The tiny metal pins used as admission tickets at The Metropolitan Museum of Art are officially no more.

According to The New York Times, the small, colorful tin tokens have become too expensive, and the world-famous museum will switch to a new paper ticket system that uses detachable stickers.

“We realize, without sounding crass, that it’s a beloved brand and a beloved symbol,” Harold Holzer, the Met’s senior vice president for public affairs, told the Times. “One of my assistants has a whole rainbow of the colored buttons on her desk.”

According to the Times, the museum ordered 1.6 million buttons four times a year at a cost of three cents per button. The new paper sticker-tickets will cost only a penny.

It makes fiscal sense, but people are still taking to Twitter to express their disappointment.

the Met is getting rid of their metal admission pins and i'm actually distraught because i can't find any of mine :(

— Jackie Close (@jackieaclose) June 28, 2013

I still have Met pins from when I was little and my parents took me for the first time.

— Brennan Monaco (@Brennan) June 28, 2013

Sad but those Met pins seemed to fall off more than should have .... http://t.co/gNQyWlP4rZ

— Scott Talan (@talan) June 28, 2013

The 42-year-old token system had come to symbolize not only your entry into the Met, but an iconic souvenir that has even been used in works of art like Ji Eon Kang's "Dress."

For anyone who wants to stock up on the tiny buttons while they still can, head to the Met this weekend — the New York museum won't officially stop selling the tokens until this coming July 1, when it switches to its new seven-day-a-week schedule.

And for those who have all 16 colors of the pins (they changed daily in random order), keep them as collectors items — they'll be worth something someday.

SEE ALSO: Why Major Art Museums Are Going Gaga For Islamic Art

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TIMES SQUARE — Times Square megaclub Circle NYC has agreed to pay $20,000 in fines and thousands more in restitution for discouraging or outright barring would-be patrons based on their race and ethnicity, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Thursday.

On numerous occasions last year, Schneiderman said, the 41st Street club admitted customers of Korean descent while denying revelers of other races and ethnicities, either forcing them to buy pricey perks to get inside or prohibiting them outright from entering.

"The methods of exclusion included forcing those of latter groups to make reservations in advance, or buy expensive bottle service, while not requiring the same of the club's Korean patrons and enforcing the nightclub's dress code unevenly," the Attorney General's Office described in a statement.

The office's Civil Rights Bureau opened an investigation in June 2012, after Circle NYC racked up nearly a dozen complaints from clubgoers.

One of those victimized was Patrick Thomas, who is African-American, and said he felt "insulted and degraded" after being barred entry.

"When I realized that I wasn't getting into Circle because of my race, I was shocked," Thomas, a complainant in the investigation, said in a statement. "Nightclubs, restaurants, theaters, hotels and other businesses can't just shut people out because of the color of their skin or where they are from."

Under the agreement reached with the state, Circle NYC will have to pay between $500 and $2,000 to clubgoers deemed victims of its policies. The club's owners also pledged to adopt a new dress code and reservation policy, and train its employees to apply those rules "in a fair non-discriminatory manner." Circle is also required to investigate any complaints of discrimination and report its findings to the Attorney General's Office.

"Any business in New York State that is open to the public must be open to all races and ethnicities," Schneiderman said in a statement. "Discrimination will not be tolerated. That's just as true in New York City's vibrant nightclubs as it is anywhere else."

Circle NYC did not return calls for comment.

However, on its website, the club wrote the following message: "State and local laws prohibit Circle Nightclub and other places of business from discriminating against them on the basis of race, color, ethnicity or gender or denying entry for any of these reasons."

The club's site urged anyone who felt they'd been made victims of discrimination to contact Circle NYC's manager. It also provided the phone number and email address for the Attorney General's Civil Rights Bureau.

SEE ALSO: The 10 Best Dance Clubs In New York City

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There are few emotions that elicit the same stomach-churning, cheek-burning response as embarrassment. All it takes is one awkward moment to ruin your day — and ability to look the other person straight in the face ever again. And of all the awkward situations we can encounter, awkward money situations tend to be some of the worst.

Below is a look at the most common, awkward money situations and how to handle them gracefully, so your relationship and wallet remain intact.

#1. You’re asked to donate to yet another charity.

