12/29   anyone got a spare win2k key?
        \_ STFW?
        \_ XGH9J-KBPBD-FXDKQ-K36XB-X9J6Y
        \_ RBDC9-VTRC8-D7972-J97JY-PRVMG
        \_ www.cracks.am
        \_ does anyone *not*?
        \_ serials 2k

12/29   motd how-to-post:  mm/dd(tab), not mm/dd(space).  motd format god
        was here.
        \_ who cares?
           \_ More people than you might think (esp if you want your post to
              be read).  *shrug*    -mice
              \_ just change your tab stops.
                 \_ how about you just hit 'tab' and follow the standard?
                    \_ what standard? This is not the same standard enforced
                       by the motd formatting daemon.
                       \_ go read the motd faq off the csua web page.  and
                          yes it is the enforced motdformatd standard.
                          \_ This must be new. I don't remember all these
                             rules being in place when I joined.
                             \_ the file is a couple months shy of 2 years
                                old.
                                \_ the file has a history longer than that.
                             \_ They're not rules.  They're guidelines so the
                                motd is readable.  Stop now with the anarchist
                                wannabe stuff.  Learn to cope.  Life is full
                                of rules and guidelines.  Most of them exist
                                for a reason.
                             \_ when you joined (and when was that?) there
                                weren't as many dumbfucks.  people back then
                                were smart enough to do the right thing
                                without needing to be told.  idiot.
                             \_ well, gee, shouldn't the "standard" specify
                                default tab stops then?  and what about
                                replies?  In order to get the \_ part to line
                                up with the parent, you usually need to do
                                <tab> <tab> ... <space> <space> <space>.  That's
                                not tab stop agnostic.  Get over it.  Oh, and I
                                also see that the standard fails to mention that
                                everybody should keep posts within 80 columns,
                                although, since the tab stops aren't specified,
                                who knows what 80 columns is?

12/29   I'd like to dip into the pool of motd wisdom.  I'm going to buy a new
        cd-rw.  I don't have scsi so it should be ide.  I want quality, speed
        and the drive should be able to deal with any of the zillions of
        standards.  Price isn't too important but I don't want to take out
        a second mortgage for it. What's the best ide cd-rw out there? Thanks!
        (Please specify a model if you have one in mind or a product line)
        \_ ? the most expensive CD-RW is about $200 these days.  It's
           a lot cheaper than you think.  Any name brand drive will serve
           you fine (and a lot of them are under $100)
        \_ I think these suckers are almost a commodity now.   HP is well
           spoken of, but I've been satisfied with my Sony CDRW.  It cost
           about $100 when I got it.  It does 8x CDR, I forget its other
           speeds.  I've gotten it to work under Linux with minimal trouble.
        \_ LiteOn 24x10x40 has worked well for me and my friend.  Paid $81 for
           it.  http://tomshardware.com has a recent review of IDE drives.  In brief,
           every drive is full featured except some Sonys.
        \_ Apparently it's been a while since you purchased a CD-RW drive.
           They're universally cheap.  They're universally compatible.  IDE
           sucks much less than it used to.  Probably the best drive
           available on the market today is TDK's 24x velocd:
           http://www.tdk.com/velocd-new/24index.html
           Should cost between $150-$160 after tax/shipping if you shop
           around.  Comes with a solid software bundle (but you don't care
           about that if it's going into a non-windows machine).  They've got
           a 32x burn model coming out if you're willing to wait, but it will
           probably go for a premium for a few months after release.  If you
           are cheap, get the LiteOn, it's a damn good drive for the money.
           If you want the fastest thing under the sun, get the TDK.  It's
           excellent, and still pretty cheap. -dans
           \_ "...it's been a while since..."  Actually I've never bought one.
              I bought a retail 24/10/40 plextor for $148 - $30 rebate.  It
              looks pretty much the same as the TDK except has a 4mb buffer.
              I don't know if that makes a difference but it's cheaper and
              specs out the same otherwise.  I can't wait for a 32x to come
              out.  I need it in the next week or so.  Thanks to both of the
              above for URLs and your helpful comments.  Sometimes the motd
              works.
              \_ Plextor good.  Plextors have been and continue to be the
                 Cadillac of CD-Rs... except in a good way.