Valentine's Day is one of those holidays that messes with people. We know it's total marketing trash created as a way to sell us stuff we don't need. Roses die, diamonds are awful, stuffed animals collect dust and your dog's just going to eat the nose off of it anyway, and none of us need that much chocolate in one sitting - at least as far as our dentists are concerned. Still, if we don't celebrate it, some of us get really really salty.
That leaves people and their partners perpetually panicking. (High fives to me for that alliteration) Do we gift? Do we not? How much? What's appropriate? By the time we figure it out, it's often way late in the game - at least in my world. If you're like that, too - no need to worry. Reddit's got you covered.
Reddit user u/Top3GamesA asked:
Reddit, whats a good last minute idea for Valentines day?
Start taking notes, folks
Pictures
Serious Answer: print out some nice pictures of the two of you (throw them in some nice frames or a book for bonus points.) People so rarely have physical pictures nowadays and its nice to have something you can keep on your desk or something.
Also you can hide sh!t in the background of the pictures and wait to see how long it takes them to notice.
Something Personal
The best gifts are gonna be something personal to the person and not something generic. Maybe some of their favorite snack food, or make their favorite meal. Take them to their favorite restaurant or just somewhere sentimental to you both.
White Castle
Last year I was sick/injured and couldn't really do too much but the girl I was with suggested we go to White Castle and I was like "you're awesome! Hell yeah I'll go." And I was just gonna go through drive through but she said she called and made reservations like 2 weeks before and I was like "for white castle?" And I sh*t you not, there was balloons and numbers on the table and stuff and it was actually really cool. Plus who doesn't love those little delectable burgers?
Nothing...ย
Doing nothing........ no really.
Well perhaps not 'nothing', but the problem with Valentines day is everything suddenly doubles in price and/or is fully booked weeks in advance and I'm not just talking about restaurants. One of the greatest things you can do is go grab some food from the store and produce a home cooked meal for your SO and watch a film of questionable quality. Then throw on some Phil Collins and smoosh booties.
Sea Turtle Museum
A girl I have a crush on is really into marine life and the ocean in general. I wanted to take her to a Sea Turtle Museum.
- Onoh_9
Frozen Rose
The Ice Cream Rose in bucket
get a plastic flower pot, line it with foil or plastic wrap, fill it with cookies and cream ice cream, get a pack of oreos and crumble it, cover the ice cream with it, acting as dirt, and stick a long stem rose in the middle.
its a rose, and ice cream, and you did it yourself. Its fail proof.
Ladies Love Meat
Not exactly last minute, but I'm planning on making my wife a nice steak dinner. I'm going to dry brine ribeyes and reverse sear them, make roasted garlic mashed potatoes, roast asparagus, and serve it with a wine bottle that we got at our wedding. To finish I'm making a nice white cake from scratch.
Live And Learn
Back in college my now wife and I went out for a Valentine's dinner. It was a nightmare. We didn't really even have the money, it was packed with other 20 something year old couples. The entire thing was just shitty and unenjoyable.
The next year we ordered Chinese and smoked a blunt.
I'm 33 now, and have two kids, so a blunt would probably break my brain, but we still just order Chinese and relax.
TLDR: Pot, take out, pajamas. In a pinch, at least just the last two.
Lush
I got a photo frame that has room for 5 photos. I chose 5 of my favorite photos of us together and assembled them in the frame. Walmart usually has big teddy bears and chocolate, and don't forget flowers. Also if there is a lush nearby go there, the staff are excellent at helping you score brownie points.
A Die Hard Valentine's
My wife and I choose a department store like Target (though we're thinking of using a mall this year), go there together, and then spend a set amount of time (about 30 min) sneaking around trying not to see/be seen by the other as we buy gifts for them within our agreed-upon budget. Then we check out (again, don't get seen!) and meet up near the entrance to exchange gifts.
This works best when there is a coffee shop or food court in the location you choose to make the exchange more comfortable. It's fun because the limited supply of the store you are in makes it both harder and easier to choose what to get. The gifts are definitely secondary to the fun of playing around like a couple kids, and anyone at the store who asks what the heck we are doing is always really positive about it.
This has been our tradition for about ten years now and we look forward to it all year. It's like a hide and seek/Die Hard Valentine event.
The Hunt
Write 10 or 15 short reasons you love them on slips of paper, hide them in your house and send them on a scavenger hunt!
- livmight
White Supremacists Used App To Trick Brett Favre And Soulja Boy Into Recording Messages Supporting Anti-Semitism
White supremacists are truly a scourge. Every time they think you can't go lower, they find a new way to burrow underground and prove you completely wrong, as they did when they targeted two celebrities over the internet and tricked them into spewing garbage.
