Brian Gongol
30-second book review: "Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist"
It's a truly engrossing book, and it includes some valuable chronological notes on Buffett's life. He started very, very early -- buying farmland at age 14. According to the research, great achievers often get that way through remarkable productivity -- like Babe Ruth, they take a lot of swings. Interestingly, it appears that people are taking longer to do great things than we used to.
San Diego faces the worst wildfires in California history
Huge areas are being evacuated in the nation's 17th-largest metro area. The San Diego International Airport is still open, and they're letting people who can't get home due to the evacuations stay at Gate 19 until things clear up. The local ABC affiliate is streaming live TV coverage online. Smoke from the fires is clearly visible on satellite images. Even the Interstate highways are closed. More than 250,000 people have been ordered to evacuate by the Emergency Management office. They've even requested that people stay off their cell phones except in emergencies.
Build your own Sputnik
How Chinese dissidents try to get around Communist Internet controls
The more technology enables people to conduct regular business in China, the more it will serve to undermine totalitarian rule, which (for instance) blocks Gongol.com from reaching Chinese users. Hu Jintao has just been re-anointed as president for a second five-year term. Related: It ought to be noted, though, that no matter how much technology allows people to express themselves, whether under repressive regimes or free, you always leave a data trail behind you on the Internet.
Microsoft boss plans to buy 20 Internet firms a year through 2013
Robotic anti-aircraft gun goes berserk, kills nine people
Forest-fire seasons getting worse
