Nokia Store™

I Caught My Girlfriend KISSING My Best Friend

2020-11-05T20:57:00.004-08:00

Ignoring My Girlfriend for 24 HOURS!

2020-11-05T20:56:00.004-08:00

"I HAVE A KID" Prank On Boyfriend!! Cutest Reaction

2020-11-05T20:55:00.004-08:00

Cool Casual Summer Outfits

2020-11-05T20:53:00.003-08:00

Night Out Outfit Ideas 2019 | Going Out Lookbook

2020-11-05T20:52:00.004-08:00

Winter Outfits 2019

2020-11-05T20:51:00.006-08:00

Spring Outfits 2019 | Spring Fashion

2020-11-05T20:51:00.001-08:00

How to Style White T Shirt for Fall

2020-11-05T20:50:00.003-08:00

Casual Fall Outfit Ideas 2019

2020-11-05T20:49:00.001-08:00

Spring Outfits | More Spring Outfits

2020-11-05T20:48:00.001-08:00

2021 Movie Release Dates: Here’s What’s Coming to Theaters Next Year

2020-11-05T20:33:00.001-08:00

It’s not unusual for movie release dates to jump around the calendar, but we’re witnessing a unique set of circumstances why in 2020. With coronavirus making its way around the globe and movie studios relying on international box office to maximize returns, studios have taken to delaying not just movies but entire productions, which throws the entire release schedule into flux. This means that movies that were slated to open in 2020 may get pushed into 2021, so we wanted to have this calendar ready to keep track of the films you’re excited to see.

We’ll be sure to keep this calendar updated with the latest info as we get it

January

Friday, January 8th

I Carry You With Me

Friday, January 15th

The 355

Mortal Kombat

Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway

Friday, January 21st

Chaos Walking

Friday, January 29th

Rumble

The Little Things

February

Image via 20th Century Studios

Friday, February 5th

Cinderella

Friday, February 12th

The King’s Man

Marry Me

Friday, February 19th

Antlers

The Courier

Friday, February 26th

Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse

March

Image via Sony Pictures

Friday, March 5th

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Tom and Jerry

Friday, March 12

The Many Saints of Newark

Raya and the Last Dragon

Friday, March 19th

Tomb Raider 2

Morbius

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Friday, March 26th

The Boss Baby: Family Business

April

Photo by: Nicola Dove
© 2020 DANJAQ, LLC AND MGM.

Friday, April 2nd

No Time to Die

Friday, April 16th

Reminiscence

Friday, April 23rd

Last Night in Soho

A Quiet Place: Part II

May

Image via Marvel Studios

Friday, May 7th

Black Widow

Friday, May 21st

Godzilla vs. Kong

Spiral: From the Book of Saw

Friday, May 28th

Cruella

Infinite

June

Image via Warner Bros.

Friday, June 4th

Samaritan

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

Friday, June 11th

Jurassic World: Dominion

Friday, June 18th

In the Heights

Friday, June 25th

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

July

Image via Paramount

Friday, July 2nd

Minions: The Rise of Gru

Top Gun: Maverick

Friday, July 9th

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Friday, July 16th

Space Jam: A New Legacy

Uncharted

Friday, July 23rd

Old

The Tomorrow War

Friday, July 30th

Jungle Cruise

August

Image via Warner Bros.

Friday, August 6th

The Suicide Squad

Hotel Transylvania 4

Friday, August 13th

Deep Water

Friday, August 20th

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard

September

Image via Paramount

Friday, September 3rd

Untitled Jackass Sequel

Friday, September 17th

The Bad Guys

October

Image via Blumhouse/Universal

Friday, October 1st

Dune

Friday, October 15th

Halloween Kills

The Last Duel

November

Image via Paramount Pictures

Friday, November 5th

Untitled Elvis Presley Biopic

Friday, November 12th

Untitled Fantastic Beasts Sequel

Friday, November 19th

Dungeons & Dragons

Untitled Disney Live Action Movie

King Richard

Untitled Mission: Impossible Sequel

Wednesday, November 24th

Untitled Disney Animation Project

December

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Friday, December 10th

American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story

Friday, December 17th

Untitled Spider-Man Sequel

Wednesday, December 22nd

The Matrix 4

Sing 2

Hotel Transylvania 4

Saturday, December 25th

Babylon

California Girls are Undeniable

2018-11-17T01:38:00.003-08:00

17 Things to Know Before Dating a Girl From California

Yes, the rules are a little different based on your exact location — California is a large and varied state — but these are some things that are true for all of us.

1. We don't get seasonal moodiness. Because there are no seasons! Want to hit the beach in October? Great! That's the perfect time to do it in San Francisco! (Just don't forget a jacket, mittens, a scarf, and your wooliest hat.) (And maybe some rain boots, depending on the fog situation.)

2. Like, all the songs are written about us. All of them. Whether you're Katy Perry, Too Short, or the Beach Boys, you've probably got a boner for a girl from California.

