Detroit was one of the hardest-hit cities in America during the recession.

Its auto industry, which helped build America's middle class, needed multiple government bailouts.

Unemployment rose to 20% in the city in 2011, but could have been as high as 50% if you include people who stopped looking for work. 

But every bad situation has a silver lining. The lack of enterprise and abundance of failed businesses left great opportunities for newer and cooler businesses.

From restaurants and bars to bike shops and tech startups, these are the coolest businesses in Detroit.

Are You A Human

Website only

What it is: A tech startup

Why it's cool: When submitting a form online, most websites often have a human verification step where you type in a series of numbers and letters. This technology is used to prevent bots from submitting the form over and over.

Are You A Human uses mini games to verify that you are in fact a human, which leads to 40% more submissions than the typical CAPTCHA technology.

AutoBike

Website only

What it is: A company that makes bicycles

Why it's cool: This isn't your average bicycle. Autobike has come up with a new feature that lets your bike change gears automatically.

Now you can ride without pressing levers, and you will always be in the perfect gear.

The Batata Shop

511 West Canfield

What it is: A restaurant that serves homemade comfort food made from sweet potatoes

Why it's cool: The Batata Shop makes all of its food from scratch using fresh, homemade ingredients. Batata means sweet potato, and the restaurant uses sweet potatoes in many of its recipes including in their waffles, pancakes, and biscuits.

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Miranda Kerr managed to come out on top after losing her post as a Victoria's Secret Angel.

Kerr was hit with a wave of negative publicity last week after reports emerged that she had lost her coveted Victoria's Secret Angel contract because of her "difficult" reputation. 

It was also reported that Kerr was "not a big seller" for Victoria's Secret compared with other Angels like Alessandra Ambrosio and Candace Swanepoel.  

But Kerr managed to spin the situation completely in her favor. 

Initial headlines about the story referred to the reports of Kerr's "difficult" reputation and supposed inability to sell underwear. 

Then, Kerr spoke out on the situation in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.

She emphasized that she didn't get dumped by Victoria's Secret: she actually left in order to make time for her family and other gigs. 

"The thing is, I've been modeling since I was 13,'' Kerr told the paper. ''I'm now entering a new phase in my life. I have felt this coming since my son was born and, after I became a mother, I realized I needed to prioritize my time."

Kerr also said that she was taking time to develop "opportunities that are really reflective of my passions.''

By making the departure seem like her decision, Kerr quickly regained the approval of the fashion community. 

Soon, the tone of headlines shifted to "Miranda Kerr: 'Victoria's Secret didn't fire me - I quit'" and "Miranda Kerr sets the record straight on Victoria's Secret Exit."

It's hard to believe that anyone would voluntarily give up one of the best gigs in fashion. Even Heidi Klum, one of the most successful models of all time, stayed on until she was 37. 

It's also likely that Victoria's Secret, which prefers its Angels to have very few other obligations, found Kerr's recent ad, tabloid, and sponsorship blitz disconcerting. 

Either way, Kerr simply became too hot for Victoria's Secret. 

And with contracts at Reebok, Mango, and KORA Organics, it looks like she'll stay that way. 

SEE ALSO: TOO HOT FOR VICTORIA'S SECRET: The Miranda Kerr Story >

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Chipotle is rolling out Sofritas, or spicy tofu, as one of the proteins it offers. 

The company debuted the item in San Francisco in February, and has since expanded the test market to Northern California. 

Sofritas is "the spice blend used to season the shredded tofu, and the dishes are braised with chipotle chilies, roasted poblano peppers, and a blend of aromatic spices," SFWeekly reports.

In Spanish and Latin American cultures, a sofrito is a sauce created with a saute of peppers, tomatoes, onion and garlic.

The current expansion in California points to a much wider roll-out soon, said Rick Munarriz at The Motley Fool. 

The tofu comes at a good time for Chipotle, as investors are worried that the chain's rapid expansion has come to an end. Shares have declined 22 percent in the past year.

"It can use a kick, and tofu may be the answer at a company that prides itself on its very limited menu," Munarriz said. 

Chipotle's current proteins include carnitas (shredded pork), chicken, steak, and barbacoa (shredded beef). 

Until now, vegetarians could only order black beans on their burritos. The company's pinto beans contain pork. 

But Chipotle should test outside of Northern California before rolling out tofu nationwide. 

The Bay Area is known for its large vegetarian population, so the item is likely to succeed there. Selling tofu to people in other regions might be more difficult. 

SEE ALSO: The Rise And Fall Of The Gourmet Cupcake >

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The average person only wears about 20% of the clothing in his or her closets.

Most clothing goes unworn because it's the result of an impulse buy or doesn't fit correctly, Ray A. Smith at the Wall Street Journal reports. 

"Generally you like it, but it's a little tight or a little baggy. And you think 'Oh well, it's a minor flaw. It won't bother me in the long run.' Then, that turns out to be the very thing that keeps you from wearing it," Miriam Tatzel, a consumer psychologist, told WSJ. "You think you might have a use for it in the future, but that day never comes."

The retail industry relies on these impulse purchases to stay in business, Smith writes. 

The 20% figure, provided by California Closets, especially applies to women, who are more prone to impulse buys. 

But 9 out of 10 people frequently make impulse purchases, according to a survey by The Checkout. 

Stores get consumers to impulse buy by color-coordinating displays, doing time-sensitive promotions, and marketing items as "new and improved." 

But just because shoppers buy things they don't need doesn't mean they always regret it. 

"The conventional wisdom that shoppers regret splurges isn't true, research found," Smith writes. "In fact, shoppers most regretted, over the long term, passing up an indulgence for something practical or less expensive." 

SEE ALSO: How Miranda Kerr Spun Getting Ousted From Victoria's Secret In Her Favor >

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This week, 34 people were indicted after two related gambling rings were uncovered that catered to A-list clientele and Russian oligarchs.

