9/16    You gotta love how these studies are trumpeted all over the news,
        but then when they are discredited and retracted its barely mentioned:
        http://csua.org/u/4c6
        \_ And pot turns you into a werewolf
           \_ Oh man, no *wonder* I've been waking up naked covered in blood.
        \_ "We're scientists, not politicians... but we're not chemists."
            Great article, thank you.
        \_ There was no original study trumpeted anywhere but I've seen
           variations on this article for a week.  Shut yer whining trap and
           go get stoned then flip my burger.
           \_ You missed all the hooplah about ecstasy and memory damage and
              the rest? Wow.
              \_ It's all the crack. It does bad stuff to memory. I think.
              \_ There was no hooplah unless you're a big ecstasy fanboy.
                 The rest of us saw an article or two and moved on because
                 it wasn't a bfd.
                 \_ Sorry, wrong.  This study was used to promote a very
                    serious law and criminalized raves.  It was a very big
                    deal for a lot of people, and was covered nationwide.
                    However, I do believe people are making a big deal of the
                    retraction as well.
                    \_ "for a lot of people".  translation: the niche crowd
                       raving on ecstasy.  the other 99.999% didn't care the
                       first time or anymore about the retraction.  this is
                       just the ravers being self centered and overly inner
                       focussed.  there are a shitload of laws passed everyday
                       that have a negative impact on my life and you don't see
                       me bitching about being oppressed everytime they pass or
                       repeal such a law.  its a party drug.  it has zero
                       beneficial medical uses when taken while dancing all
                       night to bad music with a water bottle in hand.
                       \_ It's also a useful psychiatric tool that's been
                          classified with crack and heroin as having "zero
                          medical benefits" because of a flawed study.
                          It's important to everyone because it shows how
                          willing government-backed scientist will be to
                          loudly and falsely proclaim that drugs are bad.
                          By the way, I've NEVER tried E or been to a rave.
                          I am, however, angered by my country's screwy and
                          self-defeating drug policy.

9/15    What are good 17"/18" LCD displays? The viewsonics seem popular
        and cheap. Any gotchas? Are 18" displays worth the $100-$200 premium
        they're currently going for? -saarp
        \_ Solarism
        \_ Samsung
           \_ You mean Samsuck?  I have one.  I also have a Viewsonic.  And
              I also have an Eizo.  Samsuck has decent panel, but supporting
              electronics is crap.  Viewsonic's panel is not that great
              (VX800) and the electronics is also hit or miss.  Viewsonic
              VE170 uses old technology panel, but otherwise, it's just fine.
              I love my Eizo in every way.  Conclusion is that I recommend
              Eizo.
              \_ Eizo?  It's more popular in asia than over here right?
                 Haven't seen them around for some time.
                 \_ Eizo is part of Nanao Japan.  They don't seem to care
                    about the "cheap is everything" consumer market.  You
                    can really see the quality in these things.  They're
                    somewhat expensive than others, but you get what you
                    pay for.  Newegg has them cheaper than most others, but
                    you pay tax in CA.
                 Never seen them around for some time.
        \_ There's only about 3 LCD manufacturers for the screen part.  The
           rest you'll have to compare the features vs price vs warrantee.
           Find out what the dead pixel replacement policy is and if you
           can live with 10 dead or semi dead pixels before it kicks in.
        \_ I service other people's computers, so my experience is that
           Viewsonics are very hit and miss. One customer had two consecutive
           replacements fail on her (bad capacitor and a bad inverter). Other
           customers have had similar problems. About half the installs never
           report any problems. Perhaps this is a batch issue. Quality is
           so-so (according to my eyes), not as vibrant as others I've seen.
           Samsung, Sony, etc. seem to have less problems, but I've seen
           failures on all brands at least once. LG-Phillips/Hitachi/Sharp
           are the ones I know in terms of LCD manufaturers. LCD quality
           AFAIK is dependent on batch. If they produce a good batch you
           get a good vibrant screen. If you get a crappy batch you tend to
           can live with 10 dead or semi dead pixels before it kicks in.
           get washed out colors. YMMV.

