After heavy rainstorms delayed Burning Man attendees from entering the gates until this morning, day one of the festival is now officially up and running — and it doesn't appear the rain affected the dry Nevada desert land for too long.

As of an hour ago, the Burning Man Facebook page announced the wait to get in by car was only 1.5 hours long and "the Black Rock City airport is open with one runway for takeoffs and landings."

Burning Man has also set up an official livestream of the event, in case you're curious what it's all about:

Get the latest updates via the official Burning Man Twitter feed.

While the livestream is from fairly far away, here's a closer look at some of what last year's festival had to offer:

SEE ALSO: Burning Man Was Supposed To Start Monday But It Closed Till Tuesday Because Of Rainstorms

MORE:  I Went To Burning Man And It Was Even Crazier Than I Expected [PHOTOS]

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A popular consumer advocate is going after one of Starbucks most popular seasonal drinks, the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Vani Hari, who runs the blog Food Babe, claims the drink contains chemicals that could cause cancer, high-fructose corn syrup and a "toxic" dose of sugar.

She says Starbucks fails to list many of these ingredients on its website. Hari also notes that the Pumpkin Spice Latte contains no actual pumpkin.

A graphic containing her claims has been shared endlessly on social media this week. 

"While [Starbucks lists] some ingredients on their website, they still do not list the ingredients in their most popular items: their drinks," she writes. "This includes all of their lattes, Frappuccinos, Macchiatos, smoothies, etc. Starbucks doesn't even publish the ingredients in their kids drinks, keeping parents completely in the dark."

In response to her blog, angry customers took to Starbucks' Facebook page to blast its alleged use of undisclosed ingredients.

But according to Starbucks spokeswoman Linda Mills, the drink does not contain high-fructose corn syrup, as Hari claims. 

It doesn't contain any pumpkin, either, she acknowledged. The drink instead uses the core spices that flavor pumpkin pie, such as cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.

The Pumpkin Spice Latte does, however, contain caramel coloring, a chemical that food safety advocates claim has a potential cancer risk.

Mills says the company is planning to eventually remove that ingredient from the drinks.

"We are actively looking at phasing out caramel coloring," Mills wrote in an email to Business Insider. "In any instances where it is used in our beverages, the level is well below the No Significant Risk Level (NSRL) and safe to consume."

If customers have questions about any of the items offered in our Starbucks stores, Mills encourages them to ask their baristas for a list of ingredients.

"We’re also working on listing core beverage recipes online via Starbucks.com and hope to have an update in the near future," she said.

SEE ALSO: How To Get Free Refills At Starbucks

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ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has gotten lots of attention for the terror it has brought to the Middle East.

Unfortunately, this has attracted the wrong kind of attention to companies that coincidentally share the same name as the extremist group.

Take ISIS Pharmaceuticals. This $4.3 billion biotech firm surged 10% today, and it's up 43% in the last three months. According to Nasdaq, the stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average for the first time since early spring.

ISIS Pharma has nothing to do with the terrorist group. According to their website, ISIS Pharma develops new drugs to "treat patients who have significant unmet medical needs."

There's no obvious direct explanation for ISIS Pharma's rally today.

However, it's worth noting that biotechnology stocks in general have been doing pretty well this year. The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index ETF (IBB) is up a whopping 21% since the beginning of the year. And in recent months we've heard biotech firms like Kite, Achillion, Intercept, Tekmira, and Gilead all announce good news regarding the innovative drugs that they're developing or marketing.

IBB climbed 1.1% today. KITE surged 17%.

Shares of these publicly traded biotech firms tend to be very volatile, as their businesses often rely on the unlikely breakthroughs of a very narrow pipeline of drugs.

"Lots of sophisticated investors purchase biotech companies that have no earnings and are regularly raising cash to stay in business," stock market expert Ed Yardeni said. "These investors do so knowing that the outcomes are binary: The companies they invest in will either find a cure for a disease or they won’t. Their new drugs will either be approved by the FDA or they won’t. They might be acquired for a huge premium or they might not, or might go out of business."

Today's 10% move in ISIS Pharma appears to be about improving sentiment towards the company's drug pipeline.

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With its brand-new Ada Collection — named after Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer —underwear company Dear Kate is taking a rather non-traditional approach to advertising. 

The lookbook for the lingerie line shows six prominent women in tech posing with computers and code and wearing nothing but their underwear. 

The photos are meant to be empowering, complete with quotes from the women about their roles in the tech industry. 

Dear Kate founder and CEO Julie Sygiel said she intentionally placed the models in the workplace. The shoot took place in Refinery29's New York City headquarters.

"I think a lot of traditional lingerie photo shoots depict women as simply standing there looking sexy. They’re not always in a position of power and control," Sygiel said to TIME."In our photo shoots it’s important to portray women who are active and ambitious. They’re not just standing around waiting for things to happen.”

But some people have found the campaign offensive, with feminists arguing that the photos place emphasis on looks in an industry that is already fraught with sexual abuse and misogyny. 

"Posing in your underwear undermines the message that you aim to be taken seriously as a technologist," Elissa Shevinsky, CEO of Glimpse Labs, said to TIME.

On the other hand, Skillcrush cofounder and CEO Adda Birnir said she didn't think twice when Dear Kate asked her to participate in the photo shoot.

