Buycott is a new app that removes the potential of cognitive dissonance from consumer brand decisions.

Created by 26-year-old Ivan Pardo, it allows you to swipe product barcodes and peruse the product’s corporate family tree before making the decision to purchase it.

If demanding GMO labels is your thing, your choices for breakfast cereal options might be severely limited (Frosted Flakes, Rice Krispies, and Froot Loops are all owned by Kellogg’s, who donated to campaigns against proposition 37 not too long ago).

The idea here is for consumers to not only withhold their hard-earned dollars from corporate giants who rally against oh-so-radical ideas like labeling genetically modified food, but to instead purchase products from a competing company who supports it.

And if that doesn't happen to be your thing, don't fret: users alone create the campaigns they want to join. Mr. Pardo told Forbes that his goal is not to “push any single point of view with the app” but to allow people's passion to dictate it's terms.

Apparently, the tech bugs are still being worked out as demand for the app has skyrocketed. We are eager to test it out—we like the idea of keeping our little money away from Big Money.

Courtesy of Bowery Boogie

They ain't ready for this jelly.

Beyonce's bootylicious new H&M ads have been turning heads all over the city (like, seriously—is that body post-Blue Ivy?! Oh cruel, cruel world.)  But while we'll take any chance we can get to see the Queen Bee's bod, in the Lower East Side, residents have decided to add a coverup to her skimpy outfit.

If you haven't seen the ad, it features Queen Bey in a green and white  swimsuit, and is located at the M14A bus stop at Grand and Columbia Street—right in the heart of a historically Jewish neighborhood.

“Every day someone tapes a cover over it, now it is opaque sheeting and every day people rip it down," an anonymous tipster told Bowery Boogie.

"You can see what is left of yesterday as the white covering at the bottom of the ad.”

We've reached out to the MTA and H&M for comment and will update once we hear back.

The tipster goes on to point out that so-called "Modesty Wars" are common on the other side of the East River in Williamsburg, but not so common in the LES.

As far as we're concerned, if you don't like it, you don't necessarily have to put a sheet on it.

A mani and a blowout at Blow in the Meatpacking District.

Amidst the chicest clubs and restaurants of New York City’s Meatpacking District sits the bright pink home of an even bigger trend. Blow, situated at 342 West 14th Street, is just one of the many essential blow-out stops getting penciled into the overflowing schedules of Gotham’s hippest women. Blow-dry bars are taking the wash, cut, color and style hair-salon cycle to a one-stop, celeb-worthy style service.

“In New York City, there is always an occasion for a blowout,” Diana Pratasiewicz, a manager at Blow, says above the roar of blow driers and quaint music. “Whether it’s an important meeting, or you’re not feeling so great and you just want to give yourself an instant makeover, or it’s an event with the girls.” Put simply, there’s never a not good time for a blowout, except possibly when you’ve just had one.

It is a regular Friday afternoon at Blow: the appointment book tightly packed, the swivel chairs lining the length of the salon fully occupied, and the bustle of the street outside rivaling the bustle of customers inside.

Rachel Zoe, co-founder of DreamDry.

“We have women who have standing appointments with us: they come in on Mondays and they come in on Fridays,” says Ms. Pratasiewicz, talking as swiftly as the stylists are working. “We’re seeing more and more women fit that Blow Pro blowout into their schedule.”

The “groomers” meticulously attend to every stray hair while clients peruse magazines, taking a minute to relax or, if they aren’t running to another appointment, taking a few more minutes to get a manicure simultaneously with their blowout—an added service at Blow.

Maria Peterson, her hair sectioned off in clips, and nails being coated with a bright red sheen, blushes as we approach her. “I’ve become very dependent on these services,” she says. Her dependency is closing in on a decade; she has been a client at Blow since 2005. “It’s such a time saver,” she adds. One stylist, drier in his left hand, round brush in his right, is tackling Ms. Peterson’s auburn hair, while a second beauty professional works on her nails.

If two stylists and a 45-minute grim-to-glam transition isn’t quick and accommodating enough, Blow has partnered with Nordstrom department stores to launch outposts in the West Coast and with Macy’s in Herald Square to offer an even more time-saving range of services. The goal is to take efficiency another step forward with dry-style pods—an express blowout that revives style without a wash.

Blow’s competitors aren’t simply “on the map,” they’re all over it. At Drybar, you can get your blowout with a glass of champagne whether you’re in Tribeca, Flatiron, Midtown, the Upper East Side or Murray Hill.

Anna Cooperberg, a student at Columbia’s Journalism School, considers herself a Drybar regular. “Everything is taken care of, it’s very dependable,” she says. “Every detail is attended to.”

From the “Straight Up” classic blowout to the “Mai Tai” (a sexy, beach-hair look) to the “Shirley Temple” (cute curls for the divas ten and under), Drybar has managed to put a modern spin on your grandmother’s beauty salon, and women (sometimes even men) of all ages seem on board with the trend.

