Crave reports that an EcoATM has been installed at a Nebraska Furniture Mart. The vending machine encourages cell phone and gadget recycling by letting people trade in used gadgets for an in-store coupon or a gift card. The EcoATM website describes the process as three easy steps.
Step 1) Insert portable CE device or handset
Step 2) Used device automatically valued
Step 3) Portables automatically binned inside. User receives trade-up coupon, gift card, and/or charitable contribution
Crave says the company is planning a big rollout in other states during the second quarter of 2010. The EcoATM machines uses cameras to determine the value of devices. The cameras can detect signs of wear on the gadgets.
Dita Von Teese looks fabulous in this interview about her "Party Edition" collection for Wonderbra. The collection recently debuted the collection at the Dorchester Hotel in London, UK. Dita says she loves the idea of "making everday a party." She thinks of this latest collection as a time to "celebrate beauty and glamour." She also says in the interview that she owns hundreds of bras. Take a look:
In Japan a group of classical musicians dresses up in animal costumes to play concerts for children and get them interested in classical music. They call themselves the Zoorasian Brass and they have been a big hit in concert halls and zoos across the country. The group never performs without their masks so as to protect the "magic" of their identities. What we can't figure out is how in the world they can play their instruments from inside those animal masks. But they look and sound pretty cool. Take a look:
Marks and Spencer Forced to Drop Big Bra Surcharge
British retailing giant Marks and Spencer has been forced to repeal its unpopular surcharge on bras with a DD or bigger cup size. An internet campaign against the store resulted in a complete change in the store's policies, and a peace offering of a 25% discount on all bras for a limited time.
To get the message out, the company paid for an eye-catching full-page advertisement in several national newspapers Friday. It showed a full-figured woman in lacy green lingerie. In the ad, the company apologized for its mistake and offered a 25 percent reduction in all bras of all sizes for the next two weeks.
"We are just overwhelmed," said Becky Mount, a co-founder of the Busts 4 Justice group that brought retailing icon M&S to its knees with a canny Internet and media-oriented campaign. "We've won, and we never thought it would happen so quickly."
The group, which grew exponentially in the last few days, had vowed to challenge Rose and other M&S executives at the company's annual meeting this summer. Mount said this threat, and growing media support for their crusade, made the company's leaders realize they were losing the public relations battle.
"They didn't want a lot of big-breasted women storming their meeting," said Mount, 19. "I think they realized they were dealing with a much bigger force than they thought originally, and that we weren't going to go away."
Now that would have been an executives' meeting for the history books. No wonder they caved in.
The Detroit Newsreports that a woman's bra underwire prevented her from being struck by a bullet. The underwire deflected the bullet. She was shot at during a home invasion.
A 57-year-old woman is alive today because her bra stopped a bullet from killing her Tuesday when men breaking into a neighbor's home shot her, Detroit police said.
The woman lives on Huntington Street near Outer Drive on the city's west side. She saw male teenagers breaking into her neighbor's house Tuesday morning and when they saw her, one of them fired a shot, police said.
Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens Bell said, "Isn't that amazing, We need to get some bullet-proof vests made from that. It is some strong wire."
A group of women claim wearing Victoria Secret bras created skin problems for them, including scars, burns and rashes. Victoria's Secret denies the rash claims and says its bras are prefectly safe. MSNBC reports that lawyers for the women are looking to organize a class action lawsuit against Victoria's Secret. The lawyers asked a federal court to consolidate the lawsuits. Take a look:
Heidi Klum is promoting Victoria's Secret's latest bra dubbed "The Perfect One." Heidi says the bra is like three bras in one and it "does wonders for the bosoms." Heidi's also been driving the "Perfect One" truck around. Take a look:
Company Invents Bra Dryer For Drying Expensive Bras
The Bra Dryer is a device shaped like a female torso. The design is based on the presumption that "the best way to dry bras without ruining their fabric, wiring and padding is to dry them on a shape which resembles female breasts." The Bra Dryer uses an infrared heat source and fans to evaporate and remove moisture from bras. The goal of the bra-drying gadget is to dry bras faster while preserving their shape. The device comes with detachable breast pieces made of silicon rubber made for bra sizes from B to DD.
Wired says the device is "quite absurd" and "doomed to fail" but the company believes women who pay $500 or more for designer bras will want a specialty bra dryer. They also think they can sell it to lingerie boutiques. The Bra Dryer is just a prototype right now but it could be out in the future if the company is able to find investors and get the product made.
Above supermodel Adriana Lima poses in a $5 million bejeweled bra from Victoria's Secret. The blingy bra contains 3,575 black diamonds, 34 rubies, 3,900 gems and 117 certified one-carat round diamonds. (via Scandalist via The Sun)
Alas! The technological advances in breast uplift technology are useless to women travelers. The U.S. authorities are now apparently banning all gel-enhanced bras on commercial air flights. That also means no gel insets on bras or sports bras that have gel straps for comfort.
U.S. authorities are advising women not to wear gel bras on airplanes as information developed in the foiled London plot points to an expanding role for women in smuggling explosives on to an aircraft.
Authorities at Scotland Yard are questioning a husband and wife, suspects in the London terror plot, about allegations that they were planning to use their baby's bottle to hide a liquid bomb.
Police in the U.K. have recovered baby bottles containing peroxide, including some with false bottoms, from a recycling center close to the homes of some of the arrested suspects.
The use of female suicide bombers has been successful in previous airplane attacks.
When two airplanes went down within minutes of each other in Russia in 2004, officials immediately suspected a terrorist connection. It was later learned that the two suicide bombers were Chechen women. They had both been detained in the airport before boarding their flights but managed to convince airline officials using a little cash and charm to let them on board. Ninety people were killed.
"Black Widows," as they are called by the Russian media, are Chechen women who kill themselves to avenge the deaths of their husbands or other male family members.
There are numerous other examples of the use of female operatives in terrorist operations. Two women with explosive belts were among the hostage takers during the siege of a middle school in Beslan, Russia. Over 300 people were killed; half of them were children.
A woman had planned to blow herself up with her husband in an attack at a wedding in a hotel in Amman, Jordan last year that killed over 50 people. His explosive belt worked, while hers did not.
This report doesn't say a) if an official ban has been implemented or b) how the authorities will check to see if women are wearing gel bras or gel inserts. Will every woman now be subjected to a quick boob squeeze to see if she's packing any gel? What about women who have silicone implants? What about breast cancer survivors who wear implants to make their bustline look normal after a mastectomy? Do those count? What has the world come to that a woman can't proudly wear her Wonderbra on her vacation? This is grim news, indeed. And don't even get us started on the mascara ban. For now, we advise leaving the gel bra at home. And putting all the gel and liquid in your checked luggage. Presumably powder makeup is still ok, but not cream to powder versions. To be safe, leave all makeup, lip balm, hairspray, hair gel, moisturizer and gel implants in your checked baggage. In other words, at our signal, unleash a planeload of women looking like hell.
Pictured here is the Wonderbra underwire push-up bra with gel/foam pads which retails for $29 at BareNecessities.com. But don't wear it on your next trip or you may find yourself being "interviewed" by Homeland Security -- not fun.
British retailing giant Marks and Spencer has been 
Alas! The technological advances in breast uplift technology are useless to women travelers. The U.S. authorities are now apparently 
