• Fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld died in Paris on Tuesday at the age of 85. The cause of death is unclear.
• The fashion designer was most famous for his work as Chanel's creative director.
• Throughout his career, Lagerfeld majorly impacted the fashion world.
• Not only did he work for a variety of brands including Balmain and Fendi, but he also helped now world-famous models enter the industry.

The fashion world is mourning the loss of Karl Lagerfeld, an iconic fashion designer widely known for his work at brands including Chanel and Fendi.

The designer died in Paris on Tuesday at the age of 85. The cause of his death is unclear.

Throughout his nearly 65-year career, the German-born designer made a major impact on the fashion industry, creating revolutionary clothing lines and introducing new models to the world.

From his first design created for Balmain, to his most recent work with models like Bella Hadid, here are 12 ways that Lagerfeld changed the world of fashion forever.

Lagerfeld entered the fashion industry after winning a design contest in 1954.

Lagerfeld was 17 years old when he entered The Fashion Design Competition, a contest held by the International Wool Association.

Not only did he ended up winning the contest, but his coat design was produced by Pierre Balmain, who took Lagerfeld on as his assistant.

He went on to prove that making a name for yourself in the fashion industry requires years of hard work.

After working alongside Balmain, Lagerfeld gained even more experience in the industry by working as the art director for designer Jean Patou.

But he wasn't afraid to take some risks and leave major designers when he felt he needed to.

In 1962, Lagerfeld became one of the first fashion designers to work freelance. The practice is extremely common today, but was revolutionary when he took the leap.

During his time as a freelancer, the German designer created clothing and accessories for the likes of Mario Valentino, Chloé, and shoemaker Charles Jourdan.

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here.

As headlines like "Amazon Is Secretly Becoming a Bank" and "Google Wants to Be a Bank Now" increasingly crop up in the news, tech giants are coming into the spotlight as the next potential payments disruptors.

And with these firms' broad reach and hefty resources, the possibility that they'll descend on financial services is a hard narrative to shy away from. To mitigate potential losses under this scenario, traditional players will have to grasp not only the level of the threat, but also which segments of the financial industry are most at risk of disruption.

Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft, collectively known as GAFAM, are already active investors in the payments industry, and they're slowly encroaching on legacy providers' core offerings. Each of these five companies has introduced features and offerings that have the potential to disrupt specific parts of the banking system. And we expect a plethora of additional offerings to hit the market as these companies look to build out their ecosystems.

However, it remains unlikely that any of these firms will become full-blown banks or entirely upend incumbents, due to regulatory barriers and the entrenched positions of big banks. Moreover, consumers still trust traditional firms first and foremost with their financial data. That means these companies are far more likely to rattle the cages of incumbents than they are to cause their total demise. That said, these companies have a proven capacity to revolutionize industries, making their entry into payments critical to watch for legacy players, especially as their moves demonstrate an intent to be a disruptive force in the industry.

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence analyzes the current impact GAFAM is having on the financial services industry, and the strengths and weaknesses of each firm's position in payments. We also discuss the barriers these companies face as they push deeper into financial services, as well as which aspects of a bank’s core business provide the biggest opportunities for the new players. Lastly, we assess these companies' future potential in payments and the broader financial services industry, and examine ways incumbents can manage the threat.

Here are some of the key takeaways: 

• GAFAM has been actively encroaching on the payments space. This includes offering mobile wallets for in-store and online payments, peer-to-peer money transfer services, and even loans for small- and medium-sized businesses. 
• These firms' broad reach and hefty resources have put them in a strong position to take on legacy players. GAFAM has products that have been adopted by millions of users, and in some cases, billions. They also have access to a tremendous amount of capital — Apple, Microsoft, and Google had over $400 billion combined in cash at the end of 2016.
• However, these firms have to overcome major barriers to compete against legacy players, which includes regulation and trust. For example, 60% of respondents to a Business Insider Intelligence survey stated that they trust their bank most to provide them financial services.
•  As a result of these barriers, it's more likely that GAFAM will make a dent in very specific segments of the financial services industry rather than completely disrupt it. 

In full, the report:

• Explains what GAFAM's done to place themselves in a position to be the next potential payments disruptors.
• Breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of each company as it relates to their ability to build out an extensive financial ecosystem. 
• Looks at the potential barriers that could limit GAFAM's ability to capture a significant share of the payments industry from traditional players. 
• Identifies what strategies legacy players will have to deploy to mitigate the threat by these tech giants.

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• Business Insider attended the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• The event has turned into the NBA's Super Bowl week, with massive amounts of fans, media, brands, players, and celebrities flooding the city to take part in the festivities.
• We documented what All-Star Weekend is like, from chaotic media sessions to brand-sponsored events to the games themselves.
• Ultimately, we were impressed by the sheer size and popularity of the event, even if it is, at times, a bit chaotic.
• Follow all of Business Insider's 2019 NBA All-Star coverage here >

The NBA's All-Star Weekend has become basketball's Super Bowl Week.

As the league grows in popularity, the weekend has turned into an event unto itself, with fans, media, players, teams, brands, and celebrities flocking for a weekend of festivities.

Business Insider was credentialed to head to the 2019 All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina. It's next-to-impossible to take in everything the weekend has to offer (while still getting work done), but we tried to document the four-day experience, from the massive media availabilities to the impact on the city, the various events, and the games themselves.

We were left impressed by the size of the weekend, its impact on Charlotte, and the overall popularity.

Here's what it's like to attend the NBA's All-Star Weekend:

Upon landing in Charlotte, the NBA All-Star Game made its presence known. There were giant sponsorship ads, while an audio message from Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker played, welcoming fans to the city.

The game itself was advertised in open spaces at the airport.

Every street light in Charlotte's city center had these banners.

