VelvetPastime

I'm working on a story with a Russian character named Dmitri. He's in his mid-30s. He grew up in Russia but went to high school and college in the US. Anyway, his nickname for American friends is "Dima", but for family and intimate friends it is, "Mitya." My dilemma is this, I've read conflicting topics on the subject. Some have said Dmitri wouldn't have 2 nicknames, but I've also read that Russians can have multiple diminutives. So which is it?

Also, later in the story, Dmitri has a daughter, Aleksandra. Her common nickname is Sasha, but he calls her Shura or Shurka as the intimate nickname. Which is more appropriate for a girl, Shura, Shurka or something else. What other endearment might he use for his daughter?

Title pretty much says it all. I have to drive. What's the best route and how long will it take? I'll be leaving about 4pm

Thanks.

This is probably an very odd question, but I'm hitting a wall looking for an answer. I figured this is as good a place as any to ask.

I'm writing a fictional story and am in search of a drug that causes amnesia or rather, makes it difficult to access memories.

A short over-simplified summary of the story is: I have this main character who is injured and wakes up with no memory of who he is. Anyway, this memory loss suits the "evil protagonist" fine. He wants it to continue. So anytime it seems the memories are returning, he gives the amnesiac some pills (or shots or whatever) to make them "slip away" again.

But what kinds of pills?

I've looked into things like Benzodiazepines (Ativan), and illegals like GHB and Rohypnal. But I'm not sure either has the desired effect.

I'm willing to make up the drug, as a "derivative of....". But derivative of what?

Anyone, have any ideas?

The standard measure is that there are 4 tablespoons in a 1/4 cup. Is that the same for both liquid and dry measure?

Using Acronis True Image 11, what's the difference between creating a backup and cloning the HD? What type of back up should I create, "my computer" or "my applications"?

I'm looking for information on a couple of things, particularly ways of "cleaning off" my HD without having to reformat and reinstall windows and other applications.

1-What type of backup would easily "restore" my computer to a "clean" condition (with Windows, drivers, applications, settings), should I, say, download/install some bad software?

2-Should my harddrive die and I need to "move" to a new one? A clone?

3-I have a 2nd HD installed. What kind of backup could I save to is, so that the 2nd could be used too boot the computer should my main HD die? This second HD is partitioned. My main is not.

4-I'd like to partition my main drive. (20GB for the OS and applications. The rest for data.). Can I clone to my second drive. Partition the main drive, then move the image back to the main drive?

My computer didn't come with a recovery disk - one disk that restored the computer to delivery specs.. It came with separate disks that allow for the reinstallation of Windows and various drivers. I recently reformatted my hard drive. It took 3 days to reload the Windows, its updates and what I consider basic software (virus scan, firewall, etc). At the end of those 3 days, I had to go through the process again, as there were files there that I didn't want. (I had to figure out how they got there. The restrore function ate up hard disk space only for me to find those files were there from the first restore point I created. Anyway, I had to start from scratch again.)

Anyhow, I'd like to create a disk of this "clean image", so should I ever want/need to reformat again, it won't take 3 days.

I know this was possible with Win 98 and 2000. Is it possible with XP-SP-2?

I need to purchase another DVD recorder, but ones with tuners are getting scarce. Do I need a tuner? I have a Comcast Digital cable box. Currently, I run signal from the wall to the cable box to the DVD recorder then out to the TV. As it stands, I have to be watching whatever I record onto the VCR/DVD. I have no problem with this. But will this same set up work with a tunerless recorder?

My (standalone) JVC DVD recorder died, but I have several discs that need to be finalized. My computer doesn't recognize the discs. I would prefer not to have a couple dozen coasters. And I probably don't want to buy another JVC. Will any other brand finalize JVC discs?