12/21   Jesus of Nazareth, wrong on crime, wrong on defense, wrong choice.
        http://www.wiseass.org/files/Jesus.swf
        http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/graphics/bush_jesusad.jpg
        \_ Yeah, those damn Jews, they're all democrats.
        \_ I'm surprised ilyas the Russian Jew hasn't said anything yet.
           \_ I am neither russian nor jewish. -- ilyas
              \_ How do you describe your ethnicity?
                 \_ Why should I tell you things if i don't even know who
                    you are?  Email me if you care. -- ilyas

12/21   Does anyone know the name/singer of that song in Elf, when
        Will Ferrell sneaks in on that girl while she showers and
        sings along with her? thanks.
        \_ baby, it's cold outside.  zooey deschanel
        \_ I thought Elf was a poorly written movie.
           \_ She's gonna be Trillian?
        \_ Elf is terrbile

12/21  Protest the protests, because, let's face it, you can't make
       a fucking difference anymore (should've figured that one out
       when your candidate was still running!)

12/22   Man builds Mech in backyard: http://tinyurl.com/4w6tq

12/22   Recruit is dropping, prison is overcrowded... what do you guys think
        about offer prison inmate an option to serve in the military?  Chinese
        used to do this in the imperial time.
        \_ Yeah, let's send over a bunch of rapists and murderers to Iraq.
           That'll make 'em love us.  Not that "normal" Americans have done better.
           That'll make 'em love us.  Not that "normal" Americans have
           done better.
           \_ Umm...I thought we did that.
        \_ Actually this is done quite often, esp. when things get desperate.
           Read some American/English/French war history.  Convicts make very
           poor soldiers, however.
           \_ In Colonization, they need TWO morale upgrades just to become
              free colonists!
        \_ You apparently are unaware on how high-tech the army is these days.
           The army needs highly motivated people to carry out its sophisticated
           tactics. Modern day warfare isn't about sending a mass amount of
           people to go off and die (that's what Al Qaeda does and that's why
           we have something on the order of 50-to-1 casualty ratios).
           Anyway, only the truly moronic will let people of questionable
           morality be trained for large sums of money to wield million
           dollar weapons.
                \_ Your entire response is a joke, right? hi-tech army?
                   highly motivated people? your 50:1 casualty ratio?
                   moronic-vs-moral people? surely you're kidding. I think
                   you have a very idealized notion of our military, and
                   I also think you overestimate the intelligence and
                   moral fiber of our military leaders and government.
           \_ 50:1??? Who are you kidding? Are you adding all the
              civilians casualties in there? We have lost 1.2k soldiers
              killed and 10k wounded. Do you think Al Qaeda has lost
              60k killed and 500k wounded? Where the hell did they put
              the 1/2M wounded???
           \_ al Qaeda is not sending massive army.  not even close.  and
              if anything, al Qaeda members are more motivated than us.
              high-tech weaponary is not an issue, we know that because
              we used to *TRAIN* those al Qaeda members in 1980's, remember?

12/22   Just realize Bush's big political gamble.  His State of Union address
        is about a week after Iraqi election...
        \_ What political gamble? It's his second and final term. He can
           basically do whatever he wants without worrying about
           repercussions. It's not like anyone can even recall him.

