5/8     Someone please post the method on monitoring the MOTD.
                trying to fight selective censorship
        \_ I know who it is.  It isn't that hard to determine.  Eventually
           I'll spill the beans if they don't stop and I'm bored enough.
           Mostly the mindless censor drones go through phases and figure
           out that it isn't worth their time and just go away without the
           public humiliation.
           \_ enlighten us, please.
                                6th year UNIX newbie
           \_ If you think it is only one person, you are mistaken.
        \_ If you think it is only one person, you are mistaken, Mr. Anderson.
           \_ Hi.  -Mr. Anderson
        \_ I'm sure someone's already figured out who the SAMC is, but just
           feels that it's not approriate to 'out' them.

5/8     I've gotten very good feedback before on ski resorts at tahoe.  So
        I'll try again with las vegas hotels.  Please comment on the good/bad
        things on the places you've stayed.  Don't troll this please.  I'll
        start with one recent visit.
        Stratosphere:
        Major card key problems when I was there.  Couldn't get into my room
        after checkin TWICE.  After I got pissed I complained and they upgraded
        my room to a suite.  The hotel is also in a bad side of the strip.
        I wouldn't go there again.
        --
        \_ Bob Stupack is evil.  I would never stay at the Strat.
        \_ Olympic Garden is only a block away. Only real upshot.
        --
        \_ Let's do this backwards. Name a hotel and I'll tell you about it.
           \_ if you wish.
        Mandalay Bay:
        \_ I never understood the attraction for this hotel.  I guess they
           execute blah well.  The beach is amusing, if you're into that
           kind of stuff.
        \_ Good mid-week deals on suite on the top floors.  Otherwise I'd skip
        \_ Very nice sports book, standard new strip rooms. Agree slightly
           overpriced, also a little out of the way. Okay experience.
        \_ I liked Rum Jungle, the restaurant by day, club by night joint.
           Hot women dancing on top of the bar... doesn't get better than that.
           \_ Agree. Nice to visit this and Hard Rock's Baby's during night.
        Luxor:
        \_ Good mid-week deals on suites on the top floors.  Otherwise I'd skip
           it too.  The diagonal elevator is amusing, but strictly for one
           ride only.
        \_ Older strip type room. Decent access to the outside, but problems
           with non-hotellers wandering the halls. No, it's not sinking.
        Excalibur:
        \_ This is the cheapest strip hotel I'd stay at, but that might be a
           legacy effect.
        \_ Oldest of the "new" strip hotels. Older room setup. Cheap, and
           showing it's age. Long distance to casino, car, outside.
        MGM Grand:
        \_ Not the most expensive, not the most posh, but quite acceptable.
           A good all-around hotel.  Good sports book.
        \_ Agree sports book. Okay room, but long, long haul to casino, car
           and outside. Good prices if you catch them.
           \_ Agreed about the long haul. It should never take more than five
              minutes to reach the damn elevator. Dunno why my parents love
              staying there so much.
        Caesar:
        \_ The hotel is old.  They've done a good job updating it, but it
           still feels old.  The tower is better.
        \_ It's a good upgrade. Okay sports book, cramped feel in places,
           casino and hotel farther out from strip than most places.
        Bellagio:
        \_ Bellagio seems to have an inordinate amount of static electricity.
           I get zapped there far more than any other casino.
        \_  Loved my stay there.  On the middle of the strip, and try to get
            a room with a view of the Fountains.  Bally's is across the
           at the TI.  Much more expensive than what it should be.
            street and it's connected to the mall.  Plus it's close to
            most everything, as it's on the middle of the strip.  Not the
            cheapest hotel, but worth it.  I think the Venetian has bigger
            rooms though.  (Never stayed at the Venetian).
            \_ The Venetian rooms are all officially "suites" and they are
