7/24    How do you buy contact lenses online without dealing with an
        optomotrist?  It seems that the sites that used to let you fake your
        doctor info have "cracked down" on people exercising their right
        to freely purchase products.
        \_ My god! Are you people that cheap? Just go to an eye doctor
           and get an examination. It's probably a better idea than
           self-prescribing your own contacts. Many health plans will
           cover it too.
           \_ spoken like someone who's mommy and daddy are paying for
              (paid for) his college education.
           \_ of course not.  i have no objection to paying for services,
              i just object to being *forced* by the government to pay
              for those services.  should i be forced at gunpoint to go
              to a podiatrist before I buy shoes?  or a dentist before
              i buy a toothbrush?  where does it end?  I know exactly
              what my prescription is, and know exactly which brand i've had
              great luck with for the last ten years of wearing contacts.
              every time a law is written to force people to pay money for
              services they don't want or need to protect some special interest
              we take one step closer to tyrany.
              \- the problem are the industries which self-regulate [sic].
                 see e.g. nolo v. texas --psb
                 \_ self regulate? you understand that there's a federal law
                    \-well naturally part of self-regulation has to do with
                      limiting competition by legal barriers. --psb
                    preventing free(as in freedom) purchase of contacts, right?
                    i can actually go to jail for trying to buy little pieces
                    of plastic to help me see better. oh, and you know what
                    else?  i can go to jail for buying my cotacts from a
                    canadian store, thanks to the policy passed by mr.
                    "free trade" bush. so here's a big "fuck you" to all you
                     libertarians who vote for bush as a "lesser evil."
                      \_ No libertarian would vote for bush.  It is funny to
                         contrast the apologist way the Greens talk about nader
                         vs the almost weekly mails i get from the libs saying
                         "hey, some article says we are taking votes away from
                          bush, isn't that great!" -phuqm
                          \_ Tell ilya that.
                             \_ Didn't I tell you already I am voting Nader?
                                  -- ilyas
                                \_ Are you serious?
                                   \_ Yes, I am splitting the liberal vote
                                      in a non-battleground state. -- ilyas
                                \_ In other news, Satan seen making snowmen!
                          \_ Wouldn't libertarians vote for the libertarian
                             candidate and greens for the green one, etc?
        \_ I bought mine from http://www.lensmart.com
           \_ did they contact your optomotrist or was the transaction free
              as in freedom?
              \_ I bought them last year.  I wasn't aware there's a new
                 federal law.
                 \_ Februrary 2004.  welcome to the fourth Reich.
        \_ Just go get lasik and stop whining about your freedom of whatever.
           You'd be the first asshole to sue the online place for destroying
           your eyes if you misprescribed yourself.
           \_ why don't you go move to some totalitarian state where people
              have learned not to whine when their goverment masters control
              the petty details of their lives.  i'm sure you'll be happier
              there.  I know I'll be happier when you are gone. -phuqm.
              \_ if this is the biggest concern you have about what your
                 government is doing to you then you live in a utopia.  there
                 are billions of people around the rest of the world who wish
                 they could live in a place where their biggest gripe is the
                 government insisted they see an eye doctor as part of their
                 contact renewal.  you, sir, are a big cry baby and have no
                 clue what a totalitarian state looks like.  contact lenses?
                 get real.  the only thing you missed was calling everyone
                 a nazi.  you're a deluded selfish little bratty baby. contact
                 lenses... totalitarian state... i'm too stunned to go on.

