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Here's the letter that the ex-Stanford swimmer wrote to the court before his sentencing

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Brock Turner sentencing photo

Last Thursday, a judge sentenced 20-year-old Brock Turner to six months in a county jail and three years' probation after he was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in January 2015. Turner will also have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Before his sentencing, Turner wrote to the court a defense letter, which was obtained by The Guardian. In it, Turner, who was previously a star athlete on Stanford University's swim team, describes how his life has changes since the events of January 17, 2015.

"I've lost two jobs solely based on the reporting of my case," he wrote. "I wish I never was good at swimming or had the opportunity to attend Stanford, so maybe the newspapers wouldn't want to write stories about me."

The letter offers a glimpse into Turner's reaction to his conviction. While he expresses some remorse about the assault, he blames Stanford's "party culture" for much of what occurred.

He wrote:

I wake up having dreamt of these horrific events that I have caused. I am completely consumed by my poor judgment and ill thought actions .... I've been shattered by the party culture and risk taking behavior that I briefly experienced in my four months at school. I've lost my chance to swim in the Olympics. I've lost my ability to obtain a Stanford degree. I've lost employment opportunity, my reputation and most of all, my life.

Those words likely ring hollow to the victim of Turner's attack, referred to as Emily Doe to protect her privacy.

"You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today," Emily wrote in her own letter to the court.

Her powerful letter explaining the aftermath of the attack has gone viral. She wrote:

You cannot give me back the life I had before that night either. While you worry about your shattered reputation, I refrigerated spoons every night so when I woke up, and my eyes were puffy from crying, I would hold the spoons to my eyes to lessen the swelling so that I could see.

Defendants often write letters to the court in the hopes of obtaining a lesser sentence, and Turner's words may have resonated with Judge Aaron Persky, who presided over the case.

"A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him. I think he will not be a danger to others," Persky told the court.

Some have decried Persky's sentence as a "slap on the wrist" and petitioned for his removal from the bench.

On the night of the assault, two graduate students saw the incident occurring behind a garbage bin outside of a fraternity house at Stanford University. When Turner tried to run, the graduate students pinned him down until the police arrived.

You can read Turner's full statement here:

The night of January 17th changed my life and the lives of everyone involved forever. I can never go back to being the person I was before that day. I am no longer a swimmer, a student, a resident of California, or the product of the work that I put in to accomplish the goals that I set out in the first nineteen years of my life. Not only have I altered my life, but I’ve also changed [redacted] and her family’s life. I am the sole proprietor of what happened on the night that these people’s lives were changed forever. I would give anything to change what happened that night. I can never forgive myself for imposing trauma and pain on [redacted].

It debilitates me to think that my actions have caused her emotional and physical stress that is completely unwarranted and unfair. The thought of this is in my head every second of every day since this event has occurred. These ideas never leave my mind. During the day, I shake uncontrollably from the amount I torment myself by thinking about what has happened. I wish I had the ability to go back in time and never pick up a drink that night, let alone interact with [redacted]. I can barely hold a conversation with someone without having my mind drift into thinking these thoughts. They torture me. I go to sleep every night having been crippled by these thoughts to the point of exhaustion. I wake up having dreamt of these horrific events that I have caused. I am completely consumed by my poor judgment and ill thought actions. There isn’t a second that has gone by where I haven’t regretted the course of events I took on January 17th/18th.

My shell and core of who I am as a person is forever broken from this. I am a changed person. At this point in my life, I never want to have a drop of alcohol again. I never want to attend a social gathering that involves alcohol or any situation where people make decisions based on the substances they have consumed. I never want to experience being in a position where it will have a negative impact on my life or someone else’s ever again. I’ve lost two jobs solely based on the reporting of my case. I wish I never was good at swimming or had the opportunity to attend Stanford, so maybe the newspapers wouldn’t want to write stories about me.