"I think its an amazing company that has a truly integrated, feminist point of view and I wanted to help support them in everything they do," Birnir said to Business Insider.

She says the controversy is interesting and surprising, adding that it creates a conversation that is important to have. 

"I think the thing is that all women have bodies and wear underwear and have to deal with all the mundane as well as cultural/political things that come with walking around in a female body," she said. "We aren't either women who pose in underwear or women who code or women who are attractive or women who are unattractive or women who are sexual or women who are CEOs. We are all the things at once, and it's confusing and messy and complicated and often annoyingly at issue, but not dealing with all those different facets isn't a viable solution."

Rebecca Garcia, founder of Geek Girl Web, didn't expect the shoot to be so controversial. 

"I think highlighting women and their careers, their background stories like Dear Kate has done is important for women to see others like themselves that they can relate to," she said to Business Insider. " It's body positive and inspiring and I'm excited to be a part of the lookbook."She says that discrimination is a very common occurrence in her industry.

"I'm friends and acquaintances with several women who have been affected by sexism in tech," she said. "I have faced discrimination, ageism, not being taken seriously as a programmer, and I think this shoot helps to normalize the idea that women can be comfortable in their own skin and be in technology."

Birnir sees the campaign as just one step in a process to achieve gender equality in tech.

"I don't think any one thing can fix anything.We need more women in C-level positions. More women starting companies. More women making millions. More women in office. More empowered images of women wearing lingerie," she added. "I just think that the answer isn't to deny that as women we have female bodies that are beautiful and to be celebrated in addition to our brains."

SEE ALSO: Here's How To Make Sleazy Tech Guys Respect You More

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Minsk (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said he was willing to "do everything" if a peace process to end fighting in Ukraine's war-torn east gets underway following talks with Ukraine's leader.

"Russia will do everything for the peace process if it begins," Putin told journalists after a one-on-one meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Minsk. 

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Snapchat is close to finalizing a $20 million fundraising round led by VC firm Kleiner Perkins at a $10 billion valuation, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, and TechCrunch are reporting.

The messaging app now has 100 million users, according to the WSJ report.

Rumors of a new funding round for Snapchat started last month when several reports said Chinese ecommerce company Alibaba wanted to invest. But Business Insider discovered that was a bogus rumor.

Snapchat's valuation has shot up tremendously in a very short period. Last year the company was valued at $3 billion, a figure now dwarfed by their current value.

Kleiner Perkins' investment is not the end of Snapchat's near-term fundraising efforts. The current investment round remains open. The Wall Street Journal noted that "at least one strategic investor" yet unnamed has committed to the round as well.

You can expect Snapchat and its investors to formally announce the new round of funding very soon.

SEE ALSO: LA Schools Suspend A Billion-Dollar Contract With Apple

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FA Insights is a daily newsletter from Business Insider that delivers the top news and commentary for financial advisors.

Out Of 12,052 Ratings On S&P Stocks, Just 6% Are 'Sells' (Bespoke Investment)

Bespoke Investment observes there are now 12,052 analyst ratings on S&P 500 stocks, which equates to 24 ratings per stock. Of those, just 6% are rated "sell." Utilities have the fewest "buy" ratings while energy companies have the most.

NYSE Margin Debt Falls (Doug Short)

NYSE margin debt, or the amount of money that's been borrowed to buy stocks , fell 0.8% in August. With the caveat that the data is a month old, Short says it's something to keep an eye on because it has correlated with market tops. "...[We] see that the troughs in the monthly net credit balance preceded peaks in the monthly S&P 500 closes by six months in 2000 and four months in 2007. The most recent S&P 500 correction greater than 10% was the 19.39% selloff in 2011 from April 29th to October 3rd. Investor Credit hit a negative extreme in March 2011. There are too few peak/trough episodes in this overlay series to take the latest credit-balance data as a leading indicator of a major selloff in U.S. equities. But we'll definitely want to keep an eye on this metric in the months ahead."

Recessions Don't Matter All That Much For Investors (GaveKal)

Recessions are obviously bad. But it turns out that investors still average 2% returns, with a median return of 3%. "Market performance during different expansions pre-WWII were more similar and had less skewness as indicated by their much closer average and mean returns compared to the market returns post-WW2," the GaveKal team writes. "The max return is higher after WWII and the median return is slightly lower. Recessions were harsher to investors prior to WWII. The median market return during a recession was -9% before 1946 while the median market return since is actually positive (3%). Max drawdown highlights this as well as the median max drawdown was 11% deeper before WWII (26% vs 15%)."

Bernanke: Lehman Was Worse Than The Great Depression (WSJ)

WSJ's Pedro da Costa has pulled a fairly stunning quote out of an AIG bailout lawsuit: Bernanke believed the 2008 financial crisis was worse than the Great Depression. “September and October of 2008 was the worst financial crisis in global history, including the Great Depression,” the former Fed chair said. Of the 13 “most important financial institutions in the United States, 12 were at risk of failure within a period of a week or two.”

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What's the first step most companies take when trying to fill a position? They post an online listing with a job description and list of required skills.

But Lou Adler, CEO of The Adler Group and author of "The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired," says in a recent LinkedIn post that most employers are doing it all wrong.