3. We're fairly earnest. This is one of those stereotypes that's almost unfailingly true. We're an entire state of Kimmy Schmidts in a world filled with sadsack frowny faces. When I moved from California to NYC for college, the coffee cart guy told me to "go away" after I said, "Have a nice day!" Not to be deterred, that same day I said, "Hi!" to a woman in Washington Square Park and she responded with, "What do you want?" And I simply replied "to wish you a great day!" because I'm from California and that's what we do.

4. We love burritos and will eat them for every meal if given the chance. Burritos are our mothers, brothers, sisters, and best friends, and this goes for everywhere in California, whether it's in San Francisco's Mission District or Los Angeles's Echo Park. Oh, and in San Diego, they put French fries in them. Yes, French fries. Burritos should be roughly the size of a newborn human baby and be so heavy you need both hands to pick it up. I'm literally salivating while typing this.

5. We're hella cool. And if you give us shit for using the word hella, we're gonna hella walk right out of your life. Or something less drastic; just don't make fun of us for it because that's tired and you're better than that.

6. We aren't high-maintenance. We can go from bed to beach in 10 minutes flat, even if that beach is Ocean Beach in San Francisco and we're wearing a Thinsulate coat and have tiny heating pads in our mittens.

7. Flip-flops are our national shoe. I own 12 pairs of flip-flips and each pair is essential to my life. True story: When I started school in NYC, I tried to wear flip-flops in the snow. I learned my lesson the hard way.

8. We, like, don't care about celebrities at all.
And I'm talking movie stars and tech stars. After all, we've probably already dated that dude or know someone who did and he's not all that, nor is he a bag of chips.

9. We're amazing drivers. Because we drive pretty much every freaking where, you can count on us to man the wheel in a high-speed car chase and get us (and the millions of dollars you just stole) home safely.

10. AVOCADOS. We're obsessed with them because ours are delicious — rich and smooth and with the consistency of a good cream — and we will put them on (and in!) everything. Did you know that you can make chocolate pudding with avocados? You can and it will change your life. I do not say this lightly; avocados are serious business.

11. We'll take you to In-N-Out.
Two things: The fries will change your life and you're welcome.

12. We will complain when it rains.What do you call cold dark magic falling on my head? Rain? Am I saying that right? I don't like it. Make it go away. (P.S. JK, we are in a terrible drought and need that rain very badly. Rain, come back. We love you even though we don't understand you.)

13. We own more bathing suits than is necessary or healthy. You might buy a bikini for vacation but we buy them because it's Tuesday and we can wear it as a top. (Our company's dress code is "so freaking casual you have no idea")

14. We've done a juice cleanse. Don't judge until you feel the magic of green juice coursing through your veins! Life is for the living!

15. Northern California hates Southern California but Southern California DGAF about Northern California and actually thinks it's rather lovely. Here's how it is: Southern California is like, "OMG, I LOVE Frisco!" and Northern California is like, "Don't call it Frisco, you idiot with a boob job." It just is what it is.

16. We're not all blonde. California is actually pretty diverse when it comes to the ladies and it's getting more diverse by the day. Which is awesome because it means our unique brand of kickass comes in every gorgeous shade. Again, you're welcome.

17. We didn't all go to class on the beach. Lots of Californians don't live on the coast and for those of us in chiller climates, beach learning is not ideal. (Although my boyfriend is from San Diego and his high school did offer surfing lessons as a class, so it's not entirely untrue.)

Gossip Girl Wiki

2018-11-17T01:27:00.003-08:00

Kaylee DeFer

Kaylee Anne DeFer (born September 23, 1986) is an American actress. She is known for her portrayal of Ivy Dickens in The CW's teen drama series Gossip Girl.

DeFer was born in Tucson, Arizona. In 2003, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.

DeFer made her acting debut in a March 2004 episode of the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh. She has since made a number of guest appearances on television shows such as Quintuplets, Ghost Whisperer, CSI: Miami, and How I Met Your Mother. DeFer appears on the cover of Reeve Oliver's second album, Touchtone Inferno (2007).

In May 2004, DeFer was cast as Scarlett on The WB's drama series The Mountain. The series follows the personal lives of the staff and friends at a remote ski resort. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, but was cancelled after four months.

In April 2005, DeFer landed a role on the Fox sitcom The War at Home. The series centers on the day-to-day life of Gold family whom reside in Long Island, New York. DeFer portrayed teenager Hillary Gold, the eldest child who frequently misbehaves. The series premiered on September 11, 2005 to 7.2 million viewers, but received generally negative reviews from critics. The series ran for two seasons.

DeFer starred in her theatrical film debut Flicka, released in October 2006. DeFer portrayed the film's antagonist, Miranda Koop. In 2011, DeFer starred in the low-budget Western film Mattie, which was released on DVD under the title Renegade.