According to the recent Awkward Money Moments Survey by CouponCabin.com, 34 percent of respondents said being pressured to donate to a charity on behalf of a co-worker, family member or friend is the most awkward situation. “I know it happens to my wife and me all the time,” says Certified Financial Planner, Hal Bundrick. “It can really get to be a burden, and the fact is, you just can’t say ‘yes’ to everyone and stay on budget.”

Bundrick, who founded personal finance site TheMoneyPivot.com, explains simply declining is the best approach to dealing with this awkward money situation. “Simply replying ‘Sorry, I just can’t help this time’ with a smile, but without further excuses or explanation, usually works best,” he advises.

If you still feel awkward about flat-out declining, consider setting aside an annual budget toward donations. Once you’ve reached your limit, you can explain to friends and co-workers that you are sorry, but you have already used your charity budget for the year.

#2. An unreliable family member or friend asks to borrow money.

Lending money to family or friends is a generally sticky situation I always recommend avoiding. The problem is that lending money to a person changes your relationship from personal to business. You are now a lender and the other person your debtor, a dynamic that can easily strain a relationship.

Still, it can still be hard to say no to someone you’re close with who is reaching out for help, even if that person has demonstrated a history of poor money management. So if you’re waffling, consider the story Bruce Specter told me:

A few months ago, my sister called distressed, as our cousin in Florida asked to borrow $1,000. This happened just before they were to go on a Caribbean cruise together. My sister was mortified as she watched our cousin go on a shopping spree, most likely with my sister’s hard-earned money. Needless to say it severely damaged their relationship and I refuse to talk to her anymore.

To avoid situations like this, Association of Christian Financial Advisors Executive Director, Rob Drury, suggests thinking of a loan between family or friends (if you choose to extend one) as a gift instead so there’s no resentment if it’s never paid back.

“It is simply not worth risking a cherished relationship,” he says. “If the beneficiary chooses to consider it a loan and pay it back, so be it. If the money is paid back, there is a  strengthening of trust; if not, the benefactor can have the satisfaction of helping someone important to him.”

#3. Your roommates aren’t pulling their weight financially.

Most adults have had to live with a roommate at some point in their lives, and have likely experienced the common pains of living with a semi-stranger. And often, the biggest stress points stem from money-related issues — i.e., someone isn’t contributing their fair share.

Whether they’re short on the rent each month or are eating your food without contributing to the grocery budget, you can’t afford to keep letting them get away with it.

Relationship expert, author, and voice of advice forum of www.AskApril.com explains the solution is a house meeting. “Bring the subject out in the open,” April recommends. “If anyone laughs at you for being petty, don’t let it get to you.”

Set clear rules and expectations during your meeting, making it clear that your roommate will be your ex-roommate if they don’t step up. April also recommends setting up the lease so that each person is responsible for an equal share of the rent, removing some of of that financial burden from your shoulders.

#4. Someone asks an inappropriate question about your finances.

Some people are very open about their personal money matters, while others prefer to keep things private. Either way, most of us have some limit as to how much information we’re willing to share.

But that’s the key: It’s one thing if you openly offer details to how much you spend on your new handbag or how much the boss offered to raise your salary, but some people will just ask without any regard for your willingness to answer — awkward.

In this type of situation, a polite but short reply is most appropriate; “I’m not comfortable answering that question” should suffice. Don’t feel obligated to offer any other explanation. Your curt response should make it clear they overstepped a social boundary, and hopefully, will make them think twice about doing it again.

#5. Everyone wants to split the check, even though you ordered way less.

Nothing is more annoying than splitting a dinner check when everyone enjoyed expensive appetizers and cocktails while you had a simple entree. However, no one wants to look like the cheapskate who nickles and dimes their friends on the bill.

Maria Lin writes on LearnVest.com, “Keep in mind people aren’t being rude or callous when they decide to split the bill — they’re just thinking about convenience.”

Generally, if you’re with a group of people you’re not very close with or work acquaintances and the difference is less than $5, it’s probably best to go ahead and split this time — and be better prepared the next time you go out with the same group.

You can also bring along cash and offer the precise amount you owe (including tax and 20% tip), rather than hand over a card, or simply ask the waiter to bring you a separate check.

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James Bond's Lotus Esprit may not be as beautiful or iconic as the Aston Martin DB5, but it is the most outlandish ride 007 ever drove. That's because it doubled as a submarine.

The car used in the movie actually functioned underwater.

And now it's for sale.

RM Auctions is putting the Esprit Series 1, which starred in the 1977 Bond flick "The Spy Who Loved Me," on the block in London, September 8-9.

