Brian Gongol
Graphic of the day: Cracked Phone
Two years after Katrina, 65,000 families still live in FEMA trailers
It's absolutely preposterous. The Federal government spent $1.8 billion buying the trailers, and now communities along the Gulf Coast are trying to get the trailer parks shut down. It probably would've been much more efficient and fiscally responsible simply to have put as many people as possible into Katrina Cottages, which cost less than the FEMA trailers and provide permanent housing. It's too late now to reverse the Katrina diaspora, but another hurricane is going to hit the Gulf Coast -- or the East Coast -- someday and create a similar disaster. If we haven't gotten our act together by then, it's just going to create a similar long-term mess.
Google says it's patched the security hole in Gmail
Come fly the ethanol skies
Air New Zealand is going to test an airliner using one engine on a kerosene and biofuel mixture sometime in 2008 or 2009. The US Air Force plans to fuel half of its aircraft with synthetic fuels by 2016.
China's massive dam threatens to create environmental catastrophe
Professional and recreational pilots in dwindling supply in the US
And just at a time when the country really needs to make better use of its secondary airports as the primary ones are overwhelmed by increasing air traffic. Related: British Airways is buying 12 Airbus superjumbos and 24 Boeing Dreamliners.
Des Moines area is experiencing a big GDP boom
Neighboring Omaha is doing well, but not as well. Related humor: Don't ask Warren Buffett about his EBITDA.
Apple releases an update that disables "cracked" iPhones
Third-party hacks that allow users to unlock their iPhones for use on networks other than the AT&T/Cingular network have proliferated quickly, but Apple appears hell-bent on keeping those users on their preferred network
UK's prime minister thinks Burma's government is underreporting casualties
A sudden spike in fuel prices there was the ignition point for lots of accumulated anger against the military government of Burma. The protests have been led by pro-democracy advocates and by Buddhist monks -- and the government has reacted by sealing off the monasteries and killing some of the protesters. Burma has been under military rule for 45 years. Related: A British anarchist will go to jail for four years for conducting a campaign of letter bombings.