"[A majority] of the job descriptions listed on LinkedIn (or any job board for that matter) are not job descriptions at all; they're people descriptions," he writes. "Job descriptions should describe what the person in the job needs to do, (e.g., design circuits, sell homes, diagnose problems, fix automated test equipment, and architect systems, and the like,) not describe the skills needed to do the job."

He calls these "skills-infested descriptions"— and says the problem with them is that they exclude great people who can do the actual work extremely well, "but don't have the exact list of skills and experiences supposedly required."

"Instead of falling into the skills and experience box-checking trap, I suggest recruiters ask hiring managers to define the work that needs to be done before defining the skills the person needs to have to do the work," he says. He refers to this as a "performance-based job description," where you list the six to eight critical tasks and performance objectives defining on-the-job success.

Then, he says, to determine whether a candidate would be the right fit for a job, hiring managers should ask: "What single project or task would you consider the most significant accomplishment in your career so far?"

"[This question] can be used to determine if the person is competent and motivated to do this work," he says. "Just have the candidate describe a personal accomplishment most comparable to what needs to be done for each of the objectives. The assessment is made on the growth and trend of the candidate's accomplishments over time; the scope, scale, and complexity of the accomplishments in comparison to actual needs, and the results achieved."

Click here to read the full post. 

Want your business advice featured in Instant MBA? Submit your tips to tipoftheday@businessinsider.com and be sure to include your name, your job title, and a photo of yourself in your email. 

SEE ALSO: Success Habits Doing These 4 Things Every Day Can Make You More Successful At Work

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London (AFP) - Manchester United announced on Tuesday that they have signed Argentina winger Angel di Maria from Real Madrid for a British-record transfer fee of £59.7 million ($98 million, 75 million euros).

The 26-year-old's move, on a five-year contract, shatters the previous British-record fee of £50 million paid by Chelsea to sign Spain striker Fernando Torres from Liverpool in 2011.

"Manchester United is delighted to announce that Angel di Maria has completed his transfer for a British-record fee of £59.7 million. Angel joins on a five-year contract," said a club statement.

United manager Louis van Gaal said: "Angel is a world-class midfielder, but most importantly he is a team player. There is no doubting his immense natural talent.

"He is a tremendously fast and incisive left-footed player who puts fear into the most accomplished defence.

"His dribbling skills and his ability to take on and beat opponents are a joy to watch. He is an excellent addition to the team."

Di Maria said it was Van Gaal's "vision" for the English giants that had persuaded him to move to Old Trafford, even though United are not playing in Europe after their seventh-place finish in last term's Premier League. 

"I am absolutely delighted to be joining Manchester United," Di Maria said.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Spain and there were a lot of clubs interested in me, but United is the only club that I would have left Real Madrid for.

"Louis van Gaal is a fantastic coach with a proven track record of success and I am impressed by the vision and determination everyone has to get this club back to the top –- where it belongs. I now just cannot wait to get started."

- Rooney 'excited' -

Di Maria, who can play as a winger or in midfield, came through one of the most celebrated youth academies in Argentinian football at home-town club Rosario Central.

In 2007, he joined Portuguese giants Benfica, where he won one league title and two League Cups before joining Real Madrid in 2010.

He won the La Liga title with Madrid in 2012 and was named man of the match after they beat city rivals Atletico Madrid 4-1 in last season's Champions League final in Lisbon.

The Argentina international has scored 10 goals in 52 appearances for his country and was shortlisted for the Golden Ball at this year's World Cup despite missing the semi-final and final due to injury.

His arrival in Manchester is the headline deal of United's overhaul under new manager Van Gaal, who had already spent a combined £72 million on England left-back Luke Shaw, Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera and Di Maria's Argentina team-mate Marcos Rojo.

Di Maria could make his debut at Burnley on Saturday as Van Gaal looks to revitalise a United team still without a win after the first two games of the new Premier League campaign.

Shortly after the deal was announced, a second-string United team were humiliated 4-0 by third-division Milton Keynes Dons in the League Cup.

Speaking afterwards, Van Gaal said that although Di Maria's versatility would prove useful, the 26-year-old would have to adapt quickly to his new surroundings.

"I think he shall contribute very much in our way of playing," the Dutchman told Sky Sports.

"He is a creative player. I can change the system with Di Maria because he can play on the wing and midfield. He can contribute and that is very important.

"But we don't have to expect that from tomorrow the world has been changed. He has to adapt to the culture of England, the culture of the Premier League, and the philosophy of Manchester United."

United's newly appointed captain Wayne Rooney took to Twitter to give Di Maria's arrival his personal seal of approval, writing: "Welcome to Manchester United angel di maria. #excited."

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I spent hours playing "Super Mario Bros." as a kid. 

My favorite memory is of me and my friends trying so hard to get unlimited lives at the end of World 3-1. 

But that's only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to awesome cheats in the game.

Of course, some of these gems are more glitches than actual cheats. But that doesn't make them any less awesome. 

Shoot fire balls as small Mario.

At the end of any level, try to get hit by Bowser while also touching the ax at the same time. In the next level, you'll get a mushroom instead of a fire flower, which will make you small. The next time you find a fire flower, you'll stay small, but you'll have fire power! 

(Via Cheat-Database)

Keep playing after the "Game Over" screen.

