Miley Cyrus really, really, really doesn't want Donald Trump to be president.

The singer shared a series of posts on Instagram on Tuesday and Wednesday expressing her disdain for the front-runner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

"Donald Trump is a f**king nightmare," she said in one of the posts along with a photo of the real estate mogul.

SEE ALSO: Miley Cyrus bares all in mesh crop top while shopping with mom

In another, which appeared to be a screenshot of one of the Super Tuesday leaderboards, Cyrus said, "gonna vom / move out da country [if Trump wins]" along with a hashtag that spelled out "ain't a party in da USA anymo'."

But, in the most emotional and impassioned post of the three Trump-related photos, the "Party In The USA" singer appeared to be pushed to tears by her fear of Trump becoming the president of the United States.

See photos of Miley Cyrus through the years:

Miley Cyrus calls Donald Trump 'a f**king nightmare'

HANNAH MONTANA - 'She's A Super Sneak' - After being told that they can't go out for the evening, Miley and Jackson sneak out of the house to check out the latest Ashton Kutcher film - and spot Robbie at the same theatre on a date. Determined to learn more about the woman, Hannah Montana and Jackson pay her a visit at the real estate agency where she works. When Robbie shows up, Hannah and Jackson hide in the closet where Miley realizes that she has been hiding from her true feelings - she misses her mom and doesn't want her dad to start dating again, on 'Hannah Montana,' airing on FRIDAY, APRIL 7 (7:00-7:30 p.m. ET) on The Disney Channel. (DISNEY CHANNEL/MICHAEL DESMOND) BILLY RAY CYRUS, MILEY CYRUS

Miley Cyrus at the Lucky strike Lanes in Hollywood, California (Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)

LAS VEGAS - MAY 23: EXCLUSIVE. Actress Miley Cyrus poses at Distinctive Assets during the Academy of Country Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 23, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Marsaili McGrath/Getty Images for Distinctive Assets)

NEW YORK - JUNE 20: (U.S. TABS OUT) Actress Miley Cyrus makes an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live on June 20, 2006 in New York City. (Photo by Peter Kramer/Getty Images)

HOLLYWOOD - AUGUST 02: Singer/actress Miley Cyrus of the show Hannah Montana sings inside at the Hollywood Radio & Television Society 'Kids Day 2006' at the Hollywood and Highland complex on August 2, 2006 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for HRTS)

*EXCLUSIVE* Miley Cyrus performs during her 'Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana: Best of Both Worlds' Tour at Nassau Coliseum on December 27, 2007 in Uniondale, New York. ***Exclusive*** (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

NEW YORK - JULY 18: (U.S. TABS OUT) Singer and actress Miley Cyrus appears onstage during MTV's TRL at MTV Studios on July 18, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA - SEPTEMBER 14: Actress/singer Miley Cyrus arrives to the City of Hope benefit concert at the Gibson Amphitheater on September 14, 2008 in Universal City, California. Arrival (Photo by Jason Merritt/FilmMagic)

IRVINE, CA - DECEMBER 31: Mylie Cyrus performs at A Miley-Sized Surprise New Year's Eve 2009 presented by FNMTV at Arnold O'Beckman High School on December 31, 2008 in Irvine, California. (Photo by Todd Williamson/WireImage)

Miley Cyrus Signs Copies of 'Miles to Go' at Barnes and Noble on March 7, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA - AUGUST 09: Actress/singer Miley Cyrus accepts an award onstage during the Teen Choice Awards 2009 held at the Gibson Amphitheatre on August 9, 2009 in Universal City, California. (Photo by John Shearer/TCA 2009/WireImage)

Singer Miley Cyrus performs at the 21st Annual MuchMusic Video Awards at the MuchMusic HQ on June 21, 2009 in Toronto, Canada.

(EXCLUSIVE, Premium Rates Apply) WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - MARCH 07: *EXCLUSIVE ACCESS, PREMIUM RATES APPLY* Liam Hemsworth and singer Miley Cyrus attend the 18th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar party held at Pacific Design Center on March 7, 2010 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Lester Cohen/WireImage)

Miley Cyrus performs on ABC's 'Good Morning America' at Rumsey Playfield, Central Park on June 18, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/WireImage)

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 09: Actress/singer Miley Cyrus arrives at the American Giving Awards presented by Chase held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on December 9, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for American Giving Awards)

Singer Miley Cyrus performs onstage during the 2011 CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute at The Shrine Auditorium on December 11, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. 21959_010_JS_1496.JPG

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Singer Miley Cyrus attends the 20th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party at The City of West Hollywood Park on February 26, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage)

LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 20: Singer Miley Cyrus arrives at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 20, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

CENTURY CITY, CA - JUNE 27: (EXCLUSIVE ACCESS SPECIAL RATES APPLY) Actor Liam Hemsworth and singer Miley Cyrus pose during Australians In Film Awards & Benefit Dinner at InterContinental Hotel on June 27, 2012 in Century City, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for AIF)

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 06: Miley Cyrus arrives at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards at Staples Center on September 6, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 10: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Miley Cyrus performs at City Of Hope Honors Halston CEO Ben Malka With Spirit Of Life Award - Red Carpet at Exchange LA on October 10, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for City of Hope)

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 16: Miley Cyrus performs onstage at the 'VH1 Divas' show held at The Shrine Auditorium on December 16, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic)

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 14: Miley Cyrus poses backstage at the Marc Jacobs Collection Fall 2013 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at New York Armory on February 14, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Marc Jacobs)

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 06: Miley Cyrus attends the Costume Institute Gala for the 'PUNK: Chaos to Couture' exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Karwai Tang/FilmMagic)

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 25: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Miley Cyrus attends the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards at the Barclays Center on August 25, 2013 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for MTV)

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - NOVEMBER 10: (EDITORS NOTE: This image was processed using digital filters) Miley Cyrus performs onstage during the MTV EMA's 2013 at the Ziggo Dome on November 10, 2013 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

HOLLYWOOD, CA - JANUARY 28: Recording artist Miley Cyrus performs onstage during Miley Cyrus: MTV Unplugged at Sunset Gower Studios on January 28, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for MTV)

LEEDS, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 10: Miley Cyrus performs on stage during her Bangerz UK tour at First Direct Arena on May 10, 2014 in Leeds, United Kingdom. (Photo by Neil Lupin/Redferns via Getty Images)

HOLLYWOOD, CA - OCTOBER 29: Recording artist Miley Cyrus attends amfAR LA Inspiration Gala honoring Tom Ford at Milk Studios on October 29, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for FIJI)

INGLEWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 14: Miley Cyrus attends The 25th Annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas - Day 2 at The Forum on December 14, 2014 ingInglewood, California. (Photo by Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images for CBS Radio)

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - JANUARY 22: Recording artist Miley Cyrus attends The DAILY FRONT ROW 'Fashion Los Angeles Awards' Show at Sunset Tower on January 22, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for the DAILY FRONT ROW)

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 30: Host Miley Cyrus, styled by Simone Harouche, speaks onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 30: Miley Cyrus arrives to the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by C Flanigan/Getty Images)

Miley Cyrus attends Netflix's "A Very Murray Christmas" premiere at The Paris Theatre on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

"Yes," she wrote. "That is a tear rolling down my cheek dripping off the end of my nose..... This makes me so unbelievable scared and sad.... Not only for our country but for animals that I love more than anything in this world.... My heart is broken into a 100000 pieces ..... I think I may vomit."

The singer continued to share her thoughts without any filter, threatening to move to another country if Donald Trump beats all of his competitors to become president.

"He thinks he is the f**king chosen one or some sh*t! We're all just f**king jam between his rich a** toes! Honestly f**k this s**t I am moving if this is my president! I don't say things I don't mean!"

Tell us how you really feel, Miley ...

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Summary: Miley Cyrus shared her thoughts on the Republican front-runner in a series of strongly-worded posts on Instagram.


A Perth child psychologist accused of using his phone to video a boy at a movie theatre urinal in Canada has been freed from jail and allowed to return to Australia.

Dr Aaron Voon, 41, was arrested at the West Edmonton Mall movie theatres on May 22 after the boy's father confronted him outside the toilets.

Video taken by bystanders of the furious dad demanding to see Voon's phone went viral after appearing in a Facebook post.

In an Edmonton court on Thursday Voon was granted bail, had his Australian passport returned and was cleared to return to Australia, Canada's CBC News reported.

Voon has to put up $C75,000 ($A79,250) cash, stay away from people under the age of 18 and return to Edmonton for a court appearance on June 16.

He has been charged with possession of child pornography, making child pornography and voyeurism.

Voon worked as a child psychologist at the Successful Development and Therapy Centre in Perth.

Summary: A Canadian judge has ordered Dr Peter Voon to stay away from children under the age of 18 while he is on bail.


Now that the kids are done with Coachella 2016, it’s time for their parents to come show them how to rock.

Concert promoter Goldenvoice on Tuesday announced a new music festival that will take place on the same Indio, Calif. site as the annual hipster-friendly Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and it has already birthed the Twitter hashtag #Boomerchella for its likely appeal to baby boomers and classic rockers. Officially named Desert Trip, the festival’s lineup is stacked with iconic rockers, led by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, The Rolling Stones, and The Who.

Those musicians and more will take the stage for a three-day festival, starting October 7, that Goldenvoice calls a “once-in-a-lifetime concert” featuring “six of the world’s most iconic and influential rock and roll artists.” Goldenvoice also organizes Coachella, the annual six-day festival that was headlined last month by such popular artists as Calvin Harris, Guns ‘N’ Roses, and LCD Soundsystem.

“With performances starting after sunset, each artist will play a full set, serving up three incomparable nights of rock ‘n roll,” according to Goldenvoice’s announcement. Prices for a three-day pass to Desert Trip start at $399 and reach as high as $1,599, while single-day passes go for $199.

The festival’s promoter and some of the musicians took to Twitter to drum up excitement for the shows among fans young and old on Tuesday.

