GeekSugar

What You're Wanting: A Retro-Modern Kitchen

CasaSugar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:00:00 PST

I've become a little obsessed with the Life archives, which were recently added to Google Images. If you're not careful, you too could be pulled into hours of poring over images from America's past. This image, of Joan Wilson whipping up something yummy in her stylish circle skirt, was taken in 1950. I love the look of her kitchen, which would be a classic look in today's midcentury modern-obsessed kitchen world. Of course, you don't want to simply re-create this look in your home, though. You also want to add a modern, up-to-the-minute touch to the retro look and, of course, a lot of your own style.

So, for the latest What You're Wanting, I want to know how you'd furnish, accessorize, and style a retro-modern kitchen. What table would you choose, or would you keep the one shown in the photo? How about chairs and benches? Would you choose a different clock? What color scheme would you work with?

Add all the finds to your ShopStyle Living stylebook, and create a look tagged with the phrase Retro Modern Kitchen. Private message me if you have any questions. Oh, and as extra incentive, I'll give some Sugar schwag away to my favorite look!

Source

Google Images Adds Millions of Historic TIME Magazine Photos

GeekSugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:00:45 PST

One thing that upsets me about Google Images is the fact that it's sometimes difficult to find older photos - hey, the Internet is only 39 years old. Google is trying to change this by hosting millions of photos from the LIFE photo archive from the 1950s and onward. Search various categories like people, places, events, sports, and culture or add "source:life" to any Google image search to only search the LIFE photo archive. I did this with Marilyn Monroe and these were the results I got - magical, right?!

Nighttime Fasting: A New Way to Lose Weight?

Shape — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:09:52 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian with master's degrees in both nutrition science and public health.

If you couldn’t let anything cross your lips from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., but you were allowed to eat anything you wanted for eight hours a day and still lose weight, would you try it? That’s the apparent bottom line of a rat study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, which recently stirred up the weight loss pot.

Top 50 Summer Diet Foods for Weight Loss

Scientists put groups of mice on different diet regimens for 100 days. One group of rodents ate healthy food while animals in two of the groups chowed down on high-fat, high-calorie feed. Half of the junk food eaters were allowed to munch whenever they wanted to while the others only had access to feed for the eight hours they were most active. The conclusion: even though they ate a fatty diet, the mice who were forced to fast for 16 hours were almost as lean as those who ate the healthy fare. Interestingly, the round the clock junk food eaters became obese and developed health problems, even though they consumed about the same amount of fat and calories as the time-restricted junk food fed mice.

See if a nutritionist thinks nighttime fasting works after the break!

One Woman's Quest for the Best: The Fastest, Farthest Female Inline Skate

Fitness Magazine — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:23:05 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Fitness Magazine here on FitSugar!

Over the next few months, families will travel across the U.S. via plane, train or car during summer road trips. Kacie Fischer will be covering the same distance (nearly 4,000 miles, on her route), but on inline skates. . . and in just 74 days. If she reaches her goal, Fischer will also be breaking five Guinness World Records in the process.

We caught up with Fischer, a Promax DOer, after a long day of skating to get the backstory about her fit trip which has been two years in the making.

How did you get started with inline skating?

I started skating when I was 7, but didn’t start skating longer distances until I was cross training as a college runner. I found that I could travel a lot farther and see a lot more, plus it was a lot more exhilarating-try flying down a hill at 40+ miles per hour! Inline skating is like running on steroids.

More of Kacie's interview after the break.

Jessica Alba Adds Some Glamour to the Business World in a Photo Shoot Celebrating The Honest Company

Rebecca M Gruber — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:51:57 PDT

She's much more than just a pretty face! Jessica Alba knew she was on to something when she couldn't find a cute, affordable, and eco-friendly diaper after Honor Marie, 3½, was born. And it looks like other people are on to her now too. Jessica, through her founding of The Honest Company, was just recognized as one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company magazine. The actress, activist, and mom of two (lil Haven is 9 months old) posed in a beautiful photo shoot for the magazine, both with and without her daughters, and spoke about the inspiration for her latest venture. Among the parts of the interview that didn't make it into the magazine were her desire to shake up kiddie design and the obstacles she's overcome to get this far.

