Cruising Low and Slow: 10 Great Lowriders

When most people think about customizing a car, they think about improving the car's performance. Cars with extra-large engines stuffed under the hood, trucks with a lifted suspension to better crawl over rocks and massive superchargers are common at most car shows. But there's a special brand of customization that doesn't have anything to do with making the car go faster. When it comes to this type of customization, it's all about making it bajito y suavecito (low and slow).
Lowriders are a type of car customization where the goal of the customization is not increased performance. Instead, lowriders try to make their cars as sleek, stylish and sexy as possible, usually by dramatically lowering the car's suspension, adding body work like fender skirts, lowering the roof line and applying a flashy coat of paint. Inside, lowriders are all about comfort, with plush seats and banging sound systems.
Lowrider style evolved out of Chicano culture in California in the 1930s. At the time, immigrants began to buy and customize older cars -- usually Chevrolets. Seeking to differentiate themselves from the dominant hot-rod culture of the era, early lowriders (who called themselves pachucos), didn't customize their cars for nights at the drag strip. Instead, they wanted cars that would look good and be comfortable as they cruised the streets, hoping to meet girls.

Top 10 Putting Tips

Golfing great Ben Hogan once described putting as "merely rolling the ball over the surface of the green by striking it with a gentle but firm blow". Sounds easy, doesn't it? Of course, if it were easy, a lot more of us would be raking in big bucks on the PGA tour. It's cool to be able to step up to the tee and blast the ball down the fairway, but let's face it, putting is what separates truly great golfers from good ones. That's because putting is one of the trickiest skills of any sport -- a delicate mixture of muscle control and mental focus. When a skilled putter scrutinizes a 10-foot (3-meter) distance to the cup, pauses and then applies precisely the right amount of force to sink the shot, that triumph of mind over matter is a truly inspiring sight to behold.
In fact, you might call it downright poetic. Canadian poet and golfer T. Arnold Haultain rhapsodized in his 1912 treatise "The Mystery of Golf":
"One putter I remember whose putting was a delight to the eye. He seemed positively to infuse sight and intelligence into his ball. The way that simple sphere would start from his club, mount an incline, negotiate a curve, look for the hole, and endowed with some curious spin, drop unhesitatingly in without dreaming for a moment of rimming it or running over it or stopping short of it, was a sight to make one wise".
We can't promise we'll make your putting the object of such flowery praise, or that we'll make you into the next Ben Crenshaw or Jack Nicklaus. But here are 10 tips from various golf experts on how to improve your skills.

10 Great Motorcycle Trips

Into the life of every motorcycle owner a little wanderlust must fall. It's to be assumed we all have our own reasons for buying that machine and giving it so much loving care, but at some point, you can bet you're going to get the urge to see just how far the two of you can go together.If you really consider your aims, interests and what excites you -- beautiful vistas, historic sites or even just a particular region -- you can enjoy the road for more than just a means to an end. Here, we'll look at 10 great rides, from the extremely rough to the slow-and-easy, that should suit any mood or interest. Be bold, be brave, be safe, and, above all, make sure to enjoy yourself. Every mile along the way.

10 Edible Biofuels

Taking a sip from a modern car's fuel tank is a bad idea. The gasoline and petroleum-based diesel fuels that power most of the world's automobiles are fairly far removed from anything nutritious, or even safe, to drink.
But that's changing. A growing industry has been investigating fossil-fuel alternatives for decades, and much of their research focuses on biofuels -- petroleum substitutes made from natural plant oils. In some cases, pure, unaltered vegetable oil can power standard diesel engines; after all, Rudolph Diesel originally designed the engine that bears his name in an attempt to give farmers the ability to operate equipment using locally grown fuel. But pure vegetable oil, while certainly a biofuel, has limitations. The glycerin in natural oils increases their viscosity, making them solidify in cold temperatures; think about what happens to bacon grease if left in the refrigerator. This could be bad news for the fuel lines, filters and injectors on an engine in Alaska, for example.
Chemists have a pair of solutions to this problem. Some plants, such as corn, contain sugars that, when fermented like beer and liquor, produce ethanol, an alcohol that can be used as fuel. Ethanol is frequently used as a smog-reducing additive in gasoline; it's the E in E85.
Other plants, such as soybeans, are better used to produce biodiesel. In this process, a catalyst is mixed into the oil, separating the glycerin from the oil's fatty acid alkyl esters. With the glycerin gone, biodiesel can run most diesel engines with less fouling and cold-weather problems.
Biofuel infrastructure is still under development in many parts of the world, and the processes to produce some types of biofuel are not yet efficient enough to justify large-scale production. But the need to find a more environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels means that, sooner or later, the fuel in your gas tank will have a lot in common with what's on your plate. To get an idea of where the biofuel future may be headed, read on to learn about 10 biofuels that could just as easily feed you as your car.

10 Foods to Buy by the Side of the Road

For some reason, food always tastes better on the road. There's something alluring about mini, mobile food establishments. Whether they are rugged, homey stands along the country highway, or the fast, efficient and ultra-compact food vendors scattered about city street corners, they can be irresistible.
Although street vendors thrive around the world, especially urban areas in Asia and the Middle East, the vendors in the United States reflect the quintessential American melting pot. Throughout the immigration waves of the late 19th and 20th centuries, immigrants without strong English skills or much education increasingly found success as street vendors. As a result, Americans have been exposed to ethnic food on the street.
New York is perhaps the city most known for its street vendor food. And even there, the city has not always embraced the practice. Because they crowded the streets, the city started enacting laws restricting food vendors as far back as the 17th century. And today, a fair amount of politics surround street vendors -- partly due to the bureaucratic complexities of getting a proper permit. In exploring them for her New York Times article, the writer Julia Moskin found that many street vendors would not seek legal redress in battles against other vendors (and would not even talk to her on the record) lest authorities inspect them.
And with the modern concerns about food safety and health, vendors are facing as much criticism as ever. But despite the adversity, street food remains enduringly popular.

