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23 Celebrities Who Served In The Military

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Elvis

In honor of Veteran's Day, we're taking a look back at some of the most famous people who have served in the military.

Some stars, such as Chuck Norris or Elvis Presley, have well documented their time in the armed forces — while others, like Drew Carey, may come as more of a surprise.

Check out 19 icons who served in the armed forces, including a baseball great, two famous reclusive novelists, and one "Golden Girl."

This report was also written by Jennifer Michalski.

Comedian Drew Carey started performing stand-up comedy during his six years in the Marines.

In 1981, Drew Carey entered the United States Marine Corps Reserve, a stint that lasted six years.

It was during his service that he first started performing stand-up comedy.

"While in the Marine Reserves, I was looking for a way to make some more money, and it was suggested that I try using my jokes," he later said.

Carey, who teamed up with the United Services Organization, has since visited military bases in Iraq to perform comedy for troops stationed there.



Thomas Pynchon served in the Navy.

Considering his monumental importance to American letters and literature in general, little is actually known about Pynchon, who refuses to be photographed and doesn't grant interviews.

One of the only confirmed photos of the author of such celebrated postmodern doorstops as Gravity's Rainbow and Mason & Dixon is from his two-year stint in the US Navy, which came in the middle of his four years at Cornell University in the late 1950s.

Pynchon's time in the Navy is evident in many of his major works: V. follows the misadventures of a recently-discharged Navy sailor in early-60s New York. Gravity's Rainbow, which takes place in World War II's European theater and revolves around Nazi Germany's V-2 missile program, is particularly rife with military-related themes and characters.



Hugh Hefner got his start in publishing while in the US Army.

Before Playboy existed, Hefner had a successful career in the military.

In 1944, after graduating high school, Hefner enlisted in the Army as an infantry clerk.

He frequently contributed cartoons for various military newspapers before he was discharged in 1946. 



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The Essential Tools Everyone Should Have In Their Home

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There are certain tools that everyone should have around the house.

Insider Picks has put together a handy list of all the tools and in-case-of-emergency items you'll need to complete your grown-up home.

You can skip that long-overdue trip to Home Depot. We've got it all here for you.

An all-purpose tool:

If you don't want to buy a million individual tools, this is a good item to have around the house. You'll be able to take care of any minor emergency with one of these. This one comes with several knives, pliers, wire cutters, small, medium, and Phillips screw drivers, a saw, a bottle opener, a can opener, and ever a ruler.

insider picksLeatherman Sidekick Multi-Tool | Amazon

If you don't need all those bells and whistles, at least get yourself a Swiss Army knife.

Victorinox Swiss Army Huntsman II Knife | Amazon

Victorinox Swiss Champ Pocket Knife | Amazon

A tape measure:

Instead of (incorrectly) guessing how large a room is, why not get the exact numbers? For most people, a tape measure is one of those things they never think of buying until the exact moment they need one. So, here you go. 

insider picksStanley 33-425 Powerlock 25-Foot by 1 Inch Measuring Tape | Amazon

Komelon SL2925 Self Lock Speed Mark 25-Foot Power Tape | Amazon

A vacuum cleaner:

We've selected the best vacuum cleaners on the market for you. Say goodbye to those bulky monstrosities of your childhood — and get yourself one of these lightweight and durable vacuum cleaners that'll last for a long time. Plus they're small, so they're easy to store in closets.

insider picksMiele S2121 Capri Canister Vacuum Cleaner | Amazon

Dyson DC 41 Animal Bagless Vacuum Cleaner | Amazon

Dyson DC 26 Multi Floor Compact Canister Vacuum Cleaner | Amazon

Dyson DC39 Animal Canister Vacuum Cleaner with Tangle-free Turbine Tool | Amazon

A flashlight:

insider picks

"But I have my smartphone ..." Hate to burst your bubble, but your phone's going to lose battery pretty quickly once your house loses power — you won't have any way of charging it. It's always good to have a flashlight with long-lasting batteries around the house. 

WASING 8 Hours Long Lasting Explosion Proof Flashlight Torch | Amazon

LE Adjustable Focus CREE LED Flashlight, Super Bright (Batteries Included) | Amazon

7W 300LM Mini Cree LED Flashlight Torch Adjustable Focus Zoom | Amazon

Dorcy 41-4750 190-Lumen High Flux LED | Amazon

Helotex G2 Tactical Flashlight | Amazon

A cordless drill:

You're going to want a cordless drill in order to avoid the hassle of tangled wires. In other words, you can reach the awkward angles, and you can even work outside with them. We've selected lightweight, but powerful options for whenever you're going to need to work on some home improvement project.

insider picksDEWALT 18-Volt Drill | Amazon

Black & Decker LDX120C 20-Volt MAX Cordless Drill | Amazon

Genesis GCD18BK 18v Cordless Drill | Amazon

PORTER-CABLE 20-volt 1/2 Inch Lithium Ion Drill | Amazon

Jumper cables:

If your car battery goes dead, you're going to need some jumper cables. You connect the cables to a secondary battery in order to get your car working. You might think you don't need these — and then there will be that one day you're stuck on the side of the road. Alone.

insider picksSuper Heavy Duty 500 Amp 6 Gauge | Amazon

AAA 42 Piece Emergency Road Assistance Kit | Amazon

Capri Tools Heavy-Duty Auto Jumper Cables | Amazon

Wilmar (W1673) 20' 4-Gauge Jumper Cable | Amazon

Heavy Duty 2 Gauge Wire Extra Long 25 Feet | Amazon

Unique Imports 200 Amp 10 Gauge | Amazon

An adjustable wrench:

insider picks

Whenever you have a nut or bolt to finagle with, you'll need a wrench. The adjustable ones are the better option because then you can get a better grip on the bolt.

Crescent AT16 Adjustable Wrench Black Oxide Finish | Amazon

Stanley 8-inch Adjustable Wrench | Amazon

Stanley 10-inch MaxSteel Adjustable Wrench | Amazon

Stanley 12-inch Adjustable Wrench | Amazon

A screwdriver:

You'll need two kinds of screwdrivers: a flathead and a Phillips. The flathead is your basic, regular screw with a single slot. 

Insider picks

3.5" Long Shaft Length 6mm Flathead Slotted Screwdriver Tool | Amazon

Stanley 60-006 Standard Fluted Standard Slotted Tip | Amazon

Greenlee 0453-14C Screw Holding Flathead Screwdriver | Amazon

But you'll also need a Phillips screwdriver — which is commonly used today. This has a a + shape to it.

insider picksKlein Tools 603-4 No. 2 Profilated Phillips Tip 4-Inch | Amazon

TEKTON 2716 #2 Phillips by 6-inch Screwdriver | Amazon

Roadpro RPS1020 3" x 6" Phillips Head Screwdriver with Magnetic Tip | Amazon

A claw hammer:

You'll need the claw hammer to pound nails in, or to pull them out. Typically, these are used for wood projects.

insider picksEstwing E16S 16-Ounce Straight Claw Leather Handle Hammer | Amazon

Stanley 51-624 20-Ounce Rip Claw Fiberglass Hammer | Amazon

MAXCRAFT 60626 8-oz. Stubby Claw Hammer | Amazon

Estwing Mfg Co. E3-16S 16-Ounce Rip Claw Hammer with Steel Handle | Amazon

TEKTON 3016 8-oz. Tubular Steel Claw Hammer | Amazon

A car jack:

A car jack is used to lift a car (or any other heavy object). If there's something wrong with your car, this is the best way to get it off the ground so that you can figure out what the issue is.

insider picksTorin T10152 Scissor Jack — 1.5 Ton | Amazon

Powerzone 380044 3 Ton Aluminum and Steel Garage Jack | Amazon

Torin T43002A 3 Ton Double Locking Jack Stands | Amazon

Torin T82012 2 Ton Hydraulic Trolley Jack in Plastic Case | Amazon

Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments.

