Life Expectancy

As the deaths of the famous and quasi-famous continue to dominate the news, you may be starting to wonder about your own mortality. Perhaps when people reach a certain age, a larger percentage of their peers, both unknown and well know, simply start to pass away? How long can we all expect to live? The Life Expectancy page on the FastStats site from the National Center for Health Statistics may provide the data you'd need to answer those questions:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/life-expectancy.htm

But, if you don't want to spend what little time you may have left digging through the site, average life expectancy as of 2013 was 78.8 years.

Retirement Preparation

Mentally and physically you may be more than ready to retire, but are you ready financially? If not, or if you're not sure, check out this list from the Department of Labor on the Top 10 Ways to Prepare for Retirement:

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/10_ways_to_prepare.html

In addition to specific tips, the list also offers links to many other resources. Even if you were never a Boy Scout, it pays to "be prepared."

Data USA

The Federal government produces massive quantities of statistical data. In addition to producing reports and databases on specific groups of people or industries, the government makes its data available for other entities to use for their own purposes. Data USA is a good example of a project that has tried to make government data a bit more user-friendly:

http://datausa.io/

The stated purpose of the site is "to understand and visualize the critical issues facing the United States in areas like jobs, skills and education across industry and geography. And, to use this knowledge to inform decision making among executives, policymakers and citizens." So, if you're trying to make a decision of some sort, maybe this site will help.

National Poetry Month

If you've recently found yourself waxing poetic about the spring flowers or April showers, you're in good company. April is National Poetry Month, so people across the country are exploring rhyme, meter, and the construction of poems. A lot of those people are still in school, so the National Endowment for the Humanities offers this site with resources about poetry tailored to the Common Core State Standards:

http://edsitement.neh.gov/feature/national-poetry-month-exemplars-edsitement-poetry-common-core

To the best of my knowledge, very few people have actually waxed poetic about the Common Core Standards themselves.

Travel to Cuba

President Obama is making an historic visit to Cuba this week. If his trip has made you wonder who exactly is allowed to visit Cuba these days, this site from the U.S. Department of State should answer your questions. See particularly the section on "Entry, Exit & Visa Requirements:"

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/cuba.html

If you would love to visit Cuba but don't meet the criteria for approved travel, you may have to make do by renting a classic car, going out for a Cuban sandwich, and watching some "I Love Lucy" reruns.

Women in Congress

As it's both an election year and Women's History Month, this site from the U.S. House of Representatives which highlights women who served in Congress between 1917 and 2006 may be of interest.

http://history.house.gov/Exhibition-and-Publications/WIC/Women-in-Congress/

It "contains biographical profiles of former women Members of Congress, links to information about current women Members, essays on the institutional and national events that shaped successive generations of Congresswomen, and images of each woman Member, including rare photos." And, as it's the Ides of March, I'll point out that most, if not all, of these women ended their political careers a bit more peacefully than Julius Caesar.

Patent and Trademark Resource Centers

Have you invented something wonderful? Do you want the world to know that you were the first one who created that wonderful thing? Do you want to start a small business to sell your invention, or some other wonderful thing? If so, a Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) may be able to help you learn about owning and registering those types of intellectual property:

http://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/support-centers/patent-and-trademark-resource-centers-ptrcs

Before you file a new application, you'll want to search the existing patents and trademarks to make sure no one else has already claimed or registered the same thing. PTRCs can help you do that. Sadly, being the second or third person to invent the telephone isn't nearly as exciting as being the first.