In April 2011, The CW announced DeFer would have a major-recurring arc in both the fourth and fifth seasons of Gossip Girl. DeFer had previously auditioned for the role of Raina Thorpe, but she did not receive the part. DeFer portrayed the role of Ivy Dickens, a con artist who pretends to be Charlotte "Charlie" Rhodes in order to get access to the latter's trust fund. DeFer was reunited with The Mountain castmate Penn Badgley. The critical reception of the character had been positive until her appearance in the fifth season received less than favorable reviews. DeFer reprised her role of Ivy in the series' sixth and final season and was listed as a main cast member.

In January 2012, DeFer called off her engagement to jewelry designer Mike Pereria, whom she had been dating on and off since 2002.

DeFer subsequently began dating Michael Fitzpatrick, lead vocalist for the band Fitz and the Tantrums, and in May 2013, she announced that they were expecting a child together. They welcomed their son, Theodore Ignatius, on September 20, 2013. The couple got married on July 25, 2015. They welcomed their second son, Sebastian Danger, on April 11, 2017.

Filmography EDIT

Movies EDIT

Movie	Role	Year	Notes
Underclassman	Des	2005
The Powder Puff Principle	Young school board president	2006	Short film
Flicka	Miranda Koop	2006
In My Pocket	Molly	2011
Mattie	Mattie Springer	2011
Red State	Dana	2011
Darkroom	Michelle	2013

Television EDIT

Show	Role	Year(s)	Notes
Drake & Josh	Girl that complains too much	2004	Episode: "Guitar"
North Shore	Emily	2004	Episode: "Secret Service"
Quintuplets	Stephanie	2004	2 episodes
The Mountain	Scarlett	2004-05	Recurring role; 6 episodes
Listen Up!	Brooke	2005	Episode: "Inky Dinky Don't"
The War at Home	Hillary Gold	2005-07	Main role; 44 episodes
Shark	Katie Dobbs	2007	Episode: "Shaun of the Dead"
Family Guy	Dakota	2008	Voice; Episode: "Tales of a Third Grade Nothing"
Ghost Whisperer	Angie Halsenback	2009	Episode: "This Joint's Haunted"
Bones	Tory Payne	2009	Episode: "The Gamer in the Grease"
CSI: Miami	Valerie Metcalf	2010	Episode: "Getting Axed"
How I Met Your Mother	Casey	2010, 2013	2 episodes
Gossip Girl	Ivy Dickens / Charlotte "Charlie" Rhodes	2011-12	Guest role (Season 4); main role (Seasons 5-6); 39 episodes
Friends With Benefits	Mary Webber	2011	Episode: "The Benefit of Mentors"
Layover	Rebecca White	2012	Television film

VIDEO: DEMO OF THE GORGEOUS NOKIA WIFI ROUTER

2018-11-17T01:17:00.002-08:00

In October 2017, Nokia launched Nokia WiFi router with the sole purpose of getting your home network better, faster, stronger. It crates the WiFi mesh in your home and by doing so it can make your network work in each corner of your home.Nokia has just published a promo video that shows all the beauty of this hardware, and also explains us some of its functions.

Nokia WiFi should be available in Q2 2018, so we can expect it shortly after the MWC, where we’ll find out more about the device. Hope Nokia won’t kill this product soon after its launch because it looks great.

Nokia Wi-Fi is Great for Getting Rid of Dead Spots But Bad if Your Current Mesh System is Working Fine for You

In the networking world, WiFi is probably the most shoddy piece of technology we come across on a daily basis. To overcome its major weakness – signal strength – many have attempted to pull off certain tricks in order to ensure that those wireless signals reach every corner of the house or office. In the end it appears as though multiple access points is the viable solution for everyone, with mesh networks becoming more and more commonplace at a rampant pace.

Enter – Nokia Wi-Fi

Nokia has jumped into the arena as well with its new Nokia Wi-Fi system. Now, while this system does offer everything which everyone is already offering, but it’s not a viable upgrade if you have no problems with your current WiFi setup at all. But, if dead spots is something you are looking to get rid of, then this system will definitely save your day. Heck, its software is so good that it will fix certain problems for you. It even lets service providers look into your network remotely (in real-time) so they can offer fixes to common problems as well. If that wasn’t enough, Nokia Wi-Fi features its very own mobile app so you can monitor your network remotely and make sure everything is running as smooth as butter.

Nokia’s System is Good at Identifying More Interference Sources

Unlike other mesh networks, Nokia claims that its mesh system can identify 17 different sources of interference. According to Nokia, other systems can detect as many as 5 only in the 2.4 or 5GHz bands. What does that mean for you? This means that the system is capable of filtering out more interference than anything else out there. Until or unless you work in a microwave retail store, this feature will definitely prove to be epic.