Brett Favre, star football player, and Soulja Boy, recording artists, were approached by a group claiming to be "a U.S. veterans organization for Cameo, a company that enables consumers to book personalized video greetings from celebrities."
Favre recorded the message, assuming the "request stemmed from [his] interest in veterans affairs" and recorded the message, a service that the perpetrators paid $500+ to complete.
Later on, Favre found his request was appropriated for the agenda of an anti-Semitic hate group.
"I was distressed to learn that the request came from an anti-Semitic group that reposted my video with comments implying that I endorsed their mission. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am therefore donating my $500 Cameo fee to Charities supporting their fight against hate and bigotry."
I'm on Cameo & kinda jealous they didn't request me. Maybe I need to lower my price? Most importantly Brett Favre dโฆ https://t.co/8hsC292nRsโ Tom Arnold (@Tom Arnold) 1543784713.0
@TomArnold How do you not know something is anti-Semitic. #ComeOnโ keith lyle (@keith lyle) 1543785859.0
@BuzzFeedNews Log everyone off everything nowโ Zinskฤ (@Zinskฤ) 1543635691.0
The organization refers to itself as the GDL, or Goyim Defense League. "Goyim" is the Hebrew word for a non-Jewish person.
According to BuzzFeed News, the group is run by two YouTubers who go by "Handsome Truth" and "Sway Guevara."
"Brett Favre here with a shoutout to the Handsome Truth and the GDL boys," they tricked Favre into saying. "You guys are patriots in my eyes. So keep waking them up and don't let the small get you down. Keep fighting, too, and don't ever forget the USS Liberty and the men and women who died on that day. God bless and take care."
The coded phrases here include "small" for "small hats," a slur for yarmulkes, and the USS Liberty:
"The USS Liberty is a dog whistle referring to an incident in 1967 where Israeli forces fired on the US spy ship, killing 34, during the Six-Day War. In the aftermath, Israel said that its pilots had thought the ship was an Egyptian vessel, and apologized โ the government eventually paid out $6.7 million in reparations to the survivors and families of the dead. Ever since, there have been unproven conspiracy theories surrounding the circumstances that question whether the attack was intentional. Both the Israeli and the United States governments have said that it was a case of mistaken identity."
Soulja Boy was also tricked by the group, recording a video saying "Shoutout to Handsome Truth and Sway at GDL," and "GDL for life, b*tch."
The head of the group, Handsome Truth, admitted to the deception in a Livestream on Wednesday:
"Here's the deal, guys, they can reject it if they don't like it, right, so we were trying to get it, like โ we wanted to be cryptic enough to where they would say it."
@BuzzFeedNews Sellebrities. I feel bad for people who are forced to treat themselves as products.โ TomCat (@TomCat) 1543635593.0
@BuzzFeedNews Only in America...way to go potus, maga sadly ๐๐ฅ๐ !!!โ S Johnson (@S Johnson) 1543677369.0
@BuzzFeedNews This is what happens when youโll do anything for money and fame...โ gwyn (@gwyn) 1543641284.0
@BuzzFeedNews What a load of garbage!โ Klopezdranat Tagor (@Klopezdranat Tagor) 1543682300.0
"Soulja Boy was unaware that the video on Cameo was tied to a group that promotes hate," said a Soulja Boy spokesperson. "The promo video was what the Cameo had directed and in no way supports his personal beliefs. He greatly apologizes to anyone who may have been offended."
The malice of this particular incident runs deep.
"On or about November 22nd, Cameo talent received requests that appeared to be aimed at supporting the American military. After recording the videos Cameo learned that the request came from an anti-Semitic group and contained content that could be interpreted as anti-Semitic," Cameo said in a statement to BuzzFeed News.
"This was a blatant misuse of the Cameo platform and a violation of Cameo's terms of service. This is the first incident of its kind in more than 93,000 Cameos and a gross misrepresentation of the talent's political beliefs," the statement continued. "Cameo immediately removed the videos from the website, requested YouTube to remove the content and created new filters to prevent this from happening in the future. The user has been banned from purchasing Cameos."
But will it quell the hate speech? Racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and misogyny have become commonplace since the election of Donald Trump, and it seems there are weekly incidents of that bigotry. Patrick Little, profiled by the Anti-Defamation League for spreading anti-Semitic hate speech, ran for State Senate in California, winning less than 2% of the vote and being barred from all California Republican events for his gross anti-Semitism. He greatly endorsed the white supremacists' actions.
