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10 Pictures That Will Make You Wish You Went To College In Hawaii

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Across the United States today — from Michigandown to Florida— colleges are closed due to the freezing cold weather.

Meanwhile, Honolulu — home to the University of Hawaii's flagship campus — doesn't have these sort of problems. Today's weather will hit 73 degrees, although there might be some clouds in the sky.

Here are 10 pictures of student life in Hawaii that will make you a little jealous you didn't head down there for college:

 

"Uni of Hawaii campus divine"

"I got to train with the University of Hawaii swim team this morning! Love swimming outdoors."

"Another shot of the #Japanese tea garden behind the East-West Center on the University of #Hawaii campus"

"#hawaii farmers market #honolulu#market#food#local at Kapi'olani community college"

"Quick beach sesh before I hit the library. #hawaii #college#beautiful#peceful.. #love my #life! cancelled classes make me happy :)"

"Going to miss this view. #UH#hawaii#sky#CObound #campus#college"

"Walking through University of Hawaii at Manoa's campus"

"Gotta say my campus is really pretty ☁️☀️#Windward#Community#College#WCC#Kaneohe #Hawaii#Oahu#School#Campus#luckytolivehi"

"Rock climbing on campus I love my school ☀️"

"Been here for 8 months and I'm still in love with it. My campus>> #hawaii#byuh#beautiful#love#life #blessed#palmtrees#sunset#colors"

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How To Play Curling: A Sport That Features A 45-Pound Stone

18 Record Stores Every Music Lover Needs To Visit At Least Once

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shangri la records

Billboard reported this week that vinyl sales were the only format of music experiencing growth — for the first time ever, digital sales declined.

So we wanted to provide a guide for the greatest list of vinyl shops on earth. 

You may have seen some of these lists elsewhere. But with a couple of exceptions, there won't be much overlap. Our list is based on a combination of aesthetics and the exclusivity of their holdings. You won't find L.A.'s Amoeba, Chicago's Reckless Minneapolis' Electric Fetus, and Nashville's Grimey's — everyone knows about those. We also excluded ones from Portland and Austin, as we figured their collections of indie rock could be found throughout the world (though please write if you believe we're mistaken). 

The other thing: many of the record stores that should have been on this list have gone to the great turntable in the sky...

But perhaps that makes the following survivors all the more notable.

Check it out.

1) Spillers Records, Cardiff, Wales

Spillers lays claim to being the oldest record shop in the world, having operated out of one location or another in Cardiff since 1894, when it sold phonographs, wax phonograph cylinders and shellac phonograph discs.

spillers records

2) Picadilly Records, Manchester, UK

The place that gave the world England's greatest indie bands, from The Smiths to Joy Division and New Order. As Morrissey wrote in his recent autobiography, "It is here that secures the New York Dolls' first LP as the main window of hte shop blazes with thirty Dolls sleeves stapled together in a dramatic traffic-stopping mosaic, 50 million unimpressed shoppers running by with a speed suddenly increased by the sight of Arthur Kane."

picadilly records

3) Wuxtry Records, Athens, Ga.

The shop that launched a thousand indie bands, because it launched America's greatest one: REM. It's here that future guitarist Peter Buck worked after dropping out of Emory, and where he is said to have met singer Michael Stipe (not to mention the band's lawyer).

wuxtry

4) Gramophone Records, Chicago

Some shops gave birth to bands; Gramophone gave birth to an entire genre, Chicago House. The dusty original moved up the block several years ago but remains as vital as ever.

gramophone records

5) Mazeeka Samir Fouad, Cairo

Here's how online music zine The Quietus editor John Doran describes this joint:

"It is packed to the gills with giant reconditioned gramophone players, huge valve radios and other long outdated formats for playing music. The walls are lined with Egyptian film posters and portraits of stars such as Umm Kulthum and Abdul el-Halim Hafez, the Nightingale of the Nile. I buy a (literally) dusty pile of albums by the former and Joost buys some jazz 7"s. I waver dangerously for a second when [the proprietor] offers to sell me one of the many pear-shaped ouds hanging from the ceiling." 

