3/27    restored as usual.

3/27    Any powerview experts?  I remember from viewdraw there's a way to
        bring up a small window where you can type in "push 50" and it'll
        bring up page 50 of a schematic.  This is a lot faster than clicking
        through all the different menus to bring up a specific schematic.
        I've been searching the help and tutorials and can't find anything.

3/27    I figured out the Iraq problem. Saddam is rolling an above average
        number of sixes and fives on his two dice. Maybe they're loaded.
        \_ No, the problem is that we're only rolling 1 or 2 dice on the attack.
           That heavily favors the defender.
           \_ That fits. Trying to minimalize casulties and the number of
              armies that you need to move to the Middle East.
           \_ Or we're so hung up on using Power Attack that we're stuck
              with a crappy attack bonus.

3/27    "The UK says the discovery of chemical weapons protection suits at a
        deserted Iraqi command post in the south could indicate that Iraq
        intended to use chemical weapons in the war" -- bbc
        So far, this is the basis for US "proof of WMD".  Never mind that
        the "command post" was a hospital.
        \_ Are you the guy that insisted US involvement in Iraq was just
           sabre-rattling?
           \_ No, that's me! -not op

3/27    For those who supported the use of atomic weapon on Japan back in
        WW2.  Would you support the use of atomic bomb for Bagdad?
        Bagdad has a lot more military value than Hiroshima and Nagasaki
        combined, and it can save lives and end the war more quickly.
        \_ No. Army generals are estimating that the US casualties in this war
           will be between 2000 and 3000 people. This hardly justifies the
           use of a nuclear bomb in such a densely populated city as Bagdad.
           Imagine all the negative PR US would get around the world. I don't
           know the Japan estimates but my guess the US could easily loose tens
           if not hundreds of thousands soldiers in Japan. Moreover, there is no
           need anymore to showcase the nuclear bomb to the world (and
           especially the Soviets) now that everyone knows the power of nuclear
           weapons and the Soviet threat has also diminished.

3/27    I have a large home directory, want to back it up to CDs. Is there a
        front-end to mkisofs that will split up the stuff neatly into multiple
        700MB ISOs?
        \_ there was some http://www.freshmeat.net project to
           to that, no i don't remember the name of it, sorry.

3/28    The dealer said my jalopy needs a new catalytic converter, and it's
        gonna cost $900. I read on the web (yes I stfw) that they simply
        burn unburned gas so that you wouldn't pollute as much. Now here
        is my question, does it affect the safety and longevity of my
        vehicle?
        \_ I had the same problem - honda told me the part would be
           $1000 when my smog test failed, and suggested I go to a
           muffler shop where they could custom-fit a more generic model
           instead of buying the specific honda-civic-only ($$) type).
           Had it done at Ken's on Shattuck near Alcatraz, worked great
           (passed smog with almost no emissions on those tests).  Was
           only ~$200. - mds
        \_ I thought that it turned carbon monoxide to CO2 + H20? And I
           thought that unburned gas could actually harm it? Anyways, it's
           a good idea to have a fully functioning cc as a good citizen of
           this planet (think Mexico city or most cities in China type
           pollution). Also, when it comes time to get smogged, it will
           fail. One thing that you can try (I did this with my volkswagen)
           is to get an after-market cc and have a muffler shop customize
           it to fit your vehicle. Specifically, I went to small car world
           in Albany and got a universal cc that fit my vw camper (it was
           cheap, like $140 at the time), and went to a muffler shop on
           gilman and they did their thing for like $70. This was over 10
           yrs ago, so i'm not sure of today's prices. Also, the dealer will
           almost always charge you the highest prices for anything. Find
           a good non-dealer auto mechanic.
           \_ as far as plantery citizenship, it's the CO_2 that's the
              problem, not the smog producing polutants.  you can stop
              driving, but that won't stop the developing world from
              ther comming onslaught of CO_2 production. without
              fundamentally new technologies we're just fucked, regardless
              of what kind of exsaust system you put on your car.
              \_ In the meantime, get the cc and make it a tad easier to
                 breather here in the Bay Area.
                 \_ that is correct.  i just hate to see earnest doogooders
                    who overestimate the positive effects of their actions.
        \_ Your car won't pass the smog check without a cc in CA.
        \_ A related note.  If you see a smoking vehicle on the road and you
           want to file a complaint, write down the license plate # and then
           call 1-800-EXHAUST or go to http://www.baaqmd.gov/exhaust
        \_ aka 1-800-FEEL-GOOD-TO-VENT. all they do is send a letter *asking*
           the reported victim to do something about the problem.

