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Tour The Beautiful Cemetery Where New York's Rich And Powerful Were Laid To Rest [PHOTOS]

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Deep in Brooklyn’s interior lies Green-Wood Cemetery, one of the largest and most prominent burial grounds in the United States.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Green-Wood was a premier final destination, housing the remains of New York City’s elite in fields as varied as business, art, industry, and politics.

Among the most notable eternal residents are corrupt politician William “Boss” Tweed, toy store founder F.A.O. Schwarz, piano manufacturer Henry Steinway, and business magnates Charles Pfizer and William Colgate. More recent arrivals include famed artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and composer Leonard Bernstein. 

The 400-acre grounds, built in 1838, are a stunning example of the rural cemetery movement, with Green-Wood often looking more like a beautiful city park than a graveyard. 

We took a tour of the grounds with Green-Wood historian Jeff Richman, who let us in on all the stories hidden behind the monuments and gravestones.

This is the entrance to Green-Wood Cemetery, which lies at the edge of Park Slope. The gates were designed in a Gothic Revival style.



The cemetery occupies 478 acres of rolling hills, dales, ponds, chapels, and crypts. The cemetery was part of the rural cemetery movement, which believed in creating park-like cemeteries, as opposed to small plots attached to churches.

Source: Wikipedia



It lies on the last of the terminal moraines (debris formed from Ice Age glaciers) that form the hills in Brooklyn and Queens.



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17 Crazy Facts That Sound Fake But Are Actually True

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Some of facts of history, science, geography, and math are so crazy that they sound bogus — but they’re actually completely true.

In a recent Quora thread, a user asked, “What are some of the most mind-blowing facts that sound like ‘BS,’ but are actually true?” 

Below are some of our (verified) favorites, complete with explanations and source materials.

1. A Banyan Tree near Kolkata, India is bigger than the average Walmart.-Submitted by Avirup Maukherjee

Great Banyan Tree vs WalmartThe 250-year-old Great Banyan tree has aerial roots that cover 3.5 square acres of land, which equals roughly 156,000 square feet, or 14,400 square meters. 

Compare that to data from the most recent unit count and square footage report from Wal-Mart, which says that the average store size (that's not a Supercenter) is just under 105,000 square feet or 9,750 square meters.great banyan tree kolkata india

2. The city of Chicago was raised by over a foot during the 1850s and ’60s without disrupting daily life. -Submitted by Arun Shroff

raising lake street in chicago 1850Actually, it was more like 10 feet in some parts of the city. Chicago had a serious mud problem in the middle of the 19th century. Because of its proximity to a lake shore marsh, roads and sidewalks were submerged in mud, spreading illnesses like typhoid fever, dysentery, and even a deadly outbreak of cholera.

After a few failed attempts at a solution, the newly created Chicago Board of Sewerage Commissioners came up with a plan in 1855. They hired engineer E. Chesbrough of Boston, who recommended storm-sewers, but said this would require increasing the level of the city.

After deliberation, the board decided to lift the streets, sidewalks, and buildings up onto higher foundations between four to 14 feet tall to increase drainage from the city surface. 

The massive undertaking took more than two decades to complete, but did not disturb daily life and attracted tourists from all over the world.

3. Bangladesh has more people than Russia.-Submitted by Varun Kumar

russia population vs banladeshRussia may span 9 time zones and cover more surface area than Pluto as the world's largest country, but tiny Bangladesh (slightly bigger than the size of New York state) has a population of 156.6 million people. Russia has 143.5 million.

4. A con man sold the Eiffel Tower (almost twice).-Submitted by Prateek Singh

victor lustig eiffel tower“Count” Victor Lustig was famous for being one of the smoothest con men in history, but his most impressive stunt was when he convinced six scrap metal dealers to bid on the Eiffel Tower. 

The story goes that Lustig got the idea when he read an article about how the Eiffel Tower was rusting, and the high cost of its maintenance and repairs. Since the tower was only supposed to stand for 20 years, some Parisians were saying it should be taken down entirely.

Not one to miss an opportunity, Lustig devised a plan to convince the city’s biggest scrap-metal dealers that he was a government director charged with the discreet task of selling off the Eiffel Tower’s scrap metal. He rented limousines and gave tours of the landmark, and insinuated not only that this was very hush-hush government business, but that he could be bribed into accepting the winning bid. 

One dealer was convinced, and paid Lustig $20,000 in cash plus an additional $50,000 to make sure his was the winning bid. Once he had the money, Lustig raced off to Austria to lay low while the story broke — but it never did since the dealer was too embarrassed to report Lustig’s scam. 

Lustig later returned to Paris and gave it another try, but was worried one of the scrap dealers had notified the police. He fled to the U.S. where he was ultimately caught. Read more about Lustig's life here.

5. There are more synapses (nerve connections) in your brain than there are stars in our galaxy.-Submitted by Jim Preston

synapses versus milky way starsAstronomers estimate that there are more than 200 billion stars present in the Milky Way Galaxy. That's a lot of stars.

But neuroscientists estimate the number of synaptic connections in the average 3-year-old is close to 1 quadrillion. After that, a refining process occurs, leaving the average adult with about half that many, or roughly 500 trillion synapses.

6. There’s a nuclear bomb lost somewhere off the coast of Georgia.-Submitted by Christopher Reiss

nuclear bomb near georgiaOn February 5, 1958, an Air Force jet crashed into a B-47 bomber carrying a 7,000-pound nuclear bomb. The pilot, worried the bomb might break loose from the damaged plane, dropped it into the water outside of Savannah, Ga. near Wassaw Sound. The Navy searched for the bomb for months, but were never able to recover it.

Though the Air Force and former pilot of the plane deny that the bomb contained any plutonium, congressional testimony from the assistant to the Secretary of Defense in 1966 indicated the bomb was a "complete weapon," with a nuclear capsule containing both uranium and plutonium.

The Air Force does say that if the bomb is still intact, the risk of heavy metals spreading is low, and that if left undisturbed, the bomb should pose no hazard.

7. Cleopatra lived closer in time to the building of the first Pizza Hut than to the building of the pyramids. -Submitted by Anonymous

cleopatra pizza hut pyramidsConstruction on the pyramids of Giza took place roughly from 2550 B.C. to 2490 B.C., while Cleopatra, the last active Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, was born in 69 B.C. and died in 30 B.C.

The first Pizza Hut opened in Wichita, Kansas on June 15, 1958. That means that the chain's opening is about 500 years closer to Cleopatra’s lifetime than the construction of the Giza pyramids.

8. And on that note… The woolly mammoth still roamed the earth while the pyramids were being built.-Submitted by Anubhav Das

pyramids of giza and woolly mammothThe last woolly mammoths died as late as 1650 B.C. on Russia’s Wrangle Island (from what scientists can tell, anyway — most populations of woolly mammoths disappeared long ago during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene periods, but some still survived on islands in Alaska and Russia).

By this time, the Egyptian Empire was already extremely advanced and building pyramids. In fact, the Great Pyramid of Giza had existed for 1,000 years by the time the last woolly mammoth died.

