The NFL released a statement today admitting that the Sunday Night Football game should have been stopped when the officials disagreed about which down was being played with less than two minutes remaining (via USAToday.com):

"In this situation where there is obvious confusion as to the status of the down, play should have been stopped prior to third down and the correct down communicated to both clubs. This should have occurred regardless of the fact that Washington had no timeouts and it was inside two minutes."

After the game, referee Jeff Triplette told the media he did not want to stop the game because he did not want to give Washington "an unfair advantage."

Here is what happened:

On second-and-five, Washington needs to get to the 46-yard line for a first down. Note that the first down marker (the official marker is on the near-side of the field) is exactly on the 46-yard line. It is common practice among officials to place the chains directly on a specific yard line (as opposed to between yard lines) unless close to the end zone. This makes determining first downs easier and quicker and speeds up the game...

Robert Griffin III completes a pass to Pierre Garcon right at the 46-yard line and the side official closest to the play appears to give Washington forward progress good enough for a first down...

At this point, the umpire in the middle of the field is responsible for retrieving the ball and marking it based on the spot given to him by one of the side officials. However, in this case, the umpire appears to ignore the spot of the official on the far side of the field and moved a half yard back, possibly based on the spot being given by the side official on the other side...

The near-side official then signaled for the chains to move forward indicating that he believed Washington got a first down. If he did originally have a spot short of the first down,  he may have assumed the umpire correctly used the spot of the far-side official (who had given Washington forward progress to the first down line)...

The down marker still reads first down even though Triplette is trying to signal everybody that it is third down. Believing it is first down, Washington throws an incomplete pass 25 yards downfield...

Ultimately, Washington did gain a first down on fourth-and-one, only to have Garcon fumble the ball away to the Giants. Still, it is easy to imagine that Washington would have called a different sequence of plays if they had known it was actually third-and-one when they were told it was first-and-ten

SEE ALSO: The 15 Best GIFs From NFL Week 13

Join the conversation about this story »

The sites and sounds of the NYC subway are well known to the 4.3 million people who ride it every day.

The sleepy commuters, crowded cars, conductor's voice, and train doors opening and closing are just a part of traveling around New York City.

And though the subway system has only gotten larger and more punctual since the first line was opened, the subway commuters themselves have not changed all that much.

Photographer Enrico Natali  moved to New York City to become a photographer's apprentice in the 1950s. He started taking his own candid shots of people on his commute to work on trains or waiting in the underground stations in 1960.

"Since I lived in the depths of Brooklyn and rode the subway to where I worked in Manhattan, it seemed reasonable to make the subway my first project," Natali said. "I became so involved in the work that for a time I all but lived in the subway."

In his recently published photography book, "New York City Subway, 1960," Natali's 53-year-old photographs have finally come to light. The pictures show a past era, but those same sleepy commuters, busy cars, and subway conductors.

New York's first official subway system opened in Manhattan in October of 1904.

Source: MTA

At the time, there were 28 stations from City Hall to 145th Street and Broadway.

Source: MTA

Subway customers bought tickets to pay their fare until May 10, 1920.

Source: MTA

Join the conversation about this story »

The concept of the “Circle of Competence” has been used over the years by Warren Buffett as a way to focus investors on only operating in areas they knew best. The bones of the concept appear in his 1996 Shareholder Letter:

What an investor needs is the ability to correctly evaluate selected businesses. Note that word “selected”: You don’t have to be an expert on every company, or even many. You only have to be able to evaluate companies within your circle of competence. The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital.

It’s a simple concept: Each of us, through experience or study, has built up useful knowledge on certain areas of the world. Some areas are understood by most of us, while some areas require a lot more specialty to evaluate.

For example, most of us have a basic understanding of the economics of a restaurant: You rent or buy space, spend money to outfit the place and then hire employees to seat, serve, cook, and clean. (And, if you don’t want to do it yourself, manage.)

From there it’s a matter of generating enough traffic and setting the appropriate prices to generate a profit on the food and drinks you serve — after all of your operating expenses have been paid. Though the cuisine, atmosphere, and price points will vary by restaurant, they all have to follow the same economic formula.

That basic knowledge, along with some understanding of accounting and a little bit of study, would enable one to evaluate and invest in any number of restaurants and restaurant chains; public or private. It’s not all that complicated.

However, can most of us say we understand the workings of a micro-chip company or a biotech drug company at the same level? Perhaps not.

But as Buffett put so eloquently, we do not necessarily need to understand these more esoteric areas to invest capital. Far more important is to honestly define what we do know and to stick to those areas. The circle can be widened, but only slowly and over time. Mistakes are most often made when straying from this discipline.

The concept applies outside of investing.

Buffett describes the circle of competence of one of his business managers, a Russian immigrant with poor English who built the largest furniture store in Nebraska, thusly:

I couldn’t have given her $200 million worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock when I bought the business because she doesn’t understand stock. She understands cash. She understands furniture. She understands real estate. She doesn’t understand stocks, so she doesn’t have anything to do with them. If you deal with Mrs. B in what I would call her circle of competence… She is going to buy 5,000 end tables this afternoon (if the price is right). She is going to buy 20 different carpets in odd lots, and everything else like that [snaps fingers] because she understands carpet. She wouldn’t buy 100 shares of General Motors if it was at 50 cents a share.

