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2 moms started an online kids clothing company that sells colorful, logo-free basics for less than $25

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Insider Picks writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

primary kids clothes

  • Kids clothing startup Primary was founded by two moms who couldn't find a one-stop shop for affordable, high-quality clothing basics. 
  • Its assortment of baby and kids clothes are gender neutral and free of logos, slogans, and excessive patterns. The soft, premium fabrics are Oeko-Tex certified. 
  • Most of its simple, colorful, and durable styles cost under $25, making shopping for clothing stress-free for parents and getting dressed in the morning fun for kids. 
  • Read more: 24 thoughtful gifts for new parents celebrating their first Mother's Day as a family 

Looking back on my wardrobe as a kid, what I remember most was a rainbow explosion of patterns, textures, logos, and sassy slogans. It's what was cheap, trendy, and readily available. But if my mom wanted to buy me simple, long-lasting basics, it was surprisingly difficult to find among the mountains of sequined and character-emblazoned tees. 

Ready to make this search easier and more affordable, moms Christina Carbonell and Galyn Bernard, who met while working at the now-shuttered Quidsi (parent company of Diapers.com), created gender-neutral kids clothing brand Primary in 2015. 

Primary makes basics like bodysuits, tees, leggings, and dresses for babies and kids up to age 12. The majority costs under $25, and styles come in a variety of solid colors. If you're itching for some pattern, the most you'll find are stripes and hearts. 

primary kids clothes 1

See also: A mother of 2 turned her Etsy shop for adorable baby shoes into a "Shark Tank" hit — it's now a multi-million dollar business

In an interview with Bond Street, the founders said, "We're focused on selling perennial styles rather than chasing trends. A business that does trends is expensive."

A business that tries to enter retail the traditional way is also expensive, which is why Primary only sells online. The site is easy to browse by best sellers or category, and you can filter by an assortment of colors reminiscent of your coveted 32-pack of crayons — indeed, the founders have said they're inspired by the simplicity and fun of Crayola.

Another feature meant to last is fabric quality. Primary uses soft, Oeko-Tex Standard 100-certified fabrics that feel comfortable on their skin and can stand up to the multiple washes required of kids clothing. Kids' bodies grow quickly, but Primary's philosophy is that you shouldn't have to sacrifice quality or affordability as they cycle through clothes. Since the same style, be it a long sleeve tunic ($16) or chino shorts ($13), is available in multiple sizes, parents don't have to go through the headache of shopping around, and kids get to continue wearing their favorite outfits. 

With its colorful, timeless options, Primary isn't knocking on expressing individuality. Instead, it says there's a different way to go about it that doesn't involve excess or waste. 

See some of our favorites and Primary's best sellers below, and shop all kids clothing basics at Primary here.

SEE ALSO: Check out all of our Mother's Day 2019 gift guides here

The Babysuit

The Babysuit, $8, available at Primary

Available in 24 colors and sizes 0-24

 



The Baseball Babysuit

The Baseball Babysuit, $10.50, available at Primary

Available in 8 colors and sizes 0-24 



The Baby Legging

The Baby Legging, $9.50, available at Primary

Available in 17 colors and sizes 0-24 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

In our quest to become more well-rounded, we're all missing an important skill that translates to better success, experts agree

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Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall

  • Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall are the authors of "Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader's Guide to the Real World."
  • They write that one of the biggest myths at work is that people should strive to be well-rounded. In reality, every one of us thinks differently, is motivated by different things, responds to relationship cues differently, and gets a kick out of different sorts of praise.
  • Instead, the authors argue, we should all focus first on our strengths and our successes and on what makes us unique, because that's where the greatest advantage lies.
  • Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

In the world that exists inside most of our large organizations — a world understandably preoccupied with the need for order and tidiness — the perfect incumbent of every role possesses all the skills and competencies that can be dreamed up and defined. And although it's rare to hear anyone say it out loud, the implication of this normative approach to work is clear: The best people are well-rounded, and to have more best people, we need to hold everyone up to the model and tell you where you fall short, and then work to close your gaps, to round you out. In this, the theoretical world of work is diametrically at odds with what we see in the real world.

In the real world, these long lists of intricately defined competencies don't exist — and if they did, they wouldn't matter. In the real world, each of us, imperfect as we are, strives to make the most of the unique mix of traits and skills with which we've been blessed. Those of us who do this best — who find what we love about what we do, and cultivate this love with intelligence and discipline — are the ones who contribute most. The best people are not well-rounded, finding fulfillment in their uniform ability. Quite the opposite, in fact — the best people are spiky, and in their lovingly honed spikiness they find their biggest contribution, their fastest growth, and, ultimately, their greatest joy.


The best people are spiky

On some level, we have all long known this. From our earliest memories of school to our most recent experiences of work, the thought that if only I could set this annoying thing aside and focus on what I really want to, then I could make a much bigger difference is all too familiar. But then why do these competency models and their associated 360-degree assessments, feedback tools, and development plans exist? What could have prompted otherwise sensible people to have spent so much time and energy and money building models whose efficacy is intrinsically unprovable, that require enormous amounts of time and energy to create, and that fly in the face of our own experiences in the world?

The simplest answer is that, though we are deeply aware that each of us is unique, and that no amount of training or badgering will remove that uniqueness, it is still quite overwhelming for a busy team leader to allow himself to come face-to-face with the fact that each of his team members thinks differently, is motivated by different things, responds to relationship cues differently, and gets a kick out of different sorts of praise. Who has the time for all these subtle shadings of diversity? Better to just define a model, and then manage to the model.

Nine Lies About Work

For a company, it's all about control. The strong instinct of most corporate leaders, faced with the teeming diversity not just of gender, race, and age but of thought, drive, and relationship inside their organizations, is to look for some way to exert control — to rein it all in, to impose conformity on the chaos, and thence to be able to understand what's going on, and to shape what will happen next. And so companies have spent, and continue to spend, large quantities of time and money trying to work around each person's uniqueness — and this is where these models bubble up from. The models promise rigor — a clear set of characteristics against which everyonecan be measured, a sort of "apples-to-apples" comparison (even though in the real world it is always "apples-to-oranges"). The models promise analytical insights — a way to understand the entire workforce. (It's no accident the systems are known as performance-management systems, as oxymoronic as that sounds.) The models promise fact, evidence, truth. What is the job of an executive if not to know what's going on, in great specificity, and to be able to tweak the dials of the vast enterprise before him so that progress may be made? The creeping suspicion, on the part of more and more leaders, that the models offer none of the things they promise, is an inconvenience to be minimized.

And to be clear, it isn't just the competency models that are dubious but the ideas behind them. There is the idea that improvement comes from repairing our deficits. There is the idea that failure is essential to growth. And there is the idea that our strengths are something to be afraid of.

The presence of strength

What's most striking when we look at excellent performance is not the absence of deficit but, rather, the presence of a few signature strengths, honed over time and put to ever greater use. But still the idea of fixing deficits appeals to us — it gives us the hope that we might corral, and thus tame, our imperfections, and it allows us to make amends for our shortcomings by toiling to fix them. And the fact that this toil is usually far from joyful is part of the allure. "Pain + Reflection = Progress" is the mantra at Bridgewater, the hedge fund run by Ray Dalio, and in some way we thrill to the hard clarity of this prescription. The pain of working on our deficits seems like a worthy pain, a way to pay our penance and make our restitution with the world, and we are drawn to its salutary austerity.

And the idea that failure is important is attractive, in turn, because failure helps us understand our deficits — it helps us find more of them. If a technology company today is not talking about failing fast, there is presumed to be something wrong with it. "There is no way to 'get better' other than to first do it, however poorly you do," says Charlie Kim, CEO of Next Jump, and this makes perfect sense. But then the false syllogism: "So get started; go out and fail! We have become good at getting better because we are so good at failing." Beyond the obvious point — that if all a company did was to become brilliant at failing in more and more ways, faster and faster, it would be, well, a failure — the truth is that large success is the aggregation of small successes, and that therefore improvement consists of finding out, in each trial, what works, seizing hold of it, and figuring out how to make more of it. Failure by itself doesn't teach us anything about success, just as our deficits by themselves don't teach us anything about our strengths. And the moment we begin to get better is the moment when something actually works, not when it doesn't.