“If you have to go somewhere you can just hop in and hop out if you have an appointment,” says Sahar Saleem, a 21-year-old client at Drybar. “A lot of women are devoted to that.”

More blow drying at Blow.

Ms. Saleem also admits that although “$40 isn’t bad to get your hair done,” it wasn’t her top priority when it comes to spending decisions. And in a period when full-service hair salons are losing profits as consumers cut back on cuts and perms, a venture in this industry may seem more risky than opportune.

This didn’t stop DreamDry CEO Robin Moraetes and uber-stylist and DreamDry co-founder Rachel Zoe, from opening their first location in New York’s Flatiron District on Valentine’s Day this year. In fact, Ms. Moraetes informs us that although the passé, regular hair salon industry is suffering difficulties in the market, the “quick-service blow-dry industry has seen a 30 percent increase in the last year.”

Apparently, primetime Saturday appointments at DreamDry have to be booked weeks in advance. Not bad for the barely three-month-old establishment. “Our busiest time is early Monday morning,” says Ms. Moraetes. “The busiest days are Fridays and Saturday mornings, by far.” Luckily, they’re open as early as 6:30 a.m. Monday through Friday.

“We always want to look and feel the best we can,” Ms. Moraetes says, attributing near-magical powers to DreamDry’s services. With a blowout, “you feel like you can pretty much accomplish anything.” DreamDry’s target woman is the mother, the daughter, the CEO, the assistant: actually, DreamDry’s target woman is “everyone.”

ygayduk@observer.com

Martin Amis (Wikimedia Commons)

Martin Amis has become another soldier in a war against the sub-species known as “Brooklyn Hipsters.”

The London Evening Standard has a new piece about the British author and his apparent attitude toward the young and disaffected.

According to their mysterious source, the writer finds Brooklyn “terribly transactional."

"He views the Brooklyn hipster scene as populated by conventional posers,” the source said. He then points out a bit of a contradiction, going on to say that Mr. Amis himself "was viewed as a literary hipster."

Mr. Amis, author of internationally acclaimed novels like The Rachel Papers, and London Fields, relocated to Cobble Hill because his wife, a native New Yorker, was homesick. In an essay for The New Republic, he said the move was “exclusively personal and familial.”

"He doesn’t go out as much as he did and has developed a reputation as a curmudgeon," the source added.

We are unconvinced, however, that Mr. Amis has been properly exposed to the most vile of the hipster species. After all, Jonathan Safran Foer and Paula Fox are his neighbors.

They're gonna let this book ... ... drop. (Getty)

The Beastie Boys are back—with a book deal.

Mike D (Michael Diamond, IRL) and Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz, IRL) have signed a deal with an imprint of Random House, Spiegel & Grau, to release a book in 2015. The third Beastie, MCA (Adam Yauch, IRL), passed away last year after suffering from cancer, but will undoubtedly live on in narrative medium.

As per the eclectic nature of the rice-white rap group, the book promises to be a vibrant blend of visuals, humor, pop-culture and contributions from other writers. Spiegel & Grau publisher Julie Grau described it to The New York Times as a “multidimensional experience.”

“There is a kaleidoscopic frame of reference, and it asks a reader to keep up,” she said.

Sacha Jenkins, who you may or may not remember from VH1’s (White) Rapper Show, has been tapped to edit the memoir—appropriate choice, maybe, for a book set to deviate from the bland traditions of black and white type.

This news may be irrelevant for anyone born after 2000, but will the baby-boomer generation be jonesin’ for some prose-in’?

(Getty Images)

Former CIA director and tabloid star David Petraeus will be teaching at CUNY come August, according to an announcement by the school.

He will serve as a visiting professor of public policy at Macaulay Honors College, teaching young men and women about topics like civil rights, abortion, and crime.

The announcement comes only a few short months after Dr. Petraus resigned from the CIA following news of his extramarital affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell.

CUNY didn't seem to mind the scandal.

“We are delighted that Dr. Petraeus has chosen Macaulay Honors College as his first undergraduate institution,” said Dr. Ann Kirschner, University Dean of Macaulay Honors College, in a press release.

“His extensive knowledge and experience will be great resources for our remarkable group of academically gifted students who represent the sparkling diversity of New York.”

Although his real-world experience and top-notch Princeton education are undeniable, the responsibility of an educator is to be not only a resource, but also a role model for the students in his charge. According to his biography, he's quite the guy.

Kiryas Joel (Wikimedia)

New York is now home to a gender-segregated playground thanks to the Satmar community of Kiryas Joel.

Today, the ultra-Orthodox town opened its very own childhood oasis, complete with four widely-spaced and completely necessary sections: one for fathers with their sons, a second for mothers with their daughters, a third for just boys and a fourth for just girls.

