• Tom Hardy's performance in "Venom" is a Jekyll and Hyde vibe mixed with the physical comedy of Jim Carrey.
• Yes, this is a very different Marvel movie.

When news hit that Sony was making a Venom movie, fans of the legendary comic book villain probably immediately thought that it has to explore certain things, and the character's look and tone have to be a certain way.

I'm going to level with you — if you are a superfan of the Marvel comics you probably are going to hate "Venom" (in theaters Friday).

But if you are someone, like me, who did not grow up on the ultra-violent exploits of this alien Symbiote that clings to a human host to survive, there's hope. 

With "Venom," director Ruben Fleischer ("Zombieland," "Gangster Squad") delivers an entertaining comic book movie that at times is intentionally funny, while other non-funny moments miss the mark so badly that you can't help but laugh.  

The worst parts of the movie are when it attempts basic character development. Whether it be the first 45 minutes or so where we watch the self-destructive life of Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), Carlton Drake's (Riz Ahmed) obsession to find the proper host for his Symbiotes he plucked from space, or the non-existent relationship between Eddie and Anne Weying (Michelle Williams). 

Obviously all of this is needed or the movie would be 30 minutes long, but it's easy to zone out during these parts until Venom shows up. And when he does it pays off, but maybe not the way you would think.

The plot of the movie revolves around Drake having these Symbiotes and his struggle to find a human host for them that won't die while they are inside them. Eddie, who is an investigative journalist, gets a tip from one of Drake's scientists (Jenny Slate) about what he's doing and sneaks into Drake's lab to see first-hand what is going on. And that is when he contracts the Symbiote, Venom.

From that point on the movie kicks into a gear that fans of the Marvel movies will need a second to adjust to. Because things get very wacky. Yes, numerous Marvel movies (whether they be from Disney's MCU or from Sony or Fox) have a comedic feel, but none have had Tom Hardy's brand of funny. 

As Eddie tries to deal with Venom inside him, Hardy portrays that uncomfortable adjustment by giving a performance that's a Jekyll and Hyde vibe mixed with Jim Carrey physical comedy. 

And then there's the voice of Venom inside his head, which is the best part of the movie. 

Seriously, if the whole movie was Eddie and Venom arguing about the ethics of biting people's head's off and tater tots (that's right, Venom loves tater tots), I would be the first in line for that.

There's also the stuff that clearly is not in the movie for comedic reasons, but is in fact just that. It's what makes the movie distinctly batty (and in some people's eyes, unwatchable). Dramatic lines, corny plot points — there's literally a moment in the movie where Anne apologizes to Eddie that Venom is no longer inside of him. Honestly, how you get through this movie all comes down to how you see it. 

If you go with a group of friends, all of this just elevates the absurdity and pure enjoyment of this bizarre dark comedy. If you go see this alone... yeah, we don't recommend that.  

SEE ALSO: The surprise theatrical success of Nicolas Cage's new movie "Mandy" has forced its distributor to completely overhaul its release strategy

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• A California company sells "luxury" ice cubes for $325 per bag.
• According to Glace Luxury Ice, their product is superior to regular ice because it's "purified of minerals, additives and other pollutants."
• Glace Ice claims that the design of their cubes — which come in cube or sphere shapes — provide minimum dilution, maximum cooling, and should be enjoyed with "premium spirits."

If you're drinking top-shelf liquor, you'd better be enjoying it with top-shelf ice.

That's the idea behind a California company that sells "luxury" ice cubes for $325 per bag.

Glace Luxury Ice says that its ice is of higher quality than regular ice, which is made with local tap water and may contain impurities and carcinogens, resulting in poor tasting and potentially unhealthy ice, according to the company's website.

Glace Ice, on the other hand, is purified and protected in a resealable package, which ensures its purity, according to the company.

"Our elegant design provides minimum dilution and maximum cooling, greatly enhancing enjoyment at the point of consumption," the website reads. "Glace Luxury Ice provides consumers with a top-shelf choice for ice that matches their premium spirit selection."

SEE ALSO: This is how different types of alcohol alter your mood, according to science

Glace Luxury Ice sells two different types of ice cubes: G-Cubed, which is cube-shaped, with each piece individually carved ...

Source: Glace Luxury Ice

... and the Mariko Sphere. The sphere is "the most efficient shape in nature" and "the most mathematically efficient way to cool your drink," according to the company's website.

Source: Glace Luxury Ice

The ice cubes are sold in pouches of either 25 or 50 cubes of ice and are shipped priority over-night and already frozen packaged in dry-ice, a representative for the company told Business Insider.

Source: Glace Luxury Ice

• Frequent flyer programs allow you to rack up miles and earn free flights.
• It could be difficult to earn enough miles for a free flight if you don’t fly often; however, you can enjoy a number of alternative benefits from airline loyalty programs like flight-amenities and seat upgrades.
• Here are five advantages of frequent flyer programs that go beyond miles.

If you you don't fly often or fail to stick with the same airline with each trip, it may seem difficult to accumulate enough frequent flyer miles to experience the benefits.

On top of that, some airlines, like Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, have expiration dates for your miles if your account is inactive over a certain period, according to NerdWallet.

You may not think it's worth your while to register as a frequent flyer, but you could be wrong: Some airline loyalty programs offer benefits beyond miles and points for future travel.

Here are five benefits of frequent flyer programs that go beyond earning a free or discounted flight.

SEE ALSO: I stopped using credit cards completely in an attempt to get out of debt — here's what happened

1. Easy check-in

The simplest and most basic benefit of signing up for a frequent flyer program is that it allows the airline to store all of your information.

When you book a flight with most airlines, you’ll only need your login information. You don’t have to scramble to find your known traveler number if you have TSA PreCheck or your passport number if you’re flying overseas.

The few extra minutes you spend to join a loyalty program will save you time whenever you go to book a flight. Plus, it sets you up to earn points for other benefits.

2. Flight amenities

Airlines vary in the ways they allow passengers to use their miles to pay for extras.

Aside from a seat, Southwest Rapid Rewards won't let you redeem your points for flight amenities like extra bags, security fees, or in-flight drinks. But other airlines have different policies.

Norwegian Rewards allows you to redeem CashPoints for flight-related charges such as baggage and seat reservation fees. And airlines like Delta and American will let you use earned miles for an upgrade to first or business class.

Check with the airlines you like to fly and see what your points can buy you. You might not have enough to cover a flight to Rome, but you could take a suitcase big enough to hold your museum outfits plus your clubwear at no extra charge.

3. Trade points for experiences

Some airlines allow you to exchange earned miles for vacations, festivals, sporting events, and more.

Tickets to a Minnesota Vikings football game, a seven-day cruise to Costa Rica, a Nascar race in Texas, or a chance to visit the Voodoo Music and Arts Experience in New Orleans are just a few of the packages you can buy or bid for right now through Delta SkyMiles Experiences.

