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When you grab a bite to eat with friends do you have a problem turning off the urge to digitally connect even though you're actually with your friends? You're not alone. A lot of people complain that their friends, and even they, are guilty of only half-listening to the person they're interacting with because they find it hard to detach from social networking.
Well one blogger might have the solution for you. Brian Perez, who goes by the name "Lil-b" on Tumblr, has created a game called the Phone Stack. The game is quickly taking over as a new dining trend. Here are the rules: When everybody arrives and sits down to eat, each person places his or her phone face-down or stacks it on a pile in the middle of the table. The first person to look at his or her phone has to pay the bill. If the bill comes before any phones are checked, everyone wins and pays for their own meal. One food blogger calls it "one of the coolest pieces of socially engineered live gaming I've ever heard of." The response has been overwhelming on tumblr. More than 60,000 Tumblr blogs have shared the game, and almost every person who does thinks the idea is brilliant. As one person says, "Will I suffer? Of course! But I think my friends will be hurting just as bad." So will you take the phone-stacking challenge? How do you think it'll affect your ability to connect with your friends? Let us know.
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Moving on to our next story, it appears that Kim Kardashian has gotten the boot from shoe company Skechers as a spokesperson for their Shape Up shoes. Who's her replacement? A French bulldog. Last year, Kardashian was featured in a racy Super Bowl TV spot that advertised the line of muscle toning shoes. But according to a Skechers representative, the swap from reality TV star to canine is not because of negative press due to her very public divorce from NBA player Kris Humphries. Apparently, Kardashian's contract with Skechers ended in December, and in order to promote a more high-tech shoe, the rep told USA Today, "we have to establish Skechers as more than a lifestyle company." So that is why it opted for the bulldog. Despite the sudden switch, Kardashian did have a big impact on the company's recognition. Leonard Armato, president of Skechers Fitness, said, "Kim got us more attention than we ever dreamed." Skechers's Facebook profile got a boost, too. Its Facebook "likes" skyrocketed from 100,000 to 400,000 in under a year, and Skechers attributes that jump mostly to Kardashian.