If you die and want to keep playing, but don't want to start all the way back at World 1-1, you're in luck. When you get back to the Player 1 or 2 screen after Game Over, hold the A button and hit Start. You'll then be taken back to the beginning of the world you died in. So if you die in World 3-3, you'll be taken back to World 3-1. 

Minus world.

There's a glitch at the end of World 1-2 that takes you to what people lovingly refer to as "Minus World." At the end of the level, when you get to the pipe and bricks, stand on the edge of the pipe while ducking and facing the left. Jump to the right and try not to break the block that's directly next to the pipe. If you do it correctly, you'll slide right through the bricks and end up in a Warp Zone level. Go into the first pipe you see, and you'll be ferried away to World -1. 

There's nothing really to do in the level but swim around (it's a water level). Once you get to the end, you go through a pipe that takes you back to the beginning.

As Transmission Zero points out, the level isn't really called -1. It's actually World 36-1, but the 36 doesn't actually show up. Also, the level is identical to World 7-2. A strange glitch indeed!

For months, there have been rumblings throughout Apple's supply chain that the company is working on a new iPad with a larger screen. On Tuesday, those mushy rumors got a bit more credible when Bloomberg reported that Apple plans to launch a larger iPad with a 12.9-inch screen in early 2015.

For reference, the iPad Air has a 9.7-inch screen and the iPad Mini has a 7.85-inch screen. The top model of the MacBook Air has a 13-inch screen. So this new iPad will be a massive tablet, and something you likely wouldn't want to lug around everywhere you go like you can with a smartphone or the superthin iPad Air.

Others have tried making supersize tablets before. Toshiba's Android-powered Excite tablet, which came out in 2012, had a 13-inch screen. It was simply too big:

So, why would Apple want to create a giant iPad? 

Let's do some sleuthing.

iPad sales are in decline. In the second quarter of this year, iPad unit sales were down 9% on a year-over-year basis, a trend that Apple seems to be having trouble turning around. This chart from Business Insider Intelligence sums it up pretty well:

There are several theories for why this is happening. Some people think the iPad upgrade cycle isn't as frequent as it is for iPhones. Whereas you may typically upgrade to a new iPhone every other year when your carrier contract is over, some think consumers are keeping iPads for three or four years before upgrading.

Another popular theory is that many people are realizing they don't even need an iPad in the first place, considering the MacBook/iPhone combination is more than adequate to get it all done. The MacBook is for productivity at your desk, while the iPhone helps you on the go with some fun apps, games, and social networks thrown in. The iPad is just a big iPhone, the theory goes, and therefore doesn't really justify the extra $400 or more you'd have to pay to use it.

It's the second theory that sounds like the most plausible culprit for the iPad's slump, and it's part of the reason why we've seen so many attempts recently at hybrid devices that try to merge the tablet with a laptop.

Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 is the best example of that. Since the device was first introduced, Microsoft has marketed the Surface Pro 3 as "the tablet that can replace your laptop." Snap in the special keyboard cover, and you have a full-featured PC. Snap it out, and you have a regular tablet for kicking back and having fun.

That's the promise, at least. But as just about every review of the Surface Pro 3 has said, the device fails to live up to that promise. The problem with the Surface is that it requires you to flip between two radically different interfaces: a traditional desktop mode, and a touch-enabled "modern" interface. It's clunky and confusing. Yes, the Surface Pro 3 inches us closer to that dreamy device that can do it all, but we're not there yet.

But that could be what Apple has in store for the 12.9-inch iPad. (Let's just call it the iPad Pro moving forward.) Think of it as a laptop that reimagines what laptops should be able to do. A "hybrid" like the Windows 8 devices out there wouldn't be the best description because Apple would likely never load two different interfaces onto one device.

What's more likely is that Apple implements a multitasking feature into its mobile operating system, iOS. In fact, we already know iOS 8, the next version of iOS, will allow such multitasking on the iPad. According to 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman, Apple will update iOS 8 a few months after its fall launch to allow split-screen multitasking. Others have found hidden code in iOS that shows Apple is experimenting with split-screen apps.

It's very similar to the way Windows 8 lets you run two touchscreen apps side by side. It could look something like this:

Throw in a clever keyboard cover, and you may be onto something.

Then there's the whole productivity problem. The common theme around iPads is that they're only good for the fun stuff like social networking and watching videos. 

But the apps are getting better. Microsoft finally released Office for the iPad this spring, and it's really good. Apple has its own suite of office apps that come free with every iOS device. Google Docs on iOS now come as separate apps and are compatible with Microsoft Office files. Other startups like Quip are completely re-imagining what it means to get stuff done on a tablet.

Plus, more big companies will likely be snapping up iPads thanks to Apple's partnership with IBM. IBM will use its salesforce to sell iPads to its big enterprise customers and provide a lot of business apps with them. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook himself recently told The Wall Street Journal that he's able to do 80% of his job on an iPad. In an interview with Re/code's Walt Mossberg on Tuesday, Cook called the disappointing iPad sales a "speed bump," implying that things will turn around.

With all the talk about Apple breaking into new categories (TV, smartwatches, and big-screen phones), it sounds like it's also gearing up to reinvent the tablet as a productivity tool. Apple could very well be working on the dream device we've been asking for, the best of a laptop and tablet in one.