United’s MileagePlus program also offers tickets to concerts and a chance to bid on vacation and event packages. If you use your MileagePlus miles to buy tickets to Broadway shows and you're a member of Broadway loyalty program Audience Rewards, you could earn more United miles with each ticket you buy.

Some of these experiences might cost you enough miles that you could have used the points to book a free flight instead. But several free flights might pale in comparison to a dinner and three-night vacation at the exclusive French Laundry resort in Napa Valley, California, which is set at a current bid of 147,000 miles on Delta's auction site.  

Millions of people around the world have been forced from their home countries due to war, genocide, or persecution.

They come from conflict-ridden countries like Syria, Somalia, and Sudan, and they wait for years in refugee camps before they can secure a spot in safe countries.

The United States takes in just a tiny fraction of the world's refugees, but it maintains perhaps the strictest, most rigorous vetting process — and the rules just got much stricter.

The Trump administration announced recently that it will slash the number of refugees accepted into the US in fiscal year 2019 to 30,000. That's the lowest "cap" a president has set since the refugee program was created in 1980.

But according to State Department data, the administration took in just 22,491 refugees in the entire 2018 fiscal year — that's fewer than half the 45,000 cap the administration set last year.

Here's a look at where the world's refugees come from and what they endure to make it to safety in the United States:

SEE ALSO: 'I don't know how much harder it can get': What it takes to go from refugee to American

The UNHCR estimates that some 65.6 million people around the world have been forced from their homes. Some of them are refugees within their own countries, some have managed to flee their home countries altogether, and some have no citizenship — and therefore nowhere to go.

As of 2016, the most recent year with data available, just 0.8% of the world's refugees were resettled in safe countries. For 0.4% of refugees, that safe country was the United States.

Source: UNHCR

When refugees flee their home country, they often have to temporarily seek safety in a "host country," where they typically live in refugee camps until they can permanently be resettled. For instance, many of Syria's 5.5 million refugees sought temporary safety in neighboring countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan.

Source: UNHCR

The United States is one of 37 countries that offer resettlement programs, though refugees don’t get to pick where they’re sent. Instead, the UNHCR assigns them to the US. Then, they undergo a rigorous, years-long screening process by US officials. Here's how that works:

President Donald Trump has dramatically restricted America's refugee intake since he took office, and though he has demanded that "extreme vetting" be implemented for refugees coming from majority-Muslim countries, those closest to the refugee-vetting process say the current system is already as extreme as it gets.

The refugees undergo years of screening filled with intensive interviews, detailed background checks from multiple government agencies, biometric data collection, medical tests, and constant scrutiny from the US officials who vet them.

Sources: UNHCR, Business Insider

• Sleep allows our bodies to reset for optimal psychological and physiological functioning.
• Failing to get enough sleep can affect concentration, make us irritable, and keep us feeling fatigued until the next time of rest.
• Despite author Jennifer Still’s busy schedule, she still makes sure to get at least eight hours of sleep each night — here’s how.

With their demanding schedules and heavy workloads, modern Americans may find it hard to get the seven to nine hours of sleep each night that the Mayo Clinic recommends for adults.

But if you feel like you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re not alone. A study by the CDC found that a third of Americans aren’t sleeping enough, and it may be impacting our health for the worse.

The negative effects of sleep deprivation on our health are both physiological and psychological.

According to a paper by the NIH, sleep deprivation “increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.” Additionally, not getting enough quality sleep affects mood, performance, concentration, and our ability to form memories.

It can hurt your relationships and increase anxiety, too.

To avoid the negative effects of sleep deprivation, I’ve made it a goal of mine to get at least eight hours of sleep per night, and with very few exceptions, I’ve been able to make it a habit. Here’s how I get eight hours of sleep every day, even when life is hectic:

SEE ALSO: I taught myself how to cook — here are 8 tips if you feel hopeless in the kitchen

I stop drinking caffeine after 2 p.m

I’m a coffee addict and tend to sip cold brew or espresso shots throughout the day. However, consuming caffeine too late is a recipe for insomnia, so I’ve learned to keep it decaf after 2 p.m.

I not only avoid coffee after this time, but I also stay away from any caffeinated drinks like green tea and Diet Coke.

I wear comfortable pajamas

I’ve found that wearing clothes that are too constricting or uncomfortable inhibits my ability to sleep well. Likewise, pajamas that are seasonally inappropriate could leave you too hot or cold in the middle of the night.

I take an evening bath

I find taking a bath to be a relaxing way to clear my mind before hitting the hay. Research shows that bathing before bed can help improve sleep quality.

But this may only work if you leave yourself some time to cool down from a bath.

According to Time, hot baths or showers affect your circadian rhythm, or the biological clock that tells your body when to sleep and wake. Heating up signals to your body and brain that you should be awake and alert. Give yourself one or two hours to cool down after a shower before climbing into your bed.

• Sinemia CEO Rifat Oguz talked to Business Insider about his company's climb up the movie-ticket subscription service ranks. 
• He also explained how his company can thrive beyond movie tickets.

At this moment in the movie-ticket subscription wars, Sinemia is in an enviable position.

The company was recently praised by the National Research Group as having the most popular subscription plan for moviegoers with its $7.99 a month for two movies deal, and with MoviePass changing its plan to three movies per month for $9.95 after falling on hard times financially, Sinemia stands alone as the only service that offers an option where you can see one movie per day at any major movie theater in the country.

After creating the first version of the app six years ago, founder and CEO Rifat Oguz has launched Sinemia in numerous countries — including Canada, Australia, Turkey, and the UK — before landing in its ultimate location, the US, in 2017. He’s now even made Los Angeles the site for the company’s main headquarters.

And it turns out he showed up at the right time. Oguz said subscriptions have grown 50% month-over-month for the last 14 months, and that growth has doubled since MoviePass dropped its one-movie-per-day plan (Oguz would not divulge how many subscribers Sinemia has in the US or globally, only stating that 75% of its subscribers are in the US).

He admits his investors are singing a different tune now compared to over a year ago, when MoviePass announced its one-movie-per-day plan for $9.95 a month and seemed to instantly gain millions of subscribers.

“All my investors called me and asked if I was going to do the same,” Oguz told Business Insider. “I looked at the data from the other countries and decided we can’t.”

Instead of grabbing headlines and the ire of the movie business like MoviePass did, Sinemia kept a low profile, focused on its product (which is similar to MoviePass in that it provides its members debit cards with fixed amounts on it so the tickets can be bought, however, there is also a cardless option), and crunched the data to come up with numerous plans that cater to all types of moviegoers.

Currently, you can choose from a range of subscriptions, from one movie per month for $4.99 to three movies per month for $9.99 ($17.99 and $12.99, respectively, if you want the plan to include going to 3D or IMAX screenings). And unlike MoviePass, with Sinemia you can buy any ticket in advance for an additional convenience fee, and there's a family plan.

In August, when MoviePass could no longer sustain its one-movie-per-day plan, Sinemia introduced that an option as well, offering a $29.99-per-month plan for one movie a day.