And then there is the idea that our strengths are to be feared — that we should avoid overusing them because that will somehow pull us away from our proper focus on failure and shortcomings, and instead pull us toward laziness and complacency. Of course, if we were able to watch a great athlete training, or a great writer writing, or a great coder coding, we would see that honing a strength is hard work — it is by no means easy to find that incremental margin of performance when you are already operating at a high level — and that a strength is not where we are most "finished" but in fact where we are most productively challenged. Yet we are told to resist the temptation to "just" play to our strengths, and instead to work constantly on our weaknesses. In common parlance, we are told to avoid "running around our backhand." This betrays, perhaps, a misunderstanding of what a strength actually is. It is not, for each of us, where performance is easiest— it is where performance is most impactful and increasing. We would never tell Lionel Messi to try to play with his right foot. We would instead watch as he works, tirelessly, to make his left ever more powerful. And the only reason that "running around your backhand" has become an idiom for avoiding a weakness is that this is exactly what we see great tennis players do, time and time again, whether it's Juan Martín del Potro, Rafael Nadal, or countless others. The phrase describes the act of avoiding a weakness in order to play to a strength, and the lesson from the best is that this leads toward high performance, not away from it.

Read more:My life and career began flourishing once I stopped stressing over these 4 silly hang-ups we all have at work

Yet these are the ideas that competency models, 360-degree assessments, talent reviews, feedback tools, and much more are built on — that what is most important for us is to understand our deficits, embrace failure, and be wary of our strengths. To be clear, we are not, here, making an absolutist argument: we are not saying that there is nothing to be gained from trying to improve our shortcomings, or that we shouldn't try new things for fear of failure. We are, however, arguing for priority, for focusing first, and predominantly, on our strengths and our successes, because that is where the greatest advantage is to be had. And the great shame in all of this is that the very systems that we might hope would be aimed at discovering and unleashing each person's unique talents have, in fact, the effect of inhibiting those talents, and denying what makes each one of us unique. They don't, in the end, help performance. They hinder it.

Excerpted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press from NINE LIES ABOUT WORK: A Freethinking Leader's Guide to the Real World by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall. Copyright 2019 One Thing Productions Inc. and Ashley Goodall. All rights reserved.

Marcus Buckingham is a NYT bestselling author and head of People and Performance research at the ADP Research Institute. Ashley Goodall is SVP of Leadership and Team Intelligence at Cisco.




SEE ALSO: Richard Branson on the 'million-dollar lesson they don’t teach in business school' — plus 12 more secrets from highly successful people

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31 gifts that remind us why Nordstrom is a great place to shop for Mother’s Day

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Insider Picks writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider, Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

nordstrom mothers day gifts 21

  • Nordstrom is one of our favorite places to shop quality brands all year long, so it's no surprise we specifically do our Mother's Day shopping there as well. 
  • These 31 thoughtful gifts span across clothing, shoes, jewelry, tech, beauty, and home departments, so you'll be able to find something that fits her needs and interests. 

If you asked us why we love shopping at Nordstrom, we wouldn't even know where to begin.

Maybe it's the curated selection of top brands across clothing, home, and beauty, or the unique, limited-time collaborations with celebrities, influencers, and top designers. Perhaps we really enjoy the great customer service, on top of perks like free shipping all year round, in-store tailoring, and its free rewards program.

For all these reasons, we go to Nordstrom first when it's time to shop for Mother's Day gifts. It only carries the best brands, so it's hard to mess up while shopping here, but if we had to narrow down the selection to only a few dozen, these are the gifts we would choose.

Find more Mother's Day gift ideas below, including store- and budget-specific guides: 

A premium neoprene carryall

Gift the Dagne Dover Large Landon Neoprene Carryall Duffel Bag, $185

It's the weekend and gym duffel bag that can also comfortably hold a large laptop, two water bottles (tucked into their own perfectly sized pockets, of course), and other everyday essentials — while straddling the delicate balance between casual and sleek. It comes in 11 eye-catching colors. 



A pretty travel set

Gift the Ban.do Flower Shop Eye Mask & Neck Pillow Travel Set, $42

Being stuck on a long flight or bus ride is a little less torturous with this soft eye mask and supportive neck pillow on hand. 



A luxury candle

Gift the Byredo Bibliotheque Candle, $85

If there's any time to splurge on and treat your mom, it's Mother's Day. This sophisticated,  clean-burning Byredo candle fills the room with a simultaneously fruity and woodsy scent. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The US government has grounded the Cirrus VisionJet — the cheapest private jet in the world — because of defective sensors that are 'potentially fatal'

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Cirrus Vision Jet 7

  • The FAA has grounded the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet.
  • The agency issued an emergency airworthiness directive (EAD) on Thursday that orders the immediate replacement of the plane's angle of attack (AOA) sensors before it can fly again.
  • The grounding is in response to three incidents between November 2018 and this month in which the Vision Jet's anti-stall protection system and electronic stability system engaged "when not appropriate."
  • The Cirrus Vision Jet is a revolutionary single-engine, carbon composite private jet that entered production in late 2016.
  • At around $2 million, the Vision Jet is the most affordable new private jet on the market.
  • Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

The US Federal Aviation Administration has grounded the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet. The agency issued an emergency airworthiness directive (EAD) on Thursday that orders the immediate replacement of the plane's angle of attack (AOA) sensors before it can fly again.

There are a total of 99 Vision Jets in the US fleet. 

According to the FAA, the grounding is in response to three incidents between November 2018 and this month in which the Vision Jet's anti-stall protection system and electronic stability system engaged "when not appropriate."

Read more: Boeing can't deliver the 737 Max to customers, and now the planes are clogging up its storage lots.

The agency noted that in each incident, the plane attempted to automatically pitch the nose of the plane downward while alerting the pilot of an impending stall. Fortunately, the pilots in each incident were able to stop the automatic commands by following emergency procedure. Each of the pilots was able to land safely. 

Cirrus Vision Jet 15Cirrus, which reported the incidents to the FAA, was not immediately available for comment.

The control issue has been attributed to a production defect in the jet's AOA sensor. As a result, the sensor can give faulty readings that may result in, "unintended automatic flight control activations; the flight crew having difficulty controlling the airplane; excessive nose-down attitude; and/or possible impact with terrain," the FAA said. 

As a result, the AOA sensors on all Vision Jet must be replaced with an improved non-defective unit before it can fly again.

Cirrus Vision Jet Air to Air   Two Jet"The noted condition presents an immediate danger to pilots and passengers of Cirrus Design Corporation Model SF50 airplanes because an uncommanded pitch down may be difficult to recover from in some flight regimes with potentially fatal consequences," the FAA said in the directive.

In a statement to Business Insider, an FAA spokesperson said:

"The FAA has issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive that requires immediate corrective action before further flight on the Cirrus 50 business jet. The agency acted after receiving reports of a problem with the Cirrus 50 Electronic Stability & Protection System (ESP) caused by faulty angle-of-attack (AOA) sensors. There are 99 aircraft in the U.S. fleet. No accidents resulting from this problem have occurred. Cirrus has developed an FAA-approved corrective action and revised emergency procedures in the airplane flight manual. This problem involves different AOA sensors from those used on the Boeing 737 MAX. The Cirrus ESP system is unrelated to the 737 MAX Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System. The ESP assists the pilots but does not take control and can be overridden with control inputs."

The Cirrus Vision Jet is a revolutionary single-engine, carbon composite private jet that entered production in late 2016. At around $2 million, the Vision Jet is the most affordable new private jet on the market and has been praised for its performance and ease of use.

SEE ALSO: Jet Airways is on the brink of collapse. Here are 5 airlines that have gone bust since October.

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People aren't buying the iconic, sprawling mansions in one of America's richest cities, a haven for Wall Street types an hour from NYC. I spent a day there — here's what it was like.

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greenwich ct

On an unseasonably cold March morning, I got on the Metro North from Grand Central Terminal in New York. My destination: Greenwich, a town on Connecticut's coast about an hour from the city.

Greenwich is consistently ranked as one of the richest towns in America. In 2018, the average household income in its Old Greenwich neighborhood was $336,692, the 12th highest in the nation, according to Bloomberg.

The year before, two Greenwich ZIP codes— 06878 in Riverside and 06831 in Greenwich — ranked among the wealthiest in the US.

It's been known as a wealthy enclave for years.

"For more than a century, Greenwich, Connecticut, has attracted some of the biggest, newest, shiniest fortunes in America," Nina Munk wrote in Vanity Fair in 2006. "Today that money comes from the trillion-dollar hedge-fund business, which occupies a third of the town's office space, and whose managers are behind a decade of over-the-top real-estate deals, teardowns, and mega-mansions."

But people are no longer buying Greenwich's iconic mansions at the same rate they used to, Bloomberg reported. Buyers are moving more toward smaller condos, leaving many larger homes sitting on the market. Single-family home sales dropped 25% in the first quarter of 2019, according to Bloomberg.

Greenwich's "hedge fund capital" nickname is well-earned: The city is also home to hedge funds including AQR Capital Management, Viking Global Investors, K7 Investments, and Axiom Investors.