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HOUSE OF THE DAY: Incredible Three-Story Penthouse In New York City's Lincoln Center Is Listed For $42 Million

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140911_EJ_1965_Broadway_PH3BC_0228 Edit

A three-story $42 million penthouse at 1965 Broadway has hit the market in New York City, according to The Real Deal

The penthouse in Lincoln Center has three separate entrances, 16 rooms, two kitchens, two private terraces, and a total of 10,100 square feet. 

It was once three units and has been converted into this triplex penthouse with a full-service 24-7 doorman, concierge, security staff, and live-in resident manager. 

But the best feature of the home might be its incredible 360-degree views of Manhattan, which is why it has been referred to as the “townhouse in the sky.” 

Andrew Azoulay of Douglas Elliman Real Estate has the listing

Welcome to the triplex penthouse at the Grand Millennium on Broadway and 67th Street.



The immaculate main kitchen was designed by Boffi. There is a second kitchen located on the lower floor.



It has stainless steel, two refrigerators, three sinks, and three dishwashers.



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What It's Like To Attend The Best Boarding School In America

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phillips exeter academy, becky moore, class, harnkess table

Phillips Exeter Academy, recently named the best private high school in America by academic review site Niche.com and regularly called America's best boarding school, has educated some of the most powerful people in history.

Its alumni base includes 19 state governors, five US senators, five Olympic athletes, two Nobel Prize winners, a US President, and even tech moguls like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Quora founder Adam D'Angelo.

Many millionaires and a handful of billionaires are products of the Exeter community and have helped grow the school's endowment to $1.2 billion. The fund supports many students' tuition, which otherwise costs $46,905 a year for boarding students.

When Dr. John Phillips, a graduate of Harvard and resident of Exeter, New Hampshire opened the Academy in 1781, he set out to teach young men "the great and real business of living." More than two centuries later, the now co-ed school prides itself on the strength of its network, its commitment to spreading kindness, and on its use of the Harkness Method, a unique teaching model that schools around the world strive to imitate.

I recently spent the day as a student at Phillips Exeter Academy, located in Exeter, New Hampshire, to see why it's the best.

Phillips Exeter Academy, recently named best private high school in America, has a reputation as a "feeder school" — a school that sends a high number of students to Ivy League universities. As I drove to the quiet town of Exeter, New Hampshire, I expected to hate it.



Before arriving on campus, I imagined the quintessential boarding school stereotype — Vineyard Vines-wearing, silver spoon-fed teenagers crumbling under academic pressure, bragging about their college acceptances, and sneaking off into the woods to get high.

 

 

 



But I spent the day as a student in "the bubble," as students call the Exeter community, and it was nothing like I expected. I never wanted to leave.



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Bill Gates Gives A Scary Warning About Future Epidemics

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Bill Gates

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $50 million to fight Ebola.

That's a lot of money, but not when you consider what Bill Gates is spending to fight the preventable and treatable disease malaria: $200 million this year, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Malaria struck down 207 million people in 2012 and killed 627,000, many of them also in West Africa, where Ebola has reached epidemic proportions (over 13,000 cases and growing by thousands a week, the CDC reports).

Gates is working to eradicate malaria. So he was in New Orleans at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene conference this week to talk about those efforts. Naturally the talk at the conference quickly turned to his thoughts on Ebola.

Gates said he views this outbreak as a warning that the world needs to get its act together to prevent something even more deadly from spreading.

The world as a whole doesn’t have the preparedness for epidemics, and we’ve had a few flu scares that got us to do some minor things, but not enough.

If this thing had been twice as transmissive, we’d be in a lot of trouble, and there are agents that have a real chance of coming on in the next several decades that are far more transmissive than this is. What’s to stop some form of SARS showing up?

The Gates foundation is trying to tackle some of that. His efforts are going toward creating experimental drugs for Ebola. He's also having engineers come up with ways to cool protective suits so people in warm areas of the world like West Africa can wear them longer.

But he thinks the world could do things far better. Gates wants to see tools developed that do better disease surveillance, tracking how illness spreads, which he says is "a very doable thing" and for a relatively low cost of "literally for hundreds of millions, not billions, of dollars a year.”

He also wants to speed up approval of new drugs during epidemics, such as eliminating the placebo testing portion of clinical trials.

Ultimately he wants the Ebola outbreak to teach us how to react against something even more dangerous.

"The fundamental lesson shouldn’t be about who did what quarantine when. That’s rounding error stuff compared to true preparedness for a seriously transmissive epidemic."

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10 First Class Airlines Seat That Might Be Better Than Your Apartment

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Etihad First Class Residence

Etihad CEO James Hogan proudly announced this week at an industry conference in Dubai that the airline's opulent first class "Residence" has sold out for its first 10 flight.

Although this may not sound like a big deal, demand for the $20,000 a flight suite is a actually blowing away the usual 50% booking rate for first class suites, reports Bloomberg.

The Residence is the closest thing in mass commercial air travel to the service found on a private jet. Instead of an airline seat, The Residence is more like an apartment in the sky, with a bedroom, private shower, and living area. Flyers traveling in the 125-square-foot Residence are treated to a 32-inch flatscreen TV as well as the full attention of a private butler. 

Etihad hopes its Residence-equipped Airbus A380 superjumbos will steal some of the thunder away from the first class offerings of Singapore Airlines and regional rivals like Emirates.

In fact, airlines — in general — are betting that these opulent accommodations will drive up profit margins and yield greater revenues per mile.

This assumption is not unwarranted. According to The Wall Street Journal, American Airlines' say that 70 % of its total revenue comes from just 25% of its passengers.

And the International Air Transport Association has found that first- and business-class flyers make up just 8% of all fares, but account for 27% of total revenues worldwide, according to The Christian Science Monitor. 

And the high-end offerings keep getting better and better. So don't fret if you can't get find your way onto one of the Residence's first flight this December, here are 9 other first class airline seats that are probably nicer than your apartment.

Singapore Airlines

singapore airSingapore Airlines has long been known as one of the best airlines in the world, and its first class suites certainly live up to its lofty reputation. Singapore's fulling enclosed private suites are equipped with a large 23-inch LCD entertainment system and actual standalone beds instead of converted seat beds. 

Emirates

Emirates A380 First Class Private Suite ADubai's Emirates, one of the pioneers in the luxury suite market, has packed its suites with a fully stocked minibar, vanity mirror and a wardrobe. Onboard its fleet of A380 super jumbos, Emirates also offers suite passengers access to one of the plane's marble-lined shower spas.

British Airways

British Airways fleetBritish Airways offers passengers traveling in its ultra-modern suites a host of luxurious schwag, including cotton pajamas and beauty products in a designer Anya Hindmarch bag. 

Qatar Airways

qatar airways a380 first classThough Qatar Airways have decided to concentrate more on its business class seats in recent years, its first class product is still top-notch. Passengers are treated to world-class dining with menus crafted by the likes of Nobu founder Nobu Matsuhisa and Michelin-star-winning chef Tom Aikens. 