According to Money, more than 32 million Americans attended at least one music festival in 2015 and not even half of those people were millennials, so Goldenvoice obviously sees a large market for the “mature” market. Coachella attracts roughly 99,000 attendees per day while creating an economic impact worth more than $700 million, according to Goldenvoice.

Summary: Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, and more will take the stage this fall.


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Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White has died at the age of 74.

White's health had declined in the last few months as a result of a long battle with Parkinsons disease, which had plagued him since the 1980s and forced him to stop touring in 1994.

White founded the legendary funk-soul band alongside his brothers Verdine and Fred and served as the song's chief songwriter and producer. He shared vocal duties with lead singer Philip Bailey. The group's hits include "Shining Star," "Sing a Song," "September" and "Boogie Wonderland." PHOTOS: A look back at Maurice White

Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White dies at 74

NEW YORK: Maurice White from Earth Wind And Fire performs live on stage in New York in 1979 (Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)

NETHERLANDS - FEBRUARY 28: AHOY Photo of EARTH WIND & FIRE and Maurice WHITE, Maurice White performing on stage (Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns)

NETHERLANDS - FEBRUARY 28: AHOY Photo of EARTH WIND & FIRE and Ralph JOHNSON and Maurice WHITE, Ralph Johnson (L) and Maurice White performing on stage (Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns)

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1980: Photo of Earth Wind & Fire & Maurice White (Photo by Bobby Holland/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA - 1986: Former singer, drummer and music producer, Maurice White, poses during a 1986 Los Angeles, California, photo portrait session. White was the founder of the 1970s group Earth, Wind & Fire. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

OAKLAND - DECEMBER 1: Maurice White performs with Earth, Wind and Fire at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California - December 1, 1979 (Photo by Ed Perlstein/Redferns/Getty Images)

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1980: Photo of Earth Wind & Fire & Maurice White (Photo by Bobby Holland/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

NETHERLANDS - FEBRUARY 28: AHOY Photo of EARTH WIND & FIRE and Maurice WHITE and Philip BAILEY, Maurice White and Philip Bailey (R) performing on stage (Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns)

LOS ANGELES - 1985: Singer Maurice White poses for a portrait in 1985 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry Langdon/Getty Images)

Earth Wind And Fire perform on stage, UK, 1977, Maurice White, Philip Bailey. (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)

Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire. during Earth Wind & Fire In Concert At The Greek Theater at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Steve Grayson/WireImage)

Verdine White, Ralph Johnson and Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire. (Photo by Steve Grayson/WireImage)

LOS ANGELES - DECEMBER 11: Singers Stevie Wonder (R) and Maurice White of the band Earth, Wind and Fire perform during the inaugural 'Grammy Jam Fest' at the Wiltern Theatre December 11, 2004 in Los Angeles, California. The event celebrated the music of Earth, Wind and Fire and raised funds for various arts charities. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)

Verdine White and Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire (Photo by L. Cohen/WireImage)

Verdine White, Ralph Johnson, Maurice White and Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire (Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)

Maurice White and Maurice Hines during 'The Pajama Game' Broadway Opening Night - Arrivals at American Airlines Theatre in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Jemal Countess/WireImage)

Maurice White and Isaac Hayes during Ray Charles Post 2005 GRAMMY Awards Party in Los Angeles, CA, United States. (Photo by Mathew Imaging/FilmMagic)

Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson and Verdine White of Earth, Wind and Fire at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)

Ralph Johnson, Philip Bailey and Verdine White of Earth, Wind and Fire (Photo by John Sciulli/WireImage)

Bass guitar player of Earth, Wind & Fire, Verdine White, right, applauds his older brother and the band's leader, Maurice, as the group is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the 15th Anuual induction dinner in New York Monday evening, March 6, 2000. The band, which rose to prominence in the Seventies, solidified the growth of black album music as it brought together the earlier sounds of jazz, blues, R&B, pop, gospel, funk and deep soul. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Members of Earth, Wind & Fire surround the band's leader and founder Maurice White, center, as they perform following the group's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York Monday evening, March 6, 2000. The band, which rose to prominence in the Seventies, solidified the growth of black album music as it brought together the earlier sounds of jazz, blues, R&B, pop, gospel, funk and deep soul. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Earth, Wind & Fire band members from left: Philip Bailey, Maurice White, Ralph Johnson, and Verdine White pose for a photo during the news conference announcing the nominations for the Black Entertainment Television (BET) awards at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Earth, Wind & Fire are nominated for a Lifetime Achivement Award. The 2nd Annual BET Awards will air on June 25th. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Earth, Wind, and Fire members, left to right, Verdine White, Maurice White, Philip Bailey, and Ralph Johnson hold up their hands after leaving imprints at the Hollywood Rock Walk during their induction ceremony Monday, July 7, 2003, in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

Earth, Wind, and Fire members, from left, Verdine White, Maurice White, Philip Bailey and Ralph Johnson, leave their hand imprints at the Hollywood Rock Walk at a ceremony in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, Monday, July 7, 2003. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

Maurice White performs at the Earth,Wind and Fire "Grammy Jam" event held at The Wiltern LG in Los Angeles, Ca. Saturday Dec. 11, 2004.(AP Photo/Phil McCarten)

Earth, Wind, and Fire members, from left, Verdine White, Philip Bailey, Maurice White, and Ralph Johnson, hold up the plaques from their induction at the Hollywood Rock Walk at a ceremony in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, Monday, July 7, 2003. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

Song writer David Porter, left, and Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire arrive together for a service honoring Isaac Hayes at Hope Presbyterian Church, Monday, Aug. 18, 2008, in Cordova, Tenn. Porter and Hayes were song writing partners. Hayes died of a stroke on Aug. 10. (AP Photo/Bill Waugh)

Musician Maurice White (L) and Captain Morgan attend the Primary Wave Music Publishing pre-Grammy celebration, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 in Los Angeles. (Shea Walsh / AP Images for Captain Morgan)

Singer Maurice White attends the Primary Wave Music Publishing pre-Grammy celebration sponsored by Captain Morgan, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 in Los Angeles. (Shea Walsh / AP Images for Captain Morgan)

Members of Earth Wind and Fire, Verdine White, left, Phillip Bailey, and Maurice White, right, pause on the red carpet before the Soul Train Awards on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 07: (L-R) Musicians Verdine White, Maurice White and Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire attend the Pre-GRAMMY Gala and Salute To Industry Icons honoring Martin Bandier on February 7, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 08: Musicians Maurice White (L) and Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire attend the Sony Music Entertainment 2015 Post-Grammy Reception at The Palm on February 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Sony Music Entertainment)

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 16: (L-R) Verdine White, Maurice White and Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind and Fire attend The Grove's 12th Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Spectacular at The Grove on November 16, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gabriel Olsen/FilmMagic)

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 16: Verdine White, Philip Bailey and Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire attend The Grove's 12th Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Spectacular at The Grove on November 16, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gabriel Olsen/FilmMagic)

BARCELONA, SPAIN - JULY 07: (L-R) Verdine White, Philip Bailey and Maurice White of Earth Wind And Fire performs on stage at the 'Jardins de Pedralbes Festival' on July 7, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Miquel Benitez/WireImage)

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 22: (L-R) Verdine White, Phillip Bailey and Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire peform on stage at O2 Arena on July 22, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Matt Kent/Redferns)

LOUISVILLE, KY - JUNE 14: Maurice White of Earth Wind And Fire performs at Whitney Hall on June 14, 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images)

Verdine White (L), Maurice White (R) and Philip Bailey (C) of Earth, Wind & Fire perform during the celebration of TAG Heuer Link series at miX Lounge at Mandalay Bay on June 3, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Steven Lawton/WireImage)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 04: Musician Maurice White arrives at the 42nd NAACP Image Awards held at The Shrine Auditorium on March 4, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

NETHERLANDS - DECEMBER 07: Photo of EARTH WIND & FIRE and Verdine WHITE and Ralph JOHNSON and Philip BAILEY; Group portrait L-R Verdine White, Ralph Johnson and Philip Bailey (Photo by Paul Bergen/Redferns)

MALIBU, CA - JULY 21: Actress Holly Robinson Peete, producer Quincy Jones (2nd R) and former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete (R) honor musician Maurice White (2nd L) onstage at the 'Designcare 2007' celebrity benefit thrown by actress Holly Robinson Peete and husband Rodney Peete, held at a private estate on July 21, 2007 in Malibu, California. (Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - JUNE 09: APOLLO THEATER Photo of EARTH, WIND & FIRE Verdine WHITE, Ralph JOHNSON and Philip BAILEY, group portrait of Earth, Wind & Fire as they arrive at the 4th annual Apollo Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony L-R Verdine White, Ralph Johnson and Philip Bailey (Photo by GNA/Redferns)

Terry Lewis and Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire (Photo by L. Cohen/WireImage)

UNSPECIFIED - JANUARY 01: Photo of EARTH WIND & FIRE; L to R: Johnny Grahm, Larry Dunn, Andrew Woolfolk, Al McKay, Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Freddy White, Ralph Johnson (Photo by Gems/Redferns)

The musician has seven Grammy wins and 21 nominations under his belt. EWF was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. White also appears in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame.

The Associated Press confirmed his death Thursday afternoon.

Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White dies at 74

January 1 -- Donna Douglas, actress best known for her role in "The Beverly Hillbillies."

January 7 -- Rod Taylor, actor best known for this leading role in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds."

January 9 -- Samuel Goldwyn Jr., was a famous producer and the father of "Scandal" star Tony Goldwyn.

January 10 -- Taylor Negron, was best known for his character roles in films "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Stuart Little."

January 11 -- Anita Eckberg, actress best known for her role in "La Dolce Vita."

(Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

February 16 -- Lesley Gore, singer best known for the 60's hit "It's My Party."

(Photo by James Kriegsmann/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

February 16 -- Lorena Rojas, telenovela actress.

