7/21    Motd Movie Critic mini-review: T3: Put to shame all previous Hollywood
        car chase scenes.  Arnold fans will enjoy the many references and lines
        from his other movies.  It's all done in good fun for the fans.  The
        women are both attractive enough but this reviewer would have been
        happier seeing more of the blond killer fembot.  John Connor was a
        bit odd but grew on the review part way through.  The MMC has been
        moonlighting recently at some 9-6 thing so begs forgiveness for the
        obvious lateness and brevity of this review.  The MMC saw Alien:
        Resurrection last night on cable and actually enjoyed it.  Not bad for
        the fourth film in a series that should have stopped after the second.
                --MMC at your service
        \_ I hated the first part.  I thought the movie really started after
           the coffin scene, and all the stuff before that was pandering to
           execs. -- ilyas
           \_ what about the care chase scenes in the first part?
              \_ The whole setup was kind of weak, imho, and so the car chases
                 seemed sort of gratuitous to me... Of course you can say that
                 that's what T movies are about...  Anyways, I thought the
                 second part was much better than the first, in the sort of
                 classic T1 and T2 style, and the ending was great. -- ilyas
        \_ Alien: Resurrection I saw over the weekend was heavily edited.
        \_ and while at it, try to see "28 Days Later" while they're still
           showing it. It's pretty good.

7/22    Looking for junior java developers.   Limited job experience is a plus.
        /csua/pub/jobs/Snapfish.junior.java
        \_ This is a very interesting requirement. Why prefer junior over
           experienced java developers?  Is it the salary factor?  Or
           veteran coders have bad habits? Or are veteran coders very slow?
           Or Junior coders tend to work longer hours, and has no complaints?
           most places are looking for over 10 years experience which I think
           it's kinda dumb.  So exactly why are your company so different that
           seems to see the benefits of junior coders?
           \_ I'm sure it's all about $$$. It always is.
           \_ Money, of course, is always a factor.  As far as the rest,
              anyone is going to be expected to work the hours required to get
              their project(s) done.  I'm not on the dev team but I didn't
              hear anything about bad habits or experienced people being slow,
              etc.  I think they already have piles of veteran coder resumes.
              We don't have a problem taking junior people and training them
              up on the job unlike most companies today.  I guess that's the
              difference.  The dev team guys are all really decent.  No one
              is job hunting that I know of.  For anything more either write
              me and I'll find out or send a resume and you can ask in your
              interview.  I posted what I was told plus whatever else I know.
              \_ Oh I see. I was only curious as your company seems to be the
              only exception. From my working experience, if it were I to make
              the decision, I would give UCB undergrads interviews. My working
              experiences with UCB graduates are very good. And the people that
              supposedly have over 10 years of coding experiences all seem
              pretty lame (bad code, dumb algorith, slow and inacurrate...)--
              I'm talking about only the ppl that I have worked with.
                \_ Pretty much it comes down to having had good experiences
                   in the past hiring new college grads from quality schools.
                   Why pay more for 10+ years when you're happy with a NCG?
        \_ you know, computer science has matured in the past 30 years that
           really complex tasks can be partioned into many simple tasks.
           Look at EJB, J2EE, DB, etc. Everything is just an integration
           of many components that can be broken down further and further
           into more specialized and simple parts, and now we can just hire
           a lot of simple-minded code monkeys to do a product instead of
           a few expensive PhDs. My friend, CS is becoming more and more
           like the automobile industry where you only need a few designers
           (software architects) and a lot of dumb assembly line workers
           (code monkeys).
           \_ damn, that is depressing
           \_ Uhm, ok, maybe so.  Please send junior java resumes.  It's not
              my group so I can't confirm or deny that with regards to my
              company.  Please send junior java resumes.
           \_ In my experience intelligent programmers are hard to find
              and always in demand.  Sure most "progammers" slap together
              a bunch of components or use some visual tool instead of
              taking the time and effort required to do things intellegently.
              These kinds of programmers end up causing the endless
              bugs in windows, slow, bloated software, and missed deadlines.
              Good programmers will always be in demand because software
              development is a complex balance between speed, space,
              flexibility, and cost.
                \_ demand for excellence will always be there, but there
                   will be a much much greater demand for mediocrity.
                   Engineers get paid because business men say so, and
                   business men don't know jack about excellence. They
                   only understand time-to-market and marketting.

7/21    For something completely different from all the hate in this forum.
        http://www.t3.rim.or.jp/~kuri/panorama/pano0304e.html
        Enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms.  My home made 'sakura' vinegar
        will be ready soon!