It did not hurt Mrs. B to have such a narrow area of competence. In fact, one could argue the opposite: Her rigid devotion to that area allowed her to focus. Only with that focus could she have overcome her handicaps to achieve such extreme success.

In fact, Charlie Munger takes this concept outside of business altogether and into the realm of life in general. The essential question he sought to answer: Where should we devote our limited time in life, in order to achieve the most success? Charlie’s simple prescription:

You have to figure out what your own aptitudes are. If you play games where other people have the aptitudes and you don’t, you’re going to lose. And that’s as close to certain as any prediction that you can make. You have to figure out where you’ve got an edge. And you’ve got to play within your own circle of competence.

If you want to be the best tennis player in the world, you may start out trying and soon find out that it’s hopeless — that other people blow right by you. However, if you want to become the best plumbing contractor in Bemidji, that is probably doable by two-thirds of you. It takes a will. It takes the intelligence. But after a while, you’d gradually know all about the plumbing business in Bemidji and master the art. That is an attainable objective, given enough discipline. And people who could never win a chess tournament or stand in center court in a respectable tennis tournament can rise quite high in life by slowly developing a circle of competence — which results partly from what they were born with and partly from what they slowly develop through work.

So, the simple takeaway here is clear. If you want to improve your odds of success in life and business then define the perimeter of your circle of competence, and operate inside. Over time, work to expand that circle but never fool yourself about where it stands today, and never be afraid to say, “I don’t know.”

Join the conversation about this story »

Since September, an anonymous patron has been leaving mysterious tips of huge proportions in restaurants and bars across the country. 

Employees from Ann Arbor, Mich. to Los Angeles were lucky enough to be at the receiving end of some amazingly large tips, all over $1,000.  

The tipper is claiming credit for the gifts by posting photos of receipts on the Instagram page @tipsforjesus, though as of now it is still unclear whether it is one person or a group behind the scheme. 

Here's a shot of a receipt from the Legends of Notre Dame, a restaurant on the University of Notre Dame's campus. The mysterious tipper paid a visit before the football team took on USC, which could explain the "Fight On!" message left on the receipt.  The photo shows an unbelievable $5,000 was tacked on to the total. 

According to The South Bend Tribune, the mystery tipper returned to the restaurant again after the game, racking up a $164.50 bill and leaving another $5,000 tip. 

"We were all looking at this like, is this a joke?" Ashley Rust, a former bartender at Legends, said to the South Bend Tribune. "We were all super shocked and we didn't want to get too excited because we hadn't ever seen a tip like this."

Rust said that the bill was paid by three men, one of whom was wearing a USC jersey, though all three said they were from California. 

Several other tips were left in the alleged tippers' home state of California. 

They stopped in Chicago, too.

The anonymous tipper even had enough cash on hand to pay this Chicago-area golf caddy.

The mystery of the anonymous tipper first began back in August, when employees in an Ogden, Utah bar said they received a $1,000 tip from a young man using a black American Express "Centurion" card. The black card is very exclusive, available by invitation only to those who fit strict qualifications. 

The person or people behind the @tipsforjesus account are now claiming responsibility for extravagant tips left in two different Ogden establishments, though those receipts were not labeled "tips for Jesus" as the others were. 

SEE ALSO: Many US Waiters Haven't Had A Pay Raise In 22 Years

Join the conversation about this story »

Mobile Insights is a daily newsletter from BI Intelligence delivered first thing every morning exclusively to BI Intelligence subscribers. Sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today.

On Thanksgiving and Black Friday, retailers sent out 37% more push notifications on average than on a normal day during the last two months, according to IBM.

Push notifications are messages that can be sent through apps to smartphones. These notifications are used by retailers to alert shoppers of deals and promotions in order to drive online sales and in-store visits.

While it is by no means surprising that retailers increased their marketing efforts during Thanksgiving and Black Friday, the increase in the use of push notifications is an indicator of retailers' move towards mobile.

It turns out that the move is paying off. Online sales transacted with mobile devices grew to 21.8% of total online sales on Black Friday, a 43% increase from Black Friday 2012. Total online sales increased 19% year-over-year as well.

In other news...

Tablets doubled their share of mobile ad impressions in Q3 2013, up from Q4 2012. (Adfonic)

Amazon is experimenting with delivering packages with drones. (Business Insider)

New apps are helping consumers to find parking spaces and keep track of their vehicles. (New York Times)

The release of payment cards like Coin and Google Wallet Card may be a signal that mobile payments are still a long way off. (Washington Post)

Black Friday online sales reached $1.93 billion and increased 39% year-over-year, according to Adobe. (Adobe)

Wal-Mart Announced that it sold 1.4 million tablets on Black Friday. (Wal-Mart)

Mobile accounted for 53% of Wal-Mart's total Thanksgiving web traffic, according to Venture Beat. (Venture Beat)

Google'sNexus phones are susceptible to SMS-based denial of service attacks. (PC World)

Thanksgiving was the busiest day on Instagram to date. (Instagram)

Shopping through PayPal Mobile increased 91% on Thanksgiving compared to Thanksgiving 2012. (PayPal)

Correction: The PDF version of our  Future Of Digital: 2013 slide deck which we posted last week was missing slides. We corrected this error and the new PDF can be found here.

Join the conversation about this story »

Markets traded sideways for most of the day, but ended in the red.

First, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 16,008.7 (-77.7, -0.4%)
  
• S&P 500: 1,800.9  (-4.9, -0.2%)
• Nasdaq: 4,045.2  (-14.6, -0.3%)

And now the top stories:

• According to the National Retail Federation, over 141 million unique shoppers went shopping during the Thanksgiving weekend. This is up from 139 million last year. This year, however, shoppers spent less than they did a year ago. "Low prices helped keep Americans’ budgets in check this weekend: on average, shoppers spent $407.02 from Thursday through Sunday (planned), down from $423.55 last year," said the National Retail Federation.
• As of 3:00 p.m. ET, overall Cyber Monday sales were up 18.7% year-over-year. This was according to IBM's analysis of approximately 800 retail sites.
• The U.S. manufacturing sector appears to be in good shape. According to Markit, the U.S. purchasing managers index (PMI) unexpectedly climbed to 54.7 in November from 51.8 in October. “One of the most encouraging trends we are seeing ... is a surge in the production of capital goods such as plant and machinery, which is growing at the fastest rate since the financial crisis, fuelled by rising domestic demand," said Markit's Chris Williamson. "This is a great sign that companies are feeling sufficiently confident to be boosting investment."
• The more widely followed ISM manufacturing index jumped to 57.3 in November from 56.4 in October. This is the highest level since 2011. Economists were expecting the number to decline. "The employment sub-component of the ISM index also jumped: 3.3 points to 56.5 in November," noted Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's Chris Rupkey. "Almost makes us want to boost our payroll jobs forecast for this Friday, but we are high enough already, expecting a 200K reading for November."
• Construction spending climbed 0.8% in October, which was a bit higher than the 0.4% expected by economists. "All of the improvement in October was in public spending, which rose 3.9," noted Wells Fargo's Anika Khan. "Private construction outlays fell 0.5% ... While the trend shows the housing recovery remains intact, private nonresidential outlays have shown weakness over the past two months."
• Don't Miss: 16 Gifts Every Investor Would Love »

Join the conversation about this story »

Last week, American retailers were vying for customers' time and dollars during Black Friday sales. 

Three retailers' strategies stood out as the best during post-Thanksgiving sales, according to a note by Goldman Sachs. 

Here are their favorites: 

• Wal-Mart: The retailer was a leader and "drove the market vis-à-vis store hours and promotions," according to Goldman Sachs. Wal-Mart staggers promotions to avoid huge stampedes in stores. The day went so well that Goldman Sachs predicts Wal-Mart's sales results will increase from last year. 
• Best Buy: The once-embattled electronics retailer "captured a broader mix of categories and a richer mix of business," according to Goldman. Best Buy carefully lowered prices to compete with Amazon and offered a price-match guarantee. 
• Macy's: Goldman lauds the department store for its "superior execution" with "the best balance of traffic and promotional intensity on the mall." Macy's also got a shout out from analysts at Sterne Agee, who said the retailer did a great job of bringing in millennial shoppers. 

SEE ALSO: Photos From The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

Join the conversation about this story »

Microsoft's board will soon choose the company's next CEO and some say the two front runners are Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Satya Nadella, who leads Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise group, reports Bloomberg's Dina Bass and Carol Hymowitz.

A lot of people think Mulally could really good for the company, especially since he was the mastermind behind Steve Ballmer's big reorg last summer, named "One Microsoft."

Nadella has been rising fast, too, from the division that ran Office, to the division that ran Bing, to the one that's running cloud computing and tools for software developers.

But CEO headhunter Adam Charlson believes that Microsoft will most likely pick former Nokia CEO Steven Elop. Adam Charlson is a vice president for executive recruiting firm DHR International.

Although Charlson is not involved with Microsoft's CEO search, he has worked with Microsoft in the past, finding an executive to run Microsoft's American sales organization a few years ago, he said.

Interestingly, the Microsoft board had previously named COO Kevin Turner to follow Ballmer, Charlson said. "I know in Microsoft's case Turner was put in the succession plan to succeed Ballmer," Charlson told Business Insider.

And Turner is still considered a contender but the problem with selecting him is that there are "public questions if Steve Ballmer's strategy will bring results," he said. As Ballmer's right-hand man, if Ballmer's strategy is "flawed," then is Kevin Turner the right person to lead the company in a new direction?

As for Mulally, he "would be a bold decision by the board of directors," but he isn't exactly qualified "to be a tech CEO" and "run Microsoft," says Charlson. "There’s a way to force positive change and there's a way to shock the system where it could possibly break. Getting a CEO of a car company ... would abandon the roots of what made company successful," he says. It's better for Microsoft to get a CEO that "speaks the language" of Microsoft.

Given that both Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are involved in the search for the new CEO, Charlson thinks these are the obvious criteria that they will want:

• someone who understands Microsoft's culture.
• someone who understands the tech world, particularly enterprise software (Microsoft's bread and butter). 
• someone with the experience of running a publicly traded company
• someone who understands mobile, the strategy where Microsoft has staked its future by building its own PCs and buying Nokia's device business for $7 billion.

There's really only one person that has all of these qualities, Charlson says: Elop.

Before leaving Microsoft to become Nokia's CEO, Elop was the head of Microsoft's Business Division, responsible for Microsoft's cash-cow Office business.

"Microsoft plans to become more of a mobile company. If they are going to abandon that strategy after buying Nokia for $7 billion, that's highly doubtful. And if they are going to go with a mobile, Elop is the obvious choice," Charlson said.

