Worth a Mention
Have you dabbled in Pinterest yet? If not, you must be a dude. Pinterest, an online scrapbook where users post photos of their favorite things, has exploded. It's one of the fastest-growing websites in history. Pinterest got its first 10-million monthly users faster than Facebook, Twitter or other sites tracked by comScore. The growth is mostly from women, many of whom live in the Midwest and Central United States. Plus, membership comes only through invites.
Facebook/Phones: Are you on Pinterest? Has it taken over Facebook?
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Who is the most OVERPAID celebrity? If you ask us, it's Snooki! A Fitness magazine/ Yahoo! Finance survey found 51% of us believe Snooki earns way more than she deserves for doing whatever it is she does on Jersey Shore. She's earning $100-K per episode for the most recent season. Snooki pulls in just ahead of Kim Kardashian.
Speaking of -- here's the Tweet of the day: "Snooki's baby expected to be delivered on 12/21/12. The same day the Mayans predict the world to end."
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Interesting: Telling your kids that it's okay to fail will make them fail less. Sounds reasonable, right? There's new research to back it up. Here's what researchers told one group of sixth graders: "learning is difficult and failure is common, but practice will help, just like learning how to ride a bicycle." Other groups got no such pep talk. Guess which group performed better on memory and reading comprehension tests? Yep, the kids that got the bicycle-talk.
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Want a house? Got a penny? You're on your way! A homeowner in Glendale, AZ, is auctioning off his house and bids starting at one penny. Todd Talbot, creator of the iBidForAcent.com website, bought the home for 80-grand, and invested another 20-K redeveloping it. Bidders are only allowed to increase the bid by one penny at a time, and it'll cost you 60 cents to bid (there's always a catch!). Talbot expects the home to sell for less than $5,000. See the video here
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One Coke or Pepsi a day increases your chances at a heart attack by 20%! A study of more than 40-thousand men found that a sugar-sweetened drink a day raised the chances of a heart attack, including a deadly one, by 20%. The study's author says the diet varieties with artificial sweeteners don't have the same effect, but there are better choices available: "Water, coffee and tea are probably the best choices, after that would be low-fat milk. It is not clear whether fruit juice is a good replacement. There is a lot of sugar in it but it does have added benefits such as vitamins and fibre."
...speaking of death!....
A Harvard study found eating small quantities of processed meat like bacon, sausage or salami, can increase the likelihood of dying early by a fifth. The study found that by cutting your red meat intake to just one large steak a week could prevent almost one-in-10 early deaths in men and one-in-13 in women.
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Good news! We're not as clumsy as we used to be! New research found a slump in the number of stair-related injuries. Still, children are the most at risk, and kids under 5 years of age are being rushed to the emergency room for a stair-related injury every six minutes. The decline in the number of injuries are due to parents using stair gates and modified building codes.
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5 Surprising Ways to Use a Hair Dryer
Nope, not just for hair anymore.
1. Detach a photo from an album -- Work a delicate photo off a sticky page by blowing warm air onto the back of the page while gently tugging the photo.
2. Dust tough-to-reach place -- set the dryer on cool and point it at dusty shelves or intricate knickknacks and blow the debris right off.
3. Dewrinkle plastic shower curtains or table cloths -- Hot air blown onto fresh-out-of-the-bag material "irons out wrinkles."
4. Perfect frosting or icing -- Harden frosting on cake and cookies by blowing cool air directly on it. To brighten a dull finish, give the icing a hit of hot air.
5. Erase crayon marks or wax spills -- Blow hot air until the wax melts, then wipe with a soapy sponge.
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The 10 Things You Didn't Know Stress You Out!
You think it's just the kids and money, right? Nope! Here are 10 other "secret stressors" that cause you worry and anxiety from Woman's Day.
1. Your Doctor -- Some doctors lack interpersonal skills and bedside manner leaving patients feeling more stressed out than when they arrived
2. Your coworkers -- It's not just the boss that stresses you out, but the constant clashing with your co-workers takes its toll, too.
3. Your dog -- If you find that your pet is interfering with your sleep, destroying your house and generally causing you anxiety-it's time to take action, whether it's hiring a dog trainer, speaking to your vet about your cat's destructive habits or even finding your pooch a new home. Your pet should enhance your life, not make it worse.
4. Your bedroom -- Fold the laundry piled on your bed because past studies have found a correlation between messy homes and unhappiness
5. Your alarm clock -- Alarm clocks with a loud, shrill pitch may produce a jarring effect that can jolt the body with stress upon waking.
6. Facebook -- Pay attention to how you're feeling while reading status updates on Facebook. If you're feeling bad, trust your instincts and log off.
7. Your keys -- Losing your keys, wallet, or cell phone can instantly stress you out.
8. Your computer -- Designate one day where you don't turn on the computer or think about work. Information overload is stressful and can affect you physically.
9. The light in your bedroom -- How you see yourself at the beginning of the day plays a role in your self-image and stress levels. Is the light in your bathroom flattering, or does it illuminate every wrinkle, enlarged pore and blemish on your face?
10. Celebrity gossip -- Don't compare yourself to folks that have personal trainers, beauticians, housekeepers, maids, butlers, gardeners, chauffeurs, nannies, and cooks. Tip: Only read (or listen-to) celebrity gossip while you're doing something to better your own health and happiness, like running on a treadmill or cooking a healthy meal.
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Joke of the Day
A guy gets into a taxi after a boozy night out and halfway through the journey wants to stop and buy cigarettes. He taps the driver on the shoulder and suddenly the driver screams, swerves across the road and mounts the sidewalk stopping just short of a brick wall.
All was quiet for a few moments and then the driver turns around and says "Don't EVER tap me on the shoulder whilst I'm driving EVER again". The guy says, "I'm sorry, I didn't know it would scare you so much"
The driver replies, "It wouldn't normally but this is my first night as a taxi driver and up until yesterday, for twenty five years, I was driving a Hearse.