7/21    [Israel/Palestine discussion censored.  I didn't really understand
        what the point was anyway.]
        \_ yeah, neither did I... but I was kind of enjoying the momentary
           motd notoriety               - rory

7/21    anyone had good experiences with open-source web-based photo
        alum?
        \_ just use gallery

7/21    Hi, I'm clueless. How hard in general is it to get into a "good"
        grad school if you've been working for a while? How important is the
        GPA and such from undergrad, and at what point would other factors
        be more important? (This question is not limited to engineering schls.)
        \_ I know some guy who had like a 2.x GPA and didn't seem too bright
           in the melon get into USC's pharma program. He was an MCB
           major that I got stuck with as a lab partner during my final year.
           I dropped the class because I was doing independent research
           already. USC isn't too shabby in terms of bio, also, I know what
           a certain alum who went to CMU for the PhD program who didn't
           do too great in physics (he used to copy my homework). Apparently
           if you know people I think it's a lot easier to get in, i.e. you
           know research profs well in a certain field. Other fields look
           somewhat like a crapshot. Don't know about now, but since everyone
           is reving to go to grad school maybe you should just stay in the
           sector, being lemming like doesn't usually pay off.
           -williamc
        \_ depends on your definition of "good". Top 10? Top 20? Top 30?
           Check out US World News Report, there's a section on engineering.
           For top 10, you should have AT LEAST 2100 GRE, 3.5 GPA, and at
           least 2 solid recommendations from PROFESSORS. Industry recs
           count very very very very little unless that person does a lot
           of active, quality publications in ACM and other reputable
           places. Note that these requirements are MINIMAL. By the way
           many people are going back to grad school these days and
           competition is pretty fierce. Even if you get into grad school,
           profs treat you like dirt because there are so many grad students.
           For example my school's enrollment increased by at least 20% while
           the TAship and RAship dwindled because my advisor is stupid.
           Hope this helps.                                     -ucla cs guy
                \_ by the way, I just want to take this time to talk about
                   my gimp prof. For 2 quarters he promised RAship for
                   this summer. 2 weeks before summer started he said he
                   ran outa funding and asked me if I wanted to work for him
                   for free. Turns out he spent the money on other postdocs
                   (2 of them are new) and did the same thing to 1/2 of his
                   other students, many of which are now working for him
                   for free because they just want to compete and graduate.
                                        -ucla cs guy
        \_ Just curious, does *anyone* have any _good_ professor experiences?
           \_ yes. lots, but never in engineering.  In engineering, those
              who can do, those who can't teach.
              \_ I've had a great experience with my advisor. In CS, no less.
                 I don't know about teaching, but she's certainly extremely
                 smart, and easy to work with. There certainly are good
                 advisors out there who don't screw you on funding. -chialea
              \_ I've had a great experience with my advisor in EE.  Although
                 my advisor is brilliant, fairly well-known, and well funded,
                 I think the single most important quality which makes him
                 a good advisor is that he genuinly cares about his students.
                 Many advisors view students as employees who work to benefit
                 the themselves and the advisor.  This kind of relationship
                 can work, but ideally you want someone who thinks of you as
                 a protege.  Make sure you talk to a prof's students and get
                 a feel for the prof's personality before signing on.  If you
                 are applying to or starting grad school, I suggest reading
                 a book like _Getting_What_You_Came_For_ instead of learning
                 the pitfalls of grad school the hard way.  Good luck.  -emin
              \_ Ditto the above two posts.  My advisor is great, and there's
                 not a day that goes by when I do not thank the lord that I'm
                 in his group.  No joke.  One of the best advice that I got
                 while choosing grad schools is: choose the people, not the
                 school.  It's the people (prof + students) that you'll have
                 to work with.  The school just goes on your diploma.  One of
                 the best things about Berkeley over other good schools is the
                 web of inter-group/cross-departmental collaborations.  Know
                 what you want and look for it.
                 Regarding applying to grad school, GPA and GRE scores are the
                 basics.  Berkeley requires at least a 3.7 if I remember
                 correctly, and 95 perc+ for GRE.  Not having these is grounds
                 for automatic rejection, unless you're really really good and
                 can prove it with a substantial pub list and glowing recs.
                 Having good grades and good GRE scores, you still need GLOWING
                 recommendations from well-known and respected profs.  Recs
                 from your manager/coworker have next to no weight.  Personal
                 statements rarely make a difference, but bad ones can kill
                 your app.  I'm generalizing a little.  Also, I don't know
                 how things are at other schools, and I don't know about other
                 departments.  But competition is fierce everywhere.
                                                -- alice
              \_ I agree with the sentiment that nice profs are an exception
                 to the rule.  The professors I know are interested in seeing
                 how much they can abuse their grad students with as little
                 money as possible -- to save money for next quarter's more
                 talented recruits (which is fair, in a way, but not what I'd
                 say is "nurturing").  They've also developed an ability of
                 covering their own ass very well.  Professors play a LOT of
                 politicking in their quest to look like the hot new thing,
                 or in trying to continue to look hot.  I'd say if you get
                 a prof like this, it's not much different from working
                 in a company -- except you get paid a lot less, you get a
                 Ph.D. in the end, and you come out cynical since going back
                 to school to learn about interesting things was not what you
                 thought it was.

7/22    http://people.freebsd.org/~wpaul/nVidia/nVidia.txt
        --jon

7/22    My market analysis: http://tinyurl.com/hp1s (YMMV)
        \_ kinney, are you an undergrad?  -pst
           \_ The Kinney transcends your petty labels.