One of them was Hillel "Helly" Nahmad, a notorious Manhattan art dealer who runs an eponymous New York Gallery in the Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side. He was arrested in Los Angeles Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

According to the FBI's indictment, Nahmad had allegedly been helping to run and fund a gambling ring that catered to celebrities, Wall Streeters, and professional athletes. He was accused of making two wire transfers totaling $1.35 million from his father's bank account in Switzerland to help keep the scheme afloat, according to Forbes. 

So who is Hillel "Helly" Nahmad?

The 34-year-old was born into art dealing royalty. By the time of his birth in the late '70s, Nahmad's father David and uncle Giseppe "Joe" Nahmad had made a name for themselves by buying works of art in Paris for cheap due to a declining art market, and making profits of 50% to 100% by re-selling them in Milan, according to Forbes.

Joe lived lavishly with expensive cars, apartments all around the world, and famous companions like Rita Hayworth, and his brother David is today worth an estimated $1.75 billion by Forbes. The entire family's worth is thought to be more than $3 billion.

Helly Nahmad attended the prestigious Dalton School in Manhattan in the mid '90s. In 1997, he dropped out of a Christie's art course, and that appears to have been his last brush with higher education.

The art dealing prodigy is known outside of the art world as a frequent partier who spends upwards of $5,000 to $10,000 on bottle service at exclusive clubs, according to Page Six.

His circle of friends includes A-list celebrities like Giselle Bundchen, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Orlando Bloom. He even dated Brazilian model Ana Beatriz Barros, though the couple has since broken up.

Nahmad is a known gambler and huge sports fan. One New York Post article even described him as betting on games while sitting next to Spike Lee on the floor of Madison Square Garden.

Outside the art world, Nahmad has a thing for real estate. Not only does he own a $9 million penthouse at Bellini Bal Harbor in Miami, but he has been amassing all the apartments on the 51st floor of the Trump Tower for the last decade. This year, he finally completed his collection and now owns the entire floor, according to The New York Observer.

This is not his first brush with the law. In 2011, the grandson of a Jewish art dealer sued Nahmad, asking him to return a $25 million Modigliani painting that was allegedly stolen and sold by the Nazis during WWII, according to The Daily Mail.

His recent trouble with the FBI this week only adds to the family's controversial name in the art world. In a Forbes feature on the family from 2007, multiple sources in the art world claimed that the Nahmads did not stay true to their word on deals and were hard to work with due to "screaming fights in the gallery."

But given the family's wealth and sway in the art world, we don't expect Nahmad to fade from the spotlight anytime soon.

SEE ALSO: Meet The Four Fabulous Heiresses To The Clarins Cosmetics Fortune

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Another email from a crazed sorority girl is making its way around the internet — this time from a Delta Gamma member at the University of Maryland who wrote a tirade against her sisters for "being so f***ing AWKWARD and so f***ing BORING" during Greek Week activities with a frat.

The premise of the letter is actually OK. The writer wants her sisters to step it up during Greek Week, to mingle with the guys and show a little team spirit.

But the way it is written is just the worst. It's an incoherent mess, laden with CAPS and about four dozen f-bombs. It's plain nasty.

The email was leaked to Gawker, where you can read the whole thing.

It's just the latest in a string of awful sorority emails that have made the rounds. Who could forget the six-page rush dress code for Cornell Pi Phis that included "no muffin tops"?

Every time I read one of these stories I think the same thing: These girls need to chill out.

Because the truth is, nothing that happens in a sorority is actually a big deal. So what if a party with Sigma Nu was a flop? Who cares if Jane wore an ugly shirt during rush?

At the end of the day, none of it is worth writing a crazed email about, especially one that will probably be leaked on the internet, where it will forever be visible to future employers. It doesn't help the case for sororities, which are vilified enough as it is.

I was in a sorority during college, and there definitely times I forgot that it wasn't the most important thing in the world. I probably yelled at someone for missing a mixer. And I definitely put sorority events ahead of academic ones once or twice (or more).

But then I graduated. And it was about twenty minutes before I stopped thinking twice about the reputation of my sorority.

I have found that my sorority membership has one post-college benefit — networking connections. They helped me get the job I have today. And when I get a networking email from someone who mentions they were in my chapter, I'm more than happy to help out.

It's hard to imagine anyone wanting to help out someone who called the rest of her sorority "f***ing retarded."

So sorority girls: Relax. And think twice before you unload your feelings into a chapter-wide email.

SEE ALSO: America's Most Intense Colleges

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With May right around the corner, this is just about the time when the college class of 2013 starts to sweat.

For seniors lucky enough to have already lined up a first job, kudos. The hard part is over.

For the other 99% of 20-somethings on the cusp of launching their career, there's just one question to answer: Where do you want to go next? 

The ideal city should have a few things going for it: A strong youth job market (as of March, the unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds in December was 11.7% –– not pretty), a good vibe for young professionals, and a low cost of living.

Whether you're more interested in picking a town flush with jobs in your field of study or are looking for a place where you won't have to live hand to mouth, here's a list of 10 cities that appeal the most to post-graduates, with help from Rent.com.

*All labor stats are based on the Bureau of Labor Statistic's Feb. 2013 report on Unemployment Rates for Metropolitan Areas.

Atlanta, Ga.

Mean annual income: $46,570

Median price for a one bedroom: $880

Unemployment rate: 8.3% (lowest rate since December 2008)

The vibe: A mix of Southern and international flare give Atlanta the kind of diversity that may appeal to small town graduates looking for a change.

Bonus: Housing is cheap and the city is a major hub for anyone looking for work in media, technology and entertainment.

Source: Rent.com

Boston, Mass.

Mean annual income: $57,520

Median price for a one bedroom: $1,585.00

Unemployment rate: 6.0%

The vibe: Boston is buzzing with smart, talented 20-somethings thanks to its stellar postsecondary education opportunities.

