Now at the peak of the holiday party season, most companies are gathering to celebrate the end of a hardworking year.

"People like to work with people they know, so take this opportunity to let down your hair a little," Helene Wasserman, an attorney for Littler, an international firm focused exclusively on labor and employment laws, tells Business Insider.

But whatever you do, don't treat your colleagues like they're your college buddies.

According to Wasserman, it's not uncommon to get harassment claims around the holiday season. She blames it on the alcohol. "The best way to survive is to remember that you're still at work and the rules still apply," Wasserman says. "If you're talking to your boss and a drink is in your hand, he's still your boss."

We compiled some tips to help you survive your office party — and still manage to keep your job.

Ask about the dress code ahead of time.

You need to find out what the dress code is and stick to it, career coach Barbara Pachter tells Business Insider.

You don't want people talking about what you wore the day or night after the party, she says. Whatever you wear, remember that it's still a business event.

Aside from the company's dress code, don't forget that behavior and harassment policies still apply— even if the party is off-site.

Eat a decent meal beforehand.

Although there might be hors d'oeuvres, you should still eat before the party begins. If not, you may become more intoxicated than you intended. Furthermore, eating while you're mingling isn't the most comfortable in a professional setting.

"Eat a little before you go to a business social event," says Pachter. "If you drink, you'll have something in your stomach, and if the food is delayed, you won't be hungry."

Don't even think about skipping the party.

To show that you're committed to the company, make sure you show up for at least 30 minutes. Always assume company gatherings are "must attend" events.

"People will expect you to be there," says Pachter. "It's an opportunity for you to meet people, and the person you talk to may wind up being the person who interviews you for your next job in three months."

A US ticket-holder in a worldwide online charity raffle on Wednesday walked away with an exquisite $1 million Picasso after paying a mere 100 euros ($135), Sotheby's said after organising the first-of-its-kind tombola.

The perfectly preserved Cubist artwork had been bought by an anonymous donor from a New York gallery and given to a charity working to save the ancient city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.

The UNESCO-registered charity issued 50,000 tickets at 100 euros each for the tombola at Sotheby's in Paris, hoping to raise $5 million.

The lucky winner in the raffle was 25-year-old Jeffrey Gonano from Pennsylvania, who works for a fire protection company.

The charity wants the money to develop a traditional handicraft village giving young people, women and the disabled jobs in Tyre and to set up an institute for Phoenician studies in Beirut.

Olivier Picasso, Pablo's grandson, was among those drumming up interest in the 40,000-odd tickets.

"Buy a ticket and enjoy a double pleasure," Olivier, whose grandmother Marie-Therese Walter was Picasso's mistress, had told AFP.

"The first one will be to help a really interesting project and the second one is, hey, maybe to get a Picasso on your wall."

People from all over the world went online to buy just one or a handful of tickets at www.1picasso100euros.com.

Picasso is almost as famous for his chronic infidelities and succession of beautiful muses as for the genius of his work that makes his masterpieces some of the most expensive on the planet.

Although Olivier never met his grandfather, he has written books about the life of the 20th century art genius and is convinced that Picasso would have approved of the pre-Christmas tombola.

"In many ways he was excited about exploration, so for sure being the first one to be in a raffle would be exciting but more seriously he was really concerned by other people's problems.

"In the '50s for example he was receiving something like 100 requests per day for money, for participations, for a gift and I've been told most of the requests were answered," he said.

Olivier, who says he has many Picassos of his own, described the signed "L'Homme au Gibus" or "Man in the Opera Hat", painted in 1914, as a "masterpiece" of museum standard in perfect condition.

The International Association to Save Tyre (AIST) says it is the first time that a top-level piece of art has ever been raffled.

Their publicity drive began in Paris, moved to London and finished in New York. The website functioned in Arabic, English, French and Russian to widen the net of potential buyers.

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Not everyone can live in Oakland, CA. But after the Movoto Real Estate Blog named it the Most Exciting City in America earlier this year, it seemed like everyone in the Bay Area was thinking about giving it a shot. For some people, though, big cities just aren’t their thing. They enjoy the lifestyle that comes with living in a smaller city–but that doesn’t mean they don’t like to have fun.

With that in mind, and given the fact that we’ve been looking more at small cities and suburbs lately, we decided it was time to look at excitement on a smaller scale. We set out to apply our mathematical methods to ranking the Most Exciting Small Cities in America–places that might be scaled down in size, but where people can still do some really big things.

What did we find? We’re sure the passionate citizens of New Jersey will be happy to learn that their very own Hoboken, NJ took the (flashing, noise-making, spinning) crown of excitement after our results had been tallied.