Mazeeka Samir Faoud

6)  Forever Young Records, Grand Prairie (near Dallas), Texas

Just look at it: 11,000 square feet of wax and platinum:

forever young

7)  The Thing, Brooklyn

Everything is $2 and there are possibly a million records. If you like your music shopping to double as a test of will, this is your sport. 

the thing

8) OHM, Dubai

According to Time Out Dubai, OHM is "the first store in the Middle East and South Asia to carry vinyl." Presumably they mean modern music on vinyl — Beirut has a long, rich history of incredible east-west crossover productions— but the place seems chill. 

ohm records

9) Spacehall, Berlin

The coolest record store in the coolest city in the world. Also doubles as a performance space.

spacehall

10) Tower Records, Tokyo 

The last one left on Earth

tower records

11) Louisiana Music Factory, New Orleans

Home to the greatest collection of New Orleans jazz, cajun, zydeco and big band music in the world.

louisana music factory

12) Shangri-La, Memphis

Generally regarded as the greatest collection of Memphis blues discs in the city.

shangri la records

13) Jazzhole, Lagos, Nigeria

Serving all your Afrobeat and Fela Kuti needs. Also has frequent live in-store performances.

jazzhole

14)  Submerge, Detroit

Home of the Underground Resistance, the politically active wing of Detroit's techno scene. Also home of the greatest collection of Detroit techno and electronic records in the world.

detroit submerge

15)  Rotate This, Toronto

This tiny shop helped fuel the careers of Canada's greatest indie bands including Broken Social Scene and F*** Up.

rotate this

16)  Big Oomp, Atlanta

If you like your hip hop extra dirty, this is where you want to go. 

big oomp

17) Earnest Tubbs, Nashville

Again, everyone will tell you to go to Grimey's. Where you should really go is Tubbs', the real home of country.

earnest tubbs

18)   12 Tónar, Rejkavik, Iceland

All of the best classical recordings in the world appear to have been packed up and moved here, to this tiny house at the top of the world. According to classical authority Gramophone, this has probably made it the great classical outlet on the planet.

12 tonar

 

SEE ALSO: 18 Bookstores Every Book Lover Must Visit At Least Once

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What 13 Successful People Read Before Bed

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arianna huffington careers interview business insider

The evening can provide a rare retreat from a jam-packed day for highly successful people.

For many CEOs, execs, and other high achievers, the day begins extremely early and is crammed with emails, meetings, and events. But the evenings can be a time to unwind. And for those who love to read, there's no better time to pick up a book or magazine.

We combed through interviews to find the favorite nightly reading routines of extremely accomplished people.

Evening reading serves many different purposes. For some, it's a chance to dive into fiction and escape the stresses of the day. For others, it's a chance to catch up on the latest news. Be it old-fashioned print books or lighter fare on Twitter, here's a look at what 13 successful people like to read before calling it a night.

Tim Armstrong tries to always read a book to his two young daughters.

The AOL CEO tells the Guardian that he generally gets home around 8 p.m., and then sits down to read a book to his daughters. "They usually win and get two or three books," he admits. He tries to go to bed by 11 p.m. to get six hours of sleep.



John Carney mulls great thinkers as he falls asleep.

"I'm somewhat obsessed with ancient philosophy, mostly Plato, Socrates, and Xenophon," the "Heard on the Street" writer and former CNBC editor told The Wire. He does most of this type of reading before going to bed. "Unless it's Sunday night," he adds, "in which case I'm watching The Walking Dead or Homeland."



Rob Delaney looks for humor on his Twitter feed.

Comedian and writer Delaney has more than 1 million followers on Twitter and tells The Wire it still blows his mind "that people pay attention to what I say." His feeds are the last thing that he scrolls through before going to bed, though he admits he's mostly looking for entertainment at that point. "I'm more interested in diversion before bed, so hopefully I'm reading fart jokes," he says.



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WELCOME TO 'LITTLE ODESSA': Inside The Brooklyn Neighborhood That's A Miniature Version Of Russia

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brighton beach woman fur coat

With the Sochi Winter Olympic Games less than a week away, all eyes are on Russia.