SEE ALSO: The most exciting gadgets to look forward to in 2014

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Middle Eastern satirical website The Pan-Arabia Enquirer got in hot water with a public relations firm over a recent article it wrote which said the company was representing the terrorist group ISIS — and it ended up deleting the article — but not without issuing a brilliant and hilarious public "apology" of sorts.

The site, which bills itself as "the world's only 7-star satirical news site,"published an article on Sunday under the headline, "PR giant Bell Pottinger lands $10 million Islamic State account."

It was a pretty short article — just two paragraphs — but offered this deadpan quote typical of PR types: “We’ve been closely watching ISIS transform into the Islamic State and are now delighted to reveal that we’ll be able to use our expertise to help steer this engaging and fast-moving brand onto the next stage of its exciting journey,” a Bell Pottinger spokesperson said in a statement.

Obviously, it's fake news, and that quote is in no way real. And while it would seem crazy for a PR firm to represent ISIS, the Enquirer's story isn't terribly off the mark.

A profile in The Guardian newspaper noted a number of Bell Pottinger's big clients:

The government of Sri Lanka; FW de Klerk, when he ran against Nelson Mandela for president of South Africa; Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted Thai premier, whom protesters claim still controls the country; Asma al-Assad, the wife of the president of Syria; Alexander Lukashenko, the dictator of Belarus; Rebekah Brooks after the phone-hacking scandal broke; the repressive governments of Bahrain and Egypt; the American occupying administration in Iraq; the polluting oil company Trafigura; the fracking company Cuadrilla; the athlete Oscar Pistorius after he was charged with murder; the Pinochet Foundation during its campaign against the former Chilean dictator's British detention; the much-criticised arms conglomerate BAE Systems – Bell or Bell Pottinger has represented all of them.

Still, the company apparently took issue, and the Enquirer took down the post and issued a brilliant apology (You can see still the satirical article via Google cache):

Earlier today we deleted a story of ours. We shall me making a statement shortly (possibly tomorrow when we've had a chance to write it).

— Pan-Arabia Enquirer (@arabiaenquirer) August 25, 2014

"Yesterday we received a complaint about one of our articles and subsequently removed it from The Pan-Arabia Enquirer website," the site wrote on its Facebook page (although this too was later removed). "Following on from this, we would like to offer our apologies to PR firm Bell Pottinger for a satirical story that suggested it had won the account to represent the Islamic State. Although the article was entirely in jest, we feel we must apologise for any sullying of the name of a company whose standing in the international community is reflected in a client list that has included the likes of Augusto Pinochet and the government of Bahrain. Oh, and the government of Sri Lanka. And Rolf Harris."

The Pan-Arabia Enquirer started out as The Dubai Enquirer back in 2005 and has grown considerably, now attracting more than 400,000 pageviews each month, the site claims. The site, which is written in English by anonymous writers, has other headlines like "New Islamic State jihadist accidentally packs wrong black flag" and "Egypt relieved as threat of democracy recedes."

Business Insider reached out to Bell Pottinger and the Pan-Arabian Enquirer for comment and will update if we hear back.

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Details emerged today about Uber's plan, code-named "Operation Slog," to recruit drivers away from rival car transport company Lyft. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick took to Twitter to defend himself after several Valley bigwigs slammed his tactics.

Uber's latest plan involves having Uber employees order Lyft rides from burner phones, pretending to be normal riders, according to documents obtained by The Verge. Then they spend the ride trying to recruit the driver.

Previously, Lyft accused Uber of calling and then canceling more than 5,000 rides on its service, costing its drivers time and money.

"Would it be controversial if we got in taxis and recruited taxi drivers and paid for the ride?"Kalanick tweeted, adding, "to be clear, we are paying for the rides, these are independent contractors working for multiple co's."

Both services are popular in San Francisco. News of the tactics, reported by the Verge, spread quickly on Twitter where all sorts of Valley bigwigs jumped in with opinions on it.

Jason Fried, founder & CEO at Basecamp (formerly known as 37signals) started the debate by taking Uber to task. In a series of tweets we've condensed that begin here, Fried tweeted:

I *understand* the @uber recruiting angle. A $10 ride is the cheapest way to get in front of a strong lead/candidate…

…it's just more about how it all /feels/. Like someone walking into your physical office, pulling up a chair, and recruiting your people…

…you'd surely kick them out of your office. You might even call the cops if they didn't leave…

…It doesn't matter if they left a $10 bill in the tip jar on their way out.

Regardless, I still have deep respect for @uber and @travisk. I love the product. I'm a regular customer. What they've built is amazing…

…and we're all entitled to a handful of bumps in the road when building our businesses… Just hope they do more of the great stuff.

That caused Kalanick to reply and also caused Fried's cofounder and CTO of Basecamp, David Heinemeierhansson (@dhh), to jump in. (Heinemeierhansson is famous in the tech world for inventing a super popular Web programing language called Ruby on Rails.)

 
Which caused even more debate ...

And it's still going on right now.

SEE ALSO: OPERATION SLOG: Uber’s Aggressive Plan To Steal Lyft Drivers, Revealed

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The White House announced on Tuesday it would award the Medal of Honor to an Army officer who distinguished himself during the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg more than 151 years ago.