The birthplace of baseball–a sport whose degree of excitement varies depending on who you talk to–headed up a diverse top 10 of miniature metros.

New Jersey actually had two small cities appear in the top 10. Oh, and Manhattan made the list… it’s just the one in Kansas. (Yes, really, Kansas.) Now, before you start asking how on Earth we came up with such a list, we’ll just tell you. Then, if you stick around, you can read some of what makes each of these 10 small cities so exciting.

How Do You Measure Excitement?

Whenever we put together one of these Big Deal Lists, we’re faced with a new challenge: How do we measure the thing we’re trying to rank cities on? In this case, that thing is excitement, something people are used to feeling, not quantifying with numbers. Numbers are kind of what we do around here, though, so we had to figure out a way to do just that.

What we came up with is a combination of six criteria designed to put excitement into a tangible form:

• Nightlife per capita (bars, clubs, comedy, etc.)

• Live music venues per capita

• Active life options per capita (parks, outdoor activities, etc.)

• Fast Food restaurants per capita (the fewer the better)

• Percentage of restaurants that are fast food (the lower the better)

• Percentage of young residents ages 20 to 34 (the higher the better)

With these picked out, we compiled a list of small cities across the country with populations between 50,000 and 60,000 residents, which came to a total of 140. We then researched our six criteria within each city and awarded a score from one to 140 in each criterion, with the best possible score being one.

After all of the individual criteria has been scored and ranked, we averaged all the individual rankings for each city to produce an overall Big Deal Score. As with the individual criteria rankings, the lower this number was, the better. The 10 cities with the lowest overall scores were our most exciting small cities.

If you think you can handle the excitement, we’ve detailed where Hoboken and the nine other highest achievers excelled below. You can also find a ranking of the top 50 cities at the end of this post. How’s that for exciting?

1. Hoboken, NJ

This hip, young Garden State town taking top honors actually didn’t surprise us that much, especially not resident New Jerseyite and Movoto marketing director Chris Kolmar, who personally attested to its worthiness once the results were finalized. He should know, having personally penned multiple posts about his home state for the Movoto Blog.

When we said Hoboken was young, we meant it. A full 46 percent of the place’s population is between 20 and 43 years of age–the largest such group in our top 10 by 3 percent margin over second-youngest San Marcos, TX. Hoboken’s youthful population seems to be getting its kicks mostly at bars and clubs–such as Maxwell’s, Bin 14, and 1 Republik–with the city posting the best overall score (third place) in nightlife out of any place in our top 10.

Hoboken also scored especially well (fourth overall) for the percentage of its restaurants that are fast food chains–a miniscule 2.5 percent. Instead of mass-produced drek, they’re dining on exciting fare like La Isla’s famed stuffed French toast, which even Bobby Flay couldn’t top when the Cuban hotspot appeared on the Iron Chef’s show “Throwdown”.

2. La Crosse, WI

We know what you’re thinking: How can a town situated in the shadow of “Grandad Bluff” be exciting? Well, the numbers don’t lie. Numbers like five, which is the place La Crosse took when it came to nightlife, and we’re sure regulars at places like Bodega and the Starlite Lounge would agree if we could get them to put down their glasses for a second.

La Crosse also posted great numbers when it came to active life and having a young population. It ranked 20th for the former and 11th for the latter, with 33 percent of its residents falling in our exciting age group of 20 to 34.

3. Chapel Hill, NC

One point of North Carolina’s “Research Triangle” and home to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill claimed a fourth place finish for active life options, which isn’t surprising given its large student population. Nor should its 14th place ranking for nightlife be, when you consider it’s home to spots like Local 506 and Cave, venues that play host to world-renowned musical acts throughout the year.

While Chapel Hill only ranked 49th for the percentage of non-fast food chain restaurants it boasts, that’s not to say there aren’t plenty of unique gems like the Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen and Merritt’s, where the BLT is not so much a sandwich as it is an artform.

4. Lancaster, PA

If James Buchanan, our 15th President, were alive today, we can’t help but think he’d be living it up and enjoying Lancaster’s nightlife. We say that because the city certainly has plenty to offer, ranking seventh overall in this category. We’d probably find old Jimmy at places like Annie Bailey’s and Pour, practicing his mid-19th-century pickup lines on the ladies.

Lancaster also did well in terms of its percentage of non-fast food restaurants (96 percent for a 12th place finish there), and its number of 20- to 34-year-old residents (27 percent, putting it at No. 15 in that category).

