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Aerial photos reveal the shocking damage of California's deadliest wildfire on record

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A series of fires that have ravaged Northern California since Sunday has now been called the deadliest wildfire disaster in state history. The death toll reached 29 on Thursday.

Seven fires ignited near Highway 128 in the Napa Valley late Sunday, and grew as gusty winds spread the flames over fields and freeways. Now, nearly two dozen fires across eight California counties have destroyed 3,500 buildings and burned more than 191,000 acres— a collective area nearly the size of New York City. Firefighters were still battling the flames on Thursday.

After the smoke cleared, helicopters and drones flew over the most devastated areas of Northern California to survey the damage. Here are the aerial photos.

SEE ALSO: Photos show how wildfires are ravaging parts of California's wine country

SEE ALSO: This map shows the devastating impact of fires ravaging parts of California's wine country

An entire neighborhood was leveled in the fires in Santa Rosa. The neighborhood of Coffey Park — a small community made up of single-family homes — lost hundreds of homes.



Coffey Park has been described as a "little slice of the American dream," where a vibrant mix of Latinos, Vietnamese, Filipinos, Indians, and white people lived in modest homes.



From above, you can make out the erratic nature of the burn. In a cul-de-sac, homes on one side of the street were charred in the flames, but a colorful few appeared to be unscathed.



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People are saying a movie theater in Times Square is crawling with bed bugs — again (AMC)

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Some patrons of the AMC Empire 25 theater in New York City's Times Square are complaining of bed bugs — but the theater is pushing back against the claims.

The theater suffered from a bed bug problem in the summer of 2010 and the fall of 2015.

The most recent sighting came on October 4, when Jessica Vidal took to Facebook and posted pictures of the bugs as well as her husband's neck, which looks to have been bitten by the bed bugs.

Here's what she posted:

One day prior to Vidal's post, NYU graduate student Don Ho told Gothamist that he got "red itchy bumps" on his forearm while at AMC 25.

So what exactly is going on over at AMC 25?

The bed bug discovery in 2010 led to the theater being closed for a brief time for it to be exterminated. Since then, the movie chain claims to have done constant inspections at AMC 25, which along with being a major destination for moviegoers in Manhattan, is also one of the theaters Hollywood studios use to show advance media and word-of-mouth screenings.

A spokesperson for AMC told Business Insider that they have not found any bed bugs at AMC 25.

"We are aware that guests have reported this issue recently, but have found no evidence at the theatre to confirm those reports," the statement read. "As we do any time bed bugs are reported, we investigated immediately upon receiving a guest report, using a third-party pest control company. Thorough examinations of auditoriums in question revealed no sign of any bed bug activity."

The statement went on to say: "Bed bugs are a widespread issue throughout New York City. Studies show that people are much more likely to encounter them in hotels and on their transportation to a movie theatre than in a movie theater itself. AMC is vigilant and aggressive about the inspection and treatment of this issue, both proactively and reactively. Every seat at AMC Empire 25 is proactively inspected every month and treated immediately if there is any sign of bed bugs."

SEE ALSO: Twitter explains why it suspended Rose McGowan's account following her Harvey Weinstein comments

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NOW WATCH: Watch Adam Savage go undercover as Chewbacca at New York Comic Con

We visited the 'McDonald's of Russia,' which serves caviar and borsch for under $10 — here's what it was like

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In Russia, a chain serving traditional Russian fare dukes it out with the likes of McDonald's and KFC— and now it's trying to take over the US. 

In 1998, Mikhail Goncharov was inspired by the immense popularity of McDonald's in his home country and decided to start a fast-food chain of his own: Teremok, serving Russian classics instead of burgers and fries. 

Goncharov, who is CEO of the chain, adapted his mother's recipes for Teremok's menu, featuring blinys, soups, and kasha. Today, there are more than 300 Teremok locations in Russia.

In the last year, two Teremok locations have opened in New York City as the chain plants a flag on American soil. 

We stopped by the nearest Teremok to see if the Russian chain could compete with the hegemony of American classics like the Big Mac and the Crunchwrap Supreme.

SEE ALSO: We visited the Filipino fast-food chain which serves spaghetti and fried chicken alongside its burgers — here's the verdict

This Teremok is one of two locations in New York and is located at 6th Avenue and 16th Street.



Inside, the atmosphere is familiar; the typical, minimal fast-casual vibes of white tile, blond wood, and a pop of color.



Teremok is all about promoting its heritage. For those who aren't familiar with Russian cuisine and terminology, there are numerous posters on the walls explaining what you're ordering.



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How the 'Friday the 13th' superstition got started

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The Last Supper

Fear of Friday the 13th, also known as friggatriskaidekaphobia, plagues our society. The diagnosis brings together "Frigg," a Norse goddess and Friday's namesake, and  "triskaidekaphobia," fear of the number 13 in general.

Every year, the world loses $700 to $800 million on Friday the 13th because people won't conduct business as usual. Many especially refuse to fly.

On top of that, almost 80% of high rise buildings skip the 13th floor. Many airports exclude gate 13, and hospitals regularly avoid room 13.

So where does this superstition originate? The roots link back to religion — of all denominations and time periods.

History of a superstition

First and foremost, the Last Supper's 13th guest (and last apostle), Judas betrayed Jesus, according to the Bible. Then, His Crucifixion occurred on a Friday. Some scholars also believe Eve tempted Adam on a Friday.

Also, Babylon's ancient Code of Hammurabi skips number 13 when listing laws. Egyptians considered the afterlife the 13th phase of life.