Army artillery officer 1st Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing continued to issue orders despite being wounded numerous times in the bloody battle, and will receive the posthumous award on Sep. 15. According to the Washington Post, relatives of Cushing and others have spent decades lobbying on the soldier's behalf.

From the White House statement:

First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions while serving as commanding officer of Battery A, 4th United States Artillery, Artillery Brigade, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac. Cushing distinguished himself during combat operations against an armed enemy in the vicinity of Cemetery Ridge, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 3, 1863.

A graduate of West Point, Cushing was just 22-years-old when he was killed in the battle. On the battle's third day, Cushing's unit faced the Confederate "Pickett's Charge" and his artillery battery took heavy losses.

The Army has more:

Cushing manned the only remaining, and serviceable, field piece in his battery. During the advance, he was wounded in the stomach as well as in the right shoulder. Refusing to evacuate to the rear despite his severe wounds, he directed the operation of his lone field piece continuing to fire in the face of the enemy. With the rebels within 100 yards of his position, Cushing was shot and killed during this heroic stand. His actions made it possible for the Union Army to successfully repulse the Confederate assault. Cushing is buried with full honors at his alma mater, West Point.

Once he receives the award, Cushing will be the 64th soldier to receive the nation's highest award for the Battle of Gettysburg. (Important sidenote: Aside from a "certificate of merit," the Medal of Honor, created in 1861, was the only valor award for soldiers at that time).

On the same day as Cushing's award, President Obama will also be awarding the Medal of Honor to two other soldiers, Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie G. Adkins and Specialist Four Donald P. Sloat, for separate acts of heroism during the Vietnam War.

SEE ALSO: Army Medal Of Honor Hero Breaks The Gavel At The New York Stock Exchange

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If any company could lead us into digital nirvana, it's Apple.

But next to no one knows what that future looks like.

We recently talked about Apple's future with a former employee and he pointed us to this video by Corning. (Corning makes the glass used in iPhones and iPads.)

Corning may make glass and ceramics, but its conceptual videos paint a vivid picture of what an Apple-dominated future might look like.

If anything is clear from Corning's video, it's that tech consumers have a lot to look forward to. Smart devices have only begun to enter our cars and homes.

And that's just the beginning of what the future has in store.

First you'll wake up to a greeting from your smart TV.

You'll be able to interact with your TV like you already can with your phone.

Your apps will follow you around your home while you get ready for work.

In case you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, people have been dumping buckets of ice water on their heads in Facebook videos and nominating their friends to do the same. They're doing it to raise awareness (and money) for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. 

Though the meme has had its share of naysayers, the ALS Association announced Wednesday that it's received an incredible $94.3 million since July 29. For perspective, the ASL Association raised just $2.7 million in the same timeframe last year—from July 29 to August 27. The ALS Association's donations have come from existing donors and 2.1 million new ones, the ASL Association said in a press release. 

From the press release:

“The ALS Association has been given a great deal of money and with that comes tremendous responsibility,” said Barbara Newhouse, President and CEO of The ALS Association. “We are absolutely committed to transparency and will be communicating regularly with the ALS community, our donors, the media and the public about progress to invest these dollars wisely in areas that will have maximum impact on the fight against this devastating disease.”

The ALS Association’s mission includes providing care services to assist people with ALS and their families through a network of chapters working in communities across the nation and a global research program focused on the discovery of treatments and eventually a cure for the disease. In addition, The Association’s advocacy efforts empower people to advance public policies in our nation’s Capital that respond to the needs of people with ALS.

 

SEE ALSO: Bill Gates Has The Best Ice Bucket Challenge By Far

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The Economy Is In A State Of Reflation (The Financialist)

Global GDP remains sluggish and benchmark interest rates remain close to zero around the world.

Credit Suisse Asset Management Systematic Allocation Strategies founding partner Jonathan Wilmot "has a name for this kind of lopsided recovery: Reflation, which he defines as a period during which nominal and real GDP growth accelerates, but short- and long-term interest rates remain lower than is typical during an economic expansion."

"While many are calling for a spike in rates any day now, Wilmot says that the economic state of reflation tends not to be short-lived. Even if rates jump in the short term, they will quite likely remain below their historical averages for longer than many investors expect... If the bond market remains relatively subdued in response to improving economic data, corporate profit growth could continue to be strong and equities could continue their outperformance relative to fixed income for several years or more."

These Are The Assets You Should Avoid In The Face Of Rising Rates(BlackRockBlog)

The consensus coming out of the Federal Reserve's recently released minutes along with the Jackson Hole Symposium suggests that interest rates are likely to be on the rise. Russ Koesterich CFA, chief investment strategist for BlackRock believes "the Fed is likely to begin raising rates in the first half of 2015, and the first rate hike could come as early as March."

According to Koesterich, you should avoid treasury bonds with two to five-year maturities as well as commodities like gold. "While longer-term interest rates have remained stable, the prospect for an early Fed tightening is exerting downward pressure on the prices of shorter-maturity Treasury bonds— particularly those with two- to five-year maturities — and pushing yields higher." In addition, "the prospect for tighter monetary conditions is driving the dollar higher and putting downward pressure on many commodities." As a result, these two asset classes are likely to become more volatile than stocks. 

