In a city known more for clogged expressways and crowded beaches than it is for its pedestrians, designer Julie Kim is determined to challenge the public perception that no one takes public transit in L.A.

So, she placed a coffee table — one of her commissioned designs, the Hammock Coffee Table — at a bus stop on a busy Koreatown corner. Then she secretly shot footage of people's reactions to the table, topped with a newspaper and vase of flowers.

"The video aims to challenge the perception that no one walks or uses public transit in Los Angeles, while also romanticizing a sometimes forgotten corner in the City," Kim wrote on her blog.

After only eight minutes of filming, Kim was surprised at the response to her table.

"The number and variety of people milling about—workers, kids, the elderly, of every ethnic group—surprised me," she told GOOD. "I thought I'd have to shoot for at least an hour to capture anything worthwhile."

"People wait for a while at these stops, 15 to 20 minutes,"

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There are small towns, and then there's Buford.

By definition, Buford is the smallest — or at least tied for smallest — town in the world. It has one resident, 60-year-old Don Sammons.

Buford is also the highest town in elevation on Interstate 80, sitting at a height 8,000 feet.

While the town hasn't always been this empty, it's never been large. Founded in 1866, railway workers once made up a population of nearly 2,000. Like many railway towns, "Buford nearly withered away," 9news reports.

Sammons moved to the tiny town in 1980 with his wife and son. Now a widowed empty-nester, the popular self-titled "Mayor of Buford" runs the town's only store, the Buford Trading Post, which draws an impressive 1,000 customers daily.

"I get so many people by the end of the day, it's nice to just have some quiet time when I get home," Sammons told 9news. "For a population of one, there's a lot going on."

"I don't know what's going to happen when I decide to retire," Sammons told NBC.

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Happy are those who work from home. And it's not just because they can spend all day in pyjamas.

A recent study found that telecommuters' overall job satisfaction was higher than that of their office-bound peers and were more productive and less stressed than those working a 9-to-5 outside of the home.

"Results reveal that high-intensity telecommuters are more satisfied than office-based employees and achieve significant benefits from their work arrangement, with work-life conflict most influential toward job satisfaction," the study, 
"Why Teleworkers Are More Satisfied with Their Jobs Than Office-Based Workers," summarized.

The study out of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Northwestern University wanted to look at how interaction and connection with coworkers contributed to job satisfaction. Despite missing out on the water-cooler chit-chat or group coffee breaks, telecommuters thrived.

"This study proves that personal interaction, rather than being beneficial, can actually

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A smiley displays on a speed check machine.In a world where speed cameras and traffic calming devices are getting on drivers' nerves  everywhere, an experiment in Scotland has shown that they needn't be such a pain.

South Lanarkshire has 226 Vehicle Activated Speed (VAS) signs that reward drivers who drive under the speed limit with a smiley face.

Those who drive above the speed limit are met with a sad face.

It's a simple concept and one that appears to be paying off. Since implementing the personalized smiley feedback to drivers, speeding in the area has decreased by 53 per cent.

It looks like no one wants to make the sign sad.

"It's a basic rule of human behaviour that we enjoy making people happy and prefer to avoid making them sad...but it may still surprise you how effective a reward a smile can be," creative planner Matt Sadler writes.

The smiley SID (Speed Indication Displays) "provides a non-confrontational warning to drivers, warning them of their speed via an LED display and putting social pressure on them to

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Seven-year-old aspiring author Evan Moss has taken a battle with epilepsy into his own hands by publishing his first book.

Evan had his first seizure when he was just one month old. The little boy was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis (TSC) and epilepsy. By the time he was 4, he was having 300 to 400 seizures a month.

To give Evan his independence as he grows older, his parents determined that a seizure dog — a trained canine able to warn them if Evan starts to have a seizure — would be a strategic addition to their family. The only problem: a seizure dog from 4 Paws for Ability costs $13,000 (USD).

"My Seizure Dog," written and illustrated by Evan, "tells the sweet story of what Evan expects the relationship with his seizure dog to be like." The book's revenue will help fund Evan's dog's training and care.

On the family's website, Evan's mom, Lisa, writes:

"At the beginning of the school year he said he wanted to be a famous author when he grows up. I guess at 7 years old he

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A vacationing family returned home with a whale of a tale after rescuing Valentina — a humpback whale caught in a dire situation.

Michael Fishbach, co-founder of The Great Whale Conservancy, was with family and friends, photographing whales in the sea of Cortez when they came across a young one tangled in a fish net.

Immobilized and appearing to be dead, Valentina had little chance of survival without Fishbach's team.

After the group managed to free the whale from the net, she showed her appreciation with over 40 breaches, a show of "joy, if not thanks."

Michael Fishbach narrates the incredible rescue:

Incidentaly, Valentina was named for the day her life was saved — Valentine's Day of 2011.

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Robb Fischle is living his childhood dream working at a place most kids only get to visit on vacation.

On July 17th, 1955, Disneyland Park opened in Anaheim, Calif., and little Robb Fischle was there.

He was with the first group of children to run through Sleeping Beauty Castle. You can spot him in the checkered shirt (behind the boy wearing glasses) near the centre of the following picture.
 
Children run through the Disneyland grounds on opening day, July 17, 1955.

Fifty-five years later, Fischle is still spending his days at the "happiest place on earth" — he's been working at Disneyland as a security officer since 1972.

On the park's 50th anniversary, Fischle reflected on his boyhood obsession with the park's construction — he'd watch "Disneyland" on TV, eagerly awaiting park-development updates — and the excitement of opening day. 
 



Click here to view the interview with Fischle.

(Photos courtesy of Disney)

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A U.S. surgeon traded her bedside manner for bedside matrimonial vows earlier this month when she and her husband tied the knot in a hospital.

On July 9th, Dr. Taryn Bragg, a pediatric surgeon at American Family Children's Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, married attorney Josh Bowland.

The couple held their wedding at the hospital so that Bragg's young patients could celebrate with them.

Bragg, who treats children with brain tumours, congenital malformations, cerebral palsy and other ailments, personally visited the young patients who were unable to leave their hospital rooms for the party.

"They are like my own kids," Bragg told the Wisconsin State Journal. "My goal is to make kids happy and healthy and to help them live the lives they were meant to live. This is exactly what I wanted. They are a part of my life, and they are a part of my happiness. That's what today was all about."

Their wedding was the first to be held at the children's hospital. In lieu of gifts, the couple

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