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| 2004/4/2-4 [Computer/SW/Editors/Emacs] UID:12982 Activity:moderate |
4/2 problem with emacs. After I use it for a while (2-3 hours), the
indentation went from 4 (default that I set and prefer) to 2.
I have no idea why this is happening. Can someone tell me how
to fix it? I tried M-x load-file .emacs but indentation sticks at
2. Thanks.
\_ this question was answered already. search the archives.
\_ (setq-default c-basic-offset 4) At least, that's what's in
the archives.
\_ So the following works for c, but somehow doesn't work for
java, anyone know why?
(setq indent-level 2)
(setq c-indent-level 2)
(setq c-basic-indent 2)
(setq c-basic-offset 2) ; this works!
(setq-default c-basic-offset 2) ; this works!
; none of the followings work!
(setq java-indent-level 4)
(setq java-basic-indent 4)
(setq java-basic-offset 4)
(setq-default java-basic-offset 4)
\_ maybe because there isn't a java-basic-offset variable, duh.
java-mode is just a part of cc-mode.
\_ so, in another word, emacs only allows 1 indentation
for all the modes?
\_ of course not. it just uses that sort of naming
convention. do 'info ccmode' and look at the section
on hooks.
\_ USE PENCIL!
\_ HUG TREE!
\_ LIGHT CANDLE!
\_ CURSE THE GLARE!
\_ that's "CURSE GLARE!"
\_ AVOID PRONOUNS!
\_ LOOKUP "ARTICLE"!
\_ can you guys FUCK OFF!
\_ USE LINUX!
\_ CONTROL ANGER!!!!!
\_ ESCHEW !!!! !
\_ (setq-default c-basic-offset 4)
\_ Use M-x view-lossage to check what keystrokes you recently pressed.
Maybe you changed the setting by mistake yourself. |
| 2004/4/2 [Computer/SW] UID:12983 Activity:nil |
4/2 outsourced code from india sucks, instead of bugs I have
freakin Cobras in the code i get from these twinks |
| 2004/4/2 [Computer/SW/Security] UID:12984 Activity:nil |
4/2 "leading software companies' including Microsoft and Computer
Associates and industry organisations such as the BSA, has asked
the Department of Homeland Security to regulate what they call
'Cyber Security'" What will be the impact of this?
http://www.forbes.com/business/newswire/2004/04/01/rtr1320997.html
\_ I'm guessing they want to shut down the people announcing all the
donkey sized security holes in their products so they stop looking
so stupid. |
| 2004/4/2 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:12985 Activity:high |
4/2 WMD in Iraq. Maybe, maybe not.
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=3453
\_ how many times have we heard a variation of this argument?
\_ And you're still not listening?
\_ Ever heard "The Neocon Who Cried WMD"?
\_ This guy is being deliberately disingenuous: "Ricin and botulinum
toxin have already been found in sufficient quantities to
regenerate a biological weapon (BW) capability in short order."
The BT found was not a precursor to weapon quality BT and the
statement on ricin is simply bizarre, since it is created from
castor beans. As an NBC expert, he knows better too. |
| 2004/4/2 [Uncategorized] UID:12986 Activity:high |
4/2 Has Sun surrendered to M$?
\_ They got $2b and they agreed to swap IP. That's not so bad.
\_ Sun will collaborate with M$ instead of competing with it.
\_ Shame on Sun.
\_ They need the money...
\_ Collaborators! Kill them in the streets! |
| 2004/4/2 [Politics/Domestic/California, ERROR, uid:12987, category id '18005#6.97536' has no name! , ] UID:12987 Activity:very high |
4/2 4 more years. Like the man said, It's the economy, stupid".
http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/63342|top|04-02-2004::10:05|reuters.html
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=71000001&refer=us&sid=a.1MWgSskH6M
\_ budget deficit, trade deficit. Do the math kiddo; if you are
making less than $200k a year or do not own your own business,
and you still vote republican, you are a big-ass sucker
\_ uhm, yeah, tossing out 2 word phrases like that makes a really
strong point. uhm, whatever. if you've got something to say, go
ahead, people will read it.
\_ i drive a j- car and use j- appliances and electronics.
blame me for the trade deficit.
\_ I blame American manufacturers for trying to sell less
reliable, less efficient products for more money. I'd
pay a premium to buy American if the quality was better
than the Japanese stuff.
\_ 300,000 part time jobs. Yawn.
\_ spoken like a college student or someone with a job.
\_ Have you worked out how much money you can make working a
min. wage part-time job? It's not enough to pay your rent
and eat.
\_ Have you lived outside the expensive SF Bay Area? Yes, it
is not only enough to pay rent and eat but some raise kids
on it as well with some assistance. Get out of your
bubble.
\_ Have you tried doing the math? $5.15/hour is a little
over $10k a year, full time. Let's assume you paid
no taxes. $200/mo for a small one bedroom in a shithole
takes out $2400. $5/day for food is 1800. A car pay-
ment, say $150/month and insurance at (really bare bones)
$50/month is another $2400. Better hope absolutely
nothing ever goes wrong.
\_ divide by 2 for part time.
\_ That's sorta the point.
\_ "with some assistance" Yeah. Better hope you or
your kids don't get sick.