Russophiles in New York can get a taste of the Motherland in Little Odessa (named after the Ukranian city that was once part of Imperial Russia), an insular neighborhood just blocks from Brooklyn's Brighton Beach boardwalk that's a perfect microcosm of the former Soviet Union.

Once a summer getaway for wealthy New Yorkers, Brighton Beach saw an influx of Jewish immigrants escaping Facism and Nazism in Europe around the time of World War II. The 1970s brought a second wave of Ukrainian Jews from the time the Soviet Union relaxed its immigration policies, through its dissolution.

The neighborhood was filled with young families once again, and it became known as "Little Odessa," after the port city on the Black Sea.

Today, the culture thrives in its odd shops, food emporiums serving traditional delicacies, and colorful, Russian-speaking characters. 

Brighton Beach is located in the southernmost part of Brooklyn. It's one of the last stops on the Q line headed to Coney Island.



The main strip, Brighton Beach Avenue, sits under a subway trestle. It's lined with boutiques, grocery stores, restaurants, and salons.



Everyone seems to speak Russian. It's the dominant language used on signs and in conversation.



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Danish Zoo Shoots Young, Healthy Giraffe And Lets Kids Watch As It's Cut Up and Fed To Lions

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baby giraffe

A Danish zoo sparked outrage Sunday when it put down a healthy young giraffe to prevent inbreeding as young children looked on, before chopping it up and feeding it to lions.

The fate of 18-month-old Marius shocked animal lovers around the world, with thousands signing an online petition to save him and a billionaire offering to buy him and keep him in his Beverly Hills garden.

However last-ditch efforts to spare Marius were to no avail and he was put down with a bolt gun early on Sunday, zoo spokesman Tobias Stenbaek Bro confirmed.

A crowd of visitors, including small children, looked on as the giraffe was put down. Some grimaced while others took photos as he was autopsied and chopped up.

A full-maned lion later tucked into the giraffe's remains, fed to carnivores at the zoo.

"It was put down at 9:20. It went as planned. It's always the people's right to protest. But of course we have been surprised," Stenbaek Bro told AFP.

The zoo said it had no choice other than to prevent the animal attaining adulthood.

Under European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) rules, in-breeding between giraffes is to be avoided.

Although Marius is healthy, his genes are already well represented at the zoo and he cannot be taken in by the 300 other EAZA-affiliated zoos.

Castration is considered cruel with "undesirable effects", while releasing him in the wild is thought unlikely to succeed.

The giraffe's impending death sparked outrage online, with more than 5,000 people signing a "Save Marius" Facebook petition. More than 3,000 people signed a similar Danish-language online petition and nearly 24,000 an English-language version.

There were reportedly several attempts made to save Marius.

A Swedish zoo, which is not part of the EAZA network, tried in vain to get Marius transferred, the Expressen daily reported.

And another daily, Denmark's Ekstrabladet, quoted a Danish promoter living in Los Angeles, Claus Hjelmbak, as saying he had found a buyer for the animal.

"One of my close friends, a billionaire, said that he wanted to transfer a few million so we could save the giraffe," Hjelmbak was quoted as saying.

"He could easily have lived in his garden in Beverly Hills, but the zoo director was not interested in a sale. I'm angry," the promoter added.

The zoo had made clear from the beginning of the protest that its policy was not to sell the animals.

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A Wild New Internet Drinking Game Had This Teenage Girl Strip Down And Chug A Beer In A Crowded Supermarket

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There's a new horrifying drinking game making global headlines that's already taken the lives of several young adults and the dignity of some who survive.

It's called #NekNominate or #NekNominations (hashtag used for social media purposes), and it's an online craze spreading rapidly across countries thanks to Twitter and Facebook.

Here's how it works: kids are nominated by their peers to take video of themselves downing — or "necking" — strong drinks under bizarre or dangerous circumstances before challenging others to film an even more shocking video by the next day.

The Daily Beast reports Nek Nominations is believed to be "behind the deaths of a 22-year-old DJ found dead at his Dublin home last weekend after taking part in drinking games the previous night and of a 19-year-old amateur athlete."

Jonny Byrne, the 19-year-old, died last weekend trying to complete his Nek Nomination dare; downing three different types of spirits and then jumping into a swollen river on the Irish countryside. Byrne drowned. His body was found the next day.

