Here’s a compilation of the best of the Web today, including a progress report on the fight against AIDS, Lego goes green and Twitter health trends.
Graph Shows AIDS Fight
It’s been 30 years since we discovered HIV/AIDS, and since then the world has made leaps and bounds in medicine and in public knowledge. GOOD and Column Five Media have created an infographic that illustrates the current state of HIV in the world and how recent trends have pointed to a decline in the number of deaths. Check out the facts and figures.
Scorsese’s HBO Doc
HBO is set to air Martin Scorsese’s new documentary film, “George Harrison: Living in the Material World.” The biographical film follows the life of The Beatles’ lead guitarist’s early musical days in Liverpool through his life as a musician, filmmaker and humanitarian. “Living in the Material World” will debut as a miniseries on Oct. 5 and Oct. 6.
Green LegoLand
Legoland has become a greener place to play. After discovering that most of the packaging of the Lego toys contained mixed tropical hardwood and other toxins, Lego decided to change its ways. Now, the toy company is committing to reduce the amount of packaging, use only recycled fibre and ensure that pulp-based packaging is sustainably produced.
Flip-Flops, an Office Don’t
Even though summer is a time for shorts, tank tops and flip-flops, they probably don’t belong at work. Besides, who wants to hear the annoying thwack-thwack sound down the cubicle aisle. A survey by staffing firm Adecco said, “Flip-flops are the biggest office “don’t,” with 71 percent of adults surveyed saying the footwear is inappropriate for work. That’s slightly more than those who think miniskirts are inappropriate office wear.” The survey also reported that strapless shirts were not as much a faux pas as flip-flops. So make sure to keep those bare toes covered!
Twitter Health Trends
Out of the 200 million tweets a day, studies show that the chatter isn’t just about celebrity gossip and politics. Rather, most people are tweeting about their health. In fact, two scientists at the Center for Language and Speech Processing at Johns Hopkins University analyzed tweets during May 2009 and October 2010. After weeding out the senseless jargon, like “I have Bieber Fever,” their computerized model was able to identify real health trends on ailments, allergies, obesity and insomnia. Mark Dredze, a professor at the medical university and his grad student Michael Paul will present their findings at a conference next week sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.
Long-Lost Twins Reunited
Separated at birth, New York twins were reunited after 35 years. In 2004, Paula Bernstein and Elyse Schein grew up only miles from each other in New York…and didn’t even know it. They were adopted separately out of a psychological experiment. They found each other when Schein decided to track down her birth parents. Although the search was unsuccessful, what she discovered was a twin sister. You can read their story in their new book, Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited.