“We’re going in the path of Netflix and Spotify,” Oguz said. “We are more focused on our product and technology.”

Oguz believes that, with that focus, he'll soon have the Sinemia brand used by its members for more than just movie tickets.

One part of that goal is implementing concession deals in the US that are currently active in the Sinemia app in Europe, like allowing members to buy popcorn through the app while in the theater. Then, there are the more ambitious ideas, like making deals with restaurants and stores so the Sinemia card could be used to shop and dine anywhere.

“We need to create an ecosystem,” Oguz said. “Movie ticket subscription is here to stay, it will become a major part of the box office, but we want to make the Sinemia card available for every need a moviegoer has.”

Oguz didn't mention a timeline for the the rollout of these ideas in the US, but, unlike his competition, he doesn't have to scramble to keep the lights on — he has the luxury of focusing on the long game.

“We didn’t grow like MoviePass, with millions of subscriptions in months, but we’re proud that over the last two months we are doubling our subscribers,” Oguz said. “We are happy and our investors are happy.”

SEE ALSO: "Venom" is a darkly comedic Marvel movie you will either love or hate

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• The 2018 US Senate elections are full of tight races, polling shows.
• Entering the midterms, Republicans hold a 51-to-49 seat majority in the upper chamber of Congress.
• A few seats changing hands could flip the body to Democratic control.
• But Democrats are faced with a challenging map.

The battle for control of the Senate is as tight as can be, RealClearPolitics polling averages show. 

This week, Republicans made a substantial gain in North Dakota while cutting Democrats lead in New Jersey. Democrats, meanwhile, made slight gains in Florida while building on their lead in Arizona, most notably

As of Tuesday, candidates are separated by 2 points or less in four races, while the separation is less than 4.5 points in four additional contests:

• Polling shows Republican candidate, Rep. Kevin Cramer building his lead over a Democratic incumbent, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, in North Dakota. In Missouri, Republican Josh Hawley holds a slim lead over another Democratic incumbent, Sen. Claire McCaskill.
• Meanwhile, Democratic candidates Kyrsten Sinema and Jacky Rosen hold slim leads for seats currently under GOP control in Arizona and Nevada.
• In five states won by President Donald Trump in 2016, Democratic incumbents hold substantial leads over their opponents: Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.
• In Tennessee, the race between Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn and former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen is locked in a dead heat.
• In deep-red Texas, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is fending off Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke in a race that is separated by roughly 4.5 points.

Entering the midterms, Republicans hold a 51-to-49 seat majority in the upper chamber of Congress.

Election Day is November 6. We'll continue to update this map in the weeks leading up to it.

SEE ALSO: Insiders are buzzing that northern Virginia could soon be awarded Amazon's HQ2 as Jeff Bezos makes a high-profile visit to Washington, DC

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• An e-cigarette caught fire while onboard a Pegasus Airlines flight, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing.
• On Tuesday, Pegasus Airlines Flight 1135, a Boeing 737-800, took off from Istanbul and was forced to divert from its scheduled journey to Paris in order to make an emergency landing at Zagreb Airport in Croatia
• Daily Sabah, a Turkish daily, reports that smoke alarms went off in the airplane's cargo hold, and has confirmed a passenger's e-cigarette caught fire in their luggage. 
• A recent report by Consumer Affairs found that federal agencies have been underestimating the number of burns, injuries, and explosions created by e-cigarettes. 

An e-cigarette caught fire while onboard a Pegasus Airlines plane, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing. 

On Tuesday, Pegusus Airliner Flight 1135, a Boeing 737-800, took off from Istanbul and was forced to divert from its scheduled journey to Paris in order to make an emergency landing at Zagreb Airport in Croatia.

According to FlightRadar24, a live air traffic website, it was about halfway through the flight when the Pegasus Airline plane needed to divert in the direction of Zagreb.

According to reports, a passenger's e-cigarette caught fire in the middle of the flight. Daily Sabah, a Turkish daily, reports that smoke alarms went off in the airplanes cargo hold, forcing the pilots to make the emergency landing. 

In a statenent to Business Insider, Pegasus Airlines said, "An electronic cigarette in one of the passenger’s bags caught fire.  As a result of the precautionary measures that our pilots took to ensure the safety of our passengers, the aforementioned aircraft made a precautionary landing at Zagreb Airport. All passengers were disembarked from the aircraft safely upon landing, with no medical issues."

According to a social media post by Turkish Air News, no intervention by the fire brigade was necessary. 

While it is certainly rare for an e-cigarette to cause a fire on an airplane, it is not out of the ordinary for an accident like this to occur. A recent report by Consumer Affairs found that federal agencies have been underestimating the number of burns, injuries, and explosions created by e-cigarette technology, which converts liquid nicotine into mist through the heating of a battery.  

A photo of the Pegasus Airline plane being attended to by emergency personnel was posted by Turkish Air News' on social media on Tuesday morning. 

SEE ALSO: An American Airlines flight was diverted after an 'unruly' passenger started doing pull-ups on the overhead compartment

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• Selfies played a part in more than 250 deaths between October 2011 and November 2017, a new study says.
• Researchers found that the top causes of selfie-related deaths were centered around water or moving vehicles.
• The idea of "no-selfie zones" has emerged in an effort to decrease the amount of selfie-related deaths.

Before going to great lengths to capture that one-of-a-kind selfie, you might want to think hard about how much you'd risk for it.

More than 250 deaths between October 2011 and November 2017 can be linked to selfies, a recent study has found.

The deadliest place to take a selfie? 

Water.

According to the study, there have been at least 70 selfie fatalities due to drowning during the 6-year period. The deadly incidents include people getting swept away by waves, ignoring safety warnings on beaches, and being on boats that have capsized. 

Water-borne selfie deaths are especially deadly as they often involve multiple people. The 70 deaths stemmed from 32 incidents, according to the study. 

Perhaps just as dangerous, or even more so, are selfies taken from elevated places. 

The study cites 48 deaths from "falling" that resulted from 41 incidents — that's a higher number of fatal incidents involving selfies than drowning, even if the overall death toll is lower. 

Here's a full list of the causes of selfie death:

The study was conducted by a group of researchers out of India, which is home to more selfie-related deaths than any other country. It's important to note that researchers based their findings off English news outlets' existing coverage of selfie-related deaths, meaning there may be other deaths that occurred within the study's six-year period that either weren't reported or occurred in a non-English speaking country.

A couple of other interesting findings:

Almost three-quarters of the selfie-related deaths were men. Even though studies have found that women take more selfies than men, men more likely to engage in risky behavior to capture the perfect picture.

The majority of the 51 people whose deaths involved a mode of transportation were killed in selfie-related incidents involved moving trains. 

Most of the selfie deaths involving firearms occurred in the US.

To reduce the number of selfie-related deaths, researchers suggest that cities and other public entities designate certain places as "no-selfie zones"  This idea has already been implemented in Mumbai, where authorities have marked 16 places in India's largest city as off-limits that they deem to be most risky for selfie shots.

