There are various underground rules about taking a boat to Cuba, and at the top of that list is to leave firearms behind — that is, if you don't want to get them confiscated by customs officials and possibly never returned.

Captains who want alternate means of protecting their boat may turn to the following:

• Kerosene
• Paint thinner
• Mason Jars
• A 12-Gauge flare gun with many extra flares

At least that was the advice given to the captain of my boat by a former U.S. special forces servicemember who currently operates out of Cuba. Operating on the open seas, even in the Caribbean carries a certain amount of risk. To ward off and prevent and unwanted boardings or attacks, our contact recommends the following:

Mix equal parts kerosene and paint thinner in the mason jars. If confronted by an enemy boat, hurl the jars at their vessel. Make sure the canning lid isn't  too tight, so that the liquid will leak if the jar doesn't smash. Then launch some 12-gauge flare rounds at whomever is threatening you.

The photo shows the flare gun my captain bought for the trip.

One of the other rules is to have enough cash on hand to bribe off the full crew of a Cuban gunboat. An American vessel is generally believed to not be in possession of proper paperwork to get back into the United States, there are federal and military requirements to fulfill, so it's not unheard of for a Cuban crew to attempt to plant drugs on incoming vessels. 

Enough cash can prevent that from happening, save the vessel from being impounded, and the crew from prison.

SEE ALSO: Guantanamo Bay is full of surprises >

SEE ALSO: Military & Defense Facebook page for updates >

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Join the conversation about this story »

Athletes who dominate during the games spend even more time behind the scenes working out and practicing to get better every day.

Luckily for them, not only does this help them succeed while they play, it also give the athletes an incredibly fit body.

We picked the 22 athletes from our Most Dominant Athletes list that have the most defined six packs, biggest bulging biceps, and sleekest chiseled legs.

Sally Pearson — Hurdler

Blake Griffin — L.A. Clippers

Ryan Lochte — Swimmer

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With St. Patty's barely behind us and March Madness underway, the season for beer drinking is here.

The craft beer scene has exploded in the last few years, and this week in each of our blog markets, we've rounded up the best craft beer destinations (be it bars, halls or breweries) in a town near you.

Next up, you'll find the top three picks from each town in our slideshow.

PHILADELPHIA AREA: Monk's Cafe

264 S. 16th St.

Food: 24
Decor: 19
Service: 20
Cost: $28

If you find the multi-page “beer bible” at this Center City brew mecca somewhat intimidating, take heart. All of the bartenders at Tom Peters and Fergus Carey’s tiny, two-bar gem are experts, and will happily recommend something to suit your palate.

As the proprietors like to say, “If you enjoy Scotch whiskey, port or Bordeaux, we have a beer for you!” (p.s. Do not miss the frites - the bourbon mayonnaise dipping sauce is good enough to drink on its own.)

PHILADELPHIA AREA: Standard Tap

901 N. 2nd St.

Food: 23
Decor: 18
Service: 19
Cost: $27

It’s all local, all the time at William Reed and Paul Kimport’s Northern Liberties original. On two floors throughout multiple wood-filled rooms, 20 taps pour a rotating selection of the best area brews, and everything’s as fresh as can be, since there are no bottles offered.

Opened in 1999, credit this spot with defining what a gastropub could and should be. For good local beer alongside good local music, visit the partners' Johnny Brenda's, just up the street in Fishtown.

PHILADELPHIA AREA: Alla Spina

1410 Mt. Vernon St.

Food: 25
Decor: 25
Service: 22
Cost: $28

Italian drink is no longer just about wine. At this Vetri Family birreria on North Broad, a gorgeous custom tap system pours 20 drafts, including unique European finds and specially created house brews.

General manager and beverage director Steve Wildy goes wild with another 50 classy options in bottles and cans, best enjoyed next to pork-filled kitchen bites in the spacious, graffiti-filled room.

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There's been a lot of debate recently concerning women in the workplace.

Whatever the argument is, one thing is certain: Women have come a long way since they began working outside their homes.

