Word: cranks
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...English Mathematician Charles Babbage had an idea for a machine that would perform mathematical calculations rapidly and infallibly. This was long before the age of electrical circuitry, so Babbage's plan called for the machine to be executed in brass and steel and powered by a hand crank. If it had been completed, his Difference Engine would have been a magnificent beast, requiring 25,000 parts and weighing about 15 tons. But he ran out of money and patience and had to abandon it unfinished...
...drug "that would end the need for all others." Today it's one of the most addictive and dangerous substances in the world. In this case study, journalist Nick Reding examines how the meth epidemic decimated Oelwein, Iowa (pop. 6,159), where police at one point were dismantling two crank labs a week. For Reding, who spent four years reporting among Oelwein's addicts, officials and residents, the drug is more than just a small-town scourge. Meth, he writes, is a metaphor for the "cataclysmic fault lines formed by globalization." After agribusiness bought out local farmers, the once booming...
...Even before the auction, analysts warned that Iraq's plans for attracting the investment necessary to crank up its output were overly optimistic. Iraq plans to retain ownership of its oil, but make long-term agreements with foreign companies to run the operations. But Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani demanded that oil companies lower their profit expectations, offering to pay them $2 for every barrel pumped in Iraq rather than the $4-a-barrel rate sought by oil executives. Chevron, which had negotiated for a year to develop Iraq's second-biggest field, West Qurna, pulled out of the deal...
...Turns out, Harvard is a crucible: We throw 1,600 of the world’s brightest, most dedicated, least sleep-dependent young adults together, then crank up the competitive heat, and the impurities burn off. You have to figure out the few things worth holding on to, while all the rest—the interests you thought were callings, the hobbies you thought were passions—fizzles away. It’s the Harvard way of saying you can’t do it all: Almost no matter what, someone is already doing it better than...
...Again, $24.1 million, first weekend 2. State of Play, $14.1 million, first weekend 3. Monsters vs. Aliens, $12.9 million; $162.7 million in 24 days 4. Hannah Montana: The Movie, $12.7 million; $56.1 million in 10 days 5. Fast & Furious, $12.3 million; $136.7 million in 17 days 6. Crank: High Voltage, $6.5 million, first weekend 7. Observe and Report, $4.1 million; $18.7 million in 10 days 8. Knowing, $3.5 million; $73.7 million in 31 days 9. I Love You, Man, $3.4 million; $64.7 million in 31 days 10. The Haunting in Connecticut, $3.2 million; $51.9 million in 24 days