I say, be bold, not bland. Bravely venture into new and exciting fashion choices, even when on the job. Why? Because you should dress to impress, not to depress, dear readers. Not sure how to proceed? Check out these stellar style tips from Amy, and morph Casual Friday into Fashionable Friday!

* Choose pieces that while appropriate for the office environment, still allow you to express your individualism.
* Mix up suit separates to keep things interesting and versatile.
* Even if your work requires a fairly conservative look, don’t be afraid to play it up with layers and colors.
* Wearing a suit does not mean you have to look boring – mix it up with different hues or a sophisticated vest.

We’re pretty sure being dressed to kill increases workplace productivity. Just don’t take any fashion hints from Meredith of Dunder Mifflin…

In this video from ExerciseTV, personal trainer and fitness “it girl” Zen Gray walks you through a list of fitnes fashion faux-pas to be avoided – after all, the point of going to the gym is to work out, tone up and feel awesome about yourself!

Zen Gray’s Fitness Fashion No-No’s:

1. Legwarmers: while they may look cool (FAME nostalgia, anyone?), legwarmers may actually cause you great discomfort when burning calories at the gym. Please, ladies – save these for your dance classes or for the next Eighties revival.

2. Bling: Ditch the chunky bling and clanky metals when hitting the gym for a workout. Intricate and dangly jewelry can get caught on your clothes or towel, or even worse, the machinery you’re using for your workout. The best accessory for working out? A bottle of water – it’ll keep you cool, too.

3. Perfume: Remember Pepe Le Pew? You don’t want to smell like him when you work out. Spare yourself (and other gym-goers) the unpleasantness of scents gone wrong, and ditch your perfume when heading to your local fitness center. Instead, opt for a lightweight deodorant which will keep you dry and comfortable.

4. A Hole in One: Sweats or workout garments that have holes anywhere near the crotch are probably a bad idea, not to mention one awkward fashion statement. Leave these at home, folks!

5. Sweaty T: Heading to the gym? Leave your sweaty tee at home, or better yet – toss it! Look for lightweight cottons and “smart fabrics” meant for working out and breaking a sweat in.

6. Make Up Madness: If you’re going to the gym with the intent of doing more than watching, don’t paint on a perfect face before leaving the house! You’ll end up a drippy mess, not to mention nothing is sexy about clogged pores.

7. Too-Short Shorts: Shorts are a hot item and provide freedom of movement when working out, but please – if your shorts expose more bum than a buff bod, leave them at home. What works for Kylie on the dance floor was not necessarily meant to pump iron in.

But did you know there are plenty of other Google tips, tricks and shortcuts which could potentially save you time and money, help you better plan your day and potentially save your life? Below, 5min Partner PCWizKid, who was recently honored as a 2009 Microsoft MVP, shares some of the best Google tricks up his sleeve to help you make the most of the search engine that changed the world:

1. Define It: Even without a dictionary, Google can definitely help you avoid ending up befuddled, by allowing you to easily look up words and their meanings – for example, try typing in define: befuddled.

2. Calculate It: Got to crunch those numbers, but don’t have a calculator on hand? Sure, you could use the fairly basic calculator functions found in most computers, but why bother? Just type in a formula, no matter how complex, and get the answers you need.

3. Convert it: Need to know how much it’ll cost you to order smashing new threads from your fave Japanese shop? Don’t worry your pretty little head – just turn to Google, and use the calculator in order to convert your local currency into the Japanese yen. How awesome is that?! Aside from calculating how much money you’ll really be blowing online, you can also calculate weight and size conversions, to make sure you’re ordering the correct sizes.

4. Clock it: Got news you can’t wait to share with your friends or colleagues who happen to be stationed in another hemisphere? No problem! Simply type in time and the name of the city where your friends are, and find out if it’s still a socially acceptable hour to phone or Skype them.

5. Watch it: Want to catch a matinee on your day off, but got lots of other errands to run? Plan your day wisely by finding out the local showtimes for the movie of your choice. by typing the movie’s name and your postal code and hitting “Search”, you’ll be able to check out local listings and movie showtimes in your area.

Got a Tech SOS? Be sure to check out more tech tips, tricks and tutorials from PCWizKid here on 5min, and follow PCWizKid on Twitter!

The Food Network goes behind this triangle-shaped wonder, and gives you the low-down on how candy corn was originally created by the Goelitz Brothers Candy Company, and gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how candy corn is made, along with Bill Kelley, President of Goelitz and a fourth-generation candymaker.

Did You Know? Top 5 Candy Corn Trivia Tidbits:

1. Thank goodness for mass production: In 1900, the Goelitz Brothers Candy Company, later known as the Jelly Belly Candy Company (yes, the same awesome folks are responsible for Jelly Belly, too!), started mass-producing the candy. However, due to the relatively primitive machinery of those days, it was only available seasonally from March to November. Its recipe has remained unchanged throughout the years.

2. Sweeter than you think: A cup of candy corn actually contains fewer calories than a cup of raisins. If that’s not good enough to soothe away post-Halloween sugar-induced guilt, I don’t know what is.