The Lotus has never been offered for sale, and spent much of its life forgotten in a Long Island storage unit. In 1989, a couple bought the unit without knowing its contents, only to find one of the coolest cars in movie history.

The auction house has not yet listed an expected sale price, but the last iconic Bond car it put under the hammer, the DB5 driven by Sean Connery in "Goldfinger" and "Thunderball," sold in 2010 for £2.9 million ($4.4 million).

The submarine car was known as "Wet Nellie" during filming, and was built for more than $100,00 (approximately $500,000 today) from the shell of the Lotus Esprit.

Watch it in action:

SEE ALSO: How The Aston Martin DB5 Became The Ultimate 007 Ride

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They're barely 18 years old, but these high school students are doing more than most adults could ever hope to do in their lifetimes.

Their resumes will make your jaw drop: there's a scientist who built a nuclear reactor in his father's garage, a swimmer who won four Olympic gold medals, and a self-taught coder who runs his own app development company.

And more importantly, they prove that age really has no bearing on what people are able to accomplish.

Listed in alphabetical order, we found the 25 most impressive students graduating from high school this year.

Max Rosenberg contributed to this story.

Sabrina Brady created a drawing that was seen by millions of people on Google's home page.

High school: Sparta Senior High School, Sparta, Wisc.

What makes her impressive: Last month the Google home page depicted a touching doodle where a young girl embraces a man wearing a military uniform. The doodle was the heartfelt work of Sabrina Brady, recapturing the moment her father returned home from an 18-month deployment in Iraq when she was 10 years old. Brady won the prestigious Doodle 4 Google contest, as well as glory on the Google homepage, a $30,000 college scholarship, a Google Chromebook, and a $50,000 technology grant for her school.

Brady's drawing, titled "Coming Home," was chosen in a user vote among over 130,000 of entries from students in grades K through 12, who were instructed to draw the "best day ever," according to Google Technologist Daniel Sieberg in an interview on The TODAY Show.

Plans for next year: Brady will continue studying art at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) this fall.

Donald Chao started a non-profit that teaches people about the ecosystem.

High school: Newport High School, Bellevue, Wash.

What makes him impressive: Chao founded a non-profit organization in 2011 called the Ocean Acidification Education Project, which teaches people and organizations about their impact on marine ecosystems in the Puget Sound. The goal is that these people can then influence Washington state legislation to implement better, stricter methods of carbon dioxide emission reduction.

Chao also kick-started a program called Teach My Grandma, which "offers personalized, one-on-one, bilingual instruction at locations convenient for the client, whether that be at his or her retirement community or at a local Starbucks," he tells us. "We specialize in social media (i.e., Facebook and Skype), but can teach everything from computers/internet for beginners to Quickbooks."

He says he's also developing several other entrepreneurial projects, including a titanium dioxide-infused exterior paint used to neutralize greenhouse gases released by automobiles.

Chao speaks English, Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, and Taiwanese Hokkien. He also taught himself how to pick locks, which is a hobby he enjoys doing as a puzzle, and also to help his friends. To be clear, Chao tells us, he only picks locks with permission from others.

Plans for next year: Chao plans to continue working on OAEP and Teach My Grandma as a freshman at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business in the fall. 

Conrad Farnsworth is the first person in Wyoming to build a nuclear fusion reactor.

High school: Newcastle High School, Newcastle, Wyo.

What makes him impressive:Conrad Farnsworth has managed to do something that all of 60 people, at most, have done: achieve nuclear fusion.

Farnsworth built a nuclear reactor in his father’s garage in order to enter a science fair. However, he was disqualified for supposedly competing in too many science fairs, and in the wrong order, according to the Star-Tribune.

“It’s frustrating having four years to get to a single point go down the drain... And it’s silly. It’s a science fair. Seriously, aren’t they supposed to be promoting science and not bureaucracy?” Farnsworth told the Star Tribune.

Regardless, Farnsworth can feel good knowing that he is the first person in Wyoming to build a nuclear fusion reactor.

Plans for next year: Farnsworth plans to attend the South Dakota School of Mines in the fall.

From socialite Alexa Chung to J. Crew's Jenna Lyons, these trendsetters are the most influential people in fashion.

