everyday trends

Girl football player sits out game after foe threatens forfeit

2011-10-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

Like the rest of her Southampton (Va.) Academy teammates, Mina Johnson was supposed to be getting ready for a junior varsity football game on Thursday night against Lasker (N.C.) Northeast Academy. The 5-foot-2, 170-pound defensive stalwart may have been the first girl to play football for the academy, but when she got on the field, she was just one of the guys.

As the Tidewater News reported, Johnson recorded four sacks in a recent game against Rocky Mount, and was gaining a reputation in the league as a standout junior varsity player. It all seemed to be going right for the eighth-grader -- until she suddenly decided to sit out her team's most recent game against Northeast.

Why? It wasn't due to injury. Rather, Johnson decided not to play in the game after the opposition threatened to forfeit if Johnson was allowed to play. Apparently, Northeast had a problem with its boys playing football against a girl. So instead of making a fuss about the whole situation, Johnson sat on the sidelines for her team's 60-0 victory.

"There is nothing in the rule books for junior varsity football in North Carolina or Virginia that says a girl can't play," the teen's mother, Mona Johnson, told the Tidewater News. "No one is breaking any rules by allowing her to play."

Northeast isn't the only upcoming opponent considering a forfeit if Johnson doesn't sit out. Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God Christian Academy is also reportedly considering a forfeit as well; the two schools are scheduled to play a game on Oct. 27.

The fact that Word of God may follow Northeast's lead isn't a coincidence. As the Tidewater News noted, both schools have something in common: They play in the same athletic association.

Regardless of what Word of God decides to do, the move to force Johnson to sit out and miss playing a game is beyond wrong. While Northeast's athletic association may say one thing, the school could have looked past the rule and played the junior varsity game anyway.

Not to discount JV football, but teams' records don't mean a thing at the end of the season. Most players are just happy to be on the field, playing the game they love. That was certainly true of Mina Johnson, who enjoyed playing for the love of the game, and the chance to play with her teammates.

Student learns dark side of instant fame

2011-10-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

HONG KONG — Few personal journeys can shed as much light on the age we live in as the one traveled by Jonathan Mak in the past week.

Mr. Mak, a university student in Hong Kong, went from being an unknown, aspiring graphic designer to an Internet sensation after an image he produced spread rapidly across digital platforms following the death of Steven P. Jobs, the co-founder of Apple.

Mr. Mak’s design of a silhouetted profile of Mr. Jobs in the Apple company logo was shared across the Web and reported by news media. The actor Ashton Kutcher posted the design on his Twitter account.

And then, nearly as fast, Mr. Mak found himself being vilified.

With a speed fitting for the technological age that Mr. Jobs helped usher in, Mr. Mak became the subject of derisive Internet postings and negative news media reports. His design, it turned out, closely matched one produced earlier this year by Chris Thornley, a British graphic artist.

“It’s been a very overwhelming experience,” Mr. Mak, 19, said by telephone between classes at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design. “I still attend classes and lessons as usual. But as far as following my assignments, it’s been difficult.”

Mr. Mak said he had developed his design in late August — a white Apple logo on a black background, with a black silhouette of Mr. Jobs indented in the apple — as a tribute to Mr. Jobs after he stepped down as chief executive of Apple.

Mr. Mak said he had searched across the Internet both for inspiration and to ensure he was not copying another design. He said his searches had not uncovered Mr. Thornley’s design.

He then posted the tweaked Apple logo on his blog . Mr. Mak also asked the public to alert him if they spotted similarities between his work and others.

The design lay quietly on his blog for weeks until Mr. Jobs’s death on Oct. 5.

“Overnight, my Web site went from getting 80 responses to tens of thousands,” he said. “At first I was very happy.”

But by the weekend, Mr. Mak said, people began informing him how similar his design was to Mr. Thornley’s, which featured a black Apple logo on a white background, with a white silhouette of Mr. Jobs at a slightly different angle.

Mr. Mak said he had received notification Sunday night from Mr. Thornley’s wife, Julia, about the similarities of the two designs.

In the world of graphic design, similarities between images are quite common, said Juliette Cezzar, director of the communication design program at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City. But Mr. Mak’s case shows how easy it has become to unearth similar images or outright copies.

“If we were living in a different age, it would take weeks, maybe months to discover copies,” Ms. Cezzar said. “Now it can take 24 hours. That is a good thing.”

In a statement released to the news media, Mr. Thornley said he had followed the controversy while receiving treatment for a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He said he had first developed his design in May “because I wanted to celebrate the fact that someone who had cancer was still working, still driving forward and still thinking positively about the future.”

Mr. Thornley, a 40-year-old living in Darwen, England, acknowledged the dangers the digital age presented to creativity.

“The Internet can be a double-edged sword,” he said. “You need to use the Internet in order to promote yourself, but in order to do this you are making yourself vulnerable to these situations.”

Mr. Thornley said he hoped to speak with Mr. Mak soon about the two designs.

“J. Mak has been as honest as he can about the situation, I think,” he said. “It is important to have the debate about this, and J. Mak has to be credited for opening up the debate and not hiding from it.”

Such an environment “is really stressful for designers,” said Ms. Cezzar. “You don’t want to be called out in front of the world and called a copier.”

For his part, Mr. Mak said the past week had provided a lesson he could apply as a graphic designer.

“It really taught me to be very careful about what I say and do,” Mr. Mak said. “With all the negative publicity I received in Hong Kong, it taught me to be very careful. At the same time, I need to stay true to my sense of aesthetics.”

America's Most Iconic Drives

2011-10-13T03:08:00.000-07:00

Automobile ads love to show shiny vehicles cruising open highways under blue skies, with mountains and beaches nearby. But when was the last time you took a drive like that? For most of us, our cars are merely workhorses to haul us around town.

Still, it’s easy to break out of the rut. Magnificent roads are never far—routes that slice through forests, dance along the coastlines, and thread through mountain passes. They’re scenic drives, yes, but they’re also classically American. And once you find the right route, it’s easy to rediscover the exuberant freedom of the open road.

Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia to North Carolina

For most of its 469-mile route, the Blue Ridge Parkway alternates between grand panoramas and up-close looks at lush forests and meadows. That’s no surprise considering that it runs atop the Appalachian Mountains between Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains of far western North Carolina. The parkway is a leisurely cruise rather than a roller coaster, with one exception—its most breathtaking section, the Linn Cove Viaduct, which skims the treetops as it winds around the parkway’s highest peak.

Where to Stop: Grandfather Mountain. Rising high above Linn Cove, this 5,837-foot peak offers great views and the famous “Mile High Swinging Bridge.”

Going-to-the-Sun Road,
Montana

Built in the Roaring 1920s to tempt drivers to explore the national parks, Going-to-the-Sun Road is a breathtaking 50-mile drive across Montana’s Glacier National Park. Rising up between a pair of deep-blue alpine lakes, the road was cleverly crafted to show off the best vistas with the least negative impact on the park’s fragile environment. It’s closed every winter by snows, which can reach up to 80 feet in depth.

Where to Stop: Logan Pass. After cutting across the sheer escarpment of the Garden Wall, the road reaches its literal and figurative high point atop 6,646-foot Logan Pass, where herds of wild mountain goats can be seen trampling across wildflower meadows.

Hill Country Highways, Texas

At roughly the geographical center of the Lone Star state, the sparsely populated Hill Country region mixes sagebrush plateaus with deep canyons and fast-flowing rivers. And just outside the idyllic hamlet of Utopia, a series of winding roads—Highways 335, 336, and 337—offer an intense taste of the rugged topography. Climbing up and down canyons and twisting along angular rock walls, these roads offer an adrenaline blast for anyone brave enough to open up the throttle.

Where to Stop: The Lone Star Motorcycle Museum outside Vanderpool has dozens of vintage motorcycles, plus a good diner, the Ace Café.

Columbia River Scenic Highway,Oregon

This road is a concrete realization of the idea that highways can sometimes improve on the work of Mother Nature. Designed and constructed back in the early days of the automobile, the route winds past a series of lovely waterfalls while taking in the best sights of the Columbia Gorge, east of Portland.

Where to Stop: Vista House. Standing on a stony cliff top, 700 feet above the Columbia River, Vista House is a historic rest stop that doubles as a memorial to Oregon Trail pioneers.

Kancamagus National Scenic Byway,New Hampshire

New England has many miles of great drives, but nothing beats “The Kanc”—a 26.5-mile drive along Route 112, between the towns of Conway and Lincoln. Often rated as the best fall color drive in the U.S., this road is a commerce-free climb past colonial farmhouses, scenic covered bridges, and miles of hardwood and evergreen forest.

Where to Stop: Sabbaday Falls. Just east of the crest, and a quick 15-minute stroll south of the highway, the splashing cascades have been a popular picnic spot since frontier times.

Bayou Cruise, Louisiana

West of New Orleans, the low-lying lands of the lower Mississippi River are known for languid country lanes winding past lazy bayous. Garlands of moody Spanish moss dangle from mighty oaks and cypress trees, while alligators and herons splash about in the swampy lagoons. The best road to drive is Highway 31, which winds along Bayou Teche from New Iberia to Breaux Bridge.

Where to Stop: Breaux Bridge. Get your Cajun fix at the self-proclaimed crawfish capital of the world. On Saturday mornings, head to the Café des Amis for the music-filled Zydeco Breakfast.

Route 66, Illinois to California

Yes, it’s so famous it’s a cliché, but this 2,000-mile cruise has justifiably become a part of the American fabric. For sheer driving pleasure, the best stretch has to be the mountainous run west from the Grand Canyon to the Colorado River, climbing up from a desert plateau and twisting past the old gold mines of the Black Mountains.

Where to Stop: Cool Springs Station, Kingman, AZ. With its stone arches and small museum, this restored rest station makes for a great stop along this historic route.

Great River Road, Minnesota toLouisiana

You might expect small-town charm driving alongside the Mississippi River. You might not expect the rugged “Driftless Region” on the road’s more northern stretches—an area that escaped being flattened by glaciers during the last Ice Age. Enjoy roller-coaster hills and steep canyons in Iowa, from Dubuque to the prehistoric Effigy Mounds.

