Atkins / Low Carb Diets The popular low carb diet that everyone tried. The diet became so popular that even fast food restaraunts were adding Atkins approved items to their menus. Usually this meant meat wrapped in lettuce or put in a bowl with no buns. Auto-Tune A technique used by record producers to hide out of tune singing by bending the pitches that are sung, but entered pop culture because it was used as a stylized effect to distort the human voice. Cher's 1998 "Believe" was the first hit song to use Auto-Tune, and it later became associated with R&B singer T-Pain, who even created an iPhone app for it. Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Usher, and Beyoncé are also known to use Auto-Tune. Beyblade A type of spinning tops kids play with where the tops fight with each other, sometimes in a plastic arena. The last top still spinning wins. There was also a Beyblade anime television series that was launched in conjunction with the tops. Bratz A group of teenage fashion dolls with large heads and skinny bodies. Spin-offs such as Bratz Kidz and Bratz Babyz soon followed. Bratz characters were commercialized in movies, TV, music albums, and video games. Crocs Colorful plastic clogs/shoes with holes in them, popular for their comfort and because they are easy to wear (slip-on, like a sandal). DVD & TV Monitors in cars Thanks to the advancement in technology people are able to add dvd players with headrest, flip visor, or in dash monitors installed for watching movies in cars. In fact, this has become so popular that many dealers will sell you a new automobile with them already installed. Emo Some call it "Hardcore" some call it "Indie" whatever you call it, it's most definately a fad. Big Sunglasses, self photos of the person not looking at the camera, listening to screaming bands who no one has heard of. The boys wear girl pants and take pics of themselves in a mirror, rather than set a timer. The only people who don't call it 'Emo' are those who are part of it . Energy Drinks In the 90's there a few energy drinks such as Red Bull. But after the turn of the century energy drinks became so popular that there are now several on the market such as Full Throttle, Lost Energy, Sobe, and Monster Energy. Fantasy Leagues Sports fans all around the nation are taking part in the hottest new craze. Its called Fantasy Leagues. Whether you prefer hockey, footbal, or baseball there is a league for you somewhere. You can join a public league or a private league with your friends. The object is to draft players and creating a starting lineup (daily or weekly) then you get points based on how your drafted players do in the real professional sport. You can play rotisserie or head to head. You can trade players, sign free agents, or drop players, your the manager of your own team. Thanks to popularity, televised sports games now have stat trackers during games and at halftime. Flare Jeans Pants made of denim that flare in the thigh area. The flare gives the jeans a sandblasted look. Flash Mobs A bunch of people meeting on the internet that agree to meet at a certain place at a certain time to do something meaningless or unusual and then just leave. Grillz A dental fashion trend in hip-hop culture consisting of a custom made removable mouthpiece made of gold, platinum or silver and sometimes inlaid with precious stones. Made popular by celebrities such as Nelly, Paul Wall, and Dirty South rappers. Heelys Sneakers with wheels housed in the heel of the shoe. This allows children to release the wheel out and skate instead of walk...anytime they please! High School Musical A 2006 TV movie on the Disney Channel starring Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, and Ashley Tisdale, that because wildly popular and spawned 2 sequels. The plot of the first movie revolved around two high school juniors from rival cliques who try out for the lead in their high school musical. House Flipping During the real estate boom, people would buy homes, renovate them, and then sell them as fast as possible. This also led to a bunch of popular house flipping reality TV shows such as Flip This House and Flipping Out. Once the 2008 recession started, many real estate flippers targeted foreclosed homes instead. iPods A smaller, much better version of the Sony Walkman type portable music player. Like an iPhone, but without internet access or phone calls. Once Apple introduced the iPhone, iPods sales dropped significantly. Livestrong Wristband A yellow fund raising bracelet launched in 2004 by Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation (formerly known as the Lance Armstrong Foundation). It gained popularity after many of the 2004 Tour de France participants wore it, and then Oprah and many other celebrities also endorsed it. Low Rise Jeans Jeans that are lower at the top and hug the hips. Popular with women and usually worn with a thong. McMansions A term for newly built luxury houses in the suburbs which all seem mass-produced and generic looking. Also used to describe a new house that is out of place as compared to the rest of the neighborhood due to its large size. When the economy crashed in 2007, the market for these houses took a nose dive. mp3's / mp3 players (iPod) Thanks to filesharing and online music stores such as iTunes, people are now uploading all their music to their MP3 players instead of carrying around cassettes or cd's. Most mp3 players can hold several hours of music. MySpace MySpace.com was created in the 2000's as a way of networking with people. In just a few short years it would become one of the most visited sites on the internet. Millions of people log onto their MySpace created page everyday. Napolean Dynamite In 2004, this hit movie caused a cult following. DVD sales for this flick were astounding! In early 2005, the search term 'Napolean Dynamite' was a top phrase searched for according to Yahoo! Youngsters were wearing T-Shirts that read, "Vote