5. New Brunswick, NJ

Remember when we said that New Jersey had not one, but two cities in our top 10? New Brunswick might’ve gotten trounced (relatively) by Hoboken, but a fifth place finish is still something to be excited about. Like Chapel Hill, New Brunswick likely owes some of its exciting cred to the fact that it’s a college town, in this case the home of Rutgers University.

This clearly had a hand in New Brunswick’s fourth place ranking for 20 to 34-year-olds of 41 percent. The city also ranked respectably for non-chain restaurants (17th) and nightlife (19th), the latter category being headlined by places like Clydz, which–in addition to myriad libations–serves unusual fare including wild boar, rattlesnake, and kangaroo. Weird, yes, but undeniably exciting.

6. Manhattan, KS

Yes, we’re starting to sense a trend here, too. By that we mean that, like Chapel Hill and Lancaster, Manhattan–”The Little Apple”–is also a college town. In this case, that college is Kansas State University. Again, this translates to a large population of 20- to 34-somethings (43 percent, placing it third for that criterion) and plenty of nightlife (enough to get it ranked 15th).

A good chunk of that is centered in and around “Aggieville,” the city’s main cultural hub and an area that also hosts Manhattan’s mock-holiday, Fake Patty’s Day, which occurs just before the real deal each year. Local bars, like Aggieville hotspot the So Long Saloon, get in on the excitement, while more sane-minded folks can be found elsewhere in the city enjoying sober fun at places like the Sunset Zoo.

7. Lakewood, OH

Resident Ohio native David Cross (of awesome lists about Columbus fame) says he can attest to Lakewood’s eligibility for our top 10. The numbers say that, out of all the criteria we measured, this Cleveland suburb ranked highest for things related to active life. This isn’t really surprising when you consider all of the things to do on and around Lake Erie. Things like the Lakewood Park and the Rocky River Reservation.

In the town proper, there’s a pretty happening (does the 20 to 34 crowd, 24 percent of Lakewood, even say that?) nightlife scene along Madison and Detroit Avenues. There are even places lauded for their dual specialisation in grub and brews, such as Melt (with its deep fried sandwiches) and and Buckeye Beer Engine, which is renowned in the area for its burgers. Best of all, they aren’t chains; only 7 percent of restaurants in Lakewood are, which is something to be excited about.

8. Royal Oak, MI

We can’t say we’re too surprised to see Royal Oak in our top 10. After all, the city was ranked No. 7 on our list of the best places in Michigan. In terms of this ranking, however, it had to rank according to a very different set of criteria. In those, it did best when it came to young residents,where it placed 17th overall with 28 percent of its people being ages 20 to 34.

Like the other nine most exciting small cities, Royal Oak essentially did quite well across the board, with places like LUNA to bolster the nightlife score (27th), the Red Coat tavern on non-fast food eating (29th), and active life (29th) represented by the Detroit Zoo, which is located within the city’s borders.

9. San Marcos, TX

When it comes to the excitement generated by a young, active population, our top 10 has no better representative than San Marcos, home to Texas State University. This place ranked second in both active lifestyle options and 20-34 population, which currently stands at 44 percent.

“San Marvelous,” as it’s nicknamed, offers lots of reasons to get outdoors, such as the Meadows Center Glass-bottom Boat Tours and a chance to go spelunking (technically indoors) in the Wonder World caves. From caverns to taverns, nightlife in San Marcos is headline by the likes of the Tap Room, Zelicks Icehouse, and the Triple Crown.

10. Sarasota, FL

Last–but in no way least–we have Sarasota, which was the exact opposite of last in a couple of key categories, namely live music and nightlife where it placed first overall. The latter category is bolstered by more than a hundred bars, including Cock & Bull and Shakespeare’s, and nightclubs the likes of Ivory Lounge.

Active life options was another standout at seventh overall, helped in no small way by numerous beaches, while its ninth place finish in non-fast food eateries was thanks to places like Amish (yes, Amish) restaurant Yoder’s and the Cuban fare at Columbia. Just don’t to see as many 20-34-year-olds in these places; the city placed 88th overall for that criterion.

Small Cities, Big Fun

Hopefully by now you’ve gotten the gist–you don’t have to be a big city to be an exciting city. There’s just so much they have to offer those seeking active lifestyles with lots to do at all hours (and plenty of folks to do things with). None do this better than Hoboken, though, so if it’s an exciting small city you’re after, that’s the place to start. Just don’t expect to get much sleep.

SEE ALSO: 11 Unusual Homes You Can Buy Right Now

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Good news for meat lovers: the men of Chicago-based grilling organization ManBQue are publishing a cookbook that caters specifically to hungry carnivores. 