Other countries have taken similar steps to ensure safe selfie-taking — Russia ran a public safety campaign in 2015 centered around safe picture-taking practices. Rangers in New York's Catskill Mountains enacted a number of safety measures near several waterfalls and cliff edges, and can ticket visitors for putting themselves in risky situations in the name of selfies.

But it's hard to say whether the fervor to capture the best selfie will diminish anytime soon. Businesses have found innovative ways to profit off the craze, including pop-up museums in several cities who are attracting visitors by providing backdrops for Instagam-worthy pictures.

SEE ALSO: 'Siri, I'm getting pulled over': A new shortcut for iPhones can automatically record the police

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• Seven officers were shot on Wednesday in Florence, South Carolina, as police were executing a search warrant. One of those officers was killed, authorities said.
• One suspect is in custody after surrendering to sheriff's deputies.
• A Florence city spokesman said some of the officers are "seriously" injured.

Seven law-enforcement officers were shot on Wednesday afternoon in Florence, South Carolina, officials told local media. One of those officers was killed.

The shooting unfolded as officers were executing a search warrant, Florence police chief Allen Heidler told reporters. A suspect surrendered to deputies after negotiating, and was taken to hospital, according to CBS affiliate WBTW.

The names of the officers have not yet been released.

City of Florence spokesman John Wukela told the Associated Press that some of the officers are "seriously" injured.

Emergency officials warned locals to stay away from the scene of the shooting, around Vintage Place off of Hoffmeyer Road.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster weighed in on the news, tweeting that the incident was "simply devastating."

"The selfless acts of bravery from the men and women in law enforcement is real, just like the power of prayer is real," he said.

Join the conversation about this story »

Floyd Mayweather is known for his flashy lifestyle.

He was the "Money" man of boxing for a reason — and it's all because he made a billion dollars from career earnings, according to Forbes. He's even talked about being a billionaire before.

Mayweather may now be retired, but he still works hard and spends hard. After all, this is a man who once bought the ultra-rare $4.7 million supercar Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita (one of only two in the world) — but that isn't even his wildest purchase.

Mayweather also recently showed off an $18 million watch called "The Billionaire" on his Instagram page, has ambitions of buying an NBA team, and his emerging real estate empire could include the impressive skyscraper One Vanderbilt, a 1,301-foot structure in New York City.

He has personally-branded private jets, goes on holidays in the Caribbean, has a private chef on 24-hour call, and seemingly so much money he doesn't even mind paying his fans $1,000 to troll 50 Cent on social media.

So we all know how he lives. But what about where he lives?

The retired boxing champion bought a $25 million mansion in Los Angeles in 2017 — and property website Trulia provided Business Insider with a number of photos.

Mayweather's impressive LA home includes a candy shop, a 12-seat cinema, and a wine rack with 225 bottles.

Keep scrolling for a full tour of the mansion.

SEE ALSO: This is everything boxing champion Floyd Mayweather eats and drinks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

DON'T MISS: Floyd Mayweather’s Instagram shows him living his best life in the Caribbean

UP NEXT: Floyd Mayweather just bought an $18 million 280-carat diamond watch called 'The Billionaire' — take a look

This is retired boxer Floyd Mayweather. He's most famous for his convincing victories over big-name fighters like Conor McGregor and Manny Pacquiao, and earning a billion dollars in career prize money through boxing.

Source: Forbes.

Last year, Mayweather spent a small part of his fortune on a $25 million mansion in Los Angeles. The 6-bed, 10-bath property is located in Beverly Hills, an area made famous for its palm-lined Rodeo Drive, expensive shops, and movie star neighbours.

This is Mayweather's home whenever he stays in LA.

• Saudi agents are reportedly installing spyware on people's smartphones to crack down on critics living abroad.
• At least one Saudi critic was targeted by Israeli cyberintelligence firm NSO Group's Pegasus spyware software, which enables hackers to access messages, photos, microphone, and camera, researchers at Toronto's Citizen Lab reported this week.
• That critic was identified as outspoken Saudi critic and personality Omar Abdulaziz.

• Abdulaziz told Business Insider he had no idea he was being spied on until Citizen Lab reached out, but has noticed suspicious messages discussing intimate details of his romantic life.
• The 27-year-old said the Saudi government arrested two of his brothers and several of his friends back home in Saudi Arabia due to his activism, and he has not heard from them since.

Saudi agents are reportedly secretly installing spyware on people's smartphones to crack down on critics living abroad.

At least one critic of the kingdom had his smartphone targeted by Israeli cyberintelligence firm NSO Group's Pegasus spyware software, which enables hackers to gain access to messages, photos, emails, microphone, and camera, according to a new report from Citizen Lab, a Toronto information and technology lab.

The report's authors assessed with "high confidence" that outspoken Saudi critic and YouTuber Omar Abdulaziz was targeted with the spyware in June.

Abdulaziz's device got infected after he clicked on a link purportedly sent from the courier company DHL, the report said. He had made a purchase on Amazon earlier and later received a text message from DHL explaining that a package was due to be shipped, the report said.

But the message instead linked to a website that, according to Citizen Lab, had been identified as a known Pegasus exploit domain, and clicking on the link resulted in the infection of the software onto his phone.

How the lab figured out Abdulaziz was being targeted

Citizen Lab concluded the Abdulaziz was a target because someone using a consumer and university Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Quebec, Canada, found an infection by the Saudi-linked agent.

The lab then contacted the Saudi diaspora in Quebec and determined that Abdulaziz, a student at the city's Bishop's University, best fit the description.

By corroborating his movements and the suspicious DHL message on his phone, the lab concluded with "high confidence" that he was likely the target of the malicious attack.

Citizen Lab said they were drawn to investigate Abdulaziz after publishing research in September on Pegasus spyware being used in operations in 45 countries.

The lab found that one Pegasus operator appeared to be acting in the interest of Saudi Arabia in a series of complex overseas operations, and actively monitoring targets in countries like Bahrain, Canada, Egypt, France, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Turkey and the UK.

One of the targets earlier this year appeared to be London-based Saudi dissident and Amnesty International researcher named Yahya Assiri, the September report said.

Abdulaziz had no idea he was being spied on until Citizen Lab reached out

Abdulaziz first moved from Saudi Arabia to Canada as a student, and became actively involved in political commentary online. He says he decided to apply for political asylum in 2014 because he felt that his outspoken criticism of the government posed risks back home.

According to the 27-year-old, who hosts a popular satirical news program on YouTube, the government arrested two of his brothers and several of his friends back home in Saudi Arabia in August in response to his activism.

He said he did not suspect his phone was being monitored until Citizen Lab reached out to corroborate its hypothesis.

"When they [Citizen Lab] reached out I figured that someone must have been listening to me and reading the conversations between me and my friends and my brothers," he told Business Insider. "Some of them were arrested, and I'm sure hackers had access to everything on my phone."

Abdulaziz also says he began receiving messages from unknown Twitter and Snapchat accounts in the past month discussing intimate details about his personal and romantic life, which he had not discussed publicly.

