3/20    What exactly is an "embedded system"? Is that just MIPS core
        with other stuff around the core? Or is it DSP stuff?
        \_ What's an embedded reporter?
        \_ microprocessor with stuff around it.  could be a core, more often
           parts on a board.  laser printer, for example.
        \_ There's no exact definition.  Different people use it to mean
           different things.  My company makes printer controllers for office
           printers.  When we give the controller a PC-like housing and put it
           next to the printer, we call it a server.  But when we remove the
           call it an embedded controller.  -- yuen
           fancy housing and mount the thing inside the printer housing, we
           call it an embedded controller.  In my previous company, when we
           stopped writing our OS on desktop machine and started writing for
           devices that has flash memory instead of hard disks and "embedded
           processors" (x86 CPU plus 8259's plus other things all in one chip)
           instead of regular x86's, we called those products embedded devices.
           -- yuen
        \_ a controller, some memory devices, input/output devices
           mounting on a pc board.
        \_ Here's a definition:
           http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embedded_system

3/20    Iraqi blog (can't verify authenticity):
        http://dear_raed.blogspot.com
        \_ http://www.msnbc.com/news/809307.asp

3/20    I'm RTFMing right now, but i have a deadline, and need to figure this
        out fast.  How do I get LaTeX to single space, over-riding the
        double space default in the REVTEX style file?
        what's the simplest way to just double space or single space
        in the same document?  I want to have single spaced figure
        captions, with the rest of the document double spaced.
        thanks!

3/20    http://www.rosbaltnews.com/2003/03/21/61827.html
        If true this is interesting.  Not much info yet.  The headline is:
        "Saddam Hussein's Son Hurt in Fight with Father's Body Guard"

3/20    How do you get the error code of a system program in bash (or perl)?
        If I have in my_error.c int main (...) { exit (234); }
        how do I get that 234 in a variable?  In bash,
        ec=my_error  // sets $ec to the string "my_error"
        ec=`my_error` // sets $ec to the stdoutput of my_error
        and I get similar results in perl.  What am I doing wrong?
        \_  $  ./my_error
            $  echo $?
        \_ In perl, assuming the "hello_world" program merely prints
           the text "hello, world!":

            $foo = `./hello_world`; ## $foo now has "hello, world!"
            $exit_val = ($? >> 8);  ## $? contains the exit status as well
                                    ## as exciting flags in the low
                                    ## bits; perldoc perlvar for more.
           -geordan

3/20    stupid latex question deleted by OP.  I solved it.

3/21    Food for thought.  Each Abrahams Tank holds 500 gallons of fuel
                                \_ heehee
        and eats 1 and 3/4 gallons per mile (gpm).  There're tens of
        thousands of them traveling from Kuwait to Baghdad (300 miles?)
        \_ I have the feeling that scarcity of gas is the last thing
           anybody's worried about in that part of the world.  -John
        \_ There's 441 M1a1 tanks there right now.  Come back when you
           have some idea what you're talking about.  And I don't think
           a few hundred gallons of gas per tank is a serious issue, trollboy.
           \_ http://www.mstp.quantico.usmc.mil/publications/pamphlets/Pamphlet5_0_3/MSTPP%205-0.3%20Part%20II.pdf
              505 gallon capacity, 289 mile maximum effective range.
              And, yes, I was wrong about tens of thousands of them, but
              what I meant was that there are tens of thousands of vehicles,
              planes, ships, etc. that eat obscene amount of fuel.
              \_ Yes, they eat obscene amounts of fuel.  They're built for war,
                 not getting a consumer to the supermarket.  You think they
                 should go in Hondas?  That'd be fuel efficient because war is
                 all about fuel efficiency.  Now that you've learned something
                 and restated your original point, what exactly was the reason
                 you tried to make it in the first place?
              \_ Someone is already designing hybrid HMMWVs which doubles both
                 the acceleration and the MPG over the standard ones, plus
                 1/4 emission, higher top speed, and longer range:
                 http://www.evworld.com/archives/reports/humvee99.html
                 Also see other hybrid army vehicles:
                 http://www.tacom.army.mil/tardec/electric_drive/motors/sld007.htm

