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25 Little Ways To Instantly Feel Happier

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ice cream

If there's one resolution out there that we should all make, it's to be an all-around happier person this year.

I mean, who wouldn't want that? You don't have to drop all of your cash or change up your entire life in order to make happiness happen.

There are plenty of little things you can do that will keep you feeling blissful all year long, and here are 25 ways you can start!

  1. Go to sleep when you are tired. You aren't doing anybody any good by forcing yourself to stay awake when your mind and body need a break.
  2. Take your breaks and vacation days.
  3. Take the time to cook a good home-cooked meal at least once a week.
  4. Take a second out of every day to think a positive thought about yourself . . . even if it's just the fact that you're having a good hair day.
  5. Make your bed and open the blinds.
  6. Write out a blurb of your thoughts as often as you can and save them in a box. Writing often puts things in perspective.
  7. Always listen to calming music — feel-good or sad — when you clean. You'd be surprised at how therapeutic dusting can become.
  8. Drink more water.
  9. Don't take your work home with you.
  10. Give yourself a small challenge to complete every week — as opposed to feeling defeated when Sunday rolls around, you'll feel accomplished! These challenges could be as simple as smiling at a stranger every morning or skipping sweets every other day.
  11. Hike more often.
  12. Eat breakfast every day.
  13. Take snapshots of your good days and happy moments.
  14. Try with all of your might to wake up when your first alarm goes off.
  15. Find a way to shake up your daily routine so as to avoid getting into a rut. Try a new coffee drink, eat your lunch outside — anything to break up the monotony.
  16. Give yourself something to look forward to on Friday evenings that isn't always necessarily a social event, like taking a bubble bath, starting a book you've been meaning to read, or making a dish you've been craving!
  17. Don't rely on social media as entertainment every time you're bored.
  18. Don't go to bed in a bad mood.
  19. Go on more coffee dates with friends.
  20. Don't work and eat at the same time.
  21. Cry when you feel like crying. Repressed negative emotions never lead to a happy disposition.
  22. Carve out time every morning to stretch and also to sit and drink your cup of joe without feeling rushed.
  23. Don't let emails be the first thing you see when you wake up.
  24. Always talk to somebody you trust when something is bothering you — don't keep it to yourself.
  25. Eat more ice cream.

SEE ALSO: 7 Habits Of Happy Couples

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Start Building Your Website By Learning Responsive Design [80% Off]

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responsive

Everyone knows smartphones and tablets aren't going away anytime soon. The ability to build websites that can adapt seamlessly from desktop computers to tablets to mobile phones (to whatever is next) is increasing in importance everyday. That's responsive web design. Ethan Marcotte has a great explanation here from 2010. He was right that mobile web browsing would overtake desktop within 5 years, and now, many major websites have more than 50% of their traffic coming from mobile devices, and over 25% of all internet traffic is mobile. Charts courtesy of Business Insider Intelligence's THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL: 2014.

BI Intelligence

However, it is not a mobile-only world.

BI Intelligence

The online world is fragmenting, which makes responsive design the path forward for major websites.

Enroll in this project-based course that will walk you through strategies, tools, tips, and tricks for web design in HTML5 and CSS3, as well as Bootstrap 3, the top skills you need to build responsive websites. If you're looking to make a move to a startup, or already work at one and want to increase your value, go with a skill that won't be outdated anytime soon.

Thanks to our friends at Stack Commerce, you can get this plan for 41% off the usual price.

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SEE ALSO:  New iPhone? Grab This Awesome Battery Case For The 6 Or 6+ [33% And 26% Off]

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Here's What The 'Seinfeld' Diner Is Like In Real Life

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'A Documentary About Everything' is a feature length documentary that highlights past and present owners, clientèle and pop culture references, of Tom's Restaurant. The restaurant's exterior became famous worldwide thanks to the popular sitcom Seinfeld. The documentary breaks down the fictional facade of the restaurant and showcases the real people behind this true NYC Landmark. 