But the number thirteen's cursed beginnings fall outside the rise of Christianity, too. A similar story occurs in Norse mythology. The 11 closest friends of Odin, the father of all gods, chose to dine together when Loki, the god of evil and chaos, crashed the party. One of the gods, Balder, the god of joy and happiness, died that evening.

Much later, King Philip IV of France certainly didn't help by ordering the persecution of the Knights Templar on Friday, October 13, 1307. In the following years, several thousand faced torture and execution.

If those tales don't convince you, math also has a stake in why people get bad vibes from the number thirteen. First, 12 appears a lot in our culture — 12 months in a year, 12 hours on a clock, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 apostles of Jesus. We love 12.

12 is a "pseudoperfect" number, according to Wolfram. The sum of some of its divisors equals the whole number. For example, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 go into 12. Both 2+4+6 and 1+2+3+6 equal 12.

On December 12, 2012, a boy in Alabama turned 12 at 12:12 p.m. People started calling him everything from "the chosen one" to a sign of the impending apocalypse.

Thirteen has a tough act to follow.

Regardless of where, when, or how this superstition started, we've perpetuated our own fear. "If nobody bothered to teach us about these negative taboo superstitions like Friday the 13th, we might in fact all be better off," Stuart Vyse, psychology professor at Connecticut College in New London, told National Geographic.

SEE ALSO: Things That iPhone Users Say That Drive Android Users Crazy

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28 crazy pictures of micro-apartments around the world

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Humanity is increasingly moving into cities, but the Earth isn't getting any bigger.

That means our apartments are getting smaller, and our living arrangements denser.

Some people get roommates to avoid living in such small spaces. Others, due to poverty or personal obligations, have no choice but to accept their crowded circumstances.

We don't know how they do it, but somehow they make it work.

SEE ALSO: Here's what cities could look like in 10 years

Wang Cunchun, 90, lives with his 60-year-old son in a 107-square-foot apartment in Shanghai, China.



China's largest developer China Vanke showcases a micro-apartment at the Pearl River Delta Real Estate Fair in the city of Guangzhou.



In space-deprived China, tiny is the new big.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The woman behind decluttering trend 'Swedish death cleaning' asks a simple question to decide what to throw away

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Woman trying on clothes

"The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning" guides readers in organizing and winnowing down their possessions in preparation for their impending demise. Really.

Much of the book is premised on this idea that, if you can't motivate yourself to declutter your home to preserve your own sanity, you should at least think about the burden you'll place on friends and family when you pass on.

In this vein, author Margareta Magnusson — a Swedish artist "somewhere between 80 and 100 years old" — says there's one question that can help you decide whether to get rid of an old possession: "Will anyone I know be happier if I save this?"

In other words: Stop thinking about whether the object is meaningful to you. Eventually, you won't be here anymore, and your loved ones will be left to deal with your junk. Will the object be meaningful to them?

Magnusson uses the example of a letter she's considering saving: "If after a moment of reflection I honestly can answer no, then it is into the hungry shredder again, always waiting for paper to chew."

Magnusson's question differs considerably from other suggested questions from decluttering experts. Japanese organization guru Marie Kondo, for example, asks people to consider whether an object "sparks joy" in them. But again, it's about you and your feelings — not anyone else and theirs.

Importantly, Magnusson says the fact that you're getting rid of an object doesn't mean the associated memories disappear.

Just as Kondo urges people to "thank" the objects they're getting rid of for their service, Magnusson writes: "[B]efore it goes into the shredder, I have had a moment to reflect on the event or feeling, good or bad, and to know that it has been a part of my story and of my life."

SEE ALSO: The newest decluttering craze is 'Swedish death cleaning,' which hinges on the fact that friends and family won't want your junk when you're dead

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NOW WATCH: A Japanese lifestyle guru explains how to organize your home once — and then never again

5 things that used to be basic manners — but people no longer do

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People love to complain about the death of manners.

When we talk about modern manners, we seem to always wax nostalgic about how folks were more polite "back in the day." It's unclear where that means things were better in the 1870s, the 1950s, or just the era before smart phones. 

Either way, from what you read about the kids these days, it seems the good times are long behind us.

The problem is, all of that is most likely bunk.

The British Psychological Society released an report in 2016 indicating that people might just perceive more rudeness from strangers nowadays — because we're kind of full of ourselves.

What we're truly discussing is the decline of formality, which can't necessarily be conflated with good manners — or basic human decency. People have always been nice and rude, and just about everything in between. Manners simply change with time and context.

Here are some old-fashioned manners that have fallen by the wayside:

SEE ALSO: 8 old-fashioned manners you can comfortably leave behind

DON'T MISS: 7 rules of medieval knighthood that will change the way you look at chivalry

1. Requiring men to tend to women in public

Back in the day, men weren't just expected to hold doors for women. They were to help them put their coats on, ease them out of their seats, order food for them, and pay for every meal. That may seem excessive to us, but it was simply good manners back until gender norms began to budge in US in the 1960s and 1970s.

Of course, people can adopt whatever old-school manners they want to in their personal life, as long as everyone's happy. But nowadays, this barrage of attentiveness wouldn't be considered courteous, Business Insider previously reported. In fact, many would find it patronizing and disconcerting.



2. Addressing people by their last name and title

Throughout much of modern history, it would have been considered catastrophically impertinent to address a new acquaintance — especially one of higher social rank — by their first name.

Today, in some situations, it's best to stick to a level of formality.

A 2013 survey in the UK found people really don't like telemarketers calling them by their first names, the Daily Mail reported.

