3/29    How do I test to see if a file has "other" +"read" permissions in C?
        \_ man 2 stat?
        \_ or check out the access(2) manpage.
           \_ stat doesn't have anything to do with accessibility and access uses
              user ID to check for access
                \_ which part of "mode" don't you understand?
                \_ stat has this:
                        mode_t st_mode /* File mode */

3/29    Algorithm question:  Is an easy way to figure out the number of
        days between two given dates?  Eg. given 98/11/05 and 98/12/09
        as input, the output would be 34 days?  Is there a C function
        that can xlate the date into some absolute number and then do the
        arithmetic and then covert it back?  Thanks!
        \_ Let me guess. You're trying to implement If-Modified-Since for
           ee 122 right?  What I've used since my early days of programming
           is time_t time(time_t *t); or 'man 2 time' at the unix prompt.
           It'll return the number of seconds since Jan 1, 1970. --jeff
        \_ Convert both to Julian dates and subtract.
           \_ http://wwwmacho.mcmaster.ca/JAVA/JD.html  guess you'll have
              to figure out the algorithm from the JavaScript fcns
              \_ Or just use mktime(3) and subtract.

3/29    I'm using CSUA as my permanent account.  However, SMTP servers
        such as uclink4 & mail.ocf refuse to send CSUA addressed mail and
        the CSUA SMTP refuses to send to domains outside CSUA.  I would like to
        not be restricted to using my ISP's SMTP server.  Does anyone know
        a SMTP server with no access restrictions?
        \_ Huh? I've been sending mail from CSUA without a hitch.
           \_ I think he/she means sending POP mail through soda from an ISP
        not be restricted to using my ISP's SMTP server.  Does anyone know
        a SMTP server with no access restrictions?
        \_ Get an AOL account.

3/29    Is there a cel phone service in the area that lets me call in the
        entire state?  I want to be able to use it both here and Los Angeles.
                                                        -- brendal
        \_  yes.  have you even looked at any of the service providers yet
            at all?  cellone and gte have both been advertising this sort
            of option heavily.  the former lets you call from anywhere in
            california but hasn't come out with a nationwide plan yet.  gte
            has a national onerate service plan.
        \_ Pacbell PCS does it if you get an extra $20/month plan named
           WildFire.  GTE does not do it.  L.A. is roaming at 0.40/min.
           Sprint does it but has no coverage on the long-distance freeways.
           PacBell and CellOne are the solid west-coast choices.  Otherwise
           GTE or Sprint would be cheaper if you are on the east coast too.

3/29    Can somebody recommend a good home and landscape design software?

3/29    I just wanted to remind everyone that I am the only total winner
        on http://csua.berkeley.edu's rogue high score list. --maxmcc
        \_ uhh, nethack?

3/29    Why is CMU making such a big deal out of this new email virus?
        \_ because they can.
        \_ Yet another reason why email that is not 100% pure flat ASCII
           is a BAD IDEA.  All that javascript, MIME, and attachments are
           unnecessary.  uuencode/uudecode works for me man!   -old hack
        \_ because it's a macro "virus" in a Word document.  Half the people
           in IT are at least wary when they get an .EXE attachmt from someone
           they don't know.  However, this one will appear to be sent to you
           by one of your close friends, and it will be a Word doc (list.doc).
           If you open the doc (and if you have macro security on it says
           this doc has macros do you want them to execute), executes VBA
           code that installs the virus on your NORMAL.DOT
           template, then uses MAPI calls to take your Outlook/Outlook
           Express address book, using the first 50 e-mail addresses to send
           out list.doc again to your 50 friends and associates on your net
           connection, with the line:
           "Here's that important document you wanted ... don't show anyone!
           ;-)"  Now ain't that a trip?  It was first reported last Friday,
           and has spread like wildfire since then.
           \_ why the fuck would you open a document that had an
                introduction like that?
              \_ cuz the From: header says it's from your ol pal from college
                 that you haven't heard from in a while (it'll really have
                 their e-mail address up there), you figure he/she sent
                 the e-mail to the wrong dude, and you're just so curious
                 what your bud is up to
                \_ anyone dumb enough to use microsoft products for email
                   deserves what they get.  -Anti-Microsoft bigot

3/28    IE5 uninstalled.  It broke my dialup and generally just crashed a lot.
        \_ Well duh.
        \_ No shit Pointdexter.  Everyone knows that IE messes around with
           every file one your system. If you were dumb enough to install
           it in the first place you deserve to lose your dialup.
           \_ Loose or lose?  Made up your mind yet?  That wasn't the only one.
              \_ ever been on <DEAD>b.net<DEAD>? you'd think "looser" was a noun...
           \_ Uhm, duh, yeah, it's from M$ so it's gotta be bad
              automatically!!@ and it has a spell checker for my emailz just
              leik yor moyd edit0r!
        \_ All of us Solaris, Linux, & FreeBSD users found that out years ago.
           \_ Thanks genius, but I'm also a solaris, linux, etc, user.  Unlike
              yourself, however, I don't religiously and blindly stick to any
              single technology.  Computers are only tools.  Thanks for your
              input.  Information was provided to let other IE5 users know of
              my problems and what one person chose to do about it.  How you
              knew years ago about software that didn't yet exist is some
              what a mystery to me, and I'm happy to let your psychic powers
              and religious beliefs remain undisturbed any further.
              \_ oooh~ I'm soooo scared.
                \_ No one threatened you.  You're merely an idiot.  Why would
                   anyone bother to threaten you, much less hurt you?
                   \_ but hurting stupid people is fun!