7/21    [repost] http://www.t3.rim.or.jp/~kuri/panorama/pano0304e.html
        Enjoy the beauty of cherry blossoms.  The hatemongering stays on
        for days but a picture of beauty get deleted in hours?  Ugh...
        \_ It had nothing to do with LINUX! or BIKERIDING! so it goes....
        \_ Nice.  -John
        \_ your tagline was wrong.  try this
           The Belly of the Beast!!! See a picture of the natural habitat
           of the Washington neocon cryptofascist!
           http://csua.org/u/3p9

7/21    http://twistedmatrix.com/users/jh.twistd/python/moin.cgi/LiquidDemocracy
        Where Python, Democracy and the Tragedy Of The Commons all come
        together on the same page!  I love this interweb thing!

7/21    What is the differences among Pentium M and Pentium 3-M, cerelon
        performance wise?  Given the same clock speed which one is better?
        Similiarly, I am looking for one notch above Pentium 3-M, does
        AMD/VIA/Transmeda has chip that outperform p3M by a notch? it doesn't
        necessarily has to be in the same league as P4M.
        \_ go with the Pentium M.  It's designed from the ground up as opposed
           to the 3M and 4M which are closer to desktop CPUs at heart.  I hear
           the Pentium M trounces them anyway.
        \_ don't buy a celeron for anything unless saving $5 *really* means
           that much to you in which case you shouldn't be buying a computer
           anyway.
           \_ I am looking at IBM T-series versus the new IBM X-series.
              I am using company's old IBM X and I am wondering how's
              new IBM X (Pentium M) stack up against IBM T(Pentium 4M)
                        --OP
                \_ Don't look at the X for CPU, look at it for size.  It's
                   comparatively tiny, tremendously robust, and weighs almost
                   nothing.  The T-series has a bigger screen and DVD.  If you
                   are worried about price, get a refurbished one--that's what
                   I have (X-20) and it's brilliant.  -John
                \_ Dewd, the T40 can come with either the Mobile Pentium 4
                   (aka Pentium 4-M) or Pentium M (aka the Centrino CPU).
                   All reviews of the T40 I've seen are with the Pentium M.
                   1.6 GHz Pentium M ~= 2.4 GHz Pentium 4-M.
                   And as the previous poster wrote, the Pentium M was
                   designed from the ground up as a mobile CPU.  The Pentium
                   4-M was based on the Pentium 4 desktop CPU; Intel had
                   not planned for a notebook version until they got
                   caught up in the raw MHz game (consumer:  "This Pentium
                   3 is only 1 GHz, and the Pentium 4 is 2.0 GHz!").
                   Also, the X has a 12" screen; the T40 has a 14" screen but
                   weighs more, as the previous poster wrote.
                   There's also notebooks with an AMD CPU if you want
                   something a step above a Pentium 3-M.  The Fujitsu
                   S2000 and S6000 series are almost identical, except
                   for the CPU; the S2000 has an AMD CPU, and the S6000 has
                   the Pentium M.  They're both new, so you can check
                   performance numbers on http://cnet.com.  My impression is that
                   the Pentium M blows the AMD CPU out of the water in
                   performance and energy consumption.

7/22    Thank god for *nix millebourne(sp).  I killed a whole work day doing
        nothing but losing to the computer.  I think it cheats.  An entire
        game without a single "Go" card?

7/22    Looking for junior java developers.  Limited job experience is a plus.
        /csua/pub/jobs/Snapfish.junior.java
        I asked and got more info: money isn't the issue.  The reason for
        wanting a junior level person is they need someone junior enough who
        is willing to do junior level work and not quit as soon as a senior
        level job comes along.  They don't want to underemploy someone.  This
        is intended to be a good learning first/second job thing for the
        employee and a reliable, smart person to do stuff that needs to be
        done but no one else has time for right now.  They expect/hope the
        candidate will stick around long term and become senior in time.
        \_ What if you've been unemployed so long you've fallen
           from senior to junior. Like you've had a concussion. Is that OK?
           \_ You can't succeed if you don't try.  Send me a resume.  I'll
              pass on anything from any Berkeley alum but I'm not the hiring
              manager or even in that group so I can't promise a job or an
              interview.  I do promise that your resume will be read by
              someone else here (probably several someones) and won't get
              instantly trash canned unread like many companies are doing
              today.

7/22    http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993942
        Spank your monkey 5x a week in your 20s, reduce your chance of
        prostate cancer by 33%!
        \_ I'm sticking with the hookers and blow health plan
           \_ "The team speculates that infections caused by intercourse may
              increase the risk of prostate cancer."
                \_ it is more of a quality of life issue

7/22    silly question, how do you create URL redirects like
        http://csua.org/u/3p9 Thanks.
        \_ try going to http://csua.org/u
        \_ http://tinyurl.com is better.  http://csua.org makes bad links for some websites,
           like say any yahoo news story.
           \_ Why are they bad?

7/22    http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993942