12/29   Bush the Liberal:
        http://markschmitt.typepad.com/decembrist/2003/12/what_if_bush_is.html

12/29   Alright, who wants to start a collection to buy this thing as
        a Christmas present for ilyas?
        http://csua.org/u/5e3
        \_ who is ilyas, why is it for ilyas, and why is it funny?
           \_ A motd without stupid in-jokes is like a soda without a csua.
        \_ I don't like ilyas well enough to help buy him that thing.
        \_ Maybe because ilyas won't listen to Reason?
           \_ THANK YOU LORD.  SOMEONE GOT THE JOKE.
              \_ I'm sorry, but what does a reference to Snowcrash have to
                 do with ilyas?
                 \_ On that note, any opinions on Neal's latest? I have one
                    friend who says it's mainly a slog.

12/29   Anyone here looking for a job?  My employer, AMZN is looking for
        SDE II hires.  Lemme know if you're interested -larryl
        \_ what's an SDE II?  software developer E?
           \_ software development engineer?
              \_ more like Sucker of Dicks, Extraordinaire.
                 \_ what's that pay these days?
                        \_ 70k
        \_ Whatever happend to Sean Welch? Is he still there? -ausman

12/29   Hey psb: i thought they have "sweet lassi" and sour lassi. So how do
        you know if the sour lassi is spoiled? Buttermilk tastes pretty sour
        by default. I usually get the non-mango sweet lassi and it's fine.
                   \- because it has that tangy "bacteria crawling on my
                      tongue" taste. --psb
        \_ Not to mention the salty lassi.
           \_ I like the saucy lassi.
                \_ Mmm, zzpicy lassi
                   \- because it has that tangy "bacteria crawling on my
                      tongue" taste. --psb
                        \_ Them are pretty big bacteria! Eight Legged FREAKS!

12/29   WinXP users:  I installed HP recordnow and HP CD-writer drivers.  And
        now whenever Xp boots up it complains about these drivers being
        incompatible with Xp.  Anybody else seeing this?  Thanks.  Does Xp use
        its own internal CD writer drivers?  Thanks.
        \_ Probably installed the wrong drivers. HP is notoriously bad for
           supplying the wrong drivers with their hardware. You don't
           really need drivers for a CD-Recorder unless it's a weird one.
           \_ It really depends what type of interface the CD burner uses.
              The internal ATAPI burners don't required drivers, but the
              USB or parallel port interface burners do need proprietary
              driver.
              \_ That's no longer true. USB CD Burner is just an IDE ATAPI
                 drive stuck to a USB to IDE converter (the company
                 that I work for routinely disassembles these things
                 for research) , so unless the
                 USB to IDE interface is proprietary or weird the generic
                 mass storage USB driver in WinXP should work at least
                 for detection. As for parallel port, I've never seen
                 a CD Recorder that uses a parallel port. I've heard
                 of them but unless you are burning at very very low speeds
                 a parallel port CD Toaster wouldn't make much sense as a
                 buy. I also don't think HP produced a parallel port model
                 (at least not recently).

12/30   Can anyone recommend a digital image software that does good
        editing, organizing (putting them into albums) as well as
        archiving (e.g., burning CD-Rs, creating slideshows/VCDs) on Windows?
        Adobe Photo Album 2.0 is nice except it has really poor support
        for cd burners.  It doesn't even see my drive (a Samsung)
        although XP sees it no problem.  I also tried the free Kodak
        Easyshare, same problem.  Is there any imaging software that offers
        decent cd burner support?
        \_ use an online service if you're having so much trouble at home.
           they're all designed for technical illiterates.
           \_ Talking about being presumptuous.  I happen to be highly
              technically literate.  Like you never have problems with
              any kind of hardware.  And I didn't ask for a printing
              software, I asked for a good digital photo archive software.
              Perhaps you need to learn to be English literate first.
              \_ If you're such a genius, why can't you get your COTS to
                 work?  How hard could that be?  And yes, I have hardware
                 problems.  Unlike you, I also have solutions.  That is the
                 difference between me and the technical illiterate such as
                 yourself.  If you had checked online you'd see the services
                 provide both printing and storage.  But you were too smart
                 to check that, huh?
              \_ Why don't you just organize all the data in folders and
                 burn the compilation manually to the CD-R? What do the
                 above programs give you that you can't get from just
                 indexing stuff in explorer? With XP you can even thumbnail
                 them.
                 \_ I have been doing exactly that.  Just that as my
                    photo collection starts growing into the 1000s,
                    it's getting more difficult without the help of
                    some 3rd party software...
        \_ there is iView Prof, but it's $200 software ...
        \_ Microsoft Paint but this is only for experts...