3/20    First American casualties:
        http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A687-2003Mar20.html
        "Earlier two other U.S. military helicopters made crash landings
         during operations along the Kuwait-Iraq border. One was later
         destroyed by American warplanes to prevent it from falling into
         Iraqi hands, Defense Department officials said."
        Wtf are we doing?
        \_ Fighting the jew's war for them with our blood and money.
           \_ Are you Palestinian, French, or German?
              Why do you hate jews so much?
              \_ Why not?  Doesn't everyone hate Jews?  It's so chic!
           \_ NYTimes just had a full page ad by some Jewish organziation
              calling on Jews in US to be against the war.
              \_ No surprise.  Jews are mostly leftist.
              \_ Not possible. Anyone who disagrees with Sharon is
                 an anti-semitic pro-Hitler Jewkiller. See above.
                 \_ What in hell does a Jewish .org being against the war have
                    to do with Sharon?  You've lost it or I just got trolled.
                    Either way, this makes no sense.
        \_ We'll probably kill more of our people than they will.
        \_ Sounds like the kind of incident that happens even in training
           exercises.  Sad, but so?
           \_ Sad, and what the poster above you wrote.
        \_ More of the men will die of throat/mouth cancer from tobacco chew
           than will die during their entire time in the Middle East.  We
           should invade Virginia to force them to stop spreading this deadly
           plague which is killing our troops and humiliating our peoples and
           driving them to terrorism.
              \_ they'd just get executed.  you can harass the government in
           \_ Or, alternatively, we could send all of our states' attourney
              generals to Iraq to harass the government there with
              lawsuits until they go bankrupt.
              \_ they'd just get executed.  you cant harass the government in
                 a dictatorship.  you can only kill and replace them.
                 \_ That doesn't sound so bad either.
        \_ I thought that was standard procedure.  From what I saw in the movie
           "Black Hawk Down", the US troops did the same thing in Somalia.

3/20    Bruce Schneier has a new book coming out next month:
        http://www.counterpane.com/book-practical.html

3/20    Is there a standard procmail rule for using spamassassin on soda?
        I would like all the "spam" (including false positives) to be
        stored in a mh folder +spam. tia.
        \_ Search the archives. This has been answered twice in the past
           three weeks, most recently the other day.
           \_ Okay, where are the archives?
              \_ ~mehlhaff/tmp/motd,v
        \_ locate .procmailrc | xargs more
           --doesnt want to give it away.

3/20    i have a friend going over to the berkeley for a wedding in may.
        she wanted to know a good road to check out the hills in a car
        since she will probably have 3-4 hours of spare time before
        she has to fly back, etc.  can anybody give any good suggestions?
        thanks.  its been a while and i don't remember very much any more.
        -hahnak
        \_ Take Spruce up to Grizzly Peak; then either cross over to
           Wildcat Canyon, or turn right on Grizzly Peak and take it up
           to the top.  (But she should ride bike, not drive).  -tom
           \_ while running linux and using ed of course.
                                            \_ sed.
           \- there are some pretty crazy roads in the mount tam,
        \_ Is she h0t?
              st. francis drake area ... not the main roads. --psb
        \_ Is she hot?
           \_ You wanna check out the Twin Peaks on her while she checks out
              the hills in Berkeley?

3/21    We've taken the first step towards the extermination of the muslim
        race from the middle east.  Bravo!  This will make the middle east
        safe for the Israeli settlements.  And more room for expansion!
        \_ Hi trollboy.  Extermination?  *laugh* Uhm, got a url?  Oh, I know,
           you think the news reports of tanks driving across empty terrain
           are all faked out in Nevada.  Do you think they're using the same
           sets they used to fake the moon landings too?  Is your Earth still
           flat?  Oh yeah, obKillTheJews!

3/21    It's only matt drudge so who knows but current headline is,
        " A senior U.S. official said the escalation of the 'SHOCK & AWE'
        aerial campaign might not be as intense as originally planned because
        U.S. surrender talks with senior Iraqi officials were continuing... "

3/21    Wow, guess I was wrong about the bluff.  I suppose I've been
        surprised by Bush before.
        \_ You wouldn't be the only one.

3/21    How many people think that we'll have another 9/11 as the result of
        this invasion of Iraq?
        \_ the CIA, Bush and Ridge, for three.  -tom
           \_ they're pretty much counting on it. "terrorism" is the new
              bogeyman now that communism is dead, and they're going to
              milk it for all the mindless fear they can, for political
              gain. --aaron
              \_ Aaron, by bogeyman you mean that it's an imaginary threat.
                 Are you implying neither communism nor terrorism are
                 dangerous, and need not be dealt with?
              \_ GO PAT! GO!
        \_ Just the left wing nutters who hate Bush and all Republicans just
           because and with such passion it makes Clinton bashing look tame.
           \_ "Just because?" Keep telling yourself that.
              \_ Ok, ok, it's because the right disagrees with the left so
                 that makes the right automatically evil.  happy?
                 \_ Don't get out much, do you?
                    \_ Is that it?  That's the best you can come up with?  Why
                       did you bother at all?  Here's how the rest would go
                       in your world, "Yes, I do", "No, you don't",  repeat
                       until graduated from 3rd grade.
                       \_ Go read a newspaper, fool.
                          \_ ausman, try harder.  i normally dont name names
                             but really.
                             \_ Bite me. Anyone who cannot think of one reason
                                why Bush might be disliked other than "just
                                because" is not worth nor capable of reasoned
                                debate. -ausman
                                \_ "hate Bush and all Republicans just because
                                    and with such passion that [....]"  Talk
                                    about dishonest debating.  The text is
                                    still up there and you're already trying
                                    to rewrite what was said.  sheesh.
           \_ Heh, I WISH Bush would get a blowjob.  It might make him
              mellow out.  But hey, this is what you get when you have
              a cokehead in office after a stoner.
              \_ no one cares about the bj.  you *really* need someone to post
                 a list of all his treasonous actions?  sheesh, i thought we
                 were done with that.
                 \_ In spite of the hundreds of millions spent smearing
                    his name Clinton was still came in fourth as "Best
                    American President" in the most recent Gallup polls.
                    All your lies are not working.
                    \_ Starr's whole thing was roughly $40m which is less than
                       Clinton's vacation with Chelsea to Pakistan & India at
                       the end of his second term.
                    \_ I agree. Anything gallup says is good.  See my link
                       at the current top of the motd.
        \_ the people actually fighting the war on terrorism think so:
           http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030319-040543-3049r

