Mikkele.bringard

Just in case this commercial for Extra Gum wasn’t enough to make you appreciate the beauty of parenthood, here’s a video from a young couple, showing every day of their pregnancy. The collection of one-second moments, which culminates with the birth of their daughter, is incredibly moving. Also, we totally want to be friends with them—seriously, ski trips, kayaking, hiking, beach vacations and road trips all in a 9-month period of time? We need to hang out some time …

So far, the response to Apple’s two new iPhone models has been pretty underwhelming—the company’s stock fell about two percent following the lackluster presentation. But at least Mashable was able to have some fun with the whole thing. The tech site has assembled this list of nine things that the colorful new iPhone 5C looks like with its new, custom, cheese-grater case. Along with resembling the unfortunate footwear, Sweetarts, children’s toys and the game Connect 4 also made the list. Don’t worry, if a brightly-colored, polka-dotted phone is a little too flashy for your taste, they also released another, more understated, solid gold model. It's good to see Apple continue to embrace design simplicity …

Most people have probably never cried during a commercial for chewing gum (unless you’re a very sentimental twin), but there’s a first time for everything. This Extra Gum ad, showing the bond between a father and daughter, is like watching a one-minute Hallmark movie. Prepare to start your week off with a good ‘ole fashioned cry …

A new subscription service called Oyster is following the Netflix model by allowing readers to view an unlimited amount of eBooks for a monthly fee. Though initially, Oyster will only be available on iPhones and iPod Touch devices, the service offers an alternative to having to actually purchase eBooks from an online store. Currently, access to the app is by “invitation” only (you can request an invite on their site), but the service will cost about $10 month …

A video making its way around the Internet may be one of the most chilling and moving things ever uploaded to YouTube. It's of a young father in Syria who thought his son had been killed in the chemical attacks that killed hundreds. In short, someone found the boy, returned him to his father (around the 1:00 mark) and their reunion is simply indescribable—the man himself needs a few minutes to collect himself (he recovers his senses around 3:45). The world's response to the Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons remain uncertain, but films like this put a much-needed human face to the crisis, and serve as yet another reminder of just how similar we all are ...

What could possibly be more terrifying than coming home to find pictures of Nicolas Cage hidden throughout every room of your house? We’ll answer for you: Nothing. On a Reddit forum dedicated to ironically “worshipping” the Left Behind star, a user described how he secretly “Nick [sic] Caged” a friend’s house, plastering images of our generation’s finest movie star on everything from the toilet seat to the battery compartment of the television remote. Well done Redditor “Sirdog33”. This was definitely a worthwhile way to spend an afternoon …

You are looking at the largest selfie ever taken. Members of the team behind NASA’s Cassini spacecraft mission collected more than 1,400 images of people waving at Saturn, as part of “a tribute to the people of Earth.” The images were first taken on the same day this photo—of Earth as a tiny blue dot in the shadow of Saturn’s rings—was captured on July 19. If you look closely, you will notice that nearly the entire population of planet earth is making a duck face …

After 73 years of marriage, Fred Stobaugh’s wife Lorraine passed away, leaving Fred heartbroken. But when the 96-year-old saw an advertisement for an online songwriting contest sponsored by the local Green Shoe Studios, he decided to mail in a song he wrote to help him heal after her death. The studio was so moved that they awarded Fred's song a free recording session—with professional musicians and professional singers—and created this moving video for his song, “Sweet Lorraine”. We hope you have your tissues ready …

Yahoo recently unveiled new search engine data that finally revealed what the “top 10 questions 18- to-35-year-olds search but are afraid to ask.” The results are pretty depressing. In addition to trying to figure out “how to boil an egg” (protip: place it in really hot water) and “what is hummus,” millennials were mostly interested current events and pop culture inquiries. “How to twerk” topped the list, with questions about the party drug “molly," animated GIFs, Robin Thicke, HPV and writing a resume also making appearances. The research also found that somewhere, there are at least a handful of millennials who actually use Yahoo as a search engine …

The Facebook and smartphone-based game Candy Crush Saga registers more than 600 million active gaming sessions every day, so obviously, there’s something extremely compelling about the puzzle app. The game has become so popular that it’s sparked an entirely new social problem—chronic Candy Crush addiction. An addiction treatment center in the U.K. is now offering a rehab program (which costs $5,000) for the game’s addicts, and says that it receives 100 inquiries a month about the recovery treatment plan.

