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The Random Texan

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Dilletante * Raconteur

therandomtexan

  • Really really small

    John Cook has a very nice article on approximations from infinite series, based on sin Ө ≈ Ө. Read more

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  • Lead by example?

    Pat Sajak confuses Global Warmists with Protestants and suggests they witness their faith. Call me when I can get some photos of the pigs flying by… Tip from Planet Gore. Read more

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  • Don’t take it personally

    You really didn’t think that Sarah Palin’s "death panels" were going to consider patients on a one-by-one basis, did you?  No, the way the healthcare bureaucracy will get you is by providing ever more limited services, like we do for kidney patients, or like the NHS is planning for the Brits.  Think I’m kidding?  Try Read more

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  • Bag it, peasant!

    Team Pelosi has commissioned the ultimate fundraiser, a Diane Von Furstenberg-designed tote bag: Hey, guys, it’s only $65, and that’s before using the discount code!  I’m tempted to buy one, just to high hat all the granola eaters down at Whole Foods.  After, nothing says frugality and Saving the Planet like a $65 cloth bag.  Read more

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  • Screw you, I’m going home

    The Canadian government has decided to make their census "long form" survey voluntary to respect citizen’s privacy; the head of Statistics Canada resigns. Tip from Pollster.com.  (Did I mention they’re my favorite Democrats?) Read more

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  • Pimp your Windows 7

    I’ve just finished installing Windows 7 on my home PC and laptop.  Yes, I’m a pokey old dinosaur who believes the rule "Never buy version 1.0 of anything," but I did manage to miss out on the Windows Vista nonsense.  Windows 7 is great!  Lots of nice features–Homegroup lets me share files wirelessly, the slideshow Read more

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  • Everest and the anthill

    Steven Wynn prefers the business climate in China to that here in the US: http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/1506508223/code/cnbcplayershare Tip from Patrick McMillan. Read more

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  • Brace yourself for (re)apportionment!

    Here’s a concise history of congressional apportionment, with a good stab at explaining the mathematical rules involved.  Tannenbaum’s Excursions in Modern Mathematics devotes a chapter to the topic; I used to teach this in our statistical literacy course. Tip from The Geek Press Update (22 July).  A new book on voting systems is reviewed in Read more

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  • Bye, bye, Bigmouth

    What IS it with the Lefties when they’ve pulled a fast one?  Here’s a USDA official bloviating to the crowd at an NAACP function and bragging about slow-rolling a white farmer who was in the process of losing his farm.  Her almost unspoken message seems to be "payback time." Tip from the Instapundit.Apparently the USDA Read more

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  • Get a job

    "You’ve graduated from a good college with a humanities or social sciences degree. You can’t find a good job, so you’re living at home and letting your parents pay your bills. What should you do?"  Get a job, any job, says Joanne Jacobs.  Well, duh.  Money in is better than money out. Read more

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