Bonus: Young professionals aren't quick to leave after graduating, which means the social scene is strong. 

Source: Rent.com

Houston, Texas

Mean annual income: $47,490

Median price for a one bedroom: $819

Unemployment rate: 6.3%

The vibe: Forget the incredible tex-mex. Houston has long attracted young professionals from across the country with its low cost of living and ample job market.

Bonus: As the fourth largest city in the U.S., the fact that Houston has one of the lowest costs of living on this list is impressive in and of itself.

Source: Rent.com

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GREENPOINT — Pardis Partow decided to give her year-old son, Parker, some diaper-free time at home — much to the consternation of her Yorkshire terrier.

Because of Parker’s terrible diaper rash, the Bedford-Stuyvesant lawyer-turned-Reiki healer became interested in “elimination communication” — or EC, as it’s called— responding to her son’s cues for when to go to the bathroom instead of having to rely on a diaper.

The hope is for the parent to “catch” pees and poops — whether atop open-cloth diapers, toilets, sinks or behind the multitude of parked cars on city streets.

But as Partow learned, often there are “misses.”

“I kept seeing him leave a trail of pee,” Partow, 41, said of her son. “The dog looked at me and said, ‘This isn’t fair. Why can he do that?’”

Partow shared her experience with a group of nearly a dozen moms sitting with their babies last month at an EC meet-up at Greenpoint’s Caribou Baby.

The boutique, which recently began hosting the meet-up regularly on the second Tuesday afternoon of each month, advised participants to come prepared. “Please bring your own potty (if you'd like) and a towel or blanket to catch any spills. There will also be access to a restroom.”

EC parents make “sisss” sounds or grunt noises when they see their babies going to the bathroom, and over time the kids start to associate those sounds with feeling relieved, explained Sarah Longwell-Stevens, an early childhood educator and postpartum doula who led the meet-up and brought a small portable potty for her 1-year-old daughter.

Once that association is made, the parents can hold their kid over a toilet when making the noise to cue an "elimination," she said.

“The other day we accidentally left the house without putting her in a diaper before going to a restaurant,” Longwell-Stevens said. “We peed her on the sidewalk, but she wouldn’t go. Then we tucked a pre-fold [cloth diaper] under her [at the restaurant table]. We were in a place where we didn’t want her to go and we didn’t want people talking about it.”

Besides parked cars giving them cover, babywearing helps since not only are children less likely to go to the bathroom while being held in a carrier, but their parents are more likely to “tune in” to them when they are close, she said.

But EC can be harder to do in a place where few people have private outdoor space.

“Sometimes the thrill of being able to go outside and pee is just what [babies] need,” Longwell-Stevens said. "In the suburbs people set up potties in the trunk of their cars. That made me jealous.  But in New York no one cares what you are doing.  You can hold your baby to pee pretty much anywhere.  Especially since few people would have any idea what you are doing.”

With the warmer weather coming, Caribou Baby’s owner Adriane Stare — who held her bare-bottomed baby Loren atop a cloth diaper as she whispered “sissss” to him to cue a pee during the discussion — told the group she’d soon open the center's backyard to let babies roam diaper-free outside.

It’s not always easy to read a child’s cues, Stare explained, but she thinks it’s easier than having to “wrestle” a baby through every diaper change, “or worse, the challenge of wiping a messy toddler poop out of their little buns versus catching that stinky poop in the toilet.

“It's all work in the end, and it's all relative,” noted Stare, who like many ECers does not go diaper-free 100 percent of the time. “It just depends on what kind of work appeals to you more.”

With her newborn, “the hard part is simply getting clothes off of the kid quickly enough to catch a pee or poop before it goes in the diaper," she said.

“When kids get older, it can be challenging to get them to stop for a second to potty. They much prefer to pee on the floor and continue crawling or toddling on their merry way.”

But for many parents who practice EC, potty training is virtually non-existent, Stare added. “The trajectory from in-diapers to out-of-diapers is a very natural, gradual process.”

Some elimination communication adherents are hoping to increase the dialogue about the approach.

To raise awareness of EC, the first-ever diaper-free week is being held from April 21 to 27, spearheaded by Andrea Olson, author of “EC Simplified: Infant Potty Training Made Easy.”

Six months ago Marija Mikolajczak, who runs an online shop EC Wear — which sells, for example, split pants that enable babies to use the toilet or go diaper-free without having to remove layers of clothes — started an informal industry association for people who run businesses related to the practice, most of whom like herself are EC-practicing moms running small-scale operations.

Mikolajczak, who recently moved to Connecticut from Astoria and has a Brooklyn factory making her EC goods, did elimination communication everywhere she went with her son, now 6.

“We would get off the subway, I would take him into the toilet," she said. "Sometimes there were times it was hard to find a public bathroom in New York. Asking to use bathrooms helped me get over shyness." At parks and playgrounds, “finding a little area of grass or some bushes was good. I’ve not owned a dog in the city, but I can relate.

“I would try not to have him pee on the sidewalk,” she added. “I would try to find a drain pipe… on the corner of streets.”

She never felt out of place in Astoria, where residents hail from all around the world and may be familiar with EC, Mikolajczak said.

When Koyuki Smith taught EC workshops at the Upper East Side's now-closed Metro Minis (now an online shop), parents wanted guidelines on how to do it. 

“They think there’s going to be an assembly booklet like with a crib,” said Smith, a doula who lives in Harlem and has a 5- and 2-year-old.

“EC just means you’re giving the opportunity to pee or poop outside their clothing,” she explained, noting the approach constantly shifts as kids get older.

“Children are covered up to their waist literally minutes from the moment they’re born,” Smith added. “We actively encourage children to ignore elimination. … EC makes you think a little more carefully about it.”

