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Nobody wants to buy this 214-room mansion in Silicon Valley that's on sale for $36 million

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hayes mansion san jose for sale 25

A Silicon Valley city wants to unload a historic mansion that is costing millions of dollars a year in upkeep. But nobody with pockets deep enough seems to want it.

Built in 1905, Hayes Mansion is a 214-room hotel and conference center located in San Jose, California. The city bought the private estate for $2.5 million in the early 1980s during the personal-computing boom. It wanted to make the mansion a hub for the tech industry.

But tourists and professionals coming to town for conferences never followed in the way the city had hoped, in part because Hayes Mansion sits on the outskirts of Silicon Valley. An investigation by the San Jose Mercury News found that the city has sunk more than $60 million over the last three decades in subsidizing renovations and maintenance.

San Jose put the mansion up for sale in July, after a deal to sell it for $47 million ($5 million over asking) fell through. It has since slashed the asking price to $36 million.

Take a look inside Hayes Mansion.

SEE ALSO: Take a look inside the former radioactive-waste site off the coast of San Francisco that's turning into a $5 billion housing development

Hayes Mansion is an architectural gem.



From above, it bears a striking resemblance to President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.



Built in 1905, it belonged to the Hayes Family, who made their fortune mining iron in the Great Lakes area. The Hayes heirs went on to run newspapers in the Bay Area.

Source: San Jose Mercury News



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8 easy ways to fix common iPhone problems

The 25 best public high schools in America

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Walter Payton College Preparatory High School students

A great education doesn't have to cost a fortune — especially in high school.

Niche, a company that researches and compiles information on schools, released its 2018 rankings of the best public high schools in the US.

The ranking analyzed 17,867 public high schools and rated schools in areas like academics, teachers, student culture and diversity, and resources and facilities. You can read more about the methodology here.

Here are the top 25 public high schools in America:

SEE ALSO: The best school district in America is in an Ohio suburb 20 miles outside Cleveland, a city where schools are failing by almost every measure

25. High Technology High School — Lincroft, NJ

Students: 242

Graduation rate: 95%

Advanced Placement enrollment: 39%



24. Hinsdale Central High School — Hinsdale, IL

Students: 2,778

Graduation rate: 95%

Advanced Placement enrollment: 36%



23. Maggie Walker Governor's School — Richmond, VA

Students: 746

Graduation rate: 99%

Advanced Placement enrollment: 63%



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Inside the exclusive multimillion-dollar San Francisco street that a couple bought for $90,000

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Tina Lam and Michael Cheng are living their version of the American dream.

The couple made headlines this week when a San Francisco Chronicle story outed their 2015 purchase of Presidio Terrace — a private cul-de-sac lined by $35 million mega-mansions.

An unpaid tax bill caused the City of San Francisco to put it up for sale, without the knowledge of the street's wealthy residents. Lam, an engineer in Silicon Valley, and Cheng, a real-estate agent, scooped up the street, its sidewalks, and other "common ground" for $90,000.

Now residents are up in arms, in part because the couple wants to charge them rent for using the street's 120 parking spaces. The homeowners association has sued the couple and the city.

We used Google Earth to get a look at the exclusive private development.

Join the conversation about this story »

21 everyday phrases that come straight from Shakespeare's plays

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Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is most famous for his plays. But he also invented many words and phrases that we still use today in everyday life. 

We put together a list of our 21 favorites. Check them out:

"Puking"

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. ..."

How Shakespeare uses it: "Puking" was first recorded in Shakespeare's "As You Like It." It was likely an English imitation of the German word "spucken," which means to spit.

Modern definition: A synonym for the verb "to vomit."

Source: "As You Like It," Act 2, Scene 7



"Vanish into thin air"

"Then put up your pipes in your bag, for I'll away. Go; vanish into air; away!" (Othello)

How Shakespeare uses it: The Clown says this to the musicians in "Othello" to make them go away.

But some have also suggested that there is a darker underlying meaning. Act 3 in Othello is the final act that suggests that all of this might have a happy ending. It gets pretty dark starting in Act 4. So the Clown might be symbolically asking musicians and all happy things to "vanish into thin air" because there's no more room for them in the play.

A similar phrase is also found in "The Tempest."

Modern definition: To disappear without a trace.