9. North Korea and Finland are technically separated by only one country.-Submitted by Mira Zaslove

russia separates north korea and finlandRussia shares a 10.5-mile border along the Tumen River with North Korea, and a 833-mile border with Finland.

10. In 1986, two people died during a charity event in Cleveland, Ohio because 1.5 million balloons were launched into the sky.-Submitted by Sarang Kawade

Balloonfest 1986 was a fundraising stunt by United Way of Cleveland that was meant to be a harmless world record for the simultaneous release of balloons.

Unfortunately, the balloons drifted back down over the city, falling on Lake Erie, Burke Lakefront Airport, and the surrounding area, causing massive city-wide problems. Most tragically, the balloons hampered the United States Coast Guard search for two boaters who were later found drowned.

The organizers and the city faced lawsuits from people seeking millions of dollars in damages, and cost overruns put the event in the red.

11. Heroin was once used to treat children’s coughs.-Submitted by Garwin Kim Sing

bayer heroin adsBayer, the German pharmaceutical company that produces aspirin, commercialized heroin in the 1890s as a cough, cold, and pain remedy. What’s really shocking, however, is that Bayer marketed heroin for use in children as late as 1912, years after reports began to surface that it could be a dangerous drug.

In 1914, heroin was restricted to prescription-only use in the U.S. and eventually banned by the FDA altogether in 1924. See more incredible ads of Bayer marketing heroin for children here.

12. A man received the highest honor of service from both the Allies and Axis in World War II.-Submitted by Aviral Bhatnagar

Joan Pujol Garcia iron cross and mbeHis name was Joan Pujol Garcia, and he was a Spanish spy working as a double agent for both the Allies and Nazis. He originally approached the Allies to work for them but was denied, so he instead created a fake identity and began “working” for the Nazis, supplying them with false information. Soon thereafter, Garcia was accepted as a double agent for the Allies.

Throughout his time as a double agent, Garcia gave the Nazis a mixture of false reports, true but nonessential information, and high-value info that had arrived a little too late. He and his British MI5 handler even created a network of 27 fictitious subordinate agents who all received salaries from the Nazis and submitted expense reports.

Garcia was eventually given both the Iron Cross by the Germans and the Most Excellent Order by the British Empire.

13. Harvard University was founded before calculus was discovered.-Submitted by Anonymous

harvard v calculusHarvard is the oldest institution of higher education in the U.S., established in 1636. Calculus wasn't discovered until roughly 50 years later, thanks to Gottfried Leibniz’s 1684 “Nova Methodus” and Isaac Newton’s 1687 “Principia” (and the countless refinements that followed from subsequent mathematicians). 

Also, Galileo Galilei — the famous European physicist, mathematician, engineer, astronomer, and philosopher — was still alive during Harvard's early years. He died in 1642.

14. Alaska is the most eastern, western, and northern state in the United States. -Submitted by Curtis C. Chan

alaska aleutian islandsAlaska is obviously the most northern state in the U.S., but thanks to its Aleutian Islands, Alaska stretches right up to the edge of the Western Hemisphere at the 180º line of longitude and across into the Eastern Hemisphere (all the way up the edge of the Russian Federation).

This makes it the most northern, western, and eastern state in the United States. Hawaii is the most southern state.

15. There is more time separating Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex than Tyrannosaurus Rex and us.-Submitted by Shelley Chang

dinosaurs and usContrary to what some cartoons, movies, and books would have us believe, not all dinosaurs lived together. In fact, they were vastly separated by time and geography. 

The “age of dinosaurs,” or Mesozoic Era, had three distinct time periods (the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods). The Jurassic-period dinosaur Stegosaurus already had been extinct for approximately 80-90 million years before the appearance of the Cretaceous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus, making the Tyrannosaurus much closer in time to us (we’re separated by about 65.5 million years).

And by “us” that doesn’t mean the human race, but you, reading this article right now at your computer. Dinosaurs were around for a long time.

16. A park in Austria becomes totally submerged in 30 feet of water every spring.-Submitted by Rishav Anand

gruner see green lake austriaThe park, in Styria, Austria, is called Grüner See (Green Lake) and during the winter, it has lovely trails, benches, and a small lake that is three to six feet deep. 

Every spring, however, the snow and ice melt from the nearby Hochschwab mountains, and the area becomes submerged in 30 feet of water. Benches, trees, and footpaths are all found beneath the surface, and scuba divers come to the area to see the amazing spectacle.

17. THE MONTY HALL PROBLEM: George is on a game show, and he has to pick one of three doors. There's a car behind one of them and goats behind the other two. He picks door number one. The host, who knows what's behind all the doors, opens door number two, revealing a goat. He then says to George, "I'll let you switch doors if you want." Should George stick with door number one or switch to door number three? 

The correct answer is to switch to door number three.-Submitted by Andrew Stein

To the average person (and many academics, originally), it seems obvious that switching should make no difference for George's odds. The car is equally likely to be behind door one or three, so whichever door George picks, he has a 50-50 chance of getting the car…right?

That's wrong, though. Switching will give him an advantage statistically because now there’s a 2/3 probability that the car is behind door number 2. Check out our explanation below:

Still not convinced? Play this online game and see how the odds stack up in your favor when you switch.

Browse the rest of the amazing facts in the Quora thread here.

SEE ALSO: 14 Historical 'Facts' That Are Completely False

WATCH: 10 Surprising Facts That Sound False But Are True

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The New Yorker Is Temporarily Making All Of Its Archives Free; Here Are 8 Stories You Should Read

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The New Yorker relaunched its website today with a complete makeover, signaling the first step in the magazine's new focus on the web.

Part of that initiative is the magazine's decision to open up its archives (2007 to present as well as selected pieces) to the general public for the rest of the summer. Until the website puts up its metered paywall sometime in the fall, the New Yorker editors will be releasing curated collections of stories periodically.

We pulled out a selection of our favorite stories from the archives that you should definitely check out while they're free.

1. "Eichmann In Jerusalem—I" by Hannah Arendt, Feb. 16, 1963

German-American political theorist Hannah Arendt examined nothing short of the nature of evil in her 1961 reporting on the trial of Nazi SS officer Adolf Eichmann. In her dispatches — which many have called a masterpiece — Arendt coined the phrase "the banality of evil" to describe Eichmann, who she contended was not a "monster" but "terribly and terrifyingly normal." While some have since criticized her conclusions about Eichmann, her work still forms the basis for much of our understanding of the Nazi apparatus. 

From the first dispatch:

Half a dozen psychiatrists had certified Eichmann as "normal." "More normal at any rate, than I am after having examined him," one of them was said to have exclaimed, while another had found that Eichmann's whole psychological outlook, including his relationship with his wife and children, his mother and father, his brothers and sisters and friends, was "not only normal, but most desirable … Behind the comedy of the soul, experts lay the hard fact that Eichmann's was obviously no case of moral insanity.

