Berkeley CSUA MOTD:2005:January:19 Wednesday <Tuesday, Thursday>
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2005/1/19-20 [Computer/SW/Languages/Java] UID:35781 Activity:nil
1/18    In C network programming, say I have a variable frame_var of
        type ethernet frame struct. Ignoring what uint is actually, let's
        say the frame struct is "struct frame {uint preamble, uint dest,
        uint source, char data[1500], uint crc};".  Then in order to
        put stuff into data, I'd do casting as follows:
            tcp_data = (tcp_struct *)&frame_var->data
        From this point, I can put fields into tcp_data->source,
        tcp_data->etc. How would I achieve the same thing is Java
        since I can't do crazy dereferencing/crazy casting? And is it
        actually possible to do such low level (data link layer)
        programming in Java?
        \_ If I'm understanding what you're wanting to do, you may want to
           look at the serializable interface, and the corresponding
           writeObject, readObject methods.             -mice
        \_ StringWriter maybe?  Or just write to the socket directly.
        \_ You might be able to do some of this using reflection.
           I don't think that you can manually set the tcp src/dest
           addr on a pkt in java though.
        \_ I'd create a class TCPData with instance vars matching the
           tcp_struct, and then add a method TCPData::writeOnBuffer(char[])
           to shove the data into the char*. If you want to be a bit more
           efficient with memory, you could do it differently -- have
           the TCPData constructor accept a char[] and have the getter/setter
           methods do the offset arithmetic to put and retrieve values
           from the char[] correctly, but I'd only do that if absolutely
           necessary.
2005/1/19-20 [Uncategorized] UID:35782 Activity:kinda low
1/18    What do you guys use to split MPEG files?
        \_ I use TMPGEnc.
           \_ What about combining?  Thx.
              \_ Uh, also TMPGEnc.
2005/1/19 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Airplane] UID:35783 Activity:insanely high
1/18    Regarding the A380 airbus/French engineering troll... if I were to
        pick machineries based on reliability, branding, and engineering
        history, I'd pick in the following order:
                Japanese > German > American > French
        It's too bad that Germans and Japanese don't make aircrafts.
        They really know how to make machineries that are efficient
        and/or high performance. As for French engineering, when was
        the last time they built anything reliable and/or worth driving?
        Peugeot? Renault? No thanks.
        \_ Honda has always wanted to get into the aircraft engine
           business, and it has started doing it already:
           http://world.honda.com/AircraftEngines
                \_ I just saw the Honda Jet video, it is AWSOME!!! I LOVE IT.
        \_ German machines tend to be slick but fragile.
           \_ and I suppose Americans are much better? Say you got a 100 mile
              drive to a wedding/job interview, would you drive a 20 year old
              Pontiac or a 20 year old Mercedes?
              \_ You do know that JD Powers polled 293 problems per 100
                 Pontiacs after 3 years ownership, and 318 problems per
                 100 Mercedes Benzs in the same period.  The MB has fewer
                 initial quality problems (132 per 100 vehicls) than the
                 Pontiac (142 per 100), but the Caddy, which is more
                 comparable to the MB anyway, has just 103 initiali problems
                 per 100 vehicles, and just 209 after 3 years.  To back it
                 up with personal experience, the 2 MBs I've owned (ML320
                 and E430) are pure crap with electrical and vibrational
                 problems too numerous to list.
                 \_ The previous poster said 20-year-old Pontiacs and Mercedes,
                    not late model year ones.  20-year-old Mercedes are much
                    more likely to keep on running today than 20-year-old
                    Pontiacs.  I agree that today's low-end Mercedes are craps
                    for their price tags.
                    \_ Yes.  But I fail to see how the reliability of 20-
                       year-old cars applies to current German ability to
                       design and manufacture reliable machinary.  Low end?
                       A friend's SL500 dash lit up like a Christmas tree 2
                       hours after he picked up the car from the dealership.
                       "Dude, your check engine light is on... Now the empty
                       gas tank light too... What does *that* other light
                       mean?..." I had a great laugh over it and he was
                       pissed at me for a couple months.  Of course, he also
                       has the Land Rover that has never ran for 3 months in
                       a row, including the time when it would not go into
                       reverse, which made leaving a parking spot somewhat
                       entertaining.
