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GM CEO Mary Barra Takes Responsibility For 'Broken' Culture

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Mary Barra

GM CEO Mary Barra spoke with CNBC's Phil LeBeau on Monday and took full responsibility for the giant carmaker's massive recalls, now topping 2.5 million vehicles.

You have to admire Barra for her willingness to take this hit, over and over again.

LeBeau more than gave the first female CEO of a major automaker an opening to blame GM's recall debacle on that perennial easy target: middle management.

Barra was having none of it.

"I have never accepted [that] it is middle management that is the issue," she said. "I've got to lead and demonstrate by example and drive that through the organization."

On the one hand, it's quite predictable that a major CEO, facing a major crisis, would adopt a "buck stops here" stance. However, Barra could also be looking to a competitor for inspiration.

When Alan Mulally took over as CEO of Ford (he recently stepped down), after a successful run at Boeing, he set about creating a simple message that everyone at Ford to understand and sign on to. "One Ford" meant that the company was going to return to its core values and thrive. 

The entire company got it and, more importantly, acted on it. The company did return to its core values, and it has thrived.

But even more importantly, Ford wouldn't have unified around this theme if Mulally hadn't come up with it. He led from the top in a way that didn't blame middle management — it empowered middle management.

Barra has clearly learned this lesson and is trying to apply it at GM.

You can watch LeBeau's full interview with Barra below (there are some interesting comments about what self-driving cars will need to be capable of if consumers are to trust them):

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This Smart Shoe Sole Will Keep You Warm During The Winter And Track Your Activity At The Same Time

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Digitsole being put in shoe

According to Karim Oumnia, a longtime engineer for designer shoe companies like Baliston and Glagla Shoes, the footwear industry is old-fashioned and lacking in innovation.

"The first part of your body in connection with the ground is your feet, and your feet are supporting all your weight," Oumnia explained to Business Insider.

We just aren't taking good enough care of our feet, Oumnia contends. That's why he spent the last 20 years of his life trying to improve the shoe industry and integrate new technologies that can significantly impact our day-to-day lives. He's been a big innovator in sports footwear, having developed a lightweight, ventilated shoe that's also machine washable.

KARIM OUMNIA

Now he's taking shoes to the next level with Digitsole, an interactive sole that connects to your smartphone to track your distance and calories, as well heat your feet.

Digitsole uses Bluetooth connectivity to send information from an app to the shoes' soles, and vice versa. So you can receive information in terms of tracking steps and send information in terms of adjusting the heat levels.

"This innovation is a major innovation because it is interactive," Oumnia said. "It’s not only collecting information, as many connected products are doing. We are modifying something. It’s a new generation of connected products."

And in case the heat wasn't enough of a draw for you, the soles are also reportedly better for your feet. It has a shock heel system with cushions that lessen the impact when your heel hits the ground, as well as support for your arch.

Different Digitsole colors.JPG

The other benefit of using Digitsole is that it can provide a more accurate tracking compared to other wearables, which typically take the form of wristbands and watches. Those devices tend to detect arm movement or general body movement to gauge how active a person is, but Digitsole can literally track each step, giving a more accurate look at activity. 

"If you are Italian or Mediterranean and you talk with your hands, you will make a lot of steps with your wristband," Oumnia said. "The real tracking can be done through your feet and not through your arm, so the tracking we are using today is not really precise. It’s not bad, but what we’re using on the insole is much more efficient."

Digitsole will last about 7 to 8 hours when used at its highest temperature the whole time, but Oumnia claims it can last for a couple of days if you use it "normally." Either way, you can easily recharge the sole with a USB cable. And the Digitsole team is actively working to improve the battery life.

Digitsole app

Digitsole launched a Kickstarter campaign Tuesday morning to raise money with a goal of $40,000. But according to Oumnia, the campaign is just as much for marketing as it is for fundraising. It lets him explain his product and share it with a large audience.

A Kickstarter pledge of at least $99 will get you one pair of Digitsole soles, which are expected to ship by the end of November.

Once the Kickstarter campaign is over, Oumnia is certain he will be contacted by retailers looking to sell his product in their store. He expects Digitsole will be ready for mass production in 2015.

"We have no doubt that we will be able to get to this goal," Oumnia said. "Every time I show this to friends and people around us they are very surprised that we can just heat by clicking on the smartphone."

Update: Digitsole has reached its funding goal on Kickstarter and will begin production to start shipping in December.

SEE ALSO: RANKED: The 13 Best Health And Fitness Apps

SEE ALSO: Why Use A Fitness Bracelet When You Can Wear A Smart Shirt?

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12 Sleek Mansions That Look Just Like Apple Stores

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union street

Apple has long been revered for its amazing attention to design, from its iconic glass-and-steel retail stores to the sleek gadgets they sell inside. 

Apple was recently granted a patent for its glass cube store design, and it trademarked its store layout in 2013.

That minimalist aesthetic has become so well-known that it's difficult to see a boxy, contemporary home without comparing it to an Apple store. 

In honor of Apple's big product announcement today, our friends at Estately helped us round up 12 houses that feature the design details we've come to associate with this iconic company.