Sources: "Othello," Act 3, Scene 1, "The Tempest," Act 4, Scene 1



"There's a method to my madness"

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't. Will you walk out of the air, my lord?"

How Shakespeare uses it: Polonius says it in "Hamlet," basically suggesting that there is reason behind apparent chaos.

Modern definition: The meaning is the same nowadays, although the language is a bit updated into modern terms. It is also a Bee Gees song.

Source: "Hamlet," Act 2, Scene 2



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One of the most famous photographers in history just made her Instagram public and revealed new work

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Cindy Sherman, 2017

Fine art photographer Cindy Sherman, whose wildly successful career has spanned over 40 years, has recently released a new form of work via Instagram.

Her now-public account was originally created as a private profile last October. Now, with an audience of over 110,000 followers, it reveals photos that have the art world asking if they're ever meant to be shown as part of a future gallery collection.

Sherman is famous for her carefully executed self-portraits, one of which sold for $3.89 million in 2011, and currently sits in third place for the most expensive photo print ever sold.    

Below, a sample of her Instagram.   

SEE ALSO: Stunning photos show what it's like inside a Chinese factory that makes American toys

While Sherman has been using her account to post personal images from her everyday life, her first self portrait was published on the app in May.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/BUAWSyngU4q/embed/
Width: 658px

 



Because of Sherman's fine art self-portraiture, these Instagram posts have had people question if these selfies might be part of a larger series of work.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/BUKRl2lgdKX/embed/
Width: 658px

 



The New York Times noted that it looks like Sherman is using the retouching and makeup apps Facetune and Perfect365 on her photos.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/BUYBO0pgGhK/embed/
Width: 658px

 Source: The New York Times



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There are 6 major services that let you stream live TV over the internet — here's how they compare

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hulu live tv 2

Everyone in the tech industry wants your eyeballs.

More specifically, an increasing number of tech companies are trying to attract the millions of "cord-cutters" who have ditched cable for services that stream live TV channels over the internet.

Hulu's flashy new live-TV service is the latest to join the fray, while YouTube recently launched its YouTube TV platform. Sony, Dish Network, and AT&T, meanwhile, have been fighting it out for months now.

But since this is the TV industry in America, figuring out what's what is complicated. So to help you see which, if any, make sense for you, we've broken down the biggest live-TV streaming services you can choose from today: PlayStation Vue, Sling TV, DirecTV Now, YouTube TV, and Hulu with Live TV, as well as a smaller offering called Fubo TV that's expanded in recent months.

Let's dig into the fine print:

SEE ALSO: Here's how the 'unlimited' plans from Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile compare

Sling TV

1. How much does it cost?

It's $20 a month for the base Sling Orange package or $25 a month for a Sling Blue package with more channels.

For $40 a month, you can buy the Orange and Blue packages together, but the two do not totally overlap in terms of channel selection. (Hold that thought.)

From there, you can tack on a bunch of smaller specialized bundles of channels for between $5 and $15 a month per bundle. There are way too many to list here, so you should have a look at Sling's service page.

2. How many channels does it have?

Sling Orange has about 30 channels. Sling Blue has about 45 channels depending on where you live, but its lineup doesn't include everything in Sling Orange.

The add-on bundles can incorporate a few dozen more channels, but those vary wildly in terms of popularity. The likes of MTV, Starz, and Showtime are very popular; other networks, like the Outdoor Channel, are more niche.

3. Which major channels are not included?

CBS is absent. ABC is there, but only for some markets, and only with a Sling Orange subscription. It also costs an extra $5 a month. For the kids, the main Nickelodeon channel isn't available either.

Also, while Sling does carry Fox and NBC channels, they're included only in the Sling Blue package. And there's a good chance those local channels won't even be available if you don't live in one of a few major markets. Check your coverage before you buy.



Sling TV (continued)

4. Does it include ESPN?

Yes, but like every other Disney-owned channel, it's only in Sling Orange. There, you get ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN 3 by default. This is the main thing that keeps the Orange and Blue packages from overlapping.

5. What about local sports and non-ESPN sports networks?

This is a little convoluted.

Sling Blue doesn't have ESPN, but it does include Fox and Comcast/NBC regional sports channels. Again, those vary by region — you can use the tool on Dish's FAQ page to check what's covered in your area.

