Fast food is easy, convenient, and delicious. 

But if you're getting tired of what's on the menu, we have some hacks for you. 

We scoured the website #hackthemenu for some of the best tips out there. The website includes crowdsourced secret menu items and prices. 

From getting all the taste of a Big Mac for cheaper, to packing your Chipotle burrito to the brim, here are our favorite ordering tricks. 

Get nachos at Chipotle.

It's easy to get nachos at Chipotle. Just order a burrito bowl and then ask if you can get chips instead of rice at the bottom. 

Get both fries and onion rings at Burger King.

If you're feeling indecisive, you can ask for "Frings" to get an order of half onion rings and half fries. 

Get a grilled cheese sandwich at McDonald's.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are a great option for light appetites or vegetarians. Simply order a grilled cheese, specifying that you'd like the bun grilled for maximum toasty flavor. This item costs around $1.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoy using Amazon's latest Kindle Fire tablet, the HDX  8.9.

It's amazingly light (13.2 ounces, not even a pound!), fast (a 2.2GHz Snapdragon processor), with a responsive touch screen and great screen quality. Plus it has goodies like front- and rear facing cameras, surround sound, and the battery lasts forever. It's a joy to play with.

Jump straight to the photos showing what it's like to use the Kindle Fire HDX tablet for work>>

But for the past few weeks, I've been trying — mostly unsuccessfully — to use this tablet for work, not just play. By work I mean email, creating and editing documents, backing up documents to Amazon's built-in cloud service, and sharing them with my main work computer, a MacBook Pro.

I've been testing the Fire HDX as a work machine because Amazon has added a whole bunch of enterprise-friendly features to it, like support for corporate email, a bunch of security options and, most importantly, the ability to share documents with my work computer via the cloud.

Amazon upgraded the HDX to go after an area where the Apple's iPad has been killing it: work tablets. Over 90% of tablets in the enterprise are iPads and nearly all Fortune 500 companies are using iPads, Apple's CEO Tim Cook says.

That's a potentially huge market for a Kindle with its low price, $379.

The easiest part of using this tablet for work was setting up email. I Just put in my email and password. Worked perfectly.

Enterprise users can also easily add Microsoft Exchange email accounts, though they might need some info from their IT department to do that.

Downloading documents as email attachments worked well. It even recognized when I had already downloaded the attachment and "restored" it.

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We took the 2014 Ferrari F12berlinetta for a test-drive in the beautiful Connecticut countryside.

For a unique perspective, we attached GoPro cameras to various parts of the car.

NOW WATCH – REVIEW: We Get Behind The Wheel Of The $300,000 Ferrari F12berlinetta

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A letter written in April 1912 by Esther Hart, a passenger on the Titanic, is to go up for auction today.

She wrote home about her journey to a new life.

“The sailors say we have had a wonderful passage up to now,” said Hart.

Hours later the ship struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank, killing more than 1,500 people.

Hart survived and so did the letter, which is expected to sell for up to £100,000 ($168,010) at an auction in London today. 

The handwritten note on White Star Line notepaper was tucked inside the pocket of a sheepskin coat Hart’s husband Benjamin gave her as he put Esther and their daughter Eva in a lifeboat.

The family had been traveling from England to Canada, where they planned to settle.

The letter includes a postscript from Eva Hart, then aged 7: “Heaps of love and kisses to all from Eva.”

Benjamin Hart was among passengers and crew killed when the ship sank. Esther and Eva were rescued, along with some 700 others.

Esther Hart died in 1928. Eva Hart, who died in 1996, became a prominent Titanic survivor, critical of attempts to salvage the ship, which she considered a mass grave.

She described the voyage and her mother’s letter, in an autobiography, “Shadow of the Titanic.”

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the letter was “quite simply the jewel in the crown of Titanic manuscript ephemera.”

Fascination with the Titanic remains strong a century after the disaster, and prices for memorabilia from the ship have soared in recent years.

In October, a violin believed to have been played as the doomed vessel sank sold for more than 1 million pounds.

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Los Angeles may have been founded in 1781, but by the late 1870s, the city was still barely anything more than a few seaside villages. A new collection of rare photos acquired by the Huntington Library show the turning point in the city's development in the late 19^th century.

Los Angeles exploded in population and size with the completion of the Southern Pacific railroad in 1876, which connected the area with the rest of the country. In 1892, oil was discovered in the area, driving settlement and industry to the area. By 1900, the city had grown to more than 100,000 residents.

