Brian Gongol
Study says smokers quit when their friends and family do, too
The thumbs-up has been around since ancient Rome
But its modern affirmative meaning really only seems to date from about World War II
Charity begins at home, does it?
American Airlines plans to test passengers' patience with a new fee
$15 each way for each piece of checked baggage, starting June 15th. On one hand, Americans are traveling by air far more than at any time in history, thanks to low prices. But on the other, a fee like this is going to lead to bigger carry-on bags, more trouble loading the planes, and -- importantly -- a higher risk of mistakes at the security checkpoint.
Chlorine gas leak in Clive
Republican River rule compliance gets harder for Nebraska
Someone chipped a piece off of Stonehenge
Apparently, officials used to encourage people to take a piece of rock home with them. That policy has changed, so now it's a crime -- as it probably should be.
Google says it's speeding up Gmail
They claim to have stripped a bunch of unnecessary steps from the loading process. A little efficiency isn't a bad thing, after all.
Photos from a wedding near the center of the Chinese earthquake
Of course, it makes sense that people would've had cameras available and out at a wedding -- but it's still a little bizarre to see dust clouds from fallen structures around women in bridal gowns. Some people have posted videos that they say show colorful clouds appearing shortly before the earthquake. Whether that's truly the origin of those videos, and whether there's any connection to the quake whatsoever remain up to question. More interesting, though, is some surveillance video of the tremors. The ground simply kept shaking and shaking. Related: A BBC editor explains why he sends reporters to countries where they're not welcomed by the authorities.
Tax competition is alive and well: Palatine residents want out of Cook County
Confirming the suspicion that city-county mergers aren't all they're cracked up to be, some residents -- apparently including city officials -- are thinking of seceding from Cook County, which is dominated by Chicago. The reason? They're tired of tax hikes and unresponsive county government. None of this should come as a surprise, since consolidation of political power tends to breed corruption and inefficiency far in excess of the promised economies of scale.
Postville plant raid could affect local water
One Laptop Per Child campaign will shift to a keyboard-free computer
They figure that the keyboard is one of the main weaknesses in the computer, since it's a point of entry for water and dust. Getting rid of it could help seal the laptop more effectively, making it more reliable in dusty, dirty places, like the ones where they hope the laptop will be used. And they think that they can use the old keyboard space for a second touch-screen, which could be used as a keyboard or as a display, depending on the need.
The typo-eradication squad
Two guys have been going across the country, trying to get people to fix typographical errors in their signs. A noble quest? Probably. A little nuts? That, too.
The evolution that failed to follow the Green Revolution
Food researchers in India are worried that the Green Revolution, which massively increased their country's food-production capacity, hasn't been followed by other changes necessary to sustaining the increase over the long term. Meanwhile, rising world food prices are making for especially tough times in Africa, where little has been done to make better food production a priority.
Analysts still think big banks have a lot left to lose on bad loans
In the long run, we'll be judged by what kinds of lessons we learn from the current rough patch. At some point or another, the bills always come due.
WGN remains Chicago's top radio station
Station sweeps every time slot in total listenership
Not quite a homing pigeon, but good enough
A Japanese family taught its parrot to tell his address, which came in really handy when he got lost
LA will have to spend $2 billion to upgrade its water system
Tax increases alone can't cover the government's obligations
The CBO says that entitlement spending, if not checked by controls on benefits, is going to leave taxpayers with unsustainable bills
"How to increase the value of Yahoo"
Should the CEO be sent to Las Vegas more often?
The answer to cold fusion is bottled up somewhere in here
(Video) The amount of effort and brainpower that college kids will devote to activities like beer pong is astonishing
Clogged pumps pollute river in western Iowa
The dangers of slow driving
Some neuroscientific research suggests that dull tasks slow the brain. And if monotony increases the brain's susceptibility to making errors, then boring jobs and slow speed limits could be putting people in jeopardy.
Video games have contained ads for a surprisingly long time
You had better hope things don't start getting fair
If you're only solvent for six months, you're not really solvent
Today is self-exam day
Take a minute or two and conduct some basic self-screenings for cancer. Early detection saves lives.