As for other national sports channels, only Sling Blue includes Fox Sports 1, NFL Network, and NBC Sports Network. With Sling Blue, you can add a Sports Extra package that includes the NFL's RedZone channel, NBA TV, NHL Network, and others for $10 a month.

If you have Sling Orange, though, that Sports Extra package costs $5 a month, doesn't include NFL RedZone, and throws in a few more deep-in-the-weeds sports channels. Again, that's in addition to the main ESPN networks, which Sling Blue does not have.

You can probably see why these services aren't quite revolutionary now.

6. What about HBO?

HBO is available as an add-on to one of the core bundles. It costs $15 a month, the same as the standalone HBO Now streaming service.



Sling TV (continued)

7. Which devices does it support?

You can check Sling's support page for the full list, but the only big no-show is Sony's PlayStation 4.

Otherwise, Roku, Apple TV (fourth gen), Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, iOS, Android, Android TV, Windows, macOS, Xbox One, and others are all supported.

8. Does it have DVR so I can record shows I missed?

Yes, but it doesn't come included with a basic subscription. Instead, you have to pay an extra $5 a month for up to 50 hours of DVR storage.

Beyond that, a decent chunk of channels — namely Disney's and ESPN's networks — cannot be recorded for the time being. (Here's a full list.) And while Fox networks can be recorded, you'll automatically be reverted to the on-demand version of those shows if they're available. That means you'll have to watch ads.

Sling has done well to roll out DVR support to more devices over the past few months, but Apple's macOS is still out of luck. There's no limit on how long you can keep a recording, though, and Sling now lets you "protect" specific recordings in case you run out of space.

9. Can I pause and rewind live TV?

Technically, yes. But several channels — including ESPN, CNN, TBS, Cartoon Network, and AMC — do not support the feature and can only be watched live.

These channels typically lack support for Sling's replay feature, in which certain recently aired programs are available to stream for a limited time after they first air.

10. How many people can use it at once?

With Sling Orange, you can only have one active stream going at a time. With Sling Blue, that's bumped up to three concurrent streams. With the $40-a-month Orange-plus-Blue combo package, it becomes four.



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11 articles of clothing no man should wear after college

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college

When you graduate from college, there are some things you'll have to change about yourself as you adjust to the "real world."

One of the most important is relearning how to dress for public rather than for the sanctuary of your college dorm.

That means less of your sweatpants, fewer straight-up pajamas, and absolutely no club T-shirts of any kind. We have created a list of the items you should purge from your closet after you receive your degree.

Make sure you're not stuck in the past.

SEE ALSO: 17 things every guy needs in his closet for summer

Your dirty, sweaty boat shoes.

Your boat shoes are ugly, dirty, smelly, and sophomoric. 

Ditch them after college, and get one of these adult-approved substitutes instead.



Your broken-down rubber flip flops.

You're no longer showering in a dorm, and your footwear should reflect that.

Anything that could be called a "rubber flip flop" should immediately be chucked in the trash upon moving out for the last time.



Your shiny "going out" shirt.

The difference between what you wear every day and what you wear out at night should not be so different that you need a special going-out shirt.

Ditch it and just wear something that you like when you hit the bars and clubs.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

I stopped eating sugar and processed foods — and lost 10 pounds in 6 weeks

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sleepy girl

We can all probably relate to feeling tired at work, sluggish in the morning, and lazy on the weekend, at some point in our lives, right? Well, I was feeling that way almost every day.

While I was a normal size, I knew I was starting to gain some weight from my lazy behavior and terrible, truly awful diet.

I, my friends, was your classic "unhealthy vegan."

Registered dietitian Whitney Stuart of Whitness Nutrition told me this isn't that unusual. She has vegan clients come in and act surprised when she says they don't eat enough vegetables.

"But I'm vegan!" they tell her. Well, you still have to eat vegetables, and whole grains, and fruits, if you want to benefit from your vegan diet.

I was not. And it was showing. My terrible diet coupled with my desk job left me bloated. I had time for exercise over my breaks or on the weekends, but wasn't actually doing it. I knew that a first step to changing my energy levels would be my diet, so I decided to switch to a whole-food, plant-based diet, which has been touted as one of the healthiest out there.