Air France

Air France PREMIERE CABINEAir France's new La Premiere luxury suite is set to make its commercial debut in September. It will feature plush bedding from Sofitel and Michelin-star-quality dining. According to the Economic Times, Air France will install a total of 76 suites on its fleet Boeing 777-300s at a cost of $75 million.

Qantas

Qantas First ClassQantas's international first class suites feature a 6.5-foot-long lie-flat bed with a plush sheepskin mattresses. Passengers are also treated to the airline's Sommeliers in the Sky service to help them make selections from Qantas's award-winning wine list

Jet Airways

Turkish Airlines First ClassIndia's Jet Airways offers luxury suites on its fleet of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, complete with private sleeping areas and a large selection of Hollywood and Bollywood hits on for viewing on 23-inch flat screen TVs. Suite flyers are also treated to a personalized five-course meal and endless flutes of Dom Perignon. (The photo above shows a Jet Airways plane that's on lease to Turkish Airlines.)

Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific CX FCL 02Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific offers its most discerning passengers stylish Norm Foster-designed first class suites with amenity kits by Ermenegildo Zegna and Trussardi. Though not fully enclosed like some of its competitors, Cathay's world-class service and plush bedding make for an equally luxurious experience. 

Lufthansa

Lufthansa First ClassLufthansa's stylish first class suite is a model of elegance. The airline's Airbus and Boeing jumbos offer minimalist and modern suites with a host of fine dining and entertainment options. On the airline's Boeing 747-400 jets, suites passengers are offered separate beds in addition to their seats. 

SEE ALSO: his Amazing Airplane Seat Could Change Everything About Luxury Flying

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Here's A Snapshot Of Global Prosperity Right Now

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Norway has been ranked the most prosperous country in the world for the sixth year in a row, according to a new report on global prosperity released today by the Legatum Institute. 

The 142 countries on the annual Prosperity Index were ranked using a "GDP and beyond" approach that measures a country's prosperity according to the strength of its economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, and safety. Personal freedom and social capital are considered as well. 

Here is a graphic of the findings from the report (and here is the full report):

screenshot prosperity snapshot

 

Switzerland and New Zealand rank just behind Norway as the world's most prosperous nations, while the UK boasts the third lowest start-up costs in the world, making it extremely entrepreneur-friendly. Central African Republic remains at the bottom of the list for the third consecutive year.

Overall, sub-Saharan Africa has seen the biggest regional jump in prosperity since 2009, while Russian prosperity has fallen the most in Europe, dropping seven places to number 68. Venezuela has fallen the most globally, dropping 22 places to 100th on the Index.

SEE ALSO: The 30 Most Prosperous Countries In The World

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The Only Three Hair Products Men Should Use

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If you don't know your gels from your pomades, you're not alone. 

The world of men's hair product is daunting, but don't be afraid. We've distilled it down to three basic categories that should suit any kind of hair.

No matter what kind of hair you have, at least one of these products is bound to tame your mane and make it look great.

1. Hair Wax (a.k.a. Putty, Clay, Glue, Molding Creme, or Styling Paste)

hairwax

For guys with straight or wavy hair, wax is the perfect product to use on a daily basis. It makes hair look effortlessly styled with a medium hold and the lowest shine of all hair products.

Another benefit comes from the heaps of texture it adds to all types of hair. It's good for a "messy look" that actually doesn't look messy at all.

Though it comes in many variations, most are made with different waxes like beeswax. They're also water soluble and will easily wash out of your hair. 

American Crew Fiber is the tried-and-true hair wax favorite, but others like Uppercut's Matt Clay have been well reviewed. Other good choices include proprietary brands made by popular barber shop chains like Blind Barber and Fellow Barber.

2. Pomade

Pomade

Pomades are hair wax's classic cousin. They combine a lot of hold with a lot of shine, and are the best product to use for a slicked back pompadour look or "Mad Men"-style side part. Again, pomades work best for men with straight or wavy hair, especially if it's on the long side.

The shiny finish and superior hold of pomades are what really separates them from hair waxes. Pomades are ideal for hair styles that don't need a lot of movement since they can sometimes feel waxy or greasy to the touch.

All of our favorite hair wax brands also make very suitable pomades, including American Crew, Blind Barber, Uppercut, and Fellow Barber. Uppercut also makes an extra-strength pomade, called Monster Hold.

3. Styling Cream

stylingcreamWhile hair wax and pomades can be similar, styling cream is a different beast all together. Instead of a waxy solid like our first two products, styling cream is more of a thick liquid, and is suitable for curly haired men. It offers a light shine with no hold at all, and takes care of the frizz and unruliness in your hair for a natural look.

In short, styling cream will leave your hair manageable without drying it out.

For styling cream brands, you can't go wrong. Moroccan oil has gained a lot of popularity recently for taking good care of both men's and woman's hair, but men's-focused creams like the Fellow Barber's Styling Cream and Malin + Goetz's sage styling cream are also excellent choices. Finally, Bumble and Bumble makes another good unisex alternative.

Which one should you use?

For most hair types, hair wax is your best bet to get your 'do to do what you want it to. The matte finish provides the perfect texture and weight without making your hair greasy or unpleasant to the touch.

It's also easy to maintain throughout the day, with just a quick brush or swoop to fix it up, and washes out easily and cleanly. It's our pick for daily hair product.

Daniel Radcliffe Hair product

If you're looking for shine, however, the traditional pomade is your best bet. And if you just want to get your hair's frizz under control and make your hair more manageable (without any hold), styling cream is your stuff.

As for hair products that were previously in vogue — like gel and mousse — don't bother. These products are best left remembered as fads in their respective heydays.

A final word of warning: Watch out for the labels on hair products. Heavier pomades are starting to contain waxes such as beeswax when they traditionally didn't, and sometimes hair waxes are being labeled incorrectly as "pomades," a term that has become a synonym for "men's hair product."

When in doubt, just read the description and make sure the product delivers the high hold and low shine (matte finish) of a hair wax.

SEE ALSO:  10 Winter Style Trends Every Gentleman Should Know About

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The Great Bourbon Shortage Has Begun, And There's No End In Sight

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Empty Bourbon glass

Get ready to pay more for your Kentucky whiskey. Or do without it.

Because of the recent spike in popularity of the brown spirit, distillers, who generally need to age even the cheapest stuff for 8-10 years, are warning that a major shortage is coming.

This isn't a total surprise. Buffalo Trace Distillery warned last year that demand was outpacing supply and temporary product shortages were on the horizon.

Well, the shortage is now here. 

Here's what Buffalo Trace had to say in its distillery email blast today:

Last year we warned consumers that a shortage was looming, but many markets across the nation are just now feeling the full effects. Along with increased production, adding more bottling lines and hiring more people, we have also hired a full-time barrel allocation manager, just as we intended last year. Despite the increase in distillation over the past few years, bourbon demand still outpaces supply. Bourbon must be matured in new oak barrels and we age many of our barrels for eight to ten years, and some over two decades. That’s a long time to wait for a bottle of bourbon. Not to mention, with the amount of bourbon lost to evaporation over time, barrels are half empty after ten years. The increase in sales, coupled with the aging process and evaporation loss, leads to a shortage with no end in sight. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we try to catch up!

