10/19   O'Reilly Sexual Harrassment Lawsuit (NWS):
        http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1013043mackris17.html

10/18   Man charged in vote fraud says NAACP paid in crack
        http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041018-103741-2380r.htm
        \_ Yay, Moonie Times Troll is back!
           \_ How about CNN bitch?
              [CNN url replaced with shortcut] http://csua.org/u/9jp
              \_ This makes no sense.  Is crack going for that cheap these days?
              \_ Wow.  A careful reading of this article would show you that
                 your original caption is hugely misleading.  Go Moonie Times
                 Troll Go!
                 \_ Only party sanctioned media outlets like CBS, NYTimes and
                    LATimes, oh and Democracy Now, right?  You are a inveterate
                    moron and an embarrassment to this school.  How the hell
                    did you get in?
                 \_ Right.  The NAACP didn't pay in crack.  The NAACP National
                    Voter Fund assistant Ohio director recruited a woman to
                    help with obtaining voter registration.  That woman paid
                    in crack.

10/19   To the person asking about gold-plated AV cables earlier.  The reason
        they matter is because gold doesn't corrode.  If your connector gets
        corrosion, it changes the impedance of the connector.  When you don't
        match impedance, some portion of the signal will be reflected back and
        you will set up a 'standing wave' in the cable.  Since the standing
        wave is voltage which is not signal, it it noise.  Therefore, gold
        plated cables help you have a cleaner signal, but are not needed if
        your stuff is in a corrosion-free enviornment.  I don't buy 'em.
        \_ couldn't one just use some steel wool to clean up the contacts
           when the signal quality degrades?  Is that what you do? -!audiophile
           \_ That should work, but it'd be a tight squeeze.  I don't get
              corrosion. If your cables are really rusting up on you a lot,
              then gold-plated is probably worth the extra $10, but in that
              case, I fear for the internals of your electronics.  -op
           \_ Does steel wool scratch the surface and worsen the contact?
              \_ I would expect it won't matter as long as the connection is
                 still snug.  As long as there is a decent contact area there
                 won't be an impedance mismatch.  If you have corrosion the
                 entire contact surface could be messed up.

10/19   re: party affiliation by socioeconomic indicators:
        "As people do better, they start voting like Republicans...
        unless they have too much education and vote Democratic,
        which proves there can be too much of a good thing." -Karl Rove
        \_ 'Cos there's only enough room at the top of the pyramid for seekrit
           advisers and Texans!
        \_ "When people think, Democrats win." -Bill Clinton
           \_ But only if you put forward a viable candidate.  Kerry is not.
              Gore was not.  The most important part of Kerry losing is the
              Dems may figure out they need to join the mainstream of this
              country so people like me can consider voting for them again.
              \_ Exactly half the country disagrees with you.  What can
                 you possibly mean by "mainstream?"
                 \_ This reminds me of a Fark headline: "Latest poll has Bush,
                    Kerry both at 49%. In other news, 49% of people are morons"
                    \_ Only 2% are undecided?  How likely is that?
                    \_ Over 50% of Americans rate themselves as being above
                       average:
                       http://www.apa.org/journals/psp/psp7761121.html
                 \_ The problem here is that Bush is a VERY weak
                    incumbant.  Even most Republicans don't really like
                    him.  It should have been an easy Dem victory.  But
                    they put up king douchebag as a canidate, and they may
                    lose.
                    \_ I doubt Dean could have done better.  California itself
                       voted > 60% for the defense of marriage act.
                    \_ Exactly.  Thank you.  I believe if Dean was the guy,
                       Bush would be -10 right now.  If Gephardt or some
                       other more normal Dem were the guy, same thing.  But
                       they put up this Kerry nobody with the idea not that
                       they like him but he's more moderate than Dean and
                       thus can beat Bush by suckering in the middle.  Close
                       but no cigar.  Bush is weak weak weak and is still
                       ahead.  Put up a real candidate next time and you
                       might win.  I don't like Bush but I hate Kerry.  Guess
                       who I'm voting for?  Guess how millions of others will
                       vote who think the same?  Stop stuffing these pompous
                       jerks who have been planning to be President for their
                       entire lives who feel it is owed them and you'll win.
                       Kerry is a weak version of Gore who at least stood for
                       something before Clinton corrupted him.  No over riding
                       legal authority indeed.

10/19   Australian reporter captured by insurgents near embassy.  They threaten
        to kill him, accuse him of working for CIA or being a contractor.
        Proves to insurgents he's just a reporter via google search.
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3755154.stm
        \_ More on this here.  Read the last two entries.  Everything here is
           great stuff, though.
           http://back-to-iraq.com

