5/5     Donna Brzile says Kerry campaign and Democratic party lack diversity;
        only white people in highest policy making positions, while Bush
        campaign says its campaign extensively staffed by minorities at top
        policy and stategy-setting levels. ....  I find this very troubling.
        When did our party become so RichWhiteMale elitist while they were
        putting all these tokens out there for PR?
        http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040504-110932-5540r.htm
        \_ duh? democratic party is white slave owner, mass minority
        slavery. THe whities know what is best for the minorities
        \_ Duh.  Most minorities, recent immigrants, are conservative.
           There's alot of "Fuck you, I already got mine!" mentality;
           we could go on about the "struggling to find identity in a
           new place and thus latching onto conservatism" psychology but
           if you think about it; most immigrants are religious, don't
           want lots of taxes, supportive of the corps that sponsored 'em,
           and not educated in liberal universities.
           \_ Kane has this theory that my formative moment, the moment when
              I became a libertarian, happened when I first entered an
              American supermarket, and saw the wall o' cheese.  Oh and:
              "I got my cheese -- fuck you!" -- ilyas
              \_ Is this satire, or what?
        \_ There was this other JFK....
        \_ I find it quite odd that the Dems are STILL managing to fool
           people into thinking the Dems are in any way "pro-minority."
           They've always treated them like token people to be pushed
           around.
           \_ Actually, they've taken them for granted, and that's almost
              worse.  They need to wake up before some third-party candidate
              sweeps them away.  OTOH, anyone who thinks the GOP is on the
              side of minorities is really not paying attention. If you're
              a member of a minority, your best bet is to have a Dem in the
              White House, but keep pressing for reform; if you're rich and
              you want to stay rich, stick to the GOP.
              \_ The GOP is actually quite good for high-income minority
                 groups (e.g. Chinese and Indians).
                 \_ If you want more money, yes.  If you want civil rights
                    and more Chinese and Indians in politics or positions
                    of real power, no.
                    \_ Affirmative action.  If you (non-privileged minority)
                       care about getting treated fairly by the government
                       and schools, then GOP.
                       \_ If the playing field were already level, I'd agree
                          with you.  Since it is peppered with Old-Boy-
                          Networks, I do not.
                          \_ How is the playing field skewed in favor of
                             the Chinese or the Indian?
                             \_ It's not.  It's skewed in favor of rich white
                                men.
                                \_ Wow, he actually stepped right into it.
                                   You lose, on grounds of having no
                                   connection to reality.
                                   \_ Naw, I lose because I couldn't pass up
                                      an obvious troll.  We all lose because
                                      the playing field is skewed.
                                \_ Then why is affirmative action punishing
                                   Chinese and Indians?  That's the original
                                   question.  Why the Chinese and Indian (and
                                   other successful minority groups) should
                                   vote GOP.
                    \_ We all have defining issues.  As a Chinese parent,
                       mine is affirmative action.  GOP.
              \_ I would think the GOP is good for anyone that pulls
                 their own weight, and does not continuously see all
                 slights as "racism." and thinks a gun owning
                 society is an excellent deterrent to crime, and
                 that babies should not be murdered at the altar of
                 career.
                 \_ You forgot the "I worked hard for my money and deserve
                    to keep it" and "Everyone should be able to accomplish
                    as I have" (both are sort of extensions to the "pull
                    their own weight" slant and both are utter bullshit for
                    a society of more than a small town).
                 \_ But what about people who think the government should stay
                    out of their personal lives?  What about people who think
                    a fetus isn't a baby until it has a brain at least as
                    developed as a slug?
                    \_ You pro-life fascist!  It's not a baby until it has a
                       brain at least as developed as a mouse!  Bastard.
                    \_ You take a poll asking which of them would have liked
                        to have been killed in the womb before birth, and
                        when abortion is exposed as a hypocritical
                        and selfish sham, they are defeated. Society dies
                        quickly when abortion is common.  Since 1973 we
                        have had 40 million babies die in the womb, who
                        will step to bat and say we are better off without
                        them?  Who among us has wished for more friends, or
                        is unmarried and has not wished for a spouse?
                        \_ Asking who would like to have been aborted is a
                           straw-man argument.  You might as well ask who would
                           like to have never been concieved and then use that
                           result to force every women to be pregnant all the
                           time.  I for one think we are better off having
                           40-million fewer babies.  That's 40-million fewer
                           kids born to parents who weren't ready for them.
                           - dgies
                        \_ And who among us is married and wished he were
                           not?
                 \_ In other words, for idealist believers in meritocracy,
                    people who don't understand that the current society
                    still institutionalizes racism, zealots who don't think
                    our current system of justice protects them, and
                    misogynists who want women barefoot, pregnant, and in
                    the kitchen.
                    \_ But now they have careers, and the national birth
                        rate is at an all-time low, so we might not
                        have enough workers in a generation to pay for
                        all the government spending we have deemed critical.
                        \_ 1) It is not the responsibility of women to have
                              more babies to create more potential workers,
                              friends, or mates; if you want a society based
                              on this, then start growing babies in creches.
                           2) Forcing people who are not ready to be parents
                              to have babies will not produce well-adjusted
                              future citizens; you're just going to over-
                              populate lower-income areas and flood the
                              welfare system.  As for adoption, there are
                              thousands of children waiting to be adopted;
                              making more babies for an already over-
                              whelmed system is not going to help.
                    \_ This is why I don't understand why GOPers try to
                       make fun of liberals.  Why bother?  They make fun
                       of themselves by saying inane things like this with
                       a straight face.
                       \_ Hehehe, you so funny, man-who-doesn't-understand-
                          irony.
        \_ The best results are with fundamental theocracy.  Lets start one!