A whole-food, plant-based diet doesn't mean vegan, Stuart told me. It just means you should think about plants first in every meal, and make them at least half of your plate. Meat, dairy, eggs, and fish should be secondary to plants. I was content to sticking with my veganism, I just had to fine-tune it to actually benefit from it.

I never meant to lose weight, but I found I went from my post-college weight back down to my college weight (a weight I had been at most of my adult life, and considered comfortable for me.) At the end of six weeks, I'd dropped 10 pounds, and I have no intentions of going back to my old, processed and sugar filled diet.

Here's the emotional roller coaster I took cutting out sugar and processed foods:

SEE ALSO: There's even more evidence that one type of diet is the best for your body and brain

DON'T MISS: 5 easy tricks a dietitian uses to stick to her diet when eating out

Before my diet, I was addicted to processed white carbs and fake vegan cheeses. While they're delicious, vegan cheeses are mostly processed and shouldn't be consumed for three meals a day. I liked waking up to (vegan) quesadillas, having grilled cheese at lunch, and mac and cheese at dinner. Other times I'd have fake turkey with fake mayo on white bread.



White refined carbs, like white bread and white pasta, don't let your body know you're full, so you eat a lot more than you need. It also creates spikes and then drops in blood sugar, making you feel crappy later on.

Sources: Journal of the American Medical Association, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition



My new diet rules were: no added sugar (natural sugar like apples were okay), no processed foods (think fake meats), and no refined carbs (white pasta, white rice, etc). And focus on veggies, fruits, and nuts — lots of them.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

In 1959, the US sent mail by replacing a missile's nuclear warhead with mailboxes

The future of the Hamptons is uncertain as young, rich buyers ditch mega-mansions and tennis courts

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matt lauer hamptons home

The struggling Hamptons real estate market is rebounding — but young buyers are less flashy than previous generations. 

"Those great big huge houses from the 1990s and early 2000s, they’re sitting," Paul Brennan, a broker at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, told Bloomberg's James Tarmy. "I think that conspicuous consumption isn’t in vogue these days, and that’s why bigger isn’t better." 

 

The shift away from ultra-luxury is hurting the richest homeowners. 

Rather than sprawling estates that are difficult to maintain, today's buyers prefer vacation homes that are relaxing. That means fewer lawns, gardens, tennis courts, and rooms to maintain. 

At least one celebrity has fallen prey to the trend. Matt Lauer's 25-acre Hamptons estate recently got a $2 million price chop and has languished on the market for more than a year. 

The end of 2016 was challenging for the Hamptons luxury real-estate market, according to several brokerages that released reports. Data from the luxury real-estate company Brown Harris Stevens showed that average home prices had fallen by 23.1% in the fourth quarter year-over-year.

Hamptons party

In the second quarter, 48 homes that cost $5 million or more sold a vast improvement compared with the past year and a half, according to Bloomberg. 

Experts blamed the election for the previous downturn. 

"This was really due to the election," Aspasia Comnas, executive managing director of Brown Harris Stevens of the Hamptons, told Business Insider's Madeline Stone. "We're a secondary-home market, and if our buyers or sellers feel at all uncertain about what their economic future will look like — and with a change in administration, there was no way but for there to be a change in the economy — buyers and sellers hold back."

The Hamptons market has also been hurt by the growing popularity of the Hudson Valley, which has renowned hiking and food scenes. 

Madeline Stone contributed to this story. 

 

SEE ALSO: Take a rare look at the enormous mansions hidden behind the Hamptons' famously high hedges

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NOW WATCH: Apple is lagging the market as iPhone 8 woes mount

This portable brewer lets you make a perfect cup of coffee on the go

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Need to make coffee on the go? The Dripkit may be your solution. This single-use, pocket-sized pour over lets you brew the perfect cup whenever and wherever you want. It is expected to launch in November 2017.

Join the conversation about this story »

Harry Potter's childhood home is for sale for $1.2 million — take a look inside

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Harry Potter Home

Harry Potter's childhood home in the film "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is on sale for 995,000 euros, or about $1.2 million. 

The house, which is located in Suffolk, England, is listed with the UK-based real-estate agency Carter Jonas.

Here's a closer look at the enchanting home.