• Even outside of the deal that Virginia offered to Amazon to expand its operations there, the company has been benefiting from tax breaks in the state.
• Amazon operates a number of data centers there — and Virginia offers tax abatements to the largest data center operators.
• The state has also designated land in its data center hub as an "opportunity zone," which qualifies Amazon for federal tax breaks, too.
• Amazon is estimated to pay $0 in federal taxes for 2018. This gives some insight into how that works.

While Amazon has bailed on its plans for an HQ2 office in New York, things seem to be chugging along for Virginia, the other state where the online retailer has promised a massive expansion.

A new report from Bloomberg's David Kocieniewski details some of the hush-hush dealmaking between Amazon and state officials, particularly concerning tax breaks for its plans to build a new data center for its cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services.

AWS representatives reportedly met with the governor and with the state's economic developer, Buddy Rizer, last year. Rizer is the official overseeing the state's runaway success in attracting data center operators, including AWS.

Read: I spent an uplifting day at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and discovered what it's really like to work there

Virginia is one of Amazon's most major and important locales, with one particular county, Loudoun, playing the starring role. Loudoun is said to be home to the largest concentration of data centers in the world, thanks to its proximity to a major internet interconnection hub and its low electricity rates.

Amazon keeps its data center plans under wraps, but it has leased millions of square feet across dozens of sites in that county and nearby areas for Vadata Inc., the business unit that operates Amazon’s data centers, reports Rich Miller at Data Center Frontier. Google, Facebook and many others have data centers in Loudoun, too.

Among the topics discussed at some of those meetings were tax breaks for Amazon. One such meeting reportedly occurred between AWS CEO Andy Jassy, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, and the governor's aides. In that meeting, Jassy asked for assurances that Virginia's tax breaks for data centers would continue, Bloomberg reports.

Virginia exempts sales and use-tax for the largest data centers operators, and such breaks are scheduled to sunset in 2035. In the state's 2018 fiscal year, it forgave $79 million in data center taxes, it said. But the breaks paid off as the state reaped $66.8 million over budget in tax revenues from data centers, too, reports Michael Neibauer of the Washington Business Journal.

But last year, Amazon reportedly also got another, more controversial tax break.

Although Loudoun is one of the richest counties in the nation, the state designated some of the land that Amazon was interested in there as an "opportunity zone." An "opportunity zone" is a Trump-era program that can give tax breaks to companies and developers who invest in economically-distressed communities. 

The state submitted this land for the program, the Treasury Department approved it, and the following month, AWS was under contract to build a data center there, Bloomberg reports.

Rizer's spokesperson insists that Amazon never asked for such a credit. Meanwhile the site it chose for its Virginia HQ2 offices was in Crystal City, which is not in an opportunity zone, Bloomberg also reported.

Not that Virginia is unique in its use of the opportunity zone program.

Read: Amazon Web Services is bigger than its next 4 competitors combined as cloud became a $70 billion market last year

There are plenty of critics of the program who say the rules around the opportunity are too lax, that it helps the rich more than the poor and that it hastens gentrification. 

We don't know what other tax incentives Amazon was offered by various government entities when it asked them to compete for its HQ2, because Amazon required government entities to sign non-disclosure agreements. 

However, Virginia's choices give a little insight into how Amazon reduces its tax bills. It may have paid no federal tax on its profit of $11.2 billion last year, according to progressive think-tank Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy.

Amazon declined to comment.

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• Lady Gaga and Christian Carino have ended their engagement after two years of dating, a Gaga representative told People. 
• Carino was working as Gaga's CAA agent when they first started dating in 2017. 
• Speculation of the break up started at the Grammy Awards, when Gaga was spotted without her engagement ring. 

Lady Gaga and her fiancé Christian Carino have ended their engagement, her representative confirmed to People.

"It just didn't work out. Relationships sometimes end," an insider told People. "There's no long dramatic story."

Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, and talent agent Carino started dating in February 2017, Page Six reported.

Carino, 50, was working as 32-year-old Gaga's CAA agent when they were first romantically linked. It is unclear if he is still representing the pop singer.

Rumors swirled that they were engaged in late 2017, when Gaga debuted a pink diamond ring.

Gaga didn't confirm the news until October 2018, when she thanked "my fiancé Christian" at Elle’s 25th Annual Women in Hollywood Celebration.

Read more:Lady Gaga said 'if you see somebody that's hurting, don't look away' in her emotional Grammy acceptance speech that addressed mental health issues

Speculation that Gaga and Carino had split arose at the Grammy Awards on February 10, when fans noticed that the "A Star is Born" actress wasn't wearing her engagement ring.

She also did not thank Carino when she accepted her award for "Shallow," which won the best pop duo or group award at the ceremony.

Carino didn’t attend the Grammys, but he was Gaga’s date to other award season events, including the Golden Globes.

INSIDER has reached out to a Gaga representative and Carino for comment.

Gaga was also engaged to actor Taylor Kinney before they broke off their engagement in 2016.

• Read more:
• Lady Gaga's new musical note tattoo had a major error after 'too many tequilas' but she already fixed the mistake
• Lady Gaga shared a photo of her giant 'A Star is Born'-inspired tattoo that goes all the way up her spine
• Lady Gaga defends Cardi B after the rapper leaves Instagram amid criticism over her Grammy win
• Cardi B said Lady Gaga inspired her 3 years ago and freaked out after finally meeting her at the 2019 Grammys

Join the conversation about this story »

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• I travel frequently by plane, train, and bus.
• Thankfully, since my job often includes testing and reviewing new products, I've found more than a few gadgets and accessories that make the experience better and easier.
• Below, find the 10 things I never travel without.

I've been living in New York City for the last five years, and over that time I've gotten used to frequent traveling. My family still lives in the Midwest and until recently my dearest friends lived in other states, so at least once a month I could be seen filing onto a bus, train, or plane to another destination.

And as with all things, practice makes (closer to) perfect.

Because of this, I've become much more discerning about what I travel with, in part because my job involves testing products to see which ones are worthwhile.