Where to Stop: Galena, IL—one of the Great River Road’s greatest small towns.

Highway 12, Utah

Running between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Park, Highway 12 was a challenging four-wheel-drive track as recently as 1985, when the last stretch around Boulder Mountain was finally tamed by pavement. Alongside the road, the iron-tinged rust of sedimentary sandstone cliffs stands out against a forest of deep green junipers, lending a gentle softness to what is otherwise a harsh setting.

Where to Stop: Hell’s Backbone Grill, which has its own organic farm.

Tioga Pass Scenic Byway, California

Head east on Highway 120—downhill—for maximum exposure to the canyon’s vertical drop-offs. But the enduring highlights are at either end of the road: the high country of Yosemite National Park in the west, and down east, the unworldly “tufa” sculptures lining the shores of magnificent Mono Lake.

Where to Stop: At the foot of the pass, overlooking Mono Lake, a local gas station has become nationally famous for its restaurant, the Whoa Nellie Deli, where fish tacos and great steaks share the menu with pizzas and Angus beef burgers.

10 Fantastic Towns for Fall

2011-10-12T06:52:00.000-07:00

Fall is a time to slow down and enjoy the scenery, and small towns know a thing or two about embracing a slower pace of life. To help you make the most of the season, we've scoured the country to find 10 towns that deliver exceptional fall foliage.

Our top picks might have all weighed in with populations under 10,000, but all offer big reasons to visit.

Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania

During autumn in Jim Thorpe, a trip down memory lane is framed by brightly colored leaves. The historic town, tucked into a steep valley in the Poconos, offers wonderfully preserved buildings that house tea rooms, art galleries, and an old opera house popular on the Vaudeville circuit. Fall foliage weekends complete with arts, crafts, music, and kids' activities run throughout October, and this time of year also brings guided ghost walks to town.

Time it Right: October is prime time for both foliage and fall activities. This year, the projected peak of color is around October 12, but Alicia Quinn at the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau notes, "if history repeats itself, this will get pushed back until mid-month, and usually lasts about two weeks."

Sedona, Arizona

There's nothing understated about Sedona, about two hours north of Phoenix in the high desert of Central Arizona. Vibrant red mesas and blushing sandstone cliffs offer some of the country's most spectacular scenery, especially at sunrise and sunset. During fall, the color show takes it up a notch. In town you can browse art galleries—or get your energy balanced by one of the many healers and spiritual guides that call Sedona home—before heading out for some leaf peeping.

Time it Right: Ellen Bilbrey of Arizona State Parks says that fall foliage colors will likely start to appear in mid-October this year, but warns, "We never know the actual peak time until the weather starts to drop to temperatures of 45 degrees at night."

Stockholm, Wisconsin

The village of Stockholm, on the banks of the Mississippi River about 70 miles from Minneapolis, offers dozens of delightful ways to savor fall. Vast swaths of fall foliage adorn the landscape around the town, the local pie company bakes up fall in many flavors, and at the Maiden Rock Winery and Cidery, you can drink the season too, with wines made from apples and berries. And if that's not enough, you can tool around town on free blue bikes available for visitors or take advantage of some of the best boutique and antique shopping in the state.

Time it Right: This year, TravelWisconsin's fall color report predicts peak fall color in mid-October.

Woodstock, Vermont

In Woodstock the most wonderful time of the year comes early. With fall foliage that's nothing short of spectacular, the town and surrounding countryside put on a color show that draws visitors from around the world. Weekend events include harvest suppers, the Woodstock Apples and Crafts Fair, and the nearby Antique Show. Before you head out of town in search of the brightest reds and oranges of autumn, spend some time roaming the quaint downtown or exploringVermont's rural heritage at the nearby Billings Farm & Museum.

Time it Right: The leaves have already started to change in Woodstock. Rain and wind dependant, peak season should fall between October 1 and October 10 to 15.

Jasper, Arkansas

Each fall, the tiny Ozark mountain town of Jasper beckons visitors with the promise of vivid fall colors and Southern hospitality. Start the warm fall days with a big breakfast at a local cafe or by people-watching in the downtown square before heading out for some serious leaf peeping, wildlife spotting, and scenic drives.

Time it Right: The best time to see the fall colors near Jasper is usually between October 15 and November 15. You can stay up to Sdate on fall foliage around the state by checking the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism website.

Hood River, Oregon

Colorful fall foliage and abundant harvests. That's what you'll get in and around Hood River, a town nestled in the Columbia River Gorge next to the Cascade Mountain Range. Plan your stay for the first weekend of any month and you'll get to enjoy First Friday, when art galleries, shops, and restaurants downtown put on an evening of new art exhibits, wine tastings, and free music between 6 and 9 p.m. October brings many fall festivities, including the Hood River Valley Harvest Fest and the Heirloom Apple Celebration.

Time it Right: Because summer has lingered this year, peak foliage likely won't arrive until early- to mid-October.

Stockbridge, Massachusetts

The small town of Stockbridge in the Berkshires has some pretty high praise to its name. Norman Rockwell called it "the best of America, the best of New England." In fall, surrounded by some of the country's most dazzling displays of fall foliage, it truly earns its high marks. The town and its environs aren't just rich in fall color; area attractions include the MASS MoCA, the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Colonial-era Mission House, the frontier re-creation Bidwell House Museum, and The Mount, Edith Wharton's Estate and Gardens.

Time it Right: Berkshire Leaf Chief Lauren Stevens says that while the leaves begin to turn before the official start of fall on September 23, they "typically reach their crescendo in October."

Fayetteville, West Virginia

Small-town appeal comes in many packages, and Fayetteville prefers its charm funky and cool rather than just quaint. In town, little restaurants serve up local microbrews and local specialties (check out the grape pizza at Pies & Pints). Just outside town, the New River Gorge offers some of the best fall foliage in the state. It's also a focal point for adventure seekers: Whitewater rafting, hiking, mountain biking, and BASE jumping are popular activities. In fact, October 15 is New River Gorge Bridge Day, when thousands come together to celebrate fall and watch some serious BASE jumping (think tall bridge and parachutes).

Time it Right: Fayetteville usually sees peak color in late October. The West Virginia Division of Forestry publishes a weekly update on the latest fall foliage around the state.

Munising, Michigan

Gorgeous fall foliage has good company in the Upper Peninsula town of Munising. With dramatic sandstone cliffs rising above Lake Superior and 17 local waterfalls, the stage for beauty is already set by the time the dramatic reds, oranges, and yellows of autumn take hold of the forests. Take a stroll downtown, admire the work of local artists, and feast on fresh fish from the lake or sink your teeth into pasties, the local specialty.

Time it Right: Peak colors in the area occur from late September to mid-October. You can check out the latest fall colors on ExploreMunising.com.

Julian, California

Julian offers fall colors where you'd least expect them: in Southern California, about an hour from San Diego. This former gold-rush town in the Cuyamaca Mountains still shines bright each autumn. The town is also known for its apple season and draws leaf peepers looking for a side of apple pie and cider donuts. The Julian Apple Days Festival occurs the first weekend in October this year.

Time it Right: September and October see the changing of the leaves, and promise plenty of apple

LeBron James’ new Air Force-themed shoes

2011-10-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

LeBron James' new shoes have a military theme, as you can see in the pictures above and below. And while we usually don't like to use BDL as a forum for apparel companies to launch their wares, this particular shoe strikes us as … actually, no. This is just another crass and cynical way for a company to take your money: $170 a pair, for these.

We just thought you might like to see the pictures, via Nikeblog and Larry Brown Sports:

The military-green theme is a nod to the

Miami Heat having their first training camp since James joined the team last season at Hurlburt Field and Eglin Air Force Base. Those installations in Florida's Panhandle hosted the Heat for about a week, and players interacted with military personnel during that camp.Nike says that edition of the shoe will be released first in South Florida starting at midnight Sunday "as a sign of appreciation and respect for LeBron's South Florida fans and community."

You may remember this time last year, when the Miami Heat held a training camp at Eglin Air Force Base. This time around, the team has been reduced to selling shoes. Just like we're reduced to writing about shoes, and you're reduced to reading about shoes. The lockout abides.

Famous Guests Stayed in These American Homes

2011-10-10T20:12:00.000-07:00

Move over, George Washington.

When it comes to real estate listings that tout celebrities “who slept here,” the first president of the United States will have to share that bed, er, honor, with Teddy Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Judy Garland, Ernest Hemingway and Susan B. Anthony, to name a few.

But it’s Washington who may hold the record for the number of places that claim the founding father allegedly caught some shut-eye. After all, the eastern seaboard is littered with homes, inns, taverns, lighthouses and hot springs where the well-traveled Washington was said to have slept in his quest to “present himself to the citizens of the shaky new union,” according to Smithsonian Magazine.

And, if you haven’t noticed, “George Washington Slept Here” is the biggest real estate cliché this side of “location, location, location.”

In a casual survey of homes for sale across the U.S., it turns out Washington is not the only presidential name drop. Let’s take a look at real estate listings that offer some celebrity pop.

Located about an hour west of Chicago, on the Fox River in Yorkville, IL, this cabin was reportedly one of the mobster’s gin mills during the Prohibition. Or, so the listing says.

The first floor is built log cabin style and the second story was added later. The home looks like a perfect place to kayak, canoe, fish, set up an easel and imagine Capone’s meanderings about the property.

Five surprising places to find love

2011-10-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

A purr-fect match

Plenty of romances come courtesy of some trusty canine companions at the dog park. Without daily walks, though, cat owners don’t have a similar excuse to socialize. That didn’t stop Whitney Shore, 26, and her now-boyfriend from striking up a conversation at the vet’s office. “I was bringing one of my cats in after work on a Tuesday, and he was bringing in one of his cats, too,” says Shore. “I noticed him when he walked in and was pretty excited when he sat down a couple of seats down from me. We started talking and continued talking for the next hour.” Though he’d already left by the time Shore’s appointment wrapped up, the clever cat-lover pieced together details from their conversation and left a note on Shore’s car with his phone number. “We met for brunch that Sunday, which turned into us going to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, which turned into dinner, which then turned into a movie,” she says. “All told, our first date was 10 hours… and the rest is history!”