(Photo by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images)

February 27 -- Leonard Nimoy, actor known for his role as Mr. Spock in "Star Trek."

(Photo by Inter-News/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

March 8 - Sam Simon, a director, producer and writer, best known for co-creating "The Simpsons." (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)

March 10 -- Richard Glatzer, writer and director best known for his Award-winning work, "Still Alice."

(Photo by Peter Bregg/Getty Images)

April 1 -- Cynthia Lennon, first wife of John and mother to musician Julian Lennon.

April 6 -- James Best, actor best known for his role in "The Dukes of Hazzard". (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)

April 7 -- Geoffrey Lewis, actor and father of actress Juliette Lewis. Lewis regularly played opposite Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood in films.

(Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)

April 14 -- Percy Sledge, singer best known for the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman."

April 23 -- Sawyer Sweeten (L), actor known for his role in "Everybody Loves Raymond" and died at age 19.

(Photo by Mike FANOUS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

April 30 -- Ben E. King, singer best known for the massive hit "Stand by Me."

May 1 -- Grace Lee Whitney, actress best known for her role on "Star Trek."

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

May 6 -- Errol Brown, best known as the frontman for the soul and funk band Hot Chocolate. He died at age 71

May 14 -- B.B. King, legendary blues musician, who won dozens of awards for his music. He died at the age of 89.

(Photo by Paul A. Hebert/Invision/AP)

June 7 -- Christopher Lee, actor best known for his role in "The Lord of the Rings" franchise. Lee died at the age of 893.

June 22 -- James Horner, composer best known for creating the music for "Titanic," for which he won an Academy Award. Horner also scored "Aliens," "Braveheart," "Avatar," and more popular films.

July 3 -- Amanda Peterson, actress best known for her role in the popular 80's film "Can't Buy Me Love," co-starring Patrick Dempsey. Peterson died at the age of 43.

(Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)

July 3 -- Diana Douglas, actress and wife of actor Kirk Douglas, mother of Michael Douglas. She is known for her comedic film, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles."

(Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)

July 6 -- Jerry Weintraub, Emmy award-winning producer and talent agent best known for his work on films like the "Ocean's Eleven" franchise.

July 9 -- Christian Audigier, clothing designer known for his Ed Hardy and Von Dutch lines. Audigier died at the age of 57.

July 10 -- Omar Sharif, actor known for his roles in "Doctor Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia."

(Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

July 18 -- Alex Rocco, actor best known for his role in "The Godfather." He won an Emmy Award for his role on the television comedy series, "The Famous Teddy Z." (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

July 26 -- Bobbi Kristina Brown, singer, actress and television personality. She was the daughter of Whitney Houston who died in a similarly tragic circumstance in 2012. Bobbi Kristina died at the age of 22.

July 30 -- Lynn Anderson, Grammy award-winning country music artist known for songs like "Top of the World" and "Rose Garden."

(Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)

July 31 --"Rowdy" Roddy Piper, wrestler and actor. He died at the age of 61.

(Photo by John Shearer/WireImage for BWR Public Relations)

August 7 -- Uggie the Dog, actor best known for his role in "The Artist."

August 9 -- Frank Gifford, football player and television sports commentator. He was married to talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford and a father of 5 and died at the age of 84.

(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

August 17 -- Yvonne Craig, dancer and actress, best known for her role as Batgirl on the "Batman" television series.

(Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)

August 30 -- Wes Craven, filmmaker well-known for his horror film franchise "The Nightmare on Elm Street." He also created the "Scream" franchise. He died at the age of 76.

September 1 -- Dean Jones, actor known for his role of Jim Douglas in "The Love Bug" films.

(Photo by Columbia Pictures/Getty Images)

September 3 -- Judy Carne, actress best known for her comedic roles on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh‑In" and "Love on a Rooftop."

(Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)

September 4 -- Jean Darling, child actress known for her role in "My Gang."

(Photo by Film Favorites/Getty Images)

September 6 -- Martin Milner, actor best known for his roles in the 1960's television shows "Route 66" and "Adam-12."

(Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)

September 19 -- Gary Richrath, guitarist for the band REO Speedwagon.

(Photo by Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

September 19 -- Jackie Collins, novelist and sister of actress Joan Collins.

September 28 -- Catherine Coulson, actress known for her role as the Log Lady on David Lynch's "Twin Peaks."

(Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)

October 24 -- Maureen O'Hara, prominent 1940's actress, she received an honorary Academy Award in 2014. She starred in "The Parent Trap" and "The Miracle on 34th Street."

(Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

November 4 -- Melissa Mathison, screenwriter best known for writing "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" and her marriage Harrison Ford. (Photo by Amy Graves/WireImage for Mann Productions)

November 16 -- David Canary, actor best known for his role on "All My Children."

November 23 -- Cynthia Robinson, trumpeter and vocalist of the band Sly and the Family Stone.

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

December 3 -- Scott Weiland, lead singer of the alternative rock band Stone Temple Pilots. He died at the age of 48.

December 4 -- Robert Loggia, actor known for Jagged Edge, which he was nominated for an Academy Award. He also starred in "Big" and "Scarface."

(Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

December 6 -- Holly Woodlawn, one of the first known transgender actresses. She was a muse of Andy Warhol and inspiration for Lou Reed's 'Wild Side'

(Photo by Jack Mitchell/Getty Images)

December 13 -- Rose Siggins, actress best known for her role in "American Horror Story: Freak Show."

(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

December 28 -- Lemmy Kilmister, frontman of the rock band Motörhead.

(Photo by Jeff Hahne/Getty Images)

Summary: The co-founder of the hit group has been battling Parkinson's disease since the 1980s and he recently passed away.


is the subject of more than her fair share of rumors.

In fact, she's had so much experience clapping back at the gossip that she's basically a professional rumor-mill wrecker at this point.

Just take a look at some of her best work:

When word of a supposed sex tape featuring Jenner and her ex-boyfriend Tyga began to spread, Jenner took a

to crushing the dreams of thirsty horn-dogs everywhere.

"Everyone's like, 'Leak the sex tape,'" she said on Snapchat with an eye-roll. 'Guys, you're never going to see a sex tape from me. It's not gonna happen."

, Jenner ponders speculation that she secretly has a bun in the oven.

"Why is everyone saying that I'm pregnant," she asked while scrolling through her phone.

"Who's the dad?" Jenner's sister Kourtney jokingly said in response.

"I don't know. How do people know before me?" Jenner retorted.

The masses love to create drama where there is none, and Kardashian-Jenner drama is some of the most oft-fictionalized kind. So it came as no surprise when spectators decided to

between longtime queen bee Kim Kardashian West and rising star Jenner.

Jenner, of course, was having none of it. "People always put me and Kim in a competition, or [they say] I'm trying to be Kim, or I'm trying to steal Kim's throne," Jenner said in a video called 'Sister Love' on her website. "I think people forget that me and Kim are sisters. We're not in a competition. We're completely different people."

"Kim inspires me. She's one of my biggest inspirations," she continued. "That's not a secret! I look up to my sister. I don't think that's like, a weird thing? We have a lot of love for each other."

Fans were at the edge of their seats waiting to watch the claws come out when Jenner's brother Rob Kardashian began dating Blac Chyna, the mother of her (now-ex) boyfriend Tyga's son.

to bring tales of a dramatic saga to an end when she Snapchatted a selfie alongside Blac Chyna.

"When we've been best friends the whole time.." she captioned the pic.

It seems like everyone has something to say about the reality star's body and visage. While she had previously been open about her use of lip fillers (more on that in a minute), Jenner

about the things that haven't been surgically enhanced in September 2015.

"But no, people – I haven't gotten breast implants! Everyone is obsessed with that. Truth is, as I've gotten older, I've gained 15 pounds and my body has changed," she explained on her website. "I've definitely filled out."

In another post, Jenner shared that she has her favorite bra – and not surgery – to thank for her cleavage. "No contouring, no nothing â¦ No breast implants. No surgery," she said in a video.

Commenters insisted Jenner had been increasing the size of her already famously-plump lips, so the star stepped up and revealed the real reason why her lips sometimes look a little extra pouty.

"Everyone thinks I keep making my lips bigger but, this is them normally," she said in a Snapchat video, "and then this is them when I push them out, do my little face," she continued in the next video, puckering her lips slightly. Mystery solved.

It seems Jenner never gets a rest from baby talk.

In February 2016, she teamed-up with then-boyfriend Tyga to

"Are you pregnant?" the rapper jokingly asked Jenner in a Snapchat video. "I think we need to address that rumor because I feel like everybody thinks you're pregnant and there's a new story every day about you being pregnant and being married and all this crazy stuff so you need to talk about those type of things."

"I'm not pregnant and I'm not married," she responded, " 'Cause you're slacking â¦ I'm just kidding."

"Because I'm a f---ing infant child and I don't want to be married or have a baby right now!" she added.

Summary: The reality star has addressed everything from pregnancy talk to plastic surgery accusations


If a company can’t get regulatory approval to fly drones in the U.S., there’s always the Netherlands.

Amazon is currently testing drones for its ambitious Amazon Prime Air delivery service in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Monday during a Washington Post event.

Bezos’s comments confirm recent reports of Amazon testing drone deliveries at locations throughout the U.K. and Canada while adding the Netherlands to the list.

U.S. regulations have made it difficult for Amazon and other big retailers to quickly roll out drone delivery experiments. In April, the Internet retail giant sent the Federal Aviation Administration a letter that urged it to ease up on its drone testing regulations.

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Companies that wish to fly drones must currently seek the FAA’s approval on a case-by-case basis. The FAA approved Amazon in April to test drones, albeit with a bunch of restrictions, including forbidding the company from flying drones at night and ensuring that the robots never fly out of an operator’s line of site.

Amazon and some drone advocacy groups like the Small UAV Coalition have argued against the FAA’s tough drone rules. These groups argue that countries like France, Sweden, and Norway have less strict rules governing commercial use of drones and that the U.S. risks losing out to other countries when it comes to drone technology innovation.