This home's boxy design is reminiscent of Apple's glass cube.

Address: 83 South River Road, Stuart, Florida

Price: $7.35 million

It has five bedrooms, 9.5 bathrooms, and floor-to-ceiling glass windows that look out on the Atlantic Ocean.



This stunningly modern home looks out over the Los Angeles skyline.

Address: 9133 Oriole Way, Los Angeles, California

Price: $38 million

Its wide-open spaces include a chef's kitchen, screening room, wine cellar, and eight-car garage.



A glass-enclosed elevator provides access to all six of the bedrooms in this home.

Address:15210 Antelo Place, Los Angeles, California

Price: $16.5 million

The house, which sits behind heavy iron gates, was designed by architect Ted Tanaka in 1986 and remodeled in 2008.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

THE MOBILE AND ONLINE BANKING REPORT: Mobile Is Pulling Customers Away From Branches And Online Banking

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Half Of Online Banking

The relationship between consumers and their banks is in a period of dramatic upheaval brought on by the rapid pace of technological innovation. Bricks-and-mortar banks are losing relevance among consumers — particularly millennials. 

Banks face looming competition from tech giants such as Square, PayPal, Apple and Google. Fifty percent of North Americans say they would be likely to bank with Square should the company offer a banking service, for example. To stay relevant, banks will have to rethink the channels through which they reach their customers and the services that they provide to them. 

In a new report from BI Intelligence, we analyze how consumer banking habits have changed, how its affected retail banks and we explore a number of things banks can do to stay ahead of the curve. 

Access the Full Report By Signing Up For A Free Trial Today >>

Here are some of the key elements from the report:

In full, the report:

For full access to all our charts, data, and analysis on the payments industry — including downloadable Excel files — sign up for a free trial.

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Kids Are Too 'Sophisticated' To Go To Mcdonald's

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McDonald's happy meal

McDonald's is losing a crucial set of customers: Kids.

For the first time in 25 years, the company has lost its status as the No. 1 chain with the most "kid appeal" and Chick-fil-A has taken its spot, Crain's Chicago Business reports based on findings  from Sandelman & Associates Inc, restaurant research firm. 

Happy Meals are vital to McDonald's business. They account for 10% of the company's revenues and help the company connect to large swaths of potential lifetime customers at an early age.

But kids and their parents are losing interest in them. Families with a child age 12 or under represent 14.6% of McDonald's customers today, down from 18.6% in 2011, according to Technomic.

McDonald's happy meal"Kids are more sophisticated," Mary Chapman, director of product innovation at Technomic, told Crain's. "They're not just looking for the Golden Arches and the toy."

Chick-fil-A's kids' meal options include grilled or fried chicken nuggets, french fries, a fruit cup, milk and juice. 

The meals include books in addition to toys.

Chick-fil-A kids mealPart of the shift away from McDonald's could be due to the fact that more millennials are becoming parents, and millenials favor fast-casual chains, such as Chipotle, over fast food. 

The number of 22- to-27-year-olds visiting McDonald's monthly has been flat since 2011, according to Technomic data cited by the Wall Street Journal. Over the same time period, the number of 19- to 21-year-olds visiting the chains has fallen by 13%.

McDonald's is trying lure back young families by redesigning its happy meal logo and promoting more nutritious alternatives to french fries and sodas for its kids' meals, such as carrots, apple slices and milk.

McDonald's global sales at stores open at least 13 months declined 3.7% in August. Same-store sales in the U.S. slid 2.8%, following a 3.2% decline in July and a 3.5% decline in June. 

SEE ALSO: McDonald's Posts Worst Sales Decline In 10 Years

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Schumacher moved home from hospital for further care

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Michael Schumacher pictured after the Brazil Formula 1 GP at the Interlagos racetrack in Sao Paulo on November 25, 2012

Geneva (AFP) - Former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher has left a Swiss hospital and will continue his treatment at home after a devastating ski accident in December, his family said in a statement Tuesday.

In a surprise announcement, a spokeswoman for the family of the retired German racing star said he was being moved from a top-notch hospital in the Swiss city of Lausanne to his home in nearby Gland.

"Henceforth Michael's rehabilitation will take place at his home," Sabine Kehm said, stressing that "considering the severe injuries he suffered, progress has been made in the past weeks and months".

"There is still, however, a long and difficult road ahead," she cautioned, providing no further details on Schumacher's health status.

The 45-year-old slammed his head on a rock while skiing with his son and friends in the French Alps in December.

The seven-time world champion underwent two operations to remove life-threatening blood clots after the freak accident that shocked the world, before being plunged into a medically induced coma.

He emerged from the coma in June and was transferred from a French hospital to the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), renowned for it neurology experts.

"We would like extend our gratitude to the entire team at CHUV Lausanne for their thorough and competent work," Tuesday's statement said.

"We ask that the privacy of Michael's family continue to be respected, and that speculations about his state of health are avoided," it added.

Known as the "Red Baron" in reference to an ace World War I German fighter pilot, Schumacher made his debut in 1991 and dominated Formula One not long after.

A ruthless and at times controversial competitor, the German won an unprecedented 91 races, and seven world titles including five in a row with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004.

