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Here's the origin of the screwdriver cocktail

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vodka orange/bocci ball

One out of three cocktails ordered in the US contain vodka, a spirit that pours in $20 billion annually in sales, according to Victorino Matus, author of "Vodka: How a colorless, odorless, flavorless spirit conquered America."

One of the first vodka-based cocktails, the screwdriver, is made from two ingredients: vodka and orange juice.

In his book, Matus explains how the screwdriver got its name.

Decades ago, American oil workers in the Persian Gulf discreetly added vodka to their orange juice while on the job.

Lacking a spoon, the workers decided to stir the drink with a screwdriver.

SEE ALSO: 5 Classic Cocktails That Everyone Should Know How To Make

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The Vitamix will completely revolutionize your kitchen [23% off]

Almost all the things you do to avoid germs are completely useless

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CBGB Graffiti toilet

After shaking hands with someone, do you slather your fingers in hand sanitizer? Before using the toilet in a public bathroom, do you cover it with liner?

Bad news, germaphobe.

Your meticulous habits are likely not doing you any good.

Like the surfaces we touch and the ground we walk on, our bodies are teeming with thousands of different species of bacteria, from the Lactobacillus acidophilus lining our digestive tract to the Propionibacterium acnes populating the skin on our faces and arms.

On average, about three pounds of our body weight is accounted for by bacteria alone.

Among all those lovely microbes, of course, are a few that cause contagious illnesses, like colds and the flu. So how do you protect yourself?

Here's a look at some of the most common things we do to avoid these germs —  including which ones you're better off giving up.

Holding your breath after someone sneezes or coughs

cough

When someone sneezes or coughs without covering their mouth or nose, they're essentially shooting their bacteria out into the air. Sneeze particles travel at speeds approaching 200 miles per hour; cough particles travel about 50 miles an hour.

If you're already within range of the nasty germs, there's little chance holding your breath will keep them from coming into contact with your mouth, nose, or eyes. It'll stop you from pulling in any bacteria hanging directly in front of your face, but that's about it.

Using toilet seat liners

Public bathrooms first started stocking their stalls with these flimsy, frustrating sheets shortly after a husband and wife who reasoned that toilet seats could spread infectious diseases patented their invention in the 1920s.

Thankfully, we now know this is far from true. Viruses like HIV and herpes are fragile, meaning they don't survive very well outside of a nice warm human body. By the time you sit down on a public toilet seat — even if it was recently shared by someone else — most harmful pathogens likely wouldn't be able to infect you. Plus, your skin is a pretty effective block against any meandering microbes (unless of course you have a cut or open wound there, which could allow the bacteria to get in).

While they typically don't transfer STDs, toilet seats — like most other surfaces — do carry common microbes like E. coli and infection-causing streptococcus. These bacteria won't get you sick simply by coming into contact with them, though. You'd have to touch them and then touch your unwashed hands to your mouth or eyes for them to be able to infect you.

A quick trip to the bathroom sink should take care of that nicely.

Avoiding public transit

new york city nyc brooklyn subway train

A team of geneticists recently made headlines after their mission to document all the bacteria on the New York City subway turned up nearly 600 different species of microbes (the vast majority of which were "unidentifiable," but the screen also found traces of bubonic plague and anthrax).

Not to worry: there's no plague or anthrax on the subway. The same bacteria they flagged for these diseases are also found in dozens of other, not-so-harmful microbes.

As for all that other bacteria? Almost all of it was totally harmless.

Finding this out firsthand actually made study author and Weill Cornell Medical College geneticist Chris Mason less and less concerned about it, he said at a recent event at the American Museum of Natural History.

After all, literally every surface in the world around you is covered in bacteria. The idea that things can be "perfectly clean" is a myth — we need bacteria to live.

"We tend to think of our homes and personal environments as these pristine places, and public ones as dirty and infested with bacteria, but you should really think of yourself as a rabbit who gets to hop between two forests," said Mason.

There's evidence to suggest that exposure to everyday pathogens — such as those carried on our skin, in our intestines, and on the bodies of pets and insects —might actually be good for you, especially if you get exposed at a young age.

