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New York Magazine's Revamped 'The Cut' Blog Will Take On The Fashion Glossies

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the cut

Readers of New York Magazine's fashion blog The Cut are in for a treat when they check in on the site Monday morning.

That's when the the company plans to reveal its all new version of the bloga standalone website that will move outside its current editorial milieu of style and gossip to take on a wide range of topics that interest women, from sex and relationships to health and media. And it's putting a whole new emphasis on photos.

"Our goal was to create a mash-up between a high-end fashion magazine and a blog," said Adam Moss, editor-in-chief of New York Magazine.

From what we saw, The Cut's new format could give traditional print glossies a run for their money. Images on the site appear at a super-high resolution and slideshows will feature a zoom function, meaning readers can get up close and personal with a sexy pair of shoes or a makeup smudge on a runway model's face.

The site also invested heavily in its image inventory, creating 100 new celebrity Look Books (in the style of the addictive Michelle Obama Look Book) and hiring freelance street photographers around the world to capture the looks of the moment.

Maureen O'Connor, formerly of Gawker, will helm the new site's features section, Love & War, which she said would experiment with "first-person confessionals" alongside commentary and longer pieces. Another new feature we're eagerly awaiting is "Celeberotica," in which a romance novelist is asked to reimagine tabloid stories.

Altogether, there are now 11 editorial staffers on the website, including seven new hires. The new Cut will also make heavy use of outside contributors, Moss said.

The launch comes as women's sites in generalBuzzfeed's Shift, The Grindstoneare on the rise. Moss said that by expanding outside the sphere of fashion, the website hoped to capture a wider audience.

It's also a boon for advertisers. Fashion is the largest single advertising category for New York Magazine, up 34 percent from last year, and digital now accounts for 40 percent of its ad revenue, said publisher Larry Burstein. Five advertisers, including Bottega Veneta, Burberry, and Cartier, have signed on for the site's launch, for campaigns that he said would "replicate print ads."

While the site doesn't have any specific e-commerce plans in place for the launch, that could come next, Burstein said. And it makes sense, considering that another section of the site, Goods, will feature a range of click-to-buy products, from bargain finds to looks straight from the runway.

We were big fans of The Cut before, and are excited to see what the new version brings.

Here's a preview of the new homepage, TheCut.com. Click to enlarge.

the cut

Now see what happened when Abercrombie & Fitch unleashed 110 male models on Hong Kong >

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North Carolina Teen Goes On The Ultimate Gap Year Trip

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DNU joe baker gap year

Instead of heading directly to college after high school graduation, Joe Baker and Reade Paterno of Chapel Hill, NC decided to take a "gap year" and travel the world.

Read about Joe's decision to take a gap year >>

They waited tables for more than a year to raise funds for the nine-month trip, which took them to 11 countries across three continents. Baker saved around $9,000 before leaving; his grandfather donated another $8,000.

While they didn't nail down many specifics beforehand, the pair bought several major flights ahead of time. They tried to stick to a strict budget, at times eating only bread and eggs to conserve funds. Baker said he ran out of cash just a day or two before his family met him in Spain for the last leg of his journey.

Baker shared some photos highlighting the best moments of his travels, which he explains here in his own words. Click through to see what his gap year was like.

Click here to see the highlights of Joe's gap year >

Have an amazing travel story and photos to share? Send an email to thelife@businessinsider.com and we could feature your adventure next.

This is Reade and me at the very beginning of the trip as we were just figuring everything out. We decided that we wanted to get at least one souvenir from each country, so in Peru we could not resist the Bill Cosby-esque sweaters made from baby alpaca wool.



This is the beautiful view we had from our hostel room, overlooking the city of Cusco as the sun went down with the mountains in the background.



These baby alpacas are just as soft as the wool they provided for our sweaters. Groups of women would wander the city with their herds of alpacas and for a small price allow travelers to take a photo with them.



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Inside The Private Club In London That Opened Just For The Olympics

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fringeThe English do love their private clubs. So much that they've opened one just for the Olympics.

LONDON – The Games are a few weeks in, and you've finally caught Olympic fever. Whether you've scored last-minute tickets on London2012.com or are simply glued to the tube, there's no reason why you can't upgrade your game-watching experience to an elite level. How about a renovated Victorian warehouse to start?

