Surpassing its goal

The drive provides the income necessary to pay for Hawaii Public Radio's programming for the next six months. It was the second drive in a row in which the organization met its money-raising goal ahead of schedule.

Said HPR President and General Manager Michael Titterton: "As we continue to work to improve our service in every way, this is all very, very encouraging. And, more than a little humbling."

Grave details

You don't even need a casket to be legally buried, you know, as long as you died less than 30 hours ago.

Oh. You didn't know that. Obviously, you haven't been hanging out at OahuCemetery.org — a cornucopia of grave details on the Web (www.oahucemetery.org). There's a photo gallery of standout tombstones at the oldest public graveyard in Hawai'i, located in Nu'uanu, and an e-mail link to request a search for someone who may be buried there.

But the big attraction is the "glossary of terms" section, covering stuff you probably wish you never had to learn, but you do.

It's not a bad idea to scan the consumer alerts about burial costs and regulations: It's a guarantee you won't feel like asking at the point you really need to know.

End of an era?

After months during which the Nielsen ratings list was dominated by reality and game shows, things are getting back to normal. The most recent top 5 list, for April 16-22, released yesterday, leads with a familiar name and contains only one each of the reality- and game-show genre.

Here's the list, in order: "ER," NBC; "Survivor II," CBS; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS; "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-Sunday," ABC; "The Practice," ABC.