SEE ALSO: Take a rare look at the enormous mansions hidden behind the Hamptons' famously high hedges

The official name of the property is the "De Vere House."

According to the listing, the home is believed to have been built by the De Vere family, which was an aristocratic family during Medieval times. 



The home is approximately 3,165 square feet and is broken into two wings.



According to the listing, the home has a number of Medieval and Tudor features including a timber frame ...



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Oligarch Roman Abramovich just split with his wife of 10 years — here's how it could be the most expensive divorce ever

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Roman Abramovich and Dasha Zhukova, 2010

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is worth $9.2 billion — which makes him the 139th richest person in the world according to Forbes.

This month, he and wife Dasha Zhukova announced their plans to separate after ten years of marriage. The couple has two children, joint businesses in Russia, an extensive art collection, a mega-mansion on the Upper East Side, as well as other assets that could make this one of the most expensive splits in history.

Below, a look at the couple's life.

 

SEE ALSO: Tinder threw a Hamptons party on 'billionaire's row' that ended when police showed up — here's what it was like

Abramovich and Zhukova kept their marriage a secret for many years. The couple was often referred to as boyfriend and girlfriend after meeting in 2005. However in 2015, Zhukova revealed during a Wall Street Journal interview that the two had gotten married "a few years" after meeting.

Source: Wall Street Journal



In 2010 Abramovich purchased his yacht, the $250 million Eclipse, which is the third largest yacht in the world.

Source: Forbes, Super Yacht



The boat played an integral role in the birth of the couple's second child, Leah Lou, in 2013. So that the child could be born in New York City, the boat stayed docked on the Hudson for two months, and Forbes estimated that the birth cost an estimated several hundred million.

Source: Forbes



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The 25 best private high schools in America

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Phillips Academy Andover

Attending a top private high school provides a solid academic foundation, helps students gain entrance into first-rate colleges, and prepares them for the challenges of the real world.

Niche, a company that researches and compiles information on schools, released its newest rankings of the best private high schools in the country.

The ranking looked at nearly 3,500 private high schools across the US, rating a number of factors including SAT and ACT scores, graduation rate, school culture and diversity, and college enrollment. You can read the full breakdown of the methodology here.

Below Business Insider has included each school's location, student body population, annual tuition, and because each school scored incredibly high on Niche's metrics, the category where the private school scored lowest.

Read on to learn more about what makes these 25 schools the best in America:

SEE ALSO: The 25 best public high schools in America

25. Stanford Online High School

Location: Stanford, California

Students: 704

Tuition: $19,950

Lowest "Niche Grade": A "C+" rating for diversity



24. Ransom Everglades School

Location: Coconut Grove, Florida

Students: 1,084

Tuition: $35,900

Lowest "Niche Grade": A "B+" rating in diversity



23. The Hotchkiss School

Location: Lakeville, Connecticut

Students: 632

Tuition: $48,080

Lowest "Niche Grade": "A-" ratings in diversity and sports



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Limited Too created a nostalgia-filled paradise in the middle of New York City — take a look inside

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Limited Too

A storefront in Union Square was transported back to the 1990s for one week this month.

From August 6 through 10, Limited Too hosted a pop-up store in New York City that brought back loads of nostalgia for millennials looking for a good #TBT.

Limited Too, which was an offshoot of The Limited, was a fashion sensation in the '90s and early 2000s. Though the brand shuttered in 2008, it was acquired by the brand management company Bluestar Alliance in 2015 and plans to roll out 200 stores in the next several years.Limited Too

"I just wanted to come reminisce about my childhood," Nicole Piccolo, 17, said. "I always used to shop here when I was younger. When I was eight or nine I would ask my mom to bring me here. I would always get the body glitter and I had this jacket that was brown with polka dots on it."

Nicole's 13-year-old sister was too young to remember Limited Too, according to their mother, Susan.

Nicole loved Limited Too so much so that she came all the way from upstate New York to visit the pop-up store.

"We're visiting family so I told my mom I wanted to come, so we chased it down," she said. 

Bluestar Alliance hoped to bring the heralded clothing company to customers who grew up with the brand, especially millennial moms.

According to Mo Hedaya, marketing director at Bluestar Alliance, there could be more Limited Too pop-ups in the future, depending on how the New York store does. 