Which is why Mason isn't afraid to let his own young daughter ride the subway or play in the dirt.

"I would advise any new parent to roll their child on the floor of the New York subway," said Mason.

Grabbing door handles with paper towels

Bathroom door handles and grimy subway poles seem like ripe breeding grounds for bacteria. "Holding a subway pole is like shaking hands with 10,000 people," said Mason. But is all this hand-shaking really doing you any harm?

Maybe, but maybe not.

Dirty hands can carry E. coli and other potentially harmful bacteria (see below), but most of the microbes you'll find on handrails and door handles are harmless. Plus, if you're grasping handles with towels to avoid touching them with your bare hands and putting the tissue back in your pocket or purse after you've used it, you're merely transferring the bacteria you avoiding touching in the first place to another location where you'll touch it later.

Fist-bumping

Obama Fist Bump

If holding onto a subway handrail is equal to shaking 10,000 hands, could a single handshake be so bad?

Yes, at least according to a recent study in the American Journal of Infection Control which found that much of the bacteria that we transfer to one another — which is mostly harmless, but still includes a few icky microbes like those that cause infections and diarrhea, especially if the person is sick — hitches a ride on our hands.

When the researchers compared the amount of bacteria transferred by a moderately strong handshake, a firm handshake, and a fist bump, they found a pretty clear winner. Compared with the firm handshake, the fist bump conferred about five times less E. coli bacteria; compared with the moderate handshake, it conferred about 10 times less.

So take a lesson from the President and the First Lady: fist bump, don't shake.

Slathering your hands with sanitizer

hand sanitizer

Hand sanitizer is mostly unnecessary.

Mostly.

If you don't have access to soap and water — especially if you've just used the bathroom — slather on!

Not washing your hands after you've done your business can be dangerous, since you might transfer the bacteria you've touched to your eyes or face.

So long as your sanitizer has a hefty amount of alcohol (the CDC recommends only using solutions with 60% or more), it can be nearly as efficient at killing common bacteria as soap and water.

Keep in mind, though, that sanitizer won't kill all germs, so stick to soap and water when you can. Norovirus, for example, a pathogen that's most often transferred via infected food and causes diarrhea, and C. difficile, which can cause deadly diarrhea and most commonly affects older adults, are immune to sanitizing gels.

READ MORE: For everyone freaking out about the germs on the NYC subway study, here's what you really need to know

SEE ALSO: Scientists have finally found and photographed the tiniest life on Earth

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NOW WATCH: Scientists Discovered The Most Germ-Infested Item In The Office








Watch this robot carve one of Michelangelo's unfinished works

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"Captives" is an ongoing series of digital and physical sculptures by London based visual artist Quayola. The series interprets Michelangelo’s unfinished series “Prigioni." Mathematical functions allow computer-controlled robots to sculpt life-size unfinished sculptures using an industrial milling technique.

Video courtesy of Quayola and bitforms gallery, New York. "Captives B04", 2013.

Click here for more information on the series

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Home prices in Palo Alto have more than doubled in the past decade

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Silicon Valley is home to some of the biggest tech companies and wealthiest people on the planet.

All of that wealth has led to an extremely bloated real estate market, where even teardowns sometimes cost several millions of dollars. 

Real estate listings site PropertyShark created a map that shows just how drastically Santa Clara County home prices rose between 2004 and 2014.

The redder a particular area, the greater the increase in median sale price per square foot. 

sv home prices

The rise in home prices is pretty pronounced across the region, but nowhere is it more severe than in Palo Alto, home to Stanford University and noted tech executives like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer .

According to PropertyShark's analysis, median sale prices have more than doubled in certain parts of Palo Alto.

In Leland Manor, for example, the price per square foot has risen 107% from $752 in 2004 to $1,612 in 2014. In South Gate, the price per square foot has risen 126% to reach $1,371 last year.  

sv home prices

Mountain View, home to Google headquarters, has also seen some big changes in the last decade. 