10/19   Schwarzenegger endorses CA stem cell research bill.  Why?
        Be a smart liberal!  http://csua.org/u/9jr
        \_ A friend of mine from Europe was commenting recently on how odd
           this whole thing is from his perspective.  He said that in
           Europe, it would be the leftists who would be anti-stem cell
           research and the right-wing who would be in favor.  Can any
           of the Europeans here comment on this?
        \_ I like stem cell research but this looks like a big careless
           giveaway to biotech.
           \_ It also runs directly against what Dubya has been saying.
              \_ Horrors!  Must not contradict Great Leader!
                 \_ I thought it was "Dear Leader"
              \_ The governor of California disagrees with a right-wing leader
                 on a social issue.  Big news.
                 \_ The URL, on the other hand, covers another aspect.
                 \_ The URL covers the Maria Shriver influence.
        \_ How much Federal funding was going into stem cell research before
           Bush zeroed and banned Federal funding on it?
        \_ Way to go fiscal conservative.  Exemption from the Brown Act.
           Exemption from the public records act.  An appointed group to
           dispense the funds.  Way to go Arnie mortgaging our future.
           --voted for McClintock
           \_ So, are you also going to vote for Kerry or Nader or some weird
              libertarian guy?
              \_ I'm not the guy above but I also voted for McC.  Kerry?  That
                 would be insanity.  I'm voting for Bush, the much lesser of
                 two evils.  He isn't a real conservative but he's the best
                 we've got.

10/19   Once FireFox and Thunderbird are released, will the Mozilla
        Suite be phased out?
        \_ Yes, read the FAQ. Mozilla 2.x will be FireFox/Thunderbird.
        \_ Why would they be?
            \_ because the suite would seem redundant.
            \_ Maintaining two parallel codepaths is a nightmare.
            \_ What if you use ChatZilla or Composer?
                \_ Might they become stand-alone tools?
        \_ When will they be release?  I've been using FireFox 0.9.3 for a long
        \_ When will they be released? I've been using FireFox 0.9.3 for a long
           while.
           \_ firefox 1.0 comes out Nov 9. 1.0PR has a lot of features not
              found in .9. two that i liked are better popup blocking control
              and better "search in page" functionality.
              Around 11/9/04, there should be a 1 page NYT fullpage ad.

10/19   Nice job censoring the O'Reilly charges, Bushbots!
        http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1013043mackris17.html
        NWS
        \_ Why do you think you were censored by a Bush supporter?  I'm a Bush
           supporter but not an O'Reilly supporter.  That being said, the
           charges against him are a setup and probably some are lies.  If the
           phone conversations really happened, he's done.  But the woman's
           lawsuit is a joke (see Paragraph 11).  And I wouldn't be surprised
           if Fox/O'Reilly win the extortion suit.
           \_ I really doubt that she would file this lawsuit without tapes
              of the phone conversation, but we shall see.
              \_ They better have it on clear tape or they're dead.  The
                 quotes in her lawsuit papers make him sound like a stoned
                 uneducated bus driver in Arkansas.  Whatever you think of
                 him or his show, he is well spoken.  The words don't like
                 like him.  However, if it's on tape, then so be it.  There
                 are no O'Reilly supporters.  He's simply an opinion guy.
                 If the charges are true and he goes down, tough shit and
                 good riddance.
                 \_ Actually the lawsuit makes O'Reilly sound like a powerful
                    Republican icon oozing sexual energy, that unfortunately
                    oozed out in the workplace.
                    Hey, it happened with Clinton - who's to say Republicans
                    aren't immune?  (Granted O'Reilly never touched her.)
                    \_ The lawsuit does but go read where she claims to be
                       directly quoting him.  It's just silly.  If she has
                       it on tape, fine, burn him, if not, she burns.  Easy.
                    \_ Clinton's woman was willing.
                       \_ Jessica Flowers?
                          \_ Oh, I was thinking of Monica
                          \_ I think that was Gennifer Flowers.  And it was a
                             decade-long affair.
                       \_ Paula Jones?
                          \_ We trashed her enough that it was ok he raped her.
                       \_ The Miss America chick who did some TV for a while?
           \_ What's wrong with paragraph 11?  I believe this is not uncommon
              in divorce lawsuits, so why not one for sexual harrassment?
              \_ The paragraph in question:
                 "At all times mentioned herein, Defendant BILL O'REILLY was
                 and is the host and 'star' of 'The O'Reilly Factor.' 'The
                 O'Reilly Factor' is broadcast on cable television throughout
                 the United States by Defendants FOX. 'The O'Reilly Factor' is
                 broadcast on radio throughout the United States by Defendant
                 WESTWOOD ONE.  Defendants FOX, WESTWOOD ONE and BILL O'REILLY
                 utilize this forum to preach the principles of the so-called
                 'compassionate conservatism' espoused by George W. Bush and
                 the Republican Party. The Defendants also use this forum to
                 preach their belief in family values and to bemoan the moral
                 decline of politicians and others in positions of power."
                 WTF does the Bush adminstration have to do with this lawsuit?
                 \_ "I believe this is not uncommon in divorce lawsuits, so why
                    not one for sexual harrassment?"
                 \_ The first half is just declarative.  The second half tries
                    to make him sound like a hypocrite.  Maybe it was put in by
                    an overeager paralegal.
                    \_ I agree.  Lawsuit says:  O'Reilly loves conservative
                       values espoused by Dubya and GOP, but he's a sexual
                       harrasser!!!
                       \_ Which makes sense if you're trying to
                          character-assasinate, but not to prove anything about
                          sexual harassment.
                          \_ Yes, it's dumb to put it in the complaint, but
                             I don't think it tarnishes the claim much.
                             \_ What about this:
                             http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/32244.htm
                             Does that tarnish it?
                                \_ heh.  Mackris, according to this bartender,
                                   is a drunken slut with the liberal agenda
                                   of taking O'Reilly down.
                                   And O'Reilly, who is married, talks phone
                                   sex with employees.
                                   I'm not putting my blinders on (O'Reilly
                                   isn't the innocent conservative, and Mackris
                                   isn't the powerless angel) - I think it'll
                                   be very interesting anyway.