On incorporating modern design elements: Your baby is so cute, and you have to put a diaper on, and all of a sudden, it's like, wait, there's a paper bag on my baby's bottom! So once we got the effectiveness of our diapers down, I was like, "Why not make it cool?" I have tattoos, I have piercings, I grew up on MTV, I am a global citizen, I've been connected to the Internet pretty much my whole life; I feel like there's no company that speaks to me as a modern mom. I wanted to appeal to different types of aesthetics out there. So for boys' diapers - my partners thought I was completely cuckoo bananas - but we have skulls on a diaper, because I'm obsessed with Alexander McQueen and he makes skulls beautiful. And they were like, "Skulls on babies? No way!" And it's been one of our number one sellers, because people even like them on their girls, believe it or not. So we had anchors, as well, for the more traditional mom, and gingham.

On the whirlwind of creating a new company: I've been through lots of trials and tribulations, and I've learned a lot, and I now appreciate the uphill battle and struggle, because it forced me to be more tenacious and more focused and more passionate than I ever imagined that I could have been. I think that was probably the biggest lesson that I've learned.

Keep reading to see the entire photo shoot!

Photo courtesy of: Fast Company

Channing Tatum Talks His Magic Mike Costars and Stripping Days in Out

Lauren Turner — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:34:14 PDT

Channing Tatum got sexy for a spread in Out magazine to promote his upcoming movie Magic Mike, which hits theaters in June. The film is loosely based on his days as a stripper and costars Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Bomer, and Joe Manganiello, who joined him in character on the newest cover of Entertainment Weekly. In Out, Channing chats about his performing past and reflects on his career. Here's more from Channing Tatum in Out:

On his own stripping days: "I never enjoyed the taking-the-clothes-off part. You are on a stage with people yelling at you, and you feel you're a rock star, but you're nothing - you're just a guy taking off his clothes, looking like a fool in a stupid outfit."
On his career: "I've been acting for eight years now, and I feel I'm just starting to understand things. As soon as you think you're the sh*t, you'll find 100 people that will point at you and laugh. I don't ever want to be that person - I want to keep finding people I can learn from. That's my entire journey in life."
On his costar: "With Joe Manganiello naked in a movie, I think even straight guys are going to be, 'Sh*t, I need to see that. That man is a specimen.'"

The Downsides to Meeting Your Goal Weight

Shape — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:32:50 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

When I started losing weight, I often looked at women who were thinner than I was and thought, "Wow, her life must be so easy." I knew that once I got to my goal weight, I'd feel awesome, and healthy living would be just as easy for me as it was for all the "I can eat whatever I want and not gain weight" women around me.

11 Ways to Rev Up Your Metabolism

Now that I've lost 75 pounds, I can say that I do feel awesome . . . but I can't say that a healthy lifestyle comes easy. Weight maintenance isn't as simple as I expected. While being at my goal weight has its perks, I have to admit: I failed to appreciate some of the great benefits I enjoyed along the way. If I did it all over again, then here's what I'd do differently:

See how you can enjoy the weight-loss journey after the break!

Charlize Theron Breaks From SWATH to Talk Motherhood and Dating in InStyle

Lauren Turner — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:27:35 PDT

Charlize Theron got glamorous for the cover of InStyle's June issue, which hits newsstands this Friday. She's currently in the middle of a whirlwind press tour for Snow White and the Huntsman and hit the red carpet for the film's London premiere yesterday. Charlize told us she's excited to share the movie with fans though in the magazine she touched more on her personal life including dating and her newly adopted son Jackson. Here's more from Charlize Theron in InStyle:

On getting older: "I see my face and my body changing, and they’re all changes I’m OK with. Part of me understands I may not be in front of the camera forever, and maybe not just because of age, but because of me. I wouldn’t have started my own production company if I didn’t feel that way."
On adopting son Jackson: "Motherhood was something I always knew I wanted to experience. What a great opportunity for someone like me who wants to have a family. I can only hope to be 10 percent of the mom mine was to me. She encouraged me to be confident and enjoy life. That’s what I want for my son. So far I’m not surprised by anything about being a mom. It’s all pretty great-but that’s what I expected."
On dating: "I’m always open to a relationship, but I’m not putting those feelers out there now. I’m not unhappy with it, but I’m not like, 'Oh, this is so much better than when I was in a relationship.' I am a relationship girl. That’s kind of just how I’m made."

Mad Men's 5 Maddest Moments: "Dark Shadows"

Becky Kirsch — Mon, 14 May 2012 06:44:57 PDT

It feels like just yesterday it was summertime in Mad Men world, but alas, we've already arrived at Thanksgiving. It's not exactly a celebratory episode: Betty's cranky about both her new diet and Don's new wife; Pete's still struggling to figure out his life; and Don and Ginsberg have a showdown at work.