We compiled some photographs that show this amazing transition.

1900-1910: A woman working in the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company office in Colorado.

1900-1920: A woman sits at her desk with a typewriter in an empty office.

1902: Dozens of women are photographed working in an office in Dayton, Ohio.

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For most every success, failure, or accomplishment, loss or impromptu change of plan, in most every clime and place, there are photos ... and photographers, right there in the grit with the grunts, submerged beneath the water, and exposed to enemy fire.

So, yearly, a handful of talented visual artists, journalists, and professionals, quietly gather to select the top imagery produced in "uniformed" photography.

They call it, MilPhog, and it's an unheralded ritual of the military's top photographic talent.

Combat Operational — 1st Place — “Afghan Soldiers Searching in the Dark” — US Army, Staff Sgt. Sean K. Harp

2nd place — “Bazaar QA/QC”, USAF, Staff Sgt. Tim Chacon

3rd place — “1st LAR Marines Patrol Through Sre Kala", US Air Force, Sgt. Alfred V. Lopez,

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What will the iWatch look like?

A lot of illustrators and designers have been doing their best to figure it out.

People are getting excited about Apple doing something in the smart watch space because, it's been three years since Apple released the iPad.

The world is waiting for the next industry defining Apple gadget. For a long time, people thought it was going to be a television. But lately, the rumor mill has been pointing to a smart watch.

We've put together some of the best illustrations of an iWatch we've seen from around the web.

It's a little bulky for our taste, but we like the big display on this one.

In this iWatch render it also acts as a little screen projector.

One more, giving you a good look at the watch's band.

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Several big mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies will proceed through the courts this year, leaving a trail of dead or "zombie" brands behind them.

You probably know that Twinkies maker Hostess Brands has been in trouble.

But an airline, a carmaker, and two famous mobile phone brands are also undergoing existential struggles this year.

Here's a look at some famous brand names that we might be seeing the back of.

10. JCPenney

JCPenney's brand is in grave danger under the stewardship of CEO Ron Johnson. It's not likely to literally go extinct this year — which is why we have it at No. 10 in our ranking. But the company is running out of cash (it burned through $54 million last year and has only $121 million left) as it changes its focus from discounts to a format involving name-brand shops within the store itself. The JCPenney will never be the same again.

9. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

Layoffs. Sales declines. Management turmoil. And one of its biggest revenue streams comes from JCPenney. Things couldn't be further from "a good thing" at MSO.

Revenues declined 13 percent in 2012 to $122 million; and it lost over $18 million in cash from its balance sheet. There was only $20 million left at year end.

8. Hostess Brands

Hostess, which sells Twinkies, Ho Hos and Drake's cakes, famously went bankrupt in 2012 and its assets have recently been bought by Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Company; Drakes was acquired by McKee. The Hostess company now exists in name only.

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Florida Gulf Coast is the breakout story of the NCAA Tournament.

The school didn't even exist 23 years ago, and now its in the Sweet 16.

There are a ton of reasons to love FGCU.

Chief among them: their campus is insanely awesome. It is located in Ft. Myers, Florida, and the dorms are literally steps from the beach.

If you went to a cold-weather college, this photos from the school's website and Instagram account will knock your socks off.

A great photo from the school's official website. Those are dorms in the background

Student housing is right on the beach

A typical day on the beach

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High frequency trading is one of the most polarizing issues on the Street.

It's also so complex it's hard to talk about in normal conversation.

To broaden the investing world's understanding of the topic, a new film called "The Ghost Exchange" is examining the impact of high frequency and algorithmic trading on U.S. capital markets, the lack or regulation on HFT and the systemic risks it poses.

It's directed by Camilla Sullivan and the co-produced by Rob Lyall.

To get the full story, the producers interviewed a number of market practitioners from all aspects of the market — traders, academics and regulators.

"The Ghost Exchange" focuses on three of the most recent market events, which have called into question the integrity of these markets— the "Flash Crash" of May 2010, the Facebook IPO snafu and Knight Capital losing over $400 million from a trading error.