10/18   funny propaganda posters:
        http://homepage.mac.com/leperous/PhotoAlbum1.html
        \_ work-safe?
           \_ Yes.
        \_ Actually, the lame thing about this is that the NSA and DOE are
           still producing lots of these sort of posters.  There are a
           couple in every building here at LLNL, and a lot of them are
           WAY funnier.  (Because they're real.) -jrleek
                \_ where do i get a palm beach retired jewish democrats
                   for buchanan bumper sticker? -  danh
                   \_ huh?
                      \_ obGoogle "butterfly ballot."
           \_ jrleek, I DARE you to print these posters and put them
              around your office/cube till the election is over.
              \_ Why would I do that?  Those posters are retarded.  I dare
                 YOU to put up a big sign on your door that says, "I AM
                 STOOPID" -jrleek
           \_ jrleek, wouldn't your above comment be considered questionable
              and unpatriotic in your work environment?
              \_ Only if you're a dumb liberal with an axe to grind.  No
                 one else cares. -jrleek
          \_ it would be funnier if one of those Up Yours Bush posters
             were posted by a dissent while everyone else ignores it
             because they're so used to seeing them.

10/19   Hey gay, why are you lying to defend your ass and saying GOOG isn't
        shortable? It is. Maybe you need a better broker. --gay
        \_ it's at $151, bought in at $100 babay!!!
           \_ nice!  what is your exit strategy?
             \_ just got out at $149.8 ..
              \_ "With a whale like Ishikawa, he didn't see it as winning
                  $10,000, he saw it as losing $100,000, so he upped his bets."
        \_ Yes, but would BUD DAY short GOOG?
        \_ Be patient.  Let it rise as much as possible.  Kick it on the
           way down, not now.
        \_ Google's PE is over 200.  That's simply insane.  If they double
           earnings it will bring them in line with Yahoo! at 90 which is
           still insanely high.  Or they could drop in half in price.
           \_ PE is not a very useful metric with a company as young as
              Google.  -tom
              \_ so what's a good metric?  revenue growth?  Is its
                 revenue growth that spectacular?  I can find companies
                 with similar revenue growth but a much lower PE.
                 revenue growth that spectacular?  yahoo's revenue
                 growth is equal if not better and it has a lower
                 PE.
                 \_ look, I don't have time to explain basic investing
                    principles, but I would suggest you project revenues and
                    earnings for Google 5 years out and see what kind of
                    valuation that leaves you with.  You can't just look at
                    a column on http://finance.yahoo.com and expect that it's
                    comparable between two different companies, one of which
                    has been public for 8 years and has a significantly
                    different business model.  -tom
                    \_ If it is so young how can we project 5 years out?  You
                       say there isn't enough data to look at PE but then you
                       want to project that same data 5 years out and make
                       investment statements on that?  Nutty.
                    \_ What's so superior about Google's business model?
                       5 years out?  Google is not Walmart.  5 years mean lots
                       of time for various competitors to possibly supplant
                       google's advantages.  I would rather buy stocks of a
                       companies I have higher confidence would have
                       higher prices 1 year out.  Why would you want to risk
                       getting into a hole, hoping to climb out of it 5
                       years out, if ever?  Still waiting for the
                       reason why the the high PE, PEG, PS is justified.
                       \_ I'm not saying Google's business model is superior,
                          I'm saying you can't compare them directly with
                          Yahoo.  Or Amazon, for that matter, or either of
                          those with each other.
                          I didn't say anything about getting into a hole;
                          looking 5 years out is just one way to evaluate an
                          immature company.  Certainly, if you don't know
                          how to evaluate immature companies, you shouldn't
                          be investing in Google.  There's nothing wrong with
                          sticking to conservative investing; just don't talk
                          about PE ratios when you don't really know what
                          you're saying.  -tom
                          \_ You want to project a single set of numbers 5
                             years into the future?  Using what data points
                             to project the angle?  You only have 1 data point.
                          \_ actually google is reasonably mature already,
                             and PE ratio is definitely one of the more
                             important factors to look at.  I am not the
                             op who said the PE is insane.  I am just
                             interested if you know some better metrics
                             that could be used for evaluating google.
                             so far, you haven't said anything.
           \_ it doesn't matter.  there are a lot of stupid people who
              like google, and some people taking a free ride up.
              don't fight the momentum.
              \_ We said that in the late 90s too.
                 \_ trading on momentum is one way to make money.  nothing
                    wrong with that.  it's just not my cup of tea, and
                    just don't say it's based on fundamentals.
        \_ Is it just me or is ~6 million/day really heavy volume this far in?
        \_ Nothing is going to happen to GOOG before 2/14 when the lockups
           expire.
                \_ I thought the lock out already ended?
                   \_ There are several and the BIG one (>50% of shares) is
                      2/14.