3. Layered, not stirred: Candy corn is actually made by using molded layers, with orange as the first layer, yellow as the second layer and white as the third. Next time you wish to eat your candy according to hierarchy, keep this fun fact in mind.

4. Corn-colored holiday: Candy corn was even rewarded with a holiday of its own, with October 30th marking National Candy Corn Day.

5. The secret ingredient: Part of what helps candy corn retain its unique texture and mouth-watering taste? Marshmallows. We swear!

Happy Halloween,

The 5min Team

For those of you who are still here, leash in hand, listen up: sure, there is nothing cuter than a lovable pup dressed up as a pirate, or cats with miscellaneous objects placed on their heads for the sake of LOLZ and entertainment, but there are rules even to randomness. Namely, rules meant to keep both you and your four-legged friends safe, healthy and happy.
While a few years ago I would not have considered taking any canines with me to a ghoulish Halloween party, since adopting the cutest bulldog on the planet (forgive me for my brutal and biased honesty, Taurus and Fondue), I can hardly think of going anywhere without Gus, least of all anything as fun as a costume party.

If you are considering letting your pet tag along with you on your costumed activities, you should do your best to make sure your pet is safe and comfortable throughout the evening. If your dog barely allows you to casually slip a collar on him, they may not be too thrilled about having their vision clouded by a sequin-adorned mask or a pirate hat. While Gus may look tough, I know there are certain safety guidelines to stick to, as should you – which is why we decided to bring you our top 5 Halloween safety tips for pets:

1. Don’t leave your costumed pet unattended: Pet costumes and accessories can snag or get stuck on something, leaving your pet panicked and in danger. Keep in mind that your pet is probably not as accustomed to being clothed as you are, and that they may try to wiggle out or chew their way out of their costumes, which can lead to choking or suffocation. Keep your canine pal near you at all times when donning a costume, in order to ensure a safe and happy Halloween.

2. Comfort before costumes: While an extravagant costume may win you a lot of attention while walking your dog, be sure that whatever costume you choose does not limit your pet’s ability to see, move freely, breathe, or drink water as needed. Be sure to avoid any flammable materials that may be hazardous in case of fire or an emergency. Ditch any costumes or accessories that may put pressure on your pet’s delicate parts, constrain their movement or make breathing difficult – it’s just not worth it, no matter how cute the pics you’ll be snapping.

3. Keep the candy out of reach: While you may have a sweet tooth and your dentist to take care of any collateral damages as a result of Halloween, remember that your dog was not really intended to live on a diet of candy corn and chocolate bars. Chocolate contains an alkaloid called theobromine, which causes an adverse reaction in dogs, and can be fatal if consumed in even relatively small amounts.

4. Identification is key: with the constant flow of party-goers and Trick-or-Treaters, your dog may become stressed and try to bolt, or may be tempted to run away when the door is left open. Be sure to keep an eye on your pet at all times, particularly if they are not used to such commotion, and be sure to attach proper identification to their collar in case they do make a run for it. Remember that unknown visitors may disturb your dog’s sense of comfort and lead him outside – if your dog is not accustomed to people dropping by, perhaps it’s best to put them in a part of the house where they will remain undisturbed for the evening.

5. Take out the trash and extinguish fires: Curious as they are, dogs will usually hurry to explore, sniff and even try and eat any leftovers from the holiday festivities. Be sure to properly store away or dispose of any streamers, hazardous decoration, electrical lighting wires, candy wrappers and alcohol containers, as none of these items are good news for an over-excited dog. Remember to put any lit candles out of reach, especially if your dog has a tail which can knock these over and accidentally start a fire in your home.

Happy Halloween from the 5min Team!

One of my fondest Halloween memories was when in sixth grade, I was given quite a simple chore – to keep an eye out on the kid sister while doing the neighborhood candy-looting rounds with my friends. At some point, we’d decided to take a detour from our carefully mapped route (planned in great detail according to which houses we knew for a fact were inhabited by parents who shelled out the dough for the higher-end candies and treats), and brave a visit to a local haunted house. Pretty tame for us sixth graders, but quite a traumatizing event for tender Kid Sister, who was spooked out of her shell by a well-meaning neighbor dressed up in full-on Egyptian mummy garb. So sure, it was all toilet paper and masking tape, but this brings to mind an important point – it’s the thought that counts!

With an armful of toilet paper, plastic spiders, fake eyeballs, some white sheets and a ton of DIY spirit, you can easily give visitors the willies with your very own haunted house, as demonstrated in this video from Fine Living Network.

Thanks to the fabulous Meg Allan Cole and the Threadbanger posse, you can now recreate all the spooky tension so often identified with Hitchcock, right in your own home – and right on time for Halloween! Just remember, you DIY-loving kids – use fake birds only. We mean it!

