Either you allow the market maker to take the bid / ask spread or you pay a broker a commission to get you the market price. Either way you give up a little to have access to a convenient centralized market. This seems reasonable, but maybe you'd prefer to buy and sell your securities on craigslist? ;-)

World changing algorithms:
  chocolate chip cookie by Toll House
  potato salad by Betty Crocker
  Quicksort

On Windows I made an AutoHotkey script where CapsLock allows me to use VIM type key commands EVERYWHERE! Try it.

It doesn't matter if we're using the European or the North American definition of liberal. They're mapping all of political thought into a one dimensional variable and saying there is a gene that's correlated with that variable.

Is there any reason to suspect that Univ. of Virginia students are different from the students elsewhere (in terms of their computer choices)? If so then we have sample selection bias but personally I'm fine with the extrapolation.

I also agree - my small regional university had huge scanners for maps in the geography / environmental sciences dept. They'd probably scan them for free in order to get a copy for themselves.

"The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance." -- Robert R. Coveyou