Koesterich believes that, "although not cheap, stocks have the tailwinds of still-low rates and improving economic conditions at their back." Thus, they may prove to be a more resilient investment. 

Bonds Will Likely Disappoint In the Second Half Of This Year(Columbia Management)

So far in 2014, bonds have been performing very well due to underwhelming growth and fall rates. In fact, according to Columbia Management's Global Asset Allocation Team,"longer duration U.S. bonds [are] performing even better than equities." This is in spite of "negative sentiment on bonds [that] had been building in concert with expectations of improved growth and higher rates." 

However, the team, still "expects bonds to deliver negative or relatively low returns unless growth disappoints in the second half." This is because, although "U.S. rates may appear low in absolute terms, [when] compared with the rest of the developed world, they are actually higher in a relative sense than at any previous point in this cycle."

The Market Expects The US Economy To Expand For Another 5 Years(Deutsche Bank)

Since we are now in the sixth year of economic recovery and in the midst of a bull market, as we over due for another recession? No so says Deutsche Bank Security's chief economist Torsten Slok. "Recessions don’t happen because of a clock ticking. Recessions happen because of imbalances in the economy or too tight monetary policy... In other words, with the fed funds rate well below neutral for many more years this expansion will likely also continue for many more years." 

"One way to quantify how long time this expansion will continue is to look at the length of expansions and the level of the fed funds rate when expansions ended, i.e. just before recession began," said Slok. "On this measure the market still expects this expansion to continue for another five years or so."

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Earlier this summer, Microsoft stripped its Kinect motion controller from the Xbox One, effectively dropping the price of its fledgling console by $100 in the process. But if you’re hoping to get a standalone version of the Kinect, Microsoft announced Wednesday that it will release the sensor as a separate device on Oct. 7.

Microsoft says the standalone Kinect will cost $149. So if you happened to buy the Xbox One bundle with Kinect earlier this year for $499, congratulations — you saved yourself an extra $50. Now, the console retails for $399, so buying an additional Kinect would bring your purchase total to ~$550.

The original Kinect for Xbox 360 (codenamed “Project Natal”) debuted in January 2010, but when it finally launched in North America that November, the peripheral cost $149 — the same as how much the new sensor will cost in October. But despite misgivings about the price, Microsoft sold 8 million Kinect units in just two months, which is a world record for the “fastest selling gaming peripheral.” 

A year and a half after the first Kinect debuted, Microsoft decided to drop its price by $40, which might mean the Kinect for Xbox One could see a similar price cut in a year or two.

The new Xbox One Kinect will come with a free copy of “Dance Central,” which will retail for only $10. That means Microsoft values the standalone Kinect at about $140.

It’s interesting that Microsoft has priced the new Kinect so high, considering it needed to basically orphan the accessory so the Xbox One could better compete with Sony’s PlayStation 4, which absolutely pummeled Microsoft in sales over the past quarter. 

But when Microsoft originally unveiled its Xbox One last year, the company held up the second-generation Kinect as a major cornerstone of the new Xbox experience. With the new Kinect, gamers could activate their Xbox One by talking to it, and also switch between apps, snap features to one side or another, or record your gameplay. Just check out this old promotional video and you can see how central the Kinect was to the original Xbox One campaign.

We’ll know if gamers have warmed up to Microsoft’s standalone sensor when the $149 accessory hits shelves in October.

SEE ALSO: Sony Has A New Feature Coming For The PS4 That Will Bury The Xbox One

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Freetown (AFP) - The three nations at the centre of the west African Ebola outbreak were left increasingly isolated on Wednesday as more airlines suspended flights to the crisis zone.

Air France agreed to Paris's request for a "temporary suspension" of services to Sierra Leone, leaving its capital Freetown and Monrovia in neighbouring Liberia with just one regular service, from Royal Air Morocco (RAM).

"In light of the analysis of the situation and as requested by the French government, Air France confirms it is maintaining its program of flights to and from Guinea and Nigeria," the flag carrier said.

Air France's decision came a day after British Airways said it was suspending flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone until next year due to Ebola concerns.

Authorities are scrambling to contain the worst outbreak of the lethal tropical virus in history, which has killed more than 1,400 people since it erupted in west Africa early this year.

The United Nations' Ebola envoy David Nabarro on Monday took a swipe at airlines who had cut off Ebola-hit countries by scrapping flights.

"By isolating the country, it makes it difficult for the UN to do its work," Nabarro told reporters in Freetown on the fifth day of a tour of the region.

"Pilots and others, as well as passengers, generally have very low risk of Ebola infection," Keiji Fukuda, WHO's Assistant Director-General on Health Security, told the same news conference.

Brussels Airlines normally runs four flights a week to Liberia and Sierra Leone and three to Guinea, but has also cancelled several services since Saturday due to the closure of the Senegalese border. 

The carrier said it would decide on its future schedule this weekend.

The company committed to providing three separate flights to Freetown, Monrovia and Conakry this week in response to passenger demand and to deliver 40 tonnes of medical supplies from the United Nations.

Only RAM has vowed to stick to its normal flight schedule -- once a day to Conakry and every other day on average to Monrovia and Freetown.

