Hasta La Gadget!

Whether it’s a revamped corner of New York or an up-and-coming Midwest town, it seems like there’s always a new “hip” neighborhood or “it” city to visit. Which had us thinking about the coolest cities to visit right now.

After much map-scouring and a sprinkle of savvy, here are our conclusions:

1. Kansas City is THE place to be.

Get to the Green Lady Lounge for some jazz, eat awesome BBQ at Q39, and don’t forget to check out the historic City Market. The food is amazing, nearly everything is affordable, and the people are nice.

2. It seems like everyone’s moving to Richmond.

Richmond has one of the best neighborhoods for millennials, but we also love it for its old-timey charm. Stay in the Jefferson Hotel, plan a visit to the HogsHead Cafe for some smokin’ BBQ, and check out one of the many beautiful college campuses located nearby. BONUS: Richmond is now officially recognizing Sept. 17 as “Foo Fighters Day RVA.”

3. Charlotte is the new Atlanta.

Atlanta has reigned supreme as the major Southern city to visit for pretty much ever, but Charlotte is quickly catching up. With the addition of the new BB&T Ballpark, a buzzing nightlife scene geared toward professional singles AND the return of the original Hornets team name, Charlotte is lookin’ good.

4. San Diego is the new Silicon Valley.

Forbes placed San Diego at the top of its “Best Places to Launch a Startup in 2014,” but we’ve included it on our least since we’re in need of some extended sunshine. Venture to Balboa Park to check out a museum or go for a whirl on the carousel, then head over to the historic Gaslamp Quarter for some awesome shopping. San Diego also has 70 miles of perfect coastline, so feel free to skip the shops and soak up some sun instead.

5. And Minneapolis is the new… everything.

It may feel strange to to put “hipster” and “Minneapolis” in the same sentence, but the city is becoming trendier by the second. Between Minneapolis’ awesome music scene, wealth of vintage stores and pro teams in pretty much every league, there is literally something for everyone.

The world of pancakes is vast, and not just in the chocolate chip to Double Stuf Oreo way. We’re talking about international pancakes (not to be confused with IHOP), because pancakes are popular in almost every country across the globe. Of course, they’re all made differently; in France, for instance, pancakes are thin and filled with sugar and lemon… we love them for this. In other countries they are drizzled with sweetened condensed milk — a must-try classic dish from Thailand. But everywhere, they’re delicious.

On September 26, also known as International Pancake Day, we thought it fitting to introduce you to the global world of pancakes. Because even if you’re a big fan of a tall stack of buttermilk pancakes, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give the Austrian Kaiserschmarrn a try. (Psst, they use so much butter in their pancakes — it’s glorious.)

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This week we saw some of Hollywood’s most stylish stars really trip up on the red carpet. And it made us very sad.

Sarah Jessica Parker, arguably the most fashionable girl around, picked a gown that was all wrong for her small figure, while Chloe Grace Moretz added a bizarre embellishment to her ensemble, landing them both on the worst-dressed list.

Check out our least favorite outfits of the week and let us know if you agree with our picks.

Sarah Jessica Parker

We want to love this dress, but it’s just too overwhelming on Parker’s petite frame. The loud pattern, mixed with the extremely long hemline and flowy skirt, makes it look like the “Sex and the City” star is drowning in her clothes.

Chloe Grace Moretz

Moretz is usually a staple on our best-dressed list, but not this week. Her short frock would have been lovely had she not added that weird black bandeau. It looks like a last-minute addition that is completely throwing off the outfit.

Hilary Duff

Duff took a fashion risk, and it’s not paying off. Between the short, strapless leather dress, the cut-out and the metallic ruffle, there’s a lot going on. The fit is also odd. This outfit may have been intended for someone with a slightly smaller bust.

Heidi Klum

We’re not sure if Klum is wearing a mid-century corset or one of the failed looks from “Project Runway.” Either way, that weird stomach contraption doesn’t belong on the red carpet.

Rosario Dawson

This high-fashion dress belongs in an editorial, not in real life. It’s so avant-garde and fashion-forward, it is wearing the actress and not the other way around.

Morena Baccarin

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong here. On the runway the dress was stunning, but on the “Homeland” star it seems a little dowdy. The long sleeves combined with the long hemline are reading matronly and even those sheer black panels aren’t helping matters.

Karolina Kurkova

For some reason, this dress reminds us of Big Bird. The world just may not be ready for those sleeves.

There was a little rumor going around that brown rice couldn’t be prepared properly in a rice cooker. Rice cookers are beloved for their simple settings, their multifunctions (you can bake a cake in there) and easy one-pot clean up. But killjoys say the countertop machine isn’t adept at cooking brown rice. They complain the rice is too hard, half-cooked or, in the worst case, still raw in a pot of lukewarm water.

Even though brown rice and white rice are the same grain, they do cook differently. White rice is stripped of its bran layer and the germ, while brown rice has both in tact. This is why brown rice tends to be crunchier, and ostensibly, takes longer to cook.

Rice cookers aren’t machines for the elite — you can find them for under $20. They tend to have two settings — “cook” and “warm” — and, in that sense, are not terribly high-tech. But there are fancier cookers on the market that boast abilities beyond the conventional kind. One from Zojirushi has a “brown rice” option, among many others.

To see if the brown rice setting made any difference (and if brown rice could cook successfully in a rice cooker at all) we matched up two appliances: the Cuisinart Electric Rice Cooker (4-cups) and the Zojirushi Rice Cooker (5.5 cups).

We cooked a cup of short-grain brown rice in each machine by following the instructions in the individual manuals. There were a couple of key differences.

It took 30 minutes for the rice to cook in the less expensive Cuisinart machine. This cooker has the two “warm” or “cook” settings and is uncomplicated. It made a subtle “click” sound when the rice was ready, as the switch light turned to “warm.” The rice was average — we had no complaints. Since this machine worked faster, we tested this rice first and thought it tasted just like normal, brown rice. It had a little al dente feel that we didn’t mind, and was slightly browned on the bottom of the pan (but didn’t stick).

It took 80 minutes for the Zojirushi machine to cook the rice. At first, after playing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” the machine displayed 110 minutes — which is way, way too many minutes to wait for rice. Then, at 35 minutes remaining, the timer went down to 5 minutes. The sudden decrease was confusing — not a helpful feature for anyone attempting to time their dinner prep. The machine played another, less identifiable song to signify that the rice was cooked. The rice under the lid was incredibly soft — almost buttery — but not mushy. It was creamy to the point of a sticky rice comparison. This was the better rice of the two, undoubtedly.

To secure an absolute verdict is tough, but the bottom line is that you do not need a specialty rice cooker for brown rice. Cuisinart wins the rice game in process and in price, but Zojirushi produces the perfect brown rice (albeit, with a couple of bumps and songs along the road). Still, we don’t know if the more expensive version is worth it — we’re not so particular about our rice. If you’re wont to make brown rice a couple of times a week, you could justify shelling out a little extra dough.

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To say Google’s had problems in Europe would be an understatement. If it’s not been battling fines over its illegal WiFi snooping or trying to handle people’s rights to be forgotten, it’s faced numerous sanctions over its privacy policies. In a bid…