\_ why not? who says they pay their medical bills?
and they don't have to either. every tax payer has
been paying for them.
\_ Every taxpayer has benefited from lower prices made
possible by paying people minimum wage. Or do you
not consume goods and services?
\_ They'll need those extra part-time jobs to make up for the loss of
all these mowing jobs:
http://csua.org/u/6qa (Wired)
\_ This number is bunk:
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t05.htm
There are only 150,000 more on the payroll than there were
in January. I think they adjusted the Feb numbers down so
that this month would look good. We are only creating 60,000
or so jobs/month in the rolling average. |
| 2004/4/2-3 [Finance/CC] UID:12988 Activity:nil |
4/2 What is your favorite rewards credit card?
\_ the debt-free fuck-the-evil-credit-card-company card.
\_ Rewards? Fuck that. The best cards don't charge *any* fees for
normal usage so you can pay off the whole thing every month and use
the card forever without paying the bastards a penny.
\_ there are rewards cards which don't charge fees. I like MBNA
World Points, which has a 1% cash-back option.
\_ there are quite a few rewards cards out there that don't
have annual fees. it's not like giving you 1% back is a big
deal when they make ~3% + ~30 cents per transaction, plus
exorbitant interest charges.
\_ If they're going to charge the merchant a fee per
transaction anyway (regardless of what card you have)
then this shouldn't matter. Interest charges only
apply if you don't pay your full balance.
\_ my local kinko's copy now lets you put small numbers of
copies on your credit card (as few as one copy, 10 cents).
Anyone know how they're able to dodge the above fees?
\_ http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/travel/8278292.htm
\_ I like Shell Citibank card. %5 discount on Shell gasoline purchase.
\_ Ha! I get 5% discount on _any_ gasoline purchase with
my Chase Freedom card + upto %1 back on the non-gasoline
purchases.
\_ yay, let's all buy more gas and increase our dependence on
the middle east.
\_ you have to buy the gas you have to buy. i doubt he's
driving 5% more because it's 5% cheaper.
\_ Amazon Card (Bank One) 1% "cash" back in the form of Amazon
gift certificates. 3% back for purchases from Amazon. Used to
be 2% and 6% respectively, but Next Bank went bankrupt and
Amazon then selected Bank One. They automatically mail me a
$25 Amazon gift certificate everytime I spent $2500, pretty
hassle free.
\_ My Platinum card from Patelco that returns 1% cash on purchases.
Cash it the best "reward."
\_ My BofA Visa has 1% cash back on all purchases. The cash is
deposited into my checking acct. There isn't any annual fee
or membership fee or anything, though I think you have to have
a BofA checking account with a min balance of $1K.
\_ does this card have a specific name?
\_ mine is called the banking benefits visa.
\_ credit card or debit card?
\_ credit card (I have a debit card, but that one doesn't
get 1% cash back. I only use it at atms).
\_ if you're talking about the banking benefits card, that card
is kind of a ripoff. they give you one point per hundred
dollars, but they always round down. also, if you receive a
credit to your card, they round up when they deduct points
from your card. this card is only good if you're one of those
people who apparently gets double points for some reason.
\_ I agree that it would be better if they gave you 1%
for ever $ instead of for ever $100, but I haven't
found any visa/mc that offers this w/o a membership
fee or annual fee. The nice thing about the BofA
card is that getting your cash back is easy (compared
with some of the other cards I used to have) and
all of your transaction information shows up in
BofA's online banking site.
I have a couple of other cards other than this one.
I use a Chase Freedom card for all my gasoline and
I used to use a Amex Blue card for all my online
txn (until they screwed up their website making it
impossible to find the one use cc number form). Blue
was a decent card (1% cash back, no membership fee,
no annual fee, &c.) but the problem is that lots of
places (esp. overseas) don't take Amex so you have
to have a backup Visa/MC. |
| 2004/4/2-3 [Politics/Domestic/911] UID:12989 Activity:nil |
4/2 For the interested (and since it was deleted right after I posted it),
the raw numbers for the 308k jobs added in March are at:
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t14.htm
To the person claiming it was all part-time jobs: how many of the
"jobs lost under Bush's watch" were part-time? And how many weren't
directly attributable to 9-11 (hint: 1 million jobs lost because of
9-11)?
\_ http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t05.htm
300,000 of those jobs are part time
\_ I believe you're pointing to the 'household survey' which isn't
the same bunch of numbers at all. Also, how many of the
previously lost jobs were part time?
\_ I am not the only one saying this. The chief economist of
Wells Fargo says the same thing:
http://csua.org/u/6qv
It is a good number, but not a great number. Expect
employment numbers to go down next month.
\_ Expect employment numbers to go up/down based on what?
I love the motd prophets. Was that tea leaves or chicken
bones?
\_ Both your links are not working because the .gov cannot seem to
afford servers robust enough to handle the load.
\_ Because it was posted on some very active news sites. It'll be
easier to read in a few days. |
| 2004/4/2-3 [Politics, Uncategorized/Profanity, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Troll] UID:12990 Activity:nil |
4/2 Fuck your selective censorship. If you want to delete stuff, delete
fairly, not just threads that get a lot of discussion.
\_ LIGHT CANDLE!