However, the FAA has maintained that drone safety is one of its top priorities, which is why it’s been taking its time finalizing its commercial drone rules. At a press conference last month, FAA administrator Michael Huerta said his agency expects to finalize rules for commercial operations by late spring.

For more on drones, watch our video:

Meanwhile, law enforcement in the Netherlands said on Monday that they have a plan in case drones pilots fly them places they aren’t supposed to. Instead of using technology like drone-tracking systems or weaponry to blast down drones, law enforcement there is considering using eagles to hunt rogue drones by snatching them with their talons and then carrying them away from crowds.

Summary: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said Amazon is testing drones for Amazon Prime Air delivery in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.


Having steered clear for years, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is now buying shares of Apple aapl at a time when the stock has taken a beating.

On Monday, Berkshire revealed a stake of 9.8 million shares in the tech giant, worth roughly $1.07 billion, according to a filing for the first quarter made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Berkshire also increased its stake in IBM to 81.2 billion shares.

In years past, Buffett, who doesn’t own a smartphone and generally avoided technology investments, has teased the idea of buying into the stock, only to never do it.

“No, I mean, obviously you look back on any stock that went up a lot and you say we should’ve bought the stock,” Buffett told the Street last year, when asked if he regretted picking IBM over Apple. ” But we don’t think that way. We buy businesses we think we understand at prices that we like, and then we hold it for a long time. We usually make money, but not always.”

While Buffett has stayed away from Apple, his investment officers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, have bought into the company in years past—and according to CNBC, they made the purchase revealed Monday.

Shares of Apple tanked after a dismal second-quarter earnings report late April, in which slowing iPhone sales led to the company’s first quarter of lower revenue in 13 years. The stock has fallen over 13% since to a near two-year low.

Hedge fund giant, David Tepper, exited his 1.2 million stake in Apple, according to SEC filings on Friday, and in April, Carl Icahn said he no longer holds any shares.

Summary: After staying away for years.


The Federal Communications Commission wants debt collectors to stop calling you so much.

The agency approved a proposal that would reduce the number of debt collector calls you get, The Hill reports. A budget deal was approved last year that provided government exemptions from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which blocks solicitors from sending automated calls to cellphones under certain conditions. Congress then called on the FCC to limit those exemptions.

The proposal limits government debt collectors to three calls per month, which can only be made if an individual is late on making a payment. It also allows calls informing people about payment plans, though borrowers can request to opt out.

“In taking this first step toward implementing these requirements, as Congress instructed, we recognize and seek to balance the importance of collecting debt owed to the United States and the consumer protections inherent in the [Telephone Consumer Protection Act],” the proposal states. It’s still subject to two rounds of comments. The first is due on June 6, and the second on June 21.

Some believe the proposal is too limiting. Republican Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, for one, referred to the Housing and Urban Development Department, which recommends a minimum of two calls per week until the debt collector has successfully contacted the borrower. Additionally, the Treasury Department suggests at least four calls per month.

Summary: It's facing some opposition.


Nature Made is voluntarily pulling batches of its gummy vitamins off shelves after it discovered that they may be contaminated with salmonella or staphylococcus aureus, i.e. staph infection.

Four types of Nature Made vitamins, made by parent company Pharmavite, are included in the recall: Nature Made Adult Gummies Multi, Nature Made Adult Gummies Multi + Omega-3, Nature Made Adult Gummies Multi for her plus Omega-3s, and Nature Made Super B Complex with C & Folic Acid. The full list of lot numbers included in the recall can be found on the Food and Drug Administration’s website.

Pharmavite issued the nationwide recall after it discovered that the salmonella and staph testing were not completed properly on certain batches of their gummy vitamins. The company said it discovered the source of the error and has “implemented corrective actions to rectify the issue.”

“We are initiating this recall out of an abundance of caution to protect public health,” the California-based company said in a statement. “Pharmavite is working closely with the FDA to implement this recall, and we are notifying all retail customers and distributors to remove the product from store shelves immediately.”

The recall was voluntary, which means that no illnesses have been reported in connection with the affected vitamins.

Staph is a mostly benign bacteria commonly found on the human body. However, in certain circumstances like food contamination, it can cause rapid and acute illness in some people, resulting in nausea, vomiting, retching, abdominal cramping, and extreme weakness. It can also be severe enough to cause blood infections. Staph infections can usually be treated with a full course of antibiotics, though certain strains known as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, can be resistant to many antibiotics.

Similarly, salmonella can cause digestive distress like diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Infected patients often spike fevers, and infections can become severe if the organism enters the bloodstream and potentially deadly for immune-compromised people, the elderly, and young children.

Summary: Thankfully, no illnesses have been reported.


Electric car maker Tesla Motors revealed in its earnings on Wednesday afternoon that it has been struggling to ramp up production of its new electric SUV, the Model X, but it’s still on track to significantly grow the amount of cars it will make this year. In addition, Tesla said it will still unveil and deliver its next low cost car the Model 3 on time.

After delivering only 206 of its Model X cars in the fourth quarter of 2015, Tesla said that in January the company had decided to limit production of the SUV at the factory for an undisclosed period of time in order to maintain “quality production standards,” and make production of the car more efficient.

The company said following those efforts, Tesla has been able to increase production of the Model X. Tesla said it hopes to get close to making 1,000 Model X cars per week by the second quarter of the year. Tesla CEO Elon Musk clarified on the earnings call that the company will likely be on track to make on average 700 to 800 Model X’s towards the later half of the second quarter.

Tesla TSLA said it expects to deliver 16,000 cars, both the Model S and the Model X, in the first quarter of 2016.

By comparison, in the last quarter of 2015, Tesla delivered 17,478 vehicles to customers. The dip in deliveries shows how hard it’s been for the company to grow production of the Model S and the Model X at the same time in the same quarter.

Tesla described its production of the Model X as “lower than expected,” and said that the slow growth and added expenses and burdened the company’s overall auto margins.

On the earnings call, Musk said that it had been a mistake, or “some hubris” as he put it, to try to launch so many new features in the first version of the Model X. In hindsight, Tesla should have rolled out new features to the Model X car over later versions and across multiple years, said Musk. Musk also described the last couple months as “quite excruciating,” but he said he thought the company was through the worst of the struggles.

However, despite the Model X lag, Tesla said it still expects to deliver between 80,000 to 90,000 new Model S and Model X vehicles in 2016. That’s in line with what the company has previously stated for its goals for car shipments in 2016. Previously Tesla said it planned to deliver 1,600 to 1,800 cars per week in 2016 (which comes to about 83,200 to 93,600 cars for the year).

WATCH: Will the Model X be a hit?

Tesla says the company is also still on track to unveil and deliver its next low cost car, the Model 3. Tesla says it will show off the car for the first time at an event on March 31. It’s still unclear whether that “reveal” will just be images, or an actual prototype of a car. Tesla plans to make and start shipping the car in late 2017.

In addition to the growth of Tesla’s car deliveries, the company said its grid battery business is still seeing very high demand. These batteries can be plugged into buildings, the power grid or solar panels, and help utilities maintain the grid or enable solar energy to be used at night.

Tesla said inbound sales leads of its battery business are “quickly exceeding” the inbound sales of its vehicles.

These growing businesses will enable Tesla to be “net cash flow positive and achieve non-GAAP profitability for the year,” said the company. In addition, the company is expecting “moderate GAAP profitability” in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Tesla said all of these efforts required $1.6 billion in spending, including $411 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. Tesla plans to spend another $1.5 billion on its plans this year. Major expenses include design of the Model 3, construction of the battery factory outside of Reno, Nevada and expanding its retail stores.

Last year Tesla generated revenue (GAAP) of $4.05 billion, which compared to $3.20 billion in 2014. At the same time, Tesla’s net loss soared in 2015 to $888.66 million, compared to $294.04 million in 2014.

Tesla’s stock jumped 11% to $160.05 in after hours trading on the revenue growth and prediction of profitability.

Summary: The slow growth of the Model X isn't hurting Tesla's plans for the year.


Before you go, we thought you'd like these...

Best of the Beauty Aisle 2014: Winners revealed

"I ended up using this not just on my face, but on my neck and arms as well. Not at all oily or heavy, my skin felt softer and smoother after just about a week. Plus, SPF protection!" - Jessica, The Steele Maiden

Olay Complete All Day UV Moisturizer SPF 15 Normal

Other accolades: Glamour Glammy Awards: The Best Moisturizer or Anti-Ager from Drugstores

"The Olay moisture bars definitely seemed to help prevent any post-shaving dryness. My legs felt super smooth afterwards." - Jessye, City Tonic

Gillette Venus & Olay Razor

Other accolades: Better Homes and Gardens 2013 Best New Product Award: Women's Razors / Hair Removal

"Blends well, comes in a variety of colors, and is an makeup bag staple." - StyleList Editorial Team

Other accolades: Glamour Glammy Awards: Best Blush from Drugstores winner

is here to highlight some fantastic,

available from some of our favorite brands in the beauty aisle right now. Essentially, it's a guide for the best products to try out this spring, as you gear your beauty routine up for summer.

When it comes to testing out beauty products, picking a standout winner is usually the hardest part, so we called on a few of our expert contributors to help us make the best call. This week, after rolling out the nominees in four different categories (makeup, skin care, hair, and body basics), our judges have reached their conclusions.

Summary: drugstore beauty award winning products


06/16/2016 AT 08:50 PM EDT

, sharing a new campaign video in which she promotes her longstanding journey to help children across the globe.

"For Hillary, one thing's never changed: Helping children has been a cause of her life, and it always will be," the video was captioned.

The clip begins in 1950, showing a young Clinton playing on a front lawn before it fast forwards to her college graduation in 1973 and onto her political career, including her time in Arkansas in the eighties, her stint as First Lady starting in 1997 and her term as Secretary of State beginning in 2009.

Throughout the video, a narrator details Clinton's achievements and efforts, including her education reform, fighting for healthcare for eight million kids and working to end trafficking.