In Central Mountain View, the median sale price has risen 69% to reach $947 per square foot. Homes in Miramonte - Springer had a median sale price of $1,000 per square foot in 2014, a 47% increase.

sv home prices

SEE ALSO: The 20 Most Expensive Zip Codes In Silicon Valley

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The sound quality on this wireless weatherproof speaker is no joke [66% off]

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waterproof speakerThis little wireless, weatherproof speaker would be the perfect accessory this summer.

The TDK A33 wireless weatherproof speaker "produces the depth, weight, fullness, definition and dimensionality of sound that is missing in most of the portable speakers I've heard," one reviewer wrote.

At just 2.8 pounds and the same size as a loaf of bread, this speaker is perfect for a picnic, trip to the beach, or any other summer event.

TDK Life on record A33 wireless weatherproof speaker:$249.95$85.81[66% off]


 

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NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do








The 7 best new restaurants in the US

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The James Beard Foundation just announced its 2015 nominees for the best new restaurant.

The Foundation live tweeted the finalists for the prestigious award on Tuesday. Contenders for the award are restaurants that have opened within the last calendar year that "displays excellence in food, beverage, and service, and that is likely to make a significant impact in years to come."

Selected by a panel of well-known critics and restaurateurs, these seven restaurants were narrowed down from a list of over 38,000 entries. The final winner will be announced on May 4.

Here are the seven finalists for best new restaurant:

Bâtard, New York City

 

Central Provisions, Portland, ME

 

Cosme, New York City

 

Parachute, Chicago

 

Petit Trois, Los Angeles

 

The Progress, San Francisco

 

Spoon and Stable, Minneapolis

SEE ALSO: The 45 best restaurants in America

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Compression shorts are the #1 workout essential this spring

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compression shorts champion

If you're a serious runner, you're going to need a solid pair of compression shorts.

Compression shorts (as you might have guessed) compress and separate groin and thigh muscles in order to prevent injury and irritation.

Champion's compression shorts are a fantastic choice for warmer weather because they're made of slightly thinner material than others.

"Half the cost of UA and the quality seems to be close to, if not equal to, that of Under Armor," one reviewer wrote.

Champion men's compression short: $11.99 - $24.95


 

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Photographer captures Europe's decaying ruins in haunting photos

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Hans van Vrouwerf Ruins Photography

There's a perpetual air of mystery surrounding the abandoned buildings of the world.

Intrepid photographers like Hans van Vrouwerf aim to clear that mystery. They explore the rotting, decaying buildings left to the wild for decades so you don't have to.

Netherlands-based ban Vrouwerf has explored dozens of abandoned buildings all across Europe and shared with us a few of his favorite shots of asylums, factories, churches, and more left to the elements.

In an interview with Curbed, he explains a bit about his technique and experience photographing the buildings.

Hans shared his photos with us, along with the captions, which are in his own words. For more of his photography, check out his website. 

Netherlands-based photographer Hans van Vrouwerf searches all over Europe for decaying buildings to photograph.



According to his interview with Curbed, he finds the buildings by going through old news articles and finding the sites on Google Maps.



He's traveled from France to Poland and all across Europe in search of these abandoned buildings.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






The 50 smartest private high schools in the US

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Middlesex School, Massachusetts

Beautiful campuses and strong athletics are important, but for the best schools, it always comes down to the academics.

Our friends at Niche created a list of the smartest private high schools in America.

Niche determined the bulk of the rankings by weighing each school's composite SAT/ACT score, the average score of the colleges attended by graduates, and the percentage of graduates who go on to attend a four-year college. You can read more about Niche's methodology here.

Here are the top 50 schools, presented with their composite SAT range, which refers to the range of SAT scores that correspond with the school's composite ACT score.

50. Cistercian Preparatory School — Irving, Texas

Composite SAT range: 2140-2210

At the all-boys Cistercian Preparatory School, many classes are led by monks, and the curriculum weaves together both academic and religious teachings. Students took 25 different Advanced Placement classes last year, and 93% earned a 3 or higher on the corresponding exams.



49. Choate Rosemary Hall — Wallingford Town, Connecticut

Composite SAT range: 2020-2070

Not only does Choate offer an impressive amount of Advanced Placement options — 27 — but 81% of students score either a 4 or 5 on the exams. Students can also participate in one of Choate's Signature Programs, which immerses the student in an area they're particularly interested in, such as the environment or Arabic and Middle Eastern studies.



