12/19   You go girl!
        http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/18/state1259EST0075.DTL

12/19   NASA is a bunch of incompetents.
        http://msnbc.msn.com/Default.aspx?id=3761450&p1=0
        \_ should i presume you could do it so much better?
        \_ Russia and Japan have done no better. It's tough to do this
           work. --NASA employee
           \_ They have what percentage of NASA's budget?  Although to be
              fair, NASA has far stupider political constraints.  -John
              \_ "NASA's budget" is building the stupid space station, not
                 sending probes to Mars and therein lies some of the problem.
                 The Shuttle was the historical money pit and even that is
                 being shortchanged for the ISS.
                 \_ Fair enough, that's why I mentioned politics.  But the
                    Russkies and Japanese aren't sending anything to Mars
                    either;  in fact, isn't the only reason the ISS is able
                    to operate the fact that only the Russians have capable
                    supply ships?  And I recall reading something about a
                    US-built rescue craft that was supposed to be ready a
                    while ago.  I think most people realize what pressures
                    NASA has to work under, but as an uninformed Joe Schmo,
                    I distinctly get the impression that anytime NASA is
                    confronted with criticism, the reaction is always
                    defensive, making excuses.  -John
           \_ just ignore him.  Most people have no idea what kind of
                problem you guys are solving, few is ignorant enough to
                think they can do it themselves
                \_ and this guy gets his news from msnbc.
           \_ Well, why do they always have some investigatory session where
              they find out about serious design flaws? Shouldn't they have
              these reviews in a serious way before the thing goes live?
              \_ The design flaws are almost always known in advance. Rare
                 is the unforeseen problem. The problem is knowing which
                 problems will kill you and which will not and deciding if
                 it is worth it to correct them. Many flaws are only
                 "serious" in retrospect (i.e. after they caused a failure)
                 and there *is* a budget to meet. Current missions are being
                 flown for a fraction of the cost of those done in the 1970s
                 which were much more successful, not surprisingly.
           \_ What's most troubling is that many of the criticisms
              Richard Feynman made during his investigations of the
              Challenger accident seem to have occured again in the
              Columbia accident.  Obviously, space exploration is still
              very experimental and prone to accidents, but as someone
              who works for NASA, maybe you can tell us if most of
              Feynman's chief concerns have truly been addressed in the
              almost 18 years since.

12/19   Howard Dean blames flu  epidemic on Bush. haha
        \_ Well Reagan did create AIDS
                \_ that's right, I forgot. he sat in a lab and his vagina had
                   this violent little orgasm. thanks for reminding me,
                \_ that's right, I forgot. he sat in a lab and engineered
                   dumbshit.
                   \_ Isn't that his "mangina"?
                   this virulent little organism. thanks for reminding me,
                   dumbshit.
                   \_ Isn't that his "mangina"?
                   \_ Shakes, he doesnt even have an angina.
        \_ URL?

12/19   New post below restored.  Watch your overwrites!!!
        [deleter was the guy who pruned the s.a.d. thread]
        \_ Use ME or get used to being overwritten. I am tired of having
           to exit my editor and redo my post simply because you refuse
           to wait in the queue. You can redo your post just as easily
           as me.
           \_ this is why me sucks. you shouldn't lock the file and sit there
              composing a post. anyway if you learn to use your editor you
              won't have to exit to update the file.
              \_ I agree.  If you use motdedit you still shouldn't be
                 overwriting people.
                 \_ Well, I disagree. Changing the motd on someone when
                    they have a copy checked out to write is the same
                    as "overwriting". If a**holes intend to change it
                    out from under me, I am not going out of my way
                    to preserve their changes. And I am not going to
                    whine about it when they overwrite mine either.
                    \_ Aside from motdedit/me being in /csua/bin, is there
                       any other way its use has been officially sanctioned?
                       \_ No.  Just some pompous lazy jerks decided that ME
                          IS THE STANDARD MOTD EDITOR! and enforce their will
                          at every opportunity with self righteousness.  As a
                          non-ME user who *does* patch in the diffs, I have
                          nothing but disdain for the lazy, inept, and
                          simply childish fools incapable and unwilling to do
                          such a trivial thing to avoid unnecessary conflict.
                            \_ how is patching in the diffs better than
                               using me in the first place?
                          \_ ME is the STANDARD EDITOR! ME! ME! ME!
           \_ This entire thread could be rendered irrelevant if motdedit
              simply used a patch-based system.
              \_ Then write it and put it up.