Hillary Clinton (second from left)

Just as Clinton's newest video emphasized her inspiring a new generation, she shared a letter from a young voter who detailed her plans to support Clinton, despite being too young to vote.

"My grandpa is voting for you so he is taking my vote!" the child wrote in a letter to presumptive Democratic nominee. "I think you would make a good president because there has never been a girl president and I think you must have good laws in mind too!"

A photo posted by Hillary Clinton (@hillaryclinton) on Jun 16, 2016 at 6:42pm PDT

Clinton's campaign has been on a winning streak since she claimed victory in a handful of Western states earlier this month,

Although she's already garnered the necessary amounts of delegates to be named the presumptive nominee, her rival, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, has vowed not to concede until the Democratic National Convention in July.

Still, Clinton has received a handful of heavyweight endorsements as of late, including

"It's about time that we make that decision," Winfrey

. "Regardless of your politics, it's a seminal moment for women. What this says is, there is no ceiling, that ceiling just went boom! It says anything is possible when you be leader of the free world. I'm with her."

Summary: Clinton's new campaign video is all about the children.


updated 05/11/2006 AT 12:00 PM EDT

•originally published 05/11/2006 AT 07:35 AM EDT

When it comes to discussing the state of her profile, Ashlee Simpson's policy is don't ask, don't tell. But giggling is fine.

Asked about the widespread speculation – on the Web and in tabloids – that's she's had a nose job, the 21-year-old singer giggled and told the Associated Press: "Everybody's already saying it, so I just don't talk about it. I'm like, okay, whatever. It doesn't bother me."

Yet when the news service tried to put her nose to the grindstone and get her to confirm or deny the rumor, Simpson did neither – she just giggled more.

"Maybe," she said. "Who knows!"

Still, a source tells PEOPLE that part of her new long-and-blonde look is, indeed, a nipped-and-tucked nose.

Simpson – the younger sister of Jessica – was more forthcoming about her love life to Teen People, for which she serves as the June/July cover girl. Discussing her boyfriend, Braxton Olita, the 20-year-old Hawaii native who plays guitar in her band, she said they were just friends before their relationship turned romantic.

"He's the yin to my yang; people call him my 'Little Buddha,'" she says. "When he comes around, everything changes. Braxton has taught me a lot."

Simpson, whose latest album is

, kicked off her summer tour last weekend in West Palm Beach, Fla.

On April 11 (left) and in Florida on May 6

dlrphoto / FilmMagic; Steve Dennett / Splash News

Sorry! This poll has closed.

Summary: Simpson says "maybe" rumors that she had plastic surgery are true


Linden Lab is best known for its PC virtual world Second Life, which launched 12 years ago and has 900,000 active members. While that open world continues to entice virtual world builders, Linden Lab is building what CEO Ebbe Altberg hopes will become the “YouTube for virtual reality” with its new endeavor, code-named Project Sansar.

“Much like YouTube, Sansar will empower people to create, share, and profit from their own social virtual experiences,” Altberg says. “Doing that today requires an engineering team—it’s hard and expensive, and that limits the use-cases for VR. That’s similar to the old days of the web, so we sometimes also use WordPress as an apt analogy.”

Altberg says Project Sansar isn’t just a viewer for 360 photos and videos like Facebook 360 or YouTube 360; it’s a platform for user-created virtual experiences using computer-generated graphics.

“Virtual experiences created with Project Sansar aren’t limited to just captures or representations of the physical world,” Altberg says. “Users can also create interactive environments and experiences that would otherwise be impossible in the real world.”

Altberg says his company is thinking very differently about quality and performance, discovery of experiences, ease of use, monetization, cross-device accessibility, and scale when it comes to Project Sansar thanks to the lessons learned from Second Life. He admits that it was difficult to get started and difficult to find and connect with the experiences and people that consumers are interested in, which limited the Second Life’s growth.

“We are specifically targeting creators as our primary customers, lowering the barriers to creating social virtual experiences, increasing the opportunities to reach and monetize global audiences, and then sharing in their successes,” Altberg says.

Project Sansar is being designed to work across mobile devices, PCs, and VR head-mounted displays (HMDs) like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

As with Second Life, creators using Project Sansar will be able to monetize their creations. Last year, creators in Second Life redeemed more than $60 million from the $500 million virtual economy, and Altberg says Project Sansar will dwarf that figure in the future.

“We want to make it less expensive and less difficult for creators to get started with Project Sansar, while at the same time enabling them to create higher quality, larger, and more immersive experiences, reach larger audiences, and create much larger business opportunities—whether selling virtual items or monetizing entire experiences,” Altberg says. “In addition to supporting our community of creators, we’ll give them tools to create and support their own communities and serve their customers and audiences.”

Project Sansar is completely separate from Second Life and will run in parallel with it, but the new platform will not be backward-compatible. Altberg says the same mesh files and other assets imported to Second Life can also be imported to Project Sansar. And users will be able to translate their social networks and financial accounts to the new platform.

“Virtual experiences will be a part of daily life for millions of people, and Project Sansar will be the platform powering many of those experiences,” Altberg says.

Linden Lab has also released a version of Second Life Viewer (the software used to access the virtual world) that includes Oculus Rift integration, which allows HMD owners to experience all of Second Life’s user-created experiences today.

Project Sansar will be live in alpha form in time for Facebook’s Oculus Rift launch in Q1 2016.

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Summary: Linden Lab plans to launch 'Project Sansar' in tandem with Oculus Rift's Q1 2016 debut.


Claire Holt stars as Charmain Tully on the NBC series "Aquarius."

Holt was most recently seen on the CW series "The Originals," playing a character spun off from "The Vampire Diaries." She made her debut to U.S. audiences on "H2O: Just Add Water." Holt went on to secure the lead role in the film "Messengers 2: The Scarecrow," opposite "The Walking Dead" star Norman Reedus for producer Sam Raimi. She was then seen in the movie "Mean Girls 2" and had a recurring role on the hit series "Pretty Little Liars." Holt's other credits include the lead role in the indie film "Blue Like Jazz."

Summary: Meet Charmain Tully from Aquarius  on NBC.com.


When most people his age were still figuring out what they wanted to do for a living, Josh Shapiro had a clear-cut plan — make as much money as possible. So he did.

In his early 20s, he was pulling down tens of thousands of dollars a month, working hard and partying harder at Stratton Oakmont, the notorious Long Island boiler room that sold investors the moon but delivered sawdust.

Shapiro idolized scheme masterminds Jordan Belfort and Danny Porush, who will be immortalized by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” out on Christmas.

“The lie becomes the truth,” said Shapiro, 41, who eventually became disillusioned, traded in his Porsche for a Buick, and left finance entirely for a life devoted to helping people.

Here’s his story, as told to The Post’s Gary Buiso.

After high school, I joined the Marines. I was the only Jew in the Marines at the time — or one of the few, for sure. It wasn’t a Long Island Jewish kid thing to do.

I was 22 and came back to New York in 1993, when my father, who’s a doctor, said, “Danny” — the son of Jerry Porush, a nephrologist my father was partners with — “is making a lot of money at this stock-broker place. Maybe you should go and check it out.”

I was a little hesitant at first. I had no interest in stock brokerage. I didn’t know anything about it. So I walked into this office park in Lake Success, and there was no sign that says Stratton Oakmont or anything but there’s a line of cars — Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches, Mercedes.

And I’m like ‘‘Whoa!” It looked like a car show. I’ve never seen cars like this. I didn’t have a driver’s license yet.

So then I walked into the board room, a humongous room with 300 people in it. Everyone on the phone, people standing up, people screaming into the phones, and Porush had a big old office in the corner, with golden golf clubs and souvenirs and signed baseballs — just a really lavish office.

He said: “Sit down, Josh. Do you want to make a million dollars a year? Do you want to make $100,000 a month? This is how you do it.”

I was blown away by the intensity — you could feel the pulse when you walked into the place. It was like walking into a nightclub without the music. The music was the phones and the people talking. The energy was just unbounding and unstoppable, and you wanted to be a part of it. It was almost cultish, and you were hooked in from Day 1.

The office was basically separated into two parts: the cold callers in the back, and the brokers in the front. The cold callers were dressed in Van Heusen shirts and ties — nothing too expensive. The guys in the front were sporting Armani, Boss, slicked back hair.

They’d give meetings in the back to the cold callers where they’d rip up $100 bills, throw them on the floor and tell them, “Do you want to be a loser all your life, or do you want to make something out of your life? Do you want to be rich?” The motivational meetings in the morning were incredible.

Porush gave meetings where he’d insult people, based on their performance. He would say: “Doug, you sold 1,000 shares of stock in the last three weeks. You know, you should have slit your throat when you were shaving this morning.”

He would come out at other times, completely stewed out of his mind on Quaaludes. Stand on the desk, then fall onto the floor. Or he would come out angry, pick up a computer — and these are the old CRT monitors — and smash it on the floor as hard as he possibly could. And be like, “You’re all a bunch of f- -king losers unless you push this f- -king stock!”

For me, it was Van Heusen at first. Worked my tail off. There was a script with all these rebuttals, pages passed around the office constantly, with better rebuttals. If somebody says, “I need to talk to my wife first,” you said, “Does your wife talk to you before she buys a fur coat? No.”

I showed a lot of initiative, and I stayed late. I was now in Armani suits, Ferragamo shoes, Valentino ties. I would stay all night. I would adjust my hours to call potential customers at home. All you had to do was get past the wife. The guys were more relaxed to talk at home. They were willing to listen a little more.

Danny offered to buy a car if I opened up 30 accounts in a month. I ate dozens of Quaaludes, pounded my clients, and got the 30 accounts — but two wound up not paying. So Danny said, “I’ll lease you whatever sports car you want.”

I picked a red Porsche 911 — I still didn’t have a driver’s license.

