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BREAKING: Paul Ryan to Make Cameo In 'Hunger Games' Sequel
If Paul Ryan has his way, the odds will probably not be in your favor.
08.14.12
So we've all heard the numbers, but what does that mean in reality? Here's one year's wages — yes, *full-time* wages. Woo.
Making a little over 10,000 for a yearly salary.
I've written tons of things about minimum wage, backed up by fact-checkers and economists and scholarly studies. All of them point to raising the minimum wage as a solution to lifting people out of poverty and getting folks off of public assistance. It's slowly happening, and there's much more to be done.
But when it comes right down to it, where the rubber meets the road is what it means for everyday workers who have to live with those wages. I honestly don't know how they do it.
Ask yourself: Could I live on this small of a full-time paycheck? I know what my answer is.
(And note that the minimum wage in many parts of the county is STILL $7.25, so it would be even less than this).
This story was written by Brandon Weber and was originally appeared on 02.26.15
Bill Gates in conversation with The Times of India
Bill Gates sure is strict on how his children use the very technology he helped bring to the masses.
In a recent interview with the Mirror, the tech mogul said his children were not allowed to own their own cellphone until the age of 14. "We often set a time after which there is no screen time, and in their case that helps them get to sleep at a reasonable hour," he said. Gates added that the children are not allowed to have cellphones at the table, but are allowed to use them for homework or studying.
The Gates children, now 20, 17 and 14, are all above the minimum age requirement to own a phone, but they are still banned from having any Apple products in the house—thanks to Gates' longtime rivalry with Apple founder Steve Jobs.
Bill Gates tasting recycled water.
Image from media.giphy.com.
While the parenting choice may seem harsh, the Gates may be onto something with delaying childhood smartphone ownership. According to the 2016 "Kids & Tech: The Evolution of Today's Digital Natives"report, the average age that a child gets their first smartphone is now 10.3 years.
"I think that age is going to trend even younger, because parents are getting tired of handing their smartphones to their kids," Stacy DeBroff, chief executive of Influence Central, told The New York Times.
James P. Steyer, chief executive of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that reviews content and products for families, additionally told the Times that he too has one strict rule for his children when it comes to cellphones: They get one when they start high school and only when they've proven they have restraint. "No two kids are the same, and there's no magic number," he said. "A kid's age is not as important as his or her own responsibility or maturity level."
PBS Parents also provided a list of questions parents should answer before giving their child their first phone. Check out the entire list below:
This article originally appeared on 05.01.17
Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.
Map represents the value of 100 dollars.
As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.
The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.
The map may not subvert one's intuitive assumptions, but it nonetheless quantities and presents the cost of living by geography in a brilliantly simple way. For instance, if you're looking for a beach lifestyle but don't want to pay California prices, try Florida, which is about as close to "average" — in terms of purchasing power, anyway — as any state in the Union. If you happen to find yourself in a "Brewster's Millions"-type situation, head to Hawaii, D.C., or New York. You'll burn through your money in no time.
The Relative Value of $100 in a state.
Image by Tax Foundation.
If you're quite fond of your cash and would prefer to keep it, get to Mississippi, which boasts a 16.1% premium on your cash from the national average.
The Tax Foundation notes that if you're using this map for a practical purpose, bear in mind that incomes also tend to rise in similar fashion, so one could safely assume that wages in these states are roughly inverse to the purchasing power $100 represents.
This article originally appeared on 08.17.17
Not sure what kind of dog is perfect for you? This website kinda is.
What dog is best for you?
Hello from the other siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!!! I'm a dog and I love youuuuuuuu!!!
Because PawsLikeMe knows about your dreams.
Your DOG dreams, that is.
A sophisticated one, too! From their website:
"The personality assessment is based on 4 core personality traits that influence the human-canine bond; energy, focus, confidence, and independence."
It also takes into account environmental factors and other special circumstances as well.
It's not uncommon for dogs that are adopted to be returned because they just aren't compatible with their owner's life.
PawsLikeMe aims to stop dog-owner mismatch by playing dog matchmaker! Its goal is to help people find the right dog for them.
Need a dog that's friendly with kids but loves learning tricks and is also house-trained? DONE. Have other specific requirements? DONE!
Ya got options.
1. What's your energy level?
2. What kind of parties do you like?
3. What kind of dog personality do you want?
4. What is your personality like?
After those four questions, you can begin searching for a doggie match.
I took the full PawsLikeMe quiz, and when I saw the results I was kindof taken aback:
PawsLikeMe GETS ME!
Then I was the whisked away to dogs who are just ready to love me.
Listen. My apartment in NYC doesn't allow dogs. But if it did? I'd be 91% ready to adopt Carli. She's perfect, and I love her. CUE ADELE and her songs of lost opportunities to love!
Take it for yourself! You won't regret it.
This article originally appeared on 11.06.15
New baby and a happy dad.
Sure, those are the feelings most moms-to-be experience before giving birth, but Lisa's nerves were tied to something different.
She and her husband already had a 9-year-old son but desperately wanted another baby. They spent years trying to get pregnant again, but after countless failed attempts and two miscarriages, they decided to stop trying.
Of course, that's when Lisa ended up becoming pregnant with her daughter, Anora. Since it was such a miraculous pregnancy, Lisa wanted to do something special to commemorate her daughter's birth.
So she turned to her craft — photography — as a way to both commemorate the special day, and keep herself calm and focused throughout the birthing process.
She initially suggested the idea to her husband Alec as a joke.
Photo by Lisa Robinson/Lisa Robinson Photography.
"After some thought," she says, "I figured I would try it out and that it could capture some amazing memories for us and our daughter."
In the end, she says, Alec was supportive and thought it would be great if she could pull it off. Her doctors and nurses were all for Lisa taking pictures, too, especially because it really seemed to help her manage the pain and stress.
She had labor shakes but would periodically take pictures between contractions.
Photo by Lisa Robinson/Lisa Robinson Photography.
"Eventually when it was time to push and I was able to take the photos as I was pushing, I focused on my daughter and my husband and not so much the camera," she says.
"I didn't know if I was in focus or capturing everything but it was amazing to do.”
Newborn Anora's first experience with breastfeeding.
Photo by Lisa Robinson/Lisa Robinson Photography.
"Everybody was supportive and kind of surprised that I was able to capture things throughout. I even remember laughing along with them at one point as I was pushing," Lisa recalled.
Would she recommend every mom-to-be document their birth in this way? Absolutely not. What works for one person may not work at all for another.
However, if you do have a hobby that relaxes you, figuring out how to incorporate it into one of the most stressful moments in your life is a pretty good way to keep yourself calm and focused.
Expecting and love the idea of documenting your own birthing process?
Take some advice from Lisa: "Don't put pressure on yourself to get 'the shot'" she says, "and enjoy the moment as much as you can.”
Mom and daughter earned the rest.
Photo via Lisa Robinson/Lisa Robinson Photography.
This article originally appeared on 06.30.16