3/27    I was talking to someone who said that they once named their
        machine "aleph-null" (sp?) and thought that was amusing. I
        laughed along nervously, but I have no clue what this term
        means..   -- 22 and clueless
        \_ It was a psychological experiment.
        \_ the short answer, for a non-mathematician, is "infinity".
           the way this is written is as the hebrew letter aleph, which
           looks like a styalized capital "N", subscript "0".  aleph null
           is the infinity that describes how many natural numbers there are,
           i.e. {0,1,2,3...}, as opposed to for example the number of real
           numbers, which is a larger infitity.  if you want to know more,
           this stuff is descried in any set theory book. a decent undergrad
           set theory book is "elements of set theory" by Enderton.  It is
           not obvious to me why naming a computer "aleph-null" is funny.
           \_ geeks have a lames sense of humor.  duh
              \_ man, that's funny!
           \_ an interesting (and I think open) question is whether there is
              a cardinal greater than aleph-null and less than aleph-one.
              -- ilyas
              \_ How is this question related to the Continuum Hypothesis
                 (undecidable per Paul Cohen's work)?  -- schoen
                \_ The continuum hypothesis (undecidable in ZFC per
                  the work of Cohen and Goedel) is 2^(aleph-null) == aleph-1.
                  I'm not sure what ilyas is talking about.
              \_ What is aleph-one then?  -- yuen
                \_ Dependes on if you believe the continuum hyp.  If yes,
                  then it is 2^(aleph-null), which is the cardnality of
                  the real numbers.  If not, then... well, it is something.
        \_ It's clearly a play on the failed '80s NBC sitcom Alf,
                                                        and /dev/null. -ax
           \_ HEY!!!!!!!!  ALF DIDN"T FAIL!!!!!!  Boors like you just failed
              to understand and appreciate its subtle humor.

3/27    http://www.twinkiesproject.com/haiku.html
        \_ Dan White ate twinkies
           by the truckload, made him nuts
           should eat zinc instead.
           \_ Argh! Everywhere I turn
              Reminder of thesis there
              It sucks to be me.
        \_ Enormous paychecks
           Play video games at work
           Computer Science

3/27    What are good books for learning C/C++ and/or Java?  --katster
        \_ "Teach Yourself Java 1.1 Programming in 24 Hours", published
           by http://sams.net, is the most straight-forward Java book I've
           come across.  Although a good introduction, it only covers
           the basics.
        \_ "C++ How to Program" by H.M. and P.J. Deitel is unmatched.
           Brewer used to recommend it in CS 169.
           \_ That is the most complete yet unreadable book on C++ ever.
              \_ Personally, I find it very readable.  So do a couple of
                 friends who wanted to learn how to program, and a couple
                 of co-workers who were looking for something more readable
                 than Stroustrup.
        \_Also, if you're going to be working in C, I'd reccommend picking up
          a copy of Kernighan and Ritchie's The C Programming Language,
          Second Edition (If you do stumble across a copy of the First Ed.,
          I'd grab it anyway for nostalgia's sake, but that's just me), aka,
          K&R C.  Most beginners find it to be really terse, but it's a really
          useful reference.
          \_ as a nonn-programmer who has had to program and was given that
             book to learn from, i can say that that is absolutely terrible
             advice.  to a beginner, that book is nothing more than a poorly
             organized and badly written man page.  programmers need to
             stop recomending it to non-programmers to learn C from.
                \_ The K&R is what's known as a spec.  It's a very
                   important document to have for a language.  But
                   they tend to be more useful for compiler writers and
                   people who argue about obscure language details.
                   Specs should never be used as a beginner's guide.
                   \_ I've never read it myself but many of those language
                      details are pretty important in C as opposed to many
                      other programming languages.  There are a lot of pitfalls
                      and fallacies that novice C programmers fall into that
                      they should be aware of.  It's not like Java which is good
                      at easing novices in.
                        \_ K&R shouldn't be used as a spec either - the
                           authoritative spec for C is the ISO/ANSI C
                           Standard, which is much more detailed than K&R.
        \_ I like "C: A Reference Manual" by Harbison and Steele.  Once it
           helped me solve a hardware interface related problem dealing
           with the memory positions of fields in an array of structures.
           Very clear explanations and nice index.  So far it has provided
           answers to all my C questions without forcing me to read a
           whole bunch of extraneous stuff.  I haven't found an equivalent
           C++ book in that regard.
        \_ I like "Practical C++ Programming" by Steve Oualline. It's not
           complete, by any means, but it gets you started, and it's easy
           to read. -brg