12/22   So, uh, my O'Reilly watching younger brother is thinking about signing
        up for the National Guard.  His interview date is today (moved up a
        week, and after they called him three times in the space of 15 minutes
        to make sure he knew where to go).  Anything I should say to him?
        \_ Not that this answers your question, but you should go watch the
           Beavis and Butthead episode about army recruiting.  It's hilarious.
           "Today's army rocks!!! We're looking for a few good headbangers!!!!"
        \_ No matter how honest a face the recruiter and 'career counsellor'
           have, NEVER TRUST A WORD THEY SAY.  If it ain't in writing, it's
           not going to happen.  period.  Recruiters are NOT your friend,
           though there are limits to what they can say.  If they're not going
           to give him the job he wants, walk.  And sign NOTHING without
           reading it first.  They have quota to fill in certain jobs, and
           they're VERY VERY good at pressuring you into doing stuff that you
           don't want.
           \_ my dad was a recruiter for a while, the above is
              excellent advice! - danh
           \_ I second the above advice. My career uscg dad did recruiting.
              Meeting quota he found irritating; the pathological lying
              made him give up after a couple weeks. -elizp
              \_ Thanks guys. -op
        \_ "Maybe there's a reason they're so desperate to give you a gun." ?
        \_ Yeah.  Why sign up for Nat. Guard when you could be in the Marines?
           \_ second that.  Tell your brother to sign up for the regular
              instead.  National Guards are being treated as a second class
              personnel, doing all the grun work and take all the blames.
              \_ Not to mention friendly fire and unarmored vehicles.
              \_ Wouldn't it be safest to sign up for the Navy or USAF?
        \_ nothing, if something happens to him there will be one less Reddie

12/22   I've finally gotten around to trolling around in craigslist (best of
        is damn hilareous).  WTF does "pnp" and "420" mean?
        \_ I'm surprised you don't know 420.  It means "pot is ok".  PnP
           is a little rarer.  It means "Party and Play".  Sex while high,
           usually speed or X.
           \_ thx!, one more: D&D (drugs & drinking)?
              \_ Dungeons and Dragons.
        \_ What's "Tina"?
           \_ Crystal meth
              \_ Why is it called Tina?
                 \_ Some people call it 'my friend Chrissy' which becomes
                    'Christina' and then 'Tina'.