Set inside of a former furniture factory along the River Lea, The Fringe 2012 is a pop-up lounge located just outside Olympic Park. The newly gutted space has been given a makeover by muralist Ben Mosley and acclaimed street artist Ben Eine, who covered wall surfaces in vibrant, rhyming cockney slang as part of a curated "Great Stage" exhibition. (Talking point: Prime minister David Cameron gifted Eine's work to President Barack Obama as an official state present in 2010.)

But all eyes will likely be on the many enormous LCD screens in the beer garden area, on BMX, track and field, football, basketball, and all other remaining games. For membership passes beginning at £100, visitors can spend the day, get a meal and three drinks, and enjoy the open-air party atmosphere.

If you have tickets to one of the final sessions, it's even better. The biggest selling point for pre-gaming at The Fringe in this reporter's opinion is its proximity to the Victoria Gate entrance, which is considerably less congested than Stratford Station's chaotic queues. This way you can spend more time enjoying your favorite athletes over a pint and fewer minutes shuffling behind 5,000 foreigners removing their belts at security. Game on.

FIND IT

The Fringe 2012
Swan Wharf
Dace Road
London E3 2NQ
+44-20-8144-1264

READ MORE ON FATHOM

Jamaican Track Fever: London's Best Caribbean Restaurants
Time Travel in London

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Luxury Hotels Around The World That Even Budget Travelers Can Afford

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rothenburg germany

Usually, luxury doesn’t come cheap.

We at Bundle wanted to discover where you can find top-notch accommodations at affordable prices, both here and abroad.

Looking for a private villa with a pool for $209 per night? Yes, it does exist.

Want to stay in a patrician house in a medieval walled town? We've got you covered. Get all of your travel essentials for the best price here.

Read on to discover some opulent getaways that won’t break the bank.

Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort: Siem Reap, Cambodia

This unique resort has the largest free form swimming pool in Cambodia. Its breathtaking design is a combination of Khmer and French architectural design, and guests can roam around the landscaped gardens, dine at the five restaurants and bars, and relax at the spa. The rooms have antique ceiling fans, scenic garden, lake or pool views, and the signature Sofitel’s MyBed will have you dreaming in bliss.

What it will cost you: $170 per night.



Hotel Eisenhut: Rothenburg Ob Der Tauer, Germany

Consisting of four patrician houses from the 12th and 18th centuries, this hotel is located in the medieval walled center of Rothenburg, overlooking the Tauber Valle. The houses are furnished with antiques and original artwork, and the large, spacious rooms with picturesque views are just steps from outdoor cafés and museums. You’ll be taken back in time at this resort.

What it will cost you: $135 per night.



Bon Ton Resort: Langkawi, Malaysia

Located in Langkawi, a cluster of 99 islands off the northwestern coast of Malaysia, Bon Ton Resort is a destination you’ll never forget. The resort boasts eight traditional Malaysian-style villas, all of which face the pool and lagoon. Guests are given sarongs to wear during the day, can go early morning bird watching, and experience a delicious and authentic Malaysian restaurant. Headed on an adventure? Find the best sneakers for ultimate foot support here.

What it will cost you: $209 per night.



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Cops Have Shut Down Trojan's Free Vibrator Cart Near The Flatiron Building

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What was supposed to be a pleasurable experience for thousands turned into a large mess near the Flatiron building Wednesday afternoon as a Trojan vibrator giveaway was shut down by police because of an apparent permit issue. 

This was supposed to be the hot dog stand Trojan was going to use to give away the free vibrators, which retail for roughly $40. Hundreds turned up for the giveaway but went home empty-handed.

Trojan Vibrator Giveaway

When we got there, the line spanned an entire block, from 22nd to 23rd Street along 5th Avenue. It took quite a long time for the hundreds waiting on line, men and women alike, to figure out what was really going on.

Trojan Vibrator Giveaway

Three ladies from Brooklyn, who were a bit shy to give out their names because of the sensitive nature of the giveaway, told us they had waited more than 20 minutes for Trojan to tell them they weren't going to get their vibrators. "It's a great idea," said one, "they should just find a way to do it legally." Her friend, who was also disappointed said "they're not a startup, they should have probably figured that out."

Trojan workers eventually rolled the hot dog stand back into a large Ryder moving truck and eventually drove away in this tinted black SUV. 

Trojan Vibrator Giveaway

Dan Bracken, Trojan's director of marketing services, said the promotion was officially shut down about 15 minutes after it was slated to begin because "there was confusion with the permit."