12/19   If you use a LCD monitor through a VGA connection, will you never
        get the full advantage of LCD?  Is it still easier on the eys than
        CRT?
        \_ From what I read Samsung LCDs really suffer from the analog
           interface at higher resolutions / screen sizes.  There are many
           LCDs (particularly those which do not have a DVI connector)
           where the analog signal is fine.
           \_ url please.  Yes I am worried about D->A->D conversion and
              which monitors will as a result have blurry pictures.
        \_ yes, it's still easier on the eyes.
        \_ No it is a bad idea: digital -> analog -> digital
           Your computer and the LCD monitor are digital.
           The VGA signal is analog. bad for your eyes. get DVI!
        \_ You will not get the full advantage of LCD, but it will still look
           much better than a CRT, if you're running at the native resolution
           of the LCD screen.  -tom
           \_ unless it looks worse than the CRT due to noise in the signal.
              the VGA->LCD (analog->digital) conversions are lossy and ugly.

12/19   Regarding the neocon movement, its impetus, its icons, and its
        critics.        http://csua.org/u/5bz
        \_ Eh, the "neocon" movement is nothing more than the Democrats (as
           opposed to liberals) playing partisan politics--labeling something
           other than their own belief with a name similar to "neonazi".
           \_ neocon is what they called themselves.  try again.
              \_ And where would I find an example of that please?
                 \_ http://csua.org/u/5c3
           \_ "neo" suggests renewal or revival, as in neo-romanticism,
              neo-classical, etc.  It applies to something already defunct,
              as in neo-nazi.  The neocons want to "diss" the (traditional)
              conservatives, whom they regard as soft and impotent even
              though they are very much alive (in the wilderness of power).
              \_ the neocons are for the neocons. they aren't right or left.
              conservatives, whom they regard as soft and impotent.
        \_ What is the csua login for salon?
           \_ login: watchThe
              password: damnCommercial
              \_ Rather than being sarcastic, you could have signed up an
                 actual account, and I would thank you on behalf of a grateful
                 motd.
                 \_ Subscriptions are $18 or $30/year.
                    \_ Ask what you can do for the motd, not the reverse.
                       \_ Getting a paid Salon subscription for the motd would
              password: damnCommercial
                 \_ Subscriptions are $18 or $30/year.
                          not be helping anyone.  Not even Salon.

12/19   There is interesting stuff in Craigslist's "Best of" section
        \_ Uh, ya.  Thanks for the tip.  Anyone want to visit the CL servers?
           They have a 4 rack cage where my company colos.
           \_ why the fuck would I want to do that? Ohhh look, a server!
              \_ Duh.  If I have to explain it....
                 \_ Looking at servers is dumb. It's not even 'geek'
                    it's just boring.
                    \_ Who said 'look'?  I said 'visit'.  Are you ESL?  I'm
                       not going to spell it out for you.

12/19   Connecting the dots in 1998, but not in 2003.
        http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1043839/posts
        \_ hard facts would help.

12/19   You go girl!
        http://csua.org/u/5bm (sfgate.com)
        \_ url shortened
        \_ Fucking brilliant!  good find.

12/20   Someone posted a resume pointer in the motd last week, looking for
        a kernel job with storage management expertise.  drop me email if
        still interested:  charmer@csua.berkeley.edu  --charmer
        \_ or just email jwm.

12/20   Fremont 9th most desirable place to live?
        http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/7538860.htm
        \_ As someone who lived there for far too long, that's
           really disturbing... --scotsman
           \_ Note that the list comprises towns with demographics
              similar to the typical Money reader.  It's kind of odd
              that Fremont is so high since not all of Fremont is
              upper-middle class.
           \_ I dunno.. what's bad about it?
        \_ look at the criteria used.  So many other "better" places in the
           bay area don't qualify.

12/20   Sorry if this is old, but I nearly pissed myself laughing:
        ~john/wine.txt  -John
        \_ http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~tom/games.html
        \_ Speaking of Walmart, I just spoke with a friend from the UK, and
           he mentioned that Walmart is now decimating the retail grocery
           and department store chains in England.  Walmart purchased
           the chain store ASDA, and has found a loophole in British zoning
           law which allows them to build mezzanine levels into ASDA stores
           to expand into the markets of other surrounding businesses.
                \_ Germany too.  Of course then, most German supermarkets
                   currently suck and could use a kick in the ass.  -John
           \_ what is wrong with Walmart?  it's not even close to being a
              microsoft in the retail industry.
              \_ ???? Hello?
                \_ Don't be fooled by the rhetoric. Walmart's total
                   control is only 3-4% of retail sales in America. That's
                   a far cry from MS's 98% of all desktops. Of the two, MS
                   is still by far the more perilous monopoly.
                   \_ having said that, I would say thi is the flaw of
                      our current anti-trust law.  Our current antitrust
                      law looks over total market share, ignoring the
                      phenomena of regional monopoly.  Thus, Walmart and
                      the baby Bells in telecom welds a lot more power,
                      essentially stifle any competition in a particular
                      geographical area, than the overall market share
                      reflects.