Kaitlin McGreyes, an Astoria resident who started practicing EC with her 9-month-old son Cesar as a newborn, said it led to using fewer diapers — a big help since she uses cloth that needs washing at the Laundromat down the block.

But in the beginning, she got peed and pooped on a lot.

“At 2 weeks old I set up a little Tupperware container near our diaper-changing station," said the special-education teacher, who now stays home with her son. "When I was nursing him, he had a big fart and I rushed him to the potty and held him over it.” 

It worked.

“I had never been so proud,” she said. “I love that I can tell when he needs to go and have an idea of what might be bothering him.”

McGreyes doesn’t always like talking about EC and “explaining ourselves to skeptical family members or non-believing acquaintances," she admitted. "I just don't feel like seeing any more eye rolls in my direction."

She still puts a diaper on Cesar whenever they’re out of the house and more than half the time at home.

“My mom has a term for me,” McGreyes said. “She says I am crunchy, not crazy.”

Also on DNAInfo.com:

• FIT Judgment Day Set Students on the Path to Fashion Stardom
• Low-Cost Makeup Shop E.L.F. Opens Near Astor Place
• Astoria Community Board Cans Bikini Bar's Liquor License Bid

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Last week we learned that Skorpios, the famous private Greek island that once belonged to shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, had sold to an anonymous Russian billionaire for $153 million.

It's now been confirmed that the buyer was Ekaterina Rybolovleva, the 24-year-old daughter of Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, a potash tycoon said to be worth $9.1 billion and the largest shareholder in the Bank of Cyprus.

Does her name sound familiar?

Ekaterina Rybolovleva made headlines in late 2011 when she bought former Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill's penthouse at 15 Central Park West for $88 million, one of the biggest residential real estate deals in New York City history. Presumably, her father bankrolled the purchase.

A representative of the Rybolovlev family confirmed the Skorpios deal to Forbes, saying in a statement: “A company belonging to a trust acting in the interest of Ekaterina Rybolovleva has completed the purchase of a group of companies formerly ultimately owned by Mrs Athina Onassis. Amongst the assets of this group of companies are the islands of Scorpios and Sparti."

She will reportedly use it for leisure and as a long-term investment.

Skorpios, which Onassis bought in 1962 for $15,000, was made famous as the location of his wedding to former First Lady Jackie Kennedy in 1968.

The island was sold by Athina Onassis Roussel, Onassis's granddaughter and only surviving heir.

SEE ALSO: Introducing The World's Hottest Billionaire Offspring

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The low point of summer weekends is almost always the commute out of the city. But for Hamptons-goers, that trip will be a little less painful this summer. 

The Long Island Rail Road has just announced a new express train from New York Penn Station to Westhampton, a non-stop ride that takes just 94 minutes.

The train will leave Penn Station Fridays at 4:07, and make stops at Westhampton, Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, and Montauk. A return service will also be available Sunday afternoons.

It's the first time the train, called Cannonball, will leave from New York City. The one-way fare to the Hamptons is $19.75 off-peak, and $27.00 for peak trains.

From the LIRR, here's the all-new 2013 schedule:

• Friday - Cannonball East - Penn Station Departure: The Cannonball will depart from Penn Station at 4:07 PM, and does NOT stop at Jamaica. The Cannonball runs non-stop express to Westhampton (94 minutes later) arriving at 5:41 PM, Southampton at 6:03 PM, Bridgehampton at 6:13 PM, East Hampton at 6:25 PM and will complete its journey in Montauk, arriving at 6:48 PM.

• Sunday - Cannonball West Service: On Sundays, the all-new Cannonball (West) will leave Montauk at 6:37 PM, East Hampton at 7:01 PM, Bridgehampton at 7:10 PM, Southampton at 7:20 PM, Hampton Bays at 7:31 PM and Westhampton at 7:39 PM. The train will then run express to Jamaica, arriving at 9:09 PM and complete its journey at Penn Station, arriving at 9:31 PM. 

SEE ALSO: 10 Incredibly Fast Trains That Leave America In The Dust

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Visitors to Las Vegas will finally have a place to stretch their legs. MGM Resorts just announced a $100 million plan to build a park and promenade outside its New York-New York and Monte Carlo resorts.

The plan calls for the construction of an outdoor plaza filled with stores and restaurants in front of the hotels, a 20,000-seat arena, and an open park that was inspired by New York City's Madison Square Park, according to MGM CEO Jim Murren, the Associated Press reported.

"Tourists will be able to stroll over a replica of the Brooklyn Bridge, relax in a beer garden, and enjoy a cone of frozen custard from Shake Shack, an upscale burger stand that has become a New York favorite," the AP's Hannah Dreier wrote.

This being Vegas, the plan calls for some big-name retailers and restaurants, in addition to green space. They include a two-story Hershey's Chocolate World, a Double Barrel Roadhouse, and an 800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria.

 MGM shared some renderings of the promenade and park:

SEE ALSO: The 10 Best Restaurants In Las Vegas

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Many Asian cities are known for their advances in technology, culture, and society, but which cities are the most innovative?

Solidiance, a marketing strategy and consulting firm in Asia, compiled a list of the 16 Most Innovative Cities in Asia Pacific.

To create this list, they looked at six categories: human talent, knowledge creation, technology, society, government, and global integration. They gave each city a score for each category and tallied up the scores to create the final ranking.

Damien Duhamel, the main author of the research and a Managing Partner at Solidiance, provided us with exclusive commentary on each city. Duhamel's commentary is quoted in each slide.

#16 New Delhi

Overall Ranking: 0.18

India's capital city scored higher in the society category with a score of 0.046, but remained at the bottom of the list in the other five categories.

"New Delhi has gone many dramatic changes through different regimes, yet its recent crime case of gang rape still leaves a trace on top of our mind when talking about the city. Of course it takes more than low crime rate to catalyze innovation in the city, but there is actually a ripple effect that could be caused later on. The city also has a really low level of global integration and orientation towards future, so there is no other choice for New Delhi to really start transforming itself to be a city that is inclusive — not exclusive," Duhamel said.

