Quantcast
Channel: Business Insider
Viewing all 115285 articles
Browse latest View live

21 of the most interesting and practical things you can buy on Amazon for under $25 right now

0
0

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

Interesting Amazon Finds Under $25

Whether it's finding a gift for a friend who already has everything or trying to fix  apartment issues, I always seem to turn to Amazon as my go-to shopping destination.

The site is stocked with goods that fall into my price range and the more I take advantage of my Prime membership, the more annoyed I get with browsing the city on foot or paying for fast shipping on other sites. What I'm basically trying to get across is that Amazon offers me tons of choice and a convenient shopping experience. It's no wonder I — and millions of other people — keep coming back.

I recently browsed the site and discovered 21 of the coolest and most affordable things to add to your cart — from a fast wireless charger we named one of the best you can buy in our buying guide, to a breakfast sandwich maker Insider Picks reporter Mara Leighton recently tried for herself and determined is not a gimmick, but actually a huge time saver in the morning. You can currently grab all of these products for less than $25.

Be sure to scroll through more of our all-time favorite cheap Amazon purchases we've made and use all the time. You may also want to check out these 14 cool startups you probably didn't realize were sold on Amazon.

SEE ALSO: 18 under-$50 fixes for everyday household problems

DON'T MISS: 21 products we were hesitant about at first but ended up really liking

An eco-friendly yoga mat

Toplus Eco-friendly Yoga Mat, $27 - $36

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

You can get a yoga mat just about anywhere but not often do you find a high quality one for under $30. The Toplus mat is made from a non-slip, eco-friendly material so you can avoid embarrassing falls during class. 



A fast wireless charger

RavPower Fast Wireless Charger, $22.99

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

This wireless charger delivers fast charging speeds and is compatible with iOS and Android devices. We like it so much it made it into our buying guide of the best wireless chargers



A great conversation starter

TableTopics Game, $25

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

You'll (hopefully) never have to worry about awkward small talk again with this game that's designed to keep the conversation going with thought-provoking questions that aren't about the weather. TableTopics comes in 20 different editions. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

I wasn't sure Everlane was worth the hype until I tried these sweaters

0
0

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

everlane lede

  • I kept hearing great things about Everlane from my coworkers, but I'd never tried any of its clothing.
  • I got the chance to try out Everlane's ReNew Fleece Crewneck ($65) and Heavyweight Cashmere Hoodie ($160) through work, and now I understand why its clothing is so loved.
  • I was so impressed with the styles and fit of the pieces that I immediately bought more for myself.

I have a lot of clothes. Between the many pieces I've bought for myself and the ones I've tested through work, I've amassed what some would say is an unhealthy amount of clothing. Ranging from vintage treasures found on eBay to the latest from up-and-coming startups, I've cast my net pretty far and wide.

A few months ago, during one of our regular conversations at work about brands we love, Everlane came up. My coworkers were raving about how much they love Everlane's minimalist basics, but I just couldn't relate. When I revealed that I didn't own anything from the company, they let out a collective gasp. For how often the members of our team shop at and review new styles from Everlane, they couldn't believe I'd never worn any of its clothes.

I was given the opportunity to test a few of Everlane's new launches so I could give a first-timer's perspective to readers who are also new to the brand. I'm a huge sucker for cozy tops like fleeces and sweaters, so I went with the ReNew Fleece Crewneck ($65) and the Heavyweight Cashmere Hoodie ($160). Long story short, Everlane is completely worth the hype.

renew crewneck

The new ReNew Collection features apparel and outerwear made out of recycled plastic. Each garment consists of anywhere from 16 to 60 recycled water bottles. The ReNew Fleece Crewneck, in particular, uses 35 plastic water bottles. Being that plastic is one of the most wasteful and wasted materials on earth, it's great to see Everlane doing its part to reduce its carbon footprint with quality clothing. For socially conscious consumers, it's a product they can buy without any lingering guilt. But that only matters if the sweater itself is actually comfortable.

I ended up wearing the ReNew Fleece Crewneck first and was instantly sold. The fleece is super soft, comfortable, and warm. Had it not been marketed as a recycled product, you'd have no idea it was made out of the same material that heavily litters streets and waterways and ends up in landfills.

I liked the crewneck Everlane sent over so much that after just one wear, I bought the $70 ReNew Fleece Half Zip for myself. As it pertains to clothes, it usually takes a product being very limited in stock, collectible, or on sale to get me to buy it, but neither was the case for Everlane. I paid the full price for the ReNew Fleece Half Zip because it's already a solid value (the company is direct-to-consumer so it gets to avoid retail markups) and I knew it could be worked into my wardrobe easily and consistently. In fact, I actually wore it before moving on the Heavyweight Cashmere Hoodie I originally received.

Read more: Three Insider Picks reporters fully review the Everlane ReNew Collection

Everlane

My coworker Malarie's review on Everlane's cashmere turtleneck is what motivated me to choose something cashmere for the second piece I'd try. In her review, she describes herself as "notoriously frugal" and as someone who "rarely spends $100 on anything." Yet and still, Everlane's $155 cashmere turtleneck proved to be a well-worth buy for her. 

Personally, I've spent quite a bit more than that on a handful of different fleeces and sweaters in my closet, so with a recommendation coming from someone who hadn't, I knew it had to be excellent quality — and my suspicions were confirmed as soon as I touched my hoodie. 

Made out of Grade-A fine cashmere sourced from Mongolia, the material is designed to resist piling and get softer with multiple wears. It's also 86% thicker than Everlane's $100 cashmere pieces. I'm not a cashmere connoisseur, but it is amazingly soft on the skin and definitely one of the better-made cashmere pieces I've owned. 

I'm also a big fan of the hooded design because it's unique. Typically, when you think of cashmere, more traditional silhouettes like a crewneck or turtleneck come to mind. This piece packs the elegance of cashmere with the casual comfort of a hoodie — and in my book, that's a major win. 

Everlane

I've tried plenty of great brands at work, but very few have left an impression so positive that I was compelled to buy more products less than a day after receiving free samples — and truth be told, I'm already eyeing a few more pieces to buy.

If you've been hesitant about wearing Everlane, hopefully your concerns have been quelled. 

Shop men's clothing at Everlane here.

Shop women's clothing at Everlane here.

Join the conversation about this story »

The world's 18 best restaurants, dishes, and chefs to know about in 2019

0
0

LE CLARENCE   Salle à manger Pontac

  • The winners of the inaugural World Restaurant Awards have been revealed.
  • A winner was chosen by a gender-balanced, 100-strong panel of culinary experts from around the globe across 18 categories, as well as an overall "Restaurant of the Year" champion.
  • See all the winners below. 

The winners of the inaugural World Restaurant Awards have been announced.

On Monday, top chefs from across the globe — including Alex Atala, Alain Ducasse, Dan Barber, Hélène Darroze, Ana Roš, and Clare Smyth — descended on Paris' Palais Brongniart for the glamorous awards ceremony.

Winners across 18 categories, covering restaurants, chefs, dishes, and events were announced over the course of the night, from "Best Off-Map Destination" to "Best Atmosphere."

The awards were divided into "Big Plates" for the more formal categories, and the more tongue-in-cheek "Small Plates," recognising more lighthearted categories such as "Tattoo-Free Chef of the Year" and "Instagram Account of the Year." 

The decisions were made by a gender-balanced panel of 100 judges including Yannick Alléno, Elena Arzak, Alex Atala, Massimo Bottura, David Chang, Dominique Crenn, Hélène Darroze, Daniel Humm, René Redzepi, Ana Roš, and Clare Smyth, as well as the world's top restaurant critics.

The overall winner, Restaurant of the Year, Wolfgat in Paternoster, South Africa, was also the winner of the "Off-Map Destination" category.

Read more: The 28 best, most remote, under-the-radar restaurants around the world

Scroll down to see the winners, alongside the category they came out on top in.

Wolfgat, Paternoster, South Africa — Big Plates: Restaurant of the Year (Overall Winner) and Off-Map Destination

A coastal spot, Wolfgat is a 20-seat fine-dining restaurant tucked away in a 130-year-old ocean-side cottage on the historic Wolfgat cave, which has huge archaeological and geological significance. The menu specialises in local seafood and indigenous plants foraged from the Western Cape such as dune spinach and soutslaai.



Le Clarence, Paris, France — Big Plates: Original Thinking

The classic French restaurant won the award for having the best Original Thinking. 