"Everything was in place, but I'm a bit sketchy with the details myself," he said.

Bracken said they wanted to give the vibrators away out of the moving truck, but police said that it would be a safety issue, likely because people would start mobbing the employees in search of a free sex toy.

Will Paul from Bayonne, N.J. (below) said his girlfriend asked him to get her one. He, too, went home empty-handed.

Trojan Vibrator Giveaway

But ultimately, many who waited in line will get a free vibrator and have their happy ending. Trojan staffers were taking down email addresses so they could send those who waited around with their free swag. 

And several other giveaways were planned for the NYC area, including in the Financial District, the Meatpacking District, and the East Village according to Trojan's Facebook page. But check in before you go, unless you want to be left high and dry like hundreds of others were today.

Trojan Vibrator Giveaway
 

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The 15 Worst Housing Markets For The Next Five Years

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Shreveport, LA

Home prices across the nation are down 33.3 percent since they peaked in the first quarter of 2006, according to latest data from Fiserv Case-Shiller.

But home prices are projected to increase 3.9 percent between now and the first quarter of 2017.

Yesterday we put together a list of the 15 best housing markets for the next five years.

We're following this up with a feature on the 15 housing markets that are projected to see the most declines or slowest growth in home prices.

Note: The median family income and home price data is for Q1 2012. Unemployment data is for May 2012, and population data is for 2011.

Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey

Annualized expected growth from 2012 - 2017: 1.2 percent

The Atlantic City-Hammonton metro area has a median home price of $193,000, above the national median of $159,000. And its home prices are 35.3 percent lower than they were during their peak in the second quarter of 2006.

It has a population of 274,338, an unemployment rate of 12.6 percent, much higher than the national average od 8.2 percent, and a median family income of $64,200 below the national median of $62,900.

Data provided by Fiserv Case Shiller Indexes



Columbia, Missouri

Annualized expected growth from 2012 - 2017: 1.2 percent

Columbia has a median home price of $145,000 and its home prices are down 0.5 percent since their Q1 2008 peak.

It has a population of 175,831, an unemployment rate of 5.1 percent, and a median family income of $63,900.

Data provided by Fiserv Case Shiller Indexes



Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana

Annualized expected growth from 2012 - 2017: 1.1 percent

Shreveport-Bossier City has a median home price of $151,000 and the metro's home prices area down 0.9 percent since they peaked in Q3 2010.

It has a population of 403,595, an unemployment rate of 7.2 percent, and a median family income of $54,900.

Data provided by Fiserv Case Shiller Indexes



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HOUSE OF THE DAY: For $17 Million, This Expansive Cape Cod Estate Comes With An Indoor Swimming Pool

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cape cod home $17 million

A beautiful home on Cape Cod that sits on nine acres of land is on sale for $17 million.

The home has 10 bedrooms, eight full bathrooms, and three half bathrooms.

The main mansion has classic Cape Cod-style shingles and spans three floors. There's a quaint guest house nearby.

Welcome to Osterville, Mass.



The listing describes the home as an "1880s style Manor."



The annual taxes on this gem are $81,117 a year.



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The 10 Airports With The Cheapest Average Airfare

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When you're perusing online for the best airfare, it's not just the destinations that matter. The airport you fly in and out of could make a huge difference in the cost of your airfare.

Flying into Los Angeles? Instead of flying into LAX, try searching for flights to Burbank's Bob Hope Airport, where the average airfare is just $221 (compared to $531 at LAX).

Cheapflights.com recently ranked the 101 most affordable airports in the world. The staff at Cheapflights.com compiled their Airport Affordability Index by looking at the most searched airports and averaging the prices that their users found on flights to the most popular domestic and international destinations, from Miami to Honolulu and London to Cancun.

Here are the top 10 cheapest airports:

Number Airport Average Airfare
1 Bob Hope Airport, CA (BUR) $221
2 Long Beach (Daugherty Field), CA (LGB) $250
3 Fresno Air Terminal, CA (FAT) $290
4 Harrisburg International, PA (MDT) $304
5 Lehigh Valley, PA (ABE) $307
6 John Wayne/Orange County, CA (SNA) $316
7 White Plains, NY (HPN) $324
8 Metropolitan Oakland International, CA (OAK) $330
9 Chicago Midway, IL (MDW) $339
10 Bellingham International, WA (BLI) $342

Now read about 16 Hotels That Are Worth Checking Into For Their Food Alone >

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Meet Boo, 'The World's Cutest Dog'—And The Secret Facebook Employee Behind Him

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boo the dog

Today, a great world mystery was solved by Mike Isaac, a writer at tech news site AllThingsD.

