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    Trending Now

    Phone-Stacking Craze Teaches Dinner Etiquette; Kim Kardashian Booted From Super Bowl Ad for a Dog

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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.

    -------------------------------

    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.

     
    • Fendelicious  •  Oakland, California  •  4 mths ago
      or play the "home edition" - first to pick up their phone washes the dishes!
      • MHS 4 mths ago
        LOL... just what I said. I should have read the comments first. ;)
      • YoBigPoppa 4 mths ago
        or first to pick up their phone gets the beating
      • Jack Frost 4 mths ago
        fandelicious- wow. preeetttyyy gay.
    • juggernaut  •  4 mths ago
      How about parents raising their children and teaching etiquette? Oh that would take too much time !!!!
      • Liz 4 mths ago
        Parents do teach their kids but it is society that has the most influence. By the way this story is more about 20 somethings and not kids. I have also told my 40 year old colleagues to put down their phones when talking to me so it is a society thing and not about how kids are raised.
      • A Yahoo! User 4 mths ago
        Ummm..it would cut into their texting time.
      • GW 4 mths ago
        Exactly. Both of my grown daughters know, and have known for years, that using their cell phones while we are eating a meal, whether at home or out, is forbidden. Also, if we're all hanging out watching a movie or playing a board game - same rule. It's up to parents to teach their kids manners, plain and simple - no matter what age they are!
    • ocean  •  San Antonio, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      So it takes a GAME to make people cognizant of good manners and to have the decency to talk to people you are having dinner with??? Sad!
      • T 4 mths ago
        Would you expect anything less from civilized people?
      • Delilah 4 mths ago
        yes it is a da(m shame..... i agree .... but hey ... if it works ... then they need to come up with a game for those that text and drive ..... lets see if that catches on ...
      • YoBigPoppa 4 mths ago
        good ol' whopping will do. screw games... those are for sissies.
    • TDog  •  Kansas City, Kansas  •  4 mths ago
      I tell my nephews to turn off the #$%$ phone when we go out to dinner. they thought I was kidding at first.....
      • YoBigPoppa 4 mths ago
        solution: don't let them bring the phone out to dinner. and if they do, just stomp on their phones. and let them work to get one.
      • Erin 4 mths ago
        And you could try to teach manners by example by not calling it a #$%$ phone.
      • Crawling Critter 4 mths ago
        Its not a #$%$ phone. Its a #$%$!(*()*&!#%*(&$&%%*@$%! phone ok?

        text them to get off the #$%$ fone.
    • Official Version  •  4 mths ago
      How about a game that blocks Kim K. articles on Yahoo?
      • YoBigPoppa 4 mths ago
        jealousy is a #$%$ huh
      • Pertnear 4 mths ago
        If it was an app on my phone, I would buy it.
      • Cyn 4 mths ago
        YoBigPoppa, it's not called jealousy.. It's called "realism." Hopefully you will wake up to that one day and realize this family is targeting people that are vunerable and easily brainwashed. "An uneducated nation is a controllable nation!"
    • SaraJ  •  Hendersonville, North Carolina  •  4 mths ago
      It annoys the heck out of me when people are constantly checking their phones when I'm with them. I feel like there's no point of hanging out when they aren't actually talking to me, but texting on their phone every 2 mins.
    • SAHM to 4  •  Meadville, Pennsylvania  •  4 mths ago
      Using your phone while dining out or in a social gathering is completely rude! People have lost the ability to speak to one another! Turn the phone off and look your friends and family in the eye!
    • I don't care  •  Aurora, Illinois  •  4 mths ago
      Haha, well I would so play that game but only because I never check my phone during meals anyway. I'm 18 and even I feel kind put out when people are texting while I'm trying to freaking talk!
    • Fred H.  •  Beverly Hills, California  •  4 mths ago
      I'm confused. Kim K. is a dog?
    • Frankenstein  •  4 mths ago
      why would kim k wear a running shoe. she does not need on her back. you do not get traction with you feet in the air.
    • H.H.  •  Elmhurst, Illinois  •  4 mths ago
      I bet that bulldog looks a lot better than Kim Kartrashian! Most likely has a nicer disposition, too...
    • The Critic  •  Bensenville, Illinois  •  4 mths ago
      Apparantly the dog has more talent then Kim Kardashian.
    • jay  •  4 mths ago
      now if TV would get rid of this no class no talent having KARTRASHIAN so we dont have to hear about her anymore. replaced by a dog how fitting and much better choice
    • Patrón  •  4 mths ago
      I've got a game, it's called WILL POWER and manners.
    • KatherineB  •  4 mths ago
      yes, but how does this game work when the one person that is always on their phone is the one jerk who would refuse to play along (and has no money to pay the bill should he lose)?
    • BallsofKungfucious  •  4 mths ago
      if people at lunch spent too much time texting, i simply won't do lunch with them again...
    • they see me trollin...  •  4 mths ago
      how about the first person that picks up phone gets punched in the throat
    • Relax  •  Irvine, California  •  4 mths ago
      Just the fact that there has to be a game invented for people to get a grip and not be inconsiderate at the dinner table shows that society has become selfish and simple minded.
    • Pez  •  Algonquin, Illinois  •  4 mths ago
      I guess respect and courtesy have died out if people actually need a 'game' like that to not fiddle with thier smart phone. Or maybe your friends are so uninteresting you actually need that distraction.
    • TRADE REDD NOW  •  Amsterdam, The Netherlands  •  4 mths ago
      Remember when they had phone booths and this problem didn't exist?

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