Mocotó, São Paolo, Brazil — Big Plates: No Reservations Required

Mocotó is a family-run restaurant serving sertaneja cuisine, from traditional dishes such as baião de dois (a mix of rice and beans) to more innovative creations like dadinhos de tapioca (consecrated tapioca cheese cubes).



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The couple behind the controversial ‘sex button’ on Kickstarter speaks up after getting roasted online: ‘We’re not trying to end the world’

0
0

LoveSync founders

  • LoveSync is a button that lets your silently indicate to your partner you're in the mood for sex.
  • After launching a Kickstarter fundraising campaign, LoveSync drew serious flak for its perceived intentions to replace audible consent and communication in sex and relationships.
  • But LoveSync's founders, Ryan and Jenn Cmich, say critics are ignoring the bigger picture and instead portraying the issue in terms of "black or white."
  • In an interview with Business Insider, the Cmiches explained LoveSync's cost, the gadget's role in their own marriage, and the next steps in marketing their product.

Earlier this month, a Kickstarter launched for LoveSync, a product made for couples you use to indicate to your partner you're in the mood for sex — not with verbal communication, but with the push of a button.

Reactions to the device, which the Kickstarter said was supposed to "take the luck out of getting lucky," were critical, to say the least. Twitter burst forth with opinions, as users referred to LoveSync as a "central horniness server," roasted the device for trying to replace audible consent for sex, and called out its similarities to a raunchy meme.

But Ryan and Jenn Cmich, the married couple behind LoveSync, tell Business Insider that skeptics and the media are guilty of "black-or-white" thinking that is painting their product in a poor light.

"We're not trying to stop people from talking. We're not trying to end the world," Ryan Cmich told Business Insider. "We're just trying to introduce a fun little dynamic to relationships."

As explained in LoveSync's marketing material, the Cmiches created the product to take the risk of getting rejected when you want to initiate sex. If you're in the mood to have sex, you press the button. If both partners tap their buttons within the same 15-minute "consensus window," both buttons will glow green to indicate both parties are in the mood.

lovesync button kickstarter

The idea for LoveSync stems from the Cmiches' own experiences from their 15-year marriage. Both of them work — Ryan Cmich, 40, is an engineer at a robotic lawnmower company, and Jenn Cmich, 39, is a manager at a marriage and relationship counseling practice.

With schedules that are both "so busy and full of stuff," the couple said they were having trouble passing the barrier from wanting to have sex to actually having sex. The Cmiches dispite the narrative that's emerged online that says LoveSync is trying to be a replacement for consent between partners. Instead, they see it as a "tool" for couples to improve their communication. 

"It added anticipation back into our relationship, because we were wondering if the button was going to glow," Jenn Cmich said. "It has really quickly become a gadget I wouldn’t ever want to give up." 

The Cmiches imagine that LoveSync will become a "permanent fixture on your nightstand," which plays into the couple's reasoning for the product's price point. A set of LoveSync buttons costs $57, a price that was ridiculed on social media.

But the Cmiches believe that this price tag is "worth it" once you realize the benefits. Ryan Cmich says he thinks people would spend more than $57 "just to have sex once or twice more."

"It's less than a bouquet of roses, or a nice dinner out, or a couple bottles of wine," Jenn Cmich said.

Read more:Someone created a $57 button that silently lets your partner know you want sex, and the internet is stunned

The Cmiches say they never imagined this amount of media attention when they first started their fundraising campaign for LoveSync earlier in February. The coverage hasn't been exactly what they expected, Jenn Cmich says, but the couple has maintained the view that "any press is good press."

So far, the media coverage appears to have worked in their favor. Since the Kickstarter fundraiser launched on February 11, LoveSync has raised more than $15,000 — surpassing its original fundraising goal of $7,500.

Now that the fundraising goal has been met, Ryan Cmich says the couple is "laser-focused" on getting LoveSync buttons out to their backers and "delivering what's promised." The Kickstarter campaign lists a delivery date of August 2019, but Cmich is hopeful they can get LoveSync out to backers earlier than that.

In the meantime, the Cmiches are continuing their effort to dispel the negative reactions and comments about LoveSync.

"We dont think we're really abnormal people," Ryan Cmich said. "We have normal friends with normal relationships like everything else."

SEE ALSO: Someone created a $57 button that silently lets your partner know you want sex, and the internet is stunned

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Netflix copycats are changing the streaming game and making viewers pay the price

Take a look inside a $28.5 million NYC apartment on Billionaires' Row

0
0

The following is a transcript of the video

Narrator: A couple months ago, I was scrolling through YouTube and saw this video of an apartment on Billionaires' Row in New York City. It's on the 41 st floor of this ultra-luxurious tower called One57. Sitting right off West 57 th Street with views of Central Park, it's listed at a whopping $28.5 million.

It's hard to comprehend why it's so expensive and if there's even a market for it. So I reached out to the realtor, Ryan Serhant, hoping he could help me unpack the world of Billionaires' Row. You may recognize Ryan from Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing." And he invited me uptown to check out On e57 for myself. Ready, we're going there.

One57 towers almost a thousand feet above West 57 th Street. But before the building opened in 2014, this wasn't really a residential street. It was known for Carnegie Hall, tourists, and delis. But One57 put West 57th Street on the map, breaking records for listing prices and coining the street Billionaires' Row. The first 27 floors of One57 are reserved for the five-star Park Hyatt hotel, but the next 48 are residential.

Walking in, I was actually pretty surprised by how homey it felt. Yeah, the lobby was classy, but there was this familiar and casual buzz of people just living their normal lives, and that was really nice. We took the elevator to the 41 st floor and met Ryan at apartment 41D. Ryan

Serhant: Hello. Welcome to One57.

Narrator: Right away, it's gorgeous. 12-foot ceilings, exquisite decor, and that new building smell. But it's those views that obviously add to the price tag.

Serhant: This unit that we're in right now, 41D, is a duplex. It's got five bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms, and it has an outdoor covered garden.

Narrator: Apparently, that outdoor garden, or the solarium, is a rare architectural feature.

Serhant: The building kinda curves as it goes up. It keeps stepping back, you create these rooms. So you can sit here, you can get a tan, for the 41st floor on Billionaires' Row. It's totally crazy.

Narrator: Just off the solarium, there's a private terrace, and it's one of just two apartments in the building with an outdoor space. After the views and solarium, the duplex layout of the apartment keeps the price tag ticking up. The second floor has four bedrooms, including the master suite, with arguably better views than the floor below. The en suite master bathroom is made completely of marble, imported from Italy, of course. You've got a walk-in shower, free-standing tub, and two toilets, you know, just in case. Back downstairs, the massive eat-in kitchen had a couple hidden features.

Serhant: Like this looks like it might be cabinetry, but it blends in. These are actually your bar stools.

Narrator: Around every corner, there was some new design element. A fluffy chair, a perfectly sized rug, that optimized the space. It made for this relaxed, luxurious vibe. And, of course, none of that was by accident.

Serhant: And even if the buyer has $30 million to spend, you'd be amazed at how unimaginative they can be. So, we have to show them. And everyone we've shown this apartment to would take it fully furnished, 'cause they just love it.

Narrator: Buyers can choose to keep all of the staged furnishings, and thank goodness, the price tag includes the furniture. But what's a billion-dollar building without amenities to match? On the 31 st floor, residents get a giant amenities space all to themselves. There's a billiards room, screening room, gym, and a pool, with music piped in from Carnegie Hall across the street. But the never-ending climbing wall was definitely my personal favorite. This isn't what I anticipated doing today.

Since its construction, One57 has pushed up real estate prices across the neighborhood. From 57th Street to 59th Street between Park Avenue and Broadway, median sale prices rose 64.3% from 2010 to 2018. Compare that to the median sale price in Manhattan as a whole, which increased just 25.7% in the same amount of time.

Historically, if you had money and influence in New York, you bought property in Central Park West, in one of those classic limestone buildings with views of the park. But the problem for modern developers was those buildings couldn't be torn down or built higher. But on West 57th Street, developers could go tall. Super tall. In 2010, developer Extell started construction on a project that was pretty outlandish at the time. In the midst of a real estate downturn, they broke ground on a nearly thousand foot mega tower on West 57th Street. Overlooking Central Park, One57 would completely alter the skyline.