Robin Kencel, a real-estate broker at Compass and one of the founding agents of the Greenwich office, said that about half of her buyers work in finance.

"The others are entrepreneurs, they work for corporations, they're in the entertainment business," Kencel told me. "Finance is still very important to Greenwich, but I think you'll find it's much more diversified in terms of occupations than when people were first coming out in the turn of the century and the trains came out and it was the summer homes for finance folks."

Kencel said she gets about 45% of her sales from Manhattan. Buyers from the city are "always surprised how quick it is to get here," she said.

I took the train out to Greenwich for a day to get a feel for the affluent community. Here's what it was like.

SEE ALSO: Inside the most expensive town in America, where tech moguls live in multimillion-dollar mansions and the average household income is over $450,000

DON'T MISS: See inside the secretive Seattle suburb that's home to Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, where streets are lined with opulent waterfront mansions behind tall gates and security cameras

My day began at Grand Central Terminal in New York City.



I got on a Metro North train toward Stamford, Connecticut, which would stop in Greenwich in under an hour. The train was fairly empty, but I imagined the train from Greenwich to New York City at the same time of day would be full of people commuting into the city.



My peaceful train ride lasted a little less than an hour. I got off the train at the Greenwich station.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

How to right click on a Mac computer in three different ways

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apple imac 2019

  • The right click function can be used to bring up menus, to give options to open, duplicate, or delete a file, or to customize the view of your Mac desktop.
  • Mac users can right click in a number of ways, using their keyboard and trackpad in tandem, or by using specific tapping patterns on the trackboard itself.
  • An external mouse can make right clicking on a Mac even easier.
  • Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

When the first Apple computer that used a mouse came out, a feature common to PC hardware was conspicuously absent: a right click button. While today your Macbook Pro or Air will work seamlessly with just about any mouse you connect, for a while, the struggle to right click was real.

Right clicking on a computer is useful for many reasons. When you right click on a Mac's desktop, you'll see the option to create a new folder, change your view settings, and more.

Right clicking on a document, image, or other file allows for easy copying, moving, renaming, or even deletion. And when you right click on a link, you can choose to open it then and there, to open it in a new tab or new window, to copy the link, and so on.

How to to right click on a Mac computer

1. Use a mouse with a right click button.

Surely the easiest solution, you can simply connect a mouse that has a right click button built in. Whether wired or wireless and connected by USB dongle, a newer Mac will instantly recognize just about any mouse on the market and will respond when you click that right side button.

Screen Shot 2019 04 12 at 12.50.12 PM

2. Hold the "control" button as you click.

On a Mac, the control button is indeed the one that says "control." It's placed differently than the CTRL button is on most keyboards designed for a PC, so note which is which before you get to clicking. While the control button is held, you can use the left button — or the only button, as the case may be — on your mouse as a right click, or you can tap on the trackpad.

3. Use two fingers on the trackpad

When you tap your Mac's trackpad with two fingers spaced within an inch or so of one another, the result will be a right click. If your computer isn't recognizing your two finger tap, then check your trackpad's settings in your System Preferences.

Screen Shot 2019 04 12 at 1.09.57 PM

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

SEE ALSO: How to AirDrop files from a Mac computer to other Apple devices

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The Coway Mighty Air Purifier is one of our favorite air purifiers, and it’s on sale for nearly $70 off right now

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Insider Picks writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

cowayap

  • A lot of the indoor air we're breathing is filled with irritant particles from sources like paint, cleaning supplies, cigarette smoke, pet dander, pollen, mold, and many more.
  • An air purifier is a safe and simple way to cleanse the indoor air around you by filtering out nasty pollutants that can cause allergies, headaches, and other health issues. 
  • Right now, you can save 30% and get the Coway AP-1515HH Mighty Air Purifier for $161.99 (originally $229.99) at Amazon

Spring is in the air — and with it comes an increase in pollen, mold, and other common allergens. If you have seasonal allergies, you're probably stocking up on some quick fixes for dreaded itchy eyes, runny noses, and scratchy throats.

You can't control the environment and just rid outdoor air of allergens, pollutants, and irritants. But there is some air you actually can control — the indoor air inside your home. 

While your home serves as a refuge from most of the risks posed by the outside world, it still hosts plenty of irritants like bacteria, viruses, pollen, pet dander, and fumes from cleaning supplies. Evidence has suggested that most indoor air is actually more polluted than outdoor air, according to The Environmental Protection Agency

An air purifier removes most of the pollutants from your indoor air, ultimately leaving you with fresher, cleaner air. 

If you're in the market, the Coway AP-1515HH Mighty Air Purifier is a great option. It's effective, efficient, and "the most affordable purifier of its abilities," according to Wirecutter, which chose this product as the best air purifier out there. Right now, you can save $68 on Coway's Mighty Air Purifier at Amazon and snag the product for just $161.99.

We recently swapped the Coway Mighty out for Coway's newer model, the Airmega 200M, as our top pick for best air purifiers. Still, the Coway Mighty is a great product and at this price, a really great deal. Here's what you need to know about the purifier. 

Designed for medium-sized spaces like small apartments or living rooms, the Coway Mighty works for areas up to 361 square feet. It's a small, portable device that uses a four-stage filtration system to reduce up to 99.97% of particle pollution. The pollution sensor — a bright LED on the device — shows you real-time cleaning status, so you can gauge your indoor air quality at any time. There's also a filter replacement indicator, which will alert you when it's time to change the filters. 

Some other helpful features are the timer, which lets you schedule how long you'd like the purifier to operate (either one, four, eight, or 12 hours), and the three different fan speeds, which you can adjust based on your preference and purification needs. 

After testing the Coway AP-1515HH with new and old filters, Wirecutter found that year-old filters, which had been used 24/7, still cleaned the air just as well as brand-new filters. Ultimately, it's this combination of effectiveness and long-term performance that make the air purifier a worthy investment, especially at such a great price.

Save $68 and get the Coway AP-1515HH Mighty Air Purifier for just $161.99 at Amazon

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Mueller revealed why he didn't charge Trump with obstruction, and it directly contradicts what Barr told the public

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William Barr Rod Rosenstein

When Attorney General William Barr offered his "principal conclusions" on the special counsel Robert Mueller's report in the Russia investigation, he listed specific reasons why Mueller did not make a "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice:

  • Barr said Mueller's report did not conclude if Trump obstructed justice because of "'difficult issues' of law and fact" about whether Trump's actions and intent could amount to obstruction.
  • Instead of making a decision, Barr said, Mueller laid out "evidence on both sides of the question."
  • Barr said a 1973 decision by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), which said a sitting president cannot be indicted, did not factor into Mueller's decision not to accuse Trump of obstruction.
  • "The Special Counsel states that 'while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,'" Barr said.

Barr said he relied on Mueller's evidence and ultimately concluded the president was not guilty of obstruction.

The Justice Department released a lightly redacted version of Mueller's report on Thursday.

The report stood in sharp contrast to nearly all of Barr's claims about Mueller's findings related to obstruction. It also raised new questions about what led Barr to conclude there was no obstruction, despite evidence to the contrary.

Mueller's report directly contradicted Barr's claims on obstruction on these key points:

SEE ALSO: 'Total bulls---': Trump takes aim at former White House counsel Don McGahn while ripping into the Mueller report

Barr said Mueller didn't make a decision on obstruction because of "'difficult issues' of law and fact" about whether Trump's actions were criminal.

What the Mueller report said: The report does mention that prosecutors faced "difficult issues" while investigating Trump for obstruction.

But Barr's characterization of what they were referring to is misleading.

Barr implied Mueller's team collected a certain amount of evidence in the obstruction case, but that they were unable to determine whether that evidence rose to the level of obstruction.

In their report, prosecutors wrote, "The evidence we obtained about the President's actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred."

In other words, prosecutors appear to be saying that if they could, they would conclude Trump did not engage in criminal wrongdoing. But they couldn't do so because the evidence they collected led them to believe otherwise.



Barr said Mueller laid out evidence "on both sides" of the obstruction issue.

What the Mueller report said: Prosecutors listed 11 events that could potentially amount to obstruction of justice, outlined below:

  • "The Campaign's response to reports about Russian support for Trump."
  • "Conduct involving FBI Director Comey and Michael Flynn."
  • "The President's reaction to the continuing Russia investigation."
  • "The President's termination of Comey."
  • "The appointment of a Special Counsel and efforts to remove him."
  • "Efforts to curtail the Special Counsel's investigation."
  • "Efforts to prevent public disclosure of evidence."
  • "Further efforts to have the Attorney General take control of the investigation."
  • "Efforts to have McGahn deny that the President had ordered him to have the Special Counsel removed."
  • "Conduct towards Flynn, Manafort, [REDACTED]."
  • "Conduct involving Michael Cohen."

