December 3rd, 2013

The world has seen its fair share of styles, fashions and cultural trends since the beginning of man. From all shapes, sizes and colors, it seems that the human mind is never short of creativity when it comes to developing new appearances.

Natural hair texture, color and growth patterns are genetic, however people can shape, cut, dye and manipulate hair in many ways. And people have been doing so for ages. Here are some of the most culturally iconic hairstyles in history.

CaesarThe Julius Caesar

Named after the great Roman military leader and politician, this hairstyle can be described as a short to medium length with a horizontal edge across the forehead. It sometimes includes short curls on the sides and top.

The Qing QueueChinese Queue

During the Qing (Manchu) dynasty in 17th century China, this hairstyle was made a legal requirement for men in order to display the authority of the Qing family. The hairstyle involves the front half of the skull from the temples and above to be completely shaven and the rest of the hair braided into a ponytail in the back.

Louis_XIV_of_FranceKing Louis XIV

In the 17th century, people of royalty and wealth began wearing long, usually curled wigs to either cover baldness or to keep from getting head lice. Although the French King Louis XIII started the style, it was truly popularized by his son, Louis XIV.

The BobBOBhair20s

Although the Bob hairstyle had shown up a few times throughout history, American women during the 1920’s popularized this short to medium, straight cut style. Usually, the length of the hair was tailored to match the jaw or shoulders of a woman and the style became a symbol of modernity and the advancement of women in society.


From ancient Africa to Hinduism to modern fashion, dreadlocks have been around for around 600 years. Worn by ancient warriors of the Massai people in Kenya, the style was often dyed red with red ochre roots. Dreads were considered sacred for Hindis and were said to be worn by Shiva, the supreme deity. Revitalized by the reggae movement in the 1970’s, the style of long, matted coils of hair became a symbol of reggae music and peace, due in large part to the iconic musician Bob Marley.

The Mop-TopMopTops

The classic “Mop-Top” hairdo was named for its likeness to a mop and was popularized by the Beatles. The mid-length hairstyle consisted of shaggy hair down to the collar, over the ears, and messily tossed over the forehead as bangs.

AfroThe Afro

Although the style entered the US as early as the 1860’s, the Afro didn’t take off until the 1960’s and 70’s when African American counterculture developed with civil rights movements. As a symbol of pride and identity for African Americans, the style is heavily associated with the Disco Era and is created by combing kinky or curly hair up and out, creating a rounded mass of hair.

The Mohawk

Originally worn by the Native American tribal warriors, the Mohawk consists of the sides of the head being shaven and KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERAconsiderably longer hair on the top or middle. The width and length of the longer strip on top varies and there are actually several distinct styles of Mohawk.

Create your own with some of these great hair and beauty products at

(All Images are licensed as Creative Commons for Reuse and Modification)

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About Spencer Aull

I'm a Senior at Kansas University studying Strategic Communications at the J-School. I like writing, thinking, and playing basketball.

November 19th, 2013

5 facts about Black Friday:

  1. President Roosevelt, in 1939, changed the official date of Thanksgiving to the second to last Thursday in November, so theFDR Christmas shopping season could be as long as possible.
  2. The term “Black Friday” was used to describe the day after Thanksgiving in the mid 1960′s by Philadelphia police officers, bus drivers, and taxi cab drivers. They dreaded the day after Thanksgiving due to the massive amount of people traveling and causing traffic problems.
  3. Nearly 135 million people go out to shop on Black Friday every year.
  4. More than 35 million people turned up at stores on Thanksgiving last year, up 22 percent from 2011 and 58 percent from 2010.
  5. Online sales on Thanksgiving, historically not a banner day for e-commerce, jumped 17 percent, according to research conducted by IBM. On Black Friday, online sales grew by 21 percent.

TrafficEvery year people wait in line for hours, anticipating the opening of the countless retail stores for Black Friday. The hottest deals, the lowest prices and the start of the Christmas shopping season draw people out of their beds at the crack of dawn. Although I’m not one of those dedicated enough to wait in line for hours, or even days, before the opening of a store on Black Friday, my mom and I have always been part of the many that are brave enough to step foot outside of their houses on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Black Friday shopping has been a tradition between mothers and daughters for as long as I can remember. But the normal routine of getting up around 4 the morning of Black Friday was corrupted when stores that we hit first announced they were opening up Thanksgiving night last year.

More and more people are throwing away the tradition of Thanksgiving with their loved ones for the hottest deals on toysBlackFriday2 and electronics. Unless I have a product clearly in mind, I usually head out without anything that I’m set on buying for my loves ones.  So I am asking myself, “Why line up hours before like the hundreds of people who forgo their holiday time together?” More than 35 million people gave up Thanksgiving with their families last year to head out to the stores early.  Analyst Candace Corlett said, “Once the holiday shopping date is moved forward, it never moves back.” So what does this mean for Black Friday and more importantly, Thanksgiving?  It seems that shopping Thanksgiving Day is in our near future especially when stores are beginning promotions as soon as the clock strikes midnight on October  31st.  For all we know, Black Friday deals could come as early as Halloween–or sooner–in the next few years.