Serhant: What no one really knew when this building first came up was, are the views of Central Park gonna be so important that someone would be willing to live on 57th Street, which is a really, really, really busy street? The answer was "yes."

Narrator: The penthouse apartment of One57 sold in 2014 for a staggering $100.5 million. Bought by Michael Dell, it broke the record for the most expensive home in New York City and solidified the street as Billionaires' Row. And if you look up and down West 57th Street today, mega luxury tower construction isn't slowing.

220 Central Park South, Central Park Tower, and Steinway Tower are all new developments on 57th Street that tower over the skyline. These buildings are pushing the boundaries of height, luxury, and price, but not everyone is excited about it. In addition to the altered skyline, some real estate experts worry the market's been tapped out. Manhattan home sales dipped by 14% in 2018, and 57th Street's newest construction, Central Park Tower, has dropped prices.

Experts warn these could be signs of an oversupply of luxury apartments without a demand to match. But Ryan doesn't seem to be worried. 41D at One57 has only been on the market for a year, which isn't a long time for million dollar listings And for the world's billionaires Ryan says, it's more affordable than towers down the street.

Serhant: I think to the rest of the world, $28.5 million probably seems like a lot of money, and it definitely is, don't get me wrong. It's the world that we live in. I mean, New York City, 57th Street, park-facing apartments, the realm of reality that we find ourselves in every day, is that people are willing to spend $100 million for less bedrooms than what we're offering on this floor. It's crazy.

Narrator: Personally, that kinda price tag is unfathomable, but the people buying an apartment here aren't just looking for a place to live. They're purchasing a stake in some of the most expensive real estate in the world and buying into the brand of Billionaires' Row.

Join the conversation about this story »

How Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison went from making $4.35 an hour as a Target security guard to running the second biggest home-improvement retailer in the US (LOW)

0
0

Marvin Ellison Lowe's

  • Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison left JCPenney to take over the home-improvement retailer during the summer of 2018.
  • But before he ran JCPenney, he worked for years at major retailers like Home Depot and Target.
  • Take a look at how Ellison went from a college-aged security guard at Target to the CEO of a major retailer.

Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison can draw on his many years of retail experience.

Not only has the longtime executive held plenty of leadership positions over the course of his career, but he also knows what it's like to work as a store employee at places like Target.

Read more: Lowe's CEO explains why millennials aren't killing the home-improvement market

Ellison became CEO of Lowe's in 2018. There, he makes a base annual salary of $1.45 million with $6 million worth of restricted stock options, according to the Charlotte Business Journal. But as a college student, he started out with a part-time security gig at Target, which only paid $4.35 an hour.

Here's a look inside Ellison's career:

SEE ALSO: A look inside the emergency command center where Lowe's employees monitor natural disasters like hurricanes and deploy supplies to devastated parts of the country

DON'T MISS: An analyst breaks down how natural disasters like hurricanes and fires impact Home Depot and Lowe's

SEE ALSO: Lowe's has a new slogan — and it shows how the battle for a key home-improvement market is heating up

Ellison grew up in Brownsville, Tennessee, with his parents and six siblings. Ellison told the Dallas Morning News that as a middle child, he was a "a born peacekeeper."

Source: The Dallas Morning News



Speaking to the audience at the National Retail Federation's 2019 Big Show, the Lowe's CEO said that growing up in rural Tennessee, "I could go out in my front yard and look to the north, south, east, and west and see nothing that looked like success."



But Ellison added that his parents, who worked as sharecroppers, encouraged him and his six siblings to "not to allow your surroundings to limit your vision of the future." As a result, Ellison said he "always had the desire to do more."

Source: Footwear News



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Take a look inside the best hotel in Europe, a boutique hotel in the heart of Paris with personal butlers, a hidden smoking room, and views of the Eiffel Tower

0
0

La Reserve Paris_La Bibliotheque Full View

  • U.S. News & World Report recently published their annual lists of top hotels around the world.
  • La Réserve Paris was ranked as the No. 1 hotel in Europe, followed by Hotel Sanders in Copenhagen and Hotel Eden in Rome.
  • The 40-room hotel opened in 2015, but has already received accolades due to its luxury suites, personalized amenities, and prime location.

La Réserve Paris Hotel & Spa is the best hotel in Europe.

U.S. News & World Report ranked the luxury hotel as the No. 1 hotel in Europe in this year's report. La Réserve Paris also previously received accolades from Condé Nast Traveller — including top hotel in Paris and Gold List status— along with a Trip Advisor five-star rating and Certificate of Excellence. 

Located in the well-known eighth arrondissement of Paris, the hotel exudes old elegance but is barely four years old. While it is furnished with antique decor, modern amenities make the grand hotel a state-of-the-art stay. As many travelers remain interested in boutique hotels, La Réserve Paris offers luxury resort perks in a small setting.

Read more: Millionaires are showing off their money differently than they used to, and it's led to the creation of 2 distinct luxury worlds

The hotel offers a spa, a pool, and many impressive dining options: two luxury restaurants, a wine cellar, and a la carte service. There's also a hidden smoking room with a cigar chest, contributing to recent trends of hotels' secret luxuries.

La Réserve Paris is one of multiple properties of the French hotelier Michel Reybier's group, including La Réserve Genève in Switzerland and La Réserve Ramatuelle, also in France. For the Paris hotel and spa, Reybier once again enlisted the help of star designer Jacques Garcia.

The hotel also notably achieved palace distinction, a status introduced by Atout France, otherwise known as the France Tourism Development Agency. According to the agency's statement, certain five-star hotels deserve additional recognition. La Réserve Paris is the smallest of the current 25 palace hotels.

SEE ALSO: Take a look inside the best hotel in the US, a Hawaiian resort with 7 swimming pools where a villa goes for $18,000 per night

NOW READ: Luxury travelers want more than ever before, and hotels are borrowing a tactic used by Netflix and Amazon to keep up

La Réserve Paris is located in a renovated mansion in the heart of France's capital city.

Source: La Réserve Paris Hotel & Spa, The Telegraph



In the 8th arrondissement, one of Paris' most prominent neighborhoods, the hotel sits in a prime location.

Source: Google Maps



La Réserve Paris is walking distance from Jardins des Champs-Élysées ...

Source: Google Maps



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Mueller called Manafort a 'hardened' criminal who 'repeatedly and brazenly violated the law' in a harsh sentencing memo

0
0

Paul Manafort

  • The special counsel Robert Mueller's office called Paul Manafort a "bold" and "hardened" criminal who "repeatedly and brazenly violated the law" in a sentencing memo that was partially unsealed on Saturday.
  • Manafort's conduct "reflects a hardened adherence to committing crimes and lack of remorse," prosecutors wrote.
  • They did not make a specific sentencing recommendation in Manafort's case but noted that federal sentencing guidelines call for a prison term of 17 to 22 years for the crimes Manafort has been convicted of.
  • The memo comes after a federal judge voided Manafort's plea deal with Mueller when prosecutors found that he lied to them about several interactions related to the Russia investigation.

The special counsel Robert Mueller's team called Paul Manafort a "bold" and "hardened" criminal in a new sentencing memo unsealed on Saturday.

Manafort's conduct, even after he pleaded guilty to two federal crimes, "reflects a hardened adherence to committing crimes and lack of remorse," prosecutors wrote, adding that he "repeatedly and brazenly violated the law."

The memo comes after US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled last week that Manafort violated his plea deal with Mueller by lying to prosecutors after agreeing to cooperate. Prosecutors were also angry when they found out last year that Manafort's lawyers were briefing President Donald Trump's legal team on everything he was being asked about. The conduct was unusual, given that Trump is a defendant in the Russia probe.

Saturday's memo was public but contained several redactions. Prosecutors did not make a specific sentencing recommendation in Manafort's case, as has been their practice so far, but noted that federal sentencing guidelines call for a prison term of 17 to 22 years.

Read more:New York state prosecutors are reportedly putting together a criminal case against Manafort in the event Trump pardons him

Manafort and his longtime associate, Rick Gates, were first indicted in October 2017 on several counts of money laundering, failure to register as a foreign agent, failure to report foreign bank accounts, and false statements.

A superseding indictment in February 2018 charged Manafort with tax and bank fraud related to his political consulting and lobbying work for the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian interests in the region. In June 2018, Manafort and the former Russian intelligence operative Konstantin Kilimnik were charged with additional counts of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Manafort was set to face two trials for the charges against him. But after a jury convicted him on eight counts in his first trial in Virginia, the former Trump campaign chairman struck a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and obstruction.