What's really interesting is the producers of the film said they got to work on the idea in January 2012 after a conversation about the "Flash Crash."

They were actually planning to interview Knight CEO Tom Joyce for the film before his firm's trading error.

"As we were already on the road to Jersey City, we got a call. Seems there’d been a slight software error – to the tune of $440M in trading losses. Tom had to cancel our interview. However, turning lemons into lemonade we decided to see whom we could talk to about what just happened – an example of trading technology gone haywire. Well that’s what the movie is about isn’t it?!,"they said in a release. 

The real question the film raises, though, is how all these issues impact outside investors. It's important to know whether or not HFT ultimately takes away money and opportunity from our markets as people lose confidence in the entire system.

We went to an advanced screening at the Tribeca Grand Hotel this month and have included the highlights in the slides that follow. 

The venue for the film was in the basement of the Tribeca Grand Hotel.

The cinema.

The movie poster.

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If all of the reports prove true and Jimmy Fallon takes over Jay Leno's 11:35 p.m. "Tonight Show," it will open up a hosting spot on Fallon's 12:35 p.m. "Late Night."

The New York Post is reporting a clear front-runner for the job, but there are nine other hosts and comedians who may also be in the mix and could do an equally great job.

But what does it take to be NBC's "Late Night" host?

• Lorne Michaels' approval. The "Saturday Night Live" executive producer is also the executive producer of "Late Night." His blessing means everything to NBC brass, giving "SNL" alum a leg up on getting the gig. Not that their improv experience hurts.
• A young, hip host. "Since its inception in 1982, 'Late Night' has consistently been the youngest and hippest franchise in network talk," writes Splitsider. "The show's three hosts — David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, and Jimmy Fallon — while wildly different from one another, have all shared an experimental edge to their shows that other talk franchises don't have."
• A recognizable host. "When Conan O'Brien got the gig nearly 20 years ago, he was a 'Simpsons' and 'SNL' writer with no on-camera experience," adds Splitsider. "Jimmy Fallon was a well-known TV personality when he was crowned the host of 'Late Night' in 2009, meaning that the network will probably seek out somebody closer to his level of fame and recognizability this time around too."

These 10 people have the ultimate combination of skills to be the next "Late Night" host.

10. We'd suggest Howard Stern, but he's already called the idea "insulting."

When Howard Stern's name was brought up earlier this month as a possible replacement for Jimmy Fallon, the radio host called the idea "an insult."

While Stern acts as a judge on NBC's "America's Got Talent," he said he will NOT be hosting "Late Night" on the network.

"First of all, what an insult, like, all the years of my career. I'm like, the biggest guy in radio, I've done film, I've done television," Stern exclaimed on "The Howard Stern Show." "I mean, they act like I'm some kind of f------ beginner or something. Maybe if I'm really nice to NBC they'll let me take over Carson Daly's show at like 2 o'clock in the morning."

Stern then kindly pointed out that Fallon likely makes "about a tenth" of his own salary and sarcastically joked that he has also been hired to anchor "NBC Nightly News," as well as guest star on "Community,""Parks & Recreation" and "Whitney."

9. Andy Cohen is already an executive and on-air host.

Not only is Andy Cohen the host of Bravo's live, late-night talk show"Watch What Happens Live,"he is also the Executive Vice President of Development and Talent at the Bravo cable television network, a subsidiary of NBC Universal — the same network on which "Late Night" airs.

He is also the author of a memoir titled "Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture" and is the first openly gay host of a late night talk show, which could make things interesting.

Not to mention, Cohen is close personal friends with Jimmy Fallon, which could make the transition very smooth.

8. Carson Daly's show currently follows Fallon's, but he won't get the gig.

Despite the fact that Carson Daly's "Last Call with Carson Daly" airs directly after Jimmy Fallon's "Late Night," no one is talking about the former MTV "TRL" host taking over Fallon's gig.

For one, he's not a comedian. At all. And secondly, the 39-year-old's show format is more music-based and rogue, often taping shows on the road. 