                       \_ Mercedes has ran their reliability into the ground.
                          Who knows why this is, although I've seen (somewhat
                          troll-ish) claims that it is related to their move
                          into East German factories.  BMW seems to have
                          kept up to speed, however.  One factor here is that
                          car reliability is much higher than it has been in
                          the past, and the differences between makes is not
                          nearly as great as it used to be.  Car makers have to
                          work very hard to keep up their standards, and of
                          couse Lexus sets a very high bar indeed (too bad they
                          make such boring cars).
                          \_ As a BMW owner I can call their cars
                             'adequate'. The engine itself will run
                             forever, but everything else (including
                             transmission) is delicate. My BMW has been in
                             the shop more times in 3 years than my Honda
                             has in 10 years. I prefer the BMW because of
                             performance and styling, but that's it.
                          \_ The decline of Mercedes started with its merger
                             with Chrysler.
                             \_ But interestingly, Chrysler has had something
                                a comeback since the merger...
                                \_ which means, crappiness and quality are both
                                   conserved, and that Chrysler owns Mercedes,
                                   not the other way around?
           \_ Concur. Also, the Swedes are good engineers. What about the
              British? Certainly they made good planes in WW II.
              \_ Britian used to make passenger planes, but a very famous
                 set of myserious crashes in, the 50's (I think) ruined
                 them.  It turned out the metal they had used would
                 fatigue and eventually break off in flight.  They did,
                 however, figure out the cause via some very impressive
                 detective work, so they at once lost their reputation
                 fro building aircraft but gained one for good aviational
                 detecive work. I think the plane was called "the Comet."
                 Addendum: Here we go:
                 http://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/planes/comet.html
                 \_ Scotlandyard?
              \_ The Spitfire was the best fighter....
              \_ Our Boeing 747s use Rolls Royce engines.
           \_ Really?  I heard Volkswagon engines lasts a long time.
              \_ Volkwagen is near the bottom in reliability. German cars
                 are high performance, but break easily. Japanese are
                 durable. American cars are... uh...?
                 \_ Cheap. The world you are looking for is cheap.
        \_ German engineering is the best! Panzer >>> Shermans. V1/V2 rockets were
           state of the art. Their ME262 fighters flew faster than any WW2
           prop fighters. And they have the Autobahn, which tests German cars
           under great stress. I love German engineering. ALL HEIL GERMAN!!!!!
        \_ Airbus > Boeing (not a troll)
           \_ Yeah, Boeing never crashes their demo planes into the trees
              due to faulty design.  Airbus = r0x0rz!
           \_ The Airbus was foolproof. Basically, if you are 50 feet from the
              ground the computer assumes you're landing and takes over the
              throttle/controls and guides you to a gentle landing. During the
              Airbus demo, the pilots were instructed to make a low level pass
              from the ground (common aviation demo), and when they flew it,
              they flew 30 feet from the ground. The computer thought they're
              landing, and took over. So yes the Airbus is foolproof, the
              pilots are not.  P.S. All Boeings have an option to turn off
              fly-by-wire. None of the Airbuses have that option.
              \_ If you make something foolproof you will breed greater fools.
              \_ Trusting computers that completely is blatantly stupid.
                 \_ That is true, but trusting humans completely is even worse.
                    cf. the collison in Switzerland.  It really comes down to
                    a choice between trusting the people who designed the
                    plane/machine (ppl like you) and those who pilot them.
                    Contrary to popular myth, the latter are not that reliable.
                    Contrary to popular myth, the latter are not more reliable.
              \_ That's hilarious!  URL please?
        \_ as an engineer, I have reservations on the latest and greatest
           technology. First of all, the A380 is GIGANTIC so it requires
           longer runways and more complex systems to accomodate for its
           size. If there's a problem, you can only land in certain
           airports so if you have to reroute or land due to weather or
           mechanical problems, you're screwed. Secondly, big systems have
           more points of failure, and even when you add redundancy, they
           crash more catastrophically than smaller systems due to bigger
           mass and less available land (you can land small planes in a
           dessert, but with A380 you'll generate so much spark/fire and
           leakeage the chance of surviving is minimal.)
           Thirdly, big systems tend to be complex than smaller ones and
           in general complexity introduces new and unforeseen problems.
           Lastly, I just don't know enough about French engineering to
           really trust the A380.