However, it's becoming less common for people to insist on being addressed by their title and last name, Business Insider's Shana Lebowitz reported. A 1992 study from the National Center for Biotechnology Information found 45% of patients preferred to be called by their first names when meeting a physician for the first time — and 26% of respondents had no preference. When it came to doctors whom they knew well, 78% of patients wanted to be called by their first names.

Keep in mind, this isn't true across all cultures. Alan Hart writes in "Going to Live in France" that pulling this with an acquaintance in Paris could be considered a case of brash "over-familiarity."



3. Leaving calling cards

Back in the day, people would leave each other calling cards, to introduce themselves or let absent friends know they'd visited. There were all sorts of complicated rules surrounding the practice.

Then, phones were invented and social media happened. Etiquette experts agree that leaving calling cards is effectively dead nowadays, Business Insider reported.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The childhood friends who created the Hatchimals toys that ruled last year are now billionaires

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Canada has two new toy billionaires.

Ronnen Harary and Anton Rabie, the childhood friends who founded Spin Master and still each own about 30% of the company, are now in the exclusive billionaire's club, according to Bloomberg's calculus.

The company, which was founded in Toronto in 1994, got a 56% stock boost this year after the release of their hit toy, the Hatchimals, in 2016.

That makes both Harary and Rabie worth about $1.4 billion.

Hatchimals have been nothing short of a sensation for the brand, which has become one of the fastest-growing in the toy business. Hatchimals were one of the hardest-to-find toys of the 2016 holiday season, and they were widely considered the "it" toy every kid wanted.

In 2016, Spin Master had $1.2 billion in sales amid a toy market that has seen giants like Mattel and Lego miss sales expectations in the last year.

hatchimals founders

SEE ALSO: This robot monkey that attaches to your finger and sings when you clap is set to become the hottest toy this holiday

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NOW WATCH: Here's what that square patch on your backpack is actually used for


Inside a $185 million Switzerland mansion that has walls covered in 24-karat gold

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This week, CNBC's "Secret Lives of the Super Rich" went inside what anchor Robert Frank called "the most amazing home we have ever shot."

The seven-floor home, located at the St. Moritz ski resort in Switzerland, was "designed to make a billionaire's jaw drop," listing agent Senada Adzem of Douglas Elliman Real Estate told "Secret Lives of the Super Rich." At $185 million, it's the most expensive home on the market in Switzerland at the moment and is reportedly owned by an unnamed billionaire.

With perks like a private ski lift to the slopes, a $1.3 million home theater, an underground lake, and rooms that surround you with 24-karat gold walls, this home is truly a playground for the wealthy.   

SEE ALSO: An enormous ranch that's bigger than New York City just hit the market for $100 million

The floor-to-ceiling windows are 35 feet high and reveal a sweeping view of the Swiss Alps.



Mink fur covers one wall from top to bottom in the living room.



In the library, red velvet hugs the walls, and a hidden office can be revealed with the flip of a switch.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Here's what that square patch on your backpack is actually used for

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The leather patch is a popular trend with today's backpacks. It's called a lash tab or pig snout. Originally, it was designed for outdoor packs to pass string through it and fasten equipment. Over time, rubber and plastic replaced leather as weatherproof alternatives. It's also used on personal flotation devices to attach knives, whistles , or other gear.

Today, lash tabs are added to backpacks for a vintage look. They are popular among brands such as Herschel Supply Co., Jansport, and L.L.Bean. While you may not go hiking with that new backpack, at least you'll know how to attach your smelly gym shoes

Produced by Sam Rega

EDITOR'S NOTE: This video was originally published on January 17, 2017

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Tony Robbins starts every morning with an 'adrenal support cocktail,' a 'priming' meditation exercise, and a workout involving a 'torture machine'

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  • Tony Robbins sticks to a morning routine designed to boost his energy and productivity levels for the day.
  • It includes a nutritional supplement, meditation, workout, and sauna-to-cold-plunge combo.
  • The entire routine can be done in under 30 minutes — but it's intense.

Tony Robbins, the world's most famous life and business coach, is 57 years old and busier than ever.

He travels the world for about 60 events (which can last an hour or several days) each year, goes on media tours for his latest projects, monitors the 33 companies he's invested in and directly runs 12 of them, consults businesses and professional sports teams, and works with a small list of personal clients like the billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones.

Robbins is a naturally energetic guy, but he's no longer 25; to maintain the energy and productivity levels his schedule demands, he's developed a morning routine that packs a lot into a half hour.

We recently traveled to Robbins' Fiji resort Namale, where he was hosting the winners of Shopify's Build a Bigger Business competition for entrepreneurs, and had him take us through it.

His diet is tailored to maximize energy efficiency.

Around four years ago, Robbins hired Billy Beck III as his full-time personal trainer. Beck has had clients like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, NFL and NHL players, boxers, and UFC fighters. He's tailored nutritional and exercise programs for Robbins the same way he would for his athletes, customizing both for Robbins' metabolism and the physical demands of his seminars and lifestyle where time zones are rarely constant.

Robbins wakes up between 7:00 and 9:00, after just three to five hours of sleep.

After getting out of bed, he'll take a Beck-concocted "adrenal support cocktail" composed of a shake made of greens powder, vitamin C, and antioxidants along with capsules of methylated B vitamins mixed with additional nutrients.

When he's done with his workout, he'll have a breakfast of free range eggs and organic coconut bread. Robbins is far from a foodie, and tends to stick with the same daily meals.

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He spends 10 minutes meditating.

Robbins created a 10-minute daily exercise called "priming," based on techniques found in yoga and Buddhist mindfulness meditation.