He first retired aged 37 but was unable to resist the lure of the track. In 2010, he came out of retirement but failed to re-enact his previous performances, and he quit for good in 2012.

Retirement did not dull his relish for adrenaline, however, and he kept pursuing thrill-seeking hobbies as the holder of a pilot's licence, an accomplished motorbike rider, parachutist, skier and mountain climber.

He survived a motorbike accident in Spain in 2009, during which he suffered head and neck injuries but was released from hospital after just five hours.

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Meet America's New Chief Technology Officer, An Openly Gay Google Exec

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Screen Shot 2014 09 08 at 4.59.54 PMLast week, President Obama named Google executive Megan Smith as the White House's new Chief Technology Officer. As CTO, Smith will oversee IT policies and initiatives across every sector of the economy. 

Smith brings a particularly interesting viewpoint to this role as an openly gay woman, which she highlights in a new video for MAKERS, a website that specializes in documenting successful women's stories. 

Before moving to Google in 2003, Smith served as COO, and later CEO, of Planet Out, an online LGBT community. "When you're gay, you come out every day because everyone assumes you're straight," she says in the video. "But you have to be yourself."

Smith also hopes to open up the tech industry to more women, as well as to encourage girls to pursue careers in science and engineering. 

You can watch the full video below. 


 

 

 

SEE ALSO: 30 Women Who Are Changing The World

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The Most Addicting Aspect Of ‘Destiny,’ The Biggest Game Of The Year, Happens Before You Even Start Playing

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destiny sitting visuals

Customizing your own character is a pretty common feature in video games, from “The Sims” to “Skyrim.” But once you check out the character creation tools in “Destiny,” the latest sci-fi action shooter from "Halo" maker Bungie, indecisive gamers are going to have major issues choosing their playable characters.

Before the game even starts you must choose your character "type"—  Titan, Hunter, or Warlock. Titans can slam the ground to disintegrate surrounding enemies, Hunters can throw knives and shoot with extreme precision, and Warlocks can toss bombs of energy and use magic to manipulate their environments and boost their abilities temporarily.

Destiny character class

Once you've chosen your character type, you'll be taken to the character customization menu, which offers a range of options to choose one's race, gender, and distinguishing characteristics like hair, lips, scars, and tribal markings.

Destiny character 1

While Humans and Awoken look somewhat similar to each other (they're both humanoids), gamers can choose the Exo race, which is a "self-aware war machine built for a long-forgotten struggle." You can choose between male and female Exo, but we'd dare you to know the difference between different-gendered robots.

Destiny character 2

This is a male Awoken. They look like deified humans with way better hair. 

Destiny character 3

Picking the right hair color isn't easy.

Destiny character 4

Speaking of hair — while both genders look terrific in character creation mode, female characters offer particularly awesome hairstyles.

Destiny character 5a

Different races also come with different options for markings and scars.

Destiny tattoo

There are so many combinations of lip colors and shapes, hair styles and hair colors ... the options can a bit mind-boggling, especially since all options look so good.

Destiny character 5b

Of course, this is just a taste of "Destiny." Once you've selected your ideal character, you'll soon be transported to other worlds within our solar system to fight alongside other players to defend humanity. No pressure.

"Destiny" is now available for PlayStation 3 and 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

SEE ALSO: The Most Anticipated Video Game Of The Year Is Out, But You Can't Play It Because The Servers Are Down

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GUNDLACH: The Yen Will Lose Half Its Value In 3 To 5 Years (JPY, USD)

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jeffrey gundlach

Speaking in an interview with CNBC's David Faber, DoubleLine's Jeff Gundlach said that the Japanese yen is going to 200 against the dollar.

Gundlach said that over the long term, the yen's value will continue to erode as Japan continues to get slammed by long-term economic headwinds like an aging demographic and a need to import much of its energy.

When asked for a timeframe, Gundlach said less than ten years, and maybe more like 3 to 5 years.

On Monday, the yen fell in value against the dollar to more than 106, a move that Gundlach said, "almost looked manipulated."

Here's a chart of the yen over the last year, showing the breakout the currency has seen in the last month as the dollar continues to gain against most major currencies. 

USDJPY

SEE ALSO: GUNDLACH: 'I Would Sell Apple'

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There's Already A Huge Flaw In Obama's Emerging Plan To Fight ISIS

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obama nato

U.S. President Barack Obama is currently constructing a strategy for an increasingly complex war he never wanted to enter. And allies in the region are skeptical.

Now that ISIS controls a third of the combined territory comprising Syria and Iraq, the U.S. is attempting to establish an international coalition to "degrade and destroy" the well-armed and well-funded Islamic State.

The administration has begun to outline a three-pronged strategy that could last more than three years — and into the next administration. It consists of continuing to bomb ISIS targets from the air in Iraq, intensely moving to equip and train the Iraqi military and Kurdish forces, and then moving to confront the group in Syria.

