Technology
12:16 pm
Sun August 28, 2011

Review Too Good To Be True? Sometimes It Is

From local plumbers to luxury hotels, just about everyone selling a service these days has an online reputation. Increasingly, that reputation is shaped by online reviews: Customer ratings on sites such as Yelp and Urbanspoon can, for example, make or break a new restaurant.

It's no wonder, then, that some businesses are trying to fake us out. On Craigslist and online forums, posters are offering to buy and sell gushing reviews for just a few bucks; potential customers aren't able to tell the difference.

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Larry Abramson is NPR's National Security Correspondent. He covers the Pentagon, as well as issues relating to the thousands of vets returning home from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Prior to his current role, Abramson was NPR's Education Correspondent covering a wide variety of issues related to education, from federal policy to testing to instructional techniques in the classroom. His reporting focused on the impact of for-profit colleges and universities, and on the role of technology in the classroom. He made a number of trips to New Orleans to chart the progress of school reform there since Hurricane Katrina. Abramson also covers a variety of news stories beyond the education beat.

In 2006, Abramson returned to the education beat after spending nine years covering national security and technology issues for NPR. Since 9/11, Abramson has covered telecommunications regulation, computer privacy, legal issues in cyberspace, and legal issues related to the war on terrorism.

During the late 1990s, Abramson was involved in several special projects related to education. He followed the efforts of a school in Fairfax County, Virginia, to include severely disabled students in regular classroom settings. He joined the National Desk reporting staff in 1997.

For seven years prior to his position as a reporter on the National Desk, Abramson was senior editor for NPR's National Desk. His department was responsible for approximately 25 staff reporters across the United States, five editors in Washington, and news bureaus in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. The National Desk also coordinated domestic news coverage with news departments at many of NPR's member stations. The desk doubled in size during Abramson's tenure. He oversaw the development of specialized beats in general business, high-technology, workplace issues, small business, education, and criminal justice.

Abramson joined NPR in 1985 as a production assistant with Morning Edition. He moved to the National Desk, where he served for two years as Western editor. From there, he became the deputy science editor with NPR's Science Unit, where he helped win a duPont-Columbia Award as editor of a special series on Black Americans and AIDS.

Prior to his work at NPR, Abramson was a freelance reporter in San Francisco and worked with Voice of America in California and in Washington, D.C.

He has a master's degree in comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley. Abramson also studied overseas at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and at the Free University in Berlin, Germany.

Environment
7:00 am
Sun August 28, 2011

Hurricane Pours Over East Coast; More To Come

Overnight, Hurricane Irene pounded the East Coast from North Carolina to New Jersey. The National Hurricane Center reports there will still be heavy winds and rain for the remainder of the day, although the storm is weakening. As many as 3 million people are without power. Guest host John Ydstie and NPR's Joe Palca discuss the causes and aftereffects of Hurricane Irene.

Remembrances
7:00 am
Sun August 28, 2011

Stetson Kennedy, Who 'Unmasked' The Klan, Dies

Stetson Kennedy infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s and wrote about it in his book The Klan Unmasked. Guest host John Ydstie remembers the folklorist, who died Saturday at the age of 94.

Around the Nation
7:00 am
Sun August 28, 2011

Families Mark Five Years Since Flight 5191 Crash

This weekend is the five-year anniversary of the crash of Comair Flight 5191. Forty-nine people died when the plane took off from the wrong runway at Lexington's Blue Grass airport. Brenna Angel of member station WUKY spoke with three victims' relatives about how they continue to cope and what a new memorial means to them.

Around the Nation
7:00 am
Sun August 28, 2011

Atlantic City Tavern Offers Shelter In The Storm

New Jersey's Gov. Chris Christie on Friday announced mandatory evacuations for his state's coastal residents as Hurricane Irene approached. He said this weekend was not the time to get dinner in Atlantic City, but the Ducktown Tavern in Atlantic City is intent on staying open.

Africa
7:00 am
Sun August 28, 2011

Reprisal Violence As Libyan Rebels Gain Control

In Libya, rebels have consolidated their control over the main city, Tripoli. Reports of human rights abuses are surfacing, with reports of apparent retaliatory murders. Reporters Sunday were taken to an apparent massacre site near a military camp held by supporters of Moammar Gadhafi. Meanwhile, a Gadhafi spokesman reportedly offered to negotiate with insurgents. Guest host John Ydstie discusses the latest news from Libya with NPR's Jason Beaubien.

Reporter's Notebook
7:00 am
Sun August 28, 2011

New York City, The Night Before The Storm

Tropical Storm Irene is hitting New York City Sunday morning, but Saturday night in lower Manhattan, people weren't quite sure what to expect from the storm. NPR's Caitlin Kenney describes what it was like in her neighborhood.

Around the Nation
7:00 am
Sun August 28, 2011

A Red Cross Storm Report From New Jersey

Early Sunday morning, Hurricane Irene rolled through southern New Jersey. Guest host John Ydstie speaks with Pamela Grites of the American Red Cross Southern Shore Chapter about Hurricane Irene's effects on southern New Jersey.

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