This Aug. 25, 2013 file photo shows singer Miley Cyrus at the MTV Video Music Awards in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Cyrus says in an interview clip that she doesn’t listen to the negative comments regarding her performance on the MTV Video Music Awards.Evan Agostini/The Associated Press
Giant 'slaw
92.3 pounds
The weight of the winning entry in Alaska's annual giant-cabbage competition. Affectionately named "Bob," the first-place cabbage was grown by 10-year-old Keevan Dinkel and had to be carried to the weigh-off by Boy Scouts. Reuters
Orange is the new black?
An orange-tinted problem is costing one British landlord thousands of pounds. The culprit? Spray-tan. The quest for sun-kissed skin isn't doing damage in the way you'd expect; it's ruining mattresses. When John Winter saw strange marks on mattresses and covers, he thought it was a mattress fault or bodily fluid. The marks, which were roughly the size and shape of human bodies, were showing up in female rooms more than male. When the landlord made the connection between the marks and fake-tanning products, he had to change the type of mattresses being used to ones with removable covers, so they could be washed. He's also made a big push to educate people renting from him on the dangers (to his beds) of tanning. He told the BBC that three years ago, 220 mattresses were ruined. So far this year? Only 147.
Now you see me…
If you're worried about being tracked through your phone, look no further than the OFF Pocket. Unique in its design, the specialized case promises freedom from electronic peeping. As the designers explained to The New York Times Bits blog, even when a phone is off it's still sending out signals. Made of special metal fabric, the small sleeve blocks phone signals, WiFi and GPS. The team behind the OFF Pocket includes Adam Harvey (who has also designed a concept clutch that has light sensors and releases its own powerful burst of light when it senses someone, say, a paparazzo, is taking a photo) and Johanna Bloomfield, who helped Harvey create Stealth Wear, a line of clothing that reduces a person's thermal footprint so they can't be seen and recognized as easily. The OFF Pocket is currently on Kickstarter – the team raised their $35,000 (U.S.) goal in just one week.
Quoted
"Upon hearing what twerking is, it is natural for your parents to want to experiment with it. They may even proudly announce, "Look at us, we're twerking!" not recognizing the inappropriateness of their actions and words. Try to resist the urge to chastise them; doing so will only increase their desire to twerk in defiance, perhaps in private."
– Teddy Wayne. The writer penned a column in The New York Times titled "Explaining Twerking to Your Parents," which offered the easiest way to do just that. Though it may be difficult, it's best to do it early and sensitively, Wayne says.