10/19   Drudge pwns himself again.  Kerry excommunication story that he is
        pushing turns out to be a hoax.
        http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0405749.htm
        \_ Drudge reposts other people's links.  How about you attack the
           source instead of a link reposting service?

10/19   Is there a way to get all Yahoo movies say above A- rating??
        \_ http://movies.yahoo.com/404.html

10/19   I have a wierd problem, part of the little clip that keeps the battery
        in my cell phone has broken, so the battery falls out occasionally.  I
        want a good way to keep it in, of course.  Tape will look awful.  I've
        considered epoxying the battery door to the phone, but I'm worried that
        if the Li-Ion battery wears out, it'll be near impossible to change it.
        Is there some epoxy that can be dissolved with solvent, and which
        solvent will not damate the (polycarbonate?) plastic?
        \_ I believe epoxy solvents will not damage hard plastics.  Have
           you considered epoxying back the little clip, rather than
           the entire door?  -- ilyas
           \_ I'm missing a tiny chip of plastic that held the door on.
              I'm worried doing just the open button/clip might not be
              strong enough.
              \_ I think it would be easier to just find (or make) another
                 little chip of plastic, than epoxying the entire door
                 shut.  Another possibility is to make a form so the
                 epoxy itself will solidify in the shape of the little
                 chip.  It WILL be stronger than the surrounding plastic.
                   -- ilyas
                 \_ The epoxy chip idea is a neat solution until you look at
                    the actual phone and realize you'd need tiny mouse-hands to
                    make it work.  Thanks though. -op
                    \_ Can't you talk to the manufacturer and ask if they have
                       a replacement part or something?
                       \_ The broken part is a button built into the case.
                          It's not really replaceable.  If you're interested,
                          look up photos of the Audiovox VM4050, 9900 or 9950
        \_ Get some colorful rubber bands, like the kind women use for hair.
           \_ Won't work, it's a flip phone.
        \_ weird.

10/18   Second amendment, the right to bear Arms (humor link):
        http://www.maineiac.com/ethnic/Bear%20Arms.jpg
        \_ Do you think the first amendment is funny?  If not, then why is
           the second?
           \_ Lame troll, no cookie.  I mean, really, did you see the picture?
           \_ I'd laugh at a good joke about the 1st amendment if you can find
              me one.  The 2nd is just much more fertile comedic ground.

10/19   http://csua.org/u/9jt - Text of Gore's speech last night.  I dare
        anyone who plans to vote for Bush to read it from start to finish.
        \_ I saw a few minutes of it on the tube.  It was painful.  I felt
           bad for him.  He needs help.  Losing in 2000 broke him in some
           deeply fundamental way.
        \_ This thing is huge.  I recommend reading it from the last page, and
           stopping when you're bored.
           \_ Reading is hard, let's go shopping!
        \_ Why, so I can remember why I didn't vote for Gore 4 years ago?
        \_ I dare anyone who voted for Gore in 2000 to read it from start
           to finish and not think, "We almost elected a tin-foil hat
           guy!"
           \_ I couldn't vote for Gore in 2000.  If you don't think the
              current executive branch is run by a bunch of neocon loons
              I'd like some of what you are smoking.  If you think Bush
              has a clearer view of reality than Gore, then you've been
              shooting up as well.  Please provide examples from the speech
              of "tin-foil hat" thinking.
              \_ Example: The central elements of Bush's political - as
                 opposed to religious - belief system are plain to see:
                 The "public interest" is a dangerous myth according to
                 Bush's ideology - a fiction created by the hated
                 "liberals" who use the notion of "public interest" as an
                 excuse to take away from the wealthy and powerful what
                 they believe is their due. Therefore, government of by
                 and for the people, is bad - except when government can
                 help members of his coalition.
                 \_ This would be tin-hat fodder if not for the Orwellian
                    named Clear Air Act and the Healthy Forests Act.  There is
                    no need for conspiracy theories anymore; it's all out in
                    the open, and the heads of state just don't care if you
                    know it.  Ask Kenneth "Kenny Boy" Lay.
                    \_ Al Gore speaks, Alcoa goes up.  Tin shortage on the
                       rise!
                       \_ Partisan Blinders, Activate!  Form of: An ostritch!