The full length documentary is now available to view on Vimeo On Demand.

Video courtesy of Gian Franco Morini

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What It's Like To Attend Homecoming At The School That Invented The Tradition

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university of missouri homecoming

Welcome to homecoming at the University of Missouri, or "Mizzou," as students and alumni like to say. The world's first homecoming tradition began at Mizzou in 1911 when football coach Chester Brewer invited alumni to “come home” for the annual football game against long-standing rival, the University of Kansas.

With approximately 34,658 enrolled students, Mizzou still holds the largest student-run homecoming in the nation, including a parade, blood drive, talent competition, tailgate, and campus decorations, according to Chancellor Bowen Loftin.

Mizzou is located in Columbia, Missouri, and is almost equidistant from St. Louis and Kansas City. The rivalry with Kansas dates back to pre-civil war days, making it the oldest college rivalry west of the Mississippi.



Mizzou owes the homecoming tradition to former football coach Chester Brewer who in 1911 invited alumni to "come home" for the annual rivalry game against the University of Kansas.



Around campus the buildings are decorated with Mizzou's black and gold colors. Here is a giant tiger tail coming out of the student bookstore.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






Science Says Night Owls Are 'More Manipulative And Psychopathic' Than Early Risers

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vampire

If you're a night owl, a psychologist will tell you that you have an evening-oriented "chronotype" — meaning that you feel more alert later in the day than those annoying morning people.

Recent research shows that you are also more likely to be a psychopath. 

In a 2013 paper, a joint team of British and Australian researchers found that night owls tend to have the so-called Dark Triad of personality traits.

The traits are: 

• Narcissism, or a need for dominance and a sense of entitlement.

• Psychopathy, or a willingness to manipulate people and a streak of social charm.

• Machiavellianism, or a tendency toward impulsivity and regular antagonism toward other people.

The nighttime orientation serves as a kind of evolutionary adaptation for the Dark Triad personality type, argue authors Peter K. Jonason of the University of Western Sydney and Amy Jones and Minna Lyon of Liverpool Hope University.

The night, with its lower levels of light in the environment and lower levels of cognitive functioning in people, could be well-suited to the "fast life strategy" that the Dark Triad personality type embodies. 

"Such features of the night may facilitate the casual sex, mate-poaching, and risk-taking the Dark Triad traits are linked to," they argue.

The methodology of their research was clear-cut: 263 volunteers took an online study. The study had a range of personality quizzes, testing for narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism — plus a quiz for chronotypes. 

The result? People who scored highly in the Dark Triad traits also tended to stay up late.

It makes a sinister sort of sense. 

"Those high on the Dark Triad may be characterized by cognitive biases that orient them to occupy an environment that will facilitate their life history strategy," the authors conclude. "In short, those high on the Dark Triad traits like many other predators (e.g., lions, African hunting dogs, scorpions), are creatures of the night." 

The paper made such a splash that it even won the 2014 Ig Nobel Prize, given for surprising or amusing scientific discoveries, for "amassing evidence that people who habitually stay up late are, on average, more self-admiring, more manipulative, and more psychopathic than people who habitually arise early in the morning." 

The takeaway? The next time you're out late and meet someone charming, look out. 

 

NOW WATCH: How To Pack A Suit So You're Not A Wrinkled Mess When Traveling

 

SEE ALSO: 15 Signs You're A Narcissist

For more detail on the study read:  People Who Love The Night Have Psychopathic Traits

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Why The Chinese Ice Festival Is One Of The Most Surreal Sights You'll Ever See

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The 31st International Ice and Snow Festival officially kicked off in the Chinese city of Harbain on Monday, January 5. 

The main venue, Ice and Snow World, featured castles and famous buildings recreated out of thick blocks of ice that lit up after nightfall.

Produced by Jason Gaines. Video courtesy of Associated Press.

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10 Safest Airlines In The World

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Singapore Airlines Airbus A380

With 21 fatal accidents and 986 fatalities, 2014 was one of deadliest years in aviation history.

