Category: Viral

There are so many things we’re missing in this coronavirus pandemic. First dates, family reunions, heck even the mundane routine of heading into the office. Times of crisis change the world and as we’re learning in real time, often reveal a lot about people’s true nature.

The sad and disappointing stories continue to dominate the headlines and that’s understandable when there’s so much bad news going around the world right now and right here at home. But there are stories of selfless and inspiring behavior happening every day. And sometimes they come from a delicious steakhouse chain.

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Texas Roadhouse CEO Kent Taylor announced on Thursday that he is forgoing the rest of his 2020 salary and bonus and instead directing the funds toward paying his employees during the coronavirus outbreak. The remaining salary and bonus both amount to $525,000 each for a total of $1,050,000.

“Kent Taylor has always said that Texas Roadhouse is a People-company that just happens to serve great steaks. His donation of his salary and bonus to help employees is the embodiment of that saying,” a Texas Roadhouse spokesperson told The Hill. “We are blessed to have his leadership.”

The spokesperson also told The Hill that Taylor has already donated $5 million of his personal funds to Andy’s Outreach, a non-profit run by Texas Roadhouse to help employees in times of need.

Taylor’s charitable move has been earning his all kinds of praise online. As one commenter on Reddit put it:

“I’ve always loved the Texas Roadhouse for steaks, now I love them for more than just that. Kent you’re a hero, thank you!”

Photo by Enrique Macias on
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Like so many of America’s restaurants, Texas Roadhouse is staying open during the coronavirus, trying to find a way to make things work while also providing a valuable service to people who need food, can’t get to grocery stores or simply need a break with some comfort food delivered to their front door. The 500 store chain is offering delivery and curbside service. However, as with most restaurants nationwide, there’s little doubt that the demand for delivery and takeout is keeping pace with the normal amount of business done when the restaurant is fully open for business. Still, whatever income that is coming in makes a world of difference for companies like Texas Roadhouse, and more importantly, for the people they are able to keep on their payrolls.

“We are open for business and still serving America even though many of our dining rooms are temporarily closed,” Taylor said in statement pinned to the top of his company’s website. “As the President and other officials have stated, restaurants play a vital role in our nation’s food supply, and we are going to help fill the gap where and how we can.”

You may think interior design is easy, but creating the PERFECT room isn’t. Each of these rooms are perfect in their own way and would be difficult for just anyone to pull off. They combine the perfect locations, views, design and furniture to create a space that’s so amazing, it seems like it’s straight out of a catalog.No matter what you like, you’ll fall in love with at least one of these rooms.

You could read a book… or you could look out over a valley.

Binge watching Netflix just got a whole lot better.

Who needs another wall when you have the ocean?

I hope you like wood.

This house makes a Crate & Barrel feel jealous.

Now you can own a rainbow and put it on your wall.

Go for a swim or take a nap – it’s your choice. (Although this one seems a little dangerous.)

The ultimate log cabin den.

Why hello, beautiful night sky.

We need more pillows, stat.

Every dinner party should be in a room that looks like this.

There’s cozy… and then there’s THIS room.

This is the ultimate nook, you can literally use it for everything.

If you love movies or television, THIS room is for you.

I love the smell of books… and I ADORE this room. A bookworm’s paradise!

If you don’t mind your bedroom getting a little messy, this convenient shower is for you.

This is the best hangout spot for you and your friends and family.

It would be impossible to have a bad evening in a comfy room like this.

Open floor plans are cool…

But outdoor floor plans are even cooler.

Just looking at this room makes me feel relaxed.

Spending a lazy Sunday afternoon would be a dream here.

Things could get a little wild in this living room…

Be at one with Mother Nature in this open room.

Wake up, use the WATERSLIDE in the closet. Your day would officially be awesome.

This is a nook to end all nooks. You could take the perfect nap here.

Cool summer nights would look so much better from a glass room like this one.

It would be impossible to pass through this room and not stop to read.

Entertaining would be a breeze in this enormous, open room.