Byrne's father appeared on an Irish late-night talk show to urge young people and their parents to say "no" to Nek Nominations.

As The Daily Beast points out, "the vast majority of the posts on the various pages are, in and of themselves, harmless. They simply show people drinking down cans or pints of beer in one go, often in unusual location such as while skiing or being held upside down."

But even the non-life-threatening dares have consequences.

This past week, 19-year-old Rebecca Dagley stripped down to her underwear in the middle of a crowded supermarket in the U.K., then proceeded to drink a can of Stella Artois.

She is encouraged by her friends — as astonished shoppers look on — shouting "Go on Becca! That's it girl!" as they document the whole thing on their cell phones so they can post it to YouTube.

Here's that video (maybe a little NSFW):

Though the story of Dagley's bizarre contribution to the Nek Nomination game is making the rounds in the U.K. media scene and even in The New York Daily News, the teenager seems unfazed by her choice. She's been retweeting tweets of awe and praise for her work. Most of the tweets are from men:

 

Nek Nominations

The Nek Nomination craze is being widely criticized by alcohol awareness groups, as campaigners are fearful that people will try and find even more extreme ways to drink, like "one man who drank a cocktail of cider, eggs, battery fluid and three goldfish," reports The New York Daily News.

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This Video Shows The Chaos Caused By Back-To-Back Snowstorms In The Pacific Northwest

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Pacific Northwest storm

Starting Thursday and lasting through the weekend, back-to-back snowstorms pummeled the Pacific Northwest. 

The first blast dropped more than a foot of snow and caused a massive five-car pile-up in Washington that left on person dead, the Guardian reported. Multiple crashes also occurred in Oregon, essentially closing the highway for five hours, the state's transportation department told the Guardian. 

The second storm closely followed, a rare meteorological event, bringing ice this time, according to USA Today. The area hasn't seen so much snow since 2008.

"It is a complete ice rink out there," Seattle resident Sabel-Dodge told the Houston Chronicle on Sunday. "It's a good inch of ice, ... [I]t doesn't look like it's going to melt soon."

The storm originated from the "Pineapple Express," the name for a front of moisture from the tropics that brings heavy rain and snow to the West Coast, according to USA Today.

This video from the Associated Press shows the damage. At one point, an Oregon airport's landing area looked like a total white-out. 

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This Is What You See On The Legendary Trans-Siberian Railway

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Golden Eagle express

All eyes are on Russia this week as the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi are underway.

One of the coolest ways to see the vast nation is a trip on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express, one of the world's longest train rides at 6,850 miles.

Its route extends from Moscow to Vladivostok, a Russian city that borders China and North Korea.

Passengers can choose from 16 eastbound or westbound journey dates from May to September. If you're willing to share a suite with someone on the 15-day voyage, you can buy an all-inclusive boarding pass for as little as $15,495. It's a steal, since you're embarking on the journey of a lifetime.

Additional reporting by Callie Bost.

Technically, the Trans-Siberian Express follows a 5,771-mile route from Moscow to Vladivostok.

Source: Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express' online brochure



But the train occasionally travels off that route during the journey. In total, the 15-day journey is almost 6,850 miles. That's one-third of the world's circumference.



While on board (and not looking out the window), passengers sleep in luxurious suites.



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Here Are The Americans Who Gave The Most Money To Charity Last Year

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mark zuckerberg priscilla chan beast

Philanthropists were especially generous in 2013.

According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual list, the 50 biggest donors in America donated $7.7 billion in 2013, a 4% increase over the previous year. The median gift was $86.1 million, and 82 causes received gifts of $1 million or more. 

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have quickly ascended to the top of The Chronicle's list. After giving away $498.8 million last year, they doubled their charitable donations to close to $1 billion in 2013.

Zuckerberg, 29, and Chan, 28, are also by far the youngest donors on the list, which skews much older than last year's. The median age of the philanthropists was 72.5.

We're looking at the top 25 donors on this year's list; check out the complete list at The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

#25 Frank McCourt

Amount donated in 2013: $100 million

Net worth: n/a

Beneficiary: Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. 