           \_ Must be a really small plane or a really big dessert.
              \_ I prefer fudge sundaes, myself.
           \_ I knew people who adored American engineering, boarded a Boeing
              or MD, and migrated to the big aquarium.
2005/1/19-20 [Recreation/Media] UID:35784 Activity:high
1/19    Film Review: Elektra: Jennifer Garner is always nice to look at, but
        this does not a good movie make. Director Rob Bowman once again
        takes a great idea and blandifies it to the point of silliness (cf.
        X-Files). And the Grand Lake Theater didn't even have the Fantastic
        Four trailer, so disappointment all around.
        \_ Golden rule: any comic book character not good enough to get their
           own comic book will not make a good movie character (c.f. Robin).
           \_ Ah, but can you imagine what a talented director could do with
              Bill Sienkiewicz as a creative consultant on Elektra: Assassin?
           \_ Robin has his own comic book, he just changed his super hero
              name first.
              \_ Holy Hollywood Jews, Batman!  Robin has his own comic book?!
               \_ Yeah he is called Nightwing now.
              \_ I thought Robin was dead?
                 \_ Second Robin -- Jason Todd -- yes. First Robin = Nightwing
                        \_ Third Robin -- Tim Drake -- has had his own
                           comic book series for the last decade.
        \_ Jennifer Garner is a hardbody, but I don't really understand her
           appeal. She's very 'girl next door' and yet they sell her as a
           tough chick in movies and as glamorous off the set. It just doesn't
           work for me, because she seems like neither.
           \_ She is a classic beauty:
              http://csua.org/u/ars
              \_ Not like Liz Taylor, Grace Kelly, Rita Hayworth, etc
                 http://glamournet.com/legends/Rita/bw/rhglam2.jpg
                 http://glamournet.com/legends/audrey/gallery/_bkft4.html
        \_ You think this is bad, wait until Keanu Reeves soils your good
           memory of Constantine.
           \_ If he fucks up A Scanner Darkly I'm going to be outside
              the theater with picket signs and leaflets.  I'm not even
              fucking kidding.
              \_ Better get your picket signs ready.  Did you see Johnny
                 Mnemonic?
                 \_ Honestly, I think Reeves will probably be ok as Arctor.
                    I'm more concerned about Winona Ryder's portrayal of
                    Donna, and whatever horrible shit the writers and director
                    may have done to the plot.  That's a *really* dark novel,
                    and in my opinion one of Dick's best.  So yes, I am
                    basically expecting to become "Crazy Philip K Dick Pamphlet
                    Man" when it comes out.  You can read about me in the
                    police blotter after the movie comes out.
                    \_ Direction and Screenplay by Richard Linklater:
                       http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000500
                       None of the movies he's written to date have borne the
                       mark of Hollywood, so maybe this one will work out.
                       \_ Can you recommend one of his movies in particular?
                          \_ Slacker or Waking Life --!pp
                    \_ Trivia you may know: Philip K Dick went to Cal
                       \_ And dropped out quickly.
           \_ I live in fear of Constantine, in trepidation of FF, in hopeful
              optimism for Batman Begins, and in the true ecstasy of the
              faithful in the face of Sin City.
           \_ Elektra had her own book, at least for a while in the 80s.
2005/1/19-20 [Computer/SW, Computer/HW/Memory] UID:35785 Activity:kinda low
1/19    What's the difference between an instruction cache and a target
        branch buffer?
        \_ This is the fucking csua, we talk about politics and girls,
           who do you think we are? bunch of nerds?
           \_ Doing your CS152 homework?  Oh wait, now it's semester break.
              Been out of school for too long.
        \_ I am guessing.  an intruction cache stores previous
           instructions, whereas a
           target branch buffer fetches the instruction which the
           branch prediciton logic anticipate.  (thus the target branch)
           \_ An instruction cache also stores next instructions if, say, the
              cache only reads from memory 16 bytes at a time and the
              instructions are less than 16 bytes each.
        \_ a branch target buffer is a place to store metadata about
           recently used branches, e.g. profiling statistics to inform
           branch prediction logic.  it's analogus to a TLB in that it
           holds the scratch state for hardware logic meant to accelerate
           the typical case execution beyond the worst case one.