10 Towing Tips

Moving heavy, bulky loads down the road, whether it's a camper, a boat trailer or anything else that attaches to the back of a tow vehicle, can be a tricky process. Driving an automobile with another set of wheels hitched up behind it is a lot different than driving an automobile by itself, so there are several issues you have to keep in mind while towing. Small overlooked details will make the ride bumpy and uncomfortable and potentially shift or damage any load you're towing; bigger, more important issues can result in serious situations like jackknifing or flipping, incidents that cause accidents and harm to you and other drivers on the road.
Although it may look like an elaborate setup, there are several easy steps to take to ensure a safe and secure towing trip. Some involve making quick, regular checkups on equipment, while others involve simply being aware of your vehicle's specific towing capabilities. How much weight can your car or truck tow, anyway? Is there any extra gear you need to buy before heading out? How should you adjust your driving technique in order to make the drive safer? For 10 easy tips that make towing more efficient and effective, read on.

10 Tips for Staging Your Home

So you've made the decision to sell your house, looked into the market and talked to a real estate agent. Your head is swimming with facts, figures and neighborhood values, and it probably seems like you'll never get into escrow, much less out again. But statistics show that the best possible thing you can do to keep your final sale price up and your time on the market down is also the least expensive.

The first step is separating yourself from the idea of your house as your "home." The next place you live will be your new home. The house you're selling now is just a product, and it's your job to make every possible effort to ensure that this product is at its best for potential customers.
Home staging is the process of transforming your house from a home into a show-worthy work of art. When done correctly, staging your home can reduce its time on the market by half and add to your eventual takeaway. By presenting what you already have in the best way possible, you can forget about costly renovation projects and put your house's natural features to work. Here, we'll look at some of the best things you can do when staging your home.

10 Small Trees

There's a lot to be said for small trees. You can plant them in small yards without fear they'll take over your lot or your neighbors'. Falling leaves won't take you a whole weekend to sweep up. Roots won't lift up the sidewalk. And you can plant more than one in your average-size yard. The Arbor Day Foundation describes a small tree as up to 30 feet (9 meters) high, while a medium tree (such as blue spruceor white oak) is 30 to 70 feet (9 to 21 meters), and large trees (such as redwood or Ponderosa pine), are more than 70 feet (21 meters) high. If you're looking for a focal point in a garden, some definition to a patio or deck or want to create year-round interest with several specimens, consider the following selections.

10 Strange Islands

For people who spend most of their time on the mainland, islands can be inherently interesting places. While some lie just off the coast, many can be found dotting the remote regions of the world's great oceans like tiny homesteads on a vast, empty plain. Island scenery is often very picturesque, with prevalent ocean views, and weather can be as unpredictable as it can be beautiful. Given the isolation and allure of such locations, it's no coincidence that some of the world's most famous getaways are on islands. What some islands lack in charm, however, they make up for in peculiarity. Sometimes these strange qualities are natural, like the presence of plants, animals and geologic formations unlike any others on Earth. Other times the curiosity is man-made. Abandoned cities, haunted buildings, eccentric rituals and unexplained relics are just a few things that make many islands more bizarre than they are beautiful. Read on to discover more about Earth's most abnormal atolls.

10 Workplace Myths

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 153 million people in the United States were part of the civilian workforce in July 2010. With that many workers out there, it's no wonder that there are thousands of people starting new jobs on any given day. If you're about to start your first full-time job, or if you're just looking for something new, you're among those thousands who are gathering information, sending out résumés and getting prepared for the first day in a new workplace. As you research and prepare for the big day, you may ask for advice from friends, family and mentors. These folks are often glad to help, recounting their experiences and insisting that you take their most valuable pieces of advice to heart. But how do you know if it's applicable for you and your job? First, consider the source. The workforce is changing as quickly as culture and technology, so some of your parents' advice may be outdated. Plus, each industry is unique in what employers expect, so advice about being a software engineer is probably not valuable coming from a restaurant owner or bank executive. If you've considered the source a reliable one, the next thing to do is to separate fact from fiction. There's a lot of misinformation out there, and even the most well-meaning advisor may not know he's leading you astray. To help you get started, this article covers 10 common workplace myths you should know as you apply for jobs and before you get started that first day.

Top 10 Camping Tips

Turn on the TV, and you won't be hard-pressed to find a reality show that has something to do with camping. But, you may be wondering what life in the wilderness is really like once the cameras are turned off. Are you ready for a behind-the-scenes look into the authentic world of living up close and personal with nature? Although few things are as polished as they seem on the flat screen, camping is a popular pastime for people of all ages, all over the world. Whether they seek a test of true grit or simply a temporary escape from a fast-paced lifestyle, camping offers outdoor enthusiasts the opportunity to live the simple life. If you're embarking on the camping adventure of a lifetime, the following 10 tips will help guide your preparations and ensure your safety once you've wandered into the wild. Whether you're planning a staycation in your backyard or hitting the Appalachian trail, there's something here for every would-be and seasoned camper.

Top 10 Structurally Amazing Bridges

Bridges have been around ever since humans began to move themselves -- and their goods -- from one place to another. Early bridge engineers had to do little more than fell a tree across a ravine or stream, but they soon discovered that they could span greater distances and haul heavier loads by putting more time and energy into their structures. Roman engineers perfected the stone arch and used it to buildaqueducts -- bridges that conveyed fresh water great distances -- and similar structures to carry traffic across streams and rivers. But the Industrial Revolution took bridge building to new heights and even greater lengths. By the end of the 19th century, record-breaking bridges seemed to come fast and furious. The Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883, was the longest spanning bridge in the world -- until Scottish engineers completed the Firth of Forth Bridge just seven years later. A new century brought longer, more amazing bridges. In 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge stretched its 8,981-foot (2,737-meter) back over the treacherous waters of the San Francisco Bay. Today, engineers continue to test the limits of science and imagination. They experiment with innovative materials, designs and methods of construction. Their finished products move cars and trains. They also move people's souls. What follows is a survey of some of the most breathtaking bridges of the modern era. We've limited ourselves to just 10 bridges, but not to any particular region of the world.