Background: Frank McCourt founded McCourt Global, a real-estate development and private-equity firm, in New York and Los Angeles. He graduated from Georgetown in 1975 with a degree in economics. His father, both brothers, and one of his four sons are also Georgetown alumni.

Source: The Chronicle of Philanthropy



#24 David Koch

Amount donated in 2013: $101 million

Net worth: $36 billion

Beneficiary: New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York, N.Y. 

Background: David Koch is the executive vice president of Koch Industries, an industrial conglomerate founded by his father, Fred Koch. He's served as a member of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital's Board of Trustees for 25 years. He and his brother Charles are also known for their large donations to the Republican party.

Source: The Chronicle of Philanthropy



#23 Stephen Schwarzman

Amount donated in 2013: $103 million

Net worth: $7.7 billion

Beneficiary: Tsinqhua University in China and other groups 

Background: Stephen Schwarzman is co-founder and chairman of the Blackstone Group, an investment firm. 

Source: The Chronicle of Philanthropy



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An Austrian Artist Has Completely Reinvented The Door

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Klemens Torggler evolution door gif

Klemens Torggler evolution door gif

Austrian artist Klemens Torggler has reinvented the door with his latest project.

Called the Evolution Door (which we first spotted on the blog Colossal), the 4-panel door opens and closes elegantly as though it's made of pieces of paper. Roggler calls it a "flip panel door" (or "Dryehplattentür").

Torggler has a few variations on this door, one with the origami-esque triangles that fold out to help the door move, and another system with rods that rotate two square panels.

Currently the door is a prototype, and comes in a glass, steel, and wood version.

Watch the triangle version in action below:

And here's the steel door with rod system:

MORE DESIGN: The World's Billionaires Are Flocking To Miami's Insanely Luxurious Porsche Design Tower

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The 7 Worst Valentine's Day Cliches And What To Do Instead

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flowers

This post originally appeared on Details.com.

People get passionate on Valentine's Day — long before the evening winds down and, if all goes well, the clothes come off.

Some love the day, reveling in and dispensing as much heart-shaped, gooey sentiment as they can fit into 24 hours. Others view it as an unnecessarily pressure-ridden faux-holiday and would rather hide under the covers until the clock strikes midnight and it's officially February 15th.

If you're like us, you buy into the idea that it might be nice to do something special with your significant other, but you'd rather not go through the motions and trot out the same tired tricks. So this year, try one of our alternative ideas that'll make you look inspired, and also happen to be very easy to pull off.

1. The Cliché: Dinner at a romantic restaurant

The Alternative: Cook for your mate, you lazy b---ard

The Details: You don't have to be a genius in the kitchen to knock the socks (and other items of clothing) off your lover. In fact, it's best to avoid any complicated preparations that will unduly stress you out. In other words, keep it simple.

Hell, boil some water and make pasta. Pair that with a bottle of wine, candles, and some music (preferably what your partner would like), and you've got a setting infinitely more romantic than any restaurant crammed with lovey-dovey couples paying through the nose for a V-Day prix fixe.

If all goes well, you may find yourselves having dessert in the bedroom.

2. The Cliché: A Hallmark card

The Alternative: An onslaught of sticky notes 

The Details: Save the card for Mom. The key to the sticky-note scheme is saturation: the more, the better. Put them everywhere you can think of: on the bathroom mirror, on the computer monitor, on a milk carton.

When your mate opens his/her wallet at lunch, for example, and sees a note that says "I love to kiss your lips," that's guaranteed to put you over the top on the romantic meter.

3. The Cliché: A box of chocolates

The Alternative: An unexpected aphrodisiac

The Details: There's nothing wrong with chocolate, but have you tried figs? They've been associated with sexual desire since ancient Greek and Roman times and are alleged to have been one of the favorite foods of the temptress Cleopatra.

Another sexy and sweet (and sticky) treat is honey, a.k.a. the nectar of Aphrodite, Goddess of Love (and, incidentally, the lady who aphrodisiacs were named after).

On the opposite end of the palate, try dishing up some oysters. The 18th-century Italian lover Casanova was a proponent of the oyster as a sexual aide of sorts (he supposedly ate dozens of them for breakfast), and science has since confirmed that the bivalves really do pump up the libido.