Buffalo Trace isn't the only distillery running into this problem. Bourbon is a lot more popular than it was 10 years ago, so it makes sense that most producers are going to run into supply problems for the next few years. Last year, Maker's Mark tried to get around the issue by diluting the alcohol that went into its bottles.

That did not go well.  

Presumably other distillers will just do what most businesses do when demand outstrips supply: raise prices.

buffalo trace

SEE ALSO: 2 Fat White Truffles Just Sold For $125,000

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24-Year-Old Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel Just Bought His First House For $3.3 Million

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Evan Spiegel houseSnapchat cofounder and CEO Evan Spiegel has finally moved out of his parents' house, according to Variety.

The 24-year-old has purchased his first home, a three-bedroom, Spanish-style house in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. He reportedly paid $3.3 million for it. 

Spiegel has lived in his father's Pacific Palisades home for years, despite being the head of an app that's been valued at $10 billion. He had previously joked that he would live there until his dad kicked him out.

Spiegel's new house isn't exactly a mansion, but it was remodeled in 2012, and it has the added bonus of being located less than four miles away from his dad's house. It's got three bedrooms, including one with a terrace, and over 2,800 square feet of space. There's also a sizeable back yard with an outdoor fireplace.

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Welcome To The Gorgeous Region Of Afghanistan That Has Been Untouched By Decades Of War

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Afghanistans Wakhan Corridor 01

Nearly a decade into the war in Afghanistan, photographer Benjamin Rasmussen was tired of the usual media narrative of suicide bombings, corruption, and insurgency.

In 2010, Rasmussen's sister was working in the aid and development community in Afghanistan. But the only headlines he ever saw about the country focused on the ongoing war.

He felt like the American media was failing to educate the US public about how complex Afghanistan actually was, from its multitudes of tribes and ethnicities to its deep history and varied landscapes.

When he heard about the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip of land in the far northeast of Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Western China, Rasmussen knew he had to document it. 

In a harsh, beautiful landscape bounded by the Hindu Kush mountains in the south, around 12,000 Afghanis live off the land, unaffected by the Taliban, the US, or Hamid Karzai. The region's geographical isolation, harsh climate, and lack of strategic value has kept all troops — Afghani as well as foreign  out of the area for decades.

Rasmussen visited in the summer of 2010 to document the strange and beautiful world. He shared some photos with us here, but you can check out more at his website

The Wakhan Corridor is notoriously hard to reach. To get there, you have to drive, ride on donkeys, and hike the 250-mile journey from Kabul or fly into Tajikistan and cross the border from the North. Both ways are difficult, but traveling by land requires going through Taliban-held lands.



The atmosphere in Afghanistan is tense and dangerous, until you reach the Wakhan Corridor. Here, the atmosphere becomes more relaxed. Because there are no roads into Wakhan and the terrain is so harsh, no US, Afghan, or Taliban soldiers enter the region.



Many in the community have no idea that the Taliban was ever in power or that the US army invaded. The last troops to enter Wakhan were the Soviets, who built the only road leading to the area. They left in the 1980s.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






eBay Admits It Banned A Whistleblower Warning Shoppers About Fake Products (EBAY)

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Ebay John Donahoe

When a consumer watchdog organization alerted eBay that it had found hundreds of counterfeits on the site, eBay blocked the whistleblower's accounts and removed its comments warning people about fake products.

It did this instead of removing the fake products and blocking the sellers of them.

The company, The Counterfeit Report, had just completed a 9-month investigation into counterfeit products being sold on eBay, publisher Craig Crosby, told Business Insider. It had discovered 250 of them, verifying that each one was a fake with the manufacturer.

eBay email counterfeitFor instance, The Counterfeit Report bought a so-called "Sandisk 64GB microSDHC memory card" on eBay. But Sandisk doesn't make such a product and confirmed to The Counterfeit Report that the one bought on eBay was a fake, according to emails shared with Business Insider.

The Counterfeit Report also bought fake Apple iPhone chargers, which have been implicated in starting fires, as well as counterfeit over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, sporting goods, fragrances, auto accessories, and more.

Mistaken For An 'Abusive Buyer'

When Crosby contacted eBay to alert the company of the counterfeits it found on eBay, "eBay retaliated by blocking The Counterfeit Report’s corporate eBay accounts," Crosby said.

eBay also removed The Counterfeit Report's comments on the product pages, it admitted.

When Business Insider questioned eBay about the situation, a spokesperson told us that eBay mistook the whistleblower for something it calls an "abusive buyer."

That's someone who returns a lot of products and leaves a lot of negative comments.

Craig CosbyAn eBay spokesperson says after hearing from Business Insider and looking at Crosby's work more carefully, the company now wants to work with The Counterfeit Report.

A spokesperson told us:

Based on your inquiry, we have taken a closer look at the situation related to Mr. Crosby. Turns out, we’re fighting the same fight.

We work to protect sellers on eBay from abusive buyers, and have systems in place that watch for this kind of behavior. Based on Mr. Crosby’s pattern of buying and high percentage of returns, our system flagged his actions as being likely "buyer abuse." After a closer look, we now understand that this was actually Mr. Crosby’s way of attempting to identify and remove counterfeit goods on the site.

Counterfeits are illegal and not welcome on any of eBay’s sites and we applaud the efforts of people like Mr. Crosby to help keep our marketplace free of them. As a business with millions of buyers and sellers interacting every day, we rely on the good people in our community to help us spot and stop bad behavior.

After looking into this further, we have reached out to Mr. Crosby to discuss how we can work together in a more formal manner to keep eBay a place where people can shop with trust and confidence.

Not Holding His Breath

Crosby, however, says he's not convinced. He's sparred with eBay before.

In June, eBay blocked The Counterfeit Report from publishing counterfeit product warnings in the product listings section of eBay.

Those alerts were an attempt to warn consumers on how to spot things like fake fragrances and cosmetics, some of which had been verified by to contain hazardous ingredients.

So when eBay reached out to Crosby, he told us, "I’ve heard that song before. I had no doubt I’d get the accounts back, been through this before."

He added, "I’m more interested in the thousands (yes thousands) of consumers that have purchased the products we identified from the counterfeit sellers and don’t know it. eBay states they don’t notify ‘buyer priors’ that they may have purchased a fake."

eBay counterfeit report emailWhen we asked eBay about its plans to offer refunds on fake products, it pointed us to its  eBay Money Back Guarantee.

That guarantee says a buyer can request an investigation if a product isn't what it's supposed to be. If the seller won't issue a refund, the buyer can ask eBay for a refund.

The first step, however, is that buyers must realize they've bought a fake and that's the part that Crosby is focused on. If eBay can find a way to work with him, that's a good thing for consumers.

An eBay spokesperson also told us that eBay takes accusations of counterfeits seriously.

"eBay runs several anti-counterfeit initiatives including the Verified Rights Owner Program, and is continually introducing new proactive measures to combat the global trade in counterfeits."

SEE ALSO: The 50 Most Powerful People In Enterprise Tech In 2014

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Feast Your Eyes On Tasters From The Top Restaurants In New York City

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steak tart red farm

New York Magazine held its 16th annual New York Taste event Monday night featuring more than 40 of the city’s most celebrated chefs and mixologists. 

More than 1,000 guests attended the sold-out event to eat bites from New York City favorites like Red Farm, Dinosaur BBQ, Bar Bolonat, Morimoto, Barbuto, and many more.