Below are 10 things I love to travel with, be it for their space, versatility, convenience, or reliability:

SEE ALSO: 21 products we were hesitant about at first but ended up really liking

DON'T MISS: The 11 gadgets and tech accessories I used the most while traveling abroad

(Actually) wireless earbuds that save on space and add convenience.

Jaybird RUN True Wireless In-Ear Headphones, available at Amazon, $169

I rarely travel with a checked bag anymore, so space is a top concern. For shorter trips where I don't want my Marshall over-ear headphones to take up prime real estate or get crushed, I bring along my Jaybird RUN truly wireless buds. They're tiny enough to keep in my pocket, and their charging case takes up less room than a pair of rolled socks. Plus, they've got an 8-hour playtime and on the off-chance I forgot to charge them beforehand, 5 minutes in their charging case gives me an hour of listening time. 

A carry-on that holds an impossible amount of things and can function as a duffel or backpack.

Cotopaxi Allpa 35L Travel Pack, available at Cotopaxi, $220

Plain and simple, this is the best carry-on bag I've ever found. Ever since Cotopaxi sent me a test unit almost five months ago, I haven't gone on a single trip without it.

It fits a lot, while still meeting airline restrictions for a carry-on, and since Cotopaxi is technically an outdoors gear brand, the bag itself is reminiscent of that. The Allpa inherited innovation from that space, like a low-profile harness that helps evenly distribute the weight of the pack so it's comfortable to wear even when stuffed to the brim.

It also opens like a suitcase, so you don't have to waste time digging to the bottom of a traditional backpack.

There are many great selling points to the Allpa, but for a frequent traveler, it's the versatility, durability, comfort, and roomy design that are perhaps the best of the best.

The most comfortable and supportive socks that you'll ever wear.

Shop Bombas entire selection here.

It might seem silly to have a favorite pair of travel socks, but to be fair they're my favorite pair of socks for anything. While traveling, though, you're likely on your feet for hours on end, and it's nice not to have to worry about soreness or blisters. The honeycomb support system on Bombas' socks took two years to design, and is just one upgrade that makes them the most comfortable pair you'll own. 

• Large asset managers are increasingly following in their smaller peers' footsteps, looking to outsource trading operations to cut costs. 
• New research from consultancy Opimas estimates 20% of managers with over $50 billion will outsource at least some of their operations by 2022. 
• The trend is driving revenue growth 20-30% annually at outsourced trading desk providers such as CF Global Trading and Tourmaline Partners.

The asset management industry has faced a tough few months, as volatile markets pushed billions of capital out and demand for lower fees continued to eat into revenue. 

Most small funds have long relied on bank custodians and prime brokers to run their trading operations, lacking the internal resources and trading volume to maintain a full team. Now, their larger peers are considering handing off at least some of their trading desks, according to consultancy Opimas. Foreign equities with traders operating in different time zones are the best candidates for outsourcing, as fees and flows continue to pressure the industry. 

See more: MORGAN STANLEY: Big asset managers are facing 'intensifying headwinds' with fees under pressure and market volatility on the upswing

By 2022, 20% of asset managers with more than $50 billion under management will use a third party for some or all of their trading, Opimas chief executive officer Octavio Marenzi predicts. Less than 5% of large managers currently use an outsourcing model, he told Business Insider.

"This is a global trend that will continue to pick up momentum," he said, pointing to managers in Japan, France, and Switzerland, among other countries, that are thinking about using third parties or have already done so. 

As this trend takes shape, it could mean revenue growth of as much as 30% annually for companies like CF Global and Tourmaline Partners that provide outsourced trading desk operations, the report says. 

Marenzi estimates the cost to employ an internal trader and pay for proper tech systems can top $500,000 annually. That trader can handle about $1.5 billion worth of annual equities trading, so for strategies with smaller volume, it may make more sense for another company to handle these trades. 

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The external trading groups are often part of investment banks, prime brokers, asset managers, and custodian banks, which typically charge a fee of five basis points per trade. However, the report said some managers are pushing for a subscription model, with fees independent of trading volume, or for caps on commissions after a certain level of trades. 

"Larger funds can benefit from outsourcing trading for regions or asset classes where they trade on a limited basis, or where they need additional backup for overflow trading when their internal traders are overwhelmed with spikes in trading volumes," Marenzi wrote. 

The research cited one example of a sizable firm that turned to a hybrid trading execution strategy. London-based Hermes Investment Management, which manages about $44 billion, started working with CF Global in 2012 for equities from emerging markets and non-Japan Asia, while retaining its own traders for other strategies.

Marenzi has also spoken with a number of large Japanese managers that are considering other companies for their US equities trading. 

"The main consideration here is the operational expense of maintaining full-time traders for asset classes where the asset manager does not have sufficient scale," Marenzi wrote. 

• Read more:

• It's a 'brutal' market for asset management firms, but one expert says there are 2 winners
• Money managers may see higher bonuses this year, but are bracing for job cuts in 2019
• Investors are fleeing active funds in the worst month for managers in nearly 2 years

Join the conversation about this story »

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In the last few years, there’s been a major shift as to how consumers interact with social media.

Rather than posting content that lives on the platform in perpetuity, users are now posting and viewing more “Stories,” video or images that live for only 24 hours.

Many platforms have introduced some form of Stories format — whether it be Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or WhatsApp. Snapchat was the company to introduce it to the world, but Instagram has surpassed it in terms of volume and perhaps usability.

Business Insider Intelligence has compiled a slide deck that looks into how Stories work on Instagram and Snapchat, and how brands and publishers should be using the Stories feature to reach their audiences.

This exclusive deck can be yours for FREE today. As an added bonus, you will gain immediate access to our exclusive BI Intelligence Daily newsletter.

To get your copy of the FREE slide deck, simply click here.