We first wrote about John Carruthers and Jesse Valenciana back in July, when the meat enthusiasts built a true-to-size replica of the Stanley Cup made completely out of ground beef, bacon, and hot dogs. 

Though you won't find a recipe for the famous meat Stanley Cup, the new cookbook, out April 2014, offers plenty of cooking advice from the everyday (burgers and wings) to the unusual (pig tongue and snails). 

"ManBQue: Meat. Beer. Rock and Roll" will even tell you which beers you should be pairing with your meat. 

According to the book's Amazon description: "Once a month the members cast aside their daily responsibilities for good food and company. In this spirit, the margins are filled with stories of what you’re eating, which ManBQue member invented it, and how that insanely delicious process occurred. By the end, you too will be shouting 'MANBQUE!'"

You can pre-order the book now at Amazon.

 You'll find recipes like this one, for a dish they call "Lagunitas Beer Cheese:" 

MAKES 1 PINT OF CHEESE

1 cup (8 ounces) American wheat pale ale (like Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’)
¼ pound cheddar, shredded
¼ pound dry mozzarella, grated
1 ¼ tablespoons Sriracha sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Add 1⁄2 cup of the beer to a food processor. Add the cheeses and pulse.
2. Add the Sriracha, Dijon, Worcestershire, salt, and remaining beer.
3. Pulse again until just combined. Don’t overmix or you’ll whip the cheese.
4. Serve with fresh bread, possibly while watching some sort of horse race.

Reprinted with permission by Running Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group.

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Plenty of attention is given to how our meat is raised, however the unsavory topic of how our meat is slaughtered is often overlooked.

We visited Madani Halal, a live slaughterhouse in Ozone Park, Queens where Imran Uddin walked us through the process of killing a pasture-raised chicken according to the halal method.

WARNING: A chicken is slaughtered in this video.

Produced by Alana Kakoyiannis. Follow us on YouTube >

SEE ALSO: How To Choose The Perfect Diamond

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New evidence suggests that a drink a day could help keep the doctor away — when it comes to cold and flu season, that is.

While plenty of research has touted the benefits of resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine, a small study published Dec. 18 in the journal Vaccine suggests that alcohol itself might have some immune-boosting effects — at least in moderation.

Since the immune system fights off invaders like the cold and flu, a drink here and there might just increase the odds you'll stay healthy through the holidays.

Researchers vaccinated twelve rhesus macaque monkeys against smallpox and measured how much their immune systems rallied in response to the vaccine, a standard test of ability to fight disease and infection. Then they let the monkeys hang out for 22 hours a day with a choice of pure water or an ethanol and water solution about as alcoholic as a Bud Light.

The monkeys' immune responses were tested again after seven months.

During that time some monkeys drank a lot and some were more modest in their boozing behavior — just like humans.

The researchers found that heavy drinking had impaired immune response, while — to their surprise — moderate drinking had improved it. That means the moderate drinkers fared better than the teetotaling controls.

The findings are almost certainly appealing to human primates who enjoy the occasional happy hour, but there are some important caveats: The study was very small, in monkeys and not people (a common practice in immune research), and relied on an alcohol-water solution that you probably wouldn't want on the menu at your corner bar.

But it's also not the first study to link moderate drinking to boosted immunity. 

One big study in the American Journal of Public Health found that moderate drinking was associated with a decreased risk of getting a cold, though the researchers emphasized booze isn't a cold-fighting measure — no matter how many times you argue that vodka kills germs.

Still, there's reason to be cautious. While studies define "moderate" drinking differently, some evidence seems to indicate that even moderate alcohol use may handicap your immune defenses. A review in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism concluded that drinking can actually increase susceptibility to infection and disease.

While the jury is still out on the alcohol-immunity link, a long list of research has found a positive link between moderate drinking and general health.

"For the average person who has, say, a glass of wine with dinner, it does seem in general to improve health and cardiovascular function," said study author Ilhem Messaoudi of the University of California, Riverside in a press release. "And now we can add the immune system to that list."

SEE ALSO: What Alcohol Does To Your Body And Mind

SEE ALSO: A Gang Of Alcoholic Moose Terrorized A Swedish Homeowner

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On Christmas Day, Kia will air the first television ad for the K900 — its bid to enter the luxury car market in the U.S.

At first glance, it's hard to think than anyone would associate Kia — which uses dancing hamsters to advertise the $15,000 Soul— with luxury driving.

But when you take a closer look, it's clear the Korean automaker has a plan that may well work.