The Huntington Library shared a selection of the photographs with us, but you can see the more than 4,600 photographs at their location in San Marino, Calif. 

This is the Southern Pacific railroad as it enters Santa Monica. The railroad ignited a bustling tourism industry along the Pacific Coast.

These two people are canoeing in Westlake Park, now called MacArthur Park. The park was originally constructed as a reservoir for the city. By the 1890s, it was a hot vacation spot, surrounded by luxury hotels.

This is the "Chinese Quarter" of Los Angeles — the city's first Chinatown — in 1892. This version of Chinatown was in its heyday from 1890 to 1910, but an explosion of gambling houses, opium dens, and gang warfare led the government to condemn the area. The residents were evicted to make room for Union Station. This is the Cathedral of St. Vibiana in 1895. Located in Downtown Los Angeles, the cathedral was the seat of the Los Angeles bishop for over 100 years. It is now an event space.

This is the San Fernando Valley around 1890. The Valley now encapsulates parts of Los Angeles, Hidden Hills, and Glendale, as well as the cities of Burbank and San Fernando. It is completely undeveloped here.

These people are visiting  Santa Monica beach in the 1880s. In the distance you can see one of the first iterations of the Santa Monica Pier. This is the Santa Monica Bathhouse, built in 1876. It included rooms for rent, enormous bathtubs, and two steam rooms. It was built by Colonel Baker and millionaire John Percival Jones, who developed much of Santa Monica.The Santa Monica Hotel was the first hotel built in the area. It was constructed in 1885 to accommodate the influx of tourists from the railroad.The 125-room Arcadia Hotel opened on January 25, 1887. It was one of the landmark hotels of the era. This is the roller coaster at the hotel.This is the view of Santa Monica from the Arcadia Hotel in 1893.This photo from 1905 shows bathers on the beach in Santa Monica. This man is fishing at Redondo Beach, one of Los Angeles' three beach cities. At the time, Redondo was a source of halibut, lobster, and sea bass.Here you can see the beginnings of Venice Beach, Calif., built in 1905 as an oceanfront resort. Several miles of canals were dug in the area to drain the marshy land and a variety of attractions were constructed, including the dance hall shown here.Downey, a city southeast of downtown Los Angeles, is seen here in 1875, just two years after the railroad reached the community.

SEE ALSO: 45 Vintage Photos Of Manhattan In The 1940s

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Daraius Dubash has visited over 30 countries on six continents. He has flown in $15,000 first-class jet suites and stayed in luxury hotels where rooms go for over $3,000 a night.

And he has paid only a fraction of the cost.

Dubash has spent the last decade learning to manage and manipulate credit card rewards and points in order to experience what he calls, "Big Travel with Small Money."

"I financed my first car, an old Ford Escort, using 0% APR offers from credit cards while I was still in school," he remembers, "and I realized it would be easy to earn money for travel." As he started racking up the miles, and people started asking him for advice, Dubash realized that there wasn't a reliable, basic online resource to which he could refer beginners.

So he created one. On his website, Million Mile Secrets, Dubash profiles his travel and explains the strategy behind it for those of us who want to follow — or fly — in his footsteps. 

"I wish I had known about managing miles and points sooner, because it's been very lucrative," says Dubash. "And I wish other people knew that you don't have to wait until you hit the jackpot or retire to travel." We spoke with him about his strategies, his recommendations, and the mistakes he's made along the way. Below, check out six things you can learn from the experience of a credit rewards pro.

1. Focus on the big wins.

While it's possible to earn credit card miles taking a commuter shuttle back and forth from New York City to Washington, D.C., that's not Dubash's preferred method. "A lot of folks fly around on cheap airfare, going from point A to point B to rack up miles, but that's something I've never done because it takes more time to pay off," Dubash explains.

Instead, he gets his miles and points from home, by taking advantage of introductory credit card offers. "I focus on the big credit card signup bonuses and don't get too much into smaller opportunities," he says. "I could earn 100,000 miles for applying for a credit card from my computer, so it's much more worth it to me to save the time and do it from home."

2. Know what you're getting.

Dubash, who currently has about 18 credit cards open, explains that different cards are handy for different things. "Some cards have a great signup bonus, some give you a bonus for keeping the card, others get you into first-class lounges," he explains. "Sometimes, it's not worth keeping the cards after the first year." On his site, he provides resources to learn more about airline cards, bank points cards, hotel cards, and rewards cards in general.

