Editoweb: USA today 1 nov 2007

Google Aims to Break Open the Closed World of Social Networking (wired.com)
OpenSocial enables developers to learn a single set of API's and write applications that work in multiple places, minimizing work and maximizing distribution. It's about time someone cracked the social networking nut. Google is expect to announce a social networking platform later this week. Called OpenSocial, it will include tools to allow developers to create applications that utilize personal and social data contained in participating social networks. It is the first step toward putting you back in control of your online relationships.


US sees decline in Iran-linked bombs found in Iraq (reuters.com)
Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the U.S. top commander in Iraq for day-to-day operations, said it was too soon to say whether the drop meant Iran had cut back on smuggling arms into Iraq. Washington accuses Iran of supplying so-called explosively formed penetrators or projectiles (EFPs), a particularly deadly form of roadside bomb, to extremists in Iraq, mainly Shi'ite militias. Iran denies fueling violence in Iraq.


Hurricane watch in effect for Bahamas as Noel moves north (abcactionnews.com)
Tropical Storm Noel now has winds of 60 mph and tropical storm Watches have been issued for the East Coast of Florida South of Jupiter Inlet. This means tropical storm conditions are possible in this area within the next 36 hours.
A hurricane watch has been posted for part of the Bahamas. The storm has now claimed 81 lives, mainly on the island of Hispaniola. High surf and beach erosion is expected along Florida's east coast.


$11 million awarded in funeral lawsuit (eveningsun.com)
A federal jury in Baltimore awarded nearly $11 million in damages Wednesday to the family of a Marine from Maryland whose funeral was disrupted by members of a Kansas-based fundamentalist church.
One of the defendants said the civil award was the first against the church, whose members have stirred anger across the nation by picketing at funerals for service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, often carrying placards bearing virulent anti-gay slogans.