2. "Hiroshima" by John Hersey, Aug. 31, 1946

hiroshima japanA little more than one year after the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, The New Yorker dedicated an entire issue to a single article. It was a startling choice necessitated by one of the most momentous acts of destruction in history. In a bid to force its readers to consider "the terrible implications" of the atomic bomb, The New Yorker's John Hersey followed the stories of six survivors immediately prior to the bombing until one year after the bombing. The issue was an unrivaled success. It sold out on newsstands in hours, radio networks broadcast readings of the story with well-known actors, and it became an instant best-seller.

From Hersey: 

A hundred thousand people were killed by the atomic bomb and these six were among the survivors. They still wonder why they lived when so many others died. Each of them counts many small items of chance or volition — a step taken in time, a decision to go indoors, catching one streetcar instead of the next – that spared him. And now each knows that in the act of survival, he lived a dozen lives and saw more death than he ever thought he would see. At the time, none of them knew anything.

3. "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson, June 16, 1962 

rachelcarsonFew books have had the kind of effect that Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" had when it was released in 1962. The book, which documented the deleterious effect that widespread use of pesticides have on the environment, was actually first serialized in The New Yorker in June 1962. Carson's work directly led to the modern environmental movement in the U.S. as well the ban of the destructive insecticide DDT. Carson's work played a large role in the creation of the Environmental Defense Fund in 1967 and the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970.

From Carson:

Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species — man — acquired significant power to alter the nature of the world.

4. "Torture At Abu Ghraib," Seymour Hersh, May 10, 2004

abughraibThough abuses at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq were reported by the media as early as November 2003, it wasn't until dueling reports came out from "60 Minutes" and The New Yorker in 2004 that the scandal was blown wide open. Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh (who made his career by recording another major abuse by the U.S. military) went deep into Abu Ghraib to uncover just how far up the chain of command the abuses went. Hersh revealed that the scandal wasn't an isolated incident (as the Army wanted to portray), but an example of an interrogation program ("Copper Green") that was an official and systemic use of torture.

From Hersh:

As the international furor grew, senior military officers, and President Bush, insisted that the actions of a few did not reflect the conduct of the military as a whole. Taguba’s report, however, amounts to an unsparing study of collective wrongdoing and the failure of Army leadership at the highest levels. The picture he draws of Abu Ghraib is one in which Army regulations and the Geneva conventions were routinely violated, and in which much of the day-to-day management of the prisoners was abdicated to Army military-intelligence units and civilian contract employees. Interrogating prisoners and getting intelligence, including by intimidation and torture, was the priority.

5. "After The Genocide," Philip Gourevitch, Dec. 18, 1995

tutsisThough many in the international community knew about the devastation wrought by the Hutus on the Tutsis in Rwanda, New Yorker journalist Philip Gourevitch brought the tragedy into full focus. A year after the Rwandan genocide ended, Gourevitch began traveling to Rwanda for months at a time to try to understand the genocide. He eventually filed eight lengthy articles that covered the story from nearly every angle — Tutsi survivors, imprisoned Hutu killers, the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front, and Major General Paul Kagame, who later became president. Though Gourevitch has more recently been criticized for his supposedly easy treatment of Kagame, his early dispatches are incredibly revealing stories about how a country begins to heal after a genocide.

From the first dispatch:

As I travelled around the country, collecting accounts of the killing, it almost seemed as if, with the machete, the nail-studded club, a few well-placed grenades, and a few bursts of automatic-rifle fire, the quiet orders of Hutu Power had made the neutron bomb obsolete. Then I came across a man in a market butchering a cow with a machete, and I saw that it was hard work. His big, precise strokes made a sharp hacking noise, and it took many hacks—two, three, four, five hard hacks—to chop through the cow’s leg. How many hacks to dismember a person?

6. "American Hunger," David Remnick, Oct. 12, 1998 

muhammadaliThe New Yorker's best-known story form is perhaps the profile. While there are certainly any number of excellent pieces to choose from, New Yorker editor David Remnick's 1998 profile of a middle-aged Muhammad Ali may be his most memorable. Riddled with Parkinson's, the older Ali tries to make sense of his early years to figure out how "a gangly kid from segregated Louisville willed himself to become one of the great original improvisers in American History."

From Remnick:

Ali still walked well. He was still powerful in the arms and across the chest; it was obvious, just from shaking his hand, that he still possessed a knockout punch. For him, the special torture was speech and expression, as if the disease had intentionally struck first at what had once please him —and had pleased (or annoyed) the world — most. He hated the effort that speech now cost him.

7. “The Predator War,” Jane Mayer, Oct. 26, 2009

General Atomics MQ-1 Predator DroneJane Mayer's 2009 expose of the CIA's increasing use of drones to kill terrorist suspects in Pakistan revealed that while many in the American public were aware of the drones, few understood that there are two drone programs. The first is a conventional U.S. military program. The second is a clandestine C.I.A.-run targeted-killing program that represents an unprecedented expansion of force in sovereign nations like Pakistan, Yemen, and Libya. Mayer's account revealed how the drone program has become a "radically new and geographically unbounded use of state-sanctioned lethal force," that ultimately signals an endless state of war.

From Mayer:

At first, some intelligence experts were uneasy about drone attacks. In 2002, Jeffrey Smith, a former C.I.A. general counsel, told Seymour M. Hersh, for an article in this magazine, “If they’re dead, they’re not talking to you, and you create more martyrs.” And, in an interview with the Washington Post, Smith said that ongoing drone attacks could “suggest that it’s acceptable behavior to assassinate people. . . . Assassination as a norm of international conduct exposes American leaders and Americans overseas.”

Seven years later, there is no longer any doubt that targeted killing has become official U.S. policy. “The things we were complaining about from Israel a few years ago we now embrace,” Solis says. Now, he notes, nobody in the government calls it assassination.

8. "The Duke In His Domain," Truman Capote, Nov. 9, 1957

marlonbrandoIn November 1957, The New Yorker presented a profile that featured one of the most interesting pairings in American media. Legendary writer Truman Capote was contracted to interview actor Marlon Brando, both of whom were just entering their respective primes. The result is a candid portrait that many consider to be a textbook example of how to reveal the inner life of a notoriously guarded figure.

The voice went on, as though speaking to hear itself, an effect Brando’s speech often has, for, like many persons who are intensely self-absorbed, he is something of a monologuist—a fact that he recognizes and for which he offers his own explanation. “People around me never say anything,” he says. “They just seem to want to hear what I have to say. That’s why I do all the talking.”

SEE ALSO: This World Map Shows Where Press Freedom Is Strongest And Weakest

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Here's What You See When You Take A Yoga Class In The Middle Of Manhattan

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One of the popular summer activities in New York City is taking a yoga class in the park.

I took one of the free classes, part of Bryant Park Yoga, which classes are held on Tuesday morning, and Thursday night, and are sponsored by Athleta, a sports clothing line by GAP.

I put on a GoPro on my head and filmed this short timelapse to show that a 60-minute class looks like from the point of view of the participants.

