What's going on in Iceland today? Just ask ander, who's always letting us know about the major news in his country. He got his start with a video showing a group of truck drivers protesting government actions they believe are responsible for surging gas prices about twice as high as in the United States. Later, he told us about the effects of an earthquake and showed us geothermal energy sending whitish plumes into the air. When Björk and Sigur Rós gave a free benefit concert in Iceland, he was there.

But he also tells softer stories about art festivals and mud soccer. He has also covered a baby fashion show, Viking festival, air shows, sea ships, natural phenomena such as the aurora borealis and days without darkness.

ander has gotten a good reaction from the community, including story comments from Sri Lankan iReporter Smokey. The two became friends, leading ander to send Icelandic souvenirs across the water. Smokey has added these to a "friendship wall" she is starting. Feeling inspired? Take a minute and look around at what's happening where you are. We'd like to know what's going on in your hometown.

Posted by nsaidi // 2 days ago
 1 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: iceland, shoutouts, community

We saw something very exciting when looking at ThePianoMan's collection of flooding photos from Lincoln County, Missouri. His final image is a Google Earth map showing some of his shots and where they were taken. This gives a better sense of just how widespread the flood damage is, and it was quite an innovative idea!

If you have a collection of photos, and want to get creative on how they're presented, share them with us! We would love to not only see your images, but where they're coming from.

Posted by hhanks // 4 days ago
 0 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: technology, creative, shoutouts

As a single mother of three, mommiestyles is greatly concerned about rising gas prices. She voiced her concerns on iReport.com, asking how she could feed her children with these prices. "Who can afford that?" she asked. "I might as well charter my own jet!"

As the price of gas continued to weigh heavily on her mind, mommiestyles went to the streets of Cincinnati to ask passers-by the simple question: "To drive or not to drive?" --- and she turned out to be quite the gifted interviewer as well.

What question would you ask in your neighborhood? Grab your camera and hit the street!

Posted by hhanks // 3 weeks ago
 11 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: shoutouts, assignmentdesk

You've shared many incredible iReports of severe weather in the last few days. Among them is this extraordinary video of a tornado forming in Monee, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, posted by weather buff rpot.

The reactions of rpot and members of his family go from awe to fear as the huge twister appears to be getting closer. Tell us, how would you react in this situation?

And a quick reminder, if you're sending severe weather iReports: please, be careful out there!

Posted by hhanks // 3 weeks ago
 2 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: shoutouts, video

newschaser, a videographer from Moncton, Canada, always keeps the iReport community up to date with Moncton mishaps, from a moose run amok to automobile miscalculations.

Today, though, he inspired us with some shots of newborn animals. Check out this bald eagle, she's a new mother! And, newschaser tells us, this little fawn had an interesting birth. When her mother was killed by a car, an onlooker says that someone noticed the doe was pregnant and cut the fawn from her womb. Not the happiest story, but the baby looks healthy!

Inspired? Show is what's happening in your world.

Posted by kate9 // 4 weeks ago
 1 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: community, shoutouts, personal_story

iReporters Spellbox have a great interest in music. So great, that they even have a band in Gainesville, Florida, called Spellbox. Little did they know until a few years ago that their neighbor was none other than legendary musician Bo Diddley, who passed away Monday at the age of 79.

When spellbox learned of his death, they logged on to iReport.com to tell us about the Bo Diddley they knew... the man they knew as a "friend and mentor", who would come to their house and jam with them, and entertain guests at their parties. "He was in a couple of our videos, gave us instruments and foot pedals. We opened a couple of shows for him, and he took us under his wing."

Spellbox went through some of their old videos and even came up with footage of Diddley rehearsing for a performance in Gainesville, and they shared it with the iReport community.

Were you affected by Bo Diddley's music, or did you meet him in person? Share your memories.

Posted by hhanks // 4 weeks ago
 1 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: shoutouts, personal_story

When a fire broke out on a movie lot in Universal Studios, California, on Sunday, iReporters were all over the scene with their cameras to document the event and share some insider information. What a great response!

Are you familiar with the area of Universal Studios that burned? If so, share photos of it with the iReport.com community!

Posted by kate9 // 1 month ago
 4 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: shoutouts

Props to TheWarden, who, spurred by the fact that visiting a friend across town has become "a serious investment" took us on a gas price tour of his hometown.

We appreciate his candid take on a serious issue. Join TheWarden as he cruises across the Intracoastal Waterway, through South Beach, and around Miami in search of the lowest gas prices.

Be sure to share your tales of searching for and avoiding gas stations with iReport.com.

Posted by kate9 // 1 month ago
 2 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: shoutouts

"Back in my day, I used to walk 15 miles in the snow…" This cliché isn't much of an exaggeration for user drakes, who rides a bicycle year-round in Madison, Wisconsin. Snowdrifts be darned. The video was shot from a helmet camera. We got another first-person bike video from rawbacon showing a harrowing ride through a bustling street in Amsterdam. Not to mention Placebo's video of his traffic-laden commute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. More and more iReporters are looking to bikes and trains for solutions to rising gas prices.

Note that we don't advise you to distract yourself behind the handlebars or especially the wheel; in these cases, the camera was fixed to an object such as a helmet or the vehicle was traveling at an extremely slow speed.

But iReporters have lots more ways of getting around. PreachTina documented her rather interesting journey on the New York City subway. yngjedi takes a ferry across Puget Sound in Seattle, Washington, as part of his commute. DRSPIEGEL14 suggests that pedal-powered vehicles could be the transport of the future. iReporter sicarim now takes the bus and kelepouris is resorting to a golf cart. MP3SMART keeps a "fun fleet" while JohnBrooking is another biker. How do you get around? Pull out your camera and show us your commute.