10/19   See John Kerry's full legislative record:
        http://www.factcheck.org/article282.html
        \_ How misleading.  Your link checks out the legislation he authored
           or co-authored.  It does not speak at all about his voting record.
           Where's Cheney's legislative record? Ah, here you go:
           http://www.vote-smart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=BWY44812

10/19   So in my completely uninformed opinion, October 31 is the best time
        for a terrorist attack, successful or not.  Soft targets.  Have phun.
        \_ bullshit.  I predict that, unless Bush's poll numbers drastically
           improve, we'll see a vague threat from tom "political whore"
           ridge for halloween, though.  every dingbat soccer mom will make
           their kid stay home and think about al queda instead of tricker
           treating, and nothing will happen.
           \_ I hope you're right.  Basically, if there is no attack, we win
              (for that round at least).  I do agree that a security
              announcement is virtually assured - since if the President's
              people say nothing and something blows up, they'll look like
              idiots again.  Better to say something and not have anything
              happen and imply that's because you were taking care of things.
              -op
              \_ My current favorite scenario is the "Bush parachutes into
                 Baghdad on eve of election to get photo-op with troops" angle.
           \_ If you go trick-or-treating, the terrorists will have won.
              \_ This is a war of cultures.  The pagan terrorists and their
                 activist trick-or-treaters are trying to undermine strong
                 Christian American values.
           \_ Trick or treating died years ago.  We buy 2 bags of candy each
              year and leave the lights on, the traditional invitation, and
              I end up eating 1.5 bags of candy every year.  The same is true
              at all my friend's houses both here and in other states.
              \_ You must live in a crappy area where people don't know their
                 neighbors.  I bet I'll run out of the 3 large bags of candy
                 I bought, just like last year and the year before that.
                 \_ Yes I do and so do all my friends.  Nonsense.  Your 3 large
                    bags is nothing compared to the 15+ bags we shelled out
                    every year when I was a kid and then we gave out pennies
                    and other small change until we had nothing left and they
                    still kept coming.  3 bags?  Whatever.....  Trick or
                    treating is dead because all the moms are afraid their
                    kids will eat razors, drugs, and poison.  This goes back
                    about 20 years.  3 bags?  I'm still shaking my head on that
                    one.....
                    \_ I don't think they worry about the candy (razors etc.).
                       They worry about bad people out there at night. When I
                       was a kid we just went around on our own. Now I always
                       see some worried parent hovering just behind the kids.
                       Or they go to some well-lighted mall or something.
                       Pussies, the lot of 'em!
                 \_ It can really vary a lot.  My mom used to get like 2-3
                    small groups of kids, but last year it seems a bunch of
                    kids moved into the neighborhood and she went through 2 big
                    bags.
        \_ Come Oct 31, there will not be any terrorist attack. Terrorists
           know that if the conservatives win, the US will do whatever it
           takes to fit their conservative foreign policy agendas. Terrorists
           are not dumb, they know this, and they will not attack.
             Instead, there will be a lot of vague warnings  from the
           Homeland Security Dept. on possible attacks, and a lot of
           heightened alerts from the Sinclair/Fox network scaring people
           into thinking that there will be a major attack. Fear-->
           wanting a big safe powerful government. It worked before,
           it will work again.                  -election oracle
           \_ What about a Republican sponsored "terrorist" attack? They
              have done some pretty crappy stuff (secret Paris negotiation
              with the Vietnamese, Iran-Contra) in the past to win elections,
              why not this year, when the stakes are even higher?
              \_ Yes! Yes!  And the JEWS will help them!  And who says the
                 terrorists even exist?  Only FOX News!  Dubya and his JEW
                 cronies blew up everything on 9/11 and would've got more
                 if it wasn't for the brave few people on the 4th plane.
                 How do we know they were Saudis?  How do we know bin Laden
                 even exists or if he does (unlikely) that he isn't a Dubya
                 agent?  We've all known for years that Dubya and his JEW
                 allies in Israel are just trying to establish the Zionist
                 Occupation Government!  Iraq was just the a practice session
                 for when they take over German, France, Russia, Spain, North
                 Korea, Syria, and all other good and free and liberal minded
                 places!  We must strike first!  We must protect liberty!  Let
                 everyone know Dubya is in cahoots with the JEWS!
                 \_ Wow, you're really a stupid Jew.

10/19   Heh, Kai's MOTD has a new "feature."  Politics stuff is moved to
        the bottom of the page, with the caption:
        "Mindless Opinionated Political Drivel Begins Here:"
        Nice.  Bets on how long it takes for the bottom section to move up
        to the top?
        \_ i remember that being there from the start.
        \_ what the above said, that thing has been around for as long
            as I can remember. Where have you been op?

10/19   Pirates and Emperors:
        http://www.piratesandemperors.com
        \_ is this work-safe?
           \_ Oh!  Sorry.  Yes, worksafe, a lot of sound, political, lefty.

10/19   Turn off any TV! (I want one)
        http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65392,00.html?tw=wn_story_top5
        \_ Best...invention...ever.  I wonder if this would banish the
           omnipresent FoxNews TVs they have at most US airports now.
           [why was this censored, exactly?]
           \_ Probably.  I want one.  That rocks.  -John
           \_ Never confuse censorship with carelessness.
           \_ Because THE MAN wants yout to watch FOX News!!1!11
              \_ I understand their logic.  Fox is the most popular 24 hour
                 news channel.  Give the people what they want.  However,
                 that doesn't mean that I need other people's bad taste
                 shoved down my throat while I'm waiting for an airplane.
                 Note that by 'bad taste," I do not mean this in a partisan
                 sense.  There are plenty of great conservative media outlets.
                 However, television news is a cesspool and Fox is the worst
                 of a bad lot - with the possible exception of local TV news,
                 which often makes Fox look like quality journalism.
                 \_ I don't care about the video, it's the audio that drives
                    me nuts.  They should do the same thing they do on the
                    plane: hand out headseats for those who want audio, and
                    everyone else gets silence.
                    \_ Sit down among the TVs with Noam Chomsky on a boombox.
                    \_ WHY DO YOU HATE HEARING ABOUT JENNIFER LOPEZ AND LACI
                       PETERSON OVER AND OVER AT TOP VOLUME?
                       \_ BECAUSE I HATE AMERICA!!!!
        \_ Very cool.  Note that if they catching you using one of these in
           a bar in New York or Boston tonight, they will kill you.

