9/22   panic: page fault in kernel mode  rebooted by brg  have a nice day

9/22    electronic question.  what is the standard of merit on choosing
        by-pass capacitor for power supply lines?  it seems that ppl
        always use 0.1 uF all the time.
        \_ It's based on a rule of thumb, I think the idea is to have the
           capacitor smooth out dips in power as different components
           temporarily draw additionally more.  Of course if your
           capacitor fails and becomes equivalent to a closed switch
           that can suck a battery dry real quick --oj
        \_ you want the bypasses to be as large as possible. that way,
           you can smooth out all the transients. unfortunatley, the
           bigger the cap, typically, the higher its internal resistance,
           so the worse it becomes at smoothing out high frequency current
           drains. so you settle for either a small cap or an expensive
           tantalum. the power drain also typically happens when the output
           of your chips flip, which is at some factor times your clock rate.
           if you expect current draw every 4 ticks, you want to put a low
           pass which smooths out spikes at 4*clock_freq. but like oj said,
           it's a rule of thumb. if you notice bad shit happening, you put
           in more caps. -ali.

9/22    Health Insurance question.  I just finished school, but I
        will be taking time off and traveling and don't want to
        start working until 6 months to a year from now.  So, I
        need temporary health insurance.  I found a policy I like.
        But I have one concern.  Suppose that during this temporary
        policy, I get a brain tumor, or something happens to me
        that is very serious, that requires more than one year of
        treatment.  When the temporary policy runs out, I won't be
        able to renew it (It's a maximum of 1 year), and then no
        other insurance company would take me because I'd have a
        pre-existing condition and then I'd be screwed.  Or, is
        there some law that requires insurance companies to take
        me (assuming that I've been continually insured, etc.).
        What should I do?  Any advise is appreciated.
        \_ you're young, you'll be fine.
        \_ If you get that sick while you're young, you might as
           well commit suicide.
        \_ By law they have to insure you. However, they don't have to
           charge you a low premium. This is why group coverage is such
           a nice thing. The risk is spread out over the group and so
           when you have a heart attack your premium doesn't rise much
           if at all. If you carry your own insurance then they won't drop
           you but they can raise your premium to something like
           $400/month or more. All this said, listen to the above guy and
           stop worrying. --dim
             \_ Sorry I'm beating a dead horse, but...
                http://www.tchra.org/newsletter/feb98/insure.htm
                "Highlights of the HIPAA regulations:
                   It limits exclusions for preexisting medical conditions, to
                   12 months (or 18 months for late enrollees), ... "
                What exactly does it mean preexisting medical condition?  Does
                this mean a condition you had before you got any insurance, or
                would this also refer to a condition that you got while under
                one insurance company, if you switch to another?
         \_ Also, according to http://www.tchra.org/newsletter/feb98/insure.htm
                "Under HIPAA, employees can use their current health care
                coverage as evidence to reduce or eliminate any preexisting
                medical condition exclusion period that might apply under a
                new employer's health plan."
            Am I correct in assuming that this also applies to individuals,
            regardless of employment?
        \_ I'm guessing you are talking about the CPIC Life policy?  You
           probably want to look into getting a regular policy.  I
           found the premiums similar, and it's worth the peace of mind.
           I have the name of a decent insurance agent, email me and I'll
           send you his name. You can ask him all your ?'s - cathyg

9/21    Is it possible to insert something into the stdin of a console? I.e.,
        I am root, and I want the OS (linux in this case) to think that I
        just typed something into a certain virtual console. Not interested
        in "what do you need *this* for? i bet there's another way to do it,
        but you're just too dumb to know about it", and similar responses.
        \_ look at the /dev/vcs* devices and /dev/tty[0-9].
           \_ foo > /dev/ttyX *displays* the output on console X, but whatever
              program is reading it as stdin doesn't actually see it.
        \_ I think there was a security problem in some program a while back
           involving the possibility of sending certain escape codes which
           would insert data into the input stream. If you check archives of
           bugtraq et al you might find what the codes are. --Galen
        \_ TIOCSTI ioctl
           \_ care to decipher "TIOCSTI"?
              \_ I don't know what "STI" stands for, but if you look at
                 linux/drivers/char/tty_io.c, that ioctl makes a particular
                 tty receive a single character; it takes a pointer to the
                 character as argument.  See ioctl(2).  Linux terminal ioctls
                 are way undocumented.  Example in ~schoen/ioctl-demo.c will
                 run "ls" on tty1 on 2.0.36.  -- schoen

9/22    I emit rays from my mouth and I am equipped with grappling hooks
        concealed in my chest plate - mlee
        \_ Too bad your brain is defective.  --PeterM
        \_ Although well timed in its placement, this forgery is no better
           concealed than it was 4 years ago. Few, however, are aware of
           the truth behind that which actually does emit rays from its
           eyes (not mouth) and has grappling hooks that actually propel
           from its chest plates (a pair, not just one). Allow me to
           enlighten you:
         > Most lizards have an elongated body, with four legs,
           and a long tail; but there are some without legs, and
           some with a short, thick tail. Most have scales, but
           some are naked; most have eyelids, but some do not. The
           tongue is varied in form and structure. In some it is
           forked, in others, as the chameleons, club-shaped, and
           very extensible. The thunderlizard, however, has x-ray
           beams that emanate from its eyes and grappeling hooks
           that propel from its breastplates. See {Amphisb[ae]na},
           {Chameleon}, {Gecko}, {Gila monster}, {Horned toad},
           {Iguana}, and {Dragon}, 6. <
           You see... you can't pull the wool over everyone's eyes, no
           matter how much wool you like pulling you pusilanimous,
           perverted, puffenstuffer. How many of the hapless creatures
           have you shorn and defiled all this time in gaining not a spot
           more wit than what you leave in your wake you bestial,
           rodentwrangling, colonsquid. - (fucker)
           \_ Seano needs TP for his bunghole!  -John
           \_ come on guys, taking acid and going online is sooooo
              bbs. -lye
              \_ Yeah.  Modern dudes like Trevor use pot.