12/22   There hasn't been a camera thread in a bit. I'm lazy, can someone help
        me decide that a dig SLR is better for me than a "prosumer" one,
        and if so that the Canon dig. rebel at $770 after rebate is the best
        deal? It appears to be $500 less than a Nikon D70.
        \- the +$800 non SLR digitals are for rich morons --psb
        and if so that the Canon dig. rebel at $770 after rebate is the best
        deal? It appears to be $500 less than a Nikon D70.
        \_ It really depends what you want to use it for.  I think for most
           semi-serious photographers, you're probably better off spending less
           money on a fixed-lens camera than more money on an SLR+lens.  A
           number of prosumer cameras have lenses which are quite acceptable,
           although there are some compromises to be made.  If you don't
           already have a bunch of lenses, and don't know exactly how much
           photography you're going to be doing, I'd definitely look at a
           manual-control prosumer camera with a decent fixed lens.  -tom
           \_ yes, I agree with tom that prosumer lenses have their
              advantages.  I'd say price and portability are the two
              main ones.  Have you seen how bulky those Digital SLRs are with
              those long lenses?
        \-nikon d70body is $1k - $100rebate = $900. although unless you have
        a lot of nice lenses you probably do want to get the kit lens. --psb
         \_ yea I was comparing basic kits. the canon body is $670. So is the
            Nikon kit lens worth the extra dough over Canon's? Getting the
            black body on the Canon amusingly seems to add $40. The Nikon lens
            is a DX which I recall you bitching about.
            \- whether the lens is worth it to you obviously depends on
               what you are sitting on and what you plan to shoot. nobody
               is saying "oh it is a piece of shit lens" ... independent
               of how it may fit your needs, the general consensus seems
               to be "it is fairly priced". i have a nikkor AF-D 18-35
               but i bought the kit lens because i have a second body and
               the pix i care about are often paroramics so i didnt want
               to keep swapping lenses. BTW, a huge factor in cameras are
               operational issues that cant be expressed in single number
               statistics like pixels or flash sync speed etc. if one camera
               has something 3 deep on a menu and another camera has a button
               that can immediately control that setting, that kind of thing
               can make a huge difference. --psb
               \_ ok, agreed... I'm sitting on nada, I've kind of followed the
                  market for a while now though. I suppose I wonder why the
                  Canon kit with similar specs ends up $500 less than the
                  Nikon. I think I understand the usability concerns with this
                  Canon camera. Are the lenses different in just "general
                  optical quality" or am I missing something else... ok thx.
                  \- there are a lot fo comparisons on http://photo.net, dpreview
                     etc. if you post non-anonymously i would be more inclined
                     to send you the links.
        \_ if you dont' have any lens at first place, then, go with whatever
           you want: Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Pentax.  All of them are pretty good.
           the key is control, as post earlier.  Make sure the camera you use
           has easy access (e.g. hardware button) for 1. white balance, and
           2. exposure compensation.  If you know anything about photography,
           then, you probably want seperate dial/control for apature and
           shutter speed as well.  Canon Digital Rebel combines apature and
           shutter speed into one control.  For person like me who tend to
           fiddle with both on every picture, that is some serious usability
           issue.  As for lenses, I would ditch the kit lens and get a better
           one, and get as wide as you can afford.
                \- the DX format "G" 18mm lens is going to be much
                   cheaper than anything else which will be an option
                   if he goes with the nikon. otherwise you are talking
                   about a lens with a much more limited range like the
                   18-35 [an AF-D lens] or you are talking about +$800
                   lenses. --psb
        \_ I would go with the Canon 300D (Digital Rebel). Not only is it
           cheaper (w/ 18-55mm lens) than the D70 (w/o lens), it also uses
           a CMOS sensor rather than a CCD. The upshot for a non-pro is
           that the 300D will produce better photos with less fiddling than
           the D70 (a cmos sensor gets a RGB value at every "pixel" whereas
           a CCD only gets one value at each "pixel" and then interpolates
           the others from adjacent pixels). Some of the limitations of the
           \_ This is SOOOOOO Not true. I hope no one is buying the 300D
              based on this lie. All sensors, CMOS or CCD, records only
              one color per pixel. The bayer pattern then merges the colors
              to form one final pixel. What you get is a slight loss of
              sharpness. For the record, only the foveon sensor is physically
              able to record all 3 colors at a single pixel location.
           300D are that it takes a while to boot from standby whereas the
           D70 is instant on, that makes some difference, but I set the
           standby to 30 mins on my 300D when I need to do quick shooting
           and this doesn't reduce my battery life noticeably. The 300D
           also doesn't have some of the pro features that the D70 and
           10/20D have, but if you are looking at a pro-sumer camera, then
           the 300D will be more than sufficient.
           The other big advantage I find is that Canon lenses are cheaper
           used than Nikon lenses and also Canon's lower end lenses are of
           much better optical quality than Nikon's lower end lenses. And
           you could always get yourself a Canon "L" series lens (generally
           consider the best lens you can buy from any vendor).
                    \- the canon 20d vs d70 is a serious question if you
                       take out $$$. i think the d70 is pretty clearly
                       a better camera than the 300d. the only justification
                       for the 300d would be large investment in canon lenses
                       in which case you would probably be looking at the 20d
                       anyway. i would take the cmos/ccd stuff above with a
                       grain of salt. --psb
                        \_ The noise levels of the 300D/10D sensor at the
                           same ISO and shutter speed are lower than the
                           D70's:
                           http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond70/page14.asp
                           \- focusing [NPI] on a couple of percent difference
                              on laboratory condition, blownup shots is silly.
                              there is a giant difference in noice between
                              physically smaller sensors with same #pixels
                              but suggesting a signficant difference in
                              noise between the d70 and 300 is "noise" ...
                              it's better to look at more significant
                              differences [like camera functionality and
                              interface] than these marginal qualitative
                              ones. d70 vs 300d: 1/500 vs 1/200 flash sync.
                              d70: better metering. 8000th vs 4000th for
                              top shutter speed. much much larger buffer
                              for continuous shooting in d70. better whitebal
                              control. come on. this is not a serious contest.
                              with the 20d it is a serious comparison. --psb
           \_ Yeah they have a rebate deal where you get extra $100 rebates
              on lenses bought with the drebel. I have a hard time determining
              the value to me of some of these though. The 17-40 f/4 L one
              could be interesting, could get with camera for <$1100.
              Adding a tele this gets pretty pricey although I suppose the
              lenses are a better long term investment than the camera.
              One other thing about the SLR is the sensor size:
              http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos300d/page14.asp
                \_ I don't remember which lenses qualify for the rebate,
                   but if the 75-300 IS or the 28-135 IS qualify, I would
                   recommend getting one of those.
                   \_ while they are good lenses, don't forget that
                      dSLRs have a cropping factor of 1.3x to 1.6x (some).
                      So that means a 28mm becomes a 44mm (example only)