10/19   I know leap years occur every 4 years, but there was some exception
        to that. Can anyone tell me what it was? I believe it involved years
        that were multiples of either 100 or 400. Thanks.
        \_ http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/general/leaps.htm
        \_ Year mod 4 == 0, leap year
           Year mod 100 == 0, no leap year
           Year mod 400 == 0, leap year
           ... possibly some other wrinkles.
           It basically come from the decimal expansion of the number of days
           in a year.  Of course the length of a day changes too...
           \_ More specifically if ((year%4 == 0 && year%100 !=0) || year%400
              ==0) leapyear = TRUE; else leapyear = FALSE;
              \_ Ergh, don't write
                    if (bool) x = true; else x = false;
                 statements!  Just set x = bool!
        \_ The above is right, and there are no other wrinkles.  Incidentally,
           this calendar was chosen because it was the most accurate system
           they could get the monks (who kept time back in the day) to
           actually memorize without error. -- ilyas
           \_ Every once in a while you'll see a leap second added.
              \_ Ok, that must be a latter addition to the original
                 calendar.  My mistake. -- ilyas

10/19   Anyone have this experience before? A girl recently helped me
        out in buying clothes, getting a haircut, etc. with the presumption
        that she's trying to help me meet other girls. I've been alone
        for a while now, but I've had long term girlfriends in the past,
        so my instinct tells me that this girl isn't really that interested
        in "helping" me more than she might be interested in me. There are
        a couple of things she said that seem to be indicative of this,
        i.e. giving me positive comments about certain attributes, etc.
        Am I reading too much into this? Or should I just ask her out and
        be done with it? I mean, why would a girl help out a guy get another
        girl if she likes him and she's available?
        \_ Why?  Maybe she's bored and wants a project.  It *does* sound like
           she's into you though.  Pay attention to other subtle cues to tell
           if she's flirting with you or just needs a hobby.
        \_ It could be she thinks of you more as a pet.
        \_ it doesn't mean anything.
        \_ buying clothes? haircut? my god. She thinks you're her girlfriend.
           If she has real interests in you she will not ask you to
           do things she knows that most straight men hate-- shopping.
           She's asking you because you seem to have good taste
           and/or that you're more well refined than most men out
           there (this is a euphemism that she doesn't think you're
           manly). Buddy, go ahead and waste your time on her. Hope
           for the best but be prepared to be nothing than a shopping
           bag carrier.                     -been there done that
           \_ Speak for yourself. OP describes something like where I was 3 yrs
              ago with a girl. We got married last year.
                \_ Hope she doesn't like shopping for heavy items too much.
              \_ Congrats!
           \_ Yeah, I had a situation like that which eventually turned
              into a fun fling. She had a b/f when we first met though,
              so I didn't think anything of it. But eventually she broke
              up with him and we went out for a while.
              up with him and we went out for a while when she was on the
              rebound. Nothing serious came of it though.
        \_ It's 50/50.  Could be she wants you, could be you're just a little
           pet project for a bored chick.  Give it a shot.  We can't tell you
           more not knowing either of you.
        \_ The answer to all motd dating questions: Ask her out!
           Seriously. Otherwise, you will never know. Heck, even if she's
           not interested you may end up doing her when she's feeling more
           desperate and she remembers you were interested. If you don't
           show interest you're definitely not getting laid.

10/18   http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=SBGI&t=5d
        This is... so good to see. How low can it go? Predictions?
        \_ actually, why did it go down? If anything, it should go up.
           Everyone's talking about it, everyone knows that someone
           will watch it. It generates hype and viewers alike. If
           anything, shouldn't it go up?
           \_ Advertiser boycotts, lousy credit ratings, stupid politicking.
              Investors don't like moves that make them nervous.
        \_ What's so special about Sinclair that it makes you want it in
           particular to decline?  I've never heard of it.  (I don't watch
           TV)
           \_ come out of your cave and google for sinclair/stolen honor - danh
           \_ remember in ww2, Hitler and Musolini manipulated their
              citizens with propaganda radio, newspaper, and radios?
              It is still happening, and the involved parties include
              Sinclair, Rupert Murdock, Fox News, and Bush.

