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SALT LAKE CITY -- All this week, the Internet has been flooded with images from Japan. Most of them are of the frightening destruction wreaked by the earthquake and tsunami. But one of the most amazing videos online right now does not show the tsunami or destruction.
A video seen here shows skyscrapers in Tokyo visibly swaying in the moments after the earthquake. As bizarre as that may seem, the buildings were designed to do that. And they all withstood one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded. How many Salt Lake City buildings could survive such an earthquake?
The video speaks to a number that has yet to be calculated: the number of lives saved by strict building codes and amazing engineering.
Don't get scammed
When you see terrible destruction in Japan, from the earthquake to the tsunami to the unstable nuclear reactors, you probably feel compelled to reach out and help. That's good. But with ever major disaster, we see a spike in charity fraud online.
Don't let your donation fall into the pocket of a scam artist. Look carefully at who you are dealing with.
Security News Daily has three suggestions to help you avoid falling victim to a charity scam.
- Look for misspellings in the web address. You may think you're at a trusted organization, but check to make sure it's not a dummy website like "ret cross" instead of "red cross."
- Watch to make sure you're not redirected to a third party website, and be careful of embedded links in e-mails that take you to unknown websites that ask for credit card information.
- Don't be pressured into making the donation right then. If something seems weird to you, do some research. Chances are you were not the only person targeted and there may be information about it already online.
If you're looking for trustworthy charities, try consulting the Better Business Bureau. Its website is www.bbb.org. On the front page, it has tips and instructions for making a safe donation to the relief efforts in Japan.
At the end of the day, if something about the organization or website seems odd or makes you the least bit nervous, go somewhere else. Don't let a scam artist take advantage of your big heart.
Humanoid robot launches into space
And finally, the United States has launched its first humanoid robot into space.
Named Robonaut, the robot is designed to work side-by-side with humans and also possibly go places and do things that would be too dangerous for humans. And he is on Twitter!
On the first day out of his crate and in action on the International Space Station, Robonaut tweeted "Check me out, I'm in space" and posted a photo of himself.
OK, so the Twitter stuff is handled by ground crew. Robonaut is far too busy.