All I can do from these events moving forward is by proving to everyone who I really am as a person. I know that if I were to be placed on probation, I would be able to be a benefit to society for the rest of my life. I want to earn a college degree in any capacity that I am capable to do so. And in accomplishing this task, I can make the people around me and society better through the example I will set.

I’ve been a goal oriented person since my start as a swimmer. I want to take what I can from who I was before this situation happened and use it to the best of my abilities moving forward. I know I can show people who were like me the dangers of assuming what college life can be like without thinking about the consequences one would potentially have to make if one were to make the same decisions that I made. I want to show that people’s lives can be destroyed by drinking and making poor decisions while doing so. One needs to recognize the influence that peer pressure and the attitude of having to fit in can have on someone. One decision has the potential to change your entire life.

I know I can impact and change people’s attitudes towards the culture surrounded by binge drinking and sexual promiscuity that protrudes through what people think is at the core of being a college student. I want to demolish the assumption that drinking and partying are what make up a college lifestyle I made a mistake, I drank too much, and my decisions hurt someone. But I never ever meant to intentionally hurt [redacted]. My poor decision making and excessive drinking hurt someone that night and I wish I could just take it all back.

If I were to be placed on probation, I can positively say, without a single shred of doubt in my mind, that I would never have any problem with law enforcement. Before this happened, I never had any trouble with law enforcement and I plan on maintaining that. I’ve been shattered by the party culture and risk taking behavior that I briefly experienced in my four months at school. I’ve lost my chance to swim in the Olympics. I’ve lost my ability to obtain a Stanford degree. I’ve lost employment opportunity, my reputation and most of all, my life. These things force me to never want to put myself in a position where I have to sacrifice everything.

I would make it my life’s mission to show everyone that I can contribute and be a positive influence on society from these events that have transpired. I will never put myself through an event where it will give someone the ability to question whether I really can be a betterment to society. I want no one, male or female, to have to experience the destructive consequences of making decisions while under the influence of alcohol. I want to be a voice of reason in a time where people’s attitudes and preconceived notions about partying and drinking have already been established. I want to let young people now, as I did not, that things can go from fun to ruined in just one night.

SEE ALSO: Childhood friend of the ex-Stanford swimmer who sexually assaulted an unconscious woman blames political correctness

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Here's what it was like to be Mansa Musa, thought to be the richest person in history

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mansa musa

African King Musa Keita I is thought to be the richest person of all time — "richer than anyone could describe," reports Time.

Literally. His fortune was incomprehensible, Time's Jacob Davidson writes: "There's really no way to put an accurate number on his wealth."

He ruled the Mali Empire in the 14th century and his land was laden with lucrative natural resources, most notably gold.

"His vast wealth was only one piece of his rich legacy," reports Jessica Smith in a TED-Ed original lesson. Read on to learn more about the legendary king and see what it was really like to be the richest person in history:

SEE ALSO: How old 17 self-made billionaires were when they made their first million

Musa Keita I came into power in 1312. When he was crowned, he was given the name Mansa, meaning king. At the time, much of Europe was famished and in the middle of civil wars, but many African kingdoms were thriving.



While in power, Mansa Musa expanded the borders of his empire tremendously. He annexed the city of Timbuktu and reestablished power over Gao. All in all, his empire stretched about 2,000 miles.

Mansa Musa was in charge of a lot of land. To put it into perspective, he ruled all (or parts) of modern day Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad.



The rest of the world caught wind of his great fortune in 1324, when he made the nearly 4,000 mile pilgrimage to Mecca. He didn't do it on the cheap.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

13 ways you can cheat death by using your ashes to become something awesome

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4x3_13 coolest uses for your ashes when you dieDeath isn’t cool. It can happen anytime, anywhere to anyone. And it doesn’t wait around for you to cross those last few items off your bucket list before dragging you unceremoniously to that great, big junkyard in the sky.

But what if death wasn’t the end? What if there was a way to use your lifeless remains to orbit the Earth. Or become, say, a fireworks display. Or a paperweight.

Here are some of the craziest ways you can use death as an opportunity to become something awesome.

