CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to start things off today on a high note, because we are going to be ending on a low one. Fridays are awesome. I`m Carl Azuz, CNN STUDENT NEWS starts now.
Isaac is the name of a storm making its way to the Caribbean Sea. On Thursday, it was a tropical storm. But forecasters think it could become a hurricane sometime today. That`s also when Isaac is expected to hit Hispaniola, the island made up of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. More than 400,000 Haitians live in tent camps like this, because of an earthquake that hit the country in 2010. Officials are worried about the danger this storm could pose for the camps and all of Haiti. Rob Marciano has more on Isaac`s path.
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ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It`s got a big circulation, it`s got a lot of water to contend with here, to tap into. So, we think it`s going to intensify. The Island of Hispaniola is going to get very, very hard with potentially hurricane force winds and heavier rainfall, and you are talking about a country that has hundreds of the thousands people with questionable shelter that`s going to be an issue of potentially with mud slides. Here is the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center that does intensify it, and brings it over Hispaniola, notably right over Port- au-Prince, Haiti during the day on Friday, and then again on Saturday, and then likely knocking a little bit of its punch, because these very mountainous areas take some of the steam out of it, so what shape it will be in, when it reemerges in the Florida Straits and potentially, the Gulf of Mexico Sunday night into Monday? That`s really unknown as well. And then when it gets into the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, how much more is it going to strengthen? But notice a forecast track does bring it very, very close to Tampa.
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AZUZ: All right, Rob mentioned Tampa because that city is hosting the Republican National Convention next week. And we don`t know for sure where Isaac will hit. When forecasters predict the path of the storm, they use what`s called "a cone of uncertainty." It`s just this range where the storm could go.
This is the building where the Republican convention will be happening. If Isaac hits Tampa, and if it`s strong enough, the building might have to be evacuated. Republican officials say they are working on backup plans, but added that they won`t let weather stop them from making Mitt Romney the party`s official presidential nominee next week.
On this day in history, back in the year `79, Mount Vesuvius erupted in Southern Italy. Within 25 hours it wiped out the city of Pompeii. In 1814, British troops burned down the White House during the war of 1812. President James Madison had already fled to safety. In 1989, Pete Rose, baseball`s all time hits leader was banned from the game for life for betting on baseball. And in 2006, Pluto got a planetary downgrade. It was reclassified as a dwarf planet bringing the number of planets in our Solar system officially to eight.
All right, some of you remember how excited you were to drive for the first time, or if you don`t have your permit or license yet, how excited you are to get that first chance behind the wheel. NASA has an idea about how you feel, because Curiosity, the Mars Rover, took its first test drive this week. It wasn`t much, just a few minutes of movement, but a NASA official called it an important step. He said, "We built our rover, so unless the rover roves, we really haven`t accomplished anything."
What you were just looking at wasn`t animation. This is actual video from when the rover made its landing on Mars, just over two weeks ago.
Here are news on the ads on some Websites seem like they are designed just for you? It`s not a coincidence. There are companies out there, that gather your information, in order to create specific advertising. Ed Lavandera talked with the head of one of those companies.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They`ve been called the cyber-razzi. Largely unknown companies that buy and sell personal information on virtually everyone across the country. Data marketing is now a $300 billion industry.
DON JACKSON, SECURITY RESEARCHER, DELL SECUREWORKS: They know more about us than we know about ourselves, and they can actually predict what we`ll do in the future with a high degree of accuracy.
LAVANDERA: There are hundreds of data brokering companies in the U.S. One of the largest is the company called Acxiom based in Little Rock, Arkansas. In case you missed it, this company recorded sales last year of more than $1 billion. This is the first TV interview Acxiom`s chief executive has ever granted. Scott Howe says, he wants to demystify what his company does.
SCOTT HOWE, CEO, ACXIOM: I think there is a misunderstanding about what we do. So, we collect data. And we use that data about people to give them more relevant advertising, and help businesses make better decisions about marketing onto those people.