That said, flying is still one of the safest forms of transportation in the world. According to Australian consumer aviation website AirlineRatings.com, the airline industry transportation 3.3 billion passengers on 27 million flights in 2014.

AirlineRatings.com recently released a list of the 10 safest airlines selected from a pool of 449 carriers around the world. To compile its list, the website evaluates each airline based on its standing with international regulators, its fatality record over the past 10 years, it result from an International Air Transportation Association(IATA) safety audit, and whether the airline's country conform with the International Civil Aviation Organization's 8-point safety parameter. All of the airlines on this list passed those tests with flying colors.

Interestingly, the airlines on the list hale exclusively from Asia, Australia, and Europe, with no carriers from the Americas and Africa making the cut. AirRatings.com didn't list the final finishing order for places 2-10, but did crown a winner.

Air New Zealand has made a fine recovery after a period of financial turmoil in the early 2000s. This renaissance culminated with AirlineRatings.com recently naming it the best airline in the world. Air New Zealand has not suffered any significant incidents in the past couple of decades.



Singapore Airlines is universally lauded for its high quality service and efficient operations. It is also Business Insider's pick for the best airline in the world. The Changi Airport-based carrier has been accident free since 2000.



Finnair: As Finland's national airline, Finnair doesn't get as much attention in the media as some of its Scandinavian counterparts. But don't discount the Helsinki-based carrier. It has one of the best safety records in the business and hasn't suffered any major accidents since the 1960s.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






The Crazy Story Of How Two 100-Year-Old Log Cabins Ended Up In Twitter's San Francisco Offices

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twitter hq

Twitter recently increased its office footprint after outgrowing its space in the quickly evolving Mid-Market neighborhood of San Francisco. 

As part of its expansion, the company brought in something pretty unique: two log cabins, built in the 1800s, that designers had dismantled and shipped from Montana. 

The cabins were the brainchild of Olle Lundberg, principal at Lundberg Design, who worked with Interior Architects on the design for Twitter's headquarters. 

"This was a room within a room, a way to make the space more comfortable," Lundberg said to Business Insider.

The idea of making something old new again makes sense for a company like Twitter, who chose to move their headquarters to a building that had stood empty for more than a decade. Their relocation there has already led to positive change in the neighborhood.

Twitter moved into its space at 1355 Market Street in June of 2012. Located in the notoriously seedy Mid-Market area of San Francisco, the large warehouse building they chose was previously home to SF Mart, a run-down furniture warehouse. It had sat vacant for nearly 15 years, and violent crime, drugs, and prostitution had became more prevalent in the area.



Finding a tenant for the SF Mart building had proven to be a daunting task for the city. "It's kind of this dead zone that invites the worst of urban life," Lundberg said. "We knew we had the opportunity to do something good for San Francisco by being there."




Plus, moving into a mostly empty building would give the company plenty of space to grow. Twitter currently occupies a whopping 750,000 square feet of space on the fifth through eleventh floors of the SF Mart building. A bright green roof deck has brought a decidedly different feel to the blighted area.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider







How The Buying Power Of Your Dollar Has Changed Over The Past 60 Years

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Inflation has caused prices to rise 784% over the past 60 years. But not all prices rise at the same rate. Prices of gas, beef, and Hershey's chocolate have increased more than tenfold since 1954, much more than inflation. The prices of eggs and coffee have more than doubled and tripled respectively. But on an inflation-adjusted basis, both of these goods cost about half what they did when your grandma bought them.

Produced by Alex Kuzoian and Sara Silverstein

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Here Are The Most Expensive Cars Driven By Ultra-Rich Chinese Kids In LA

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Rich Chinese Kids Cars

A recent video of rich Chinese kids showing off their super cars in America went viral, racking up more than a million views on YouTube and more than one hundred million views when leaked on Chinese social media.