The K900 debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, and we were impressed. The rear-wheel drive sedan looks great inside and out.

It will be powered by a V6 engine good for 311 horsepower, or a V8 that will produce an impressive 420.

But the challenge isn't to build a luxury car, it's to sell it. The lucrative segment is crowded with established competition (Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi), newcomers (Lexus, Infiniti), and brands on the mend (Cadillac, Lincoln).

So how can Kia convince Americans to spend a lot of money on a brand long associated with affordability?

On paper, Kia has checked all the luxury car boxes. It will throw in three years of complimentary maintenance. Plenty of features will come standard, including "high-grade" leather, a 12-way adjustable driver's seat, and heated and cooled seats. Buy the V8 version, and you get a full-length panoramic roof and reclining rear seats.

And it's approaching the market the right way, argues Karl Brauer, a senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book. It has kept K900 development costs down by using the platform already shared by the Genesis and Equus. Even modest sales should let Kia break even.

Brauer said he's heard "rumblings" of a starting price around $55,000, a significant jump over the $35,000 MSRP for Kia's top model in the U.S., the Cadenza. But, he added, a good deal isn't what most premium buyers are looking for. In fact, it can undercut the premium image Kia is trying to build.

Making it into the luxury market is a "journey of 1,000 steps," Brauer said — and it will take 20 or 30 years, not 2 or 3. A few decades ago, he noted, BMW didn't have a luxury reputation, but it "concertedly changed" its image and products, over time.

If Kia wants to do the same, it has to start sometime.

SEE ALSO: The Parking Lot At The American University Of Dubai Is Full Of Amazing Cars

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The bow, the finely creased edges, the deftly wrapped box — a beautifully wrapped present can indicate that someone really took the time to find the perfect gift.

Meanwhile, your present to them looks like a toddler got tangled up in wrapping paper and then took a nap.

Well, don't turn to the old gift bag and tissue paper cop-out just yet. These nine gift wrapping tips and tricks will make you into a wrapping genius.

1. Get Creative With The Packaging

Even for the most savvy wrapper, trying to package a bizarrely-shaped gift is a challenge. It's hard to get the paper to look nice, and even when you do, the size and shape can take away the element of surprise.

For smaller gifts such as perfume bottles, socks, or nail polish, ball them up in bubble wrap or tissue paper and stick them into an empty paper towel roll. Wrap the roll in paper, twist the wrapping paper at the ends, and secure with some ribbon to make it look like a piece of candy.

For medium-sized gifts, repackage them in an empty coffee can or shoe box — basically any empty (clean) container you have lying around the house. Broken-down shipping boxes are perfect for larger gifts.

If you have softer items like scarves that didn't come in a box, use a square piece of cardboard (or cut apart a cereal box) and place your folded item on top. This will give you a hard surface to wrap around.

2. Hide The Price

It's bad manners to let your gift recipient know how much those mittens cost, or that they were on sale in the bargain bin.

Instead of cutting off the tag entirely (rendering the item nonreturnable) or leaving sticky residue on the gift, color over the price with a sharpie or slap on a festive holiday sticker.

3. No Wrapping Paper? No Problem

Everyone knows the tried and true newspaper or magazine cover method of wrapping presents. It's fine, and it works.

But a much more likely last-minute item you would have in your home is a potato chip bag. Dump those delicious chips in a Ziploc bag, and then cut the chip bag open to expose the bright, silver-y inside. Wash it with soap and water and then once it dries, wrap the presents with the silver side facing out.

4. Get The Right Tools For The Job

Scissors and tape are fine, but if you're serious about becoming a better gift wrapper, then buy the right tools.

A rotary cutter and pop up tape dispenser, both for under $15, will save time and energy. The pop up tape dispenser fits on your hand and cuts the tape for you, while the rotary cutter evenly slices through wrapping paper on flat surfaces — think of it like a pizza cutter for paper. No more jagged edges or wads of discarded tape.

5. Wrap Presents On A Hard Surface

To avoid tearing, wrap presents on a hard surface, like a table or a counter top. Working on the floor or carpet makes it harder to control the paper, which is when most people become frustrated, start to rush, and then tear through the paper with the gift's edges.

6. Keep Post-It Notes Handy

If you're like me, you wrap all your gifts first before putting on name tags or writing cards. The trouble with this method, of course, is when there are two gifts of equal size meant for two different people.

Write the names of your gift recipients on Post-It notes ahead of time, and place them on each gift as you finish wrapping. It will only take a second, and makes it easier when you go back to add name tags.