Produced by Kamelia Angelova and Alana Kakoyannis. Originally published in July 2013.

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Airbnb Host: A Guest Is Squatting In My Condo And I Can't Get Him To Leave

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Airbnb is a hugely popular way for people to rent their homes to thrifty travelers, but there are times when things go terribly wrong.

We've shared stories of hosts coming home to find their homes trashed, and a story of an inebriated host using his keys to enter the property at night while the guests — a Business Insider employee and his girlfriend — were sleeping.

Here's a new one: A woman rented her 600-square-foot Palm Springs, California, condo to someone for a little over a month, and now she says the guy won't leave and is threatening to sue her.

Airbnb Customer service email squatterShe's had to hire a lawyer and go through the entire eviction process, which could take 3-6 months, the same as if he were a long-term tenant.

It's "been a nightmare," the host, Cory Tschogl, told Business Insider.

Tschogl is a rehabilitation therapist, helping people with vision problems, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She got "priced out" of buying a home in the Valley, so she invested in a vacation rental condo in Palm Springs. For about the past year, she had been renting it on Airbnb and Flipkey, a vacation-rental site owned by TripAdvisor, making enough money on it to help her make ends meet with the higher rents in San Francisco.

She was happy with Airbnb until a man who goes by the name "Maksym" contacted her through Airbnb asking to rent her Palm Springs condo for longer than a month. He told her he needed accommodations for an extended business trip, Tschogl says.

He didn't have any reviews on Airbnb, which she says in retrospect should have been a warning sign.

But his initial interactions with her seemed OK, and she agreed to let him rent the condo from May 25 through July 8, a total of 44 days.

For long-term reservations, Airbnb bills on a monthly basis. Tschogl says she received advance payment for 30 days.

On day one, after the guest checked in, he called her and complained about two odd things, Tschogl says. He didn't like the tap water (complained it was cloudy) and he didn't like the gated entry to the condo complex. He asked for a full refund, according to Tschogl. She had a bad gut feeling about him, she says, so she agreed to a refund.

She says she had difficulty getting hold of Airbnb right away to make the refund happen. After sending multiple emails and making phone calls, Airbnb responded two days later. In that email, on May 27, Airbnb told her it asked the guest to leave. The company also told her since Maksym had stayed in the condo for two days, she was entitled to keep an appropriate portion of the money he paid.

But Maksym stayed in the condo, according to Tschogl. "It became a confusing situation. Both I and Airbnb told the guest to leave, but he would not," Tschogl told us.

After a number of antagonistic texts with the guest, Tschogl says she decided that perhaps the best course of action would be just to let him stay for the duration of his reservation.

Then came the second hiccup. On June 25, when payment for the last part of his reservation was due, Airbnb couldn't collect the money. Airbnb warned Tschogl in an email, she says.

Both Airbnb and Tschogl contacted him and warned him to pay or leave, according to Tschogl.

Two days later, on June 27, he was still in the condo, she says.

On the last day of his reservation, still unpaid, Tschogl says she sent him a text message telling him if he didn't vacate the property, she would have the utilities shut off.

Airbnb squatter threatsHe apparently responded with a threat of his own (at right). "It almost sounded like blackmail. He threatened to sue me, saying his brother was there and got an ulcer to due to the tap water. He said he was legally occupying my domicile and he has rights," Tschogl says.

It turns out, Maksym wasn't totally wrong. Tschogl researched the situation on a real estate investing social network called Bigger Pockets and was advised by other landlords to "lawyer up."

She hired a lawyer and discovered that, in California, once someone rents a property for 30 days, that person is considered a tenant on a month-to-month lease.

To get the tenant out would require the whole eviction shebang, which could take three to six months and $3,000 to $5,000 in legal fees. She couldn't just ask the police to haul the guy out.

Tschogl contacted Business Insider and the San Francisco Chronicle to tell her story. Shortly after, Airbnb said it would make sure she was paid for the full 44-day reservation. An Airbnb representative told Business Insider:

Our initial response to this inquiry didn't meet the standards we set for ourselves and we've apologized to this host. In the last week, officials from our team have been in incredibly close contact with this host and she has been paid the full cost of the reservation and we're working with her to provide additional support as we move forward.

But she was still on her own to get the guy out.

When Business Insider pressed Airbnb to address her complaints, that Airbnb took too long to respond to her (a complaint we've heard from a few other Airbnb users), this is what the company told us:

"15 million guests have traveled on AIRBNB and while the overwhelming majority of guests and hosts have a safe and positive experience we are constantly working to make our platform even stronger."

As for helping hosts get rid of squatters, Airbnb says it warns hosts that it is their responsibility to know the laws of their state.

Tschogl agrees. She doesn't blame Airbnb for the whole situation, but she does say the company could do more to warn hosts, respond faster when problems arise, and, perhaps, insure them.

She says hosts should know: "Collecting guest fees for 30+day stays for only 30 days at a time equals no guarantee to the host of payment in full."

Ideally, she'd like to see Airbnb expand its $1 million "host guarantee" to cover rental and legal expenses when a guest doesn't pay and refuses to leave.

"Thousands of vacation rental owners are vulnerable, and they don’t know it. The public needs to know, lawmakers need to know, and sites like Airbnb need to know and improve upon their policies, procedures and protections," she says.

We emailed Maksym for comment but he didn't answer. We called and texted his phone number, but got a "phone not available" message.

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Here Are The Ambitious Plans To Turn London's Heathrow Airport Into A City

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London's Heathrow Airport could soon become a destination itself.

The city's transportation department recently commissioned three architecture firms to dream up plans for a city to replace the airport, if plans to build a new, larger airport along the Thames Estuary ever come to fruition.

"Heathrow City" would potentially support 90,000 new jobs, house 190,000 people, and add close to $13 billion to the UK economy, according to the Mayor's office.

The designs released last week include an airship port, a technology campus, and a medieval-style city center. All would help accommodate the city's forecasted population growth.

"The demand for new homes and jobs in the capital is such that we must be ready to start redeveloping Heathrow the moment it moves to its new site," Mayor Boris Johnson said. "We asked our architects to be as creative as possible and these designs illustrate strikingly different visions of a Heathrow of the future."

The UK's Airports Commission will decide in September whether or not to move forward with the plans to build a new airport in the Inner Thames Estuary.

Check out the three design ideas below:

1. Architecture firm Hawkins/Brown's proposal includes the UK’s first airship port and a factory for customizable homes to accommodate London's growing population.Heathrow CityThe plan also calls for a "green belt" — a massive park built on the airport's former runways.Heathrow City2. Architects at Mccreanor Lavington envision remediating the airport's contaminated grounds and planting trees. They would also build  a technology campus, civic center, and retail hub at Heathrow's Terminal 2.Heathrow City3. Rick Mather Architects suggests using the former runways to divide the city into different sections based on specializations like education and leisure. Heathrow CityThe proposal calls for a "medieval" city center made of existing buildings and new construction.Heathrow City

SEE ALSO: This Architect-Designed Home In South Australia Generates Its Own Power And Clean Water

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RORY MCILROY: How Nike's $200 Million Man Spends His Money

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Rory McIlroy is well positioned to become one of the world's highest-paid athletes for a long, long time.