Details Remain Sparse but We’ll Wait for More

At the time of writing, many details regarding the system are sparse, even pricing. But if the official video from Nokia is anything to go by then it seems as though we can expect each mesh point to have a total of 3 LAN ports and 1 WAN port.

Katherine McNamara - American actress

2018-08-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

Bienvenue sur Katherine McNamara France, votre source française sur l'actrice et mannequin Katherine McNamara. Elle est principalement connue pour son rôle de Clary Fray dans la série à succès 'Shadowhunters'. Vous pourrez découvrir toute son actualité sur le site ainsi que de nombreuses photos disponible dans la galerie. Je vous souhaite une agréable visite. Cindy

Katherine has some serious Broadway chops and has been on stage with Angela Lansbury, Elaine Stritch, Katherine Zeta- Jones, Bernadette Peters, and a wide variety of other important singy-dancey types.

Baking is one of her favorite pastimes.

She is a huge fan of Pretty Little Liars. Natch.

Big fan of cookie dough ice cream.

Bonds with castmates like nobody's business.

HOW TO BECOME A HOLLYWOOD ACTOR

2018-08-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

Moving to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting can challenge even the most experienced performer. Becoming a successful Hollywood actor can result in fame and fortune, but getting there promises an uphill climb. It's not as easy as it looks. Hollywood actors audition, network and market to win and keep jobs, and they continuously pursue the next job. Persistence and dedication prevent burn-out for the newcomer and veteran alike.

Take acting, improv and voice-over classes to hone your skills and gain new ones. Even if you graduated from theater school or performed in other markets, Hollywood acting presents stiff competition. Additional classes will freshen your skills, land you some new ones and build your resume. Agents and directors enjoy seeing actors trained in diverse areas because it adds to their versatility. Local theaters and colleges often offer acting classes.

Perform locally. You will need to showcase as much acting experience as possible when you start booking auditions and interviewing agents. Many unpaid acting opportunities at non-profit theaters or in locally produced films put you in the presence of seasoned artists. Unpaid acting jobs give you experience to pursue paid acting jobs, and you want as many as possible of both types on your resume before walking into the office of an agent or casting director.

Move to the Hollywood area. Moving is a big step, and if you are coming from most other areas of the country, you will notice a steep increase in your cost of living. For this reason, moving to Hollywood requires that you save money or have a steady income stream available.

Rachel Platten - Fight Song (Official Video)

2018-08-22T10:03:00.002-07:00

Hailee Steinfeld - Love Myself

2018-08-22T10:02:00.002-07:00

Hailee Steinfeld - Rock Bottom ft. DNCE

2018-08-22T10:01:00.003-07:00

Hailee Steinfeld, Alesso - Let Me Go (Personal Collection)

2018-08-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

Big Bang Theory ...

2018-08-20T19:40:00.003-07:00

In Conversation With - Cathy Baron

2018-08-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

In Conversation With - Cathy Baron (Justified's Teri)

For my next guest, it's a welcome return to 'Justified' and the lovely actress Cathy Baron. Born in the beautiful city of San Antonio, Texas, my spiritual second home, yes I've been there a few times, Cathy has established herself as an actress on television and in films. So, it's a warm Texas welcome to Cathy.

What are your early childhood memories in Texas and did you have any early ambitions about what you wanted to do when you grew up?

"Most of my early childhood memories are in San Antonio at my grandparents' house. My siblings and I spent our summers and spring breaks at their home and were very close to them. Other childhood memories that stand out the most to me are dance classes and competing in dance competitions. As a child, I wanted to be a dancer and an actress. I have videos of me in front of my parents VHS camera acting out commercials when I was as young as 8."

(Cathy's grandfather, Bill Gautney, was a famous guitarist, taught as a young boy by Les Paul himself. Bill played for his close friend, Hank Williams, and also Patsy Cline.)

You are a trained professional dancer. When did you start dancing?

"I started dancing around the age of 4, I believe. I started out in ballet and tap."

You were a dancer for three sports teams in Austin. What memories do you have of those?

"I danced for an ice hockey team, the Ice Bats, while in Austin. THAT was interesting. We wore these shoes called broomball shoes and would actually perform dances on the ice! Of course, one or two people fell down every time we performed. I then danced for the Austin Wranglers, an arena football team, where I met one of my best friends. Lastly I danced for a NBA Development League basketball team called the Toros. The best times on these teams were the rehearsals, dancing the night away and being silly. I miss those days! Dancing is a huge passion of mine. I feel most alive while dancing."

You graduated at the University of Texas, with a B.Sc in Nutrition. What influenced your choice of study?

"My grandmother passed away from Leukemia. Before she died, she asked me to be more aware of what I ate. She believed that she became sick because of her eating habits and lifestyle and wanted me to take care of myself, so that I could avoid the same. I then became interested in Nutrition and now use the knowledge I gained in school in my everyday life."

(Cathy is a keen supporter of the new healthy lifestyle app, 'LifeKraze'.)

How did you get into television work?

