Blog Heap of Links for the day 27 April 2009

President Obama's speech at the National Academy of Sciences Monday morning hit a brief snag when Obama got ahead of his script. Laying his plan for a President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Obama began to name the members of PCAST listed in his prepared remarks — before realizing he'd already introduced them, earlier in his speech.

Obama said Tuesday: "It was a mistake, as was stated ... and it will not happen again." ... A "furious" Mayor Bloomberg denounced the dunces who dreamed up the stunt - and the NYPD officials and bureaucrats who never told him about it. By day's end, an obscure City Hall deputy named Marc Mugnos, who makes $60,000 a year, was taking the fall for not telling Bloomberg that the low-flying planes were coming. He was reprimanded.

"Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision," said Louis Caldera, director of the White House Military Office. "While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption."

A Southern California mother has been charged with murdering the 18-month-old daughter she initially reported missing last month.... Brother... says the child's death was an accident, but she didn't tell him what happened.

President Karzai bowed to international pressure yesterday by promising to amend a new law condoning marital rape and child marriage that provoked violent clashes in the Afghan capital. The Shia Family Law, signed by the Afghan President last month, appeared to reintroduce the draconian policies of the Taleban era, such as a ban on married women leaving their homes without their husbands' permission. The law applies to the 15 per cent of Afghans who are Shia Muslims.

without a secretary of Health and Human Services or appointees in any of the department's 19 key posts.... has not yet chosen a surgeon general or the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His choice to run the Food and Drug Administration awaits confirmation.... Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano...

A deadly swine flu virus strain could unleash a new global pandemic, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Monday, after the probable death toll from the disease rose to 149 in Mexico. "We are concerned that this virus could cause a new influenza pandemic. It could be mild in its effect or potentially be severe," Ban told reporters. "We don't know yet which way it will go but we are concerned that in Mexico most of those who died were young and healthy adults."

General Electric Global Research says it has figured out a way to put up to 500GB of data on a regular-sized DVD disc under laboratory conditions. GE says its breakthrough was achieved by writing 3-dimensional patterns that represent data onto a disc made of highly reflective material. The disc then acts as a mirror that makes it possible for a laser to pick up the entire piece of data. GE's process doesn't just put information onto the surface of the disc -- as DVDs and CDs do -- but etches the micro-holographic patterns below the surface of the disc as well.

Story Highlights Ingrid Case switched from her Episcopalian church to becoming a Quaker Study: More than half of American adults have changed religion in their lives In the 19th century many people shifted religions as well, says Mark Silk "I began to see there were some things I wasn't able to get on board with fully. I don't like the traditional Episcopalian focus on the afterlife...."

'You'll have to support two versions of Windows,' Each needs to be secured, antivirused, firewalled and patched. If a company has 10,000 PCs, that's 20,000 instances of Windows.