GeekSugar

Google's New Virtual Reality Site Launches . . . In Real Life

GeekSugar — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:30:04 PDT

Since Second Life is so five years ago, you can either stay with the same 'ole, same 'ole, or jump ship and live out your virtual reality dreams in some new digs brought to you by Google. Lively, the new VR world lets you create avatars, design and customize your "chat" rooms, and invite other users to visit, helping you make new friends to hang out with. . . virtually.

But what's different about Lively than other virtual reality sites like Second Life, is you aren't stuck on one website to roam around in. You can enter Lively from sites like Facebook (which is already up and running), other social networking sites, and blogs. Still in beta, Lively is free, but only available to Windows users running IE and Firefox. Hopefully, the Mac fans will be able to invade your virtual world soon!

5 Strange Ways Chocolate Keeps You Healthy

Prevention — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 04:02:26 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

This sweet treat may also boost brainpower, help you relax, and more!
By Mara Betsch, Prevention

Show your heart some love this Valentine’s Day by nibbling a few chocolates - and making them a regular treat throughout the year. A recent study found that those consuming the highest levels of chocolate had a 37 percent reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 29 percent reduction in stroke compared to those with lower chocolate intakes.

Though experts are quick to clarify that we should stick to moderate consumption of high-calorie chocolates, it’s hard to deny the cold, hard facts that chocolate can be a healthy addition to our diets.

Seven Surprising Ways to Sharpen Your Mind

Hundreds of studies have shown that dark chocolate is packed with antioxidants that promote heart health and may prevent many cardiovascular-related conditions, but we’ve dug up five more surprising health benefits. Read on for five new ways to justify your chocolate craving.

1. Chocolate May Help You With Math
Flavonols, compounds in chocolate with antioxidantlike properties, are thought to improve circulation, including blood flow to the brain. A 2009 study asked participants to count backward in groups of three from a number between 800 and 999. After drinking hot cocoa filled with flavonols, the participants were able to do calculations more quickly and accurately and were less likely to feel tired or mentally drained.

Learn a four more things chocolate can do for you after the break.

Lose Weight With These Healthy Chickpea Recipes

Michele Foley — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:04:35 PST

Chickpeas seem to be everywhere lately - and with good reason: they're high in protein, fiber, folate, and zinc. And in a small study, chickpeas have also been shown to aid in weight loss. I love how versatile they are: whether roasted on their own, tossed in a salad, or even used in dessert, chickpeas seem to make every recipe better! See a few of our favorites here.

A Style Ode to One of the Greatest Singers of All Time: Whitney Houston

Noria Morales — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:54:54 PST

We don't know anyone who didn't spend part of the '80s singing Whitney Houston songs (for me, "How Will I Know" got me through my first 8-year-old crush). The only artist with seven consecutive multiplatinum albums, Whitney had one of the most unforgettable voices in music and was incredibly beautiful to boot. Whitney passed away Saturday, just before the Grammy Awards, in an unexpected death that came far too early. Her passing is a tragedy, but we'll be eternally grateful for the music - really, the soundtrack to so many parts of our lives. That said, we're honoring Whitney the best way we know how: with a look at some of her most gorgeous moments on and off the red carpet. Note: one image is NSFW.

Daily Tech: Go Go Gadget Lego

GeekSugar — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:49:09 PST

How did we live without Inspector Gadget Legos?! - Geekosystem
Refrigerators melted into chairs take on an interesting look - Geek.com
Burning ice atmospheres and other real planets that put sci-fi to shame - Cracked
Cops make cheeky video in response to Anonymous' website hacking - Newser
Lady Gaga's social network looks suspiciously like Pinterest - Dvice
See the moon in its 3D glory - Tecca

Sneak Peek: Watch an Exclusive Clip of Whitney's Valentine's Week Episode

Annie Scudder — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:44:10 PST

If you're feeling a Valentine's Day sugar hangover from too much chocolate and sweet talk, NBC's Whitney (Wednesday, 8/7c) is just the cure with its amusing and relatable take on modern dating. On this week's episode, we learn how Whitney and her live-in boyfriend Alex first met back in 2008 and we have an exclusive preview just for you. Who knew Alex was so familiar with the pick-up artist tactics from The Game? I guess they worked on Whitney!