7. Wrap Gifts Upside Down

This is an obvious one, but it's easy to forget. Place the gift face down so that the wrapping paper overlap is on the underside of the gift.

It's a small thing, but we inherently assume when opening a present that the side with the bow or nametag is also the top of the gift. Children will just tear into the top of presents, and it's nice to be rewarded immediately with what the gift actually is instead of the bottom of a box.

8. To Get Perfect Ends, Fold The Sides First

After securing the paper around the gift, it's time to fold the ends. This is the trickiest part of wrapping, and can make the final product look fantastic or awful.

I personally prefer folding the sides first. Then fold the top flap and the bottom flap to meet each other in the middle (or slightly overlap, depending on your preference) and secure with tape. This genius infographic from the Container Store is a good visual guide to follow:

9. When In Doubt, Use Decorative Tape

For the truly hopeless gift wrappers out there, buy some decorative tape.  That way even if the ends look awful, there's tape everywhere, or there are a few tears you don't care to fix, you can just cover all your mistakes with some sparkly, festive tape.

It can even take the place of ribbon, and your gift will at the very least look presentable.

STILL LOOKING FOR GIFTS?: Get Inspired With Business Insider's Holiday Gift Guides

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Cigar Aficionado is out with its annual best cigars of the year. The 2013 champion? The Montecristo No. 2, the "undisputed king of torpedoes."

Here's how the magazine described the winner (naturally a Cuban cigar):

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The Meatpacking District hasn't always been the hot nightlife destination it is today. 

Before hip designers like Diane von Furstenberg and Alexander McQueen opened flagship stores there in the late 1990s, the area was seedy, desolate, and it wasn't exactly aging gracefully.

Since the mid-1800s, meat markets and slaughterhouses had filled the neighborhood, roughly defined as the area bordered by Chelsea Market to the north and Horatio Street to the south on Manhattan's West Side.

According to the Meatpacking District Improvement Association, 250 slaughterhouses and packing plants populated the area by the turn of the 20th century. By the 1930s, these distributors produced the country's third-largest volume of dressed meats.

Today, only five remain, and they're all located in the Gansevoort Market Co-op between Washington and West Streets, though the entire area was granted historic status in 2003.

French photographer Gregoire Alessandrini first came to New York in the late '80s and was amazed to find a city changing before his very eyes.

"At the time, I didn’t pretend to be a professional photographer but I guess I had the intuition of being the witness of a vanishing world. Here and there, one could see the remains of a golden era, of a certain idea of New York," he said in a bio shared with Business Insider. "Just like if the city was waking up with a bad hangover from all the past parties and eccentricity." 

He shared some photos he took of the Meatpacking District in the 1990s. 

The streets were grungy and desolate in the 1990s. 

There were still plenty of signs of the area's slaughterhouse past. 

According to Vanishing New York, meatpacking operations at Atlas Meats and Industrial Foods stopped in 2009 when the High Line and the Standard opened nearby. 

The building was demolished in 2012, to be replaced by a controversial glass office structure overhanging the High Line. 

As slaughterhouses closed, street art began to crop up on their walls.

The beams that stretch out over the sidewalk here were originally built to keep butchers' wares from spoiling in the sun. 

The Meatpacking District, and its Triangle Building in particular, were hotbeds of illicit activity, much of which took place in underground sex clubs like Hellfire and the Vault. 

SEE ALSO: Stunning Composite Photos Show New York Crime Scenes Then And Now

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According to Huffington Post reporter Joe Satran, hundreds of thousands of people are arrested each year for drinking in public.

But it turns out drinking in public isn't illegal everywhere in the U.S.

While doing research for an in-depth story on "The Secret History of the War on Public Drinking," Satran discovered there are 12 towns that allow public drinking in most or all areas, as well as eight other towns that allow public drinking in 'special entertainment districts.'

There are also numerous states that don't have a statewide ban at all.

Satran created the helpful map above to show Americans where they can and cannot drink in public. Surprisingly, only 17 states ban the practice completely, and both Colorado and Ohio currently have pending laws that could allow public drinking in designated areas.

But what "public drinking" means around the country is a whole different story. Explains Satran:

But this map actually masks the true extent of the confusion, because the various municipal and state statutes banning the behavior define the offense in myriad ways. They also stipulate a huge range of penalties for offenders, from a simple fine of $25, payable by mail (New York City), to a ticket of up to $1,000 or a jail sentence of up to 6 months (Hawaii and New Mexico).

Read Joe Satran's complete story about the war on public drinking over at The Huffington Post.