Why not sip your coffee in the mountains of Colombia?

Small rooms can be cool, too. Wow.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll feel like your interior design just isn’t the same now.

You’ll think you’re bring tricked, but these photos aren’t manipulated or faked… they are 100% real. Each of these jaw-dropping scenes were captured just as they exist. A mixture of perfect timing, optical illusions and just flat-out insane nature led to this gallery being created. All I can say is: woah.

1. This isn’t a teenager miraculously walking on water: actually, this is just a perfectly timed photo.

2. This isn’t a modern miracle of a man biking on water, either: actually, it’s just another person practicing the art of perfectly timed photos.

3. This isn’t a picture of a fox that got stretched out: actually, it’s a Maned Wolf and it seriously looks like that.

4. This isn’t a bad cut-and-paste job: actually, it’s a German magician who pulls public stunts like this.

5. This isn’t someone’s first attempt at using the Warp tool in Photoshop: actually, it’s a set of railroad tracks that were twisted after an earthquake in New Zealand.

6. This isn’t a super realistic, beautiful android: actually, it’s a real woman named the Human Barbie who had surgery to look this way.

7. This isn’t a joke photo of an airplane taking the highway: actually, it’s a photo of a plane landing at Liepzig airport as it crosses over the Autobahn.

8. This isn’t a man finding an interesting way to die: actually, it’s a stunt on a boat that’s meant to be on its side like that.

9. This isn’t someone’s lame attempt at faking a haunting: actually, when this lava emptied into the ocean it just happened to pop and steam in a spooky formation.

10. This isn’t a family photo of giants: actually, they were sitting on top of a mountain that blended in perfectly with the rock below.

11. This isn’t what an artist painted while on acid: actually, it’s an abstract tarp that was put on a building while it was under construction.

12. This picture of a forest wasn’t distorted: actually, there is a section of trees in Poland that grew like this because of extreme weather conditions.

13. This isn’t a picture of Cthulu awakening: actually, it’s just a massive wave at high tide with lots and lots of seaweed in it.

14. This isn’t a really bad Photoshop of a giant piece of pizza sitting on the Earth: actually, someone sent pizza into space. Seriously.

15. This isn’t an image of two cats squished together: actually, it’s Venus, a cat with rare chimera coloring. She is awesome.

17. No, the sky isn’t falling: actually, this is an art installation by Neil Dawson in New Zealand.

18. This isn’t a picture of a black hole: actually, it’s construction art that was created on a house that was scheduled to be knocked down.

19. This isn’t a giant Minecraft map: actually, it’s a section of cross waves, where waves of different directions meet each other.

20. This gymnast didn’t lose her head in a freak accident: actually, in mid-jump a picture was taken and her head was bent backwards.

21. This isn’t some weird photo editing of a billboard: actually, it exists just as you see it. Clever marketing win.

22. This isn’t what an artist thinks heaven looks like: actually, it’s a giant salt flat in Bolivia. The surface reflects and looks like a giant mirror.

23. This isn’t someone having fun with painting on existing photos: actually, it’s optical illusion art by Felice Varini.

24. This isn’t a Photoshopped version of a Mobius strip: actually, it’s a picture of normal Legos taken with a telecentric lens.

Sure, Photoshop is awesome, but it turns out that real life is even better.

Here in the U.S., we’re a couple of weeks into the strange new reality of coronavirus pandemic lockdown, and we’re all doing our best to adjust. Life as we know it has been completely thrown off, and what we know about this new reality changes by the day.

Good times, right?

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We all process information differently, especially during a crisis. Some of us want all the numbers and stats and first-hand stories. Some of us get freaked out by that much detail and just want an overview of what to do. Some avoid the news altogether because it makes us anxious, while others devour every article we can get our hands on because it makes us feel grounded.

Neither way is wrong, but personally, I’m an information junkie. In general, I feel comforted knowing exactly what’s happening and having all of the facts. I never saw this as a problem—until this pandemic hit.