"We think if this experimental run is successful we would potentially explore key markets for mobile pop-ups," he said.

Pier Imbriano, who was shopping for her eight-year-old daughter, was excited about Limited Too's shop.Limited Too

"I love the pop-up. It's so convenient. I'm just walking by and it's exactly what I'm looking for and it just felt very meant-to-be. You walk in, here it is," she said.

Imbriano and a friend, Lisa Ascalon, found backpacks, shoes, and watches for Imbriano's daughter. The two even joked about being able to get away with wearing some of the items, like a unicorn backpack.

"I think the mini-selfie fan is absolutely hysterical and I totally just want to buy it so that I can have it," Ascalon said. For those who don't know, a "selfie fan" is a portable fan that sticks to the back of a cell phone to give selfies a wind-swept look. 

The pop-up shop served up plenty of nostalgia. The brand's signature blue and pink flowers lined the walls. Backstreet Boys, Mandy Moore, and Britney Spears blared on the speakers (much like their Hit Clips once did) and clothing and accessories dripped with glitter. 

Sadly, no Spice Girls lollipops were in sight but excited employees gave out Dum Dums and offered to take pictures in front of a photo booth wall.

Limited Too

Overall, Hedaya said the pop-up was a win for the Limited Too. 

"We found the pop up to be successful and extremely engaging. People were excited to see the brand," he said. 

Who knows, maybe one day the brand will bring inflatable furniture back. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tried a burger from the chain that wants to be the McDonald's of vegan fast food

These firefighting mules go where trucks and helicopters cannot

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Pack mules still have a role in the digital age. The US Forest Service uses them to supply wildland fire crews in the remote areas of northern California. While environmental laws forbid the use of helicopters, planes and trucks in designated wilderness areas.

Join the conversation about this story »

The 10 best everyday exercises for burning calories

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A man running up the valley

There are a lot of great reasons to exercise. But one of the most basic goals is to burn calories.

The best way to do that is by picking something you like enough to do regularly over time. If you are deciding between a few different activities, you may want to pick the one that burns the most energy.

The Mayo Clinic, drawing on research published by the National Institutes of Health, ranks 36 popular forms of exercise based on their caloric impacts, which we've ranked in another articleHere, we've listed the top ten, with approximate calories burned per hour.

Each graphic lists calories burned per hour for a 200-pound person, while the header above lists calories burned for a 160-pound person. (According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American women weigh 168.5 pounds on average, compared with 195.7 pounds for the average American man.)

Exact figures will vary across body types, gender, age, and other factors. Additionally, exercise on its own doesn't do much to make you lose weight. If you want to slim down, we suggest talking to a doctor about what a healthy weight is for you and cutting down on sugar and large portions.

SEE ALSO: The 39 best ways to burn the most calories in an hour

Rollerblading: 548 calories/hour for a 160-pound person, 683 calories/hour for a 200-pound person

BI Graphics_Burning calories rollerblading

This calculation is for "recreational" rollerblading, though athletes traveling at top speeds will burn even more calories.



Basketball: 584 calories/hour for a 160-pound person

BI Graphics_Burning calories basketball



Flag football: 584 calories/hour for a 160-pound person

BI Graphics_Burning calories flag football



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The big Hollywood romantic comedy is dead — here's what happened to it

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Anaele Pelisson BI Sony Paramount Disney

Romantic comedies have been a staple in the Hollywood machine for as long as movies have been around. But the 1980s and 1990s was the genre’s golden era, as the likes of Rob Reiner (“When Harry Met Sally…”), Garry Marshall (“Overboard,” “Pretty Woman”), and Nora Ephron (“Sleepless in Seattle,” “You’ve Got Mail”) elevated the movies into emotional tear-jerkers that were perfect for date nights.

For those decades, the titles were solid box office moneymakers for the studios, and went on to become cash cows on DVD and cable (where many still play to this day).

And though the early 2000s saw new classics come into the fold like "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" and "Hitch," around 2010 romantic comedies at the studio level drastically slowed down. In recent years, they’ve all but stopped. Since 2010, rom-coms went from nine major studio wide releases (a high water mark for the genre in the 2000s) to zero released at the studio level in 2017.

