1/31    Who do you think is the most annoying TV pitch man/woman these
        days:
                The Dell Dude
                CarrotTop (CallAtt)
                7-Up guy
                Others?
        \_ Bob Dole
        \_ Hallie Eisenberg
        \_ orlando jones is funny. dell dude is just acting like a moron,
           carrot top actually is a moron. and hallie eisenburg, BURN IN HELL!

2/1   Your tax dollars at work!
       http://www.smog.net/curiosities/sabotage/xcia05.php
       \_ What the hell are you talking about?
          \_ Read your history book, fool. Back in the 80's we gave
             money and training to terrorists^H^H^H^H^H^HFreedom Fighters
             in Nicaragua.
             \_ I don't see anything there that shows it's from the
                the US or that it's from Nicaragua.  It doesn't even look
                like a manual.  Just a flyer of some sort.
                \_ Go up a level, or click on sabotage in the frame.
        \_ These are old Union tricks.  I've read this stuff before in terms
           of how the proletariat can fight back against the fascist elite,
           etc, blah.  This is ancient shit.  If the CIA said, "stab your
           boss right here in the neck for best effect" then I'd be worried.
           But promoting union activities in central america?  oh no, fear,
           what terror the cia is inflicting, blah blah blah.  Get a Dell.
           \_ Union tricks? What are you smoking?
              \_ You know, bombing, destruction of infrastructure, advocating
                 the overthrow of the government. Damn those Union folks! And
                 now that they won, we can't fly the Stars and Bars anymore.
              \_ You know, slowing down the work flow, annoying the bosses with
                 phone calls, destroying documents, working slowly, shit like
                 that.  I've been smoking reality and reading pro-Union
                 materials and history on the web.  It isn't my fault if you're
                 unaware of these things.  As for the person above talking
                 about overthrow of the government and bombings, etc, go read
                 the link instead of mouthing off at random after only seeing
                 the knee-jerk letters "CIA" in a thread.
        \_ people interested in the history of unions and terrorism, as
           well as the u.s. goverment's over-responsiveness to such,
           check out the latest smithsonian magazine and/or look up the
           "palmer raids" c. 1919 in a reputable historical source.

2/1     Does anybody know if the network problems connecting to Soda will be
        resolved anytime soon? These delays are annoying, to say the least.
        \_ The network connection problems are already much better, due
           to some tweaks in the traffic priority rules.  (typical ping times
           from <DEAD>pacbell.net<DEAD> are now 30ms, instead of 300ms).  But we are still
           at or near our bandwidth limit most of the time, and that will
           affect traffic in various ways, depending on where it's coming
           from.
           There will probably be some decisions made about traffic shaping
           within a couple of weeks.  (The NAG group meets on 2/11).  -tom
                \_ Great. Thanks for the info.

2/1     Patriot registration:
        http://www.whitehouse.org/initiatives/patriot/index.asp
        \_ Lest any of you conservatives take this seriously, note
           that this is http://whitehouse.org not whitehouse.gov
        \_ You know what I really hate?  I hate how those stupid conservative
           constantly wrap themselves with the flag, writing bills like
           USA Act or PATRIOT Act.  Give me a fucking break.
        \_ I like the choices for "Fox News is fair, balanced..."
        \_ I prefer http://www.whitehouse.com

2/1     In "The Matrix" there's a line "Buckle your seat belt Dorothy, coz
        Kansas is going bye-bye."  Is that a reference to some story book or
        something?
        \_ are you from taiwan?
           \_ he's probably never seen any movie before Star Wars
           \_ from china, more likely.
        \_ ref to "The Wizard of Oz"
           \_ You might have to explain to him what "Wizard of Oz" is.
              \_ I see.  I know The Wizard of Oz, but I've never seen/read
                 the whole thing.  Thanks.
                \_ benco, is that you?

2/1     My car grew up in southern california; it's getting on in years
        and now has trouble w/ Berkeley's cold weather-- the choke light
        comes on when I start it and it's very sluggish till it warms up.
        If I take it up hills too early it will die altogether-- I think
        the engine might be flooding.  Would switching to a higher octane
        gas help this situation?  Is there any sort of fuel/oil additive I
        should try?  Also, would any of this help me pass a smog check?