In the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., President Barack Obama, various lawmakers and the National Rifle Association have been the driving forces on an increasingly loud public debate on what measures should be taken to prevent against future mass shootings.

Obama last week announced a gun violence task force and outlined proposals he supports on new gun control legislation: a renewed ban on assault-style weapons, limits on high-capacity magazines, and an end to the so-called "gun show loophole" on background checks.

The NRA has pushed back on the call for new gun legislation, calling for armed officers in schools and more of a focus on mental health. Well-known Republican pollster Frank Lutz slammed the NRA in response, calling the organization "out of touch" with its proposals.  

Are they out of touch? Like everything else, Americans are divided along party, ideological, gender and racial and socioeconomic lines on the subject of gun control, according to years of polling on the subject. But some of America's agreements might surprise you. 

The 1999 Columbine, Colo., massacre briefly pushed support toward "controlling gun ownership" up 8 points to 65 percent of Americans.

Source: Pew Research Center

In the last 12 years, though, there has been a rapid rise in support for gun rights. After the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., more people support protecting rights of gun ownership than controlling it.

But after Newtown, 49 percent now think it's more important to control gun ownership, compared with 42 percent that think it's more important to protect gun rights.

Source: Pew Research Center

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iPhones are great at doing basic things like making phone calls, sending text messages, and checking emails. 

But did you know that they can do so much more to automate our lives and make tasks easier?

If you got a new iPhone for the holidays, here are some essential tips and tricks to get you started.

By the way, most of these tricks will also work on your new iPad too!

If you have an iPhone 5, know how to turn LTE off to save battery.

This tip will save some battery life when you're in a pinch.

Start by going to settings, next head to general, and finally tap cellular. The second option is a toggle for "Enable LTE." When you need to save some battery and can spare internet speed, switch this option off.

Lock your phone's screen orientation

To lock your screen orientation, double tap the home button and swipe to the right. You'll see a gray circle opposite the rewind button.

Tap that one time and a lock will appear. Now when you turn your phone sideways the orientation will stay put.

Set an alphanumeric passcode

Setting an alpha numeric password can add an extra layer of protection to your phone. 

To enable, first head to Settings.

Next, tap general, navigate to the middle of the page, and select passcode lock.

Turn "Simple Passcode" off and you will be prompted to enter your alpha numeric password.

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Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner warns that the U.S. will reach the statutory debt limit on Monday, December 31, reports Bloomberg.

This was communicated in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

This timeline is basically in line with expectations.

Geithner writes that the Treasury will take extraordinary measures to make $200 billion of room under the limit, which should last two months in "normal circumstances."

In the previous debate over the debt ceiling, the Treasury also announced it would take similar extraordinary measures.

None of this is coming out of the blue.  Nevertheless, it reminds everyone that this is another problem that the U.S. needs to deal with.

Here's the first page of the letter.

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This post originally appeared on Oyster.com.

Winter may be firmly upon us now in the Northeast, but that doesn’t mean we have to write off warm weather entirely.

The Caribbean isn’t too far away (especially for us East Coasters), and some island hotels are featuring wonderfully affordable rates this time of year. You may have to forgo a few luxuries to stay on budget, but designer toiletries are highly overrated, right?

So pack your bags and get ready to hit the beach for a few days — or a few weeks! Oyster has the skinny on the Caribbean’s best value stays.

Rockhouse Hotel, Jamaica

The Rockhouse Hotel is a lush, laid-back Jamaican resort offering gourmet dining, morning yoga, a premium spa, and best of all, a gorgeous cliff-side location on Negril‘s coast.

Sure, there’s no fitness center and rooms lack TVs and Wi-Fi, but its unplugged vibe is just why some guests come. Plus, with rates usually falling below $200, it’s a steal compared to similar resorts — such as the slightly chicer Caves — in the area. (NB: Children under 12 are not allowed on the property.)

Tropicana Aruba Resort & Casino

This Aruba resort has some great features, including rooms equipped with kitchenettes, two great pools (one with a 150-foot waterslide and the other with a waterfall), a state-of-the-art gym, and five lighted tennis courts.

Room décor at the Tropicana Aruba Resort & Casino is outdated — picture tile floors and sad floral curtains — and the beach is a 10-minute walk away, but it’s hard to complain when the price is this cheap.

Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach, Dominican Republic

Quality food, oceanfront bungalows, beachside canopy beds – heck, there are even free trapeze lessons! – all come together to make this 600-room resort in the D.R. an excellent value. And hey, the sexy, 80-percent Italian clientele doesn’t hurt, either.

There are some minor cleanliness issues at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach, such as debris in the pool, but the beach has some of the softest sand and clearest water on the island.

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For scientists, an answer to a question, or solution to a problem, is not true until proven so.

And sometimes that means revealing what mere mortals already knew, like, say the fact that getting to the hospital quicker can save heart-attack victims, or, the seemingly far-fetched idea that exercise is good for you.

Here are a few of the most obvious findings of 2012.

Good partners make good parents.

Perhaps not the most shocking news in the world: Marry a good, secure partner, and you can expect them to become a good, secure parent.

The same skills that make people good in romantic relationships make them good at building relationships with their kids, researchers reported Dec. 6 in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Among the key traits are cooperation and communication. [10 Scientific Tips for Raising Happy Kids]

While this may seem self-evident, researchers say that empirically linking the same skills to the two types of relationships may translate to better self-help and therapy. Fix one relationship, and you may fix them both.

We all want to date a hottie.

Sure, you may say you look for a good sense of humor and a sweet disposition, but deep down, you have to admit a pretty face wouldn't go amiss.

Both men and women unconsciously desire a sexually attractive partner, a study released in January found.

Using a high-speed word association test, the researchers found that people responded faster to words linked to sexiness, no matter how low they claimed to prioritize the physical. The mismatch between what we say we want and what we want may be why online dating meet-ups sometimes go astray, the researchers said.

Pre-gamers drink more.

Do the math: If you drink before you go out and then drink while you go out, you end up drinking more than if you hadn't had anything to drink before you went out. In other words, those who "pre-game" get drunker than those who just belly up to the bar, according to research published online in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

"Pre-drinking is a pernicious drinking pattern that is likely to lead people to cumulate two normal drinking occasions — one off-premise followed by one on-premise — and generally results in excessive alcohol consumption," study researcher Florian Labhart of Addiction Switzerland, where the study was conducted, said in a statement. "Excessive consumption and adverse consequences are not simply related to the type of people who pre-drink, but rather to the practice of pre-drinking itself."

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Owning a car for many years can be considered a sign of brand loyalty. The car is well made, or perhaps it retains its value better than other vehicles.

Each of those factors should help the reputation of the car maker.

On the other hand, the longer a customer owns a car, the longer before he or she trades it in for a new one — which is what makes the manufacturer money.

Jump ahead for the cars >

Does the length of a car ownership really cut both ways? Not really, according to an analysis by 24/7 Wall St. The relationship between the length of car ownership and loyalty is weak at best.

Based on data provided by Edmunds.com, 24/7 Wall St. examined the 30 largest brands sold in the United States measured by unit volume to find the average length of car ownership for each make. The brands people hold for long periods have several characteristics in common.

Most sell very few units and therefore have a small market share. Jaguar owners hold their cars for seven years, but in a good month the brand sells just 1,000 units. Similarly, Volvo and Mitsubishi— also high on our list for years of ownership — sell around 4,000 units per month.

In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Edmunds.com analyst Jeremy Acevedo explained that shrinking market share also plays a major role in the age of traded-in vehicles. In several cases, the fact that far fewer of these vehicles are being sold today means the average age of those vehicles is necessarily going to be older.

Sales of seven of the nine makes on our list declined by more than 20% between 2007 and 2011. Sales of Mitsubishi dropped by 38.6% during that period, while sales of Chrysler sank by nearly 60%.

Another common factor among these brands is the relatively older age of the car owners. Acevedo explained, “frequently, it’s just a prudent fiscal decision to hang on to your car for longer.”

It is likely that this decision is especially important for seniors because “driving is less of an imperative, if they’re retired they may not be driving around as much as younger drivers.”

While the national average age for car owners is 51, the average age of a Lincoln owner is 60. Of course, parent Ford would like to bring that down. Buick owners are not that much younger, at 59 years old. Jaguar, formerly owned by Ford, and Chrysler owners are about 55 years old.

Some correlations are clear but hard to explain. Surprisingly, longer ownership appeared to be related to lower vehicle quality. The ratings of six of the nine vehicles on our list were well below the industry average in the JD Power 2012 Vehicle Dependability Survey.

The study measures problems experienced during the past 12 months by original owners of three-year-old vehicles (2009 model-year). In fact, Chrysler, Dodge, Infiniti and Jaguar were at the very bottom of the list.