5/5     Man, I just don't get today's Doonesbury.  Maybe it's because I
        don't drink. http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/index.phtml
        \_ Wine is not a "populist" drink.  Bush has always appeared as
           "one of the regular joe".  Regular Joes drink Busch beer.
              \_ Ha, ha.  You funny man.
                 \_ No really, move to the South.  You'll understand.
                    Try Lumberton, Mississippi.
        \_ Isn't wine associated with the french?
           \_ Are we at war with Eurasia or Eastasia now?

5/5     I understand why girls blog. They need to communicate and share
        their feelings and all. But why do guys blog?
        \_ Because they want to communicate about their job.
           http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/4/2/4235/13044
           \_ Research tool, mostly.  It's a way to keep links to things I
              like in one place on the web, and it's as easy to maintain as a
              bookmarks page.
        \_ Comes in handy when you haven't seen a friend in a few years
           and they want to know what's up. -bz
           \_ You bought a house, Babob?  And a DDR machine!  Wow!

5/5     motd phone number syntax poll:
        510.867.5309  : .
        (510)867-5309 : ...
        510/867-5309 : .
        510-867-5309 : ...
        +1 510 867-5309: .
        510.867-5309: .
        \_ now that one's just plain dumb
        +1-510-867-5309: .
        (510) 642-7453 : .
        \_ What?  No respect for little-endian phoe numbers?

5/5     an MP3 player designed for an AK-47 ammo clip
        http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_863993.html
        \_ What's the point if it doesn't ALSO hold ammo?
           \_ to spread peace and love.
              \_ AK-47s spread love all the time!  Lead, straight from my
                 heart to yours!