Thanks to HotHardware.com, I encountered the NVIDIA Ion Small Form Factor PC Platform – a palm-sized mini PC, which while not designed in Cupertino to the best of my knowledge, still offers some pretty heavy-duty performance: utilizing Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor with support from NVIDIA’s GeForce 9400M core logic MCP with 16 integrated GeForce graphics cores (can we say, WOW?!), NVIDIA’s Ion is set to blow many a desktop PC out of the water. Factor in the full HD video hardware power and DX10 gaming support, and I’m a happy camper. NVIDIA claims the ION platform to be the “world’s smallest fully-capable PC” – and although the Mac Mini has a place of honor in my living room, looks like with these kind of claims and with moderate pricing, it’ll be hard to stay away from the ION when it’s time to shop around for a new computer to add to my entertainment lab. Check it out below, and let your mind be blown away:

Gamers will be thrilled with the Ion platform’s power and portability, while video fanatics will benefit from top-of-the-line video transcoding performance. All in all, the bottom line is that with this tiny tech wonder, NVIDIA are not only raising the bar for smaller, modestly priced PC platforms, but are also rallying up their ammo for a serious fight against Intel – after ousting Intel’s chipsets from Apple’s new range of notebooks, it’s pretty clear where the battle is headed. In the meantime – and please keep this in mind when it’s time shop around for holiday gifts – this sleek little baby seems to scream, “make me your home media center!”

While the academic school year has already started, it’s never too late to shop around for the gear you’re still missing – or even better, guilt your family into some heavy gadget-gifting. Below is are list of top 5 must-haves for you college students:

1. MacBook Pro
College kids will usually prefer ultra-portable laptops in order to be able to lug their humble student office everywhere they go, whether it’s a friend’s dorm room, the library, classes or a friendly off-campus cafe. Now, really, what could be better than schlepping a Mac?! Macs offer students high performance, ease of use and some fairly light-to-carry options in terms of weight. While smaller netbooks offer even greater portability, you can’t beat a Mac when it comes to organizing your data, music, movies, and school work, while still leaving time and resources for the fun side of college, like capturing your dorm’s social happenings and editing them to perfection with iMovie. The longer battery life guarantees a surefire way to make it through long evenings in the library, while still keeping things green when it comes to energy efficiency. Not to mention that with their newest product range, the 13″ MacBook Pro is a pretty affordable choice, starting at $1,199 – and you get a student discount, of course!

2. Pico USB Flash Drive
Whether on campus or off campus, you’re only as good as the data you carry – if you crave the ultimate power of 32 gigabytes of storage without having a suspicious bulge in your pocket, look no further than the Pico USB Flash Drive – available at 8, 16 and 32 gigabytes, this thumb-sized baby is a true rescue tool for when you need your data with you. Just think of the possibilities – up to 20 whole days of musical jams, thousands of hi-res photos, or more than a dozen full-length movies ripped from your dorm buddies. So tiny, yet so powerful. We’re in awe.

3. Flip UltraHD Camcorder
A great way to squeeze more spending money from your parents is to let them know what your current dorm life looks like, preferably in video – empty boxes of ramen noodles, bowls of spoilt macaroni and cheese, the rats that are hiding underneath your bed, and so on. What better way to stage a sympathy-inducing homebrew video letter of your own to send to Mom and Dad, other than with this sleek, easy-to-use camcorder? Following up on an already stellar line of products, Flip now offers 120 minutes of recording time in vivid HD, 8 GB of built-in memory and pocket portability, with one of the slickest interfaces around. Next time your parents inquire as to what should go in your Christmas stocking or Hanukkah pile this year, just point them here.

4. Sony Playstation 3 Slim
For those days where you’re channeling more arcade than academia, you’ll need some playful distractions. I’d suggest the Nintendo DSi for pocket gaming (I’ve become a total addict!), but since you’re in a college dorm, you may want to be more social with your gaming time, and invite friends over for a tournament, so a “real” console is called for. With all the awesomeness of the original Sony PS3, the Slim version is a great option for student on the go, as this considerably slimmer console means ease of transfer from one gaming location to the next. Taking up over a third less space in your dorm room, this covers both your cinematic needs and gaming desires all in one piece, making it a value purchase for any dorm.

5. Olympus LS-11 Portable Audio Recorder
The best way to make sure you get all those juicy class notes and gain some real knowledge while you’re at school, without earning yourself a bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome? Record your lectures with a fervor! Almost archived as a gadget of the past, audio recorders are back ad sleeker than ever, like the Olympus LS-11. Offering 8 GB of storage, 20 hours of battery life and a clear, crisp sound quality, you can now use your class time to catch up on valuable sleeping hours, without missing a single academic beat.

Alternately, there were the fairly creepy basements I remember from growing up in very old homes in the Mid-West. Generally speaking, us kids were pretty much too terrified to venture down there, aside from the exceptional dare mission. But does that mean the very essence of a basement is to serve only zealous nerds and ghost-hunters? After having learned a thing or two from HGTV, I beg to differ.

Genevieve Gorder of HGTV’s hit show Dear Genevieve, is here to solve all of your basement woes, and help you whip all that dead space into a beautiful recreation room fit for sophisticated grownups.