At age 25, he has already won three of the four major championships and has a deal with Nike rumored to be worth as much as $200 million.

He also has the makings of a pretty fantastic lifestyle off the course, with a lavish house in Florida, a $400,000 car, and much more.

He earned $23.5 million last year, making him the 35th-highest-paid athlete in the world at age 25.

Source: Forbes



He made $20 million in endorsements alone.

Source: Forbes



His biggest deal: a monster Nike contract rumored to be worth $200+ million.

Source: USA Today



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This 26-Pound Folding Kayak Fits In The Trunk Of A Car

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Oru Kayak

Boating just became much more accessible thanks to Oru Kayak, a 12-foot-long, 26-pound kayak that folds up into a 33 x 29-inch carrying case.

Oru Founder Anton Willis came up with the idea after moving to San Francisco and realizing his apartment was too small to fit his kayak. He launched a Kickstarter for a foldable boat, which successfully raised $443,806 and brought Oru Kayak into production.

Oru Kayak was also featured on Shark Tank, where Willis accepted a $500,000 deal for 25 percent from Robert Herjavec. 

The boat is made from one sheet of corrugated plastic, with simple connections for easy assemblage. Oru Kayak is so beautifully built that it was even showcased at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

When folded up, the kayak leaves enough room in its carrying case for a four-piece collapsible paddle and a life jacket. The kayak is rated to be folded 20,000 times before its skin begins to weaken.

The kayak on its own costs $1,195. Packages including equipment range from $1,395 to $2,495. Keep reading to see how it works.

Oru Kayak can fit into tight spaces, like the trunk of a small car.kayak1

It's also easy to carry, and looks a lot like an art portfolio.kayak3

The boat only takes about five minutes to assemble.kayak2

Then you're off!

kayak4

SEE ALSO: The 12 Best Toys Of Tech's Wealthiest Executives

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Here's Why Students Fall Asleep During Lectures

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John Medina, in his book Brain Rules, introduces data that forms the following graph:

a

The data shows that student attention level takes a dive, approximately 10 minutes into a lesson.  This is a natural occurrence (and I believe the reason YouTube videos were initially limited to <9 minutes), but can be dealt with by a good instructor.  The problem is most instructors (particularly at the university level) know next to nothing about the learning process and instructional theory.  A good instructor will introduce variation into a lesson every 10 minutes to regain the students' attention (as depicted in the below graph).

Screen Shot 2014 07 21 at 2.54.04 PM
This variation can be accomplished in many ways - from inserting a student activity to asking questions or otherwise soliciting involvement from the students to changing the delivery style or mechanism.

The problem is that so many instructors see instructing as a one-way communication.  If a student is not contributing to the communication, they lose focus and many literally go to sleep.

There are other triggers for sleeping during lessons, such as eating a large meal immediately before the lesson, poor ventilation in the classroom, and tired students.

More From Quora:

What zero gravity games have astronauts invented?

Is a 100% literacy rate a good thing?

What is it like to do a PhD in experimental physics?

 

SEE ALSO: 13 Ways Japanese Schools Are Different From American Ones

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Inside The Brooklyn Factory That Makes Suits For America's Most Powerful Men [PHOTOS]

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martin greenfield clothiers suit factory floorA menswear factory in Brooklyn has been "doing things the old-fashioned way" for more than 60 years.

Martin Greenfield Clothiers produces handmade men's suits, an impressive feat considering less than 3% of clothes sold in the U.S. is American-made. Most U.S. apparel companies outsource their labor to places where clothing is faster and cheaper to make. But Martin Greenfield isn't in the menswear business for the money alone.

Greenfield arrived at Brooklyn manufacturer GGG Clothes in 1947 from Czechoslovakia; it was his first job in the States. He carried unfinished garments from one station to the next. A poster boy for the American Dream, Greenfield worked his way up from blind stitcher to supervisor to vice president, and eventually bought the factory, renaming it in 1977.

Today, he continues the tradition of making suits by hand at his four-floor warehouse in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where his client list includes Barak Obama, Bill Clinton, Michael Bloomberg, and Leonardo DiCaprio. "I see my suits being worn all over the world," Greenfield says. "I love to see the results."

On Varet Street in East Williamsburg, a 100-year-old brick building houses the last unionized men’s clothing factory in New York City with more than 100 employees.



The city was once an epicenter of apparel manufacturing, with more than 3,000 clothing factories rooted here. During the 1970s, fast and low-cost labor abroad forced U.S. companies to ditch the “Made in the USA” label for cheaper alternatives.



Today, 97.5% of apparel sold in America is made outside the U.S. Martin Greenfield Clothiers is the exception — a company thriving by doing things the old-fashioned way, and employing people rather than machines.

Source: The American Apparel & Footwear Association



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The US Airports With The Cheapest Average Airfare

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Charleston International Airport

Flying to Chicago? Instead of flying into O'Hare International (ORD), where airfares are an average of $413, opt for Chicago Midway (MDW), where average airfares are just $269. 

Cheapflights.com just came out with its fifth annual Airport Affordability Index, which ranks popular airports with the most affordable round-trip airfares, including tax.

This year, Charleston International Airport (CHS) emerged as the most affordable airport to fly into, with average airfares of $191. This is a huge jump for the international airport, which came in at number 30 last year. 

Long Beach (LGB), Harrisburg International (MDT), and Dallas Love Field (DAL) all took top spots on this list.

At the bottom of the list were major international hubs, like New York's JFK and Newark International (EWR). Honolulu International is the most expensive airport to fly into, with average fares of $842. 

Check out the full list below: 