12/22   I'm considering a job in the south bay that would mean ~2:15 commute by
        BART + Caltrain with minimal layovers.  I'm thinking I can get a new
        laptop and unlimited cellular-internet and make the commute time a
        reasonable facsimilie of how I spend many evenings.  The big downside
        is I'll have *much* less time to spend with my (live-in) girlfriend and
        my non-computer-based hobbies.  Am I completely insane for considering
        this arrangement?
        \_ I did this for almost a year.  The most important thing is to work
           from home one day a week; I can't describe how much this helps.
           (And you need to negotiate for it before you accept the job.  It'll
           be way harder otherwise.)  It's also nice if there are people you
           can carpool with occasionally instead of taking BART.  Anyway, it's
           tolerable for at least six months, but don't plan to do it long-
           term.
        \_ I did this for almost a year.  It really, really helps if you can
           work from home one day a week.  (And you need to negotiate for it
           before you accept the job -- it'll be way harder otherwise.)  It's
           also nice if there are people you can carpool with occasionally
           instead of taking BART.  Anyway, it's tolerable for at least six
           months, but don't plan to do it long-term.
        \_ Where are you commutting from and where are you commutting to?
           If you tell us someone may be able to offer a quicker route
           by car.
           \_ It should be about 1:30 by car but I don't like driving and can't
              use a laptop while driving.
        \_ you could become crazy aerobic workout on train guy!
           \_ The key is to get a co-worker to take the same commute and become
              the crazy kung fu battle workout on train guys.
        \_ Why not just move?
           \_ GF just bought a house right next to BART (good commute for her)
        \_ I commute ~1 hr each way on daily basis.  I really hate it when I
           get the urge and have to use the bathroom during my commute.
        \_ Bragging on soda the fact that you have a (live-in) gf?
           \_ That's bragging?
                \_ This is soda.
                   \_ he lives at his gf's house, no less. what a man.
                      \_ Pff. I pay rent.
                         \_ What a man! I bet she can't wait until you
                            stop being a sponge.
                            \_ What's that?  Oh, that must be the sound of
                               somebody talking out of their own ass.
                               \_ I'm not the pathetic loser with the
                                  2 hour commute paying rent to live in
                                  his gf's house.
                         \_ It would be more impressive if she let you
                            live there for free.
                         \_ Oh.
        \_ I did this once for six months to go work for Taos. I gave it
           up and took a 15% pay cut to get a reasonable commute and my
           life back. I guess it depends on what you think your time is
           worth, but for me, spending 8 hrs (work) + 5 hrs (commute)
           really was not worth it. I got up at 7AM, didn't get to work
           until 9:30, left at 5:30 and got home at 8PM. I was too
           tired and hungry to do anything but order out and then
           crash. When I switched to a job at HotWired, my life
           improved immeasurably. Taos even offered me a 30% raise
           if I would stick around, but I decided against it. -ausman
           \_ Wait a minute, you gave up a 45% raise so you wouldn't have
              to waste time commutting? Couldn't you have just rented a
              nicer place closer to Taos for a 45% raise? Did momma raise a
              fool here?
           \_ Right on! I used to commute and life is so much better now
              that I do not. I recommend the OP find a job closer to home.
              \_ This was before wireless internet though, so that changes
                 the equation quite a bit. I spent most of my free time
                 surfing the net and it sounds like this guy does, too. -ausman
        \_ extra hour of free time on daily basis is extremely valuable to me.
           it will hit you after a while.  so, don't do it.
        \_ Don't be a fool. The commute will ruin your relationship. Even
           with the laptop, you're burning time better spent doing something
           you really like.
           \_ http://partypoker.com
                \_ the point is that you can do that on the train commute.