Filmed by Vocativ, the video captures just how much money China's elite have these days. After all, China's billionaire population swelled from three to 354 in the past ten years and the ranks of new millionaires is booming exponentially faster. Of course, this newfound wealth is controversial in a communist country where nearly 100 million people still live below the poverty line.

A growing number of those elite, particularly their children, are coming to America. Chinese students account for 60% of all foreign student enrollment growth at US colleges, with the allure of a name-brand education and western lifestyle higher than ever, and Southern California is the number one destination.

We've broken down the highlights of Vocativ's video, noting exactly how expensive these supercars are.

The secret meetup of wealthy Chinese kids took place in California's San Gabriel Valley, a suburb of LA with a 61% Asian population.



Here, they can hang out and flaunt their wealth among peers.



The party may be raging inside the meeting venue ...



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






The Best Hotel In Every State

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Post Ranch Inn Big SurFrom an eco-friendly treehouse resort in California to the historic Carlyle Hotel in New York, here are the best hotels in every US state.

We found these hotels by looking at expert reviews, local recommendations, and our own list of the Best Hotels In America.

Did we get your state right? Let us know in the comments. 

ALABAMA: The Battle House Renaissance, Mobile

Established on the site of a military headquarter set up by Andrew Jackson during the war of 1812, the hotel is a aptly named the Battle House. 

The hotel has plenty of amenities including Mobile’s only four diamond restaurant, a full salon, and eight treatment rooms. 

Rooms from $139 a night.



ALASKA: The Hotel Alyeska, Girdwood

The Hotel Alyeska is located on the  Chugach Mountain Range in the resort town of Girdwood.

Surrounded by the mountains, hanging glaciers, and spectacular ocean views, the hotel offers luxurious accommodations in the wilderness of Alaska. 

Prices from $159 a night.



ARIZONA: Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain, Marana

The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain is located in the Sonoran Desert and has a world-class spa and a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course. 

Surrounded by the Saguaro forest, the hotel sits on land once inhabited by the indigenous Hohokam people.

Rooms from $199 a night.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






Lego Reveals The Biggest Difference Between European And American Parents

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lego

Just a decade ago, Lego was on the brink of bankruptcy. 

The company was facing mounting competition from internet and video games, Jonathan Ringen writes at Fast Company. 

Lego was able to turn around business by exhaustively researching customers in its "Future Lab" run by scientific researchers. 

Researchers found a big difference between American and European parents, according to Ringen

"American parents don’t like play experiences where they have to step in and help their kids a lot. They want their kids to be able to play by themselves," Future Lab leader Anne Flemmert-Jensen told Fast Company. 

Meanwhile, European parents are more hands-on. 

"We see among European parents, it’s okay to sit on the floor and spend time with the kids," she said.

When Fast Company asked if it's possible that American parents wanted their kids to be independent, she replied, "That's one of many possible interpretations." 

These insights influence the assortments Lego offers in the two regions. American Lego sets are theoretically less complicated, because kids will probably need to assemble them on their own. 

While Lego's insight about American parents might be unflattering, it makes sense.

Europeans tend to have a longer transition into adulthood, with many young adults continuing to live with their parents until their late 20s. 

 

NOW WATCH: 4 Real Robots Designed To Make Life Easier

 

SEE ALSO: Photos From This Year's Outrageous Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

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HOUSE OF THE DAY: A Beachfront Hamptons Mansion With An Indoor Grotto Is On The Market For $49 Million

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Angel View house Sag Harbor $49 million

A mansion in Sag Harbor has just been discounted by $19 million, according to Curbed Hamptons. 

Originally listed for $65 million, the property price has dropped to $49 million.

The mansion is called “Angel View” and is a custom-built, 12,000-square-foot, six-bedroom house that sits on 6.5 acres of land and has 500 feet of waterfront property.

It also has quite a few amenities, including an indoor grotto, a two-tiered infinity edge pool, tennis courts, a luxe cabana, and an estate-wide sound system.

Welcome to Angel View in Sag Harbor. The property just went on sale for $49 million.



The property is actually three plots of land combined for a total of 6.5 acres. It also has waterfront access.