SEE ALSO: These Charts Prove Facebook Is A Better Place To Work Than Google

Join the conversation about this story »

Standout center Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans is out indefinitely after suffering a non-displaced fracture in his left hand according to ESPN's Ian Begley.

Davis suffered the injury during the second quarter of Sunday's 103-99 win over the New York Knicks.

After the game Davis told the media:

"I was going up for a lob, got fouled and then hit my hand on the rim...I haven't found anything out yet. Most definitely I hope it's a short-term thing. I didn't think it would keep me out, but it did."

Davis was having an outstanding sophomore season, averaging just over 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 3.6 blocked shots per game.

Davis was drafted first overall by the Pelicans in the 2012-13 NBA draft.

He tried to play through the injury but he came out of the game after getting roughed up by the Knicks Amare Stoudemire here:

Join the conversation about this story »

In an effort to stop Congress from creating new taxes on aviation, a major airline industry group went to Reagan International Airport in Washington, D.C. today to hand out air sickness bags. 

The bags carried the message, "Are high taxes on air travel making you sick? Fasten your seat belt because Washington wants you to pay even more."

The idea, Airlines for America (A4A) said in a press release, was "to encourage travelers to contact Congress and the Administration about their opposition to increased air taxes as part of any budget agreement."

In April, the Obama administration proposed new taxes on the industry as part of a proposed budget for 2014, according to The Washington Post.

The group's members include all the largest U.S. airlines and transport over 90% of U.S. airlines passengers and cargo. It vocally complains about the tax burden on the American airline industry, which has nearly tripled in the past 40 years.

A4a has created a website for its Stop Air Tax Now campaign, where visitors can fill out a form to send a letter to their representatives and the Obama administration.

SEE ALSO: United Has Revamped The Planes It Flies Cross-Country, And They Look Pretty Swanky

Join the conversation about this story »

A new book about Adam Lanza and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting describes how Lanza's mother, Nancy, grew increasingly concerned about her son in the years leading up to the shooting.

Several disturbing details were released in an excerpt of the upcoming book Newtown: An American Tragedy, which is due out Dec. 10. The excerpt, published in the New York Daily News, reveals that Adam became increasingly obsessed with the military and had an obvious fascination with death and an aversion to human touch.

We've pulled out some of the new details below:

• Adam had an online gaming persona that significantly differed from his real personality. Under the username "Kaynbred," he was "able to show a bravado and confidence that was unfamiliar to classmates and family who only knew him as an awkward and meek teenager." He fit in well with other players in the online gaming universe.
  
• In the game Combat Arms, Adam created a military character who used weapons similar to those he used in the Sandy Hook massacre.
• Nancy was concerned about Adam early on in his life. About 10 years ago, she emailed a friend about Adam saying that "parental bonds are formed so early in life ... they are either there or they aren't." She seemed optimistic about being able to shape Adam's future.
• By 2012, she began to frequently leave Adam alone and confided in a friend that she thought it might be "too late" to help him. She went to see family in northern New England for Thanksgiving that year, leaving Adam behind because he didn't want to go.
• Nancy also noted in the weeks before her death that Adam "physically recoiled" when she reached for him.
• Days before the shooting, Nancy told a friend that Adam had become obsessed with joining the Marines. She told him he wasn't cut out for it.
• Adam often dressed in military garb and created an indoor shooting range that he used for target practice with his pellet gun.
• As Nancy grew increasingly worried about Adam, she decided to search his room. Under his bed, she found sketches that showed "gruesome depictions of death" and "images of mutilated corpses." One even showed "a large rolling grassy field lined with the corpses of young children" with faces that were "severely mutilated and couldn’t be recognized."

Adam shot Nancy dead at the home they shared before driving to Sandy Hook to kill 20 students and six adults last year on Dec. 14.

You can read the full excerpt here.

Join the conversation about this story »

Just like a traditional school, the courses now available online run the full spectrum from extremely practical to completely ridiculous and fun. 

Anyone who missed the chance in high school or college to explore a subject they're fascinated with can now take an online course from some of the top universities in the world. Online learning platforms offer more than you might imagine, including classes on the plausibility of life on other planets and how to survive the zombie apocalypse portrayed in TV show "The Walking Dead." 

They're also a reminder that education doesn't always need to be career-oriented, and can be something you simply want to know more about.  

Society, Science, Survival: Lessons from AMC’s "The Walking Dead"

Platform: Canvas Network

Affiliated university: The University of California at Irvine

Description: "From understanding social identities to modeling the spread of disease, this eight-week course will span key science and survival themes using AMC’s 'The Walking Dead' as its basis."

Topics include:

• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Is survival just about being alive?
• Social order and structures, from the farm and the prison to Woodbury
• Social identity, roles, and stereotyping, as shown through leaders like Rick and the Governor
• The spread of infectious disease and population modeling
• The role of energy and momentum in damage control: How can you best protect yourself?
• Nutrition in a post-apocalyptic world: Are squirrels really good for you?

Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science

Platform: edX

Affiliated university: Harvard University

Description: "During each week of the course, you will watch as chefs reveal the secrets behind some of their most famous culinary creations — often right in their own restaurants. Inspired by such cooking mastery, the Harvard team will then explain, in simple and sophisticated ways, the science behind the recipe.

"Topics include: soft matter materials, such as emulsions, illustrated by aioli; elasticity, exemplified by the done-ness of a steak; and diffusion, revealed by the phenomenon of spherification, the culinary technique pioneered by Ferran Adrià."