12/22   Is there a way to make cp retain the file time but not the other shit
        when I do a copy? -p preserves too much information. I just want the
        file to retain its timestamp.
        \_ There is if you use GNU cp.

12/22   I just used my free $30 credit from opening up an Amazon credit card.
        Is there any reason to keep it?    -person who hates opening CCs
        \_ well, if you buy from amazon fairly frequently, when you end up
           with $600 in amazon purchases, you get a $25 amazon gc.
           \- if you get an REI VISA, you can get a check instead of REI
              credit. --psb

12/22   If I buy an 802.11 hub for my company (I'm a new admin), how many
        nodes/computers can 1 support, and what's the bandwidth? Say I have
        200 people in my company, how many hubs do I need? Thanks.
        \_ Theoretically you can support 223 devices max on each access
           point. In reality you shouldn't have more than 25-50 devices
           per AP, depending on what kind of users you have.
           BTW, it's not technically a "hub" but an "access point".
           A "hub" usually refers to a dumb hub that broadcasts all packets
           to all computers on the network. Most of the things you see today
           are "switching hubs" or "switches" which direct traffic according
           to IP/MAC address instead of just simply broadcasting it. A
           wireless unit is usually referred to as an "access point" since
           there is an additional layer on top of the switch for the WiFi.
           -oldbie admin.
        \_ one more jive, the whole motd goes. You've been warned.
           \_ dun't ilyes zee mutd, y'knoo? Bork Bork Bork!
           \_ ooooh. scary!

12/22   IF I D/L AN 8o2.11 HUB FOR MY COMPANY (1M A NU ADMIN), LA1K, HOW MANY
        NODES/VIC-20Z CAN 1 SUPPORT, LA1K, + WUTZ THE BANDWIDTH??? SAY 1 GOT
        2oo D00DZ IN MY COMPANY, LA1K, HOW MANY HUBZ DO I NEED?? THANKS,
        \_ 1 ACCESZ PO1NT = 1o-25 VIC-20S,  LESZ VIC-20Z BETTUR. GOT PHUN!
          \_ HOW MUCH ADMINISTRATOR WORK 1Z INVOLVED IN MANETENANCE?? 1 GOT
             A HUB AT HUM + I NEVUR WORRY ABOUT IT, LA1K, BUT 1TZ BECAUSE 1M
             THE ONLY D00D UZE1NG THE HUB... THIZ IZ THE F1RST TIME I HAFTA
             DEAL W1TH 2oo D00DZ, LA1K, 1/2 UV THUZE EXPRESZ A NEED FOR 8o2.11.
             \_ b1ff gives better results if you jive the input first.  See
                below.
        \_ IT DEPENDZ ON HOW SPREAD OUT DA DAM SUCKAZ ARE,  WHAT IT 1S, LA1K,
           MAMA!! EACH ACCESZ POINT GOTSTA LIM1TED RANGE,  WHAT IT IS, LA1K,
           MAMA!!

