A new Google Earth layer keeps tabs on political spending by pinpointing where and for what projects U.S. government officials are budgeting funds for across the country:

Members of Congress know where the money is going: now citizens can, too. The Sunlight Foundation today released a Google Earth application that plots the locations for almost 1,500 earmarks in the House Defense Appropriations bill. This graphic illustration of defense earmarks gives anyone with an internet connection a bird’s-eye view of exactly where Congress is directing federal spending—and the ability to investigate whether the earmarks address pressing needs, favor political contributors or are simply pure pork.

Navigate House Defense Earmarks on Google Earth [Sunlight Foundation via CNET News.com]

Google Hacks is a compilation of carefully crafted Google searches that expose novel functionality from Google’s search and map services. For example, you can use it to view a timeline of your search results, view a map, search for music, search for books, and perform many other specific kinds of searches. You can also use this program to use google as a proxy.

Google is a powerful search tool. You can use it to find information, but you can also use it to find downloadable MP3s, books, videos, and other items. You can find certain file types, search by when it was modified, certain directories, size, description, etc.

Search modifiers like “-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(.mp3|.wma|.ogg) ” are the way you specify what you’re searching for in Google, but there’s an easier way. That’s where Google Hacks comes in. This handy little app will let you search for dozens of file types, song lyrics, cached pages, fonts, and other little goodies hanging out on the web.

Google Hacks

The World is a very good Public Radio show that focuses on world news and culture often overlooked or ignored by mainstream radio.  I listen to it daily on the drive home from work and it often gives an in depth look at current news, trends, and world events.  If you can’t find a local public radio station that carries it in your area, you can also stream it from their website or even download the podcast of it to listen on your computer or MP3 player.  It’s a refreshing change of topic from mainstream US as many stories in as short amount of time formula.

The World