3/18    Boring alert!  Boring alert!  MOTD will soon be nuked if it
        continues to be so boring.
        \_ ok.. i'll stir up some controversy. there's plenty of land in the
           world. someone should make a reactor go critical in jerusalem.
           forcing all three religions to find a new capital. problem solved!
           \_ maybe some terrorist group could unleash a really dirty
              bomb ( i.e. conventional explosive wrapped in lots of nasty
              nuke waste) there and get the same effect.
        \_ And you're partly to blame.
        \_ Yeah good, smart, I'm sure zeroing the motd makes it more
           interesting.  Who let *you* into Cal?
        \_ Perhaps you should post an article about abortion, wymyns
           rights, gun control, linux or something. You know the kind
           that brings out the troll in the avg. motd reader.
           \_ RIDE BIKE!
              \_ DRIVE CAR!
                 \_ GO TO TEXAS! EVERYTHING IS GOODER IN TEXAS!
        \_ Let's talk about how stupid and unobjective "objectivism" is.
        \_ What's wrong with the snails thread?

3/18    When it rains, the snails start crawling out onto the sidewalk
        and the concrete walkways (I guess to get dry), but then they get
        stepped on accidentally and crushed to death, particularly when it
        is dark. Is there some way to fix this?
        \_ When I see snails around my house, I gently pull them off the
           concrete and then throw them to the lawn.
           \_ Throw them onto your *neighbor's* lawn. Duh.
        \_ Gather them and put them in a bucket/container with baking powder
           for a few days.  They'll eat the powder which will clean out their
           system.  They're then safe to be shelled and cooked up.
           \_ thanks for a cool motd entry.... --PM
              \_ Hmm.. maybe it was flour?  Damn it, I don't remember now.
                 Check a second source before trying this but I know it's
                 doable.
                 \_ I thought it was salt.
                    \_ Only if you want to subject them to a painful and
                       miserable death and leave them unedible.
                       \_ 'unedible'? is that kind of like 'unexplainable'?
                       \_ And shelling, boiling and eating them is not painful?
                          \_ It's faster than dumping them in salt which does
                             nothing useful and kills them painfully.
           \_ That'll clean out all the pesticide and fertilizers in their
              bodies?  What about motor oil and detergent from people fixing
              or washing their cars on driveways?
                \_ It's supposed to.  I strongly advise doing your own
                   research before eating anything that someone on the motd
                   (like me) says is ok.  I don't even remember if it was white
                   flour or baking powder.  Professionals on closed track.
                   \_ I think it's corn meal. There was an article in the
                      east bay express about this a couple years back.
                      \_ Could be.  Might be that any of these things will do.
                         I really don't remember but I know the general concept
                         is sound.  --original snail eating poster
        \_ No, they are out on the sidewalk to avoid drowning. Same as worms.

3/18    Looking for light reading material regarding quantum computing, thx
        \_ Try Feynman's Lectures on Computation.
        \_ Anything by Rand.

3/18    For those going to grad skool, did you take the subject gre?
        Didn't take the Subject GRE: .
        Took Subject GRE, going to a
        skool that required it: .
        Took Subject GRE, but going
        to a skool that didn't need it: .
        Going to Vista: .

3/18    Can somebody post their rejection/acceptance letters again? Curious.
        \_ "Dear Applicant, Bwahahahahhahahahahahah!"
        \_ I just got a rejection from Stanford's MSCS program. Funny part
           is that I didn't even apply.

3/18    Do you think I should get flood insurance?
        http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/03/18/new.iceberg.ap/index.html
        \_ Don't be silly. Evolve gills instead. -chialea

3/18    Where's a good place (other than frys) in fremont to buy comp stuff?
        \_ I dunno about GOOD, but you mention Frys, and they're not that good.
           How about central computer.  --PeterM
           \_ I like the store, although several of the employees have a
              superiority complex for one reason or another.
        \_ avoid state sales tax, use the net, wait a week for delivery.

3/19    Can somebody post some decent analysis of McCain's finance reform
        bill?Every article I read mentions loopholes, but what are they?
        \_ McCain's finance reform is meant to sink the NRA.
           \_ Corps will give soft money to non-party groups and unions,
              who will runs ads instead of the parties. And the
              unconstitutional ad ban will be overturned by the supremes.
              OR individuals can still give money to candidates, so if they
              lower the limit to $1 (though CFR raises to $5000), the CEO of
              BigOil who gave pol a dollar was still trying to by his vote
              and created "an appearance of impropriety." CFR is like
              trying to ban politics, cuz it's all in the eye of the spinner.
              But CFR should pass because it's reform and better than letting
              McConnell, et al. win. -republican for gov't financed elections
              \_ Government financed elections?  Hardly.  Who says who
                 qualifies for the millions of dollars it takes to get the
                 word out?  People with enough support?  How do you register
                 that support?  Petitions?  That costs money.  By not letting
                 the public participate in elections, it would be even harder
                 for a non-incumbent to get name recognition.  The last thing
                 we need is government financed elections.  What a nightmare.
                 -republican in favor of smaller government and 1st amendment

3/19    Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapses
        http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020319/ap_on_sc/antarctic_ice
        "Before breaking apart, the ice shelf was about the size of Rhode
        Island".