3. Keep on top of your balances.

Hand in hand with keeping track of what each of your cards can do for you is keeping track of your balances: both credit card and points. "It's not all glamorous," Dubash says of facilitating travel. "You have to be detail-oriented enough to always pay your credit card balances in full — you're never going to get ahead paying interest. And you have to be diligent about booking your rewards, because sometimes airlines don't make it easy for you to redeem."

To track his points balances, he uses a program called Award Wallet, which syncs up with airline miles, hotel points, and even car rental points to keep track of your balances and alert you when they're about to expire. While you can use the program for free, a more elaborate version, called Award Wallet Plus, costs $5 every six months (although you can get six months of free Plus service using the Million Mile Secrets code).

4. Don't get carried away.

On that note, there is such thing as being too diligent. "Saving money with miles and points can be addicting," Dubash warns. "It has the potential to take over every minute of your life, so you have to be able to set clear boundaries. I check my account balances every day and my credit statements every few days — it takes a lot of time to manage, but the payoff is huge."

5. It's never going to be perfect.

It can be tempting to hold out for the perfect price, or the perfect offer, but Dubash says that waiting for perfection won't necessarily score you the best deal. For instance, there's the time he rented a car for a trip to Key West, diligently checking back with the site for better offers, then canceling and re-booking to get those lower prices.

He knocked the price down from $300 to $163, then down to $90 … only to realize when going to drop off the car at the airport on the way home that he had re-booked a round-trip rental instead of his original one-way and couldn't return the car at the airport. To return the car at a different location, he had to pay a $250 fee, which brought his total cost to $340 — more than the original price.

But from this experience, Dubash says, he learned that when you find an acceptable price, you should stick to it. "It's never going to be perfect," he advises. "Sometimes you just have to let it be good enough."

6. It's not for everyone.

If you don't have a credit score over 690, this probably isn't the game for you, cautions Dubash. "You don't have to go out and apply for five credit cards just because you read that someone did it online. Start slow — apply for one card at a time and monitor its impact on your credit score. See if you're comfortable paying the balance in full."

He adds that there's no rush to get started with credit card miles, and that beginners should never open more than one or two cards at a time: "The offers aren't going to disappear, but they have the potential to wreak havoc if you aren't careful." If you're considering opening credit cards to gain more miles and points, be sure to read his warnings before getting started.

SEE ALSO: 7 Amazing European Destinations That Probably Aren't On Your Radar

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On Sunday, a mashup of past and present papacies, the globe's roughly 1 billion Catholics, and heads of state from around the world will honor John Paul II and John XXIII as they are jointly proclaimed saints for the first time in the Church's 2,000-year history.

For such a momentous and historic occasion, the ceremony is actually quite short and surprisingly straightforward.

How One Becomes A Saint

A person may be considered for sainthood, after he/she has been dead for at least 5 years. According to the United States Conference Of Catholic Bishops, there are three steps to sainthood. 

• "Venerable" - candidate is declared by a pope as having ''heroic' virtues. This is achieved through the collection of documents and testimonies. 
• "Blessed" - there must be proof that the candidate performed at least one miracle during his/her life
• "Saint" - another miracle must be performed after death

Miracles

In the case of Pope John Paul II, a woman named Floribeth Mora was on her deathbed, suffering from an incurable brain aneurysm in 2011.

She held a photograph of John Paul II and while laying in bed one day, Mora claims she heard, “Stand up. Don’t be afraid.”

Then, the aneurysm inexplicably disappeared.

Another miracle involved French nun Marie Simon Pierre, who said her symptoms of Parkinson’s disease disappeared after she prayed to the pontiff following his death, according to ABC News.

As for Pope John XXIII, he is recognized as holy enough to be canonized with only one miracle. The pontiff reportedly cured a nun suffering a severe gastric illness in 1966.

What To Expect At The Ceremony 

The ceremony, celebrated mostly in Latin, will begin at approximately 2 a.m. Eastern Time with prayers, hymns, followed by the roll call of the Church’s nearly 10,000 saints, each one followed by the Latin phrase “Ora pro nobis” meaning “Pray for us.”

Once all of this is completed, Pope Francis will process to the altar with con-celebrant emeritus Pope Benedict XVI and 150 cardinals and 700 bishops. 

This is the first time Benedict will join Francis in celebrating Mass in public since his shocking resignation last year. 

The head of the Vatican’s saint-making office will ask the pope three separate times to include John XXIII and John Paul II among the saints.

Three repeated requests for canonization signify the importance of the event.