A successful U.S.-led campaign to eradicate ISIS requires direct military action on both sides of the Iraq/Syria border, several years, billions of dollars, and tens of thousands of troops, according to counterterrorism expert Brian Fishman. "And even then," Fishman said, "success hinges on dramatic political shifts in both Iraq and Syria that under the best of circumstances will require years."

iraq syria

But Obama needs partners in the region, as the president says he will not recommit conventional American troops to either Iraq or Syria and already backed off military action against the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad amid nuclear negotiations with Iran.

The challenge, as described by the Associated Press, is "overcoming the reluctance of U.S. allies in the Middle East who are deeply frustrated with a White House that they believe has been naive and weak on Syria’s civil war."

The reluctance of crucial countries like Turkey and Saudi Arabia exposes a big flaw in Obama's plan: He can't "degrade and destroy" ISIS without going into Syria. But the U.S. can't beat ISIS in Syria without a ground force, and the only viable one right now is one the administration has repeatedly dismissed.

obama isis syria

"The U.S. and the West have avoided the Syrian conflict for two years, essentially permitting the conditions that spawned ISIS," said Clint Watts, counterterrorism expert at the Foreign Policy Institute.

The Obama administration's nominal partner on the ground in Syria is the Free Syrian Army, which Obama has repeatedly disregarded as "an opposition made up of former doctors, farmers, pharmacists, and so forth."

But tens of thousands of Syrian Army defectors also joined the revolution, and the FSA became part of a Western-backed project to build "a cohesive, national, and democratic opposition that could fill the potential power vacuum following President Assad’s fall."

The rub is that Obama decided in 2013 that the U.S. wouldn't “get in the middle of somebody else's civil war,"and the White House only allowed the CIA to "provide enough support to help ensure that politically moderate, U.S.-supported militias don’t lose but not enough for them to win."

syiraConsequently, the nationalist opposition has struggled.

"The leadership of the FSA is American," a veteran FSA officer who defected from the Syrian army two years ago and won respect for leading rebel forces in southern Syria told McClatchy recently. "The Americans are completely marginalizing the military staff."

Over time, the FSA has been worn down by war against both the Syrian army and ISIS, which the Assad regime fostered for its own survival.

ISIS and the regime are currently squeezing the nationalist opposition in Syria's largest city, Aleppo, the only city where the FSA has a significant presence.

Free Syrian Army spokesman Hussam al-Marie told The New York Times that the loss of Aleppo would be “unrecoverable” and “a blow to our shared goals of a moderate Syria.”

To defeat ISIS, the U.S. commander in chief will have to eventually confront the Assad regime — a move that would strain tensions with an increasingly assertive Iran.

Handing Off Iraq To Iran

The ISIS crisis highlights that Iraq also deteriorated amid U.S. indifference in recent years and may fracture completely if the current trajectory continues.

"It's not my job to rate the Obama administration's actions in Iraq," Baghdad Bureau Chief of The New York Times Tim Arango said on Reddit on Monday. "But I will tell you that after 2011 the administration basically ignored the country. And when officials spoke about what was happening there they were often ignorant of the reality."

Ali Khedery, the longest continuously serving American official in Iraq (2003-09), told Reza Akhlaghi of the Foreign Policy Association that the Obama administration "betrayed the promises that the U.S. government had made to the Sunni tribal leaders," who had previously fought with American troops against ISIS-predecessor Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) during the Iraq War.

America's continued support of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in December 2010 and beyond made it so that "Iraq’s path toward civil war was really inevitable,"Khedery said, asMaliki steered Baghdad "toward a very pro-Iranian and sectarian agenda, which inevitably disillusioned and disenfranchised Sunni Arabs for a second time."

maliki Khamenei

Throughout 2014, powerful Sunni tribes and ousted Saddam-era Baathists have coordinated with ISIS to capture much of central, western, and northern Iraq. On the other side are demoralized Iraqi troops and increasingly sectarian Iranian-trained militias, some of which had been fighting in Syria.

The U.S. didn't truly tune into the crisis until after a few hundred ISIS militants overran Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul on June 10.

"There was a concerted effort by the administration to not acknowledge the obvious until it became so apparent — with the fall of Mosul — that Iraq was collapsing," NYT's Arango told Reddit.

And the U.S. didn't get involved militarily in Iraq until early August, when the humanitarian situation on the ground became so muddled and the threat of ISIS overrunning the Mosul Dam had become a reality. In a statement from the White House on Aug. 7, Obama authorized the use of airstrikes in Iraq.

"Obama was hugely (and understandably) reluctant to authorize the use of force in Iraq — he considered ending the war there one of his chief accomplishments as president," geopolitical expert Ian Bremmer, the president of Eurasia Group, told Business Insider recently.

"But there wasn't much choice, as ISIS forces proved far more capable than U.S. intelligence had assessed."

Since Aug. 8, the U.S. has been bombing targets while Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish fighters, and Shia militiamen battle Sunnis on the front lines.

The fight on the ground is reportedly run byQassem Suleimani, the head of the Qods Force, the foreign arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

"While [the U.S. and Iran] say they are not coordinating, the U.S. has been bombing from above while Iranian-backed Shia militias, which a few years were killing American soldiers, have been doing the fighting on the ground, for the same cause," Arango said.