Click here to see the full list of People Who Determine What's Cool In America >

Click here for a closer look at the people on this list >

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Startup Dashboard Co-op has changed the face of the historic east Atlanta neighborhood called Edgewood Avenue from just plain old back to gold. 

Edgewood Ave had once been a thriving community until its residents abandoned the area. For decades following the end of segregation, the rows of neglected buildings stood empty until a contemporary art company decided in 2011 to rip down the boards that covered the vacant buildings' dusty windows.

The idea was to "let the public see what the building[s] looked like in its best dress," says Courtney Hammond, co-founder of Dashboard Co-op, a startup that seeks "raw space" for contemporary artists.

At the time, Dashboard had only existed for one year and Hammond and her co-founder, Beth Malone, had no idea what kind of impact their six-hour show would do for development in the neighborhood. "Our intent back then was to show high quality artwork and have interesting platforms to show it in," Hammond tells Business Insider.

How well has it worked?

Today, Edgewood is one of the most popular and active nightlife corridors in the city.

Turning spaces into gold

Since 2010, Dashboard has hosted around 12 shows — each show costing an estimated $33,000 to produce. Though Hammond says her talented team never spends as much as they're supposed to.

To find spaces, Hammond and Malone do a lot of wandering, talking to people, and searching through tax records.

When they were approached by a developer about Edgewood, Hammond and Malone were intrigued — they had both attended college near the area.

"[When I was a student], all of the windows in those buildings were boarded up," Hammond says. "I had never seen inside any of those buildings."

"There were two thriving businesses (Sound Table and Vesuvius) that were divided by one block on Edgewood Avenue. The street was very dark and pretty intimidating to walk down."

The developer wanted Dashboard to bring attention to the vacant buildings between Sound Table and Vesuvius. After contacting every building owner on the block, the team was given permission to use five buildings as platforms for seven artists.

"We love when the space becomes the artwork and the artwork becomes the space."

"We're pretty tenacious ... persistent ... whatever you want to call it," Hammond says. "We gave the artists a part of a building and asked them to build an immersive installation for the public that complemented the architecture of the space they were in."

Edgewood's debut art show brought in around 2,000 people in one night.

"We promoted the show as an 'art stroll' … people just moved up and down the street. Afterward, some of the owners called to tell us that a few visitors had contacted them about opening up businesses. Now every one of those buildings are filled."

Another show Dashboard hosted took place at the Goat Farm when it was still a 12-acre abandoned 19th-century cotton gin factory. Today, it's The Goat Farm Arts Center, a thriving arts incubator serving as a living and working space for one of the most densely packed groups of artists in the nation.

It only took a few shows before the founders realized that Dashboard's productions caused a "ripple effect" in neighborhood development.

"We have loved seeing how clever, talented artists can transform a section of a city, if only for just a moment, that in time changes the whole game for the area," Hammond says.

It all started in "a smelly, smoky Atlanta bar"

Hammond and Malone met at Georgia State University when Hammond was studying sculpture and Malone majored in art journalism. But it wasn't until their late 20s when they met in "a smelly, smoky Atlanta bar" to discuss platforms for installation artwork that plans for Dashboard were drawn up.

"It turned out we both noticed that the economic decline had resulted in a lot of vacant buildings." The two began exploring buildings that they wanted to use for shows, especially vacant, boarded up ones.

"We find that abandoned buildings are really interesting. We can go in and transform the entire space because it's like a clean slate. It helps to have artists who are inspired by the space ... it gives them inspiration to build off of that space."

"We love when the space becomes the artwork and the artwork becomes the space."

The art explosion in Atlanta

"There are so many organizations that started around the same time we did ... it was basically right around the time that, art-wise, we were at rock bottom economically," Hammond says.

"And now there's so much happening with the people who stuck around. It's this tenacity that has given this city a competitive edge in the art world."

When creative people gather together, it attracts other young creative people.

"If you look at demographics, the downtown area is much younger than it was a few years ago," she says. "There's this competition that's good. It isn't about making art anymore. It's about making good art."

Hammond says that Atlanta has given Dashboard the platform that a bigger city — such as New York — never could have, because there simply isn't any free space in more crowded cities.

Although Atlanta will always be home for the Dashboard founders, Hammond says they hope to impact other small growing cities around the country in the near future.

But as of right now, they're happy bringing the rest of the country to Atlanta.

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Having female siblings makes boys significantly more likely to grow up to be Republicans, according to a new study by professors at Loyola Marymount University and Stanford University.