Top chefs dished out briskets, beers, seafood, stews, and intricate desserts.

A portion of the proceeds from the evening were donated to City Harvest to help fight hunger.

Here's a list of the many restaurants and food brands that participated.



At $100-a-pop for a ticket, more than 1,000 guests attended the sold-out event.



But it was well worth it, with generous portions like these duck confit tacos with hoisin, cilantro, scallions, and jalapeños from Michael's restaurant.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






What One Afghanistan Veteran Learned About The Meaning Of Military Service During A Combat Deployment

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Richard Allen Smith says he joined the military in 2002 for lack of any other obvious course at that point in his life. 

A recruiter called his house in the Florida panhandle at 10:30 a.m. on a weekday in the midst of a senior year in high school in which he would fail a class and realize he didn't have the transcript needed to get into a four-year college. He was home when the call came in, instead of at school, where he should have been — a common occurrence for him, he adds. He picked up the phone. "It sort of went from there" he says, "I couldn't really think of a reason why not."

Although, he later adds: "I got much more profound reasons for being in the Army once I was there."

The military put Smith, who eventually became a sergeant, on a service-oriented path that's continued well after his time in uniform. He's worked in the communications office of the Department of Veterans Affairs, helping to formulate the public messaging of a sometimes troubled and often misunderstood wing of the federal government.

He wants to forge a career in the nonprofit sector after wrapping up a Masters Degree in nonfiction writing at Johns Hopkins University. He currently a communications consultant in the nonprofit, and is now with In The Public Interest, a group dedicated to highlighting the hazards of the privatization of public services. He also contributes to publications like Time, Talking Points Memo, and the Huffington Post, and blogged for the Daily Kos when he was on deployment in Afghanistan in 2007.

Smith got a lot out of his experience in the Army, serving at a time when some of the military's missions clashed with his own personal beliefs and politics. He said he was "driving around with a big 'Stop the Iraq War' sign on my car window" in the months before basic training began in 2003. And while never let his views get in the way of his military duties, a combat deployment to Afghanistan in 2007 crystallized his idea of what his service really meant and demanded of him.

"Regardless of how stupid the wars were, there were guys on my left and on right who depended on me and I depended on them to keep one another alive," he explains. "Deployments are terrible but you build the most amazing sense of camaraderie. You're there for 14 months with a bunch of guys who are willing to die for you at any moment and vice versa."

"It's a duty thing," he explained. "I volunteered for this organization saying that I would go wherever they sent me regardless of my personal feeling."

Smith developed an awareness of the other half of that equation: the fact that the volunteer military rests upon bonds of civic trust between the military and the civilians who oversee it in an arrangement that's perhaps aimed more at balancing civil-military relations than at establishing good policy. "You put your trust in elected leaders that the places they send you are worth sending you to," Smith explains.

The experience of being in the military at a time in which it was engaged in operations that Smith didn't always agree with wasn't embittering. After he left the Army in 2008 and later finished his undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, he worked as a web communications specialist at the VA, helping to formulate the department's messaging at a time when the medical backlog issue was first becoming widely known.

He says he's now two months away from finishing his second degree on the GI bill and that the VA is hamstrung by a "communication's traditionalism" that prevents it from being able to fully convey its many successes.

And he rejects the idea that the military is a bastion of conservatism or that its politics are all that especially right-leaning.

"The military as a whole reflects a cross-section of society," he says. "There are lots of people who were as liberal as I was in the military, and like in the rest of America most folks in the military are probably less ideological than talking heads would ike to think they are." He notes that Cumberland Country, home to the sprawling Fort Bragg Army base, consistently votes Democratic.

Today, Smith hopes to continue writing. "My philosophy is that ... you write because you have to write it's what you do," says Smith. "It's who you are." But he plans to one day teach college-level as well, and continue his work as a communications consultant for nonprofit organizations once he earns his degree.

Smith has build a successful career as a professional communicator — and realizes that some of the current gaps between American civilian and military life owe to how veterans discuss their experiences, and who they discuss them with.

"We do speak a different language in uniform and it's not always the quickest thing to transition back into the civilian world," he says.

He recommends that young veterans "find a group of peers you can communication with, because it's a challenge to get back no matter what your experience was oversees."

SEE ALSO: This Marine found the perfect way for people with his skills to help the world

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Unpublished Vintage Pictures Show Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, And More Silicon Valley Stars In The 1980s

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Storehouse sj photos (single use)

The 1980s and 1990s were a pivotal time for innovation in Silicon Valley. In 1981, shortly after Apple released the Apple 1, IBM introduced the first PC. A few years later, the World Wide Web would be born.

Documentary photographer Doug Menuez happened to be in Silicon Valley at the time. He had done freelance work with major publications like Fortune and TIME, but he found that tech companies were difficult to crack. 

"I would go to Silicon Valley occasionally, and it was terrible. There was this massive PR bubble keeping you from getting any access," Menuez told Business Insider. "You knew these people were going to change the world, but no one knew anything about them."

In 1985, shortly after Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple, Menuez asked if he could document the Apple founder's new venture, a personal computing company he called NeXT. 

To his surprise, Jobs agreed.

"He knew he was a historical figure," Menuez said. "I just showed up at the right place at the right time."

Menuez spent the next three years documenting what was happening inside the young company.  Life magazine would underwrite and publish the photos. 

"At NeXT, they were constantly hiring absolutely brilliant people. Steve was constantly challenging, prodding people to work above their abilities," Menuez said. "Steve had a lot at risk here. The stakes were high. He wanted revenge. He was becoming a symbol of a whole new generation coming into the Valley."

Once word got out that the notoriously private Jobs had granted Menuez access to his fledgling company, other Silicon Valley leaders followed suit. Over the next 15 years, Menuez would spend time photographing intimate scenes at some of the most influential tech companies in the world. 

Menuez has assembled his work from that period in a book called "Fearless Genius: The Digital Revolution in Silicon Valley," which Atria Books published in June. 

"Fearless Genius" features stark, black-and-white photos that capture influential personalities.

In 1990, Menuez photographed then-Apple CEO John Sculley before a press event in 1990. Sculley was shy, and he seemed withdrawn to reporters.

"After forcing Steve out, John grew Apple from $800 million to $8 billion a year in revenue," Menuez wrote in the below photo's caption. "Despite this significant achievement, he was often dismissed in the Valley as the man who fired Steve and, unfairly, as a technology lightweight without vision." 

doug menuez fearless genius"He didn't get credit for a lot of important things he did," Menuez told Business Insider.

Here, Sculley and Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak check out an early Nintendo Game Boy backstage at a 1991 Apple product announcement.

doug menuez fearless genius

Adobe was another favorite project of Menuez's. He was there when Photoshop was released in 1990. 

"As digital technology grew more powerful, Silicon Valley became an expected crossroads of culture. Artists arrived from all over the world, eager to experiment," he writes in "Fearless Genius."

He continues: "Here, painter David Hockney, holding one of his beloved dachshunds, attends Russell Brown's first Adobe Photoshop Invitational,  where he learned how to use the first release version of Photoshop, happily smoking in the computer room and playing with his dogs on breaks."

Storehouse sj photosBackstage at the Agenda '92 conference, Bill Gates debated cheap content and delayed vaporware upgrades to Windows. 

doug menuez fearless geniusMenuez met Jeff Bezos during Kleiner Perkins' annual Aspen Summit in 1995. 