10 of the Biggest IPOs in History

Friday, May 18, 2012, was a big day for American tech giant Facebook. The social media behemoth made its initial public offering (IPO) -- its debut as a publicly traded company -- on the New York Stock Exchange that day. In just one day of trading, Facebook sold 421.2 million shares of itself to investors for $38 apiece, amassing a cool $16 billion in new capital just about instantly. Facebook's IPO became the largest tech offering – and third largest overall -- in U.S. history. In the parlance of global IPO history, however, this is peanuts. Initial public offerings are as high as high finance gets. When a well-known, formerly private company goes public, investors clamor for shares. They already know the company's management, they know its earning history, its forecasts. In many cases, the only thing left to chance is how much higher the share price will go once trading begins. They're also the result of months or years of work. Companies turn to investment banks to underwrite the offerings, vet buyers, scintillate the media and value the stock. When it goes right, an IPO can mean a sudden infusion of cash in the tens of billions in just a matter of hours for some companies.

10 Expensive Restorations

There are lots of reasons to renovate a structure. Deterioration, changes in taste and the need for more space have all had an impact on the complexion of architectural refurbishment. Over the centuries, some of the most breathtaking buildings onEarth have been renovated many times. A few have maintained their original function throughout, while others have been repurposed for emerging religions and different political climates. Many have seen the predations of war and the ravages of neglect. Some of these monuments to human ingenuity are embodiments of how our tastes and priorities have changed over time, as well as the choices afforded to us in materials. Building is an expensive enterprise, and rebuilding can be even more challenging, both from a design and an economical standpoint. What we build and what we preserve from the past says a lot about us. In the next few pages, we'll explore 10 structures that have undergone expensive renovations, many more than once. Some are among the most beloved and beautiful structures ever made. First up, the palace of Westminster, or as it's more commonly known, the Houses of Parliament.

Top 10 Rare Books

What makes a book rare and valuable? It all comes down to supply and demand -- and condition. The rarest books in the world are highly sought after by collectors because they're associated with a particular author or a major historical event or era, or simply because they're incredibly old. In the world of book collecting, old means very, very old. Johannes Gutenberg developed the movable type printing press in the 1440s -- in fact, any printed book dating from 1500 or earlier is known as anincunabulum, and is virtually guaranteed to be rare and valuable. A Gutenberg Bible, printed in 1456 and considered the first book of movable type ever printed, is usually considered the zenith of book collecting. Some books become rare not because of the content of the book itself, but because a famous person owned it. If the book has personal notations in the margins, the value goes up even more. A few rare books are "sleepers" that don't betray their true value to the uninformed -- these are the books you might find at a yard sale for $1, then sell for tens of thousands of dollars. If you'd like to know how much a Gutenberg Bible is worth, how many there are in the world and why it has such lofty status, this article has all the details, along with nine more of the world's rarest books -- including those sleepers you can find in the dusty shelves of used bookstores.

10 Biggest Snowstorms of All Time

Anyone who's ever lived in a chilly climate knows snowstorms well. Sometimes the weather forecast gives ample warning, but other times these storms catch us by surprise. Plows struggle to keep roads clear, schools are closed, events are canceled, flights are delayed and everyone gets sore backs from all the shoveling and snowblowing.
But there are those rare snowstorms that exceed all forecasts, break all records and cause mass devastation (even if it's devastation that will melt in a few days or weeks). These storms are the worst of the worst, weather events that seem more like elemental blasts of pure winter rather than a simple combination of wind, temperature and precipitation.
Defining the 10 "biggest" snowstorms can be a tricky task. You can't simply rely on objective measures like the amount of snow. Often, the worst storms involve relatively modest snowfalls whipped into zero-visibility by hurricane-force winds. Some storms are worse than others because they impact major urban areas, or are so widespread that they affect several major urban areas. Timing can play a role as well -- a storm during weekday rush hour is worse than one on a Saturday morning, and a freak early storm when leaves are still on the trees can cause enormous amounts of damage. In fact, meteorologists have developed a system similar to the one used to classify hurricanes to measure the severity of winter storms. The Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS) takes in account a variety of factors and generates a single number that signifies a storm's severity, usually on a scale from one to 10 -- and sometimes higher.

10 Risky Investments

To some people, losing a dollar on a lottery ticket is an acceptable risk. To others, losing a few million dollars on the chance that a cup of coffee will cost more next year is an acceptable risk. The idea of risk in investments is largely a matter of perception.
Even so, some types of investments consistently make more money than others. Other types of investments stand a greater chance of losing money or holding steady. In general, the higher the risk of loss, the higher the chance of good returns.
"It really depends on a person's tolerance for risk and perceptions of risk," says John Grable, professor of personal finance at Kansas State University. He adds that it would be difficult to find a list of definitively bad investments.
Indeed, for every investment you place on a list, you'll have hordes of investors reporting that they made money or lost money on that particular item. The key is that while we all have plenty to gain, in tough times we tend to think twice about what we lose.

10 Green Countertops

With phrases like global warming, greenhouse effect and sustainable management being tossed around in everyday headlines, more people are focusing on the effects of their actions. It's not just about what global manufacturing companies are doing to help or hurt the environment, it's also about what people do in their everyday activities -- driving to work, cleaning their bathrooms, shopping for groceries.

So it's no wonder that eco-friendly home-building and renovation has become an entire industry, causing suppliers and homeowners to do things differently. If you follow any home design shows, magazines or Web sites, you know that the biggest projects, whether they're new construction or renovations, are often in the kitchen. It just makes sense that homeowners would be interested in how to incorporate green living into this popular living and working space.
There are lots of options to consider when you're comparing how "green" a product is. There isn't one single green standard, and most of us aren't environmental experts. So when you're looking at the green factor, a good rule of thumb is to consider three different positions: what's in the product; what did it take to produce it and get it to me; and what happens to it when I'm done with it? Using these three questions, you can do your research and decide what fits your needs and your desire to be environmentally conscious. To help, we're going to examine 10 green countertop options.