He says he still uses the same phone, but doesn't discuss personal matters with anyone in Saudi Arabia.

"Now I'm okay, but I'm still concerned about the safety and security of my brothers and friends, many of whom I haven't heard from since they disappeared," he added. "We haven't received any news about them and I don't know if they're okay."

SEE ALSO: A Canadian political refugee made videos criticizing Saudi Arabia — now Saudi authorities have arrested his friends and family

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I woke up at 4:30 a.m. for a week like a Navy SEAL

• Republicans and Democrats are fighting back and forth in the Senate over the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation.
• The process has resulted in considerable animosity between the two parties, leading some lawmakers to think there could be real damage done.

WASHINGTON — Throughout every fight, even the ugliest ones, Republicans and Democrats in the United States Senate regularly like to tout their strong personal relationships forged across party lines.

But as lawmakers are at each other's throats over the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation, some fear that things are taking a turn for the worse on Capitol Hill.

Democrats and Republicans have erupted at one another during Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings, culminating in Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina lambasting Democrats last Thursday for what he described as a smear campaign against the nominee.

Graham accused Democrats of stalling and doing anything they possibly could to keep the Supreme Court seat vacant in case they retake the White House in 2020.

"Boy, you all want power," he said during last Thursday's hearing. "God, I hope you never get it."

And each morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have lobbed not-so-veiled shots at each other from across the Senate floor.

During a floor speech on Wednesday morning, McConnell tore into Democrats, saying they were going after Kavanaugh and lending credence to any and all accusations, even those that many lawmakers have dismissed as not as credible.

"It's time to put this embarrassing spectacle behind us," he said. "The American people are sick of the display that's been put on here in the United States Senate in the guise of a confirmation process."

Schumer followed McConnell's speech, nearly calling him a liar when discussing responsibility for the delayed voting process.

"He's to blame for the delay, but he couldn't do anything otherwise because his own Republicans insisted on it," Schumer said. "Again, it is a blatant falsehood — I'm so tempted to use the L-word, but he's my friend — to say that Democrats caused the delay. Mr. Leader, assert your power to determine what's put on the floor, and be a man. Man up and say it's your decision, not ours. We have nothing to do with it."

Senators differ on what kind of lasting damage the animosity could have

Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, the Democrat who paired with Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona to strike a deal to avoid holding a confirmation vote until after an FBI investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh, said on Tuesday that he was "concerned" about damage to key bipartisan relationships.

"That's one of the reasons I've been trying to conduct myself in a measured and respectful way with my colleagues," he said. "Because the amount of passion and even anger and process that led to the hearing last Thursday and the markup last Friday, it's really led to some of the sharpest exchanges I've ever heard as a senator."

Coons also admonished the increasing animosity during a question-and-answer session at the Atlantic Festival in Washington.

"We are an exceptional nation, and we are at risk of losing it all through a populist mob mentality where no one can win because everyone must lose," he said.

The constant fighting is not as bad for peer-to-peer relationships as it is for processes, said Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

"The problem is less with relationships — like I said, those are resilient — than it is with process," he said. "I think when there are process failures, that's a lasting problem."

Others, like Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, think they just need time to heal. He told Business Insider that most lawmakers reverted back to their friendly selves "after about 60 days."

"I remember when the nuclear option happened in, like, 2013, and it was worse than this," said Corker, who's set to retire later this year.

Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the vice chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, told Business Insider that lawmakers understood the need to get over tense moments. But he said real damage had been done.

"I was a whip in the House for a long time, and my view always was no matter how disappointed you were, you might need the person you were most disappointed in tomorrow," he said. "And I do think there's some short-term damage, and I think we will benefit from being out of here for some days at least between now and the election."

"I'm sure we'll get over it," he added. "But it was not a helpful thing the way this has been handled."

SEE ALSO: Here's an evolving count of which senators are voting for Brett Kavanaugh

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• Americans have different words for soft drink depending on which region of the United States they're from.
• The three most popular terms are soda, pop, and coke, according to data collected by the site Pop Vs. Soda.
• Linguists have noted other terms people from certain regions use for soft drinks, including tonic and cocola.

People in the United States have different ways of saying things from region to region, from what they call the night before Halloween to how they pronounce the word "crayon."

One of the things Americans can never seem to agree on is what to call fizzy, carbonated beverages: soda, pop, or coke?

That's exactly the question cartographer Alan McConchie sought to answer with his web project, the aptly named Pop Vs. Soda. The site invites visitors to fill out a brief questionnaire asking where they are from and which term they use for soft drinks. To date, more than 400,000 users have submitted answers.

The resulting maps illustrate what linguists have long known:

• Soda is the preferred term in the Northeast, most of Florida, California, and pockets in the Midwest around Milwaukee and St. Louis
• Pop is what people say in most of the Midwest and West
• And coke, even if it's not Coca-Cola brand, is what people call it in the South

Previous research reveals even more regional divides. According to Jason Katz, the graphic artist who wrote "Speaking American: How Y'all, Youse, and You Guys Talk," there are even more regionalisms that most Americans may not have heard of. Among them:

• A solid 6% of Americans simply call them soft drinks, especially in Louisiana and North Carolina
• In small pockets of the Deep South, cocola is the preferred term
• And in Boston, tonic is what a decent amount of older residents grew up saying, although that term is quickly falling out of favor

Whether you call it pop, soda, coke, or something else entirely, there's no question that Americans won't be agreeing on its name any time soon.

SEE ALSO: 27 fascinating maps that show how Americans speak English differently across the US

DON'T MISS: 9 words and phrases people think are wrong, but are actually correct

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• Tattoos are finally becoming more acceptable at work.
• But experts say you should still cover them up when you're interviewing.
• In industries like media or tech, which are more progressive, it might not matter. According to three experts, though, you will definitely want to cover up if interviewing at a law firm, bank, or another conservative industry.

Tattoos are becoming more commonplace, and less indicative of unsavory behavior. 

One in five Americans has a tattoo. Nearly 40% of Americans aged 18 to 29 have one. 

Despite these statistics, career experts told Business Insider that they advise people not to show their ink while at job interviews.

"Don't distract your interviewer with your tattoos," Raleigh, North Carolina-based human resources consultant Laurie Ruettimann said. "Make the interview a referendum on your skills, not your ink."

Plenty of things can go unexpectedly wrong in the interview process. You don't want to add additional complications by flashing your tattoos. 

"Why waste any amount of focus on wondering whether an interviewer is silently (or unconsciously) judging your tattoos?" career coach Marc Dickstein said. 

Covering tattoos is especially important for higher-up roles, said Marc Cenedella, founder and CEO of career website Ladders.

"Tattoos have become more common among Americans, but are still not widespread in managerial ranks," Cenedella said. "The more professional the role, the more you'll want to cover up."

Naturally, this rule doesn't apply to absolutely every industry, the experts all said. People are less likely to notice — or take into account negatively — your ink in creative, media, tech, or other progressive industries. Indeed, your interviewers might be tattooed themselves.