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Australia is known for many things — extraordinary landscapes, laid-back cities, beautiful beaches.

It would be impossible to see the country and experience all it has to offer on a single trip.

But these 25 places and activities should be at the top of any traveler's bucket list, whether he's a foreign tourist flying in from afar or a native Australian looking to explore his own country.

Enjoy a drink at the Opera Bar before seeing a performance at the Sydney Opera House.

Journey to the remote outback town of Birdsville for its annual horse racing weekend.

Drive by the 12 Apostles — a collection of limestone stacks — on a trip along Great Ocean Road in Victoria.

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Just before the Enron scandal broke, the company's CEO immediately put his money into annuities—in his wife's name.

Why? Because those assets are creditor-protected, so they can't be seized (in this case, by the government).

This is just one example of many—remember the 14% tax rate Mitt Romney paid on his $13 million income?—illustrating how extremely wealthy people get the most from their money. And most of them do it legally.

Much of their success comes from knowing where to find loopholes in the financial system—"hacks," if you will. While we would never recommend any illegal or dishonest money moves (seriously, don't break the law!), there are a handful of legal personal finance hacks that are available to all of us—like these seven incredibly useful, low-profile tricks.

Hack #1: Borrow Against Your Home's Equity

This hack is for homeowners, but it's good for everyone to know about should you ever decide to buy a home.

How It Works: Instead of having the bank front you the money you need through a personal loan, you borrow against your home's equity. (As a reminder, equity is the difference between the total of your mortgage and the appraised value of your home.)

The benefit here is two-fold: Since you've already been approved for a mortgage, the process will be less involved for this loan. You'll need to get your home appraised, but your lender should be able to walk you through the process. Second, interest payments on home equity loans are typically tax-deductible, unlike interest on personal loans.

Lenders probably won't give you an amount equivalent to the entire equity—you'll get more like 75%, at most. But if you have equity of $100,000, that's $75,000 you may be able to borrow. This is a great option if a.) you're planning to stay in your home for a while and b.) your home is worth more than what you paid for it.

If your home is worth less than your mortgage, you have little equity or you'll be moving soon, this hack is not for you. And a word of caution: If you go this route, you must be vigilant about making timely payments on your loan—since you're borrowing against your home, you could lose it if you fall behind on those payments.

Hack #2: Pay Down Debt Using a Zero Interest Credit Card

Hack #3: Use a Roth IRA to Save for College

This hack is useful if you're saving for a child's college tuition because it gets around the limited use of 529 accounts. That said, Roth IRAs do come with income limitations: You can contribute to a Roth IRA to the limit if your adjusted gross income is less than $112,000 filing alone, and $178,000 if you're married, filing jointly, so consult your tax advisor before giving this idea a try.

How It Works: A 529 plan is a state-run college savings account (you can look into the particulars of your state's program here). It's not federal income tax-deductible (although some states let you to deduct some of your contributions on your state income taxes), but it does allow you to pull out funds for college tax-free. The downside of a 529 plan is that if and when you apply for financial aid (by filling out the FAFSA form), the money in this account is considered part of the family's assets. For some families, having savings in a 529 counted as an asset lessens the chances of getting financial aid.

One of the things that we say again and again is that you shouldn't take money out of a retirement account. There are penalty fees, and it's basically self-sabotage ... with one exception. That exception is withdrawing the principal—the money you contributed, and not the interest it has earned—from your Roth IRA.

We don't generally recommend this maneuver, but if you're in a tight spot, it might work for you. Money saved in retirement accounts doesn't count toward a family's assets, so you can save money for college in a Roth IRA, apply and possibly qualify for financial aid without declaring those assets, and then withdraw those savings when it's time to pay. For example, you and your spouse could each contribute $5,500 (the maximum contribution for 2013) for a total of $11,000 a year for the both of you. In 15 years, your principal will be $82,500, which you can withdraw to pay for college without penalty.