10 Restaurant Chains that Flopped

Feeling famished? Got a hankering for a Lums hotdog steamed in beer, or a Gino Giant burger drenched in Ameche 35 sauce, the fabled "banquet in a bun"? How about a plate of Minnie Pearl's down-home fried chicken? Chi-Chi's tangy nachos grande? Or maybe you're in the mood for something classier, like Steak and Ale's signature herb-roasted prime rib?
Well, too bad, because those delectable treats were on the menus of national restaurant chains that no longer exist. Whether you're talking about humble burger joints or fancy sit-down dining establishments, the restaurant trade is relentlessly, mercilessly Darwinian. Just as the sabre-toothed tigers and mastodons roamed the land eons ago, there was a more recent time when American roadsides were dotted with orange-roofed Howard Johnson's restaurants and their promise of 27 different ice cream flavors, the gleaming ivory facades of White Tower hamburger stands, and Chi-Chi's imitation Mexican cantinas, among others. Some restaurant chains lost out because of diners' changing tastes, while others were swallowed up by larger competitors. And a few succumbed ignominiously to stock market scandals, unfortunate name choices and an occasional outbreak of food-borne illness. But we also must thank defunct restaurant chains for innovations that revolutionized American casual dining, ranging from the salad bar to special kids' meals.

10 Construction Projects That Broke the Bank

We live in an era in which practically anything that can be imagined can be built: artificial islands, floating hotels, skyscrapers that cause passersby to strain their necks just looking up at them, massive underwater tunnels and bridges spanning once-unthinkable lengt­hs. But with these great construction projects come complications, including cost overruns, accidents and even utter disaster. For every great success, such as Dubai's super-swank, self-proclaimed seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel, there's a project like North Korea's Ryugyong Hotel, mired in controversy, uninhabitable and looming over the Pyongyang skyline.
In this article, we're going to take a look at 10 construction projects that broke the bank, including the Ryugyong Hotel. In making up our list, we looked at a variety of criteria: overall cost, cost overrun, size, ambition and general notoriety. Some of these projects took decades to plan and co­nstruct; a couple aren't finished and may never be. Several can be called white elephants -- eyesores or constructions infamous for their cost or general uselessness. Others fulfill their expected purposes, perhaps even serving as gems of modern engineering, but they remain controversial or well known for the costs and challenges they incurred.
­We're going to start with some lesser-known but still astoundingly pricey construction projects and then move on to some of the most famous culprits, such as the Chunnel and the Big Dig.

Top 10 Myths About the Brain

The brain is one of the most amazing organs in the human body. It controls our central nervous system, keeping us walking, talking, breathing and thinking. The brain is also incredibly complex, comprising around 100 billion neurons. There's so much going on with the brain that there are several different fields of medicine and science devoted to treating and studying it, including neurology, which treats physical disorders of the brain; psychology, which includes the study of behavior and mental processes; and psychiatry, which treats mental illnesses and disorders. Some aspects of each tend to overlap, and other fields cross into study of the brain as well.
These disciplines have been around in some form since ancient times, so you'd think that by now we'd know all there is to know about the brain. Nothing could be further from the truth. After thousands of years of studying and treating every aspect of it, there are still many facets of the brain that remain mysterious. And because the brain is so complex, we tend to simplify information about how it works in order to make it more understandable.
Both of these things put together have resulted in many myths about the brain. Most aren't completely off -- we just haven't quite heard the whole story. Let's look at 10 myths that have been circulating about the brain, starting with, of all things, its color.

10 Incredible Holes

From space, Earth looks like a smooth, blue-green marble, quietly spinning in its orbit around the sun. But the view is much different on the ground. Millions of years of tectonic upheaval and erosion, as well as thousands of years of human modification, have created a surface broken by rugged mountain ranges, deep gorges and other fantastic features. Prominent among these formations are holes -- some natural, like ocean trenches, craters, sinkholes and canyons, and some man-made, like mines and boreholes. Most of these depressions are relatively unremarkable, but some have swallowed whole city blocks, caught fire and even reached depths of nearly 8 miles (12.9 kilometers)!

Earth and its inhabitants have created a number of incredible holes. The following 10 are especially deep, large, beautiful or downright bizarre.

Top 10 Supercomputers

If someone says "supercomputer," your mind may jump to Deep Blue, and you wouldn't be alone. IBM's silicon chess wizard defeated grandmaster Gary Kasparov in 1997, cementing it as one of the most famous computers of all time (some controversy around the win helped, too). For years, Deep Blue was the public face of supercomputers, but it's hardly the only all-powerful artificial thinker on the planet. In fact, IBM took Deep Blue apart shortly after the historic win! More recently, IBM made supercomputing history with Watson, which defeated "Jeopardy!" champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in a special match. Brilliant as they were, neither Deep Blue or Watson would be able to match the computational muscle of the systems on the 2012 TOP500 list. TOP500 calls itself a list of "the 500 most powerful commercially available computer systems known to us." The supercomputers on this list are a throwback to the early computers of the 1950s -- which took up entire rooms -- except modern computers are using racks upon racks of cutting-edge hardware to produce petaflops of processing power.

Your home computer probably runs on four processor cores. Today's supercomputers use more than a million.
TOP500 relies on the Linpack benchmark, which feeds a computer a series of linear equations to measure its processing performance. The June 2012 list sees IBM's Sequoia on top of the world. Every six months, TOP500 releases a list, and a few new computers rise into the ranks of the world's fastest. Here are the current champions. Read on to see how they're putting their electronic mettle to work.

10 Remarkable Exoplanets

From a planetary perspective, there's no place like home -- as far as we know, at least. Earth has everything we need to thrive: a breathable atmosphere, a plentiful water supply and a temperate climate. But that hasn't stopped us from looking for other intriguing interstellar planets, some of which we might even colonize in the distant future. Finding these planets, known as exoplanets since they're located outside of our solar system, is difficult work.

In January 2012, we knew of more than 700 confirmed exoplanets, quite a small number considering the billions of stars in our galaxy alone. Part of the difficulty is that we can only observe exoplanets indirectly, inferring their existence by the way they affect the stars they orbit. Still, astronomers are becoming more adept at finding exoplanets all the time.
We'll journey farther and farther away from our solar system to learn about some of the most amazing exoplanet finds.

Top 10 Appliances We Can't Live Without

If you prepared a list of appliances you couldn't live without, how long would it be? Before you answer that question, imagine a typical day in your life. Did an alarm clock wake you this morning? Did you take a shower or brush your teeth? Did you grab a drink from the fridge? Has the heat or air conditioning kicked on yet to keep you comfortably warm or cool? Were the socks you put on fresh from the laundry room?