\_ Better, yet, don't delete stuff. It only encourages all these
politics assholes to post even more. If the censor left it all
alone the politics people would get bored and go away once they
saw that their ranting never goes anywhere but the censor never
lets them get to that point so it goes on and on....
\_ Stuff over 1 day old is fair game to delete. It's just the
censor usually deletes certain things within hours or less,
and surgically choosing particular ones for no good reason.
\_ Exactly. If he left everything alone the politics morons
would finally get a chance to get it out of their system and
go away so we could talk about sports and linux again the way
the motd was meant to be. |
| 2004/4/2-3 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/Taiwan] UID:12991 Activity:high |
4/2 Taiwan forming its own identity, apart from China -SJ Mercury News
http://csua.org/u/6qg
\_ how powerful is Taiwan's military? Who'll come to Taiwan
support if China invades Taiwan?
\_ currently strong enough that China can't risk a failed invasion.
the US will.
\_ Is Taiwan recognized by the U.N.? But how did this happen
when China is in the security council?
\_ Taiwan Relations Act
\_ Who cares what the UN recognizes?
\_ it's not the UN, it's every single darn country in
in the world including the USA, with the exception
of a few banana republics in the 3rd world part of
of the americas.
\_ which "it" are you refering to? As long as the US,
Japan, and the EU are willing to trade with you, it
doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.
\_ Didn't we cover all of this, yesterday?
\_ I read somewhere that Taiwan's military is strong enough to
defend itself for a few weeks. At any rate, if China seriously
wants to take over Taiwan, it can do so easily. It's just a
question of how they want to be perceived by others. The Chinese
question of how they want to be perceived by others. The CHinese
government feels insulted by the Taiwanese government so they
gotta act tough. By they also won't attack Taiwan just because
they don't want other people to perceive them as an aggressive
nation.
\_ Okay, mano a mano, China can most likely beat Taiwan. I don't
think anyone ever said the opposite. They won't attack Taiwan
because of U.S. power; China would like its own citizens to
believe that it's not attacking Taiwan because of its great
benevolence, which is not a real problem given its propaganda,
censorship, and punishment machine.
\_ I am fucking tired of this worn topic, so here is for you
to know. 1) China does NOT have the capability to invade
Taiwan in the near future. 2) China does HAVE the ability
make the life in Taiwan miserable for the foreseeable future
and beyond without actually using much of a military force.
\_ My post counters all the assertions of the previous post.
\_ No, it doesn't. Your post makes unfounded assertions
no different than the one you respond to above.
Your post ... just seems to be angry.
\_ Can some anti-Taiwan-independence person explain to me why wanting
independence for its own sake is a bad thing? Surely we have
some people on the motd who don't want an independent Taiwan,
otherwise this topic wouldn't keep coming up. -- ilyas
\_ ha, that'll get a predictable response. haven't you heard all the
"inseparable part of china" stuff? expect a civil war reference.
|_ We were proud being Chinese till the damn Westerners
humiliated us in the past 200 years. We're sick and tired of
seeing your corrupt big white penises^H^H^H^H^H^H^H military
power in our ass and we just want to show you that we're not
the stupid, unsophisticated savages you portray us to be. At
any rate, we want unification so that we will eventually kick
you ass like we did centries ago.
\_ You are showing us already...
\_ unification won't help. your entire culture is pointed in
the wrong direction to overtake the US or even the EU. if
China had the same military as the US they'd have already
taken over the world so you can put away the America bashing.
\_ Nah, when China's mighty fleet sailed the seven seas under
admiral Cheng Ho, it didn't invade or occupy any country
even though it could easily do so. Chinese is just not
interested in barbarian lands cause they smell bad. Only
barbarians invade other people's lands. Chinese prefer to
allow the barbarians to voluntarily join the Great Chinese
Civilization but only after they learned to civilize
\_ *hahahahhahahahhahahahahahaa*!!! too funny! Let's go
share some boiled pigs knuckles and watch a few
hundred drug dealers get executed in public right after
we perform a few forced abortions on the outlying farms.
\_ You are showing us already...
taken over the world so you can put away the America bashing.
themselves.
\_ I already answered the question yesterday. let's put it this
way. taiwan already has de facto independence under the
current status quo. why risk economic war or military war
with prc for "official independence". taiwan is already paying
a huge economic price in terms of lack of direct links with
prc and the military arms race with prc, and the various self-
imposed limits place on its companies in terms of investing /
setting up shop in the prc. taiwan shares the same language as
prc, and taiwan businessmen are thriving in prc. the tv
shows, movies, music, food all have huge overlap. why risk
all that just to gain the independence "name", which still
will not be recognized by all the major countries in the
world? there is nothing necessarily wrong with taiwan
independence per se, just like there is nothing necessarily
wrong with say Hawaii independence, but in practice it is
not worth it. Now, most people from the prc would disagree
with this view. they believe taiwan is part of an
unfinished civil war. they also believe that taiwan is in
many ways a pawn of US and Japan, even though they would admit
that the flow of investment, technology, management expertise
from taiwan to prc has benefitted the prc tremendously over the
past 20 years. add to that the long history of japan and western
bullying of china (as the "big white penis"-guy above
pointed out), and taiwan independence becomes unacceptable
at any cost. on the other hand, many prc people, or at
least those in the us, recognized that taiwan is in most
ways more advanced than the prc, and that war is the last
resort, and status quo is the best, and prc should learn
from taiwan in many ways. why don't you tell us what is the
criteria one should use in weighing the merits on whether
a territory should become independent?
