5/14    Any ideas as to how to fix a firewire drive that won't mount?
        It's a friend's mac, and I couldn't help him, so I'm just wondering if
        it's a common problem.
        \_ show it a few videos, and try turning the lights down.  maybe
           if the mac dresses up like a PC?
           \_ I thought this was pretty funny, but you're still a jackass. -op
              \_ I can live with that. -Jackass
        \_ are you properly reading the instructions?  There is a certain
           order you connect things the first time around...
           \_ apparently it's an existing drive that has worked for awhile
              \_ Try kicking it, that sometimes works. Do you really expect
                 to solve your hardware problem on the motd? Hire a
                 technician.
        \_ Is it by Maxtor?
        \_ One known problem is that sometimes fw hd's that are put to
           sleep aren't sent the awake command. Only way to fix this is
           to shutdown the computer, unplug the drive, replug the drive
           and then reboot.
           In some cases, there are problems with bus powered drives
           because the computer can't provide sufficient power over the
           cable or there are too many devices plugged into the bus.
           If the hd is bus powered, try switching to a standalone ps.
           Also is the drive detected on the fw bus? You can check this with
           Apple System Profiler by clicking on the Devices and Volumes
           tab. In MacOSX ASP is /Applications/Utilites/Apple System Profiler.
           In OS9 it should be in <Boot Hd>/Utilites/Apple System Profiler
           or <Boot Hd>/Applications (Mac OS 9)/Utilites/Apple System Profiler.
           If the drive isn't detected, turn it off, wait a few seconds,
           turn it on and type CMD-R in the ASP window. If the drive is
           detected at this point and it still won't mount, you will need
           to use Disk Utility (OS X) or Disk First Aid and/or Drive Setup
           (OS 9) to see if there are any problems with the fs on the drive.
           If there are problems that Disk Utility or Disk First Aid can't
           fix, you probably will need to get a copy of something like
           Disk Warrior from Alsoft to fix the problems.

5/14    http://csua.org/u/edd
        A well-hyperlinked account of Bush's day on 9/11/2001.
        \_ Only a terrorist could say such things about our brave President.
        \_ Why do you post this crap.  I was up the entire morning of Sept. 11
           and saw the entire thing transpire.  Until the second plane hit,
           outside of the air traffic control and maybe NORAD, by the time
           it was too late, there was confusion as to what was happening.  It
           was unclear if the first plane was an accident until the second one
           hit.  I personally watched the talk Bush was giving at the
           elementary and saw when one of his aides told him of the details.
           Let me ask a better question - why didn't your idol Billy Bob do
           anything after the first World Trade Center bombing, and the
           subsequent four attacks during his administration?  He declined, yes
           DECLINED, to extradite Bin laden from Sudan.  Maybe he was too busy
           jerking off in the Oval Office sink?  I vividly recall posting
           links about Clinton's shenanigans in the intelligence community,
           for example mandating diversity quilts at CIA.  Clinton met with
           James Woolsey once, during his two year tenure as CIA director.
           The joke in Washington was that the Cessna that crashed in the
           White House was Woolsey's attempt to get a meeting with the
           President.  I wonder if some of the NYSlimes links were written
           by Blair?
           \_ Why does Bush keep changing his story then?
           \_ NYSlimes. Way to go, that'll show 'em.

5/14    I'd like to get my mom the most simplistic digital camera possible for
        mother's day.  My priorities are
        1) simplicity
        2) an LCD screen so she can see what she just shot
        3) some sort of CF-like storage so she can take it on long vacations
        4) price (or durability)
        5) picture quality
        Any recommendations?
        \_ I'd look at a lowend Canon or an HP.
        \_ Aren't you a few days late? Or really early for 2004?
           \_ Just a bad son, which is why it's a camera and not flowers/card.
        \_ Canon A200 / A300 (200 is 2 megapixel, 300 is 3 megapixel)
           Olympus D390 (2 megapixel).  These 3 cameras are pretty easy
           to use (especially the Olympus).  They don't have zoom, that is
           why they are cheap and the photo quality is pretty damn good.
           From my experience (for my parents), it's easier for them to
           operate a non-zoom camera.  If you really want zoom, you can
           look at Olympus D380

5/15    Matrix Reloaded. Insane visual effects. They're some serious shit.

5/15    X-men 2 > Matrix 2
        \_ I rewatched Matrix over the weekend. It's definitely lost a lot of
           its magic and luster. I don't have high expectations for the sequel.
        \_ X2 < Matrix2. Matrix2 is part of a trilogy, whereas X2 is just a
           chapter in a comic serial, so it is hard to compare the two...
                \_ It's easy to compare the two. X2 didn't try to be anything
                   more than a dumb action movie and succeeded and was fun and
                   exciting and new. M2 tried to be more than a dumb action
                   movie and failed miserably and was boring and repetitive.
                   They were both very stylish, however.
        \_ Got to see it this morning at a special screening - I thought
           it was pretty good (Espec the fight and chase scenes), a little
           heavy on fighting though...
        \_ Saw Matrix 2 last night. I wasn't a fan of the first one, but I
           like the new one much better. Possibly because I went into it
           expecting good eye candy, good fighting and not much else - and
           it delivers! contrast that with the first movie, which people whose
           opinions I trust were telling me was 'the next star wars'. Go see
           it for your eyes, not for your brain - if you can shut off the part
           of your brain that keeps saying "bad acting, transparent plot
           device, idiotic pseudo-intellectual dialogue" you will have a great
           time. I did.
           \_ there will never be another star wars.  our civilization is
              in decline.
              \_ Sure there will.  It'll come out in about a year, and will
                 continue the betrayal of all the fans hold dear.
        \_ ask not if Matrix #2 is better or worse than Matrix #1.  Ask if
           it is worthy of being movie #2 and does it do the job of continuing
           the story?
           \_ story? i stopped caring about that once I saw the "baby-energy-
              harvesting" thing in the first one.
              \_ "In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!"
                  \_ jesus christ man.  Just how much of the simpsons have
                     you watched?!  Always quoting them.  That's a little
                     on the fanatical side don't you think?
                     \_ Which begs the question how much Simpsons you've seen
                        to be able to recognize the quotes.
                        \_ Homer: It seems that the cat has been caught by the
                                  very person who was trying to catch him.
                           Skinner: How ironic.

