RAND

The RAND Corporation is a think tank. There are arguments over what RAND stands for; the official answer seems to be Research ANd Development; internally, it is occasionally called Research And No Development. RAND was created in 1947 as Project Air Force, a study group for airfield and air force operations. It has grown into a multi-location multi-thousand person juggernaut, capable of performing high-quality analysis on subjects ranging from its original Air Force roots to health care policy, Army operations, criminal justice systems, education policy, etc. RAND refers to itself as a policy analysis institute. Essentially, the goal of RAND is to provide information that leads to better policymaking.

Just to make sure they retain staff, their original location and now world headquarters is in Santa Monica, CA. They are a hundred feet or so from the Santa Monica Pier and, naturally, the beach. This allows for fun lunchtime diversions.

In many programming languages (including scripting languages), rand() is the name of a function that returns a random number, usually a floating point number between zero and 1.

PostScript command to generate a pseudorandom integer and place it on the top of the stack.

The following example generates a pseudorandom number between 0 and 5, not necessarily uniformly distributed, and leaves it on the top of the stack:

rand 6 mod

The Rand is the currency of South Africa. 1 Rand (R) is divided into 100 cents. Against the US Dollar, the Rand looks like this:

August 2002      10.24
July 2002        10.37
June 2002         9.81
May 2002         10.62
April 2002       11.28
March 2002       11.42 
Febrary 2002     11.67 
January 2002     12.15 
December 2001    10.27 
November 2001     9.44 
October 2001      9.17 
September 2001    8.43 
August 2001       8.29 
July 2001         8.01 

The interest rate on Rand deposits is calculated from the repo rate of the South African Reserve Bank. The bank has a floating interest rate, targeting inflation to be 3-6% in 2002-2003 and 3-5% in 2004-2005. It manages monetary policy through open market operations. The bank has no exchange rate policy, and is content to let the Rand float. SARB manages South Africa's gold and FX reserves. It was established on 10^th August, 1920 after the monetary and financial problems resulting from the First World War.

For any Rand related queries, contact SARB:

Physical address : 370 Church Street, Pretoria 0001
Postal address : P.O. Box 427, Pretoria, 0001
Telephone number : +27 12 313-3911
Fax number : +27 12 313-3197 or +27 12 313-3929

Rand (rand), n. [AS. rand, rond; akin to D., Dan., Sw., & G. rand, Icel. rönd, and probably to E. rind.]

1.

A border; edge; margin. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

2.

A long, fleshy piece, as of beef, cut from the flank or leg; a sort of steak. Beau. & Fl.

3.

A thin inner sole for a shoe; also, a leveling slip of leather applied to the sole before attaching the heel.

 

© Webster 1913

---

Rand, v. i. [See Rant.]

To rant; to storm. [Obs.]

I wept, . . . and raved, and randed, and railed.
J. Webster.

 

© Webster 1913

---

Rand (?), n. [D.] (D. pron. &?;)

Rim; egde; border. [South Africa]

The Rand, a rocky gold-bearing ridge in South Africa, about thirty miles long, on which Johannesburg is situated; also, the gold-mining district including this ridge.

 

© Webster 1913