Новости за 09.02.2016

istock

Valentine's Day has a tendency to inspire sweeping gestures like marriage proposals — but before you swap the box of chocolates or dozen roses for a diamond ring, you'll want to make sure you've talked through the practical side of things with your partner.

"You'll want to have really good, open communication about where you currently are financially and what your financial goals are," says Mikel Van Cleve, certified financial planner and director of personal finance advice at USAA. Читать дальше...

Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design/flickr

Some people genuinely enjoy the structure of a 9 to 5 schedule. But it's certainly not for everyone. And, as it turns out, there are tons of benefits of setting your own hours — though some managers are hesitant to offer employees that kind of flexibility. 

Over the last few months, psychologist Ron Friedman, the founder of Ignite80 and author of "The Best Place to Work," has been organizing an online summit on peak work performance... Читать дальше...

Evy Mages/Getty Images

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper delivered his annual assessment of the top dangers facing the country to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

Clapper said North Korea has expanded a uranium enrichment facility and restarted a plutonium reactor.

Clapper also said that Islamic militants will continue plotting against US interests overseas and homegrown attacks will pose the most significant threat from violent extremists to Americans at home. Читать дальше...

It's Pancake Day! And what better way to celebrate than with the modern marvel that is this machine that will create pancakes in any shape you design?

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships so we may get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

Spencer Platt/Getty

I'm wondering what to do about my shoes in the winter. In particular, every pair of shoes that I have been brave enough to wear out on the icy streets is now covered in disgusting white salty residue. I have a few questions.

First, is this bad for my shoes (for example, my go-to black leather shoes)? If so, should I have protected them before I wore them out in the snow and are they now ruined forever? (Please say no!)

How do I fix them and reclaim them for spring (which... Читать дальше...

MGM/Netflix

Finance Insider is Business Insider's midday summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours.

To sign up, scroll to the bottom of this page and click "Get updates in your inbox," or click here.

Wall Street is getting rocked. Financial stocks and bonds have taken a pummeling, in what could be a sign of more trouble to come. 

Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan felt the need to send a memo to employees telling them the bank is 'absolutely rock-solid.' German finance... Читать дальше...

Thomson Reuters

President Barack Obama's budget proposal for the 2017 fiscal year seeks $19 billion for cyber security across the U.S. government, a surge of $5 billion over this year, according to senior administration officials.

The request comes as the Obama administration has struggled to address the growing risk posed by criminals and nation states in the digital world.

The initiative, to be released later on Tuesday, is more than a one-third increase from the $14 billion... Читать дальше...

Reuters

On the heels of last month's purported hydrogen-bomb test and a long-range rocket launch on Saturday, US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said North Korea has expanded a uranium enrichment facility and restarted a plutonium reactor.

Pyongyang announced in 2013 its intention to refurbish and restart nuclear facilities, to include the uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon and its graphite-moderated plutonium production reactor, which was shut down in 2007.

Thomson Reuters

U.S.-based health insurers Cigna Corp and Aetna Inc. have struck deals with Novartis AG for a performance-based price for the Swiss drugmaker's new heart drug, Entresto, the companies said on Monday.

The agreements are among the few performance-based deals that have been made public by drugmakers and U.S. managed-care companies, which say they have been having more discussions about linking price to health outcomes in order to cut unneeded drug spending.

Drug... Читать дальше...

USAF

During the Cold War, the U.S. faced the very real possibility they’d have to rush masses of troops to the front line but wasn’t sure where the front line would open up.

While the more obvious places like the Fulda Gap or Checkpoint Charlie had troops, tanks, and helicopters nearby all the time, many other potential flashpoints were lightly defended.

The plan for a conflict in these areas was to rush airborne soldiers and Marines in to plug the gap while follow-on forces... Читать дальше...

Adblock Fast/Youtube

A week ago, Google suddenly removed Adblock Fast from its Android app store. Today, the ad blocker has been reinstated, enabling Samsung users to download it once again from Google Play.

Late last month, the browser preinstalled on Samsung’s Android phones gained support for content-blocking plugins, and the first plugin to support the functionality was a free and open-source solution called Adblock Fast. Rocketship Apps, the maker of Adblock Fast, uploaded the Android plugin on January 29... Читать дальше...

Abdeljalil Bounhar/AP

When completed, the site will cover an area larger than the country's capital, Rabat, and will make Morocco’s solar plant the largest in the world.

It is hoped that it will eventually produce so much electricity that the nation will not only be able to meet its own energy needs, but also export the excess to Europe.

The first section of the plant was turned on Saturday afternoon by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, and is expected to start churning out 160 megawatts. Читать дальше...