After agreeing to cooperate, prosecutors learned that Manafort had lied to them about several interactions and events that are under scrutiny in the Russia investigation.

Read more:The 2 reasons why Paul Manafort would lie to prosecutors and risk life in prison

Manafort's attorneys argued that Manafort's statements were misrepresented and that any false statements were not intentionally made, but Jackson ultimately ruled that Manafort's conduct represented a violation of his plea deal and, as a result, nullified his agreement with the special counsel.

In their sentencing memo, prosecutors wrote that not only did Manafort engage in criminal conduct leading up to his first indictment, but his actions "remarkably went unabated even after indictment."

"The sentence in this case must take into account the gravity of this conduct, and serve both to specifically deter Manafort and generally deter those who would commit a similar series of crimes," the memo said.

Robert Mueller

'Manafort may be rethinking his decision to violate his plea deal right about now'

Manafort's conduct after coming to a plea deal with Mueller flummoxed Justice Department veterans, many of whom said he would have had a good chance at getting a reduced sentence had he cooperated fully and abided by the terms of the deal.

Experts told INSIDER that there were only a handful of reasons that could explain Manafort's actions.

The first, they said, was that he was angling for a presidential pardon. Trump, for his part, has been publicly sympathetic toward Manafort even as the White House distanced itself from the former campaign chairman.

But getting a pardon may not be that simple.

With the 2020 presidential election around the corner and a newly empowered Democratic-led House of Representatives, "Trump knows that a Manafort pardon is politically risky right now and will only hasten talk of impeachment," Jens David Ohlin, a vice dean at Cornell Law School who is an expert in criminal law, told INSIDER.

"Ironically, Manafort's best hope is that Trump loses the 2020 election and then pardons Manafort on his way out of the White House," he added.

Even then, it looks like Manafort won't be out of the woods. This week, Bloomberg News reported that state prosecutors in New York are preparing a criminal case against Manafort in the event that Trump pardons him.

The Constitution grants the president authority to pardon federal crimes but not state crimes.

Following Bloomberg's report, a former senior Justice Department official who worked closely with Mueller didn't mince words, telling INSIDER, "Manafort may be rethinking his decision to violate his plea deal right about now."

SEE ALSO: New York state prosecutors are reportedly putting together a criminal case against Manafort in the event Trump pardons him

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Michael D'Antonio reveals Donald Trump's 'strange' morning ritual that boosts his ego


A Waymo employee reveals what it's like to create the unique voice of self-driving cars (GOOGL)

0
0

Priscilla Knox Waymo

  • Priscilla Knox is head of Waymo's Rider Support team.
  • Her job is to oversee a 24/7 operation that deals with the issues passengers might have as they begin to experience truly driverless vehicles.
  • Knox is also involved with Women of Waymo, an employee group seeking to bring more women into leadership positions.


Editor's note: Business Insider has been talking with Waymo employees from different parts of the company to learn more about their work. What we discovered were some of the coolest jobs at Alphabet, Waymo's parent company. This is the fourth profile in the series. To read the others, click here. For a brief history of Waymo, click here.

Imagine that you're sitting in a Waymo One self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivan in the Phoenix area, enjoying your autonomously piloted ride, when the vehicle makes a turn you didn't expect.

This is nothing new for anyone who has ever hailed a taxi. In New York, where I work, if a cabbie takes a route I disagree with, I can immediately start a conversation about why we should go my way. And for now, Waymo One has human monitors at the wheel.

But the company's plan is to transition to a fully driverless service. No one behind the wheel. Instead, a screen for passengers to use for interactions with the technology.

"When there's no driver, we're the voice of the car," said Priscilla Knox, who heads Waymo's Rider Support team. She supervises a staff of 30 — nine directly — that keeps an eye on what's happening in Waymo's vehicles in locations where the service has already been launched and where it's currently being tested.

Read more:The woman in charge of laying the groundwork for Waymo's self-driving taxis in cities across the US reveals why humility is key to the company's future

"We're supporting the first driverless cars," she said in an interview from the Mountain View, CA headquarters of Waymo's parent company, Alphabet (until 2016, Waymo was known as the Google Car project and internally as "Chauffeur" before Google became Alphabet).

"We're guiding riders through the experience because we don't know how people will react," she added. "It's been an amazing learning experience so far."

Waymo is taking the time to get its service right

Waymo Castle

Waymo is the first company to offer a commercial ride-hailing service using driverless technology, introducing Waymo One last year. But it certainly hasn't rushed to market. In fact, it's been only in the past two years that Waymo's business ambitions have clearly taken shape, under the leadership of CEO John Krafcik, an auto-industry veteran hired by Alphabet in 2016.

Waymo is taking its time — developing the hardware-and-software that powers its "driver," opening discussions with communities and local governments before introducing its service, and helping customers make sense of what they're dealing with when they step into a Waymo vehicle.

The company also isn't simply throwing engineers at its challenges. Waymo, in particular, employs people with non-technical backgrounds. Knox, who grew up in Maine, went to George Washington University for American studies and while in school, worked for small clothing companies. She wound up the San Francisco Bay Area because she wanted to join Levi's. A job with a small clothing brand followed, but she later decided that she wanted to do something that would be more meaningful.

That urge led to what she figured would be a part-time job on the Google Car project in 2011, test-driving vehicles. Part-time rapidly morphed into full-time, and before she knew it, she was undergoing a change in her lifelong disinterest in driving.

A "mindblowing" experience for someone who didn't think much about driving before Waymo

Waymo Launch

"I hadn't been following the tech of self-driving cars," she said.

"I took driving pretty lightly, living in Washington, DC and thinking that I didn't need a car, taking public transportation and walking. But test-driving the [Google] cars 40 hours per week was mindblowing, seeing the impact the technology could have on the world."

According to Knox, the idea for rider support took root when what had been the Google Car moved toward the concept of becoming a fully driverless ride-hailing service — what's now rolling out in the Phoenix area as Waymo One.

"We started to think to think about how we would communicate how we could interact better with people," Knox said. "We knew that we had to have components of a customer support organization."

The way it works is that if an issue arises in a Waymo vehicle, assuming there is no human driver, a passenger would press a button in the vehicle to connect with an agent. (Currently, passenger concerns expressed to the human monitoring the system in the driver's seat can be referred to the Rider Support team.)

"My team is the human element," Knox said. Agents have a system that mirrors the information passengers see in the vehicle, so if needed they can address concerns. Interactions could be handled with voice, email, or chat. At the moment, Waymo has several dozen agents, in Phoenix and Austin, TX, another test location.

A quick commute — but travel to Arizona and Texas

Knox's home office is in San Francisco, but she spends considerable time in Arizona and Texas and sometimes still has to make her way down to Mountain View as she did for seven years, although walking or biking to work is now an option. She directly manages her reports, and they in turn work with shift operators.

Rider Support is a 24/7 responsibility, something that Knox admitted was an adjustment.

"I'm an eight-to-six kind of person," she said of her schedule, which typically involved a 7:30 AM wake-up, followed by her enviably brief commute, then meetings with product engineers, check-ins with her team, and a review of urgent emails with an eye toward flagging Waymo rides that were odd or that generated new customer questions. At home, she might put in another hour, and she's available should anything usual require attention.

She's also the social chairperson of Women of Waymo — "WOW" as it's known. What started out as a small lunchtime group has grown to over 100, meeting monthly to provide different kinds of support to women at the company. The overarching goal is to move more women into leadership roles.

That's an objective Knox said Waymo's current leadership has gotten behind. And other employee groups have started to emulate WOW's success. It's a myth that there are no women in the tech industry; Waymo, in particular, has demonstrated that there are. But there is a dearth of female leadership in Silicon Valley, and WOW's members want to fix that.

It makes sense that Knox would participate in the effort. It also makes sense that Waymo would like the idea of its female employees organizing for change. The company, increasingly, is about engagement and interaction — with customers and communities.  Of course, at the end of the day, Waymo's business plan hinges on getting cars on the road.

Knox has been there since the early days, a Waymo veteran at this juncture, and her journey has been one of constant surprise.

"I've been in the car at every stage," she said, adding that she now considers it "archaic" to fall back to her old habit of thinking that the Waymo vehicle wouldn't be able to do something.

