"A new reservoir is filling in central China. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River—the world’s largest dam—was completed in 2006, and the river is filling up its valley behind the dam to form a narrow reservoir extending more than 600 kilometers. This image from April 15, 2009, is one of the first images that astronauts on the International Space Station have been able to capture of the flooding behind the dam. The main objective for the dam is to supply water for the largest hydroelectric plant in the world and to help control the devastating floods that plague the lowlands downstream from the dam."

Eric Van Lustbader on continuing the Jason Bourne book series started by his friend Bob Ludlum.

I'm so glad I don't frequent bars.

"If your data is online, it is not private. Oh, maybe it seems private. Certainly, only you have access to your e-mail. Well, you and your ISP. And the sender's ISP. And any backbone provider who happens to route that mail from the sender to you. And, if you read your personal mail from work, your company. And, if they have taps at the correct points, the NSA and any other sufficiently well-funded government intelligence organization -- domestic and international."

"If your data is online, it is not private. Oh, maybe it seems private. Certainly, only you have access to your e-mail. Well, you and your ISP. And the sender's ISP. And any backbone provider who happens to route that mail from the sender to you. And, if you read your personal mail from work, your company. And, if they have taps at the correct points, the NSA and any other sufficiently well-funded government intelligence organization -- domestic and international."

Best-selling author Miller briefly mentions his upcoming book, but spends most of the interview talking about his latest endeavor, the worthwhile Mentoring Project.

Google's looking to roll out a device-agnostic e-book service. And Jeff Bezos thought he only had to worry about Apple making a tablet that outshines the Kindle...

Pretty self-explanatory. A blog of photos of hot chicks with stormtroopers. A sure sign of the apocalypse.

"We are a professional expediting company officially recognized and registered with the U.S. Passport Agency, allowing us to assist you in obtaining your passport in as fast as 24 hours or less!"

This would have come in handy last decade when my parents thought about going to Iceland when my sister had to have an emergency gall bladder removal (she was studying abroad at the time).

"Barack Obama went to Normandy for a reason this weekend -- and it was a good one. The president had something he wanted to convey to the world. That message, to paraphrase a point Ronald Reagan used to make, is a simple one, even if it's not an easy one: It is that freedom is not free, and that democracy is worth fighting for -- that sometimes human rights are worth dying for."

"[L]isten to your iTunes library but only use a part of the resources. This player was designed with one purpose in mind: don't distract or use resources that you need for more important things. Features: playback of audio files from your iTunes Library; playback of playlists from your iTunes Library; shuffle; sticky window"

For Mac OS X Leopard only. Oh, and it's free.

Remember when Microsoft knew what it was doing?

"Christianity, post-Reformation and post-Luther, with its teaching of a direct, personal, two-way link between the individual and God, unmediated by the collective, and unsubordinate to any other human being, smashes straight through the philosphical/spiritual framework I've just described. It offers something to hold on to to those anxious to cast off a crushing tribal groupthink. That is why and how it liberates.

"Those who want Africa to walk tall amid 21st-century global competition must not kid themselves that providing the material means or even the knowhow that accompanies what we call development will make the change. A whole belief system must first be supplanted.

"And I'm afraid it has to be supplanted by another. Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete."

Well, *I* feel better.

"Artist Garry Booth takes us back 25 years to 1984, with this exploded design of the first Mac, the computer that changed everything. This Mac 128k was lovingly disassembled and meticulously rendered to reveal its inner beauty."

Having pulled apart many of the all-in-one Macs in my time, just had to get this one.

David Pogue reviews the Novatel MiFi 2200, available from Verizon. If I traveled more than twice a year, or actually left my house with a computer in hand, I'd be all over this. (5 GB limit? = Lame)

Nifty.

Digging the Helvetica robot. Charcoal, 2X, please.

"As you might imagine, I receive a lot of email from would-be authors who are trying to get published. Because I make my email address public, it’s pretty easy to get to me.

"However, by the time I hear from people, they are usually frustrated. They can’t get anyone in the book publishing world to respond, and they are convinced that they have a killer-idea. 'If only someone would just read my manuscript,' they plead.

"The problem is that most publishers will not review unsolicited proposals or manuscripts. I personally receive hundreds every year; our staff receives thousands. We simply don’t have the resources to review these. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"So as an author, what do you do? Here’s what I recommend:"

"This is a typeface-driven design based on the 'Here's to the crazy ones' ad campaign from Apple in the 90s, using Motter Tektura, Apple Garamond, Myriad, Univers, Gill Sans, and Volkswagen AG Rounded, fonts present in Apple branding and products."

My favorites are steps 2 and 5

Nice collection of some beautiful and dramatic lightning photos.

My wife likes the Cake Wrecks blog, and we've seen some pretty impressive cakes thanks to that, but this one blows me away.

God is a very creative artist.

"With the U.S. disengaging militarily, Iraqi militias, insurgents, etc. have every reason to become emboldened and to begin jockeying for an enhanced military position. And with President Obama taking a soft line on Syria (and, indeed, exploring a 'dialogue' with that terror supporting state), the Syrians no longer have much reason to fear paying a price for promoting instability in Iraq.

"Against this backdrop, clueless Nancy Pelosi, on a recent visit to Baghdad, promised that the U.S. will play an 'intense' political role in Iraq even as our military role fades away. How political involvement will stem the flow of terrorists into Iraq, or the terrorist activities of those already present, Pelosi did not explain."

I always knew the Empire would take care of that pesky Federation.

A free online Greek & Hebrew Reader's Bible, for my theologically-inclined friends who can read Greek and/or Hebrew.

Spike TV's Food Dude shows us how to make a Hawaiian Cheesesteak. I'm thinking this might be a good entree for a pool party...

From just before Veterans Day 2007, a look at the nearly-forgotten-by-their-countrymen World War I cemetaries of American soldiers in France. Makes me want to plan a trip in the future, when our boys are older, to pay our respects.