Reuters

President Obama's eighth and final $4 trillion-plus budget proposal will be sent to a Republican-controlled Congress  on Tuesday.

Here's some highlights:

• Cut deficits by $2.9 trillion over 10 years [primarily by way of reforms in health programs, tax code, and immigration]
• Bring deficit to $503 billion in fiscal 2017 [lower than the $616 billion budget gap in the current fiscal year which ends on Sept. 30]
• Accelerate progress of preventing and... Читать дальше...

Business Insider

Amazon's ambition to build a global shipping and logistics business seems to be much bigger than what most people thought, according to leaked documents discovered by Bloomberg's Spencer Soper.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg described internal documents from 2013 that laid out Amazon's plan to build up a global delivery network that would compete directly with companies like FedEx and UPS.

The project, internally called Dragon Boat, is intended to launch a new business... Читать дальше...

Aerie

Aerie has been taking the lingerie world by storm, with consistently strong sales.

The lingerie brand of the teen retailer American Eagle appeals to young women with its curvy models and unretouched images.

Iskra Lawrence is perhaps the most recognizable Aerie model, and she illustrates the confidence Aerie encourages its shoppers to have as well. In fact, she told Business Insider that she was axed from her first modeling agency for having hips that were too big. She was just a teenager at the time. Читать дальше...

The 2016 presidential election is beginning to heat up. And it turns out the first-primary state also features the least-religious voters in the country.

Paramount

As we draw closer to the 2016 Academy Awards on February 28, it’s time to dive into the numbers and check out which of the best picture winners are the biggest money-makers of all time at the box office over their lifetime.

There are some obvious ones here, but thanks to inflation, there are a few titles that may surprise you — including a not-so-little film from the 1930s.

Here are the top 15.

Note: All box-office figures provided by Box Office Mojo.

15. Читать дальше...

Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

Cam Newton drew the ire of the NFL world after holding a contentious postgame press conference after losing the Super Bowl, eventually walking out after over-hearing a Broncos player speak about how they shut him down.

Newton was back at the Panthers' facilities on Tuesday and re-addressed the media, and of course, one of the topics was his press conference.

Newton was generally unapologetic for his reaction, but responded in typical Cam Newton fashion. Читать дальше...

Mark Metcalfe / Stringer / Getty Images

One strategy wealthy taxpayers use to save money on taxes is purchasing whole-life insurance.

This is an insurance policy which lasts, as the name says, for the policyholder's whole life.

It also has an investment component that allows its value to grow tax-deferred, and you can withdraw that cash value before death, if needed.

Steven M. Piascik, CPA, MT, and founder and president of boutique CPA firm PIASCIK, likes the product... Читать дальше...

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

For the second year in a row, Harvard College had a record-breaking number of applications — with a particularly big surge in students seeking to major in computer science.

The Harvard Crimson reports 39,044 students applied for around 2,000 spots in the class of 2020, narrowly beating last year's total of 37,305 applicants.

Moreover, the number of applicants interested in pursuing computer science increased by 22.1% over last year.

Admissions director Marlyn E. Читать дальше...

Zappos

About 12 years ago, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh created a set of principles for the multibillion-dollar online shoe and apparel retailer that included "Create fun and a little weirdness."

He's truly led by example, and that's one of the reasons why he lives in a 240-square-foot trailer with a couple of alpacas despite having a net worth of "at least $780 million," according to Wealth-X.

When Amazon bought Zappos for $1.2 billion in 2009, Hsieh made Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explicitly... Читать дальше...

REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Over the last few days the talk among those who watch 'the most miserable country' in the world has turned to default.

2016, it seems, is Venezuela's year. 

"Unless the Chinese pull something out of the bag or PDVSA [Venezuela's state oil company] exercises a voluntary bond swap it's happening," said Brian Dean, a partner at ACG Analytics.

"There's going to be a default in my view unless there's some kind of political disruption ... They can sell... Читать дальше...

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

Earlier this month, NASA announced the first mission it will be launching aboard its monster rocket, called the Space Launch System. 

In 2018, NASA will send 13 shoe-box sized satellites, called CubeSats, to study, for example, different aspects of life in space and ice deposits on the moon.

Eventually, this rocket is destined for NASA's future deep-space missions to Mars, and beyond.

Taller than the Statue of Liberty and capable... Читать дальше...

Gene Page/AMC

The next episode of “The Walking Dead” is going to be MASSIVE.

I’ve checked out the mid-season premiere ahead of its February 14 release, and this is an episode you’ll want to watch live because everyone will be talking about it immediately after it airs. (You don’t have any Valentine’s Day plans right? Cool.)

I can’t say much, but it’s going to be a hugely satisfying episode for fans who may have been left wanting more at the end of last year’s mid-season finale. Читать дальше...