Perhaps as a result of poor vehicle quality, drivers who own vehicles for a long period often switch makes when the cars are traded in. While 49% of people who turned in cars in the United States traded them in for the same brand, owners of seven cars on our list did so less often, JD Power customer retention data show. Less than 40% of Buick, Dodge, Chrysler, Volvo and Jaguar owners traded in their cars for the same make.

Taken together, the data create a puzzle. That may be because the car brands that people have owned for six or seven years are very different from those same brands today. Volvo is very nearly gone altogether, having withered since it was sold by Ford. Virtually every car in the Lincoln line is different from the ones it made seven years ago. Chrysler and its Dodge division have a new owner, as does Jaguar. Many of these brands and their new parents have launched cars to bring in younger buyers.

Based on data provided by Edmunds.com, 24/7 Wall St. identified the nine car makes whose owners held them six years or more before trading them in, measured as of October 2012. We also reviewed year-over-year sales and market share data as of October 2012, as well as the average number of days vehicles are in dealer inventory before they are sold during September 2012, all provided by Edmunds.com.

And we considered the average age of car buyers by make from Polk, as well as customer retention and vehicle dependability data from JD Power and Associates.

9. Dodge

Average age when turned in: 6.00 years (tied for 8th highest)
Change from previous year: 9.2% (10th most)
Market share: 3.7% (8th highest)
Average buyer age: 50 years old

Drivers are keeping their Dodges longer than they previously did. The average age of a Dodge that was turned in last month was six years old, up from 5.5 years old in October 2011.

Sales of Dodge are also climbing. Chrysler, Dodge’s parent company, sold 40,611 Dodges in October, up from 33,734 in October 2011. Chrysler has been extensively promoting its new Dodge Dart, which went on sale in June and was Dodge’s first compact car since the Neon.

Although sales of the Dart were initially hurt because Dodge first shipped out cars with manual transmissions, sales of the Dart picked up by August. Customer retention for Dodge is just 21%, the third-lowest rate of all makes measured and well below the industry average of 49%.

8. Chrysler

Average age when turned in: 6.00 years (tied for 8th highest)
Change from previous year: 3.4% (12th least)
Market share: 2.0% (16th highest)
Average buyer age: 55 years old

In the past 12 months, Chrysler has sold just over 300,000 cars, trailing other Chrysler Group brands, such as Dodge and Jeep. The average age of a traded-in Chrysler vehicle in October 2012 was six years, up from 5.8 years in October 2011.

Chrysler vehicles are, according to J.D. Power and Associates, the least dependable vehicles of any major manufacturer, having the most mechanical problems per vehicles sold.

Chrysler tends to skew towards older consumers. The average owner of a Chrysler is 55-years old, the third-oldest among nonluxury makes.

7. Ford

Average age when turned in: 6.02 years
Change from previous year: 2.2% (9th least)
Market share: 14.9% (the highest)
Average buyer age: 52 years old

Ford owners hold on to their cars for an average of over six years before trading it in.

The make is the nation’s most popular, with a nearly 15% share of the American car market and over 162,000 car sales in October alone. As of September it took dealers an average of just 50 days to sell a Ford, below the industry average of 61 days.

Once Ford owners do trade in their models at the dealer, they are more likely than not to get another Ford.

In January, J.D. Power and Associates reported Ford had a 60% customer retention rate, tied with Honda Motor Co. Ltd. for the second highest among all makes behind Hyundai.

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Some believe the housing market is recovering.

But we should really be talking about housing markets.

While some cities are booming, other cities are showing signs of weakening.

According to Case-Shiller, the city with the worst 2012 has been Chicago.

Yesterday we learned the city has now seen at least two consecutive monthly declines.

Chicago's October foreclosure rate increased 3.6 percent from September and 18.6 percent from the same period one year ago, according to the Chicago Tribune's Mary-Ellen Podmolik.

What's going on here?

We took a tour of Ashburn, a working-class neighborhood on the city's southwest side, to get a ground-level view of what's happening. 

Ashburn boasts the city's highest foreclosure rate — 1 in 137 units is seeing bank action, according to RealtyTrac.

That's higher than parts of Southern California.

If you want to see the best case for why housing has not recovered, read on.

Ashburn is on the southwest side of the city. It was the site of the city's first-ever airport.

The largest private employer in the area is Kraft, which now runs this Nabisco baked goods factory.