Despite the fast pace of modern living, with its uncertainties and challenges, many conveniences and small delights are the result of a network of ideas, concepts and inventions brought into being by the passionate efforts of men of science, business and faith. We don't always know their names, and sometimes their ideas overlap so we're not sure who to thank, but there are stories behind these inventions, along with a few coincidences, mysteries and lucky accidents.
Leaps in our technical know-how and our knack for using new knowledge to build on established ideas have resulted in inventions that have shaped our society and ways of thinking. Equally astonishing is the broad availability of these technologies that make them some important creature comforts available to huge numbers of people around the world.
Let's explore 10 appliances that enhance our lives and take a glimpse at the how, when and why of their existence. Some of these choices may surprise you, but life for all of us would be very different without them.

10 Evil Robots Bent on Destroying Humanity

 In science fiction, robots can be friendly, helpful machines -- C-3P0 from the "Star Wars" movie series or the watchful B-9 from the 1960s TV series "Lost in Space," who scurried about on his tank-track feet waving his arms and shouting, "Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!" immediately come to mind.
But lest we humans become too complacent about the anthropomorphic super-powered mechanical servants that we fantasize about someday creating, it's important to remember the old saying that we should be careful what we wish for. The robots we envision as our tireless, loyal friends easily could morph into frighteningly formidable adversaries. And it wouldn't take much to flip the balance.
The great sci-fi author Isaac Asimov was among the first to recognize this unsettling risk. In his 1942 short story "Runaround," later republished in the 1950 collection "I, Robot," Asimov set forth what he called the Three Laws of Robotics, which were designed to protect us from our synthetic progeny. First: A robot may not injure a human being, or allow one to come to harm through inaction. Second: A robot must obey human orders, as long as they don't contradict the first law. Third: A robot must protect itself, but only to the extent that it doesn't conflict with the first and second laws.
But in many instances in our fantasy future, those rules are honored mostly in the breach. Here are 10 examples of fictional robots that have murder in their artificial hearts.

10 Most Expensive Presidential Perks

Ever since it won independence, the United States has cherished democracy and spurned the semblance of aristocracy and monarchy. However, the need for a central executive leader -- the president -- has made it difficult to avoid giving that person preferential treatment. After all, it's a big job. Should presidents have to waste time doing their own laundry and buying plane tickets when they're signing legislation and dispatching troops?

As time's gone on, the perks of the job have become more numerous. Some of these perks have sparked controversy, such as free campaign resources at the president's disposal. But in general, the American people seem to accept this special treatment. It helps that presidents only get to be spoiled for eight years at most -- they aren't royalty from the cradle to the grave (though we will talk about post-presidential perks later). The VIP treatment also seems fitting considering the difficult road to the White House. Presidential candidates spend years and millions upon millions of dollars campaigning. Once they win, these perks eliminate the hassles and distractions from their all-important job.
But perks aren't just about making the president's life easier; instead, many are for security or just practical reasons. And having one of the highest-pressure jobs in the world probably dulls the joys of such perks. Still, it's nice to imagine what life would be like with all these extras.

10 Innovations in Winemaking

Winemaking is an 8,000-year-old tradition, and the first wines tasted ... well, terrible. People added ash, resin and even lead to "enhance" the flavor. Luckily, most wines today are pretty darn tasty on their own, thanks to modern fermentation techniques and innovations in packaging that help your wine stay fresher longer, and you certainly don't have to worry that a wine-maker used lead to improve his product's flavor!
We've also seen a big shift in where we produce wine. Once considered a hoity-toity European beverage, wine is made and drunk all over the world, and you're as likely to find a decent glass of red at your neighborhood pizza joint as at a fancy French restaurant.
Winemakers have also gotten more conscious of their environmental impacts. Since a good wine starts with the grape, and good grapes start with good soil, the wine industry has stayed on the cutting edge of sustainable agriculture. Any vintner worth his salt knows that protecting the environment is more than just good for the planet -- it's good for his wines.
With such a long history, there have been lots of innovations through the centuries, from how winemakers grow grapes to how they market those bottles. Let's look at 10 of them.

10 Misconceptions About the Flu

Millions of Americans get seasonal influenza, commonly called the flu, a contagious viral infection that attacks your respiratory system, including the nose, throat and lungs.
And the flu is nasty stuff. Each year, more than 200,000 Americans get so sick that they have to be hospitalized, and in a bad flu season, close to 50,000 people may die from flu-related illnesses. Additionally, the flu costs the U.S. economy more than $10 billion in medical expenses and another $16 billion in lost earnings.
So you'd think that by now, we'd all have a pretty good understanding of the flu and what we need to do to deal with it. Well, guess again. Consider, for example, the prudence of getting an annual flu vaccine shot, a tried-and-true method of protecting yourself from the illness that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends for all Americans ages 6 months and older.
Amazingly, despite that recommendation, fewer than half of Americans go to the trouble of getting the injection, even though it's something that they can do at the local drugstore these days.
Why are we so cavalier about our health? One part of the problem, as a 2010 Consumer Reports poll revealed, is that many of us either don't know much about the flu or have the facts dangerously wrong. For example, of the 30 percent of Americans who told pollsters they definitely wouldn't get a flu shot, 41 percent said they worried that flu vaccine was unsafe -- a belief that's been repeatedly refuted by health experts.
But with the flu, what you don't know can make you sick -- or even dead. To help you to avoid that fate, here are 10 of the most common misconceptions about the flu, along with the real facts.

10 Myths About Christmas

One of the most beloved Christmas traditions, especially in America, is decorating a Christmas tree. Most people think it's been around, well, forever. But the Christmas tree is actually a pretty recent holiday tradition. German immigrants brought the tradition here in the mid-18th century, yet 100 years later it still hadn't really caught on. In fact, it was downright controversial. The New York Times wrote an editorial against the practice in the 1880s, and when Teddy Roosevelt was president in the early 1900s, he railed against cutting down trees for Christmas, saying it was a waste of good timber. The tradition, of course, took hold regardless.
Despite Christmas' popularity among Christians and non-Christians alike, little-known facts like this -- and even outright myths -- abound. From the holiday's religious origins to Mr. and Mrs. Claus to that great, evergreen symbol, the Yuletide tree, here are 10 enduring Christmas myths, exposed at last.