When life was “normal,” I would choose a subject to dive into, drink my fill of info, and move on. When something major happened, I might consume a bit more.

But with the coronavirus pandemic, it’s different. I feel like I’m constantly thirsty for more information, yet being hit with a firehouse of it at the same time. It’s a lot. Too much, really.

Coronavirus and everything that goes along with it is all anyone is talking about right now. It’s all news outlets are reporting on, and that’s probably how it should be. The world is literally on hold, which makes everything unrelated to the pandemic irrelevant, at least for the immediate time being.

We’ve never seen a global pandemic in our lifetimes. And as crises go, it’s kind of weird. Unlike a sudden natural disaster or event like 9/11, this is a slow, continually evolving emergency. It’s required us to take extreme action before it felt necessary. It’s forced us to all get on the same page quickly and then just…wait.

Waiting while being locked down at home is a good way to stay physically healthy, but it’s a mentally dangerous scenario for us information junkies. It’s easy to spend hours a day on the internet, which is currently a 24/7 immersion of coronavirus content and conversation.

Not only are we living in this pandemic, we are consuming it, all day, every day. And there’s no way that can be healthy. It’s going to take its toll on all of us.

Even outside of my work as a writer, where I’m immersed in media all day long, I find it hard to pull away from the news. I can feel it wearing on me, but I also feel like I have a moral duty to pay rapt attention to it. I feel like I owe it to the people on the front lines to know what they’re dealing with, like I can’t just turn a blind eye to the people who are suffering through this more than I am, like I should at least watch the ship go down if I can’t do anything to stop it.

But that right there—the truth that we can’t do anything more than what we’re already doing—is the key to letting go of the need to constantly stay informed. I’m already holed up at home. I’m already social distancing. I’m already practicing good hand hygiene. I’m already following all of the directives from local, state, and federal authorities. If my devouring news could actually save a life, it would be justified. But it can’t.

And this is a long game—likely a very long game. For the sake of our mental and emotional health, we have to disconnect from all of this sometimes. Even us info junkies. Nothing is healthy in excess, and right now it’s far too easy to be excessive with our information load. And that’s only going to get worse as more cases are confirmed, more areas get hit hard, and more people we know and love are affected.

So our family has decided that one day per week we will have a coronavirus-free day. No news. No stat checking. No looking at Twitter or Facebook, even briefly. One day to shut it all off. One day to do anything and everything except watch, read, or talk about anything having to do with coronavirus. At least for as long as we can.

Disconnecting won’t make any of this go away, obviously, and we still have the constant reminder of not being able to go places we’d normally go and see people we’d normally see. But at least we can step out of the information firehose and take a much-needed deep breath once a week.

It’s okay to take a break from the news, from the stats, from the stories, and from the coronavirus in general. Give yourself permission to step away from it.

I promise, it’ll still be here tomorrow.

One of the suggestions from the pandemic playbook the National Security Council completed under the Obama administration, which was tossed aside by the Trump administration in favor of other approaches, was having a “single federal spokesperson” to address the American people’s concerns.

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Instead, during daily White House press briefings, we’ve been treated to a revolving parade of politicians, cabinet members, medical experts, and even big business CEOs, each of whom all tell us slightly different—or sometimes drastically different—things. One of the primary players is Dr. Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease expert who has advised six presidents. By far the most experienced and knowledgeable of everyone we’ve seen speak on the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Fauci has become a universally respected hero, beloved for his calm but clear explanation of what we are currently facing.

I can’t count how many people I’ve seen lament on social media that we don’t have press briefings just with Dr. Fauci. He’s the voice we want and need, and the White House would be wise to keep him front and center at all times as we battle this outbreak.

Alas, that’s not going to happen, but we now have something even better. Trevor Noah and Dr. Fauci together. I couldn’t dream of a more reassuring combo. Noah interviewed Dr. Fauci and let him answer questions without interrupting him. He asked smart, helpful questions that we all want answers to, like “What makes coronavirus different from other infectious diseases we’ve seen?” and “What are people not understanding from the numbers?” He stayed away from politics, which was wise, and let Dr. Fauci speak to the things he’s an expert in.

