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Beauty, grace, bravery, and wits may be the makings of a Disney princess, but there’s a whole lot more beneath the surface.

Over the years, fourteen women have lent their voices to bring Cinderella, Belle, Ariel, Mulan, and the others to life.

There’s Adriana Caselotti, who beat out 150 actresses for the part of Snow White, and Filipina actress Lea Salonga who voiced not one but two Disney princesses. These leading ladies are as impressive as their animated counterparts.

Snow White befriends small forest creatures and takes a long, curse-induced nap in 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

In real life, Adriana Caselotti was a convent-educated teenager who beat out 150 actresses for the part.

Walt Disney personally hired 18-year-old Adriana Caselotti for the role of Snow White in his first feature-length cartoon. She made $20 a day reciting lines and singing, which is reportedly less than one of the actors who voiced a dwarf.

After “Snow White,” Caselotti sang opera, worked briefly in real estate and the stock market, and wrote a book on singing.

In 1950’s “Cinderella,” the titular princess made an unforgettable appearance at a ball.

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Microsoft on Tuesday launched a new website that asks people to contribute app ideas for the HoloLens, the company’s augmented reality headset that lets you see virtual elements in the real world.

It’s all part of a contest: Submit an idea for a HoloLens app before Jan. 11, 2016, and Microsoft will choose the three best ideas to be put up for a final vote on Twitter. Microsoft will then build the winning idea as an application for its futuristic HoloLens.

According to Microsoft, the winner will also be involved with the development of the application, with the ability to contribute to “weekly build reviews, Q&A sessions, and more.”

Microsoft says it would make sure the winning app is “universal,” meaning it would also be able to run on other devices running Microsoft’s operating system, Windows 10.

If you don’t want to submit an app idea, you can also visit Microsoft’s website to view and comment on other people’s ideas, and vote for your favorite ones.

We’ve seen the HoloLens in numerous demos from Microsoft over the last year, but the company is finally ready to release a first edition for developers starting in early 2016. The augmented reality headsets will cost $3,000 apiece.

You can read all the rules for Microsoft’s HoloLens contest here. Watch the video below to understand how the contest works.

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November marked a rather important milestone since my recent move to California. My state driver’s license arrived in the mail, and I bought weed legally for the first time.

Before relocating from New York to the Golden State, I heard it was inconceivably easy to get cannabis here (though admittedly, it’s now even more convenient in places like Washington and Oregon). All you had to do was tell a doctor you suffer from back pain, and voilà, the stoner-fairy godmothers would descend and grant you a medicinal marijuana ID card, allowing you to possess quantities pursuant with California law.

Thanks to startups like Eaze and Meadow, you can get a prescription online in minutes and have the product delivered to your doorstep.

As a frequent sufferer of anxiety and migraines, both conditions that are alleviated by medicinal marijuana use, I decided to try these services for myself. Turns out, it is easy.

Under California Prop 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act, patients may obtain and use marijuana for medicinal treatment if they have a letter from a physician.

So, one day during my lunch break two weeks ago, I headed over to Eaze.com.

Eaze launched in 2014 as a medicinal marijuana delivery service, earning it the nickname “Uber for weed.”

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London-based online stockbroker iDealing is launching commission-free trading for any stocks listed on the Dutch, French, or Belgian Euronext markets.

It makes iDealing the first brokerage in Europe to offer free trading and one of only a handful of companies to do it in the world, with Robin Hood in the US the other notable provider.

iDealing, which has been around since 2000, is able to offer free trading by being lean and mean. The brokerage employs just 17 people and has developed software that can automate and execute as many processes as possible to cut down costs.

Its headcount is in stark contrast to the huge dealing floors that traditionally dominate the City of London.

CEO and founder Lee Foster Bowman told Business Insider: “We’re basically a software house. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do unless we could build a software that allows us to run at this size.”

Small to medium sized brokerages normally rely on third parties for clearing, settlement, and holding of shares, which of course incurs costs. iDealing has bought it all in house to make free trading viable.