Belfort was behind the scenes, but a god, because it was all his idea. He was revered like nothing else. He wasn’t an imposing figure in terms of size of height or weight, but you knew that everything you were doing, the car you were driving, the women you were sleeping with, the drugs you were taking, the fun you were having — was all because of him.

You got on the phone and pushed a stock that people know, say, Dr. Pepper. But then you said, “Really, it’s my IPOs — that’s where I’m going to make you the most money.” You got the account, and then you started selling them on our IPOs — very enticing initially, but if you bought, you lost. There was no way to win.

We used to joke that they used to get a couple of bums off the street, throw them in the shower, put a suit and tie on them, and say, “Listen, buddy, for the next couple of hours, you’re the president of Czech Industries.”

When a stock collapsed, the mentality was that even if you lost thousands of dollars you’d buy more — instead of relating to a client that it crashed, you’d say it’s trading at a discount. And it worked because everyone wanted to make money.

You wanted to call people that were not in the state; you didn’t want them knocking at your door.

But these were not grandmothers we were calling on the phone. These were qualified investors, who had, basically, a gambling habit. In my mind, I just can’t imagine how some guy in Texas that’s never seen me, that’s never met me can send me $50,000. I just don’t understand how.

The drug use was rampant. I took Quaaludes as much as possible, maybe three or four a day. They were called Lemmon 714s. That’s what was printed on the pill. I loved them. If you didn’t drink alcohol on them, they made you cocky, arrogant — you thought you were the funniest person in the world, but the next day, people would be like, “You know, you were a real d- -k yesterday.”

They made you super aggressive on the phone, so any sort of inhibitions you would have would be lost. Asking a guy to send you a million dollars — you can’t waver in your voice in any way, shape or form. Because if he detected any type of weakness, the guy’s not sending you a frickin’ dime. So the Quaaludes would take away those inhibitions.

There were other perks — the Gina girls. That’s what everyone called them. Don’t know if that was the agency name.

They were the top of the crop, $500-an-hour hookers — gorgeous girls, hot former cheerleaders, like for professional football teams. The bosses would offer them up based on our performance. “Hey, I got this for you. Enjoy, have fun.”

And the Gina girls also knew how to take care of you, too. We went to Atlantic City, me and six other guys on a private jet for somebody’s birthday. We took some Mexican Quaaludes, some things called Mandrax. I just remember vomiting in the room when I was with the Gina girl, and she went and she got a warm washcloth and she wiped the vomit off my lips, and said, “Oh, honey, I hope you feel better.” It kind of sobered me up. And I just remember thinking, “Wow, she’s an incredible girl.”

They had this other girl who liked to go to all the parties in Atlantic City, and they rented a bus for 40 people, and she had oral sex with everybody on the bus, all 40 people. She wasn’t a Gina girl, she was just known by everyone in the office because she basically f- -ked everyone in the office. I met her, and gave her $50 in Atlantic City for a b- - - - - - and stuff, and asked her for her number. I wound up taking her out of the business, and I dated her for a year and half.

I went from a cold caller to an account opener to a broker, but I didn’t save any money — I spent it as fast as it came. I never bought any property — I didn’t think it was ever going to end. Property? The future? No. The future was right here and now. I’m driving a $70,000 car.

But eventually, the blindness from the drugs, the girls and the cars, the clothes and the money, wore off. These people were some of the worst people that I have ever met in my life — they would sell their own grandmother in a second.

I left a couple of months before the FBI came and shut down the place.

Madoff got years in prison, and these guys have gotten off easy — 22 months for Belfort, 39 months for Porush — for ripping off $200 million. I’m still going to see the movie. My parents want to go with me. I would hope people would try to keep some morality while still trying to achieve success — but I’m not sure the movie is going to show that. Just the wild ride.

I got to the point where I realized there was no way you could win. To this day, I still remember two clients’ names who lost all their money because of me. I think they’re dead now, but I did think about making amends. Now it’s too late.

It’s probably why I’m in the medical business now and I’m a physician’s assistant — to try to make up for that s- -t.

When I am giving back, I get a good feeling — I feel like I am absolving myself. But the guilt follows you a little bit, still.

Summary: When most people his age were still figuring out what they wanted to do for a living, Josh Shapiro had a clear-cut plan — make as much money as possible. So he did. In his early 20s, he was pulling…


Jun 27, 2016 12:27 PM EDT SciTech

By Elizabeth Howell / Space.com

In the new movie "Independence Day: Resurgence," now out in theaters, Earth will once again gear up for an epic fight with a hostile alien race. The premise will set up some awesome action sequences, but how realistic is the idea that if aliens were to visit Earth, their one goal would be to destroy us? What do the experts think?

Twenty years ago, the new movie's predecessor, "Independence Day," featured Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum cracking wise while using a computer virus (presumably written in an Earth-based computer language) to disable an alien ship and save humanity. In the new movie's timeline, Earth's nations have since created a huge, planetary-wide defense program to shield our planet, but it may not be enough to defend humanity when the aliens return.

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has said repeatedly that he's afraid of aliens wiping out the human race the way a human would wipe out a colony of ants. ['Independence Day: Resurgence' Trailer]

In 2015, Hawking co-launched an initiative called Breakthrough Listen, which will search for alien communication signals out in the cosmos, and eventually broadcast signals from the human race, with the goal of enabling communication across the universe.

"We don't know much about aliens, but we know about humans," Hawking said at the Breakthrough announcement. "If you look at history, contact between humans and less intelligent organisms have often been disastrous from their point of view, and encounters between civilizations with advanced versus primitive technologies have gone badly for the less advanced. A civilization reading one of our messages could be billions of years ahead of us. If so, they will be vastly more powerful, and may not see us as any more valuable than we see bacteria."

Alien invasions of Earth are nothing new in sci-fi. One of the most famous examples is "War of the Worlds," an H.G. Wells 19th-century classic that was adapted into a Tom Cruise movie in 2005. In that film, aliens inexplicably begin bursting from underneath city pavement to incinerate humans.

But some films portray aliens as benign, such as 1997's "Contact," based on a 1980s book written by Carl Sagan. A signal begins spouting prime numbers, which Jodie Foster's SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) team tries to decode. Their efforts at talking with the aliens turn a little strange, but there definitely is no invasion.

This hopeful view is something that science communicator Ann Druyan, Sagan's widow, shared at the Breakthrough event in 2015. (It's also the belief held by astronomer Jill Tarter, former director of the Center for SETI Research, whom Foster's character in "Contact" was based on.) Druyan is also involved in the Breakthrough initiative.

"We may get to a period in our future where we outgrow our evolutionary baggage and evolve to become less violent and shortsighted," Druyan said. "My hope is that extraterrestrial civilizations are not only more technologically proficient than we are but more aware of the rarity and preciousness of life in the cosmos."

Three spacecraft currently heading out of the solar system -- the Pioneer probe and the two Voyager probes -- contain maps that point the way back to Earth. And there continue to be initiatives to put messages for aliens on spacecraft. When the NASA New Horizons probe finishes its Pluto and possible Kuiper Belt work, some people are hoping to create a crowdsourced message for aliens to upload to its hard drive.

Some researchers, however, aren't sure it's such a good idea to shift SETI efforts from just listening to actually sending out signals -- a method some call "active SETI."

"Active SETI advocates broke with the conventional wisdom of the SETI pioneers, which was to listen but not transmit. This change may have been driven by the impatience of younger SETI people after 40 years of unsuccessful searches," Michael Michaud, author of the book "Contact with Alien Civilizations: Our Hopes and Fears About Encountering Extraterrestrials" (2007, Copernicus), said in a 2014 interview with Space.com.

"But active SETI is not science," added Michaud, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State. "It is an attempt to provoke a response from an alien society whose capabilities and intentions are not known to us."

But Earth's sheer distance from other civilizations might serve as a shield against aliens that don't exactly want us around.

Douglas Vakoch, director of interstellar-message composition at the SETI Institute, said in 2010, "Even if they tend to be hateful, awful folks, can they do us any harm at interstellar distances?"

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

Summary: What would happen if extraterrestrials visited Earth? Experts weigh in on the risks


"We have seen a significant uptake in demand for silver in recent days, both for coins and for 1,000 ounce bars," Mark O'Byrne, research director of bullion dealer GoldCore, said.

"Silver Maples are being snapped up by U.S. and Asian buyers as the premiums are lower than for silver Eagles. Silver Philharmonics continue to be popular in Europe as they too are cheaper than Eagles, with a similar premium to Maples."

Gold and silver Philharmonics are issued by the Austrian Mint, while the U.S. Mint issues American Eagle coins.

Demand for silver coins and bars accounted for more than a fifth of total demand in 2013, according to a report by the Silver Institute.

An ounce of gold is now about equal in price to 74 ounces of silver, the biggest spread between them since early 2009. Due to its greater affordability, silver sales tend to outstrip gold in volume terms and attract a lot more retail buyers.

"Supply of silver from some mints has been delayed," said Brian Lan, managing director of Singapore-based retailer GoldSilver Central.

Read MoreGold price drop? Chinese aren't rushing to buy

"Demand had not been great early this year, so they had reduced production capacity and manpower. When there was a spike, they were caught off guard," Lan said.

Most mints across the globe typically launch a new product lineup at the beginning of each year. They would not be sitting on big inventories towards the end of the year, and a ramp-up in production could take a while.

In September the Royal Canadian Mint started allocating, an industry term meaning rationing, its Maple Leaf silver coins in response to high demand, according to a spokesman.

With the allocation of silver coins in place, the mint continues to produce and take orders for 2014 coins with no anticipated halt in shipments, he said.

But retailers are already finding it hard to get hold of the mint's products as they sell out their existing stock.

"The premiums of silver Maple Leaf bullion are going to rise soon, because dealers cannot get their hands on the coins," said Scott Spitzer, chief operating officer at Manfra Tordella & Brookes, one of the largest U.S. coin wholesalers in New York.

Some Asian dealers said they had to pull Maple Leaf coins from their lineup until they get the mint's 2015 products.

