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Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o's speech on beauty that left an entire audience speechless

I will forever feel the following way about Lupita Nyong'o winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for "12 Years a Slave": But a few days before her historic Oscar win (for the first movie she's ever been in!) Lupita accepted an award for Best Breakthrough Performance at the seventh annual Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon hosted by Essence magazine. It was there she delivered a speech on beauty that every little girl should hear.

Share this (if you think she is an inspiration, like I do, or if you just like what she had to say) by clicking the Facebook and Twitter buttons below.

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If you see a person and two dogs in this photo, look again. It's an optical illusion.

It takes a while to see it, but there aren't two dogs in the photo.

@Rainmaker1973/X, @farhadge/X

If you see a man and two dogs, look again.

Optical illusions are wild. The way our brains perceive what our eyes see can be way off base, even when we're sure about what we're looking at. Plenty of famous optical illusions have been created purposefully, from the Ames window that appears to be moving back and forth when it's actually rotating 360 degrees, to the spiral image that makes Van Gogh's "Starry Night" look like it's moving.

But sometimes optical illusions happen by accident. Those ones are even more fun because we know they aren't a result of someone trying to trick our brains. Our brains do the tricking all by themselves.

The popular Massimo account on X shared a photo that appears to be a person and two dogs in the snow. The more you look at it, the more you see just that—two dogs and someone who is presumably their owner. Turn the photo every which way and it's still the same conclusion. That's a person and two dogs, right?

 

But there are not two dogs in the photo. There are actually three dogs in this picture. Can you see the third?

Full confession time: I didn't see it at first. Not even when someone explained that the "human" is actually a dog. My brain couldn't see anything but a person with two legs, dressed all in black, with a furry hat and some kind of furry stole or jacket. My brain definitely did not see a black poodle, which is what the "person" actually is.

Are you looking at the photo and trying to see it, totally frustrated? The big hint is that the poodle is looking toward the camera. The "hat" on the "person" is the poodle's poofy tail, and the "scarf/stole" is the poodle's head.

Once you see it, it fairly clear, but for many of us, our brains did not process it until it was explicitly drawn out. This outline helps somewhat:

 

As one person explained, the black fur hides the contours and shadows, so all our brains take in is the outline, which looks very much like a person facing away from us.

People's reactions to the optical illusion were hilarious. One person wrote, "10 years later: I still see two dogs and a man."

 

Another person wrote, "I agree with ChatGPT :)" and shared a screenshot of the infamous AI chatbot describing the photo as having a person in the foreground. Even when asked, "Could the 'person' be another dog?" ChatGPT said it's possible, but not likely. Ha.

 

One reason we love optical illusions is that they remind us just how very human we are. Unlike a machine that takes in and spits out data, our brains perceive and interpret what our senses bring in—a quality that has helped us through our evolution. But the way our brains piece things together isn't perfect. Even ChatGPT's response is merely a reflection of our human imperfections at perception being mirrored back at us. They say seeing is believing, but when what we interpret what we're seeing incorrectly, we end up believing things that might not be real.

Sure is fun to play with how our brains work, though. Also a good reminder that what we think we see, even with our own eyes, may not be an accurate picture of reality.

This article originally appeared last year.

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Television

'Wheel of Fortune' contestant stuns the audience with impossible solve in just 1.5 seconds

She solved a four-word phrase with hardly any letters on the board.

Wheel of Fortune/Youtube

A woman's iconic, $50,000 puzzle solve on 'Wheel of Fortune' is going viral.

Still talking about your great Wordle guess from the other day? You might want to take a seat and watch how a truly great puzzle solver does it.

Listen, while we all love a hilarious Wheel of Fortune fail, watching an epic win can be just as entertaining. And that’s exactly what recently happened on The Wheel when a contestant named Traci Demus-Gamble made a winning puzzle solve so out-of-nowhere that it made host Ryan Seacrest jokingly check her for a hidden earpiece.

In a clip posted to the show’s YouTube account Friday, Jan. 17, Demus-Gamble waved to her husband who was standing on the sidelines before going up to the stage for her next challenge: guess a four-word “phrase.”

 Wheel of fortune, gameshow, tv, tv game show, puzzles, word games, word puzzles, viral videos, live tv, ryan seacrest Step right up and take a spin on the Wheel of Fortune!  Giphy  

Demus-Gamble wasn’t off to a great start, as only two of her given letters (“T” and “E”) made it to the board. And the odds didn’t improve much after Demus-Gamble, admittedly “nervous,” gave the letters “M,” “C,” “D,” and “O” and only two of those letters showed up once on the board.

“Again, not too much more, but who knows, you’ve had a lot of good luck tonight,” Seacrest said. “Maybe it’ll strike you.”