Foster Bowman says it “took longer than expected and it was harder than expected,” saying: “To do it today is still quite difficult.”

He says: “When we launched in the UK we launched as a super discount broker. The underlying principle that drove the internet boom is if you develop a system that eliminates error you can pass cost savings on to the customer.”

Foster Bowman says the switch to commission-free trading will have “a very minor effect” on revenues because: “We were charging almost nothing on trades before.”

iDealing will make its money from interest payments on spare client cash and through administration fees for things like wiring out money, processing dividend payments, and corporate actions such as voting on takeovers.

iDealing’s biggest market is the UK and Foster Bowman says they’d like to introduce commission-free trading in London but it’s more difficult in the UK. As well as launching commission-free trading, iDealing on Wednesday launched across the Netherlands and Belgium.

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NOW WATCH: Jeff Sachs: Here’s why the Middle East is going to get a lot worse

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Boxing movies have given actors the opportunity to get into ridiculous shape for decades.

But the “Rocky” franchise brought it up another level. The physiques of Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed and Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa (who by the third film looks ridiculously cut) was the inspiration for many during the exercise-craze in the late ’70s to early ’80s.

Now the bar has been raised once more with the “Rocky” spinoff film, “Creed.”

Michael B. Jordan plays Adonis Creed in the movie, the illegitimate son of Apollo who with the help of Rocky as his manager, beings his path as a professional boxer.

To get the look of a pro boxer, Jordan called on personal trainer Corey Calliet. The two had first met on the set of “Fantastic Four” and hit it off.

“I remember on set of ‘Fantastic Four’ there was talk of Mike doing ‘Creed,'” Calliet recalls. “I grew up watching ‘Rocky’ and they were so ripped, but I knew with my skills I could do better.”

So even before “Fantastic Four” wrapped Calliet began a regiment with Jordan, who played Johnny Storm in the movie, that made him into, as Calliet calls, “an action figure.”

“I remember Hutch [Parker], one of the producers on ‘Fantastic Four,’ called me and said, ‘Corey, you’re doing a great job but tone it down a little bit because Michael can’t fit in the suit,'” said Calliet.

Once filming wrapped on ‘Fantastic Four’ Jordan brought Calliet out to LA where they continued to train and meet “Creed” director Ryan Coogler, who immediately agreed to have Calliet be Jordan’s trainer on the film.

By November 2014 Jordan and Calliet began training in Philadelphia, where filming would take place. In January 2015 shooting began and training continued. But by that point Calliet did different workouts depending on the scenes they were shooting.

“Ryan told me how Mike needed to look for certain scenes so I would feed him creation types of food so his muscles would pop on a specific day,” said Calliet.

And Stallone took notice.

“Sly has said he thinks Mike is in better condition than he was in for the ‘Rocky’ movies,” said Calliet. “That is very big for me.”

Here’s just a glimpse of the workout Jordan did six days a week:
– 45-60 minutes of cardio
– 3 sets of 25 reps of sit-ups every other day
– 1 mile warm-up on the treadmill
– 2 sets of 10 reps of push ups
– 4 sets of dumbbell curls
– 3 rounds of 20 reps of box jumps, jump squats, burpees
– Boxing training (heavy bag, speed bag, jump rope)
See Calliet’s complete work out regiment at Men’s Journal 

“I remember when we started out Mike couldn’t lift 25 pounds, but then I started to see the confidence as he could see results,” said Calliet. “Now he jumps rope better than I ever could and I fought golden gloves.”

But Calliet said Jordan hasn’t even hit his potential. Like Rocky managing Adonis, there’s still more Calliet can show Jordan and hopes a “Creed” sequel will give him that opportunity.

“I promise you he’s going to be bigger and more cut,” said Calliet when asked about a sequel. “And if he becomes a heavy weight for the next movie? Oh my god, I’ve got a trick for ya’ll.”

“Creed” is currently playing in theaters nationwide.

SEE ALSO: How Jake Gyllenhall got ripped for his new movie “Southpaw”

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NOW WATCH: This is the single most iconic moment of Kobe Bryant’s career

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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro is threatening to jail local managers of Kraft Heinz for economic sabotage.