5/5     csua is for current students and alumi. but what about people who
        are neither? say i have a friend from ucsd who wants to post on
        motd/wall. it can't be done, right? fine. how about former ucb
        students who still use the system but don't fall into either
        categories anymore? shouldn't they get the same treatment?
        \_ All former UCB students are "alumni"
           \_ alunmi=people who have diplomas.
              \_ Not according to the Alumni Association
                        \_ There's a reason Texas A&M has an "Association
                           of Former Students."
                           \_ what, they're too stupid to know what
                              "alumni" actually means?
                 \_ Considering the goal of the alumni association is to get
                    donations from alumni, it makes sense for them to define
                    alumni rather broadly.
                    \_ question for you: how much did tom donate in the past
                       12 years when he got a cushy job, bought a house,
                       and spent $$$ on bike equips while we starving
                       students had to put up with his abuse?
                       \_ I've donated more than you, almost certainly.
                          And I think the CSUA is still using my boombox.
                           -tom
                    \_ how is that in conflict with the CSUA's goals?
              \_ According to the places that matter, including oxford, alumni
                 is someone who "went" to a school, took a class.  You do not
                 have to finish.  Technically, I am an alum of caltech.
                 \_ fuck oxford. Berkele>Oxford.
                 \_ awsome, I'm a Furd alum as well! -SITN taking forever
                 \_ Did you flameout, too? -ausman caltech (82-84)
                    I think you have to matriculate to be considered alum
                    btw, not just "take a class."
                    \_ the weird thing about CAA is that anyone who took
                       12 units at any UC is eligible to join as a lifetime
                       member; I don't think this is the case for any other
                       UC alumni association
        \_ alumni maintain presence after graduation, but only current
           berkeley students/faculty/staff may join the csua.
        \_ Why boot a member who left UCB before graduation?  They probably
           know people here.
           \_ because the person is referring to tom.
              \_ If true, that won't work anyway, since I'm current staff. -tom
                \_ staff of what, soda hall's IT or UC Regents IT? If the
                   ladder, it won't count.
                   \_ I think you're wrong.  Should be all UCB staff.  Tom's
                      an example of UCB staff.

5/5     Okay, you princes of the web, you queens of research, clue me in.
        Where does this thing come from?
        http://caustic.org/~jan/mov/school.mov (work-safe, requires sound)
        \_ I don't get it.
        \_ No, I don't know where it comes from, but it's hilarious.
           Thanks for making my day.
           \_ Anytime. :)

5/5     Did you catch former Ambassador Joe Wilson telling Jon Stewart that
        Karl Rove should be run out of town on a rail?  Most excellent.
        \_ Who's Karl Rove?
           \_ http://www.famoustexans.com/karlrove.htm
              AKA, the guy who leaked the identity of a CIA operative to
              punish her husband for writing an editorial critical of the
              Administration.
              \_ Well last night Wilson was intimating that he thought it was
                 Scooter Libby (Cheney's Aide) or Rove or one other guy.
              \_ Is this confirmed? Is this still in investigation?
                 \_ Sorry, not yet, if ever.  Wishful thinking on my part.
        \_ That was pretty kickass.

5/5     Dancing spiderman (worksafe, with sound)
        http://starterupsteve.servepics.com/swf/gayspiderman.html
        \_ only maybe worksafe, depends on the place.
           \_ I can't imagine where you work that watching a fully dressed
              pixilated spiderman dance like a faq for 30 seconds could be
              considered unsafe.
              \_ Well, I think the theme "spiderman made you gay" can be
                 considered offensive and may be enough for a lawsuit aginst
                 the company.

5/5     Britney "au naturale":
        http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=172478
        \_ broken link
           \_ Works for me. Not naked, btw, just without makeup on.
              \_ Thanks, should have specified it was work-safe. -op
        \_ It's not really "without makeup". I think I see some smeared old
           makeup. Not that I ever thought she was hot.
           \_ I know I'm just begging for trouble by writing this, but my
              18-yr-old cousin looks a lot like Britney, but a little shorter,
              w/better skin and much bigger breasts.  Yes, she makes family
              get-togethers a little uncomfortable.
              \_ When are you going to hit it?