48. The Kinkaid School — Houston, Texas

Composite SAT range: 2080-2130

The beginning of January consists of "interim term," a three-week period in which students have opportunities to travel internationally, complete internships, and take courses in subjects not typically offered. In both classes and extracurriculars, Kinkaid operates via four core values: honesty, responsibility, respect, and kindness.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






The cars most likely to get ticketed

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Mercedes Benz SL65 AMGDrivers of the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class are ticketed at a higher rate than drivers of any other car, according to data compiled by insurance underwriters at Quality Planning

The analysis ranks various vehicle makes and models based on the number of moving violations per 100,000 miles.

The Mercedes-Benz SL-Class had four times the number of violations compared with the study's average. 

According to the report, "the car Toyota designed expressly for Gen 'Y'ers, the Scion, had not one but two entries in the top ten. The big Hummers and the Pontiac Grand Prix rounded out this category. Consistent with the findings of last year's study, SUVs and hatchbacks showed lower violations on average than traditional two- and four-door vehicles." 

Drivers of Buick's mid-sized SUV Rainier have the lowest level of violations, followed by the Mazda Tribute. The study did not include vehicles that have been discontinued for more than 10 years. 

The following graphic from Dadaviz shows the most ticketed cars:

cars tickets

Here is more data from the study via Quality Planning:

Screen Shot 2015 03 24 at 10.57.04 AM

These are the cars least likely to get a ticket:

Screen Shot 2015 03 24 at 11.19.52 AM

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The wealthiest people in America live in these states

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In a new report on wealth in America, wealth intelligence firm Wealth-X revealed that California has more super-wealthy residents than New York. 

California now has 13,445 people who are worth more than $30 million, while New York has only 9,530. Texas (6,475) and Florida (4,650) followed in third and fourth place.

richest states wealth x american wealth reportHowever, when it came to cities, New York City has the largest amount of high net worth individuals in the United States with a population of 8,655. It was followed distantly by San Francisco with 5,460 and Los Angeles with 5,135.

wealth x american report citiesAnother interesting tidbit from the report was that the Dakotas saw a significant increase in their millionaire and billionaire population from 2013. The population of people earning more than $30 million swelled by 14.3% in North Dakota and 13.3% in South Dakota — the largest and second largest increase in the country, respectively.

Though Wealth-X said these numbers were fairly small — a rise in 10 ultra net worth individuals for North Dakota and 20 for South Dakota — it could mean that existing businesses are becoming increasingly profitable.

state increase wealth x american wealth reportIn total, the US is home to 69,560 people who are worth more than $30 million with a total combined wealth of $9.63 billion.

America also has the largest population of these high net worth individuals in the world. For instance, there are more people worth over $30 million in California alone than there are in the entire United Kingdom, according to Wealth-X.

SEE ALSO: Meet the wealthiest person in every US state

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This sport band will make it much easier to run with your iPhone 6 [43% off]

The 12 richest colleges in America

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Harvard University has an endowment worth over $30 billion — miles ahead of any other college in America and larger than the GDP of some countries.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts school is just one of 77 universities with endowments over $1 billion, as this helpful graphic reveals. The chart — created by dadaviz user León Markovitz — shows how much each of the 12 biggest university endowments is worth, as well as how they stack up against each other.

Check out the full graphic below:

Richest Colleges In America

SEE ALSO: A 21-year-old who's refusing to pay back her student loans compares her cause to Rosa Parks' fight

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A 29-year-old Disney animator describes the best and worst parts of her job

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Daron NefcyDaron Nefcy spent a lot of time getting in trouble for doodling all over her schoolwork as a kid.

But it "really paid off," she excitedly tells Business Insider.

Nefcy is the creator, executive producer, and animator of a new show, "Star vs. The Forces of Evil," which Disney TV Animation is debuting later this month. 

The now 29-year-old, who studied Character Animation at the CalArts school in Valencia, California, recently spoke to Business Insider about how she got into the world of animation, what it's really like to work for Disney, and her best advice for aspiring artists.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Business Insider: How and when did you decide you wanted to become an animation artist?