Pope Francis will then say this lengthy sentence:

“For the honor of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother bishops, we declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II be saints and we enroll them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole church. In the name of the Holy Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Relics, physical remains of a saint or an item they have touched in their life, are then brought to the altar. John Paul's blood and a small piece of skin taken from John XXIII will be the relics present tomorrow. 

Then an official document recognizing the canonization is presented which marks the conclusion of the rite. Mass proceeds as usual with 6,00o priests on hand to distribute Communion in St. Peter’s Square. 

Attendance

In addition to the massive general public that will be in attendance, 93 official delegations plan to attend, including an estimated 24 heads of state and royals from around the world. 

There will be 19 screens broadcasting the ceremony near the Vatican, a live stream, a Google + hangout as well as a Facebook page, Instagram account, YouTube page, and Twitter dedicated to this event. 

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A group of five best friends, known as "the MIT 5," from L.A.'s Polytechnic High School are heading to Massachusetts Institute for Technology together this fall. 

Los Angeles Unified School District announced that seniors Raymundo Cano, Andrew Koh, Kevin Escobar Rodriguez, GiMin Choi, and William Lopez-Cordero had been admitted to the prestigious program.

“I am in awe of our MIT 5,” said Ari Bennett, principal of Polytechnic High School, “Each one represents the caliber and high standards of our Math/Science Magnet at Poly. Congratulations to these wizards of technology who will change the world one atom at a time.”

And according to NBC, the friends are just as amazed as anyone that they were all accepted and are pretty stoked about spending the next four years with their pals. 

"Normally after high school that's when friendships split," said Rodriguez, "but at least our little crew will stay together." 

After sharing that he cried upon his acceptance, Choi chimed in, "The fact that all of us got it in, it’s just more happiness to share."

And these friends had some tough choices. Most were accepted big-names Ivies such as Harvard, Dartmouth, and Brown, which they turned down for MIT.

The acceptance rate for MIT's class of 2018 was 7.7%. 

SEE ALSO: The 20 Best Public High Schools In America

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Veganism is catching on. So much so that Chipotle even started cashing in on the trendy diet with its tofu-based sofritas. 

Ever since celebrity endorsements started pouring out about animal-product-free dining almost a decade ago, Los Angeles has been seen as the epicenter of the movement. 

America's first vegan restaurant even opened on Sunset Boulevard in 1969, attracting legends such as Marlon Brando and John Lennon. 

And as veganism keeps growing, the dining options just keep getting better and better.

Here are the 10 best vegan restaurants in LA, compiled by our friends at Yelp.

10. Veggie Grill

6374 Sunset Blvd.

Carnivores shouldn't shy away from Veggie Grill. Yelp users rave about their satisfying vegetarian meat, especially the chickn. 

"So, have no fear, Veggie Grill would put your meat free meal or substitute meat nightmares to rest," Yelp user Whitney P. wrote. "I ordered one of the entrée salads with some sort of imitation chicken on it and my fiancé got the same but with faux steak.  Both were surprisingly amazing, but the chicken was better."

Note: Yelp's search results are based on an algorithm that is designed to provide the best results based on a number of different factors including review text, ratings, and number of reviews. Because several factors are taken into account, this is why you may see a 3.5-star restaurant with 500 reviews showing above a 4-star one with 15 reviews.

9. Un Solo Sol Kitchen

1818 E 1st St.

This small Latin restaurant has a great atmosphere with live music and excellent pupusas and tacos. 

"This place is amazing. I had a flower papusa, plantains, and a mango coconut smoothie. Everything was delicious," Yelper R.J. wrote. "The papusa was homemade and fresh with salty cheese, and the mango coconut smoothie wasn't loaded up with sugar, it simply contained those two ingredients. The wait staff was very friendly."

Note: Yelp's search results are based on an algorithm that is designed to provide the best results based on a number of different factors including review text, ratings, and number of reviews. Because several factors are taken into account, this is why you may see a 3.5-star restaurant with 500 reviews showing above a 4-star one with 15 reviews.

8. Native Foods Cafe

1114 Gayley Ave

With locations across the West Coast, this restaurant has an expansive menu that includes meals like a Bistro Steak Sandwich and Chicken Run Ranch Burger.  

"Vegans are modern day tricksters. All of which I am amazed by with every visit," Jessica Y. wrote. "There is a lot of thought that goes behind the dishes to make Vegan food not only delicious, but appealing to the regular restaurant-goer. I'm seriously a meat lover, and now a vegan food lover."