Demus-Gamble had almost nothing to go off of. No category, no lucky words that were already filled in.

Then, all in under ten seconds (more like in 1.5 seconds), Demus-Gamble correctly guessed, “They go way back” like it was nothing. She was right, to the amazement of everyone watching.

Watch the incredible moment below:

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

"How in the world did you solve that last one?" Seacrest asked.

"I just dug deep, I dug deep," Demus-Gamble said.

Yeah, you dug real deep," Seacrest replied. "Congratulations, great, great work."

The clip racked up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, where commenters couldn't believe their eyes:

“Now THAT was an amazing solve.”

“Wow! That was impressive!”

“I couldn't solve that one to save my life, but Demus-Gamble got it like it was nothing.”

“There's only one way to describe this to me: 😦”

"One of the most impressive bonus round solves I've seen for this season"

"I’m happy for her, that was not an easy puzzle to solve and she got it right away. So amazing! I definitely had no idea what it was and I’m pretty good solving the puzzles."

Demus-Gamble's solve was absolutely incredible, but it might fall just short of being the best of all time.

In 2020, a woman named Taya solved a lengthy five-letter phrase with just two letters given: "A Place Like No Other." Another man guessed "Championship Match" with only the letter T present.

Demus-Gamble's epic solve definitely earns her a spot in the Wheel of Fortune Hall of Fame, however.

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

Solving word puzzles like this one might seem like pure luck, but there's definitely a strong element of skill involved. Keen watchers of the show will be familiar with patterns and will quickly be able to identify likely choices. For example, in the clip above, the first word is shown at "T_E_." It could be a lot of different words, but it's highly probable that it's "They." It takes a lot of practice and quick thinking to recognize that in just a fraction of a second.

According to her LinkedIn, Demus-Gamble has worked as an English teacher and as a self-employed author, which totally checks out.

At the end of the clip, Seacrest opened the envelope to reveal that Demus-Gamble’s puzzle solve won her $50,000, earning her a total win of $78,650. Certainly not chump change.

As for her winning strategy—Demus-Gamble assured no cheating was involved. “I just dug deep," she told Seacrest. We’ll say.

This article originally appeared in January. It has been updated.

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Boomers and Gen Xers share 30 things they don't miss from the 80s and 90s

"Using those Noxzema pads to burn and dry out my pimply face. It had a smell, too."

Images via Canva

Boomers and Gen Xers discuss the things they don't miss from the 1980s and 1990s.

Nostalgia is all about remembering how things were in the "gold old days." But sometimes, upon further reflection, some things really sucked in the past despite how rosy our colored glasses made them look. Boomers and Gen Xers are reminiscing on the things they really don't miss from the 1980s and 1990s.

Over on Reddit, member pizzagamer35 posed the question to Boomers and Gen Xers: "What is something you do NOT miss from the 80s-90s?"

Boomers and Gen Xers had plenty of throwback experiences and products they are happy to never come across again. These are 30 of the most nostalgic responses from Boomers and Gen Xers about things they don't miss about the 80s and 90s.

 landline, landline phone, 90s phone, phone call, retro phone Saved By The Bell Laughing GIF  Giphy  

"Long distance phone bill." —gohdnuorg

"Having to wait until after 7pm or whatever so you could call your long distance friends because it was free after that." —raz0rbl4d3

"Answering the landline and having no idea who's calling. Just raw, unfiltered anxiety." —Fit-Interview-3886

"Not having GPS." —recrysis

"Smoking or non smoking and still be in the smoking section." —Less-Lengthiness4863

 smoking, smoke, cigarettes, smoking section, smoking 90s mothers day smoking GIF  Giphy  

"Using those Noxzema pads to burn and dry out my pimply face. It had a smell, too." —poizon_elff

"Waiting for JPGs to load one line at a time." —timmayd

"Those hair ties with the two giant plastic beads on them that EVERY mom used to tie up their daughter's hair in pigtails. God forbid she lose her grip on one while she was already ripping your soul out through your scalp." —Honey-Badger-90

"Third degree burns from metallic seat belt fasteners." —JLMTIK88

"Not being able to use the internet if someone needed the phone line to be free." —Joshawott27

 internet, internet 90s, dial up internet, old internet, slow internet Girl 90S GIF  Giphy  

"Satanic panic." —Historical_Spot_4051

"Buying a CD and realizing all the songs suck, except for one, maybe two." —11B-E5

"Batteries and flashlight bulbs. Holy crap they were crap. I still remember seeing the little LED light on our shitty car radio and asking dad what kind of light that tiny dot was. He told me it was a diode and diodes kinda 'last forever'. I immediately wondered why the hell we weren't developing that tech." —snoozieboi

