Brian Gongol
Gates donates $27 million to research into wheat rust
There seems to be little to no public awareness that the world's wheat supply is extremely susceptible to a fungus that's already doing damage in the Middle East and Africa. Considering how much we depend upon wheat for all kinds of food, one might imagine that we'd show at least as much concern as we do for who's going to win "American Idol." But instead, as noted in May, we spend next to nothing and have just five people on the job of monitoring for the stuff. And we've known for at least three years that wheat rust is a problem. The Gates Foundation deserves credit for seeing the problem and doing something about it.
Guy programs hacking toolkit, gets hacked by it
The digest version: Computers have to check in with what are called DNS servers to determine where to find websites on the Internet. By hacking into those servers, crooks can redirect traffic away from the places it's supposed to go and send it to their own sites. As it turns out, a site victimized by such an attack belongs to a company run by a guy who built a toolkit that helps hackers find security holes faster.
Iowa DNR releases notice of intended action