Daron Nefcy: I've always loved cartoons. I used to make my own comics in elementary school and decided in the fourth grade I wanted to make cartoons when I grew up. So all those years of getting into trouble for doodling all over my schoolwork really paid off!

BI: What kind of training have you gone through for this job? 

DN: I'm very lucky because I went from studying and graduating from a great animation-focused school, CalArts, right into a job at an animation studio.

At CalArts, we had to create our own student short film each year, which consisted of writing the story, storyboarding, pitching ideas, designing the characters, building an animatic, casting the roles, editing, sound mixing, and doing all of the hand drawn animation for the film. Before "Star," I got to work on some great shows at three different animation studios: Warner Brother's "MAD," Nickelodeon's "Robot and Monster" and Disney's "Wander Over Yonder."

Being able to work on a variety of different projects before my own really helped me learn how an animated TV show is run. While making the pilot for "Star," I also learned so much about the pilot process. When you're creating a pilot, you have a ton of time to make that one episode. But once it's in production, things move much quicker. 

BI: Tell me more about your current project, "Star vs. The Forces of Evil." 

DN: The show is about a princess from another dimension named Star Butterfly, who comes to Earth as a foreign exchange student. On Earth, she lives with a loving family, the Diaz's, who have a son her age named Marco. She and Marco become fast friends and go on all kinds of adventures together, in high school and the multiverse, fighting monsters along the way.  

BI: Can you explain the animation process?

DN: Well, it's a big process! One aspect that's cool about "Star" is that it's a storyboard-driven show, which means that each episode is mapped out visually by the artists, and they do hundreds of drawings per episode that illustrate exactly how the characters should be acting and how the staging should be, etc.

What's special about a board-driven show is that the board artists also do the writing. The writers on "Star" submit a two-page outline. Once that's approved, the board artists take the outline and basically turn it into a full script on paper (or drawings on a computer). It's a very hard process — the board artists need to be able to write dialogue, know story, draw, stage, act, and more. Basically they need to be incredibly talented.

In the television animation business, there's almost always a collective effort between the creator, executive producer, art director, background designer, character designer, and board artist — all of whom are animators — to get the design of a show down in the form of a "template." That template is then sent out of the country for the technical animation to be completed.

"Star vs. The Forces of Evil"

BI: What's the hardest or most challenging part of being an animator? 

DN: There are a lot of moving pieces to running a show. I'd say one of the hardest parts about the job is letting things go. You want the show to be perfect but this is TV and with deadlines you need to learn to let things go, you can't work on them forever.  

In addition, storyboard artists have really become modern day animators now that most shows are technically animated out of the country. Our storyboard artists sometimes have up to 2,000 drawings for an 11-minute board and they have to do the writing as well within a six week time period, so meeting deadlines can sometimes be a challenge.

BI: What's the best part of the job? 

DN: It takes many creative individuals who have exceptional artistic skills across a wide-range of positions to make an animated TV series from scratch. And I get to work with all of them!

Daron NefcyBI: What might surprise people most about your job?

DN: It's difficult to take time off! That's for anyone who works in animation, and also probably anyone who works in film. The deadlines don't change, so if you can't be around for a week you need someone to do your job for you that week. And in a lot of cases no one can do your job for you.  

One season of an animated show from start to finish takes about one and a half to two and a half years.   

Most of the actual animation is not done in the US. At Disney, our team consists of board artists, character designers, background painters, prop designers, and editors (about 40 people in the US) who handle all of the pre-production work. Then, the actual animation is done out of the country. The first season of "Star" is being animated in Canada and the Philippines. 

BI: When do people most frequently ask you about your job?

DN: I think I've gotten to the point in my life where the only people I hang out with work in animation and film. When I meet new people and they ask where I work I just say "Disney" and they always assume it's in the park. They always say, "Oh, that's so fun! I always wanted to work at Disneyland!" I rarely correct them. Working at Disneyland is super cool! 

BI: What's it like working for Disney? Did you always dream of working there?

DN: I did love Disney as a kid, but I never dreamed of working here. It's neat! Most of the time I'm working, but they do have some fun events here like art shows and remote control car races. 