Imagining Other Earths

Platform: Coursera

Affiliated university: Princeton University

Description: "Over the past two decades, astronomers have discovered over a thousand planets around nearby stars. Based on our current knowledge, it seems likely that there are millions of stars in the Galaxy that host Earth-sized planets in Earth-like orbits. What is the range of conditions for these planets to host life? In this course, students will engage with a wide range of concepts in astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology and physics with a focus on developing the background they will use need to think further about this profound question."

With the launch of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One November, the next generation of console gaming has officially begun.

What gets left out of many articles, blog posts, and slideshows talking up the new consoles is that there's already been a next-gen console on the market for a year: the Wii U, Nintendo's follow-up to smash-hit Wii, was released November 2012.

While the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft promise beautiful graphics and a plethora of integrated online services, they're expensive — $399 and $499, respectively — and most of the games that have people excited for them don't come out until Spring 2014 at the earliest.

For the avid gamer who likes a bargain, the Wii U is the best system you can buy this holiday season for a combination of great games, cool hardware, and fantastic pricing.

The Wii U has great games available now

When the Wii U first came out, its library of games was as anemic as those on the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One — maybe even more so.

A year later, the situation has pulled a complete 180: some of the best games Nintendo has ever made are on the Wii U. In a smart move, the company even throws one of them in with the console.

Since September, Nintendo has offered a $299 bundle that includes a digital copy (you have to download it) of 2003's "The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker" remade with the high-resolution textures and beautiful lighting from today's games, new controls that take advantage of the Wii U's GamePad, and a few changes to the gameplay that eliminate the biggest complaints people had against the original release.

I've played through about a third of the game since picking up the Wii U, but I'll be honest: if I didn't have to look at the other titles in this piece, I could have easily spent the last few days putting all of my time into exploring the beautiful world in "Wind Waker." 

Of course, one game thrown in with a console doesn't make it worth it for everybody. That's where the Wii U's year lead comes in.

Since the Wii U's launch, a number of fantastic titles have joined the system's growing catalog, from the real-time strategy "Pikmin 3" to the side-scrolling platformer "New Super Mario Bros. U."

Just this month, Nintendo launched the latest in its series of 3D Mario platformers, "Super Mario 3D World." Combining elements of previous console titles like "Super Mario Galaxy" and the 3DS's "Super Mario 3D Land,""3D World" is probably the best platformer Nintendo has ever made.

I know that sounds hyperbolic, but I'm not the only one saying it: if you look at our round up of reviews for the game, other critics claim that it approaches "perfection" and marvel at Nintendo's technical prowess.

What's truly amazing about the game is the wide audience that it appeals to: kids will love it because of the marvelous graphics and cute humor, parents will like it because it doesn't have the violence and language prevalent in many popular games today, and hardcore gamers will love it because fully beating the game requires a ton of skill and dedication.

For those who want a bit more action in their gaming diet, there's "The Wonderful 101," a ridiculously stylish title that puts the player in control of a team of superheroes that can transform into giant weapons based on the shapes the player draws on the GamePad's touchscreen:

If a year's lead on exclusives wasn't enough, the Wii U sports backwards compatibility with the Wii (unlike the PS4 or Xbox One, which can't play games released on last-gen consoles), meaning you can swap out the Wii for the Wii U in your living room and still have access to all of your old games.

It also means that there's an entire generation's worth of games that you can pick up and play for super-low prices.

Fans of old-school gaming will also be happy to know that Nintendo's Virtual Console has many of the best games from the NES and Super Nintendo, with games from the N64 and Game Boy Advance coming soon.

For prices comparable to those on Apple's App Store, you can pick up classic titles like "Mega Man X,""Super Metroid," and "Earthbound" and play them on your television or directly on the GamePad's built-in screen.

There are a few glaring holes in the Wii U's game lineup, however. While many new AAA games from third-party developers are available on the system — including the latest "Call of Duty,""Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag," and "Batman: Arkham Origins"— you won't find the latest titles from EA Sports, DICE, or Bethesda on the Wii U.

As we reported back in August, that's because some developers simply don't want to put the extra effort into making a game for hardware that's not quite as slow as last-gen systems and not quite as fast as its current-gen competitors without the assurance that they'll have sales that make up for the effort.

For now, that's sure to be a deal-breaker for many hardcore gamers. But if the sales boost the console is getting from the flurry of titles released over the last few months (and from "Super Smash Bros." and "Mario Kart" next year) can lead to as big of a turn-around as Nintendo managed to pull off with the Nintendo 3DS, we could hear a change of tune from the developers who are still holding out on the console.

The GamePad is like a mix between a controller and a tablet

If there's one thing that immediately stands out about the Wii U, it's the controller that Nintendo bundles with every system.

Part game controller and part tablet, the GamePad does for the Wii U what the touchscreen does for the Nintendo DS and 3DS: it provides a convenient way to display information like the items you're carrying or where you're at in a game without having to pause the action by opening a menu.

It also serves as a miniature display for gaming when the main television is in use or otherwise unavailable — like when friends/family/roommates want to watch Netflix or sports.

While it's certainly no Retina display, the GamePad's resolution is high enough that you can still appreciate how pretty games look and read important in-game text. While the PlayStation 4 offers a similar Remote Play feature, one also needs to own a $199 PlayStation Vita in addition to the PS4 in order to use it.