"I trust the cars more than most people," she said. "I know the car is thinking through every possible scenario."

FOLLOW US: On Facebook for more car and transportation content!

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Waymo is now letting ordinary people sign up to test its self-driving cars in Phoenix

We took a scientific look at the high-fat keto diet and trendy Whole 30 diet. Only one is doctor-recommended.

0
0

keto diet no apples allowed

  • Keto and Whole30 are two of the trendiest diet strategies this year so far.
  • The keto diet prioritizes fats and strictly limits carbohydrates.  
  • Whole30 focuses less on macronutrients like protein, carbs, and fat, and more on a specific list of off-limits foods like grains, dairy, and beans.   
  • Only one of the eating plans — the ketogenic diet —has been used by clinicians for decades.

When people are in a hurry to lose weight, they often turn to fad diets that limit entire food groups.

Studies suggest the tactic can help dieters shave off extra pounds in the short-term. But then it backfires, sending people back where they began on the scale or locked in a vicious cycle of gaining and losing weight — which can do long-term damage to the heart and lead to early death.

Two of the most talked about fad diet plans these days are keto and Whole30. Here's the difference between them, and what the science says about each.

Keto versus Whole 30

The main factors that distinguish the two diets are that the keto diet pushes people to eat fewer carbs and ramp up their fat intake, while Whole30 is focused on banning junk food, sugar, and some other convenient staples. This is how the basics break down:

The keto diet aims to get the body into ketosis. That's the state in which the body burns fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. In order to do that, most keto diets recommend people stick to about 30 grams of carbs a day, which means that there's barely any room for sugar, including natural sugars from fruits and vegetables.

Keto dieters are encouraged to eat: Creamy and fatty foods like avocados, oils, nuts, meat, eggs, cheese, and cream, along with certain vegetables like kale and cauliflower. 

The plan does not allow: Many carbohydrates at all. Apples are essentially banned, as is milk (though cream and cheese are allowed, since they're fattier and have less sugar). It's also hard to eat some vegetables like carrots on the plan because of their sugar content. The diet requires daily mental math to calculate how much protein, carbs, and fat a person is eating in order to make sure they maintain a state of ketosis.

The Whole30 diet is often billed as a way to re-work one's relationship with food. It starts with a monthlong "nutrition reset," in which all grains, sugars, breads, desserts, alcohol, dairy, legumes, and processed foods are banned. 

Whole30 followers are encouraged to eat: Mostly home-cooked meals rich in veggies, meat, eggs, fish, and fruit.

It does not allow: Alcohol, bread (including gluten-free varieties), whole grains, beans, sugar, dairy (including butter), legumes like beans, peanuts, soy, MSG, processed snacks, or "comfort" foods like pancakes or desserts. There's also no weighing yourself allowed during the first month. 

But beyond these basic differences, there's another important distinction.

The ketogenic diet is a doctor-recommended strategy for some patients with obesity and epileptic seizures

keto breathalyzer

The ketogenic diet was first developed in the 1920s as a clinical strategy for dealing with epileptic seizures in kids that weren't responsive to other treatments. Doctors found that the diet, which focuses on getting patients 70-80% of their daily calories from fat, and very little (if any) from carbohydrates, changed the way those patients' bodies processed food. Results showed that the shift in eating patterns led to fewer seizures.

On a typical keto diet, it takes about five days of following the high-fat, low-carb plan for people to enter a state of nutritional ketosis, in which the body is running on fat. It's the same survival mechanism that gets ignited when people are starving — the body shifts to using fat stores.

A typical macronutrient ratio on a keto diet would be around 70-80% fat, roughly 15% protein, and no more than 10% carbs. A well planned keto diet should include plenty of fiber and other essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals from nuts and vegetables. That's drastically different from what Whole30 endorses.

Today, celebrities like LeBron James and the Kardashian sisters, as well as plenty of Silicon Valley biohackers and some scientists, adore the plan. Many followers say it helps reduce their appetite and eliminate brain fog. Some doctors have started recommending the strategy to overweight and obese patients as well.

But the high-fat regimen isn't for everyone: Keto diets are not recommended for people who've had kidney or liver issues. And its still unclear what the long-term health consequences of the diet are. Anyone thinking about trying keto — or any other restrictive diet — should chat with a doctor or registered dietitian before they begin. 

Whole30 was invented by a husband and wife in 2009

whole 30

The Whole30 plan makes a comeback on Instagram every time a new year or swimsuit season rolls around.

Many people like its one-month food reset. But Whole30 isn't designed to be completely over after 30 days. Rather, the idea is that after an initial month of severe restriction, dieters start re-introducing formerly banned foods into their daily eating plans slowly, deciding which their body likes best.

Nutritionists are generally skeptical about the Whole30 regimen. US News and World report consistently puts the plan near the bottom of its annual diet ranking because experts agree that it's extremely hard to follow. Plus, the diet excludes healthy whole grains and beans, which research consistently finds are great sources of nutritious dietary fiber that helps people stay satiated until their next meal. Fiber also helps maintain the immune system and reduces inflammation in the body, making fiber-eaters more disease-free and less likely to develop cancer.

Simply put, Whole30 is not backed by science — a month isn't enough time to re-set your digestive system, anyway. 

"Thirty days isn't enough time to turn off systemic inflammation," Alessio Fasano, director of the Center for Celiac Research and Treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital, recently told Time.

Instead of Whole30, most nutritionists agree that plant-based diets centered on veggies, whole grains, and lean proteins (like beans) are the way to go.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The popular keto diet can help you shed weight, but it comes with some serious side effects

12 health and fitness startups that will boom in 2019, according to VCs

0
0

healthy veggies

  • Health and fitness are two very personal areas that many people cannot manage on their own.
  • It's become a big focus of tech companies with apps and devices that can be your workout buddy, calm your mind, and help you manage an illness.
  • Here's a list of health tech startups on track to boom in 2019 according to the startup experts — the venture capitalists that watch, advise, and invest in them.

As part of our comprehensive coverage of the startups that will boom in 2019, we asked the startup experts — venture capitalists — to name the startups they think are going to be hot this year.

We asked them to tell us about companies within their portfolio as well as ones they haven't invested in but are hearing good things about.

One group of startups came up over and over again: health and fitness tech. Their picks ranged from companies that are defeating diabetes to those that are improving mental health.

Alma: Coworking for therapists

Company Name: Alma

Funding: $4.5 million

What it does: Alma is a coworking office space specifically for mental health providers that includes access to the tech they need to power their practices. It opened its first facility in New York.

VC: Hayley Barna, First Round

Relationship: Investor

Why it's hot in 2019: "60 million people suffer from mental illness," Barna says and Alma offers therapists a "beautifully designed space, friendly digital tools and a supported community of therapists."



Arterys: AI for medical imaging

Startup: Arterys

Total raised: $44 million

What it does: Arterys offers AI-enabled medical imaging software as a cloud service.

VC: Alfred Lin, Sequoia Capital

Relationship: Investor

Why it's hot in 2019: "It shows the power of technology to help humanity. The company brings the convergence of cloud computing, big data, image processing, and AI applied to healthcare," says Lin.



Benchling: Collaboration for life science professionals

Startup: Benchling

Total raised: $27 million

What it does: Benchling is a data management and collaboration tool for life science, pharma and biological researchers.

VC: Eric Vishria, Benchmark

Relationship: Investor

Why it's hot in 2019: "Benchling provides a platform to accelerate the pace of biotech research, helping researchers track candidates, design experiments, and share results. They're working with over 100,000 scientists and larger organizations like the FDA," says Vishria.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

All the winners of the 2019 Oscars

0
0

green book oscars

This year's Oscars season has been full of controversy, and the big night had its share of surprises.

With no host, the 91st Academy Awards kicked off Sunday with a performance from Queen and Adam Lambert. Regina King won the first award of the night for her supporting performance in "If Beale Street Could Talk."

The show ended with a best-picture win for "Green Book," which has been hit with criticism throughout awards season for how it depicts its real-life subject, Don Shirley, played by Mahershala Ali (who won an Oscar for the performance). 

Despite heavy campaigning and three wins for "Roma," Netflix failed to prevail in the best-picture race. It did win for best documentary short, though, for "Period. End of Sentence."

