| WIKI | FAQ | Tech FAQ | |
 http://csua.com/feed/ | |
| ||||||
| 2004/5/14 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:30220 Activity:nil |
5/12 Saddam had their hands cut off. America gave them new ones.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/dhenninger/?id=110005081
\_ Neat! Thanks for posting that.
\_ Yay! We aren't as bad as Saddam! We should be so proud!
"America! Not as bad as a third world dictatorship!" could be
the new national motto!
\_ Did you even read the story???
\_ Of course not. It's much harder to be smug and
self-righteous when you know actualy FACTS....
\_ Actually I did, it seems pretty obvious to me the point
of the story was "Look! look how much worse the prisons
were when Saddam was in power."
\_ I dunno, man -- it looks like 90% straight human
interest story with very, very little focus on the
current events surrounding the prison. |
| 2004/5/14 [Politics/Domestic/California, Transportation/Car] UID:30221 Activity:nil 53%like:30210 |
5/13 http://tinyurl.com/2bs2z (news.yahoo.com) Price of gasoline a little high for California? \_ "Price of gas at a station in Santa Barbara, Calif. Tuesday morning May 11, 2004, was $3.11 for full service, 91 octane. It was later changed to $3.13." Who buys _full service_ gas anywhere? Premium yes, but full service? \_ Old people and others who have trouble standing up and walking. \_ oregon won't let you pump your own gas \_ OMG, another reason why Oregon sux0rs. \_ And yet they pay less for gas than we do... \_ We should totally invade Oregon and steal all their cheap gas. Oh wait... \_ w00t! \_ Not a terrible thing in a rainy state. \_ full service in a rainy state is not terrible... *forcing* people to pay for full service is *always* wrong. \_ It's different from full service, it's called mini service. And Oregonians can alway vote to repeal. \_ Should these people be trusted behind the wheels? Don't get hit by them when you're on the sidwalk! \_ It's a luxury. People who couldn't give a damn about how much it costs to fill the H2 can spend the extra bucks to have someone making minimum wage to check their oil, wash their windows, and check their tires. Such places exist... |
| 2004/5/14 [Politics/Domestic/Election] UID:30222 Activity:insanely high |
5/13 Kerry shafts the unemployeed: http://tinyurl.com/35ukj \_ you're reaching, troll. \_ How precisely is this a troll? And why are there so many polemical attacks on anything criticizing Kerry? -emarkp \_ it sure sounds like the republicans tried to frame kerry for this. what do you think emarkp? \_ It's easier to just scream "troll!" and walk away then actually say anything intelligent to defend the undefendable. \_ I'll defend Kerry: It's better for him to be out campaigning than for him to be tied up in the senate by political games. \_ Then he should resign his senate seat and let someone do the job instead of getting paid not to be there, and in this case letting legislation that he's ostensibly for fail. -emarkp \_ When you're a manager and a guy who works for you is out interviewing instead of doing his job, you'll be ok with that? Please ping me when you become a manager. \_ the american people are gwbush's manager, do we call for his head every time he appears at a NASCAR game? ok i do but i am an extreme case. \_ if he's applying for a higher-level position in the same organization? Of course you support it. Or do you think the job of a manager is to make sure his staff never advances? -tom \_ what? what topic are you replying to? if this the fucked up motdedit merge 'feature' gone awry? \_ I'm replying to "When you're a manager...". "the american people..." put his post in between. -tom \_ Sure you can interview for another position in the same organization, but not if it impairs your ability to do the job you're currently holding. \_ The difference is, if one of my employees were interviewing for another job in the organization, I would take that into account in terms of scheduling tasks for him, rather than using the opportunity to play cheap, disingenuous political games. -tom \_ Do you have proof of "cheap, disingenuous political games", or is it just a conspiracy theory? \_ The Democrats had been pushing for a vote for weeks, and the Republicans bring it to a vote when Kerry has a scheduled campaign stop. It's not proof but it's pretty fishy. Don't make me dig up the congressional record to show the Dems tried to get a vote, it's reasonably well-documented in the news. \_ In other words, no proof and just a conspiracy theory. \_ The proof is prima