Something else to know: Retirement accounts are generally creditor-protected, so they can't be seized by creditors—with 529 accounts, the rules vary by state.

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Mathematics has little surprises that are designed to test and push your mental limits.

The following 12 simple math problems prove outstandingly controversial among students of math, but are nonetheless facts.

They're paradoxes and idiosyncrasies of probability.  And they're guaranteed to start an argument or two. 

If you're looking for a mathematical way to impress your friends and beguile your enemies, here's a good place to start. 

Please send all attempts at counter-proofs as well as any abuse or beration to either whickey@businessinsider.com or @WaltHickey. 

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After we published a bleak photo essay on life in Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, I received hundreds of angry emails from readers who said I was ignoring the positive side.

The most compelling response came from Northern Arapaho tribeswoman Mary Rose Goggles, who offered to tell me the best parts of reservation life as well as her own story.

Skip to the best parts of Wind River >

Mary Rose takes an optimistic view on her life and her community, though both have seen plenty of misfortune.

A 54-year-old woman who lives just off the reservation in Riverton, Wy., she joined the U.S. Army when she was 21 years old. During her time with the U.S. Signal Corps at Fort Detrick, Maryland, she was exposed to toxic chemicals. She says she still feels the effects of this exposure but takes it in stride:

I have come to terms with my health issues and remember I served for our freedoms...our Freedom of Religion, so as Native People we can worship our Creator through our Ceremonies handed down through generations since the beginning of time, and we can hold on and cherish our Culture...our Identity. And to keep speaking our own language.

Mary Rose cherishes the ideal of freedom, though she recognizes its downside too. She writes:

Sad to say, because we live in a Multicultural World...and each one of us has that ultimate "freedom of choice," a lot of our younger generations experiment with other cultural ways of living, hence alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, corruption, gangs, etc.

Eventually some of our people who made those detours, myself included, we come back full circle to our original teachings and our sacred way of life. After all isn't that what life is about? Live and Learn! I can honestly say I know of two of my great grandparents who did not taste alcohol...

English was their second language, my paternal grandmother Christine Frances Friday Goggles' mother Zoe Friday...and my paternal grandfather Lloyd Paul Goggles, Sr.'s father John Baptiste Goggles, Sr. Now we have the medical field diagnosing a lot of our children as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) or Fetal Alcohol Effect (FAE)...yet other cultures used alcohol since when? Roman and Greek days...wine and grapes!

Mary Rose's surname, Goggles, is another mark of her family's encounter with the U.S. government: 

Why Goggles....? Well when the government put us on reservations and developed the census for us...they used my Great-Great Grandfather's Indian Name translated into English "Iron Eyes" as our family's surname. Time came along, the government building burned, records were destroyed, and they had to redo their census.

They [whites, Americans, religious leaders, everyone non-tribal] and shortened a lot of names from what they had been. Instead, they gave out a lot of common names such as 'Brown', 'Smith', etc. As a matter of fact, some names they had a hard time translating...anyway our name was shortened to 'Goggles'.

When our ancestors were put into the Catholic or Episcopal Boarding Schools...they had to pick English names....some called them Baptismal names, or the Nuns and/or Priests gave them English first names. Through all that we survived through historically. We still have our Traditional Naming Ceremonies, which are very, very important.

This is where an authorized Elder can pass on previous Indian Names or give out Indian Names. It is our belief that this is how our Creator...God...recognizes us...as Indian....as Northern Arapaho... The English name given to our Tribe... is 'The Blue Sky People' not what we call ourselves, and we do not want the creator to forget who we are..."

When I mentioned to Mary Rose that I was en route to Florida to visit my mother, she wrote back to tell me of the importance of family:

Have a great day also especially with your mother...you are fortunate to have her yet, my mother passed on to the Happy Hunting Grounds last year on August 21, 2012...she was born August 27, 1933...the Doctors couldn't believe she never had any surgeries...lol...she would tell them 'the only thing missing is my teeth'....she had dentures.

I miss her and love her, but I know she is happy where she is and I will see her one of these days...meanwhile I have my children and grandchildren....my brothers...extended relatives who I have to look out for and be here for when they need me.