Read MoreHere's the tragic irony of the gold bubble: Pro

In mid-April 2013, silver lost nearly a fifth of its value in two days, tracking a rout in gold, which prompted a rush to snap up both the metals at bargain prices.

But with the drop to four-year lows last week, demand for the two metals this time around has not been the same.

Demand for gold has picked up in Europe and the United States, but in Asia, the top gold-consuming region, the sort of buying frenzy that occurred last year has not taken place.

"(Silver) supply is not as bad as April 2013, but there is definitely more tightness in the chain," said Gregor Gregersen, a director at Singapore retailer Silver Bullion, adding that supply times were increasing.

The U.S. Mint is not allocating silver or gold at the moment. In June, the mint lifted a rationing of silver American Eagle coins that had been in place since January last year.

Read More9 reasons you may never use cash again

The U.S. Mint sold 1.4 million ounces of silver American Eagle coins on Friday alone, the highest daily sales since the new 2014-dated coins first became available on Jan. 13.

The Perth Mint, which runs the only gold refinery in No. 2 gold producer Australia, said it was not facing any supply issues. It usually launches a new line of products from September, unlike the other mints.

"We built up a lot of stock for those releases. So we have quite a few months worth of stock," said Neil Vance, wholesale manager at the Perth Mint.

"If this had been a different time of the year, it would have been a different story."

Summary: Tumble in silver prices has triggered a global scramble by consumers to purchase silver coins and bars.


It seems like hundreds of new iPhone apps pop up every week, but which ones should you bother trying? We explored the App Store and found some apps actually worth downloading.

Some clever folks over at Instagram realized they weren’t doing enough to help users make collages or photo montages right in the app, seceding those functions to a plethora of third-party apps. Enter Layout, which lets you tinker with your photos by putting them in a collage or mirror-flipping them for a variety of clever effects. You can then share the results on Instagram or anywhere else on the web.

Layout from Instagram is free in the App Store

If you’re looking for a far more sophisticated photo-editing app, then PICSPLAY 2 is a necessary download. The app is packed with high-quality editing tools optimized for mobile use. That means you’ll find tools that aren’t only pared down for smaller screens, but ones that work well via swipes rather than needing super-careful fingertip placements to operate. You can completely change a way a photo looks—adjust color, burn parts of the image, eliminate elements, resize and more. It takes some getting used to, but it’s worth learning.

PICSPLAY 2 is free in the App Store

It’s hard to tell which is the more appealing part of this app: that it offers you new exercises to include in your daily routine, or that it’s a gateway to the old school Atari games that you probably miss dearly. As you complete exercises, you earn experience points which then unlock different Atari games. Working out is just a small price to pay for access to the library of some of the greatest games of all time.

Atari Fit is free in the App Store

It’s total madness that in 2015 there are still moments when employers or landlords want you to fax documents — you might as well send files by carrier pigeon. Bring yourself into the digital age with Adobe Fill & Sign, which lets you scan paper documents or import files from your email inbox to fill out in the app. The files can then be sent electronically or, if you must, printed for snail mail.

Adobe Fill & Sign is free in the App Store

It’s hard not to be excited for the next Star Wars film — but for those of us eagerly awaiting December 18, this cheesy trading card app can tide you over nicely. The app brings back Star Wars trading cards in digital form, letting you collect your favorite characters and swap with friends. It reminds me of my younger days finding Star Wars pogs in bags of Doritos, which is a level of excitement nobody should miss out on.

Star Wars™: Card Trader is free in the App Store

Summary: Try Instagram's new collage-making app, Layout


Read more about the Apple Watch in this week’s TIME magazine.

The iPhone 6 was finally unveiled Tuesday during Apple’s highly anticipated product announcement. Tim Cook first unveiled the iPhone 6—featuring bigger screens, a digital wallet, better cameras, among other features—before unveiling the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch won’t be out until next year, but the iPhone 6 is coming this month.

Here are 10 things to know about the new iPhone:

There are two models: the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus.

The iPhone 6 is 4.7 inches diagonally and 6.9 mm wide. The iPhone 6 Plus is 5.5 inches diagonally and a bit thicker at 7.1 mm. The iPhone 6 has enough pixels to make it better than a 720p HD display, and the iPhone 6 Plus has a full 1080p HD display — that’s more than some next-generation gaming consoles. Both feature a new design with rounded edges for a seamless touch.

Apple Pay, a mobile payment system on the new iPhones, is trying to replace wallets.

In Apple’s first push into the payments game, the iPhone 6 is equipped with Apple Pay and a Near Field Communication (NFC) antenna that allows you to tap your phone against a sensor to make payments. Credit cards from participating companies—Visa, Mastercard and American Express—can be linked to your phone’s Passbook. Several merchants, like Disney, Chipotle and Seamless, have signed on with more to come.

On the security front, your card information is encrypted, and each transaction has a one-time payment number. So if you lose your phone, you can simply cancel its payments as opposed to the card itself. Apple also emphasized that neither the retailer nor Apple will know what you purchased, where you purchased it, or how much you paid.

Apple Pay will be available in the U.S. on Oct. 24.

The phones’ cameras are the most advanced iPhone cameras yet.

The iPhone 6 has an eight megapixel iSight camera, a 1.5µ pixel sensor and a ƒ/2.2 aperture lens. “That’s a nerdy way of saying, we’ve made the iSight camera a lot better,” according to Apple.

There’s an all-new feature called Focus Pixels that’ll help the iPhone cameras focus faster and better than ever. This means better video, and slow motion functions, too. You can even take “burst selfies,” with the iPhone 6 able to take up to 10 photos per second.

Battery life on the new iPhones is equal or better to the old models.

The iPhone 6’s battery life is roughly comparable to that of the iPhone 5: it features 10 more hours of audio, and four more hours of 3G talk. Both have standby battery lives of 10 days.

The iPhone 6 Plus, however, offers the best battery life of any iPhone to date. It has 80 hours of audio and 24 hours of 3G talk, and its standby battery life is 16 days.

The new phones have barometers to sense elevation.

The iPhone 6 has an air pressure sensor to tell you how high up you are. That will help it better record your fitness activity in that running a mile uphill will be adjusted to count more than running a mile on flat ground. This fitness data can be stored, accessed and analyzed in the iPhone’s new built-in Health app, a hub to record your health data and link third-party apps that also track your movements.

The iPhone 6 is much faster.

With 802.11ac Wi-Fi, the iPhone 6’s Wi-Fi speeds are up to three times faster than those of the iPhone 5s. The iPhone 6 also has faster LTE than the iPhone 5s, and it can make use of more frequency ranges than other iPhones, making for better roaming capabilities.

Landscape views on the new phones will now be compatible for Mail, Weather and even the Home screen. A second pane will appear in landscape for some apps, like Mail. Keyboards on landscape will also be modified to make typing easier: additional characters will be placed on the sides of the traditional keyboard so users don’t have to tap an extra button to access them.

A reachability function will allow you to continue to use the iPhone 6 with one hand.

A double tap of the Home button will make the top of the screen roll down, so people with shorter thumbs or smaller hands can still use the iPhone with only one hand. Double tap the Home button again, and the iPhone 6 returns to its normal configuration.

With two-year contracts, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus start at $199 and $299, respectively.

The 16GB, 64GB and 128 GB iPhone 6 cost $199, $299 and $399 respectively with two-year contracts. The 16GB, 64GB and 128GB iPhone 6 Plus cost $299, $399 and $499 respectively with two-year contracts. Both models come in gold, silver and space gray.

They’re on sale Sept. 19.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan on September 19. You can pre-order them starting Sept. 12. If you can’t wait, you can download iOS 8—the iPhone 6’s new operating system—for free on Sept. 17.

Summary: A design overhaul, digital payment system, camera improvements and more.


Uber’s early expansion leveraged some clever wordplay. By calling itself a “ride sharing” service, it conjured up images of neighbors hitching lifts to work. That kept regulators from recognizing it as a taxi service—at least until recently.

But where are the actual ride sharing services? You know—what folks used to call carpooling? Carpooling has declined in the U.S. for decades, but shouldn’t new technology make it easier to connect people who need rides with empty seats, for daily commutes or one-time trips?

Few American companies seem interested in trying.

There are plenty of peer-to-peer car rental services, like Getaround and Relayrides. And there are a handful of apps for managing existing private carpool groups. Zimride and Rideshark provide white-label support for college, corporate, and municipal carpool systems.

But the most visible public-access carpool-matching platform, Carma, only operates in a handful of U.S. cities, and only connects commuters, rather than those taking longer trips.

Contrast that with the France-based BlaBlaCar. BlaBlaCar is focused on intercity travel—connecting drivers headed from, say, Munich to Berlin, with riders who chip in for gas. Drivers and riders set up profiles on the BlaBlaCar website, then share or search for rides by destination, just as you’d search for a flight online. Afterwards, they review each other for everything from safety to personality.

BlaBlaCar, founded in 2006, has been phenomenally successful with this model. It now has 20 million user accounts, and provides about 4 million rides a month. It operates across Europe, in the U.K., and in Russia, India, and Mexico. Since passengers are just sharing costs rather than hiring a driver, trips are dirt cheap—starting at around 20 Euros for that Munich to Berlin ride, or 400 rupees (about USD $6) to get from Mumbai to Pune.

BlaBlaCar takes 10% of each transaction, which adds up to enough to support 12 global offices and around 350 employees, and to attract some serious capital. The company closed a $100 million round in 2014, and its backers include Accel Partners (which also funded Facebook and Dropbox), and Index Ventures.

But according to COO Nicolas Brusson, the BlaBlaCar has no plans to expand into the U.S. And Carma has been extremely measured in broadening their service. Carma co-founder Paul Steinberg characterizes his company as “kind of like a pseudo-government agency,” only rolling out in partnership with local authorities.