The study is in the latest issue of the Journal of Politics and based on data from the ongoing National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. It found that young men with only sisters were 8.3 percent more likely to identify as Republicans than those with only brothers.

Those with only female siblings were also 3.8 percent more likely likely to agree with the statement that "a woman's place is in the home."

Data suggested that boys with female siblings were less likely to do the sort of tasks stereotypically associated with girls, like cooking and cleaning. Researchers hypothesized that this enforced a conservative attitude towards gender norms starting early in a child's life.

For a family with only boys, these household tasks are more likely to be shared among the male children and the environment doesn't generate as much emphasis on gender-divided roles. 

The researchers went a step further, linking the conservative attitude generated in the home with a greater likelihood to identify with the Republican party, which "has often been perceived as more supportive of traditional family roles." 

The study focused on men in their 20s and 30s, so it's not yet clear if there's a lifelong tilt towards the GOP. There's a chance that the so-called "sister effect" may diminish over time.

You can read the full report here.

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NEW YORK CITY — A grand jury has indicted five Chinese nationals for allegedly swindling cash and jewelry from at least one Chinatown resident in exchange for promises to rid the victim of phony "evil spirits."

A quintet of alleged scammers were indicted this week on attempted grand larceny in the third degree for attempting to steal thousands of dollars from a 67-year-old woman by trying to convince her that she needed their help shedding the bogus spirits.

The NYPD arrested Jun Liang, 44, Xiumei He, 39, Yae Chen, 46, Huahuo Chem, 50, and Jingchang Quan, 44, for the scam in early June.

The group initially approached the 67-year-old victim on June 3 near 2 Elizabeth St. and told her they sensed evil spirits on her. They said that, in order to be cleansed of them, she would have to fill a bag with money and valuables that they could pray over, prosecutors said.

The victim grew suspicious and reported the scam to the NYPD's 5th Precinct, then decided to place fake money and valuables into her bag and return to meet the scammers, prosecutors said.

When the woman met the group again in Chatham Square, they pretended to carry out a "cleansing ritual" and swiped her bag, before cops swept in and arrested all five defendants.

According to cops, the group used a similar tactic to con more than 60 elderly people in the city's Chinese neighborhoods and managed to steal over $1.8 million in cash and over half a million dollars in jewelry.

“Scam artists are not welcome on the streets of Manhattan,” said District Attorney Cyrus Vance in a statement.

“The defendants are accused of trying to reel in their victim by claiming they possessed the ability to chase away evil spirits. Fortunately for the victim, she did not take their bait, and was able to alert law enforcement to the scam before the theft was complete."

Vance's office said that there are likely other scammers working this angle in the area and warned locals to watch out for similar scams on the street.

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Last summer, Ethan Welty stopped buying fruit.

He didn't need to pay for it anymore; he could pick nearly everything he needed from the trees on the streets of Boulder, Colorado.

At first, he scanned the canopy for apples to use in his home-brewed beer. But there was more. Hanging in the sidewalk foliage were peaches, apricots, walnuts, mulberries and plums.

And so Welty, a Ph.D. student researching glacier movement, began to map the urban orchard.

In March, he and Caleb Philips, a professor of computer science at the University of Colorado, expanded that database into Falling Fruit, a website that catalogs more than half a million urban trees with edible products. In the two-dozen cities where Welty and Philips have obtained municipal planting data or teamed up with local foragers, there is something to eat on nearly every corner.

How edible must a plant be to merit inclusion on Falling Fruit's map? It's not all peaches and pears. "There's a lot of gray area," Welty confesses. "A lot of judgment calls to be made."

To harvest the sap that produces maple syrup, for example, it's preferable to tap the sugar maple, a plentiful North American species. Falling Fruit counts over 50,000 sugar maples. But in a pinch, its cousin the silver maple can also produce syrup -- so Falling Fruit counts the silver maple, too, but only when sugar maples are scarce.

Other options aren't entirely obvious. The most common trees are the honey locust and the small-leaved linden, neither of which produces anything you'd recognize in the supermarket. But linden flowers can be used to make a tea popular with herbalists, and honey locust seed pods -- large and crescent-shaped -- yield edible seeds and pulp. (These are not to be confused with the seeds of the black locust, which are poisonous.)

"Apparently beer can be made," Welty says of the honey locust. "We'll see. I'm still learning, too."