7/24    Just got back from a club in San Francisco. A guy I'd just met told
        me he had been convicted of Conspiracy to Sell MDMA, a felony, but
        then said he wasn't dealing anymore and didn't try to sell me any;
        some random woman grabbed my knee and asked if I knew where she could
        buy coke; and a hyperkinetic Vietnamese guy kept clapping me on the
        shoulder and telling me how awesome the DJ was.  Is this typical for
        a night out in the City?
        \_ honestly, do you do pot or other recreational drug?
        \_ Yeah, pretty much. It depends on the club of course, but that
           sounds about right for the techno/dance scene. -retired clubber
           \_ Huh.  I've been clubbing for quite awhile, and I've never had a
              night like that.  Which clubs tended to give the most 'out there'
              experiences for you?
        \_ ?? Were you sitting on a bar stool when she grabbed your knee or
           was she kneeling in front of you?
           \_ I was sitting up on an empty stage, my legs dangling over the
              side; she was walking by the stage and then grabbed my knee.
              \_ :-) I just had this funny image of her walking by and
                 bending over or kneeling down to grab your knee.  Thanks.
        \_ name the club, then can tell you if it is typical.
           \_ 1015 Folsom
              \_ Ugh.  That club hasn't been even halfway decent for years.
                 Its a crackden for south bay Asians on bad ecstacy.  Please
                 don't take that as an indication of them all.  Try some
                 smaller, more down to earth venues.
                 \_ Like what? --never goes and thinks they're all this way
                    \_ I could list dozens of examples, but it really depends
                       on what sort of music you want to hear.  Off the top
                       of my head, here's some places to investigate:
                       Pink (formerly known as Liquid), 16th and Capp St.
                       The Top, lower Haight St. between Webster and Fillmore
                       Club Six, 60 6th St between Market and Mission.
                       Note that these are all in pretty bad neighborhoods
                       so be prepared for that.  There's tons more, try
                       http://www.sfstation.com for a pretty broad selection.
                       And if you must do the big scary club thing, try
                       Mezzanine at 5th and Jessie St - at least it doesn't
                       have the dreary vibe of 1015 described by the OP.
                       Just don't go there on Saturday unless you are hella
                       gay, like like to dance around with other ripped guys
                       with your shirt off gay.
                       \_ thanks for the warning. looks like sat is the night
                          for me.

7/24    I'm thinking about getting a PocketPC w/802.11b to use as remote for
        my xbox (I'm interested in the web browser to view the media center
        html gui). Any recommendations for a cheap PocketPC (or even Palm)
        with 802.11b?  tia.
        \_ Dell Outlet has Axim X3i's for $235.  http://csua.org/u/8b2
           Otherwise, look for a used device with compact flash and get a CF
           wireless card.

7/24    KITT is for sale: http://tinyurl.com/5jvav

7/24    Maybe a dumb question: how do you turn off sound effects in Firefox?
        It likes to make these annoying boops when the "find as you type"
        fails.
        \_ eh nm, found it under about:config/accessibility.

7/24    http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2004/07/01.html
        From /. : just want to point out this (male) professor is hot.
        \_ he's okay

7/24    HOWTO: Buddy is having bachelor party in Las Vegas, need to
        tell/ask girlfriend about it. How to ask to get ok for LV trip?
        What are things to look out for? any gotchas? thx
        \_ you've already passed the gotcha point...cue bdg.
        \_ Are you actually giving her veto rights over this?
        \_ If she doesn't trust you/you aren't trustworthy, you've got problems.
        \_ If she doesn't trust you/you aren't trustworthy, you've got
           problems.
        \_ Go to vegas. If she objects, dump her and move on. Old
           jungle saying: There are plenty of fish in the sea.
           \_ Another old jungle saying: And you don't understand why no one
              wants to marry you?
           \_ Another old jungle saying: And you don't understand why no
              one wants to marry you?
                \_ When they start talking marriage, I start walking.
                   I'm not stupid enough to get married, esp. not in
                   a community property state.
                   \_ You're a real catch. With an attitude like yours, the
                      only way someone's going to want to marry you is for
                      your money, so in your case your strategy is sound.
                   \_ Do you have anything to offer besides money?  If not,
                      then you're doing yourself and some woman a favor.
        \_ Real answer: tell her your friend is having a party and you plan
           to go.  If she freaks you need to seriously consider the trust
           problems in your relationship.  If you're a cheating scumbag with
           a bad history then tough shit.  If she has no reason to not trust
           you then you're dating a psycho and should think about moving on.
           No need to hide this, bully her, take a macho attitude about it,
           etc.
        \_ Okay, I mentioned it to her and she says "Go". Now what?
           What does this mean? I asked "You sure?" and she replies "It's
           fine. Go ahead". Then I asked her "Do you want to go too?" And
           she replied "What would I do? I guess I could go gamble while
           you are out..." Did I do this right? What do you think?
           \_ Are you happy?  Is she happy?  Are you going to Vegas?  Is she
              *not* fucking someone else while you're gone?  If the answer
              to all these questions is "yes!" then you did it right.
           \_ one of these days your girlfriend's going to learn how to read
              the motd...in fact, if you could get here to join the CSUA
              she could read your post and respond and you'll know exactly
              what's going on.
           \_ So she is into gambling? May want to think about how you are
              going to pay off her gambling debts when she blames her habit
              on you during the divorce hearing.
              \_ Yer dumb.
           \_ You did fine.  Go to Las Vegas, have a good time, don't do
              anything dumb, and remember to take your gf out to a show and
              dinner.