The playground facilities for males are blue, for females red and white.

A Yiddish sign welcoming visitors to the Orange County play area asks that visitors “maintain gender separation in all public areas” and each of the aforementioned sections has big blue signs indicating where to play, according to images posted of the soon-to-be-controversial park.

In addition, the Committee of Modesty of Kiryas Joel, which has previously been scrutinized for operating like a Hasidic KGB, will be supervising the park to ensure that no inappropriate activities take place between the rugrats.

“It was time, that the city which was founded according to the regulations and directives of Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, have a park which is fully sex segregated, according the strict laws of true Torah Jews,” a Satmar community activist said, according to reports.

But how, you might be asking, did they open a park with such specific rules? According to BHOLWorld.com, the park received “special financing” from the mayor, Rabbi Abraham Wieder, after the town turned down a $195,000 grant.

"The village has the right to be able to build, and we don't have oversight over it," Councilman Harley Doles explained to the RecordOnline. "My understanding is it's only for the residents of Kiryas Joel, because no state or federal funds are being used."

Some reports say that non Jews or non ultra-Orthodox Jews would be banned from the park, but it's all a little unclear; there's only one thing for sure: the camera crews are already on their way.

(Getty Images)

The City of New York has finally agreed to pay Occupy Wall Street for the property destroyed in the Zuccotti Park police raid on Nov. 15, 2011.

OWS initiated a suit on May 24, 2012, seeking compensation for the destruction of their People’s Library—a collection of over 5,000 donated books. About 3,600 of these were ruined during the early morning eviction of the protest camp.

The City agreed to settle yesterday, awarding $47,000 in damages to OWS and $186,349.58 in attorney fees to their lawyers.

“We’re very pleased with the resolution of this suit,” said Herbert Teitelbaum, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs. “The city acknowledged that what happened in the park on the night of the Zuccotti Park raid was inappropriate.”

According to Mr. Teitelbaum, the City rarely accepts liability when entering agreements such as this one. In collective settlement fees, the City will be coughing up over $400,000—including $75,000 in damage fees and $49,850 in attorney fees to Global Revolution T.V. An environmental nonprofit, Time’s Up, will receive $8,500 for 16 “energy” bicycles that were destroyed in the raid.

Third party defendant Brookfield Office Properties Inc., the owners of Zuccotti Park, will indemnify the City $15,666.67.

“We think that books are important and the destruction of books is a very disturbing thing, particularly when the government does it,” said Mr. Teitelbaum to The Observer.

Bros.

How many more Girls parodies can YouTube handle?

At least one more, according to 25-year-old video editor Anthony DiMieri, the creator of  Bros.

Mr. DiMieri's completely unique series follows four bros as they embark on a transformation, from New Jersey frat boys to full-blown Brooklyn hipsters.

"The stuff I was writing about, I sort of based on real-life experience,” he said, completely seriously, to Metro.

“I definitely lived a similar lifestyle with the Pickleback shots and PBR. There is some truth to the stereotypes, but we really went over the top and made it cartoonish.”

Mr. DiMieri is hoping Bros will be his big break. So far, the first episode of the series has been watched more than 20,000 times and the official Twitter handle for Girls even started following him this week.

"That was a big deal because it was like, ‘Ok, the people at HBO are watching this,’” Mr. DiMieri said to Metro. “I think Lena Dunham and I could probably collaborate and write a really hilarious episode, maybe about bringing the girls to a frat party."

Let's hope not.

Armed with cameras, envelopes and postage, cops from Brooklyn’s 76th precinct are launching a new initiative called “Spot It To Secure It.” Starting next week, officers will patrol areas of Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, and Cobble Hill searching for valuables left visibly unattended in parked cars, snap a photo and send you a letter about it.

The point? If cops can see that iPad mini on your front seat, so can a passing thief.

Basically, little brother is going to tell on you.

Last year, 541 unattended property thefts took place in Carroll Gardens, according to the Daily News. That's up from 510 in 2011.

“The whole idea is to prevent the crime from happening in the first place,” said Captain Jeffrey Schiff at the 76th Precinct Community Council Meeting last night.

Either that, or the cops were itching to practice their Instagramming skills.

Anyways, car photography isn't all the 76th precinct is doing to prevent larceny. Officers will also be toting their cameras as they search for unattended homes with lowered fire escapes, and open windows or unbarred windows.

“To zoom in on grand larcenies, the precinct will deploy a team made up of community affairs cops in blue jackets, as well as a uniformed anti-crime officer and cops on the conditions unit,” reported the New York Post. “They will visit apartment buildings and brownstones, and check the vestibules for broken, open, or unlocked doors.”

“I think it’s innovative and exciting,” said district manager of Community Board Six, Craig Hammerman, to The Observer.

There we have it. The NYPD's own minority report.