Pippa Middleton's 10 Cutest Coats

FabSugar — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:00:58 PST

Kristen Stewart Talks Badass Fairy Tales, Bella Swan, and Her New Leading Man on Snow White Set Visit

Molly Goodson — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:01:00 PST

Last October, we were so excited to pay a visit to the set of Snow White and the Huntsman outside London. We got a sneak peek into the amazing world Kristen Stewart and her costars, including Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Charlize Theron, and more, inhabited while shooting the action-packed fairy-tale movie. We have tons to come from our day poking around the remarkable set and learning about everything from the costumes to the fight scenes. While we were there, we even got to see the aftermath of Kristen accidentally actually punching Chris Hemsworth in the face filming a scene. Check out our chat with Kristen and stay tuned for lots from the set:

Is there something you admire about Snow White?

Yes. It’s strange playing a character that you actually could never truly embody. Her spirit affects people. . . I can’t have Snow White’s effect on people. I can’t actually be completely selfless because nobody is. You can only really play a character like that in a fairy tale and play it with an awful load of integrity. She’s very fully formed, but very farfetched-from-the-reality-that-we-live-in type of person. She also is strong in a very different way than you’d expect. Strength, yeah, but also gusto. I mean, she’s strong. She can kick ass. It hurts very much to do so and so it’s not like you’re watching her go take down a kingdom. You’re not watching going, "Yeah! Kill him!" Really it’s more like you’re watching someone having to do something that doesn’t just go against your sensibilities or that you agree with. It’s gutting. It’s physically gutting, literally. A million reasons, but she’s special.

Do you like that she’s not like your prissy fairy tale?

Yeah, because that’s just a very surface, though she is prissy sometimes. That’s the other thing. It takes her the whole movie basically to become who I’m talking about now. I’m really sort of talking in retrospect. It’s strange. It’s a total identity movie. It’s all about not finding yourself, but actually just being OK with who you always have been and not being ashamed of being the only one who sees the light. It’s an enormous burden and she’s so stunted. She was put away when she was 7 years old and your mother and your father were killed basically right in front of you. We’re not doing the version of a fairy tale that wouldn’t deal with all of those things, where you just sort of skim over all those things, and it's like all of these things are actually really important to the characters. She literally bleeds for her land and her people, and that’s just such a cool concept for me because it’s other people caring about people. It’s very simple, but it’s so common. Every day all the time you see people not caring about each other, and this is just about that.

She learns to be a leader or she’s born a leader inside, do you think?

She’s definitely a born leader. I mean, it’s literally pumping through those veins, but it’s been taken from her. She’s been so stolen from.

To read the rest of the interview, including her thoughts on Bella vs. Snow White and what it was like to punch Chris just