"Shoulder pads." —Thin_Apartment_8076

 shoulder pads, shoulder pad, 80s shoulder pads, 90s shoulder pads, vintage style Mc Hammer Dancing GIF by Jukebox Saints  Giphy  

"Ordering pizza by calling the restaurant and yelling your order to a guy in a noisy kitchen. Missing an episode of your favorite TV show (or forgetting to tape it if you had a VCR) and not being able to see it until summer reruns, or maybe never." —Imaginary-List-4945

"Terrible contact lenses." —MandatoryMatchmaker

"To contribute something small: manual computer defragmentation. It took several hours and you couldn't do anything else." —rena-vee

"Pay Phones that gave you limited talk time." —Aggravating-Iron9804

 pay phone, payphone, payphones, payphone, 90s phone Season 3 Marge GIF by The Simpsons  Giphy  

"Gym class. Boys were expected to know how to play sports. My dad taught me how to fix tractors and cut firewood, but he didn't teach me sports because no one ever taught him. The gym teacher didn't teach us sh*t. When we f*cked up or didn't know what to do, the jocks would laugh and the teacher would join in the fun." —Fluffy-Cupcake9943

"The 'heroin chic' body type." —Heartbreak_Star

"Panty hose." —Kitty-haha

"Aqua net=hair that absolutely did not move! And you could see little hairspray bubbles 😔🫠😂😂." — IAmTheBlackStar1979

"Having to rewind VHS tapes like it was a part-time job." -—Repulsive_Corgi_6187

 vhs, vhs tape, vhs rewind, rewinding vhs, vhs rewinding Animated GIF  Giphy  

"Waiting by the radio for your song to play so you can record it on tape." —mycrml

"Serial killers. They just can't exist at the same level anymore. Plus we got all the lead out of stuff. So now people are 100% normal. 100%." —PrimeNumbersby2

"Manual roll up/down windows in cars." —Human-Average-2222

"Carpeted bathrooms. someone shared a bunch of pictures of them on some nostalgia account and i could smell the pictures through my phone 🤢." —GoblinHeart1334

"Busy signal on the phone." —crjconsulting

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Ashley Judd joins the 'We Don't Care Club' and women cheer as she joyfully plays in the sea

This is as real as it gets.

Ashley Judd/Facebook

Ashley Judd doesn't care if you like the clubs she belongs to.

Actor Ashley Judd has perimenopausal and post-menopausal women everywhere cheering after she posted a video of herself frolicking in the ocean with the caption "WE DON'T CARE CLUB: BALTIC SEA EDITION." As she plays around in the water, she narrates what she's doing and what being part of the We Don't Care Club means.

"Hi, I'm Ashley and I'm a member of the We Don't Care Club," she begins, "and when I'm in my swimsuit, sometimes I get a little chafing, like right down there, so I put on cornstarch—good trick if you don't know that already—and then there's like a white thing, and if you see it, I don't care."

She then picks up a small jellyfish—the non-stinging kind, she says—and explains that she thinks the stuff in the middle of it is its central nervous system.

"That might not be right, and I don't care," she says, "cause there's another club that my inner child belongs to called the MSU Club…" Here she pauses to adjust her swimsuit, saying, "I'm picking my crotch and I don't care," before resuming, "…and the MSU Club is the Make Stuff Up Club, and that's for inner children. And as a post-menopausal woman, I don't care if you don't like the MSU Club for inner children!"

Judd then proceeds to do all the things we used to do in the water as kids when we didn't care what people thought of us. Back flops. Head dunking. Beauty shop hairdos. Handstands. Belly flopping. And all with so much joy.

 kids playing in the water, child-like joy, kids at the ocean, beach, fun Remember how you used to play in the water as a kid?Photo credit: Canva

At one point, as she walks away from the camera, she says, "Oh yeah, I probably have cellulite. I don't care. And I got hungry bum, and I don't care."

The whole video is delightful as Judd channels her inner child, bringing viewers back to their own childhood days playing in the water. People loved it:

"The amount of times I laughed out loud…This is perfect and I definitely needed this laugh today, thank you!!"

"Oh my goodness! I completely forgot about the hair thing. Thank you for reminding me, now I’ll have to do it. It might be in the shower, but you know what?? We don’t care."

 little girl, kiddie pool, outside pool, summer, kids, carefree Being a kid meant not caring what anyone else thought about what you were doing.  Giphy  

"Can I join the club? I’m not peri or postmenopausal yet. But I really do not care and I really do make stuff up."

"This is the best side of Ashley I’ve ever seen! She is morphing into a woman comfortable in her own skin and not afraid to say what’s on her mind! I want to be a member of both her clubs!! You go Ashley!"

"Thank you for sharing this journey, Ashley. It's beautiful to witness. I've joined the IDC club, and it's glorious."