 

SEE ALSO: 7 unusual and fascinating funeral traditions around the world

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bullet

Death is no fun. But shooting stuff can be. If you sacrifice just one pound of your ashes, Holy Smoke will fill 250 bullets for your loved ones to do gosh knows what with. If the recipient is a sharp-enough shooter, maybe you’ll have a few furry friends to join you in the afterlife.



vinyl record

The only thing better than jamming out to that perfect tune is jamming out to that perfect tune on a record pressed with the ashes of a loved one. Vinyly will press your ashes into your favorite record so you can live forever in the song of your choosing. You can even record your own audio if you want. Or, if you’re feeling a little creepy, you can leave the record blank, so when the needle drops, nothing but pops and crackles of your cremated remains will fill the room.



space

Death (and $12,500) might just buy you a ticket into space. A program called Celestis will hitch your ashes to a space shuttle and launch them into the great beyond. If you want, you can take a short trip into space before returning back to Earth. Or, you can book a one-way ticket and spend the rest of your (infinite) days floating in deep space, orbiting the Earth, or even hanging out on the surface of the moon.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

How often you should wash your hair, according to science

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washing hair

You've probably wondered how often you need to wash your hair.

The question is a vexing one. And there are lots of different answers people swear by.

For example, Kim Kardashian says she only washes her hair twice per week.

Outside the shower, our scalps gradually get shinier, darker, and more oily.

So why does it happen, and how often should you wash to keep the grease at bay and your hair as healthy as possible?

The root of the issue

Your hair gets greasy for the same reason your face gets oily: glands in the skin produce an oily substance called sebum. Sebum is what moistens hair and keeps it from drying out.

The glands that produce sebum (called sebaceous glands) are located next to hair roots in the layer of skin called the dermis. Channels from the sebaceous glands lead to the hair follicle — that's how sebum gets out of the skin and onto your scalp. Take a look:

Hair_follicle

The key thing about sebum is this: Each of us produces a different amount.

Everything from genetics and hormones affects how much sebum we produce at a given time, Kaiser Permanente dermatologist Paradi Mirmirani told us in an email. The hormones responsible for extra sebum production spike during puberty, which is what causes so many of us to have extra greasy hair and acne during those lovely years.

How much washing is right for you?

While the answer is different for everyone, there is one truth Mirmani says you can abide by:

No one should need to wash his or her hair every day.

Washing too often, in fact, can do more harm than good, dermatologist and director of Boston Medical Center's hair clinic Lynne Goldberg told us.

"It's paradoxical, but people who wash their hair a lot to get rid of oil are drying out their scalp and producing more oil," Goldberg said.

Here are the things to keep in mind when trying to determine the right amount of washing for you. Here are the three main important factors:

1. Skin type

If your skin and hair are anywhere from normal (not super oily and not super dry) to dry, you probably only need to wash it once or twice a week, according to a Columbia University health column. If you have a greasy scalp, you probably need to wash your hair more often.

2. Hair texture

Texture matters because it affects how quickly sebum works its way from your roots through the length of your hair. Coarse or curly hair slows down sebum's spread, so if you have hair like this you may only need to shampoo once a week, say the experts at Columbia. On the other hand, people with fine, straight hair will likely need to shampoo twice a week or more.

Personally, I go about two days without washing my curly hair. In between shampoos, I rinse my hair, massage my scalp, and apply conditioner to the ends of my hair.

3. Styling

Another thing to consider is the paces you put your hair through styling and treating it. If your hair is processed or damaged by styling, you should wash it less frequently, says Mirmirani.

The best answer is probably once every three days or so

This may seem tough to do at first if you're used to an everyday scrub, but after about two weeks on the new schedule, you'll find yourself with hair that looks healthy and isn't too greasy, and subsequently with a lot more free time.

For women, showering and styling your hair can take about an hour.

So you're looking at adding four extra hours back into your life (seven hair washes and styles per week down to three).

