Al's Morning Meeting

In fact, tattoo removal services say they are seeing a surge in patients who want their nonsensical Asian tattoos removed.

Here is a translating service that urges people to be sure they know what they are about to engrave on their body.

Where There's Smoke

There are lots of fires burning in Florida right now. Click here to see a map of this surprising display. Be patient -- the server is sometimes overloaded and the map is data heavy, but it's well worth it.

This is the map from Tuesday:

It was so smoky yesterday around St. Pete that several of my Poynter colleagues were out sick with allergic reactions. The smoke hung thick like London fog.

Keep this page handy. It tracks fires nationwide and is updated constantly.

Opposition to Federal ID Act

Federal Computer Week points out:

Civil liberties and consumer organizations have started a national campaign against the Real ID Act regulations issued by the Homeland Security Department because they believe the new identification system will have serious negative effects on privacy and civil rights.

The campaign was announced May 1 by 43 organizations, and seven groups joined today, bringing the total of groups involved to 50. The purpose of the effort is "to stop the nation's first national ID system," the coalition said.

The organizations say they are worried about [an] increased threat of counterfeiting and identity theft due to [a] lack of security to protect against unauthorized access to the information on the ID cards.

Click here to see the list of organizations involved in the protest.

The FCW story adds:

Congress passed the Real ID Act of 2005 on the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission to standardize state-issued drivers' licenses nationwide to curb abuses and prevent illegal aliens from obtaining ID cards by using false information. Several of the 2001 terrorists had valid U.S. driver's licenses.

However, several state legislatures have rejected the Real ID Act requirements. To date, Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana and Washington state have voted not to participate in implementing the Real ID Act because of its high costs and privacy concerns. State governments will have to spend about $11 billion on Real ID over five years, according to a September 2006 study by the National Conference on State Legislatures, the National Governors Association and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.

Fancy Wedding Dancing

Thanks to my old friend Peggy Phillip for spotting this idea and sending it along. Maybe inspired by "Dancing With the Stars," couples getting married these days are contacting dance-instruction companies to help them put on a big show at the wedding reception. The Wall Street Journal says:

Weddings have long been a competitive sport, but in the latest effort to stand out (and to get their wedding videos noticed on YouTube), some couples are putting a new spin on the staid tradition of the first dance. No longer satisfied with an old-school waltz or even a zesty tango, some couples are taking as many as 50 dance lessons to develop over-the-top routines that become the focal point of the reception. Wedding attendants are being dragged in as supporting-cast members and forced to attend multiple dance rehearsals to learn their parts.

Schools Ditching Laptops

The New York Times looks at why some schools are getting rid of their school-issued laptops. In addition to network clogs, maintenance issues and distractions to kids, there was this quote:

"After seven years, there was literally no evidence it had any impact on student achievement -- none," said Mark Lawson, the school board president here in Liverpool, one of the first districts in New York State to experiment with putting technology directly into students' hands. "The teachers were telling us when there's a one-to-one relationship between the student and the laptop, the box gets in the way. It's a distraction to the educational process."

How Fast is Your High-Speed Connection?

WISH-TV in Indianapolis turned a dandy story on how fast your high-speed connection really is. The station learned that often, Internet speeds are far short of what the company claims.

Why the Grass Looks Dead

KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City reports on a new experiment out there to keep highway right-of-way maintenance costs down. The city government sprayed chemicals on the "green space" to stunt the growth of the grass and now will mow it only a third as much. But it looks really ugly.

Al's Morning Multimedia

I know a lot of you are starting to think about your next election coverage. The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette did a nice job on its city election site. The paper mapped interactive wards in its "Meet the Candidates" guide that allow users to click in on races and candidates. The guide is easy to use.

Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.