"I did a lot of theatre in high school and I took on camera acting classes in Austin while attending college. I did a few roles in student films and low budget features in my free time. I knew that once I graduated from college, I was going to move to Los Angeles to pursue my dreams of dancing and acting. And once I graduated, that's exactly what I did."

Cathy has appeared in a number of TV series, including 'A Good Knight's Quest'.

She has also appeared in the films 'Dead Stop' and 'The Eves'.

.....and then ultimately, along came 'Justified'.

I read that you actually auditioned five times for the show. What roles did you audition for?

"Yes, I auditioned five times before booking the role of Teri. I auditioned for Katrina, Sophie, Roz.....I can't remember the other roles. None of the roles were right for me up until Teri was available."

How was it joining the cast of a well-established, successful TV show?

"The first day was exciting and terrifying at the same time, but everyone is SO incredibly nice and inviting. I adjusted nicely. Every actor on the show is extremely talented and sometimes I had to pinch myself that I was really there."

What was it like when you first went onto the set?

"Joelle Carter was one of the first people to have a conversation with me on my first day on set, and she made me feel extremely welcome. She's amazing."

What challenges does the role of Teri bring to an actor?

"What I imagine has happened to Teri in her life up to this point has hardened her, but underneath that hardened person is a scared little girl. She's just trying to survive, but she has a deep rooted desire to be wanted, and given attention to, because she never got these things as child. So she struggles with that."

Away from acting, you like to paint and have had your work on display. When did you start painting and how often do you get the chance to paint?

"I haven't had the chance to paint in months, but really want to get back into it. I started painting when I was about 15. I'd paint the walls of my room because I didn't have an easel or canvas to paint on in my parents' house. My room looked like an Alice in Wonderland fantasy world until I moved out and my mom painted over it. I'm driven by color and interesting use of texture, and often paint buildings or silhouettes. I have a couple of art videos online if you'd like to see my recent work."

https://vimeo.com/31713506

https://vimeo.com/28033900

What other hobbies do you have?

"I love cooking, writing, dancing, editing artistic video, travelling, karaoke, DIY projects, reading, and laughing. I'm also a bit of an adventurer and like hiking, skydiving, parasailing, and the trapeze."

What are your longer term ambitions?

"I want to be the best version of myself. I want to continue to grow as an artist in all areas and be open and vulnerable as an actress. I want to be authentic in my work and relationships. I want to have no regrets."

American Girls Secret Life and Social World

2018-06-09T02:45:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time, only the wealthy and privileged could afford to have their portraits painted by a small, select circle of artists. With the advent of photography, parents of all backgrounds could have pictures of their children, which were coveted as documents of their development and a way to show off their innocent beauty and charm to family and friends.

Today, with smartphones and social media, we all have in our hands the means to broadcast our pride and joy to the world. And we are cultivating our children’s online selves from birth—or even before, in utero. Ninety-two percent of American children have an online presence before the age of 2. Parents post nearly 1,000 images of their children online before their fifth birthday. “Sharenting” has given parenting a whole new dimension: viewer-rated performance.

The usual debate centers on whether posting pictures of one’s children’s online—or allowing one’s children to do so—is safe from a privacy or security standpoint. And as we have seen in the recent abduction and murder of 13-year-old Nicole Lovell of Blacksburg, Va., concerns about online predators are more than just a moral panic: they stem from something real. Lovell reportedly texted with one of her alleged killers, 18-year-old David Eisenhauer, a Virginia Tech student, on Kik Messenger, an app known among kids as a place for the exchange of sexts and nude selfies.

But while we’re consumed by the tangible dangers of messenging services like Kik, Yik Yak, After School and other anonymous apps, we may be missing a different influence: our own behavior. Kids today are often accused of being narcissistic, but they may be learning their exhibitionist ways from their parents. Accompanying the boom in selfie culture is a rise in competitive spirit, as well as a disturbing trend of sexualization. Likes, hearts, swipes—validation is only a tap away. And one of the easiest ways to get that validation is by looking hot. Sex sells, whether you’re 13 or 35.

So it should come as no surprise that in this atmosphere, with the new technology available, sexting and sharing nudes have replaced other forms of intimacy. And it’s girls—our daughters, granddaughters and nieces—who are most at risk in this online environment, which blends age-old sexism with a new notion of sexual liberation through being provocative.Girls who post provocative pictures often suffer slut shaming on- and offline. Girls are more often targeted in cyberbullying attacks that focus on their sexuality.

I spent the past 2½ years researching my new book American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers, visiting 10 states and talking to more than 200 girls. It was talking to girls themselves that brought me to the subject of social media and what sexualization is doing to their psyches. How is it affecting their sense of self-worth? The tweens and teens I spoke to were often very troubled by the ways the culture of social media was exerting influence on their self-images and their relationships, with both friends and potential dating partners. They were often highly aware of the adverse effects of the sexualization on girls—but not always sure what to do about it.