The home is quite secluded with two private gates.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






My Hotel Room In Vegas Came With A Sex Kit ...

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Vegas Welcome bar

It started innocently enough.

I was staying at one of those new supposedly family-friendly hotels in Las Vegas, the SLS.

They welcomed me with a fruit plate, Champagne glasses, and a handwritten note (at right).

The mini-bar, it turned out, was divided into two sections:



"SINNER ..."



... And "SAINT."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






This Epic Time-Lapse Of Pyongyang Shows North Korea Like You've Never Seen It Before


Brighten Up This Brutal Winter With Fun Athletic Socks

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Aaron Levie shoes socks sneakers colorful

Over the last few years, athletic wear has gotten a serious style upgrade.

Gym enthusiasts no longer have to stick to the basic white socks, black shorts combo.

We recommend adding a couple of pairs of colorful gym socks for your trips to the gym.

Remember: When picking athletic socks, you'll want to avoid cotton, which retains sweat and can lead to blisters. You'll want to stick to a wool sock for cold-weather exercise and "wicking" synthetic fabrics for indoor activities. 

We've put together a list of both ankle and crew socks that will be perfect to wear to the gym. 


Short Athletic Sockssocks

When it comes to athletic socks, go big or go home. You can go as bright as you want since the gym doesn't exactly have a style-code. Neon and bright tropical colors have been pretty popular for sportswear this year.

Ankle socks will keep your feet cooler than longer options like crew socks.

Left: $16
Middle: $16
Right: $14.00$9.97


 Long Athletic Socks 

nike socks

But if you prefer longer socks, here are some bright options. Again, you can go as wild as you like when it comes to gym socks. 

Long socks have the added bonus of keeping your feet warmer. So if you don't handle the winter well, these are a great choice.

Left: $14
Middle: $24 
Right: $16

How about a drone?: The Sleek Panther Drone Is The Perfect Way To Start Flying [55% Off]

Looking for gadgets? Here Are 15 Hi-Tech Timepieces You'll Actually Want On Your Wrist

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8 Gorgeous 'Smart' Homes You Can Buy Right Now

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laguna beach smart home

From a super-high definition Samsung TV to an LG washing machine that can do two loads at once, we've seen some amazingly high-tech gadgets for the home at CES this week.

But there are already plenty of homes that have their own smart features, from energy-efficient solar panels to security systems you can control with an iPad.

Our friends at Estately helped us compile a list of smart homes you can buy right now. 

For $20.75 million, you can buy this stunning, energy-efficient mansion.

Address: 5005 Hidden Glen Lane, Yorba Linda, CA

Price: $20.75 million

The 19,346-square-foot house has nine bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, and more than 80 solar panels to power the home.



This $6.75 million Arizona home has a high-tech automation system.

Address: 1125 North Crestview Drive, Fountain Hills, AZ

Price: $6.75 million

Amenities include a top-notch security system, pre-wired surround sound, and a 10-car garage with its own temperature control.

 



This home's lighting and sound systems are controlled by iPads.

Address: 47 Shore Road, Old Greenwich, CT

Price: $4.75 million

Everything can be set up through a single iPad app called Savant.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






Study Reveals The Kinds Of Marriages That Make People The Happiest

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zuckerberg chan married

The key to a happy marriage may be having a spouse who's also your best friend, according to a new study on marital satisfaction released by the National Bureau of Economic Research. 

Married people tend to be healthier, more social, and happier overall, and researchers have long sought an answer as to why this is the case. Is it because marriage itself leads to increased well-being, or simply because happy people are more likely to get married?  

Controlling for pre-marital happiness, the study concluded that marriage does lead to increased well-being — and it does so much more for those who have a close friendship with their spouses. Friendship, the paper found, is a key mechanism which could help explain the causal relationship between marriage and life satisfaction.

The study found that those who consider their spouse or partner to be their best friend get about twice as much life satisfaction from marriage as others. 