When you get to Ashburn you don't see a Sunbelt-style ghost town, but rather a lower-middle-class enclave trying to hold on.

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The Atlantic's film critic picks the year's 10 best titles—and doles out some less-conventional awards.

A few boilerplate caveats: I saw a great many films this year, but by no means all of them.

See the best films of 2012 >

In particular, I missed a few documentaries that might well have made their way onto this list. It was also a very good year for film—the best, perhaps, since 2007—so a number of movies that could have made the list in weaker years ("Argo,""The Dark Knight Rises,""Life of Pi,""Les Miserables,""Skyfall," etc.) have instead been consigned to honorary mentions.

Finally, lists such as this one are inevitably silly, idiosyncratic things, and mine is no exception. So have at it. And after (or before!) you've gone through the slideshow of the best (ranked from one to 10), don't neglect the still-more-idiosyncratic-categories that follow.

10. 'Frankenweenie'

Not quite a kid's movie and not quite a grown-up one, Tim Burton's animated tale of a boy and his (reanimated) dog went largely unseen. Which is a shame, because it's his best film in nearly 20 years.

9. 'Amour'

In the past, I've taken strong exception to director Michael Haneke's cinema of extremity. But here he proceeds not from a horror-movie premise but from an all-too-common facet of modern senescence and mortality.

Be forewarned: You're unlikely to watch a more heartrending film this year, or any other.

8. 'The Cabin in the Woods'/'Seven Psychopaths'

I couldn’t quite bring myself to put either of these devilishly inventivegenre demolitions—by Drew Goddard and Martin McDonagh, respectively—on the list by itself. Together, though, I couldn’t bring myself not to.

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Everyone deserves a second chance.

And ex-criminals like Frank William Abagnale — the man who inspired 'Catch Me If You Can' — and rap mogul Jay-Z prove that anyone can turn their lives around if given the chance. 

We've compiled a list of 13 people — including a former Mafia member and a former target on FBI's Most Wanted list — with inspiring stories.

Former hacker Kevin Mitnick was on the FBI's Most Wanted list before launching his own security firm.

When Mitnick was 16, he hacked the computer system Digital Equipment Corporation and stole their software, reports Gerry Smith at The Huffington Post.

He was a fugitive for nearly three years before being arrested in 1995 and released in 2002. His new company, Mitnick Security, helps other companies discover security lapses in their systems. 

Georgia Durante was a getaway driver for the Mafia before starting a stunt-driving company.

At one time, she was known as the Kodak Summer Girl, but eventually the former model married into the Mafia and became a getaway driver. 

Since then, she's turned her life around by starting her own stunt driving company Performance Two that's created scenes for more than 100 movies. She's also published an autobiography, "The Company She Keeps."

Frank William Abagnale was a world-famous con man by age 21. Now he runs a fraud consulting company.

Between the ages of 16 and 21, Abagnale wrote $2.5 million in fraudulent checks and successfully posed as an airline pilot, doctor, lawyer and college professor. He was later apprehended by the French police and served five years in prison.

Abagnale was released early under the conditions that he'd work with the U.S. government. 

According to his firm's Web site, he works with consulting financial institutions, corporations, and law enforcement agencies on fraud and security. To date, he has serviced more than 14,000 companies. 

His story was made into the film "Catch Me If You Can," which was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.

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This has been a big year for Twitter. The platform saw its active user base rise to more than 200 million people. 

Jump ahead for the most memorable tweets of 2012 >

The 2012 presidential election became the most tweeted-about political event ever, with 20 million tweets.

The London Olympics generated more than 150 million tweets. 2012 even saw the invention of Twitter toilet paper.

And of course, it was on everyone's favorite fast-paced social network that so much of this year's news broke and played out, in bursts of 140 characters or less.

Here, a look back at some of the most memorable Twitter moments of 2012.

1. The deepest tweet

Just arrived at the ocean's deepest pt. Hitting bottom never felt so good. Can't wait to share what I'm seeing w/ you @deepchallenge

— James Cameron (@JimCameron) March 25, 2012

It wasn't enough for Titanic director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron to design a submarine. He then took it to the Earth's deepest point, the Mariana Trench.

When he got there, he let the world know with a tweet, "to the puzzlement of dozens of Twitter users who struggle to get a signal in an elevator or in their own apartments," notes Forrest Wickman at Slate.