That warm embrace of family hinted at one of the good thing about life on the rez, at the sense of continuity and community that survives centuries of struggle.

In our last communication, I told Mary Rose that I hoped this piece would bring positive attention to Wind River. She replied:

Well, hopefully some positive changes will evolve from all the controversy your article raised... Maybe it will instill a sense of Pride in our youth and they will seek out their Identity and make the right choices in their journey of life...

Maybe it will awaken the Northern Arapaho Business Council and the Eastern Shoshone Business Council to make our Language and Cultural Programs a priority on their agendas...especially when it comes to Budgets. And most importantly, no matter what, everything you've done is educating all people Nationwide of our existence ... of our SURVIVAL!!

In the meantime, Mary Rose offers the following reasons why she loves life on Wind River.

Wind River's Mary Rose Goggles says "the beauty of the mountains ... Mother Earth" are among the best parts of life on the Wyoming reservation.

"The fresh air we have, the beauty of clear blue skies, free from pollution ..."

"The quality of drinking water we have, water of life ..."

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The last few months have given rise to tons of new and sometimes shocking fast-food items, including Cool Ranch Doritos Locos from Taco Bell, Pizza Hut's new Pizza Sliders, McDonald's FishMcBites and, most recently, Denny's BBQ Bacon Mac 'n' Cheese Bites.

Clearly we've tasted them all.

Before you try any of these new items, check out what we had to say about them in our slide show.

Denny's BBQ Bacon Mac 'n' Cheese Bites

Served by the half dozen, these golden-fried balls are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside, and ours were perfectly cooked - the outer breading wasn’t too thick or heavy. It easily cracks open to reveal soft macaroni and oozing cheese, and the BBQ sauce on the plate is tangy and only slightly sweet, making a great dipping sauce.

Speaking of dipping, the ramekin of pepper jack sauce on the side should be ignored entirely. “It’s just a bowl of calories!” exclaimed one diner. There’s already plenty of cheese inside each fried sphere, and the sauce has no discernable taste - whether there's actually pepper jack in it is anyone’s guess. Certainly the few stingy pieces of bacon sitting on top of the bowl do nothing to enhance the flavor.

But . . . do they really belong on the Baconalia! menu? In our batch, there definitely wasn’t much bacon in those balls. When one guest ran into a piece, he almost spit it out - “What’s that chewy thing I just bit into?” - until reminded that bacon was in the title of the dish.

Still, that shouldn’t stop you from ordering them. Served on a different plate, these mac ‘n’ cheese bites would easily be at home at a hip Williamsburg bar, where you’d likely pay triple the $4.59 price tag. Just get your bacon fix elsewhere, like the pepper-bacon-avocado omelet or the sourdough BLT, and you’ll be fine. As long as you avoid the “pepper jack” dip.

Hazelnut Macchiato at Starbucks

So what exactly IS a macchiato, technically speaking? For those not in the know, it's an espresso drink with a very small amount of foamed milk dotted on top (macchiato means "marked" as in marked with a small amount of milk).

Starbucks' popular caramel macchiato has been on the menu for decades, but they've just now add another flavored variation to the mix.

We recall the former to be a sugar bomb, as it's topped with caramel sauce, but we were pleasantly surprised to find the new hazelnut drink not too sweet at all. In fact, it wasn't much of anything - not too heavy on the hazelnut or sugar and not carrying that trademark "over roasted" Starbucks flavor. It basically just tasted like a latte with a hint of hazelnut. And can you have that much foamed milk and still call the thing a macchiato? The drink is available both hot and iced at locations around the U.S.

Pizza Hut Big Pizza Sliders

Pizza Hut recently added Big Pizza Sliders to their menu, so naturally, we had to check them out. We ordered them via a very cool and user-friendly mobile site to schedule a delivery for later in the day. (Did you know that was even possible? We didn’t.) A box of nine sliders showed up at the door exactly on time, holding a trio of plain cheese, three topped with pepperoni and three with sausage, peppers and mushrooms.