"He was wearing this shirt that said 'Amazon' on it. My wife is Brazilian, so she said, 'Let's go talk to him,'" Menuez said to Business Insider. "He gave us the whole pitch for Amazon, and it was amazing. Some things you hear and you just know it's going to work." 

doug menuez fearless genius

Menuez captured Marc Andreessen and his publicist during a phone interview at the Netscape offices. 

"[He] was exhausted and riding a monstrous wave of digital global change he helped precipitate," Menuez writes in the photo's caption. "The press had been pleading for interviews with him ever since the Netscape Navigator browser was released, making internet access easy and fast for the masses."

doug menuez fearless genius

Menuez had the opportunity to meet many notable figures, but he says it was Jobs who had the biggest impact on his life.

"Steve was the most inspiring person I ever met. As a photojournalist, I like to hide behind my lens and capture other people's moments," Menuez said. "He forced me to confront my own motivations, who I was. I wasn't trying to be his friend, but just being in the room was amazing."

Storehouse sj photos (single use)

Some may wonder why the photos are just being published now, two decades after they were taken.

After Menuez had finished his work with NeXT, Jobs decided Life magazine just wasn't cool anymore. Menuez put the photos away in boxes and completely forgot about them. 

"By 2000, I had burned out on the topic. There had been this crazy gold rush, and it all just burst," Menuez said.

Stanford later acquired his archives, and Menuez started going back through the notes to help with the scanning process.

Those scans would eventually become "Fearless Genius," which Menuez says is an imperfect history of the Valley at a pivotal time. He hopes to turn the project into a full digital experience, with a documentary, web series, educational program, and conference hopefully on the way. 

"I really want this book to reach young entrepreneurs to show how hard it was. The sacrifice isn't really understood," he said. "There are many lessons to be learned there."

SEE ALSO: How Larry Ellison's Vision For An Italian Sandwich Shop Started A New Era For Food In Silicon Valley

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The 30 Most Prosperous Countries In The World

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According to Legatum Institute's annual Prosperity IndexNorway is still the most prosperous nation in the world. For the sixth year in a row, the Scandinavian country claims the top spot over 142 countries, which account for 96% of the world's population and 99% of global GDP.

The Prosperity Index measures countries based on 89 different economic analysis variables that measure success in industry, education, health, freedom, opportunity, and social capital.

Of the top 30 nations listed, almost two thirds are European. The US ranks 10th overall and is followed closely by the United Kingdom (13th) and Germany (14th).

Here are the top 30 most prosperous nations (and the full report): 

prosperity index top 30

SEE ALSO: Here's A Snapshot Of Global Prosperity Right Now

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This App Can Detect Skin Cancer In 7 Out Of 10 Cases: Here's How It Works

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SkinVision

Treating melanoma in the UK costs more than £100 million every year, but the skin cancer can be treated easily and at less cost if detected in advance. An app developed by a team from Romania's University of Bucharest, called SkinVision, provides a new weapon against the disease, with an ability to detect melanoma with an accuracy of 73% using only a picture.

The app is not a replacement for a dermatologist, but it should raise awareness about the risks of melanoma, which killed an estimated 2,000 people in the UK in 2012, according to figures from the country's Cancer Research center.

SkinVision is based on a technology called "fractal geometry" — a branch of mathematics that can be used to simulate the natural growth of tissue. The SkinVision team used it to develop an algorithm that analyzes tissue growth using a picture of a mole that is uploaded to your smartphone. The algorithm can detect symptoms that are generally associated with risky moles.

"The skin is made up by cells that have replicated over and over again by following a rule," SkinVision cofounder Mircea Popa told Business Insider UK. "That leads to patterns that are measurable in a mathematical way." Malignant cells are diverted cells and they replicate in a different way, so the patterns get mixed up when you look at both the skin and the mole.

Shape and colour are each dependent on these patterns, and those are the characteristics the app targets.

In 2012, SkinVision won a startup award from the Dutch investment firm Personal Health Solutions. While researchers, led by Polytechnic of Bucharest professor Andreea Udrea, continued to work on the algorithm in Romania, the enterprise arm of the company relocated to Amsterdam. 

In June, a panel of lecturers from the University of Munich in Germany praised the app, calling it "a promising tool in the pre-evaluation of moles." They found that out of all melanoma cases the app had been used on, 73 out of 100 were correctly detected.

We tried the app using the Google Android version. There is also an app available for the iPhone. It costs $4.99.

The opening screen lists its features. Users press the biggest button on the screen to take a picture of their skin. The picture is used to provide an analysis of the mole or growth:

SkinVision - Functions

Here's a picture of my arm:

Skinvision - Mole Pic

Taking several pictures of the same mole allows the app to analyze its growth and evolution. The analysis can also be sent to your doctor through email, or to other doctors in your area. The app uses a GPS locator to lists the specialists that you can contact. These are the ones around the BI newsroom in London: 

Skinvision - Doctors in London

Another feature analyses the UV exposure in your area. It tells you what the risks are and what you should do to protect yourself, like wearing sunglasses or putting on sunscreen.  

Skinvision - UV exposure

About 100,000 people have downloaded the app since its launch in 2012, creating a database of 175,000 pictures of moles. This information will be used to improve the app even further.

Watch the video below to see how the SkinVision mobile app works:

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How To Make It Out Of A Free-Falling Elevator Alive

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It's pretty normal to feel uneasy about riding in an elevator.

But considering how prevalent elevators are in the US, it's an inconvenient phobia to have.

Thankfully, deaths due to elevator accidents are extremely rare. But just in case, researchers at the MIT Center for Biomedical Engineering have figured out the best way to survive if you ever find yourself stuck in a falling elevator. 

Produced by Alex Kuzoian. Narrated by Sara Silverstein.

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Redditors Are Trying To Solve A Murder That's At The Center Of The Wildly Popular 'Serial' Podcast

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Adnan football

America has been captivated by the new podcast "Serial"— a week-by-week breakdown of a murder case that was supposedly solved more than a decade ago.

"Serial" is a spinoff of "This American Life." Instead of talking about several stories in one episode, each season will follow only one story.

For the first season, journalist Sarah Koenig is diving into the murder of Baltimore high school student Hae Min Lee. She was murdered in January 1999, and her body was found in a shallow grave in a park about a month later.

Her ex-boyfriend and classmate, Adnan Syed, was eventually convicted of her murder. He has always proclaimed his innocence, and Koenig is exploring whether he's telling the truth.

Police charged Adnan with Hae's murder after his friend Jay, a former classmate of Hae's and Adnan's, told police that Adnan told him about the murder and enlisted his help in burying Hae's body.

"Serial" has a big audience on Reddit, and Redditors have created an entire subreddit dedicated to discussing their theories and trying to determine who killed Hae.

We've complied some of the best theories surrounding the case.

Warning: Spoilers below. 

Theory #1: Adnan hired Jay to kill Hae, and Jay turned on him.

Many "Serial" fans believe Jay is more involved in Hae's death than he let on.

Jay knew details about Hae's manner of death and burial that suggested he was involved in some way. He claims he just got dragged into the aftermath of the murder by Adnan, but some think he was also involved in her murder — not just burying her body.

Redditor zmachine52 explains:

Adnan had/hired/convinced/coerced/ etc. Jay to kill Hae.

Does this solve all of the issues?

They are both guilty. Therefore neither can implicate one another. Jay cuts a plea deal to get himself off the hook, meanwhile Adnan is able to (somewhat) plausibly deny much of [the] issues at hand, yet would still be guilty of murder 1, if discovered.

