Pura Vida Bracelets: Boston Strong
Fan of Toms? Here’s the bracelet equivalent whose purpose is sweeping the nation.
PURA VIDA – meaning ‘Pure Life’ in Spanish – began with a piece of string and 2 young men who came up with the idea to save the beaches of Costa Rica, and growing into a full blown charitable cause donating to not only our environment, but the relief efforts for our planet & community. Therefore, with every Pura Vida Bracelet sold, 1% is donated back to The Surfrider Foundation through 1% for the Planet. The Surfrider Foundation is dedicated to protecting as well as preserving beaches and oceans worldwide. In addition to PV’s growth through cleaning up beaches around the world, it also aims to provide more and more full time jobs to the amazingly talented artisans of Costa Rica.
Each bracelet has a unique and different color combination so coming across someone with your exact bracelet will be a tough find. The hard work that goes into making each bracelet represents the dedication and respect for the beautiful land that we all live in. Selecting your “Pura Vida” bracelet isn’t always a quick task. Local jewelers spend days, even weeks creating specific bracelets to express their lifestyle. From vibrant colors to earth tones, Pura Vida Bracelets has any combination for you.
ALSO, with every purchase, you receive PURA VIDA POINTS, which enable you to make future ‘free’ purchases when you order off the site!
I’ve just purchased my BOSTON STRONG bracelet; 100% of the proceeds when buying this particular bracelet gets directly donated to the ONE FUND. Hurry & get yours before they sell out! (Which will happen, guaranteed.)
Check out the site for ways to get involved by becoming a Campus Rep, with Internships, Wholesale and Charity options, and even with Instagram. You can also follow up on PV’s Blog, as well as buy your very own bracelet & some accessories offered.
Here are some of the bracelet collections they have to offer:
Charm Collection
Gold Collection
Silver Collection
Braided Collection
Platinum Collection
Beaded Collection
Original Collection
Charity Collection
Solid Collection
Style Packs
Anklets
Greek Life Collection
Check out To Be Bright online & make sure to LIKE TBB on Facebook for free giveaway opportunities, style inspirations, and more!
Image Sources: http://tobebrightstyle.com/2013/04/29/pura-vida-bracelets/ | http://puravidabracelets.com
Why Do Songs Get Stuck in our Heads?
Even if you don’t like taking chemistry, you have to admit that those who are good at it are doing some pretty awesome things, especially when they directly help us out in some way.
It looks like a group of scientists have figured out a couple of ways for you to dislodge that song you have stuck in your heads.
Why do certain songs get stuck in our heads?
The chorus is usually the major part of the song that we know, which is not directly followed by a verse. This is why you can’t stop repeating the chorus in your head. Unfinished thoughts are ones that continue to return as your brain tries to puzzle out what comes next. The group of scientists hopes to use this data in order to figure out more techniques to calm or completely prevent thoughts produced by anxiety of obsessiveness.
Then, there’s a recent article about how to recognize which plastics are harmful to your health and well-being.
Yes, I’m talking about the plastic that drink you just got out of the vending machine is in. The plastic bottles that contain our soft drinks, water, sports drinks, mouthwash, peanut butter, and even that thin layer of film over your microwaveable foods. These bottles are made out of polyethylene terephthalate which contains antimony. Antimony is considered to be safe, but after prolonged use, it can cause chronic health issues such as stomach ulcers.
The large bottles that contain milk, shampoo, detergent, and other cleaners are made out of high-density polyethylene which contain chemicals with estrogenic activity; this also is suspected to cause health problems and has been proven to alter the structure of human cells.
You shouldn’t be scared for your safety. You should be aware of this information.
Just read the label: plastic designated with a 7, 3, or 6 you should avoid but ones with a 1, 2, 4, or a 5 are relatively safe in moderate exposure (see full article.)
Want more science insights that can help you directly in your daily life? Check out AsapScience on Youtube. They have a numerous amount of videos packed with information just like this.
