Weekend update: Other things found this week:

Several links this week fit no categories except maybe the 'news' category, because they're all followups to events we've been watching recently, so I'll just list them here on top.

• Profiting from Katrina: the Contracts "Old friends are the Best Friends", study from Center for Public Integrity. A New York Times study of the contracts.
  
• How the Subprime Mortgage Industry is Sandbagging Katrina-affected Homeowners, from ACORN.
  
• All Available NY Fire Dept Dispatch Tapes From 9/11, contents of 21 released CDs, from The Memory Hole.
  
• Leadership Failure: Firsthand Accounts of Torture of Iraqi Detainees by the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division from Human Rights Watch.

The other links:

Reference:

New map of U.S. landfalling Hurricanes, covers 1950 to 2004, from NHC.

Hottest new toys for the holiday season, from Toys R Us.

Best cities for renters, 2005 Miami 94th, Fort Laud. 87th. Move to Raleigh, top on the list.
Tools:

Zipcodes on Google Maps: need to see where a ZIP code covers? Enter it on this map and it shows the boundaries.

Latitude/Longitude Distance Calculator from National Hurricane Center.

RollYO is a new search engine tool that lets you customize your searches. Search just the sites you want. Here's an example from The Scoops' Derek Willis, who set up RollYO to search just the Wash Post and St. Pete Times for 'Abramoff'. Note links to other people's searches on right.
Statistics:

Trends in U.S. Immigration, 1992-2004 from Pew Hispanic.

High Gas Prices, Emerging Technologies Spur Transit Ridership Increases, study from American Public Transprtation Assn.
Journalism:

Journalism for Dummies: John Woestendiek tells you how it works, in the Balt. Sun.
Governments, Politics:

A new TRAC study says Federal prosecutions are up 31% under the Bush administration.

Most corrupt members of Congress, compiled by Citizens for Ethics Wow, only one from Florida (Feeney).
Public Records:

IntegraScan does instant criminal background checks for $12.95 per state. Suggested in a NewsLib message.
Business:

Yahoo! Finance Search finds information, news stories, and links on private companies, subsidiaries, and people. (Information from Hoover's.)