SEE ALSO: Inside Florida's Strange And Beautiful Mermaid Theme Park

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Another home testing the digital currency bitcoin, just hit the housing market.

The four-bedroom ranch style home is located in Southampton, N.Y., and is for sale at $799,000 — or the equivalent bitcoin value. 

“There’s room for more than one currency,” said 42 year old Philipp Preuss, the home’s seller to the Wall Street Journal.

The unpredictable virtual currency has fluctuated this year from $13 in January to $1,200 in late November. 

The house is listed last with Amadeus Ehrhardt of Brown Harris Stevens.

The home is less than 4 miles from Southampton’s Main Street and 3 miles from the beach.

“I’m expanding my buyer base," said the home's seller. He works in international equity sales and made his first investment in bitcoin earlier this year.

The home has a bright living room layout featuring a vintage wood burning stove, vaulted ceilings, and skylights.

Lyndsey Scott is a gorgeous model who has walked in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. 

But growing up, she says she was often bullied for her "awkward" appearance. 

Scott responded to a Quora thread asking: "What does it feel like to go from physically unattractive to physically attractive?"

Scott, who agreed to share her answer with us, says that people didn't give her a chance when she was a bespectacled and skinny adolescent. 

Here are some photos of her from that time: 

By the time she entered her 20s, Scott began to look like the gorgeous model she is today. 

Of course, there are perks. 

"People offer me a lot more freebies,  I make money off of my looks through modeling, strangers talk to me more often, more people listen to me and laugh at my jokes, and I even have the occasional suitor," Scott writes. 

But her new appearance had its downsides.

"Would-be catcallers will sometimes skip the compliments and just call me a bitch as I walk by, some women (although very few) are very catty to me from the get-go, and many people are shocked to find out that I'm anything other than an airhead...that I was a computer science major and that I program iOS apps, for example," she says. 

Ultimately, Scott acknowledges that she feels "extremely lucky to have been granted this new super-power." 

But it also haunts her. 

"I have to wonder, why didn't they like me then when I'm still the same person now?  Why do they like me now?  How do I know that they like me now?  Does anyone actually really even like me now?" she asks. 

Here's a photo of Scott today:

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

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If you're unlucky enough to end up in the hospital, the grayish meals you're served once there just add insult to injury.

They may be even worse than they seem, at least in the U.K., Katharine Jenner argues in a Dec. 19 editorial in the British Medical Journal.

Jenner chairs the Campaign for Better Hospital Food, which surveyed the nutritional content of 25 patient meals in the U.K. and found that 15 of them contained more salt than a Big Mac.

"A staggering two thirds of hospital staff say that they would not be happy to eat the food that they serve to patients," Jenner writes.

The problem isn't limited to the U.K., suggests a Canadian study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers analyzed patient meals at three hospitals in Ontario and found that their sodium content exceeded the recommended daily intake 100 percent of the time.

Even convicted criminals may have better culinary options. In a U.K. study from earlier this year, published in the journal Appetite, researchers noted that "prisoners are often better nourished than hospital patients" — even though hospital food has more funding. They observed how during the long process of food distribution in hospitals "hot food often cooled," "cold food became tepid," and many meals became dried out and discolored.

If you want to get sick without also suffering through terrible food, try Switzerland: A survey of patients at two Swiss hospitals found that 85 percent were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their food and 75 percent said it tasted good (that's better than some Yelp-rated restaurants).

Hospital meals in the U.S.

The U.K.'s hospital food is closely monitored because it's a part of their national healthcare system, which is run by the government. In the U.S., hospital food is determined by individual institutions.

"They each have to develop a diet manual for their facility and then follow it," Diana Vaca McGhie of the American Heart Association told Business Insider in an email.

But that doesn't mean it's tastier or healthier than U.K. hospital offerings. Specific information on hospital meals here is harder to find than it is in Europe and Canada, likely because our healthcare system is still largely private.

There was one 1996 letter co-authored by Marion Nestle in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) that offers some clues. In short: Things don't look much better here.

The authors looked at patient menus from 65 American teaching hospitals. Only four of them met all seven of the National Research Council's dietary recommendations. Eighty-one percent had more than the recommended daily intake of cholesterol, and more than half had too much sodium.

Those things probably haven't changed much in the past 17 years. Any changes may have been for the worse since hospital costs are rising and budgets are continually being slashed.

Still, not everyone thinks there's a problem, and the NEJM report prompted some spirited replies. One responder, a nurse named Carol Porter from San Francisco, pointed out that certain "unhealthy" meals are offered specifically because sick patients sometimes need the extra calories:

The provocative conclusions only lead the media and the public to conclude that we are a bunch of dunces who have no understanding of the relation between nutrition and disease prevention.