4. The Cliché: A romantic stroll

The Alternative: A romantic adventure

The Details: The variations are endless. Your options include the skinny dip (the beach works if you don't have a pool), the secluded hike (bring bug spray and a flask filled with hot chocolate or booze, or boozy hot chocolate), the rooftop stargazing journey, or the literary pub crawl (identify spots in advance where writers once lived and drank).

One word of advice: Bring a flashlight so you don't get really lost—which is not the sort of adventure you're going for.

5. The Cliché: A romantic movie

The Alternative: A burlesque show

The Details: Chick flicks are tame. VD (that's Valentine's Day) is time to get dirty. What's more, venues across the country are hosting special V-Day shows.

So whether you're in New York CityLos AngelesSeattleDallas, or Chicago, you can get your fill of va-va-voom girls in pasties and double entendre-spouting hosts. (For a thorough listing of shows nationwide, visit the fantastic directory Burlesque Bitch.)

6. The Cliché: A dozen red roses

The Alternative: A 12-song playlist

The Details: In days past, giving someone a mixtape was a heartfelt gesture capable of transmitting a variety of messages too difficult to put into words. Today, cassette tapes are long gone and even CDs are looking like dinosaurs, but the mixtape lives on in the form of iTunes and Spotify playlists.

Hopefully you've got your own ideas for songs that strike the right mood, but if you need a nudge, then check out Billboard's list of the 50 Sexiest Songs of All Time.

7. The Cliché: Champagne

The Alternative: Champagne cocktails

The Details: You want bubbly because it activates the salivary glands, awakens the taste buds, and looks cool in a glass. But a regular bottle of champagne, cava, or Prosecco shows no imagination.

Instead, try cocktails like the French 75Chandon Brut MojitoBlood Orange Champagne Cocktail, and of course the classic Champagne Cocktail. Even better if you sip from each other's navels.

8. Bonus: The Love Poem Generator App

Simply input your beloved's name and the app instantly crafts a poem from one of its 4,294,967,296 combinations of verse. Feel a line isn't living up to your standards? Tap it and it's replaced with an alternative.

Naturally, you can share the poem via e-mail, but you can also play it aloud as read by the app's slightly creepy sexy robotic voice.
iTunes; $1

Details February 14More from Details: 

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5 Foods That Will Make You Look Younger

The Truth About Testosterone — And How To Get More Naturally

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Google Chairman Eric Schmidt Reportedly Dropped $22 Million On A House Near The Playboy Mansion

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eric schmidt new house

Former Google CEO and current executive chairman Eric Schmidt leads a fabulous life filled with luxurious yachts, homes in Silicon Valley and New York City, and even his own private jet. 

Now the New York Post is reporting that the tech mogul has scooped up yet another home: a 9,182-square-foot "French chateau" in Los Angeles' Holmby Hills neighborhood. 

According to the Post, which cites unnamed sources, the seven-bedroom house once belonged to Veronique Peck, the late wife of Hollywood legend Gregory Peck. 

And luckily for Schmidt (who's rumored to be a bit of a ladies' man), the chateau is about a five minutes' walk from the Playboy Mansion. 

Schmidt reportedly spent $22 million on the purchase, which had been listed for $24.995 million with Coldwell Banker. That's a minuscule amount compared to his estimated net worth of $8.3 billion. 

The house was originally built in 1932.



It sits on 1.3 acres of land.



The formal living room's decor is lavish, though a bit outdated.



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Atlanta Has Already Closed Its Schools For Tuesday And Wednesday

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Atlanta traffic dark

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for Atlanta, predicting up to an inch of snow between Monday evening and Tuesday evening, along with sleet and freezing rain on Wednesday.

In response, the city's public schools will close on both Tuesday and Wednesday, Atlanta Public Schools has announced.

Only "essential personnel" are expected to show up to work. All after-school activities, sporting events, and community meetings scheduled for Monday have been cancelled.

Emory University in Atlanta has cancelled classes for Tuesday.