1. Perform a breathing exercise (~1 minute)

He begins by sitting straight with his eyes closed. He then inhales deeply through his nostrils while simultaneously lifting his arms in a shoulder press motion, and then exhales forcefully through his nostrils while bringing his arms back to his body, palms up. He performs the breaths in quick succession. Robbins does three sets of 30, with a brief break in between each set. (If you want to try his routine, replace this part with a slow, deep breathing exercise instead if you are pregnant or have breathing problems.)

2. Express gratitude (3 minutes)

He spends a minute each on three things he is grateful for, reliving them as moments.

3. Experience connection (3 minutes)

He imagines a light flowing in through his head and to the rest of his body, feeling as if the light is energizing and healing him. In this visualization, the light flows back up to his head and then flows outward to the rest of the world, reaching his loved ones as well as strangers.

4. Visualize success (3 minutes)

He then spends a minute each imagining what it would feel like to accomplish three of his goals. He focuses on how these accomplishments not only benefit you but allow him to help others.

tony robbins workout fiji

Then it's time for a surprisingly intense 15-minute workout.

The notion that for a workout to be effective it has to be long is easily disproven by science, Beck told us. For Robbins, he designed a daily exercise routine focused on explosive exertion and maintaining a very high heart rate, and it only takes 15 minutes — with just 10 of those minutes in the gym.

"My whole focus is — how do you get the greatest result with the least amount of time or energy?" Robbins said to us. "Intensity trumps duration all day long."

1. The OsteoStrong machine (5 minutes)

Robbins uses a machine called the OsteoStrong (he's an investor in it) that measures force exertion, but one could achieve the same effect by pushing and pulling on a static surface, or a similar effect — with more risk for injury — by doing a single-rep max-out with free weights.

Robbins will, for just a few seconds each, exert his full force in a bench press motion, leg press motion, pull down with crunch motion, and deadlift motion.

You can get a better idea of what that looks like by watching our video.

2. The ROM Quick Gym (4 minutes)

The ROM Quick Gym has the nicknames the 4-Minute Machine and the Torture Machine.

Using it, you make a dynamic rowing motion that looks deceptively easy. But because it can adjust to your level of exertion, you can't fake your way through the exercise. To make it more difficult, Robbins tries to maintain a certain speed throughout. The whole experience only lasts four minutes, but pushes the body to near total exhaustion.

Because it's so exhausting, Robbins will use this machine just once or twice a week, replacing it with different short but intense exercises on other days.

3. The sauna to cold plunge (3-5 minutes)

Robbins has a sauna and cold plunge pool in each of his seven homes, the one exception being an ice-cold river he uses as a cold plunge next to his place in Sun Valley, Idaho.

The experience of enduring intense heat of a sauna — and Robbins keeps his in the higher range — and then becoming immersed in cold water (around 57 degrees F) keeps his heart rate high enough that it's considered part of the morning's workout.

Beck said that he has Robbins do it because it "improves circulation and wakes your a-- up," and the freezing plunge "trains the mind to not hesitate but to act. ... That and we are insane. Ha!"

4. Back inversion (2 minutes)

Then it's time to stretch it all out on a back inversion machine, in which Robbins is suspended upside down to decompress his spine and lower his heart rate.

Once Robbins wraps up his routine, he's ready to go. Sometimes he's got a 16-hour workday ahead.

SEE ALSO: How Tony Robbins came from a broken household to build a $6 billion empire and coach business legends like Marc Benioff and Paul Tudor Jones

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NOW WATCH: Tony Robbins' workout routine is just 15 minutes long, but it's absolutely grueling and involves a 'torture machine'

Erin Brockovich reveals how she protects herself against contaminated water in America and abroad

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Erin Brockovich, a famous environmental activist and fighter for clean water, explains what how she protects herself against contaminated water anywhere in the world. Following is a transcript of the video.

Erin Brockovich: I know that we are all familiar with what happened in Flint, Michigan. What people don't know, but the communities that are impacted do know, is we're dealing with over 200 locations now with lead levels higher than Flint, Michigan. 

When I'm out and about, I do drink a lot of bottled water, unfortunately because I kind of know the water systems. I was just down in North Carolina, where they were having that situation with GenX. And I jumped in the shower and it dawned one me.

I'm like, "Oh my gosh." I mean, it startled me because they haven't gotten it out of the water yet and — ew. I take a lot of "spit baths." I tell you, I travel internationally and — Oh gosh, I didn't think I want to admit this but I'll go awhile without a shower because I don't want to get in the water.

And it's concerning for everybody and I hear this from people across the board and they're concerned for their children and they don't have other resource or they rely on bottled water or they'll take a quick spit bath.

A lot of people don't realize that we're under about 1500 boil water notices a week in the United States and those numbers are climbing. So we're concerned about it for a whole host of reasons from Legionnaires' to brain-eating amoebas that we are actually seeing in the water down in the South to a superbug outbreak, so it's concerning.

But bottled water for me, spit bath. If I know where I'm at and I know the condition of the water, I just brush my teeth dry and I try to take every precaution that I can but it's — it's sad, it's frustrating.

I know a lot of people are experiencing it, just be vigilant, that's been my greatest message, be aware, be informed, be vigilant, be proactive, that's the best way to protect your health and welfare if you are uncertain about your water condition.

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A day in the life of Tony Robbins, who sleeps 3 hours a night before waking up to an 'adrenal support cocktail' and a plunge into freezing water

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  • Tony Robbins is 57 years old, and regularly works 16-hour days.
  • He typically gets 3-5 hours of sleep, and starts the morning with a 10-minute 'priming' exercise.
  • He's virtually always working with an inner circle of around seven to 10 people who fly around the world with him in his private jet.