The ongoing American air war in Iraq occurs amid a territorial power struggle between Iran-backed Shia militias, ISIS, the Kurds, Sunni tribes, and Iraq's fledgling army.

iraq

End Game

And as the Middle East hurdles into a highly sectarian future, the U.S. faces the challenge of fighting ISIS in a way that doesn't alienate regional Sunnis while empowering sectarian policies of Iran and Assad.

"The key is to detach moderate Sunnis, the vast majority of Sunnis, from ISIS, by providing them with security and with a political alternative to rule by Iran and its proxies,"Mike Doran, senior fellow at the Center for Middle East Policy, told Business Insider recently. "Iran and Syria have no assets that can counter the ISIS threat without making matters worse."

But Obama's Middle East strategy of backing away from the region while making a historical accommodation with Iran has made the challenge of defeating ISIS even more difficult.

"No wonder, then, that Obama’s policies are in a shambles," Doran wrote last month. "It is impossible to succeed in the Middle East without partners, and so long as he remains bent on empowering Iran and its proxies (who, for their part, continue to make no secret of their loathing for the United States), America’s traditional allies will withhold their own support for Washington’s initiatives."

SEE ALSO: The Growing Power Of Iranian Proxy Militias In Iraq And Syria Poses Problems For The US

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Microsoft's NFL Prediction Engine Beat The Las Vegas Favorites In Week 1 — Here Are Its Picks For Week 2

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matt ryan atlanta falcons covered in fire

Microsoft Cortana, the Windows phone virtual assistant that's predicting the winner of every NFL game this season, went 10-6 in Week 1.

That doesn't sound like a great percentage, but it's actually better than the 9-7 win-loss record that Las Vegas favorites had in the first week of the season. 

Vegas and Cortana only differed on one game last week: New Orleans vs. Atlanta. Vegas had the Saints as the favorite while Cortana gave the Falcons a 61.4% chance to win outright. The Falcons won 34-31 in overtime.

Nate Silver's ELO rating system also went 10-6. His model projected the Saints to beat the Falcons, but it also had the Panthers beating the Buccaneers (which both Cortana and Vegas got wrong).

Cortana didn't nail Week 1 like it did the World Cup (where it went 15-1 in the knockout stages), but it'll be interesting to see if it gets more accurate once the season gets going and it has a larger, fresher set of data to work with.

Here are the Cortana picks for Week 2 (Vegas favorites as of Tuesday morning in parentheses):

  • Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens — Steelers win, 59.8% chance (Ravens -2.5)
  • Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills — Bills win, 62.9% chance (Miami -1)
  • Jacksonville Jaguars at Washington Redskins — Redskins win, 53.3% chance (Redskins -6)
  • Dallas Cowboys at Tennessee Titans — Titans win, 61.4% chance (Titans -3.5)
  • Arizona Cardinals at New York Giants — Cardinals win, 59.8% chance (Giants -1)
  • New England Patriots at Minnesota Vikings — Patriots win, 61.4% chance (Patriots -3)
  • New Orleans Saints at Cleveland Browns — Saints win, 59.8% chance (Saints -6)
  • Atlanta Falcons at Cincinnati Bengals — Bengals win, 61.4% chance (Bengals -5)
  • Detroit Lions at Carolina Panthers — Panthers win, 56.6% chance (Panthers -2.5)
  • St. Louis Rams at Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Buccaneers win, 56.6% chance (Buccaneers -5)
  • Seattle Seahawks at San Diego Chargers — Seahawks win, 56.6% chance (Seahawks -6)
  • Houston Texans at Oakland Raiders — Texans win, 53.3% chance (Texans -3)
  • New York Jets at Green Bay Packers — Packers win, 55% chance (Packers -8)
  • Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos — Broncos win, 56.6% chance (Broncos -13)
  • Chicago Bears at San Francisco 49ers — 49ers win, 78.9% chance (49ers -7)
  • Philadelphia Eagles at Indianapolis Colts — Eagles win, 58.2% chance (Eagles -3)

Cortana and Vegas disagree on Ravens-Steelers, Dolphins-Bills, and Giants-Cardinals.

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These Interactive Panoramas Give You Unbelievable Access To North Korea

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Aram Pan has always been intrigued by North Korea. Everything he saw in the media relating to the country, though, revolved around its leaders, military might, and confidentiality. Pan wondered what he would see if he simply asked nicely to look around. He found out the answer was more than he ever expected.

Pan, who is from Singapore, makes 360-degree panoramas for various clients, including real estate brokers, hotels, and retail stores. Utilizing fairly simple technology and setup (just a DSLR digital camera and a tripod), he creates high resolution, immersive panoramas that allow viewers to virtually explore a space.

Pan wanted to create these in the DPRK, so after submitting a proposal to the government, he was "given unrestricted freedom to photograph just about anything except military personnel, vehicles, and infrastructure," he told Business Insider. His resulting panoramas and photographs, featured at DPRK360, give a totally fresh look into life in North Korea. 