Sparks fly at 30,000 feet

Scott Trosclair, 29, was flying to Oakland, CA when a girl with big, grayish-green eyes sat down in the seat next to him. Her name was Emily, he learned, and they struck up a conversation, chatting about his move from New York City to the Bay Area and the fact that they were both wearing Rainbow sandals. Though they talked for the entirety of the flight, Trosclair waited until the last second to ask for her number in the baggage claim area, just in case she turned him down. Fortunately, she didn’t — and four years later, Trosclair planned a surprise proposal on another shared flight. “We met flying from Orange County to Oakland, so I proposed on a flight going the opposite path,” says Trosclair. “When we landed, I had her brother, mother and her mom’s boyfriend meet up with us in a limo.” Since they met while traveling, the pair included some airplane and travel motifs in their wedding this past spring.

Tweet love

Even social networks designed exclusively for online conversation can lead to real-world connections. Just ask MoniQue Shaldjian, 24, who met her fiancé Mike at a Tweetup in Phoenix last year. “I had seen his Twitter handle in a retweet here or there,” she remembers. “So, I’m at this event, and I got a tweet from him that said, ‘don’t leave, I want to meet you.’” She went to shake his hand and he went for a bear hug. Later, they both went to a bar to chat, and the conversation flowed as if they were old friends. Although Mike didn’t ask for MoniQue’s phone number that night, they started following each other on Twitter and she texted him after seeing he’d tweeted his phone number to a client. Things took off from there. MoniQue says that she “never imagined” she’d meet her husband at a Tweetup, but their shared interest in social media has helped the couple to bond.

Connecting on a commuter train

Long train rides may seem like a waste of time for tired commuters, but Holly Johnson, 27, actually met her husband Jesse while commuting from Boston to Worcester, MA. “He said that he saw me in the window and thought I was pretty,” Johnson recalls. But she wasn’t looking for a love connection, so when Jesse asked to sit next to her, she answered: “I don’t know why people ask if they can sit next to someone else — it’s a free country.” Still, it’ a long ride to Worcester, so the two started chatting about politics and discovered they shared some similar viewpoints. Jesse offered Holly a ride from the train station, but she insisted on taking a cab instead. “I thought he was a weirdo stalker,” she admits. “As it turns out, he really was just being nice.” Holly reluctantly gave him her cell number, not expecting to hear from him. However, Jesse called the next day. Now, eight years later, they’re married and have a child together.

Fighter injured on the way to a fight

2011-10-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

Din Thomas' luck ran out before he even got to his fight on Friday night. The UFC veteran was scheduled to fight in the main event in a Florida promotion, and was injured in a car accident on the way to the bout. Howard Davis Jr., both the fight's promoter and Thomas' boxing coach at American Top Team, gave an update on Thomas' condition.

The sad part of this is Thomas was trying for a comeback after not fighting since January of 2010. He has nine fights in the UFC and was on the fourth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," and has wins over Clay Guida and Jeremy Stephens. Thankfully, his injuries are not serious, just poorly-timed.

2011-10-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

A virus has infected America's drone fleet, Wired's Noah Shachtman reports. It logs every keystroke operators type from their base in Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, but that hasn't halted their missions. Though the military hasn't found any incidents of the virus sending information to an outside source, they haven't been able to get rid of it. Shachtman explains:

The U.S. has increasingly relied on drones to carry out the war on terror in Afghanistan in recent years. Al Qaeda YouTube preacher Anwar al-Awlaki was killed last month by a drone strike in Yemen.

How Steve Jobs spent his final weeks

2011-10-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months, a steady stream of visitors to Palo Alto, Calif., called an old friend’s home number and asked if he was well enough to entertain visitors, perhaps for the last time.

In February, Steven P. Jobs had learned that, after years of fighting cancer, his time was becoming shorter. He quietly told a few acquaintances, and they, in turn, whispered to others. And so a pilgrimage began.

The calls trickled in at first. Just a few, then dozens, and in recent weeks, a nearly endless stream of people who wanted a few moments to say goodbye, according to people close to Mr. Jobs. Most were intercepted by his wife, Laurene. She would apologetically explain that he was too tired to receive many visitors. In his final weeks, he became so weak that it was hard for him to walk up the stairs of his own home anymore, she confided to one caller.

Some asked if they might try again tomorrow.

Sorry, she replied. He had only so much energy for farewells. The man who valued his privacy almost as much as his ability to leave his mark on the world had decided whom he most needed to see before he left.

Mr. Jobs spent his final weeks as he had spent most of his life in tight control of his choices. He invited a close friend, the physician Dean Ornish, a preventive health advocate, to join him for sushi at one of his favorite restaurants, Jin Sho in Palo Alto. He said goodbye to longtime colleagues including the venture capitalist John Doerr, the Apple board member Bill Campbell and the Disney chief executive Robert A. Iger. He offered Apple’s executives advice on unveiling the iPhone 4S, which occurred on Tuesday. He spoke to his biographer, Walter Isaacson. He started a new drug regime, and told some friends that there was reason for hope.

But, mostly, he spent time with his wife and children who will now oversee a fortune of at least $6.5 billion, and, in addition to their grief, take on responsibility for tending to the legacy of someone who was as much a symbol as a man.

“Steve made choices,” Dr. Ornish said. “I once asked him if he was glad that he had kids, and he said, ‘It’s 10,000 times better than anything I’ve ever done.’ ”

“But for Steve, it was all about living life on his own terms and not wasting a moment with things he didn’t think were important. He was aware that his time on earth was limited. He wanted control of what he did with the choices that were left.”

In his final months, Mr. Jobs’s home a large and comfortable but relatively modest brick house in a residential neighborhood was surrounded by security guards. His driveway’s gate was flanked by two black S.U.V.’s.

On Thursday, as online eulogies multiplied and the walls of Apple stores in Taiwan, New York, Shanghai and Frankfurt were papered with hand-drawn cards, the S.U.V.’s were removed and the sidewalk at his home became a garland of bouquets, candles and a pile of apples, each with one bite carefully removed.

“Everyone always wanted a piece of Steve,” said one acquaintance who, in Mr. Jobs’s final weeks, was rebuffed when he sought an opportunity to say goodbye. “He created all these layers to protect himself from the fan boys and other peoples’ expectations and the distractions that have destroyed so many other companies.

“But once you’re gone, you belong to the world.”

Mr. Jobs’s biographer, Mr. Isaacson, whose book will be published in two weeks, asked him why so private a man had consented to the questions of someone writing a book. “I wanted my kids to know me,” Mr. Jobs replied, Mr. Isaacson wrote Thursday in an essay on Time.com. “I wasn’t always there for them, and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did.”

Because of that privacy, little is known yet of what Mr. Jobs’s heirs will do with his wealth. Unlike many prominent business people, he has never disclosed plans to give large amounts to charity. His shares in Disney, which Mr. Jobs acquired when the entertainment company purchased his animated film company, Pixar, are worth about $4.4 billion. That is double the $2.1 billion value of his shares in Apple, perhaps surprising given that he is best known for the computer company he founded.

Mr. Jobs’s emphasis on secrecy, say acquaintances, led him to shy away from large public donations. At one point, Mr. Jobs was asked by the Microsoft founder Bill Gates to give a majority of his wealth to philanthropy alongside a number of prominent executives like Mr. Gates and Warren E. Buffett. But Mr. Jobs declined, according to a person with direct knowledge of Mr. Jobs’s decision.

Now that Mr. Jobs is gone, many people expect that attention will focus on his wife, Laurene Powell Jobs, who has largely avoided the spotlight, but is expected to oversee Mr. Jobs’s fortune. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Mrs. Powell Jobs worked in investment banking before founding a natural foods company. She then founded College Track, a program that pairs disadvantaged students with mentors who help them earn college degrees. That has led to some speculation in the philanthropic community that any large charitable contributions might go to education, though no one outside Mr. Jobs’s inner circle is thought to know of the plans.

Mr. Jobs himself never got a college degree. Despite leaving Reed College after six months, he was asked to give the 2005 commencement speech at Stanford.

In that address, delivered after Mr. Jobs was told he had cancer but before it was clear that it would ultimately claim his life, Mr. Jobs told his audience that “death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent.”

The benefit of death, he said, is you know not to waste life living someone else’s choices.

“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

In his final months, Mr. Jobs became even more dedicated to such sentiments. “Steve’s concerns these last few weeks were for people who depended on him: the people who worked for him at Apple and his four children and his wife,” said Mona Simpson, Mr. Jobs’s sister. “His tone was tenderly apologetic at the end. He felt terrible that he would have to leave us.”

As news of the seriousness of his illness became more widely known, Mr. Jobs was asked to attend farewell dinners and to accept various awards.

He turned down the offers. On the days that he was well enough to go to Apple’s offices, all he wanted afterward was to return home and have dinner with his family. When one acquaintance became too insistent on trying to send a gift to thank Mr. Jobs for his friendship, he was asked to stop calling. Mr. Jobs had other things to do before time ran out.

“He was very human,” Dr. Ornish said. “He was so much more of a real person than most people know. That’s what made him so great.”

America's Most Beautiful College Campuses

2011-10-07T06:13:00.000-07:00

"If you ask freshmen why they chose their colleges, they usually say one of two things,” says Baltimore architect Adam Gross, who’s worked on projects at the University of Virginia and Swarthmore. “Either they got a good financial aid package or they thought the campus was beautiful."

America’s most beautiful college campuses have the power not only to sway indecisive high school students, of course, but also to attract tourists. Their appeal comes through varying combinations of awe-inspiring architecture, landscaping, and surroundings. To choose among more than 2,600 four-year American colleges, we considered these three key factors as well as architects’ expert opinions.