In terms of actual size, the screen is somewhere between a large "phablet" like Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 and a 7-inch tablet. While that real estate was necessary to make it usable for playing games on, it does come with a bit of a drawback: the GamePad is massive. Everyone I showed it to thought that it was the console based on how big it is.

With that said, it's far less dense than you'd expect from looking at it. I had no problem holding it at length while playing games on the GamePad's display, and when you have the Wii U hooked up to a TV its weight becomes a non-issue because you can simply rest it on your lap as you play.

Navigating menus on a Nintendo console has never been smoother than on the Wii U. As on the original Wii and on the 3DS, apps and games are arranged in rows of icons above a clean, white background.

Thanks to the responsive touchscreen on the Wii U, moving between pages of apps is incredibly smooth, and the new operating system lets you quickly check your download progress or look something up online in seconds with a tap of the home button in the center of the GamePad.

If there's any real flaw with the GamePad, it's battery life. After two or three hours of gaming on its display, the low-battery LED began flashing wildly, demanding that I plug the GamePad into its charger, which unfortunately requires its own wall socket — there's no USB port on the GamePad for plugging it into the Wii U itself like you can with controllers on the PS3 or PS4.

For sneaky parents with younger children, this could be seen as a feature: just tell your kids that it has to be turned off and resting in the included charging dock for an easy way to impose a time limit on their gaming.

The console offers a lot of fun in an affordable package

When it comes down to it, most people have to look at price when making the decision to buy a gadget like a gaming console.

If you're looking for a good deal, the Wii U simply blows the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One out of the water.

For roughly $20 more than a PlayStation 4 and no games (with sales tax included), I was able to pick up a Wii U with three brand-new games containing dozens of hours of content to play through.

Then there's the Xbox One. Not only does it cost $200 more out of the gate, it also requires a $60/year subscription fee to play online, use Internet Explorer to browse the web, or to use entertainment apps like Netflix.

That's not the case on the Wii U: as long as you've got a working Netflix or Amazon Instant Video account, you can use those apps as soon as you've got the console set up and updated.

Of course, I'm sure this post is going to get a bunch of comments about how I was silly to pick up a Wii U because of how much more powerful the PS4 and Xbox One are, price be damned.

My only response to that is: "So what?"

This early in the console cycle, most developers simply haven't gotten comfortable enough with the new hardware to really take advantage of them. Games just aren't that much prettier on the latest consoles than they are the Wii U or even last-gen systems like the PS3 or Xbox 360 — yet.

In a few years, the PS4 and Xbox One will have games that make today's lineup look downright ugly. Instead of dropping the full price on a system for a few mediocre games that look incrementally better in anticipation of buying amazing titles in a couple of years, why not buy a console that actually has games worth buying now? 

By the time games that actually push those consoles hit the market, both the PS4 and the Xbox One will likely have at least one price drop each.

Since Wii U games are generally $10 less than their equivalents on other systems, you can enjoy just as many games in the interim period and still save up for buying whichever of the two other consoles happens to have your preferred exclusives — or more of your friends as owners — two or three years down the line.

While fanboys argue the merits of their favorite system and the undecided weigh the pros and cons of each option, I'll be here stomping on Koopas with Mario and the gang.

Questions about the Wii U or its games? Leave them in the comment section below and I'll address them to the best of my ability.

SEE ALSO: The Xbox One is an ambitious console that's far from perfect

Join the conversation about this story »

Every reader knows that a book can change your life.

But what about the lives of an entire generation? Can a book change the future?

Miriam Tuliao, assistant director of central collection development at the New York Public Library, helped us come up with a list of 25 books that changed the course of history.

From the Torah to Orwell's "1984," these 25 titles have had a major impact (listed here in alphabetical order). 

Do you think another book belongs on this list? Let us know in the comments.

"Aesop’s Fables" by Aesop

Believed to have originated between 620 and 560 BCE

"Aesop's Fables" is a collection of stories that are meant to teach the listener a life lesson. The fables themselves are often credited to an ancient Greek slave and story teller named Aesop (though the origin of the fables remains disputed).

The stories themselves are still important moral lessons and have had a far-reaching impact on literature and common sayings, including "wolf in sheep's clothing,""boy who cried wolf,""goose that laid the golden eggs," and many others.

Buy the book here >

"The Analects of Confucius" by Confucius

Believed to have been written sometime between 475 and 221 BCE

Also known as simply "Analects" or "Lunyu," this book is the collection of sayings and ideas attributed to the Chinese philosopher Confucius on how to live a virtuous life and be kind — what he referred to as ren.

Today, "The Analects" continues to have a profound influence on Eastern philosophy and ethics, especially in China.

Buy an English translation of the book here >

"Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

Published in 1947

The book is a compilation of the diary writings of Anne Frank, a young woman who hid with her family for two years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The family was discovered and taken in 1944, and Anne Frank died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Since its publication, "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl" has been translated into more than 60 languages and remains one of the most famous and influential primary documents from Europe in WWII.

Buy the book here >

The Metro North passenger train that derailed in the Bronx on Sunday, killing four people and injuring dozens more, was going above the speed limit even before it entered a turn at too high a speed, the NTSB said today.

The speed limit in the turn was 30 mph, and the limit in the section of track before was 75 mph. The train was going 82 mph when it entered the turn. Why it was going so fast is "the question we need to answer," Board member Earl Weener said in a press conference.

"That train was going way too fast," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said at the press conference, "and certainly speed was a contributing factor."