SEE ALSO: Here's the best time of day to work out to lose weight

RELATED: The 27 most physically active jobs in America

Join the conversation about this story »

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A Microsoft billionaire-owned company just bought this Hollywood hotel for $41 million — take a look inside

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Google cofounder Larry Page built a man cave in his secret startup's office (GOOG)

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Larry Page

It must be nice to be a billionaire. 

Alphabet CEO Larry Page, for example, has discreetly poured part of his wealth into two secret startups, Zee.Aero and Kitty Hawk, which are dedicated to building flying cars, reports Bloomberg.

But making a classic science-fiction dream reality isn't even the coolest part. Apparently, Page turned the entire second floor of Zee.Aero's headquarters into a "man cave worthy of a billionaire" — complete with a bedroom, climbing wall, and an actual rocket engine, courtesy of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

From Bloomberg

Page initially restricted the Zee.Aero crew to the first floor, retaining the second floor for a man cave worthy of a multibillionaire: bedroom, bathroom, expensive paintings, a treadmill-like climbing wall, and one of SpaceX’s first rocket engines — a gift from his pal Musk. As part of the secrecy, Zee.Aero employees didn’t refer to Page by name; he was known as GUS, the guy upstairs.

Zee.Aero employees got a few nice perks too, such as catered lunches, including at one point, $900 of catered barbecue. 

But Page didn't keep his secret office crash pad for long. Apparently, Zee.Aero expanded so quickly that eventually it needed the second floor for more engineers — it now employs 150 people — so Page had to move out his expensive paintings, workout gear, and collectibles. 

But it's not like he can't afford to build a new man cave. Anyone who can spend at least $100 million on the idea of a flying car, which may not ever come to fruition, has more than a little money to burn. 

SEE ALSO: The spectacular life of Google founder and Alphabet CEO Larry Page

Join the conversation about this story »

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I took a train trip across Portugal alone — and now I'm convinced it's the perfect place to travel solo

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porto

Portugal may be Europe's best-kept secret. It's more affordable than many of its neighbors, generally safe, and filled with friendly people. It's also easy to get to from the US, easy to get around, and completely charming. 

I had so much fun on a solo long weekend in Lisbon a few years ago that I recently went back. This time, I took a solo cross-country train trip from Lagos, on Portugal's southern coast, through Lisbon and north to Porto.

I went back because I was looking for a place where I'd be comfortable traveling alone, where my family wouldn't be too worried about me, and where my dollars would stretch the furthest. 

What I learned is that Portugal really is the best place on earth for solo travelers, especially those who have outgrown shared hostel rooms. But it's not just because of the affordable price tag — here's how Portugal won me over. 

SEE ALSO: 19 stunning photos that show how different weddings are around the world

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You'll feel like you're floating through postcards as you sail among rock formations off the coast of Lagos. It's an adventure that'll only set you back around €10, leaving you plenty of cash left over for drinks with the new friends you'll likely make on the boat.

 



On the outskirts of Lisbon, you can see a twin of a San Francisco icon ...



... and a copy of a Rio icon, both in the same day.

 



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I took a long walk through Hong Kong that I'll never forget

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Hiking Victoria Peak 72

On a recent visit to Hong Kong, I went to brunch with friends at a restaurant called The Square.

The Square serves dim sum, a type of breakfast food oriented around pastries with meats in them and sweet rice confections.

Then I walked back to my hotel, the Courtyard Marriott in the Western district. It was a long, meandering walk.

During my walk, I saw a bright green Lamborghini, stood on an escalator that took me across the city, and walked past a flattened pig face hanging from a storefront. There were also million-dollar antiques and some squid.

I'll never forget any of it.

My day started with brunch in this city, Hong Kong.



See the twin towers next to the really tall tower? My restaurant was in one of those.



Then I walked back to my hotel, the Courtyard Marriott.