5/5     http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&oi=defmore&q=define:alumni
        99% of the web dictionaries say:
        "alumni: People who have graduated from a university, school, or
         college."
        "People who have graduated from a college."
        "The term used to refer to those that have graduated at a specific
         College."
        "Alumni are graduates of the University."
        "People who have graduated from a school."
        "Graduates of a university, school, training center or
         training program. "
        "An initiated member(s) of a fraternity or sorority who has graduated
         and has left the chapter in good standing. "
        I'm sorry, but there are people here who should not be on soda,
        regardless of the donations/help/etc they give us. We're whoring
        ourselves and breaking our principles.
        \_ Since when has the CSUA had principles?  Really, by school
           rules even allumni shouldn't have accounts.  I mean, really,
           look at the motd.  Can you say "Ol' Boy's club?"
           \_ Wrong, the school allows accounts for alumni. Where do you
              get the impression that they do not?

5/5     Longhorn will need a 4-6 GHz dual core cpu, 1 TB disk, 2 GB Ram and
        a much better video card than you can currently get:
        http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,1581842,00.asp
        [ why was this deleted? ]

5/5     Can anyone who works at google send gmail invites to as many people
        as they want? or is it limited to only certain employees who are
        involved with gmail?
        \_ As I understand it, all Google employees get 50 invites.  Everyone
           they invite gets 2 invites.  Everyone *those* people invite get no
           invites except through random luckiness.
                \_ that's already at least 1TB of data. how much does storage
                   cost these days?
                   \_ compression?
                   \_ 1TB is not considered a lot of data at google. --aaron
                      \_ 1tb is not a lot of data.  Period.
                   \_ how many TB's do they have, in anticipation of many
                      more gmail users?
                      \_ google admits to "10,000+" machines. make a (poor)
                         assumption of a single 80GB disk. 800,000GB = 800TB.
                         \_ no, mass storage doesn't work like this.  they'll
                            be buying mass storage in 100tb chunks in raid
                            arrays if they're serious.  the alternative is they
                            came up with their own funky storage technique but
                            it isn't about zero likely to be an 80 gig drive
                            per box they own for gmail.
                            \_ Actually that's exactly what it is:
                               link:csua.org/u/776
                               They probably put several disks in each box.
                               Given the time this was implemented, it's
                               probably 40 gig drives, but hey. -dans
                               \_ Different service, different needs.  It would
                                  be silly to do this for a multi tb mail
                                  service.  Got anything that says they do this
                                  for gmail?
                               \_ If you read your own link you'd see exactly
                                  what went in the boxes.  If you did the math
                                  from the link you'd see it doesn't add up
                                  (as usual) to what they claim in the same
                                  article.  If you looked at their storage and
                                  performance numbers and compared their costs
                                  to a pure storage solution instead of their
                                  one-size-fits-all "use lots of low end boxes"
                                  model, you'd see that they're actually
                                  getting worse performance and paying more per
                                  tb than a more traditional solution.  GFS,
                                  indeed.  This is the one big problem with
                                  geeks running the show.  They did a very cool
                                  filesystem but it doesn't cut it on the cost/
                                  benefits as a business solution.  Too many
                                  techie PhDs scratching itches and no one
                                  doing the basic $$$ math to see if it made
                                  any sense in the real world.
           \_ I got invited by a Google employee and got no extra invites.
                \_ same here. actually, I take that back, I just checked
                   and saw that i have two invitations.
                   \_ Gmail doesn't work with cable modem.
                      \_ wrong
                   \_ Where are they? I would like to
                     <strikeout>sell</strikeout> send out two invites.
                \_ It's in red below the search filter and says:
                         Invite a friend to join Gmail!

5/5     I've noticed a decrease in http://csua.org and http://tinyurl.com usage. There
        used to be a lot more, now I hardly ever see them. What's going on?
        \_ Decreased usage of http://csua.org will destabilize the Middle East for
           years to come!