Pan would often ask his appointed tour guides about a certain aspect of everyday life in North Korea and, many times, the guides would lead him directly to it. For example, Pan asked if he could "swim with the locals." His guides took him to a local water park and spa, the Mansu Water Park (be sure to click the links to fully explore Pan's panoramas).Munsu Waterpark web

Similarly, Pan wanted to see where people got their hair cut. His tour guides took him to the hair salon at Changgwangwon Health Complex, which has been in existence since 1980.hair salon

Pan says going to North Korea for the first time was like "entering an alternative universe.""Suddenly, there are no advertisements or billboards, no internet, and nobody is rushing around at double speed," he told Business Insider. There are certainly no billboards at the Mansudae Grand Monument, which features massive bronze statues of former Presidents Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.Mansudae Grand Monument web

Another thing that surprised Pan was a large trade fair in Pyongyang he attended. "I did not expect to see the sheer amount of businesses entering North Korea and how so much foreign currency was moving about," he says.pyongyang spring international trade fair web

Other interesting places Pan visited included the Meari Shooting Range, which allows participants to bring the fowl they shoot at the range to an adjacent restaurant where it can then be cooked for them.gun range web

He also checked out the Rungna Dolphinarium, North Korea's equivalent to Sea World.Rugna Dolphinarium web

He even got to visit the newly renovated Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, a place with a strict "no photography policy." The museum documents the history of the Korean wars, from the perspective of North Korea, of course.Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum web

Pan tells us this project was an attempt to demystify North Korea. However, Pan says after months of travel all over the country, he didn't see any work camps or starvation, which left him with more questions than answers. In fact, many aspects, such as this beach near Wonsan, seemed almost normal.Galma beach web

Pan hopes the North Korean government will start to trust him more and show him even further behind the curtain, like in the Grand People's Study House, seen below. Pan says that the North Korean government is actually very connected to the outside world, adding that "Yes, they will most definitely be reading this article, too."Grand Peoples Study House web

Be sure to visit Pan's website to see tons more pictures, videos, and 360-panoramas, and check back often; Pan is planning on going back to North Korea this week. 

(All GIFS courtesy of Aram Pan/DPRK360)

SEE ALSO: The Korean DMZ Is A Surprisingly Popular Spot For Tourists

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GUNDLACH: 'I Would Sell Apple' (AAPL)

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apple knife slice

Speaking in an interview on CNBC, DoubleLine's Jeff Gundlach reiterated his bearish view of Apple stock.

"I would sell it," he said.

Back in 2012, Gundlach was one of the few people who was bearish on the iPhone maker when the stock was trading near its all-time high of $700.

His concern has been that innovation evaporated when Steve Jobs passed away.

Gundlach mocked Apple's iPhone upgrade offerings, saying that they were more or less just new case colors like "tutty-fruity."

On a split-adjusted basis, Apple recently made a new all-time high, and on Tuesday is set to announce the latest version of its flagship iPhone device, as well as a new smartwatch.

Gundlach said the new products are likely priced-in to the stock, which is trading just below $100 right now, and Gundlach said shares currently look like they did back in 2012. 

On Monday, BI's Jay Yarow noted that Apple shares typically fall on the day a new iPhone is announced, and then rally ahead of the device going on sale, before falling again.

In late morning trade on Tuesday, the stock was up about 0.8%.

BI will have complete coverage of Apple's latest announcement on SAI all day Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: GUNDLACH: 'The Yen Will Lose Half Its Value In 3 To 5 Years'

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Elon Musk Went On A Japanese Game Show But Doesn't Know What He Did (TSLA)

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Elon Musk/Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is in Japan, making the media rounds and presumably pushing forward the electric carmaker's Asian business. 

But he's also gone on a TV game show — testament to his bravery, as Japanese TV game shows are well know for being downright bizarre.

That's what makes them so much fun.

Here's what he tweeted from @elonmusk about the experience:

Musk-Japan-Game Show-Screen Shoot

We haven't figured out what happened yet, either. If anyone can find out, please let us know and we'll pass the info on to Musk!

Twitter has been having a lot of fun with Musk's bafflement. Did he sell SpaceX for a few pieces of sushi? Is the laugh on him because Tesla is now owned by Toyota?

It's an evolving story...

SEE ALSO: MUSK: In The Future 'All Tesla Cars Will Have Auto-Pilot Capability'

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Man Whose Head Was Crushed In An Accident Gets 3D Printed Titanium Skull

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Hu 3D Printed Skull China

The ability to design and print replacement body parts that are customized to an individual's needs is revolutionizing medicine.

This year alone, doctors have printed tubes that stabilized a child's collapsed windpipe and they've installed the first ever 3D printed vertebra in a 12-year-old boy.

Now, in a surgery that was one of the first of its kind, doctors replaced part of a Chinese man's skull with 3D printed titanium mesh that was molded to perfectly restore the part of his skull that had been smashed in an accident.

In October of 2013 the man, a 46-year-old named Hu who lives in a town near Xi'an, was working on a construction project when he fell. He plunged three stories and smashed his head on a pile of wood. The fall caved in a significant portion of his skull, damaging his brain, causing vision loss, especially in his left eye, and depriving him of most of his ability to write and speak.