If historical signs are correct, this sort of speech is likely to be misunderstood and catch fire, thereby inspiring even more hatred. The fight against bigotry must get stronger.
It only costs $500 to get Brett Favre to say something on video. So white supremacists used him to endorse anti-Semโฆ https://t.co/VdkFnujxrKโ Gabriel Snyder (@Gabriel Snyder) 1543780513.0
Alexa, show me 2018 in one headline. https://t.co/7HtmwySIU4 via @mashableโ Will Greenwald is still spooky in November (@Will Greenwald is still spooky in November) 1543754183.0
@mashable @BrettFavre may have been tricked, but vicious @ScottWalker taught our children to be Nazis and the bestโฆ https://t.co/7gMTCQCmRVโ Brian Keith O'Hara (@Brian Keith O'Hara) 1543758130.0
just alt right folks paying Brett favre to unwittingly endorse anti semitism, the world is definitely not fundamentโฆ https://t.co/JaeOo61dXJโ R Zach Lamberty (@R Zach Lamberty) 1543635101.0
H/T: BuzzFeed News, Mashable
Arkansas High School Suspends Student Paper For Publishing 'Disruptive' Investigation Into Shady Football Transfers
Halle Roberts is the editor-in-chief of the Har-Ber Herald, the school newspaper for Springdale High School in Arkansas. The 17-year-old student was suspended after she wrote an investigative piece criticizing the transfer of five football players to a rival school.
Players are not allowed to be transferred to a different school because they would like to play for a different team. They are allowed to transfer only for academic reasons. So Roberts got to digging. Her paper filed FOIA requests and received official information from the Arkansas Activities Association saying that the students were transferred for academic reasons. However, the students themselves said otherwise.
Roberts quoted one student in her paper saying:
"We just want to go over there because we have a better chance of getting scholarships and playing at D1."
Another student told Roberts:
"I just feel like it's better for my future to go out there and get college looks."
Soon after the report was published, the superintendent of the district, Jim Rollins, asked the teacher advisor for the school paper, Karla Sprague, to take the story down. She obliged.
Rollins wrote a letter stating that the piece was:
"intentionally negative, demeaning, derogatory, hurtful and potentially harmful to the students addressed in those articles."
Roberts, undeterred, is still working on a new edition of the story that includes the school's censorship.
Mike Hiestand of the Student Press Law Center had this to say:
"School officials at this point seem to me to have completely thrown up their hands and said, โweโre not going to lโฆ https://t.co/PgVYFlVAlMโ Amber Jamieson (@Amber Jamieson) 1543687827.0
And Halle Roberts, who dreams of being an ESPN reporter, stated:
โThey are like โwell you raised an uproar, weโre going to try and silence you,โโ said Halle Roberts, 17, the editorโฆ https://t.co/6dKFeF0so4โ Amber Jamieson (@Amber Jamieson) 1543690272.0
People were impressed with Roberts.
@hallecole21 @BuzzFeedNews I'm so proud of you! You're not just fighting for yourself, you're fighting for studentโฆ https://t.co/hjVIvzstZ1โ ๐บLisa Daily is writingโฑ (@๐บLisa Daily is writingโฑ) 1543718652.0
@hallecole21 @BuzzFeedNews I shared your story on my Facebook page and am so proud of you kids for telling the storโฆ https://t.co/9gekpHSweyโ Derryl Trujillo (@Derryl Trujillo) 1543694164.0
@hallecole21 @BuzzFeedNews Keep up the fight Halle!!โ Katie Maner (@Katie Maner) 1543762811.0
Some had harsh words for the school's administration.
@BuzzFeedNews @KatinaParon The principal and the superintendent should be fired, not the teacher. And the studentsโฆ https://t.co/AfE6JTmowpโ Jody Beck (@Jody Beck) 1543754569.0
@ambiej @BuzzFeedNews Abuse of power by the school administrationโ Lovehersports50 (@Lovehersports50) 1543686742.0
@ambiej Hey @sdaleschools School board members. Why are you allowing Arkansas Har-Ber High School Principal Paul Grโฆ https://t.co/8pdT0St1FOโ Nancy Levine (@Nancy Levine) 1543693785.0
And most had high praise for Roberts and the other student journalists working on this piece.