StarBI: What's the coolest thing you've had the opportunity to do in your career?

DN: It's probably working with the amazing voice talent. I got to work with people like Jeffery Tambor, Jenny Slate, and Michael C Hall! How cool is that? 

BI: What's your best piece of advice for an aspiring animator or creator? 

DN: Keep drawing, and make your own films and comics! It's so easy now — all the tools are on the computer. The only thing you need is your own imagination, a good idea, and commitment. Keep making projects. The first ones are never good but if you keep making new ones you'll learn and they'll get better. 

BI: Anything else you think people should know about your profession?

DN: Drawing and painting for yourself is fun. Drawing for a living is a job. It's a job I love, but people need to remember that anything you do for a living becomes work. I only say this because a lot of people assume that drawing/writing/creating is always fun and therefore isn't real work and shouldn't be paid like real work. When I first got out of school, I had a lot of people saying things to me like, "Draw some characters for my project, it'll be good for your portfolio!" or, "Draw a logo for free for this company. Come on — it'll only take you five minutes!" None of that is true; all artists need to be paid fairly and respected. 

Also, I just want to reiterate that making a TV show is a group effort. You need to be collaborative or it won't work. To make a short film you can do that on your own, but for a TV show you need a good team who believes in you and the show and all those people need to be working hard. It's not just about sitting in a dark cube creating something.

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Business Insider is hiring an experienced travel reporter

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isola di buranoBusiness Insider is looking for a reporter to join our travel team.

This job is for the person who loves seeing the world, exploring new cultures, or just living vicariously through others' adventures.  

You'll be writing stories about the best travel destinations, trends, news, and tips, while simultaneously working on longer features and slideshows. You will also have the opportunity to write about your own experiences.  

The ideal candidate should be an excellent writer, have at least 1 to 3 years of experience in a newsroom, be comfortable working for a fast-paced digital news site, and be passionate about travel. Experience in the travel industry and a network of travel contacts is a huge plus, as is an interest in social media. Copy-editing skills, light HTML and Photoshop experience are also useful.

This is a full-time position that's based in our New York City office and does not necessarily include travel.

APPLY HERE with your resume and cover letter specifying why this role is perfect for you. Please include any links to clips in your cover letter.

Business Insider offers competitive compensation packages complete with benefits. 

SEE ALSO: The 14 Best Tech Companies To Work For

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APPLY NOW: Business Insider is hiring a Photo Essay Editor

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813px Walker_Evans,_Penny_picture_displays,_Birmingham,_Alabama,_1936Business Insider is hiring a Photo Essay Editor to join our Visual Features team. We are very excited about expanding our photo coverage and our burgeoning photo team and we are looking for individuals who are enthusiastic about the opportunity to help grow it with us. If you love telling stories through images and are obsessed with both photography and writing about photography, this is the job for you.

The photo essay editor will:

  • search for the best and most interesting photo essays, obtain permissions, interview photographers if necessary, and create dynamic articles and slideshows about the work. Ideal candidates will come with ample resources for both finding such stories online and out in the field, as well as experience working with image rights.
  • find, pitch, and oversee coverage of visuals-heavy stories in the New York area and globally by using commissioned photographers, as well as taking original photos. Ideal candidates should have knowledge of working photographers and the communication skills to relay creative direction to them.
  • assist with editing pieces and managing a small but growing team of photojournalists.

This job requires familiarity with Photoshop, a passion for all things photography, and strong writing and communication skills. The ideal candidate would have 2-5 years full time experience in a photo related field and multiple writing samples to provide. 

Interested? Submit your resume and a cover letter HERE. Including a link to your portfolio in the cover letter is optional but recommended. 

Please note: This job requires that you work full-time from our Manhattan headquarters. Business Insider offers competitive compensation packages complete with benefits. 

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13 crazy facts about the mansion the founder of Minecraft bought for $70 million

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minecraft mansion

When video game studio Mojang was bought by Microsoft for $2.5 billion in September 2014, Minecraft's creator Markus Persson became a billionaire. 