"The most important thing to realize is that how landscaping and buildings interconnect is as important as the buildings themselves," explains Boston-based architect Mark deShong. At Princeton University, for example, “It’s really about landscape,” he says. The campus connects its ivy-covered gray stone buildings with footpaths, idyllic small greens, and courtyards that create an intimate village-like scale.

Architectural coherence also plays a role in making a campus beautiful. Take the University of San Diego, which sticks to one architectural style: the Spanish Renaissance, with its elaborate façades, delicate ironwork, and carved wood. Ocean views and palm-tree-lined courtyards are extra selling points.

Bard College: Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Frank Gehry’s Fisher Center an undulating work of glass and brushed stainless steel—showcases Bard’s thriving arts scene throughout the year (current college president Leon Botstein himself is an accomplished conductor). The center is on the contemporary side of the rural campus’s architectural spectrum, which goes back to the 19th-century Blithewood Mansion and its manicured Italian garden. Pathways make for easy exploring, with the Catskill Mountains visible in the distance.

Stanford University

Courtesy of Tina Case of Case Rust Photography

Stanford University: Palo Alto, CA

The entryway to Stanford’s 8,180-acre campus is arguably the grandest of any college campus: a mile-long, tree-lined Palm Drive, which leads up to the expansive green Oval, red-clay-roof-tiled Main Quad, and the campus’s crown architectural jewel, Memorial Church, with its striking mosaic façade.

Photo-op: The view of campus—and all the way to San Francisco on a clear day from the Hoover Tower observation platform.

To-Do List: The Cantor Arts Center’s collection of 170 bronzes by Auguste Rodin, among the largest outside Paris, includes the Gates of Hell and Burghers of Calais.

University of Notre Dame

Courtesy of Dennis MacDonald / Alamy

University of Notre Dame: South Bend, IN

It’s hard to miss the glistening golden dome of the university’s Main Building, not to mention the neo-Gothic Basilica of the Sacred Heart that defines this 150-year-old Catholic school. Besides gorgeous architecture, the campus is chock-full of lush quads, where students congregate to kick back when they’re not in class or at the football stadium.

Florida Southern University: Lakeland, FL

Courtesy of imac/ Alamy

Florida Southern University:Lakeland, FL

What do Ellis Island and Florida Southern University have in common? They’re among the 32 U.S. spots that have recently been put under watch by the World Monument Fund as endangered cultural sites. You might also be surprised to learn that Florida Southern on a hillside overlooking Lake Hollingsworth has the world’s largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, including the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel with its colored pieces of glass and wrought-iron tower.

University of Cincinnati

Courtesy of University of Cincinnati

University of Cincinnati: Cincinnati, OH

A decades-long renewal topping $1 billion is paying dividends for Cincy, which has cultivated a strikingly modern look—and proven that “it doesn’t need ivy-covered brick walls” to be beautiful, as UC Magazine put it. Notable architects Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, Frank Gehry, and Peter Eisenman have each made their mark on the campus, whose Main Street leads to the prow-shaped Steger Student Life Center and the Tangeman University Center, which, in 2005, dramatically repositioned the original clock tower atop a skylight in a 90-foot atrium.

University of San Diego

Courtesy of University of San Diego

University of San Diego: San Diego, CA

Some campuses are an amalgam of styles; the University of San Diego sticks to just one, and what a glorious one it has chosen the Spanish Renaissance, with its elaborate façades, delicate ironwork, and carved woodwork. Ocean views and palm-tree-lined courtyards only add to the paradise-on-campus appeal.

Photo-op: The Immaculata Chapel, with its piercingly blue dome, visible from much of the city.

To-Do List: A walk around the Garden of the Sea, behind the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice, and its serene reflecting pool and gardens overlooking Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

Berry College

Courtesy of Berry College

Berry College: Mount Berry, GA

This rural college holds a lofty record: it’s the world’s largest contiguous college campus in the world, with more than 26,000 acres of fields, lakes, forests, and mountains. Berry makes prime use of its setting too, with numerous reflecting pools and fountains situated nearby its beautiful English Gothic inspired buildings like the Ford Dining Hall, Ford Auditorium, and Mary Hall, made possible by the school’s largest benefactor Henry Ford.

Lewis & Clark College

Courtesy of Lewis & Clark College

Lewis & Clark College: Portland, OR

Six miles from downtown lies this 137-acre parklike campus of verdant forests, sweeping pathways, and stone walls. A tree walk with native species encountered by the two explorers for whom the college was named on their epic journey west surrounds the Frank Manor House originally built as a 35-room private mansion.

Photo-op: The serene Reflecting Pool, bordered by a wall of wisteria, for a stellar view of Mount Hood.

To-Do List: A day hike through surrounding Tryon Creek State Park. Begin with coffee brewed with beans from Stumptown Coffee Roasters at the Lewis & Clark bookstore.

Rice University

Courtesy of Rice University

Rice University: Houston, TX

Don’t be fooled by Rice’s urban address. A double row of majestic oak trees encloses its perimeter a harbinger of the lush 285-acre campus to come, divided into quadrangles and planted with 4,000-plus elms, hickories, maples, and other trees (a ratio of more than one for each undergrad). The oldest buildings, like the standout Lovett Hall, borrow elements of medieval southern European architecture, including grand, arched passageways and rose-hued brick.

Cornell University

Courtesy of Cornell University

Cornell University: Ithaca, NY

Ambitious campus planners wanted to create a main quad over dramatic Cayuga Lake, the longest of the Finger Lakes. “It’s the idea of putting education on a high platform,” says architect Mark deShong. That original plan evolved, and the beautiful setting now accommodates both historic structures (McGraw Tower) and contemporary ones like the I. M. Pei designed Johnson Museum of Art whose walls screen movies on summer evenings and the new Milstein Hall by Rem Koolhaas.

Photo-op: Cascadilla Gorge, whose eight waterfalls drop more than 400 feet from Cornell’s campus to downtown Ithaca.

To-Do List: The paved paths that wind through Cornell Plantation’s 150-acre arboretum; climb to the Newman Overlook for a sweeping panoramic view.

Steve Jobs Earned His Place in the American Business Pantheon

2011-10-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs, who died on Wednesday, was a singular figure in American business history. He will go in the pantheon of great American entrepreneurs, inventors, and innovators, alongside John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and Sam Walton.

Jobs didn't invent computer technology, or the cell phone, or the notion of digitizing music. But he invented methods, business models, and devices that turned each into significantly larger cultural and economic phenomena.

To a degree, one might look back on the arc of Jobs's career and conclude that he simply rode a series of technological waves. But Jobs, and the company he led, rode the waves while pushing back against them.

In an industry frequently hostile to design, Jobs's Apple banked on it. In an industry in which products simply got cheaper every year and everything tends toward a commodity, Apple's products were able to command a premium. And in an age of pinched consumer spending, millions of people were eager — even desperate — to shell out for the latest version of the iPod, the iPad, or the iPhone.

In an era frequently characterized by executive greed and massive pay for significant underperformance, Jobs worked for a dollar a year. At a time when many founding CEOs step down when they hit their late 40s and early 50s to chase other pursuits (a la Bill Gates), Jobs stuck with it. In an era in which many experts fretted about the ability of America's economy to thrive and innovate, Apple grew into a major exporter. Apple now represents American brands, the way McDonald's and IBM and Coca-Cola once did.

In an era in which equity values stagnated, Apple's stock thrived. The performance of the company's stock, which is now worth $322 billion, up from a few billion in 2003, is one of the great examples of value creation in modern history.

It's difficult to put a tag on what it is precisely that Jobs did. He didn't create a fundamentally new business structure, the way John D. Rockefeller did with the vertical integration of Standard Oil. He didn't democratize a product that had only been available to the very rich, as Henry Ford did with the Model T. And he didn't fundamentally alter the distribution, logistics, and production systems the way that Sam Walton did with Wal-Mart. Under Jobs, Apple simply created a bunch of really cool products that people decided they needed to have. And have again. While Apple had brilliant ads, and while Jobs was an excellent salesperson, Apple's rabid, evangelizing fans have been the most effective marketing tool. When it comes to clothes, or shoes, or cars, my kids, 13 and 9, are largely indifferent to brands. When it was time for them to get their own computer, it had to be a Mac.

There are three basic business stories: the rise, the fall, and then the comeback. Jobs provided a vivid example of each. He started Apple Computer in the 1970s out of the proverbial garage with Steve Wozniak, only to be pushed after the company had gained scale. Returning to helm the company in 1997, he led a comeback that was, in many ways, far more impressive than the original rise.

Yes, Steve Jobs got rich in the past decade. But he didn't so at the expense of his shareholders. In fact, they grew rich along with him. And Apple didn't prosper at the expense of partners. The walled-garden approach of iTunes and the Apps store goes went against the grain of the notion that everything online should be free. But it was, at root, a courageous act. And it served as a kind of affirmation for content producers. And perhaps that's why he got such good press.

Several industries in the past decade found themselves essentially powerless in the face of the internet and the advent of digital technology. But Jobs and Apple invented devices and business models that encouraged people to pay: for music, for television shows and movies, for books, and for applications. By continuing to roll out new products, Apple has really expanded the playing field for content creators. It's much more compelling to watch a movie on an iPad than it is on an iPod.

The highest form of charity is helping somebody find a job or a means to support themselves. Just so, one might argue that the highest form of business is creating a profitable enterprise that allows and encourages other people to innovate and find means to support themselves. Apple has done that time and again. Yes, the publishing and music industries have griped over payment terms. But Apple is allowing individuals and companies to reach truly massive audiences at a relatively low cost. It has rescued some markets, revived others, and created entirely new ones.

This century is only a decade old. But it's a safe bet that in 2099, when analysts and historians are looking back, Steve Jobs will be remembered as one of the giants of 21st century business.

Chevy Corvette turned into speedboat

2011-10-06T01:15:00.000-07:00

Seeing a Chevy Corvette tearing up a freeway is a common site all over the United States, but we never thought we'd see one riding the waves. Performance boat manufacturer Marine Technology, Inc. wanted to change that, and the result is an insanely powerful aquatic speed demon called the ZR48 — a boat that boasts neck-snapping speeds and a massive price tag.