5 Ways Modern Car Engines Differ from Older Car Engines

Compared to other technologies we use every day, it seems like car engines haven't really changed much. The engine in an old Ford Model T has plenty in common with the engine in a 2011 Ford Fusion, but it's doubtful Alexander Graham Bell would know what to do with an iPhone. While communications technology has changed drastically, car engines use the same basic principle: The combustion of air and fuel to create rotational force and move a car.

But while the same basic principles that drove the first car engines are still used today, modern car engines have evolved to meet the power and efficiency needs of today's drivers. Think of older car engines as wolves and modern car engines as dogs. They're share the same heritage and have similar characteristics, but one does just fine in everyday modern situations, while the other just couldn't adapt to living in a city or suburb.
Before we talk about how modern car engines are different from older ones, you need to understand the basics of how a car engine works. Basically, gasoline and air are ignited in a chamber called a cylinder. In the cylinder is a piston that gets moved up and down by the gasoline/air explosion. The piston is attached to the crankshaft. As the piston moves up and down, it makes the crankshaft rotate. The crankshaft goes out to the transmission, which transmits that power to the car's wheels. Sounds simple, right? With modern engines the basics still apply, but there's a lot more to think about.

10 Most Spectacular Lottery Burnouts

Walk into my kitchen while I'm fixing dinner any given weeknight and you'll hear "If I had a million dollars" blaring from the stereo. I've been known to chirp along to my favorite CD by Barenaked Ladies while shelling peas or blanching tomatoes: "If I had a million dollars ... I would buy you a house ... I'd build a tree fort in our yard ... I'd buy you a monkey ... If I had a million dollars ...
"I'd be rich."
While our lists might be different, we all have one, don't we? We've all dreamt of what we'd buy (or do) if we had sudden, overwhelming riches. We certainly wouldn't squander it like the lottery burnouts we've profiled for this article.
Or would we? According to a study published by the University of Kentucky in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh and Vanderbilt University Law School, lottery winners declare bankruptcy at twice the rate of the general population.
Why is this? The inability to squirrel away an unexpected windfall appears to be rooted deep in the human psyche. Money arriving by luck or circumstance is simply easier to spend than money earned through hard work. It's like finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk and splurging at your favorite coffee shop. The researchers also found that lottery winners tended to have below-average education and income, which might translate into lower financial literacy than the average not-that-financially-savvy person. Here are profiles of 10 lottery winners who won big and fell hard.

10 Inventions by Thomas Edison (That You've Never Heard Of)

Without question, our lives would be very different without the inventions of Thomas Alva Edison. This prodigious creator changed our culture in countless ways with the seemingly miraculous devices that flooded out of his New Jersey laboratory.

Edison, born in Ohio in 1847, obtained his first patent at the age of 22. The last patent in his name was granted two years after his death, in 1933. In between, he tallied 1,093 United States patents and 1,200 patents in other countries. Biographers have figured that Edison averaged a patent every two weeks during his working life. Even though many of his inventions were not unique -- and he engaged in some well-publicized court battles with other inventors whose ideas he "borrowed" -- Edison's skill at marketing and using his influence often got him the credit.
Most of Edison's inventions fall into eight main categories: batteries, electric lights and power, phonographs and sound recording, cement, mining, motion pictures, telegraphs and telephones. But while the Wizard of Menlo Park is remembered for his major inventions -- the motion picture, the incandescent light bulb and the phonograph -- his tireless mind also came up with some ideas that aren't so well known and some that weren't welcomed by the public. Keep reading to find out why members of Congress rejected a machine designed to make them more efficient and how another Edison invention frightened little girls and angered their parents. You'll also find out about a device that could have kept Edison's genius with us even today.

10 Amazing Things People's Brains Have Done

The human brain can do some amazing things - and humans can do amazing things because of it. Just to name one example, we can accept light along the visible wavelength reflected from objects in our environment into our eyes. Our optic nerves convert that light into electrochemical impulses, which is the language the brain uses to communicate. As this electricity passes along a neural network, it reaches the hippocampus, the region of the brain responsible for analyzing and categorizing these impulses.
These categories determine which region of the brain receives the impulses routed by the hippocampus. So, an impulse sent to the visual cortex suddenly becomes a large green metal road sign that we understand as our exit. We veer the car off the highway and continue on toward the grocery store happy as a lark.

Even the most mundane operations of our brains are pretty amazing. Those feats, however, are nothing compared to some of the things that a small handful of people's brains have done. What follows, in no particular order, is a tidy list of some of the most amazing -- and horrible -- things that people's brains have ever done.

5 Internet Careers for Retirees

Ah, retirement ... long, lazy days of doing nothing except exactly what you want! Yet, for some retired folks, it's not enough to play golf, enjoy hobbies, travel, and spend time with friends and family. They enjoy the challenge -- and the paycheck -- that comes with a regular job.

Going back to work is a lifestyle choice for some, while for others, it's an economic necessity. Fortunately, the Internet makes it possible for retirees to enjoy the best of both worlds: a flexible schedule, the ability to work at home without a long commute or excessive stress, and an opportunity to supplement retirement income or savings.
Read on to learn about five Internet careers for retirees that can help you stay connected, offer a personal challenge and bring in some extra dough.

10 Games that Take Minutes to Learn and a Lifetime to Master

Nolan Bushnell, the video game pioneer who invented Pong in the early 1970s, explained the game's runaway popularity by noting that it was "very simple to learn, difficult to master". But Bushnell's theorem, as that principle came to be known in the electronic entertainment industry, actually was no more than a reflection of wisdom that predates our gadgetry by thousands of years.
In an ancient Assyrian carving now in the British Museum, for example, palace guards are shown passing the time by playing the Game of Twenty Squares, invented in the city of Ur in southern Iraq about 4,600 years ago. That same game is still played today, as are scores of others in which humans toss dice, shuffle cards, and move pieces around boards in pursuit of what might seem to be the simplest of objectives -- but which, if one's opponent is sufficiently skilled and wily, often turn out to be maddeningly difficult.