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• Though weddings are generally considered joyous and bright celebrations, many of their oldest traditions have dark and twisted origins. 
• Many wedding staples, like veils and bridesmaids, were originally tactics used to ward off evil spirits whose aim was to ruin the nuptials.
• In medieval times, brides started to carry bouquets — made of garlic and other herbs — to disguise their own body odor.

When one thinks of weddings, one generally thinks of happiness: they're a day to celebrate family, friends, and, most importantly, the start of a new phase of life.

But historically, weddings were riddled with fear. Many traditions, like bridal veils and bridesmaids, had to do with warding off evil spirits. Engagement rings were originally worn to signify ownership, and the father "giving away" the bride used to be strictly business.

Here are 10 wedding traditions with surprisingly dark origins. 

Romans used engagement rings to indicate ownership.

According to the American Gem Society, anthropologists believe that engagement rings date back to a Roman custom in which wives wore rings with keys attached, which indicated that their husbands owned them. 

Engagement rings began to get a little less dark in 1477, when Archduke Maximilian of Austria commissioned an extravagant diamond ring for his new wife. The accessory grew in popularity in the Victorian era, and gradually the diamond ring trend trickled down from nobility to the masses.

Bridesmaids originally dressed alike to confuse vengeful spirits from harming the bride.

There is a theory that the tradition of bridesmaids dressing alike dates back to ancient Rome, the bride considered to be prime bait for vengeful spirits. So, all the women dressed alike to confuse the spirits from interrupting the bride and groom's nuptials.

Another theory, however, dates back to the Victorian era. Dr. Liz Gloyn, a lecturer in Classic and Royal Holloway at the University of London, told The Independent that the tradition stemmed from fear of competition.

"It is my belief that by regulating the bridesmaids formally into exactly the same garments, there was no room for any of them to try and outdo each other, let alone the bride, through the use of grander fabric, grander jewelry," Dr. Gloyn said.

Centuries ago, a groom had to "kidnap" the bride if her family disapproved of their union. The best man was put in place to defend the groom in case the family retaliated.

The best man originated as the groom's choice protector. Many centuries ago, it was common for a groom to "steal" a bride from her family if they didn't approve of the union — and it was the best man's job to fight the family if they retaliated. 

It was also common practice for the best man to stand next to the groom with a sword in tow on the day of the wedding. In fact, ancient groups like the Huns, Goths, and Visigoths would store weapons in the floor of the church in the event of a brawl.

• Ten hours after announcing he would run in the 2020 US presidential election, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont raised more than $4 million from nearly 150,000 individual donors, the campaign said in an email on Tuesday.
• Faiz Shakir, Sanders' campaign manager, could not confirm the exact amount on Tuesday afternoon but said in an email to INSIDER: "They're YUGE."
• Sanders' figures set a new record for first-day donations in the 2020 race.
• Sen. Kamala Harris, another 2020 Democratic candidate, previously held the title after raising $1.5 million from 38,000 donors within the first day of her campaign, Politico reported in January.

Ten hours after announcing he would run in the 2020 US presidential election, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont raised more than $4 million from nearly 150,000 individual donors, the campaign said in an email on Tuesday.

Faiz Shakir, Sanders' campaign manager, could not confirm the exact dollar figure earlier on Tuesday afternoon but said in an email to INSIDER: "They're YUGE."

Sanders' numbers set a new record in first-day donations in the 2020 race.

Sen. Kamala Harris, another 2020 Democratic candidate, previously held the title after raising $1.5 million from 38,000 donors within the first day of her campaign, Politico reported in January. Harris' first-day campaign donations averaged $37, and the total amount is tied with Sanders' during his 2016 campaign.

"More than 100,000 people have donated to our campaign since we launched this morning," Sanders' Twitter account said on Tuesday afternoon. "Brothers and sisters, if we stand together, there is no limit to what we can accomplish."

Sanders confirmed he was running for president during an interview with Vermont Public Radio on Tuesday.

"I wanted to let the people of the state of Vermont know about this first," Sanders said in the interview. "And what I promise to do is, as I go around the country, is to take the values that all of us in Vermont are proud of — a belief in justice, in community, in grassroots politics, in town meetings — that's what I'm going to carry all over this country."

"I have been very blessed in my life with good health," Sanders added. "I'm very lucky that as a kid I was a long-distance runner, and I think I had and still have a great deal of energy. So I would ask people to look at the totality of who I am — my energy level, my record in the US Senate — and not just at one criterion."

If elected, Sanders would be 79 years old at the time of his inauguration and the oldest US president in history.

He joins a number of other Democrats who have declared their candidacies, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland, former state Sen. Richard Ojeda of West Virginia, the acclaimed author Marianne Williamson, and the former tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

SEE ALSO: Bernie Sanders announced he's running for president again, but there are 3 major challenges the Democrats will be facing heading into 2020

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• The Dreampad Pillow ($160), as seen on "Shark Tank," plays music only you can hear through bone conduction.
• The Dreampad app is pre-loaded with 10 songs engineered to combine ambient music, nature sounds, and the rhythms and frequencies most conducive to deep sleep.
• The company claims its pillow is more effective than external white noise machines because the music travels through you internally and should trigger your nervous system's relaxation response.
• I tried the Dreampad, and it really does work.
• For $160, there are cons to consider, but it's a good option for anyone who wants to listen to soothing music without bothering their partner, or who needs a low-risk or relatively low-cost solution to troubled sleeping.

I have always liked falling asleep to music. Many of my memories of living in my parent's house include waking up to my mom pulling earbuds out of my ears to chastise me for falling asleep with them in.

So when Dreampad sent one of their patented pillows that plays music over to our office, I was looking forward to trying it out.

If you haven't been initiated yet, the Dreampad Pillow ($160) is a "Shark Tank" alum that plays music through bone conduction — meaning that only you should be able to hear it. This way, you can be lulled to sleep by mellow noises without deciding both you and your partner are going to be listening to crashing waves or the TV on low all night.