12/30   Ok,  how about Viceroy on Shattuck?  Yay or eewww?
        \_ i always thought that was some kinda OC front. anytime i pass by
           there, there's hardly ever anyone in there.
           \_ Why do people assume that organized crime run restraunts
              will be empty and generally suck?  It's a lot easier to
              launder money from a restraunt with high cash flow, which is the
              main reason the mob opens restraunts.  Besides, their mob
              buddies will come there to eat, and will expect decent food.
                  \- do you think it is empty because it is an "undiscovered
                     country" or it is ass?
              \_ Because a restaurant seems like the perfect way to launder
                 lots of cash.
           \_ What??!? They're not Italians. In fact Indians are hard
              working people who excel at engineering. Now if Viceroy were
              an Italian/Viet restaurant, that'd be another story.
              \_ You win!  You get an extra big Troll Star for the day.

12/30   When the forecast says 50% raining at 10AM, does it mean it will or
        will not rain? I'm asking because most of the time when they say
        50%, it doesn't rain, so it's definitely not 50/50.
             \- it depends wheather it is a Baysian weatherf'caster or a
                a Frquentists F'caster. --psb
                \_ that was actually very funny -nivra
                   \_ i don't get it.
        \_ if you don't work at sea and you listen to the weather forecast,
           you are a pussy.
             \- it depends wheather it is a Baysian weatherf'caster or a
                a Frquentist F'caster. --psb
                \_ why the fuck can't you format your posts like everyone
                   else?  do you hit the tab key two extra times in each line
                   when you write code also?
                   \_ easy: he's a lazy SOB and thinks he's better than the
                      rest of us.
                      \_ or he just doesn't know how to configure his editor
                         properly.
                      \_ He has yet to see evidence to the contrary in most
                         posts to the motd. --psb #1 fan
                \_ CONVERT OR DIE.  -- Bayesian
                \_ that was actually very funny -nivra
                   \_ i don't get it.
                      \_ u are swine to psb's perl.
        \_ It means that weather forecasting is impossible.
        \_ It doesn't mean anything.  Those numbers are essentially yanked
           out of their asses.
        \_ It means that given the present conditions in the past, 50% of the
           time it has rained.
        \_ Rain, rain, go away!  Come again some other day!
           \_ We need the water.
              \_ Let it rain when I'm not around.  And stop draining so much
                 water from the Colorado.  You use too much.  Fuckers.

12/30   Going to SoCal to snowboard/ski, what are your recommendations?
        Snow Summit:
                \_ it got crowded
                \_ the green run is really blue, you will die
        Big Bear:
                \_ is this for advanced only?
        Mt. Baldy:
        Mt. High:
        Others? Thanks.
                \_ Are you willing to drive 300 miles?  How about Mammoth
                   Mountain?  Big mountain, good snow, long runs, less crowd.

12/30   BAWK BAWK! I'm a chicken! BAWK!
        \_ you're safe to eat.

12/30   Fedex buys kinko's.  Now get your crappy copies the NEXT DAY!
        http://csua.org/u/5e9
        \_ actually, I never had problem with Fedex. Their counters are open
           longer so you can pick/send stuff, and they're much more reliable.
           Also their tracking system updates faster. UPS on the other hand
           has lost my package twice. One of the packages was a laptop
           computer and I had to file a claim service. Good thing my credit
           card company took care of it.
        \_ At least they're delivered ontime!

12/30   Does anyone know what happened to Windows port of Emacs 21.x?
        I can only find downloads for 20.7 now on gnu.
        \_ look harder: http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/windows/emacs/21.3
           \_ There are only README files in there.
              \_ tried reading any of them? you might have noticed that
                 http://ftp.gnu.org was hacked a while back, and they haven't
                 gotten verified files back up for some things, which is
                 pretty lame.
                 \_ Ah, thanks.  I tried to read them but somehow my
                    gunzip reports they weren't valid gzip files. -op
        \_ Is there really any difference?
           \_ Yes, 21 looks a lot more like Xemacs than previous versions.
              To OP, just get xemacs if you really want all that
              whizbang eyecandy that 21 gives you over 20.
              \_ 21 does syntax highlighting in consoles.
                 \_ can't you guys just edit?  do you really need all the toys
                    just to write some code?
                    \_ wait, let me guess. "i program with ED!!!"
                       \_ BZZZT! nice try.  What's wrong with any version of
                          emacs after, say, version 16.x?
                          \_ what's wrong with a car with, say, no power door
                             locks? depends on who you ask.

12/30   WinXp gurus: under folder options there are "common tasks" items.
        Is there a way to get rid of all that except for the "details"
        sections?  Basically I want to keep the folder lists in detailed form
        but have a thumbnail on the left hand side for selected items.  Without
        all the junk of "common tasks".  I've been searching for Xp tips and
        can't seem to find anything.  Thanks.
        \_ I'm not sure what you mean, but have you tried "Use Windows
           classic folders", clicking OK, then clicking View ->
           Explorer Bar -> Folders?
           \_ Wrong answer, go back to MacOS or Linux. The answer is no,
              unless you hack the OS. Somehow the feature to create your
              own folder templates was destroyed going from Win2K to WinXP.

12/29   What's the tax rate for new car purchases in the Bay Area?  Thx.
        \_Depends on where you live.
          \_ Fremont.