Cameron's tweet was actually pre-written and sent from the surface by a friend once the director reached his goal, but his epic journey to the bottom of the ocean was nothing short of amazing. 

2. CNN speaks too soon

Supreme Court strikes down individual mandate portion of health care law. on.cnn.com/LvVRcK

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) June 28, 2012

Oops. What's that old saying? It's better to be right than first?

CNN learned that the hard way when they hastily and incorrectly reported that the Supreme Court had struck down the controversial individual mandate in President Obama's Affordable Care Act.

The mistake sparked an avalanche of criticism, and has been dubbed the modern-day version of the Chicago Tribune's infamous "Dewey Defeats Truman" headline. 

3. The NRA shows very poor timing

At approximately 12:30 am on July 20, James Holmes allegedly walked into a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. and opened fire, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others.

Seven hours later, the National Rifle Association, which either hadn't been reading the news or had its Twitter account set on autopilot, issued this controversial tweet polling gun-enthusiasts on their weekend plans.

"Yeah, just gonna mourn a bit. And you?" responded one offended user. The tweet, and subsequently the entire account, were deleted later that day. 

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There's a new, must-have app for my iPhone that's changed the way I use the device.

It's called Grokr, and I've been testing it for a few weeks now.

While some compared it to Google Now, a feature from Google for Android phones that anticipates what you might be searching for and delivers it automatically, Grokr is a bit different.

Grokr pegs itself as a personalized search and discovery app, which anticipates and recommends information. The app learns everything you like and prompts you with breaking news, trends, up-to-date traffic information, weather, sports scores, restaurant information, and pretty much anything else you would need.

When Google Now debuted earlier this year it took the virtual assistant world by storm. The new type of search was able to accurately predict what users wanted and tried to give it to us before we even asked. That's something Apple's Siri has trouble with.

Overall, I like Grokr and felt like it's a solid offering. As time goes on I hope the app adds even more useful features that will help me remember everything.

Grokr is free for iPhone and iPod touch.

First head to the App Store and search for "Grokr". It should be the first result. You'll know you've found it when you see the G icon. It's free.

After it's downloaded, tap to open.

Once you're finally inside you'll see the app landing page.

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NBA fashion became a big, big deal in 2012.

It started as a minor trend, with players sporadically wearing eye-searing pink pants or lens-less glasses. But in the playoffs it erupted into a full-fledged fashion war, with players trying to one-up each other at press conferences night after night.

Given the cyclical nature of trends, we probably won't see the same level of fashion daringness in 2013.

But for one year some of the best athletes to ever walk the Earth tried to dress as outrageously as possible, and it was glorious.

Here are the craziest looks.

Kobe wore a jacket with fur lapels to the Lakers-Knicks Christmas Day game

Nick Young whipped out his craziest look in the first round of the playoffs

Steve Nash earned his nickname, "Gatsby"

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GIFs have been absolutely huge in 2012. They've gone beyond documenting Mark Sanchez fails and the best 3 seconds of a YouTube video, to humorously characterizing some of the most important events of the year.

Think: Vikram Pandit's jettison from Citi, QE3 etc.

That said: Since looking back at news GIFs is like taking a walk down memory lane, we decided to compile a bunch of our favorites in the world of finance here with the help of our friends at #WheninFinance.

Some of these get the biggest news of the year, and some of them are just spot on GIFs about life on Wall Street. 

What 'consensus' means on Wall Street:

Source: When In Finance

How Nassim Taleb actually got the inspiration for The Black Swan:

Source:  M / 29 / MBA Candidate via When In Finance

How David Einhorn feels making a monster run in the million dollar One Drop Poker Tournament:

Source: When In Finance

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Nasty thunderstorms send most people running for shelter. Not Mitch Dobrowner. When bad weather starts brewing, the Long-Island born photographer goes chasing after it.

"Photographing a storm is something between a hybrid of shooting a landscape and shooting a sporting event," Dobrowner tell us.

See the super storms >

It's not just about paying attention to all the things that make a good photograph — exposure, composition, and focus. It's about having fun "while all hell is breaking loose around me," Dobrowner says of the biggest challenge he faces on the job.

Dobrowner started out by photographing landscapes of the American Southwest. It's during that time that he found himself going after storm systems because of the atmosphere and lighting that it created, he says.

He teamed up with experienced storm chase Roger Hill in 2009, who introduced him to Tornado Alley. That's where the most severe thunderstorms, known as supercells, are most common. Supercells produce strong bursts of hail, rainfall and wind, and often spawn tornadoes. They are powerful and unpredictable. 