That seeming paradox is what makes classic games, from chess and checkers to the Asian game of Go, so perennially appealing. As author Jesse Schell explains in his book "The Art of Game Design," such games have what he terms "emergent complexity," in that their simple rules allow players the flexibility to create a multitude of intricate scenarios. At the same time, these games also incorporate small, measured amounts of what Schell calls "innate complexity" -- that is, subtle restrictions that make them more difficult.
Here are 10 prime examples of these seemingly simple, yet delightfully complex, games.

13 Famous People Who Were Adopted

The image of the typical or "normal" American family -- with a father, mother, 2.5 kids, and a dog -- has become less and less familiar over time. These days, families are "blended" and "progressive" and more than a little creative in terms of structure. Below are a few well-known celebrities that were ahead of the curve. Each famous figure listed below was orphaned, fostered, or adopted at a young age and clearly didn't let that set them back.

Top 5 Ways to Get Smarter

What is smart? Some people judge smarts by standard benchmarks like test scores and grade point averages. Others think common sense, problem solving abilities and "street smarts" define intelligence. Standardized testing scores have proven unreliable and biased along racial and socioeconomic lines, and cramming for classes can lead to GPAs that aren't a true indicator of intelligence.
While we can't all agree on a standard for intelligence, we can agree that the human brain is the key to all of them. It has a great capacity to adapt, rewire and grow. Neural networks expand and strengthen through learning experiences. Stimuli make the brain stronger and more vital. This reinforcement of the brain's power affects intelligence across all standards, from street smarts to testing scores. Here are five ways you can increase your brain's capacity to take in and store new data. Or, said more simply, here's how you can get smarter.

10 Jaw-dropping Hollywood Scandals

Pop quiz (pun intended): Hollywood and scandal go together like which of the following?

• Rob Lowe and underage women
• Mel Gibson and anti-Semitic rants
• Marilyn Monroe and U.S. Presidents
• All of the above

If you answered all of the above, you're correct! And those are just three of the nigh-infinite number of scandals to have come out of Tinseltown. From DUIs to drug abuse and from infidelity to diagnosable insanity, celebrities provide the media with ample fodder for daily sensations.
But plenty of people cheat on their spouses and throw public fits, so why are we so interested when celebrities do it? One hypothesis is that our obsession with celebrity scandal comes from the halo effect. Research shows that when a person shows unusual talent in one area of life, we tend to believe that extends to all areas of life. This propensity to hold celebrities to a higher moral standard makes their flaws even more scandalous.
But in a town where there's no such thing as bad press, flaws aren't necessarily a negative. In fact, scandals can actually boost a celebrity's popularity; controversy can sell tickets and bring in viewers as effectively as a rave review can. Let's take a look at 10 of the most jaw-dropping scandals to come out of Hollywood.

Top 5 Future Cell Phones

Since the introduction of the iPhone, the cell phone market in the United States has started to shift. Before the iPhone, most smartphone owners in the United States were enterprise users. That means they owned a smartphone for business purposes. They'd check e-mail and browse the Web, often while driving, weaving in and out of traffic, and scaring the rest of us.
But the iPhone helped introduce the general consumer to smartphones. Its sleek design and intuitive interface appealed to a wide audience. It didn't hurt that Apple partnered with AT&T, the second-largest cell phone carrier in the United States, for distribution. Soon lots of people were exploring advanced phone features while attempting to navigate through city traffic. Isn't progress wonderful?

In many ways, the iPhone was a game-changing device. It proved that customers in the United States were ready to join the smartphone customer base. Meanwhile, users in Europe and Asia quietly chuckled while they used their own phones to watch television or control their bank accounts.
Today, it seems like it's only a matter of time before the newest smartphone to hit the market is branded as a potential iPhone-killer. The iPhone continues to sell well with each new generation of hardware, but other big names are getting into the game and we may yet see some serious competition rise in the consumer market.
With that in mind, it's time to gaze into the technological crystal ball and take a look at what the future of cell phones will be. Rather than focus on prototypes or unreleased handsets, our list, in no particular order, covers a few phones that manufacturers may one day put in the hands of consumers -- but hopefully not while they're driving.

5 Signs Your Facebook Post Will Land You on Failbook

Maybe your phone's autocorrect function has its mind in the gutter -- right when you're commenting on Facebook about something concerning your grandmother. Or perhaps you mean to privately IM a love interest -- rather than post that intensely personal message directly onto his or her profile page. Could be your knowledge of geography is a little shaky, your spelling is simply atrocious, or you just don't have a clue concerning how to actually navigate Facebook.

No matter how carefully a loved one, friend, acquaintance or archnemesis crafts his or her Facebook status updates and comments, it's virtually guaranteed that eventually a mistake or faux pas -- perhaps accompanied by a moment of awesome -- will sneak in at some point. Sometimes those departures from the humdrum will be hilarious, at least to others out there cruising around the Wild West of the Web.
Because that's where Failbook reigns supreme. Failbook, one of the many scions of the vast Cheezburger Internet empire, is set up to showcase all the "wins," "fails" and "facepalms" that haunt the spidery halls of Facebook. Visitors to Failbook are invited to upload submissions (with the pictures and names largely obscured to protect people's privacy) of moments too priceless for just one person's social network. It's all in good fun. And it's not limited to Facebook these days. The site's traditional slogan was "Too Funny to Unfriend," but in a move to be more inclusive of all the far-flung fails social media has to offer, it made some updates in July 2011. The banner currently reads Failbook+ with the slogan: "Social Media from Facepalms to High-Fives."
Failbook showcases a wide range of items, and new entries constantly push the boundaries of wonderment when it comes to demonstrating to readers just how absolutely nuts their fellow human beings are. But there are also many tried-and-true memes that just never seem to get old -- and never stop cropping up. On the next few pages, we'll go over some of those hallmark bad habits of Facebookers that never die. Not that we'd want them to.

