Lifestyle

Still have a risque selfie from an ex-significant other saved to your phone or computer? In 13 states, posting it online could come with huge penalties and even a prison sentence. In recent years, the popularity of "revenge porn" has grown at alarming rates. This is defined as any sexually explicit material posted online without the consent of the person depicted within -- often the poster's former wife or girlfriend. The most famous example of a revenge porn website is the now-defunct IsAnyoneUp.com, but these images can also be found on sub-Reddits or on Tor networks in the deep web. Hunter Moore, who founded IsAnyoneUp.com, was charged with hacking rather than publishing the images themselves. Currently, there is no federal law against publishing revenge porn. “The patchwork of semi...

In a time where many people run away from marriage, one Baton Rouge resident did the exact opposite. He, quite literally, ran towards it. Ben Randow, 41, proposed to his fiance at the Louisiana Half Marathon in Baton Rouge on January 18th. Randow, a chef, lagged behind his girlfriend, Davina Witte, as they were both approaching the finish line. Witte, 39, noticed that Randow was fidgeting with his running belt. "We were holding hands, and he stopped short," she said. The couple has run many races together, and always make a habit of holding hands as they're about to finish a race. Randow usually finishes the race before her, so he goes back to Witte's position and crosses the finish line with her, hand-in-hand. This time, however, Randow went one step further -- as it were. After the t...

Home-grown vegetables are never a bad thing -- but for many American homeowners who live in urban areas, starting up a garden hasn't really been a feasible option. Until now. Recently, more and more homeowners have been taking advantage of the patio planter -- a raised container filled with soil that can produce a bountiful harvest of veggies year-round and is never more than a few steps away from the kitchen. According to a December 9 Mother Nature Network article, raised patio planters can either be pre-bought, or you can make one yourself. Their elevated surface makes gardening easier for people with back or joint problems, who would otherwise have trouble bending down. Patio planters allow homeowners to extend their gardening season. Because the planter's soil warms up fast...

When he's not dodging comparisons to fellow teen heartthrob Justin Bieber, opening up for Taylor Swift on tour, or featuring on decidedly mediocre collaborations with Pitbull, 18-year-old Austin Mahone loves customizing his Range Rover with vinyl car wraps. According to January 20 Auto Evolution article, Mahone has been wrapping his Range Rover in countless custom colors and designs since getting the car when he was just 16. So far, it's been wrapped bright red, with red-on-black rims to offset the look, and "a weird dinosaur-like look" created with black and white strips, the article reports, among several other color and pattern schemes. And Mahone is far from the only celebrity who loves custom-wrapping his car to his tastes. Chris Brown wrapped his Lamborghini in Tupac lyrics, while F...

Boy Scouts across America aren't going to be camping much until the summer, but some of them may not even have the equipment to do it. There has been an odd string of thefts of Boy Scout camping gear across the country in the last few weeks. One of the first thefts took place in North Richland Hills, TX. CBS affiliate DFW reported that Boy Scout Troop 179 discovered that a trailer with all of their camping gear inside had been stolen over New Year's weekend. The camping equipment belonging to a Boy Scout troop in Billings, MT has been stolen in a few different instances of theft over the last month, according to the Great Falls Tribune. A trailer with roughly $10,000 worth of camping gear and other equipment was stolen from its storage place at Billings Stake Center of the Church of Jesu...

Interior designers and anyone with a penchant for interior decorating can rejoice this January, when new area rugs will feature the 2015 Color of the Year. According to Home Accents Today, Oriental Weavers, an area rug manufacturer, has a partnership with color institute Pantone. The partnership allows Oriental Weavers to design and manufacture area rugs featuring the Color of the Year months before the official announcement of what the color is. The two companies have partnered since 2013. The Color of the Year for 2015 is Marsala. Pantone describes Marsala as a "naturally robust and earthy wine red" which compliments many skin tones, is appealing to both men and women, and is the right balance of dramatic and grounding. “We are extremely proud of our new Pantone Universe rugs fe...

The latest cosmetic trend across the country -- and even in countries across the globe -- is to achieve the absolute whitest teeth that a little bit of money, hydrogen peroxide, and some DIY creativity can buy. In fact, Americans alone spend about $1.4 billion annually on teeth whitening products and treatments, which is 300% more than what the country spent on teeth whitening products in 1996. This trend, dubbed "bleachorexia" by dentists today, isn't just becoming extremely expensive; it's actually causing some serious dental problems for countless patients who have become obsessed with whitening their teeth. Similar to other obsessions about one's physical appearance, "bleachorexia" appears to be more of a psychological obsessive disorder, sometimes requiring invention by a dental pr...

While teen pregnancies are down overall in the United States, hitting record lows since the early 1990s, some areas of the country are experiencing higher teen birth rates than state and national averages. But concerned citizens from schools, teen pregnancy centers, and government agencies are putting their heads together to figure out how to curb the trend -- and support the young women who have already given birth. In Ector County, Texas, where the city of Odessa is the county seat, there are 87.41 teen births per 1,000 -- a number that outpaces those for the state by two-to-one, and for the country by about three-to-one. Officials from school programs and the health department met on Friday, Jan. 9 to discuss potential solutions to the growing problem. The gathering, held in the Mesa ...

Interior decorating is a field in which both professional designers and homeowners can let their imaginations take flight. By taking cues from classic architecture, couture, art, and more, it is possible to incorporate one's personal style into everything from the furniture to bay window treatments. Recently, however, designers have noticed decorating trends focusing on one thing in particular: feathers. Feathers are known for their natural beauty and wide variety, making them a quirky but appealing home decorating choice. The trend began appearing in fashion and home design in the fall, but is now shaping a number of spring collections as well. “In recent years, we've seen a big resurgence of nature influencing design, feathers definitely being part of it,” Christina McCombs, an interio...

Watch out, California commuters: Google has received approval to test its "fully functional" self-driving car prototype on Bay Area public roads at the start of 2015. The tiny two-seat vehicle resembles a Smart Car and follows routes according to Google Maps, mainly in suburban office parks and downtown streets. Yet experts are divided on whether or not this innovation will be a good thing in the long run. Ratna Amin, director of transportation policy at San Francisco-based urban advocacy group SPUR, predicts that the cars could mean good things for consumers and city transportation systems alike. "I can imagine these cars starting in closed, campus environments, or cordoned-off test areas with low-speed roads where the risk of collision, injury or death is much lower," Amin said, but ...