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga wowed the audience with an emotional performance of "Shallow" from "A Star Is Born," which went on to win best original song. Olivia Colman won best actress in a shocking upset, besting seven-time nominee Glenn Close, who has yet to win.

Rami Malek won the best actor Oscar for his performance as Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic, "Bohemian Rhapsody." The movie, which was a box-office sensation with $850 million worldwide, won four of the five Oscars it was nominated for.

And the biggest box-office hit of 2018 didn't go home empty handed. Marvel Studios won its first Oscar when Ruth Carter was honored for best costume design for "Black Panther," and the wins didn't stop there. "Black Panther" also won for production design and original score. Another superhero movie was a big winner on Sunday, too. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" won best animated feature, edging out Pixar's "Incredibles 2."

Below is the full list of winners for the 2019 Oscars:

SEE ALSO: OSCARS ON LIFE SUPPORT: Academy insiders describe the problems plaguing Hollywood's biggest night, and how it could rebound

Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, “Vice”
Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk” — WINNER
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”



Documentary Feature

“Free Solo” — WINNER
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening"
“Minding the Gap” 
“Of Fathers and Sons” 
“RBG” 



Makeup and Hair

“Border”
“Mary Queen of Scots”
“Vice” — WINNER 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The directors of Oscar-winning documentary 'Free Solo' explain why they made the risky decision to film Alex Honnold's 3,000 foot climb up El Capitan without a rope

0
0

Free Solo 4

  • "Free Solo" directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin recount what led to them agreeing to film Alex Honnold's attempt to solo climb El Capitan.
  • The filmmakers also explain why filming what was going on in Honnold's life on the ground was just as important as his climb.
  • "Free Solo" won the Academy Award for best documentary feature on Sunday.

 

On Sunday night at the 91st Academy Awards, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and her husband Jimmy Chin were on stage accepting the best documentary Oscar for their movie "Free Solo," about rock climber Alex Honnold. But for the filmmakers, making the movie was more intriguing to them because of how Honnold is on the ground than when he's thousands of feet above it during a climb.

Before Honnold became known the world over for his incredible free solo climbs (mountain climbing without ropes or other protective equipment), he was a kid who was incredibly intelligent but also scared of everything: people, physical contact, even vegetables. But that same kid blossomed into a young man who fights his fears by climbing mountains.

“It was the potential of being a story that spoke to a lot of people and could inspire,” Vasarhelyi told Business Insider about her original interest in doing a movie on Honnold.

But Honnold had another idea. He wanted them to shoot him soloing up the 3,000 foot high El Capitan wall in Yosemite National Park.

“He said, ‘If we’re to make a film, the only film-worthy thing in my life is doing this,” Vasarhelyi recalled.

Chin has filmed Honnold soloing for 10 years. He knew Honnold had the skill to pull off the climb. But he also knew how crazy it was to even attempt it. It would be a four-hour climb, at least. Every single step would need to be perfect. His level of concentration needed to be super sharp throughout the entire climb because his next move could be his last.

Could Chin say El Cap is the Super Bowl of soloing?

“It’s beyond the Super Bowl,” he said. “The mental capacity to do that is unlike any athletic achievement I’ve seen, whether it’s extreme sports or professional sports of Olympic sports. You have to play the perfect game for four hours. You throw an interception in the Super Bowl, compared to this, it’s not really a big deal.”

Free Solo 3With that danger in mind, Vasarhelyi and Chin told Honnold they had to think about if they wanted to proceed. And they thought about it — for months. Could they go forward with doing a movie that could end with their friend falling to his death?

They say the moment that really pushed them to finally agree to film the attempt was a chat Chin had three years ago with author and avid climber Jon Krakauer, one of the survivors of the disastrous 1996 expedition to Mount Everest and the man who wrote "Into the Wild" and "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman." Who better to get advice from?

Chin told Krakauer he and Vasarhelyi were considering doing a movie on Honnold and his soloing of El Cap. The author simply replied: “Holy s--t.”

"He was quiet for a while," Chin said. "And we walked for a little bit further, and I asked if it’s even okay for us to do this. He was like well, 'Is he going to do it whether you film it or not?' And I said yes. And he said, 'Are you one of the best people to do this?' And I said yes. And he said, 'If this is one of the greatest athletic achievements of all time, shouldn't it be captured?' And I was like 'Yes.' We kind of went from there."

With Vasarhelyi and Chin on board, they set out for Yosemite to make “Free Solo." For months they filmed Honnold’s day-long training sessions on El Cap and his humble existence off the mountain living in a van.

Chin and his team of mountain climbers/cameramen used huge 4k cameras to capture Honnold on the wall, which he said is unheard of when filming climbing because of the weight of the equipment. But he and Vasarhelyi wanted “Free Solo” to be more than just a highlight video. They wanted to go a step further, not just visually, but emotionally. And that’s what Vasarhelyi was doing on the ground, trying to peel back the layers of the complex Honnold.

“It was basically a conversation that kept going for a year and a half,” Vasarhelyi said about creating a verite feel to the movie.

As “Free Solo” makes very clear, Honnold is not an open person. His life is completely focused on climbing and everything else comes second, including opening up to Vasarhelyi. But a fascinating thing happened during the filming process: He found a girlfriend who could tolerate his lifestyle.

Sanni McCandless is the complete opposite of Honnold. A big personality and not afraid to challenge Honnold, the relationship between the two is an interesting subplot in “Free Solo,” as the driven climber begins to let his guard down (the two go climbing one time and a mistake by the inexperienced McCandless leads to Honnold falling and injuring himself before the El Cap climb; in another scene, the two look for a house in Las Vegas).

Free Solo 2Then there’s the lead-up to the climb itself. At one point in the movie, Honnold starts his solo climb of El Cap but then dramatically stops and climbs back down to the ground. From that point on, it’s unclear not only if Honnold will attempt the climb again but if he still wants Chin and Vasarhelyi there to film it.

“In our minds we’re not allowed to push him one way or the other,” Chin said. “But I would like to think he understood the amount of passion and heart that this whole crew was putting into it.”

“But Alex responded in an honest way,” Vasarhelyi added. “Which was, ‘I have to be stronger and better.’”

It all culminates in a dramatic conclusion where the filmmakers capture the dramatics on the ground between Honnold and McCandless as well as Honnold’s historic trek.

Audiences are already dazzled by “Free Solo.” It won the people’s choice award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, which inevitably thrust it into the race for the best documentary Oscar. But as much as Vasarhelyi and Chin love how audiences have reacted to the movie so far, the standout for them is how Honnold sees it.

“He says he has the opposite experience from the audiences,” Chin said. “Everybody loves the love story and him as a fascinating documentary character and then are cringing during the climb. He loves the climbing footage and cringes during everything else.”

 

SEE ALSO: The director of Robert Redford's final movie describes the pressure and joy of closing out an icon's career

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: There are serious health reasons why you shouldn't eat your boogers

The 23 actors who have gotten the most Oscar nominations without winning one

0
0

glenn close

  • The Oscars have repeatedly nominated and neglected numerous actors.
  • They include Amy Adams, Glenn Close, and Bradley Cooper, who all lost Oscars this year.

Each year, deserving performances lose out in the Oscars' best acting categories. But there are a handful of great actors that the Academy has repeatedly nominated and neglected. 

Both Amy Adams (six nominations) and Glenn Close (seven nominations) lost on Sunday to Regina King and Olivia Colman, respectively.

Both Bradley Cooper and Willem Dafoe were nominated for their fourth acting Oscars this year (Cooper has a total of seven nominations for producing "American Sniper" and "A Star is Born," and writing "A Star Is Born"). Both lost in the best actor race to Rami Malek for his performance in "Bohemian Rhapsody."

And all-time great Peter O'Toole, unfortunately, had it even worse.

Here are the 23 actors who have been nominated for at least four Oscars without winning once:

SEE ALSO: 14 Hollywood stars who didn't accept their Oscars or boycotted the ceremony

Bradley Cooper — 4 nominations

Best actor nominations: "Silver Linings Playbook" (2012), "American Sniper" (2014), "A Star Is Born" (2018)

Best supporting actor nominations: "American Hustle" (2013)



Willem Dafoe — 4 nominations

Best actor nominations: "At Eternity's Gate" (2018)

Best supporting actor nominations: "Platoon" (1986), "Shadow of a Vampire" (2000), "The Flordia Project" (2017)



Michelle Williams — 4 nominations

Best actress nominations: "Blue Valentine" (2010), "My Week with Marilyn" (2011)

Best supporting actress nominations: "Brokeback Mountain" (2005), "Manchester by the Sea" (2016)



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

These are the 10 healthiest countries in the world in 2019

0
0

yoga

  • Six of the top 10 healthiest countries are in Europe in 2019, according to the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index.
  • Spain knocked Italy off top spot in 2019 jumping from 6th to take number one in this year's gauge.
  • The US didn't even make the top 30 and came in at 35th in the rankings.  