facie. -tom \_ the american people are gwbush's manager, do we call for his head every time he appears at a NASCAR game? ok i do but i am an extreme case. \_ It IS kinda trollish. That title doesn't match the article very well. A better one would be: "Kerry ironically continues to igonre his senatorial duties, even when his vote is vital to the issues he claims to care about" or some such. -jrleek \_ It's a troll because the vote was staged. The Republicans had plenty of votes to make the bill go down, and Bush had threatened to veto it. When the GOP leadership learned Kerry would not be present for the vote, they arranged to have some R-senators change their vote so that it would fail by 1 vote. Even if Kerry had magically apeared at the last minute, Bush would still have vetoed it. A more fair title would be: "Kerry humiliated by staged vote." \_ URL proving this was staged? \_ Ding ding ding. We have a winner. \_ Not until he backs up his bold assertions. \_ It's impossible to prove that the GOP conspired to rig the vote, but the fact that the vote has been put off for weeks and then was suddenly announced just the night before, while Kerry was away, looks a little suspicous. No one can dispute the fact that if Bush vetoed it, Kerry's vote would note have mattered. Some URLs below: Newsday columnist: GOP stacks the vote to make Kerry a loser http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists ny-vpmcc133799370may13,0,7114735.column?coll=ny-news-columnists CNN: Senate rejects jobless benefits extension http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/05/11/kerry.vote \_ So you can't prove a god damned thing. This is just more "I HATE BUSHCO!" conspiracy theory. Thanks for clarifying that. \_ Wow! didn't know republicans are so childish. \_ Amazing that you believe this crap without so much as a misquote from some public figure. No URL. No nothing. Oh well. The moon is made of cheese, too. \_ If the Senate had done this and Bush had done that, then it wouldn't have mattered if Kerry voted or not. If Nasdaq stayed 5000, I would have been rich. I'm not rich, and the vote lost by 1, Kerry's. |
| 2004/5/14-15 [Industry/Jobs] UID:30223 Activity:high |
5/13 Has anyone ever had 1/3 of their dev group leave within the
span of a week? How did you deal with the short term effects?
Three guys in my group gave notice within the span of a couple
of days and now I'm stuck trying to figure out who will cover
for them and its driving me nuts since we are already under
staffed as it is.
\_ the easiest way to deal with the short-term effects is to
make it 4 guys giving notice.
\_ I'm going back to school in the fall (my manager has
known about this for a year, so its not going to be a
surprise to anyone). I want to work till august or so
to save up more cash. I also want to retain a good
relationship with my mgr in case I need a reference
(or a job) in the future.
\_ what school? if you're going to academia, references from
the industry will mean very very very little. my advisor
says he never reads recommendations from industry unless
they're from famous research labs. professors tend to
look down on industry experience because they're most
likely not "interesting" -grad student
\_ That professors tend to look down on industry experience
or even academic experience outside of their narrow little
field is a simple empirical fact. However, I think
this speaks more to the personality defects of
academics than to the value or interest of anthing.
-cynical grad student
\_ I was on a project that had 3/4rs of the team leave one year into
a two year release cycle. Unless you managers are making it clear
they understand they are going to need to push deadlines way back
in order to not destroy everyone who stuck around my advice is
don't deal with the short term effects, just coast. They won't
fire you or even think less of you, they are too busy running around
panicing to even notice. And it just isn't worth it to try to
do the work of four people, which is the other option.
\_ You're not the manager? Don't worry about it. Do what you're
assigned to do by your manager. If you were a manager then it
would be your problem. Why are you even thinking about this much
less worried by it since you're leaving soon anyway?
\_ Tell them you can recruit your brother and/or sisters who will
work for low wages, and you can vouch for them 'cause they're
family. You can also put in four extra hours on weekdays and
Saturday, and on Sunday, can put in a half-day. You had
no idea the other guys were leaving, the traitors.