5/5     Why are huge perl processes getting run every few seconds?
        \_ show us show us! Who's abusing power?
           \_ I dunno, soda seems real slow to me today and I saw a few on
              'top' taking a bunch of cpu but not right now.
        \_ It's not motdedit, is it?
        \_ Most likely spamassassin

5/5     If google ends up going public, could shareholders or others
        complain how they make special "google doodles" (the cartoons
        on their google logo in honor of special events/holidays)
        for some holidays but not others?
        \_ The IPO is being structures so that new shareholders have almost no
           voting power.
        \_ You could complain about anything you want, and I'm sure it will
           get exactly the consideration it deserves.

5/5     JOTD:  What's your favorite geekish euphamism for taking a shit?
        \_ #2.
        \_ for taking a piss: "i have to go to the little physicist room."
           (obviously this is used among physicists, not computer scientists)
        \_ Nuking the motd.
           \_ I think I like this one the best.
              \_ Example usage: "I've got to go nuke the motd."
                 When someone knocks on the b-room door you can answer:
                 "Nuking the motd!"
        \_ Piping a log to the bit-bucket
        \_ what does jotd mean? Jewish Of the Day?
           \_ Joke Of The Day
        \_ Move the backups off-site
        \_ Downloading log files.
        \_ more! more! These are hilarious. surely the motd can generate
           some others.
           \_ Not now, I've got to go YERMOM.
        \_ Dumped core