3D Printed SkullDoctors at Xijing Hospital in Xi'an brought in experts from around the world to try and figure out how to restore some sense of normalcy for Hu. They decided to scan Hu's head and 3D print a titanium mesh replacement for part of his cranium, modeled after the right side of his head in order to give him a symmetrical appearance.

Even more impressive, his doctors think that after his brain has time to repair itself and grow within its new titanium structure, Hu should regain some of his lost ability to communicate.

Local news reports showed him smiling and excited before the surgery.

With printing materials specially made in Belgium and provided by Stryker, an American medical device manufacturer, Hu underwent surgery on the morning of August 28. After, he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit to recover.

Titanium is a common replacement material for bones since it usually doesn't cause any adverse reaction — U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords had part of her skull patched with titanium mesh after being shot in the head in 2011 — but they still have to ensure that Hu's system doesn't reject the transplant.

His doctors, however, believe the transplant will be successful.

3D Printed Skull ChinaNew Bones And A New Life

While this is one of the first transplants of its kind, medical developments in 3D printing technology have been offering people the chance at a new life all over the world.

The first ever complete 3D printed skull was implanted in a woman earlier in 2014. Without her new plastic cranium, a rare bone cancer would made her skull grow too thick and eventually would have killed her.

The Food and Drug Administration approved implants for facial reconstruction in August, and researchers are looking into ways that 3D printers can replace veins, skin, and other organs too.

As this technology continues to transform what doctors can do, more and more people suffering from grave injuries and diseases will have a previously unimaginable shot at a new life. And that's pretty amazing.

SEE ALSO: This 3D Printed Vertebra Is A Huge Step Forward For Medicine

READ MORE IN THIS SERIES: GAME CHANGERS

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Here's The Most Affluent Town In Every State

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The geographic distribution of income and wealth in the United States is always a fascinating topic

One of the many types of geography the Census Bureau tabulates figures for are "places". These are either legally incorporated cities or towns, or Census designated statistical equivalents. In this map, we consider places with at least 1,000 residents, according to the 2008-2012 American Community Survey.

Using income estimates from the ACS, we found the place with the highest median household income in each state. The map shows where the affluent towns are, and the median income in each town:

Most affluent places map

Many of the affluent communities are wealthy suburbs of major cities, like Scarsdale, NY and Darien, CT outside of New York City, and Chevy Chase, MD and Great Falls, VA near Washington, DC.

Here's a table with the fifty towns and their median incomes:

Most affluent places table

SEE ALSO: RANKED: The 50 US State Economies From Worst To Best

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Why The Supreme Court Is Getting Involved In Prison Beards

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Gregory Houston Holt

The Supreme Court's fall term starts next month, and one of the first cases it will hear involves a seemingly odd topic — beards on prisoners.

That case was brought by a Muslim inmate named Gregory Houston Holt who claims his prison violated his religious rights by refusing to let him grow a beard as his faith requires. 

The state corrections department that runs that prison filed a lengthy brief claiming beards as short as half an inch long pose a security risk because inmates can hide contraband in them. Here are all the items inmates can theoretically hide in their short beards, according to that brief: needles, homemade, darts, bits of broken razors, drugs, and SIM cards for cellphones (which are verboten in prison).

Inmates could also shave their beards and escape, that brief warned.

"Prisoners can be very creative in concocting plans for violence or escape," it said.

Holt, who's in prison for slitting his ex-girlfriend's throat, is serving time in an Arkansas prison with a strict anti-beard grooming policy. In June 2011 he filed suit against Arkansas Department of Corrections claiming the policy violated his right to exercise his religion.

A federal appeals court ruled against Holt, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear his case after he submitted a handwritten petition.

It's hard to imagine why a state corrections department would be this staunchly opposed to a half-inch beard, but it is not alone. Holt's brief— which he filed with the help of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and the University of Virginia — identified 8 other states that prohibit beards, presumably because of similar security concerns. 

While the issue of beards on prisoners might seem somewhat narrow, this is a case that lawyers are watching closely. Last term, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations have religious rights when it found some employers didn't have to pay for insurance that covered birth control. This is a different twist on the topic of religious freedom.

“After going out on a limb by providing newfound rights to corporations, are they now going to turn around and say that prisoners can’t grow beards?” Marci A. Hamilton, a law professor at Cardozo Law School said to The New York Times.

For the Arizona Department of Corrections, the case involves real security concerns, at least according to its brief.

"Prisons are dangerous places," the brief said. "Correctional officers regularly work within striking distance of inmates who may decide to injure or kill the moment an opportunity avails itself." 

SEE ALSO: GINSBURG: Supreme Court Has 'Ventured Into A Minefield' On Obamacare Decision

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Senator Blasts NFL For Turning 'Blind Eye' To Domestic Violence

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AP374654890380

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) is fuming mad over how the National Football League handled the alleged incident of domestic violence involving Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice.

"It's outrageous. I think it's disgraceful. I think it was an absolute terrible job by the NFL. I  think they did not do the right thing. I think they turned a blind eye," Gillibrand said during a Tuesday morning interview on WNYC's "The Brian Lehrer Show."