The tones have been specially designed to reduce stress, induce relaxation, and promote longer and better sleep. And while there's a useful application for someone like me who simply prefers music while falling sleep but lives between four paper-thin walls, there's a more impactful usage. Dreampad says research studies, including those conducted in tandem with Columbia University Medical, have shown success for people who suffer from light stress-related sleep difficulties to clinically based sleep issues — a sentiment that's echoed in some of its more enthusiastically positive Amazon reviews.

In practice, the Dreampad worked surprisingly well. I was impressed to find that I could hear the music perfectly with my head on the pillow but heard nothing once I lifted my head off. There were a few exceptions of some songs that could be heard on a very low volume, but, all in all, it does what it claims to do.

The Dreampad app is pre-loaded with music engineered to combine ambient music, nature sounds, and the rhythms and frequencies most conducive to deep sleep. You can set any of the 10 sounds available to play for a few minutes or through the night to reduce the risk of waking up. You can also adjust the volume. 

Aside from its obvious practicality, Dreampad says its pillow is more effective than external white noise machines. Instead of traveling through the airwaves to your outer ear, Dreampad music travels internally through your body, ideally triggering your nervous system's relaxation response.

In terms of comfort, I find myself preferring the Dreampad pillow in Medium Support ($160) to others in my bed just for its plush density. It's hypoallergenic, has a 100% cotton shell, and is, overall, a comfortable pillow on its own.

You can opt for slim, medium, or firm support. 

Some parents use it with an old iPhone to get their kids to fall asleep without issue, and some reviewers mention that it's even helped with insomnia.

Having said that, the Dreampad has some cons. Unless you pick up the Bluetooth receiver ($19), you have to plug your phone into the pillow at night, which could pose a problem if you have an iPhone 7 or above and charge your phone at the same time. In that case, you might need to pick up an adapter. For $160, I wish the Bluetooth receiver came with the pillow already.

While there is an alarm, I wouldn't rely on it as your main one, especially if you're a restless sleeper. I often found myself rolling off it throughout the night.

Lastly, though you technically can play your own music through the pillow, it's been specially designed to play only the low-frequency music designed for inducing sleep already in the app. If you're looking for something to induce a restful sleep rather than function as a more practical bedtime media player, this con really doesn't matter. But if you expect to play your Spotify "sleep playlist" on it, you'll be greeted by your playlist as it sounds underwater.

If you opt to get one and don't find that it works for you, or you have an issue with one of the other cons, you have 30 days to return.

All in all, if you're looking for a way to induce sleep and find that white or ambient noise helps you, the Dreampad works for the purpose it was designed for. It comes with some cons (some of which you can address with a Bluetooth receiver or adapter), but is overall a great option for anyone looking to get to sleep faster or deeper — especially those who might want to spare their partner from the same nighttime preferences.

Get the Dreampad Sleep Technology Music Pillow, available in Slim, Medium, and Firm Support, from Bed Bath & Beyond for $160

SEE ALSO: 21 products we were hesitant about at first but ended up really liking

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• In early February, Google announced that Assistant would now work with its home security and alarm system Nest Secure.
• The problem — users didn't know a microphone even existed on their Nest security devices to begin with.
• On Tuesday, a Google spokesperson told Business Insider it had made an "error."
• "The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs. That was an error on our part," the spokesperson said.

In early February, Google announced that its home security and alarm system Nest Secure would be getting an update — users could now enable its virtual assistant technology, Google Assistant.

The problem: Nest users didn't know a microphone even existed on their security device to begin with.

The existence of a microphone on the Nest Guard (which is the alarm, keypad, and motion sensor component in the Nest Secure offering) was never disclosed in any of the product material for the device.

On Tuesday, a Google spokesperson told Business Insider the company had made an "error."

"The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs. That was an error on our part," the spokesperson said.

Google says that “the microphone has never been on and is only activated when users specifically enable the option.”

Read more:Google is reabsorbing Nest, the smart home company it bought for $3.2 billion in 2014

It also said the microphone was originally included in the Nest Guard for the possibility of adding new security features down the line, like the ability to detect broken glass.

Still, even if Google included the microphone in its Nest Guard device for future updates — like its Assistant integration — the news comes as consumers have grown increasingly wary of major tech companies and their commitment to consumer privacy.

For Google, the revelation is particularly problematic and brings to mind previous privacy controversies, such as the 2010 incident in which the company admitted that its fleet of Street View cars "accidentally" collected personal data transmitted over consumers' unsecured WiFi networks, including emails.

Google bought Nest — which was initially known for its smart thermostat device — back in 2014 for $3.2 billion. It became a standalone company in 2015 when Google reorganized as Alphabet, but in February 2018, it was brought back into Google under the leadership of head hardware exec Rick Osterloh.

Today, Nest offers a variety of IoT products including smoke detectors, video doorbells, and security cameras.

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via Signal at +1 (209) 730-3387, email at nbastone@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at @nickbastone.

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NOW WATCH: How Apple went from a $1 trillion company to losing over 20% of its share price

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here.

Of the many technologies reshaping the world economy, distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) are among the most hyped. DLTs are most often associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, but such coverage sidelines the broader use cases of DLTs, even though they stand to make a far bigger impact on the broader the financial services (FS) industry.

DLT's value lies in its ability to centralize record-keeping, while cutting out the need for authorization by an overseeing party, instead allowing a record to be confirmed by multiple parties with access to the database. This means DLTs have the potential to streamline financial institutions' (FIs) operations, boost data security, improve customer relationships, and drastically cut costs. But many FIs have struggled to implement DLTs and reap the rewards, because of organizational obstacles, but also because of issues rooted in the technology itself. There are a few players working to make the technology more usable for FIs, and progress is now being made.