2005/1/19 [Science/GlobalWarming] UID:35786 Activity:nil
1/19    Rice playing fast and loose with nuclear evidence, including
        transcripts of her problem statements.
        http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/administration/whbriefing
        If such a smart and accomplished individual can't get this right ...
2005/1/19-20 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:35787 Activity:kinda low
1/19    Is this unethical?  Filming of GG Bridge suicides?
        http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/01/19/MNGENASPH31.DTL
        \_ I, personally, don't have any problem with someone filming the
           suicides, but I do have a problem with him lying to the
           officials about his motives.
        \_ It's unethical to lie to get permission to place your cameras on
           GG land, but not unethical to film suicides in a very public place.
           They may have had an ethical obligation to try to prevent any
           suicides they saw in progress, and it sounds like that's what they
           did.
           \_ Does the "Good Samaritan" law in France apply to people trying to
              commit suicide?
        \_ Faces of Death
2005/1/19-20 [Computer/SW/OS/OsX] UID:35788 Activity:low 75%like:35658
1/19    Does the Mac Mini have a cooling fan?  How quiet is it?
        \_ Yes.  The reports I read say its inaudible, but also took pains to
           point out that the Macworld expo floor has a lot of background
           noise so ymmv. -dans
        \_ There's no way to have dual monitors on a Mac Mini right?
           \_ Yes.
        \_ From the pictures it looks like the mac mini has the same fan
           as the iBook. When it comes on full force it is probably audible.
           My mac mini should be here this week (or by early next week). I'll
           post on the motd re noise when it shows up.
        \_ According to the Mossberg guy from WSJ, it is rather quiet, but
           the DVD-RW drive is noisy when in use.  Also, when he puts stuff
           on the mini mac box, the DVD-RW drive would have problem
           operating.  Overall, he liked the mini mac.
2005/1/19 [Politics/Domestic/Election] UID:35789 Activity:insanely high
1/19    The poll, conducted Saturday through Monday, found that the percentage
        of Americans who believed the situation in Iraq was "worth going to war
        over" had sunk to a new low of 39%. When the same question was asked in
        a similar poll in October, 44% said it had been worth going to war.
        http://csua.org/u/arb (L.A. Times via Yahoo! News)

        20/20 interview last week:
        Walters:  "But was it worth it if there were no weapons of mass
        destruction? Now that we know that that was wrong? Was it worth it?"
        Bush:  "Oh, absolutely." -troll #1
        \_ Why do Americans hate America?
        \_ These polls are completely useless. What's the point on
           continually posting poll results anyway? You know they're bogus
           and you can't rely on them.
           \_ Yeah, polling results are all hills and valleys anyway.
              Though, I think it was fully intentional that support for the
              war peaked at election time, when the only meaningful poll was
              taken.  Who cares about poll results at all now?
              \_ Everyone who wants to live in a democracy cares what
                 public opinion is. You can bet that Congress pays
                 attention to the polling numbers, especially for their
                 district.
                 \_ No, you moron, the point isn't what the public opinion is,
                    it's whether polls REFLECT public opinion. Polls
                    obviously do NOT reflect public opinion. If they did
                    then John Kerry would be President and we would've
                    never been in Iraq. Your polls are useless because
                    the error factor is too large. HOW you poll and
                    WHO you poll and AT WHAT TIME you poll obviously
                    affect the outcome. You can't say Poll A reflect
                    public opinion vs. Poll B because neither of them
                    do. Also, Congress isn't worried about general
                    public opinion. Congress isn't elected by the
                    general public. They're worried about special
                    interest and their constituency.
                    \_ well, the Zogby Poll around election time didn't
                       seem pretty accurate.
                       It was certainly difficult to tell between Zogby,
                       Gallup, and others, whose was accurate, and that
                       point is granted.
                       point is granted. -troll #1
                       \_ I think a poll showing 39% support is pretty
                          definitive, even if the exact number isn't quite
                          right.  It's when things are within a couple of
                          percentage points (like the popular vote in the
                          2004 general) that things get squirelly.
                    \_ I think this argument is self-refuting. Show me
                       the polls that predicted a large Kerry victory.
                       \_ Zogby:  Kerry 311 EV, Dubya 213 EV
                                  Too close to call:  NV (5), CO (9)
                          -troll #1
                          \_ Zogby has now blown two elections in a row.