\_ You are talking about the international games of chess. China
doesn't want US influence to expand, etc. Do you have a moral
argument against the independence of Taiwan (assuming a
majority of Taiwanese want it)? I don't care about the rest,
because the rest is soulless bullshit. -- ilyas
\_ soulless bullshit? you don't know what the fuck you
are talking about. We are talking about real lives
in the real world, not one of your silly little
pseudo intellectual head games.
\_ Just like the founders of this nation. They spilled
blood and most ended poor or dead from our war of indep.
from England. Just some silly little head game over
tea taxes, eh?
\_ yea, they spilled blood just like the southerners
spilled blood during the civil war. if you want
independence, blood will be spilled. Also, unlike
US vs far away England, taiwan will still have to
live with a hostile neighbour 100 times its size.
\_ With real acknowledged independence they will be
out from the ever present shadow of the evil PRC.
The constant threat of invasion and the
uncertainty of their future status is a big long
term drag on the economy which hinders foreign
investment and growth. If their status were
finally resolved the newly free Taiwan would make
the current Taiwan look like the 3rd world.
pseudo intellectual head games.
from England. Just some silly little head game over
tea taxes, eh?
tea taxes, eh?
\_ yea, they spilled blood just like the southerners
spilled blood during the civil war. if you want
independence, blood will be spilled.
Like I said, taiwan already has democracy and
freedom. what additional benefits will independence
bring? what are the risks and costs?
\_ Ok, let's try this again. Say there is this
hypothetical island in the pacific, where the majority
of the population wants to secede from the big
continental Paterland. The big continental Paterland
doesn't want this, for a variety of realpolitik reasons
which I understand. Aside from those reasons, the moral
argument against the independence of the island is...?
-- ilyas
\_ I don't know about a "moral" argument, but how
about the fact that Taiwanese people suck just
as bad at government as Mainlanders? In fact,
historically Chinese stink at government.
\_ What are you trying to say here, that the
Taiwanese (and Chinese) are incapable of governing
themselves well, and need strong foreign
leadership? -- ilyas
\_ No, just that it doesn't really matter
if they're independent or not, things
are going to suck. What they need isn't
foreigners, they need a truly great
\_ Welcome to World History. Enjoy your
stay. -- ilyas
leader to emerge, the likes of which
they've seldom had in their thousands of
years of history.
\_ I'm just asking for clarification.
years of history.
Their world spanning empire collapses into
anarchy until the next superman emerges a
\_ These "great" leaders are mostly known
for wars and conquests. I don't think I
want one of them drafting me into his
glorious army.
few hundred years later?
\_ So you're saying the entire Chinese culture
is simply broken and they need a superman to
save their pathetic useless asses? And what
happens after this mythical superman dies?
Their world spanning empire collapses into
anarchy until the next superman emerges a
few hundred years later?
\_ Welcome to World History. Enjoy your
stay. -- ilyas
\_ you didn't know the Chinese culture was
broken? people realized it back in the
last century.
\_ If a truly great leader emerges, I want him
here where I live. Those are rare!
-- ilyas
\_ let's say 49% of the population do not wish to
secede. Also, say, the population of Paterland
have fought many wars and sacrificed many lives
in defense of the island (whose population was
originally happy to be part of Paterland since
they are from Paterland) against invaders who
after taking the island, also invaded other
parts of Paterland, exploiting the island for
supplies, etc. for its war effort, killing millions
of Paterland people. Let's say big amounts of
wealth from Paterland has been used to help
develop the island over many years ... by the
way, if I live in wisconsin, does that mean I
have no stake in say florida, or do I have a
stake there too since it is also part of my
country?
\_ Only about 20% of Taiwan population came from
China during the 20th century. Immigration
patterns don't prove very much. At one point,
the vast majority of Americans were of British
descent. That Paterland provided for
the island's security at one point is irrelevant.
That's like saying if a girl dates a guy, and he
gets a bloody nose protecting her, she has to
marry him and stay with him forever. What if
she no longer likes him?
If you live in Wisconsin, it's frankly none of
your business if Florida wants to secede.
-- ilyas
\_ really? so even though americans fought
to protect hawaii from the japanese during
ww2, it doesn't count for anything, and hawaii
can just dump the US if it chose to do so?
Also, say, as an american, I like the freedom
and choice to be able to move around the
country. for example, say, I want to work in
illinois, and retire in florida. you are saying
this freedom of mine can be taken away? Also,
I like to visit the national parks of this
country, but some random territory can just
declare these parks to off limits to all
other americans besides the locals? do you
even know what it means to be a nation?
\_ As far as I am concerned, nations are
voluntary things. If people can't leave
it's a gulag, not a nation. If Floridians
decide they want to strike it on their own,
and close their borders to tourists, that's
their right. You don't have a right to
wander through other people's backyards,
if they don't want you there. -- ilyas
\_ so north taiwan can declare indepen-
dence and become a separate nation
from south taiwan, or maybe remain
in status quo, or even rejoin china?
\_ If they want, yes. -- ilyas
\_ so if I declare my ranch to be
a one person nation and then
let russia place an icbm here,
there is no problem right?