For each event, prosecutors painted a detailed picture of the president's repeated efforts to hamper the investigation through multiple avenues.

That included Trump's decision to fire Comey and the motives behind it; his attempts to engineer Mueller's ouster; his efforts to get investigators to publicly exonerate him; his attempts to conceal his financial interests in Russia while Congress was probing the issue; his anger toward Jeff Sessions for recusing himself; his attempts to shield associates like Flynn and Manafort from investigative scrutiny; and more.

According to US law, in order to establish an obstruction offense, the following criteria need to be met:

  • An individual has corrupt intent.
  • They engaged in obstructive conduct.
  • That conduct was connected to a "pending or contemplated proceeding."

In several instances, prosecutors outlined conduct that appears to meet those criteria, most notably involving Trump's conversations with the former White House counsel Don McGahn and his attempts to get McGahn to remove Mueller as special counsel.

But prosecutors provided little, if any, mitigating information pointing to Trump's innocence.

In fact, they emphasized, "If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment."



Barr said the OLC's 1973 decision did not impact Mueller's choice not to conclude whether Trump obstructed justice.

What the Mueller report said: When laying out why they chose not to make a conclusion on obstruction, the first thing prosecutors mentioned was the OLC decision.

The OLC found that "the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions," the report said.

"Given the role of the Special Counsel as an attorney in the Department of Justice and the framework of the Special Counsel regulations ... this Office accepted OLC's legal conclusion for the purpose of exercising prosecutorial jurisdiction," prosecutors concluded.



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How to delete photos from an iPad, with an easy method for deleting all of your photos at once

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ipad mini

  • Photos and videos can take up a lot of space on an iPad, so deleting any such files you have backed up elsewhere or don't want anymore is a good way to free up storage for other data.
  • You can delete individual photo or video files off an iPad in two ways, and both take only about two seconds to complete the process.
  • It's also possible to delete huge batches of photos and videos at the same time by using the Select function, tapping one file, then gently swiping up or down to the bottom of the screen.
  • Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

These days, rather than waiting for the perfect shot before hitting the shutter button, most people snap a dozen pictures a second and hope at least one of the photos they capture comes out OK. There are two problems with storing hundreds or even thousands of photos or video clips on your iPad, though.

First, it's hard to comb through so many files in search of pictures or videos you actually want. Second, all those image files add up, taking lots of space that could otherwise be used for apps.

How to delete images or videos from an iPad

The easiest way to delete a picture or video clip on an iPad is to bring up the picture itself, then tap the trash can icon. A window will pop up with the words "Delete Photo" in red. Tap that, and the photo (or video) will be deleted.

And if you change your mind at the last minute, just tap anywhere but on the words "Delete Photo."

IMG_3700

You can also go to an album or to All Photos to remove one photo or video or to delete or multiple image files at the same time. Hit the word "Select" at the top of the screen, then tap the one, two, ten, or more files you want to remove.

Next, hit the trash can icon and then hit the red words.

How to delete all of your photos and videos from an iPad at once

If you want to delete a huge batch of photos at once, you can tap select, then gently swipe your finger across a swath of files. Try sliding across a row and then swiping up if you want to take out an entire album or even all your image files from All Photos.

One last note: most iPads have a Recently Deleted stash under "Other Albums." Make sure to delete images from there if you're sure you want them gone forever, or go there within 30 days if you want your deleted file back.

IMG_3703

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

SEE ALSO: The best tablets you can buy

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NOW WATCH: Wearable and foldable phones are shaking up tech, making 2019 the year of weird phones

Allen Edmonds is celebrating its 97th anniversary with a big sale — save up to 40% on dress shoes, accessories, and more

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  • Allen Edmonds is having a huge sale with up to 40% off dress shoes, boots, sneakers, clothes, and accessories.
  • As the brand's biggest sale of the season, you can save up to $175 on shoes.
  • Prices are as marked, so there's no need to use a promo code to save.

For the better part of a century, Allen Edmonds has been handcrafting dress shoes on the shores of Lake Michigan and it's one of the last shoe manufacturers to produce a majority of its shoes in the US. By using premium materials and artisan-level craftsmanship, the brand makes some of the highest-quality shoes you can buy.

This month, Allen Edmonds is celebrating its 97th year of being in business with a sitewide anniversary sale. For a limited time, you can save up to $175 on footwear. While shoes are the core of the brand — and this sale — you shouldn't overlook the other deals. You can also save up to 40% on belts, briefcases, wallets, dress shirts, khakis, jeans, socks, and more. Everything is on sale. 

As Allen Edmonds' biggest sale of the season, you likely won't be able to get deals this good until Black Friday. If you're looking for premium, made in-US menswear at affordable prices, this is where you'll want to shop. 

Shop the Allen Edmonds anniversary sale now

Fifth Avenue Cap Toe Oxford

Fifth Avenue Cap Toe Oxford, available in six colors, $249 (Originally $395) [You save $146]

As Allen Edmonds' best-selling dress shoe, the Fifth Avenue Cap Toe has a timeless design you can't go wrong with.



Maxfield Tassel Loafer

Maxfield Tassel Loafer, available in two colors, $205 (Originally $275) [You save $70]

Handcrafted in the Dominican Republic, the Maxfield Tassel Loafer may not have the made-in-USA stamp, but its quality is up to par. The classic loafer design can be worn casually or formally. 

 



Strand Weave Cap-toe Oxford

Strand Weave Cap-toe Oxford, available in three colors, $335 (Originally $395) [You save $60]

Featuring a unique woven upper and brogue toe design, the Strand is a great choice for men looking for something with a bit more character.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Here's the breakdown of how Microsoft managers earn their cash bonuses, according to an internal post by an HR exec (MSFT)

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Satya Nadella

  • As some employees inside Microsoft decry the company's diversity efforts, they claim that managers have financial incentives tied to diversity.
  • This, it turns out, is true, according to a post that explains how Microsoft managers earn bonuses by the HR exec in charge of that program.
  • It is not true that they have a diversity hiring quota, though, and the amount of bonus money tied to diversity is far smaller than that tied to other goals, like their hitting financial metrics.
  • Read the full internal post on Microsoft's bonus program below.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Some Microsoft employees are currently embroiled in a heated internal debate over the company's efforts to hire more women, minorities and other people from under-represented groups.

This discussion has led to an all-too-predictable outcry from those upset by these efforts to bring people from different backgrounds, into tech.

While the people arguing against diversity represent only a small portion of the company's 150,000 person workforce, executive leadership are taking the conversation seriously, and even jumping into some online discussions and responding.

For instance, one allegation has been that managers have financial incentives tied to diversity hiring. This, it turns out, is true, in a general sense.

Kristen DimlowAll managers are "accountable for building diverse and inclusive teams," according to a January post by human resources corporate vice president Kristen Dimlow on Yammer, Microsoft's internal chat system.

But what's not true is the idea that managers have quotas for hiring people based on gender or race.

Dimlow broke down Microsoft managers' bonus incentives — referred to as the "Total Rewards compensation system" — in her post, shared with Business Insider and published in full below.

She explains that cash bonuses are based on performance, with half of the bonus tied to meeting financial targets.

The other half of managers' bonuses are tied to goals in three categories: "product and strategy; customers and stakeholders; and culture and organizational leadership," Dimlow says in the post.

It's that last part, which is one-third of one-half the bonus, or 16% of the total bonus, that includes goals for diversity, among other cultural goals. 

But the diversity goals do "not set hiring quotas, or any have diversity-related hiring mandates," she said.

And, while we're on the subject, it's worth pointing out that the notion that a marginalized person who gets a job or promotion was "given" it because of their affiliation, and not because of their ability, is an age-old, anti-affirmative action trope. In reality, the person getting that job or promotion has often worked even harder than other candidates who didn't have to contend with resistance from their peers and other barriers.

The internal conversation at Microsoft ultimately led to an all hands email earlier this week in which CEO Satya Nadella outlined new tools and training for managers on diversity. He also promised to publish internally, as of 2020, statistics on "the kinds of concerns being raised, how often we find a violation and the types of discipline we imposed."

Here is  Dimlow's full post from January on how Microsoft managers are compensated: 

I lead Total Rewards here at Microsoft, which includes supporting the board of directors in administering executive compensation. Before I provide a little more context that may (or may not) be helpful to this thread, let me first say that I'm glad we all work for a company where we can have this kind of vigorous discussion.

Let me also make clear that we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.