Isaac unmasked the owner of Boo, "the world's cutest dog."

No, really. Boo is the world's cutest dog. Google it. Or check out the book that came out last year.

According to Isaac, Boo belongs to Irene Ahn, a finance lead at Facebook. She joined the company in 2008 from Yahoo.

Ahn's identity as Boo's "mom" has never been revealed before. She's used the stage name J.H. Lee to keep the spotlight on her dog.

Boo is known around the world with nearly 5 million Facebook fans. We spoke to Boo's publicist at Chronicle Books, April Whitney, to get some more color.

Whitney says not many people get rich publishing books, but according to her, Boo's first book was "pretty successful."

The $12.95 title went to market last summer and has since been published in ten languages—Portuguese, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, and a Chinese-language edition sold in Taiwan.

Thanks to the success of Boo's first book, he has a second that will be released soon called Boo: Little Dog In The Big City. It's about Boo and his friend Buddy talking on their city, San Francisco, and it will also retail for $12.95.

Chronicle Books has also released a calendar for Boo, which sells for $13.99. In addition, Boo has a line of Gund stuffed animals coming out and an A-B-C book for children.

While Whitney didn't confirm Ahn as the owner, she did talk a little bit about Boo's owner. Boo and his owner live in San Francisco. She also says Boo's owner never sought fame or fortune.

"She didn't contact us, we contacted her when Boo only had 60,000 Facebook fans," says Whitney. "It might appear to people like she's creating all these things for Boo, but the only online presence she's made for him is his Facebook page."

Whitney says everything else that's online about Boo, including his Twitter account, his YouTube videos, and his website, are fake.

Ok, now here's the good part.

In case you don't believe us, Boo actually is the cutest dog in the world, according to Google.



This is Boo's Facebook page. It's the only online profile Ahn has ever made for Boo. Everything else, including his website, YouTube videos, and Twitter handle are fake or run by fans.



This is Irene Ahn, the woman who owns Boo. She is a finance lead at Facebook. She joined the company from Yahoo in December 2008.



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Two Major Factors That Affect How Attractive You Look In Pictures

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As more and more people turn to websites and social media as a way to represent themselves, an increasing emphasis is placed on profile images — so you probably want to look your best.

Camera quality and the time of day are two important factors that affect how attractive we look in pictures, according this infographic by HSN Beauty. We get maximum photo results between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., when the sun is in an optimal position.  

The team studied trends in major social networks like Reddit, Facebook and LinkedIn to reveal some other interesting statistics on how we interpret beauty online.

Beauty infographic

11 Fascinating Facts About Beauty > 

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Here Are 6 Of The Best Bar Patios In America

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dnu

The summer is beginning to wane, the days are starting to get shorter, and all you want is to squeeze in a few more shorts-and-sandals moments before it officially ends.

And there’s nowhere better to soak up that slowly setting sun than on a patio at your favorite local watering holes. Every city’s got them, and below is a list of some of the best bar patios across the U.S.

This story was originally published by Party Earth.

The Churchill, Los Angeles

There might not be a city more conducive to patio dwelling than Los Angeles. It’s no myth. Los Angeles is generally sunny everyday with warm weather perfect for sipping cocktails, munching on sliders, and getting drunk with good friends. There’s no better place to do this than at The Churchill, a newer spot with a street-side patio that’s already super popular with twenty-somethings, the Hollywood scene, and the hip kids making a living in the area. The rustic, casual, outdoor space itself isn’t too large, but it’s very cozy and great for people-watching on bustling 3rd Street. Happy hours offer a pretty good deal on house wine, surprisingly upscale beers, and their regular portioned appetizers.



Zeitgeist, San Francisco

Formerly biker central, Zeitgeist remains an edgy alternative for those seeking good beer and a creative spirit. The graffiti splattered punk beer garden is the real draw with hipsters in hoodies, all walks of creative life, metal heads, and old school biker gangs. The patio boasts a bunch of picnic tables that are usually occupied, even on the foggiest of Nor Cal days. A classic bar menu is accompanied by everything from craft beer specials to good old-fashioned PBRs.