Roger, on the other hand, is still using his money to get everything he wants, which includes using Jane for some help landing a new client and paying off Ginsberg. And Ginsberg's success is Peggy's lack thereof; with him cleaning up, she has less and less to show for her work. Ready to break down the big moments? Just

Carry that weight: Betty's already looking noticeably thinner than the fat suit episode, and it's because she's joined Weight Watchers. Her weekly meetings seem to be helping with her portion control, but despite measuring her sad little grapefruit dinners on the scale each night, she still can't resist sucking down a little whipped cream every now and then. As much as Betty irritates me, my heart went out to her at the end of the episode when she eats her tiny Thanksgiving dinner and seriously savors her one allotted bite of stuffing.
Green-eyed monster: While Betty's picking up the kids, she gets an eyeful of Don's swanky new apartment - and his new wife. Clearly shaken up by the incident, she retaliates by spilling the beans about Anna to Sally while Sally is in the midst of making a family tree. Betty easily manipulates Sally into thinking that Megan is a liar, but the joke's on Betty in the end. After a squabble, Don explains the Anna situation to sassy Sally and Sally reports back to her mother without even mentioning the argument. Betty proceeds to freak out. I've got to hand it to Megan for convincing Don not to call Betty in a rage; not only is Megan spot-on about giving Betty what she wants, but she also diffuses the argument pretty quickly.
Fantasy land: Pete is particularly smug because he's been chatting with a reporter from the New York Times Magazine who's doing a piece about ad agencies. Once he's done bragging about his connection with Roger and Don, he assures them that he'll be the only one contacted for the interview. Pete then proceeds to have gross sexual fantasies about how the article will help him win Beth back, but - surprise - he doesn't even make it into the article! He calls Don enraged, but it's clear that Pete's really just mad at the world since, once again, things are not going his way.
Wine time: Bert asks Roger to court a potential new client, and since it's Manischewitz wine, he suggests that Roger's Jewish wife could be of service. Though Bert is a bit behind on his interoffice gossip, Roger still takes the client and asks Jane for help. In return, she asks for a small favor, and by that I mean a brand-new apartment. Roger agrees, and then proceeds to um, christen the new apartment with Jane after dinner. She's angry that he's tainted her new place, but there's a much bigger concern at play here than Jane's whining: when is all the money that Roger's been throwing around going to catch up with him?
Still got it: While Don's putting in a little overtime at the office, he comes across Ginsberg's folder of sketches, and is inspired to get back to basics. His idea is a little dark (you know, because it's based in hell and all), and he puts it head to head against Ginsberg's childlike pitch for the same product, SnoBall. The rest of the team likes both ideas, and agrees that Ginsberg should be the front-runner. Too bad Don conveniently leaves Ginsberg's pitch in the taxi, and sells his snowball's chance in hell idea to the company. Ginsberg obviously isn't in a celebratory mood, but when he confronts Don about what happened, Don just shuts him down. Now that both Don and Peggy feel threatened by Ginsberg, might we see them teaming up against him?

There's also more death omens in this week's episode, including Megan teaching Sally how to fake cry by focusing on something sad, and of course, the mysterious toxic smog that invades Thanksgiving. How'd you feel about the episode overall?

Photo courtesy of AMC

Geek We Love: The Father of the MP3 Player Market

Anna Monette Roberts — Mon, 14 May 2012 06:11:05 PDT

Although Kane Kramer developed the first MP3 player in the 1970s, it wasn't until 20 years later that MP3 players hit the consumer market. For that we have Nathan Schulhof to thank. In the early 1990s, he envisioned a "portable device [that] would allow the selection, retrieval, storage, and playback of audio content delivered to the device via the Internet."

The founder and CEO of Audio Highway, Schulhof has been dubbed the "father of the MP3 player industry" for creating, patenting, and introducing the Audio Highway Listen Up MP3 Player in 1996. The first of its kind to be introduced to the public, the Listen Up Player had a retail value of $299 and held up to 60 minutes of digital audio files. To give you some perspective, today an iPod Classic ($250) stores up to 40,000 songs.

Even though the player was not mass-produced (only 25 devices were made), it still received a lot of buzz and recognition in the tech world. The player won an Innovations Award at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1997 as well as a People's Choice Award at the second annual Internet Showcase Conference in 1998.

See how Schulhof feels about Apple's success.