The strong reaction to a storm that doesn't sound too terrible isn't surprising given the disastrous traffic jams that brought the city to a standstill at the end of January, in similar conditions.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal tool the blame for the problems and promised better preparation for future storms, saying, "We will be much more cautious and much more aggressive in terms of taking action in advance of future situations."

Keeping students staying home is an easy way to preemptively ease traffic. Part of the problem with last month's response to the storm was that just about all the public schools closed at once, in the middle of the day. That generated a mass rush by parents trying to pick up their kids. "There was not a whole lot of coordination," Larken McCord, a local teacher, told Business Insider.

This time, officials aren't' taking any risks. 

SEE ALSO: Experts Reveal All The Reasons Behind Atlanta's Snow Gridlock Nightmare

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This New Chevrolet Ad Proves Corporate America Has Made Its Decision On Gay Marriage

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Chevrolet ad gay couple

It's official: Corporate America supports gay marriage.

In ads that ran Friday night during the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics, all-American car manufacturer Chevrolet spotlighted a melange of diverse, real-life families that included gay couples, interracial couples, and couples that were both same-sex and interracial.

The ads, made by Commonwealth Detroit, make Chevrolet the first brand to show a gay couple in an ad at the Olympics and the latest in a long line of major companies that have explicitly associated themselves with gay marriage in their advertising.

In sharp contrast to the anti-gay policies of the Olympics host country, Russia, the default setting for America's biggest corporations these days is one that accepts, if not promotes, gay marriage.

Chevrolet's statement follows an outbreak of branded celebrations that occurred when the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act this past June. The ruling forced overturned a law banning the federal government from recognize state-issued marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples, and was cheered by American institutions like Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and Johnson & Johnson.

It's one thing for a relatively young West Coast tech operation like Microsoft to support gay marriage, and another thing entirely for Chevrolet, a paragon of American tradition located smack dab in the middle of the country.

The push by big brands to take a stand in favor of gay marriage comes at a time when young people increasingly want the companies whose products they buy to reflect their personal values. According to a recent study from Boston Consulting Group, 50% of Americans aged 18-24 said that the brands they buy reflect their values, with 48% of them saying they try to use brands that are active in supporting social causes.

For brands, supporting gay marriage offers an opportunity to appeal to these young people by taking a stand on an issue that remains controversial in the public arena, but has largely been decided among younger Americans.

A recent study from The Pew Research Center's Religion and Public Life Project finds an upward trend of American millennials who support gay marriage, with 66% of them declaring themselves in favor in a poll released this past June. At this point, taking a stance in opposition to gay marriage, as was done in 2012 by fast-food chain Chick-fil-A, is a far riskier move for brands than making a statement in support.

The economic incentives for pro-gay advertising notwithstanding, brands like Chevrolet that integrate families with gay couples into their advertising can be credited with (or blamed for, depending on your perspective) helping to re-enforce the idea that gay families are normal, natural members of American society.

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San Antonio Tops List Of US Cities Most Interested In Plastic Surgery

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RealSelf, an online community that discusses cosmetic treatments and procedures (WARNING: the website has some photos that are NSFW), put together a list of the Top 10 U.S. cities that are interested in plastic surgery.

The plastic surgery website counted pageviews in metropolitan areas with at least 1 million residents for the site's top 10 most-searched procedures: breast augmentation, butt lift, tummy tuck, rhinoplasty, breast reduction, "mommy makeover," Botox, liposuction, and eyelid surgery.

RealSelf then calculated the average number of pageviews per 1,000 residents, and found that San Antonio was the city most interested in plastic surgery based on its residents' searches, followed by Oklahoma City, Okla., and Austin, Texas.

cities most interested in plastic surgeryThe website also analyzed which U.S. cities had the most board-certified plastic surgeons per capita. Surprisingly, Salt Lake City topped the list with almost five surgeons per 100,000 residents, beating out Miami, San Francisco, and even L.A. New York City did not make either list.

realself cities with the most plastic surgeons

SEE ALSO: Korea's Plastic Surgery Obsession Is A Glimpse Into The Future

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The Secret Recipe Behind Brad's 'Vampire Killer Kale Chips' Revealed

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For those of you who don't want to dish out the hefty $7.99 price tag for these delicious morsels of healthy goodness, Brad Gruno, the owner and founder of Brad's Raw Foods was generous enough to give us his recipe.  We doubt you'll come close to the original at home, but it's worth a shot.