Castaways Bar And Grill, Chicago

There is no better view for a patio bar than the splendor of Lake Michigan, and Castaways Bar and Grill provides just that, attracting the perfectly tanned and buff glitterati fresh off the volleyball sand, or a long bike ride. Some super fit bar-goers spend all day pounding beers on the sun bathed decks and rooftop patio, while others come out later for DJs, dancing, and wild nights. Day or night, this is the best patio to enjoy Chicago’s short lived warm weather.



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Go Inside Anthony Weiner's New $3.3 Million Manhattan Apartment

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attached image

A year after the sexting snafu that made him a national punchline, Anthony Weiner and his wife have begun putting their lives back together, which includes moving into a Park Avenue apartment worth $3.3 million, the New York Post reports.

Weiner and his wife, Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, are renting a 4-bedroom, 2,120-square foot apartment on the 12th floor of the very posh 254 Park Avenue South.

The building includes a fitness center and a "private social club."

The impressive apartment in the heart of Manhattan may be Weiner's way of showing New York that he plans to emerge back into the public eye.

The building is in Gramercy Park and just a few blocks away from Union Square. 254's website brags that it "is located 'front row and center' to everything that matters."

Source: 254pas



The building was originally built in 1913, but was recently redesigned by Charles Allem.

Source: 254pas



254 comes equipped with some pretty cool amenities including the Park Lounge, a "private social club" with billiards table and bar. Weiner utilized the Park Lounge for a party to celebrate the bris of his son Jordan.

Source: 254pas and NY Post



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Researchers Are Developing The First Vaccine For Cocaine And Other Drugs

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Dr. Ronald Crystal.As a part of our Samsung Game Changers Series we explained how researchers are designing vaccines against drugs, including nicotine and cocaine. The man running these research programs, Dr. Ronald Crystal, of Weil Cornell Medical College, sat down to tell us why this approach to drug addiction is so innovative.

Business Insider: Why do we need a new way to intervene with nicotine and cocaine addictions?

These are major problems for society and despite all the various strategies that have been used over many decades there are no very good ways to treat these addictions. And so those interested in addiction are constantly looking for new approaches that might be used on a platform strategy, one could be used for many different addictions, and which could be used to help people stop.

You have the problem of one prevention, that is getting people to not get addicted, and then the problem of how do you get people who are addicted to stop. These vaccines strategies are directed at both of those problems.

So why does vaccination make sense as a treatment for addiction?

The strategy in terms of developing addiction treatments is basically two approaches: One is can you develop drugs that might interfere with the brain pathways so that people will not get high. That has not been very successful.

The other strategy is to take one step back and prevent the addictive molecule from getting to the brain in the first place, so that's the idea of the vaccines.

If you can develop immunity against the addictive drug, in the form of antibodies against the addicted drug, it would prevent the drug from reaching its receptors in the brain. So there would be no high or other effects associated with the addictive drug.

What types of addictions could we vaccinate against?

It could be used basically for any of the small molecule addictive drugs — nicotine, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, and oxycodone — all of the various small molecules that are well known.

It’s a broad strategy, and the challenge is being able to show that they in fact will work in humans. That's the challenge.

So, they've been tested in animals; how long until these vaccines are tested in humans?

In the nicotine vaccine it will probably be in humans within a couple of years; and the cocaine vaccine will probably be in humans within the year.

That trial would be for drug addicts.

Yes, the first approach would be for people who are addicted and they want to stop. They stop and you vaccinate them and that hopefully will help them get past the recidivism.

Let's say a vaccinated cocaine addict takes some cocaine, how would that person react?

They would not feel anything. In other words, if they took cocaine, they would just not have any effects of it. The vaccine is strategized to block the cocaine, or any of the other addictive molecules, from reaching the brain, so they wouldn't get any of the addictive effects of the molecule, the high and other things associated with it.

But there are social and psychological aspects of addiction as well as the physical addiction, right?

The answer to that question is difficult and we won't know until these are tested in humans of how much of the drive is addiction, which probably is the major drive, versus the social aspects of it. What often gets addicted people back, who stop, are the social things. People go to a party, someone offers them some cocaine, they take some, and then they are hooked again.