The last rom-com to earn over $100 million domestically at the box office was 2015's "Trainwreck." 

What happened?

A big factor is the studios realized that comic book movies were where the money was (especially overseas, where rom-coms rarely ever make coin). The major studios only had three wide releases of comic book adaptations in 2010. Since then, there’s been a steady stream of six, sometimes eight (in 2014) comic book movies released by the studios yearly. By the end of 2017, five will have hit the multiplex.

Anaele Pelisson box office graphic rom com

But all the blame can’t be pointed at Iron Man and Wonder Woman. The studios also lost touch with how young people today connect romantically.

“Less people are getting married, or getting married young now than they were years ago, and the whole dating culture with the apps and online, there’s a subtle sea change in what that audience is looking at in terms of romantic comedy entertainment,” Billy Mernit, author of “Writing the Romantic Comedy” and story analyst at Universal, told Business Insider. “So you have the studios still making the same formulaic romantic comedy where it's a courtship story that leads to marriage, and it usually revolves around a young professional woman who gets a leg up by getting involved with an alpha male. The target audience, the twentysomethings and above, just no longer related to that kind of a movie and yet the studios seemed to be tone deaf to that change.”

But romantic comedies haven’t gone away completely. They’ve been modernized at the independent film level and have found success there.

Over the years movies like 2014's "Obvious Child" and 2015's "Sleeping with Other People" have proven that rom-coms can delve into some dramatic waters while still cracking jokes about the dating scene.

The Big Sick Amazon LionsgateOne of the most talked about movies of 2017 is Judd Apatow-produced “The Big Sick.” Though it's a romantic comedy, what stands out is its unique multicultural love story between a Pakistani man (Kumail Nanjiani) and white woman (Zoe Kazan). And it manages to find laughs even though it revolves around the guy caring for the girl who is in a coma.

The buzz about the movie going into this year's Sundance led to Amazon buying it for $12 million. Lionsgate is doing the theatrical release, and the movie has grossed over $35 million worldwide to date (it was made for $5 million). 

"There is slowly a shift in perception on what a romantic comedy is," Mernit said. "The smart romantic comedy writer of 2017 is writing a script that they aren't calling a romantic comedy. They have to have a fresh angle."

Or perhaps the smart rom-com writer is headed to TV. As movies find success now with raunchy R-rated comedies like "Bad Moms" and "Girls Trip," Mernit pointed out TV is where you can find the rom-coms, whether its "The Mindy Project" or "Catastrophe."

"The Catch 22 of the industry right now is the fact that tentpoles supersede all other types of filmmaking," Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations, told Business Insider. "Truth is, the romantic comedy genre doesn’t seem to have too many maestros as it once did. The Nora Ephrons of the world have faded to black, and love and laughs seem to have gone the way of the sitcom, and into streaming content."

So even though occasionally we may see someone like Amy Schumer convince a studio to release a movie starring her in search for love, the rom-com of yesteryear is pretty much extinct.

"The golden era of a romantic comedy coming out every week, we're done with that," Mernit said. "But the romantic comedy genre will never die because whether it's lesbian lovers, a threesome, or a girlfriend in a coma, we are still interested in seeing those stories. I don't think that's ever going to go away."

SEE ALSO: Steven Soderbergh has a new plan to make Hollywood movies outside the control of big studios

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A photographer spent a year documenting 30-year-olds around the world — here's what he found

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Being 30, Satoshi_Transport

Turning 30 may be cause to cheer or cringe, depending on where you're from.

In 2014, photographer Stephane Domingues set out on a 15-month expedition around the world to meet and document the lives of other people in their 30s." He wanted to see how nationality, culture, and living situations shape our values and define our identities.

The result is a stunning and honest portrait series, titled "Being 30." Domingues shared some of the images with us. You can find out more about the project on his blog.

SEE ALSO: A preppy apparel startup is defying J. Crew's curse and dominating the millennial market

"Turning 30 was quite an important event in my life," Stephan Domingues told Business Insider in 2015, when we first spoke. "I felt it was the case for people around me."



Domingues spent a few months trying to organize his travel itinerary and a few years preparing financially, but ultimately left his route in "the hands of destiny."



He left Paris in 2014 with his trusty Fuji X-T1 camera and a one-way ticket to Ethiopia.



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