After the accident, the engineer said the train's brakes failed. The NTSB said the brakes worked fine for the nine first stops on the train's trip, but seconds before the engine stopped, "pressure in the brake pipe dropped from 120 psi [a unit of brake pressure] to 0 - which resulted in max braking."

The train's crew was tested for drugs and alcohol, but results have not come back yet. The engineer's cell phone has been recovered, and will be examined for evidence. The NTSB will interview the engineer today, and the other three crew members in the next few days.

The seven train cars and locomotive have been turned upright, and will be moved to a secure location for further examination. The NTSB finished its survey of the tracks, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which runs Metro-North railroad, can begin repairs.

The four people killed were Donna L. Smith, 54, James G. Lovell, 58, James M. Ferrari, 59, Ahn Kisook, 35, all of New York.

Join the conversation about this story »

Caroline Berg Eriksen, a 26-year-old Norwegian fitness blogger, ignited a heated debate about body image after posting a selfie picture on Instagram three days after giving birth.

Berg Eriksen is married to Norwegian Premier League player Lars-Kristian Eriksen. They had a baby daughter on November 25th.

Three days later, she posted this picture on Instagram with the caption, "I feel so empty and not 4 days after birth."

The backlash was swift.

Norwegian writer Suzanne Aabel responded with a takedown of the picture for the publication Dagbladet, with the headline, "I feel fat because Soccer Lady has given birth."

Aabel's argument is that the picture sets unrealistic expectations for the young women who read Berg Eriksen's popular "Soccer Lady" website.

She wrote:

"I think it is dangerous. I work with 16 year old girls. They struggle with body and food at some level all together. And they look up to famous people, as adults we almost forgot that we did as teenagers."

(...)

"Over 70 percent of young women are struggling with low self-esteem and body contempt because only people who look like that here like posting pictures of themselves half naked four days after birth."

Norwegian politician Gry Larsen spoke out as well, posting a picture of her own stomach on her Facebook with the caption, "Two months after birth #NormalLady."

She wrote a column for Norway's largest newspaper, Aftenposten, explaining that she wanted to bring "balance" the way the girls should view the post-baby body.

Others in Norway have been more supportive. 

Berg Eriksen defended herself on Facebook, writing, "I let out the picture because I'm proud of myself and my body for something as tough as a pregnancy / birth, and I think all mothers, regardless of body should be."

She told "Good Morning America" that she gained 22 pounds while pregnant, and lost it almost instantly.

"Right after birth, like three minutes after, I felt like myself again,"she told "GMA."

Here's what she looked like at 7+ months:

Lars-Kristian Eriksen posted a response on his own Facebook page.

He defended his wife and asked, "Who is it that creates body pressure? The one who posts selfie in lingerie because she is proud of herself, or those discussing [on the Internet] how a woman's body should look like after birth?"

Join the conversation about this story »

Since World War II, the U.S. economy has grown on average nearly 2 percentage points faster under Democratic presidents than Republicans.

Two Princeton economists are out with a new study that seeks to explain why. Mostly, the answer seems to be good luck. 

Alan Blinder, a veteran of the Bill Clinton Council of Economic Advisers, and Mark Watson, who has been at Princeton since 1995, conducted the study. It found that the average real GDP growth rate under Democratic presidents was 4.35%, a marked increase from a 2.54% growth under Republicans. 

The two economists contribute the bulk of the "astoundingly large" difference to random chance. Specifically, they point to oil and productivity shocks as two of the major reasons for the difference, both of which look "a lot more like good luck" than differences in governance.

Here's a breakdown of some of the reasons for the gulf in economic growth under Democratic and Republican presidents:

• Oil price shocks. They are responsible for between one-eighth and one-fourth of the gap between Republican and Democratic presidents, the economists conclude. By far, the largest oil price spike came under Republican George W. Bush, which is partly attributed to the policy decision of the Iraq War. Before that, luck was mostly to blame — specifically, the two big OPEC actions that drove up oil prices under Republican President Richard Nixon and Democrat Jimmy Carter. 
• Productivity shocks. Democratic presidents, again, have been on the good end of sparks in productivity, or output per hour. This accounts for about another one-fourth of the economic difference. The authors don't rule out a policy component, but they attribute it to mostly luck — while Democrats inherited relatively weak average GDP growth from Republicans, they also inherited stronger total factor productivity growth. 
• Consumer confidence. Swings in consumer confidence account for about another one-fourth of the gap between Republicans and Democrats in the White House. The authors note that this seems like a "self-fulfilling prophecy"— "in which consumers correctly expect the economy to do better under Democrats, and then make that happen by purchasing more consumer durables." But they add that "direct measures" showing increased optimism following a Democrat's election to the presidency are difficult to find. 
  

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the authors conclude that defense spending is not a major factor for the economic gap. Neither are other, cosmetic differences that the researchers looked into — like the height and age of presidents.

Taken together, the three above factors — oil price and productivity shocks and consumer confidence — account for between 46% and 62% of the economic performance gap between Republicans and Democrats. The rest is unexplained by the study.

Overall, Democrats account for the top four terms of average GDP growth in the post-World War II era. Ronald Reagan's second term is the only Republican entry in the top five. President Barack Obama's first term in office was the lowest of seven Democratic presidencies, ranking 14th of 16 terms overall.

Join the conversation about this story »

Need some extra cash? If you want to help the science community (and potentially save some lives) there are some unconventional ways to make money by selling your body.