If we could just have Trevor Noah represent the press and Dr. Fauci be the single pandemic spokesperson during the daily White House briefings, that would bring a much needed competence and calm to this whole pandemic situation. Can we go ahead and make that happen, please?

Dr. Fauci Answers Trevor’s Questions About Coronavirus | The Daily Social Distancing Show

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The COVID-19 virus is a serious threat to the world’s health. But there are also many issues facing those that remain healthy during the crisis, mainly the psychological effects of social distancing.

Humans are social beings. That’s why we punish people through imprisonment and the reason that socially-isolated people have a higher mortality rate.

So if you’re feeling depressed or distressed during lockdown it’s important to know that it’s normal and there are ways to improve your sense of well-being.

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“Isolation, physical distancing, the closure of schools and workplaces are challenges that affect us, and it is natural to feel stress, anxiety, fear and loneliness at this time,” Hans Kulge, the director of the European branch of the World Health Organization said.

“It is essential to address the public mental health of people during the following weeks,” Kluge added.

The stress of isolation can be so debilitating it can be difficult to cope.

Bloomberg journalist Peter Martin has been socially isolated in China without a housemate for two months and his family is overseas. So, as someone who has more than a few weeks of experience being on lockdown, he took to Twitter to share some helpful tips to stay sane.

Rebecca Dolgin of Psycom says there are a few groups that are more likely to have a hard time social distancing, young adults (16 to 24), women, people with a history of psychological illness, healthcare workers, and those who have one child.

Dolgin also says that fear, anxiety, depression, boredom, anger, frustration, and irritability are all common reactions to social isolation. “The further you are from engaging with others and feeling a connection, the more of an impact it will have,” Dr. Adam Kaplin, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, writes.

Dolgin says that we can maintain our psychological well-being by acknowledging what’s happening and that it is stressful. She also says it’s important to stay in contact with loved ones, even if it’s just through social media and real-time video chat programs such as Facetime.

Like Martin, Dolgin also agrees that we should all manage our news consumption.

“Being informed doesn’t require you to act like you’re a newsroom producer,” Dolgin writes. “It’s okay to set a few times a day where you’ll check in for updates.”

Dyson revolutionized the vacuum, air purifier, and hand dryer worlds, and now it’s revolutionizing the global pandemic world we’re currently living in.

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The need for more ventilators to treat the respiratory illness COVID-19 is increasing quickly as the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the globe. We’ve seen stories of doctors in Italian hospitals who have to choose who gets a ventilator and who is left to die. We’re beginning to see hospitals in New York get overburdened, and we’re just at the beginning of the outbreak here.

The U.K. government approached Dyson to ask if they could help with medical equipment 10 days ago, and the innovative company has already come up with a new design for a ventilator specific to the current needs. Called “The CoVent,” the ventilator doesn’t take long to make, it attaches to a hospital bed, and it can be battery-operated. That’s especially important for use in field hospitals, such as the one the Army is building in Century Link field in Seattle.

Dyson plans to make the 10,000 ordered from the U.K., and also donate 5,000 additional ventilators—1,000 to the U.K. and the rest to other countries who need them.

James Dyson, the company’s founder, sent this letter to his employees, describing how the design came about and what the plans for it are:

“Hospitals are the frontline in the war against Covid-19, where heroic doctors, nurses, and care workers are battling to save lives and help people recover from this terrible virus. As with any battle, there are many challenges to overcome, not least the availability of essential equipment which in this case means ventilators. A ventilator supports a patient who is no longer able to maintain their own airways but sadly there is currently a significant shortage, both in the UK and other countries around the world.

Since I received a call from Boris Johnson ten days ago, we have refocused resources at Dyson, and worked with TTP, The Technology Partnership, to design and build an entirely new ventilator, The CoVent. This new device can be manufactured quickly, efficiently and at volume. It is designed to address the specific clinical needs of Covid-19 patients, and it is suited to a variety of clinical settings. The core challenge was how to design and deliver a new, sophisticated medical product in volume and in an extremely short space of time. The race is now on to get it into production.