12/22   Dear Religious Democrats (emarkp, jrleek, etc), please help out.
        I'm trying to find biblical sections like John 12:34,
        Genesis 56:78, or something like that, which may suggest
        that Jesus 1) favors more government handouts for
        welfare 2) is compassionate and is soft on crime
        3) prefers raising tax for the rich to support the poor
        4) anything else that aligns with the Democratic agenda
        I'm trying to come up with something cool, but I need actual
        sections from the bible. ok thx     -don't know much about bible
        \_ Apparently you know even less about the motd and its cast of
           characters than you do about the bible.
           \_ I have to wonder what I or jrleek have written which led this
              person to believe we are Democrats. -emarkp
              \_ Well, it sounds pretty bizarre to me.  Is there *any* issue
                 on which you would consider yourself to be a "liberal?"
        \_ This has to be the dumbest request of the year. You can't take
           the bible and start applying 21st century politics to it.
           Anyway, the Bible as a whole is definitely conservative, especially
           the Old Testament. You are prohibitted from homosexuality, you can't
           eat pork, and anyone who isn't part of your group is slain. If you
           think that Jesus was a liberal, you'd be wrong. He expressly
           states that although he brings something new, the old ways are
           by no means to be overthrown. Also, although the Catholic
           Church has traditionally been aligned with the Democrats, they
           are firmly against abortion, divorce, and contraception. I'm
           not quite sure how you could align the strongly traditional message
           in various parts of the Bible, especially books like Job or Jonah
           which teach absolute faith in God without reason, to liberal
           democratic views.
           \_ look, if Karl Rove can successfully use the Bible to
              manipulate the not-so-bright mass of people, then it
              shouldn't be so hard to use his own ammo to manipulate
              them the other way. If all logic and reasons fail, you
              have to resort to... Religion, which is proven to work well.
        \_ Maybe instead of finding a few choice quotes to bend to your
           agenda you should read the whole bible to get a better idea
           of what Jesus stood for.  You're no better than O'Reily.
           \_ it takes one OReiley to counter another OReiley.
              \_ Maybe you should watch Jon Stewart on Crossfire.  He
                 seriously disagrees with that approach.
        \_ Um, I'm most certainly not a Democrat. -emarkp
           \_ uh, ok. So what are you, a conservative?
           \_ he's not a Democrat, he's been Visited by the Angel Moroni
              \_ Yes.  And I see very little in the Bible to support government
                 policy of any sort. -emarkp
        \_ Luke 12:33, Matthew 19:21, Colossians 3:2
           \_ None of those have anything to do with public policy. -emarkp
            \_ so emarkp, would you say that if Jesus were alive today, he
               would rather support Republican agendas than Democratic agendas?
               \_ I don't think he'd support any political agenda. -emarkp
        \_ If you ask me, Jesus is a communist. Just read:
        Luke 12:33 "Sell your possessions and give to the poor.
        Matthew 19:21 "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions
           and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven."
        Colossians 3:2 "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."
        \_ Yes, those would be the verses listed above.  They are about how you
           should live your own life, not how you should legislate the lives of
           others.  Note also that in Luke he was speaking to the twelve
           (slightly different commission) and in Matthew he was responding to
           the young man who asked how to become perfect. -emarkp
           \_ "not how you should legislate"?  Give me a break, conservatives
              are trying to legislate religious values all the time.
              \_ That doesn't mean Jesus would advocate it, or that all
                 conservatives suggest that Jesus would advocate it. -emarkp
        \_ hi kchang!
        \_ "As you treat the least of mine, you treat me also".
        \_ 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire
           prepared for the Devil and his demons! For I was hungry,
           and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn't give
           me anything to drink. I was a stranger, and you didn't
           invite me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me
           no clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'
           Jesus goes on to say Then they will reply, `Lord, when did we
           ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or
           sick or in prison, and not help you?' And he will answer,
           `I assure you, when you refused to help the least of
           these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to
           help me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment,
           but the righteous will go into eternal life." -Matthew 25:41
           Also look up liberation theology to see how leftists have
           interpreted these ideals into action.
           \_ Jesus advocates charity.  Leftists advocate charity at the point
              of a gun. -- ilyas
      \_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Theology#Passages_from_the_Bible

12/22   "Time Magazine - Hitler - Man of 1938 (January 2, 1939)"
        on eBay, for $71.00. The seller says "(It is not often we
        have the privilege to have a leader like our current President
        Bush ...thank you Mr. President..thank you God!)"
    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=280&item=4513674003

