Month: May 2007
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Edible pawns
[Bake your own chess set](http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/play-your-chess-and-eat-it-too-241017.php).
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Book Review: The Last Colony, John Scalzi
I took a quick break from my Hugo review series to read the latest from [John Scalzi](http://www.scalzi.com/). *The Last Colony* is a sequel to *Old Man’s War* and *Ghost Brigades*. The plot follows on from the past two books. John Perry and Jane Sagan are now retired from the Colonial Military, and have become colonists…
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Seeing individual atoms
A [picture from the frontiers of atomic force microscopy](http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=dn11272&feedId=online-news_rss20). ([Via](http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/02/atomic-force-microscope-takes-a-closer-look-at-individual-atoms/))
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My next desktop
[Just as soon as I have enough money for seven screens](http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/every-nerds-dream-desk-setup-240775.php).
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Peer Review 2.0
[A new journal with an interesting refereeing strategy](http://andrewleigh.com/?p=1353). Hope it works.
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Thought scientology was nuts?
Apparently [L. Ron Hubbard didn’t believe calculus worked](http://www.rr.cistron.nl/xenu/quotes.htm#calculus). ([Via](http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/02/23/scientology-nuttiness-part-dydx-calculus/))
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Wish we had the New Yorker
[Two great cartoons](http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2007/02/my_two_favorite.html) from Brad DeLong.
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Investment strategy and the PSS
As a Commonwealth Public Servant I’m lucky enough to be in the Public Service Superannuation defined benefit scheme. Back when I joined the Public Service this was a really nice scheme. You get a (generous) defined benefit linked to your final salary in the public service, and you get a big contribution from your employer.…
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You can’t measure happiness
Nice explanation from John Quiggin about [why happiness measurement just doesn’t work](http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/22/whats-wrong-with-happiness-measurement/).
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The DDR lives!
East Germany still lives, with [one island left in the Carribean](http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/02/20/79-east-germany-lives-on-as-a-tiny-carribean-island/).