WintertrafficTechnology now makes our lives easier and less stressful. offers a creative, fun and easier way to get your holiday shopping done fast. Bypass the millions of people, the long lines and the mass crowds and find exactly what you need on our site that represents over 1000 merchants. Spend time with your family this holiday season with the convenience of at your fingertips. Whether on your desktop, tablet or phone, avoid the hectic crowds of Black Friday and get all your holiday shopping out of the way. Try today!


(All Images Used are licensed Creative Commons for Reuse and Modification)

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About Kelsey Stoskopf

November 14th, 2013

Wikipedia Creative Common

We all have long outgrown the rich old traditions of courtship and jumped into the world of texting, online dating and Facebook. Although many courtship traditions have since flown out the window, in some cultures, the old rules of courtship still stand true today.

Here is my “top ten” list of the most bizarre yet, all too real rules of courtship around the world. Just a warning these aren’t your typical pick-her-up-for-a-date, buy-her-flowers and open-her-door kind of rules. These courtship customs might come as a shocker to most and may even gross you out a little bit–at least they did for me.

#1: In rural Austria it is a custom that eligible women would keep an apple slice in their armpit during dances. Once the woman finds a man she is interested in, she gives the apple slice to the man. If the man is interested in her as well he takes the apple slice and eats it. Gross, right?!

#2: In the Kreung tribe in Cambodia, the parents are far from strict when it comes to courtship of their daughters. Once their daughter reaches her mid-teens, parents build her a “love hut.” This hut is meant for their daughter to bring different boys to, sometimes more than one a night, until she finds the one she wants to marry.

#3: TLC’s hit show Big Fat Gypsy Weddings has shown us much insight into the Gypsy courtship ritual called “grabbing.” There are strict rules saying that girls are never allowed to approach a boy, so this leaves it all up to the boys, the “grabbers,” to get the girl’s attention. The boys physically grab the girl they admire to steal her away from her friends and hopefully get a kiss.

#4: Young men and women in the Hindu Balinese society are forced to get a ritual tooth-filing once they hit puberty. This ritual is seen as an elaborate ceremony overseen by priests. During the ceremony the men and women’s upper canines are filed down to the size of their incisors. This ritual is thought to get rid of evil tendencies such as greed, anger, lust, intoxication and jealousy. Once their teeth are filed, they are considered ready to get married.

#5: Instead of a ring to symbolize marriage, how about a head? An aboriginal tribe in Taiwan is one that practices headhunting to demonstrate their ability to provide for a family. These heads were presented as trophies to win the heart of a woman. Receiving a head didn’t necessarily mean the woman accepted the marriage proposal. They were free to reject as many as they wanted, but they were only allowed to marry with the proper facial tattoos.

#6: Many ancient courting traditions still hold true today for the Dai people in southwestern China. At night the young women sit around a bonfire wearing billowing skirts. The men visit the bonfire covered up with a red blanked and serenade the women using various instruments. If the man takes a liking to one of the woman, he will go over and serenade her specifically. What girl doesn’t like getting sung to? If one of the women want the attention of a man she will take out a stool from under her billowing skirt and offer them a seat. The men wrap their dates with the red blankets and they quietly talk.


Wikipedia Creative Common

#7: For the Welsh an old tradition dating back to the 17th century includes an exchange of “lovespoons.” Young men would meticulously craft a spoon for their crush as a sign of a romantic intention. They would craft spoons because they were seen as the most magnificent utensil imaginable. If the women accepted the spoon, the man then pursued courtship. Although the courtship part of this tradition has faded, but the spoons are still given on special occasions.

#8: Another weird token of affection given to the women are thimbles. The Puritans saw wedding rings to be frivolous, so the man gave his bride-to-be a thimble. They saw the thimble as a practical gift because the woman could use it to sew items she would need for the new home. They also believed that at the time of the wedding she could just cut the bottom off the thimble and it would be just like a ring.

#9: If you think you don’t have any privacy when it comes to dating in today’s society, think again. In eighteenth-century New England men had to get around the women’s parents if they wanted to coo sweet nothings into their ear. In order to get around this lack of privacy a courting stick was invented, which is a six-foot-long tube used between couples. They would use the tube to whisper words of affection to each other while the family was still in the room.

#10: Last but not least, bundling. In Europe and Colonial America a common courting practice was called bundling. A boy and a girl would stay the night together wrapped in separate blankets, and sometimes with a “bundling board” in between them. This practice was thought to allow intimacy, but not intercourse according to the parents.

Another great custom is the gift giving tradition. Try Gift Professor GIFT DISCOVERY!