On July 19, 2010, while tracking a monster hailstorm in Moorcroft, Wyoming, Dobrowner pulled off a dirt road to wait for the storm to come over the hills. He was able to squeeze in a few shots before the tables turned. The large cell began heading directly toward Dobrowner's location, sending the  photographer dashing back to his van.  

"We were being chased by the storm — instead of us chasing after it. We attempted to get out of its way, and though we eluded its core, the town of Moorcroft, Wyoming was not so lucky," Dobrowner says.

Head over to Dobrowner's website to see more of his work.

"Arm of God," Galacia, Kansas, 2009

"Barber Pole," Glendale, North Dakota, 2010

"Bear’s Claw," Moorcroft, Wyoming, 2010

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In one of its final client notes of 2012, Morgan Stanley's FX team, led by Hans Redeker, put together a quiz to see who really knows their market.

A few of the questions are economics-related.

Other questions test investors' knowledge about the actual physical currencies themselves – do you know the story behind the designs? How much is in circulation? And what happened to certain currencies when they became obsolete?

Test your knowledge with the following questions (and answers).

Thanks to Morgan Stanley for allowing us to feature this quiz.

1. The Danish central bank recently introduced negative policy rates. The only other monetary authority to have done this was in:

(A) Switzerland

(B) Sweden

(C) The Ottoman Empire

(D) Japan

And the answer is...

(B) Sweden

MS FX: While negative rates are attributed to the Swiss in the 1970s, they actually taxed foreign-held CHF deposits. Sweden introduced marginal negative rates in 2009 to stimulate private spending – unsuccessfully.

2. The Native American portrait that is the “head” on the Buffalo nickel (in circulation 1913-1938) is a portrait of:

(A) Black Diamond

(B) Sitting Bull

(C) The Statue of Liberty with an Indian headdress

(D) None of the above

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The Petersen Automotive Museum on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles has been open since 1994, but it was not until this month that the public had access to its most interesting part: "the vault."

Below the galleries, the vault is a parking lot the size of a football field, where the museum stores its amazing collection of 150 cars with no fanfare.

For the first time, the Petersen is offering tours of the collection to the public, the LA Times reported— but only until January 6.

For those who won't make it to Los Angeles before tours end, here's a small sampling of some of the best vehicles, from Steve McQueen's motorcycle to the Shah of Iran's Bugatti.

There are no velvet ropes or signs describing the cars; the Vault is really for storage.

It is normally closed to the public and only accessible to museum staff and VIP visitors.

This Bugatti once belonged to the Shah of Iran.

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A meme is a video, image, or idea that spreads over the Internet.

For example, "Gangnam Style" is a meme with multiple layers as the song, music video, and dance went viral across the Internet.

Know Your Meme, a website dedicated to researching and documenting Internet memes and viral phenomena, declared "Gangnam Style" its best meme of 2012. 

"Gangnam Style became a global hit, despite its language barrier, mainly because of the music video, particularly the horse dance and the dress code that hardly need a lot of explanation,"Know Your Meme editor Brad Kim tells us.

In a matter of months, "Gangnam Style" became YouTube's most watched video ever, and everyone with Internet access learned how to do the cheesy horse dance.

As 2012 winds down, let's take a look back at our favorite memes of the year.

12. Sinister Josh Romney

During the second presidential debate, Josh Romney -- Mitt's second oldest son -- was caught on camera giving Barack Obama the death stare.

11. Dangling Boris Johnson

London Mayor Boris Johnson tested out a zip line in preparation for the Summer Olympics.

Problem was, Johnson stalled on the zip line and was left dangling above a crowd of spectators and media.

Shortly after Johnson's zip line adventure, everyone on the Internet utilized their Photoshop skills to dangle Boris Johnson in ridiculous situations.

10. Sh!t People Say

It all started with "Sh!t Girls Say," a video poking fun at oft-used phrases said by girls. 

From "Sh!t Asian Girls Say" to "Sh!t Gay Guys Say," the meme grew as more and more people made their own versions of the parody video.

Watch the 10 best '"Sh!t People Say" Videos HERE >

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The final week of the NFL's regular season means the championship week in your fantasy football league.

In the final week of the fantasy playoffs, we've done our best to pick the players who should be included in your championship roster and who we think you should leave off it.