The first thing you notice is that Big Pizza Sliders are not big. They’re little. Much smaller than a even a personal pan pizza. Maybe they’re big if you’re feeding them to your cat? A cat would probably love batting these around, but the dough pucks would leave trails of grease all over your floor, so we don’t recommend it. However, that could be the reason they’re also called sliders - otherwise these have nothing to do with sliders as we know them. Sliders are cute mini hamburgers or pulled pork sandwiches in little adorable buns. These are pizzas.

Getting past the name, Pizza Hut tells you that “the circle is the new slice.” The idea is if you’re sharing with a group, you can customize the little pies in many different ways, and not be forced to eat toppings your friends love but you hate. Great plan. But: circles are most definitely not bite-friendly like the tip of a slice. At least not when they have inch-high crusts. You could cut your gums on these things. We decided to cut them in half for easy eating.

Cut in half, you can see Big Pizza Sliders are mostly dough. The crust is like Pizza Hut’s pan pizza crust, which is airy on the inside and buttery-crusty on the edges, in a good way. Except that sliders have much more “edge” than a regular pie, so as greasily tasty as the dough is, there's too much of it. The batch we got had hardly any sauce at all, though the toppings were super fresh - the pepperoni wasn’t burnt, and the green peppers even had snap.

Were they better than Pizza Hut pizza? If you hate a soggy bottom pie, just order some extra sauce on the side, and possibly extra cheese, and these will make you happy. They were actually a lot like focaccia, and we had the idea that if you put a few slices of American cheese in the middle of two of them, you could make a killer grilled cheese sandwich. Or maybe even use them as a bun for a burger - now THAT would be a Big Pizza Slider, for reals.

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Technology has the potential to enhance our health and even help us live longer. 

There's a slew of apps out there aiming to revitalize the health care industry, like ZocDoc for helping find doctors and making appointments, and Runkeeper for tracking your fitness.

But more importantly, there have been major breakthroughs in cancer treatment, health information collection, and medicine all thanks to technology. 

Prosthetic limbs that can feel

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratory are working on a new kind of medical plastic that can interface with human tissue and "talk to it," meaning it can work with nerves and muscles without damaging them.

There are an estimated 2 million people in the U.S. alone who are living without certain limbs, according to the Amputee Coalition. The goal of Sandia National Laboratory's research is to improve an amputee's control over his or her limbs with help from their own nervous system. 

Big data treats cancer

Healthcare companies are tapping into Hadoop, a big data tech that lets business sift through giant volumes of information to answers questions. This is particularly great for cancer research because cancer is a tough problem to solve.

Cancer cells mutate differently in each person and react to drugs differently based on a person's genetic makeup. So companies are working on ways to put the human genome into Hadoop to help predict which treatments will work best with individuals. Some of these Hadoop-using companies include Crossbow, UNC-CH Lineberger Bioninformatics Group, and Hadoop-BAM. 

Big data makes drugs safer

Another Hadoop company, Cloudera, worked with the FDA to create a database of drug interactions. It will help predict how dangerous it is for a patient to take multiple drugs at once.

If a person takes multiple medications and they negatively interact that can seriously harm or kill the person.

Cloudera is also working with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine to predict and prevent disease. The goal is to analyze human and bacterial genomes, study metabolic pathways of normal and disease states in the organism, and better understand how certain molecules can treat diseases. 

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Today Bloomberg TV is starting a new line-up and introducing day-time viewers on the East Coast to star reporter, Emily Chang.

Chang is the host of Bloomberg West which will now air two hours a day. It was previously only on in the evenings on the East Coast, but they've added a 1 PM ET timeslot. Today, she'll be interviewing Twitter CEO Dick Costolo.

Bloomberg West started two years ago covering tech, media and innovation. It's the only global TV news program originating from San Francisco and Cory Johnson and Jon Erlichman contribute as well.

Bloomberg was kind enough to let us peak into Chang's life for a day, just in time for her brand new time slot.