#15 Mumbai

Overall Ranking: 0.20

Mumbai ranked in the middle of the society category, but scored low in the remaining five categories, earning it last place in this ranking.

"Mumbai is ranked poorly in our report, although many may argue that Indian people are regularly contributing to many innovation products worldwide. What happens is they opt to leave the city to thrive elsewhere, because the city doesn't have what it needs to make them stay, in terms of business and life amenities such as security and stability. The entrepreneurial seeds aren't planted well due to underdeveloped institutional framework, which blocks new and original ideas to propagate in the city," Duhamel said.

#14 Shanghai

Overall Ranking: 0.22

Shanghai scored in the middle of the global integration and knowledge creation categories, but scored poorly in the other four categories.

"Shanghai is living proof that human talent quantity doesn't always guarantee high innovation production. Shanghai's amazing city infrastructure, life facilities and industrial R&D centers are apparent, but its lack of creativity to generate original notions hinders it from being innovative. Shanghai is doing good in adopting other cities' prominence but innovation isn't done through copy-paste method — it involves acceptance towards various ideas and better educational system provided by the supportive government," Duhamel said.

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A few hours after registration opened on Monday for Citi Bike, New York City's new bike sharing system, 2,500 people had signed up.

Within a day, 5,000 had paid $103 for annual memberships, according to Transportation Nation, revealing enthusiasm for a program that should open for business next month, more than a year behind schedule.

Over the past decade, bike sharing systems have spread rapidly through cities around the world. There are nearly a dozen in the U.S., in cities from Minneapolis to Miami Beach.

The premise is simple: Bikes are parked at stations around the city, and members (who sign up for anything from a few hours to a year) can use them for a small fee.

A Success Story

Overall, the story of bike shares has been one of success. The upsides are obvious: City residents and visitors always have access to a healthy mode of transport for a small fee, and urban life and the environment benefit from the reduced need for cars.

A peer reviewed study published in the American Journal of Public Health last month found implementing a bike share program can increase cycling, which is, after all, the goal.

Bike share programs tend to be popular among users, who appreciate access to nearly free transportation.

On Yelp, Minneapolis's Nice Ride system averaged a four-star rating, based on 23 reviews. London's Barclays Cycle Hire had four stars, from 18 reviews. Bixi, in Montreal, had four stars, based on 44 reviews.

I spent a year living in France, a lot of it in Paris. I used its bike share, Velib, frequently: It's convenient and close to free. With 20,000 bikes at 1,800 stations (usually spaced about 300 meters apart), it was the best way to get home after a late night, since the Paris Metro closes around 1 a.m. and cabs are expensive.

The Cons

There are downsides as well, however. Bike shares are expensive to install and maintain. It's difficult to gauge interest beforehand and make sure the right number of bikes and stations are put into place.

Velib was a pain nearly as often as it was a breeze to use. Late at night, the bikes are mostly used to leave the city center, so finding a bike at 3 a.m. to do just that can be an exercise in frustration. I found plenty of bikes with flat tires, however.

The low point was the night I returned a bike without realizing it had not properly locked into the station. Someone later took it and never returned it, leaving me on the hook for the €150 deposit I had put down.

I lost a lengthy argument with a Velib employee along with my money, but took out a bike soon after. The system's upsides, in my view, outweigh its flaws.

That was not the case for SmartBike, the country's first commercial bike sharing program, which opened in Washington, D.C. in August 2008. It didn't work for a few reasons, Tom Vanderbilt wrote on Slate:

There were too few stations and bikes to form a meaningful and useful network. The system offered only long-term memberships, rather than offering short-term access via credit card. In fact, it didn’t take credit cards at all (so much for capturing the tourist market). Building stations took a lot of time and money.

Other systems have faced similar problems, despite their popularity. Montreal's Bixi program, which operates as a non-profit, needed a $108 million bailout from the city in May 2011.

Paris's Velib has long been plagued by vandalism. JCDecaux, the company that runs the system, repairs 1,500 bikes every day, according to the New York Times. Based on the number of bikes I used — or found and couldn't use — with flat tires or faulty brakes, even that was not enough.

Will It Work In NYC?

New Yorkers are cycling more than ever before, and the rush of early Citi Bike registrations is proof that there is plenty of demand for a bike sharing system in the city.

The chances of New York's new bike share being a success — success defined here as encouraging cycling at a sustainable price — depend on how Citi Bike is set up and funded.

A 2009 report by the NYC Department of City Planning found that small, underfinanced programs are the ones that fail.

The systems that work, like Velib and Capital Bikeshare, which replaced SmartBike in Washington, D.C. and is now the nation's largest program, are those that make sure the bikes are easy to use, and that the money is there to keep everything running.

Citi Bike will open with 330 stations, located in Manhattan south of 59th St and some Brooklyn neighborhoods. The map of planned stations shows one every few blocks, so users should never have to go far to find or return a bike.

If Citi's sponsorship of the program provides enough funding to keep those stations and bikes in working order, and the promised expansion to the rest of the city comes before long, New York could add a great bike share program to its list of accomplishments.

If not, Citi Bike is likely to go down as a costly failure.

SEE ALSO: 18 Brilliant Ways To End Gridlock And Save Billions

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4/20, or April 20th, — the unofficial holiday devoted to marijuana — is usually associated with hippie, beanie bag kicking, dreadlocked, guitar strumming stoners gathering to celebrate in a lazy, smoke-filled haze. 

My 420 Tours and co-owner Matt Brown could be helping to change that out-dated perception that marijuana smokers are all clones of Cheech and Chong. 

Brown equates his version of pot tourism to wine-tasting in a place like Napa.

My 420 Tours, the first devoted marijuana-themed tour operator in the U.S., arranges tours for groups centering around marijuana-themed activities while still allowing participants to experience Colorado's renowned tourist attractions.