\_ no, you can't. you're not a
large enough entity to survive
since you'll be landlocked, have no access to seed, water, _/
fuel, fertiliser, trade partners, medical care or anything else
without passing through US territory you exist at the whim of
the US which makes your 'nation' no different than being a
citizen-slob like the rest of us. pay your taxes and shut up.
\_ As far as I am concerned
you have a right to
secede by default, and
the burden of proof is
on the other party (in
this case the US). Of
course, per the link I
posted below, US will not
allow secession, since
democracies are destroyed
by secessions. -- ilyas
there is no problem right?
independently. you can declare
anything you want but even if
the US let you secede you'd
just starve to death. since
of the US you *are* a part of
if you don't like it, you can always
leave the country. and no, nobody's
the US (in effect) thus your
secession is meaningless. pay
your taxes and stop wanking.
you'd only survive at the will
of the US you *are* a part of
the US (in effect) thus your
secession is meaningless. pay
your taxes and stop wanking.
\_ why will I starve to death?
I can just grow food on
my plot of land and
live well. hundreds of
millions of subsistence
farmers all over the world
do that.
\_ no a nation is not a voluntary thing.
it is a shared thing owned by all
\_ I don't know. I think we need
a few hundred years and better
tech for the kind of government
I would be happy with. Your
argument can also read: "What
makes you say US will be
successful with so many hostile
non-democracies stomping
around?" -- ilyas
\_ The answer to your question
is already answered by you.
The US federal government
forces everyone to work
together for the greater
good whether you want to or
not. In a libertarian
system what is your method
of common defense? Intern'l
trade? Transport? Border
protection? It's here and
now without needing Star
Trek tech to make it work.
\_ They don't necessarily rely on it.
Usually they want to be part of
a larger group so as to have more
power and benefits. If they were
too fragmented they'd also be
vulnerable to aggressive non-
democracies as you say. I think
that if the South had successfully
seceded, it would have altered
world history but not necessarily
anything so terrible. The key is
the "states' rights" issue which
e.g. in Europe will always be
important. I believe USA founders
intended a lot more state power
and less federal. It's also pretty
clear that Californians would be
better served by being split into
at least 2 states.
\_ It depends on where you draw
that line. Some splittists
want to draw that line north
of the SF Bay Area.
backyard is florida. backyard is the
citizens. no it is not a gulag because
small patch of lawn behind your house.
if you don't like it, you can always
leave the country, or work to change it
for the better. and no, nobody's
backyard is florida. backyard is the
small patch of lawn behind your house.
\_ Here is a good read on ethics of
secession:
\_ of course it's the US navy. once the Korean War started,
the US 7th fleet is ready to defend taiwan, and prc indefi-
nitely postponed all plans for invading taiwan. Lots
of Taiwanese communists then were ready to help the prc from
the inside if prc invaded.
\_ Why did the PRC not chase the KMT to Taiwan immediately?
Because they couldn't. The USN came much later and now
it's too late. Without fighting it, no one can say if
the PRC can take Taiwan or not without US helping Taiwan.
Even if the US backed out now, I don't see the PRC going
in for at least 10-15 more years. They don't have the
air force, the navy, the troop transports, and most
importantly, the logistical capacity to launch a large
scale amphibious invasion. DDay wasn't just luck.
"inseparable part of china" stuff? expect a civil war reference.
-- ilyas
you can't defend yerself for just to prove a point
that's no longer a point.
It's fun to watch people who follow too. -- ivy
http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/secession.html
Interesting point: democracies rely
on suppression of secession. This
is one of the reasons I dislike
democracies (and why there is tension
between libertarian ideas and
democratic ideas). There are some
other goodies on that site worth
reading. -- ilyas
\_ uhm, what is your governmental
preference if not democracy? you
think a purely libertarian form
of government is viable in a world
with so many hostile non-libert.
governments stomping around?
\_ I don't know. I think we need
a few hundred years and better
tech for the kind of government
I would be happy with. Your
argument can also read: "What
makes you say US will be
successful with so many hostile
non-democracies stomping
around?" -- ilyas
\_ It gotta be the funniest thing if you say Taiwan can defend itself.
It's the dumbest thing to do to pick a fight
you can't defend yerself for just to prove a point
that's no longer a point.
It's fun to watch people who follow too. -- ivy
\_ This is historically and factually incorrect. If Taiwan was
unable to defend itself or more correctly if the PRC was capable
of taking over Taiwan at any point in the last 50 years they
would have. What stopped them from following when the KMT losers
fled the mainland and continuing their winning civil war on the
island and being done with it? It wasn't the US Navy....
\_ of course it's the US navy. once the Korean War started,
the US 7th fleet is ready to defend taiwan, and prc indefi-
nitely postponed all plans for invading taiwan. Lots
of Taiwanese communists then were ready to help the prc from
the inside if prc invaded. |
| 2004/4/2-3 [Reference/Military] UID:12992 Activity:nil |
4/2 Step right up, Bush supporters. Great Network Engineering
job in Iraq:
http://csua.org/u/6qf
\_ An acquaintance of a friend is doing something like this. He'll
pull down $250k/year... If he survives.
