4/14    How to create a macro in emacs?
        How to to recover a autosave in emacs?
        \_ ESC-x recover-file <ENTER> filename
        How to change permissions on a file in emacs (no shell)?
        \_ the phrase you want is "How do I"...
        \_ M-X apropos
           \_ capital X or lower-case x?

4/14    For all you academic types out there... (especially psb)
        http://www.cs.rug.nl/~michael/cogno.pdf
        \_ why is psb an academic type when he does not even have a bachelors
           degree, written a single technical publication in ACM, SigX,
           gotten a patent, and what not?
               \_ I searched for Partha's name in Econlit, ProQuest, MathSci
                  and Dissertation Abstracts and found one obscure article
                  in economics by a guy in India in 1995 (our Partha lived
                  in Berkeley circa 1995) and three dissertation's before
                  1992. On the other hand, Partha is extraordinarily well
                  well read in economics and physics. He also seems to have
                  a good grasp on political philosophy and obviously
                  knows a fair bit about CS. So basicly, he doesn't produce
                  books or articles in core academic journals, but the man
                  is more informed than many academics I know. -fab
           \_ I saw a publication of his on Hamiltonian something. I think
              it was a math thing.
           \_ i believe wordnet's second and third definitions of the word
              will shed light on the author's original intent for his usage
              of the word.
              \_ the third in particular

4/14    every so often I find an empty metamail_tmp dir in my home directory.
        Where is this coming from, and what's it for?  Since I use pine, I
        assume that's what's creating it, though I haven't seen any mention of
        it in the man pages.
        \_ assume? try search engine, the command metamail, printenv
           or your mailcap file

4/13    So if I tossed about $1500 bucks as a pure gamble into a $1.5 stock
        in October and today it's about 12 cents and they announced on Friday
        that the CEO is resigning and this is just before they release their
        earning report does Motd Wisdom consider this a buying opportunity
        when it drops to 3 cents on Monday?   -loves runons
        \_ No.
        \_ Whether it's a buying opportunity depends on the prospects of
           the company.  Inexpensive is not the same as cheap.  -tom
          \_ Sounds like a buying opportunity to me!  Buy more shares, lose
             more $! -oj
             \_ % more $!
                Missing filename ("less --help" for help)
        \_ Read http://www.fuckedcompany.com/archives/search.cfm?search=webvan
           before buying more of WBVN.  They are up to their head in debt,
           and will go bankrupt making your stock completely worthless.
        \_ 12 cents? How many shares do you have to buy to equal the
           commission you'd have to pay?
        \_ there are special rules in the tax code regarding worthless
           stocks.  This is a good chance for helping your taxes!
        \_ A carton of milk purchased from WebVan or 100 shares of WebVan:
           which will be worth more money in 2 weeks?

4/13    That's just like the motd these days. I finally got someone cornered
        in an argument and someone purges it. But since the guy is too lazy
        \_ freeBSD SUCKS!
        to figure out our tax code, I think it's my duty to educate him. A
        single person making $100k will pay a little over $31k in state and
        federal combined and not the 39.5% that some people claim. But we
        can see who stands to benefit from this upper class tax cut. Bush
        will get back about $40k from retroactive tax relief while Cheney
        is a whole other story. But I have sympathy for Cheney. He'll need
        that money for future heart surgery so he deserves the millions he
        sits on. Incidentally, the upper bracket relief is almost equivalent
        to the amount of their money that goes towards debt service (a little
        more actually). So instead of dealing with this issue which will
        guarantee future long term tax cuts we're giving a massive short-term
        tax cut mostly aimed at that 39.5% group.
        \_ Uh no. As a percentage of earnings people in the "middle-class"
           (earning between 30K and 60K) will get the most tax relief.
           People how pay 100K plus in taxes may get back more money, but
           as a percentage, thier relief is much lower. And you forget
           that the top 1% bares 40% of the tax burden in this country.
           They have a right to get back more.
           \_ And the top 1% also commands 40% of the political influence
              in this country (with the exception of McCain, Fiengold, and
              a few other scrupulous people up there). Besides, if you
              were to interpret the 14th amendment to mean that there exist
              a single fixed rate tax bracket you would still have an
              unbalanced ratio. It may not be 1:40 like you said but it
              would still be widely uneven. 1% of the population bare 40%
              of the tax burden because they make a lot more money too.
              I've calculated how this will impact my taxes and it pales
              in comparison to what Bush will be getting in return.
              Every day I work my ass off more than Bush (who didn't even
              take college seriously) ever did. Here I am struggling to
              pay rent and he's in the White House waiving his magic wand.
                \_ Why?  They can afford to pay more.  There is no right
                   to equal taxation in the Constitution.
                   \_ 14th amendment
                \_ Boston Tea Party you moron.  You can't make someone
                   pay 40% of the bill and get 1% of the representation.
                   \_ as opposed to now, where I pay 40% of the bill, and
                      get 0% representation?
                      \_ do you expect the guy earning $6/hr to pay for
                         the freeway that takes both of you to work so
                         you can buy his fast-food to save your time?

