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Wow, this brings back the memories of a Byte (I think it was Byte) article about how a person used this strange thing (don't know if it was called "mouse" yet) to keep on working after his keyboard died.

I've been using a "hamster" for some time now. Its top surface is a track pad - nice.


The last I heard a meteor is a flash of light caused by a meteorite interacting with the atmosphere. Is this distinction, like 'lecturn', now dead?


My understanding of the terminology is that:

Meteor is a rock in space or in the atmosphere.

Meteorite is the rock after it touches the ground.

Falling/shooting star is the flash of light.

I have never heard of meteor being the flash of light.


I was issued one at King's Point Merchant Marine Academy in 1957 and used it constantly. A side benefit was the learned ability to estimate an answer and decimal point a skill which I still use. As I recall I mostly used multiplication, division, logs, and trig. I think I quit using it when I purchased a HP scientific calculator years later.


Re: your username

My mom found my shellback card among some stuff in her basement and asked if I’d like her to send it to me. Yes, please! Darned if I want to earn a replacement card.


Shwllback3 was my radio callsign in Vietnam in '67 & '68.


Nice. I got mine 4 miles off the coast of Mogadishu in '94.


I got mine on the way home from Australia in 1985.


Did you fly out and then sail home?


Nah, it was the tail end of a WESTPAC, we were on our way home from liberty in Perth. We skipped it on the way down.


Similar here! Except we got it going out on WESTPAC, not on our way home from Perth.


As for books in the 1700's over 60% of women were not literate so if one happened on one of the books it couldn't be read - but the illustrations would have been interesting to them.

I think that many of the poor lived in habitations where they all slept in one, unlit, room where they would get hints about sex from childhood.


Interesting, but I had expected to see a comparison of generating DC voltages using tubes, which were used in my university Electronics course, with solid state. In those days to generate a DC voltage from another DC voltage required generating an AC voltage from the DC and then rectifying it.


I bought Corelle about 15 years ago and none have broken - I suspect it's because none have ever been dropped. I glad to hear that when one does drop on the hard floor it might survive.


'stocastic parrot' I like that better than dubious correlations.


Technical achievements are impressive but who needs another 2 cycle engine. Yesterday I read that one two cycle engine (for a car or motorcycle, I think) puts out as much pollution as 40 modern 4 cycle engines.


This was made in the guys basement with some lengths of pipe, a cheap lathe, and a MIG welder. He ran it for a total of a few minutes.

The impressive part is that he made it in his basement with scrap pipe, not that it's supposed to be some kind of advancement in engine technology. It's just supposed to show that people out there still have the DIY spirit in them.


A few decades ago I needed proof of my military service, US Navy last duty in Vietnam, and was astounded to find that they had been in that St. Louis fire but I did get a copy of my DD 214 so not all was lost. I'd still like to get my records.


I agree, my thoughts were along this line especially when I noticed the 'magic' number -3.


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