               bigger than the Bellagio's.  The "suite" thing just means
               there's a cast iron railing between the sleeping area and
               the sitting area, so I wouldn't get terribly excited over that.
               \_ True, but the bathroom is awesome. Huge and with a large
                  tub and separate shower. Two televisions. Nice decor.
        \_ Bellagio has an excellent poker room, for those that care.
           \_ The Mirage and the Orleans have okay ones. Binions if you want
              some old time feel to it (Now especially during WSOP). Others
              have poker for the sake of saying they offer poker. Oh, and
              some places offer "poker rates." You play X hours and they give
              a discount on the hotel price. Have to ask about beforehand.
        \_ Excellent place to stay. Well executed. Nice new strip rooms.
           Pricey though.
        Paris & Aladdin:
        \_ I've had good experiences @ Paris & Aladdin. At Aladdin, just
           because I was being nice, I got a free upgrade to a suite
           (apparently, I was the only one all day who didn't ask the girl
           for an upgrade, so I got one). If you get a room with a view @
           Paris, you can watch Bellagio's fountain show all night until you
           grow utterly sick of it, like I did.
           \_ I quite liked the Paris casino.  The painted ceiling makes it
              seem less claustrophobic.  The casino hires faux French guys to
              hang out for ambience.  Highly amusing.
           \_ Paris: Nice rooms, When I went, I thought they were about
              average priced. The casino IS the best part.
              \_ IMO, the casino is the worst part of the hotel. It's too
                 small. I stay there, but go somewhere else to gamble.
        \_ To wrap up the other major strip hotels.  Mirage: Still quite nice
           when I stayed there last year.  Treasure Island: Never ever stay
           at the TI.  Much more expensive than what it should be.  NYNY:
           I think the best design and execution of a theme on the strip.
           Good deli at the food area.  The lack of elevators is somewhat
           annoying.
           \_ Mirage: Agree. TI: Agree, overpriced for an okay room. NYNY:
              Is okay, but the jumble of rooms to match the facade is a bit
              disconcerting. Food area, while good, can get VERY crowded.
        \_ So what's the best deal for around $100 a night weekends?  The
           newer ones like Venetian, Bellagio, etc are quite expensive.  I
           don't want to stay at an old dump either.  Thanks.
           \_ You have to pay for what you want. What's important to you?
              Access to the strip? Casino experience? Sightseeing? Gambling
              self silly? Are you going to spend a lot of time in the room?
              Bally's, Monte Carlo, Hilton (off strip) are newer, but slightly
              cheaper. And you can get deals on most all of them. Personally
              I gamble a lot and don't expect much from my room. I stay
              downtown where the rates are closer to <$50/wkend night and
              cab it to the strip if I feel like playing overpriced tables.
           \_ Venetian is about $120 on Sundays, which is not bad. I go to
              Las Vegas a lot. Mirage and Venetian are my faves. Paris is
              okay as is Mandalay Bay. Avoid Bellagio. For a cheap place,
              I like Bally's. I'm mostly a gambler, too, so YMMV if you like
              other stuff, although food is important to me. Also, I haven't
              seen anyone mention Rio yet. --dim
              \_ I passed by Rio on my way to check out Palms. Nothing but
                 a bunch of old geezers in cowboy hats. Very subdued
                 environment.
                 \_ How is Palms? It looks like the new Big Nightspot...
                    \_ Unfortunately, I only saw it during the day. The casino
                       is rather small, nothing special. I'm not too fond of
                       how everything is in puke green, including the limos.
        Hard Rock and other off-strip:
        \_ The Californian is smokey and full of middle aged Hawaiians
           playing slots. It is one of the least phoney places in Vegas.
           \_ Downtown is different from the strip and off-strip places.