Brown, a medical marijuana patient, told Business Insider these tours will allow people to tour Denver — something they'd be doing anyway — but they'll be doing it while high.

"Pot tourism is like all other tourism," Brown said. "The only difference is that for the 10% of Americans who smoke responsibly, they can go on vacation to Colorado and smoke freely. We tried to package all of the cool things that people do in Colorado, and allow people to smoke while doing them."

Tour activities might include a private cannabis cooking class, tours of medical marijuana growers and dispensaries, and home-growing workshops. My 420 Tours also arranges transportation to 4/20 concerts and events, like the 4/20 concert at Red Rocks. Even the 4-star hotels on this tour are cannabis friendly, featuring balconies where guests can smoke.

My 420 Tours is currently operating its inaugural tours, called World Cannabis Week. The 3- and 5-day packages range from $500 to $850 (not including airfare or hotels), depending on the length of the tour—sold out almost immediately for the April 20th weekend.

"The response has been overwhelming," Brown told us. "We sold all of our tickets before we got media coverage. When you count airfare, hotel and tour, people dropped about $2,000 a piece on these tours because they were so eager to come and try it out."

Brown said that almost 200 people purchased packages for World Cannabis Week, and he expects this inaugural group will generate about half a million dollars in tourism revenue for Denver over the weekend.

So who's buying these tour packages? It's not who you'd think. 

My 420 Tours offers more highbrow experiences that appeal to an older and more affluent clientele. Brown said that the somewhat steep price point is not attractive to young people, and that the average age of tour participants is around 40.

"We got more response from an older demographic than I would have guessed," Brown said."This appeals to a person who is desperate to follow the law. They're not looking to push the rules or be edgy. It's about coming here and doing the same exact thing they'd do at home, but here it's legal. They’ll be able to get through their vacation and do what they want to do without going to jail."

Brown said that everything on the tours is perfectly legal, the trick being that no one is buying or selling marijuana. Guests are given a small amount of marijuana when they arrive and they'll have access to marijuana throughout the tour, but there is no exchange of money.

"We try to keep people occupied with these tours," Brown said. "From the time they get up in the morning to night, there’s always an event, like a cannabis cooking class, with someone who’s local and has some weed on them and is willing to share with guests."

Brown tells guests that they can smoke freely while in Colorado, but they'll only be given small amounts of marijuana and they can't take it home. He also warns them that they can't buy the drug from Colorado's 500-plus dispensaries, since commercial pot sales won't be legal for out-of-state visitors until January.

"People from out of state are so in awe that this can exist at all," Brown said. "They are just so relieved that they come here and have someone hand them a tiny piece of weed."

Brown said that he sees Colorado growing into a destination for marijuana users, and My 420 Tours plans to expand to meet the need. After this weekend's inaugural tours, he plans to arrange three or four large events every year, along with smaller custom tours for individuals.

SEE ALSO: Marijuana Has Won The War On Drugs >

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A Swedish doctor at an eating disorder clinic has made the explosive claim that modeling scouts wait outside to recruit anorexic patients. 

“We find this absolutely reprehensible. They [talent scouts] have been standing outside our clinic and trying to pick up our girls because they know that they are skinny,” Anna-Maria af Sandeberg, chief doctor at the Stockholm Center for Eating Disorders told British newspaper Metro.

The patients who are allegedly being targeted are 14 and 15-year-old girls, Sandeberg told the paper. 

The report doesn't specify what agencies the scouts were working for. 

She said that as a result of the modeling scouts, the clinic had to change its policy that patients could walk outside. 

The clinic has about 1,700 patients, according to Metro. 

The story is the latest critique of the fashion industry, which is often accused of promoting unhealthy body image. 

"Indeed it seems highly unlikely that an agency would have to waste its time "urging" a girl to lose weight when she is already anorexic to the point of hospitalization," writes Jenna Sauers at Jezebel. "Just pick her up out of that wheelchair, get that girl some five-inch heels, and stick her on the next flight to Paris."

And these disturbing anti-anorexia ads compare disordered women to fashion sketches. 

SEE ALSO: TOO HOT FOR VICTORIA'S SECRET: The Miranda Kerr Story >

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The buyer of a $34 million condo at the Miami Beach Edition was infomercial tycoon Ajit Khubani, according to Jennifer Gould Keil at the New York Post.

Khubani is the founder and CEO of TeleBrands, the direct response marketing company behind "As Seen On TV" products.

The South Beach condo, which sold last month, was the most expensive condo ever sold in South Florida, according to Curbed Miami. At $3,800 a square foot, it was nearly three times as expensive as typical luxury real estate in Miami.

The building is not even complete yet; it's slated to open in 2014. The Ian Schrager-designed residence and hotel will have 26 apartments and 250 hotel rooms.

These renderings are for a range of residences in the Edition, but they'll give you a good idea of what Miami's new most expensive condo looks like.

Here's a panorama of the living room, which has floor-to-ceiling windows and unbelievable Atlantic Ocean views.

Here's another view of the penthouse living room. It flows right into the kitchen.

The kitchens are stark and modern.

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Crumbs, the world's largest cupcake company, isn't doing very well. 

The company's stock plunged shortly after its 2011 IPO from $13 to $3.75 when its earnings missed Wall Street estimates. It started tanking again last week when Crumbs announced that sales would be 22% lower than projected.

Crumbs also indicated that certain locations “incapable of reaching acceptable levels of financial performance” would need to close, according to the Wall Street Journal.

This collapse led the Journal's Emily Maltby and Sarah E. Needleman to declare that the gourmet cupcake market is crashing.

Judging by the often deserted Crumbs across the street from Business Insider, we are inclined to agree. (The two Starbucks down the block seem much more crowded.) 

For a somewhat systematic evaluation of this Crumbs on Park Ave South in Manhattan, we sent reporters to make observations throughout the day.