A great example of investigate student journalism, and why it needs more recognition. https://t.co/s4MBLn0HiNโ Gabija Gataveckaitฤ (@Gabija Gataveckaitฤ) 1543692451.0
Much to appreciate about @ambiejโs reporting on this Arkansas school districtโs effort to suppress a high school paโฆ https://t.co/fIk5vTaWCZโ Pat Berry (@Pat Berry) 1543688372.0
High school students do real journalism, school district immediately tries to shut them down, despite state law guaโฆ https://t.co/HqOgXTv1blโ Jeff Amy (@Jeff Amy) 1543692270.0
Oh this is the good stuff. I love this editor. Great work. Stand for journalists. https://t.co/QlrTTzrqs8โ Scott Lewis (@Scott Lewis) 1543693549.0
And Halle Roberts herself closed by saying:
thank you so much. #freedomofthepress https://t.co/LsjWT7nycDโ halle roberts (@halle roberts) 1543685392.0
Fight on, Halle!
Clever Dog Tricks McDonald's Customers Into Feeding Her By Pretending To Be A Stray ๐
It's a dog eat dog world out there and sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do. At least that's what one dog owner realized when she caught her pooch trolling the streets looking for an easy meal.
Facebook user Betsy Reyes busted her dog Princess who was out moonlighting as a stray in order to play on the sympathies of strangers. It seems Princess likes to wander off to her favorite hangout, the local McDonald's, and work the drive through lane like a pro.
And that's what she did right up until Reyes busted her scam. Reyes, who lives in Oklahoma City, took to Facebook and outed Princess in the most hysterical way, saying:
"If you see my dog @ the McDonald's on shields, quit feeding her fat ass bc she don't know how to act & be leaving the house all the time to go walking to McDonald's at night. She's not even a stray dog. She's just a gold diggin ass bitch that be acting like she's a stray so people will feel bad for her & feed her burgers."
Lots of scammers out there.
@CBSNews My lab Would jump the fence every morning as I got ready to work and when I went to leave he would reappeaโฆ https://t.co/NJhg4ZuGq1โ Anneik ๐ (@Anneik ๐) 1540434345.0
@CBSNews https://t.co/UqWvClKi8zโ Bruinlover- follower of Nakia (@Bruinlover- follower of Nakia) 1540418292.0
@CBSNews I TOOK MINE TO THE DRUGSTORE AND WHILE I WAS PAYING HE STOLE A CANDY BAR, WALKED RIGHT OUT THE DOOR WIโฆ https://t.co/U3DlWunzcKโ PUEBLO294 (@PUEBLO294) 1540415919.0
@LCaro294 @CBSNews Mine stole a butterdish at my mumโs house, ate all the butter then buried the butterdish to hide the evidence.โ Tricoteuse (@Tricoteuse) 1540418005.0
@CBSNews My dog would 100% do this if she could get out of the house. On our walks she stands in the doorways of foโฆ https://t.co/33ovz44HUXโ Skulls&Bacon (@Skulls&Bacon) 1540420511.0
@BillichThomas @skullsandbacon @CBSNews 100% would hand over my bagel, if only because she looks so annoyed with meโฆ https://t.co/aQs5qKhETNโ Claire Pettie (@Claire Pettie) 1540434235.0
It's an adorable story, but maybe get the dog a collar with identification?
@CBSNews Pretends? Leaves the collar stashed around the corner, or what?โ Jim Snell (@Jim Snell) 1540429214.0
@CBSNews This is adorable but this dog should 100% be wearing a collar and also get microchipped! Love this story :)โ Minka โACABโ Eisenhower (@Minka โACABโ Eisenhower) 1540418766.0
Not everyone thought the story was cute.
@CBSNews Great way to keep your dog safe. ๐โ ๐ง๐ปโโ๏ธ Free Hugs ๐ ๐บ๐ธ๐ณ๐ด๐ซ๐ฎโฎ๏ธโ๏ธ โ๐ฑ๐ท (@๐ง๐ปโโ๏ธ Free Hugs ๐ ๐บ๐ธ๐ณ๐ด๐ซ๐ฎโฎ๏ธโ๏ธ โ๐ฑ๐ท) 1540414161.0
@CBSNews Unless you can keep your dog safe at home and not out in traffic where she could be hit by a car, stolen,โฆ https://t.co/6BMPMLYgYsโ Lindsey McBride (@Lindsey McBride) 1540435397.0
Of course, when a girl's gotta eat, a girl's gotta eat.
@chabsmescudi Funny.... but time to build a super gate. https://t.co/NZBE1s3lm6โ OEL๐๐๐ (@OEL๐๐๐) 1540238320.0
@chabsmescudi The dog: https://t.co/FSmeFYhspTโ Angie (@Angie) 1540231585.0
@BetsysReyes @chabsmescudi Your dog every night after standing on the road https://t.co/mrTCMOtOVAโ N.A.S.A (@N.A.S.A) 1540235406.0
@chabsmescudi I would have been mad if my dog didnโt bring anything back. https://t.co/qb7ED7cwMGโ Name Change (@Name Change) 1540325221.0
Let's hope Princess has learned her lesson and stays home.