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13 rare color photos that show a side of the Vietnam War you don't usually see

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Vietnam War, Dennis Thornton

Forty-one years have passed since the end of the Vietnam War, and more photos of the conflict are emerging every year. Many of the best-known photos of the war were taken not by those who served, but by the photojournalists who were sent there by certain publications.

But after a close friend lost her father, a veteran who had served in the Vietnam War, photo editor Kendra Rennick found herself interested in the stories of the men who served there. She and her friend soon discovered old slides — film that was intended for projection onto a screen using a slide projector — that were taken by her father during the war. This sparked an idea in Rennick's mind, and soon the Vietnam Slide Project was born.

"It amazes me that these images, for the most part, remain untouched in basements or attics collecting dust," Rennick told Business Insider. "Many of these images are quite visually striking. These images speak to both my generation and older generations who lived through this time in history."

Below, see compelling color photos from the Vietnam War, taken by the veterans who served.

SEE ALSO: 13 eerie photos inside abandoned mental hospitals all over the US

The Vietnam Slide Project is an ongoing archive-based photography project with the aim of sharing personal photos taken by servicemen during the Vietnam War.



Getting access to these slides was easier than Rennick expected. After speaking with her family and friends, she discovered that a number of people she knew had family members who served.



Rennick also contacted the Vietnam Veterans of America with her idea and concept, and they mentioned the project on their "Arts of War" website.

Source: Arts of War



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There's one type of food that's almost impossible to overcook — here's why

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mushroom spaghetti

When you're cooking, it's often a tricky balance between making sure your meat doesn't get too tough and your veggies don't get too soft as you run around the kitchen in those last minutes of food preparation.

But there's one type of food that appears to be resilient to becoming overcooked: the mushroom.

To test it out, Dan Souza, the executive editor of "Cook's Science" at America's Test Kitchen, pitted a piece of portobello mushroom against pieces of zucchini and beef tenderloin.

He steamed all three of them over 40 minutes. Every five minutes, Souza pulled out the three foods and ran it through a texture analyze, which measures how much force it would take bite into that particular food. 

At five minutes, all three seemed to be roughly at the same point of tenderness. 

America's test kitchen mushroom test

But by the end of the 40 minutes, the results looked drastically different.

America's test kitchen mushrooms

The meat had become very tough, while the zucchini became mushy. In comparison, the mushroom got a little tough, but not by much.

Here's why

It all has to do with the mushroom's cell walls. They have a polymer (a large molecular structure) called chitin.

"Unlike the protein in meat and the pectin in vegetables, chitin is very heat stable," Souza explained in a video on the tenderness test

When you cook vegetables like zucchini, the heat breaks down the pectin in the plant's cell walls. Expose it to heat too long, and you could end up with a structure-less glob. When meat gets exposed to heat, its proteins start to tense up, making it tougher and chewy. But when the chitin in mushrooms interact with heat, it doesn't make very much of a difference.

So don't be afraid to keep your mushrooms on a little longer as you frantically run around the kitchen — they can handle it.  

Watch the full experiment:

SEE ALSO: A popular way to cook broccoli removes potentially cancer-fighting compounds from it — here's what you should do instead

DON'T MISS: There's a scientific reason why it's so hard to cook the perfect cup of rice

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what fruits and vegetables looked like before we domesticated them

The 25 best waterfront cities to visit in your lifetime

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perth australiaMany of the world's most interesting cities are located right on the water.

Chicago Line Cruises recently compiled a list of the top 25 waterfront cities in the world, using Mercer's Quality of Living survey and Euromonitor's measures of international tourist arrivals. They also used Numbeo's "Basket of Goods and Services" tool, which allows you to compare total prices across cities. The total number they compared represents what it would cost to buy a new pair of jeans, a bottle of water, a movie ticket, and a one-kilometer taxi ride in each city. 

Finally, they included a "wild card" factor for cities that offer a truly one-of-a-kind experience for travelers.

From Barcelona to Oslo, here are 25 of the best coastal cities around the globe. 