I hope we can all agree that building a more diverse, inclusive organization overall – one comprised of talented people of all backgrounds who each have a set of perspectives that, together, help us better understand the world we seek to serve – is not only a good thing, it is a cultural imperative. We are doing this in a number of "upstream" ways by looking at non-traditional sources for candidates, including among others, in our retail stores and through apprenticeships, creating diverse interview panels, writing better job descriptions, offering training for employees and managers, and building a more inclusive environment that makes people want to stay once they come to work for us.

Ultimately, when we make a hiring decision, we select the most qualified person for the job. And to make smart decisions, we want to make sure we have a strong line of sight into the potential candidates out there. We do not have all the answers, but we're committed to learning and improving every day.

As it relates to executive compensation specifically, this is connected to leaders actively supporting an inclusive organizational culture and practices that help build a welcoming, supportive, and positive environment for all people. Our executives participate in an incentive plan that includes annual cash bonuses, which are performance based.

The incentive plan does not set hiring quotas, or any have diversity-related hiring mandates. 50% of the plan is based on achievement of financial targets and 50% is based on performance in three categories: product and strategy; customers and stakeholders; and culture and organizational leadership.

As part of this third category (culture and organizational leadership), leaders are accountable for building diverse and inclusive teams. Our board and executive leadership team believe diverse and inclusive teams are good for business and consistent with our mission and aspire-to culture.

Linking compensation to these aspirations is an important demonstration of executive commitment to something we believe strongly in. It should also be noted that institutional investors, investor advisory groups, customers and our own employees have increasingly high expectations for companies like Microsoft when it comes to social responsibility which includes diversity and inclusion.

We are committed to expanding the ways we identify top talent from all backgrounds, regardless where that talent may come from, what the color of their skin is, or their gender. Building a bigger, more diverse talent pool from which to find and hire employees is central to this mission. Once employees make the decision to come work here, we then need to ensure that they feel invested in and supported, and that they see Microsoft as a place where they can thrive.

I hope this brings additional clarity. For anyone who has specific concerns about discrimination, I would encourage you reach out directly to ... and the Employee Relations Investigations Team at ... Thank you for your passion on this important issue.

SEE ALSO: Mistrust, secret memos, and boardroom drama — inside the chaos at HQ Trivia after its young cofounder's sudden death

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NOW WATCH: Elon Musk sent a $100K Tesla Roadster to space a year ago. It has now traveled farther than any other car in history.

The mother of the YouTube and 23andMe CEOs has a 5-letter catchword for raising successful children and she wrote a book about it (GOOG, GOOGL)

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Palo Alto High School journalism teacher Esther Wojcicki, mother of YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki.

  • Ester Wojcicki — the mother of YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki — has a new book coming out on May 7 about how to raise successful children. 
  • Wojcicki told Fortune in a recent interview that her approach can be applied by business leaders as well, and boils down to the acronym TRICK, which stands for: trust, respect, independence, collaboration, and kindness. 
  • "If you treat employees the same way, if you believe in them and give them an opportunity to perform, then they believe in themselves," Wojcicki told Fortune. 
  • Read the full Fortune interview with Ester Wojcicki here
  • Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

When your children get into a good college or land a fancy job, some people might ask for secrets on how you raised them. But when your kids turn out to be CEOs of some of the most influential and innovative companies in the world — they'll ask you to write a book about it. 

That what happened to Ester Wojcicki — the mother of YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki. 

"So many people were asking me what I did with my daughters and what I did with my students," Wojcicki told Fortune in a recent interview about her new book — "How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results," which is set to be released on May 7. "I thought, Well, if everyone really wants to know how I did it, perhaps it would be easier if I just wrote a book." 

Wojcicki has a third daughter — Janet — who's a professor at the University of California at San Francisco.

Besides raising such high-powered children, Wojcicki also runs Palo Alto High School's storied Media Arts Program, where she's mentored students including Steve Jobs' daughter Lisa Brennan-Jobs and the actor James Franco — who calls Wojcicki his "hero."

Read more: The new biography from Steve Jobs' daughter offers more proof that Silicon Valley is like a small town

So what's her secret? 

Wojcicki told Fortune that most of what she's learned over the years can be summed up by the acronym TRICK, which stands for: trust, respect, independence, collaboration, and kindness. 

She also said that the same principles of TRICK could be applied to business leaders as well. In fact, Wojcicki said Whole Foods CEO John Mackey and other leaders known for "employee empowerment" have shown interest in her methodology. 

"If you treat employees the same way, if you believe in them and give them an opportunity to perform, then they believe in themselves," Wojcicki told Fortune. "It is really crazy, but when someone believes in you, you're willing to take more risks and willing to be more creative."

Read the full Fortune interview with Ester Wojcicki here

SEE ALSO: The career rise of Susan Wojcicki, who rented her garage to Google's founders in 1998 and is now the CEO of YouTube

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NOW WATCH: Watch Google's Stadia video-game-platform event in 5 minutes

About 33% of Americans think the Mueller report implicates Trump

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U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to host participants of the Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride, after the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 18, 2019.  REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

  • About 33% of Americans — and 3 in 5 respondents who have formed an opinion — think the special counsel Robert Mueller's final report in the Russia investigation implicated President Donald Trump, according to a new INSIDER poll.
  • Before the report was released, Attorney General William Barr revealed the investigation did not establish there was a criminal conspiracy between Trump and/or his campaign and anyone associated with the Russian government.
  • Barr said Mueller declined to draw a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, but that as the attorney general, he reviewed Mueller's evidence and determined the president did not commit an obstruction offense.
  • Trumpworld seized on Barr's comments and said they represented a "complete and total exoneration" of the president.
  • But the report paints a much more nuanced picture and, in some cases, directly contradicts what Barr told the public.
  • Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

A third of Americans think the final report in the special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation somewhat or entirely implicates President Donald Trump, according to a new INSIDER poll, a figure 11 percentage points higher than the 22% who believe the Mueller report somewhat or entirely vindicates him.

INSIDER conducted a SurveyMonkey Audience poll with 1,100 respondents beginning at 6 p.m. ET on the day the redacted Mueller report was released in order to gauge initial reactions to the developments. One question asked was "Generally, what best describes your views on the released portion of the Mueller report?"

Given the recency of the report's release, it should come as little surprise that 33% of respondents said that they did not know or that they had not read it yet. Furthermore, of the two-thirds of respondents who had formed an opinion on it, another 14% said they didn't feel strongly either way.

In general, looking only at those respondents who had formed an opinion about whether the report exonerated or implicated the president, three-in-five thought the president was somewhat or entirely implicated and two-in-five thought he was somewhat or entirely vindicated.

Mueller's report landed with a bang on Thursday, marking a dramatic inflection point in the nearly two-year FBI investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Read more:The billionaire leading the charge to impeach Trump is calling on Democrats to get the ball rolling after the Mueller report

The final report caps Mueller's work as special counsel, but as INSIDER as previously reported — and as the report confirmed — there are still dozens of unresolved investigative threads and court cases connected to the Russia investigation.

Still, the Mueller report, which totaled 448 pages, revealed several key pieces of information that shed light on Mueller's findings and potential wrongdoing by the president and those in his orbit.

On the issue of whether there was a Trump-Russia conspiracy, Barr parroted the president, telling reporters at a press conference on Thursday there was no evidence of "collusion" in any of Mueller's inquiries into Russia's interference in the election.

The report did say, as Barr mentioned, that Mueller's investigation did not establish that members of the campaign coordinated with Russia during the election.

But prosecutors prefaced that statement with a significant caveat: "The investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and ... the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts."

William Barr

Barr made no mention of that finding by prosecutors in his initial summary of the report, in a subsequent letter to Congress, during several days of testimony before Congress, or at his Thursday morning news conference.

In the obstruction case, Mueller did not come to a conclusion one way or another and declined to make a "traditional prosecutorial judgment."

Barr told reporters Mueller's decision was not influenced by Justice Department guidelines that state a sitting president cannot be indicted. He said that in fact, Mueller's determination — or lack thereof — was prompted by the inconclusive nature of the evidence prosecutors had collected.

But in his report, Mueller did not cite the nature of, or lack of, evidence as a reason he did not come to a decision on obstruction. He did, however, cite the policy against charging a sitting president.

Read more:Mueller revealed why he didn't charge Trump with obstruction, and it directly contradicts what Barr told the public

Moreover, the special counsel's team said (emphasis ours) that "if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state." The team continued: "Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment."

Unsurprisingly, the assessment about how the president comes off in the report was overwhelmingly driven by the political leanings of the respondent. Of the 296 respondents who identified as very or somewhat liberal 170 (57%) thought the report implicated the president. Of the 236 who identified as very or somewhat conservative, 110 (46%) believed it vindicated the president.