\_ If I had enough Cisco I'd apply. You know what those 4 ex-special
forces guys were doing in Iraq before they got butchered? Getting
a shit load of money to be there. You know what the 1000s of others
in their position are doing right now? Getting a shit load of money
to be there. Their odds are only slightly worse than your odds
walking down the street in Oakland at night and you don't make as
much.
\_ Those guys were offered $60K for 3 months of work. One of them,
the Navy SEAL, was on Combat Missions and has his own series
of workout videos, his own personal training company for stars.
\_ I also don't walk around Oakland at night.
\_ Wuss. you should be fine with an AK-47 and a flak jacket.
-NERFAMC
\_ Yes, if only those four Americans had guns on their
persons at the time, all of this could have been avoided,
because we *all know* that if everyone had guns there
would be no crime.
\_ Lisa: "I told you capital punishment wasn't a deterrent."
\_ You have won the "Best Retort of the Day" award.
\_ not really. that's just old rehash and red herring.
\_ If those 4 guys were armed the same in Oakland they'd
be ok at night. They were simply inadequately armed
for the place they were in. If they were in an APC or
even a military humvee instead of a civilian truck,
they'd be here today. Hey, I know, I'll bet if all the
US military guys stomping around Iraq simply stopped
carrying weapons we'd lose fewer guys. Right? We know
(as you say) that having a weapon has no defensive use
or value, right? The next time we invade a country we
should send girl scouts with cookies and daisies. What
is your plan if someone breaks into your house? Offer
them tea and ask them politely to not kill you or rape
your daughter?
\_ if everyone carries a gun at night in Oakland,
I would not dare to go there, cause I can't tell
who is the crook. also, the bad dude may have
a bigger gun then me, even though most ladies
think my gun is big enough.
\_ Even a .22 can kill, sometimes.
\_ if everyone carried a gun, they'd be a lot more
polite after an initial darwinian blood bath.
that you say anything about his gun being bigger
than your gun says you know nothing about guns.
i don't want to be shot by a dinky .22 anymore
than a big honking 44. I can get killed by either
and even if i survive it's going to hurt like
a motherfucker. |
| 2004/4/2-3 [Computer/SW/Languages/Misc, Computer/SW/SpamAssassin] UID:12993 Activity:nil |
4/2 Interesting. Now I'm seeing spams that consist entirely of HTML
mail containing Javascript code that reads characters from a
numerical array - the spam consists of little more than a list of
numbers. Funny that spam detection techniques have slowly pushed
the spammers into making their mail illegible.
\_ but that's easy enough to filter. what legitimate reason is there
to allow javascript in email? (heck, I still think there are few
good reasons for HTML mail at all...)
\_ I think rich-text-format is good enough. No need to go HTML.
\_ there was never any reason to allow html in email. or really
i should say the disadvantages overwhelm the minor advantages. |
| 2004/4/2 [Computer/SW/OS/FreeBSD] UID:12994 Activity:nil |
4/2 How can I get xbiff on my home freebsd machine to check my
/var/mail/ on soda? Thanks. |
| 2004/4/2-3 [Politics/Domestic/911, Politics/Foreign/Asia/Japan] UID:12995 Activity:high |
4/2 http://tinyurl.com/2h3cv "Russia said in February that it was developing a so-called hypersonic missile technology capable of piercing the United States' system. But Mr. Ishiba said he did not believe that a shield would encourage other countries to develop missiles that would defeat the system. "If you launch a missile and it gets shot down," he said, "you give up missile production." " ** Huh? ** \_ saying that if the non-hypersonic missiles get shot down why bother with missiles \_ Maybe he's trying to say there's cheaper ways of fucking us up. \_ The argument for missle defense is not that it will be perfect. That's stupid. The argument goes more like: (as a metaphor) Despite the locks on your door, thieves can metaphor) Despite the locks on your door, theives can break in and steal. Should you therefore leave the door open? \_ I've never felt safer than when i lived just up from a crazy biker dude who left his front door literally wide open all the time. if anyone wanted to rob our place, they'd probably the ceiling. the DETERENCE of the mad biker was much more just wander in the front door and get blasted straight through the cieling. the DETERENCE of the mad biker was much more \_ Ok you're safer from random violence. But psycho biker may attract violence, or somehow harm you. I'd rather just live in a normal neighborhood and take steps. useful than a locked door. deterence has worked with nuclear weapons for half a century as well. \_ How much have we spent on Star Wars? $100B? $200B? \_ About $2b total, mostly in basic research to get where we are today. Please stop inventing random numbers. With $2b they wouldn't be *any* safer after the union driven harbors got their fingers in the pie. open? How much safer could our harbors and airports be for that much money? \_ But it'd be easier for a terrorist to sneak a nuclear device in the same way drugs get in here from South America. So the argument is more like: What good is locking your door if you've got a gaping hole in your wall big enough to drive a car through? \_ Umm, not exactly. Nice red herring though. We have something of a defense against that. It sucks, but it's not nothing. We have NO defense against missiles. \_ But what's the bigger threat? Terrorists are the main bad guys these days, and they don't usually go for (expensive) ICBMs when they have cheaper and simpler options. \_ The red herring here is that we should/can only \_ No, the red herring is that a $30 lock is analagous to a $200 billion missile defense system. The missile defense system is simply not cost-effective; a lock on your door is. \_ What is the cost of a city getting incinerated? I suspect more than $200b. What