But take extra precaution to cover your tattoo when interviewing at an investment bank, law firm, or a client-facing position, Dickstein said. 

While tattoos may seem mainstream, particularly among millennials, plenty of those in charge of hiring and human resources still have a bias against ink, according to a 2016 survey.

Nearly 40% of HR managers ranked tattoos as the third most-likely physical feature to limit someone's careers. Of HR managers aged 60 and over, 63% said tattoos are inappropriate at work. That goes down to 22% among managers 25 and under.

Three in 10 HR managers also said in the survey that bad breath is a bigger red flag than tattoos. In other words, your interviewer would prefer you have tattoos than smell bad. 

"Crazy as it may seem that there are still employers in 2018 that have an issue with non-offensive tattoos, it's true," Dickstein said.

Women with tattoos are seen with particular scorn, according to one British study. They're perceived as less attractive, heavier drinkers, and more promiscuous than females without any ink. 

That's why Ruettimann encourages women, in particular, to cover up their tattoos. 

"Interviewers have bias, and most people in corporate America are still sexist," she said. "Men with tattoos are creative or daring, young women with tattoos are immature or dramatic."

SEE ALSO: 11 things you should do in the 15 minutes before a job interview

DON'T MISS: 16 things you should never wear to work — even if you work in a business casual environment

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• The Department of Justice announced criminal charges against seven officers of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence unit.
• The defendants were charged for allegedly hacking a number of anti-doping agencies and chemical weapons inspectors.
• They were charged with crimes including conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft. 
• The DOJ's announcement came following a coordinated condemnation of the alleged GRU hacking from the UK and the Netherlands.

The Department of Justice on Thursday announced criminal charges against seven Russian military intelligence officers accused of hacking multiple international anti-doping agencies and chemical weapons inspectors.

"The conspiracy conducted persistent and sophisticated computer intrusions affecting U.S. persons, corporate entities, international organizations, and their respective employees located around the world, based on their strategic interest to the Russian government," the DOJ said in a press release.

The defendants are charged with a number of federal crimes including conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft. They are accused of hacking anti-doping agencies in the United States in Canada and leaking Olympic athletes' drug test results; targeting chemical weapons inspectors investigating Russia's alleged poisoning of Russian spy Sergei Skripal; and "spearfishing" hacks on employees of the Westinghouse Electric Company in Pennsylvania. 

The US charges follow a coordinated condemnation from the UK and the Netherlands, which slammed the GRU's "reckless" behavior in allegedly targeting inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the Hague, and hacking the independent investigation into the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine. 

"This attempt, to access the secure systems of an international organization working to rid the world of chemical weapons, demonstrates again the GRU's disregard for the global values and rules that keep us all safe," British Prime Minister Theresa May and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a joint statement Thursday.

The DOJ said that while Thursday's indictment did not come as part of the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, three of the GRU officers named in the latest indictment were also charged in July with hacking into the Democratic National Committee.

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• A new study has shown people prefer fewer options to more — but only to a certain extent.
• Overall, people think they like to have more choice, but it actually causes more stress to make the ultimate decision.
• The sweet spot is probably 8 to 15 choices.
• Too few and we feel cheated; too many and we're overwhelmed.

About 20 years ago, researchers decided to study how we react to having too much choice. They set up a table full of jams in a grocery store, some with 24 samples, and some with just six.

Although shoppers were more likely to stop and peruse when there was a larger selection, they were also less likely to buy anything.

In a new study, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, researchers at Caltech looked further into why a choice overload makes us behave this way.

The researchers gave volunteers a selection of pictures of scenic landscapes they could have printed on a souvenir like a coffee mug. They were shown either six, 12, or 24 pictures in total. Then, they were asked to make a decision while lying in an MRI machine, so the researchers could measure their brain activity.

As a control, they were shown all the images again, but a computer randomly selected which one they would get.

Results of the scan revealed brain activity in two regions of the brain while participants were making their choices — the anterior cingulate cortex, where you weigh up costs and benefits, and the striatum, where you determine value. Brain activity was highest when the subjects had 12 options to pick from, rather than six or 24, suggesting around 12 is the sweet spot for optimum decision making.

You might relate to how it feels when you're trying to pick what sandwich to get at lunchtime, or struggling to choose a new Netflix show to watch. How many times have you scrolled through films, only to pick something you've seen before? How many times have you gone back to the same lunch spot, despite there being plenty of other places you want to try?

When there are fewer options though, somehow, it seems easier to make a decision. But when there are too few, you feel cheated.

"The idea is that the best out of 12 is probably rather good, while the jump to the best out of 24 is not a big improvement," said Colin Camerer, a professor of behavioural economics at Caltech and author of the study.

"Essentially, our eyes are bigger than our stomachs... When we think about how many choices we want, we may not be mentally representing the frustrations of making the decision."

He said the ideal number of options is probably somewhere between 8 and 15, depending on the reward, and your personality. And although we may feel freer and in control when we have lots to choose from, this actually ends up distressing us when it comes to making the decision.

Too much choice is arguably a bad thing anyway. While dating, people can fall into the trap of the "paradox of choice," where they obsess over little things they don't like about their partner, and constantly feel there's someone out there who's better. Essentially, it's the "grass is always greener" mindset. But if you're always looking out for someone more perfect, you're likely to miss out on something great.

So we might be better off with fewer options in life, or at least realising that more choice isn't always superior. Otherwise, we might end up never falling in love, never choosing a souvenir, or unable to even pick up a small jar or jam.

SEE ALSO: Dating apps give us too much choice, and it's ruining our chances for finding love

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• Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's critics say his history of making evasive, misleading, and provably false statements under oath should disqualify him from sitting on the nation's highest court.
• These are all the times Kavanaugh has made clearly misleading or false statements to Congress. 

Whether Brett Kavanaugh claims a seat on the Supreme Court may be determined by this week's FBI investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him, but critics of the nominee say his history of making evasive, misleading, and provably false statements under oath should disqualify him no matter what the FBI finds.  

Kavanaugh has appeared to either mislead or make false statements to the Senate Judiciary Committee about a range of issues, including his drinking habits and social life in high school and college, which have drawn scrutiny ever since he was accused of sexual misconduct, including by professor Christine Blasey Ford, who says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a small house party when the two were teenagers. 

During his questioning by Judiciary Committee Democrats, the judge als0 repeatedly refused to provide direct answers to questions, infuriating Democrats and even frustrating some key swing vote Republicans, like Sen. Jeff Flake. 

Some Democrats have called for the FBI to expand its investigation of Kavanaugh to include a probe of his truthfulness while testifying before Congress throughout his time in government. And their calls might make perjury a central issue in Kavanaugh's confirmation vote. 