SurveyMonkey Audience polls from a national sample balanced by census data of age and gender. Respondents are incentivized to complete surveys through charitable contributions. Generally speaking, digital polling tends to skew toward people with access to the internet. SurveyMonkey Audience doesn't try to weight its sample based on race or income. Total 1,093 respondents collected from the evening of April 18 through April 19, 2019, a margin of error plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95% confidence level

SEE ALSO: One paragraph in the Mueller report illustrates how selectively Barr quoted the document in his public statements

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NOW WATCH: Paul Manafort faces over 7 years in prison for conspiracy and obstruction. Here's what you need to know about Trump's former campaign chairman.

Serena Williams just sold her 6-bedroom Los Angeles home for $8.1 million — here's a look at the property she owned for 13 years

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Serena Williams just sold her six-bedroom Los Angeles home for $8.1 million, Mansion Global reported.

The tennis superstar had owned the Bel Air house since 2006, when she bought it for $6.62 million. She first put it on the market in October 2017 asking $12 million. Soon after that, Williams picked up a $6.7 million five-bedroom house in Beverly Hills.

The tennis player's former Bel Air home sits on 2.76 acres and comes with an outdoor pool and private hiking trails.

Gregory Piechota and Amit Lalji of Keller Williams Realty held the listing.

Here's a look at the 6,100-square-foot Los Angeles home.

SEE ALSO: Marc Jacobs is selling his NYC townhouse for $16 million. Here's a look inside the glamorous West Village home with a secluded garden courtyard and rooftop terrace

DON'T MISS: Jeff Bezos is reportedly looking to drop $60 million on an NYC apartment, but he already owns 4 condos in the city — look inside the building where he owns $13 million worth of real estate

Tennis superstar Serena Williams just sold her longtime Los Angeles home for $8.1 million.

Source: Mansion Global



The 6,100-square-foot home sits on a leafy street in the affluent Bel-Air neighborhood.

Source: Google Maps



The house is protected with a gate and enclosed by hedges and greenery that make it nearly impossible to see from the road.

Source: Google Maps



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The evolution of brands like Michael Kors and Abercrombie & Fitch explains the downfall of some status symbols, according to a Wharton professor

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abercrombie & fitch

Some status symbols come and go, and it all has to do with how people perceive them.

According to Jonah Berger, marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, we use people's choices as signals of who they are and what they're like. 

"Signals provide an easy shortcut. A way to simplify decision making," he wrote in his book, "Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces That Shape Behavior."

Signals don't just help us make inferences about others, they help us choose things based on who they're associated with — if enough outsiders do something even for functional reasons, it starts to change the meaning of the signal, Berger said.

Read more: The status symbols we buy, wear, and drive make people want to do business with us — but not be our friends

When outsiders adopt a signal, its meaning changes

Consider the two examples Berger explored in his book: Honda's Element and Abercrombie & Fitch.

According to Berger, Honda launched the Element as an attempt to appeal to adventurous 20-somethings — fold-down seats accommodated sports gear and ads displayed young adults engaged in extreme sports. But the Element's space and easy entry also ended up appealing to parents and senior citizens, Berger said.

"Soon the Element stopped signaling hip and started communicating something else," he wrote.

honda element

Meanwhile, Abercrombie & Fitch's black-and-white ads of young models and stores with dim lighting and attractive salespeople projected a certain image, Berger said. But once Mike Sorrentino — "The Situation" — started wearing A&F clothes on Jersey Shore, the company offered to pay him to wear a different brand because his "association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image," according to a 2011 A&F press release.

"If lots of Jersey Shore wannabees started wearing Abercrombie, then the clothes might stop signaling preppy WASP and start signaling something else," Berger wrote. "And if that happened, people who wanted to look like preppy WASPs might abandon the brand."

The message from both Honda and Abercrombie is clear, Berger said: "Want to be like these people? Buy from us. You're not purchasing a product, you're buying a ticket to a certain lifestyle and everything that comes with it. If you like outdoor sports, the Element is the right car for you. If you want to have a hot bod, or date someone who does, wear Abercrombie."

But when outsiders start adopting these signals, this messaging changes.

Read more: 7 unusual status symbols from around the US

A change in a signal's meaning can lead to the downfall of a status symbol

The evolution and potentially, the downfall, of status symbols, can be tied directly to the people who choose to wear or buy them. Once a new type of person starts associating with an established status symbol, the original group is likely to stop flaunting said symbol.

Consider Michael Kors, which was once considered an aspirational brand; a few years ago it "lost its status as one of the coolest brands in the fashion industry," Business Insider previously reported. Thanks to its various brands with different price points, it gained widespread popularity — but to consumers, the label was no longer worth the premium when everyone else had it.

Brands Tommy Hilfiger, Juicy Couture, Jordache, and Coach also went through a similar downfall, according to Business Insider.

As Berger puts it: "People don't just care about whether others are doing something, or how many others are doing it, they also care about who those others are."

SEE ALSO: A rise in discreet wealth is creating a new type of status symbol, and the elite are spending their money on 5 key lifestyle choices to keep up with it

DON'T MISS: 9 unlikely items that have become luxury status symbols among the elite

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A sleep expert explains what happens to your body and brain if you don't get enough sleep


I reviewed Amazon's new waterproof Kindle Paperwhite to see if the upgrade is worth it — and I'd recommend it to anyone

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KIndle Paperwhite 2018.JPG

  • The new Kindle Paperwhite is waterproof, holds thousands of ebooks, and costs just $130, making it the best ebook reader for most people's needs.
  • I read dozens of ebooks on the Kindle Paperwhite to put it to the test, and it's a wonderful reading experience.
  • The small size makes it easy to travel with and it's waterproof enough to take a spill into the bathtub or pool without sustaining damage.
  • If you've been on the fence about ebook readers, this is the one that will push you over the edge and convince you to give ebooks a try. Once you go digital, you never go back.

Amazon's Kindles are the most popular ebook readers by far, and they just keep getting better. For years, Kindles stayed largely the same: They were essentially 6-inch tablets with black-and-white E Ink screens encased in chubby, black plastic borders.

The first Kindle Oasis shook things up with its slim, sleek design, and the second-generation Oasis did one better by being the first "waterproof" Kindle ever made. For ebook lovers everywhere, a Kindle that was water resistant enough to survive a two-hour dunk in a tub of water was a prayer finally answered.

There was just one problem: The price.

The Kindle Oasis cost $250 while the Kindle Paperwhite cost $130, and the entry-level Kindle cost just $80. Although a waterproof Kindle was nice to have, a lot of people balked at the big price jump.

Amazon seems to have heard the protests of Kindle owners everywhere, and in 2018, the company answered with the water-resistant Kindle Paperwhite.

I've tested many Kindles and ebook readers over my past six years as a tech-product reviewer, including the $80 Kindle, the older Paperwhite, the high-end Oasis, and several ebook readers from Kobo, Amazon's main competitor in the space. Although I'm a firm believer that the Oasis is actually worth its high price and it's my ebook reader of choice, I know not everyone has that kind of money to spend on an ebook reader.

I've been testing the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite for several months, and I can confidently say that it's the best Kindle for your money, and arguably the best ebook reader as well.

Here's my full review.

Finally — a water-resistant Kindle you can take to the beach

Let's start with the design and key specs.

The biggest improvement to the new Kindle Paperwhite is that it is finally water resistant. Thanks to its IPX68 water-resistance rating, you can drop this Kindle in fresh water for up to 30 minutes without destroying your ebook reader. That means you can finally take it to the beach, pool, or bath and read in peace.

The 2018 Paperwhite has the same 6-inch E Ink screen in black and white as the previous version. The text looks crisp and clear, thanks to the sharp resolution of 300 pixels per inch. Like all other Kindles, it has fairly chunky black bezels and a nice grippy feel to it. There are no page-turning buttons, so all you have is the power button and Micro-USB charging port.

The ebook reader also has a built-in backlight so you can read in the dark without turning a light on. I find this feature especially useful when I'm reading at night, because I don't have to worry about disturbing my partner. It's also great for reading on flights when they turn off the overhead lights. The backlight is the reason I've never really liked the basic, entry-level Kindle — its lack of a backlight means no reading in the dark, which makes it more or less like a physical book.

Beyond the screen, the most important specs are battery life and storage, and the Paperwhite has both — in spades.

With the 8GB model, you can have thousands of ebooks on your Kindle, so most people won't even need the 32GB version. You can also connect the Paperwhite to a pair of wireless headphones or a wireless speaker and listen to Audible audiobooks, thanks to its new Bluetooth connectivity.