For Pedro". There has even been talk about a sequel to this movie, or perhaps a prequel. Neopets A virtual pets website that eventually expanded offline with plush toys, stickers, books, cereals, video games and more. Online Slang In Speech People have started to use internet lingo in their everyday speech. For example instead of saying "Oh My Gosh!" They would instead say "OMG" or "BRB" instead of "Be Right Back". Over-sized Sunglasses Borrowing a look from the 1960s, celebs such as Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and Jessica Simpson wore these as a fashion statement. P2P File Sharing Sharing music with Napster became so popular a few years back that record companies were angry, considered it stealing and sued the creator of the software. Courts ruled it illegal and shut it down. Well, shortly afterwards a few other peer-to-peer networks have popped up such as Kaaza, which has been ruled legal in the U.S. and not only is music shared with these new P2P networks, but other files such as videos, software, and documents are also shared. Millions of internet users are using P2P networks daily. Paintball A sport where two teams scquare off against each other using compressed air guns to shoot little gelatin paint ball capsules at each other. Rules of games may very and being shot with paint on any part of your body can cause some pain and bruising. PDAs Before smartphones, there were PDAs (personal digital assistants) from companies such as Palm. You could use them to keep track of you calendar, contacts, to do lists, and even check your email. But, they could not make phone calls. Pocket Bikes These motorcycles are just like the real thing, only they are alot smaller and drive alot slower. These pocket bikes may be illegal to drive almost everywhere but that doesn't stop people from buying them. PS2 The Sony Playstation 2 is the hottest game console for gamers. With popular games like Tony Hawk, Grand Turismo, and Grand Theft Auto, no user ever gets bored with the hot PS2. In fact recently the release of the handheld PSP, has caused stores across the nation to sell out immediatly. Razor Scooters Everyone remembers when these scooters were most popular because almost every kid in the neighborhood would race up and down the street with them. Eventually battery operated / electric scooters would become the hottest item. Segway Invented by Dean Kamen, it is a two-wheeled, self-balancing electric vehicle. Before it was unveiled in 2001, there was huge hype as to how it would change the world, even though nobody knew exactly what this mystery product was. Venture capitalist John Doerr speculated that it would be more important than the Internet and the fastest company to reach $1 billion in sales, while Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said that "...cities will be built around this device." In the end, the Segway did not live up to the hype, selling only around 30,000 units from 2001 to 2007, mostly to police departments, military bases, warehouses, and other business customers. Sleeved Blanket With names such as Snuggie, Slanket, and Toasty Wrap, this is basically a bathrobe worn backwards to keep you warm. It became a massive hit through TV commercials and gave rise to hundreds of TV and Youtube.com parodies. Speed Dating A time efficient event where singles go on short "dates" (by sitting at a table talking) from 3 to 8 minutes in length, rotating from one date to another when a signal is given (like a bell ringing). When the event is over, the participants submit a list to organizers of who they want to provide their contact information to. If there is a match, the organizers forward the contact info to both parties. Unlike at a bar or dance club, there is no need to take the initiative to go up and introduce yourself, everybody is single, and you can sit and talk comfortably in a quiet setting. Suped Up Cars After the movie 'The Fast and the Furious' was released more people started fixing up their cars to make them look better and drive faster. MTV also released a show called 'Pimp My Ride' which takes a beat up car and remodels it to an automobile suitable to street style driving. The show, hosted by hip hop artist Xzibit helps to give every car a new urban style. This would include adding a spoiler, lowering the ride, adding custom tires, etc.... Texas hold 'em Poker An unknown poker player who went by the name of Chris Moneymaker taught himself how to play poker online. He would then go on to win the World Series of Poker. Ever since then, many tv networks broadcast poker now, including ESPN. Some reality shows have even broadcast celebrities playing the popular table game. Thongs It all started in the late 90's. A song by Sisqo titled "Thong Song". A few years later, the thong is the most popular underwear for young women. Tivo / PVR's (Personal Video Recorders) The newest and best way to record your favorite shows. In the past you had to get a VHS tape, put it in the VCR and push record as soon as the show started. With Tivo there is no extra tapes to buy, you can record hours of tv, pause, rewind, playback, and on top of all of that, Tivo can remember which types of shows you like just in case you forgot to record something. Trucker Hats Originally made popular in the 1970s by truck drivers, they became a fad when celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher and Paris Hilton wore them as a fashion accessory. US flags on cars (after September 11th) Many Americans became patriotic after September 11th. The way most people expressed their patriotism was by adding a US car flag to their automobile window. Wide skate shoes with fat laces The sneaker trend in the 2000's seemed to be wide skate shoes such as Etnies or Adidas with big fat laces. Wireless Camera Phones This is probably the greatest feature ever added to a mobile phone. Many people are using their phone to take photos and email them to their friends and family.