30 September 2005

Intellicast.com - Weather For Active Lives

This is a great website for weather forecasts for vacations and other advance planning.

Intellicast.com

Thanks Eric for pointing me to it!

21 September 2005

Why I switched to Firefox

Scott Berkun (who worked on UI design for Internet Explorer 1.0 thru 5.0) talked about why he switched to Firefox. In addition to five reasons why he switched...

Read the full story (pros and cons) at the Berkun blog Archive

Is the Firefox honeymoon over?

Now that Firefox has become the first viable contender to Microsoft Internet Explorer in years, its popularity has brought with it some unwanted attention. ..... Firefox not only has more vulnerabilities per month than Internet Explorer.....

Read the full story by George Ou at ZDNet.com...

03 September 2005

Budget cuts delay flood works

BUSH administration funding cuts forced federal engineers to delay improvements on the levees, floodgates and pumping stations that failed to protect New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters, agency documents show.

The former head of the US Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that handles the infrastructure of the nation's waterways, said the damage in New Orleans probably would have been much less extensive had flood-control efforts been fully funded over the years.

Read the full story at the Herald Sun....

A Diminished FEMA Scrambles to the Rescue

The agency's standing within the government has been eclipsed by the war on terrorism

WASHINGTON — In 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency concluded that a catastrophic hurricane in New Orleans was "among the three likeliest … disasters facing this country."

In the years that followed, however, instead of receiving a mandate to marshal the resources needed to handle such a disaster, FEMA saw its standing within the federal government downgraded sharply and its mission pushed lower on the priorities list as the Bush administration focused on the threat of terrorism.

Read the full story by By Nicole Gaouette at the Los Angeles Times...

New Orleans: It's about us

Iraq war didn't cause the hurricane, just drained resources from flooded city

AUSTIN, Texas -- Like many of you who love New Orleans, I find myself taking short mental walks there today, turning a familiar corner, glimpsing a favorite scene, square or vista. And worrying about the beloved friends and the city, and how they are now.

To use a fine Southern word, it's tacky to start playing the blame game before the dead are even counted. It is not too soon, however, to make a point that needs to be hammered home again and again, and that is that government policies have real consequences in people's lives.