Produced by Alana Kakoyiannis

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35 Rare Color Photos Of The Russian Empire 100 Years Ago

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Life in Russia 100 years ago Sergei M. Prokudin-Gorskii

Russia went $39 billion over budget in staging this year's winter Sochi Olympics, making them the most expensive Olympics by far.

And while the games continue amid rumors of corruption and a bizarre opening ceremony, we thought we'd take a look back at what Russia was like 100 years ago.

These early color pictures of Russia were taken by photographer Sergei Mikhailovish Prokudin-Gorskii. The Russian master left behind over 2,600 of his amazing photographs of the Russian Empire between 1909 and 1915.

The Prokudin-Gorskii Collection at the Library of Congress shows the ethnographic and geographic diversity of the vast Russian Empire through images of people, religious architecture, pastoral views, and transportation and agricultural workers.

He made numerous photographic trips throughout his lifetime, traveling thousands of miles across the expansive Russian Empire. The resulting "near true color" images are his incredible legacy.

Here is Sergeĭ Mikhaĭlovich Prokudin-Gorskiĭ himself (on the right) sitting with two men in Cossak dress.



Four people sit on a carpet in front of a backdrop of textiles.



An Armenian woman in what is now present-day Turkey.



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Mark Zuckerberg's Billion-Dollar Gift Was The Biggest Donation Of 2013

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Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician, were the most generous donors of 2013, according to a ranking released by The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Their gift of $992 million (or 18 million shares of Facebook stock) went to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, though the couple hasn't made clear exactly how they're going to spend the money beyond vague mentions of education and health efforts. 

Since 2008, when he became the social network's first billionaire at the age of 23, Zuckerberg's net worth has soared to $29.7 billion

The record-breaking gift, which was announced in December, wasn't the first big donation Zuckerberg has made.

They donated the same number of shares in Facebook to the fund in 2012, which totaled around $500 millionIn 2010 Zuckerberg gave away $100 million to the Newark, N.J. school system, and he and Chan donated $5 million to a clinic in East Palo Alto, Calif earlier this year.

He's certainly made an effort to clean up his image from the early Facebook days. 

The couple (he's 29, she's 28) were far and away the youngest donors on the Chronicle's list — the median age of the top 50 givers was 72. 

Second on the list was fracking pioneer George Mitchell, who left $750 million to his family's foundation upon his death in July 2013. Mitchell was followed by Nike co-founder Phil Knight, who donated $500 million to cancer research last year. All told, the top 50 givers gave away $7.7 billion in 2013, a 4% increase over the previous year. 

SEE ALSO: WHERE ARE THEY NOW: Meet Facebook's 20 First Users

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This Is What Atlanta's Supermarkets Look Like Before A Storm

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A winter storm is expected to hit the Atlanta area tonight and last through Wednesday, so locals are stocking up on groceries in case they see a repeat of the city-wide paralysis caused by snow in late January.

A manager at a Walmart Supercenter on Martin Luther King Junior Drive Southwest told Business Insider the store was "ridiculously crowded," though lines are moving quickly and the shelves are still stocked. An employee at another Walmart said they've seen "quite a few customers."

Angie, a customer service rep at a Publix supermarket in Snellville, outside Atlanta, said the store had seen a major rush of shopped ahead of the storm. The store was anticipating the rush, she explained — the only surprise was that there wasn't a crowd lined up at the door before they opened.

Shoppers are picking up "just everything," Angie said, and all nine registers have been open and busy, all day. The crowd is even worse than it was during the January storm, she said, adding, "this is the worst one."

Here are some of the photos we've seen of people stocking up ahead of the imminent storm:

 

This last photo shows a fully stocked bread aisle, but the photographer fears this is only a temporary situation, hashtagging the photo with: #bread#snowpocalypse #2014 #runforyourlife#cityabouttoshutdown

SEE ALSO: Atlanta Has Already Closed Its Schools For Tuesday And Wednesday

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