A few months later, news broke that the newly wealthy Persson — or "Notch," as he's known in the gaming community — had dished out $70 million for an out-of-this-world mansion in Beverly Hills. 

The home was built on spec by handbag designer and home developer Bruce Makowsky. In addition to an infinity pool, eight bedrooms, and fifteen bathrooms, the 23,000-square-foot home came furnished with some very expensive decor. 

We've rounded up some of the craziest facts about Notch's new home here.

1. Persson paid well below the asking price, but it still set a record.

When the home was first put on the market back in August of 2014, it was listed for $85 million. Though Persson's $70 million was far less than the asking price, it still was the most ever paid for a home in Beverly Hills.

2. He outbid Jay-Z and Beyonce.

The music power couple had reportedly visited the home six times, and rumor had it they were ready to close on a deal shortly before news of Persson's purchase broke.

3. The garage can accommodate 16 cars.

This home was built for a supercar lover. There's a hydraulic car lift that can move vehicles from the garage down to a lower-level lounge.

In the lounge, a rotating turntable surrounded by glass becomes a kind of gallery that can display cars from all angles.

car turntable house

4. A living room set made by Bentley cost $500,000.

The living room was furnished with massive leather sofas and chairs. 

The pillows are monogrammed with the Bentley "B." 

bentley pillows minecraft house

5. A giant candy wall cost $200,000 to stock. 

Located right next to the home gym, the candy wall features 25 different kinds of candy and sculptures of the M&M's characters.

markus persson candy wall

6. A wine cellar came stocked with bottles of Dom Perignon.

In addition to fully stocked vodka and tequila bars, there's an enormous wine cellar that can fit hundreds of bottles.

According to Forbes, several boxes of Dom Perignon were included in the $70 million price tag. 

wine cellar minecraft house

7. There are 15 bathrooms, each with a toilet that cost $5,600.

The bathrooms are equipped with fancy Toto Nearest toilets. Designers spent $84,000 on the toilets alone. 

8. There's also a set of fire extinguishers made by famous designers.

Artistic fire extinguishers made by Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton are displayed in a glass case in the master bath. 

According to Yahoo Homes, a carved stone bathtub cost a jaw-dropping $85,000.

fire extinguishers minecraft house

9. The dining room has 24 place settings that cost $3,700 each.

When Persson wants to dine with guests, he can host them at a stunning onyx dining room table that's 18 feet long and can accommodate 24 people.

The 24 place settings were designed by Robert Cavalli. 

dining room minecraft house

10.  A home theater has seats for 18 people.

The plush seats are arranged stadium-style on three levels. A 90-inch high-definition screen is ideal for private screenings.  

11. A 54-foot wall of glass opens up to an enormous infinity pool.

The pool's fountains can be controlled with an iPad. The deck offers some of the best views of Los Angeles you'd find anywhere.

infinity pool

12. The home came furnished with a ton of valuable art.

The pieces include a blue glass sculpture of a hand grenade. It's worth $250,000.

There's also a .50-caliber Ma Deuce machine gun that once rested on top of a World War II tank but is now covered in chrome. 

machine gun minecraft house

13. It even came with a gold toothbrush just for Notch.

When listing agent Branden Williams said the home came completely furnished, he meant it. 

"I provided eight OralB 3D Braun toothbrushes," Williams said to Forbes. "I’m tired of the line 'Just bring your toothbrush.'" 

Persson even got his own special gold toothbrush. 

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The 25 most popular travel destinations in the world

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Siem Reap

TripAdvisor just announced the winners of its 2015 Travelers’ Choice awards for Destinations.

Millions of TripAdvisor users weighed in and voted for their top travel destinations around the world.

For the first time, travelers ranked Marrakech, Morocco, as the top travel destination in the world. Last year, it ranked at No. 6. And while perennial favorites like Paris and Rome made the list, newcomers like Cusco, Peru, and Queenstown, New Zealand, also made appearances.

Winners were based on millions of TripAdvisor reviews of hotels, attractions and restaurants for different cities over a 12-month period.

25. Sydney, Australia



24. Dubai, United Arab Emirates



23. Hong Kong, China



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Meet the forgotten patriarch who started the Bush family dynasty

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prescott bush eisenhower

The Bush family has been on something of a roll for the past five generations.

