Cool

Oh, Internet, (you will) never change (which is why Twitter is a terrible bigot den). Last night, 24-year-old Nina Davuluri was crowned Miss America, and one of her first duties is to “visit the recently burned New Jersey boardwalk in Seaside Park.” That’s unfortunately not the story, though, — it’s that Davuluri is an Indian-American and “born in New York with parents from India” means nothing to the: "DERRR MORE LIKE MISS TAXI DRIVER" dolts out there. Here’s but a brief, infuriating smattering of the reception she’s received.

Volvo is no stranger to insane, dangerous stunts involving its trucks. But this stunt, designed to show off the sensitivity of the steering wheel, is crazy even by their standards. Namely, putting a hamster in charge of some poor sucker’s life. Really, Volvo’s engineers say it best. Notice that, in the opening, everybody involved is clearly stone sober, despite this obviously being conceived in a drunken haze. Apparently the Swedish just do stuff like this for fun.

They say that the only permanent thing in the world is change. History books are one way to understand the passage of time, but there are also some real-life monuments that speak of the past in their own ways. While some of these monuments are well taken care of and protected, those that are partially or even completely run-down often are the most interesting. Here’s a selection of some of the most ghostly abandoned places around the world, every single one of which has its own special charm. Beneath all the dust, rust and cracks, there are stories of people who used to live, pray, or take their daily train rides there, and when you try to imagine these people and their lives, each picture gets a special aura of nostalgia. It’s as if the people in these places just picked up and left. On the other hand, it’s also fascinating to see how some things that used to belong to people are slowly being reclaimed by nature again. You might also remember Finnish photographer Kai Fagerström and his pictures of how wild animals were taking over abandoned houses in the woods of Finland. That’s just the natural circle of life and existence – and it sure makes for some awesome shots! Don’t these pictures just give you goose bumps?