9/15    Japanese people are weird:
        http://www8.plala.or.jp/Laputa/flash/nasu.html
        \_ It's in Japanese.  Maybe that's why you're not getting it....since
           you probably don't speak Japanese.
           \_ Ah, so a walking, singing eggplant is perfectly normal then?
              \_ You've never seen Courage the Cowardly Dog, then?
              \_ Right -- and a talking sponge in square pants is the height of
                 animated normality.  Get some perspective.
                 \_ heh
              \_ its probably normal if you're as weird as those freaky
                 Japanese
                 \_ I am not freaky!
        \_ It's the Japanese equivalent of this:
           http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/yatta.html
           In other words, they took a song by the Russian Lolita duo
           Tatu and used similar sounding words from Japanese to populate
           their Flash presentation. --erikred

9/16    They don't like Bush?  They'll be stunned when they see Cheney as
        President.
        http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2003/sept/16/top_stories/20030916top2.html
        \_ Hasn't anyone watched "The Manchurian Candidate," "Betrayed," and
           "My Fellow Americans"? The VP _always_ has devious designs.

9/16    Clark has announced his entry into the '04 President's race.  Would
        any of you vote for him?  Does it matter to you that he has no
        previous political experience?
        \_ He hasn't announced yet. He's called for a news conference
           tomorrow. He can always do a reverse-Arnie and say he's not running.
           \_ I've seen links that said he announced.  Can't trust the net
              anymore!  :-)
           \_ Here's the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A18454-2003Sep16?language=printer
        \_ Neither did Pinochet, Idi Amin, or Eisenhower, and see how well
           they turned out....
        \_ so what is this about Clark being involved in the Branch Davidian
           craziness at Waco? I've seen a lot of obviously very partisan
           stuff about it and was wondering what the hell really happened.
           \_ ??  Haven't seen a word about it.  I thought Waco was all about
              the ATF and some FBI?
              \_ that's what I thought too, but check out the first hit
                 on a google search of 'wesley clark waco'
                 \_ Neocons will spread any lie to further their cause.
        \_ In other news, Senator John Edwards (not the psychic) announced
           his candidacy on the Daily Show (Comedy Central) last night, but
           the papers are saying he announced it this morning in his
           hometown.  What up wit dat?

9/16    some losers at Lockheed Martin drop a $239M satellite:
        http://csua.org/u/4ca  (sfgate)
        photo of it at fucked company: link:csua.org/u/4cb
        \_ Even though you knowingly overwrote my comments, I didn't erase
           yours when I restored mine.
           \- let's recall lockheed martin!
           \_ you shouldnt have started editting when the file was locked
              \_ I was there first.  Overwriting my shit is just plain rude,
                 no excuses.  Especially to post a link from FC.
                 \_ Who was using motdedit?  They win.
                    \_ I was.  Duh.  And no, using motdedit doesn't give anyone
                       the right to smush the file.  Get over it.

9/16    So who is the hottest candidate for governor?
        \_ Brooke Adams:  http://www.brookeforgovernor.com
        \_ Georgy's hotter than that.
           \_ Typical nerdling lack of taste in women.  Brooke is out of your
              league so your brain goes into denial mode and decides she's
              inferior.
        \_ Mary Carey, of course!  http://www.marycareyforgovernor.com
           \_ gach!  Pr0n0 princess with fake tits.  whatever.

9/16    OpenSSH 3.7 released (fixes a buffer mgmt error):
        http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=openbsd-announce&m=106373074626260&w=2
        OpenBSD: http://www.openssh.com/openbsd.html
        Portable: http://www.openssh.com/portable.html

9/16    So, I had asked earlier about 802.11b security, and the dismal
        state thereof.  Is 802.11g any better?  --PeterM
        \_ No. Same issues, just faster. --dim
           \_ If you have a WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) capable base
              station and clients 802.11g is better than 802.11b. Even
              WPA PSK (pre-shared key) is better than WEP, since it
              does re-keying, etc. I haven't been able to find a decent
              description of the protocol yet though.
                \_ I'm mostly interested in keeping unauthorized 3rd parties
                   from using my WAP to access the internet.  I generally
                   use ssh for my connections anyway, otherwise, so I don't
                   much care about interception.  Does WPA address that?
                   \_ WPA is better than WEP for this purpose. While it
                      possible that someone could brute-force your passwd
                      (the pre-shared key) and gain access to your internet
                      connection, it is unlikely that anyone would go to
                      that much trouble.
              \_ WPA has nothing to do with 801.11b vs. 802.11g. WPA
                 will work with 802.11a, b, and g. I see nothing inherently
                 more secure about 802.11g over a or b. Just a different
                 band and higher speed. That's all. 802.11i will add
                 security in the form of RSN. --dim
                 \_ AFAIK, currently the only cards and access-points
                    that support WPA are 802.11g. I haven't seen any
                    802.11b/a cards that support WPA.