The social, psychological aspects of addiction are not trivial but hopefully if we can take away the physical aspects of the high and the other positive effects that people feel from the addiction, that will outweigh these other aspects of it.

You mentioned using these as a preventative — do you think we should vaccinate everyone against drug addiction?

The real issues with that are: One efficacy, and the second issue is safety. In all vaccines safety is an important concern, specifically if you begin using them in large numbers of people. So you have to be very careful when you move from treatment, people who are addicts, to prevention and using it in a widespread fashion.

Prevention is a very good idea, but that's all in the future because of the issue of safety.

So, if the vaccines are safe and effective, is this something we could use to abolish the desire in people to even try drugs?

That would be wonderful wouldn't it? That would be terrific.

Everything from smoking to cocaine to heroin, they have major impacts in society. They destroy lives, they kill people, there are all the financial and social behaviors associated with it. It would be wonderful if that could be done, but in fact that's a long way in the future.

Find out how drugs against vaccines would work >

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This Julia Child Remix Is Delicious And A Bit Creepy

Disgruntled Ex-Employees Accuse High-End Perfume Retailer Of Being Racist

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laurice rahme perfume

Two former "perfumistas" at Bond No. 9 perfume shop filed a lawsuit claiming head perfume mogul Laurice Rahme fired them after they complained about her policy requiring them to follow African-American customers around the store.

In their lawsuit, Veronica Robledo and Karin Widmann claim Rahme said she needed "the light bulbs changed" when she really wanted them to follow an undesirable customer, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.

Robledo also claims Rahme wouldn't let her serve white customers and she felt she had to tell her dark-skinned Jamaican boyfriend "to hide when he came to pick me up so (Rahme) wouldn’t see him," according to the Daily News.

The women claim Rahme fired them and accused them of stealing $25,000 worth of merchandise when they complained about her racist policies.

However, Rahme said told the Daily News she loves black customers and claims her light bulb code was used to protect employees. She says her policies aren't directed toward black customers, but every time her store has been robbed, "they were African-American robbers."

Robledo and Widmann are seeking $3 million in damages. Robledo is Puerto Rican, according to the Daily News. Widmann's ethnicity was not disclosed.

DON'T MISS: Comedian Claims Progressive Defended His Sister's Killer In Court So They Wouldn't Have To Pay Up >

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The Winners Of The National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

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don't use Kamelia

National Geographic Traveler magazine just selected the winner and the runners-up of its 2012 Traveler Photo Contest among more than 12,000 entries from 6,615 photographers in 152 countries around the globe.

The top images were taken in variety of locations ranging from Afghanistan to Vietnam, all of them capturing memorable travel sights – places, wildlife, and people – that evoke a sense of delight and discovery.

Check out selected entries competing in this year's contest, courtesy of 2012 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Veiwers Choice (Outdoor Scenes): Cabin under the Northern Lights in Finmmark, Norway.

Courtesy of the 2012 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest



Merit (Sense of Place): Near the city of Morondava, on the West coast of Madagascar lies an ancient forest of Baobab trees.

Courtesy of the 2012 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest



Merit (Travel Portraits): Oldmen of Chefchaouen, Morocco

Courtesy of the 2012 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest



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Why The Olympics Are A Bad Investment For Host Cities

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london

The Olympics are over, and it looks like the influx of tourists only provided a minimal stimulus to London.

After getting off to a horrible start, London business saw some uptick in the second week of the Games.

But it still wasn't much, only a 13 percent increase from a year earlier, Samantha Conti at Women's Wear Daily reported.

London spent up to $20 billion hosting the Olympics, but expected that the games would provide a huge boost for businesses.

Instead, Londoners hunkered down at home and international tourists weren't enough to fill the gap. Everyone from retailers to taxi drivers reported their business has slowed.

British Prime Minister David Cameron estimated London could make money from the "halo effect" of hosting the games — but it's going to take a whole decade to break even:

"In an article published in the Sunday Times of London, Cameron said: “Over a decade we can use the Olympics to bring home business worth 13 billion [pounds],” or $20.4 billion at current exchange. “That’s more than the cost of the Games.” He was referring more specifically to winning business and jobs for Britain in relation to contracts for the 2014 Winter Games in Russia and the 2016 Summer Games in Brazil."

Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympics and has seen the stadiums and venues they invested so much in waste away.

The Olympics certainly put the host city in the spotlight. But it's a costly two weeks of fame.

