Brian Gongol
Graphic of the day: Up or Down
Storm preparedness includes checking sump pumps
State of spam: Targeted, financially-motivated attacks are on the rise
But those nuisance image spams are on the decline
An airborne hermitage
94,000 houses destroyed by flooding in China
At least 66 people have been killed, and damage is estimated at more than $371 million, or more than Iowa's annual Federal highway funding
New Safari browser for Windows hacked within 24 hours of release
Another example of letting someone else be the bleeding-edge guinea pig. Doesn't mean it's a bad program...just that it's often best to let other people try out the newest stuff first for a couple of days before trying it yourself.
Small-town mail service continues on
Flashy new projects make for good photo ops, but they aren't the same as taking care of the day-in, day-out basics that make a community tick
Mongolian Engrish
Usually, when people talk about "Engrish", they're referring to the unintended consequences of bad translations from Japanese to the language of Shakespeare. But the administrators of the .mn top-level domain (based in Mongolia, not Minnesota) make the same kinds of errors:
If the President can swear, the FCC can't regulate it
That could be good news for broadcasters who have been living in dread of slip-ups since the FCC announced heightened fines for indecency (which, in an ironic twist, were signed into law by the President himself)
All of Iowa's corn has emerged by now
Iowa is at 100% emergence, and Nebraska's at 99%. We also appear to have a bumper crop of males, which is good news for the ladies.
Come fly the crowded skies
Air travel has increased so much over the last few decades (especially since deregulation) that keeping all of the planes flying -- and sufficiently spaced apart from one another -- could require a $40 billion investment in GPS-based navigation systems. And, quite unfortunately, it's getting expensive for private pilots to fly, which has led to a big decrease in the number of private pilots. That's quite the opposite of what would be good for aviation -- more people flying themselves directly to their destinations.
Rescue robot can lift a 500-lb. person
It's designed to perform rescue missions for wounded soldiers on the battlefield
Russia needs to diversify its economy
Heavy dependence upon energy sector has the president of Europe's reconstruction and development bank concerned. Domestically, the White House seems convinced that good economic times will continue for the US, though the pending apocalypse in Medicare spending seems not to be registering sufficiently with the forecasters.
Triathlon will close some West Des Moines streets on Sunday