5/5     Why alumni with accounts should be deactivated: First of all it's
        good for them. It'll encourage the older legacy Associate Members to
        to finish up their degrees as to to set up examples for what it is
        like to be a proud Sodan and Berkeleyan. In another word, it'll force
        them to get a life. Secondly, it is good for current users. For a
        very long time these same ol' boys have treated new users as inferior
        sub-citizens & discouraged discussions that may change and or improve
        CSUA's organization and its administration. It is as win-win situation
        to deactivate their accounts. I kindly ask everyone not just
        politburo to give this a serious consideration and respond with
        constructive criticism. Thanks.  -anonymous coward fearing the alumis
                                                alumni is already plural _/
        \_ All users running processes for more than 24 hours will be killed.
                                                alumni is already plural _/
        \_ As you are still in school, you probably don't yet understand the
           absolute necessity of a social network.  This one is particularly
           good for working in the industry.  Whatever you come up against,
           it's more than likely someone here has had experience with it
           (or wrote it).  If the motd turns you off, turn it off.  But cutting
           out alumni would be extremely shortsighted. --scotsman
           \_ Ben, it's paolo ranting.  Ignore him. -- ilyas
              \_ Hrm.  he wasn't logged in when it was posted. --scotsman
                 \_ Wow, ok.  Someone's channeling paolo then. -- ilyas
                    \_ I don't think paolo actually posts to the motd.  He
                       prefers to rant directly to his friends where he
                       can elicit an immediate response, rather than ranting
                       to a semi-anonymous mass.
                       \_ paolo posts to the MOTD, but the above doesn't
                          sound like his voice (though it does sound like
                          one of his tired polemics).  -tom
                          \_ It also doesn't have his signature. - pst
           \_ the motd turns me on -aspo
              \_ what doesn't?
        \_ Could you provide an example of alumni discouraging discussion
           about improving CSUA's organization and its administration?  -tom
           \_ Could anyone BUT tom please defend the honor of the alumni?
              \_ Ok.  Any challenger has a choice of pistols, rapiers or chess.
                   -- ilyas
                 \_ modification; Any challenger must go thru a gamut of
                    ilyas with pistols, me with rapiers, and mconst with chess.
                    42" zamorano or 35" standard; either one works. Just none
                    of that foil shit. - pst
                    \_ twohey volunteers to fight unarmed, and geordan
                       volunteers for katana duty.  I guess alumni honor is
                       pretty well defended after all. -- ilyas
                    \_ your proposal would make life more like Mad Max:
                       Beyond Thunderdome.  this is clearly a good thing.
              \_ Ok, here goes: calling for ridiculous witch hunts based on
                 perceived slights does far more to discourage discussion than
                 tom's supposed brusqueness.  I've never met the guy, maybe he's
                 a real jackass in person, but tom the motd poster has never
                 really been more rude or condescending than anyone else.
                        -- anonymous alumni
                                        \_ alum/alumnus/alumna
                                           \_ We don't think so.
                                                -- anonymous alumni
                 \_ seconded.  if you're intimidated by tom's motd posts,
                    you are the one with the problem, not tom.  they're
        \_ So, because some alumni are "abusive" you should get rid of them all,
        including alums like me and Nevin and many others who don't
                    really not that inflamatory.  And even if they were,
                    it's just a bunch of words on a world readable text file.
                    \_ tom probably stands out because he signs his name and
                       makes insulting comments. there are far more vicious
                       posters but since they don't sign their name nobody
                       talks about them.
        \_ I think your byline says enough. Anyway, maybe YOU should
           leave.
        \_ I don't think that account deactivation will cause a person to
           finish up their degree or get a life if they don't already have
           one.  I do think that disconnecting alumni would be a bad thing for
           student members because alumni are valuable for job/career/grad
           school advice and/or leads.  Reducing the amount of social
           networking can only be bad for current students.  The UC is
           constantly trying to get alumni and students to network and
           encourage alumni to maintain ties to the UC and CSUA's policy of
           maintaining alumni accounts is an easy way to do this.  If
           anything,  alumni should encourage new users to hang out on wall,
           #csua, and other forums.  In my opinion alumni account,
           deactivation is a lose-lose situation.
                --jeffwong (alumnus)
        \_ It's my only connection to Berkeley and I enjoy it. -97grad
           \_ Seconded -93grad aluminiumnus
        \_ If paying more tuition for each additional semester of
           attendance can't force people to graduate on time, how can
           disabling a petty little csua account accomplish it?
        \_ I'll go commit suicide if I can no longer nuke<del><del><del><del>
           I mean post to the motd or keep in touch with fellow
           girlfriendless sodans.
        \_ So, because some alumni are "abusive" you should get rid of them
           all, including alums like me and Nevin and many others who don't
           abuse anyone and who have actively helped the CSUA?  For example,
           Nevin was in part responsible for obtaining this very machine....
           What have YOU done for the CSUA, that you feel like you need to
           get rid of people like Nevin?  --PeterM
        \_ the post is directed at people who never graduated. Are you
           telling me that you, nevin, psb, and tom never graduated?
           \_ No, the post is clearly directed at all alumni. Reread it.
           \_ 1) Re-read the post. It refers to alumni in general.
              2) If you meant just non-graduates, are there non-graduated
                 "alumni" on soda other than tom? It sounds to me like ACFTA
                 is only really talking about tom, in which case, they should
                 probably say as much. Y'all could call yourselves the HDL
                 (Holub Defamation League) (TM). -- ulysses
                 \_ I never graduated. --scotsman
                    \_ O-Ho! Well perhaps you can tell us. Will pulling your
                       account encourage you to graduate?
                       \_ Er.. no. But see my above post. --scotsman
                          \_ Oops. My bad. -- ulysses
           \_ at least 50% of "you, nevin, psb, and tom" never graduated.
              \_ given that the English language does not distinguish between
                 you plural and you singular, and that there are more than two
                 graduates on the motd, your statement is clearly false in
                 general.
                 \_ note the quotation marks.  i was quoting a conversation
                    between PeterM and another poster, and in that
                    conversation the "you" clearly referred to PeterM.
                    \_ i stand corrected.
        \_ I bet op is alumni.
           \_ How did Tom Holub get an account?  Was he ever a U.C. Berkeley
           \_ How did Tom Holube get an account?  Was he ever a U.C. Berkeley
              Undergraduate student?
                \_ yes, he was.  He is also current UCB staff.  As such,
                   he's got more right to an account than many of us.
                   \_ Tom was not a Undergrad at UCB.  Strange he did not
                      correct this.
              \_ Way to change the subject.
                 \_ I'm telling you, it's the revenge of kchang
                    \_ It was a serious question.  I know people have
                       been given account as favors to faculty, grad
                       student researcher, Berkeley High School.
                       \_ why do you think it's any of your business?  -tom
                          \_ either your account is a policy violation or it
                             isn't.  if it isn't it shouldn't be a big deal.
                             if it is, no one should get special favors.  is
                             that really hard to understand?
                             \_ I am the OP.  I was just curious.  Not
                                intending to suggest squishage.
        \_ Do we have a list of once-active sodans who didn't graduate?
           sameer, psb, tom...
           Did phil graduate?
           \_ phil is a tenured undergrad, I think. -- ilyas
           smurf?
           \_ sameer and smurf have abandoned soda.
                \_ hence the term "once-active".
  \_ Hey alumni, go ..... !!!!
     \_ BEARS!
       \_ GO ..... !!!!
          \_ BEAH!