The Dyson Digital motor sits at the heart of the new device and the motor’s design is optimised to have a very high level of intrinsic safety, making it particularly well-suited for industrial, high volume production. The device is designed to achieve a high quality air supply to ensure its safety and effectiveness, drawing on our air purifier expertise which delivers high-quality filtration in high-volume products.

Ventilators are a regulated product so Dyson and TTP will be working with the MHRA and the Government to ensure that the product and the manufacturing process is approved. We have received an initial order of 10,000 units from the UK Government which we will supply on an open-book basis. We are also looking at ways of making it available internationally.

I am proud of what Dyson engineers and our partners at TTP have achieved. I am eager to see this new device in production and in hospitals as soon as possible. This is clearly a time of grave international crisis, I will therefore donate 5,000 units to the international effort, 1,000 of which will go to the United Kingdom.

We will keep you updated with our progress.”

Well done, Dyson. Smart people solving big problems in real time is exactly what the world needs more of right now.

James Dyson designed a new ventilator in 10 days. He’s making 15,000 for the pandemic fight

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“Scooby Doo” and “Scream” actor Matthew Lillard shared a touching video on Twitter of his neighbors throwing a surprise parade for Coco, a girl who just underwent her final chemotherapy treatment.

“People may need some goodness right now,” the 50-year-old actor said in the tweet.

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Even though the community was on lockdown for the coronavirus they still came out and supported Coco from their cars and in front of their homes.

And mission accomplished, Matthew Lillard. This is just what the Internet needed right now. Coco’s mom even chimed in, offering to help others going through similar situations with their families right now:

One of the best things about human beings is that we can still find humor in the midst of a crisis. In fact, humor becomes even more important during tough times, since joy and laughter can help connect us and keep us calm.

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Since our normal entertainment venues are a bit hampered at the moment, people are fishing in the collective archives and pulling out tidbits of timeless hilarity. One clip that’s currently making the rounds is a rap video from the “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” from 2014. Can you picture NBC’s buttoned-up news anchors Brian Williams and Lester Holt performing Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” together? (Or rapping anything at all?)

Prepare to be amazed by what you’re about to witness. Whoever was behind the editing of this brilliant piece deserves an Oscar. Seriously.

Enjoy:

Rapper’s Delight – Brian Williams

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And if you want a few more laughs, check out this interview Fallon did with Brian Williams after his rapping video went viral. Who’d have guessed Williams had such a dry wit?! (Seriously, how did I miss this the first time around? So funny.)

Brian Williams Addresses His Rapping — Part 1

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Brian Williams Addresses His Rapping — Part 2

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Want to inject a little joy into your day?

Meet Kobe, the tiniest chef you’ve ever seen, and perhaps the most adorable.

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Our audience on Instagram is loving this TikTok video of Kobe making a fancy dinner of asparagus, macaroni and cheese, and grilled steak. So. Stinking. Cute.

Can you even stand it?

Kobe has his own Instagram account, where his parents share his culinary adventures, and each video is cuter than the last. The little dude can’t even talk yet, but he clearly enjoys cooking. He makes it look so fun and satisfying, it almost makes me want to cook. And I hate cooking.

The little red chef’s had just puts the adorableness over the top, doesn’t it? And there’s just something about those tiny little sausage fingers grabbing chopped up veggies and tossing them into a pan.

I do catch myself worrying that he’s going to accidentally touch a pan and burn himself, but mom and dad appear to have it under control. And kudos to them for including Kobe in their daily doings. That’s how wee ones learn best.

Mom and dad also have to have enormous patience and flexibility to make this happen. After all, a baby isn’t going to measure things out perfectly, and sometimes he’s going to put things where they don’t belong. But again, this is how kids learn, and it’s a joy to watch.

Bon appetit, Kobe! Thanks for keeping us entertained while we’re holed up at home.