                             Something tells me he won't be doing polling
                             for Reuters in 2008.
                             \_ Zogby was the closest pollster to accurately
                                predicting the popular vote.
                                \_ So if they just didn't publish the
                                   electoral vote prediction, they'd actually
                                   be fine.  However, ...
                                   -troll #1
                          \_ Bush 48%, Kerry 47%
                             http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews922.html
                             Did you just make up this prediction to
                             try and make yourself look good???
                             \_ I believe Zogby made both electoral vote
                                and popular vote predictions.  And no, I
                                did not just "make up" those numbers to look
                                good.  Duh. -troll #1
                                \_ The individual state polls are notoriously
                                   uneven.  I wonder if anyone learned a
                                   lesson about relying on them to make
                                   electoral vote predictions.
                                \_ The point is that Zogby did not predict a
                                   large Kerry victory, in spite of your blov-
                                   ination to the contrary. Zogby was the most
                                   accurate pollster in 2000. And polls
                                   obviously do mostly represent public opinion
                                   in spite of your statement to the contrary.
                                   In short, everything you stated was 100%
                                   incorrect. Furthermore, you completely
                                   ignored the last sentence of the comment
                                   you were replying to, causing you to
                                   just repeat what I said.
                                   \_ (Nice!  You just purged your
                                      "URL then.  I don't believe you."!)
                                      google "zogby 311 213".
                                      There's even a dailykos log for you.
                                      The sentence I was replying to was
                                      "Show me the polls that predicted a
                                      large Kerry victory".
                                      My other reply was to "Did you
                                      just make this up ...?"
                                      I believe you are confused. -troll #1
                                      \_ I said "especially for their
                                         district." You said "their
                                         constituency" Those mean the
                                         same things, at least in the
                                         English language. And 48/47
                                         is not a large margin of
                                         victory, no matter how hard
                                         you try to spin it. Why do
                                         you even bother to read polls
                                         if you think they are all
                                         worthless? I believe you
                                         are an querulous ass.
                                         \_ I'm not "their constituency" guy.
                                            I have now marked all my posts with
                                            signage "-troll #1".
                                            See where I say the bit about
                                            Zogby, if they just didn't
                                            publish the electoral vote
                                            prediction, they'd be fine?
                                            -troll #1
                                            \_ So you are defending a guy
                                               don't even agree with? Fine,
                                               you are just querulous then.
                                               \_ I didn't even bother
                                                  reading what that guy
                                                  said.
                                                  Someone said, "Show me the
                                                  polls that predicted a large
                                                  Kerry victory."
                                                  So I did.
                                                  And then someone asked
                                                  if I made that up, and
                                                  I said no. -troll #1
                                                  \_ So show me the polls that
                                                     predicted a large Kerry
                                                     popular vote victory.
                                                     \_ There is no such
                                                        reputable poll.
                                                        -troll #1
                 \_ This is a freedom Republic, not a euro democracy.
                    \_ but the democratic underground is fighting back
2005/1/19 [Politics/Domestic/RepublicanMedia] UID:35790 Activity:kinda low
1/19    aaron needs to read this:
        http://www.townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/ts20050113.shtml
        \_ When the evil legions of Dubya dupe America with a sophisticated
           media campaign of misrepresentations of the truth, and we just got
           four more years of it, there is a reaction.
        \_ Sowell would do well to point out that the same sharp analysis he
           wants trained on the Left would be equally welcomed if applied to
           the Right.
        \_ So does Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity,
           Bill O'Reilly and all the other screaming maniacs on the Right.
           I fight it amusing that I get an ad for Ann Coulter and Sean
           Hannity on this page.
2005/1/19-20 [Uncategorized] UID:35791 Activity:nil
1/19    Does naplak (on shoes) mean leather or plastic?
2005/1/19-20 [Computer/HW/CPU, Computer/Companies/Apple] UID:35792 Activity:kinda low
1/19    USB>>Firewire or Firewire>>USB? Give reasons and specs. Round 1 START!
        \_ Yersister >> Yermom
        \_ Yersisiter + Yermom >> Yersister
        \_ Yersister + Yermom >> Yersister
        \_ Firewire has a way better plug. USB upside-down looks the same
           unless you look inside the plug. What a stupid design.