\_ this is really good. -phuqm |
| 2004/5/14 [Health] UID:30224 Activity:nil |
5/13 http://csua.org/u/7av Woman lives without portion of skull for nearly four months because of insurance snag, with pictures! (work-safe) \_ URL shortened. \_ Insurance snag? You mean Ashcroft and the rest of the BushCo repulsiviKKKans conspired to personally ruin this woman's life! \_ "I'm a good person, just not as rich as some of them." I beg to differ, drunk-driving without licence lady. \_ Not to mention not wearing a seatbelt and having no insurance. I wonder why her mother's insurance company would pay for her. I think the insurance company should sue her afterwards for causing the accident. |
| 2004/5/14 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:30225 Activity:insanely high |
5/13 Washington Post Lead Editoral (http://csua.org/u/7ba "If you were shown a video of a United States Marine or an American citizen in control of a foreign power, in a cell block, naked with a bag over their head, squatting with their arms uplifted for 45 minutes, would you describe that as a good interrogation technique or a violation of the Geneva Convention?" ... "I would describe it as a violation," Mr. Pace [vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] said. "What you've described to me sounds to me like a violation of the Geneva Convention," Mr. Wolfowitz said. ... Now Mr. Pace and Mr. Wolfowitz have said the techniques approved by Mr. Sanchez would be illegal if used on Americans; Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Myers say they are fine as applied to Iraqis. But there are not separate Geneva Conventions for Americans and for the rest of the world. We learned this week that the Pentagon approved the use of hooding, stress positions, sleep deprivation, intimidation by dogs and prolonged solitary confinement as legal under the Geneva Conventions. \_ One thing I heard floated about is that Al Qaeda et al are not a state, and certainly do not subscribe to the Geneva convention themselves. Thus treating 'terrorist' prisoners by the Geneva Convention would be nice of the US, but US is not required to do so. Of course not all Iraqi prisoners are 'terrorists' by even the most loose definition. Incidentally, I heard the Geneva Convention requires that POWs be paid a wage. I wonder who actually does this. -- ilyas \_ I know the US did for German POWs during WWII. \_ Yes, POWs are to be paid for work they do. Of course, if you're naked for the majority of your stay with a bag on your head, you probably aren't doing much work. \_ What? Naked cheerleading practice doesn't count? \_ I believe they are supposed to be paid their regular wage, whether or not they are working. \_ Iraqi citizens, terrorists or not, are covered by the GC. \_ How so? If you fight a foe who does not subscribe to the GC, you are not required to subscribe to the GC yourself when treating their captured. Unless I am confused about how the GC works... -- ilyas \_ The GC governs how signatories must treat the citizens of an occupied country. I don't know whether or not it applies if the occupied country is not a signatory, and I don't know whether of not Iraq is a signatory. \_ Well, even if Iraq is ... it no longer applies because (a) it has no legidimate government, and (b) some of the guys ARE terrorists with no state allegiance. Maybe we need a new convention to govern hostile non-state entities. -- ilyas \_ It absolutely applies if there's no legitimate government. That's the whole point of protecting civilians. Otherwise as soon as one country conquers another, if could just execute all the civilians because there's no signatory government to protect them anymore. It also protects terrorists if they are Iraqi civilians. If they are *not* Iraqi, they need to be treated under the regular criminal justice system in Iraq, whatever that is. \_ Ok, so why would one sign? Say you are fighting 'partisans' or 'terrorists' who don't care about the GC. Why should you treat them well if they don't treat you well? It perhaps makes you more humane, but it's not really a reciprocal agreement anymore. What about a nation state that didn't sign, like NK? -- ilyas \_ You want a purely Utilitarian argument for respecting the Geneva Convention? OK, imagine we make a bunch of excuses and basically ignore the GC for this war. The next time we we get in a war, the enemy will have no incentive to treat our prosoners well. They'll just say "Look what those Americans did to those prisoners! They deserve nothing but a long painful death!" Ignoring the GC now will cause future torture and execution of American POWs. \_ I think treating only signatory nation state prisoners by the GC is reasonable... -- ilyas \_ why is US in Iraq in the first place? huh huh. Americans are weird. They invade other countries, saying first it's WMD, and then changing