Europe is leading the world's health standings with Mediterranean nations atop the list for 2019 .

In new rankings, Europe takes up six of the top 10 spots with North American countries struggling. The US placed lower at 35th for 2019, five places behind Cuba which was the highest ranked non "high income" country on the list. 

Studies have suggested that a "Mediterranean diet" supplemented with foods like extra-virgin olive oil and nuts, had a lower rate of major cardiovascular events than others, giving added significance to a country's geography on the rankings. 

Asian countries improved their rankings generally with South Korea improving seven places while China rose to 52nd in the world, according to the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index.

The study took into account 169 countries and graded nations on factors like life expectancy but also penalised tobacco use and obesity. Bloomberg's rankings also considered environmental factors such as sanitation and clean water.

SEE ALSO: These are the 20 wealthiest towns in the US

10. Israel

Israel comes in at number 10 with the country's Mediterranean diet standing it in good stead within the Middle Eastern nation dropping one place from the previous rankings. Alongside great dietary trends Israel also has a comparatively high life expectancy, 82.9 years according to 2017 World Health Organisation data, the world's eighth highest.



9. Norway

The land of Fjords is the first of six European nations in the top ten and the second from the Nordic world. As of 2015, Norway had the highest number of nurses and midwives per capita in Europe, although the country has the highest drug overdose and suicide rate amongst Nordic countries for under-49s. 



8. Singapore

The tiny city-state of Singapore comes eighth in this year's rankings, dropping four places and losing its position as the healthiest Asian nation. The country has one of the highest life expectancies in the region and a well-regarded healthcare system. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

9 home goods Amazon's store brand, AmazonBasics, carries for less — from $200 memory-foam mattresses to $45 Dutch ovens

0
0

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

cupcake molds

  • AmazonBasics is the e-commerce behemoth's store brand — that means lots of great products at low prices.
  • We're particularly fond of the AmazonBasics home goods line, which has a robust selection ranging from furniture to flatware.
  • We rounded up nine of AmazonBasics' best home goods to help you save some money on items you might be buying anyway.

By now, you've probably heard of AmazonBasics

AmazonBasics is Amazon's version of a store brand where you can find low-cost, generic versions of popular products. While finding specific products on Amazon can sometimes be a maze, the AmazonBasics section is particularly well-organized, making it easier to find what you need. And then, of course, there are the great prices that really make this section worth checking out, and coming back to — especially so if you're a Prime member who can take advantage of Amazon's free two-day shipping, and dozens of other Prime perks

Whether it's a big piece of furniture or a small kitchen gadget, AmazonBasics offers a robust selection of quality home basics for great prices. Below, we rounded up some of the best low-cost home goods we've found on the site.

Read more: I tested out furniture from Amazon's private-label brands, and the quality is surprisingly comparable to my higher-end furniture

SEE ALSO: 14 cool startups you didn’t know were on Amazon

A versatile Dutch oven

Enamel Cast-Iron Dutch Oven, 6 quarts, $44.99

This colorful enamel Dutch oven bears resemblance to the premium Le Creseut pot. You may wonder how this affordable piece actually stacks up in the kitchen — judging from its 4.7-star rating and accompanying customer reviews, users are loving this budget buy. 

 



A set of cookware essentials

15-Piece Non-Stick Cookware Set, $46

This collection — which includes six pots and pans and five serving utensils — makes a great starter kit to outfit a new kitchen. You really get your bang for your buck here with a total of 15 pieces for just $46. 



A practical surge protector

3-Outlet Surge Protector with 2 USB Ports, $9.99

As we acquire more and more pieces of technology to charge, our regular amount of outlets just won't cut it. That's why surge protectors and power strips are great — they help you maximize the use of a single outlet, while making sure everything is safe — and worth having a few extra on hand. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

12 travel essentials to reduce stress before, during, and after trips

0
0

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

51790072_2009351575786345_952351028714405888_o

  • Below, you'll find 12 products and services — all relatively affordable — that can make a big difference in eliminating common travel stressors, from planning the trip itself to airport security lines to costly international data bills. 

The wanderlust that has inspired millennials to become supposedly the most important consumer generation for the travel industry isn't going away any time soon. We aren't going to tire of delicious foods, new experiences, or wider, deeper world views in the next five years. If anything, it's becoming easier and more ubiquitous than ever. Gone are the days of the covered wagons, here are the honeymoons paid for by credit card rewards and sign-up bonuses

But, it's not all easy. Serpentine airport lines, dead devices, and getting lost in foreign cities are a few of the recurring jet-setter nightmares.

While many of us are willing to put off owning homes in order to scrounge for the next big adventure, few of us have thought to budget in the new products and services that habitually spring up around such enduring pain points. If we did, we’d probably enjoy a greater percentage of the time we spend planning trips — as well as actually being on them. We may wind up expending far less energy, for far greater enjoyment.

With that in mind, I've rounded up a handful of those exact travel-smoothing products and services. They're all relatively affordable and designed to alleviate stress you may otherwise experience before, during, and after a trip.

Read more: 26 packing essentials we never travel without — from a $150 mobile WiFi hotspot to a $6 pack of face wipes 

SEE ALSO: 21 products we were hesitant about at first but ended up really liking

Cheap, portable Wi-Fi that connects up to five devices

Skyroam Solis WiFi Hotspot and Power Bank, $149.99

Skyroam Day Passes (5 for the price of 4), $40

Skyroam's Solis is a totally portable Wi-Fi hotspot that offers unlimited 4G LTE service without having to worry about cell data overages or big fees. The device itself is $150 on Amazon and the Skyroam "day passes" for Wi-Fi are $40 for five days ($8 per day). For the $8 per day, you can hook up to five devices at a time to the Solis. If you're traveling with family or friends, that means that one day pass will likely cover everyone's data for the day. 

It's especially helpful for navigating with Google Maps, finding good nearby restaurants at the drop of a hat, and looking up additional contextual information for any landmarks you may see while out and about. 

Read more:



A website that plans your trip for you for $25/day, complete with booking hotels and making your reservations

Travel with Journy for $25 a day

Journy is a service that acts as your personal travel planner for as little as $25 per day. They'll book your hotel, make your reservations, and keep your preferences and any pre-booked plans in mind. You'll email and chat with your personal travel designer, check out a draft itinerary they mock up, and respond with what you do and don't like.

Once you like the plan, your designer will handle all the bookings. Then they'll deliver a final version to you via the app or in a PDF, so you can refer to it all in one spot. In other words, they think of everything you don't want to (booking reservations at international restaurants, navigating dietary restrictions, avoiding tourist traps, grouping desired locations into efficient days, etc). 

Read more:



Two months free of skipping airport security lines

Annual Standard CLEAR membership, $179 [Business Insider readers can get first two months free with code "INSIDER"]

CLEAR is a friction-free security process at airports, stadiums, and arenas that scans your eyes or fingerprints so you can skip the winding main line and get to the flight gate, concert, or game faster. In an airport, that means you can bypass the line that waits to show a TSA agent their boarding pass and ID. Instead, you can head to a kiosk to confirm your identity (fingerprints or retina), past the stop-point, and right to the X-ray machine. It's even better when used with PreCheck

From there, you can add up to three adult family members for only $50 per year each, and kids under 18 are free and don't need to enroll. 

Read more:



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Peloton is reportedly a step closer to an IPO that could value it at more than $8 billion. Here's how this high-tech fitness company compares to SoulCycle.

0
0

Peloton

  • Peloton is repeatedly one step closer to filing for IPO. It has chosen Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to lead the deal, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.
  • The deal could value the company at more than $8 billion.
  • The company has revolutionized home fitness with its high-tech indoor bike, which enables users to stream live classes from home.
  • One of its main rivals is indoor cycling brand SoulCycle, which launched in 2006 and now has more than 90 studios across the United States and Canada. SoulCycle also filed to go public in 2015 but eventually pulled those plans. 
  • We compared the experience of taking a class with each brand, and there was a clear winner. 