Built using parts from a genuine Corvette ZR1, the ZR48 oozes style. Its sleek body lines are undeniably auto-inspired, and great touches like genuine taillights and Corvette badges make it a treat to look at. The boat's body is built out of lightweight carbon fiber, which is as strong as metal but much lighter.

But it's not just the outside that will appeal to Chevy diehards, the interior has been given an equally stunning treatment. After entering through custom gull wing doors, the driver is treated to a true Corvette cockpit, complete with an original shifter and steering wheel. Leather and suede seating provides room for six, and a 8,000 watt sound system ensures that the party never stops.

If you feel like enjoying some quality programming while cruising the open sea, you can switch on the built-in LCD displays which come complete with Apple TV and a mobile wifi hotspot. iPad owners get additional treatment with a custom dock and charging station. The accessories alone are powered by a standalone Fischer diesel motor. The ZR48 has just as much "go" as it has show, and a pair of 1,350 horsepower, twin-turbo Mercury Racing engines deliver speed on demand.

The 48-foot monster boat comes with a special, tricked-out trailer to suit its extra wide stance. The transporter features a total of 5 TVs, a DVD player, LED display lighting, and matching paint scheme. In transit, the boat is situated sideways on the trailer to avoid the need for special highway permits.

As you may have guessed, the customer nature of the ZR48 and its luxurious touches demand top dollar, and a price of no less than $1.7 million is being asked. The one-of-a-kind boat will undoubtedly make you the star of whatever marina you frequent, and wealthy Corvette fans will surely find its charm hard to resist.

Quadruple Rainbow Photographed for First Time

2011-10-06T01:03:00.000-07:00

Forget the double rainbow. This year, the quadruple rainbow is all the rage.

A new photograph shows the first-ever evidence of an elusive fourth-order rainbow.

The spectacle in the image looks like a double rainbow, because it only shows the third-order (tertiary) rainbow (left), accompanied by the fourth-order (quaternary) rainbow (right). They appear on the sunward side of the sky, at approximately 40 degrees and 45 degrees, respectively, from the sun. Tertiary and quaternary rainbows can only form on the same side of the sky as the sun, unlike primary and secondary rainbows. As such, the primary and secondary rainbows are on the other side of the sky and so not shown in the new photo.

Few people have ever claimed to see even three rainbows in the sky at once. Scientific reports of these phenomena, called tertiary rainbows, were so rare — only five were reported in 250 years — that until now many scientists believed they were as real as a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

These legendary optical rarities, caused by three reflections of each light ray within a raindrop, have finally been confirmed, thanks to photographic perseverance and a new meteorological model that provides the scientific underpinnings to find them. The work is described in a series of papers in a special issue published this week in the journal Applied Optics. [Related: Weirdo Weather: 7 Rare Weather Events]

The optical treasure hunt even went one step further, as revealed in the photo that shows the shimmering trace of a fourth rainbow.

How they form

One year ago, Raymond Lee, a professor of meteorology at the U.S. Naval Academy, predicted how tertiary rainbows might appear and challenged rainbow chasers to find them.

Although staggeringly rare, tertiary and quaternary rainbows are natural products of the combination of refraction, dispersion and reflection inside raindrops. These are the same processes that create all rainbows, yet they are taken to their extreme to produce these higher order variants. Refraction is when sunlight bends as it moves from air into water and vice versa. (Such bending makes oars look bent when partially submerged.) Water droplets bend each of the colors in sunlight by a slightly different angle. This is called dispersion, and it separates the colors to create a rainbow.

Most of that multicolored light passes through the other side of the raindrop, but some is reflected. The raindrop's spherical curves concentrate those reflections at 138 degrees from the sun. This concentrated light is bright enough to create a visible primary rainbow.

A double rainbow occurs because not all that light exits the raindrop. Some is reflected back into the raindrop and goes through the whole process again. Although this light is dimmer, sometimes it is bright enough to produce a secondary rainbow just outside the first.

A third series of reflections creates a tertiary rainbow. It is even dimmer than the secondary rainbow, and much harder to find because instead of forming away from the sun, a tertiary rainbow forms around the sun. To see it, observers have to look into the sun's glare.

This may be why only five scientifically knowledgeable observers had described tertiary rainbows during the past 250 years.

Lee reviewed each description. He eliminated one questionable account and found common elements in the others. All described tertiary rainbows that appeared for a few seconds against a dark background of clouds about 40 degrees from a brightly shining sun.

Along with colleague Philip Laven, Lee used a mathematical model to predict what conditions might produce visible tertiaries. First, they needed dark thunderclouds and either a heavy downpour or a rainstorm with nearly uniformly sized droplets. Under these conditions, if the sun broke through the clouds, it could project a tertiary rainbow against the dark clouds nearby. The contrasting colors would make the dim tertiary visible.

Rainbow chaser challenge

When Lee presented his findings at last year's International Conference on Atmospheric Optics, it sparked heated discussion. Some scientists insisted that past descriptions were wrong and that tertiaries were too dim to see in the sun's glare.

One attendee, Elmar Schmidt, an astronomer at Germany's SRH University of Applied Sciences in Heidelberg and a rainbow chaser, took the guidelines as a challenge. He alerted likeminded amateurs. Since then, Michael Grossman and Michael Theusner have snapped photos of tertiary rainbows and one photo of a quaternary rainbow. Both images, which underwent only minimal image processing to improve the contrast under these challenging photographic conditions, also appear in the Applied Optics special issue.

The day Grossman photographed the tertiary rainbow, he first recalled seeing a double rainbow. When the rain intensified, he knew he had to turn toward the sun.

"It is really exaggerated to say that I saw it, but there seemed to be something," Grossman said. The pictures he snapped in the rain were the first to show a tertiary rainbow.

Where to find the best free samples

2011-10-05T06:32:00.000-07:00

Shopping online may be more convenient and even cheaper at times than shopping in-store, but the in-store shopping experience will always be better in at least one way: Consumers can score free samples while they shop.

Sure, some websites may throw in a discounted add-on item with your purchase, but at countless bricks-and-mortar stores you can sample products while you shop without actually having to commit to making a purchase. At some stores, the free sample may just be a sliver of food, while at others it could end up being an entire meal. Oftentimes, the trick to finding the best free samples is simply good timing.

The best opportunities for scoring freebies tend to be when a company is introducing a new product in the store, according to Julia Scott, who blogs about deals at BargainBabe.com. Likewise, when the seasons change, she says there is a better chance of stores rolling out more free samples for new and in-demand products. And if that fails, stores commonly provide freebies to customers who provide their email address or start following the company on Facebook and Twitter.

However, certain retailers are generous enough with their free samples that you won't need to resort to these tactics. MainStreet asked several shopping experts to weigh in on their favorite stores for landing free stuff on a regular basis without having to make a purchase.

Whole Foods and Trader Joe's

Say what you will about Whole Foods' prices, but this grocery store chain specializing in natural and organic products offers up more product samples than most.

"Whole Foods is by far my favorite place for samples," says Rachel Holland, the writer behindSurvivingTheStores.com who tracks down food and retail deals. "They always have fresh fruit samples, and it's always fun to try new 'healthier' products."

Trader Joe's, arguably one of Whole Foods' biggest competitors in the organic market, is also known for its free samples. In fact, many locations actually have a special station set up in the store offering a large assortment of free samples that changes throughout the day. This writer has even seen a Trader Joe's location offer complimentary espresso next to free samples of garlic bread and pasta, a veritable feast.

Kroger

You don't have to go to the gourmet grocery stores to get free samples, though. Holland and others we spoke with point to grocery chains like Kroger, which frequently provide samples of fresh and prepared foods for customers. The key, Holland says, is to try to visit these stores by mid-morning before their samples run out.

Walmart

Walmart's brand is built on the power of offering consumers a good bargain, so it should come as little surprise that this chain would have an abundance of free samples.

In fact, the company has a special section of its website devoted to advertising coupons that can be redeemed in stores for free samples as well as limited-time, online-only offers for samples that are delivered to consumers within a few weeks. These samples range from toiletries to household cleaners, though as Scott notes, more often than not the samples seem to be geared more towards women. Indeed, as I write this, the two samples being offered on the site are Poise Hourglass Pads and Playtex Gentle Glide tampons.

Target

Target also promotes free samples on its website every day, but unlike Walmart, none of these can be redeemed in stores. Instead, users must wait 8-10 weeks for the samples to be delivered. But if you're quick enough to snatch up the offers before they sell out and patient enough to wait for them to ship, you can get some excellent giveaways like Kleenex tissues, Garnier Moisture Rescue cream and even a bag of beauty products.

Lowe's and Home Depot

Any fathers reading this probably shouldn't expect to get a free tool chest from these home improvement chains, but your kids just might.

Once every month, Home Depot offers workshops specifically for children to pursue crafts projects like building helicopters, fire trucks and yes, toolboxes that they can take home afterward. Lowe's has a similar program that takes place every Saturday.

"These are a huge hit in my household," says Ryan Eubanks, owner of HeyItsFree.net, which rounds up the best freebies each day. "I can't tell you how many toys and little gadgets from Lowe's we have lying around."

Costco

Usually we tell readers not to shop when hungry because it makes you buy more, but we'll make an exception for Costco. For this chain, you may just get your money's worth by shopping on an empty stomach.

"When you walk into Costco, they have professional representatives sampling products in every department," says Stephanie Nelson, better known as the Coupon Mom. As she tells it, shoppers on the prowl for free samples may just meet their match in Costco, as every aisle seems to offer a different product — from pizza samples in the frozen section to mini sandwiches near the deli foods.

"You can really just go around Costco to five or six departments and get five or six things and call it a meal," she said. "I call it fattening."

Sephora

Makeup stores like Sephora and Aveda are great places to land some freebies, but doing so may require a little bit of schmoozing with the staff.