is the cost of your house getting robbed? I suspect less than $200b. You're struggling with the concept of appropriate levels of response. The correct level for keeping a city from turning to ashes is much higher than for your bike parked out on telegraph. defend against a single threat. The reality is that we should try to defend against all threats. Natn'l defense is not an either-or proposition. \_ That's true that terrorists are the bigger threat, but that's doesn't make them the ONLY threat. We're working on how to stop terrorists, but don't be fooled into thinking that NK, China, or even Russia are completely neutralized. With the lazer 747 we can help defend Japan and SK against the North. \_ what do you mean "even russia"? russia is still the only country that can incinerate the entire USA if it so chooses. strong man putin is pulling russia back on its feet, and in this era of cheap labor and high material costs, the vast land and riches of mother russia is going to benefit russia tremendously. the russian bear shall rise again! \_ "incinerate the entire USA". So you think a country that can potentially only incinerate the west coast such as China or NK isn't a threat? btw, russia is still going through the death throes of self destruction. they are not yet in a recovery phase. \_ you are out of date. russia is very much into recovery. It is using the formula of get rich first with capitalism under strong authoritarian leadership \_ russia is fucked. their last election was a total joke. they're teetering on the edge of dictatorship (again) and now they have a broken military *and* terrorists beating on their doors at the same time. i'm not out of date. im right here in 2004. you're living in the hey day of post-communism but before they saw how hard the road to freedom really is. oh yeah and their environment was and still is *devastated* from what the communists did to it which makes our worst problems look like a fairy land of healthy goodness. russia = fux0red. open? cheaper and simpler options. \_ you are out of date. russia is very much into recovery. followed by US allies like Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, etc. when these nations were in a similar stage of development. |
| 2004/4/2-5 [Science/Space] UID:12996 Activity:nil |
4/2 Yahoo! News - Satellite to Test Einstein PRedictions
http://csua.org/u/6ql
\_ uh, did you mean
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3596499.stm
\_ how dare they advance human knowledge? didn't they get that
memo? NASA's new mission is to do flashy stunts to get Bush
re-elected. sheesh; the nerve of some of these government
"scientists" is unblievable!
\_ which flashy stunts? you mean like the ones about going to
the moon and mars which won't happen until years after he's
reelected? idiot.
\_ I think he means the flashy stunts where Bush gets to
look like a visionary space explorer while ensuring that
we'll never be able to pay for said expeditions.
\_ if the mars and moon missions are financially impossible
and never happen, i don't really care. what pisses me
off is that they're killing good science at NASA left
and right to divert money into something that probably
won't happen.
\_ Which good science is being killed?
\_ I'm sorry I don't have specific grants I can
name off the top of my head, but I know of at
least one good astrophysical detector program that
was just killed because of this nonsense. people
in the NASA crowd that i know are pissed about it
and i trust them.
\_ dummy, of course they're pissed off that their
useless little pet projects got killed so we
could do some big science and actually maybe
go somewhere and get something done. You trust
NASA people? NASA is a totally fucked and
useless agency that should have been replaced
20 years ago. The NASA crowd? Pfah! Useless
ass covering paper pushers doing nice safe
dinky little garage science projects.
\_ Hubble, for example. However, it hasn't
happened yet and won't if Bush loses.
\_ hubble? instead of making noise about an
aged piece of crap which was broken on day 1,
you should be pushing for a replacement with
modern hardware that doesn't require 'glasses'
to see anything. the hubble has served very
well but it's dead jim, stick a fork in it.
it's time to stop looking at stuff and put some
real energy into *going* places.
\_ Wow. You moron, Hubble's life isn't being
shortened because of budget. It's because
of safety. The Hubble orbit doesn't leave
the shuttle with enough fuel to transition
to ISS orbit it there's damage to the
shuttle on lift-off. Until the safety issue
is fixed, there are no missions planned IIRC
that don't have a transitional orbit to the
ISS.
\_ BUCK FUSH!
\_ whoa! that's deep! im so voting for Nader now! |
| 2004/4/2-5 [Reference/Tax] UID:12997 Activity:nil |
4/2 So some guy decides to try to jump off of the bay bridge and holds
up traffic for hours while police try to negociate with him. He's
already cost the state far more than he'll ever pay in state taxes,
so why not just shoot him or push him off already?
\_ or better yet, since people will get pissed about killing the
guy, just put a safety net below him, then push him off. police
do not solve problems the same way engineers do. usually this is
probably for the better.
\_ Because people are not potatoes.
\_ Tell me about it. Potatoes are useful before and after falling
200 feet into water.
\_ we have enough people on this planet already.
\_ that's why we should stop tax breaks for people who
reproduce like pigs.
\_ pigs are over breeding? eat more pork. the other white
meat.
\_ "Think of the children!"
\_ Did he eventually jump of get down? Wussed out didn't he?
\_ At 11:30pm he had moved off the edge to an alcove and was acting
groggy. The CHP SWAT team, wearing safety lines, rushed in and
"subdued" him.
\_ clubbed him into submission or tasered him?
\_ This isn't what SWAT is for. Complete waste of money.
Even if he should be saved, a social worker would suffice.
\_ since when does the CHP have a SWAT team anyway...