SEE ALSO: 28 incredible roads to drive in your lifetime

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25. After you've walked through the narrow streets of the Old Town in Edinburgh, Scotland, check out its many shops, top-notch restaurants, and bars. The city is also home to the Fringe Festival, which is the world's biggest international performing arts festival. Last year, the festival spanned 25 days and featured more than 50,000 performances.

Mercer Quality of Living Ranking: 46

Numbeo Basket of Goods: $88.49

Euromonitor Ranking: N/A



24. New Orleans, located on the Mississippi River in Louisiana, is famous for its around-the-clock nightlife and its bustling live-music scene. Besides its Mardi Gras celebrations, which include week-long parties and parades, the city is also known for its delectable Cajun and Creole cuisine.

Mercer Quality of Living Ranking: N/A

Numbeo Basket of Goods: $89.30

Euromonitor Ranking: 49 



23. The Italian city of Venice is built on more than 100 small islands on a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. Locals and tourists alike can enjoy its waterfront dining establishments, luxury shopping options, variety of Renaissance artworks, and the famous Carnival festival.

Mercer Quality of Living Ranking: N/A

Numbeo Basket of Goods: $81.89

Euromonitor Ranking: 30



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These 20-somethings have built a wildly successful business based on nostalgia for the early 2000s — and New Yorkers can't get enough

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Emo Night Brooklyn 2395

Ethan Maccoby and Alex Badanes don't actually share any family ties, but you could easily describe them as brothers. The two grew up together as neighbors outside of London and have been best friends ever since.

Their strongest tie is — and always was — music. Their Friday night hangouts started in their parents' basements during their teen years, and routinely included listening to "emo" music from popular bands like Yellowcard, Taking Back Sunday, and Brand New.

"Growing up, our favorite thing to do on a Friday night was blast emo and rock out together," Badanes told Business Insider.

Their hangout ritual hasn't changed much, except that they're now selling out 1,000-plus-occupancy venues to blast the exact same early-2000s songs for fellow fans who also feel nostalgic for their youth. 

The two's enterprise, called "Emo Night Brooklyn," has since graced seven different venues, with ticket sales growing in volume with each event. Ahead, take a look inside a recent rowdy event (held at Irving Plaza in Manhattan) and learn the story behind their growing business.

SEE ALSO: 12 incredibly mesmerizing photos of Tokyo taken by an award-winning video game designer

"Emo Night Brooklyn" officially started at a small, 100-person venue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in January of 2015. "The first event, [we were at a] 100-cap venue and it was free — but people were still being declined at the door, and we thought, 'Hmm, maybe this is a thing,'" Badanes said.



"It all started with us blasting our favorite tunes, drinking beers, and everyone in the crowd screaming their lungs out. We got such a positive response out of that first and second event that Brooklyn Bowl, an 800 capacity venue, reached out," Maccoby said. Since starting, event tickets have ranged from $5 to $10.



Starting Facebook events helped them get the word out, and the events at Brooklyn Bowl were a huge success. "Each time we did an event at BK Bowl, it became more epic, so we started getting guests DJs in the door," Maccoby said.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

No guy should wear this type of swimsuit to the beach — here's what you should wear instead

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swimsuits

Every summer, there's a scourge that plagues both beaches and swimming pools alike: the men's summer board short.

Designed to be worn during intense surf sessions (and other board-oriented sports), the short eventually somehow creeped into everyday swimwear and has risen to default status.

This is a problem, as board shorts are generally useless as swimwear and are almost universally unflattering on most men.

Though men assume they function much the same as a traditional swim trunk, they don't — for three very important reasons:

  1. There's no mesh inside. This necessitates wearing underwear, which defeats the purpose of wearing a swimsuit in the first place and complicates the matter.
  2. A notoriously baggy fit. Most of the traditional surf brands put out board shorts with a terribly baggy fit, accented by way too much length, even going past the knees. It's the beach — it's ok to show a little skin.
  3. No elastic waistband. The waistband of board shorts is a traditional drawstring enclosure without the elastic that allows for a snug fit, which can end up revealing a little too much after a dive into the deep end or under a rogue wave.