There are more familiar items here too: over 5,000 examples of cherry, pear and apple trees, not to mention olives (4,442), plums (1,424) and almonds (343). And these figures, by and large, account for only a handful of U.S. and Canadian cities.

Welty hopes urbanites will begin to see the nutritional value in their surroundings. "All the momentum behind urban foraging will drive the planting of fruit trees," he imagines. "Maybe we could begin to build more edible cities deliberately."

Welty and Philips aren't alone in envisioning cities as orchards on a scale that goes beyond the occasional backyard garden or urban farm. In San Francisco, a group called Guerilla Grafters has used grafting technology to make bare trees grow fruit. In Seattle, Beacon Food Forest has received over $100,000 in grant money to plant an edible urban environment in Jefferson Park. A fashion designer named Ron Finley become a local celebrity when he planted 1,500 square feet of vegetables on a sidewalk in South-Central Los Angeles.

But there has been backlash from all sides. Guerilla Grafting is illegal. The city of Los Angeles fined Finley because his garden was out of compliance with its landscaping guidelines. In theNew York Times last month, Mariellé Anzelone, an urban conservation biologist, criticized food-centric urban planting as ecologically selfish, designed to cater to human nutritional needs at the expense of the insects and birds whose role in pollination and seed distribution keeps the ecosystem functioning.

But the biggest barrier to planting fruit trees in cities, Welty says, is the mess. The smell of crushed gingko berries is enough to make even the most adventurous and hungry urbanite wish for an elm or ash tree.

That's where the map comes in, encouraging people in New York, Toronto, Washington D.C. and elsewhere to think with their stomachs.

Why put all the cities on one map? "We wanted to do it at a scale that will make for a story that other people will be exposed to," Welty says. "To have 600,000 locations is a way to amaze people by the sheer magnitude of what already exists, which is one way to think about how we could do it better."

The real test will be this summer, when Welty returns to his local forage spots in Boulder, now broadcast to the world on Finding Fruit. If the trees are picked, it will be a testament to the map's influence.

And if not, what better consolation than some free, fresh fruit?

Click here to follow The Atlantic Cities.

More From The Atlantic Cities:
You Didn't Plant That: Where Urban Trees Really Come From
Why It's So Hard To Be A Food Truck In New Orleans
Suburbia In Sand: Choose Your Own Metaphor

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As tech companies went into crisis mode over the NSA scandal, Las Vegas tourism officials are seeing it as a marketing opportunity.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority launched a cheeky marketing campaign announcing, "What happens here stays here" — a riff on the famous "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

The publicity stunt included sending letters to Verizon, AOL, Facebook, and Google (all of which were implicated in the privacy breach), and a full-page ad in USA Today.

Las Vegas' tourism website is also encouraging people to tweet under the hashtag #KnowTheCode.

"Stop companies from sharing your precious Vegas moments with the NSA. Let them know What happens here, stays here ... send them this tweet."

The city's tourism board had a similar PR tactic during the Prince Harry nudity scandal.

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MyBankTracker created a list of the most outrageously priced parking spots worldwide.

Expensive San Francisco, Manhattan and Hong Kong are all included.

Click through the slideshow below to see the highest end of what it costs to park a car.

In San Francisco, an $80,000 parking spot at 88 Townsend was up for sale.

The listing, being brokered by Vanguard Properties Inc., is just a block away from a major shopping area, a number of educational institutions, and right across the street from AT&T Park.

Information sourced from The Huffington Post.

An anonymous man purchased 284 square feet of space at an underground car garage in Knightsbridge, West London, for over $320,000.

 The spot comes with an exclusive entrance and exit driveway, and 24/7 remote access and security. The deal, brokered via the Harrods Estates Asset Management, calls for $319,460 for the first nine years, and $1,134 each year for the next ninety years.

Information sourced from Silly Millions.

Lisa Blumenthal purchased two parking spaces for $560,000 at 298 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.

At $280,000 each, the spots are nearly 90% of the cost of the average price of a single-family home in Massachusetts. Blumenthal says the spots will be used for workers and guests.  In 2009,  a single spot five blocks away on Commonwealth sold for $300,000.

Information sourced from NPR.

A private Indian airline has decided to recruit only female flight attendants in future as its aircraft will burn less fuel carrying them than their heavier male counterparts.

The low cost carrier Go Air maintains that deploying air hostesses, who on average weigh 33-44 lbs less than male stewards, will help it save around Rs30 million ($499,000) per year in fuel costs.

