Category: Quickhit
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Now that the caretaker period has started
A little something for my Austalian Public Service readers: [a USB powered whack-a-mole game](http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/01/usb-powered-whack-a-mole-annihilates-productivity/). Should fill in the days until November 26.
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In case you were still puzzling over the Economics nobel
[A good sumary of mechanism design theory](http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2007/10/mechanism-desig.html). Pretty simple at the end of the day: complicated mechanisms are normally unnecessary.
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In case that degree in theology was taking too long
[A history of religion in 90 seconds](http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/history-of-religion.html). The contrast between the early spread of Christianity and Islam is quite fascinating.
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Bad ideas in architecture
[A Japanese building with a 200-foot drop ride built into the middle](http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/architecture/beautiful-japanese-building-to-be-covered-in-puke-311143.php). It does look quite nice, but (as the linked post points out) clean up could be a bit of a worry.
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Mathematicians are strange
[Apparently all the cool graph theorists use fake names on their papers](http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2007/10/15/5455305.aspx). By the way, all my physics papers are published under an assumed name too, but that’s for different reasons…
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Been a Long Time
[Led Zeppelin’s complete catalog coming to iTunes](http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/music/led-zeppelin-changes-tune-puts-whole-catalog-online-310757.php). I’ll certainly be buying a stairway to heaven.
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What does that symbol mean?
[A field guide to the strange icons on many electronic devices](http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/magazine/15-10/st_symbology). Given that they’re trivial to forge, I don’t really know what benefit a lot of these provide – a lot of them are for certification required to legally sell the device.
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US Supreme Court addicts only
[8 years of cert pool memos from the US supreme court](http://epstein.law.northwestern.edu/research/Blackmun.html). The Blackmun archive is the gift that keeps on giving for Supreme Court nerds.
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In case you were wondering
[The line of succession to the British Throne](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_of_succession_to_the_British_Throne). Sadly they seem to have to omitted me, but I’m sure they’ll fix it in the next edition. First Australian (by blood) on the list: position 217.
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University entrance exams
[The 1869 entrance exam for MIT](http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/exam/). Actually, it’s surprisingly easy. About grade 10 level on average, I think.