"There are a lot of ways you can massage a freebie out of pretty much any makeup counter, but really you just have to be friendly and build a relationship," says Scott from BargainBabe. In some cases, that might mean holding up a conversation with the employee behind the counter; in others, you might simply be asked to participate in a quick 10-minute tutorial and trial of a new product.

Sephora, in particular, is known for offering small product samples to customers that may be good for one or two uses. Several times a year, certain Sephora locations will even go so far as to offer more "high-quality freebies" like complimentary mascara and eye shadow products, Scott says.

Birthday Freebies

If all of that isn't enough to satisfy your craving for free things, there is of course one day every year where you can do even better.

Dozens and dozens of retailers offer tremendous freebies to shoppers on their birthday, whether it's a free steak at Black Angus or a free scoop of ice cream at Cold Stone.

Astonishing home conversions

2011-10-04T22:11:00.000-07:00

To homebuyers who have a strong vision and the means to see it through, an abandoned utilitarian structure can become a stunning antidote to the common McMansion.
Changes in technology, industry, and occupations have resulted in a decrease of barns, stables, and carriage houses being used for their intended purposes.
Church attendance is not what it used to be and consequently many beautiful houses of worship have fallen vacant. Happily, many obsolete structures can be reclaimed, as with this church that has been converted into housing. One company we found even specializes in dismantling and rebuilding old barns - some of the most major transformations of all.

Because of home conversions, what could be the sad gradual loss of a well-built structure is really a boon to an enterprising homebuyer. A building that once housed farm animals can now go for more than a million bucks—and onve renovated it can look like a million bucks. Click on ahead to see inspiring examples of such repurposed structures, suggested by Realtor.com.

Barn in Dallas, TX

Original Location: Central Pennsylvania
Built: circa 1850
Price: $1,525,000
Beds / Baths: 3 / 4
Square Footage: 4,369
This structure existed for its first 150 years or so as a traditional German style bank barn (built into a hill and accessible from land at both upper and lower levels) in central Pennsylvania, until Heritage Restorations intervened. The cost of the barn and its dismantling ran the current owner $110,000 in 2007.
The structure was transformed into a contemporary house by surrounding the sturdy post and beam barn skeleton with glass and stucco. This is one barn no one can call drafty due to structural insulated panel walls that ensure the house is energy efficient.
Other energy-efficient features include solar panels and tankless water heaters. The three-bedroom original Patterson homestead on the 4.17-acre property is now billed as a guesthouse, and also on the premises are a 1,600-square-foot workshop and a saltwater pool. The building is registered with the Texas Film Commission, so it has appeared in a Dell ad, and hosted a pool scene for an upcoming Richard Linklater film.

Barn in West Cornwall, CT

Built: 1900
Listing Price: $2,750,000
Beds / Baths: 5 / 4
Square Footage: 4,100
This barn had been sitting vacant and dilapidated for years when it was first converted to a home back in the 1970s. Perhaps for those renovators, the bridge going to the upstairs level (making it another bank barn like the previous barn), served as the inspiration to preserve and upgrade the building.
The sellers are the second owners since this barn has become a light-filled contemporary home, and they converted some additional portions of the old structure into extra square footage. The driveway goes below the aforementioned bridge to the upper level, making it a carport for rainy days. An additional small antique building is also included on the 24.5 acres.

Church in Dallas, TX

Built: 1906
Listing Price: $1,299,000
Beds / Baths: 11 / 11.5
Square Footage: 14,929
This was once St. John’s United Methodist Church, but around 2007 it underwent a three-year transformation at a cost of $1.5 million to become the part-time vacation home of a family based in California.
Because the church sits in a historic district, they had to preserve the church’s exterior character. Inside, they were free to make changes, so wood from the pews was repurposed for repairing the front doors and used for detailing the kitchen.
The church is now a multifamily residence or could function as an unusual mansion. The upstairs unit (pictured here) features 8 bedrooms and 8.5 baths, and the former choir loft can serve as an art studio. It also has the century-old restored stained glass windows. The basement unit is now a three-bedroom, three-bath, 5,000-square-foot residence (or business offices), including a large living area that likely once hosted many post-church coffees and church suppers.

Cider Mill House in New Preston, CT

Built: 1800s
Price: $1,100,000
Beds / Baths: 2 / 2.5
Square Footage: 3,056
In 1956, the original renovators looked at this brick riverfront structure, one of many cider mills once found throughout the state, and saw a potential home.
This antique brick structure is now a unique home on 3.2 acres that includes river frontage and a distinctive waterfall out front. Inside, the many exposed beams make it easy to imagine the structure’s former incarnation.

Mind Control Flies Toy Helicopte

2011-10-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

We have grandiose plans to make this THE place to discover the latest, seismic breakthroughs in the way we live, work and play and our first entry has staggering implications.

Until now, if you wanted to understand the inner-workings of your brain, you had to slide into a huge, expensive and claustrophobic CT machine. But now a device with the simplicity of a head massager can read the electrical activity deep inside your melon and relay those commands to any number of devices.

It is the $300 Emotive Epic headset, and it could change how paraplegics move, soldiers shoot and the lazy change channels. But Emotive's founder and inventor thinks it can help understand and cure diseases from autism to epilepsy.

Until there is mind-control romance, we take a look at the bubbliest trend in on-line dating; location-based social apps. After Joel Simkhai created a gay hook-up app called Grindr, he says countless women begged him for a straight version.

With Blendr, anyone can create a profile, check in and see how many fellow dog/sushi/"Mad Men"-loving singles are within walking distance. Now if he can just convince all women that "proximity" is a turn on.

Anyone who has tried online dating can attest that profile photos and reality don't often match.

But while Skype and Facetime make it harder to hide the real you, Jason Siraghi's Face Tracker algorithm changes the game once again. It allows anyone with a web camera to "wear" another face in real time. The edges are still rough, but as more coders jump in and perfect the software, it is only a matter of time before a scandal-plagued celeb uses the "someone stole my face" defense.

And for people who prefer whimsy over warfare, there is a quick look at the vast new online game called Glitch.

A House Built in a Sand Dune

2011-10-04T06:47:00.000-07:00

This $1.2 million home is built into a dune in Atlantic Beach, FL.
Photo: Curbed

Above-ground houses: could there be anything that's more over?

Turns out those smiley Lennon-style glasses on that glassy knoll are the legit windows of a legit house, and said house was carved into a dune in Atlantic Beach, Fla. Built in 1975, Dune House is the brainchild of architect William Morgan, who didn't want any interlopers messing with the character of his block — to this day, he lives next door. "I'm very particular about the buildings on either side of my own home." he says.

"The property is original oceanfront dunes that are very beautiful, and we were very interested in preserving the ecological character of our environment as closely as we could," adds Morgan. "So we surveyed the existing property and then we designed a house that would then be a profile of the original site."

Shortly after Morgan completed the project—actually two symmetrical apartments connected by a main landing—it piqued the interest of Playboy magazine, who was in town to photograph Morgan's digs. They were so taken that they photographed Dune House, too.

You could probably hit the ocean with a 3-iron with practice.
Photo: Curbed

Now listed for $1.2M, the property first hit the market at the tail beginning of 2009 when Morgan grew tired of renting it out. "I think it happened to coincide with the real estate downturn, the bursting of the bubble, so this particular kind of quality tends to suffer accordingly," he says. It was taken off the market this past November and was re-listed a couple months later for $1.4M.

When it's time to retreat from the sun, you still have a view.
Photo: Curbed

So what, pray tell, does life inside Dune House look like? Each 750-square-foot apartment consists of a two-story living area with one bedroom and one bathroom and built-in furnishings designed to fit the space. "I built it like a seashell," Morgan says. "It's a little like being in a submarine. When you go down the stairs, you go along the curved side of the shell to descend into the main living area, which looks out through very large glass doors onto the oceanfront. So you have a sense of being in the dune and looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean."

This dune home seems optimal for entertaining guests.
Photo: Curbed

As for heating and cooling—the first question we had after we stopped staring at the pics—apparently this part of Florida is ideal for this sort of living arrangement because the grass roof assumes the temperature of the ground water there: 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Humidifiers in each unit control the humidity. Sounds heavenly!

Now, about that buyer: "I think it could be a weekend retreat for someone who lives elsewhere—a seasonal retreat," Morgan says, later adding, "It's very quiet, by the way. You don't hear rain when it's raining, because there's earth that covers the roof and the walls of the house." Thus concludes today's moment of Zen.

Hairy, crazy ants invade from Texas to Miss

2011-10-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It sounds like a horror movie: Biting ants invade by the millions. A camper's metal walls bulge from the pressure of ants nesting behind them. A circle of poison stops them for only a day, and then a fresh horde shows up, bringing babies. Stand in the yard, and in seconds ants cover your shoes.

It's an extreme example of what can happen when the ants — which also can disable huge industrial plants — go unchecked. Controlling them can cost thousands of dollars. But the story is real, told by someone who's been studying ants for a decade.

"Months later, I could close my eyes and see them moving," said Joe MacGown, who curates the ant, mosquito and scarab collections at the Mississippi State Entomological Museum at Mississippi State University.

He's been back to check on the hairy crazy ants. They're still around. The occupant isn't.

The flea-sized critters are called crazy because each forager scrambles randomly at a speed that your average picnic ant, marching one by one, reaches only in video fast-forward. They're called hairy because of fuzz that, to the naked eye, makes their abdomens look less glossy than those of their slower, bigger cousins.

And they're on the move in Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. In Texas, they've invaded homes and industrial complexes, urban areas and rural areas. They travel in cargo containers, hay bales, potted plants, motorcycles and moving vans. They overwhelm beehives — one Texas beekeeper was losing 100 a year in 2009. They short out industrial equipment.

If one gets electrocuted, its death releases a chemical cue to attack a threat to the colony, said Roger Gold, an entomology professor at Texas A&M.

"The other ants rush in. Before long, you have a ball of ants," he said.

A computer system controlling pipeline valves shorted out twice in about 35 days, but monthly treatments there now keep the bugs at bay, said exterminator Tom Rasberry, who found the first Texas specimens of the species in the Houston area in 2002.

