First the videos with bin Laden ones Exhibit A. He always seems to pop up strategically at well-timed moments, almost like we planned it that way. Evidence points that way. Consider the one on Friday (September 7) before the sixth 9/11 anniversary in 2007. Digital image forensics expert, Neal Krawetz of Hactor Factor, said it was full of low quality visual and audio splices, a likely fake. Striking also was bin Laden's beard that was gray in recent images. In this video, it's black. In addition, the footage has him dressed in a white hat and shirt and yellow sweater, precisely his same attire on an October 29, 2004 video. In addition, the background, lighting, desk and camera angle are the same. Krawetz noted that "if you overlay the 2007 and 2004 videos, bin Laden's face is the same (unaged).

Astronauts gear up for rendezvous and docking

The Atlantis astronauts, closing in on the international space station, are gearing up for docking today to wrap up a two-day orbital chase. Looping below the lab complex and then up to a point directly in front of the station, commander Steve Frick plans to manually guide Atlantis to a linkup around 12:25 p.m.

Frick, pilot Alan Poindexter, flight engineer Rex Walheim, Leland Melvin, Stan Love and European Space Agency astronauts Hans Schlegel and Leopold Eyharts were awakened at 4:45 a.m. today by a recording of Garrison Keillor singing about powdermilk biscuits from "A Prairie Home Companion."

"Good morning Atlantis," astronaut Shannon Lucid radioed from mission control. "And an especially great good morning to you today, Steve. It's a great day for rendezvous."

"Hey, thanks very much, Shannon," Frick replied.

cornpone harry

Mike Huckabee's 3:1 win over John McCain in Kansas this weekend sends a loud warning to the Arizona senator – and allows the glib Arkansan to justify remaining in the presidential race. As the sole remaining credible competitor to McCain in the primaries, Huckabee is likely to continue to win delegates, as the vessel through which disgruntled Republicans can send a message about their discontent with the party's likely nominee.

Speaking as he does of “miracles," Mike Huckabee must understand that it would require one for him to win the 2008 nomination – he would have to secure 93% of the remaining delegates. So clearly, he's remaining in the race for another reason. By raising his delegate count above Mitt Romney's, second only to McCain's, Huckabee may well hope that he is establishing himself as the putative frontrunner the next time a Republican presidential field assembles.

Qtrax's Jackass Move, Mideast Net Blackout, VMware's Hangover

Egypt and India were hit with massive Internet and phone outages when undersea cables were severed just off the coast of Alexandria. The accident knocked out about 70 percent of Egypt's available bandwidth and cut international phone access by 30 percent. About half of India's capacity was knocked out, though it was able to reroute its traffic through a backup system.

Komputer Klinic: Find the right Christmas gifts for photo buffs

Thanks to digital cameras, more people than ever are interested in photography. You probably have a photo enthusiast or budding photographer on your Christmas list. Knowing what to buy photo buffs is tricky.

Likewise, youll find wireless transmitters for high-end cameras from Canon and Nikon.

Covering the Collapse: Live-Blogging from Minneapolis

I borrowed her digital camera and snapped photos while she shot tape for 12 to 15 minutes. Then we set up for the standup. Before she rolled, I went over what I hoped to do: start tight on a twisted steel support and zoom out as I described the scene on the bridge, then move from the most compelling sites, north to south, narrating as she lingered on each spot, then back to me for an on-camera close. It was going to be a lengthy as-live and there wasn't much room for error, since the clock was ticking. Fortunately, we did it in one take, then shot a tease. There was still time left, so Cappy got some more b-roll until the call came to get back on the bus.

Sometimes we get so focused on the task at hand we lose sight of the bigger picture. I always make efforts not to let that happen, and as I stood at the railing I tried to soak up the scene below.