In a new report, Business Insider Intelligence takes a look at what DLTs are and why they hold so much promise for FS, the sectors in which DLTs are gaining the most traction and why, and the efforts underway to remove the obstacles preventing wider DLT adoption in finance. It also examines the few FIs close to unleashing their DLT projects, and how DLTs might transform the nature of FS if adoption truly takes off. 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• DLTs are proving attractive to FIs because of their ability to act as a single source of truth, distribute information securely, cut out middlemen, improve transaction times, and cut redundancy and costs.
• DLTs like blockchain and smart contracts stand to save the FS industry up to $50 billion a year through improved operational efficiencies, reduced human error, and better regulatory compliance. 
• The technology is being explored actively across FS, with trade finance, insurance, and capital markets proving especially active. Overall adoption is still low because of organizational and technical hurdles, but these are now being eliminated, promising to boost implementation.
• A few FIs have pulled ahead of the curve and are very close to taking their DLT projects live, if they haven't already. These players can serve as useful case studies for other institutions in getting their DLT solutions live.

In full, the report:

• Looks at what DLTs are, and why the FS industry is working hard to make use of them. 
• Gives an overview of the financial segments which are seeing the most DLT activity, and what they stand to gain.
• Outlines efforts being made to make DLT more approachable and usable for the FS industry.
• Examines use cases in which FIs have managed to take their pilots live, and what they can teach their peers. 

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• Bank of America Merrill Lynch has lost a star in its stock-trading division.
• Bill Hillegass, 35, is leaving his post as head of equity derivatives in the Americas after less than two years. 

A 35-year-old stock-trading star and head of equity derivatives in the Americas has quit Bank of America Merrill Lynch after a year and a half at the firm.

William "Bill" Hillegass ditched Barclays to run equity derivatives in the US for Bank of America in August 2017, but now he's leaving the bank to join a top buy-side firm, according to people familiar with the matter.

It wasn't immediately clear which firm Hillegass is headed to. 

A Bank of America spokeswoman declined to comment. Hillegass did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Hillegass is one of a slew of top equity derivatives traders to switch posts in the past year amid a rebound in the business and a war for talent.

As volatility surged back in early 2018 and stoked the derivatives markets, a merry-go-round of traders swapped seats at big banks. Bank of America, for instance, lost Ross Mtangi last spring to Credit Suisse, which hired him as global head of flow derivatives. Shortly after, the bank turned around and hired David Kim away from JPMorgan Chase. 

Some are predicting another rash of moves in equities now that bonuses for 2018 – a stellar year for equity derivatives revenues – have been announced or paid out at most banks, and Hillegass may just be the first domino to fall. 

The trader started his career at UBS in 2003, before joining Lehman Brothers in 2007 just prior to the financial crisis, according to his LinkedIn profile. Hillegass then spent eight years at Barclays.

This story is developing. 

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NOW WATCH: A $265 billion investment chief says one of the most valuable economic indicators is signaling a recession in about 18 months

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Outside of the US Postal Service (USPS), FedEx and UPS have dominated the domestic logistics industry — and in particular, the last-mile of the delivery — for decades. On a quarterly earnings call in 2016, FedEx estimated that itself, UPS, and USPS executed a whopping 95% of all e-commerce orders.

But rapidly rising volumes have put the pair of legacy shippers in a bind. E-commerce sales have risen over 50% and are projected to continue their ascent into the next decade. High volumes are already straining shippers' networks — UPS struggled to bring consumers their parcels on time due to higher-than-anticipated package volume, which upset some big-name retail partners, including Macy's, Walmart, and Amazon. As online sales surge further, package volumes will outstrip legacy shippers' capacities, creating space for new entrants. 

Amazon is uniquely well-positioned to dethrone UPS and FedEx's duopoly. It's built up a strong logistics infrastructure, counting hundreds of warehouses and thousands of delivery trucks.

Further, as the leading online retailer in the US, it has a wealth of data on consumers that it can use to craft a personalized delivery experience that's superior to UPS and FedEx's offerings. Amazon must act soon, however, as UPS and FedEx are hard at work fortifying their own networks to handle the expected surge in parcel volume.

The longer the Seattle-based e-tailer delays the launch of a delivery service, the more it runs the risk that these legacy players will be able to defend their territory. 

In a new report, Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, explains how the age of e-commerce is opening up cracks in UPS and FedEx's duopoly. We then outline how Amazon's logistics ambitions began as an effort to more quickly get parcels out the door and fulfill its famous 2-day shipping process and how it'll be a key building block for the company if it builds out a last-mile service. Lastly, we offer concrete steps that the firm must take to maximize the dent it makes in UPS and FedEx's duopoly.

The companies mentioned in this report are: Alibaba, Amazon, FedEx, and UPS.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• While UPS and FedEx have dominated the US last-mile delivery market for the last few decades, the surge in e-commerce is creating more volume than shipping companies can handle.
• Amazon is uniquely well-positioned to put a dent in UPS and FedEx's duopoly due to its strategic position as the leading online retailer in the US.
• Amazon can carry its trust amongst the public, a wealth of consumer data, and its ability to craft a more personalized delivery experience to the last-mile delivery space to ultimately dethrone UPS and FedEx.
• The top priority for Amazon in taking on UPS and FedEx needs to be offering substantially lower shipping rates — one-third of US retailers say they'll switch to an Amazon shipping service if it's at least 20% cheaper than UPS and FedEx. 

In full, the report:

• Outlines Amazon's current shipping and logistics footprint and strengths that it would bring to the last-mile delivery space in the US.
• Lays out concrete steps that Amazon must take if it wants to launch a standalone last-mile delivery service, including how it can offer a more memorable, higher-quality delivery experience than UPS and FedEx.
• Illustrates how Amazon can minimize operating costs for a delivery service to ultimately undercut UPS and FedEx's shipping rates in the last-mile space.

SEE ALSO: Amazon and Walmart are building out delivery capabilities

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Tech-driven disruption in the insurance industry continues at pace, and we're now entering a new phase — the adaptation of underlying business models. 

