PopSugar

Très Trivia? Are You in the Know?

TresSugar — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:00:35 -0800

Before this week's Thanksgiving mania, we saw the first couple get glammed up for their first official state dinner. Did you have your eyes on all the headlines this week? Find out with this quiz!

Take the quiz

Daily Tech: Microsoft Opens a Lounge in Saks Fifth Avenue NY

GeekSugar — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:06:39 -0800

Microsoft opens a PC Lounge in NYC's Saks Fifth Avenue for the holidays - Engadget
Share the Thanksgiving love on TurkeyTwitter - TechCrunch
The new Green Robot in Google Labs tells you who is using GChat from an Android phone - Download Squad
The bigger Nintendo DSi LL gets unboxed - Kotaku
You can now download the eBay app from the BlackBerry App World - IntoMobile
Submit your Cool Captures for your chance to win a CanvasPop print - GeekSugar

Say What? First Lady Carla Bruni to Star in Woody Allen Film

TresSugar — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:00:07 -0800

"He asked me to be in his next film. I don’t know for what role, but I said yes. . . . I'm not an actress at all. Maybe I'll be totally horrible but I can't in my life miss an opportunity like this."

- Carla Bruni told France's Canal Plus television in an interview Monday that she agreed to star in Woody Allen's next film, which will probably be set in France. Looks like he finally found a new, above-40 muse!

The Scoop: Pet Airways Launches Thanksgiving Day "Flight to Freedom" For Adoptable Pets

PetSugar — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:00:06 -0800

Ohhh, there's no place like home for the holidays! But what about those pets with no home to go to? Sad. Even though usually Pet Airways treats pampered pals meeting up with human families, they've partnered with Best Friends Animal Society to launch Operation Thanksgiving Day Pet Flight to Freedom.

Departing from Chicago's Midway Airport, the plane will be packed with pets relocating to the New York area, where they'll be made available for adoption - and, best yet, the entire planeload travels for free. The journey starts on Thanksgiving Day, where animals receive a yummy holiday meal and lots of love from volunteers at the Pet Lounge in Chicago. They'll sleep there at night and then board their rescue airlift on Friday morning. Safe and happy travels!

Food Section Sampler - Nov. 25, 2009

YumSugar — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:15:26 -0800

Behind the scenes at the Obamas' first White House state dinner. - New York Times
The Andy Warhol cocktail is nearly as charismatic as the famed artist himself. - San Francisco Chronicle
How to prevent overeating at the Thanksgiving table. - Washington Post
For restaurateurs, this holiday is looking to be another dreary dining season. - Los Angeles Times
Why one consumer advocacy group is taking a stand against Ocean Spray cranberries. - Boston Globe
Sick of turkey and vegetable leftovers? Transform them into a fragrant Thai curry. - Chicago Tribune
What recession? A 760-gram truffle has sold for $129,000. - Wall Street Journal

How Do You Prefer to Holiday Shop?

GeekSugar — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:15:25 -0800

While perusing the news, I noticed two seemingly conflicting stories right beside each other on the same site. The headlines: "Online Retail Thriving This Holiday Season" and "A Site to Help People Shop Online Attracts Investors."

The two articles aren't actually contradictory, the first is a welcome optimistic look at the future of e-commerce with Forrester Research reporting that most online retailers turned a profit in 2008 as business continues to grow. The second article profiles a new site called Milo, which allows you to enter your location and the name of a product you're looking for, and it delivers a list of nearby retail stores where you can find the item. Milo's business model operates on the "instant gratification" theory - you don't want to wait for an item you order, you want to find it right away.

I tend to prefer a mix of online and retail store shopping, depending on the item and what's convenient. What about you?

A Tax on Cosmetic Surgery - Love It or Leave It?

TresSugar — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:00:07 -0800

The Senate's proposed healthcare bill includes a novel approach to enhancing funding for reform: a five percent tax increase on cosmetic surgery. Procedures like tummy tucks, face lifts, hair plugs, collagen injections, Botox, or any other non-required procedure would get hit with the increase. The tax could raise as much as $6 billion.

If you think taxing superficial wealthy people to pay for the necessary health care of the poor sounds like a perfect idea, some people, namely cosmetic surgeons, say you got it all wrong. Statistics show that one-third of people who get plastic surgery make under $30,000 and 86 percent make less than $90,000. In addition, 85 percent of procedures are paid for by credit. So the tax would hit lower income people the hardest. Then again, maybe it makes sense to make cosmetic surgery even more out of reach in order to help fund basic healthcare needs. Still, more damaging to the cosmetic tax plan is the fact that a similar tax has so far failed in New Jersey, where it costs $3 trying to figure out what counts as "cosmetic" for every dollar raised from the tax.

Do you think the "botax" is worth a try?

Speed Read! Roman Polanski's Bail Offer Approved

TresSugar — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:30:58 -0800

A Swiss court has approved Roman Polanski's offer to be released from prison for $4.5 million bail. He will be kept under house arrest at his Swiss chalet. - New York Times
President Obama will travel to Copenhagen for the UN climate change conference next month. - Washington Post
Jetman fails to fly from Morocco to Spain with personal jet pack, gets picked up in Atlantic Ocean. - NPR
A random 45-year-old man bites a 17-year-old at a screening of Twilight. - Jezebel
Adopted man looks for his biological father, discovers that it's Charles Manson. - Boing Boing
Are cougars an endangered species? - Vice
Military wives celebrate Thanksgiving in October. - Double X
Details from last night's state dinner. - Huffington Post

Are Facebook Photos Fair Game For Insurance Companies?

GeekSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:44:58 -0800

I just came across a story about a woman in Canada who lost insurance benefits because of a photo posted on Facebook. The woman was on medical leave from her job due to severe depression, and was receiving monthly disability payments from an insurance company. After she stopped receiving payments, she called her insurance company, who told her that she should be available to work because of photos she posted on Facebook that showed her looking happy and having a good time - hardly experiencing the crippling depression that kept her from going to work.

After the case started making headlines, the woman's insurance company issued a statement saying they would not terminate a policy based solely on something posted on Facebook; it remains to be seen whether or not the woman in question will be allowed to once again receive benefits.

I've heard countless stories of people being fired or getting into serious trouble for things they posted on Facebook, and even came up with a list of suggestions for how not to get in trouble on the site, but this case seems a bit extreme. What do you think?

Domestic Violence Linked to Football Losses

TresSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:00:27 -0800

Sitting around with the family watching football is a favored Thanksgiving tradition. But new research reveals that football spectating is not always pleasant: losses have a statistical link to a rise in domestic violence. The study, which matched 12 years worth of team records with local domestic violence rates, suggests that a painful loss can trigger moments of anger in fans, causing them to lash out. Here are some of the findings:

When a team favored to win loses, there is an eight percent increase in intimate partner violence in the hometown state (the study only looked at states with one team).
The increase in violence comes in the hours immediately following the loss.
When the loss is against a traditional rival, the spike in violence doubles.
The rate spike also doubles following losses in games with a lot of turnovers and penalties.

But don't call for a ban on football quite yet - the experts reasonably point out that emotional games might just set off violence that would otherwise happen later. So while this information enlightens us about occasions that put women at higher risk of suffering domestic violence, it doesn't exactly tell us more about how to address the root causes. What do you make of it?