5/5     What is non-linear video?  Is there such thing as linear video?  Thx.
        \_ All videos are linear except for multi-angle porn and the like.  The
           phrase "Non-linear video" is generally referring to non-linear video
           editing, which means any video editing with splicing in.
        \_ the terms you've probably seen are "linear video editing" and
           "non-linear video editing".  linear video editing means that you
           take a video, delete things from the middle, or append things to
           the beginning or end. (The frames in the output video are in the
           same order as they were originally.) As the poster above said, NLE
           involves splicing video into the middle or rearrangements.

5/5     Drudge scoops the big boys again:
        http://www.drudgereport.com/flash8.htm
        \_ keywords: Apache gunship helicoptor war video footage
        \_ That's because he posts 'scoops' without confirming them and often
           gets burned.  And he never posts retractions, of course.  Its a
           good thing for him that US libel law is so pathetically weak,
           otherwise he'd have to do actual research to back up his claims
           like them damn furrin papers do.  As for this latest claim, the
           video described sounds almost "too bad to be true" but meanwhile
           we shall see.  You may want to try some more reputable sources
           for your news, like one of the British papers.
           \_ 1) often?  prove it.  2) British?  Reputable?  You're better off
              with Drudge.  It's ridiculous to claim you'll get reputable news
           months ago:
              from "one of the British papers" unless you're some sort of
              freakish Anglophile who thinks anything British is automagically
              better than anything American.
        \_ It's an old video.  I downloaded and saw the whole thing (including
           the part where one of them is dumping an RPG in a field) several
           months ago.  ABC News was the first to run it on TV I believe.
           Part of the controversy was that they didn't show the part where
           they were dumping the RPG; only the part where they were getting
           blown to pieces.  You can go download the avi from the last URL I
           believe.  Finally, I did see this Drudge URL yesterday, but ignored
           it.  I notice it's not up on Drudge now, probably because someone
           pointed him to the snopes URL, and he realized it was "old news":
           http://www.warblogging.com/archives/000787.php
           http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/US/apache_video_040109-1.html
           http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/apache.asp
        \_ There were others along this line on CNN.  I was shocked at the
           lack of feet on it.  There was one with footsoldiers on patrol and
        \_ ob: You're an idiot.
           they come upon a wounded man on the road, sink a few more rounds
           into him just for kicks.  I thought I must have seen it out of
           context, but I don't think so.
           \_ I saw that too, but it was more like the guy was being put
              out of his misery, and the guy had been shooting at the soldiers.

5/5     Does apple education store charge sales tax/shipping for CA? thx.
        \_ When I bought an iBook, shipping was free, but I did have to
           pay tax.
        \_ Yes, for recent G5 purchase. Funny, while you are filling out
           your order, sales tax doesn't show up, but after you click
           the "buy" button, it's all tacked on to your bill. I ended up
           going over my apple loan limit. It makes one appreciate
           http://amazon.com's checkout process.
           \_ This happened when I bought a refurbished G5.  I'd managed to
              talk my wife into the expense, and then the bill showed up
              with an addition couple hundred tacked on.  That really pissed
              me off.