As for the battery, if you read half an hour a day with wireless off and the light setting at 13, the battery should last for six weeks. In testing, I found Amazon's battery-life claim to be entirely accurate. The Paperwhite's battery lasts a long time with normal use, and I've rarely had to charge it.

If you jack up the brightness or read more hours a day, battery life gets shorter, of course. If you don't turn the Wi-Fi off by hitting the little Airplane icon, you will lose battery much faster and have to recharge sooner, so definitely turn Airplane mode on whenever you're not browsing for ebooks to buy on the Kindle store or downloading new ebooks.

The Bluetooth feature will also drain the battery because it requires Airplane mode to be turned off so your Kindle can connect to headphones or the speaker, so if you're listening to audiobooks with your Kindle, you'll have to charge it more often.

Kindle Paperwhite 2018 open cover on table.JPG

Here are all the specs and dimensions

  • Screen: 6-inch E Ink Carta, built-in light, 300ppi, optimized font technology, 16-level gray scale
  • Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.6 x 0.3 inches (167 x 116 x 8.18 mm)
  • Weight: 6.4 ounces (Wi-Fi) or 6.8 oz (LTE version)
  • Storage: 8 GB or 32 GB — holds thousands of books
  • Battery Life: 6 weeks, based on a half hour of reading per day with wireless off and the light setting at 13
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi with LTE; Bluetooth
  • Supported ebook formats: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, PMP through conversion; Audible audio format (AAX)
  • Waterproofing: IPX8 water resistance rating, can withstand immersion in 2 meters of fresh water for 60 minutes

What it's like to read on the Kindle Paperwhite

I never thought that I'd enjoy reading on an ebook reader. I was completely a physical paper book person until I became a tech reporter and found myself traveling all the time and always running out of room for books in my carry-on bag. I started reviewing ebook readers, and I simply fell in love.

The ebook reader that converted me was the Kindle Oasis, mainly because of its page-turning buttons and slim design, which make it easy to hold and read one-handed. It's still my go-to ebook reader, but the new Kindle Paperwhite is the one I'd recommend to most people. I fully admit that the $250 price tag of the Oasis is too much for most people, and the Paperwhite has nearly all the same features for just $130.

Although I miss the page-turning buttons, the Paperwhite makes it a pleasure to read. It's comfortable to hold, thanks to its thicker, rubbery bezels and grippy plastic back. Turning pages is easy with a simple tap of my finger, and I can easily adjust the brightness, font, and text size to suit my preferences. I also love to highlight quotations from the books I'm reading and share them on Goodreads, the social network for readers, which is built right into the all Kindles.

Because I already use a Kindle, all my ebooks from my Amazon account automatically appeared on the Paperwhite when I signed in with my email address. I then chose which ones to download, waited for them to finish, and then turned on Airplane mode to save battery.

Amazon has tons of ebooks available, so you should be able to find most titles easily. If you want to get deals on ebooks, you can subscribe to BookBub, a free service that sends you a daily email with ebook deals and discounts.

You can also get a lot of ebooks for free from a variety fo sources. Prime subscribers can read a selection of ebooks for free with Prime Reading, and anyone can browse all the free Kindle ebooks on Amazon or check out Project Gutenberg's collection of free classics.

I also like to get ebooks from my local library, which is super easy to do with the Libby or Overdrive apps. You simply sign into your library with your card number and PIN and search for Amazon-friendly ebooks that are available to borrow. When you go to borrow the ebook, you can ask it to send to your Kindle once you sign in with your Amazon account. The next time you connect to Wi-Fi with the Kindle, the library ebook will download.

You can learn how to get library ebooks on your Kindle and other great tips and tricks in my full guide to how to use a Kindle.

Kindle Paperwhite 2018 open table.JPG

The bottom line

Amazon's new Kindle Paperwhite still has many of the same specifications as older Kindle Paperwhite ebook readers. The biggest changes come from the addition of waterproofing, which allows you to safely take your Kindle to the beach or in the bath without worrying about it getting wet; and Bluetooth technology, which allows you to listen to Audible ebooks when you pair your Kindle with Bluetooth headphones or a speaker. 

Both of these changes are very welcome and make the new Paperwhite a worthwhile upgrade for those of you who have older Kindles from several years ago. It's also the most fully-featured Kindle you can buy for $130, though if you want to get a slimmer design and the benefit of page-turning buttons, you'll have to spend $120 more to get the Kindle Oasis, Amazon's most high-end ebook reader.

  • Should you buy it? Yes. Unless you want to spend $120 more to get the slim design and page-turning buttons of the Kindle Oasis, the Paperwhite is the best ebook reader you can buy.
  • Which model should you get? We recommend the 8GB model, because it holds thousands of ebooks and if you ever exceed the onboard storage, you can keep all your other ebooks in the cloud. If you really hate ads on your lockscreen, you may want to pay extra for the ad-free version, but it's not necessary, as the ads aren't really intrusive.
  • What are your alternatives? The other Kindle we recommend is the Oasis, but again, it will cost you $120 more. If you don't want to get an Amazon-based ebook reader, we recommend the Kobo Aura H2O Edition 2. Kobo is Amazon's main competitor, and it supports more ebook formats, including EPUB files. The Aura H2O Edition 2 is just as water resistant as the Kindle Paperwhite and it holds just as many ebooks.

The Kindle Paperwhite is a great buy, and we highly recommend it. If you do decide to buy the Paperwhite, I also have a full guide on how to use your Kindle, including how to get free ebooks and more. 

Pros: Water resistant enough to take to the beach, holds thousands of ebooks, has a backlight, supports many ebook formats, easy to use, huge library of ebooks available, comfortable to hold, long battery life

Cons: Not as cheap as the entry-level Kindle, not as slim as the Kindle Oasis, no page-turning buttons, Amazon ebook format locks you in

Buy the Kindle Paperwhite on Amazon for $129.99

SEE ALSO: How to get ebooks on your Kindle — and other expert tips and tricks

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11 once-popular grocery stores that closed their doors forever

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A&P grocery store

  • The grocery business can be brutal.
It's hard to successfully sell groceries.

Margins in the business are notoriously low. You've also got to contend with ever-shifting customer preferences and stiff competition from other supermarkets, powerful e-commerce outfits like Amazon, and big-box giants like Walmart and Costco. 

And you can't forget the retail apocalypse that's been dragging down much of the industry. 

Read more: 12 department stores that disappeared before the retail apocalypse even began to rage

That's why it's not surprising to see that a large number of once-successful grocery chains ultimately crashed and burned. In some cases, the companies ran up against unfortunate circumstances beyond their control. In other situations, the grocers proved too slow to adapt to shifting trends or ramped-up competition.

Here's a list of grocery store chains that are no longer with us:

SEE ALSO: Here's what Home Depot looked like when it first opened in 1979

DON'T MISS: Here's what Costco looked like when it first opened in 1983

SEE ALSO: 50 foods that Costco employees and members love

The A&P was founded in 1859 in New York City, but after 100 years in business the once-powerful grocer began a slow decline. A&P filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015, and all stores ceased operations that same year.

Source: The Journal News, Newsday



Waldbaum's was a New York supermarket chain that managed to venture into neighboring states like New Jersey and Connecticut during its 115-year history. A&P bought the business from the Waldbaum family in 1986. Waldbaum's met its fate alongside its parent company in 2015.

Source: CBS, Supermarket News, The New York Times



Grand Union stores once dotted the northeastern United States. But in 2001, the grocer filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. C&S Wholesale Grocers bought the company, then sold it off to Tops Friendly Markets in 2012. The following year, the new owner discontinued the Grand Union brand.

Source: The Hartford Courant, Supermarket News, Times Union



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23 tech gifts for women that she'll love to get

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Insider Picks writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

Fitbit Versa

  • The old stereotype used to be that women wouldn't like tech unless it was dumbed down, pink, or sparkly, but now, the industry is changing.
  • You can find tons of excellent tech for women out there that is as stylish as it is powerful.
  • We've rounded up the best tech gifts for women here, including headphones, wearables, accessories, and more.
  • You can also check out the rest of our Mother's Day 2019 gift guides here.

Instead of buying a bedazzled fitness tracker or a pair of pink headphones and calling it a day, why not get her the tech gifts she actually wants?

As a woman in the tech world, I've looked over hundreds of tech products that are made for women to separate the good gadgets from the bad.

Whether your leading lady wants a pair of excellent headphones that look as good as they sound, wants to track her fitness in style, or craves stylish accessories for her phone that aren't hot pink, we have a gift for her in our guide to the best tech gifts for women.