12/22   The Confederate flag is fighting back, the Red is the latest fashion!
        http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,142338,00.html
        In other news, rural area is expanding and the Conservatives are
        way out-reproducing the Hippies:
        http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,142320,00.html
        \_ The Latinos are way outproducing both.
          \_ true, and they are Conservatives who hate you Hippies.
             \_ Why do they vote overwhelmingly Democratic then?
                \_ Depends on their income and generation. They vote more
                   and more Republican the more money they make.
                   Middle-class Latinos tend to be Republican and all
                   are conservative by virtue of their religion.
                \_ overwhelming? In 2000, they were 25% Rep 74% Dem.
                   In 2004, the were 44% Rep 54% Dem. Go figure.
                   \_ That 44% is a Republican fantasy. Bush got
                      about 40% and that is far better than your
                      average Republican. He also got 35% in 2000,
                      not 25% as you imply. Been listening to Rush
                      Limbaugh again? You really should fact check
                      that guy before repeating his falsehoods.
                      Latinos are over 3:1 currently Democratic.
                      Latinos are currently over 3:1 Democratic.
                      http://www.lif.org/civic/vote_2000.html

12/22   Is it my imagination, or has the level of noise about alien abduction
        sightings, and conspiracies in popular culture gone down over the last
        four years?
        \_ Far too much actual conspiracy to deal with the wacko alien shit.
           Abu Ghraib torture, Gitmo, EPA... even this whole attempt to paint
           Iraq and Al Quaeda with the same brush.
           \_ yeah, one of the DU admins has "skinner" as his login
        \_ Hmm, 2000 seems like the year when X-Files started to suck.
           Wonder if there is any coincidence?

12/22   Does the airport express have firewall capabilities?  Or do I still
        need to have the base station plugged in somewhere?
        \_ You mean the express lane at the airport? -troll
           \_ Ha, ha, you.. are.. so.. funny.. not..
        \_ http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/specs.html

12/22   Ferengi are a caricature of Capitalists.  Are there any
        caricatures of socialists/communists in ST?
        \_ Borg?
           \_ I was thinking about that.  But that Borg are so much cooler
              than the Ferengi
              \_ It's true that the Borg are far cooler.  I am fascinated by
                 eusociality myself.  Capitalism is mundane and boring and
                 banal and ugly.  Like the Ferengi.  It works though. -- ilyas
        \_ The Federation == Canada
           \_ The Federation is Roddenbery's wet socialist fantasy.  There's
              no money in the Federation (because they eliminated scarcity using
              the matter creation stuff).  But then, inter-species trade seems
              alive and well.  This is never really explained.  You can't really
              \_ The Federation's credit in infinite
              make a medium of exchange of value go away. -- ilyas
              \_ I thought they used "gold pressed latinum" or something, at
                 least in DS9.  I think maybe the star trek universe is
                 just not internally consistent on this subject.
           \_ no way, Picard has too much balls to be Canadian
              \_ perhaps he's really Quebecois.
              \_ Picard has balls? Could have fooled me.
           \_ Federation ~ EU/UN. I say this b/c each of the worlds/systems
              in the Federation has its own government and sends ambassadors
              to the Federation council rather than representatives to the
              Federation congress/senate/parliament.  This is more like the
              set up of the EU/UN. I agree that the Federation started as
              some sort of socialist fantasy but the Federation hardly
              resembles that anymore. It is more like a EU/UN where the US
              basically calls the shots. Earth seems to get its way all the
              time is generally the most heavily defended planet. Earth also
              seems most like the US rather than Canada or Europe in terms
              of the behavior of its people and leaders.
        \_ Romulans => Romulus ~ China, Vulcan ~ Japan/Taiwan. Okay the
           history doesn't quite work out since Romulans fled from Vulcan
           but the rest is pretty similar.
           Klingons might work too b/c they were supposed to be equiv.
           to the Russians. Lots of similarities (ST6 => moon blowing
           up ~ Chernobyl, Errand of Mercy ~ Russia v US in a small
           south east asian country, just to name a few).
           BTW, the Cardassians seem to line up with Germany w/ Bajorans
           ~ the Jews. Not sure what to make of the Dominion or the
           Breen (or any of the stupid races on Voyager).
        \_ it's evident that the Enterprise runs like communism. Everyone
           there is stuck on the ship for the rest of their lives,
           and they all have the same uniforms. In fact, it seems that
           everyone from the future dresses the same. I guess at one time
           or another someone decided that individualism sucks for one
           reason or another and made everyone dress the same way.