They also have videos explaining why your brain works the way it does; one answers the question of 'which came first, the chick or the egg?'
The videos are usually less than five minutes long; that’s enough time to have your life changed for the better.
Image Source: http://www.ohiosci.org/
Across the Web
You are not free.
But here, I'll focus on the technological side of things. With the advent of social media and the rapidity with which information can be shared, I figured there would be a fast, widespread change in the fundamental way the world operated. And to an extent, this is true – only today would you be able to read the president's Twitter account or see an inaugural speech streamed on YouTube. It seems that times have certainly changed, but in this era of media freedom, I can't help but ask, how free are we really?
Writer Evgeny Morozov seems to think we only enjoy, or at the very least utilize, a small portion of our power through the internet. In an awesome video put up by RSA Animate, one of his many talking points is recognizing intended versus actual usage. Think of it this way: Although there is the occasional video advocating a particular religious/political/social view, how many more cat videos are there, or videos with entertainment as the main draw? Morozov takes it a step further and posits that a majority of internet users spend their time looking at porn instead of collaborating in any meaningful way, and he appears to be correct. According to OnlineMBA, around $3 million is spent on porn every second. That's right, not minutes, seconds. So how is an average internet user's time really being spent? Caught in a vortex of questionable content or something more sinister?
In any case, it's important to remember that government officials are able to access much of the same content you are, which means that your super-secret Facebook group you joined may not be so super or secret after all. But even if it is, what chance does it have of effectively creating change? Or is that even really the point? It seems that when individuals try to spread or acquire certain types of information through the net, they are thrown in jail, and, when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, may resort to killing themselves.
Aaron Swartz faced 50 years in prison for essentially downloading JSTOR articles.
The average amount of time served for statutory rape is 9 years.
WTF. Is this the cost of faux freedom?
Now I won't sit here and pretend to have a solution, but reading about laws like SOPA being shot down is encouraging. At the very least it shows that internet users do have some power in their keyboards. But with SOPA being repackaged and reintroduced as CISPA, how long will it be until the voices of those fighting for internet freedom are lost in a cavalcade of Harlem Shakes and cute cats?
If you want to know more, check out Morozov’s TED Talk segment.
Image Source: http://futureblue.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/online-education-spreading-knowledge-across-the-web/
Across the Web - Click & Read Edition
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Let's share cool stories! @whatisthex
Image Sources: https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net/
Hurricane Sandy Hits Home
Gathering Together - Across All Differences - For a Fellow Gamecock
The University of South Carolina is an incredibly diverse school full of different religions, political views, social opinions, and American Idol picks. Try finding two people on this campus who can agree on every single thing.
That’s something that makes USC one of the best. We are diverse and proud of it, and not only that, we learn from our diversity.
This past weekend, I was astounded by the sheer sense of community through campus after the injury of the football team’s running back, Marcus Lattimore.
There was something about this moment: something about every USC student coming together to show Lattimore just how much we cared about our fellow Gamecock. They were prayers sent out about the status of injury in hopes he will return to the field upon recovery, cards signed and sent, and the Birthday & Get Well party on the Horseshoe in front of McKissick.
All of the efforts made me even prouder of the college that I’m attending - for the entire campus populations, from staff to students, to be able to show such a major outpouring of support for a student and player was a great reminder to me, and to everyone, that we’re one big family.
Great cheers towards the Tennessee players right after Lattimore’s injury occurred, as splashes of orange mixed in with garnet surrounded Marcus, giving him immediate support right. It was an excellent show of sportsmanship.
Also, the kind words that were said by Dabo Swinney, head coach of the Clemson football team. Even though we’re rivals with them, at the very end of the day, we’re South Carolina football fans.
Swinney’s admission to Lattimore’s ability as a player and the strong hope that he will return and continue his career also served to remind us that we’re all hoping for the same thing: that Lattimore heals and get back on his feet as quickly as possible.
Not for the team, not the points, not the wins, but for the man himself. Lattimore is a football player, and to be knocked out, yet again, is devastating.