        \_ From a usability perspective Firewire wins hands down.  On
           interface, on cpu load, etc.  Unfortunately USB is cheaper.
        \_ Firewire has less overhead and in practice is faster.
2005/1/19-3/5 [Computer/SW/Languages/Web] UID:35793 Activity:nil 66%like:12725
1/19    PHP upgraded. Bugs to root.
2005/1/19-20 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Motd] UID:35794 Activity:moderate
1/19    "Bush begins his new term with the lowest approval rating at that
        point of any recent two-term president -- 49 percent in an Associated
        Press poll this month." (CNN.com)
        So, how effective do you think authorities will be at confiscating
        eggs prior to tomorrow's inauguration?
        \_ They will just shoot any dissenters.
        \_ Yawn.  Wasn't there a thread about the same thing two days ago?
           Please check motd archive.
           \_ This reminds me of that old joke about the guys in prison
              who've told the same jokes so many times that they just
              say a number and everyone laughs.  We could do that for some
              of these trolls.  Someone posts "221342353", and the usual
              suspects all chime in with numerical responses, meaning things
              like "you're an idiot" and long rants about guns. Thanks to
              the motd web archive this is actually practical (and has now
              happened a couple of times).
                \_ uh, whatever. what number is this motd and what are other
                   numbers that are similar to this one?
              \_ Yermom!
              \_ Is there a commandline interface to kais motd? i.e.
                 "kais 23431" spits out that motd post, or "-d 2005.1.14"
                 spits out the motd for that day. Via lynx I guess.
                 \_ you got your wish, at your CSUA command line, type:
                    "~kchang/bin/kais 35794" for entry 35794 (THIS ONE)
                    "~kchang/bin/kais 1day" for today's entries
                    "~kchang/bin/kais 2005/1/1" for new year's entries
                    There are many other commands as well but you need an
                    account. For a preview of account capabilities you can
                    look at http://csua.com/?login=1
                                                                -kchang
                    \_ um, I think I'll wait until I can see the source first.
                       not that I don't trust you or anything...
        Dear anal untrusty person, this is the source  -------------/
        {soda}/home/apollo/kchang/bin> cat kais
        #!/bin/sh
        lynx --dump 'http://csua.com/?text='$*
                  \_ oh, ok. nifty. now we can argue back and forth using only
                     backreferences. since all the politics have already been
                     discussed, according to popular belief.
                     suggestion: allow just "1/1" for the date (default to
                     2004) and allow 1/1/2004. ok thanks.
              \_ It's how you tell it.
           \_ Yeah, but that was in the Washington Post.  Now CNN is reporting
              Dubya's approval rating is even lower than Nixon's around his 2nd
              inauguration.
              Anyways, I'm asking about eggs.
              \_ Eggs won't be a problem, because they are only inviting
                 the ideologically pure to the inauguration. Unless some
                 wounded soldier from Iraq goes ballistic. And I bet
                 they have those guys under close observation.
                 \_ The first sentence, after the comma, is not correct:
                    http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-inaug29.html
                    This is why you had eggs and a leadfoot limo driver in
                    Inauguration 2001.
                 \_ s/observation/sedation/
2005/1/19-20 [Computer/Companies/Ebay, Computer/Companies/Apple] UID:35795 Activity:moderate
1/19    Thinking of changing jobs.  I asked about this before but my post
        got trolled.  And I won't post my name for obvious reasons.  I'm
        interested in a position at Ebay or Apple.  I heard the bonuses
        at Ebay are pretty good.  How about Apple?  Any current employees
        would like to comment on the salary/bonus and general atmosphere?
        Thanks.
        \_ If you get married Steve Jobs has the right of first opportunity.
           \_ It's called Prima Noctis.  Ugh.  Ignorant savages all of you.
           \_ That was the case when my pixar-employee friend got married!
           \_ What does it mean?
          \_ During feudal times, the feudal lord had jus prima noctis,
             the "right of the first night" with the brides of any of his serfs.
              \_ During feudal times, the feudal lord had jus prima
                 noctis, the "right of the first night" with the
                 brides of any of his serfs.
                 \_ Wow! Better than the emperors in ancient China!
                    \_ Yep, that's so fucking uncivilized.
                       \_ It makes me want to rally the Scots and take on
                          the King of England!