This could help explain the the timeline issues, the character issues, the "alibi", Jay's inconsistent stories (as he had to work Adnan into the story to cut his plea), the burial, the shovels, the car, cleaning the items, etc.

Basically a good dude somehow convinced a shady friend to commit murder for him. They are essentially both guilty, but one was able to plea out. The other is caught in a catch 22 but with lots of plausible deniability.

This is an interesting theory, but it doesn't quite explain why Adnan wouldn't turn on Jay once he figured out that Jay sold him out to the police. 

Theory #2: Jay and his friend Jenn did it.

Redditor justforserial argues that Jay and Jenn, a friend of his and Adnan's, might have committed the murder.

Justforserial theorizes that Jay and Jenn might have been carrying on an affair behind Jay's girlfriend Stephanie's back and Hae knew about it. Therefore, the pair killed Hae to shut her up.

Here's the theory:

Hae knows that Jenn and Jay are together behind Stephanie’s back and they are both worried she will expose them. At some point during this time Jenn pages Hae. Hae calls her back from a phone at the school. Jenn asks her to meet her at the Best Buy parking lot so that they can talk. Jay agrees to the plan because he doesn’t want Hae to expose their secret. Jenn and Jay drive together to best buy.

At 2:36 Adnan uses the phone in the library or a pay phone near the library and tries his own phone again to reach Jay and Jay answers but immediately hangs up the call. Right after this time Asia sees Adnan in the library and they start talking.

Hae meets Jenn and Jay in the parking lot, she’s surprised to see Jay because she expected it just to be Jenn. Jenn and Jay get into Hae’s car. Hae is sitting in the driver’s seat, Jenn in the front seat and Jay in the back. The interaction starts as a conversation but escalates quickly. Jay and Jenn hadn’t intended to kill Hae, but they had had a conversation that if she wouldn’t agree to keep quiet they would kill her. They had intended at first just to scare her and intimidate her into keeping their secret. However, Hae is strong willed and she argues back about how Stephanie is one of her best friends and she is going to tell her no matter what they say. Jay sees red, because Hae is threatening his relationship, and he reaches around her neck and strangles her in the car. Jenn holds down Hae’s arms while she is being strangled, and this is when she kicks the blinker off.

Justforserial also has explanations for the various other cellphone calls from Adnan's phone that occur before and after the murder, but this theory as a whole seems farfetched.

Theory #3: Adnan is a psychopath.

While listening to "Serial," it's important to keep in mind that we don't know everything. We've been given a lot of information about the case, but there are also many people we haven't heard from, including some of Adnan's friends.

Someone who claims to have known Adnan growing up writes on Reddit that several of Adnan's former friends saw psychopathic tendencies in him. Because the Muslim community Adnan grew up in is so tight-knit, according to this person, those who were close to Adnan might have been afraid to speak out over fear of retribution from their community.

So, although Adnan seems charming and smart when he talks to Koenig, and she has admitted that she thinks he's a good guy and likes talking to him, some still think he's guilty and has managed to manipulate those around him. Friends of his might have been reluctant to come forward with their true feelings about Adnan over fear of being ostracized from their community for implicating Adnan in Hae's murder, the theory goes. 

Redditor swframe666 explains why Adnan had to be the killer:

The one fact that is not in dispute is that Jay knows too much about the crime and has communicated his knowledge about it in a way that strongly supports that he knows the killer. The killer isn't an unknown person.

I think there is only one source of information that we need to review. It is the statements that Adnan makes about what he and Jay did together. Adnan statements indicates that he was with Jay that day and Adnan is the only person with Jay that doesn't have a strong alibi. And Jay's information very strongly indicates that he was with the killer that day.

The logistics of the cars, shovels and cell phone strongly indicates there was another person involved and the only other person that could have been involved is Adnan. To happen in a short time frame, the murder had to have been premeditated. The car and cellphone exchange means that it couldn't have been spontaneous. Another person couldn't have gotten to Hae so quickly given they would not have known that the car and cellphone was going to be exchanged that day. In addition, no other person Jay is in contact with that day is known to be involved with Hae.

Hae had to have been killed just after school and had to have been killed by someone she knew and trusted. Given the short time frame, Adnan is the only one who could have gotten that close to Hae that quickly. There is no evidence that Jay could have killed Hae so quickly and easily given that they are not known to be close friends.

I think Jay's testimony is inconsistent because he is an accomplice and he is trying to frame the events in a way that doesn't implicate himself. I think Adnan didn't turn on Jay because Adnan didn't think he would lose the case.

I don't know Adnan's motives. I don't know why Adnan would pick someone who he was not close to help cover up a murder. Jay turned on Adnan very quickly. I don't think any other facts matter because Jay must know the killer, must have been involved in the murder and the only other person with Jay is Adnan.

This is certainly possible, since psychopathy generally makes people more predisposed to committing violent crimes. But psychopaths are also very rare. One expert has estimated they account for only 1% of the US population.

Theory #4: Adnan was trying to frame Jay for the murder.

Many have speculated Adnan and Jay were in it together. Jay knew a lot of intimate details about the murder and admitted to police that he helped Adnan bury Hae in Leakin Park.

Redditor miketetzu's goes a step further and reasons that Adnan was trying to frame Jay and Jay figured it out, which is why he sold Adnan out to the police: 

Adnan murdered Hae, and Adnan's plan was to set Jay up for the murder. However, something happened: perhaps Jay got nervous, perhaps Adnan let something slip, or they had a falling out of sorts. Jay decided to sell Adnan out before Adnan sold him out, hence Adnan's "you're pathetic" aside at trial.

There are a lot of things that led me here, such as:

i. People say Jay and Adnan weren't good friends, and Adnan states this, too. So why does Jay have Adnan's cell phone, and why are they hanging out so often around the time of the murder? (Answer: Adnan planned to set Jay up for the crime, and so had to get close to Jay in order to get him involved.)

ii. Why doesn't Jay come forward right away, a question asked by the cops as well? (Answer: Jay initially doesn't come forward because he thinks he and Adnan are in it together, but subsequently gets nervous.)

iii. Why doesn't Adnan call Hae after her death? (Answer: Because he knows she's dead, obviously. This is just common sense, has nothing to do with my theory.)

iv. How does The Nisha Call fit into the theory? (Answer: I don't think this is something we can completely know, but I have two guesses: one is that the call was an accident by Adnan around the time of the murder. He realizes this is a potential problem for him, and so weeks later has Jay talk to Nisha from his cell phone to corroborate that Jay and Nisha once spoke from Adnan's cell phone. I don't think he thought this through all the way, but the reality is that it DOES muddle things; it doesn't have to exonerate him in order to help him. The second guess: Jay makes the call intentionally on the day of the murder, since the other six calls are to people he knows, so Adnan can't say he wasn't with them. Perhaps Jay makes the call and hands the phone to Adnan, who is not at practice, or maybe Jay makes the call and pretends to be someone else. Maybe Jay pretends to be the pizza man to Nisha’s mom. Adnan realizes the problem with this later after reviewing his call log, and see above for how he deals with it.)

v. As a statement: I also feel like this theory explains Jay's constantly changing stories. Jay realizes, either via conversations with the police that we're not aware of yet, or just as a sense, that he might be able to get off completely free and clear. He understands that he can pin the whole thing on Adnan, and slowly works his way to THAT story through the reactions of the detectives.