H/T: Huffington Post, Mashable
This Creepy Robot Phone Attachment Moves Just Like A Real Human Finger
Tapping on and swiping your mobile device just got a whole lot creepier thanks to an unnecessary invention. But there's clearly a market for these kinds of things, amirite?.
Introducing โ MobiLimb, a finger-like attachment to your phone or tablet that aims to make your life easier and give you nightmares in the process.
The MobiLimb was created by researchers in France and is made up of "five servo motors, an Arduino microcontroller and a sensor, and it can do a number of unsettling things that are straight out of nightmares," according to Engadget.
MobiLimb: Augmenting Mobile Devices with a Robotic Limb #UIST2018 @ACMUIST https://t.co/vm0fqHe2gaโ HCI Research (@HCI Research) 1538308062.0
Marc Teyssier, a PhD student and one of the researchers behind the project for the dismembered limb, legitimized its existence.
"In the spirit of human augmentation, which aims at overcoming human body limitations by using robotic devices, our approach aims at overcoming mobile device limitations (static, passive, motionless) by using a robotic limb."
@HacksterPro @marcteyssier This is terrible.โ Jason TheVirtualFAE (@Jason TheVirtualFAE) 1538435690.0
Th MobiLimb can prop itself up so you can watch a video, or provide an alternate way to grip your device.
But there's one function that is really disturbing.
The articulated digit can be skinned to resemble a human finger, and it can stroke your wrist while you're using your phone.
Someone implied that single people could benefit from this invention as a companion.
@Gingerheaddad Keep in mind that many people are alone, so any physical contact... #Yuck #Creepy #WhatTheHellโ Ephraim Gopin (@Ephraim Gopin) 1538743523.0
"Reach out and touch someone": MobiLimb is awesome. https://t.co/HPq6FsefJv https://t.co/Dq7h7sSSCRโ Bryan Alexander (@Bryan Alexander) 1538839006.0
What would the next-generation MobiLimb offer consumers?
@EphraimGopin I was hoping it would go full face-hugging alien. I better wait for the upgraded MobiLimb.โ Jim Martin (@Jim Martin) 1538744153.0
@HCI_Research @ACMUIST https://t.co/qsY5O1Y0Udโ Henri Fischer (@Henri Fischer) 1538322698.0
@arduino https://t.co/h90xJNrwvHโ Femtoduino (@Femtoduino) 1538511034.0
The attachment could come in handy should an unfortunate life-changing incident were to occur.
@HCI_Research @ACMUIST I want this! Not for the reason in some of the tweets below but you never know. I could useโฆ https://t.co/C5inclfv8tโ Kristina (Kricket) Hodgdon (@Kristina (Kricket) Hodgdon) 1538330323.0
But the gadget is still giving people goosebumps.
@HacksterPro @marcteyssier That is creepy. =)โ GritsnGravy (@GritsnGravy) 1538412080.0
@MailOnline @JonathanHoenig That is terrifying.โ W. Clayton (@W. Clayton) 1538811801.0
Others saw a more erotic potential.
@HacksterPro @marcteyssier Lol, the adult videos Industry is interestedโ Dario Glz (@Dario Glz) 1538690202.0
@HacksterPro @marcteyssier "why does your phone have a penis?"โ Nolimb chan (@Nolimb chan) 1538413674.0
@theprojecttv Or, if your date searching goes awry, it could stroke whatever you want!โ Matthew Barker๐ณ๏ธโ๐ (@Matthew Barker๐ณ๏ธโ๐) 1538717283.0
@MailOnline https://t.co/2SRRzsM72Iโ Matt โข ๐ (@Matt โข ๐) 1538811840.0
Now here's a function not advertised by MobiLimb's creators.
@EphraimGopin The MobiLimb is a terrible name. It should be named after its most important function: Bird Flipper.โ Jim Martin (@Jim Martin) 1538743026.0
@Gingerheaddad Now THAT'S putting it to good use! Flip people off without taking your eyes off the screen. Perfect.โ Ephraim Gopin (@Ephraim Gopin) 1538743134.0
Feelings are mixed. But the jury is in.
To be honest I don't like MobiLimb. But the point really is, I could be wrong.โ Dr. Kenneth Huang (@Dr. Kenneth Huang) 1538801646.0
As to why such a creepy gadget was invented, we can't quite put our finger on it. But then, when it comes to consumers' needs, these guys may be out of touch.