9/16    we're doing annual performace reviews at work, and everyone has to
        fill out a personal evaluation (same as the peer evaluations). This
        is the first time I've done this. Any advice? Should I be confident?
        modest? self-critical? I mean, I know everyone will say "be truthful",
        which I will try to be, but is it better to err on the side of
        over-confidence or over-critical? I'm finding this very difficult
        to do.
        \_ Always toot your own horn.  Never play yourself down.  If you don't
           play yourself up, who will?  This is the time to fluff up your role
           and achievements and ignore any failings.  People never remember
           your successes, only your failures.  Do *not* be truthful.
           \_ As an aside, you really cannot afford to be modest here. You
              know what projects you've done and to what extent you were
              invovled. You can't trust your manager to remember. Brag like
              you're on a reality dating show, because no one else will do
              it for you.
        \_ Don't brag.  Don't be modest.  Say what you did, why it was
           special, and why it mattered to the company.  -John
           \_ listen to John here. Actually it depends on your boss. My natural
              inclination is to be uncomfortable with the horn over-tooting
              but my new boss is like these guys are saying, he only remembers
              problems not successes and has no idea of the difficulty level of
              different tasks. If I get it done with no hitch, it was easy in
              his mind and it doesn't register.
        \_ out of curiosity, how big is your company?
           \_ about 700 people total, about 200 programmers. Its a
              financial software company... essentially a data
              integrator/reseller
        \_ The first time I had to do one of these, when I was done the
           company would be out of business without me.  Manager signed off on
           it without any comment.  Later when raises came up I threw the
           thing back in his face and got double the raise he was originally
           offering because afterall, without me the whole company would go
           under, right?
        \_ So does anyone DISagree with the "toot your own horn"
           philosophy? -op
           \_ That path leads only to madness.  Seriously, this must be your
              first job or close to it, right?  TOOT THAT HORN, SON!  TOOT!
                \_ People who brag are pretty easy to spot in the long run.
                   And it doesn't earn you any self-respect.  So brag away
                   if you must, but there is no substitute for learning to
                   communicate (not b.s.) with management--they are usually
                   frightened and clueless because nobody will or knows how
                   to talk to them in terms that matter to them.  -John
        \_ I filled out one, expecting my boss to take some points and merge
           them with his own. To my surprise, when my final evaluation came
           out, it was entirely in my words. Some bosses are truly lazy.
        \_ Don't exaggerate on your evaluations.  Work hard and make yourself
           truly invaluable.  Short term, this may be disadvantageous to you,
           but long term, it's good for everyone.       - the christian way
           \_ Now that's why I vote Republican!
           \_ 1) No one said to exaggerate.  2) No one is truly invaluable.
              3) No one knows your value as much as you do so you better let
              them know just how valuable you are because no one will toot your
              horn for you.  I don't recall Christ ever saying you should
              humbly play down your accomplishments and be more critical of
              yourself than necessary.  Reevaluate at your next bible study.
              \_ The accurate self-evaluator shall inherit the earth.
              \_ The way you phrase (3b), I don't disagree with you, but
                 people should try http://www.biblegateway.com and look for "truth",
                 "humility", "boastful", "honesty", etc.
              \_ how is listing everything you did, down to not picking
                your ass in front of a meeting considered lying? just
                write everything you did down and let the dice roll.
           \_ You could say he doesn't want to micromanage you.

9/16    Is suicide a crime under the law?
        \_ yes, punishable by the death sentence
        \_ It's illegal.  The 'punishment' is you get pulled in for a 3 day
           evaluation for the unsuccessful attempt and then they decide you're
           crazy and lock you up and drug you for a long time.  You also can't
           get life insurance payments for your beneficiary if you succeed.