4/14    How to create a macro in emacs?
        \_ CTRL-x ( to begin, CTRL-x ) to end
           \_ M-x name-last-kbd-macro  to give it a name so you can actually
              invoke it (with M-x <the name you gave it>)
        How to to recover a autosave in emacs?
          \_ C-x e to execute the macro that was recorded using C-x (
        \_ ESC-x recover-file <ENTER> filename
        How to change permissions on a file in emacs (no shell)?
        \_ the phrase you want is "How do I"...
        \_ M-X apropos
           \_ capital X or lower-case x?
              \_ Yes.

4/14    Does there exist a converter allowing me to connect USB devices to
        old Mac's with serial (modem/printer) ports?
        \_ VST (and others) sell PCI cards which will give you USB and/or
           FireWire ports on (for example) a beige G3.  -tom

4/14    When must I use form 6251 AMT tax form?
        \_ The only way to know for sure is to calculate it and see.  If you
           exercised stock, took a large number of exemptions and a long list
           of other things GOOGLE can easily point you to, then maybe.
        \_ When the IRS instructions, TurboTax or your CPA tell you to.
           If you exercised stock options, the odds are high you need it.
           Don't bet your financial future on motd advice.
        \_ If you're already paying close to 35%-40% taxes, don't expect to
           need to pay AMT.  You've been screwed hard enough.  -screwed
                \_ Expect to pay AMT when you least expect it, it exists
                   solely to screw you harder than you've ever been screwed
                   before.
                \_ There was an article in SJ Mercury coupla days ago about
                   a Cisco guy owing millions on Cisco options he exercised.
                   As of the date of the article, he still needs to scrap up
                   $700k.
                    \_  owe 700K-1M in AMT on stock options that aren't worth
                        that much?  Just borrow the money from the your company
                        to pay (secure the loan with those soon to be worthless
                        options) and watch the company go out of business that
                        much faster!  That's what the exec's at my company did.
                        \_ Uhm, yeah.  Sure.  Reality check.  Thanks.
                    \_ Well, he had his chance to sell as soon as he exerciesd
                       at the price used as the AMT basis.  He wanted to get
                       more money in return so he had to assume the risk.
                       even more money in return so he had to assume the risk.
                       exercised his options.
                       Can't blame this on IRS.  AMT wasn't invented after he
                       exercised his options.  Plus he will eventually get his
                       AMT credit back in a later tax year when he sells his
                       stocks below the AMT basis price anyway, even if the
                       selling price is above the option price and he actually
                       makes a profit.
                      \_ Bzzt.  You don't get all of the credit back because
                         the deduction calculation is different.
                         \_ At least the whole downside was already there when
                            he made the decision not to sell his shares right
                            away.  It's not like something was added to it
                            afterwards.

4/14    Party:a tonight 2415 Dwight way apt #4.
        \_ with nweaver?
           \_ nope -nweaver
              \_ with whom then?
                 \_ last time there was doubt about a party,
        davebrok went and had a good time - so i guess you can come to
        the party, or doubt at home.  your choice.
        \_ a party w/o nweaver?  no thanks.
           \_ suit yourself. - party goer
              \_ shouldn't you be at that party right now?

04/15   Air Conditioning in Soda Hall is failing.  Expect possible shutdown.
        \_ AC has been restored.  So has Soda.

4/15    Happy Easter! <DEAD>vatican.rotten.com/easter<DEAD>