RankAirportAverage Airfare
1Charleston International, SC (CHS)$191
2Long Beach (Daugherty Field), CA (LGB)$200
3Harrisburg International, PA (MDT)$236
4Dallas Love Field, TX (DAL)$266
5Joe Foss Field, SD (FSD)$267
6Chicago Midway, IL (MDW)$269
7Bob Hope Airport, CA (BUR)$274
8San Jose International, CA (SJC)$277
9Myrtle Beach Jetport, SC (MYR)$287
10Bradley International, CT (BDL)$295
11Wichita Mid-Continent, KS (ICT)$306
12Metropolitan Oakland International, CA (OAK)$306
13Portland Intl Jetport, ME (PWM)$308
14Charles B. Wheeler Downtown, MO (MKC)$309
15Akron-Canton Regional, OH (CAK)$312
16Manchester, NH (MHT)$313
17Theodore Francis Green State, RI (PVD)$314
18Eppley Airfield, NE (OMA)$319
19Fresno Air Terminal, CA (FAT)$331
20Denver International, CO (DEN)$332
21Bellingham International, WA (BLI)$334
22Reagan National (DCA)$335
23Palm Beach International, FL (PBI)$335
24Richmond International, VA (RIC)$341
25Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, MI (DTW)$341
26General Mitchell International, WI (MKE)$341
27Memphis International, TN (MEM)$342
28Greater Rochester International, NY (ROC)$346
29Orlando International, FL (MCO)$352
30Syracuse Hancock International, NY (SYR)$354
31La Guardia, NY (LGA)$355
32Burlington International, VT (BTV)$359
33Kansas City International, MO (MCI)$359
34Tucson International, AZ (TUS)$362
35Minneapolis-St Paul International, MN (MSP)$364
36McCarran International, NV (LAS)$364
37Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International, FL (FLL)$366
38Indianapolis International, IN (IND)$367
39Buffalo Niagara International, NY (BUF)$368
40James M. Cox Dayton International, OH (DAY)$370
41Albuquerque International, NM (ABQ)$371
42William P. Hobby, TX (HOU)$371
43Lovell Field, TN (CHA)$372
44Dallas/Fort Worth International, TX (DFW)$372
45Tampa International, FL (TPA)$381
46Oklahoma, OK (OKC)$382
47Des Moines International, IA (DSM)$384
48Philadelphia International, PA (PHL)$386
49Ontario International, CA (ONT)$388
50Bishop International, MI (FNT)$391
51Baltimore/Washington International, MD (BWI)$391
52Reno-Tahoe International, NV (RNO)$396
53Pensacola Regional, FL (PNS)$396
54Austin-Bergstrom International, TX (AUS)$399
55Lambert-St Louis International, MO (STL)$400
56Los Angeles International, CA (LAX)$403
57Gerald R. Ford International, MI (GRR)$404
58Pittsburgh International, PA (PIT)$405
59Jacksonville International, FL (JAX)$408
60Raleigh-Durham International, NC (RDU)$409
61Seattle – Tacoma International, WA (SEA)$409
62Greenville-Spartanburg, SC (GSP)$409
63George Bush Intercontinental, TX (IAH)$410
64Phoenix Sky Harbor International, AZ (PHX)$413
65Chicago-O’Hare International, IL (ORD)$413
66Cleveland-Hopkins International, OH (CLE)$413
67John Wayne/Orange County, CA (SNA)$414
68Mahlon Sweet Field, OR (EUG)$414
69Albany International, NY (ALB)$416
70New Orleans International, LA (MSY)$417
71Nashville International, TN (BNA)$417
72Salt Lake City International, UT (SLC)$423
73Atlanta International, GA (ATL)$426
74Adams Field, AR (LIT)$428
75Sacramento International Airport, CA (SMF)$429
76Logan International, MA (BOS)$430
77Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, OH (CVG)$437
78San Diego Intl-Lindbergh Field, CA (SAN)$443
79Portland International, OR (PDX)$448
80Miami International, FL (MIA)$451
81San Francisco International, CA (SFO)$453
82Piedmont Triad International, NC (GSO)$459
83San Antonio International, TX (SAT)$470
84Washington Dulles International (IAD)$479
85Norfolk International, VA (ORF)$480
86Spokane International, WA (GEG)$481
87Birmingham International, AL (BHM)$484
88Charlotte/Douglas International, NC (CLT)$484
89Standiford Field, KY (SDF)$485
90Dane County Rgnl-Truax Field, WI (MSN)$485
91McGhee Tyson, TN (TYS)$500
92Northwest Arkansas Regional, AR (XNA)$513
93Anchorage International, AK (ANC)$521
94Port Columbus International, OH (CMH)$524
95Boise Air Terminal (Gowen Field), ID (BOI)$536
96Southwest Florida International, FL (RSW)$562
97El Paso International, TX (ELP)$568
98John F. Kennedy International, NY (JFK)$581
99Tulsa International, OK (TUL)$596
100Newark International, NJ (EWR)$694
101Honolulu International, HI (HNL)$842

 

SEE ALSO: The 20 Best Airlines In The World

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New York City Approves Controversial 'Poor Door' In Luxury Condo

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extell riverside drive locationThe New York Post reported yesterday that New York City has approved developer Extell’s plans to build a separate entrance for its affordable-housing tenants at an Upper West Side condo.

Dubbed the “poor door,” the controversial approval was a blow to New Yorkers who believe the separate entrance to be classist and distasteful.

The 33-story luxury condo on 40 Riverside Drive will have 55 low-income units and 219 market-rate condominiums facing the Hudson River, according to The Post. The low-income units will be located on floors two through six with a studio going for $845 a month, a one-bedroom for $908, and two-bedrooms for $1,099.

Market-rate buyers, on the other hand, would be paying more than $1,000 per square foot. The building will be part of Extell's planned Riverside South dev elopement, which will stretch from 72nd to 59th Streets.

The building is a part of New York City's "inclusionary zoning" strategy for providing affordable housing to low-income families, itself a controversial program that gives developers more floor area and large tax breaks in exchange for building on- or off-site affordable housing.

40 riverside condo1The “poor door” is not the only one of its kind in the city. A few other large development projects also have separate entrances for renters and owners, and it’s not uncommon for mixed-income buildings to provide amenities for the building’s market-rate owners that they don’t provide for middle-income or low-income residents.

And not everyone agrees that the “poor door” is the main problem. Josh Barro, Business Insider’s former politics editor, made the argument last year that if New York City fully taxed these market rate apartments instead of giving developers tax breaks for building affordable housing on-site (it’s estimated the property tax abatements have lost NYC $2.9 billion in revenue), they could use that money to spend on building more affordable housing.

SEE ALSO: In Defense Of The 'Poor Door': Why It's Fine For A Luxury Condo Developer To Keep Its Low-Income Units Separate

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The 10 Best Ice Cream Shops In The US, According To Pinterest Users

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beaches and cream

No summer is complete without a good ice cream splurge.

Last fall, Pinterest launched a feature called "Place Pins," which allows users to map out businesses or locations they want to visit in the future. In the eight months since the feature was launched, more than 1 billion travel locations have been pinned.

And according to Place Pins data, more than 4,000 ice cream shops have been added to Pinterest users' wish lists.  

We've rounded up the 10 most popular ones here. From a century-old gelato shop to a creamery using high-tech freezing methods, these aren't your typical ice cream shops. 

10. Portland, Oregon's Salt & Straw ice cream chain was founded by cousins Kim and Tyler Malek. Rich, local ingredients go into creating interesting flavors like Strawberry with Cilantro Lime Cheesecake and Chocolate with Gooey Brownies.

3345 SE Division Street

2035 NE Alberta Street 

838 NW 23rd Avenue



9. Ben and Jerry's operates thousands of locations across the globe, but you can try all of the brand's flavors and tour the factory at its headquarters in Waterbury, Vermont.

1281 Waterbury-Stowe Road, Route 100, Waterbury, Vermont

 



8. At San Francisco's Smitten Ice Cream, Brrristas use liquid nitrogen and patented technology to take a new approach to ice cream.

432 Octavia St. #1A, San Francisco



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The 10 Most Important Things In The World Right Now

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Prince George

Good morning! Here's what you need to know for Tuesday.

1. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Tuesday that an agreement had been reached with Ukrainian separatists to recover the bodies of victims from the downed Malaysia Airlines passenger jet. The bodies are on a train headed for the Netherlands, where most of the passengers came from, Reuters says. The plane's two black boxes will also be handed over to Malaysian authorities. 

2. A piece of wreckage from the Malaysia Airlines plane that was shot down in eastern Ukraine last week "bears telltale marks of small pieces of high-velocity shrapnel," The New York Times reports. The damage "is consistent with the effects of a fragmenting warhead carried by an SA-11 missile," the Times noted, which is "the type of missile that American officials have said was the probable culprit in the downing of the plane."

3. Netflix said its second-quarter profits more than doubled, rising to $71 million from $29 million a year earlier. The streaming service added 1.7 million users between March and June with popular original series like "Orange is the New Black" and "House of Cards" helping to drive subscriptions.

4. Prince George, son of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge William and Kate, celebrates his first birthday on Tuesday. Pictures of the young royal on an outing with his parents at the Natural Museum of History in London were released in honor of the big day. 

5. Indonesia is expected to name its new president on Tuesday, following an election where both candidates claimed to have won. Unofficial results show that Jakarta governor Joko Widodo beat former army general Prabowo Subianto, although Subianto is making a last-ditch effort to contest the votes.  

6. Yahoo bought mobile ad company Flurry for an undisclosed sum on Monday. Yahoo said in a press release: "By joining Yahoo, Flurry will have resources to speed up the delivery of platforms that help developers build better apps, reach the right users, and explore new revenue opportunities."

7. The chief executive of Tesco — Britain's biggest supermarket chain and the world's third biggest retailer — quit after the company was forced to issue its second profit warning in two years. Philip Clarke, 54, will be replaced Dave Lewis, 49, the executive of the personal care division at Unilever. 

8. Starbucks says some of its stores sourced chicken from Shanghai Husi, the factory that previously supplied food to McDonald's and KFC in China before it was shut down on Sunday amid allegations it used expired meat. McDonald's said that Husi also sold meat to its branches in Japan. 

9. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), an often deadly respiratory illness that's related to the SARS, was detected in air samples from a Saudi Arabian barn with an infected camel. The discovery is worrying because it suggests the virus can be transmitted through the air, making it more likely to spread. 

10. South Korean officials confirmed Tuesday that a heavily decomposed body found in a plum field south of the capital last month belonged to billionaire Yoo Byung-un, head of the family that owned the operator of a ferry that sank in April and killed more than 300 people, the Guardian reports. The businessman went missing after the disaster and "had been the subject of the country's largest manhunt," the paper said.  

And finally...

Robert Downey Jr. has been named by the highest-earning actor for the second year in a row on Forbes' annual list of the world's most powerful celebrities, rolling in an estimated $75 million between June 2013 and 2014. 

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11 Habits Of Extremely Boring People

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boring meeting

We fear boredom — that we might be bored or, even worse, bore others.

One example: In a recent University of Virginia study, participants gave themselves electrical shocks instead of having to sit with their thoughts for 15 minutes.

In a recent Quora thread, users discussed what makes people boring. Here are the highlights, so that you can identify the bores in your life and avoid becoming one yourself. 

1. Boring people have unbalanced conversations. Instead of finding a rhythm between talking and listening, boring people are on either conversational extreme. Quora user Jack Bennett calls it an "asymmetry in the conversational 'give and take' — e.g. all listening and no talking, or all talking and no listening." 

2. Boring people can't tell if people are engaged in the conversation. If you're emphatically boring, you're probably missing the other person's body language. User Garrick Saito argues that what makes a person boring is the "continual blathering and ignoring of signals and body language that say (perhaps not loudly enough) 'I'm not interested in what you're saying, but am nodding every few seconds only to be polite.'" To avoid this, learn how to listen to what people are saying with their bodies

3. Boring people can't make people laugh.Humor shows "cognitive flexibility": the ability to assess an idea or an event from a variety of perspectives, and then, naturally, make light of it. Boring people lack it. "I'm an easy sell," admits Will Wister. "I mean come on let's face it — it's not that hard." 

4. Boring people always do the same thing. User Andy Warwick complains of friends who go to the pub every weekend and then subsequently get frustrated when he can't make it out to join them — since he was going to museums, reading books, or hiking around hills. "For me what makes a person boring is living a sedentary life without variety," Warwick says. "Diverse experiences improve one's conversation for those weekends when you do go down the pub. You actually have something to talk about." 

5. Boring people never say anything. A "boor" is somebody who's loud and insensitive to the social situation, but a boring person can also be overly circumspect. Alexa Knowles lays it down: "Where the loud bore believes they are the most interesting person there is, the quiet bore believes it's best to never say anything because who would want to listen to them? These are the ones that reply to every inquiry with some variant of 'I dunno, sort of, I guess.'" 

6. Boring people don't have an opinion. "Someone who says Hitler was a noble soul and believes it vehemently is not a boring person," says Shrindhi Sondur. "Maybe a nutcase, but not boring." So how do you develop an opinion? By knowing both sides of the argument, says legendary investor Charlie Munger

7. Boring people don't know how to tell a good story. "To interest someone and to truly engage others, you have to be able to tell a story," says Dave Cheng. "And you have to care about that story. You also have to solicit stories out of others. And you have to care about those stories."

It's a lot like Kurt Vonnegut's advice on writing: "Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about," the "Slaughterhouse Five" author once advised. "It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style." 

8. Boring people can't see things from other people's perspectives. "Boring people are usually those who can't (or won't) understand how the conversation is experienced from the other person's perspective," says Drew Austin. "The ability to place oneself in another person's shoes makes someone interesting to talk to." In this way, emotional intelligence is key to conversationality

9. Boring people don't have their own opinions. If you haven't thought critically about what it is you think, you're not going to have much to offer in conversation. "People that do not see past what they were taught to believe" are the boring ones, says Maranda Marvin. "These people can only offer their very localized view on a variety of topics."

10. Boring people don't have anything new to add. Research into our brains reveals that we're basically hard-wired to seek novelty. It's a need that's been rattling around evolution for some 800,000 years. The conversational takeaway: If you don't provide anything new to the listener, they're not going to be stimulated. "To me, a boring person is someone from whom I cannot learn anything new," says Stan Hayward. "Thus, it takes time for me to decide someone is really a boring person, though some people give out cues pretty early in a relationship."

11. Boring people don't include anybody in the conversation. What makes someone boring is "the inability to include the others with interest into the conversation," says Marie Holland, "which I feel usually happens when the 'boring' person just wants their point to be told with too much detail that isn't relevant." This goes along with the empathy thing: If you can't figure out that someone in the circle of conversation is feeling left out, you're boring. 

SEE ALSO: Who You Know Is Even More Important Than You Realize

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1 Out Of Every 21 New Yorkers Is A Millionaire

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Mayor Bloomberg Lady Gaga New Year's Eve

REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

One out of every 21 New Yorkers is a millionaire.