DON'T MISS: Beijing's Olympic Stadiums Are Wasting Away >

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Our Strategy And Leadership Vertical Is Hiring A Reporter

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business insider, bi, dng

Business Insider's popular War Room vertical is looking for a reporter. Could it be you? Here's how to know if you're the ideal candidate:

*You're an excellent writer

*You have a basic understanding of business

*You consume all types of news and use social media to get it

*You're familiar with Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and other sites that cover the latest trends in business

*You love to learn about what makes CEOs, innovators and creative minds tick   

*You know how to package information in a fresh and creative way

*You have an MBA or you've considered getting one at some point

If this job description interests you, send me an email (jliebman@businessinsider.com) with a paragraph on why you're the one for the job. Please include your resume and a few clips.

Please also note: This job is full-time, and is based in our NYC headquarters.

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"F-Bomb" Is Now Officially A Legitimate Word

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F-bomb dictionary entry

NEW YORK (AP) -- It's about freakin' time.

The term "F-bomb" surfaced in newspapers more than 20 years ago but will land Tuesday for the first time in the mainstream Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, along with sexting, flexitarian, obesogenic, energy drink and life coach.

In all, the company picks about 100 additions for the 114-year-old dictionary's annual update, gathering evidence of usage over several years in everything from media to the labels of beer bottles and boxes of frozen food.

So who's responsible for lobbing F-bomb far and wide? Kory Stamper, an associate editor for Merriam-Webster, said she and her fellow word spies at the Massachusetts company traced it back to 1988, in a Newsday story that had the now-dead Mets catcher Gary Carter talking about how he had given them up, along with other profanities.

But the word didn't really take off until the late `90s, after Bobby Knight went heavy on the F-bombs during a locker room tirade.

"We saw another huge spike after Dick Cheney dropped an F-bomb in the Senate in 2004," and again in 2010 when Vice President Joe Biden did the same thing in the same place, Stamper said.

"It's a word that is very visually evocative. It's not just the F-word. It's F-bomb. You know that it's going to cause a lot of consternation and possible damage," she said.

Many online dictionary and reference sites already list F-bomb and other entries Merriam-Webster is only now putting into print. A competitor, Oxford University Press, has F-bomb under consideration for a future update of its New Oxford American Dictionary but beat Merriam-Webster to print on a couple of other newcomers: mash-up, added to the Oxford book in 2005, and cloud computing, included in 2010.

No worries, Stamper said. The dictionary biz isn't a race.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate gets a cover-to-cover overhaul every decade or so in addition to yearly upgrades. The Springfield, Mass.-based company also picks a defining word of each year closer to Thanksgiving. Among the company's other additions this year, including online at Merriam-Webster.com, and various apps:

The Oprah-inspired "aha moment," the Stephen King-popularized earworm, as in that truly torturous tune you can't get out of your head, and man cave, brain cramp and bucket list.

King, in a 2009 column for Entertainment Weekly headlined "The Trouble With Earworms," wrote of waking up in the middle of the night for a glass of water when he found himself singing a snippet of a lyric.

"My friend the Longhair says that's what you call songs that burrow into your head and commence chewing your brains. The dreaded earworm can turn even a great song into something you'd run from, screaming at the top of your lungs. If only you could," he wrote.

Stamper said the word, a translation of the German ohrwurm, surfaced in English in the late `80s as a way to describe untranslatable words. As a tune that won't leave your head, "It just solidified itself in the national linguistic consciousness in America," she said.

Earworm isn't actually a new word for Merriam-Webster but the definition is to differentiate from the once-sole description of a specific blight on ears of corn.

The first reference found by Merriam-Webster for "aha moment" dates to 1939 in a book of psychology. Its use was sporadic until the `90s, when Oprah Winfrey began using it on her no-longer-on-the-air TV show.

"In fact, aha moment is so closely associated with Oprah that in 2009, she and Mutual of Omaha got involved in a legal imbroglio over Mutual of Omaha's use of the phrase, with Oprah claiming that aha moment was her catchphrase and she had the rights to it," Stamper said.

The case was settled out of court in 2009.

The word "tweet" led last year's new-word highlights from Merriam-Webster. This year's additions are more eclectic, Stamper said.

"This is a list of really descriptive and evocative, fun words. Some years, not so fun. Some years it's a lot of science words. Some years it's a lot of words around really heavy topics," she said.