They also generally come in tacky patterns and colors, and are universally looked at as slovenly and un-stylish.

Luckily, there is a better way, and the answer lies in going back to a traditional swim trunk.

A traditional swim trunk hits above the knee — or, even better, mid-thigh (you can do it) — and often has an elastic waistband with a drawstring and no fly. Its biggest pro, though, is its mesh lining, which allows you to forego underwear where it really shouldn't be anyway.

The differences between board shorts and regular swim trunks has muddied in recent years, making it even harder to say what exactly you should buy. There are now shorter board shorts in fun patterns with mesh lining, and swim trunks without elastic waistbands. To make it easier, we'll list here three things you need for a great swim trunk: an elastic waistband, a short inseam, and handsome pattern or color.

swim suit lineup

Some of our favorites are made by J.Crew ($70, left),Uniqlo ($30, left center), and Bonobos ($88, right center). If you want to splurge, Solid & Striped (right)makes a great suit for $130 that many men swear by.

SEE ALSO: These are the only shoes guys need for summer

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Join the conversation about this story »

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The 10 most exciting new restaurants in the US

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Shaya2

Innovation is worth celebrating. 

Food & Wine recently released its list of the best new restaurants in the US. The restaurants that were selected are all doing some incredibly original and ambitious things with food. 

Despite having only been opened within the last year, these 10 restaurants have already made their mark on the food world. Keep scrolling to see them.

SEE ALSO: 25 of the most confusing food terms, defined

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Brewer's Table at Surly Brewing — Minneapolis, MN

520 Malcolm Avenue SE

Located directly above the Surly Brewery, Brewer's Table pairs a rotating menu with their house-brewed beer. For $70 per table guest, diners can enjoy four courses, complete with beer to accompany each course.



Cala — San Francisco, CA

149 Fell Street

At Cala you can find tacos and tostadas made with fresh seafood and local ingredients. This Bay Area hot spot transforms traditional food-truck fare into elegant and authentic Mexican cuisine. On the weekdays, stop by the Cala counter to grab a $3.50 Mexico City-style taco for a quick, flavorful bite. 



Death & Taxes — Raleigh, NC

105 West Hargett Street

Named after the building's previous occupants — a mortuary and a bank — this restaurant is chef Ashley Christensen's latest endeavor in the culinary world. Inside, you will find a 1,900-pound wood-burning stove used to make the restaurant's signature dishes, including grilled pork chops and clams.



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Airbnb's new floating apartment has unreal views of the world's largest coral reef

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Airbnb Great Barrier Reef

Snorkelling and scuba diving enthusiasts everywhere dream of diving into Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, but few have the opportunity to sleep on the natural world wonder — until now.

Airbnb is giving guests the chance to win a free night’s stay in a floating apartment on top of the Great Barrier Reef, located off the coast of Queensland, on July 13-14.

The lucky winner and their three guests will have an unprecedented view of the world’s largest coral reef from the water-based abode, which has two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a sitting area with a sofa, according to the Airbnb listing page.

The experience includes an underwater swim with the host, a tour of the Reef's beautiful private coral gardens, and lunch on the beach made by the celebrity chef Neil Perry.

Airbnb is holding the competition in tandem with the upcoming release of Disney Pixar’s “Finding Dory,” the sequel to “Finding Nemo” which is set on the Reef.

To win, Airbnb users can submit their reason for why they and their guests deserve to stay on the Reef on the listing page by June 30 at 11.59 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time. Airbnb will cover travel costs to and from the apartment for international winners, according to a spokesperson from the company.

Check out photos of the unique apartment below.

When you're staying in a floating apartment, you definitely don't need windows. The main bedroom and sitting area offer an unprecedented view of the surrounding Reef.

 

 



The bathroom is conveniently located to the side of the bedroom, though it's not clear where the toilet is located.



