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For Weekends, the Dark of Night and Beyond: Project Gutenberg's Best Books Ever Listings
In mid-2014, Project Gutenberg volunteers undertook a significant revitalization of their bookshelves. These are groupings of eBooks on particular topics, or in particular genres, or otherwise having something in common. This can be a great way to discover books you were unaware of, and it is also an efficient way of finding some of the collection of particular interest. And, we recommend a book on bookshelves themselves .. "they now growing numerous, and lying one upon another on my chairs ... Samuel Pepys, 1666" more »
Elaine Soloway's Widow Series: The Opposite of Caregiving & The Takeover
I know a time will come when lack of responsibility moves from respite to emptiness, when I will long for a beating heart nearby. Until then, I will talk to myself and my departed husband. For a smidgen of care taking, I’ll tend to the mixed bouquet on my kitchen table. Trim stems, change water, add crystal. I think I can handle that.
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Overdrawing Your Account? Small Debit Purchases Lead to Expensive Overdraft Charges
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report that raises concerns about the impact of opting in to overdraft services for debit card and ATM transactions. The study found that the majority of debit card overdraft fees are incurred on transactions of $24 or less and that the majority of overdrafts are repaid within three days. If a consumer borrowed $24 for three days and paid the median overdraft fee of $34, such a loan would carry a 17,000 annual percentage rate. more »
Watching Schrodinger's Cat Die: "Gently recording the cat's paw prints both makes it die, or come to life"
If you put a cat inside an opaque box and make his life dependent on a random event, when does the cat die? When the random event occurs, or when you open the box? Though common sense suggests the former, quantum mechanics — or at least the most common "Copenhagen" interpretation enunciated by Danish physicist Neils Bohr in the 1920s – says it’s the latter. Someone has to observe the result before it becomes final. Until then, paradoxically, the cat is both dead and alive at the same time. more »