Posted by nsaidi // 1 month ago
 8 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: shoutouts, assignmentdesk

The number of new users on iReport.com keeps getting bigger by the day. We'd like to recognize some of the notable newcomers.

iReporter vincois was on the scene of an explosion at a Hilton hotel in San Diego, California. SupportTAPS shared a touching Memorial Day tribute to her brother, who was killed in Baghdad, Iraq, in August 2007. And when severe weather hit Kat215's neighborhood, she documented the storm damage.

On a lighter note, roku keeps us entertained with video demonstrations of the Wii Fit. He also documented how he uses Polaroid film with new technology. iReporter Oyeah shared the catchy " Ba Rock Song." And JacobKhalaf shared a special moment -- his "slam dunk" proposal at a Detroit Piston's game.

Posted by katie // 1 month ago
 7 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: shoutouts, community

"Whatever I do here, is not enough nor will it ever be.
But I will try as will the rest of the world." - Dr. Matt Marko

After China's devastating earthquakes, Dr. Matt Marko and his wife traveled to the hard-hit town of Xiao ba, and set up a makeshift medical clinic to help treat survivors. "I saw a photo of seven school children all deceased and knew I had to go," he told CNN in an e-mail interview. Marko sent photos of the shattered region to iReport.com and described the difficult conditions survivors face.

His seven-person team treated hundreds of patients in the days following the quake -- many for fractures, contusions, lacerations, dislocations, dehydration and some malnutrition. Marko is one of the few Western psychiatrists practicing in China and says many residents will be under severe
psychological strain once the shock wears off.

He says he gave children in the camp little jobs to take their minds off of the situation.

Marko's story is one of many from iReporters whose lives were affected by the earthquakes in China. You can read more here.

Posted by davidw // 1 month ago
 1 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: shoutouts, international

iReporters are feeling spacey lately with all the news of the Phoenix lander touching down on Mars. After JenniferS got the chance to go on a NASA field mission in California's Mojave Desert, she was compelled to follow up by visiting NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View. There, she watched as the Phoenix lander touched Martian soil. The iReports she captured along the way show both the technological and human sides of space exploration: the long hours of research and training logged along the way, and the tense minutes leading up to do-or-die success.

She adds to a long list of iReporters who've given us a look at everything from eclipses and to shuttle launches. User tnhiker wowed us with his shots of Saturn, Jupiter, the sun and more. Another iReporter, astro, has photographed the International Space Station, a solar eclipse and the Hale-Bopp comet. We also got an iReport about the Mars landing from inside the virtual world of Second Life, courtesy of SL iReporter iRocket. And who could forget BDrenning's footage taken of lights that flashed over Phoenix, Arizona? Maybe you're a space-loving photographer, too. If so, send us your photos and video and share your tricks for getting that great shot against all interplanetary odds.

Posted by nsaidi // 1 month ago
 5 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: assignmentdesk, shoutouts

Plenty of news happens within the expansive confines of the virtual society known as Second Life. Thankfully, iReporters are keeping a careful watch over this corner of the digital universe. Some of these stories have run on CNN. PhorkyadA presented a fantastic video of a rehearsal for a performance of Euripedes' "The Bacchae" at the Greek Theater on Cookie island. We presented his video during our weekly public newsgathering discussion in Second Life and brought up other topics that appeared in the week's SL iReports. Story subject matter included diverse topics such as the Furry subculture, the darkly themed simulation of Black Swan and games of "human chess" played by avatars.

If you're in Second Life, you can join in on the fun, too. See a story or issue you'd like to cover? Simply take a postcard or snapshot and upload it at iReport.com. Or, e-mail submissions to slireport@cnn.com. In-world news chasers can also meet with iReport staffers at the iReport hub on Future each Tuesday at 2 p.m. Second Life time (5 p.m. ET) for the weekly meeting. Hope to see your stories very soon!

Posted by nsaidi // 1 month ago
 5 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: second_life, shoutouts, personal_story, features, discussion, community, assignmentdesk

When wildfires blazed through Malabar, Florida last week, iReporters were there to cover it. The fires were particularly close to iReporter SupermouseDV. In fact, they were right next to his workplace. This put him in a special position to follow the firefighters as they battled the flames from beginning to end.

Once the fire was put out, SupermouseDV was able to show us something we don't always see -- the extensive damage to the forest, which the fires left behind. He went out the night of May 13th and the following morning to shoot video of the devastation left in the fire's wake. He discovered dead trees as far as the eye could see, and in one case, a dead animal. SupermouseDV's videos show the true power of iReport.com by giving us an up-close look into a major news story.

Posted by hhanks // 1 month ago
 0 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: shoutouts

One of my favorite parts of iReport.com is the iReporters page, where you get a peek at many of the faces of the contributors who fill up this site with personal and global news stories every day. But lately it's gotten a little less interesting as several folks in the superstar ranks have declined to upload a profile picture, leaving us with the plain brown default.

As Mz. Ella of LadysHoodJnl put it in a recent message to me, "I don't mingle with iReporters without credentials in here: No photo - no clips; get no reply from me, because they serve as distractive sidebars."

Don't be a sidebar, y'all. Let's see that mug. All you need is a 120x120 photo of yourself. Head to your Edit My Profile page to upload it.

Posted by lila // 1 month ago
 8 comments // Add a Comment
Posted in: site, shoutouts