12/23   The screen on my 600 series IBM thinkpad no longer seems to work.
        Is it worth trying to replace the screen?  Ebay seems to have
        reasonably priced screens but I have no idea how difficult it is
        to replace a screen.  Can anyone point me to instructions on
        replacing the screen or suggest whether this is a good idea?  Thanks.
        \_ Chances are it's not the screen unless you cracked it. Chances
           are it's the LCD inverter, which costs much less than a whole
           screen. Laptop parts are fairly hard to replace, but the Thinkpad
           should be a good model to do it on. Do you have regular or
           security screws? -williamc
           \_ I think I have regular screws.  The inverter's on ebay are
              much cheaper than the screens so it would be great if that
              was the issue.  How would I figure this out?  Do you know
              of any websites with instructions on this sort of thing?  Thanks.
              \_ 1) If the backlight is out you will still be able to see
                    your screen function if you look at it close enough
                    in bright lighting.
                 2) If the invert is out, well, the inverter is out. You
                    can't tell if it's an inverter problem or if it's something
                    inside the screen. If you didn't crack your screen there
                    is an exceedingly high probability it's the inverter
                    because LCD screens will last a long time without
                    damage, in the order of decades.
                 3) If you damaged one of your cables. Only way to test that
                    is to pop off the hood of your laptop and examine the
                    cables. Also make sure you seat the connectors
                    properly. Maybe you dropped it or somethign and it got
                    loose.
                 4) If it's the screen, then, well, get a new laptop. It's
                    really not worth it since you can get a faster laptop
                    for not much more money than screen + labor. Obviously
                    you have the hassle of transferring over files.
                    If you feel warry about taking apart a laptop, well,
                    you should be. I've broken the plastic moldings on two
                    laptops I've repaired in the past. It just goes with the
                    territory since they're not exactly designed to be taken
                    apart. Just don't force anything, and sometimes you have
                    to force a small flathead screwdriver into not-so-obvious
                    slotholes to uhnook plastic tabs. Just be aware that
                    screws can hide under rubber caps over holes, so you'l
                    need to be patient before resorting to more than
                    light force in taking apart a case. -williamc
        \_ If you don't know what's wrong with it, it could be the screen,
           backlight, cable or motherboard.  Typical sales on eBay are only the
           screen, so if your $2 cable bought it, you're screwed.  That being
           said, I've heard thinkpads are the easiest to work on.
           \_ Do you know how I could figure this out?  Should I take it
              to CompUSA and ask them to fix it or something like that? Thanks.
              \_ Take it to whoever would handle the manufacturer's warranty.
                 If it's out of warranty, you might get them to diagnose it at
                 least.  Typically, they'll simply replace all the screen
                 components.  Doing it yourself will most likely be $1000 or
                 more.
        \_ if you post your login, I will send you a thinkpad 600 maintainence
           manual.  it will list all the 600 models and give you part numbers.

12/22   First, the OS dominance, then the browser dominance, and now,
        media player dominance:
        http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=353887

12/22   Most villagers at Bangalore embrace Microsoft over open source.
        Microsoft is chosen as the networking solution for the state's
        utilities and services for 55 million people:
        http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/12/21/india.microsoft.support.ap