7/24    Does daisy channing off of a USB hub affect drive performance
        significiantly? I want to connect multiple USB hds onto one
        computer. I'm assuming that I need to connect them directly
        (not off of a hub) to get usable performance for data transfers.
        Is each seperate USB port supposed to be a different channel,
        or does USB just transmit everything over one bus, regardless
        of the number of ports coming from the card?
        \_ I think it's more a case of the slowest device on the hub
           determining the speed (so don't put your mouse on it).
           Otherwise, they'll probably be sharing the bandwidth, which
           won't matter much unless you're accessing them all
           concurrently.
        \_ They share bandwidth.  Now figure out your common and worst
           case scenarios with this in mind and calculate.

7/24    Bad news.  Bush is ahead on electoral votes.  http://csua.org/u/8b9
        We need to do more than just mouth off on motd.  The way I see it,
        it will take either Iraq blowing up big time or the economy
        seriously tanking to unseat Bush.  Not much we can do with Iraq,
        but we can certainly help the economy to tank.  Guys, stop spending
        money as much as you can.  Stop going out to dinner, stop buying
        any kind of discretionary purchase, and take your money out of the
        stock market and the banks for the next few months.  I am sure
        you can come up with more ideas.  And if you're in the position to
        stop working, quit!  If you're in a position to hire, don't!  Drive up
        the unemployment rate.  We need to do everything we can here, people!
        \_ Dem convention should give Kerry a boost.
           \_ Proabably just a couple of points of pop.  Then the Republicans
              have their convention pop, and we're back to where we are now.
        \_ Really silly troll.

7/24    I'll see you a Berger and raise you a Shelby:
        Republican Senator Richard Selby target of a Justice Department
        investigation into leakage of classified 9/11 phone intercepts.
        http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,126904,00.html
        \_ IIRC, this started after Shelby criticized FBI for faiilure in 9/11.
        \_ Not quite the same thing.  Berger didn't deny the action. Shelby
           does.  Berger appears to have destroyed documents, etc.  Hang Berger
           and if Shelby did it, hang him too.

7/24    Bad news.  Bush is ahead on electoral votes.  http://csua.org/u/8b9
        We need to do more than just mouth off on motd.  The way I see it,
        it will take either Iraq blowing up big time or the economy
        \- between "iraq fatigue" and the "soverignty xfer" "iraq blowing
           up big time" wont do it unless there were a lot of american
           deaths [like beiruit] and i dont see that happening. bushco
           has limited their downside and takes little flack from the daily
           trucker beheadings, or any kind of civil rights disasters for
           iraqis ... but they can still get credit for anything they
           can spin into WMD, like a piece of oraange with mold growing
           on it. --psb
        seriously tanking to unseat Bush.  Not much we can do with Iraq,
        but we can certainly help the economy to tank.  Guys, stop spending
        money as much as you can.  Stop going out to dinner, stop buying
        any kind of discretionary purchase, and take your money out of the
        stock market and the banks for the next few months.  I am sure
        you can come up with more ideas.  And if you're in the position to
        stop working, quit!  If you're in a position to hire, don't!  Drive up
        the unemployment rate.  We need to do everything we can here, people!
        \_ Dem convention should give Kerry a boost.
           \_ Proabably just a couple of points of pop.  Then the Republicans
              have their convention pop, and we're back to where we are now.
        \_ Really silly troll.