The summer of 1982

• "I never attended a gathering like the one Dr. Ford describes": Kavanaugh told the committee that he never went to a small house party similar to the one Ford says she was assaulted at, despite the fact that his 1982 calendar lists gatherings very similar to it. On Thursday, July 1, Kavanaugh's calendar shows he went to a friend's house to drink "skis" (beers) with a group of friends that included two of the people Ford says were at the small house party where she was allegedly assaulted.
• "All four witnesses who are alleged to be at the event said it didn't happen": Kavanaugh insisted multiple times during his Senate testimony that the three others who Ford says attended the gathering have "refuted" her allegations. That is a clear misrepresentation of the facts. Instead of denying the party happened, the three witnesses say they don't recall it happening. Mark Judge, Kavanaugh's friend who was allegedly in the room when Ford says Kavanaugh attacked her, says he has "no memory of this alleged incident" and had not seen him act aggressively. Kavanaugh's friend P.J. Smyth, another alleged attendee of the small party, said he has "no knowledge of the party in question" or the allegations. And Ford's friend Leland Ingham Keyser likewise said she "has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where [Kavanaugh] was present," but told The Washington Post that she believes Ford's allegations. And while Keyser said she doesn't remember knowing Kavanaugh in high school, Kavanaugh said it was possible he had met her "in high school at some point at some event."
• "She and I did not travel in the same social circles": Kavanaugh also said that while it's possible he and Ford met at some point, the two did not overlap socially. But Ford said that she went out with one of Kavanaugh's friends, Chris Garrett, and attended four or five parties where Kavanaugh was also present. Ford also said she was friendly with Judge for two years before the summer of 1982. 

Excessive drinking 

• Binge drinking and blackout denials: Throughout his Senate testimony, Kavanaugh repeatedly evaded questions about his high school and college drinking habits and denied ever drinking to the point of blacking out. But people who knew him during this time claim that he was a known heavy drinker. Kavanaugh's yearbook page named him the treasurer of the "Keg City Club," and referred to his campaign to drink 100 kegs with his friends during their senior year of high school. Several of Kavanaugh's high school and college classmates have come forward to say that Kavanaugh was a "sloppy drunk," "frequently, incoherently drunk," and regularly became "aggressive and belligerent" when he drank to excess. One Yale classmate described an instance in which Kavanaugh threw a beer in another student's face during a drunken dispute and the incident ended with one student in jail. Another Yale classmate — now a medical doctor — says Kavanaugh's claims that he never suffered memory lapses while drunk aren't "credible." 
• The drinking age: Kavanaugh said during an interview with Fox News days before his hearing that "the drinking age was 18 [and] ... the seniors were legal and had beer" at parties in high school. But Maryland increased the drinking age from 18 to 21 during the summer of 1982, when Kavanaugh was 17. He corrected this misstatement during his Senate testimony, saying instead, "The drinking age was 18 in Maryland for most of my time in high school, and was 18 in D.C. for all of my time in high school." But Kavanaugh never admitted that it was illegal for him to drink in his home state for the entirety of his time in high school. 

Yearbook claims

• Renate Alumni: Kavanaugh, along with 12 of his Georgetown Prep classmates, called himself a "Renate Alumnius," on his 1983 senior yearbook page, referring to Renate Schroeder Dolphin. One classmate's page read, "You need a date / and it's getting late / so don't hesitate / to call Renate." Kavanaugh insisted that the reference was "not related to sex" and was instead "clumsily intended to show affection, and that she was one of us." But four of Kavanaugh's high school classmates told The New York Times that the references were indeed boasts about conquests of a sexual nature. Dolphin called the joke "horrible, hurtful and simply untrue." 
• "Devil's Triangle": When asked about the term "Devil's Triangle," which appears on both Kavanaugh and Judge's yearbook pages, Kavanaugh told senators he was referencing a drinking game that involved three cups and quarters. But the term is common slang for sex between two men and a woman — and Kavanaugh's classmates told The Times that they had never heard the term used to refer to a drinking game. Notably, an attempted sex act between two men and one women is precisely what Ford has accused Kavanaugh and Judge of committing.
• "Boofing": Also on his yearbook page, Kavanaugh wrote, "Judge — have you boofed yet?" (Judge's page includes, "Bart, have you boofed yet?") Kavanaugh insists the term — which is 1980s slang for anal sex — "refers to flatulence," despite his Georgetown Prep classmates saying otherwise.
• "Beach Week Ralph Club, Biggest Contributor": While Kavanaugh conceded during his testimony that "ralphing" referred to vomiting, he refused to answer questions about whether he had vomited due to alcohol, and instead said he was "known to have a weak stomach" for spicy food.

'Spying' on Democrats

• In 2003, while working in President George W. Bush's White House, Kavanaugh received information about judicial nominations – including an email labeled "spying" from a GOP "mole" — that was stolen from Senate Democrats by another Republican staffer, Manuel Miranda. Some emails sent from the staffer to Kavanaugh were marked "intel" or "highly confidential" and one asked Kavanaugh to meet at Miranda's home to discuss the information. But in 2006, Kavanaugh testified repeatedly that he didn't suspect anything "untoward" and believed  Miranda had received the detailed information on the Democrats' plans from a friendly Democratic aide.

Controversial judicial nominations 

• Kavanaugh has also minimized the role he played in the vetting and promotion of two controversial appeals court nominees — Judge William H. Pryor Jr., who called Roe v. Wade an "abomination" and supported the banning of sodomy, and Judge Charles W. Pickering Sr., a former conservative politician with a controversial record on racial justice issues — during his time in the Bush White House. In his 2006 Senate testimony, Kavanaugh said that Pryor's nomination was "not one that I worked on personally" and that Pickering was "not one of the judicial nominees that I was primarily handling." But emails released recently show he was more involved with both than he led the Senate to believe. 

SEE ALSO: Key Republican swing votes are condemning Trump's 'appalling' mocking of Christine Blasey Ford

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• Nicholas Berube is a trivia buff who's competed on two games of Jeopardy — and this year, he tested his knowledge on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire."
• His wife Rachel Harris, a designer and the author of this post, gathered statistics on 100 games of Millionaire and found a clear pattern.
• People did well on the $20,000 and $30,000 questions, with 4 in 5 contestants guessing correctly.
• But success rates for people who attempted to answer the $50,000 question plummeted, with only 1 in 3 people guessing correctly. 
• Harris breaks down the strategies her husband used to walk away from the game show with $30,000.

This past June, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" held open casting calls in Boston. My husband Nick was alerted through an online network of fellow trivia enthusiasts he'd connected with after his two-game run on Jeopardy in 2015. A modest crowd waited politely in the light rain outside of West End Johnnie's, then filed in for a timed exam and the opportunity to win several oversized t-shirts featuring the Millionaire logo.

Roughly one in four people passed the initial test, and were ushered downstairs to fill out questionnaires and meet with crew to see who might do well on television. Several weeks later, Nick got a call back from the production staff, and we booked tickets to Las Vegas.