As Judd pointed out, the We Don't Care Club was founded by influencer Melani Sanders, and her viral post hit a nerve with middle-aged women who were eager to join.

 

Sanders refers to the club as WDNC (We Do Not Care) and it has blown up and spread all over social media in just a few months.

"The beauty of the WDNC is all of the positivity that flows throughout all of our platforms," Sanders said in a video. She calls it a sisterhood for menopausal women.

"Watching my Sisters create Chapters and put the world on notice that we simply Do Not Care much anymore makes my heart smile," she writes. "Look at all of the positivity and love shared. Me and my Sisters are at capacity. We are tired. We have found a place where there is NO division or judgement. Everyone is accepted and loved regardless of race, religion, bank balance or brand of pocketbook you carry. The only requirement is you must have a She Shed. 😎😂"

People often lament getting older, but one of the bonuses of aging is getting to the point where you genuinely don't care about things that preoccupied you when you were younger. Bad hair day? Don't care. Bulging out of the swimsuit in places? Don't care. People judging what you're wearing or saying or doing or feeling? Don't care. It's a glorious club to belong to, with its freedom from worry and the room it makes for wonder.

Thanks, Ashley, for the beautiful example. You can follow Melani Sanders for more WDNC club updates on Instagram.

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Self-development expert shares the number 1 small talk mistake you must avoid

One small fix can totally level up your small talk game.

via Gary Barnes/Pexels

A woman and man enjoying some wine together.

The dirty little secret that people who are great at socializing know—and those who always feel awkward at parties may not—is that being a confident conversationalist isn’t necessarily something you’re “born with.” In fact, many great conversationalists are those who have worked at it and used expert advice to hone their craft.

Let’s face it, people who are great conversationalists have a distinct advantage in life; they are more likely to get ahead at work, have great first dates, and develop great friendships. One way to improve your social skills is to get better at the basic interaction we all deal with every day: small talk. Whether you’re in the coffee room at work, sitting on the train on the weekend, or having a drink with someone you met online, knowing how to elevate chit chat into something deeper and more meaningful is an important skill to have.

 party, small talk, chit chat, young people, band, living room A group of young people at a party.via Canva/Photos

What's the biggest small talk mistake to avoid?

Kat Boogaard, a writer specializing in self- and career-development, productivity, and entrepreneurship, shared a valuable tip in an Inc. article that serves as a great starting point for those looking to improve their conversation skills. She revealed a common mistake many people make when initiating a conversation, which often leads to dead ends and awkward silences.

“Picture this: A professional acquaintance you haven’t seen in some time walks up to start a conversation and says, ‘Hey! How are you?’ How do you respond?” she asks. “If you’re like most people, you retort immediately with something like, 'I’m great. How are you?' Aside from just a couple of short words, you’ve really only answered his question with another question.”

Instead of responding with a pat response and another question, she recommends that you “beef up” your response. This will encourage the other person to do the same, providing a greater number of threads for the conversation to take off. “This can look like, ‘My day was great! I had a really productive afternoon meeting where we discussed our website redesign, which I’m really excited about. How about you?” Then, more likely than not, the other person will respond with an experience of their own.

Here’s how not to have a conversation:

Friend:  “Hey! How are you?”

You: “Great! How are you?”

Friend: “Same old, same old.”

Awkward silence.


How to have a conversation:

Friend: “Hey! How are you?”

You:  “Great! You know I saw [mutual friend] earlier today, and she is doing really well in her new swim class. How are you?

Friend: “Great! I didn’t know that [mutual friend] was into swimming. Where is she taking the class?

Now, this conversation train has left the station and is heading down the tracks towards somewhere fun and informative.

 couple talking, man and woman talking, chit chat, small talk, couple on bench,  A couple talking on a bench.via Canva/Photos

What is the 'threading' small talk technique?

Boogaard’s advice is similar to the “threading” technique that Lorraine Lee, an award-winning virtual keynote speaker and CEO of RISE Learning Solutions, shared with CNBC Make It. Lee suggests that when someone asks an opening question, instead of replying with something predictable, respond with multiple “threads” that allow the person you’re talking to to choose where to take the conversation.

Question: “Cold outside, isn’t it?”

Predictable answer: “Yeah, I’m freezing.”

Good answer: “It reminds me of the blizzard we had a few years back. What year was that?”

The “good answer” here also gives the person you’re talking to two threads. They can speculate on the date of the blizzard or share their experience with the snowstorm. The “predictable answer” stops the conversation in its tracks.

Ultimately, being good at small talk means giving the person you’re talking to some material to work with and avoiding being predictable with an answer that makes it look like you’re on autopilot. Giving a considered, thoughtful response to someone not only gives you a new place to take the conversation, but it also shows that you appreciate their company enough to put some thought into your responses.

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