Here’s hoping for Lattimore’s swift healing and to his return to the game!
Image Source: http://blacksportsonline.com/home/2012/10/south-carolina-rb-marcus-lattimore-suffers-serious-leg-injury-vs-tennessee-video/
Across the Web - Click & Read Edition
Click the Type For Each Story.
Across the Web
"It is going to be so hard to restrain myself when I knock her out, but I am aspiring to be a professional kidnapper and that's business. But I will really get off on knocking her out, tying up her hands and bare feet and gagging her..."
This dude’s been watching a little too much Dexter methinks.
Web Update: Mac and Marijuana
Leopards and Lions and... Lions?
]The Verge has a very nice video overview of Apple's newly announced Mac OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion. Many of the changes seem to be putting the iOS experience on your computer.
Notification Center: A new, blue icon will appear when new notifications have been received. Clicking the icon will open the center itself, which can pull notifications from "Calendar", "Messages" and even third-party developers.
Messages: iChat with a brand new look and better FaceTime integration.
Airplay Mirroring: View your computer screen on your Apple TV by clicking an AirPlay icon. Streaming music, watching video, etc. are all available options.
Game Kit: Multiplayer gaming between Mac, Iphone, iPad and iPod Touch will be available. With AirPlay you can use your TV to compete against a friend who’s on their iPad, while you use your computer.
Apple also has their own overview available.
Weed on a Plane
40lbs. of marijuana were found on a plane while flying through Barack Obama's airspace over Los Angeles. The president was flying from Los Angeles to a fund raiser in Corona Del Mar when a Cessna 182 aircraft began to fly closer to the White House helicopter, Marine One. The “Mary Jane” was found after the Cessna 182 was asked to land. One of the more interesting tidbits, whether the Cessna 182's pilot was high while flying, has yet to be revealed. How fun/scary would that be?
Be My Date?
Image Source: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01214/plane-cargo_1214188i.jpg
Across the Web 2/13
Hello everyone! I hope your year has been going well so far. Let’s jump right into it, shall we?
Chrome Phone
For you fancy kids rockin’ Google’s newly released Galaxy Nexus or another device running Android 4.0, Google has released a beta version of Google Chrome on the Android Market. In addition to incognito browsing, “Chrome for Android” allows users to sync whatever tabs they have open on their computer to sync with their device by signing in to a Google account. You can watch an introduction video HERE.
Elementary Molecules
A 10-year-old girl from Missouri, Clara Lazen, happened upon a new molecule while rearranging some atoms used to create nitroglycerin. Tetranitratoxycarbon (sound it out) is a combination of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon that does not exist in nature but can be created artificially. Her teacher, Kenneth Boehr, and a colleague realized that this was indeed a new molecule and one Professor Robert Zoellner wrote a paper on the subject, which was co-authored by Clara. In short, the atom can be used to either store energy or blow stuff up.
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Last week Facebook went public and many people received a nice chunk of change following the announcement including an artist, Dave Choe, who accepted stocks instead of money[/url] for painting Facebook’s Palo Alto location in 2005. ABC held an interview with Choe in which he discusses his newfound lack of privacy.
Dat Sh*t Cray
A Tumblr account run by a 17-year-old girl named Kate is chronicling her journey to becoming thinner. She’s currently 5’10” with a current weight of 127 and an ultimate goal of being 115 – something more in line for a woman around 4’10”. Another girl, Antonia, 16, also runs a “thinspo” blog.
“I like images that show skinny, happy girls,” she writes in an email to the Huffington Post. “They look so confident and we can see their bones through their skin. It's the most beautiful thing ever. I also like tips about food or how to ignore hunger.”’
Now there seems to be two types of “thinspo” blogs out there – those that post before and after pictures of seemingly healthy women and others that condone unhealthy dietary practices (pro-ana) to achieve a “dream body”. I don’t understand…
Vidya
Robo With a Shotgun
Image Source: http://techzoomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/google-chrome.jpg