3/21    http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20030319/frontpage/23705.shtml
        This guy went to the same school as the bulldozer girl... though
        apparently she was more devoted and intelligent.
        \_ Because standing in front of a huge armored bulldozer is really
           intelligent.  I'll grant you on the devoted part.
           \_ Depends on your priorities.  At any rate, at least she found
              the right house to protect.
              \_ what house?  nothing i read said anything about the house.
                 \_ I'm not sure what you mean-- the girl was standing in
                    front of a Palestinian settlement.  Maybe they're not
                    houses per se (shacks?), but she found the right place
                    (unlike the guy in the story above).
                    \_ The right place to what?  Die stupidly?  Her death has
                       no meaning.  It will change nothing.  The issues at
                       stake are vastly more important than a dumb little girl.
                       \_ I suspect you might be missing the other guy's
                          intended tone....

3/21    Is this war about terrorists, or WMDs, or regime change, or oil, or
        dollar vs euro, or Bush personal vendetta, or American hegemonism,
        or a combination of all of the above?   What do you guys think?
        \_ I had a "well, duh" moment yesterday.  The only reason it's
           all been couched in the "protecting us from terrorists" context
           is because that context is already funded.  It's about oil.  period.
           --scotsman
           \_ You need another moment.  It's about oil, in the sense that oil
              is what makes Saddam rich, which gives him the capability
              \_ Nothig wrong.  It's just greed.
              to sponsor terrorists.  Dubya has said, "After all, this is the
              guy who tried to kill my dad" in a speech, and he figures
              Saddam's going to get his revenge one way or another.  The
              Bush view is "get them while they're small" -- preemptive
              strike -- and make them an example.
           \_ And what's wrong with controlling the 2nd largest source of
              energy on the planet?
              \_ what's the first largest source of energy? or do you mean
                 second largest source of oil?
                 \_ currently its the same thing.
              \_ It's going against the will of the people, squandering
                 resources in order to recoup the losses of some of our
                 largest corporations.  And what's wrong with it?  That
                 innocents are less important than those companies' bottom
                 lines.
                 \_ the will of which people?  you want to see the latest
                    polls on support for the war and support for bush?  the
                    last bit is just your opinion of the root cause.
                    \_ The Congress of these United States.  The funding
                       for this war is misappropriated from the struggle
                       against "terrorism".  Are you one of those who compares
                       the state of affairs in Iraq to the Cuban missile
                       crisis?
                       \_ So you think Congress doesn't want this to happen?
                          You're aware they voted October/02 for military
                          action?  You're aware they could vote anytime to do
                          all sorts of things both real and symbolic?  The
                          last I knew they were going to vote on a resolution
                          to say they support the troops.  And WTF does the
                          Cuban Missile Crisis have to do with this?  Can you
                          please try to stay in the same century with us?
              \_ Nothing wrong.  It's just greed.
                 \_ adults would call it control of strategic assets.  ya know,
                    important things you need to keep your culture alive.
                    \_ Next thing we know, you will be calling it 'lebensraum'.
        \_ Haven't you figured it out yet? The war is about the Jew Sharon
           and Zionsim.
           \_ Kill the Jews!  Push them into the sea!
        \_ War on the nexus of militant Islam, rogue states, and terrorism
           - they are all intertwined.  Reestablish negotiating position
           of the US to one of power.  Transition of US foreign policy from Cold
           War - first major transition since the 1940's.  Proxy war on the
           Saudis.
           \_ What is your definition of a "rogue state"?
              \_ Iran, N. Korea, France, Germany, China, Russia. -Dubya
                                 \_ nah, thoes are our reluctant allies!-dubya
              \_ hi trollboy!  love ya, kid!

