5/3     Poll: The mailbox bomber is:
        from the middle east: .
        from the middle west: ..
        from the US:    ...
        Freeper: .
        \_ do you mean new jersy or pensylvania?
        from the middle west: ..
        from the US:    ...
        Freeper: .
        \_ Oh my God!  I can't believe you're trying to profile this person!
           You racist!

5/3     Text of note from the mailbox bomber.  This is great stuff.  This guy
        needs a soda account asap!  It's motd quality!
        http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29298-2002May3.html
        \_ Sucks. not motd quality.
           \_ yeah, this guy wished he were Ted Kazcynski[sp?], but
              he's not. the FBI thought the unabomber was an uneducated
              out of work airline employeee, and i'm guessing their profile
              is closer to the mark with this nut. except for the the
              bombing, most motd nuts are closer to the real unabomber
              in tone.
                \_ Ever read the "Ted Vs. Al Gore Who Said What?" web page?
                   It was really hard to tell.  I only scored 60% right in
                   a 50/50 quiz.  Scary shit.
                   \_ well, yeah, but that's my point.  Ted vs. Al shows that
                      they sound very similar, but i'm pretty sure you
                      could tell this midwestern clown from either of them
                      on a sentince by sentince basis.

5/3     If I want to learn about error correction, compression, and cryto,
        which class would I take?                            crypto? _/
        \_ Info theory at Stanford.  Berkeley does not teach ugrad info theory.
        \_ Information theory.  Read Thomas & Cover.  There is an information
           theory class using that book at Stanford.  Berkeley does not
           teach information theory to undergrads.
        \_ 170 talks about the basics of both, 150 has some error correction
           too.  specifics?
        \_ Crypto classes: 261 (well, security), 276 (protocol-level), and this
           semester Wagner taught a 294 which was block-cypher level. Even
           though I've managed not to pay any attention to 174, I remember
           somebody saying something about entropy, so likely has to do
           something with compression and/or random number generation.
           -chialea
                \_ "managed not to pay any attention to 174".  Okey dokey, now
                   who was making noise before about the best Cal ugrads not
                   getting into Cal grad school?
                   \_ Not best.  Schmooziest.  Big difference.
                   \_ if you were as good as chialea, wouldn't you be bored
                      by 174? --chialea #1 fan
        \_ several EE courses discuss compression (the multimedial related
           signal/image processing courses)
        \_ depending on the prof, Math 114 often covers coding theory, and
           error-correcting codes.              - rory

5/4     Cambodian court releases accused crematorium cannibals
        http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020504/wl_asia_nm/asia_103374_1

5/3     God's FAQ:
        http://www.godsfaq.com
        \_ This guy is pushing straightforward reincarnation.  That's silly.
           He sounds suspiciously like a liberal too, talking about
           'social ills.'

5/3     What is likely the final word on the Jenin massacre and other Israeli
        atrocities.  Makes it very clear the extent to which Israel is guilty
        of these horrendous crimes.
        http://www.townhall.com/columnists/charleskrauthammer/ck20020503.shtml
        \_ Yes, an op-ed piece at a site devoted to "conservative columnists"
           (including Oliver North) is definitely the "final word."
           \_ It's going down exactly like that.  You know why?  Because
              the way he says it is exactly the way it is.
        \_ I really liked the way he used the phrase "phantom menace"

5/4     If Gore made the cover of Time:
        http://homepage.mac.com/cbauer/graphics/Time17.jpg

5/4     Has anyone used the virtual credit number feature from citibank or
        the like?  Is it useful or convenient?
        \_ what are you talking about? Are you referring to products like
           C2IT and Amex Private Payments?
        \_ useful to keep cc# off the net, but it's not particular
           convenient to generate another number each time