6/17    Looking for a heat wand thingy that can seal any plastic bag.
        Basically I wanna store my winter clothes in bags, vacuum air out,
        then seal them airtight. Where can I find these heat wand thingies?
        \_ Can't you just watch late night infomercials?
          \_ http://www.asseenontv.com
        \_ I wonder how hard it would be to build one.
        \_ garbage bags and tape aren't sufficient?

6/17    Is switching to Dvorak worth it?  And, how is it for programming?
        \_ I've read one article (in 160 I believe) that said that
           it really doesn't improve typing speed that much.  Some friends
           switched to it and liked it, but also noted that their
           typing speed on QWERTY slowed dramatically.
        \_ I did it for about a year, and the benefits/drawbacks were so
           minimal that I reverted simply because it was a pain to switch
           the layouts when someone else wanted to use the computer.
           This was mainly an essay-writing time though, not coding.
        \_ don't forget about keyboard shortcuts.
        \_ switching was the most painful process, it was like learning
           typing all over again. However, it's really worth it. I use
           Kinesis Dvorak keyboard, it's a great combo. My emacs pinky
           stopped hurting after using it.
           \_ you should have just stopped using emacs
              \_ ED!
                 \_ my ED finger hurts.

6/17    Baron says WMDs will be found:
        http://www.defectiveyeti.com/archives/000671.html
        \_ They'll be found if they have to manufacture them themselves!!

6/17    Bay Area housing price drop:
        http://csua.org/u/3a6 (list.realestate.yahoo.com)
        It's about time.

6/18    To the person who suggested I use \renewcommand{\baselinestretch}{1.0}
        to resume single-spacing in my LaTeX document...it doesn't quite
        work actually. When I put that in the .cls file, it made everything
        single spaced (the entire document), not just the \verbatiminput stuff.
        I still need the rest of the document in double space. I put that
        command at the end of the VERBATIM section in the .cls file. Did
        I do it wrong? Thanks. again, it's at /csua/tmp/mythesis.cls

6/17    Bay Area housing price drop:
http://list.realestate.yahoo.com/re/story.html?s=n/realestate/real/20030618/20030618201
        It's about time.
        \_ Hey genius, they're talking about a 1249 sqft 3BR going for
           around $450k.  You think that's cheap in some way?  I've
           lived in apartments bigger than that.  Poor clueless fool,
           the permanent long term trend is 4 steps up, 1 step down.
           If you couldn't afford to get in earlier, you won't be
           getting in later unless *your* finances change dramatically
           for the better.  Hoping that there's some dramatic crash in
           the housing market before you buy will only cost you more
           when/if you finally do.  Your own link doesn't even say
           what you claim it says.  It's the 18th.  Shouldn't you be
           writing a check to your landlord in another 10 days?
                \_ which is why many people don't buy until they get in late
                   20s early 30s.  At that point if they are ina field that
                   makes real money they are probably making significant
                   amouts at thier job, and if married they probably have 2
                   incomes.  That is a dramatic change.  Wanting to wait till
                   the market drops a bit if you suspect that at it will soon
                   doesn't change anything.  I mean if you think you will
                   be able to get more for your dollar in a year it makes
                   sense to just rent for 1 more year.
                   \_ then there's no reason to gloat or hope for a housing
                      collapse.  all it means is bidding against other people
                      for the tiny number of houses on the market being sold
                      by those who are forced to sell due to forced moves such
                      as job transfer or divorces.  no one else is going to
                      take a loss.  housing stock will shrivel to nothing if
                      the prices collapse.
                \_ Uh, oh, someone woke up on the wrong side of a mortgage
                   this morning.
                   \_ paying off my 15 year in 8 years.  thanks for caring.
                \_ He never said they're cheap. He just said they dropped,
                   which they did.
                   \_ Not unless you consider the one small town mentioned in
                      the article as "the Bay Area".
                \_ I'm the op and I don't pay rent. I own 2 houses in
                   southern cal where the price has been rising steadily.
                   You sound bitter. Did you buy silicon valley property
                   at a bad time? If so, don't worry. It's just a matter
                   of time before it goes up. Peace to you.
                   \_ I'm up $150k on my home thanks.  I'd never buy in the
                      always insanely over inflated SV market.  If you're an
                      LA home owner why do you bother posting falsely about
                      pricing in the Bay Area?  You're a renter.  I doubt you
                      even own the welcome mat outside your door.
                        \_ "always insanely overinflated" is an impossibility;
                           if it's "always" overinflated, that must mean it
                           always goes up as much as everything else.  -tom
                           \_ WINNER OF THE PEDANT AWARD, 2003!
                \_ Doesn't matter where you buy in CA, the price will
                   double (at least) every 12 yrs (historically speaking).
                   \_ do you have a reference for this statement?
        \_ Silicon Valley is not the Bay Area:
           http://www.dqnews.com/RRBay0503.shtm
           \_ dont bring facts into this.  i hate that.  we're having a very
              nice little flame fest without any facts and then you come along.
              \_ yermom. There. Now it's an official flamefest.
                 \_ i feel all warm n fuzzy now.
                    \_ that's what your mom told me
                       \_ Damn it, it's "yermom" not "your mom." RTFM.