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About Kelsey Stoskopf

November 5th, 2013

According to modern science, magic does exist.  Here are four common forms of magic currently supported by science:

1. Predicting the Future (Fortune Telling)

2. Mind Reading

3. Telekinesis

4. Alchemy

3102056181_9e50852f2d_o1. Predicting the Future - Fortune tellers claim that they can magically see into the future with their tarot cards. A more realistic explanation is called hypothesis. Look at population trends predicted decades ago. In the early 50s there were 1.5 billion people in the world. Today there are over 7 billion. A hypothesis is basically saying, if this is occurring, then that is what we can expect.  Notable examples of a modern fortune teller would be Al Gore and his work on Global Warming.  He used scientific findings as the basis of his role as chief canary in the coal mine. Another modern predictor is genomics. Send a saliva sample and $99 to 23 and Me, and get  a DNA analysis that will reveal unknown information about your future health and your past ancestry. Perhaps historic fortune tellers like Nostradamus were just more adept at sizing up situations and making reasonable hypothesis about the warring nature of man.  Or maybe they invented a method to peer through the ether of time.


2. Mind Reading – Perhaps man may find that there is an advanced race of aliens that can translate electrical impulses in our brains, but until that time the most legitimate mind reading came around with the invention of MRI’s. Technicians scan the brain and provide a significantly clear picture of what the brain is doing when engaged in various activities.  For instance, at least 5 areas of the brain are activated when we listen to music.  David Pogue said in Scientific American last month that we may be moving in the direction of mind reading with the machine recognition of sounds and movements, like with the Shazam Music App and the Xbox Kinect.

3. Telekinesis - Can you move or interact with physical objects by using only your mind? Soon we may be able to move our friend’s beer can in our direction with a simple thought.  A company called Cyberkinetics has created a way to install microchips into the brains of monkeys that

Telekinesisallow telekinesis-like powers. They started with enabling chimpanzees to move a computer mouse with just their thoughts.

4. Alchemy – 3-D printers that convert dirt into a ham sandwich?  Hard to belive, but aluminum was once more valuable than gold.  Kings were the only people with aluminum plates and utensils because the substance was so rare in nature.  Aluminum is the most plentiful metallic element in the Earth’s crust and the third most common of all the elemental compounds after oxygen and silicon.  But unlike other metals, it never occurs by itself in nature and is instead found as bauxite.  It was not until the 1800’s that scientists developed a process for separating aluminum from bauxite.3Dprinter

Magic may be more real today than ever before in history.

Check out our Science and Fun & Games gift idea categories here at!

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About Tony Schmidt

October 29th, 2013

1. Scientists believe music has been around for at least 40,000 years.

Photo by "Woodleywonderworks" shared via Flickr Creative Commons

Photo by “Woodleywonderworks” shared via Flickr Creative Commons

2. Music appreciation is not learned—it’s something our brains are designed to compute.

3. Music listening releases dopamine in the brain—the same chemical released when we eat or have sex.

4. The auditory cortex in the brain allows us to compare songs to what we’ve heard in the past and imagine what we might hear in the future.

5. Music affects five major brain structures simultaneously.

A good friend of mine came to me this week talking about how he couldn’t get anything done, even though he had tons of schoolwork. He explained that he had been working on some music all week and even when he wasn’t, he couldn’t get it out of his head.

I understood his problem, as I am a huge fan of music too, but I wasn’t quite able to answer his question with anything more than, “That’s just how your brain works.” After realizing I knew so little about what’s going on in my brain when I’m listening to music, I set out to get some answers.

What I found is fascinating.

Test of Time

The first thing I learned is that music has been created, enjoyed, and improved by human beings for about 40,000 years. Archaeologists have discovered flutes made from the ivory of mammoths that date back to 38,000 B.C.

What’s even more incredible is that these findings suggest that music isn’t a product of any specific culture or civilization, but something that all human beings appreciate and desire. It’s something we’re born with, not taught.

“That hits the spot.”

The most emotional and motivational parts of songs cause a brain structure called the striatum to release dopamine—a neurotransmitter in the brain that relates to reward-motivated behavior in humans and animals.

Food, sex and several drugs cause nerve cells to release dopamine to communicate with other nerve cells, basically saying, “Oh yeah. That hits the spot.” Dopamine releases help measure the success and accuracy of our predictions related to survival. (Hence, the food and sex.)

Sounds familiar

When listening to music, the striatum also communicates with another brain structure called the auditory cortex. The auditory cortex serves as a sort of music library in our heads, so when we listen to a new song not only are we comparing that song to all the others we’ve heard before, but we’re also making unconscious predictions about music we’ve yet to hear.

Photo by "Yugenro" shared via Flickr Creative Commons

Photo by “Yugenro” shared via Flickr Creative Commons

The auditory cortex also helps us determine major and minor chords, no matter the key or the instrument on which it’s played, and take notice when someone plays the wrong note—even if we haven’t heard the song before.

At, we have an enormous selection of music related gifts that are sure to help you or your loved ones enjoy and appreciate the elemental act of listening to music.

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About Spencer Aull