If we trace the lineage back to the mid-19th century, we see that the dynasty came to dominate in railroad, finance, and oil industries before seating two of its members in the Oval Office.

The Bushes are potentially looking to accomplish a presidential hat trick with Jeb Bush — son of George H.W. Bush and younger brother of George W. Bush — running for election in 2016.

While the later generations of the Bush family are the most well known, W. and Jeb have their grandfather, Prescott S. Bush, to thank for turning the family name into a dynasty.

We decided to look back at how his influence shaped the Bushes' legacy. This retrospective includes insights from Jacob Weisberg's exhaustive biography, "The Bush Tragedy," and vintage photos.

Born to an Ohio steel and railroad executive and his wife, Prescott S. Bush decided early on that he wanted nothing to do with his father's ventures in manufacturing. He would carve his own success story.

He burst onto the high-society scene as a tall, athletically gifted young man at Yale. He picked up varsity letters in baseball, hockey, and golf, sang with the Whiffenpoof Quartet, and belonged to the school's exclusive secret society, Skull and Bones.

prescott bush yale

After returning from World War I, Prescott found work selling hardware in St. Louis. There, he met an energetic 18-year-old named Dorothy Walker. Their union marked the beginning of the Walker-Bush lineage.

dorothy walker, prescott s. bush

At the time, Dorothy's father, George Herbert "Bert" Walker, managed the famous Harrison brothers' enterprises at 1 Wall Street. He went on to become president of W.A. Harriman & Co.

Bert pulled some strings and found work for Prescott at the firm, though Prescott refused to admit he had any help getting there. Having the job handed to him betrayed his family's tradition of making a name for yourself.

prescott s. bush, nap

Still, he used the chance to catapult himself to greater riches and power. He saved the Harrimans from significant losses after the financial crash in 1929 by slashing costs and facilitating a merger with a bank owned by fellow members of Yale's Skull and Bones.

Prescott went on to direct Union Banking Corp., an investment bank that facilitated the transfer of gold, oil, steel, and coal all over the globe during World War II. The bank's assets were later frozen under suspicion that the bank backed Nazi sympathizers.

Fortunately for Prescott, he didn't own his share in UBC; rather, he held it on behalf of a Dutch bank. A degree removed from Hitler's "secret nest egg," he was never found guilty of any crime.

prescott s. bush

During these years, living in Greenwich, Connecticut, Prescott and Dorothy had five children: four boys and one girl. The Bush kin grew up in a fiercely religious household that encouraged both loyalty and competitiveness. They wanted for nothing, vacationing at the Walker family's summer estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, and attending private schools. Still, Prescott's sense of modesty led him to squash any child's show of privilege.

The couple remained active in local affairs. Prescott moderated town meetings for more than 15 years and Dorothy volunteered at the Red Cross and at a welfare agency.

prescott bush, george h.w. bush

When Prescott reached his mid-50s, he finished paying off his children's tuition bills and felt financially secure enough to enter politics. In 1952, after a failed run at the US Senate two years prior, Prescott brought along a special guest on the campaign trail to rally supporters: his golf buddy, Dwight Eisenhower, fresh off a landslide presidential election.

Prescott won the Republican seat and served two terms as a Connecticut Senator, between 1952 and 1962. He left a legacy as a Northeastern moderate, supporting civil-rights legislation, larger immigration quotas, and higher taxes, and opposing increasing senators' salary. "In his vision, either an independent income or a monastic lifestyle was required for elected officials," Jacob Weisberg writes in his book.

prescott s. bush

Prescott retired from the Senate because of ill health. He lived another 10 years, returning to the banking industry, and died of cancer in 1972.

His passion for politics, of course, trickled down to future generations of Bushes. Weisberg writes that, although George H.W. Bush never worked on any of his father's campaigns, he watched closely. He inherited his father's sense of duty.

"Prescott Bush established three essential myths that Bush men lived by," Weisberg writes. "The first is: I made it on my own. The second is: I'm not really rich. The third is: I'm running to serve my country."

SEE ALSO: The epic story of how the Bushes took over America

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