The general structure of the game is to correctly answer a series of increasingly challenging questions for increasingly higher rewards. Contestants are rewarded for correct answers, inching up the ladder towards the million-dollar prize. The $5,000 and $50,000 questions serve as thresholds  —  if these questions are answered correctly, that amount of cash is guaranteed. An incorrect response knocks the contestant down to the last threshold they crossed  —  usually dropping from contestants with $20,000 or $30,000 in the bank back down to $5,000.

A perfectly played game of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire has only 14 questions  —  far fewer than the 60 questions on the board in a full game of Jeopardy. With such a relatively few number of questions, it's hard to know what to prepare for. Nick brushed up on history and pop culture knowledge, and practiced running through all the presidents in order (which did indeed come in handy). Nick's father Michael, who would be joining as a plus-one for one of Nick's "lifelines," did the same.

While mulling over ways to prepare, I remembered John Schultz, another Jeopardy contestant whose games were taped the same day as Nick's. John worked as a programmer, so to prepare, he scraped thirty year's worth of Jeopardy questions from j-archive (a site fastidiously updated by a group of fan-archivists). John sorted the questions into categories, found out where his problem areas were, and studied them relentlessly. This paid off handily  —  John won five games, raking in over $100,000.

With this scientific approach in mind, I set out to gather statistics on 100 games of Millionaire (weeding out celebrity appearances, including Bachelor contestants  —  both shows are hosted by Chris Harrison and share a production crew, so Millionaire also serves as a platform to cross-promote ABC shows).

Looking through the data, a clear pattern quickly emerged. The odds that a contestant guesses wrong, along with the penalty paid for an incorrect answer, become increasingly steep. Nearly every contestant answered the first five questions correctly and cleared the $5,000 level  —  meaning no matter what, they would take at least that much home. The next threshold requires only five more correct answers. Yet only 8 people in 100 went home with $50k or more.

Most people made it about halfway through the game. Contestants have some help  —  the game includes three lifelines: polling the audience, removing two answers, and asking a friend. People did well on the $20k and $30k questions, with 4 in 5 contestants guessing correctly. Success rates for people who attempted to answer the $50k question plummeted though, with only 1 in 3 people guessing correctly.

Nick's strategy was to attempt clearing the $50,000 threshold with the 50/50 lifeline remaining, which removes two of the wrong answers. The few contestant who can manage this have even odds on the $100,000 question. The data looked terrible though  —  I kept reminding Nick of how poorly the contestants fared when giving an answer for $50,000, rather than walking away with $30,000. A number of these questions are specifically engineered to trick even the wiliest of trivia nerds. The house always wins  —  and Millionaire's question-writers are careful to ensure not too many contestants run off with giant checks.

Nick played a great game  —  he breezed through the first set of easy questions to clear the $5,000 threshold. By the $10,000 question, things started to get a little more difficult. Nick used his first lifeline to get help from a sartorially savvy audience on a question about bowtie terminology.

Next up, what luck! A question about how many presidents appeared in Disney World's Hall of Presidents when it first opened in 1971. You can see by Nick's face and my excited head-nodding in the background that he's got this in the bag. Nick ran backwards through the presidents to quantify how many, settling on Nixon. With money on the line, Nick wanted to be absolutely certain, and up and down the list again  —  but the show edited out instances of re-counting and double-checking. There's also a tiny trick  —  Grover Cleveland served non-consecutive terms as the 22nd and 24th president, but of course there's only one of him in the hall at Disney World. A question a little further in the game, a correct answer might hinge on a contestant's ability to factor this into account, but for $10,000, it's just the order that's important.

The next lifeline was used on the $30,000 question, when called his father down to work out a truly bizarre question about which pairs of musicians died four years apart in the same London flat. Nick was pretty sure he knew this one without help, but his dad played in a band for years (they once opened for the Ramones) and thought this would be the most interesting question to pull Michael down for. Together they worked through the general location and cause of death for each of the eight musicians, prompting Chris Harrison to call them creepy before affirming Nick had given the correct response.

The $50,000 question is where the statistics I'd relied on were no longer as helpful as I'd hoped they'd be. It's true, in most cases, it's better to walk. Nick ruled out Jerusalem and Moscow immediately, and was leaning heavily towards Bangkok. He used his 50/50 lifeline to remove two answers, but that only took away Jerusalem and Moscow, confirming what he already knew.

He knew the geography cold, but knowing how other contestants fared in the past, he wondered if there were hidden tricks related to Daylight Savings Time or countries' occasional propensities to ignore international time standards.

Trusting what we had seen in the numbers just a hair more than he trusted his instincts, he walked away.

Winning $30,000 on a game show is incredible, but it's also still a little hard to know you walked away when you had the answer. What nags at us isn't any regret about prize money  —  just an insatiable curiosity to know what that next question would have been.

You can see all of the results for one hundred contestants, and if you'd like to watch the complete game, it lives here on the internet.

SEE ALSO: I went on 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' and it nearly destroyed me

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• Everyone wants to be happy at work.
• Career site Comparably recently ran a survey to find out what large US companies have the happiest workers.
• HubSpot took the top spot, and a number of tech companies fared well in the rankings.

Who doesn't want to work in a happy environment?

When you're miserable, any job will seem terrible. So it's important to find a workplace that's a pleasant place to be.

So how can you separate companies with genuinely happy employees from the firms with cheery social media feeds that don't reflect reality?

Compensation and career site Comparably recently ranked the happiest large companies in the US. The site based the results on anonymous employee reviews of companies with over 500 employees between September 2017 and September 2018. At least 50 employees had to leave reviews for a company to be considered.

The survey included a number of questions pertaining to workplace happiness, and accrued five million ratings across 45,000 US companies. As it turns out, tech companies fared well in the rankings.

Here's a look at the companies that boasted the happiest employees, including a quote from a satisfied employee of each company:

SEE ALSO: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who just bought Time Magazine for $190 million, says he lives with a 'beginner's mind' — here's what that means

DON'T MISS: Inside Verizon's newly renovated New Jersey campus, which features an indoor taco truck, an exclusive hotel, and a mile-long track

SEE ALSO: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who just bought Time Magazine for $190 million, says he lives with a 'beginner's mind' — here's what that means

25. NVIDIA

Nvidia is an integrated circuit manufacturer based in Santa Clara, California.

"What makes me most happy is the work I do, my team members, and knowing that our technology (AI and deep learning) is improving the lives of others, making the world a better place," a Nvidia employee told Comparably. "We have the focus and energy of [a] start up — but with 8,000 employees!"

24. Axon

Axon is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based technology company that primarily develops products for law enforcement.

"Working with super smart people, and having the opportunity to make an actual societal impact with what I do," an Axon employee told Comparably. "Making a real difference in the world, especially when it comes to the pursuit of justice. It's super motivating!"

23. Adobe

Adobe is a software giant headquartered in San Jose, California, and with locations around the world.

"Being a part of a fantastic company and a wonderful team makes me happy," an Adobe employee told Comparably. "Everyone really enjoys what they do and supports each other. The flexibility of my schedule to work around my child care needs."