3/21    My favorite quote from the wall in the last few days, "low estimates
        are for 250,000 dead iraqi civilians.  wonder how they'd vote."
        \_ Two or three times, if I know Chicago politics.
        \_ 3500 died during the first Gulf War, 35,000 died in the months after
           as Saddam suppressed uprising.  This from Human Rights Watch.
           \_ You should do some research.  US forces were there while Saddam
              put down the uprising in the south of Iraq.  In fact, some of it
              happened in the view of US forces, but they had orders not
              to interfere.
              \_ And if they did you'd be pissed off they went beyond their
                 mandate.  Whatever.  Some people are never happy.
                  \_ good point.
           \_ Do you have a URL for that? The estimate i've seen
              agrees with the around 30,000 from Hussein putting down
              a rebellion. But i've seen around 80,000 for deaths
              from US action:
                http://csua.org/u/b4f (business week)
        \_ The conservative estimate is >= half a million Iraqi soldiers
           got toasted in the first gulf war.  I did not make up the number
           nor am I saying it is too many or too few.  Supposedly they died
           for a good cause because we learned a lot about the efficacy of our
           weapon, and hence it does help protect American life indirectly.
           War kills, and God blesses us to be the winning side.
           \_ People die in wars.  The Iraqis had a choice.  They didn't have
              to invade their neighbor.  Ask the Kuwaitis about how fun it was
              to live under the Iraqis for a short period of time.
        \_ I checked.  It's from Tom.  What did you expect?

3/21    The U.S.' first combat deaths were soldiers who were literally
        fighting for oil: http://csua.org/u/b53

3/21    for many protestors, looking back to the 60s, it's their only
        chance to get laid
        \_ I don't think most of the protestors are in their 60s.
           thank you right wing dude for your day's most
           biting comment on the state of the war!  with guys
           like you, Bush is toast.

3/21    Speaking of gallup, http://gallup.com/poll/releases/pr030321.asp
        \_ Check out Bushes pathetic bounce from the war, though. His
           poppy got a 30%+ boost, he has gotten less than 10%. Your
           boys days are numbered.

3/21    Bite me for over writing the motd.  I know your emacs warned you it
        had been changed yet you did it anyway.

3/20    Damn IE 6 on XP. I have a nice Google toolbar. I have their normal
        fwd/back/reload etc. toolbar. I want to put them both on the same
        line, so I unlock the toolbars, move them how I want them, lock
        them again. Then an hour later, it magically changes back. Ideas?
        How can I make it stay the way I want it?
        \_ Did you have more than one IE window open at the time?
           \_ No, it'll do it even with a single window. It's like I have
              a gremlin that changes all the settings back at several
              random times throughout the day.
              \_ XP is buggy like that. I have several directories that I've
                 set up columns in a specific way in Explorer. An hour later,
                 one of those directories will always revert back to default.
                 Of course, when I reinstalled XP, the problem went away.
                 \_ I've only had the computer a week; it came with XP.  -- op
        \_ Reboot your computer.  Open one IE window.  Make your changes.
           Reboot.
        \_ Your first mistake: IE.  Your second mistake: XP.
        \_ Not just XP, on my Win2000 Server, my IE 6 always reverts back
           to medium size font even though I chose "smaller" font size.

3/20    On Windows 2000 and FreeBSD, what are some accurate ways for me to find
        out what the machines are made up of; i.e. number of CPU's, speed of
        each CPU, RAM, motherboard, etc.  I know about the "General" tab for
        System on a Windows system, but don't know how accurate they are.  And,
        any ideas and/or URL's with information on how I can attach a process
        to a specified CPU in Windows 2000 and FreeBSD?  Thanks.
        \_ dmesg on FreeBSD will probably be accurate, at least for what the
           kernel can identify.
           \_ See also /var/run/dmesg.boot, in case the boot messages have
              scrolled out of the dmesg buffer.
        \_ There are numerous freebie cpu id progs on the net.  You might try
           google for "cpuid" and you'll find (big shock) the 'cpuid' program.
           Some versions will give you all the other info you want also.

3/21    Fuck self-righteous motd censoring assholes. You know who you are.
        \_ There's one person who's just removing all the long political msgs.
            \_ not all of them, just the non-peacenick ones, leaving
              the antiamerican ones and liberal ones. this is berkeley,
              no freedom of speech except for the elitist liberals
              \_ that's total bullshit.  the only thing that doesn't get
                 censored around here is discussions of sendmail.
                 sex, leftist politics, right-wing politics, and random
                 interesting things about life are all  too controversial
                 if you're a fragile-ego dickhead sysadmin.
                 \_ ooh!  I have a sendmail question...
                    \_ does it involve sex?
                       \_ It does involve yermom.
              \_ Aww. Can I get you a hanky? We'll make it all better for you.