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It's So Cold Outside That...

The polar vortex has been operating in full blast, and across much of the United States, things are getting weird. While there has never been a shortage of complaints about the snow, nature is always outdoing always been plenty to hate about the snow, nature is always outdoing itself in ways we never imagined. See also: The World Is Pretty Much Ending. 10 Chilling Photos to Prove It Check out some of the polar vortex's weirdest side effects. Hibernation sounds pretty great right about now. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Gabby Giffords Is Going Skydiving on 3-Year Anniversary of Shooting

Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords will jump out of a plane on Wednesday to mark the third anniversary of the shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that killed six, injured 11 in addition to Giffords, and left the congresswoman with a grave head wound that would ultimately forced her to resign from office. Giffords loved to skydive before the attack, according to Today Show segment, and the jump is a mark of the progress she has made through intensive physical therapy. She will board a plane with her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, her mother and Savannah Guthrie of Today. She'll make the dive with a Navy SEAL that she has jumped with before.

Vinyl Record Sales Increased 32% in 2013

In the midst of the growing adoption of music-streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora, vinyl records have made an unlikely comeback. While CD sales declined 14.5% last year, vinyl sales grew 32% from 4.5 million units sold in 2012 to 6 million sold in 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Even digital-music sales have taken a hit, as streaming becomes more popular: Overall album sales fell 8.4% last year See also: Technostalgia: 20 Misty Memories of Personal Computing Statista's chart, below, shows the rise of vinyl LP sales in the U.S. between 1993 and 2013.

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8 Outrageous Job Perks You Wish You Had

And you were grateful for the free coffee at your office. For tech giants such as Google, Twitter and Facebook, free meals, bring-your-pet-to-work days and office happy hours are so commonplace that they barely even register as job perks. Enterprising startups have hopped on the quirky-benefits bandwagon, too, in an effort to entice the best and brightest to their HQs. See also: 6 Companies With Awesome Employee Perks Since competitive compensation, medical benefits and 401(k)s are mostly givens in the expanding technology job market, these companies reel in their rising stars with practical benefits such as childcare, laundry services and free meals, plus off-the-wall perks like gaming centers, on-site fitness centers and unlimited vacation days.

Couple Tips Their Waitress in Crystal Meth

How much crystal meth is equivalent to a 20% tip? An Oregon couple was short on cash after dining at a local restaurant, so they instead left their waitress an envelope filled with methamphetamine. See also: Colorado Restaurant Offers Pot-and-Dinner Pairing Menu Ryan Bensen, 40, and Erica Manley, 37, who are suspected crystal meth dealers, initially tried to use a gift card as payment at the Twisted Fish Steakhouse in Seaside, Ore. When that didn't work, they offered the envelope, which had a scribbled question mark on the front. According to The Oregonian, the waitress took the package, then "calmly walked away and called the police."

Apple fights to remove antitrust compliance monitor in ebooks price-fixing case

Apple is pushing to remove the court-appointed antitrust compliance monitor for its ebook price-fixing court case. The company says Michael Bromwich — who was appointed by US District Judge Denise Cote earlier this year — has a personal bias against the company, and should be disqualified from serving in his assigned position. Law firm Gibson Dunn wrote to Judge Cote this week, stating that Bromwich thinks of himself as an "independent prosecutor not a judge," and imagines himself "unconstrained by the federal rules governing discovery and other matters." The letter's main argument for the compliance monitor's removal is a "wholly inappropriate declaration" filed by Bromwich with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in December. The declaration detailed Apple's apparent obstinance in assisting with Bromwich's work on the case, and denied the company's claims that his actions as compliance monitor were unconstitutional. Apple says Michael Bromwich has a personal bias against the company Apple and Bromwich have been at odds since lawyer was appointed to the case by Judge Cote in October of 2013. In November, Apple complained about Bromwich's "unfettered and inappropriate manner" and exorbitant hourly fees. For his part, Bromwich has explained to the court that Apple displayed a "surprising lack of cooperation" in granting access to its employees and board members during the case. The push to oust the lawyer from his court-appointed position comes a week before both sides will meet in court to deliver their arguments to Judge Cote, on January 14th.