The energy you see on stage with Tony Robbins isn't an act — he brings it to all aspects of his life.

In a typical year, the life coach will travel the world for 60 events (ranging from a few hours to several days), go on media tours for his latest project, monitor the 33 companies he's invested in, consult businesses and professional sports teams, and work with his small list of one-on-one clients like the investor Paul Tudor Jones.

When he's on the road, he'll often only get a few hours of sleep a night, and works to the point of exhaustion.

At 57, Robbins is increasing his list of responsibilities rather than cutting back, and has found daily rituals to help maintain his intense lifestyle.

We recently traveled to Robbins' Fiji resort Namale, where he was hosting the winners of Shopify's Build a Bigger Business competition for entrepreneurs.

Robbins has a habit of making last-minute changes to his schedule, and there's enough variety in his workload that most days don't look the same, but he gave us an inside look at some recurring themes in his daily life.

SEE ALSO: How Tony Robbins came from a broken household to build a $6 billion empire and coach business legends like Marc Benioff and Paul Tudor Jones

Robbins typically wakes up between 7:00-9:00 a.m. after getting 3-5 hours of sleep. He starts his morning with a 10-minute 'priming' exercise, which he'll do outside if the weather's nice.

The exercise starts with a set of Robbins' take on an ancient yogic breathing exercise and then moves to a mindfulness meditation, where he focuses on what he's grateful for and what he wants to achieve.

For more details, you can check out our in-depth breakdown.



Robbins regularly has 16-hour days that involve him running and jumping around a stage, and so he needs to stay in shape. Four years ago he hired a full-time personal trainer, Billy Beck III.

Beck is an acclaimed trainer who's worked with high-caliber clientele like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, NFL and NHL players, boxers, and UFC fighters.

Beck has a residence near Robbins' primary home in Palm Beach and his Fiji home at Namale, and is part of Robbins' inner circle. He trains Robbins nearly every day, with only a couple exceptions per month.



Beck designed a high-intensity, extra short workout for Robbins to do each morning. We had him take us through it.

It only takes 15 minutes but involves brief bursts of maximum exertion while maintaining a very high heart rate.

You can watch Robbins guide me through it.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The best way to make scrambled eggs — according to Anthony Bourdain and Danny Bowien

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We sat down with Anthony Bourdain of "Parts Unknown" and Danny Bowien of Mission Chinese to discuss Bourdain's new film, "Wasted!" and the ever-changing food landscape. Here, these culinary savants break down how they like to scramble their eggs. Following is a transcript of the video.

Danny Bowien: What is the food you’ve done the most? And you told me —

Anthony Bourdain: Omelettes.

Bowien: Probably omelettes, mostly. So, what’s your move?

Bourdain: Look, I go with the Jacques Pepin platonic ideal. Eggs, salt, pepper, cooked in butter. Not over-beaten. You want a little rippling in there — texture. And cooked baveuse meaning a little wet. A little wet. And just in a pan, figure eight pattern. Don’t over-scramble, don’t over-beat. Pull them off the heat just before they’re done. Finish as they sigh onto the plate and serve.

Bowien: I don’t know how I can answer that better than him, so I’m not gonna try. But one time I tricked Wylie Dufresne — they were having a wd~50 holiday party at Mission Chinese Food and we set up an induction burner in the corner, and we got some eggs and a pot and a whisk — ‘cause I knew Wylie was like — if anyone knows Wylie Dufresne, he’s the king of eggs, he loves eggs. He loves scrambled eggs.  So I was like, “Hey, chef! Can you help me? I don’t really know what I’m doing over here.” And this is in the middle of their holiday party. And we had a tin of caviar and all these eggs and I said, “Hey, can you help me? I just need to figure out how to do these eggs over here.” And he was like, “Oh you mean midtown eggs.” And I was like “What are midtown eggs?” And he said, “It’s how everybody wants their eggs cooked in midtown.” And he just showed me. He’d just butter, eggs, whisk. Whisk it really on and off the heat, slowly until you get these little tiny curds. And he finished it at the very last second, I wanna say he finished it with cream cheese and not crème fraîche. It gave it this really silky, luxurious texture.

Bourdain: Crème fraîche.

Bowien: And then yeah, he put it on top of toasted white bread, like white toast points and then we put caviar on it. That was the best scrambled egg I’ve ever had in my life, obviously. But even without the caviar, it was crazy because he had this technique. But I tried doing it with him and completely messed it up the first time, so, you know. Thing is about the eggs, it’s like, chefs nerd out ‘cause it’s the most unforgiving and most satisfying thing to make in the world. So, I can’t — but, his answer was the best. I don’t really scramble eggs at home that often.

Bourdain: I make a lot of omelettes still. I still. I hated cooking them professionally, but at home? You know, cooking an omelette for someone you care about –

Bowien: Yeah. Oh, it’s the best.

Bourdain: Unlike most of my career … that feels —

Bowien: Egg white omelettes ever? Have you done an egg white omelette for yourself ever?

Bourdain: You shouldn’t be intimate with anyone who just eats egg white omelettes. I mean, that’s the end of a relationship right there.

 

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We tried 3 meals from a vegan vending machine that’s about to blow up the fast-food scene — here’s the verdict

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  • leCupboard dispenses healthy, personalized, prepared meals out of machines.
  • We tried out three leCupboard dishes — two meals and a dessert — and the taste blew us away.
  • Founder Lamiaa Bounahmidi believes the startup helps address nutritional problems that arise when people choose convenience over health.