“Sexism has filtered into new arenas that adults don’t see or understand because they’re not using social media the same way,” says Katie, a student I interviewed at Barnard. “They think, Oh, how can there be anything wrong here if it’s just Snapchat or Instagram—it’s just a game.” But if this is a game, it’s unlike any other we’ve ever played. And the stakes for girls could not be higher.

Victim isn’t a word I’d use to describe the kind of girls I’ve seen, surviving and thriving in an atmosphere that has become very hostile to them much of the time. How can this be, when girls are graduating from college in higher numbers than ever before, when they’re becoming leaders in their chosen fields in greater numbers? From what we hear, American girls are among the most privileged and successful girls in the world. But tell that to a 13-year-old who gets called a slut and feels she can’t walk into a school classroom because everybody will be staring at her, texting about her on their phones.

So why do some girls post sexualized pictures? Why are they complicit in this potentially very self-undermining aspect of socialmedia culture? “I think it’s just to get attention,” explains Lily, a 14-year-old in Garden City, N.Y., where I studied a group of girls for the book. “It’s to get the likes. Everything’s about the likes.”

If building a social-media presence is similar to building a brand, then it makes a twisted kind of sense that girls—exposed from the earliest age to sexualized images, and encouraged by their parents’ own obsession with self-promotion—are promoting their online selves with sex. In so doing, they’re also following the example of the most successful social-media celebrities.

It’s been almost 20 years since the brutal murder of JonBenét Ramsey magnified the horror of child beauty pageants—the extreme sexualization of the little girls, the skimpy costumes, garish makeup and risqué dance moves once associated with prostitution. In 1996, this seemed like a dark revelation, a national scandal. Then came Toddlers & Tiaras. Now, parents post videos of their daughters suggestively shimmying to Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj—videos that rack up approval ratings, sometimes even media attention and ad sales.

In Boca Raton, Fla., a wealthy coastal city with a population of around 90,000, about 50 miles north of Miami, I met Julie, Maggie, Cassy and Leah, a group of 13-year-old girls—two white, two Latina—at the Town Center Mall. Wearing short-shorts and tank tops, Converse and flip-flops, they glided along the air-conditioned halls past all the stores. Their mothers had dropped them off for lunch—chicken and waffles at the Grand Lux Café—and now they were stuffed, so they sat down on some couches to check their phones.

As the girls visited their social-media accounts, opening their Snapchats and liking and commenting on the Instagram posts of their friends, a parade of mothers and daughters drifted past, all dressed almost identically. There were teenage girls in booty shorts and cleavage-baring tops, and mothers wearing almost exactly the same things, except with heels and bling. They carried shopping bags from Neiman Marcus, DKNY and Pink.

I remarked to the girls how strange it seemed to see the mothers in the mall dressed so similarly to their daughters. “They want to look hot,” said Cassy, not looking up from her phone.
“Everybody wants to look hot,” Julie said.
“Their daughters look hot and they want to look like their daughters,” Maggie said. “They think they’re the Real Housewives.”

The reluctance of baby boomers and Gen X-ers to grow old is not lost on girls. The resistance to aging has been evident in the success the beauty industry has had with “antiaging” products. The demand for plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures skyrocketed in the 2000s, with a 98% increase in procedures overall from 2000 to 2012, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The second most popular procedure for women ages 40 to 54 in 2014 was breast augmentation. The hypersexualization that has enveloped the lives of American girls seems to have also ensnared their moms.

One factor in sexualization that is too often ignored is the rise of online porn. Studies have reported that American children start seeing online porn as young as 6, and a majority have watched it before they turn 18. When kids have easy access to porn and are watching porn, it’s not surprising that they are posting what might be identified as porn. In 2014 Vine, the video-sharing service on which users share six-second looping clips, banned “sexually explicit material” after reports that children were posting sexually charged videos of themselves on the site, including girls who looked as young as 9 or 11 years old.

Periodically in the news we hear about a “sexting ring,” in which nude photographs of teens are circulated among wide groups of kids, as at a Cañon City, Colo., high school in late 2015. But these sorts of amateur pornography sites, known to kids as “slut pages,” have actually become common and existed at every school I visited.

Some young feminists have argued that photos by girls in sexual poses are a valid expression of their sexuality. “Choice feminism” maintains that whatever a woman chooses is inherently a feminist act. But this doesn’t take into account questions of exploitation surrounding images of underage girls—not to mention the fact that girls’ nudes are often shared nonconsensually, which can wreak havoc on girls’ lives.

No matter how various theorists try to minimize and even glamorize girls’ participation in social-media culture, it is girls who experience the reality of its troubling effects.•

Miss World 2017: ML Khattar, Haryana Ministers Laud Manushi; Native Village Erupts In Joy

2017-11-20T08:11:00.003-08:00

CHANDIGARH: Celebrations broke out in Manushi Chhillar's native Bamnoli village near Rohtak while several ministers led by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar lavished praise after the 20-year-old was crowned Miss World 2017 at a grand event in China yesterday.