3/28    News of Foreign Sources:
        * Morale of US troops start to budge.  Troops start to avoid
          certain color  of candies as believed they bring bad luck
        * Some units of US troops' rations are reduced due to supply
          issue
        * 8 civilian death 33 injured in latest US bomb raid
        \_ Rather than posting from "Foreign Sources", how about you state
           where you got each bit of news, with a URL if it was from the
           web?  Anyone can make shit up and post it on the motd.  Also, I
           know anti-American propaganda and American defeatism isn't the
           only thing "Foreign Sources" are publishing yet I note that's the
           only thing you are posting.  Sources would increase credibility.
        \_ Keep this up. Some (but by no means all) of this I haven't
           heard about, particularly after Al-Jazeera got shut down.
           Even the Guardian has been curiously monotonous about its
           coverage. -- ulysses
        \_ they will bring the 70,000 sunni kurds from the north.
        \_ Those damn green M&Ms.  Gonna get laid? In this desert? Lying
           sacks of sugar.
                \_ That's funny.  The army here ride these 40 year old 3-gear
                   monsters that weigh a ton.  Says something about how well
                   they built them that they're still in use.  -John
        \_ Did they report about those 40,000 gorillas from Brazil that
           Hitler is training to storm the Maginot Line, or the Gulf War
           Virus?
        \_ I hope the military equipped the soldiers with Linux.
           \_ I think you're joking but all of that equipment will need
              some sort of rudimentary operating system. Most of it is
              probably Wind River stuff but just imagine an army powered
              by M$ equipment....wait some recent news is starting to make
              sense...
              \_ "Windows: Famous for stranding billion-dollar battleships at
                 sea."  http://csua.org/u/bdc
           \_ They will all ride bike.
              \_ http://www.militarybikes.com/military.html
                 \_ That's funny.  The army here ride these 40 year old
                    3-gear monsters that weigh a ton.  Says something
                    about how well they built them that they're still
                    in use.  -John
                    \_ Maybe they just can't afford new ones?  Example, "It
                       says something about the T-55 that it's still in use".
                    \_ The paratroopers aren't as good as the old
                       American and British bikes (I used to have
                       a 35 yr old Raleigh) but they are still
                       better than what passes for a "rugged" mtb
                       these days.
        \_ Yes, keep posting.  We want to know.

3/28    Procmail regex question.  I have the following recipe:
        :0:
        * ^Subject: .*\[GB2312\]
        /dev/null
        For some reason, it does not catch messages.  Does slash not properly
        escape []'s in procmail?  Anyone have a fix for this?  Thanks.
        \_ That rule works fine for me.  Perhaps your messages are getting
           matched by an earlier rule?  You can try setting LOGFILE=filename
           at the beginning of your .procmailrc to have procmail log its
           actions.
        \_ what do you have against Chinese?
        \_ Read the man pages for syntax.
           \_ Yes, I read the man page for syntax already.  I wouldn't be
              asking here if I hadn't already RTFMed and STFWed. -op
           \_ Check that.  Read the man page (again).  Slash should escape
              special regex chars, including []'s.  What's your excuse now
              manboy? -op
              \_ Excuse?  I don't need one.  My procmail recipes work perfectly
                 whereas yours clearly don't.  It's the motd.  No one here owes
                 you anything.
                 \_ Go away troll.
        \_ Someone decided to delete this:
           can't you just remove the \[ and the \] ???
           \_ getting rid of the space after Subject: might help as well.
                \_ There is always a space after Subject:, so removing it
                   won't hurt or help at all.
           \_ Wouldn't that put all email in /dev/null?
              \_ No.  I'm still receiving email. -op
           \_ Yes, I could remove the \[ and the \], except that I have other
              rules in similar form with more common words than GB2312, and
              I'd really like things to have to match the brackets. -op

3/28    Can you think of any realistic scenario of peace?  (Iraq)
        Assassination of Hussein maybe? (not necessarily by Coalition forces)
        \_ Yeah, after American forces get finished killing off all
           resistance in Iraq, Syria, Iran and Saudia Arabia.
           \_ not a moment too soon. oil propping too many tyrants.
              \_ no, we're there to genocide innocents.  get real, fascist!
           \_ You forgot Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, the Sudan, Pakistan, and I'm
              sure a few others I've forgotten, too.

3/28    I have a process that has to set the signal handlers for tty
        generated signals (and some others) to ignore while it is
        doing some critical processing. When this processing is done
        it calls exec to start executing a different pgm. I want to
        reset the signal handlers to their original values before exec
        is called. What is the easiest way to do that?
        \_ for (i = 1; i < _SIG_MAXSIG; i++) signal(i, SIG_DFL);

           If you don't actually want to ignore the tty signals, but just
           defer them until your critical processing is done, you can use
           sigprocmask instead of actually ignoring them; then you won't
           have to do anything at all when you call exec.
           \_ sigprocmask seems to do what I want. I was just calling
              signal and storing the old ptr in an array and then just
              restoring them prior to calling exec, but sigprocmask
              sounds better. thanks.
        \_ WTF does this have to do with Iraq or RIDE BIKE or Linux?  Get off
           the motd with this stuff!
           \_ If it counts for anything, my process runs on '1337 GN00
              D3B14N L1NUX!
              \_ use motdedit you twink.
                 \_ ED!

