Skip the obnoxious sales people. Avoid the risk of being caught "planning" by a friend or close family member at your local shopping mall.

Ocappi, a new online jewelry store, allows people to shop for and try on their dream engagement rings in the privacy of their own home, free of charge and hassle. Much like the Warby Parker business model, there is no obligation to purchase and free shipping both ways. 

Their "One&Only Try-On Service" allows the consumer to add up to six replica rings (set with cubic zirconium stones) to their order and check out at no charge. The six replica rings will then be shipped directly to the consumer, allowing five days to try on and play dress up with. There is a pre-paid return label included in the package to send them back, at no cost. Discrete, convenient and free.

It will be interesting to see if Ocappi can successfully shift the typical jewelry shopping experience using this e-commerce model of no-hassle trial and convenience.

What more could a possible-bride-to-be ask for when making what could be one of the most important jewelry purchases of her life?

---via PSFK.

Whether or not you watched the Grammy Awards last night, you probably heard some of the highlights today. Despite the CBS "wardrobe advisory", these awards proved to be not only the biggest night in music, but still one of the biggest nights in fashion.

Exposed legs and towering heels aside, one artist took her choice of wardrode to the next level. Carrie Underwood, not one known to be cutting edge, appeared on stage singing an acoustic version of her title track "Blown Away" in a boring silver oversized prom dress. Carrying viewer's attention with her strong vocal ability alone, Underwood continued into her latest single "Two Black Cadillacs" simultaneously as her dress began to mysteriously light up and illuminate colors.

Suddenly, it became apparent this was not only a dress, but a giant projection screen. This conservative, basic gown suddenly transformed into a technicolor light spectacle. Within seconds, a simple garment became a digitally connected and living part of her performance's overall creative direction. Towards the end of the performance it even shed a cocoon of butterflies onto the screen behind her, directly playing into the perfomance set. The dress even proved itself to be GIF'able, whether this was intended or not. (Welcome to Tumblr, Carrie!)

Black Eyed Peas aside, it's refreshing to see other artists take risks and advantage of cutting-edge technology in their performance's creative direction. The growing relationship between technology and fashion will surely be interesting to follow in the years to come. 

While reading the news, I caught eye of a heartwarming news story that had an interesting significance to me as an advertiser. It's something I've been waiting to be confirmed, but did not expect through a touching story like this. 

Cliff Boyson and his sister were separated as children in Chicago's foster care system for 65 years. They were recently reunited after the son of Boyson's landlord searched for his long lost sister on Facebook. 

"I went on Facebook and I typed in Boyson," Eddie told ABC News. "There were a whole bunch of pictures that showed up. One of them kind of looked like Clifford and I zoomed in on it and it started to really look like Clifford, [so] I showed it to my mom and dad."

Sentimental value aside, this is a very interesting story. Facebook has an age requirement of at least 13 years of age. Eddie, the heroic boy in this story, is about half the mandatory age. The article does state Eddie used his mom's profile to search, but still, how was it so easy for a 7 year old to just jump on and begin a successful search when he isn't technically allowed to have ever been on there? 

Stories like this prove that though one must be at least 13 years old to have a Facebook profile, this doesn't mean people younger aren't on there. They are engaging and fully aware of the platform and experience. We as...

This week at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Bentley added a detail to their models that I would not expect from a luxury brand: Each of the three display models featured custom license plates with the name hashtagged. This execution surprised me coming from a luxury car maker so well-known for their beautiful and clean aesthetic.

Though an approach like this successfully helps at getting the word out and creating a conversation thread online, it does run the risk of promo ruining prestige. I did a little research and there were mentions online using the recommended hashtags, including some Instagram photo uploads. The monitored image above is interesting because the user chose to blur out the rest of the vehicle and focus more visually on the license plate. The Bentley logo on the front of the vehicle is even blurred out.

What are your thoughts on luxury brands using social media promo on their actual product? Could hashtags be the future of personal vanity icense plates?

**Via PSFK

You've probably heard it before. "I want to join Twitter to follow what @Oprah is doing but I have nothing to say." This is a valid point, as not everyone needs to be on a platform where they don't feel the need to engage in conversation. Twitter is a gold mine of information (and entertainment) but not everyone needs to be producing their own content here. For those who feel more comfortable listening but not necessarily talking, there is a service called Tweets by Email.  

Much like Google alerts, a user is able to "subscribe" to specific Twitter handles of interest and create groups of up to five. Updates from these sources are then sent directly to the user's email in an easy to skim format. There is also a scheduling tool allowing users to specify days they would like to receive updates from each group.

Though I personally wish everyone were joining the conversation on Twitter, tools like this help those who may not yet be comfortable to not miss out on everything that's happening. So, until that day when Oprah tweets that you won a car, you can at least listen for it. 

*Via AllTwitter