The advice is based on standard 10-team leagues.

START: Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys Quarterback at WSH

Romo has been hot lately, throwing for 300 yards and two or more touchdowns in four of his last five games.

He's been the major reason the Cowboys are still in the playoff race and he gets a favorable matchup this week to try and usher Dallas into the divisional round. Washington is the third-worst pass defense in the league, giving up 288 yards through the air per game.

SIT: Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback vs. BAL

Dalton has struggled down the stretch of the season, throwing three touchdowns to five interceptions in the last five weeks. And he's struggled against Baltimore throughout his short career. Dalton has thrown just one touchdown and been picked off four times against the Ravens in three career starts against them.

START: LaSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles Running Back at NYG

McCoy came back last week and showed exactly why he's so dangerous. He only ran for 45 yards, but the real damage came through the air where McCoy made nine catches for 77 yards.

The Giants have given up close to 500 yards on the ground in their last three games and have always struggled to bottle up McCoy.

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The weight loss industry is rigged with budget traps and health gimmicks at every turn, but there's no reason to put your finances at risk for a healthier lifestyle.

Just go back to basics.

That means skipping the flashy new workout equipment, sky-high gym membership and splurging on luxury foods.

We tapped a few wellness experts for simple ways you can start losing weight without blowing your budget.

With these tips, the only thing slimming down this year will be your waistline. 

Ditch the beef

Going meatless one night a week is a surefire way to knock off pounds and save money, says nutritionist Rania Batayneh of Essential Nutrition for You.

Skip the butcher and look for hearty and healthy meat substitutes like beans and mushrooms.

"A can of chickpeas might cost a dollar, whereas deli meat is much more expensive," Batayneh says.

Hint: Buying dried beans that you rehydrate yourself is a great way to save at the grocery store. You'll also knock all the added sodium that comes with canned beans.

Buy healthy foods in bulk

There are pros and cons to buying in bulk, but it can be a great way to budget for long-term savings and weight loss. 

For example, try buying a whole chicken.

"Buy a whole chicken and throw a portion of it together one night with steamed veggies," says Nicole Chase, a registered and licensed dietitian. "Throw the leftover chicken on top of a salad with light dressing the next day for a quick and healthy meal."

At the grocery store, try getting a massive container of oatmeal rather than sugar-laden individual packs. The same goes for buying big bags of rice and frozen veggies versus individual containers. 

Stick to the perimeter at the grocery store

Chase recommends shopping around the perimeter of stores as an easy way to avoid the expensive convenience foods that are usually stocked front and center.

"Middle aisles contain packaged and processed foods which tend to be higher in sodium and have a tendency to be more expensive due to the costs associated with packaging," Chase says. 

That leaves the produce and frozen foods sections, which both offer great low-cost and healthy alternatives. 

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Fast food giants decided to get a little too creative with their promotional menu items this year.

From cheeseburger stuffed pizzas to macaroni and shrimp stuffed burger patties, 2012's newest fast food additions didn't fail to confuse.

We collected the weirdest concoctions that Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and the other usual suspects debuted around the world.

Burger King's Pumpkin Burger — Japan

It's not just American restaurants that bust out the pumpkin-flavored specials in the fall.

Burger King in Japan introduced the BK Pumpkin burger in October.

Foodbeast's Dominique Zamora breaks it down:

"The 'pumpkin' isn’t your typical tawny squash. The burger features two slices of kabocha (a green, melon-sized winter squash commonly known as 'Japanese pumpkin'), along with bacon, lettuce, a beef patty and a creamy sesame seed/peanut/almond/cashew and hazelnut sauce, all in a pumpkin-shaped bun. For an added premium, super punkin’ junkies can also get a 'pumpkin bomb' option of 10 slices instead of two."

Pizza Hut's Kit Kat Pops — Middle East

Pizza Hut Middle East is full of crazy ideas.

Like this bizarre Kit Kat stuffed in pizza dough snack that it introduced in September.

And that's just the beginning of what Pizza Hut was stuffing into its crusts this year...

Pizza Hut's Squirting Crust Pizza — Malaysia

Of course Pizza Hut's crowning glory is its bizarre pizza recipes.

In August, Pizza Hut Malaysia introduced, for the first time ever, squirting pizza crusts that ooze with bursts of cheese and tangy sauces.

Watch the ad below, where Pizza Hut implied that a girl's dream is to be proposed to after having a bite of the exploding pie.

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