Indoor cycling is becoming the most competitive space in the fitness market. Until 2012, SoulCycle seemed to be invincible with its cult following of fans who were prepared to pay as much as $36 a class.

Then Peloton came along. The high-tech fitness company, which launched in 2012, enables users to stream live classes from anywhere, making it possible to get a SoulCycle-style experience without ever leaving your bedroom. 

And it seems to be paying off. Peloton was valued at $4 billion after it closed a $550 million financing round in August 2018 and is now making plans to file for an IPO in the second half of 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. 

The company has reportedly chosenGoldman Sachs and JPMorgan to lead the deal, which could value the company at as much as $8 billion, according to Bloomberg

Read more: Peloton has reportedly picked banks for an IPO which could value it at more than $8 billion

In 2018, we put these two cult-favorite brands to the test to see which offered a superior experience: 

SEE ALSO: We tested the $1,500 mirror that streams exercise classes into your home and saw how it could upend the fitness world

We headed over to the Westin Hotel near Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan to trial a Peloton bike, which is available for hotel guests to use.

The first thing that struck us is how much better the size of the bike is compared to its newest product, the Tread.

This bike could easily occupy a corner of your apartment without being too intrusive. 



Each bike has a touchscreen from which you can stream live and on-demand classes. It costs $39 a month to stream these classes.

Peloton has a cycling studio in Manhattan, where you can attend these classes in person if you'd like. There are between 11 and 13 classes a day, and you can also stream these classes from home.



The touchscreen was user-friendly, and at 22 inches in size, it's easy to see.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

17 cool things Business Insider readers are buying on Amazon right now — some of which really surprised us

0
0

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

bellemain

Here at Insider Picks, we are constantly surprised and delighted by the stories and products our readers connect with. Our audience is discerning, passionate, smart, and always on the hunt for things that will make their lives better, more efficient, or more fun. 

We thought it would be fun to give you all a glimpse into the things that your fellow readers have been buying up on Amazon — from an affordable, electric razor to a cult-favorite face mask to phone chargers, lots of phone chargers.

Check out 17 items from Amazon our readers are buying right now:

SEE ALSO: The 32 best things we ever bought on Amazon for under $25

DON'T MISS: 21 game-changing products we swear by in our everyday lives

An extra-long lightning cable for charging phones

Anker Powerline Six-foot Lightning Cable, $8.99

We've written quite a lot about this charging cable, with many from the Insider Picks team citing it as one of the best things we've ever bought. There's just something extremely freeing about not being tethered to a short cord while your phone is charging. 



An even more durable extra-long lightning cable for charging phones

Anker Powerline II Six-foot Lightning Cable, $14.99

team-favorite charging cable (mentioned above) gets an upgrade. The Powerline II can sustain more bends and support weights of 175 pounds or more — making it 40% more durable than its predecessor. Anker is pretty confident this charging cable is the only one you need and to prove it you'll get a lifetime warranty on your purchase. 



A clay mask that many swear has healed their acne

Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay Mask, $10.95

Our readers became obsessed with this mask once our reporter, Mara Leighton, wrote her glowing review about how it helped clear up her skin. It's also been making its rounds on social media and across tons of beauty sites, so we're not too surprised that our readers love it. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

These $75 sneakers fold up to the size of a pair of socks and mimic what it's like to be barefoot

0
0

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

Screen Shot 2018 04 24 at 2.09.45 PM

  • Vivobarefoot shoes mimic the natural shape of your foot and provide minimal cushioning for maximum sensory feedback.
  • The pair I tried, the Kanna ($75) are the most useful and versatile shoes I've added to my closet in a long time.
  • The Kanna is stylish, comfortable, breathable, and roll up to the size of a pair of socks so I can carry them in my purse or crowded carry-on.
  • You can find them at Vivobarefoot.com or Zappos

Let me begin by saying that I have never been one to proselytize shoes that look like gloves for your feet. I am no convert. And while I do prefer going barefoot, the surprise-ridden sidewalks of NYC have completely tampered the impulse. 

Having said that, clunky sneakers and boots make walking in the city a tiring, sweaty affair. So when Vivobarefoot sent a pair of their new sneakers — the vegan Kannas, ($125)— to try out, I was excited by the prospect to potentially discover the same fervor those glove-shoe missionaries seem to have.

After a month of using them multiple times a week, I can honestly say I rely on these shoes more than any other pair in my closet. Their versatility is unprecedented for me. I’ll get into the nitty gritty below, but they deliver on packability, versatility, style, comfort, and a lightweight construction I am consistently impressed by. They are extremely minimal (meaning minimal cushioning), but the trade-off is worth it.

Screen Shot 2018 04 24 at 2.03.11 PMVivobarefoot is a pretty recognizable name in minimalist, almost-barefoot footwear. According to the company, the human foot is a biomechanical masterpiece that can cope with more than we ask it to nowadays: “by cramming it into a modern shoe, you negate its natural function.” Your feet have 200,000 nerves in them — the same as your hands. By loading up on padding, you muffle the sensory feedback your brain would otherwise receive, resulting in clumsier, less skillful movement.

It reminds me of the logic oft-repeated in my sports of choice — kickboxing and yoga. Participants are asked not to wear shoes so that they can more actively and fluidly engage all parts of their body — through sensory feedback, and by more literally building flexibility and strength in every muscle group — all the way down to your toes.

Vivobarefoot shoes are made from thin, puncture-resistant soles with no heel or support. In theory, they allow your 200,000 nerves to better provide your brain with the sensory feedback that enables you to move with greater agility and skill. Or, if you aren't planning to use them for added agility, it's as close in weight and breathability to wearing nothing as you can get without being poked by sidewalk glass. 

Vivo shoes are also purposefully wide. Wide shoes allow your toes (especially your big toes) to provide a stable base of support. This “foot shaped” design enables your feet to move closer to how nature intended — whether you’re clambering over rocks or pirouetting. This wide shape, though, may come with an adjustment period. I order my typical size 9, but I may have thought they were too big if I hadn’t known what to expect.

I’m not sure what my nana would say about arch support looking at these, but at the moment I’m too happy with the product to care.

Screen Shot 2018 04 24 at 2.18.11 PM

If you’re looking for cushion, you have come to the wrong place. Vivo shoes truly don’t have a heel or sole — which is why they can roll up into a ball to be stuffed in your bag. However, I don’t find them uncomfortable. There was some sensitivity — though nothing drastic by any means —when I ran six miles in them on the treadmill, and after spending a long day of walking around the hard concrete of the city, though. And since we learn "bad" (or, unnatural) posture and gait habits as we grow up, Vivobarefoot recommends ‘walking before you can run’ in their shoes — getting used to the flexibility and unusual muscle engagement before stretching yourself too far.

In fact, the company says that if you plan to stick to jogging (characterized by “long sticky heel-striking strides") the more cushioning the better — and you should stick to what you know and enjoy.

When I did some preliminary research online, I found that there were a decent amount of negative reviews (mostly pertaining to poor customer service, which I myself did not experience) — which surprised me. If you want to mitigate that concern, you might want to do your shopping on Zappos (though the newest iteration, the women's Kanna, is only available at Vivobarefoot so far).

kanna black_6{w=653,h=510}

As I’ve mentioned, I love these shoes. I did not expect to love them, and yet here we are. The black Kanna is stylish and goes with a pair of jean shorts as well as workout leggings, the construction is impressively lightweight and exceedingly breathable, and they pack down to almost nothing (really) — making them ideal for a packed work purse, carry-on, or gym bag on long days.

All in all, if you value breathability, versatility, and packability in your shoes, this is one of your best options. In my experience, Vivobarefoot's Kanna is impressively versatile and delivers on its claims of comfort, breathability, and lightweight construction. The fact that it can be folded up into the size of a pair of socks makes it my go-to for most days that require multiple activities, and even if you don't use them for the added agility they promise, the Vivobarefoot shoes deliver on everyday usefulness like few other pairs in my closet. For $125, they're a great buy if you think you'll use them. 

Shop Vivo shoes at Vivobarefoot or Zappos

Shop Vivobarefoot's Kanna, $75 [currently only available at Vivobarefoot]

SEE ALSO: 10 stylish sneakers to buy that aren't going to sell out in seconds

Join the conversation about this story »

Viewing all 115285 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images