Here's what we saw on Thursday, April 18: 

7:11 to 7:16 a.m.: Deputy Editor Gus Lubin checks out the scene right after Crumbs opens at 7. No customers: 

8:43-8:48 a.m.: Retail reporter Ashley Lutz spends a few minutes at Crumbs during the morning rush hour. Minutes earlier, the Starbucks around the corner had a line of at least 20 people. At Crumbs, one man sits alone, eating a pastry and reading a newspaper. There are two people in line, but they buy coffee, not cupcakes: 

10:30-10:50 a.m.: Lifestyle reporter Megan Willett said seven customers came in during a span of 20 minutes. Most customers only ordered coffee, but one woman bought two dozen cupcakes for an office party. Megan noted that the cupcakes were well-stocked and the employees were helpful. Her own cupcake was good, too: 

12:50-1:05 p.m.: Retail reporter Megan Durisin sees one customer eating a cupcake in the store. Only one employee was working at the store. She eats a "birthday" cupcake, white cake with rainbow sprinkles: 

2 p.m.-2:05 p.m.: Senior Editor Julie Zeveloff noticed five customers in the store buying "post-lunch coffee and a snack." Some of the cupcake trays were half-empty. 

4:50-5 p.m: This is the busiest Crumbs has been all day. Business reporter Max Nisen notices seven customers total in the late afternoon. The customers get coffees, cupcakes, and beverages. 

While Crumbs had customers through the day, it was never actually crowded. 

It's worth noting that Crumbs was founded in Manhattan a decade ago, meaning that NYC residents are very familiar with the brand. There are 21 Crumbs stores in Manhattan alone.

Market saturation is a big problem for Crumbs. Cupcakes are an easy product to replicate, and competitors such as Magnolia Bakery and Sprinkles began expanding aggressively after Crumbs went public. 

Crumbs said in a recent earnings statement that it was slowing down on its plan for expansion. 

Consumers might also be tired of cupcakes. 

Eric Rodawig at Seeking Alpha notes that Google traffic for the word "cupcake" peaked in 2011. 

The "novelty has worn off,"  Kevin Burke, a managing partner of investment banking firm Trinity Capital, told the Wall Street Journal. 

Business Insider's Max Nisen notes that the company has used promotions to get customers in stores. 

"The only time I've seen a real line at the place was when they were doing the dollar ice coffee promotion last summer," said Nisen, who has argued that gourmet cupcakes are simply an awful business.

SEE ALSO: The Rise And Fall Of The Gourmet Cupcake >

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You're welcome.

SEE ALSO: 20 Mouthwatering Pictures Of Street Food In Singapore

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The accelerating legalization of marijuana has brought about an entirely new, legal industry around the drug. 

Until recently, the marijuana business was solely a black market, fueled by drug traffickers and gangs.

However, as more and more states move to legalize or decriminalize marijuana, several legitimate business enterprises have sprung up with the goal of profiting off of the drug. 

To find out more about the growing legal marijuana industry, we spoke to Justin Hatfield, the entrepreneur behind WeedMaps.com, a juggernaut site that pulls 50,000 unique visitors per day and generates $1.5 million in listing fees alone each month, according to documents put out by the company.

We talked to Hartfield about the current state of the business, the future of pot in America, and the unrealized potential of a marijuana industry in the U.S. 

Business Insider: So what is WeedMaps?

Justin Hartfield: I was a patient in early 2008 and me and my friends wanted to know where the dispensaries were. There was no really good way to find out where they were, their hours, let alone what was on their menu.

WeedMaps is a medical marijuana dispensary finding website. It was founded in 2008 and we help patients connect to each other and let them see menus and pricing for most of their favorite dispensaries.

I was already in the internet business. I had a SEO company, and just for fun I made the site. I had a really cool name “WeedMaps,” and it just started to take off way more than my consulting business did. So eventually I just dropped consulting and started doing WeedMaps full time.

BI: What is it like being a marijuana entrepreneur?

JH: It’s really fun, especially when I get to tell people what I do .

I’m in a little bit of a different position than most people in the marijuana business because i’m only tangentially related. I don’t actually touch the stuff. I at least have one layer of separation, so I can be a little be more free and open telling people exactly what I do, something people who sell marijuana don’t have the same way.

BI: So this is legal?

JH: It’s absolutely legal. How? First Amendment.

BI: As a result of your business, you’re now on the board of a number of groups, including NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). Tell us a little more about your advocacy work. 

JH:I’m also on the board of Marijuana Policy Project as well as National Cannabis Industry Association, so I’m very busy on boards. What I do exactly I still haven’t figured that out yet.

I’ve always been especially interested in ending the drug war. It’s always something I thought was wrong on a number of levels. Ending the prohibition on marijuana would just make so much sense. I think organizations like NORML and MPP are doing amazing work changing not only the cultural perception but also the laws, what we’ve seen in Colorado and Washington in November.

BI: In November, Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana on the state level. How has this changed the outlook for legal marijuana in the U.S.?

JH: I think it changes everything. Monetarily there hasn’t been an impact yet, but obviously the laws still need to be implemented. They will be on the first of January 2014. 

I think what it’s doing now is it’s bringing really professional investors and players into the space that I haven’t seen before. I’ve been doing this since 2008, the level of the business actors hasn’t always been  the “highest.”

But now, I’m beginning to see some really serious, sincere, business people — with credentials, with backgrounds —   starting to get more interested and involved in the industry. That’s always a great thing to see because that’s going to make the pie bigger, make the industry grow and  mature and become more accepted.