In July, the NFL had initially decided to suspend Rice for two games after the football star was arrested for allegedly knocking out his wife in an Atlantic City elevator. After TMZ published new footage of the incident on Monday, the Ravens cut Rice and the NFL suspended him indefinitely

Gillibrand argued that the initial controversy should have been enough to get rid of Rice.

"The man had admitted that, 'I beat my wife,' and they just suspended him for two games?" she asked. "That's an inadequate response to the scourge of domestic violence."

Gillibrand demurred, however, when she was pressed on whether NFL commissioner Roger Goodell should also be shown the door.

"I think the NFL should look long and hard at their polices and figure out what they are doing wrong. Because they are not getting it right. And this is systemic. It's domestic violence in the NFL. It's sexual assault on college campuses and in the military. It is this constant lack of valuing of women," she said. "This is unacceptable behavior and it should not be allowed by anyone — and certainly not an NFL star."

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11 Unbelievable Weapons That Only America And Its Closest Allies Have

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ADAPTIV

U.S. policymakers are girding the American public for a long fight against ISIS, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying that the jihadists could take several years to defeat.

ISIS has one of the most extensive arsenals of any non-state armed group in modern history. But even if not all of their weaponry is applicable to the fight against extremists in the Middle East, it's worth remembering that the U.S. and its partners still have the overwhelming advantage in hardware. 

And it's not just an advantage over nonstate groups like ISIS.

The U.S. is in possession of a range of weapons that the rest of the world simply doesn't have.

Weapons like the MQ9 Reaper Drone, the Laser Avenger and the ADAPTIV cloaking give U.S. troops the a leg-up on any battlefield around the world — including in the ongoing battle against jihadist groups across the Middle East.

 

MQ9 Reaper Drone

Manufactured by: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI)

Release date: 2001

The Reaper has been around for over 10 years, but was used largely for intelligence and reconnaissance until recently. 

Today, squadrons of F-16's are being transitioned into fully unmanned drone fleets.

The Reaper is the largest of the UAV's in the U.S. arsenal with a wingspan of 84 feet, a takeoff weight of 7,000 pounds, a payload capacity of 3,000 pounds, and a maximum flight time of 36 hours.

The drone can read a license plate from over two miles away while flying at an altitude of 52,000 feet. Capable of carrying 500-pound bombs, air-to-ground, and air-to-air missiles, the UAV fleet is poised to perform the lion's share of American air support in coming years.

At the beginning of this decade, the U.S. already had more personnel training to operate its burgeoning drone fleet than for any other weapon system in its arsenal.



AA12 Atchisson Assault Shotgun

Manufactured by: Maxwell Atchisson

Release date: 2005

The AA12 can fire five 12-gauge shells per second. Because the recoil is engineered at just 10 percent of that of a normal shotgun, it can be fired from the hip with only one hand.

The Atchisson also fires a high-explosive or fragmentation grenade called a FRAG-12 round up to a distance of 175 meters with equal efficiency.

Designed for long-term combat use, tests have shown the AA12 can fire up to 9,000 rounds without jamming or having to be cleaned.

All the user needs to do is hold the trigger down for four seconds to empty the 20 round drum at a target.



ADAPTIV Tank Invisibility Cloak

Manufactured by: BAE Systems

Release date: 2013

Developed and patented in Sweden, ADAPTIV functions over infra-red and other electronic frequencies. It can blend the coated vehicle into the background, making it seem to be invisible — and it can also shape the returning signal to appear like something else entirely.

A tank, for example, can be made to look like a car. These pictures show both the combat vehicle disappearing and reshaping itself into the outline of an automobile.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Scientists Keep Finding Deadly Diseases In Their Freezers

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old vials

After discovering an unauthorized collection of smallpox vials that had been collecting dust in a cold storage room for decades in July, the National Institutes of Health began a safety sweep to check and see what other deadly pathogens might be sitting in the backs of lab fridges around their facilities.

They found five dangerous agents, including the potentially deadly toxin ricin and pathogens that cause plague, botulism, tularemia, and melioidosis, a tropical disease.

The news was announced in an agency memo first reported by the Associated Press on September 5.

These samples have been around for a while, as most were found in various labs or on shelves with historical collections. The box containing the poisonous ricin dates back to 1914, with the poison itself estimated to be 85 to 100 years old.

While these substances are definitely dangerous — in 2013, the Secret Service intercepted an envelope containing ricin that was sent to the president — their discovery isn't as scary as the finding of the smallpox vials that inspired this apparently long-needed cleaning in the first place.

People haven't received smallpox vaccinations in the U.S. since it was considered eliminated in 1972. It's a disease dangerous enough to be considered a potential biological weapon and infectious enough that only two labs in the world are authorized to possess it.

These substances are also far less frightening than some of the flu viruses being studied and created in certain labs in the U.S. and around the world.

According to the NIH, the recently discovered agents were sealed when found and never posed a threat to anyone in the building.

The NIH destroyed the unauthorized toxin and pathogens.

SEE ALSO: CDC Says It Just Discovered Vials Identified As Smallpox At A Lab In Maryland

Don't miss: Here's How Humans Could Create The Next Deadly Pandemic

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