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CD-ROM drives
I had an interesting experience this weekend. I bought some Fedora 9 CDs in order to easily upgrade a new laptop. Since I had them, I decided to upgrade one of my desktops from a CD rather than over the net (I usually install over the net, but, sadly but understandably, installing from CD tends…
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Kuttner and Moore
I’ve been reading some old science fiction short stories recently, and I was reminded of just how good Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore were writing together after they got married. Writing separately they were notable. Moore in particular wrote the Northwest Smith series of stories in the 1930s, which were pulp stories but nevertheless vivid…
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Hedge Gates
My current understanding of the typical hedge fund is that there are certain dates when you are permitted to request a redemption. The hedge fund must then give you your money back within six to eight weeks. Some hedge funds have gates, which are limits on the amount of money you are permitted to withdraw.…
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Dwarf Pluto
At the Chabot Space and Science Museum this weekend, I saw the first tangible result I’ve seen of the demotion of Pluto: a ruler in the gift shop had the eight planets plus the asteroid belt, but no mention of Pluto. The Tour of the Planets does still mention Pluto, though.
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No Difference?
I watched the vice-presidential debate last night. It was reasonably interesting, but not all that exciting. I was hoping that Sarah Palin would address the obvious impossibility of the U.S. becoming self-sufficient in energy by drilling for more oil, but no such luck; when Joe Biden pointed out the numbers (4% of world oil reserves,…