10 Insane Disguises That Actually Worked

 In comic books, superheroes make disguise look easy. They successfully hide in plain sight even when their costumes aren't clever or, in some cases, even concealing. Seriously, didn't anyone in Metropolis ever think that Superman looked a bit like the tall, handsome journalist hiding conspicuously behind the glasses and self-deprecation?
In real life, disguises are much more difficult to pull off. Just ask any A-lister who's tried to escape the paparazzi by donning a baseball cap and sunglasses. Not only does this rarely work -- it usually results in a hideously ugly photograph on the cover of a celebrity mag.
Which is why disguises that actually conceal their owners are so impressive. Take the Boston Tea Party. Do we relish this American legend because a bunch of Massachusetts colonists tried to turn Boston Harbor into the world's biggest teapot? Sure, but there's also the fact that the colonists disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians before boarding the British tea ships and dumping 342 chests of tea overboard. They were clever and defiant -- and they got away with it.
History is filled with similar connoisseurs of camouflage, and we have an entire list to prove it. Let's start with the granddaddy of all disguises -- the horse that concealed an army that conquered an overconfident enemy.

10 Cool Things You Didn't Know About Stephen Hawking

Even if you don't follow the developing theories in physics, you have probably heard of the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking. Most known as a brilliant mind in a paralyzed body, he's prided himself on making his complex physical concepts accessible to the public and writing the bestseller, "A Brief History of Time."

And if you are a fan of Conan O'Brien, "The Simpsons" or "Star Trek," you might have seen him brandishing his cool wit during guest appearances on those shows.
Even if you are familiar with his academic work, however, there are many interesting facts you might not know about Hawking, stretching from his time at school and gradual development of disability to his opinions on the future of the human race.
Many find it surprising, for instance, that, despite his influential body of work, Hawking hasn't yet been awarded the Nobel Prize. We'll talk about some of the remarkable distinctions he has received, however.
Another interesting fact: Hawking was born on Jan. 8, 1942, which just happened to be the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death.
But this has just been the warm-up. Next, we'll delve into some fascinating and unexpected facts about Hawking, including some things about his profoundly inspirational story.

10 Really Smart People Who Did Really Dumb Things

Do you have a friend who's super smart, but when it comes to street smarts he's ... let's say "lacking"? Even the smartest people pull dumb moves sometimes, and for some reason it's extra surprising and disappointing when a smart person screws up. How could that president or general carry on an affair knowing it could easily get out? How did that company CEO think he could embezzle millions and no one would find out?
The truth is that book smarts or business savvy don't make a person perfect. Or streetwise. In fact, smart people seem prone to spectacular lapses in judgment more so than "average" people.
Why? One study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology gave logic problems to people to solve and found that smart people tended to make more mistakes than those of average intellect, because smart people were more likely to take shortcuts or make assumptions due to overconfidence. This is called the bias blind spot.
Of course, overconfidence isn't the only road to a dumb decision. Many of the dumb choices you'll see on this list were motivated by greed, pride, stress, and even sheer laziness. Let's look at 10 memorable moments of "what were you thinking?"

10 Complete Falsehoods about Food

Few childhood rituals are as memorable as a Saturday morning meal with my grandparents. Like most members of the Greatest Generation, my grandfather ate eggs and bacon for breakfast, slathered his toast with real butter and drank coffee with every meal. My grandmother made sure we never went away hungry. Both lived well into their 90s.
Today, I can scarcely bite into bacon, crack an egg or put a knife to butter without feeling a pang of guilt. Not to mention my compulsion to drink eight glasses of water a day, fill my shopping bags with organic food and snatch sugary treats from the grasps of my children. And don't get me started on the penance I pay at the gym for eating a late-night bowl of ice cream.

10 Completely Wrong Ways to Use Commas

Some say proper grammar is on its way out. Rapid-fire communications technologies, particularly short forms like texting and Twitter, seem to make the use of complete sentences, let alone correct punctuation, very 20th century.
Despite all acronymic evidence to the contrary, grammar matters -- because writing matters. As a way of communicating with others both within and well beyond one's personal sphere, writing is as good as it gets. It is, at its most basic, how we share our ideas, and in practice it's our most effective method of presenting ourselves to others. In short, the ability to write effectively is indispensible, especially in this high-tech age of physical distance combined with intellectual intimacy. And writing effectively requires the proper use of words, structures and punctuation: There are those who, on finding an egregiously misplaced comma in the first sentence of a blog post, will assume the author isn't worth reading.

10 Strange American Traditions

How do you plan on celebrating New Year's Eve this year? Will you run around the neighborhood, chucking old dishware at people's front doors? If you live in Denmark, you might do just that. Or perhaps you'll pick some famous person or event that made a splash in the news during the year, construct an effigy, then light it on fire and watch it burn? Doesn't sound like you? It might, if you were Ecuadorean.
Traditions vary widely around the world, and the ways of one society often seem downright wacky to others. American culture and traditions, thanks to the hard work of Hollywood and other arms of the nation's media multiplex, have become well-known in most corners of the map. But that doesn't always mean people in other countries find some of these customs less bizarre than Americans consider theirs.

5 Popular Invention Mashups

When early man attached a stick to a sharpened piece of stone, he set in motion a trend in the creation of tools: the mashup. Eventually, the wheel would meet water, the transistor would meet the radio, the phone would meet the printer and airplane wings would meet the rocket.

In modern times, it's nearly impossible to touch a tool -- from watches to ballpoint pens to electric razors -- that doesn't combine at least a few different technologies.
Here, we present five of the most popular tech mashups that make work easier, playtime more fun and getting around more eco-friendly.

10 Gadgets That Can Save You Money

You know that slurping sound of water going down the drain after you finish taking a shower? Well, it's not just water. If you aren't using a low-flow showerhead, that's the sound of money getting washed away.

This is just one example of money disappearing: On the following pages, you'll find a list of 10 gadgets designed to save you cash. Some of them make tried-and-true penny pinching strategies a little less daunting. Others take advantage of new technologies to find new solutions for old fiscal burdens. Some are so inexpensive and readily available that you could probably find one today. But one way or another, these 10 gadgets are intended to make your wallet a little bit thicker.