Read on to check out the best tech gifts for women:

SEE ALSO: 34 Prime-eligible Mother's Day gifts on Amazon that are all under $25

A phone grip and stand

PopSocket Grip, available at PopSocket, $9.99+

PopSocket grips make it super easy to hold even the largest of phones no matter how small a woman's hands may be. The grips stick onto almost any phone case, pop out twice to give excellent grip, and double as a stand when she wants to watch videos. PopSockets come in a multitude of colors, patterns, and styles, so you'll be sure to find one she'll love. I have PopSocket grips on all the different phone cases I use because I can't imagine using my phone without one.



A smart display

Google Home Hub, available at Walmart, $129 (originally $149)

The Google Home Hub puts all the smarts of the Google Assistant into a smart home hub with screen. That way, she can see visual answers to her questions, the weather forecast, news reports, YouTube videos, and more right on the screen as the Assistant reads back the information. It also has a speaker, so she can play her favorite music. Plus, the Home Hub can control smart home devices.



A piece of smart jewelry

Bellabeat Leaf Urban and Leaf Chakra, available at Amazon, $100 and up

Bellabeat has been making gorgeous pieces of smart jewelry for years now, and the Leaf Urban and new Leaf Chakra make excellent gifts. Not only does Bellabeat's smart jewelry look fabulous as a necklace, bracelet, or brooch, it also packs a lot of smart features. The Leaf Urban and Chakra can track activity, mindfulness breathing exercises, and sleep patterns. It also doubles as a silent alarm so she'll awaken peacefully each morning.



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I got a last-minute ticket to Coachella, the festival as famous for its flashy outfits and Instagram-heavy attractions as its music. Here's what it's really like to attend.

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I'll be honest: I never really thought I'd go to the Coachella Music & Arts Festival.

Living in New York, I never thought it made much sense to ship out to Indio, California, for one of Coachella's two weekends of music and fun.

That's without getting into what Coachella is supposedly about, which, according to varying reports, is both a glittering entertainment-industry party and a bunch of Orange County teenagers skipping school to drink. The weekend has become such an event for social-media influencers, models, and celebrities that some have dubbed it the "influencer Olympics."

When Business Insider asked me to cover the festival, I was determined to go in with as few preconceived notions as possible. And with this year's Coachella lineup featuring Childish Gambino, Anderson .Paak, Janelle Monae, and Tame Impala, some of my favorite artists, it was hard not to get amped up.

By the end of the weekend, I had seen some incredible performances, discovered amazing new artists, found my way into an ultra-exclusive after-party, danced the night away at a hidden stage, and was convinced I probably wouldn't ever come back.

Here's what it was like.

SEE ALSO: I had an amazing time at Coachella — but I probably still wouldn't go back because of the effort it takes to get there

DON'T MISS: I spent a weekend at Coachella, and my favorite part of the festival is a rule most people over 21 would probably hate

My journey to Coachella was a long one. I flew from New York on the Wednesday before the festival because the airfare was cheaper, rented a car, and then drove out Friday morning. I had heard horror stories about the traffic, with some saying the usually two-hour drive takes seven hours or more. It ended up taking me three.



Before I could go to the festival, however, I had to stop in Indian Wells, a town near Indio where attendees pick up their Coachella wristbands. The lines moved quickly, but it was still a pain to have to go to a separate town just to get my wristband.



I still had to drive 30 minutes to Palm Springs. Lodging is the most expensive part of Coachella — even budget hotels charge $350 or more a night. By staying in Palm Springs, I was able to stay at a boutique hotel, called the Hideaway, for $379 a night. It looked like a "Mad Men" set.

To save some moolah, I did some grocery shopping in Los Angeles so I could eat breakfast and snacks each day before going to the festival grounds.

Source: Hideaway



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The best serving dishes you can buy

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Insider Picks writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

the best serving dish_edited 1

Hosting a dinner can be stressful, but having the right serving dishes helps everything go more smoothly. Here are some of our favorite serving dishes that mix fashion and function.

Here are the best serving dishes you can buy in 2019:

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

The best serving dish

Why you'll love it: From Easter ham and Thanksgiving turkey to kids' birthday cupcakes, Le Creuset's oval platter is a classic multitasker that can stylishly serve up any food.

If you're passionate about combining food with friends and family, you know the value of a good workhouse platter that can multitask on-the-quick and always look good doing it. After much research, hosting experience, and deliberation, I feel confident recommending a Le Creuset large oval platter as the best all-around serving dish you buy.

If you know and love your way around a kitchen, chances are you already have (or are coveting) something made by Le Creuset. The nearly 100-year-old French manufacturer of cookware and serveware is most famous for its range of brightly colored enameled cast iron pieces. For me, the iconic flame orange Dutch oven was the gateway drug, and I loved it so much I now have a pretty good collection of bakeware to match.

Even though the rest of my set is the brand's signature orange, and the entire Le Creuset catalog is available in eight colors, I still recommend plain white as the best all-around serving dish to own. Not only does white complement every tablescape and occasion, its understatedness also lets your beautiful food be the star of the show.

In terms of versatility, I can't think of a more functional and elegant option all-around serving option than this timeless and understated platter. It looks as compelling at the center of your table holding a Christmas ham as it does serving up your latest gastronomy invention. It's also simple and minimalist enough to look perfect serving up hot dogs on a picnic table.

Its durable enamel glaze is sturdy and resistant to chips, and is safe for use in the dishwasher, microwave, and even the oven (up to 500F degrees). It's certainly not the cheapest platter you could buy, but at $80 it's still quite reasonable, especially since this piece is destined to become an heirloom.

Pros: Versatile, well-crafted, oven and dishwasher safe

Cons: None, really, except it's not the cheapest option out there

Buy the Le Creuset large oval platter at Williams Sonoma for $64



The best chip n'dip dish

Why you'll love it: This simple chip n' dip server presents your appetizer beautifully at a great price.

I feel like chip n' dips are an under-celebrated, under-utilized party hosting tool. Do you remember the "Mad Men" episode where Pete Campbell tried to return a duplicate chip n' dip wedding gift to the department store without a receipt? I bring it up because, first of all, that was an amazing episode, and secondly, 2000's culture gleaned so many fun 1960s hosting practices from that show and brought them back into style. So now I'm calling for the return of the chip n' dip!

Personally, I recommend the Michelangelo Chip & Dip Platter that's available on Wayfair for less than $25 bucks. It's made of thick clear glass that's resistant to chipping, and obviously goes with any décor since it's so simple.

As one Wayfair reviewer puts it, this dish is both "elegant and practical." I also appreciate that its see-through style showcases your food combo beautifully. That may not sound so important if you're just serving corn chips and salsa, but if you're putting out something like fresh crudité with yogurt dip, for instance, showcasing your food's color starts to sound like a good idea.

This chip n' dip comes in two parts with a detachable dip bowl for easy cleanup, which surprisingly is harder to find than a one-piece model. It's also dishwasher safe, which is a blessing to tired hosts. It's not the largest chip n' dip platter I've ever seen, with a diameter of just under a foot, but unless you're serving a large crowd, you should have ample space. It's also easy to refill mid-party, of course.

Pros: Easy-to-clean and simple at a great price

Cons: On the smaller side, so functions best for a small crowd

Buy the Michelangelo Chip & Dip Platter on Wayfair for $24.99



The best cheese and charcuterie board

Why you'll love it: The MaxMoxie cheese board and knife set makes it easy to serve up a selection of cheese, meats, and extras in a stylish way.

I always serve a cheese, charcuterie, or tapas board at any gathering I host. They require little to no cooking, very easy prep, and especially when complementing other dishes, can fill up a crowd easily.

Sure, you can just throw some crackers, brie, and slices of prosciutto on any old kitchen cutting board, but using a specially purposed serving tray like this cheese board and knife set from MaxMoxie.

Ever since I watched "The Barefoot Contessa" segment about how to set up the perfect cheese tray, I've been paying particular attention to the way my appetizer trays are styled. To that end, I love that this board comes with cracker and bread troughs to help keep things organized. There are also two indentations that fit the two accompanying ceramic bowls intended for dips or small snacks like olives or nuts.

Moving right along with this board's litany of amusing extras, pulling a small, removable drawer reveals four bamboo and stainless steel cutting and spreading utensils, as well as two slate stick-in markers with chalk makers so you can label your snack varieties.

Its 100% bamboo material makes this cheese board set beautiful, sustainable, and naturally antimicrobial. There are really very few cons to this product, but I would warn that the MaxMoxie logo in the bottom right corner detracts a bit from overall beauty. Still, you could just cover it with a particularly large hunk of gouda.

Pros: Elegant design, sustainable materials, makes a great gift

Cons: Visible logo, hand-wash only

Buy the MaxMoxie cheese board and knife set on Amazon for $39.99



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