10/19   Can anyone give any context here?  Caption doesn't help much.
   http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/041018/480/flpm11010182110
        \_ "Dammit, AF1's heading for the rose garden again.  Karl, uh,
           would you mind?"
        \_ uh... how about clicking the "related article" link
           http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/rove_antic

10/19   John Edwards - Breck Girl
        http://slate.msn.com/id/2108216/slideshow/2108085/entry/2108087/speed/100
        \_ I'll run my fingers through the Breck Girl's hair any day.

10/19   Fun quiz as of 5:45PM, match the following headlines with the
        stations. Don't cheat boys and girls!
        1 "Poll: Bush Lead Over Kerry Widens"
        2 "Poll: Bush Hits 50 Percent. Bush Passes Critical Number But
                First-Time voters Could Help Kerry"
        3 "Bush Kerry Deadlocked"
        4 "Bush Holds Narrow Lead In <station>Poll"
        A MSNBC    B Fox    C CBS     D ABC News
        \_ Educated guess: 1 B, 2 D, 3 A
        \_ NBC has em tied among likely voters.
        \_ NBC/WSJ has em tied among likely voters.

10/19   This is a doozy, I'm asking about the Federal GS pay scale and
        qualifications.  It says a B.S. is equivalent to a GS-5.  A B.S. plus
        X years of specialized experience is equivalent to what GS level?
        \_ Every year of college is counted as a year of experience. So
           a BS + 2 years is the same as an MS and so on. Without knowing
           X you can't expect any more of an answer.
           \_ I've worked 8 years. I HAVE A PHD!!! I'm elite!!!

10/18   http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,135932,00.html
        Poll: Bush Lead Over Kerry Widens
        Kerry is fucked!!! You liberals can't godamn unite and defeat
        the evil one, and look what happens.    -moderate against bush
        \_ WSJ's poll has them dead even among likely voters, and they actually
           publish their internals, unlike fox. Gallup is the only other that
           has the poll that wide.
           \_ So did Fox put up a banner saying "Call in and tell us who you're
              going to vote for"?
              \_ It has to do with the definition of "likely voter".  Gallup
                 has caught a lot of flack lately for weighting their likely
                 voter sample much heavier to R's than the actual turnout
                 numbers from the last few election cycles.  Who knows how
                 valid this is, but it certainly doesn't take into account
                 the increases in D registration and massive D mobilization.
        \_ It's not the liberals, it's the American people who don't decide
           on political issues but on perceptions like gays, god, guns, and
           taxes. It is impossible to get past that among those people.
           \_ And abortion and stem cell research.
        \_ Don't get discouraged. This one is still tied going into the top
           of the 9th.

10/19   I'm looking at an apple laptop, and I'd prefer something that can put
        out high quality audio (I'm not the monster cable guy though)-- do the
        ibook or powerbook have optical audio out?  tia.
        \_ no, neither of them does.
        \_ If you want high-quality output from any computer, your best bet
           is for an external DAC, which is usually connected by USB.  You
           might try looking for a CardBus optical out, don't know if they
           exist.
           \_ Strictly speaking, a USB->Optical out is not a DAC
              Nevertheless, that's a good suggestion if OP can find one that
              is supported in OSX.
                \_ He was asking for high-quality audio, not necessarily
                   optical out.  The USB DAC I was referring to is a DAC.  More
                   info:
                http://www.stereophile.com/digitalsourcereviews/731/index1.html
           \_ The higher quality digitial audio interfaces are either
              PCMCIA or Firewire -- they range from 600-1200, give or take.
              There are plenty that work with OS X. Echo Audio, MOTU,
              M-Audio, and Metric Halo all make nice ones. Stay away from
              Digidesign, though.
              \_ The best bang for buck Firewire interface at the moment, IMHO,
                 is the Edirol FA101:
                 http://www.edirol.com/products/info/fa101.html
                 --lye
                 \_ The hardware looks good, but how are the drivers?
                    I had an Edirol USB interface several years back, but
                    i couldn't use it at low latencies (below 256 frames [or
                    was it samples?] per buffer), because the drivers
                    introduced too much overhead. I've had a MOTU 828
                    since then. A bit pricier, but I've been very happy
                    with it. -pp
        \_Only the g5 has an optical out.  But there are plenty of USB DAC that\
          work for the mac...also there is the Airport Express (with Monster              cables).
                    \_ 828mkII is the STANDARD (!!11!) but I think its been
                       surpassed by the competing Metric Halo interface.  As
                       for the Edirol, the FA101's drivers on OSX are reported
                       to be rock solid and fast.  I don't own one personally
                       though, so that's secondhand information from a friend
                       who does serious semi-pro sound design work.  Can't
                       speak for Windows, but then this question wasn't
                       originally about Windows.
                    \_ why would latency matter unless you are trying to do
                       realtime mixing or studio work?
                       \_ For music creators, it's nice to at least have
                          the option to get low latency, but if you just
                          want to play music off your laptop, then you are
                          right, latency doesn't matter (in fact, you can
                          set it as high as possible to minimize resource
                          utilization) -pp
        \_ Only the g5 has an optical out.  But there are plenty of USB DAC that
           work for the mac...also there is the Airport Express (with Monster
           cables).
        \_ Does Mac OSX have issues with standard usb audio endpoints? I spent
           about $70 on a USB->toslink optical adapter from a mail order shop
           in Berkeley that markets to minidisc player owners.  Works great
           from my thinkpad to my Yamaha receiver, but this old model only
           provided 2 channel 44.1 and 48 KHz.  I use it with linux to play
           MP3s and DVDs with downsampled dolby surround.