Carpool-matching platforms have the same regulatory protections stateside and in Europe. The 2012 Highway Act set standards for what it called “carpools, and real-time ridesharing projects” (see what Uber did there?). When riders compensate drivers only for the costs of gas and wear, drivers don’t need additional insurance or any commercial licensing.

Brusson says the main obstacle in the American market is that driving is just too cheap. With gas and other costs half to one-third what they are in Europe, he says, “the pure incentive on the driver’s side [to pick up carpoolers] is not as strong.”

Americans also have far more options than those in Latin American and Asian markets, where BlaBlaCar is focusing near-term expansion efforts. “Those are areas where the transportation between cities is pretty deficient,” says Brusson, with less developed public transit and less affordable flights. BlaBlaCar’s role in developing countries could be compared to that of cell phones in countries without landlines, enabling them to leapfrog capital-intensive infrastructure development.

So maybe, whatever the environmental benefits, the U.S. doesn’t need real peer-to-peer ridesharing. But in the long term, it might be missing out on something bigger. The data BlaBlaCar is gathering is unique—tens of millions of reviews and ratings of ordinary people, written by other ordinary people who have spent hours in a car with them.

“They end up talking or chatting,” says Brusson. “If you read the reviews, you realize it’s not really about the car or the ride, it’s about the driver or the passenger.”

That kind of detailed, intimate perspective has few parallels. Airbnb and eBay were once peer-to-peer facilitators, but both have shifted in a more commercial direction. Brusson says that the strict regulatory rate caps make it impossible for BlaBlaCar to make a similar turn.

That data is helping BlaBlaCar grow—the more reviews, the more people are willing to take a ride with a stranger. But it also opens the door for other trust-based initiatives. Brusson says BlaBlaCar is piloting partnerships with insurers who want better driver data, and might soon roll out peer-to-peer delivery. That would make two more good ideas without traction in the U.S.

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Summary: Compared to the rest of the world, Americans don't have many options for carpooling. That means missing out on some great data.


In a victory for Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, the City Council is backing off reform measures that would have required cops to identify themselves to suspects they stop while also informing them of their right to refuse being searched.

Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito notified her members at a closed-door meeting Thursday that the bills were being tabled.

Instead, she said the NYPD would develop new rules internally. But they won’t carry the force of law.

The long-stalled measures were tabled at the behest of Mayor de Blasio, even though sources said there is more than enough support in the council to pass them. Bratton has long opposed the bills.

The move left many council members fuming.

“Is Bill Bratton running the city, or the mayor?” one angry council member asked.

In a statement Tuesday, de Blasio said he has “taken clear steps to reduce unnecessary arrests and strengthen our officers’ relationship with the community.”

Separately Tuesday, a council committee passed three other bills to tighten oversight of the NYPD. Two would require the department to publish quarterly reports documenting cop encounters with civilians where force is used.

Another bill would require the department to report the number of officers in each precinct who’ve had two or more CCRB complaints over the past three years, have been subjected to Internal Affairs investigations that led to suspensions the past five years, were found to use “excessive force” the past three years,” or were arrested the past 10 years for “police-related behavior.”

Summary: In a victory for Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, the City Council is backing off reform measures that would have required cops to identify themselves to suspects they stop while also informing th…


The article ''Space, the Dwindling Frontier'' [March 14] contained a few inaccuracies that should be clarified.

The article stated, ''The Town of North Hempstead has agreed to treat the Whitney estate as if it belonged to a charity, sparing the owners what would otherwise be an immense property tax bill in exchange for a guarantee that the family will not build on the property and that the town will get a two-year opportunity to arrange to buy the land if the Whitney family ever decides to sell.''

The Whitney estate, known as Greentree, is, in fact, currently owned and operated by Greentree Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in 1982 by Betsey Cushing Whitney. The Greentree Foundation has no intention to develop or sell the property, and is paying full property taxes at this time.

Since 2000, the foundation has been carrying out the wishes of the Whitney family by preserving the property and holding small meetings for international nonprofit organizations and local philanthropies devoted to the furtherance of peace, human rights and international cooperation. These meetings reflect well on Long Island's past and current contributions to the global decision-making process. In addition, they ensure the preservation of a historic American estate and the protection of an ecologically important portion of Long Island's dwindling frontier of open space.

Summary: Greentree Foundation president Richard Schaffer letter says Whitney Estate in North Hempstead, New York, which foundation owns, is not being sold or developed


When Chuck and Lynda Cohen decided this year to downsize from their four-bedroom Pacific Palisades home, they never imagined they'd end up in a trailer park. They also never imagined they would pay more than a million dollars for the privilege.

Multimillion-dollar properties are no rarity at Paradise Cove, the Malibu, Calif., mobile-home community where the couple, both retired from the film industry, this spring purchased a two-bedroom, 1,800-square-foot trailer for $1.25 million. Earlier this year, a trailer in the...

Summary: Mobile-home communities are attracting a new, wealthier buyer as prices soar in prime locations.


The California judge criticized for handing down what many saw as a too-light sentence for a former Stanford student convicted of sexual assault has received threats against him and his family, an official familiar with the calls said.

The judge, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky, on Thursday sentenced 20-year-old Brock Turner to six months in prison and three years’ probation for raping an unconscious woman outside a frat party last year. He will also have to register as a sex offender for life.

Since the sentence and the resulting furor online and elsewhere, “more than a handful” of anonymous callers have phoned court staff with insulting or threatening messages, said Gary Goodman, a deputy public defender with the county.

“A lot of them are extremely rude and are just horrible and horrific … I hope you die and your family gets raped, things of that nature,” Goodman said. “You’ve got to be out of your mind to talk that way.”

An FBI official said the agency was aware of the calls but had no immediate comment Tuesday. Any investigation would likely begin at the state and local level, law enforcement officials said.

A spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office had no immediate comment.

The sentence in the Brock case inspired a wave of criticism online, and a petition to recall Persky had more than 480,000 signatures as of Tuesday night. The petition has no effect, but a separate recall effort is also underway.

The victim in the case, only identified as “Emily Doe,” wrote a moving letter in which she addressed her attacker: “My independence, natural joy, gentleness, and steady lifestyle I had been enjoying became distorted beyond recognition. I became closed off, angry, self-deprecating, tired, irritable, empty.”

“While you worry about your shattered reputation, I refrigerated spoons every night so when I woke up, and my eyes were puffy from crying, I would hold the spoons to my eyes to lessen the swelling so that I could see,” she wrote.

Outrage was further stoked when a letter of support from Turner’s father that referred to the sexual assault as “20 minutes of action” was posted online. The father, Dan Turner, later said he chose his words poorly.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen said Brock should have gotten more prison time and said “the punishment does not fit the crime.”

But Rosen said Monday he does not believe the judge should be removed.

Turner was convicted in March of three felonies related to the sexual assault. He could have been sentenced to more than a dozen years in prison.

Turner was a star swimmer at Stanford and was once an Olympic hopeful. Some critics have suggested that Persky’s background as a student athlete at Stanford may have led to his leniency in the case.

Goodman, who had no involvement in the Turner case, defended Persky as a “lovely, well-thought, excellent jurist” who followed sentencing rules.

“Judges cannot be afraid to do what they feel is just because of fears of threats to themselves and their families,” Goodman said. “We cannot have that. That is not who we are as a country.”

Summary: Since the sentence and the resulting furor, "more than a handful" of anonymous callers have phoned court staff with insulting or threatening messages


Beyoncé may not have released any new music (yet), but the news that she is launching a fashion line was enough to get her fans buzzing on Thursday. The collection, dubbed IVY PARK, includes more than 200 pieces of activewear and will be available at Net-a-Porter, Topshop and Nordstrom on April 14, according to Elle.

The “Formation” singer made the announcement by posting the above video on WeAreIvyPark‘s YouTube channel and a photo of herself rocking a onesie from the line on her Instagram account. The brand’s website — which features instrumental snippets of what seem to be unreleased songs — is now live.

Read More: Beyonce, Jay Z and Blue Ivy Attend White House Easter Egg Roll

And if that wasn’t already enough to get the Beyhive excited, a rare interview with Queen B — in which she discusses “freedom, feminism and how her new fashion line helps women love their bodies” — will be featured in Elle’s May Women in Music issue.

Summary: It's called IVY PARK


Whether dining at home, on a trip to the cinema or out for dinner, remember: There’s a Beer for That.

From pale ales to Pilsners and sours to stouts, there’s never been a better time to enjoy Britain’s national drink. When it comes to quality, versatility and diversity, the huge choice of beers, brewed with the best natural ingredients, is unrivalled.

Do you know what kind of glass brings the best out of a pilsner, or how to choose the perfect ale for a barbecued burger? One great way to start learning about the rich variety of beers is with a taster kit. The HonestBrew case includes six hand-selected craft beers, glassware for each style, and a tasting guide, plus 12 surprise beers to enjoy.

That’s not all you get in this beer lovers dream hamper – there is also a £20 Restaurant Choice gift card that can be redeemed in more than 3,000 restaurants.

And if you’re going out for a great meal, why not take in a film? The £30 Cineworld voucher should help there.

If you really want to go all out, one lucky hamper will also include a gift token for a two-night stay in a pub, worth up to £100 a night from Stay in a Pub – the website that helps you find and book rooms in pubs across the country.

Finally, if you’d rather explore the flavours of beer at home with food, friends and something great on the telly, the hamper also includes a Now TV Smart Box with a three-month subscription.

Don't worry if you don't scoop the top prize: the eight runner-up hampers contain the same goodies, apart from the Stay in a Pub token.

To be in with a chance of winning this amazing hamper, simply enter your details below by midnight on Sunday 11 December 2016.

Please note: you must be aged 18 or over to enter this prize draw.

The Stay in a Pub website www.stayinapub.co.uk lists more than 1,500 pubs with rooms, from the Scottish Highlands to the tip of Cornwall, and from Norfolk to west Wales. There is a pub for everyone and every overnight occasion.

Summary: For your chance to win a hamper that shows just how varied beer can be, enter this prize draw