Below is a short list:

Sell your blood plasma
Payout (per donation): $20-$50

Plasma is the largest component of the human blood. It's a clear liquid that contains mostly water but is also filled with enzymes, antibodies, and other proteins. The plasma is used to create therapies that treat people with blood clotting disorders, autoimmune diseases, and even burn victims. According to DonatingPlasma.org, donating plasma is often called "the gift of life," since in most cases synthetic therapies are not available.

During plasma donation, blood is drawn and an automated machine separates the plasma from other blood components, which are returned to the donor. Most plasma collection facilities set their own compensation rate, but the average payout ranges from $20-$50 per donation. You can donate roughly once a month, according to the American Red Cross. To find a licensed and certified plasma center, click here.

Donate your sex cells
Payout for eggs (per donation): $5,000-$10,000; Payout for sperm (per donation): $30-$200

Egg donation allows women whose ovaries do not produce healthy eggs to become pregnant using another woman's donated eggs. In the United States, eggs donors can net anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 (the upper-limit recommended by The American Society of Reproductive Medicine). At Weill Cornell, the compensation per egg donation cycle is $8,000, including a free medical screening. The medical college outlines the standard steps for egg donation, which requires about a four-week time commitment.

During the egg donation cycle, patients are injected with fertility drugs so that the ovaries make more mature eggs than normal. (Eligible women are generally between the ages of 21 and 35 sine older women's eggs don't respond as well to fertility drugs). The actual egg retrieval procedure takes about 20 minutes, but may require several days of recovery. Donors should be aware of the risks involved in the egg donation process (largely related to the hormones used) before signing up.

Men can donate their sperm, although this isn't quite as lucrative as egg donation given that it's much easier process. Men are paid anywhere from $30 to $200 per donation, according to FertilityCommunity.com, but that can add up to more than pocket change if you donate hundreds of samples (many programs require a six-month or one-year donation commitment).

Lie in bed for 70 days straight
Payout: $18,000

NASA will pay you to stay in bed for 70 days, 24 hours a day, to simulate some of the changes that an astronaut's body goes through in weightlessness during space flight. To apply for the bed rest study, fill out this form. If you think this sounds like an easy task, keep in mind that the selection committee is looking for participants that possess the physical and psychological traits of a real astronaut. Roni Cromwell, a senior scientist for the study told Forbes: "We want to make sure we select people who are mentally ready to spend 70 days in bed. Not everyone is comfortable with that. Not every type of person can tolerate an extended time in bed."

Donate a testical
Payout: $35,000

On an episode of TLC's "Extreme Cheapskates" a Las Vegas man, Mark Parisi, has figured out a way to live a cheap life by signing up for medical trials, saving himself $750 or more, according to a trailer for the show. Most recently, Parisi agreed to donate one of his testicles, which will be replaced by an artificial one, for $35,000. During an appearance on CBS' "The Doctors," Parisi revealed that he would us the money to buy a Nissan 370Z.

Sign up for a paid clinical trials
Payout: Varies by program

The National Institute for Health runs a searchable database, ClincalTrials.gov, for human clinical studies around the world. Participants may be a guinea pig for new medical products, like drugs to treat high blood pressure, or be a part of observational research, like a study that records the effects of different lifestyles on heart health. Subjects are generally paid to be a part of clinical trials, and in general, the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: "The amount of compensation is determined by the amount of time you will be required to dedicate to the trial, and to the level of discomfort that might be associated with medical or surgical procedures related directly to the study."

Enroll in a psychological study
Payout: Varies by program 

Paid psychological studies, such as those that examine behavior and brain function, may not generate as high of a return as clinical trials, but they are generally lower risk and require a shorter time commitment. Most research universities keep an online database of studies so people can easily sign up. For example, here's a list of the most recent paid research studies offered by New York University. You can make $10 to watch a movie or $50 to get your brain scanned. 

SEE ALSO: 7 Foods We Should Be Eating But Aren't

Join the conversation about this story »

Credit Suisse's Andrew Garthwaite raised his 2014 target for the S&P 500 today.

He now sees it rallying to 1,940 by the end of next year, up from an earlier target of 1,900. And in his research note, he offered 10 reasons why we should expect this rally.

He also identified some risks to his forecast, and one of them was a bit unexpected.

"The key risks to markets are US growth being too strong (leading to earlier-than- expected tapering), China growth surprising on the downside, too much corporate spending (bad for margins and depreciation charges) and a European political event," said Garthwaite.

It certainly seems a bit ironic that stocks would take a hit because economic growth is stronger than expected.

Of course the risk of liquidity being unexpectedly sucked out of the market is a hazard everyone should be worried about.

For the most part, Wall Street's strategists think stocks can rally even as the the Federal Reserve begins tapering its quantitative easing program. Indeed, Garthwaite's forecast assumes the Fed begins tapering in January 2014 and ends in September 2014.

The Fed's next FOMC meeting will be held on Dec. 17-18, which appears to be the earliest the Fed begins to taper.

...

It's worth noting that many bears have been increasingly warning that the stock market may be in a bubble doomed to burst.

Ironically, Garthwaite thinks this possibility would make his forecast look too bearish.

"On the upside, one risk is a bubble in the equity market," he added.

SEE ALSO: The Stock Market Is Not Doomed To Crash — Here's The Full Argument Why

Join the conversation about this story »