That's leading to ongoing changes in the distribution segment of the industry, but more excitingly, we are starting to see movement in the fundamentals of insurance — policy creation, underwriting, and claims management. 

This report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, will briefly review major changes in the insurtech segment over the past year. It will then examine how startups and legacy players across the insurance value chain are using technology to develop new business models that cut costs or boost revenue, and, in some cases, both. Additionally, we will provide our take on the future of insurance as insurtech continues to proliferate. 

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Funding is flowing into startups and helping them scale, while legacy players have moved beyond initial experiments and are starting to implement new technology throughout their businesses. 
• Distribution, the area of the insurance value chain that was first to be disrupted, continues to evolve. 
• The fundamentals of insurance — policy creation, underwriting, and claims management — are starting to experience true disruption, while innovation in reinsurance has also continued at pace.
• Insurtechs are using new business models that are enabled by a variety of technologies. In particular, they're using automation, data analytics, connected devices, and machine learning to build holistic policies for consumers that can be switched on and off on-demand.
• Legacy insurers, as opposed to brokers, now have the most to lose — but those that move swiftly still have time to ensure they stay in the game.

 In full, the report:

• Reviews major changes in the insurtech segment over the past year.
• Examines how startups and legacy players across distribution, insurance, and reinsurance are using technology to develop new business models.
• Provides our view on what the future of the insurance industry looks like, which Business Insider Intelligence calls Insurtech 2.0.

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• On Tuesday, Redis Labs announced it closed $60 million in series E financing.
• Redis Labs changed its license last year — a move that proved controversial among open-source developers— in response to Amazon taking Redis Labs' database software and selling it on its cloud.
• Despite the competition from Amazon, Redis Labs showed investors that it was able to grow quickly, and investors agreed with the licensing change, says Ofer Bengal, the company's cofounder and CEO.

Redis Labs has been living under the specter of Amazon for some time.

Redis Labs is best known as the creator of the free, open-source Redis database, which has only grown more popular among developers since its introduction in 2011, thanks in large part to the speed with which it gives results.

That popularity has translated into fast growth. In 2018, Redis Labs saw 60% revenue growth from the year before, from sales of its paid enterprise edition with more features. In November, it hired its first CFO, Rafael Torres, ahead of an initial public offering it plans to hold in about two years, Redis Labs' CEO, Ofer Bengal, says.

But because Redis is open source — meaning others can use, download, or modify the software in any way they want, free — it also means Amazon Web Services was within its rights when it took Redis, packaged it up, and sold it as a service for a profit, as it did starting in 2013.

"We lived with the Amazon competition from day one," Bengal said. "All this time we learned to live with it, although it hurts because they make hundreds of millions of dollars each year on Redis alone. These are revenues that are taken from us. Redis is the fruit of our development efforts ... They didn't add any significant functionalities to it and basically just packaged the open source into a fully managed service which they offer over AWS."

Still, Bengal says the company's fast growth offset investor concerns about Amazon. And on Tuesday, Redis Labs announced it closed $60 million in series E financing led by Francisco Partners, with participation by the existing investors Goldman Sachs, Bain Capital Ventures, Viola Ventures, and Dell Technologies Capital.

"We are building our company to be a leading database company," Bengal said. "The landscape has changed a lot. Ten to 20 years ago, it was insane to build a new database company because of the dominant position of Oracle. Today, everyone understands that there's a market that's open, and there's room for several database companies."

Competition from Amazon

Just because Redis Labs has grown on its own merits, it doesn't mean the company is taking the competition from Amazon lying down.

Last year, Redis Labs made ripples in the open-source community when it announced it would adopt the Commons Clause— a controversial new provision in its software license that would prevent Amazon, or any other large cloud provider, from taking components of Redis' code and selling it for a profit.

Read more: 2 software companies, fed up with Amazon, Alibaba, and other big cloud players, have a controversial new plan to fight back

When Redis Labs first added the Commons Clause, open-source developers were divided, fretting that putting provisions on how the software was used could undermine the meaning of open source. But Redis Labs was soon joined by companies like Confluent and MongoDB in taking similar stands.

"I think people understand we need to update the open-source concept," Bengal said. "I think today people are OK with it. In terms of the business itself, it has no impact on our business whatsoever. We didn't see any deduction."

In fact, Bengal says, it will help Redis Labs become more competitive with Amazon. While AWS is still free to use the older versions of Redis, which are still under the previous license, it means that it's blocked by the license from taking advantage of features in any future releases.

"Our newest innovation is not open to them anymore," Bengal said. "They can't adopt them anymore because of our new license. We base our potential future growth on those new innovations which we constantly bring to the market … And the competition from Amazon will become less and less."

Risks and rewards

This approach does have its risks, though, and the new licenses aren't a silver bullet. Though its new license prevented Amazon from selling MongoDB's own open-source database software, it didn't stop Amazon from creating its own version based on the same concepts.

"MongoDB just now feels the power of the Amazon competition," Bengal said.

Still, he says, the time is right for change in the way that open source and cloud computing work with each other.

"Everyone understands that what happens with cloud providers and open source today is unfair," Bengal said. "If it will continue without change, there is no reason for anyone to distribute open-source code without Amazon picking up the code at the expense of the creator. We were the first company to really do it."

Bengal says only time will tell whether the new license will actually help Redis Labs in terms of its business. But he says the logic of changing the license resonated well with investors.

"Most investors in open source, they have the same interest as the company, which is to protect the assets of the company, and this license is very much what it is," Bengal said. "It's very constructive in this approach."

Read more: Here's why investors are throwing money at startups that give away their software free

With the new funding, Redis Lab plans to invest in its global go-to-market strategy, the Redis community, and more high-performance features in the software. To date, Redis Labs has raised $146 million.

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NOW WATCH: Bud Light's 'Dilly Dilly' just made a comeback at the Super Bowl with a weird crossover ad with Game of Thrones — here's what the phrase means

This is a preview of The Reverse Logistics Report from Business Insider Intelligence. Current subscribers can read the report here.