Airline official's estimate that every extra kilogram (2.2lbs) a commercial aircraft carries costs it an additional Rs3 per flight hour.

Alternatively, an overall reduction in weight results in savings.

"We are looking at all possible ways of cost-cutting to remain profitable" Go Air Chief Executive Officer Giorgio De Roni told the Times of India.

A sharp decline in the value of the Indian rupee-that has dropped 27 per cent against the US dollar since July 2012-had so far cost the airline an additional Rs300 million (£3.33 million), he added.

Operating 15 aircraft, Go Air employs 330 cabin crew members of which 132 are males.

Although none of the cabin stewards will be sacked, all forthcoming recruitment for the 80 additional aircraft Go Air plans on inducting by 2020 will be stewardesses.

Mr Roni told the Times that his airline was constantly engaged in reducing the weight its aircraft carried.

The size of in-flight magazines, for instance, had been reduced and aircraft water tanks were no longer filled to capacity as less than half their volume was normally utilised by passengers.

SEE ALSO: Wild Photos Of The French Army's Monstrous New Warplane

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The wait for the Museum of Modern Art's new installation "Rain Room" is currently seven to eight hours long, all because a blog mistakenly wrote that today was the last day of the exhibit.

Spoiler: It's not.

MoMA tweeted earlier today warning visitors of the long wait time:

A note about #RainRoom: the current wait is 7-8 hours. It was blogged somewhere that today was the last day. It closes 7/28, not 6/28!

— Museum of Modern Art (@MuseumModernArt) June 28, 2013

See what the "Rain Room" looks like below.

SEE ALSO: A Museum's Amazing Collection Of Classic Cars Is Open To The Public For The First Time

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Former Tommy Hilfiger CEO and co-founder Joel Horowitz has a new plan to sell his gargantuan Lake Tahoe estate, which has been on and off the market for the past six years: He will personally finance the purchase for a qualified buyer.

The financing deals would be worked out once a qualified buyer is found, but it's a rare offer from a seller, a representative for the realtor said.

The home was initially listed for $100 million; it was relisted with Sierra Sotheby's International Realty in January with an asking price of $75 million.

The 210-acre estate, called Tranquility, is the largest on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. In addition to a 27,000-square-foot mansion, it has an indoor glass mosaic pool, private lake, two par-3 golf holes and an indoor golf simulator, horse stables, a wine cellar, a cinema, and separate guest and staff residences.

The decor is also impressive, from a replica of the staircase on the Titanic to four Rembrandt paintings. Nearly all of the furnishings are included in the sale price.

As 210 acres, Tranquility is the largest private estate on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.

It's incredibly private -- the perfect getaway for a billionaire.

In addition to a 27,000-square-foot main home, there are guest and staff quarters and a 16-car garage.

Did you spend all your time in your tree house as a kid? Or were you brokenhearted because you never had one?

Well, these nine gorgeous hotels can turn your childish tree house fantasies into grown-up realities. These rustic-luxe (or just luxe) tree-house-style bungalows will let you live among the birds (and, in some cases, monkeys). Who says you have to give up on your childhood dreams?

SEE ALSO: The World's Tiniest Hotel Rooms

Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur

The Post Ranch Inn’s organic architecture is breathtaking, seeming to grow out of the ground beside the hotel’s surrounding redwoods, and the spacious, eco-sensitive rooms have ocean or mountain views, as well as wood-burning fireplaces and private decks. The Tree House rooms, are, as the name implies, elevated into the trees.

Aqua Wellness Resort, Nicaragua

Aqua Wellness Resort is a rustic-luxe retreat with eco-friendly design amid lush vegetation (expect to spot wildlife such as howler monkeys and iguanas). The stilted tree house bungalows are adorned with lots of natural wood; some units include plunge pools and stunning ocean views. The white-sand beach is secluded and beautiful, the restaurant serves simple but tasty local dishes, and group yoga classes on the ocean-facing wooden platform are free.

Sunset at the Palms, Jamaica

Sunset at the Palms has relaxed, Balinese-style decor, and most of the rooms are set within a series of stilted bungalows (referred to as tree houses) across the lush property. Across the street from the beach, the upscale Sunset has a warm, helpful staff, intimate setting, and great food — all of which create a relaxing retreat that’s a far cry from the crowded chaos at most all-inclusives.