According to data from Spear's Wealth Management and WealthInsight, the city has 389,100 people with net worth greater than $1 million. That's 4.63% of the population.

For San Francisco, it's one out of every 37 people. 

The No.1 city, Monaco, has nearly 3 in 10. 

Below is the full list of cities with millionaire density. We first saw this at the LA Times

TOP 20 GLOBAL CITIES BY MILLIONAIRE DENSITY - FULL BREAKDOWN:

1. Monaco (29.21%)

2. Zurich (27.34%)

3. Geneva (17.92%)

4. New York (4.63%)

5. Frankfurt (3.88%)

6. London (3.39%)

7. Oslo (2.90%)

8. Singapore (2.80%)

9. Amsterdam (2.63%)

10. Florence (2.59%)

11. Hong Kong (2.58%)

12. Rome (2.54%)

13. Dublin (2.40%)

14. Doha (2.31%)

15. Toronto (2.29%)

16. Venice (2.25%)

17. Brussels (2.11%)

18. Houston (2.09%)

19. San Francisco (2.07%)

20. Paris (2.04%)

SEE ALSO: An Easily Digestible Breakdown Of Thomas Piketty's Argument About Capital And Inequality

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This House Is Largely Made Of Beer Cans [PHOTOS]

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beer can house

Flickr/USNationalArchives

Michael Reynolds built and lived in this house, made of beer cans, in the '70s.

Before the birth of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, pollution and litter plagued America. 

Despite the obvious problems, architect Michael Reynolds saw an opportunity — making houses out of what he calls "garbage."

"These materials are indigenous to the entire planet," he tells Business Insider. "Everywhere you go, they're present." 

Click here see how Reynolds built his unique homes »

After graduating from the University of Cincinnati in 1969, Reynolds became a proponent of "radically sustainable" living. In '72, he built his first house, made almost entirely from beer and pop cans. 

Using a process Reynolds calls "earthship biotecture," a two-bedroom home, requiring about 70,000 cans, would cost $25,000 to $30,000 — 20% less expensive than traditional building at the time.

"The beer can houses kind of started everything," he recalls. Reynolds now runs Earthship Biotecture, a global architecture firm focused on creating self-sustaining homes.

Documerica, a photo project in the 1970s from the newly established EPA, captured Reynolds' humble beginnings in Taos, New Mexico, the location of the first beer can houses.

In 1975, Reynolds stood smiling in the New Mexico sun.



He and his team built the Thumb House in Taos, New Mexico. Shown below, it's the first structure made almost entirely out of beer and pop cans. The curved walls allow the cans to support more weight, resulting in pie-shaped rooms.



"The beer can idea started in the early '70s when they first started doing TV [broadcasts] about old steel cans being thrown all over the streets and highways," Reynolds says.



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37 Places You Need To Visit In Italy

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isola di burano

JeniFoto/Shutterstock

While the food in Italy is reason enough to visit, the country is filled with famous works of art, exceptionally beautiful cities, and gorgeous lakes and mountains. 

We compiled a list of 37 sites in Italy you should see at least once in your lifetime. 

We included important classics like Rome's Colosseum and Venice's canals, but also added more obscure spots, like the gardens of the Villa d'Este and the natural hot springs of Saturnia in Tuscany.

Drive along the gorgeous cliffs of the Amalfi Coast.



See Michelangelo's famous statue of David in Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia.



Admire the colorful homes in Isola di Burano.



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Prince George Turns 1: A Glamorous Year In The Life Of The Royal Baby

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Prince George

Prince William and Kate Middleton's first born son, Prince George of Cambridge, arrived to a media frenzy exactly one year ago today.

And what a year it's been!

The royal baby has already hobnobbed with dignitaries and traveled the world, visiting zoos everywhere from New Zealand to London.

See where Prince George's travels have taken him and how he has grown throughout the year.

On July 22, 2013, Kate Middleton and Prince William debuted their new bundle of joy — Prince George of Cambridge — outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in central London.

 



Prince William quickly whisked his son away from the massive crowds and into a car headed for Kensington Palace.



Prince George is third in line to the British throne. His birth certificate was filed with the Westminster Register Office in London.



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The Second Acts Of New York City's Old Movie Theaters [PHOTOS]

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Valencia

When you're shopping, working, or going to church in an old New York City building, there's a chance you might be standing in a former movie theater.

New York-based photographer Larry Racioppo created a portfolio of photos showing former movie theaters and what they have become. Racioppo grew up in Brooklyn and said he found it amazing that many of the theaters he'd known as a kid had escaped demolition. His photo portfolio is titled, "Movie Houses of the Outer Boroughs: Past Glory and Adaptive Reuse, 1998-2001."

This project was made possible by a grant Racioppo received from the Graham Foundation. He donated 105 photos from his project to the New York Public Library's Digital Collections, and hopes to someday show the entire project in an exhibit.

While many of the theaters are still standing, some have been demolished since Racioppo took these pictures.

Racioppo has been taking photographs since the 1970s. He loves capturing events in the New York area like the Mermaid Parade and Halloween—things that happen every year but change with time. "Everything I do is about New York," he said.

He is currently working on a book with investigative journalist Tom Robbins titled, "Before The Gold Rush," which will be about life in 1970s Brooklyn.

Here are some of the photos from "Movie Houses of the Outer Boroughs."

The Savoy Theater in Brooklyn housed the Charity Neighborhood Baptist Church until 2012, but the building was unfortunately demolished earlier this year.Savoy

The 46th Street Theater in Brooklyn is still in use as a furniture store called Regal Furniture. The theater has quite a history—Racioppo said the Grateful Dead performed there back in the day.46 st

The former Drake Theater in Queens opened in 1935 and is now partially taken up by an Italian restaurant. However, 90% of the theater isn't being used.drake

You'd never know this C-Town supermarket in Brooklyn was formerly Prospect Theater, which opened in 1927.prospect theater

The RKO Chester Theater opened in the Bronx in 1927. After it closed, it was used as a car repair garage. There was also a Spanish restaurant in the lobby for some time. The theater was demolished in 2010.Chester

The Palace Theater in north Bronx opened in 1948 and was eventually converted into a Bingo parlor. It is now a furniture store.palace

The Roland Theater in Brooklyn is now a church called the Holy House of Prayer for All People. Racioppo said the water tower on top of the building is a key sign that this structure was a theater, as many older theaters had this addition.roland

The former Colonial Theater in Bushwick, Brooklyn, is now the Wayside Baptist Church.colonial

The former Lowes Oriental Theater in Brooklyn is now a Marshall's, but the upper floors of the theater are untouched. Unfortunately, Racioppo could not get access to these floors.loew's oriental

This building was once the Bronx Opera House, but it is now split up into several different parts, including a Spanish evangelical church. A boutique hotel was built and began using the front of the building as its entrance in 2013.bronx opera house

 

SEE ALSO: 12 Incredible Landscape Photos Of America

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