Maduro said late Tuesday that the U.S.-based company was purposefully trying to sow discontent by paralyzing production lines. He said the country’s intelligence police would not hesitate to arrest executives.

The South American country has been grappling with severe shortages for years.

Maduro’s ruling socialist party faces its stiffest electoral challenge in more than a decade on Sunday. The socialists are expected to lose control of the National Assembly.

Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez made it a habit to single out foreign corporations for criticism, including McDonald’s, Clorox Co. and Hilton Worldwide.

Heinz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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PARIS (AP) — The latest on the recovery from and investigation into the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. All times local:

2:35 p.m.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says three mosques have been shut down in France since the Paris attacks as part of a crackdown on extremist activities.

Cazeneuve told reporters it was the first time mosques are being closed in France “on grounds of radicalization.”

One of the mosques, 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Paris in Lagny-sur-Marne, was targeted by raids early Wednesday, with police seizing a 9mm revolver, a computer hard disc and jihadist propaganda. Cazeneuve said the mosque also had a non-authorized Quranic school.

One person was placed in custody following the raids, with 22 others banned from leaving France. Nine others were put under house arrest.

The two other mosques, in Lyon and Gennevilliers in the Paris region, were shut down last week amid a state of emergency.

Cazeneuve says police have seized 334 weapons since the Nov. 13 attacks that left 130 people dead in Paris.

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1:40 p.m.

The directors of the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, where two-thirds of the 130 victims of the Paris attacks were killed, have said it will reopen before the end of 2016.

Jules Frutos — who has run the venue with Olivier Poubelle since 2004 — told Le Monde in an interview published Wednesday that “it’s necessary to see the doors open again.”

Poubelle said that “it shouldn’t be turned into a mausoleum. Or a pilgrimage site.”

World leaders, including Barack Obama, have been visiting the site this week, each bringing a white rose to honor those who died in the Nov. 13 attacks.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — American businesses stepped up hiring last month, led by strong gains in retail, finance and other service industries, a private survey found.

Payroll processor ADP says that companies added 217,000 jobs last month, the most in five months. Service sector firms added 204,000, while manufacturers hired just 6,000.

The figures come just two days before the government issues its official jobs report for November. Economists forecast that it will show employers added 200,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate remained 5 percent.

Steady consumer spending is supporting greater hiring in services, which includes higher-paying professional positions such as information technology and engineering jobs.

The ADP survey covers only private businesses and frequently diverges from the official figures. Last month, ADP’s hiring tally was nearly 100,000 lower than the government’s.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. productivity this summer grew at a faster rate than first thought, though it still lagged the pace set in the spring. Labor costs were also revised up, but the modest upward pace does not raise concerns about inflation.

The Labor Department says productivity rose at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the July-September quarter. That was up from an initial estimate of 1.6 percent but still below the 3.5 percent gain in the second quarter.

Labor costs rose at a 1.8 percent rate, up slightly from the previous 1.4 percent estimate. They advanced 2 percent in the spring.

Productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, has slowed considerably in recent years. It is considered the key factor in boosting living standards.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Zafgen Inc. on Wednesday reported a second patient death in an ongoing study of its potential treatment for a rare genetic disorder linked to obesity.

The Boston-based company’s shares plunged 56 percent in premarket trading Wednesday.

The biotechnology company said the patient died from a blockage in an artery in the lung, or blood clots, in the late-stage study of beloranib. It reported a previous death in October in the same study, but the cause is unknown.

The Food and Drug Administration placed a partial hold on the study following the first reported death.

Beloranib is the company’s lead drug candidate and is aimed at treating the rare genetic disorder called Prader Willi syndrome. The condition has multiple symptoms and is linked to obesity.

The company said it is in discussions with the FDA to determine next steps for the program. Results of from another portion of the study are expected during the first quarter.

Zafgen shares dropped $8.95, or 56.2 percent, to $6.98 in premarket trading about an hour before the market open.

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