it to like they want to bring freedom, human rights to Iraq, and then they torture Iraqis and justify it saying that the country didn't sign GC. huh huh. Of course, pseudo-intellectuals like ilyas don't really care about these things. He just wants a theoretical discussion about when it's ok to violate GC in his imaginary lala land. \_ speaking of pseudo-intellectuals... \_ You remind me of one my favorite intellectuals -- Beavis. ("I don't like things that suck, and I only like things that are cool."). But adding to Beavis' mental clarity is your unusual grasp of the psychological nature of your opponent. -- ilyas \_ It's hopeless to argue with ilyas. I used to think he is a troller, but by now I realize he has lost his head without surgery or never had one. For the rest of us, the Geneva convention stipulates that coutry at war need to treat the POW they take nicely, and when one side won and take over the other, treat the nationals of the defeated they captured nicely (nicely is defined there). If any one violates this, he should (in principle) be prosecuted for war crime. Now this is law, whether you want to adhere to it or break it is another matter. Anyway there is an advantage to US in that US bars itself from being prosecuted for war crime, so when US violates the Geneva convention, even though it is illegal, nobody can (or dare to) prosecutes it. \_ This argument is moot, as Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Cambone said the Geneva Conventions apply "precisely" to Iraq. To back up another point you made, both Cambone and Taguba said the Conventions do not apply at Guantanamo Bay. \_ Can you summarize your post in two words? (hint hint) \_ I could, but I chose not to. I already edited down for key points with appropriate supporting information. I do think, though, that this one was hard to compress. though, that this one was hard to compress. By the way, go rent The Fog of War. Interview with 85-year-old Cal alum McNamara, who was Secretary of Defense for a while. \_ MASS GRAVES!!! \_ POGROMED JEWS!!! \_ Why don't you get a clue or are you still an FOB? Americans are different from the dogs infesting the rest of the world. Have you ever heard of the phrase "American Exceptionalism?" America is the new Jerusalem and we are the real Israelites. \_ eh, you should be talking to the Washington Post, not to me \_ Missing the point that the GC is a treaty which doesn't apply to everyone. Does cutting off some civilian's head violate anything? \_ Do you think, if we catch the people who cut off his head, that we *wouldn't* prosecute them? -tom \_ "The Fourth Geneva Convention relates to the protection of civilians during times of war and under any occupation by a foreign power." -Wikipedia \_ Rush Limbaugh told me there was no such thing as International Law. |
| 2004/5/14-15 [Academia/GradSchool, Recreation/Travel] UID:30226 Activity:moderate |
5/13 Some what related question: I'm going to grad school in August.
When should I notify my employer that I'm leaving? Can they
fire you for planning to go to grad school? I don't think I will
get fired. I want pick a time which is equitable to both
parties.
\_ 30 DAYS NOTICE! 30 DAYS IS THE STANDARD!
\_ http://www.nylawyer.com/lawlorn/00/ad042400.html
\_ http://www.i-resign.com/uk/letters/letters.asp
\_ If someone fires you *after* you've given reasonable notice without
a *very* good cause you have an easy lawsuit. They will not fire
you even if they are the most stupid people in the universe.
\_ The Vogons would fire you.
\_ they'd probably put you out of an airlock and *then* fire
you.
\_ but not without a poetry reading |
| 2004/5/14 [Reference/Religion] UID:30227 Activity:high |
5/13 The Pope speak out against women marrying Muslims.
http://tinyurl.com/26vj3 (yahoo)
\_ Technically, that article doesn't mention the pope speaking out
personally...
\_ I think the pope himself has gotten too old to do much but wheeze.
\_ We need a real Pope in Rome again, a warrior Pope,
to Christianize Asia once and for all. Are the missionaries
to scared to preach in Iraq?
\_ I agree with him.
\_ I speak out against women marrying any religious people.
\_ That's sexist! I speak out against all persons marrying any
religious people!
\_ I think gay marriage should be between a man and a woman.
-- Governator
\_ bleah, they are violating the sanctity of gay marriage. |
| 2004/5/14-15 [Industry/Jobs] UID:30228 Activity:very high |
5/13 Are employers in the Bay Area paying so incredibly low these days? I
still have an inflated dot-com era salary from 2000 and I'm realistic
about taking a 20%-25% cut if I were to switch jobs. But even then, it
seems that when I give a potential employer my adjusted minimum, I
never hear back. Are places really hiring people with >5 years exp
for $70k?
\_ I recently took more than a 1/3rd salary hit to leave my old place.
