More reliability would have come from water-proof substations, building-centric Bloom fuel-cell power and local micro-grids.

FORBES: New York, Black Swans, Blackouts and Anti-Fragile Grids

Is there an Android alternative that's as useful in our special circumstances, and is it compatible with a sturdy, water-proof case for it?

ENGADGET: Ask Engadget: best tablet, software and case for a child with a developmental disorder?

The government will likely also have to store 20 million tons in makeshift spaces, covered by water-proof sheets and resting on wooden platforms erected over bricks.

WSJ: Indian Grain May Rot After Bumper Harvest

But as the cases of Azharuddin and Malik have show, any punishment meted out must be based on water-tight proof or the courts will soon become involved.

BBC: Odumbe is being investigated by the ICC

The positive side of the Tearfund report is that simple measures to "climate-proof" water problems, both drought and flood, have proven to be very effective in some areas.

BBC: Man with dead camel in desert. Image: Jim Loring/Tearfund

Curiously, the previous-generation product wasn't rain-proof, but that's been resolved now -- a new water- and dust-resistant housing is designed to let water flow through the eyepieces without accumulation.

ENGADGET

This was ostensibly manned by the pro-Congolese government militia known as the Mai Mai after the water they douse themselves with to create a magical, bullet-proof shield.

BBC: NEWS | Africa | Retracing Che Guevara's Congo footsteps

While paying lip service to the idea, will President-elect Obama use his political skills to sidetrack or, more likely, water down this un-American proposal, made easier by Democrats not gaining a filibuster-proof Senate?

FORBES: Miraculous March To The White House

Redbreast cask strength is neither diluted with water nor chill-filtered, another standard step, which leaves it with a slightly murkier color and noticeably stronger proof, 115 vs. the usual 80, or 57.7% alcohol vs. 40%.

FORBES: My Favorite Irish Whiskey Is Back - And Better Than Ever