Congratulating the Haryana-born medical student, Mr Khattar said "she has made the state and the nation proud by winning the crown".

The Chief Minister said it was a matter of great pride that girls of the state were getting success in all fields.

Manushi Chhillar, won the coveted crown at a glittering event in China yesterday, ending the country's 17 year long dry spell at the top pageant contest.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had bagged the title in 1994, followed by Diana Hayden in 1997, Yukta Mookhey in 1999 and Priyanka Chopra in 2000.

Congratulating Manushi Chhillar, Haryana's Health and Sports minister Anil Vij said that "she has made her state and the country proud".

The state's Women and Child Development minister Kavita Jain tweeted that Manushi Chhillar's success showed that the 'Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao' campaign was moving forward on the right track.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, who is an MLA from Haryana, also congratulated her. You have shown that Haryanavis excel in every field and make India proud, he said.

Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda also congratulated her.

"From @SakshiMalik, Kalpana Chawla, Phogat sisters to @ManushiChhillar it's the Haryana girls making the nation proud!," Hooda tweeted.

As the news of her winning the coveted pageant contest broke, Manushi Chhillar's native village Bamnoli in Jhajjar district, near Rohtak, erupted in joy.

Her uncle, Dr Dinesh Chhillar, told reporters in Rohtak that girls from Haryana have made everyone proud.

"Manushi is multi-talented. She has great interest in dance and painting. She is a shining star, who has made her state and the country proud," he said.

Villagers in Bamnoli were euphoric as well.

"She has made us so proud. A month back, we were celebrating Diwali and it is Diwali time once again for us," said a village elder.

He said that even Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who had won the title earlier, hails from Ambala in Haryana.

"From beauty to brains, to proving their mettle in the sports arena, girls from Haryana have always made us proud. Late astronaut Kalpana Chawla, sports personalities Sakshi Malik, Deepa Malik, the Phogat sisters and now Manushi, these are names of just a few of of them who have brought laurels," he said.

Manushi Chhillar's feat is also a proud moment for the Chhillar-Chhikara Khap, he said.

While many women in the village could be seen singing traditional songs in her praise, many youngsters, who were joined by some elders as well, danced to the beats of the 'dhol'.

Ladoos and sweets were distributed in the village where a festive atmosphere prevailed.

10 Surprising Ways to Transform Your Creative Thinking

2017-11-19T08:22:00.002-08:00

We’ve written about creativity a few times on this blog, but it’s hard to keep track of everything we learn about it. One day I’m adjusting the temperature in my workspace, and the next I’m trying to put off creative work until I’m tired.

If you’re in the same boat, and you find it’s difficult to remember what will improve your creativity and when you should do your most creative work, hopefully this list will help you get it all straight.

1. YOUR BRAIN DOES BETTER CREATIVE WORK WHEN YOU’RE TIRED

Unlike solving an analytic problem, creative insights come from letting our minds wander along tangents and into seemingly unrelated areas. Though many of us identify as morning larks or night owls, peaking in our problem-solving skills and focus at particular times of the day, creative thinking actually works better at non-optimal times. So, if you’re a morning lark, your brain will be better at finding creative insights at night, when you’re tired.

The reason behind this is that a tired brain struggles to filter out distractions and focus on one thing. It’s also more likely to wander off on tangents. While that seems like a bad thing when you’re working, creative thinking actually benefits from distractions and random thoughts. Research has shown that we’re better at “thinking outside the box” at our non-optimal times.

2. EXERCISE CAN IMPROVE YOUR CREATIVITY

We know exercise is good for us for lots of reasons, but here’s one more. Studies have shown that exercise can improve our ability to think creatively. When researchers had half the participants in a study perform an exercise video while the other half simply watched a video, those who had exercised outperformed the others in terms of divergent thinking–or, coming up with more possible solutions to a problem.

I love the way it’s explained in this Psychology Today article:

“Sweat is like WD-40 for your mind–it lubricates the rusty hinges of your brain and makes your thinking more fluid. Exercise allows your conscious mind to access fresh ideas that are buried in the subconscious.”

3. AMBIENT NOISE LEVELS ARE BEST FOR CREATIVITY

I actually thought silence might turn out to be the best sound for creative thinking, but it turns out that ambient noise levels are just right. Unlike loud music or silence, ambient noise levels have proven to be perfect for improving creative thinking.

Silence, in fact, actually helps us to sharpen our focus, so it’s useful for intense problem-solving or detail-oriented tasks. Creative thinking, on the other hand, requires the kind of ambient buzz of sound that you might find in a café to promote broader thinking and new ideas.