This theory seems a little wild, but it's not implausible that Jay was involved in Hae's death since he knew so much about her murder.

Theory #5: Jay killed Hae on his own.

This is another popular theory — that Jay acted alone and killed Hae, and that Adnan wasn't involved at all. Adnan has claimed innocence all along.

Reddit drae27 lays out this scenario:

Jay is the local pot dealer. Adnan gives Hae is new cell number the 12th. Adnan sees Hae in school the next day and she hears that Jay has Adnan's car/cell because he is going to buy Stephanie a present. Hae contacts Jay and arranges to meet after school to buy pot. They could have met anywhere. It doesn't have to be Best Buy, but maybe it is. Something bad goes down between Hae and Jay. She confronts him about Stephanie or he comes on to her and in the struggle of fighting him off it gets violent and he strangles her. The Nisha call happens as a "butt" dial in the struggle. Or Jay is trying to call Jen and makes a mistake. (Is there anyway of knowing the speed dial number for Nisha? Does Jen or anyone else's number start with the same number?) Jay leaves the car wherever the incident happened (maybe puts Hae in trunk). Jay goes to pick up Adnan, they get high, go see Kathy, get Adnan to the Mosque, drop Jay off at Jenn's. Jay tells Jenn what happened and asks for help. Either they bury Hae later that night or move the car and do it at another time, possibly with help from a third person.

I don't see this scenario contradicting the call logs. Some will say, why would Jay try to pin it on Adnan when he gets called in since Adnan might have an alibi? My impression of Jay is that he is desperate, a bullshit artist, not too smart and a burn out. It wouldn't surprise me if he just took a stab at it and got lucky.

The motive for Jay is thin, but he is the person most connected to Hae's death other than Adnan.

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Here's Everything You Need For Your Home Bar

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Don't be the one who doesn't know which beer goes in which glass. Or the person who accidentally serves a whiskey in a Collins glass. Yikes.

Insider Picks has put together a handy list of all the tools and glasses you'll need for a home bar. 

Impress your colleagues, your friends, and your date.

First up, glassware.

insider picks

Whiskey glasses:

There are two ways to serve whiskey: the 'rocks glass' and the snifter. The 'rocks glass' can double for whiskey cocktails, but keep the snifter only for neat drinks.

Luigi Bormioli Strauss Whiskey Rocks Glass (Set of 6) $41.41 | Amazon

Glencarin Whiskey Glass (Set of 6) $22.95 | Amazon


 

insider picks

Cocktail glasses:

There are two main groups of cocktail drinks: short and long. Short are generally for the nighttime, and are primarily made of liquor (for example, a Martini.) Long drinks, on the other hand, are the sugar-filled, full of ice, possibly-okay-for-daytime drinks (such as a Tom Collins.) It's good to have both on hand.

Libbey 10-ounce Preston Martini Glass (Set of 4) $18.17 | Amazon

Stolzle New York Bar 11 Oz Collins Glass (Set of 6) $35.o5 | Amazon


 

Wine glasses:

Red and white wines need different glasses. Typically the reds have a larger, wider glass. It's good to have both on hand.

Libbey Vina Round Red Wine Goblets (Set of 6) $22.00 | Amazon

Libbey Vina Tall Wine Goblet (Set of 6) $24.99 | Amazon


 

insider picks

Beer glasses:

Solo cups were kind of acceptable back when you were guzzling beers at that college mixer, but now it's time to group up and learn the rules. Different beers, different glasses. Here are the ones you should have on hand:

Pilsner glasses for light beers such as (surprise, surprise) pilsners and pale lagers.

Libbey 16-ounce Midtown Pilsner Glass (Set of 4) $15.85 | Amazon

A weissbier glass for wheat beers.

Libbey Craft Brews 23-Ounce Clear Wheat Beer Glass (Set of 4) $14.99 | Amazon

A glass for your Belgian ales.

Libbey Craft Brews 16.6 Ounce Clear Belgian Ale Glass (Set of 4) $14.99 | Amazon

And if all else fails, make sure you have the basic pint glass. 

ARC International Luminarc Pub Beer Glass, 16 Ounce (Set of 10) $18.69 | Amazon


 

insider picks

Next, you'll need your tools.

A cocktail shaker:

In order to mix up your drinks, you'll need a cocktail shaker. Stick your ingredients in and shake. Here are two great options that you can get.

Premium Cocktail Shaker Set $9.98 | Amazon 

Barware Styles Classic and Elegant Stainless Steel 3-Piece Martini and Cocktail Shaker Bar Set $17.97 | Amazon


 

A cocktail strainer:

A cocktail strainer is used to separate ice from a mixed drink as it's poured into a glass (after you mix everything up in the cocktail shaker.) Here are two quality options.

Winco Stainless Steel 4-Prong Bar Strainer $4.16 | Amazon

Swissmar Stainless Steel Cocktail Strainer $12.00 | Amazon


 

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A jigger:

In order to get the precise measurements for a drink, you'll need to have a jigger on hand. 

OXO Steel Double Jigger $8.95 | Amazon

Excellante 1 & 2 Ounce Stainless Steel Jigger $3.91 | Amazon


 

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Bar spoons:

Regular spoons aren't going to reach to the bottom of a cocktail shaker — they're simply not long enough. And that's problematic because sometimes ingredients pool up at the bottom, and you'll need to shake them up. So pick up some bar spoons.

Update International 11-Inch Stainless Steel Bar Spoons (Set of 2) $5.79 | Amazon

You can also get yourself swizzle sticks to mix up drinks.

Bonny Bar Stir Sticks (22 count) $5.68 | Amazon


 

An ice cube tray:

No bar would be complete with an ice cube tray.

Rubbermaid White Ice Cube Tray (Pack of 2) $6.99 | Amazon

Tovolo Perfect Cube Ice Trays, Stratus Blue (Pack of 2) $14.12 | Amazon

We recommend making spherical ice cubes. The drink will look more elegant — like you ordered it at New York speakeasy.

ROX Ice Ball Maker (Makes 4) $9.97 | Amazon


 

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A juicer:

And no one wants pulp floating around in their drinks. So if the cocktail you're making uses citrus flavors, we recommend squeezes the fruit with a citrus juicer in order to avoid pulp.

Bellemain Stainless Steel Squeezer $18.95 | Amazon


 

A knife:

A small knife comes in handy for garnishes and those not-so-easy-to-make cocktails.

Cocktail Kingdom Channel Knife $5.95 | Amazon


 

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And finally, some other accessories to complete your bar.

Chilling stones:

Chilling stones are a great way to cool drinks without letting them get watered down. Just toss them in your freezer and use as needed.

Sipping Stones, Grey Whisky Chilling Rocks (Set of 9) $11.95 | Amazon

EZ Drinker Liquor Chilling Stones (Set of 9) | Amazon


 

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An opener:

Although champagne is fairly easy to open by hand, wine bottles are a different story. Make sure you always have corkscrew on hand. We recommend the Precision Kitchenware option, which comes with a wine stopper (so you can close the bottle, if you don't finish it.)

Precision Kitchenware — Luxury Corkscrew and Wine Stopper Set  $11.95 | Amazon

Or if you're particularly tech-y, you can get an electric bottle opener. Plus it's way easier to use.

Oster Electric Wine Bottle Opener $19.99 | Amazon

Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments.

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