There are a few of those this time around: copernicium among them.

It's a short-lived, artifically produced radioactive element that has 112 protons and is the most recent addition to the Periodic Table of Elements. It was first created in a German lab in 1996 and named for the astronomer Copernicus.

The recession blues are represented.

Merriam-Webster added "systemic risk" and a new definition for "underwater," to describe the heartbreaking realization that you owe more on your mortgage than your property is worth. Among other new economic terms is an extra definition for "toxic," as it relates to an "asset that has lost so much value that it cannot be sold on the market."

Flexitarian, traced to 1998, is defined as "one whose normally meatless diet occasionally includes meat or fish," while obesogenic (dating to 1986) is an adjective for "promoting excessive weight gain: producing obesity."

Stamper calls flexitarian one in a long line of "you are what you eat" entries.

"As our society has become more aware of our eating patterns, we've seen a proliferation of its use," she said. "There are people who object to the very idea of being a flexitarian, and therefore to the existence of the word."

Obesogenic remains a term more restricted to technical writing, Stamper said. It refers to an environment where something or some pattern - food deserts in a city, for example - is suspected of putting people at risk for obesity.

"Over the last few years, it's showed up quite a bit in more general sources, like The New York Times," she said.

Merriam-Webster leads the dictionary market, said John Morse, president of the privately held company who wouldn't release sales figures. He also wouldn't release a full list of new entries, in part to put off competitors.

"Let them find their own new words," he joked. "It's not a cutthroat business but we like to say it's a bare knuckles business." Morse did acknowledge: "It's harder for some paper dictionaries to stay in business in the era of online dictionaries."

And he allowed for a sneak peak at the Top 25, rounded out by:

Craft beer, e-reader, game changer, a new definition for "gassed" as slang for drained of energy, gastropub, geocaching, shovel-ready (a construction site ready for work) and tipping point.

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How Fashion Label Nicole Miller Grew Out Of A Fourth-Generation Family Business That Was Once Bankrupt

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bud konheimThe fashion company Nicole Miller was officially created in 1982 by CEO Bud Konheim and designer Nicole Miller. But it's actually the latest iteration of a fourth-generation family business with deep roots in New York City's Garment District.

We recently sat down with Konheim to hear about the evolution of the company, known for its trendy dresses.

Konheim's grandparents and great-grandparents all worked in New York's burgeoning fashion industry at the turn of the century. Among other endeavors, his relatives worked in the hat business.

But in 1955, his father bankrupted the business and the family of their money.

Konheim's mother, who had never worked a day in her life but was heavily involved in charity, decided to fix the family's economic struggle by starting a juniors label, which she felt was missing from the market.

After soliciting donations from friends, Mrs. Konheim forged forward, with label called Connie Sage for juniors, and kicked the business off with a twist. She sent martinis to the buyers offices with a note, "Have a drink on Connie Sage, and join us for our grand opening."

The next week, the space at 1400 Broadway had a line around the door.

The store was a hit, and as it expanded Bud Konheim took over the juniors' business and filled it with fashion-forward dresses.

Konheim wanted to innovate, and hired a designer. His uncle thought he was crazy, commenting that it's far cheaper to rip off someone's design.

But eventually, Bloomingdale's came knocking. The department store asked Konheim to produce two of his junior dresses for their misses line. Konheim agreed, extended the waistline and shipped the garments.

The dresses sold out.

He called it "Eric & Alex."

"Everyone thought I hired these two gay guys," Konheim said. "Really, I just named it after my sons."

Meanwhile, Mrs. Konheim was experiencing health issues and decided to close her business. Konheim kept the misses line he created and seamlessly transitioned the old "Eric & Alex" Konheim launched P.J. Walsh, a dress line, with designer Phyllis Walsh.

The new business thrived, but just six days after opening the new business, Walsh told Konheim she had fallen in love and was moving to Paris. She gave six months notice. 

Konheim scrambled to find a new designer, and wound up interviewing 170 people for the job. He narrowed it down to three, but knew the then-unheard-of Nicole Miller, a Texas native who graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and trained at Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, was the one he wanted.

In 1982, P.J. Walsh closed, and "Nicole Miller" opened.

Now, 30 years later, they are still in New York and thriving. While a lot has changed over time, the company still keeps closely to its design and family roots.

Now take a tour of Nicole Miller's offices and factory in the Garment District >

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