5/4     What's GFE?
        \_ The Holy Grail.
           \_ Thought that was the GUFT - williamc
        \_ http://www.granolafunk.com/v33/home.jsp
        \_ http://UrbanDictionary.com/gfe
           \_ Thanks for the cool link!!
        \_ It is what you get for free from your girlfriend, but some
           pathetic dudes pay thousands of dollars searching for, but
           never seem to find.

5/5     Why does the public refer to what's going on in Iraq as "abuse"
        and not torture? [topic taken from boingboing]
        \_ because the major media are corporate stooges parroting the
           administration's talking points.
        \_ From http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/39/a39r046.htm
     1.   For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means any
act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is
intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or
a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a
third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or
intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on
discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at
the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or
other person acting in an official capacity.  It does not include pain or
suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
           1.   For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means
           any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or
           mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as
           obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession,
           punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is
           suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a
           third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind,
           when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of
           or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other
           person acting in an official capacity.  It does not include pain or
           suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful
           sanctions.
        \_ because when you pick an American off the street and say U.S.
           soldiers were caught torturing Iraqis, they think, "What?  Did
           they chop off their fingers/ears?"
           \_ much of the abuse was not from soldiers. and that's very
              different from sodomizing them?
              \_ If such photos were aired or talked about by CBS, I'm
                 sure you would have headlines that read, "Photographs
                 showing American military personnel sodomizing prisoners"
        \_ People think of torture as physical pain.
        \_ You sincerely believe the pictures show torture?

5/5     What do people think about the new "Cafe Durant" (where Wall Berlin
        used to be)?
        \_ what's in it?  is it still the same crazy boba-tea/TV hut?
                like Central Perk for FOBs?
                \_ I was wondering more about food.
        \_ "Cafe Durant" is not new. Wasn't it *always* above the Wall
           Berlin space?
           \_ Yeah, the new restaurant that replaced Wall Berlin is
              "Old Tea House," which is okay food-wise, but decent boba.
              Cafe Durant is still there upstairs.
              \_ Fuck, when did this happen? What happened to the piece of
                 the Berlin Wall?
                 \_ Wall Berlin was closed at least since last June when I
                    started working in Berkeley.  Haven't been around Berkeley
                    much before then, so I don't know when they actually
                    closed.

5/4     Another hazing incident: US soldiers put harness on an Iraqi woman in
        her 70's and rode her like a donkey.
        http://tinyurl.com/2jnav
        \_ They turned me into a newt!

5/4     I am not html literate so please bear with my question.  I downloaded
        emacs doc in html form, and I created a sym link to its top node from
        a directory more convenient for me.  However, the links from the
        top node are all referring to the directory for the sym link instead
        of that containing the docs.  This doesn't happen for other html files
        I downloaded, so what is the problem?
        \_ bear?
           \_ Go Bears!
        \_ Probably something to do with relative vs. absolute paths. Edit
           the HTML and take a look at the links and see if they are relative.
           \_ They are relative.  I should mention that it does not matter
              where I put the actual docs directory, the links works fine if
              I open a file directly in that directory but does not work if
              I open it through a symlink.  I don't know why it would be
              sensitive to symlink but it is.
              \_ If Mozilla thinks it's opening file://home/foo/bar.html, a
                 relative link will open file://home/foo/baz.html.
                 This is true whether /home/foo is a directory or a
                 symlink to another directory; the URL is the issue,
                 not the filesystem location.  -tom
              \_ Well, no shit sherlock, of course it would be sensitive if
                 the links are relative. Hover over the link and see what the
                 browser is pointing to (look at bottom of browser window in
                 Mozz). Either do a symbolic link on the underlying fs so you
                 can kludge the location or edit the symlinks so that they
                 point correctly.