Gay rights in the US

The Big Mac index Bullying and LGBT Youth Lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) youth and those perceived as LGBT are at an increased risk of being bullied. There are important and unique considerations for strategies to prevent and address bullying of LGBT youth. Creating a Safe Environment for LGBT Youth It is important to build a safe environment for all youth, whether they are straight or LGBT. Build strong connections and keep the lines of communication open. Federal Civil Rights Laws and Sexual Orientation Federal civil rights laws do not cover harassment based on sexual orientation. Many states protect against bullying because of sexual orientation in their state laws. Additional Resources

2012 vs. 1984: Young adults really do have it harder today All young adults who think they’re getting a raw deal in today’s economy, let me tell you about how it was back in my day. In 1984, my final undergraduate year of university, tuition cost more or less $1,000. I earned that much in a summer without breaking a sweat. When I went looking for a new car in 1986, the average cost was roughly half of what it is now. The average price of a house in Toronto back in 1984 was just over $96,000. I had it easier than today’s twentysomethings, and I have no problem saying so. This became clear as responses poured in to last week’s column tying the Quebec student protests to the financial challenges faced by people who are trying to make the jump from college and university into the work force. Some responses were heartfelt, like the one from a 78-year-old gentleman who said he grew up “in abject poverty on a farm” and worked to pay for his education. My sense is that’s what they’re trying to do. In Ontario, the minimum wage is $10.25. Back in my day?

The Internet map The map of the Internet Like any other map, The Internet map is a scheme displaying objects’ relative position; but unlike real maps (e.g. the map of the Earth) or virtual maps (e.g. the map of Mordor), the objects shown on it are not aligned on a surface. Mathematically speaking, The Internet map is a bi-dimensional presentation of links between websites on the Internet. Every site is a circle on the map, and its size is determined by website traffic, the larger the amount of traffic, the bigger the circle. Users’ switching between websites forms links, and the stronger the link, the closer the websites tend to arrange themselves to each other. Charges and springs To draw an analogy from classical physics, one may say that websites are electrically charged bodies, while links between them are springs. Also, an analogy can be drawn from quantum physics. Anyway, the real algorithm of plotting The Internet map is quite far from the analogies given above. Semantic web The Internet Phenomenon

Huff Post: Gay Marriage The NSA Is Building the Country's Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say) | Threat Level It needs that capacity because, according to a recent report by Cisco, global Internet traffic will quadruple from 2010 to 2015, reaching 966 exabytes per year. (A million exabytes equal a yottabyte.) In terms of scale, Eric Schmidt, Google's former CEO, once estimated that the total of all human knowledge created from the dawn of man to 2003 totaled 5 exabytes. And the data flow shows no sign of slowing. In 2011 more than 2 billion of the world's 6.9 billion people were connected to the Internet. By 2015, market research firm IDC estimates, there will be 2.7 billion users. The data stored in Bluffdale will naturally go far beyond the world's billions of public web pages. Once it's operational, the Utah Data Center will become, in effect, the NSA's cloud. 1 Geostationary satellites Four satellites positioned around the globe monitor frequencies carrying everything from walkie-talkies and cell phones in Libya to radar systems in North Korea. 3 NSA Georgia, Fort Gordon, Augusta, Georgia

Visualizing 50 years of The Rolling Stones An interactive map of their live-show story. British tour The Rolling Stones 1963 British Tour was the first Rolling Stones concert tour. 2,812km. 1st British Tour The Rolling Stones 1964 1st British Tour was a concert tour. 1,438km. 2nd British Tour The Rolling Stones 1964 2nd British Tour was a concert tour. 4,063km. 3rd British Tour The Rolling Stones 1964 3rd British Tour was a concert tour by the band. 2,120km. Irish Tour The Rolling Stones 1965 Irish Tour was the first concert tour of Northern Ireland and Ireland by The Rolling Stones. 358km. Far East Tour The Rolling Stones 1965 Far East Tour was the first concert tour of Oceania by the band. 16,016km. The Rolling Stones 1965 1st British Tour commenced on March 5 and concluded on March 18, 1965. 1,252km. 1st European Tour The Rolling Stones 1965 1st European Tour was the first concert tour of Scandinavia by the band. 768km. 1st American Tour The Rolling Stones 1965 1st American Tour was a concert tour by the band. 25,952km. 2nd European tour 0km.

The Art of Transliness Legal Trips to Cuba Made Easier for Americans Don’t expect to stock up on those coveted Cuban cigars, however. Travelers aren’t allowed to bring cigars or rum back to the States, according to the Treasury Department. Demand for Cuba is so strong that tour operators say that many of the trips already have long waiting lists. “It’s the forbidden fruit,” said Mr. Following is a list of planned people-to-people trips to Cuba. HARVARD UNIVERSITY’S ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, alumni.harvard.edu, will take a group of 35 to Havana for five days in late October, led by Julio Cesar Pérez Hernández, the Cuban Loeb Fellow at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, to explore the city and meet professionals, including local artists and enjoy a private concert at the Ceramics Museum with guitarist Luis Manuel Molina. LEARNING IN RETIREMENT, uwlax.edu/conted/lir/index.html, is offering a 10-day trip in April 2012 visiting a range of professionals from Santiago de Cuba to Trinidad including a violin maker and a dairy farm operator.

Carbon map How can you map the world to show global data in an immediately clear way? How can you show two datasets at once to see how they compare? Kiln, a partnership of Guardian writer Duncan Clark and developer Robin Houston has come up with this beautiful new take on the globe. Watch the animated intro or click on the topics and see the map move before your eyes. Adding shading lets you compare two datasets to see how they relate – so you can see clearly how poorest countries have the fastest growing populations but the lowest emissions • The map works best in newest versions of Chrome, Firefox or Safari• Who made this graphic?

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