\_ CHP _DOES_ have a SWAT team, they are for Govn'r
protection and SWAT situations on state propert'y. In
most cases however they defer to the local county
SWAT team for tactical responses.
\_ Hopefully it'll be you up there next time and they'll just push.
\_ Personally I'm taking notes, and figure that I will use this to
stop traffic in SF next time I have need for such a distraction.
\_ youll get arrested and at a minimum spend 72 hours in lockup
being 'evaluated'. if some state paid doctor decides he has
a spare bed and he needs funding, he'll declare you insane and
keep you there until he retires or you die of old age. i say
go for it! |
| 2004/4/2-3 [Computer/SW/Unix] UID:12998 Activity:nil |
4/2 In Outlook 2000, when the message text contains a UNC path, Outlook
usually display it as a link that I can click on to open the folder or
file. But if the path contains space characters, it only recognizes
the path up to the first space. Any way to get around this problem?
Thanks.
\_ fire up the debugger and fix it!
\_ use < > around your UNC. Something like <\\your server\path> |
| 2004/4/2-3 [ERROR, uid:12999, category id '18005#1.5975' has no name! , , Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:12999 Activity:nil |
4/2 We bombed on the programming contest, but right now we're #1 here:
http://www.clickbackamerica.org/default.php
\_ Depressing, isn't it?
\_ Why do you keep making fun of Cal's programming team for
doing so poorly? If you're so hot, why don't you join or
coach the team?
\_ Can we say the same thing about US presidents?
\_ I kept sending mail to prsident@whitehouse.com but all I got
back was pr0n stuff about interns and blue dresses.... |
| 2004/4/2-5 [Science/GlobalWarming] UID:13000 Activity:kinda low |
4/2 The WTO has anti-dumping provisions. Third-world countries complain
that the US and Europe destroy their farming industry by flooding the
market with subsidized production. Who don't any third-world countries
bring a case in the WTO, since subsidized products are being sold
below cost?
\_ they did. Remember what happened to Cancun, Mexico?
\_ Theoretically, a 3rd world country only counts as 1/3 of a country,
hence the name. However, it really counts much less than that.
\_ umm, so you're saying a 2nd world country only counts as 1/2
of a country?
\_ W0W! URS0K3WL!
\_ so you're saying the 3rd world isn't allowed to complain to the
WTO and only has 1/3rd or less of a vote there? URL?
\_ the guy is a moron. what he thinks is the origin of the
term "3rd world country" is way off the mark.
\_ it comes from a mid-19th century french term meaning
"third estate." during the cold war, the "second world"
came to mean the Communist bloc countries, the "first
world" was the western industrialized nations, and
the "third world" was everyone else. obgoogle.
the 1/3 vote thing was made up by a motd troll.
\_ no shit, sherlock. who asked you, anyway?
\_ You are the next Einstein for figuring out that it was
a troll rather than a joke. However, the rest of your
utterance was wrong. 1st world referred to the
two superpowers, 2nd referred to the rest of the
industrialized countries. 3rd world consisted
of the poor countries, which, by "sheer coincidence,"
are also the "non-aligned." That was during the
the cold war. Oh wait, you mentioned google and
if you found your answer by google, you must be right.
\_ as they say, never attribute to trolling that which
can be adequately explained by stupidity.
\_ Sir, you made my day.
\_ interesting thought -- can we use anti-dumping provisions on the
labor market?
\_ you mean to stop the flood of cheap american jobs to other
countries?
\_ Wasn't there rounds and rounds of trade talks with regard to
this issue, the last one was in Brazil and collapsed. Are
those part of a WTO process?
\_ arent these the same fuckers who came to Seattle a year or two
ago? yeah, we really fucked their shit up!
\_ I think you mean five years ago. yer old. |
| 2004/4/2 [Computer/Companies/Google] UID:29898 Activity:high |
4/1 Any bets on whether gmail is real or a hoax? Last I heard, gullible
returns 0 results in google.
\_ I'd say it is real. it was announced yesterday.
'whois http://gmail.com' and link:gmail.google.com
\_ updated today: link:www.gmail.com with link to "Learn more"
\_ wonder what they're doing iwth the people who had @gmail.com addy
before. google for "gmail.+com"
\_ free @gmail.com accounts?
\_ Real. Confirmed with Google employee working on it. |
| 2004/4/2 [Uncategorized] UID:29899 Activity:nil |
4/1 4D Rubiks Cube:
http://www.plunk.org/~hatch/MagicCube4dApplet |
| 2004/4/2 [Uncategorized] UID:29900 Activity:nil |
4/1 There goes one more ally:
http://csua.org/u/6q7
\_ Link description is a blatant misrepresentation of link content. |
| 2004/4/2 [Politics/Domestic/911, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:29901 Activity:nil |
4/2 Brits, Japanese, Germans, and Aussies to be fingerprinted at
Passport Control:
http://csua.org/u/6qe (NYTimes by way of Google)
Question: Will my wife, who has a Green Card, be subjected to
this, or is it just for temporary visitors?
\_ I'll bet you my U.S. passport that if the Bush junta gets another
4 years of power, this will include U.S. citizens, canadians, and
everyone else within four years. Right now the U.S. is very clearly
on the road towards fascism, and if America falls no one will be
safe anywhere. |
| 3/15 |