Bloomberg West wraps at 4pm PT, but there's no rest for the weary. Tonight, I'm off to...

The San Francisco premiere of "Game of Thrones," Season 3. I'm interviewing the actors on the red carpet, including the King Slayer, actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, fans like Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, and...

HBO CEO Richard Plepler, who says "Thrones" is right up there with historic HBO hits like "Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos."

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Last week, Ford experienced an unexpected PR disaster when creatives at JWT India — the Ford Figo's agency of record — released an unauthorized ad on the internet that shows Silvio Berlusconi tying up and gagging scantily clad women in the (albeit spacious) trunk of his car.

Ford isn't the only major company that has had to answer for a controversial ad it never wanted to go public.

A series of Pepsi ads in Dusseldorf showed graphic images of a personified calorie committing suicide in various violent ways. The World Wildlife Foundation had to apologize when DDB Brazil created ads in which dozens of planes were shown flying at the World Trade Towers with the text, "The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11." WWF said it never approved the ads even though they were submitted to various ad award ceremonies.

FORD: A team from JWT India posted an ad for the Ford Figo (in which Silvio Berlusconi ties up and gags crying women in the trunk of his car) on Ads of the World. It wasn't meant to be distributed.

There was also an ad with a winking Paris Hilton getting ready to dispose of the scantily clad Kardashians, her reality television competition. Both WPP Group and Ford apologized.

OREO: Cheil Worldwide in Korea posted this "Milk's Favorite Cookie" poster in 2012 on Ads of the World. It incited positive and negative backlash. Kraft USA issued a statement that it never ran and "was created by our agency for a one-time use at an advertising forum."

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Starbucks is watching you, coffee drinkers.

Joe LaCugna, director of analytics and business intelligence at Starbucks, spoke at the Big Data Retail Forum in Chicago last week and explained how the coffee chain uses loyalty card data to track customers.

"We know who you are. We know how you're different from others," he said during the session, according to Kate Kaye at AdAge.

A quarter of all transactions at Starbucks are made with loyalty cards. That's a lot of data being collected, and Starbucks still isn't entirely sure what to do with all of it.

Right now, Starbucks segments its customers with the data, then sets up rules based on their purchase behavior. Then, the customers get offers, usually on their smartphones.

These deals are targeted at customers whose purchasing habits show that they may not be coming back soon. Loyalists who constantly go to Starbucks don't get the deals, since the coffee-seller isn't worried about losing them.

There's a total of 6 million registered loyalty program members and Starbucks has profiled half of them so far. Currently, about 80,000 new members join each week, according to Starbucks chief digital officer Adam Brotman.

Starbucks is now expanding its loyalty program to grocery stores and its Teavana chain of stores, but there's no word yet on recently-acquired bakery chain La Boulange, noted Lisa Jennings at Nation's Restaurant News.

Execs expect to have 9 million registered members by the end of FY 2013.

"The appeal in expanding the program is clear: Starbucks will have even more data about consumers’ buying habits,"wrote Susan Berfield at Bloomberg Businessweek. "The question remains whether the multistep process will test customers’ patience as much as it rewards their loyalty." 

SEE ALSO: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Slaps Down Anti-Gay Marriage Activist At Shareholder Meeting >

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On the court, LeBron James is the most dominant athlete in the world.

Off it, he has charted an ambitious course to earn $1 billion, signing endorsement deals with the biggest companies in the world, and making some smart investments.

As a result, he has amassed some awesome cars, pristine houses, and an enviable wardrobe. And he still has time for his lovely, surprisingly normal family.

First thing's first, let's see where his money comes from. He has made $92 million in career NBA salary. But he makes the real money off the court...

Source: Basketball Reference

He made $33 million (twice his NBA salary) in endorsements last year. He's in ad campaigns for huge companies like McDonald's and Samsung

Source: SI

He also has a deal with Nike. The company signed him to a 7-year, $93 million deal right out of high school. He's a huge force in the sneaker and sports apparel world

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