So much so that tools like Coffitivity exist to bring that ambient café sound to your desk:

4. NOTHING IS ORIGINAL: CREATIVITY IS ALL ABOUT MAKING CONNECTIONS

I always thought creativity was about coming up with original ideas, but it turns out creativity is really just about making new connections between existing ideas. This is pretty exciting, because it means creativity suddenly seems less scary: we can all connect things that already exist, right?

Even Steve Jobs agrees with this theory of what creativity is all about:

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something.”

Another quote I love about this is by the artist, Austin Kleon:

“Every artist gets asked the question, ‘Where do you get your ideas?’

The honest artist answers, ‘I steal them.’”

Research has even found that intelligence is something that comes from physical connections in the brain:

“Several brain regions, and the connections between them, were what was most important to general intelligence.”

“The brain regions important for general intelligence are found in several specific places (orange regions shown on the brain on the left). Looking inside the brain reveals the connections between these regions, which are particularly important to general intelligence. In the image on the right, the brain has been made partly transparent. The big orange regions in the right image are connections (like cables) that connect the specific brain regions in the image on the left.”

5. TRAVELING ABROAD MIGHT IMPROVE YOUR CREATIVE THINKING

The research on this one is still small, but one study showed that for college students, those who travelled abroad scored higher on creative thinking tests than those who stayed at their main campus. This particular study followed students who travelled from their college in the US to take part in a summer study program in England.

In many countries, cultural norms differ greatly between different states or areas, so it follows that we might see an increase in creativity from even interstate travel.

6. DIM LIGHTING MAKES US FEEL MORE FREE

I like a lot of natural light in my workspace, and I get quite frustrated in dark rooms when I need to focus. However, I was surprised to find this research that proved dim lighting can improve creative performance.

The researchers completed six different studies, which all showed that dim lighting increased creativity. They found that even without noticing a difference in visibility, if the lighting around them was dim, participants were likely to be more creative. The reasoning came from the subconscious feeling of being more free to explore:

“…darkness elicits a feeling of being free from constraints and triggers a risky, explorative processing style.”

For times when you don’t have control over the lighting around you, you can just think about being in the dark and it could have an effect:

“Other experiments found that merely priming the idea of darkness–such as by taking five minutes to describe an experience of literally being in the dark, and recalling how it felt–was sufficient to boost creativity.”

7. BLUE AND GREEN CAN IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE ON CREATIVE TASKS

Color me surprised. Apparently a brief glimpse of green can improve your creative performance! Another study actually shows that seeing red or blue can have different effects on our cognitive performance: red helps us with detail-oriented tasks where we need to focus, whereas blue enhances creative performance.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll want to paint your office blue or green, but it’s a helpful tip to keep in mind when you’re working on a creative project or switching between different types of work.

8. CONSTRAINTS CAN BE BENEFICIAL TO CREATIVE WORK

Another idea I had about creative thinking which was proved wrong is that freedom leads to more creative ideas. Counterintuitively, it turns out that constraints can actually increase our creative output. This could be due to removing the overwhelm of having too many choices. If you’ve ever faced the hurdle of a blank page, you’ll know what I mean.

Writer and actor John Cleese describes creativity as something that can be so elusive that one almost has to trap it using constraints.

“You have to create boundaries of space and then you have to create boundaries of time.”

One of my favorite examples of amazing creativity coming out of constraints is an old story in which an author (often Ernest Hemingway, but the true author is debateable) bet his friends that he could write a whole story using just six words. Here’s the result:

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn”

9. A SEPARATE, MESSY DESK CAN IMPROVE YOUR CREATIVITY

I’ve never been a fan of having a messy desk, but I’m starting to think I might need to. This research proved that a messy environment leads to more creative thinking. It also encouraged participants subconsciously to be more drawn to new things than anything labelled as “classic.”

The study also found that a more orderly environment led participants to be more generous and choose healthier snacks than those in the messy environment. Perhaps the answer is to have two work spaces, for different types of work, as writer Austin Kleon does:

His digital desk in the background is where his analytical work takes place, while the foreground is home to his messy, analog desk for creative thinking tasks.

10. BEING SLEEPY CAN MAKE YOU MORE CREATIVE

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never felt especially ready to work when I’m still waking up. This period of coming out of sleep is called the hypnopompic state. We often end up with strong visual images lingering from our dreams when we wake out of REM sleep, when most of our dreaming happens. For this reason, lots of artists have coveted this just-waking-up period to improve their creative thinking.

Famous surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, was known for using the hypnopompic state to help him generate creative ideas. He would often nap in a chair, holding a spoon in his hand. Under the spoon, on the floor, was a tin plate. When he drifted off to sleep, he’d drop the spoon, and the clattering noise it made on the plate would wake him up, helping him to latch onto those vivid images that occur in our dreams.

There’s a lot to remember in here, and no doubt I’ve missed more studies about how to improve your creative thinking. Changing one thing at a time about your process or working environment could eventually lead you to incorporating more of these into your day.