Note: Yelp's search results are based on an algorithm that is designed to provide the best results based on a number of different factors including review text, ratings, and number of reviews. Because several factors are taken into account, this is why you may see a 3.5-star restaurant with 500 reviews showing above a 4-star one with 15 reviews.

We have an excellent paid summer opportunity for the right candidate to work with the Business Development team at Business Insider. This is not a "make coffee and copies" kind of internship. This person will gain exposure to Business Insider's content partnerships, email products, international partnerships, analytics, and contribute to audience and revenue growth. 

Candidates should be extremely organized and detail-oriented. Excellent written and verbal communication skills are a must and strong Excel and light HTML skills are a plus. A penchant for numbers is required. 

You'll love it here if you are a person who thrives in a startup environment, is self-driven, a quick-learner, and plays well with others. The position is located in our offices in Manhattan's Flatiron District.

Please contact bdjobs@businessinsider.com to apply. Thanks in advance.

SEE ALSO: Business Insider Secrets Revealed!

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Literally everything around us is made up of chemicals. That includes all foods. And the different kinds of chemicals they contain give the stuff we eat their flavors, colors, and smells.

On the blog Compound Interest, a chemist and teacher in the United Kingdom has illustrated the chemistry behind everyday foods through a series of colorful infographics. Check them all out below.

The taste of coffee partly comes from chlorogenic acids, which make up 8% of unroasted coffee beans.

Aldehydes found in the leaves of coriander (also known as cilantro) that are similar to those found in soaps and lotions are what cause the herb to taste soapy to some people.

A compound called myristicin could be one of several compounds responsible for nutmeg's hallucinogenic effect, produced when the spice is consumed in amounts larger than one tablespoon.

Theobromine, a stimulant that produces a similar effect to caffeine, is what makes chocolate toxic to dogs.

Beetroot gets its deep red color from a class of compounds called betacyanins. When betacyanins aren't broken down by the digestive system, they can also turn our pee red.

The breakdown of asparagusic acid, a chemical found only asparagus, might be what causes some people's pee to smell after eating the vegetable.

An enzyme that's released when an onion is chopped breaks down compounds within the onion to form the compound that irritates the eyes and causes them to water. 

Citric acid makes up around 6% of the lemon's juice and is what makes it taste sour.

A class of chemical compounds called furanocoumarins can interfere with how some prescription drugs are broken down by the body.

A family of compounds called capsaicinoids are what gives chillies their heat. A burning sensation is produced when the capsaicinoids bind to a receptor in the mouth.

Polyphenols give tea their taste and color.

Head over to the Compound Interest to see more educational graphics about chemical compounds »

SEE ALSO: What It Would Look Like If Your Banana Came With An Ingredient List

DON'T MISS: The Surprising Truth About How Many Chemicals Are In Everything We Eat

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A Cat Cafe (exactly what it sounds like) has made its way to New York City, but folks in Japan believe in a different way to dine with animals.

Introducing Japan’s Moomin Cafe, which seats those who are dining alone with large stuffed animals to keep them company.

Moomin Cafe is a theme restaurant, based on a series of Finnish picture books about a family of hippopotamus-like creatures.

Twitter user Haru recently visited paid the restaurant’s Tokyo Dome City LaQua branch a visit.

FirstWeFeast reports,

[Haru] bravely stepped inside, took a seat, and placed her order. But as she was sitting by herself, waiting for her food to come, she was approached by one of the staff, who came over to inform Haru there was someone who’d like to sit with her, if she didn’t mind.

It turned out the server was making the request on behalf of The Snork Maiden, the girlfriend of Moomin’s main character, Moomintroll. “The waitress had such a big smile on her face, I couldn’t say no,” Haru recalls, embarrassedly [sic]. “But it was also so cute!”

Then Haru snapped this photo of her new "date":

The entire restaurant lives up to its theme, from the patrons:

To the food:

Lots of users on Instagram have been uploading photos of their Moomin Cafe experiences:

Everyone looks like they're having fun:

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Netflix and other streaming-video platforms from Apple and Amazon all but destroyed the once-powerful entity known as the video store.

However, streaming hasn't totally eliminated the market for physical DVD rentals. Sixty-eight percent of Americans live within a five-minute drive of a Redbox kiosk.

The company's competitive prices and impressive selection of titles are keeping Redbox alive in the post-Blockbuster era.

NOW WATCH: Here's The Dirty Little Secret IMAX Doesn't Want You To Know

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