5/14    "you ruined my poo"
        http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/10685881.html
        \_ Christ.  Very funny.
        \_ Are any of you really so "considerate" that you flush
           after each turd?
           \_ fuck no. it's a fucking bathroom, get used to it.
              \_ Is the non-flusher Chinese?

5/15    Related thread re: matrix 2.  Anybody else bothered by the fact that
        it takes 100+ million to make a big movie these days?  In terms of
        return on investment, the movies that produced the most bang for the
        buck are "My big fat greek wedding" and "A room with a view".
        Both returned something one the order of 600-1000% return on investment.
        \_ Yes.  I am also bothered.
        \_ Blair Witch probably returned even more. I don't care how much
           they spend making the movie, but I am bothered that the lead
           usually makes a big chunk of it for doing a small part of the
           work. --dim
           \_ You must be some kind of Communist. The Free Market ensures
              that people are paid what they worth.
              \_ Uh huh. Which is why CEOs who run their companies into the
                 ground pay themselves millions before they are forced out.
                 \_ the shareholders/board lets them do so. can't blame
                    the ceo, he's being a good Capitalist, but the boards
                    are either doing the same thing (and the shareholders
                    are dumbfucks) or they're incompetent (ditto).
                    \_ without fair disclosure, without independent
                       audit and stock analyst, how would shareholders know?
                       \_ by watching their stock price drop like a rock?  if
                          they invest in a company that doesn't provide the
                          independent info an investor needs they should find
                          another company.
              \_ for some reason, the same person who wants "free market"
                 are the also the one who want erect tariff on Steels,
                 subsidy for agrecultural products, and tax benefits for
                 export goods.
                 \_ and speling, you no thers a taks on propar speling nowe
        \_ I'm bothered only in the fact that ticket prices are skyrocketing
           because of this.  Same with baseball & other sports.  I hold
           nothing against the actors or ballplayers, because if I were in
           their situation, I'd get every penny that I could too.
           \_ don't forget concerts.  Everything is becoming a rip-off.
              what's up with those "convenience fees"?!?!
              $20 programs at concerts.  $35 t-shirts.  And expensive nasty
              concessions...  Crazy!!!
              \_ As long as we're willing to pay, they're gonna set their
                 prices accordingly.
        \_ I almost didn't like M2 the first time, but when I saw it
           a second time I turned off my brain.
           \_ It just premiered last nite, and you've already seen it twice??
                \_ The reels have been printed for several weeks.
                   If you have distribution connections...
                   \_ yeah you're a genius with the inside track, uh huh.  I
                      suspect we all have the same p2p access you have.

5/15    Perl regular expression question:
        I have a list of strings that I want to remove from a file.
        I tried to use s/$string//g for each string, but had problems
        when the $string contained special characters like (, /, etc.
        Is there a way to quote the $string so it will work?  I tried
        qr, but that didn't do the trick.
        \_ s/\Q$string\E//g

5/15    If i am the administrative, but not technical, contact for a domain
        registered with Network Solutions, will I be able to change the DNS
        settings? (without the cooperation of the tech. contact obviously)?
        \_ probably, just make sure you know what you're doing.
           \_ you're talking to the admin contact trying to pull one over on
              the tech contact in some insane dns tug of war power trip.  you
              think the OP knows what he's doing?
              \_ Perhaps he's a tech-savvy admin contact with a lame tech
                 contact, in which he might know what he's doing.
                 \_ getting into a tug of war is always stupid

5/15    Are there any experienced kernel programers looking for a job?
        I don't know too much about the job, but I have a friend that is
        asking if I can recommnd someone. --jwm
        \_ What kind of kernel? Real-time?

5/15    Is there a good program to draw timing diagrams, in the style
        of cs150? Any platform is fine. Thanks.
        \_ smartdraw?  Visio?
                \_ visio just is only good for flowcharts, diagrams,
                   and other interconnected type diagrams.
        \_ synapticad waveformer.  of course, they had to ruin it by adding
           logic and timing analysis bs to what was originally a waveform
           drawing program.
           \_ it's now feature rich *and* many software dev jobs were saved
              because someone was smart enough to find something else to
              stick in there.

5/15    what is a reasonable way for me to pay the shipping from china for
        a company that is going to ship me a sample?  I can only find Fed-Ex
        (UPS doesn't ship from where i want) and it is going to be over $50
        for a small package.  That seems excessive.  Any advice?
        \_ that is about the right price.  I don't know about China, but
           don't they have some sort of Postal Service there?