6/18    I'm looking for a cartoon.  It showed the evolution of man from monkey
        and has a 1950 where man stood upright.  And from then on the man
        becomes fat and eventually turns into a pig with 2003 as year.  I
        saw it on some web site but can't find it anymore.  Anybody have it?
        \_ The Nation has a poster that starts with Truman as a man and
           presidents descending slowly into pigs, then slugs, is that
           what you are talking about?

6/18    three years ago it was a stock bubble.  now it's a property value
        bubble.  the day of reckoning will come.
        \_ Bubble does not mean what you think it means.
           \_ Bubble Bobble rocks!
              \_ But Bubble Sort sucks.
                 \_ It's as simple as something that nobody knows.
           \_ I don't think the phrase "does not mean what you think
              it means" means what you think it means.
              \_ Bubble does not mean "slightly inflated." Do you think
                 that housing prices are going to drop 90%? You are
                 a moron if you do.
                 \_ japan... late 80's... mumble mumble...
                    \_ yes, that was a bubble. Tokyo land prices fell by
                       80-90%. Do you think that is going to happen to
                       land prices in the US? In California? In San
                       Francisco? I do not.
                       \_ It doesn't have to pop that much. A drop of 20%
                          would be pretty catastrophic.
                          \_ Yeah that would suck.  I'd be back to only about
                             $20k above what I paid 3 years ago....
                             \_ As an economy it's disasterous. What happens
                                you personally is less important.
                                \_ To *me* there's nothing more important. the
                                   same is true of every other individual.  it
                                   is nice that there's at least one person out
                                   there who cares more about this ephemeral
                                   thing known as "the economy" more than his
                                   own situation.  I'm glad to know you.
                                   \_ I'd rather have an okay job in a good
                                      economy than slightly better one in a
                                      poor economy. Less chance of my job being
                                      cut, better chance of upgrading it.
                          \_ Okay, I'll bite. Why would it be catastrophic?
                             This happened in 1991 in California and it
                             wasn't exactly the end of the world.
                             \_ It just would be.  It's the motd.  You expect
                                him to back up his statements?
                             \_ The state is $38B in debt. Your city is cutting
                                services. Another 20% drop in prop taxes, more
                                services get cut. More fees go up, more taxes,
                                jobs leave overtaxed CA, you're stuck with a
                                suddenly overpriced house with no job.
                 \_ bubble is as bubble does.
        \_ keep dreaming, renter.
        \_ If it pops I'll still own a house and you will still be
           renting.
           \_ No, you'd be paying for a house that's worth less than your
              loan. Negative equity. A Bad Thing.
              \_ Short term effect.  God is making more people.  He isn't
                 making more land.  In the long term no one has ever lost
                 money on real estate.  In the mean time you're paying a
                 land lord and owning nothing.  Even if the home price drops
                 a few percent below the buying price it is still financially
                 more sound than paying rent.
                 \_ Is God making more high paying jobs too? If you lose
                    your job at the same time your house drops a few percent,
                    you may end up in a bad spot. That said, I'm all for
                    buying a house if you can afford it. Just know the risks.
                    As in most things in life, it is not a sure deal.
                    \_ Anytime you lose your job you'll be in a bad spot. Will
                       your landlord stop asking for rent? At least with a
                       house there is a chance that you'll have equity and
                       maybe even own the place outright.
                    \_ Since my mortgage money has been going into a loan and
                       unlike a renter I actually *own* some part of the place
                       I live I have the option of drawing down against the
                       house so I won't be on the streets when times get hard.
                       As a renter with no job, I've got a pillow, an old
                       blanket and some rent receipts to get me through the
                       tough times.  How does being a jobless and homeless
                       ex-renter sound compared to jobless home owner?
                       \_ More money saved up and able to move someplace where
                          there are more jobs without worrying about selling
                          my house. Portability is part of the appeal.

6/18    Is there a single man page somewhere that describes all the basic
        file manipulation tools for FreeBSD or Unix in general?  I'm trying to
        batch-format a text file to 80 lines and I can't remember the command.
        I always end up starting from `man [join,cut,paste,comm,diff]` and
        searching many "See Also" sections.
        \_ ok, see, it's "fmt" that I want, not "format".  There's got to be
           a better way to man. --op
           \_ man -k?  apropos?
        \_ google for the unix rosetta stone