Lamiaa Bounahmidi may have a solution to your diet woes: a vending machine.

Bounahmidi is leading a San Francisco-based startup called leCupboard, which dispenses healthy, personalized, prepared meals out of vending machines. The startup's goal is to get people to think differently about healthy food by making it as convenient as fast-food.

Customers simply press a button on one of the machines — which Bounahmidi calls "cupboards" — and out comes a vegan snack or meal in a reusable glass container. The dishes range in price from $6-$13, and most are high in protein and whole grains. 

LeCupboard's seven locations are all in downtown San Francisco, in semi-private spaces like coworking areas, schools, and hospitals.

My leCupboard taste test

On a recent visit to one vending machine, I ordered and sampled three different items, each of which was filling enough to stand on its own.

Bounahmidi recommended I start with a lighter dish as a sort of appetizer, then try a more filling main course, followed by a dessert. I tapped my selection on leCupboard's touch screen, and was able to enter any dietary restrictions. Options included "avoid gluten" and "avoid nuts" — if I had used it, the feature would have excluded options that included those ingredients — but since I don't have Celiac or an allergy, I skipped that step.

Within 30 seconds, my first entree came out ready to eat.

lecupboard vendingEach leCupboard dish comes with a label that lists ingredients and lays out its nutritional profile, including fiber, protein, and what leCupboard calls "healthful" fat, a tweak to standard nutrition labels that aligns with the latest nutritional science on fat. Healthy main dishes get labeled "Build," while desserts — which mostly rely on ingredients like nuts and fruit — get labels like "Indulge." 

My first item mimicked a poke bowl, the popular raw fish dish. But because leCupboard's food is all vegan, my selection featured beets instead — a substitution that made me skeptical. After gingerly skewering a forkful of beet and some veggies, I took a bite.

poke bowl leCupboard

The flavors — lemon, seaweed, vegetable, delicious — danced on my palate. It was so good. I asked Bounahmidi how she had performed this magic trick.

The beets, she explained, were glazed in a lemon marinade then paired with a vegetable that tastes a bit like seaweed. A light carpet of black rice rounded out the dish, and a creamy, spicy sauce gave it some kick.

"I love cooking, and the flavors are designed to be craveable; to be satisfying. Just like any other food," Bounahmidi said. 

Convenience over health

As she sees it, the reason most of us struggle to eat well is that convenient options usually only offer unhealthy food.

"We focus so much on what we're eating on the weekends when we're out with friends and then feel guilty for having dessert or over-eating, when really the problem isn't what we're eating on two days of the week — it's what we're eating on the other five," she said.

With more than 100 meal-delivery apps to choose from across the US, it's easy to see why many people no longer leave their offices for lunch. And those who work especially demanding hours or have more than one job often don't have time to prepare or seek out a healthy lunch. In a recent survey, some 62% of professionals said they typically ate lunch at their desks, a phenomenon that's heralded social media hashtags (#saddesklunch) and new social science vocabulary ("desktop dining").

Most of "our choices aren't actually choices. They're made because they're convenient," Bounahmidi said.

In this context, vending machines — a technology that has barely changed since it was introduced as the "Automat" in 1912 — are booming. Since 1995, the number of vending machines in the US has grown 96% to a whopping 5.1 million, according to the New York Times.

The main course

Next up was my main dish: a falafel bowl inspired by Bounahmidi's visits to Cairo. Like the others, it came in a reusable glass container that can be returned to the leCupboard staff at their Cafe location for a refund of $3. Eventually, Bounahmidi envisions that a second machine next to the first will allow customers to return their dishes and get their refunds automatically.

falafel 1 leCupboard

This dish was also delightful, but I think I'd heat the falafel next time for a slightly better flavor. Overall though, it exceeded my expectations. The freshness of the tomatoes and crunchiness of the kale shone through, and the falafel was savory and filling.

Bounahmidi said health is at the center of leCupboard's mission. The initiative is the customer-facing portion of a public benefit corporation Bounahmidi founded called Looly, which has raised over $2 million in funding according to AngelList. She is currently working on a pilot project with several hospitals to design meals for people with specific dietary needs, including Celiac disease, Crohn's, and diabetes.

I finished off my meal with a dessert called "le Versailles" — a plant-based chocolate mousse sprinkled with sea salt, raspberries, and pistachios.

dessert leCupboard

As a chocolate lover, this was my favorite part of the meal. The mouse was light and fluffy but rich, and the salt on top gave the chocolatey sweetness a hint of savory — my favorite combination. I could honestly see myself eating this at least once a week. And I'd be more than happy to eat the rest of the meals that often as well, as long as I could get $3 off the retail price after I return my glass container.

For that to happen, though, I'll have to wait until leCupboard expands to some public locations, a goal Bounahmidi aims achieve within the next few weeks.

"On our lunch breaks we go down the street to what's easy and cheap," she said. "This solves that."

SEE ALSO: Americans have been making a huge diet mistake for 100 years — here's what they should do instead

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NOW WATCH: 5 myths about sugar that you should stop believing


The world's 10 largest megacities are home to over 19 million people each — here's what it would cost to join them

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tokyo people traffic

In 1975, just three of the world's urban centers — Tokyo, New York, and Mexico City — had more than 10 million residents.

Now, about 7% of people live in cities with eight-figure populations, according to the United Nations. They even have a special name: megacities.

The UN projects the global number of megacities to grow from 31 to 41 by 2030, housing some 8.7% of the global population.