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Durand Guion, Vice President, Men's Fashion Director at Macy's Inc. gives his expert advice on pairing ties – from solids to patterns – to build a basic inventory of neckwear that reflects your personal style.

Produced by Alana Kakoyiannis. Additional camera by Justin Gmoser.Follow us on YouTube >

NOW WATCH: Here's How To Groom The 10-Day Beard That Women Find Sexiest

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Just a few weeks after the very last Gallardo rolled of the assembly line, Lamborghini has given us our first official look at the car that will take its place: the Huracán.

Continuing a tradition, the name comes from a famous bull who fought in Spain in 1879, "showing his unrelenting character and remaining defiant and invincible, thus entering into the legend of fighting bulls' history."

No doubt Lamborghini hopes the supercar will do the same.

From the photos and details released today, it's off to a good start. The Huracán is designed from scratch, and the first version, the LP 610-4, is powered by a 5.2 liter V10 engine that generates over 600 horsepower. It will go from a dead stop to 62 mph in 3.2 seconds, and top out at 201 mph.

In terms of style, it's unmistakably a Lambo, and not a big departure from the looks of the Gallardo.

But the supercar market is crowded with excellent offerings from Ferrari, Lamborghini's traditional rival, as well as McLaren, Porsche, and Aston Martin. So we'll have to see how the Huracán handles on the road — and how much it costs — before finding out how it will compete.

The Gallardo was introduced at the Geneva show in 2003, and saw a production run of 14,000 units. Those make up half of all Lamborghini cars ever made.

The brand new supercar will make its official debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March, but Lamborghini will host private viewing parties for "qualified prospects" starting in January.

First deliveries should start in the Spring of 2014. Pricing has not been announced.

SEE ALSO: The Parking Lot At The American University Of Dubai Is Full Of Amazing Cars

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Back in July, shoe powerhouse Vince Camuto and his former beauty queen wife listed their historic Southampton estate for a staggering $48 million.

The 113-year-old property, known as Wooldon Manor, went into contract after only three months, The Real Deal reported in early October.

But now, The Wall Street Journal reports that the property actually sold for $75 million, $27 million more than the listing price.

The reason for the price spike? The final sale price included additional property, bringing the total amount of land to 14 acres, according to the WSJ. The 10,000-square-foot mansion has more than 500 feet of ocean frontage and views of Lake Agawam.

An unnamed New York couple reportedly bought the property

The estate — which has a gorgeous pool, pool house, formal gardens, a romantic green house, and tennis court — was previously owned by both the Woolworth family and Edmund Lynch, a founding partner of Merrill Lynch. Though it has been expanded and added upon by residents, the exterior and style of the home has remained constant for over a century.

Wooldon Manor sits on the iconic oceanfront drive, Gin Lane.

Source: Sotheby's International Realty

The home has plenty of room with 14 acres of land.

Source: Sotheby's International Realty

Inside, the vaulted ceilings have exposed beams and sky lights.

Source: Sotheby's International Realty

National Geographic has announced the winners of its 2013 Photography Contest. 

More than 7,000 photographers from 150 countries submitted stunning images for this year's edition of the annual contest. 

A panel of National Geographic photographers chose winners in three different categories: people, places, and nature. 

The winning photos in each category will be published in an upcoming issue of National Geographic, and each photographer will receive a prize of $2,500. The grand prize winner overall receives $10,000 and a trip to National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

Contest rules required photos to be unaltered and in digital form. 

National Geographic shared the honorable mentions and first-place winners with Business Insider. 

HONORABLE MENTION, NATURE: "The crows that live in Tokyo use clothes hangers to make nests. In such a large city, there are few trees, so the natural materials that crows need to make their nests are scarce. As a result, the crows occasionally take hangers from the people who live in apartments nearby, and carefully assemble them into nests. The completed nests almost look like works of art based on the theme of recycling." – Yosuke Kashiwakura, "Crows Nest"

Source: 2013 National Geographic Photography Contest

HONORABLE MENTION, NATURE: "An Indian rhinoceros, far from home and stuck inside with late-winter blues at the Toronto zoo."– Stephen De Lisle, "Indian Rhino, Canadian Winter"

Source: 2013 National Geographic Photography Contest

HONORABLE MENTION, NATURE: "On a good day in the field, a birder might see flock of birds. Great Egrets; Tidal area of the Danube in Hungary." – Réka Zsirmon, "Flying Egrets"

Source: 2013 National Geographic Photography Contest