"We're kind of going for overkill on that particular site because so much is at stake," he said. "If that shuts down, they could literally shut down an entire chemical plant that costs millions of dollars."

And, compared to other ants, these need overkill. For instance, Gold said, if 100,000 are killed by pesticides, millions more will follow.

"I did a test site with a product early on and applied the product to a half-acre ... In 30 days I had two inches of dead ants covering the entire half-acre," Rasberry said. "It looked like the top of the dead ants was just total movement from all the live ants on top of the dead ants."

But the Mississippi story is an exception, Rasberry said. Control is expensive, ranging from $275 to thousands of dollars a year for the 1,000 homes he's treated in the past month. Still, he's never seen the ants force someone out of their home, he said.

The ants don't dig out anthills and prefer to nest in sheltered, moist spots. In MacGown's extreme example in Waveland, Miss., the house was out in woods with many fallen trees and piles of debris. They will eat just about anything — plant or animal.

The ants are probably native to South America, MacGown said. But they were recorded in the Caribbean by the late 19th century, said Jeff Keularts, an extension associate professor at the University of the Virgin Islands. That's how they got the nickname "Caribbean crazy ants." They've also become known as Rasberry crazy ants, after the exterminator.

Now they're making their way through parts of the Southeast. Florida had the ants in about five counties in 2000 but today is up to 20, MacGown said. Nine years after first being spotted in Texas, that state now has them in 18 counties. So far, they have been found in two counties in Mississippi and at least one Louisiana parish.

Texas has temporarily approved two chemicals in its effort to control the ants, and other states are looking at ways to curb their spread.

Controlling them can be tricky. Rasberry said he's worked jobs where other exterminators had already tried and failed. Gold said some infestations have been traced to hay bales hauled from one place to another for livestock left without grass by the drought that has plagued Texas.

MacGown said he hopes their numbers are curbed in Louisiana and Mississippi before it's too late.

The hairy crazy ants do wipe out one pest — fire ants — but that's cold comfort.

"I prefer fire ants to these," MacGown said. "I can avoid a fire ant colony."

7 Cool Home Improvement Tools

2011-10-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

Make any home improvement job easier with these hard-working multitasking tools.

Tool Time

Doing some remodeling? Whether you’re tackling a full-on renovation or just doing a few minor repairs, the following tools will make any job a breeze. From a handheld three-in-one jigsaw, edge sander and detail router to a six-piece painting kit complete with two contour handles and three snap-on attachments, these multitasking gadgets prove that no job is ever too big.

Nail It

Drive nails up to 3 1/2" long at 3,600 impacts per minute with the cordless Nextec G2 Hammerhead. Its articulating head gets into 0-, 45- and 90-degree angles. And a rotating LED lights the way. $100; Craftsman.com.

A Cut Above

A spiral jigsaw, edge sander and detail router, the DremelTrio can cut wood, plastic, drywall and tile. Its 90-degree pivoting handle makes for easy maneuvering when cutting recessed lighting holes or carving letters into wood.

Smooth Operator

Ridgid’s R3100 compact orbital jigsaw is fast (3,000 strokes per minute), light (4.4 lb) and designed to reduce vibration for smooth cuts that don’t tire out your wrist. $99; Ridgid.com.

Painting Pro

Green Toad’s new six-piece painting kit comes with two contour handles and three snap-on attachments—including a 2" straight brush and a 9" roller The pivoting system locks in eight positions to reduce joint stress.

Cool Tool

Sand furniture, cut drywall and remove grout with Skil’s oscillating tool that has five blades, a sanding pad and assorted sanding sheets, plus a 2-amp motor.

Know the Drill

Black & Decker’s lightweight cordless 20V MAX Lithium Ion Drill/Driver holds a charge for up to 500 days after a full charge. $100; Yahoo! Shopping.

Tool Up

At a meager 1 lb, the Kelvin.23 does the job of, yes, 23 tools, including a hammer, a screwdriver with 16 different bits, an LED lamp, a level and a 6-ft. tape measure. In black or pink.

America's Best Bed-and-Breakfasts

2011-10-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

Inn at Dos Brisas

Courtesy of the Inn at Dos Brisas

Inn at Dos Brisas;
Washington, TX

Each of the four Spanish-styled casitas on this 300-acre working farm features a big wrought-iron bed, 1,200-thread-count sheets and a fireplace. Bouley (New York) restaurant vet Raj Dixit plans breakfast around the inn's organic gardens and orchards, making caramelized grapefruit, blueberry scones with lemon confit and homemade yogurt with granola, which guests can eat on their private patios. The restaurant also prepares picnic lunches and serves them by the inn's creeks and ponds.Casitas from $480;

The Amelia Island Williams House

Courtesy of Amelia Island Williams House

The Amelia Island Williams House;Amelia Island, FL

This 10-room property is decorated with crystal chandeliers, stained-glass windows and antiques. Signature breakfast dishes include a blueberry strata—like a creamy, blueberry-studded bread pudding topped with warm maple syrup. Rooms from $175;

The Gastonian

Courtesy of The Gastonian

The Gastonian; Savannah, GA

Each of the 17 restored guest rooms at this beautiful 19th-century mansion has a working fireplace. The breakfast menu includes rich Southern dishes like poached eggs with grilled tomato, creamed spinach and green onion cream sauce, plus bacon, country sausage and cheese grits. Hors d'oeuvres and wine are served every afternoon, and there are desserts and cordials in the evenings. Rooms from $169;

Soniat House

Courtesy of Soniat House

Soniat House; New Orleans, LA

This terrific boutique B&B in the French Quarter is made up of three historic town houses with balconies and courtyards. Breakfast—like buttermilk biscuits with homemade strawberry preserves, fresh juice and a café au lait—arrives on a silver platter. Rooms from $240;.

Wickwood Inn

Courtesy of Wickwood Inn

Wickwood Inn; Saugatuck, MI

Innkeeper Julee Rosso co-authored The Silver Palate Cookbook series, which has sold more than six million copies. She upholds her home-entertaining cred with Champagne brunches, homemade afternoon sweets and an evening hors d'oeuvre buffet. Rooms from $195;

Antigua Inn

Courtesy of Antigua Inn

Antigua Inn; Santa Fe, NM

This inn, built in 1906, was recently renovated with Venetian plaster walls, stained glass windows and hand-carved furniture. There's a buffet of local organic bacon, homemade croissants and quiches bubbling with cheese each morning, plus coffee from a nearby shop that roasts small batches of organic and fair-trade beans.Rooms from $189;

The North Fork Table & Inn

Courtesy of Jordan Studio

The North Fork Table & Inn;Southold, NY

Former Aureole chef Gerry Hayden and pastry authority Claudia Fleming own this inn with a public restaurant. The couple serves New American dishes, such as raw hamachi and seared Hudson Valley foie gras for dinner and stellar seasonal scones in the morning. Those staying overnight sleep in cherrywood sleigh beds.Rooms from $250;

Blue Lantern Inn

Courtesy of Four Sisters Inns

Blue Lantern Inn; Dana Point, CA

There's a fireplace in each of the 29 rooms here, and many have private decks overlooking the Pacific. Quiche, homemade granola and freshly baked muffins land on the buffet each morning, and the owners serve wine, tea and hors d'oeuvres in the afternoons. Dogs are welcome. Rooms from $175;

The Inn at Weathersfeld

Courtesy of The Inn at Weathersfield

The Inn at Weathersfeld;
Perkinsville, VT

Constructed in 1792, this inn features 12 guest rooms with fireplaces and a farm-to-table restaurant called Verterra. The owners procure meats, produce and cheeses for breakfast from within 20 miles, and homey breakfast dishes range from buttermilk blueberry pancakes to omelets made with local eggs, with crispy bacon, sausage and hash browns. Rooms from $139;

Willows Inn

Courtesy of Willows Inn

Willows Inn; Lummi Island, WA

Built in 1910, the main building features a restaurant and five all-white rooms; four alternative stays include a cabin and a yurt (a circular tent-like structure with a kitchen, wood stove and bath house). Inspired by a turn at Copenhagen's acclaimed Noma restaurant, chef Blaine Wetzel creates visually stunning dishes with produce and eggs from the inn's organic Nettles Farm. Wetzel also cures his own meats, using Mangalitsa pork, and hosts Sunday night feasts starring spot prawns caught in nearby Rosario Straight. Rooms from $125;

Seven Sensational Scenic Drives for Autumn

2011-09-30T07:23:00.000-07:00

White Mountain Trail

Courtesy of Dan Houde

White Mountain Trail (New Hampshire)

Drive: A perennial leaf-peeping favorite, this loop route in "The Whites" takes you through mountain passes and past fabulous rock formations, waterfalls, and natural pools. Time it right at dusk or dawn and you'll see moose in the bogs along Route 302 (Moose Alley) near Bretton Woods. In September and October males bellow mightily to attract mates.

Stop: Just off the national scenic byway, the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) leads easy hikes to incredible views of Crawford Notch. The hikes are free, and so are moose tours if you stay at AMC's Highland Lodge. For more great photo ops, climb aboard the Mount Washington Cog Railway or Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway.

Stay: At Appalachian Mountain Club's Highland Lodge, nightly rates in a bunkroom/shared bath are $92 per adult ($77 for AMC members), including breakfast, dinner, guided hikes, naturalist activities, and L.L. Bean gear loans. Purity Spring Resort, located on a spring-fed lake in East Madison, is an affordable family option that includes breakfast, dinner, and activities for $129 per night, per couple, or $195 per family of four.

West Elk Loop

Courtesy of Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association

West Elk Loop (Colorado)

Drive: On this loop drive you'll circle western Colorado's West Elk Mountains, follow rivers, skirt canyons, and weave through the incredible aspen groves of Gunnison National Forest. Don't miss the north rim of Gunnison National Park's Black Canyon, where you can see the highest sheer cliff in Colorado drop 2,000 feet into the river below.