Tokyo, Japan, is the largest city in the world with 38 million residents. That's about 12 million more people than New Delhi, India, the second-largest. Although Tokyo is projected to lose approximately 1 million residents by 2030, it's expected to remain the top megacity, according to the UN.

But with rapidly increasing populations, many of these urban centers face major housing shortages. By 2025, 1.6 billion people could struggle to find decent housing that doesn't eat up more than 30% of their income, the standard measure of housing affordability, according to a report by McKinsey. Ultimately, there could be 106 million more low-income households in cities by 2025.

Below is a list of the 10 largest megacities in the world. For each, we've included population in 1975, population projections for 2030, GDP per capita, and the cost of monthly rent and utilities in the city.

SEE ALSO: Here are the world's top 10 most livable cities — and how much it costs to live there

DON'T MISS: Mesmerizing maps show how much megacities have expanded over the last 30 years

New York, United States: 19 million people

Population in 1975: 16 million

Projected population in 2030: 20 million

GDP per capita: $74,000

Monthly rent and utilities: $3,057



Cairo, Egypt: 19 million people

Population in 1975: 6 million

Projected population in 2030: 24 million

GDP per capita: $7,843

Monthly rent and utilities: $206



Osaka, Japan: 20 million people

Population in 1975: 10 million

Projected population in 2030: 20 million

GDP per capita: $36,335

Monthly rent and utilities: $1,174



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An Asian cuisine that's largely been ignored is about to take over America

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Jollibee 5

The rich flavors of the Philippines could find a receptive audience in America soon, according to chef Andrew Zimmern. 

The globe-trotting host of "Bizarre Foods" has praised Filipino food for some time now.

"I think Filipino food is… you know, I've been calling it for five years. It's just going to keep getting more and more popular," he recently told Business Insider.

And it's about time — the food of the Philippines is almost uniquely positioned among global cuisines, enjoying a wide range of influences that make it not only delicious, but also surprisingly accessible to the American palate.

Filipino cuisine is a complex and fascinating tapestry of Malay, Spanish, American, Japanese, and Chinese influences, thanks to the island country's fraught history of Western colonization and various occupations. 

The pre-colonial Philippines was a center of trade between China, India, and Southeast Asia, bringing tofu, soy sauce, stir-frying, congee, and biryani into the culinary fold.

The arrival of — and bloody conquest by — the Spanish in the 1500s brought chili peppers, tomatoes, corn, and potatoes from South America, as well as an affinity for garlic and onions. The widespread use of Spam in Filipino dishes harkens back to America's 48-year annexation, having wrested it from the Spanish during the Spanish-American War.  

Vinegar, plus a profusion of aromatic garlic, are key elements of Pinoy cooking. The trendy flavors of Spanish, Indian, and Japanese food are all present, and there's a fantastic and frequent play between acidity and sweetness throughout. 

All of this comes together into a unique and broad culinary culture that seems poised for the American market.

Jollibee 8Take the spaghetti served at Jollibee, a fast-food chain that is ubiquitous in the Philippines and is looking to spread stateside. The sauce leans toward the sweeter side, balancing out garlic and tomato with a sugary lightness — and chunks of Spam and sausage make a salty counterpoint. It's an entirely unique take on the pasta dish, yet it has a comforting familiarity to it nonetheless. 

And while many are put off by Pinoy foods that are unorthodox by American standards — balut, a boiled duck embryo, or diniguan, a stew of pork offal and pig blood, come to mind — the sheer breadth of meals and culinary traditions means there's bound to be something for everyone. 

With its close proximity to Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese food, which American palates crave more and more, it's the perfect time for Filipino cuisine and its unique medley of influences to take over. 

SEE ALSO: We visited the 'McDonald's of the Philippines,' which serves spaghetti and fried chicken alongside its burgers — here's what it's like

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NOW WATCH: We ate balut — the strange Filipino street food that's unlike any egg you'll find at the grocery store

A little-known Brooklyn neighborhood was named one of the world's coolest places — here's what it's like

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Town homes in Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Sunset Park is having a moment.

Earlier this year, Lonely Planet revealed its list of the coolest neighborhoods to visit in the world, and Sunset Park, a formerly industrial neighborhood in South Brooklyn, made the cut.

Recent property developments in the neighborhood — including a $136 million city investment toward a Made In NY Campus, and warehouses that have been repurposed into what is now called Industry City — are eerily similar to what you'll see in Sunset Park's better-known neighbors to the north, like the once-industrial but now-gentrified Williamsburg

In March, a home in Sunset Park sold for a record-breaking $2.05 million, and brokers are predicting that more luxury properties will be built. According to StreetEasy's August rent report, the median asking price for homes in Sunset Park has gone up 22.9% year over year — and still, buyers being pushed out of nearby neighborhoods like Park Slope are looking to Sunset Park for homes within their price range.   

We ventured into Sunset Park to see how the neighborhood is changing and what it has to offer.

SEE ALSO: We went to New York City's most expensive neighborhood — home to Wall Streeters and celebrities like Taylor Swift — and saw why it's so popular

Sunset Park is located in South Brooklyn, just below Greenwood and north of Bay Ridge.



You can access the neighborhood via public transportation using the N, R, and D subway lines. It takes about 35 minutes to get to the southern tip of Manhattan by subway, and it's a roughly 20-minute drive via the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.



Sunset Park is a diverse neighborhood. According to census data, 39% of Sunset Park is Hispanic, and 33% is Asian.

Source: Census Reporter



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A Harvard doctor says these are the best exercises for your body

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woman running jogging exercise

If you think running a marathon is the quickest ticket to a rock-hard body, I-Min Lee, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, has news for you: That classic feat isn't as good for your body as it seems.