read more. Is it helping you get into the character's mindset to wear those cool costumes? Absolutely. If you look down and something doesn’t feel like you would definitely be wearing it, or if you go to grab your knife and it flops around or - basically [Colleen Atwood] thinks about every detail. It’s so wearable. I also have puffy sleeves. Somehow she manages to make puffy sleeves look butch. I was always expecting to personally wind up in a - basically what I’m wearing underneath it, like that little blue dress, which is just thin and wispy. I was really happy that she’s got something heavy on - a bit of armor before she actually finds her own armor. How did you feel the first time you put on the armor? Did you feel more badass? Yeah. That’s the first thing you want to [pound your chest]. Also, my armor doesn’t have a huge top on it. All the guys, unfortunately, they [raise their arms] and they hit themselves in the head. I can run around in mine. Somehow the armor on the men - unless they’re on horseback and they look amazing, but there’s also something kind of dainty about it, too, like pointy toes. It fits a woman’s body better, I feel. I don’t know, the guys running around suddenly look like little toys - slightly feminine little toys. Both Snow White and Bella had traumatizing experiences in the woods - being led out to die or have her heart broken - compare those two experiences? Well, it’s funny. I think [Snow White] genuinely lacks that innate fear of death that we all have. She’s got a serious, fierce survival - not skills, but insights. But she isn’t afraid of anything. What’s harder is to have dreams and hopes that you lived your whole life sort of be just shattered in front of you. So I think probably it’s totally impossible to compare the two. And I know that doesn’t make sense, but I kind of can’t compare. Can you compare the movies in general? Are there similarities at all? Bella and Snow White both come to find that they’re leaders. I mean, that’s definitely a similarity. They’re different. They’re very, very, very, different people. Also, I guess in a very sort of righteous way as well it’s all very like - everyone’s telling them “no” and both of them I guess see the light. Both of them are sort of a little more intuitive and spiritually, for whatever reason, connected and their gut is always sort of dead right. What about working with Chris surprised you? Did you have any preconceptions of him? Before I met him, I was like, "gosh, so charming." You know what I mean? Like he’s so ridiculously, seemingly nice. Movie-star caliber nice. But he really actually just is. But then again, it’s strange working - cause I mean it’s not a secret. It was completely different part before. It was totally like a rethought. So when he came in it was like "Wow! This is f*cking interesting!" I mean, it was like they really elevated it. Chris is an amazing, nice guy and also [has] great instincts and he can roll with everything on set. He’s really relaxed, whereas I’m always like, "oh my god!" I use my anxiety to do this and he’s always sort of like - he’s a good energy for me. I really like working with him. You actually punched Chris filming a scene and gave him a black eye? It’s actually a very confidence building experience. I don’t like punching anyone. So, you know, when you dream and your hand just slides right down their face, it doesn’t do that in real life. It really works. God, that really made me feel horrible, though. I mean, like instantly hot tears and I was like "oops!" We were watching it. It looks - it’ll be in the movie. Favorite fairy tale as a kid? I honestly don’t - somebody asked this the other day. I wasn’t here til the end of fairy tales. I really liked The Jungle Book. I was obsessed with The Jungle Book. Chris said Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. He is obsessed with Lord of the Rings and he was always like humming Enya as we were trudging up the mountain. I was saying basically, "You should make a remake of Lord of the Rings. Why are you doing this? . . . We’re doing Snow White and the Huntsmen, Chris!" Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Adele Goes Public With New Boyfriend Simon Konecki

Allie Merriam — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:31:21 PST

Adele made her first public appearance with boyfriend Simon - Us Weekly
Whitney Houston's pastor addresses her passing - People
Lady Gaga seemed uncomfortable at the Grammys - Lainey Gossip
Amy Winehouse's parents accepted her Grammy - HuffPost Entertainment
What do you think of Bel Ami star Christina Ricci's latest look? - TooFab
Take a look back at Whitney Houston's signature looks - The Daily Beast
Lana Del Rey has an unlikely champion - The Frisky
Who had the best Grammys quote? - BuzzFeed
George Clooney says he's getting good at losing - ET
Will this be Reese's big week at the box office? - Rotten Tomatoes
Check out the latest photo of Moroccan and Monroe Cannon! - Wonderwall
Meryl Streep lost her shoe at the BAFTAs - Lifeline Live
Are you excited for all the canine cuteness at the Westminster dog show? - Zap2It
Hot male model David Gandy is back on the market - Celebitchy

Grammy Awards Best Dressed

FabSugar — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:28:49 PST

The Grammy Awards have become synonymous with outrageous outfits and incredible live performances, but there's always some seriously gorgeous red-carpet looks that are worthy of our best-dressed award. This year, three black dresses made it into the best dressed, while Taylor Swift stunned in gold and Katy Perry was cool in blue. Who gets your nod for the best look of the evening?

Vote on all of our Grammy Awards polls here!