10/19   Have you ever purchased a photo cd when developing your pictures?
        What format, resolution, and size are the images?
        \_ A related question.  What's the difference between Photo CD and
           Picture CD?  Thx.
        \_ PhotoCD is the professional one, very expensive, maybe around $35
           per roll. They give you various resolutions for each picture, I've
           heard the max is around 3000x1500 or something.
           PictureCD is what you see when you go to Costco, Walmart, etc. It
           is relatively cheap, developing plus CD is around $8-10. The
           resolution is something like 1536x1024. The good thing is it looks
           identical to your print, which is hard to get if you scan the
           negative directly, the bad thing is the resolution sucks, even
           compare to cheap digital cameras. If you shoot film, it's a nice
           and fast way to get a 'catalog' of pictures to your computer. If
           cost is not too big of an issue, I'd recommend you try it.
           I do not recommend PhotoCD. If you want to go that route, maybe you
           should've picked up the Digital Rebel for $500 from OneCall when
           they have one of those deals.
           \_ I wished Kodak had provided a higher resolution PictureCD service,
              because to them the cost os nothing, the developing of film is in
              the digital domain anyway now a days. If I can get 3000x1500
              PictureCDs from my 35mm film for $10, then I might not have
              jumped on the digital SLR bandwagen so fast. They only have
              themselves to blame for the inevitible.
              \_ You are forgetting the cost to create the CD...it takes
                 machine time.  At least in the early days, this wasn't
                 cheap.
                 \_ How much could a machine with a 1x CD-writer cost in the
                    'olden-days'?  $10K?  Depreciate that over the use it would
                    get in 2-3 years.  If they burn only 4 discs per day in
                    250 business days, that still comes to about $3/disc for
                    usage of the machine, and for later machines, well we all
                    know what hapened to CD-R prices and speeds.

10/19   Nice tactics - were these guys Union thugs?
        Anti-Kerry Film Showing Canceled
        http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/101904_nw_stolenhonor.html
        \_ Hey, I thought republicans were the violent ones, but no one
           showed up to fight at F9/11!
        \_ My grandparents used to live in Levittown.  Great place to grow
           your homophobic, mysogynist football jock kids, is all I'm
           saying.
           \_ you sound like a sissy metrosexual
              \_ If you were from Levittown, you'd just call me a fag.
                 \_ You're John Kerry's butt boy --Tucker Carlson
                    \_ You're still a dick. --Jon Stewart

10/10   Does anyone know how to "double space" a sheet in Excel?
        My "double space" I mean to insert a blank row after each
        filled-in row? Thanks.
        \_ I don't know, but why would you want to do that?
           \- cat foo.xls | sed G
        \_ In Sheet2, use this:
           =IF(MOD(ROW(),2), INDIRECT(CONCATENATE("Sheet1!","R",ROUNDUP(ROW()/2,\
0),"C",COLUMN()),FALSE), "")
           copy it around to taste

10/19   Sorry, I get confused.  LATimes is liberal or conservative?
        Anyway, according to them, the CIA is delaying a 9/11 report that
        points fingers and names names until after the election:
        http://csua.org/u/9k9
        Text of article can be found at:
        http://www.theregular.org/node/209
        \_ LA Slimes is in the same vein as NYT.
           \_ whoo how clever!  yeah they're pretty liberal.
              for your incredibly conservative dose of southern
              california news go read the OC register - danh
        \_ All of LA Times, NY Times, and Washington Post offer good, mostly
           objective reporting.  ABC News and NBC News as well.  CNN tilts
           to whatever the current administration is to maintain "access".
           CBS News screwed up on memo-gate, but they also offer good, mostly
           objective reporting.
           Fox News shows an American flag in the upper-left part of the screen
           to show that they support America, implying that the other stations
           do not, or have a "liberal agenda".
        \_ Hi, I've created a toy web site that will hopefully be a bit of
           insightful: <DEAD>slantcheck.org<DEAD>
           I already bought the domain names, I'm looking for a place
           to host it. If you would like to help please email me.     -kchang
                    \- if you become the number one hit for
                       google(chang,slant) you may be able to make
                       money ... maybe as a p0rn tunneler or something --psb
        \_ Wow, that's amazing.  I didn't know the report was already done.
           I heard the reason for the delay was that it was too big to finish
           before the election.
           Also, the article is an op-ed column; it is not a news piece.
           And here's the news piece, one day later:
           http://csua.org/u/9kr (Yahoo!)
           In it it says the official reason for the delay is ... the report
           is still a draft!
           \_ "Congressional officials said they were told that the CIA
               inspector general's office had completed the report in July"
              Now who do you believe?  I'm waiting for a CIA leak.

10/19   NYTimes notices that John Stewart spanked the Crossfire guys:
        http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/20/arts/television/20watc.htm