LAVANDERA: Acxiom says it has marketing data on 144 million households in America. The raw data about individual people is run through complex algorithms, tracking purchasing and lifestyle patterns. Then you are grouped into a life stage cluster. There are about 70 different groupings with names like Savvy Singles and Apple Pie families. It`s all perfectly legal, but pinpointing exactly how it`s all done and what they have isn`t easy.
HOWE: It`s really the melting pot of all of these different information that we are gained securely, appropriately and legally collecting on the consumers.
LAVANDERA: Data brokers are taking snapshots of your life, and like the real paparazzi, the cyber-razzi is always watching. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Little Rock, Arkansas.
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AZUZ: We are all about some interaction on CNN STUDENT NEWS, and one way we converse with our viewers, is through our blog, "From A to Z" at cnnstudentnews.com. And we`ve been asking about public security cameras this past week, specifically, do you think they are an invasion of privacy? Or do you think they are necessary if they keep us safer? Bryce says, "The police and government can still enforce laws and protect our country without cameras. Nowadays, you can`t go anywhere without being watched. It`s ridiculous."
Olivia says cameras are there to keep you safe, and they won`t be a threat to your privacy if you have nothing to hide."
Lake feels "Privacy would be heavily infringed upon. This story is reminiscent of George Orwell`s dystopia in 1984, where the government (Big Brother) is always watching.
And Qin feels that the use of cameras in public is perfectly acceptable. "But don`t put cameras in private places where it would be embarrassing. They do it for your safety, and I think they shouldn`t change it."
One thing about the blog, its first names only like you just saw, we won`t publish any last initials or classes.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s time for the "Shoutout." What is the lowest note on an 88-key piano? If you think you know it, then shout it out! Is it an A, B, C or D? You`ve got three seconds to key in on the right answer. Go!
When you are sitting at a piano, the bottom note on the far left is an A. That`s your answer, and that`s your shoutout!
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AZUZ: It sounds like this. About the lowest note I could sing is this. But to get to the bottom of Tim Storms` vocal range, you`d have to add a whole other piano onto the end of this one, and even then, you wouldn`t be able to hear it. Eric McLaughlin found out why.
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ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are high notes, and there are low.
But just how low can you go?
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MCLAUGHLIN: Not bad, but they are no match for this man, who officially has the lowest voice in the world.
That last note is so low, Tim Storms says only animals can hear it.
TIM STORMS, LOWEST VOICE IN THE WORLD: Elephants, yeah, I`ve heard that they communicate, like they can hear each other like over 25 miles or something like that, because they -- I think they communicate around four Herz, some frequencies around there.
MCLAUGHLIN: You can`t hear the low notes.
STORMS: Right. Yes. I can feel them, though. Yeah, I can kind of - - kind of hear them in my head, as far as the sound my vocal cords are making, but as far as the frequencies, it`s, you know, something more or less that I feel.
MCLAUGHLIN: Tim first broke the record in 2000, and it`s a record that he keeps breaking.
STORMS: I just get lower the older I get. If you listen to a recording of a person`s voice when they are 30, and then a recording of their voice when they are 80, there is a pretty good difference as far as to how low they talk.
Tim also holds the record for the widest range. He sings in an unprecedented ten octaves.
(on camera): And with a normal person, his range is what?
STORMS: Probably, two or three octaves.
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, how is this biologically possible?
STORMS: I sang with an a cappella group back in -- a few years ago, and one of the concerts, we have -- there is an ear, nose and throat specialist who came to concert. He`s like man, I got to look at your vocal chords. He said that my vocal chords were about twice as long as normal.
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AZUZ: All right. Now, this is usually the part of the show where I make some sort of pun, and I hesitated because we didn`t want to debase Tim`s talent. After all, that should be the vocal point of the story. But you know me, I`m all about setting a new low. Please note, we will be back on Monday, and have a great weekend.