Stop: Explore the mountain wilderness on a trail ride near Crested Butte with Fantasy Ranch Horseback Adventures. In Gunnison, Scenic River Tours leads guided fly-fishing trips and whitewater rafting excursions. For $60, you can join one of Colorado Backcountry's half-day mountain bike rides through aspen forests.

Stay: The historic seven-bedroom B&B, Fresh & Wyld Farmhouse Inn, in Paonia has its own gardens and chickens to feed guests. In October rooms rent for $95 (shared bath) or $135 (private bath) per night and include a local, organic breakfast. Even more affordable is Gunnison's Western Motel, a roadside stop popular among bikers.

Blue Ridge Parkway

Courtesy of ExploreAsheville.com

Blue Ridge Parkway (North Carolina And Virginia)

Drive: The Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile mystical mountain route dubbed "America's Favorite Drive," stretches from Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Shenandoah National Park. Head to the southwestern segment near Asheville, North Carolina, where leaf season runs long. Room rates are less expensive in late September and early November, but the colors are still beautiful.

Stop: In early fall thousands of migrating monarch butterflies bound for Mexico pass through the mountains 35 minutes south of Asheville. Best view: the parkway's Wagon Road Gap overlook. Nearby, crunch into a fresh-picked apple at Orchard at Altapass or hit the corn maze at Hickory Nut Gap Farm. The Biltmore House Architect's Tour takes you to a 360-degree rooftop view of autumn colors.

Stay: Inn on Main Street B&B, just north of Asheville, has a $195 per night Adventure Road Waterfall Tour Package that includes a picnic lunch, a guide to area waterfalls, and a personalized driving itinerary. For families, try Asheville's Brookstone Lodge for $89 to $159 per night, or go for one of the lodge's affordable zip-line or whitewater rafting packages.

Amish Country Byway

Courtesy of Holmes County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau

Amish Country Byway (Ohio)

Drive: In the rolling hills between Columbus and Cleveland lies the Amish Country Byway, a network of country roads lined with thick forests and scenic farms with bright red barns. The clip-clop rhythm of horses and buggies on rolling hills takes you back to a time when life was less complicated and less expensive, and stores closed on Sundays.

Stop: Take a horse-drawn wagon ride, tour Amish barns and houses, and feed the animals at the Farm at Walnut Creek. Many of Amish Country's cheesemakers, including Heini's Cheese Chalet, welcome visitors to watch the process and sample more than 50 fresh-made varieties. Find out the why behind the simple ways at Behalt Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center.

Stay: Keep it simple with a stay at an Ohio State Park Lodge. In a river valley at the west end of the Amish Country Byway, the Mohican State Park Lodge has newly renovated guest rooms with private balconies. Packages here and at the state's seven other lodges can be as low as $109 per night in October.

Napa Valley/Silverado Trail

Courtesy of Thinkstock / Hemera

Napa Valley/Silverado Trail (California)

Drive: About an hour north of San Francisco, the vineyard-draped hills of Napa Valley are awash in crimsons and golds in the fall. Harvest season's crush parties are in full swing. From the town of Napa, follow the main Highway 29 route north 30 miles past big-name wineries and quaint towns to Calistoga. Then return on the quieter, breathtaking Silverado Trail.

Stop: Buy a $25 wine-tasting card in Napa to access 12 downtown tasting rooms for only 10 cents per taste. Pick up lunch at Napa's Oxbow Market for a roadside picnic en route to a winery. You can browse boutiques and hit the Culinary Institute's flavor bars ($10 to $15) in St. Helena. See a geyser and Petrified Forest near Calistoga.

Stay: Even during the valley's high season, there are still some inns and B&Bs with select rooms available for less than $200 a night. Try the Hennessey House, Napa Inn, or Arbor Guest House in Napa. The California Association of B&B Inns posts specials and last-minute deals on its website.

North Shore Scenic Drive

Courtesy of Explore Minnesota Tourism

North Shore Scenic Drive (Minnesota)

Drive: Along Minnesota's North Shore Scenic Drive, Lake Superior competes for your attention on one side while Superior National Forest's pine, aspen, and birch trees keep drawing you back to the other. It's a lovely dilemma. The route slices through eight state parks that preserve beaches, lighthouses, raging rivers, and waterfalls.

Stop: Ride a treetop roller coaster or zip-line for less than $10 at Spirit Mountain in Duluth. Lake kayaking excursions, beach campfires, and naturalist-led hikes on the Superior Hiking Trail are free when you stay at Lutsen Resort. Nearby in Two Harbors, you can tour the 1896 Edna G. Tugboat or the still-operational Two Harbors Light Station for next to nothing.

Stay: In Lutsen rooms go for as low as $150 per night this season at the storied Lutsen Resort. If you book three nights, you pay for only two with the resort's Fall Weekend Special. A standard room at Superior Shores Resort in Two Harbors runs from $79 to $139 per night in early October.

Cascade Loop

Courtesy of Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce

Cascade Loop (Washington)

Drive: The 440-mile Cascade Loop highway starts 28 miles north of Seattle, tunnels through mountains, twists through desert land, and passes glacier-fed Lake Chelan before returning to the Puget Sound. The elevation change alone is a thrill. And there's something exciting about cruising high-elevation passes that will be closed in winter.

Stop: Raise a stein (Prost!) to Munich in the little Bavarian mountain town of Leavenworth. Huge Oktoberfest celebrations spill onto the streets during the first three weekends in October. In the cowboy town of Winthrop, browse Riverside Avenue's boutiques with Western facade storefronts. Stop for apple cider tastings and tours during harvest season in Washington Apple Country.

Stay: True to form, Leavenworth's Bavarian Lodge has the Old World charm you'd expect, and nightly rates start at $129 for midweek stays with breakfast. Bring your sleeping bag and book a heated KOA log cabin in Leavenworth or Winthrop for less than $60 per night in October.

Most Successful Cars For 2011

2011-09-30T07:11:00.000-07:00

As if to underscore the time-honored notion in the automotive business that “new cars sell,” most of the models that showed the biggest sales gains over the first half of the year were those that either premiered or have been redesigned for 2011.

Tom Libby, an advisor with the market research firm R.L. Polk & Co, in Southfield, Mich., recently identified what are the five “most successful” models each in the premium and non-premium new-car segments. This is based largely on their increases in retail registrations this year through the end of June compared to the same period a year earlier. In addition to being among the year’s top sellers, Libby cites each model as “helping the make move forward” by boosting the brand’s aggregate sales and/or elevating its market perception.

While at one time the movers and shakers among mainstream models would have certainly been big and burly sport-utility vehicles, four out of five are now passenger cars, including two domestic-branded autos. Of these, two are family cars Hyundai Sonata and Volkswagen Jetta, one is a compact Chevrolet Cruze and one a subcompact Ford Fiesta. The former are helping their respective brands make significant inroads into the midsize sedan market, while the latter two are riding a wave of popularity stirred by a strong undercurrent of stinging gas prices.

5 tips for solving a Rubik’s Cube

2011-09-30T07:05:00.000-07:00

The world's best-selling toy isn't a game, a doll or a spud: it's a humble arrangement of 26 cubes, invented by a Hungarian architecture professor back in 1974.

In the 37 years since Erno Rubik first created his famous cube, it's sold over 350 million units, making the man himself a household name and propelling his cuboid conundrum into the history books. Although its three-dimensional nature makes it a tricky prospect for beginners, pros can solve it well under a minute. The world record? A mere 5.66 seconds.

Hard as that may be to believe, mathematicians have proved it's always possible to solve absolutely any cube arrangement, no matter how scrambled, in 20 moves or less. Deciding which 20 is the hard bit -- but we're here to help.

Squaring up to the Cube

It's natural to think of the cube as having six faces, each with nine cubes. But don't. Instead, think of it as 26 cublets, grouped into three categories: centers, edges, and corners.

Centers have one colored side, and are fixed together by the cube's internal spindle. They can move around but can't swap places, and there are six of them, one per face. Get in the habit of thinking of these as fixed points that indicate the proper color for each face.

The twelve edge cubes have two sides and can be found in the middle of a face. Corners, meanwhile, have three sides, and there are eight of them -- four on the top, four on the bottom.

Start at the beginning

There are lots of good methods for solving a Rubik's Cube, but some are easier than others. Most of the beginner-appropriate ones start the same way: solve the top face.

How? Pick a color (any color), and find the corresponding center cublet. Then move out the cublets that don't fit, and move in the ones that do. If you get one in the right place but with the wrong orientation, move it out and come back to it later. Once you're done, you'll have not only the top face one uniform color, but the top three cublets on each side face will also match; if not, you have an edge or corner in the wrong place.

Go "through the keyhole"

Having solved one face, you're probably pretty reluctant to undo your good work. But sometimes you need to step backwards to move forwards, and that's the principle behind this handy tip.

After solving the top face, the standard next step is to tackle the bottom, opposite face. One good way to do that is to deliberately move an edge piece out from the already finished top, making a "keyhole." As you maneuver pieces to solve the bottom face, you'll find that if you move them through the keyhole each time, you won't disturb the rest of the top. Once you're done with the bottom, it's a simple matter to move the keyhole piece back into place.

Develop your intuition

Stuck? That's not surprising. Once you've got the top and bottom faces down, matters get more difficult.

We suggest stopping there, rescrambling the cube, and starting over. Once you've gone from a complete cubescramble to a couple of finished sides, you'll have absorbed most of the principles and methods you'll need to finish up that elusive middle layer. But if you're still stuck, there are some great, step-by-step tutorials on the Web -- but be prepared to memorize some pretty complex move sequences. If you can hone your own intuition without detailed guides, you'll be a better solver.

Don't forget: lube your Cube

Are your twists just not as smooth as you think they should be? Maybe your cube is running dry. Twist the top face through 45 degrees, and use a flat-bladed screwdriver to gently pry out one of the edge pieces. Spray a small amount of silicon-based lubricant -- available from your local home improvement store -- into the gap. Replace the edge piece, and give your cube a good scrambling. You should find it much smoother, and your solving times should plummet.