With e-commerce becoming a lucrative shopping channel, retailers and their logistics partners have been primarily focused on how to quickly move goods through the supply chain and into the hands of consumers — a process commonly referred to as forward logistics. However, the opportunities presented by the growing popularity of e-commerce also come with a challenging, multibillion-dollar downside: returns.

Return rates for e-commerce purchases are between 25% and 30%, compared with just 9% for in-store purchases. Turning reverse logistics — the process of returning goods from end users back to their origins to either recapture value or properly dispose of material — into a costly and high-stakes matter for retailers.

Not only are retailers experiencing more returns as a result of e-commerce growth, but consumer expectations also demand that retailers provide a seamless process. In fact, 92% of consumers agree that they are more likely to shop at a store again if it offers a hassle-free return policy (e.g. free return shipping labels). Some consumers even place large orders with the intention of returning certain items. 

And e-commerce sales are only going up from here, exacerbating the issue and making retailers' need for help more dire. However, for logistics firms that can offer cost-effective reverse logistics solutions, this has opened up a significant opportunity to capture a share of rapidly growing e-commerce logistics costs in the US, which hit $117 billion last year, according to Armstrong & Associates, Inc. estimates. 

InThe Reverse Logistics Report, Business Insider Intelligence examines what makes reverse logistics so much more challenging than forward logistics, explores the trends that have driven retailers to finally improve the way in which returns move through their supply chains, and highlights how logistics firms can act to win over retailers' return dollars.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• E-commerce is now a core shopping channel for retailers, and it's still growing. US e-commerce sales are set to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% between 2018 and 2023, surpassing $1 trillion in sales, according to Business Insider Intelligence estimates.
• Booming e-commerce sales have driven product returns through the roof. Business Insider Intelligence estimates that US e-commerce returns will increase at a CAGR of 19% between 2018 and 2023, surpassing $300 million dollars. 
• Consumers have high expectations about how returns are handled, and retailers are struggling to find cost-effective ways to meet their demands. Sixty-four percent of shoppers stated they would be hesitant to shop at a retailer ever again if they found issues with the returns process. And retailers don't have the expertise to effectively keep up with how demanding consumers are about returns — 44% of retailers said their margins were negatively impacted by handling and packaging returns, for example.
• Logistics firms are well positioned to solve — and profit from — returns. These companies can take advantage of their scale and expertise to solve pain points retailers commonly experience as goods move through the reverse supply chain. 
• Reverse logistics solutions themselves present a lucrative opportunity — but they're also appealing in the potential inroads they offer to supply chain management. The global third-party logistics market is estimated to be valued at $865 billion in 2018, according to Bekryl. 

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• The FBI is working with the US Postal Service to look into whether "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett was involved in the threatening letter sent to him in January, sources told ABC News.
• On January 22, a letter containing racist and homophobic threats and a white powder that was determined to be aspirin was addressed to Smollett at the Chicago’s Cinespace Studios, where "Empire" is filmed.
• Smollett says he was attacked by two individuals on January 29. The openly gay actor claims the attackers made racist and homophobic comments, beat him up, poured a chemical on him, and tied a rope around his neck.
• In a statement to INSIDER, the Chicago Police Department confirmed that information from the persons questioned had changed their trajectory, and the department hopes to speak to Smollett's attorneys for another interview.

The FBI is working with the US Postal Service to look into whether "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett was involved in a threatening letter he recieved on January 22, sources told ABC News.

A letter containing racist and homophobic threats and a white powder that was determined to be aspirin was addressed to Smollett at the Chicago’s Cinespace Studios, where "Empire" is filmed.

Two federal officials told ABC News they are looking into whether Smollett played a role in the sending of that letter. INSIDER contacted both the FBI and USPS for confirmation and did not hear back prior to publication.

Smollett told police he was attacked by two individuals on January 29. The openly gay actor claims that the attackers made racist and homophobic comments, beat him up, poured a chemical on him, and tied a rope around his neck.

There was no security footage of the attack, but cameras did catch two individuals near the location of the alleged attack.

Last Wednesday, the Chicago Police Department took two brothers, who have been identified by news organizations as Olabinjo Osundario and Abimbola Osundairo, into custody. The Osundario brothers were questioned, but not charged and were released on Friday. According to CNN, they are cooperating with the investigation.

On Thursday, February 14, officials with the Chicago Police Department said they didn't have reason to believe Smollett orchestrated the attack.

However, by Friday afternoon the department said that the investigation had "shifted," and on Saturday, two law-enforcement sources told CNN that CPD believed Smollett may have staged the attack and paid the two brothers.

In a statement to INSIDER on Tuesday, the CPD confirmed that information from the persons questioned had changed its trajectory, and the department hopes to speak to Smollett's attorneys for another interview.

On Saturday, Smollett's attorneys Todd S. Pugh and Victor P. Henderson released a statement to CNN in response to reports that he staged the attack.

"As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with," the statement to CNN read. "He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying."

INSIDER contacted Smollett's representative and his legal team for comment. We will update as necessary.

Smollett was reportedly cut from some "Empire" scenes this week while the investigation continues.

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NOW WATCH: Earth's north magnetic pole is on the move — here's what will happen when our poles flip

2019 will be a year of opportunities and challenges in the world of digital media.

The digital duopoly of Google and Facebook will face unprecedented regulatory scrutiny, as Amazon muscles its way into the digital ad space.

Meanwhile, pay-TV companies will continue to struggle as cord-cutting accelerates and TV consumption shifts to digital, and millennials and Gen Z will drive explosive growth in eSports.

Find out about these transformational trends and more in Business Insider Intelligence’s Top 10 Trends in Digital Media slide deck.

As an added bonus, you will gain immediate access to our exclusive Business Insider Intelligence Daily newsletter.

To get your copy of this FREE slide deck, simply click here.

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