"The days of stale pretzels and dirty water dogs are over," Pat LaFrieda Jr. declared at Citi Field this week, during an event to promote the specialty menu for this year's All-Star Game.

LaFrieda, the current co-owner of Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, would know. After all, this is the man whose beef blend has New Yorkers flocking to the Minetta Tavern to pay $26 for a burger.

LaFrieda is here to promote several menu items, including his grandfather's sweet Italian sausage sandwich. But the real showstopper is his Original Filet Mignon Steak Sandwich, a savory and much-improved take on a ballpark classic that will remain available at the stadium even after the All-Star game. 

It's made from LaFrieda's 100% Black Angus hand-cut beef and served Au Jus on a fresh-baked and toasted French baguette. Vermont Monterey Jack cheese and sautéed Vidalia onions top it off to near perfection. 

It's without a doubt one of the best things I've ever tasted, but it's pricey for stadium food. Will the average Mets fan really shell out $15 for a sandwich? 

LaFrieda certainly seems to think so.

"Last season we started selling the sandwich with about 30 days left in the season," he says. "and we still ended up selling 10,000 sandwiches."

That's over 300 steak sandwiches per day, a significant number when you consider that last season the Mets lost more games than they won, and missed the post-season for a 6th straight year. But if LaFrieda is at all surprised, he doesn't show it.

"It's filet mignon," he says, shrugging, in the same way that Anna Wintour might say "it's Chanel." 

"People already pay, like, ten bucks for a plain hot dog. I absolutely believe they'll pay $15 for this sandwich." 

He's right about the hot dogs: CNN reports that fans at Citi Field pay more for hot dogs than any other baseball fans in the country, with an ordinary hot dog costing nearly $7. It's easy to see how fans would be willing to pay a little extra for some of the highest-quality meat in New York.

LaFrieda's company has over 1,000 customers, including New York mainstays like Blue Smoke, The Spotted Pig and Market Table. LaFrieda has had a partnership with ARAMARK, the official food and beverage company of the Mets, since 2009, and they now have their own meat freezer and chop house within the stadium complex.

Besides the quality of the sandwich, LaFrieda's success is also clearly driven by a strong understanding of the crowd he's looking to serve.

"The concessions area at a Mets game is a social scene," LaFrieda says, gesturing towards the field with a huge hand. "People come out to a game for the full experience, food included. They want to eat something decent."

It looks like Pat LaFrieda's going to give the people what they want.

We recently visited Pat LaFrieda's NJ processing facility. Check out the video:

SEE ALSO: Pat LaFrieda Stars In Food Network's "Meat Men"

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A century ago, the Rolls-Royce Ghost entered the Alpine Trial, a week-long endurance rally around Central Europe.

The car did spectacularly, finishing in the top four every day but one, and earning it a well-deserved reputation for reliability.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the feat, the luxury automaker gathered 47 vintage Ghosts, joined by their 21st century descendant, to recreate the rally.

On June 14, 150 participants from 12 countries took off from Vienna on an 1,800 mile trip that would include Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy.

On the gorgeous mountain passes and ocean roads, the classic cars make for a beautiful sight.

Here's a map of the route the cars followed in 1913.

The 2013 route took the cars through Austria, Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia.

Before starting out on June 14, the cars lined up in Vienna's Stadtpark.

Calculating the calories in food is not a perfect science. But we took a stab at it.

We put two foods in a head-to-head competition to see if you can spot the meal or snack that is higher in calories.

The results will surprise you.

Since we only looked at calories and not other nutrition factors like fat, fiber, protein, sugar, and vitamins, the lower-calorie food may not necessarily be the healthier option overall. Still, this quiz is particularly eye-opening if you're of the camp that believes "calories in versus calories out" is the most important part of any diet plan.

A muffin or a cupcake?

Answer: A muffin

Medium-sized muffin: > 300 calories
Cupcake: around 200 calories

Think of your morning muffin as cake without a fancy layer of frosting. A medium-sized blueberry muffin — the kind that often looks so tempting in the display case at coffee chains like Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks— will typically cost you more than 300 calories.

Muffins are soft, sweet, and tasty for a reason — the fluffy breads are loaded with sugar and oils, meaning they are also high in saturated fat. Although a standard frosted vanilla cupcake is also high in saturated fat and sugar, the individually-sized cakes will generally only run you around 200 calories.

Steak or soybeans?