1/15    Provocative, at least:
        http://www.broom.org/epic
        \_ who wrote this, some mba l0s3r?  I had to stop at "Googlezon"
           \_ I got a little farther than you, and I was still waiting for
              the "provocative" part. WARNING: CONTENT MAY CAUSE BOREDOM
              AND NAUSEA.
        \_ I don't think "provocative" means what you think it does.

1/15    Proof that conservatives have more manners:
        http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/14/polite.cities.ap/index.html
        \_ The most polite cities aren't cities.
        \_ A real conservative should have better manners. Southerners
           are nothing if not genteel, at least the white ones.
        \_ Then again....
           http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,144454,00.html

1/15    Uh, dumb question but is it possible to defrag Linux (under
        single user mode) and is it worthwhile, assuming you're the
        only person using it?
        \_ if you ever run fsck (or it's equiv on Linux), you'll see
           that you have very little fragmentation.
        \_ It is possible if you backup/restore your data, but I am not
           sure there is a point to it. Sure, it will be faster but
           the filesystem doesn't make little itty bits like NTFS does.
           \_ so besides small files what other engineering characteristics
              does NTFS have that make it fragment more so than Linux?
              And what special characteristics does Linux FS have?

1/15    So I saw In Good Company last night.  Anyone think this is what all
        the Peoplesoft employees are thinking now?
        \_ Dunno, but I saw it too and don't recommend it to anyone who is
           dissatisfied with his job.
        \_ Bye-bye PeopleSoft. Anybody else think that this acquisition is
           going to turn out to be another Great Plains fiasco from a couple
           years ago? Why does everyone want to be in ERP/CRM anyway? CEOs
           of software companies have a continuous hard-on for this industry,
           even though it's probably the most god-awful boring industry in
           all of IT. I guess it's all those multi-million dollar support
           contracts that have them drooling.
           \_ Jeesuz, it took you long enough to come around there.  Of
              *course* it's the money, the interest level of the CEO
              is totally irrelevant, they only care about $$$.
              \_ Jeezus, apparently you're clueless. Do you know about the
                 Great Plains Fiasco? Just because the ERP/CRM space looks
                 profitable doesn't mean it necessarily is. In the future,
                 don't comment on shit you don't know about.
                 \_ I'm not pp, but I have never heard of the Great Plains
                    Fiasco, what it is?
                \_ Why does everyone care about ERP/CRP software? Actually, not
                   everyone but specially the database makers. With the rise
                   of ERP software, Oracle and other databases stopped being
                   the "must have" platform that customers cared most about.
                   With ERP software that gives you a choice of underlying
                   database, for many customers, the database is this thing
                   that's running in the backroom, it could be Oracle
                   or DB2 or MS SQL, they don't really care. It looks the same
                   to them as long as it runs the same apps. That's why
                   Oracle got worried and decided to become an ERP software
                   leader in order to collect whatever cash their customers
                   have remaining after they buy their database and to lock
                   them to the Oracle DB by trying it with their ERP software.
                   You know the rest of the story. I think the Peoplesoft
                   acquisition makes sense. What doesn't make sense to me
                   is how the FTC allowed this merger. With or without
                   Microsoft (which Oracle claimed is also "competing" in
                   this market) what we now have is a tight oligopoly in
                   this market with only two dominant players.

1/15    Question for you registered Republicans.  I've been a registered
        Democrat now for a couple of years, and I've given money to the
        Democrats consistently throughout this presidential campaign.  Now
        they're deciding on a national chairman for the party, and I get
        all kinds of mail asking for money, and not a *single*
        mention of the chairmanship.  They clearly have no interest whatsoever
        in what I, as a member of the party, think.  Is this the same in the
        GOP?  Do they care what average members think as far as the direction
        of the party goes?
        \_ Think about it.  Big political parties (in almost any country)
           provide an enormous amount of patronage, jobs, means for lobbying,
           and ways to climb the political (career) ladder.  They are
           businesses the same way a lot of nonprofits and advocacy groups
           don't really want to see the topic of their activism (such as the
           homeless problem, environmental issues, whatever) go away.  They
           are self-perpetuating organizations, in many of the same ways as
           large corporations.  They attempt to appeal to voters as customers,
           viz. as sources of votes and cash-this is done via focus groups and
           trend analysis.  I seriously doubt whether a campaign strategist
           beyond the local level gives a whit what you, the lone party
           foot soldier, think.  -John
           \_ I understand that.  That doesn't mean it isn't bullshit, and that
              doesn't mean it's equally bad in both parties.  I would also
              argue that as the party out of power, the Democrats have a
              stronger interest in listening to new voices and bringing
              in new constituencies.
              \_ That's what any intelligent person with the benefit of a Cal
                 education would recommend, isn't it?  Nonetheless, your
                 description of the "gimme!" note you received doesn't seem
                 to indicate much inclination to do so.  -John
              \_ Well, how about getting off of your ass and actually getting
                 involved in your party's process? Nobody's going to give
                 you a voice unless you are willing to participate. That either
                 means giving up a lot of dough or a lot of time, which
                 equates to the same thing.
        \_ I have been asked, via email, to participate in a survey on the
           parties future. I gave $2k to the Kerry campaign though.
           \_ uh, you realize that Kerry forgot to spend a few millions
              of the campaign money, and found out a week after the
              election? His campaign is unorganized and run by lame
              bozos. I have no more faith in the Dem party. Go Nader!
              \_ I remember them saying it was incase of a protracted fight.

1/15    Which book was used in cs60b many years ago to teach RISC (MIPS)
        assembly?
        \_ Author was Gerry Kane.
        \_ http://csua.org/u/apw

1/15    http://www.berkeleymardigras.org