It’s people with experience and backgrounds — 10, 15, 25 years —  in industry bringing that level of professionalism, their technology, the discourse itself has been very powerful. I think there are starting to be a lot more impressive business opportunities emerging  from this growing acceptance, especially in the kind of tangentially related  industries like paraphernalia and electronics —  vaporizing pens, vaporizers in general, even storage devices,

You name it, there’s this incredible amount of technology that’s being applied. It’s been in the closet so long, it’s been a contraband industry so long . These professional people and this kind of high technology hasn’t been applied  to the industry yet, and we’re finally seeing it emerge. It’s becoming evident everywhere.

BI: What’s the future for pot in America, looking at the next three to five years?

JH: I think we’re looking at a few more states adding medical, then in 2016 there’s going to be the next big push. It’s a presidential election, they’re expecting a lot of younger folks to vote. When young folks come out to vote, they typically vote for legalization.

I expect [Progressive Insurance chairman and marijuana legalization advocate] Peter Lewis and his group to have something on the ballot in California, and then hopefully a few other states.

BI: How about New York?

JH:Medical [marijuana legalization] in New York looks very promising. They’re pushing stuff up in Albany now. This bill that they’re pushing right now is very restrictive form a commercial standpoint and also in terms of just a medical standpoint. They’re not allowing doctors to recommend marijuana, they’re trying to control what  diseases marijuana can be used for and in that kind of system it just limits the market. It’s going to be very heavily regulated there but I think in 2016 there could be possibility of a legalization bill there too. I know [The Drug Policy Alliance] is working really hard in New York.

BI: What about long term? Has marijuana already won?

JH: I think the culture war is over, as Allen St. Pierre [Executive Director of NORML] likes to point out. Culturally, there’s no doubt about it that my generation and the generation that’s older than me, they’ve come to accept this should be regulated like alcohol.

So for long term? I see federal legalization on the horizon within the next ten to twelve years. Hopefully sooner. Hopefully it’s tomorrow. It’s kind of ridiculous the federal government is even considering not letting the states move forward with this experiment, but regardless, I think the long term prospects for the marijuana industry are really good, probably comparable to the wine industry, probably a lot bigger.

BI:The wine industry? Most people seem associate the future of pot with the tobacco industry. 

JH: Everyone always compares it to tobacco, I think that tobacco is $35 billion depending on who you ask, the wine market is a little bit less than that. I think the recreational market is going to be very similar to the wine market with an extra added huge market for medical; because there are a lot of patients that need to have a guaranteed medical product.

BI: Wine has independent producers, whereas tobacco is heavily consolidated.

JH: Exactly. The wine business is going to be a closer model of what the legal cannabis market will be eventually. If California really does legalization right — either through [California Lieutenant governor and presumed 2014 gubernatorial candidate] Gavin Newsom, the legislature or in 2016 —  if they really do it right they’ll specify zones like the Emerald Triangle or Humboldt County that are special, just like they do with Napa Valley or Sonoma.

When you have a product that’s comes of these areas it’s allowed to have stamps of approval — “the Humboldt stamp of approval” —  and I think this is going to revitalize a lot of local industry there and create a whole cottage industry — like Sonoma has with the French model —  by designating special areas.

BI: You have another business, Cannabinoid Science Systems. What’s with that?

JH: Cannabinoid SS is a research company that develops and applies for patents  for cannabis intellectual property, medical and recreational. We’ve got a lot of really cool stuff. We’ve done so much research on cannabis. We know so much about the plant and extracting things from the plant. We know so much about processing and post-processing that we may as well get these patents so when it does become legal federally we have them. 

BI: What needs to happen now?

JH: I want to commend Colorado for passing Amendment 64, and ensure that the four congressmen do the right thing and pass a bill that’s not only timely but also fair to the local businesses  and people in the community. There’s a world spotlight on Colorado and Denver. If they get this right, if they really find a good way to regulate marijuana I think the whole world will benefit.

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We love Mad Men and can’t get enough. In addition to the character development, plot twists and 1960s period costumes (which are totally back in style), we love seeing some of our favorite locations in New York City depicted on the show.

From Madison Avenue to Waverly Place, many of the locales that Don and the rest of the characters frequented are still around and just as successful as they were in the ’60s. In anticipation of Season 6, here’s our Mad Men Guide to New York City with our favorite locations featured on Seasons 1-5.

We can’t wait to see what’s in store in Sunday’s Season Premier, and add Season 6 locations to our Mad Men Guide.

The Oyster Bar at Grand Central

In Season 1, Don gets back at Roger for flirting with Betty by egging him on to eat a couple dozen oysters and drink one too many Martinis, and then having the elevator attendant say the elevator is out of service. By the time the two of them walk the twenty-three flights up to the office, Roger is so sick that he vomits at the feet of a client.

We don’t recommend overdoing it like Roger, but we do recommend stopping at the Oyster Bar for a drink before boarding a train upstairs. In fact, for an even more sophisticated period atmosphere, head downstairs to the Campbell Apartment, Grand Central’s hidden bar, famous for the Prohibition Punch. We can only hope it will be featured in Season 6. Read more on our guide to NYC’s hidden bars.

P.J. Clarke's

When Peggy successfully writes copy for the Belle Jolie campaign and gets promoted from secretary to copy writer, she invites everyone out for a drink at P.J. Clarke’s to celebrate. A New York City staple that has been around since 1884, the original P.J. Clarke’s on 55th and 3rd is still a popular spot for a happy hour drink and serves up a menu of all American classics.

You can still see mementos of the bar’s past with a broken pay phone, human leg bones over the door (apparently an Irish good luck talisman), and Skippy the taxidermied dog. It was once a haunt of Frank Sinatra, Jackie O and Elizabeth Taylor. How’s that for authentic?

Henri Bendel

It’s been suggested that Menken’s Department Store from Season 1 may be a fictionalized version of Bergdorf Goodman, but we think it more closely resembles Henri Bendel. Menken’s is portrayed as a classy, upscale but intimate department store, much like Bendel.

The flagship on Fifth Avenue is home to original Lalique windows, making it an architecturally interesting place to see even if you prefer not to shop there.

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