Oktoberfest!
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It's now owned by AOL, so it's worth as much as the stuff on the bottom of my shoe, but I noticed CityGuide now at least has Des Moines listed.

GmailFS - Gmail Filesystem by Richard Jones Now this is a Google Hack.

Microsoft to secure IE for XP only | Tech News on ZDNet Because of an ROI-based decision, MS is only patching all IE holes in XP. The other half of the world on previous Windows versions will be left in dust as MS only patches some of those holes.
This is not a wise choice for MS. They should include Win2K in this decision. They will alienate a good deal of businesses coming up on their 4(or so) yr. replacement cycle, who now have some Linux distros as strong alternatives. Linux may not have been a viable choice in previous cycles, where it may be now.
Personally, I get peeved when their spin gets taken to outright lies: "'IE has been a part of the operating system since its release,' said the Microsoft representative. 'IE is a feature of Windows.'" Bullshit! There is no doubt versions up to 3 were standalone browsers, and most will contend v4 was too. (although not MS, because of the antitrust suits) In the next breath, this MS rep trys to legitimize his lie with "You're talking in software terms that might be considered ancient history." It may only be so because you say it is. This is self-fulfilling bullshit. There is plenty of sw outside of the MS-centric world that does what it's supposed to, and has for many years. And you've got to admit, with your NT-born line of OSes, people need to upgrade less often. Either innovate or find a different model.
/stepping off soap box

Fella's Linspire Wallpaper Contest In a promotion to encourage graphic artists to try Linspire (Linux), Linspire has created a wallpaper-creation contest. In addition to hardware & software prizes, they are providing free copies of the Linspire package to any-and-everyone who participates.

As you've probably read, Firefox just got updated again. Notice that they added features, fixed bugs, and reduced the footprint. That's good coding. Good job, guys. Dig far enough down, and you can get Neil's World - More on new Firefox features; an overview by one of the coders in his blog.
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Not exactly new, but Slashdot just pointed to the Simpsons Springfield Map.

Anyone else notice CNet's Download.com now has a P2P-assisted download option? (ya, I may be late to the boat on this) It's about time more serious uses of the technology be developed.
I'm also currently curious about the products Aelitis may be developing. Distributed data distribution via bittorrent to/between your workstations for sw from updates to whole disk images. Could save lots of time..

Just found CivicSpace Labs; a sw platform built on Drupal aimed at organizing grassroots campaigns on the internet. Only question is, will the 'right' use it as much as the 'left' will.?
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Got to make a new box for my mum, as she's grumbling about having to share one w/my pa. I've got to tell ya, I'm actually considering Linspire (aka Lindows). hmm...

WSJ.com - The 'Soup Nazi' Expands: "Real-Life 'Seinfeld' Character Plans to Franchise His Store;A Ban on Sitcom Tie-Ins"
Let's get one here! Maybe we could pool together an investment team to start a store here..

The next version of Google Groups looks a little more Gmail-like. The addition of feature after feature makes it hard for them to not end up with a Yahoo-like mess.
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Vaporize Me - Is inhalable alcohol a good idea? By Amanda Schaffer

Happy Birthday Google!
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One brilliant man telling the next of his concern he has the Curse Of The Gifted.

It'd be nice if we could get dodgeball here before the decade is out. For those of you who don't know, it's the latest social networking site, but you use it with your mobile phones. It uses text messaging to tell you where your friends and family are, and vice versa.