3/28    "IF a coalition of French and Canadian forces invaded the
        United States with the intent to liberate Americans from
        the regime of George W. Bush, would you fight back?"
        -- Rob Morse in today's SF Chronicle
        \_ Hell no.  Why would I fight to save Bush?
           \_ You want Chretien or Chriac instead?
        \_ Which Guy-in-Chair did they give the war?
        \_ Hell yes.  The last thing this country or the world in general
           needs is the French running any more of it than they already do.
        \_ If this country was run by a nationalist socialist family run
           empire that holds power through death squads, torture and fear,
           then I'd welcome just about anyone.  If it was the French, I'd
           make sure it was a short stay but they'd be welcome to shed their
           own blood for the duration.
           \_ Hah!  No chance it would be the French.  They'd leave you
              to twist, not in the wind, but in the pain of the grip of
              a family of torturers.

3/28    restored after rude vi user (to remain unnamed for now) smashed over
        motd like the rude prick he is.
        \_ Learn to use me like everyone else, dumbass.
           \_ Go stick your head in a pig!
           \_ Idiot.  I was following the rules of politeness, moron.  The
              dumbshit vi user is the one who flattened the motd.  Are you ESL
              or something?
              \_ He's an 'me' user.  He's too busy being high-handed and
                 sanctimonious to actually READ the post ue's using as an
                 excuse to tout his superiority.
              \_ Everytime I use me to lock the motd, some fool writes on it
                 while I have it checked out.
                 Should I go to the trouble to merge their comments with mine
                 or should I just overwrite them? I chose the latter. If you
                 are not willing to use the tools provided to allow
                 co-operative access, you really have no reason to complain
                 when your drivel gets written over.
                 \_ except in this case it was raw vi, no 'me' so nice talking
                    to you.

3/28    Iraq Teach-In at Oakland City Hall Monday, March 31, 7pm
        Details:  ~erikred/oak_teachin
        \_ "Teach-In".  WTF was that ever supposed to mean anyway?  Will they
           teach me about the Nazi inspired political philosophy behind the
           Baathist party?  Will they teach me about the 60,000 kurds Hussein
           murdered in the 91 uprising?  Will they teach me anything at all
           about the real history of Iraq?
           \_ Nazi? I've seen him mostly described as a Stalinist. If you think
              about it, Stalin describes his behavior far better than Hitler.
              Besides, the mustache thing is total hero worship.
              \_ Nazi.  It's been said many times before on the motd.  Go look
                 up the history of the Baathist party and who they modeled
                 themselves on.  Hint: it was 1930's Nazi Germany.
                 \_ Hint: you are wrong.  It was Stalinist.
                    \_ why don't at least one of you clowns actually provide
                       a source.  several of us are actually anal enough
                       to go read both your sources.
                       \_ Stalin!  I saw it on CNN!!1!  Hussein models himself
                          after him.  Did anyone else see the segment???
                          \_ Uh, but didn't this thread almost immediately
                             invalidate itself anyway?  cf. Godwin's Law.
                             \_ No because in this case, it's actually on
                                topic.  If you're actually talking about the
                                Nazis then its ok to talk about the Nazis, eh?
                 \_ ok i typed stalin saddam hero into google and got some
                    pbs frontline interview:
                    http://csua.org/u/bec
                    or ok here is your hero Bush saying so himself!
                    http://csua.org/u/bed
                    I'm too lazy to find something more...but I don't need
                    a source, I know the history of Stalin and Hitler and
                    Saddam's tactics fit Stalin. All 3 of course share some
                    tendencies. Stalin named places after himself, so did
                    Saddam, not Hitler. Hitler promoted intense nationalism
                    militarism and industry, while Saddam and Stalin relied
                    more on controlling the rabble with an iron fist.
                    \_ You idiots.  Hitler took lessons from Stalin.  Stalin
                       was Hitler's hero!  What do you think the Gestapo was
                       modelled after.  It all goes to Stalin.
                       \_ Not to mention the concentration camps. Though,
                          Lenin and Trotsky were the true pioneers of that
                          concept.
                    \_ Gach, so annoying.  It's late right now so I'll dig
                       up some Baathist party history links for you ignorant
                       louts tomorrow.  It doesn't matter what mustache the
                       man wears.  What utter crap.  Christ oh mighty!
              \_ Although (me from above again), does it really matter if it
                 was Nazi or Stalin philosophy at this point?  Both were in
                 need of a good killing.
           \_ did he murder that many kurds and shia's? i thought it was shia's
              \_ Is one group worth more than the other?  They're all Iraqi and
                 they're all human beings and were all defenseless civilians.
           \_ Sorry, pal.  I'm just passing this along.  Feel free to show
              up and ask Jane Brunner.
              \_ Ok, no problem.  I read the list of speakers/teachers. It's
                 a bunch of socialists.  What are the odds of getting that
                 'fair & balanced' educational perspective that might actually
                 teach someone something?
                 \_ i do this by reading biased articles from opposite sides
                    and figuring out my own reality is somewhere in between.
        \_ Let's not forget that both Hitler and Stalin were Socialist/
           Communist.  Hitler's party was the National Socialist German
           Workers Party.  So please, Hitler was not right-wing, he
           a hardcore leftist.
           \_ Not to mention Clinton, Jimmy Carter and Willie Brown.
           Communist.