Blog Heap of Links for the day 25 April 2009

The body of a 3-year-old New Jersey girl was found in the Passaic River, just hours after her uncle left with her and told family members "to watch the 6 o'clock news tonight."

Two north Florida sheriff's deputies were fatally shot at a shooting range by a suspect who was later killed in an exchange of gunfire with deputies after he fled across the county line

A University of Georgia professor apparently shot and killed his wife and two other people at a community theater group's reunion Saturday, then dropped the couple's two children off at a neighbor's and fled.

The Italian authorities at the centre coordinating rescue operations in the province of L'Aquila after the earthquake on Monday morning confirmed the death, in a building that collapsed in the town bearing the same name, of a Romanian 8 year old boy, the fifth victim with Romanian citizenship besides the woman and the three-member family whose death was already reported by the Romanian authorities.

A federal judge has denied Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols' request for a special diet. Nichols had asked for a court order to force prison officials to provide him with a high fiber diet that includes raw vegetables.

Authorities have canceled school at all levels in Mexico City and the state of Mexico until further notice, and the government has shut most public and government activities in the area

has spread to Kansas and likely to New York City.... Wichita... a mix of human, pig and bird strains ... The Spanish flu pandemic, which killed at least 40 million people worldwide in 1918-19, also first struck otherwise healthy young adults.... Health officials are puzzled at why all U.S. victims have recovered while dozens stricken in Mexico died...

has declined in popularity in recent years thanks to the plethora of similar and easier-to-use services—not to mention the rise of social networks like MySpace that allow the same demographic to make equally horrific pages and try to pick each other up at the same time

A plane en route from New York to Tel Aviv was diverted to Boston after an Israeli citizen allegedly began banging on the cockpit door

Much of history is the tale of luxuries becoming necessities. ... But can things go the other way? The Pew Research Center is out with a poll today that seems to say they can. Whether this is a brief, recession-induced pause, or a real change, is not easy to say.

first time Microsoft has relied on virtualization to provide backward compatibility... directly from the Windows 7 desktop without having to first open a separate virtual machine window...

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano apologized to the country's largest veterans organization Friday for a report warning that right-wing extremist groups were trying to recruit disgruntled troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Napolitano met with the American Legion at its request for about 45 minutes in a private meeting. The group had called for an apology from her in a letter earlier this month. It was at least the third apology Napolitano has offered ever since the report was leaked to the media nearly two weeks ago, prompting a growing chorus of criticism -- including a small group of vocal conservative lawmakers calling for Napolitano's resignation.