Additionally, the study found that those with the most difficult lives — or middle-aged people, which is when most experience a dip in personal well-being — can benefit the most from getting married or living with a romantic partner. This is because partners can provide each other with a unique kind of social support and help each other overcome some of life's biggest challenges. 

Finding support in long-term relationships, then, may be the key to achieving lasting happiness. This is not necessarily true, however, for marriages in Latin America, the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa, where the study found that marriage actually leads to a decline in happiness. 

Despite the benefits of marriage found in the US, Americans are getting hitched less often than they once did.

As life expectancy rises and women become more financially independent, young people in the US are putting off marriage more than ever before. In 2005, 90% more single-person households existed than in 1970, according to the US Census Bureau.

To learn more about the study's methodology, check out the full report here. We first read about the study in The New York Times.

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Here's The Scoop On This Year's Hottest Book In Tech

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Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!

Business Insider's own Nicholas Carlson just published the first hot tech book of 2015, "Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo." We sat down with Carlson to get his thoughts on the book.

Business Insider: Describe your new book for us.

Nicholas Carlson: My book is a fast-paced, warts-and-all narrative about Marissa Mayer's efforts to remake Yahoo as well as her own rise from Stanford University undergrad to CEO of a $30 billion corporation by the age of 38.

When Yahoo hired star Google executive Mayer to be its CEO in 2012, employees rejoiced. They put posters on the walls throughout Yahoo's California headquarters. On them there was Mayer's face and one word: HOPE.

But one year later, Mayer sat in front of those same employees in a huge cafeteria on Yahoo's campus and took the beating of her life. Her hair wet and her tone defensive, Mayer read and answered a series of employee-posed questions challenging the basic elements of her plan. There was anger in the room and, behind it, a question: Was Mayer actually going to be able to do this thing?

My book is the inside story of how Yahoo got into such awful shape in the first place, Mayer's controversial rise at Google, and her desperate fight to save an Internet icon.

BI: Who wants to read this book?

NC:Anyone interested in a fast-paced business thriller about the downfall of an iconic company and a superhero CEO's attempts to save it.

BI: Where can we get a copy?

NC: Thanks to Amazon ending their recent battle with Hachette, you can find the hard cover, Kindle ebook, and audio book all on Amazon.







SEE ALSO:  New iPhone? Grab This Awesome Battery Case For The 6 Or 6+ [33% And 26% Off]

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Stunning Drone Video Tours NYC's Five Boroughs From the Sky

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NYC BY Drone

Most of us don't get to see all of New York City.

Living here we can get caught up in our day-to-day routines, only occasionally venturing to new territory. And many visitors don't see much beyond Manhattan and Brooklyn.

But we live in an age of drone cinematography (even if we're still waiting for FAA regulations for drones). We don't have limit our views to where our feet can take us. Instead, we can float through a city and see everything — and in New York, that means every borough.

And using a DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter and GoPro Hero+ Black Edition camera, filmmaker Victor Chu decided to take us on that New York journey.

We're not just talking shots of Washington Square and the Brooklyn Bridge either — we're talking the whole city. It turns out that a drone is a perfect way to see the place that'll host one of the first drone film festivals in the world in March.

We open with a F. Scott Fitzgerald quote: The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world.

This is travel inspiration at its best.

Appropriately, we journey into Manhattan via the Queensboro — or the tramway, with a shot of the abandoned Roosevelt Island Smallpox Hospital.

queensboro bridgeIn Brooklyn, we get to see some summer fun in Coney Island.

coney islandHere's the now notably less-graffitied Five Pointz in Queens.

5PointzWe fly by Yankee Stadium and the Mott Haven History Channel sign in the Bronx.

bronxAnd we don't skip out on Staten Island either — here's the ferry, Ford Wadsworth, and the Arthur Kill Ship Graveyard.

staten islandCheck out the full video below (full screen, crank up the quality to 1080p, because it's worth it).

SEE ALSO: The Most Jaw-Dropping Science Pictures Of 2014

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