I expect/hope that my new lower income is temporary and in time I
shall return to near what my old salary was. The plus side is that
I now work with really great people, the company is making money
and the company long term focus is to make the company attractive
to big buyers so maybe our options will have value some day. It's
a risk but I'm happy in the meantime and making enough money. I
miss the mega salary but I had to learn the hard way that money
really isn't everything. A certain income level is required to pay
the bills and have savings. After that? Be happy. OTOH those of
you who have 5+ years in anything technical and hate your jobs and
make less than $100k need to go job hunting. There's no point in
waiting for some magical date to start looking. You can find the
great job at any time. Start now. I started at the very beginning
of the recent upturn. Do not expect things to return to 1998
levels ever again in your lifetime. Place offering $70k for > 5yrs
who aren't giving you some other reason to signup are fucked. Just
move on. You should ask them their range before giving up yours.
\_ economy is picking up, be patient. Many places is starting to hire.
yeah, I took a pay cut, at exactly $70k now.
\_ Ditto.
\_ wow, i am 70k too, 7 yrs out of school.
\_ What do you guys do?
\_ Where should I be after 18 months out of college, EECS? I like my
job, just curious.
\_ Ditto.
\_ Start at $58K, you should now be at $63K?
\_ Where should I be after 72 months out of college, EECS?
-geordan
\_ I got a 20% raise in 2001 when I switched job after the previous
company went Chapter 7. After that, 2% raise last year and 3% raise
this year at the same job.
\_ yeah.. seems that changing jobs is the fastest way to boost
your salary, especially if you're being underpaid
\_ Are the figures on http://salary.com still accurate? Or were they based
on salaries from 2000?
\_ I don't why someone keeps censoring this (I am using motdedit)
but $70K is very underpaid for the Bay Area. In the LA area
*civil* engineers who work for the *government* are getting
$100K+ after 10 years. You guys at 7 years out should be near
or over $100K. If you love your job that's fine, but if not LEAVE!
\_ I have a MS, and I'm 7 years out of school. I make >$110k, but
was just offered a job for $80k. I hate my current dot-com job,
but I don't think I hate it by >$30k. -op
\_ Have you considered saying to them something along the
lines of "I'd really like to take the job, but I'm afraid
I couldn't handle the pay cut." They might up their
offer. If they don't, no loss.
\_ Civil engineers are paid more than programmers these days.
\_ Which branch of government? Certainly not federal or state.
\_ County, but federal pays pretty well too.
\_ I find this suspect. Do you have a URL? Government
salaries are supposed to be public knowledge.
\_ Well, why should I care if you find it suspect? I
know two civil engineers. However, here's one job:
http://www.lacsd.org/personnel/ElectricalEngineerNew.htm
You might start at $6-7K but by 10 years+ you will
exceed the stated $8K mark.
\_ Thanks.
\_ SAGE has the best report for syadmin salaries out there.
For SF Bay Area, they report $86k median for 5-9 yrs
experience. $98k for 10-12 yrs. Are you a programmer or a
sysadmin?
experience. $98k for 10-14 yrs. Are you a programmer or a
sysadmin? BTW, I get paid $90k in salary and a stock grant
worth $23k at current valuation for 10 yrs experience.
\_ Does it have figures for programmers as well?
\_ nope. I don't know of a similar study for programmers.
From http://salary.com and anecdotally, I would guess that programmers
used to get paid 10-20% more, now probably about the same. I
have no idea if this is correct though.
\_ and are you a programmer or a sysadmin?
\_ shouldn't matter. the pay ranges are almost exactly the same.
\_ This is not going to remain true over time.
\_ I think it will, but what's your theory?
\- i think it'll fluctuate in both directions. currently
the hip thing to do is outsource programmers. the
effects of outsourcing might actually be to incraease
average salaries, bc the low end jobs won't be here.
\_ sysadmin
\_ That's a bit low. Economy has picked up -- companies _are_
hiring. Certainly, it depends on your skills and attitude...but
$70K is on the low side now. fyi. --chris |
| 2004/5/14 [Computer/SW/Security, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Israel] UID:30229 Activity:high |
5/14 Strong case for Freeper complicity in Berg's death. I had to
grab it out of Google's cache, because of course, it has been
"Freeped" off the air:
http://csua.org/u/7bk
\_ freepers turned me into a newt!!