The kids' room, which follows the "Finding Nemo" and "Finding Dory" theme, offers another spectacular view, while the bunk bed adds another vantage point to enjoy the scenery from.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Miss USA: What the Army taught me about combat

17 science-backed ways men can appear more attractive to women

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george clooney

It's almost Valentine's Day, and for many, the pressure is on to find that special someone.

Whether you're simply looking for a date or hoping to find something that lasts, you could benefit from the decades of psychological research on the qualities that women find most attractive in a male partner.

We've rounded up some of the most compelling scientific insights, so you can step up your game.

SEE ALSO: 13 science-backed ways to appear more attractive

DON'T MISS: 9 things you're doing that make people dislike you immediately

Look for the universal signals of flirtation.

Rutgers University anthropologist and best-selling author Helen E. Fisher says that from the depth of the Amazons to the cafés of Paris, women signal interest with a remarkably similar sequence of expressions.

As she shared at Psychology Today, it goes like this:

First the woman smiles at her admirer and lifts her eyebrows in a swift, jerky motion as she opens her eyes wide to gaze at him. Then she drops her eyelids, tilts her head down and to the side, and looks away. Frequently she also covers her face with her hands, giggling nervously as she retreats behind her palms.

This sequential flirting gesture is so distinctive that [German ethologist Irenaus] Eibl-Eibesfeldt was convinced it is innate, a human female courtship ploy that evolved eons ago to signal sexual interest.



Look for someone "in your league."

Men — and women — are attracted to people who are as attractive as they are.

In one study, for example, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley looked at the behavior of 60 male and 60 female users on an online dating site. While the majority of users were inclined to reach out to highly attractive people, they were most likely to get a response if that person was about as attractive as they were (as judged by independent raters).

"If you go for someone roughly [equal] to you in attractiveness, it avoids two things," Nottingham Trent University psychologist Mark Sergeant, who was not involved with the study, tells The Independent. "If they are much better-looking than you, you are worried about them going off and having affairs. If they are much less attractive, you are worried that you could do better."



Present yourself as high status.

In 1969, University of North Carolina sociologist Glen Elder found that looks and wealth tend to find one another — namely, good-looking women tended to settle down with less attractive but wealthier men

Since then, it's become a well-confirmed finding in the social sciences.

Most recently, a 2010 study found that men pictured with a Silver Bentley Continental GT were perceived as way more attractive than those pictures with a Red Ford Fiesta ST, and a 2014 study found that men pictured in a luxury apartment were rated more attractive than those in a control group. 

Why the attraction to resources? Evolutionary psychologists speculate it's because women want a mate who can provide for them.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki: 'If you are working 24/7, you’re not going to have any interesting ideas' (GOOG, GOOGL)

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Susan Wojcicki

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki enforces a strict separation of work and personal life: She and her husband, also a Google executive, make it home for dinner with their five children almost every single night.

"We try to have the rule to not check email between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., because if you are on your phone then it’s hard to disconnect," Wojcicki tells the Wall Street Journal's Jack Nicas in an interview from earlier this week.

For Wojcicki, it's not just a good way to spend time with her family — unplugging is a strategy that actually makes her more productive, not less. It encourages her to prioritize what needs to get done in any given day before she goes home, while simultaneously refreshing her mind so she can come at problems from a new angle. 

"[Success] is not based on the number of hours that you’ve worked," Wojcicki says. "If you are working 24/7, you’re not going to have any interesting ideas."

It's similar to sentiments expressed earlier this year by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who says that he tries to be present when he's with his family and not obsess over his smartphone. He calls the need to always be connected "information anxiety."

"I see people over a dinner table all on their cellphone — that's when I say, wow, that's tragic," Nadella told Business Insider. 

Wojcicki has become well-known for her ability to juggle work with her personal life. In July 2015, when asked about her ability to balance being an entrepreneur with having 5 kids, she answered "I guess I like to create things."

SEE ALSO: Microsoft CEO: The secret to a harmonious life is to stop obsessing over your smartphone

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