So, how do you know if you’re “addicted” to the colorful game? According to the rehab center’s spokeswoman, you may have a problem if you are “someone who spends four to five hours a day playing the game, lets the game override personal relationships, makes excuses to avoid social situations, and locks him or herself away in order to play.” If that’s you, get help—and please, we beg of you, stop asking us for more lives on Facebook. We’re done enabling you …

In case this mind-blowing Mario Paint cover of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” wasn’t enough to reignite your nostalgia for old school video games, this amazing a capella performance of the Tetris theme music should do the trick. YouTube singing sensation Smooth McGroove demonstrates the art of turning a 16-bit game theme song into an a capella masterpiece …

Georgina and Sid really wanted a nice wedding, but they also wanted to be able to invest in their first home or go on a long trip. So instead of spending thousands of dollars on an elaborate ceremony and reception, the couple decided to get married on the cheap—the really cheap. By asking friends to each bring a dish to the reception, carving their own rings, utilizing recycled or donated items and having a family member provide some saxophone music, they were able to have the entire wedding for just $1.50. Georgina was even able to find a handmade wedding dress on the site freecycle.com (which she paid the $1.50 for). The bride told The Daily Mail, “There is nothing to gain from spending a huge amount of money. The day is supposed to be about marrying the person you love and for us all that mattered was that we were becoming husband and wife” …

As Abraham Lincoln once said, "Check your Internet sources." That's always been true, but one Pinterest user/genius/hero has been putting it to the test over the past few months by putting a few of Hitler's less horrifying quotes in flowery cursive on top of Taylor Swift photos, and seeing if anyone notices. And until Buzzfeed picked up on it, nobody really did. This one was re-pinned 277 times ...

As you probably know, Pat Robertson says some wild stuff over on his show—so much so, that we've largely stopped covering it over here. Life is short and it is for the living. However, his assertion in today's broadcast has gotten him censored by the network he founded, so you know it's a doozy. Here's his statement in full.

You know what they do in San Francisco, some in the gay community there they want to get people so if they got [AIDS] they’ll have a ring, you shake hands, and the ring’s got a little thing where you cut your finger. Really. It’s that kind of vicious stuff, which would be the equivalent of murder.

Oh, boy. The Christian Broadcasting Network has let Robertson get away with some very controversial statements, but this one seemed to cross a line. Robertson's comments mysteriously disappeared from the show's actual upload, and the man himself has emailed an apology/defense to The Atlantic Wire ...

Every three months, the prestigious Oxford University Press—a longstanding authority on the English language—updates the Oxford Dictionary to more accurately reflect contemporary linguistic trends. The soul-crushing list of new words may make you want to learn a second language. In addition to unfortunate terms like “double denim”, “fauxhawk” and “food baby” (defined as “a protruding stomach caused by eating a large quantity of food and supposedly resembling that of a woman in the early stages of pregnancy.”), “jorts”, “selfie”, and the Pinterest-inspired “cake pop” also made the list. When future linguist look back for signs of the intellectual decline of the English-speaking world, the addition of the word “twerk” to the Oxford Dictionary (presumably accompanied by a picture of Miley Cyrus), will be their first clue that 2013 was the beginning of the end …

According to this story from The Wall Street Journal, managers at businesses around the country have observed an new trend among younger employees: They never use the phone. The story looks at how for millennial employees (which they define as individuals born between 1981 and the early 2000s), actual phone calls are becoming more and more rare, as the demographic prefers texting and emailing. But according to managers, the phone-phobia is hurting business, especially at companies that rely on sales and client relations.

One boss told the paper, "You're not selling if you're just asking a question and getting an answer back.” Some businesses have even started hiring professional phone consultants to re-teach the generation raised on SMS and Facebook messages the art of the old fashioned phone call. The evidence of the decline of phone use isn’t just anecdotal either. From December 2011 to December 2012 the amount of data used by American cell phone users nearly doubled. What was the increase in the number of minutes actually spent talking on calls during the same period? Just one percent …

Young Quinn Sheeran knows that starting your day off on the right foot is essential. And what could possibly be more inspiring than listening to the theme song from Rocky as you get ready in the morning? Nothing. Hearing the famous fitness anthem will prepare you to conquer any task that may lie before you with the determination of a gritty underdog. The 11-year-old disassembled a music-playing greeting card, and rigged a container of Old Spice to play the famous jock-jam every time it’s opened. Quinn, you are the Edison that our generation has been waiting for …

We've discussed this around here. Don't go into the water. Just don't. Dry land ain't broke, so don't fix it. The only things that can come of going into water are fear and destruction, so stay where you're at. And if you need any further evidence, then take a look—if you dare—at whatever this thing is. It washed up on the shores of Spain, and nobody's quite sure what it is. What they do know is that it's about 13 feet long, it reeks to high Heaven, and (just guessing here) there are more of them out there and they are terrors of the deep. So don't go bothering them. Just stay here. On the land. Where it's safe ...

Back in May, as part of its 50th anniversary campaign, New York’s PBS affiliate put up posters all over the city advertising ridiculous (also, fake) reality shows. The campaign posters, which featured photos and taglines from upcoming faux-reality shows like The Dillionaire: Life’s a Pickle, Bayou Eskimos: Their life is headed south, Knitting Wars: It’s sew on and, our favorite, Married to a Mime: She’s got plenty to say. The promos also carried the somewhat snobby line, “The fact you thought this was a real show says a lot about the state of TV.” We get it PBS, not every network regularly shows 15-hour Ken Burns documentaries about the park service. Now, the public broadcasting network has revisited the campaign with several trailers for a new batch of ridiculous(ly awesome) looking fake shows including Meet the Tanners (about a family that loves to sunbathe), Clam Kings (about rival clam diggers) and, of course, Long Island Landscapers, a show we would totally watch …