Instead of long-distance running, which can be hard on your joints and digestive system, Lee recommends five other types of workouts. They generate benefits that range from weight loss and muscle building to protecting your heart and brain and strengthening your bones.

The findings are detailed in a Harvard Medical School health report called "Starting to Exercise" which recommends some of the best exercises for your body.

Here they are.

1. Swimming

"You might call swimming the perfect workout," write the authors of the Harvard Healthbeat newsletter, which summarizes the report's key takeaways and gives insight from Lee.

In addition to working nearly every muscle in your body, swimming can raise your heart rate to improve heart health and protect the brain from age-related decline. Plus, being afloat makes this type of exercise nearly strain-free. "Swimming is good for individuals with arthritis because it's less weight-bearing," Lee said in the newsletter.

When you swim regularly for at least 30 to 45 minutes at a time, you're doing aerobic exercise — a type of workout that a spate of recent research suggests could help battle depression, lift your mood, and reduce stress, among other benefits.

2. Tai chi

Tai chi — also called tai chi chuan — is a Chinese martial art that combines a series of graceful, flowing movements to create a sort of moving meditation. The exercise is performed slowly and gently with a high degree of focus and a special attention paid to breathing deeply. Since practitioners go at their own pace, tai chi is accessible for a wide variety of people — regardless of age or fitness level.

Tai chi "is particularly good for older people because balance is an important component of fitness, and balance is something we lose as we get older," Lee said.

3. Strength training

At its most basic, strength training involves using weight to create resistance against the pull of gravity. That weight can be your own body, free weights like barbells or dumbbells, elastic bands, or weighted ankle cuffs.

abs situps workout fitness exercise woman gym sit upsResearch suggests you can use either heavy weights and a small number of reps or lighter weights and more reps to build stronger, more sturdy muscles.

Chris Jordan, the exercise physiologist who came up with the viral 7-minute workout (officially called the "Johnson & Johnson Official 7 Minute Workout"), told Business Insider that healthy adults should incorporate resistance training on two to three of the four to five days per week that they work out.

You can also use high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which combines the cardiovascular benefits of cycling or running with resistance training, to achieve the same or similar results. If you like HIIT, the 7-minute workout is a great place to start.

Whichever workout you try, the most important thing is to keep doing it.

"To achieve results, consistency is key," Jordan said.

4. Walking

It might sound insignificant, but walking can be powerful medicine.

Several studies suggest that walking for at least 30 minutes — even at a moderate or leisurely pace — can have benefits for the brain and body. One recent study found that in adults ages 60 to 88, walking for 30 minutes four days a week for 12 weeks appeared to strengthen connectivity in a region of the brain where weakened connections have been linked with memory loss. And a pilot study in people with severe depression found that just 30 minutes of treadmill walking for 10 consecutive days was "sufficient to produce a clinically relevant and statistically significant reduction in depression."

If you don't currently exercise regularly, the folks at Harvard recommend starting your walking routine with 10-15 minute treks and building up to 30 or 60-minute hikes.

5. Kegel exercises

Kegel exercises are important for both men and women because they help to strengthen a group of muscles commonly referred to as the "pelvic floor." As we age, these muscles — which include the uterus, bladder, small intestine, and rectum — can start to weaken. But keeping them resilient can have important benefits, ranging from preventing embarrassing accidents like bladder leakage to the accidental passing of gas.

The right way to do kegels involves squeezes the muscles you'd use to hold in urine or gas, according to the folks at Harvard. They recommend holding the contraction for two to three seconds, releasing, and repeating 10 times. For the best results, do them four to five times a day.

DON'T MISS: I tried the science-backed 7-minute fitness routine that's going viral, and it actually works

SEE ALSO: There's even more evidence that one type of exercise is the closest thing we have to a miracle drug

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: There are 3 body shapes — here's what each reveals about your health

Audi is taking on Enterprise and Hertz with a rental service that delivers luxury cars to your door — here's what it's like

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Audi wants to put you in its vehicles — without the commitment of buying a new luxury car.

The luxury automaker launched a rent-a-car-service called Audi On Demand in San Francisco in 2015. The service lets you rent an Audi vehicle for a day (or for as long as a month) from your smartphone. Car enthusiasts will find a huge range of models to choose from, from the A4 sports sedan to the rabble-rouser R8 supercar. The service ranges from $120 to $1,145 a day.

Audi On Demand recently announced plans to expand into 15 new markets worldwide by 2020. The service currently operates in just three locations: San Francisco, Munich, and Beijing.

I tried Audi On Demand for a weekend in October, reserving an Audi Q5. Here's how it went. 

SEE ALSO: Inside the most expensive zip code in Silicon Valley, where tech moguls like Eric Schmidt and Paul Allen have their mansions

I was excited to try Audi On Demand. I always thirsted to take my mom's Audi Q5 for a spin, and she never let me. It was "her other baby." But Audi was happy to lend me a car.



I downloaded the Audi On Demand app on my iPhone (if you have a Samsung you'll need to book through the website). And I was impressed by the variety of models to choose from.



Most rental car companies let you choose a "vehicle class," like compact or full-size, but you might not know which car you're driving away with until you get to the pickup site.

Audi On Demand is more similar to Zipcar, which lets you choose a specific model of car.

Audi makes the reservation process simple by asking you to set your preferred reservation dates and times, choose pickup and drop-off locations, and select the vehicle you want to drive.

I was aiming to book a crossover for a trip to a pumpkin patch with friends later that day. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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