"Our approach is supportive rather than mercenary," RAM spokesman Hakim Challot told AFP, adding: "From Casablanca, the take-up of seats to these three countries is extremely low, around 10 percent".

- Nigeria delays school start -

UN officials have pledged to step up efforts against the lethal tropical virus, which has infected more than 2,600 and killed 1,427 since the start of the year.

Liberia has been worst hit, with 624 deaths recorded. Guinea, where the outbreak was first detected, has reported 406 deaths, Sierra Leone 392 and Nigeria five, according to the latest WHO figures.

Last week Democratic Republic of Congo said 13 people had died with symptoms of haemorrhagic fever and performed tests on dozens of others who had come into contact with them.

Kinshasa confirmed two Ebola cases on Sunday, but claimed they were unrelated to the epidemic currently ravaging west Africa.

The confirmation marked the seventh outbreak of Ebola in DR Congo, where the virus was first identified in 1976.

The UN on Wednesday allocated $1.5 million (1.1 million euros) to help the central African country fight Ebola from a "humanitarian needs", saying the sum could double in the near future. 

Nabarro, who has already visited Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea as part of a tour of Ebola-hit west African nations, arrived in Nigeria on Wednesday.

Nigerian Education Minister Ibrahim Shekarau has announced that public and private schools will remain closed until October 13 as a precaution against Ebola. Students had been due to resume classes on September 15.

Elsewhere, a WHO doctor who contracted Ebola arrived in a German hospital, the first patient with the virus to be treated in the country, officials said.

The man -- a Senegalese epidemiologist infected in Sierra Leone, according to the WHO -- arrived on a specially equipped aircraft in the northern city of Hamburg, and he was able to walk off the plane by himself, said Hamburg health department spokesman Rico Schmidt.

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London (AFP) - Alexis Sanchez's first Arsenal goal earned his side a nervy 1-0 victory over Besiktas on Wednesday that saw them squeeze into the Champions League for the 17th consecutive season.

The Chilean, Arsenal's number 17, repaid the first instalment of his £30 million ($50.4 million, 37.6 million euros) transfer fee by tucking away a low shot in first-half stoppage time, but the hosts' inability to kill the game off made for a night of nail-biting tension at the Emirates Stadium.

Mathieu Debuchy's dismissal for two yellow cards meant that Arsenal saw out the last 15 minutes with 10 men, but although a solitary goal would have sent the Turkish side through after last week's goalless draw in Istanbul, the hosts held on for a 1-0 aggregate win.

"We produced the performance we wanted -- on the tactical side, on the technical side, and on the mental side," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who revealed that striker Olivier Giroud will be out for up to four months after undergoing surgery on a broken tibia.

"We were at the level that was requested tonight against a good team, but we couldn't finish the game off and that made it nervous in the last 10 minutes when we were down to 10 men."

Wenger's side, who lost to Bayern Munich in the last 16 last season, will discover the identities of their group-phase opponents in Thursday's draw.

"Of course we are gutted, because we played good in both games and are close to qualifying for the Champions League against great opponents," Besiktas coach Slaven Bilic told Sky Sports.

"Those couple of chances we had to score, but we didn't. Congratulations to Arsenal. They had the experience and quality up front when needed."

Arsenal were missing Aaron Ramsey through suspension, while Giroud's absence saw Sanchez handed another opportunity to prove he can lead the line on his own.

Though Arsenal initially took control, their chances owed more to serendipity than intricate build-up play.

- Sanchez makes breakthrough -

Jack Wilshere slid a shot wide after Sanchez had been bundled over, while Santi Cazorla should have done better than slam the ball wide from 40 yards when visiting goalkeeper Tolga Zengin fluffed a kick.

Besiktas, meanwhile, had two penalty appeals waved away, first when Mustafa Pektemek tumbled under a challenge from Debuchy and then when Wilshere needlessly slid in from behind on Ramon Motta.

Reprieved, Wilshere then set Sanchez free, only for Zengin to save at the former Barcelona forward's feet, but in first-half injury time the same two players combined to put Arsenal ahead.

When Debuchy's cross was headed clear, Wilshere toed the ball to Mesut Ozil and although the England midfielder could not take the German's return pass into his stride, the ball broke kindly for Sanchez to roll a low shot past Zengin.

Eager to make their place in the group-phase safe, Arsenal started the second period strongly and forced the visitors onto the back foot.

Cazorla drilled the ball across goal from an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pass, Sanchez poked wide after being neatly teed up by Wilshere, and Debuchy headed wide at the back post from an in-swinging Cazorla free-kick.

The visitors remained a threat, however, and after Debuchy had alertly thwarted Demba Ba, the former Chelsea striker lashed a shot into the side-netting.

Oxlade-Chamberlain should have doubled Arsenal's lead when he shot straight at Zengin from Nacho Monreal's low cross and the hosts' task was further complicated when Debuchy saw red after tugging back Pektemek.

In a moment of farce, Wenger introduced defender Calum Chambers in place of Ozil, only for the former Southampton youngster to be booked by Portuguese official Pedro Proenca for entering the field of play too quickly.

As Bilic watched animatedly from the stands following his dismissal in the first leg, Besiktas pushed hard in the closing stages, but with Ba failing to apply a touch to a late cross, they slipped into the Europa League.

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