Copeland told the magazine she had difficulty freezing in these certain pre-determined poses because, like all dancers, she's a bit of a control freak. "It was interesting to be on a shoot and to not have the freedom to just create like I normally do with my body," she told the magazine.

Her frame may be petite, but her stage presence is huge and has ignited opportunities that extend far beyond international magazines. She served as a judge on "So You think You Can Dance"; wrote a memoir and a children's book; was part of the Under Armour "I Will What I Want" campaign; was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME last year; and was the subject of the documentary "A Ballerina's Tale," which debuted at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. 

The dancer describes herself as an "unlikely ballerina" (it's the subtitle of her 2014 memoir), and it's true: whatever your ballet stereotypes, it's likely Copeland doesn't fit them. Here's how she went from "pretty much homeless" to dance superstar. 

Rachel Sugar contributed to a previous version of this article. 

SEE ALSO: There are only 229 Master Sommeliers in the world — here's how one 27-year-old worked his way into this exclusive club

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Misty Copeland was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1982. When she was 2, her parents divorced, and her mom, Sylvia, moved Copeland and her three older siblings to start over in Bellflower, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. The next time she saw her biological father, she would be 22 and a dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.

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Copeland spent her childhood "dancing to Mariah Carey videos, rewatching a movie about the gymnast Nadia Comaneci, and being very prepared for school, where she was a hall monitor and the class treasurer," wrote Rivka Galchen in a 2014 New Yorker profile.

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But she didn't take any formal gymnastics or dance classes until she was 13 — insanely late for a female ballet dancer. These kids below are auditioning for the super prestigious School of American Ballet. They're between 6 and 10.

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Remember Death Cab for Cutie? The band that had you weeping about love ten years ago?

And of course, you know Kanye West. With his fashion line, somehow-still-ongoing feud with Taylor Swift, and brand new album"The Life of Pablo," we won't be forgetting him anytime soon.

But what do Death Cab and West have in common?

Well.

Some mysterious genius decided to mix the two together, and the result is a handful of songs I listened to for three hours last night. The songs are on Soundcloud under the name "Death Cab for Yeezy" ("Yeezy" being Kanye's nickname), and the most popular, a blend of "Touch the Sky" and "Soul Meets Body," has a little over 3,000 likes as of this writing.

You wouldn't think the twee indy act and mega-talented hip-hop superstar would go together this well. But they do. Have a listen to each of the songs.

Touch the Sky / Soul Meets Body

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Jesus Walks / I Will Follow You Into The Dark

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Get Em High / Crooked Teeth

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Although he's done his share of debunking our favorite sci-fi films, Neil deGrasse Tyson is certainly a fan of the genre.

The astrophysicist and science communicator recently tweeted out a list of his favorite Sci Fi aliens, using The List App.

Some of his favorites were chosen for their realism, some for their interactions with us, and others for their total inhumanity.

Honorable Mention: "The Andromeda Strain" (1971) — for the invention of aliens that aren't even organic!

Tyson's honorable mention, "The Adromeda Strain" from 1971, features a murderous, pathogenic life form so foreign that it isn't even made from organic materials. The strain hitches a ride on a satellite and devastates a New Mexico town.

"Perhaps this one should be in the top ten, but then I'd have to bump one that's already there. Microscopic crystalline life form with no organic molecules," Tyson wrote in The List App. "Can't get more alien than that."

10: "Predator" (1987) — for aliens that are beating us at our own game.

Hunting the hunter can lend credibility to any alien invader. And when that alien chooses to hunt a special forces team that includes Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers in 1987's "Predator", it's definitely one to be feared.

Tyson also mentioned the movie's classic Arnold-ism his List App entry:

"Anything that hunts humans better than the way humans hunt big game is singularly terrifying," Tyson wrote. "Although still an actor in a rubber suit, its tactics, methods, and tools were entirely alien to us. And from this film we received the wisdom of the ages: 'If it bleeds, we can kill it.'"

9: "Star Wars: Episode IV" (1977) and "Episode VII" (2015) — for aliens that show their strength in numbers.

These two "Star Wars" films make the list for its sheer number of entries in the alien life game.

No one can cram a cantina with aliens like George Lucas, although J.J. Abrams certainly holds his own with the jungle bar owned by Maz Kanata (pictured above) in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

"If your aliens are going to walk & talk and have heads & arms and can play musical instruments, then the zoo of creatures in these two films wins that contest of creativity," Tyson wrote in The List App. "Spielberg's ET, Star Trek's The Gorn, and The Creature From the Black Lagoon, would each go unnoticed in these crowds."