5/8     On a dual Xeon processor machine running Win2k, is it possible
        to force/specify that two programs each run on a different
        processor? Thanks.
        \_ Check the man pages... oh wait!  You don't have any!  bwahahahhaa!
        \_ http://www.mlin.net/SMPSeesaw.shtml
        \_ You can do it in Task Manager if you have admin rights.  Right-click
           on the process and choose CPU Affinity.  --- yuen

5/8     Some places sell prescription drugs and have an online doctor's
        consultation. Is this actually legal?
        \_ Yes.

5/8     is there a perl equiv of the php "escapeshellarg()" function?
        \_ Tell us what escapeshellarg actually does (I can guess but...).
           I know perl but not php.  I'm sure I'm not the only one.
           \_ I'm trying to untaint a var that i will pass to a shell cmd.
              I think $ARGV[0] =~ s(')('\\'')g  should do it, but <shrug>.
        \_ You may want to look at quotemeta, but this sounds like an ugly
           hack.
           \_ open(FOO,"\Q$tainted\E |");

5/9     Why do you guys spend so much time in Vegas? do you actually
        gamble?
        \_ Because they are outsized children making double or triple as much
           as most grown-ups. There are few better ways of liquidating money
           you can't use and don't really want than visits to Vegas.
           \_ Yes, they're all the meanies that gave you wedgies in grade
              school.  Why would you want to go out and be sociable when you
              can play xtrek and dungeons & dragons all day?
        \_ whores. lots and lots of whores.
        \_ Cheaper than flying to Amsterdam, with better gambling. Not as
           disgusting as NO.
           \_ What does "NO" refer to?  I have a feeling google will not
              help me here!
        \_ Yes, and there are good restaurants and neat things to see like
           the Guggenheim and Star Trek Experience. Oh, and free booze!
           \_ Where do you get the free booze? I have been on Aladin and
              MGM Grand casino floors but didn't see anyone giving out
              free booze.
              \_ Cocktail waitresses! Also, the better the casino (more
                 expensive the hotel) the better the drinks. To use water as
                 example, some places give out Pellegrino or Perrier and
                 others give out tap water. --dim
              \_ Just start gambling, and they'll come around asking for
                 drinks. It's usually courtesy to tip 'em, so basically, it's
                 about a buck a drink.
                 \_ ...right.  it's free, but you're gambling.  I know
                    a great way to get "free" drinks like this in an ordinary
                       with it.
                    bar.  Hand the bartender a couple of hundred dollar bills
                    at the begining of the night, and you'll get "free"
                    drinks all night. idiot.
                    \_ Awww, look at the little nerdling waxing all bitter
                       about his complete lack of social skills.  Isn't that
                       cuuute?  Yes he is!  Yes he is!
                    \_ Well, look at it this way. If you're gambling, you're
                       losing money anyway, so why not get a bit of alcohol
                       with it. And I've come out ahead a couple of times,
                       so the drinks really were free for me.
                    \_ Play the low limit slots or just sit there next to
                       someone who is. Put a quarter in every 5 minutes
                       until you get your drink if you're that lame, or go
                       sit in the Keno parlor or sports book. It's no big deal.
                       I usually win, so not only do I have more money than I
                       started with, but get free drinks, too. Stop being
                       so bitter about your lack of success. --dim
                       \_ Unless you are playing poker, it is impossible
                          to "win" for any period of time gambling. Many
                          people kid themselves otherwise, but I would
                          expect better from you.
                          \_ Oh please.  You just don't get it do you?  It's
                             enterainment.  It's like going to a movie or a
                             play -- it's a fun way to go out and meet people
                             in a different environment or to spend a few
                             hours being entertained.  Most grown-ups that go
                             and gamble at Lost Wages seem to understand this.
                             I just can't under stand this "I'm not comfortable
                             there, so I must therefore try and prove that
                             people that are, are lame" attitude.
                             \_ Just clarifying the "I usually win" bit.
                                No need to get snooty about it.
                                \_ It's possible to win at sports betting. -tom
                          \_ So play poker. Blackjack is also a positive
                             expectation game if you know what you are doing
                             and *barely* negative even if you don't. Don't
                             use words like impossible either. It's certainly
                             possible, just not statistically likely. You
                             can't beat the games, except when you do. --dim
                             \_ All right, I grant that if you count cards
                                you can adjust the odds slightly in your
                                favor. Do you count cards? Do you really
                                win most of the time? It is fine to go to
                                Vegas and have fun losing, it is just not
                                realistic to go and expect to win most of
                                the time (unless you are a good poker
                                player) -one who has been to Vegas and
                                both lost and won

5/8     Related to the vegas hotel survey below.  There are buffets in every
        hotel.  But any one in particular that has more vegetarian items?
        Everytime I go I get stuck with the typical salad and pasta primavera
        items.  I'm wondering if there's more vegetarian variety.  Thanks.
                -vegan going to vegas next month.
        \_ Hate to disappoint, but there are NO great choices for vegans or
           vegetarians. The larger buffets (Rio and Paris) have some more
           choices, but nothing outstanding.
           \_ You don't win friends with salad.
              \_ huh?
                 \_ watch more Simpsons.

5/8     Nevman, did you sell your 2001 EX500 yet? What whas the mileage and
        how much did you get it for? Clean title? Ever dropped? I'm selling
        my EX500 too and just want to get a ball park figure.
        \_ Nevin has an email address, you know.

5/8     Anybody have an idea about why amazon's stock is going up so quickly?
        2 months ago it was around 12-14 and now it's up at 30.
        \_ People are stupid.

5/9     Where is the Freeper Outrage when you need it?
        http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/12/1050069122800.html
        Could it be that Republicans get a free pass for this thing?
        \_ Don't worry.  My man Pat Buchanan will be all over this like
           the good Reform Party head that he is.

5/9     http://csua.org/u/e86  (cnn.com)
        "He broke two bones in his [own] wrist and then used the dull blade
         of his multi-tool pocket knife to saw through his flesh."
         \_ this is cobwebs-on-it old
            \_ 11am EDT this morning too old for you? that's when the article
               was posted... and the incident happened Thursday May 1. dude,
               you're so on the bleeding edge.
                              \_ kinda like half of this guy's arm
         \_ solo hiking/climbing is crazy.
            \_ yeah.  And ultimately he didn't have to amputate since he
               was found by rescuers a few hours later.
               \_ He hiked a few miles and was found by a random couple
                  hiking the trail.  Yet another registrant for the
                  motd reading comprehension course.
                  \_ ok, if by "random couple" you mean search helicopter.
                  \_ Don't forget he rapelled (sp?) 50ft or so
                     down the cliff before he hiked 6 miles.
               \_ Wrong, he never would have been spotted. He amputated and
                  then hiked to someplace where people were more likely to
                  find him.
                  \_ ... which is, in and of itself, absolutely bloody
                     amazing.  How the hell did he remain conscious?
                     \_ bloody is right.
                     \_ tourniquet to slow bleeding and avoid hypovolemic shock.
                        a tourniquet is almost always a last resort method of
                        controlling blood loss, but amputation counts as last
                        resort. --Jon