\_ Not a very strong case really. Tin foil hat territory actually.
Let's list the irregularities about Nick Berg:
1) A Jew in Iraq, without any personal security (not exactly the
safest thing in the world--but it appears he was motivated to help
the reconstruction, and I respect his resolve for that).
2) Had a Koran in Arabic and anti-semitic literature with him.
3) Had an Israel stamp on his passport, and then stamps from other
countries that typically don't allow people in if they've been
through Israel.
4) Zaccarias Moussaoui used his email in 2002. In Oklahoma.
5) He refused help from the US government to get home.
That doesn't add up to a conspiracy, but it does mean that it's not
a surprise that he was picked up by Iraqi police, and was
interviewed by the FBI. It also suggests he might have been a prize
for Al Qaeda.
\_ is there anything weird about the death video? like i read some
stuff about how it looks edited or whatever. i haven't seen it.
\_ ...and without missing a beat, we're right back in tinfoil
hat land. nice. |
| 2004/5/14-15 [Consumer/Audio] UID:30230 Activity:moderate |
5/14 Anyone used Sennheiser HD580? Is it worth $159? Thx.
\_ I have a pair of Sony MDR-EX51LP (available now on slickdeals for
$30) that I like; they're comfortable and fairly good at filtering
outside noise. I considered the Sennheisers but realized I wanted
a cheaper pair of ear sodomizers to try out before dropping bucks.
\_ I don't like the sound quality of Sonys except for the very high
end models. I like the Sennheiser HD212 ($60 and strong bass),
Sennheiser NX100(?) (small and good sound quality) and the
Grado SR60 and SR80.
\_ I have the HD590's (newer model? higher model? not sure). I love
'em to death. One huge plus is that it is the most comfortable
pair of headphones I've ever worn. I tried a bunch of Sennheisers
and Sony's @ Magnolia Hi-Fi before deciding which to buy online.
\_ Did they give you dirty looks?
\_ Salesmen generally ignore me, probably because I look too
young or too poor to be a serious home theatre buyer.
\_ Since they are 'open air' type, does the sound leak out?
ie, will my next cube neighbor hear it?
\_ All open-diaphram headphones can be heard by neighbors. It's
usually not a problem unless you have 1. Extremely offensive
taste. 2. Very close quarters. 3. Very sensitive neighbors.
Closed phones insulate you from external noise, but they tend
to be a bit warmer and somtimes less clear sound. |
| 2004/5/14-15 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/HW] UID:30231 Activity:moderate |
5/14 Anyone have any experience using a modded Xbox as a "media center" PC
and/or networked video jukebox? Any pitfalls or suggestions?
Can it mount external USB drives? Can it act as a SMB server?
\_ Don't know about the software featured on /. yesterday, but a lot
of people use xbox as a frontend for mythtv, which is a linux
based project, so yeah, you can do both of those with linux. |
| 2004/5/14-15 [Politics/Domestic/Election] UID:30232 Activity:moderate |
5/14 whack jobs of a feather flock together (reform party endorses nader):
http://www.votenader.org/media_press/index.php?cid=32
\_ I'm voting for Nader - he rocks. |
| 2004/5/14-15 [Computer/SW/OS] UID:30233 Activity:high |
5/14 What's the difference between counting semaphore, binary semaphore
and mutex semaphore. I thought there is only one kind of semaphore,
which blocks if the value is 0 or negative and you try to grab it.
Otherwise it doesn't block when the value is positive, and you try to
grab it.
\_ I've never heard the term "mutex semaphore" before, but there's no
qualitative difference between a binary and a counting semaphore.
The difference is, with a binary semaphore you have a convention
that its value will always be either 0 or 1, while a counting
semaphore may take on other (nonnegative) values. The underlying
system doesn't care; it's all in how you use it. -gm
\_ Thanks! It's been 13 years since I took 162.
\_ partha is that you? -psb #2 fan |
| 2004/5/14 [Uncategorized] UID:30234 Activity:nil 61%like:13066 |
5/14 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/040514/ids_photos_en/r157139462.jpg&e=14 Got Milk? Work-safe Britney pic. |
| 4/15 |