                          \_ It's good to be the king!
                 \_ It never happened.  Just a story.
2005/1/19-20 [Computer/SW/Languages/Perl] UID:35796 Activity:nil
1/19    What's the difference between regular threads and threads created
        with async in Perl?
2005/1/19-20 [Politics/Domestic/Crime] UID:35797 Activity:moderate
1/19    Funny review of "Hated: GG Allin And The Murder Junkies"
        http://www.geocities.com/outlawvern/ReviewsH.html#anchor270435
        \_ GG Allin was a waste of space.
           \_ If I could push a button and make either GG Allin never have
              existed or make one of these all-sound-the-same corporate
              sellout bands they call punk now, I'd kill the corporate
              sellout.
              \_ I vote for GG Allin and others like him. He's a sellout
                 of a different kind.
                 \_ Seconded. Take your goddamn "performance art" out of my
                    punk, please.
2005/1/19-20 [Uncategorized] UID:35798 Activity:nil
1/19    Is it normal for the fed to release to mass media photos of terror
        'suspects' who have no prior record just based on an anonymous phone
        call?  It sounds like an excellent way to punish/kill a personal foe.
        \_ If the four are illegal immigrants, you have no political
           repercussions!
2005/1/19 [Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Motd] UID:35799 Activity:high Edit_by:auto
1/19    Is there a commandline interface to kais motd? i.e.
        "kais 23431" spits out that motd post, or "-d 2005.1.14"
        spits out the motd for that day. Via lynx I guess.
                 \_ you got your wish, at your CSUA command line, type:
                    "~kchang/bin/kais 35799" for entry 35799 (THIS ONE)
                    "~kchang/bin/kais 2day" for past 2 days of entries
                    "~kchang/bin/kais 2005/1/1" for new year's entries
                    There are many other commands as well but you need an
                    account. For a preview of account capabilities you can
                    look at http://csua.com/?login=1
                                                                -kchang
                    \_ um, I think I'll wait until I can see the source first.
                       not that I don't trust you or anything...
        Dear anal untrusty person, this is the source  -------------/
        {soda}/home/apollo/kchang/bin> cat kais
        #!/bin/sh
        lynx --dump 'http://csua.com/?text='$*
                  \_ oh, ok. nifty. now we can argue back and forth using only
                     backreferences. since all the politics have already been
                     discussed, according to popular belief.
                     suggestion: allow just "1/1" for the date (default to
                     current year) and allow 1/1/2005. ok thanks.
                     \_ ok you got it. Now I'm interested in seeing a debate
                        based on numbers. It'd be interesting if you guys can
                        reduce all the pointless political arguments and
                        counter arguments to numberical theorem/axiom/numbers
                                                        \_ Do you even know
                                                           what any of these
                                                           words mean?
                                                           \_ he is simply
                                                              ridicuing us
                        and what not. Maybe someone can write a knowledge
                        base system on it as well.              -kchang
2005/1/19-20 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:35800 Activity:moderate
1.19    Anybody ever used one of those auto auctions in the bay area?
        Good experience?  What sort of admission fee did you pay to get in?
        Thanks.
        \_ I've been to the alameda county auction in Dublin.  I didn't
           buy anything, I just went to see what it was like.  Admission
           was free.  You could buy a print out of the schedule (something
           like 300 cars), or print one out yourself for free online.
           There were a lot of people taking detailed notes.  It looked to
           me like a very good deal.  Some nice cars went VERY cheap.
           http://www.acauction.com                   --jrleek
           Addendum: I think if you actually wanted to bid on a car you
           had to register, and there was a fee for that. ($15?)  That
           page also describes the extra fees you have to pay when you
           buy.
           \_ How can you tell what kind of condition the cars are in
              without taking it to a shop?  You can tell the condition of
              the chasis but how would you know about the transmission or
              if there is a hole in the catalytic converter etc.  Are the
              prices things went for available anywhere?
              \_ You can go ahead of time (thursday?) and check the cars
                 out yourself.  I didn't, so I don't know how through an
                 inspection you're allowed.  I don't think the prices are
                 posted anywhere, people were there writing them down for
                 their own reference.  I can tell you 2002 BMWs went for
                 about $15,000, and a Kia with 60,000 miles left on the
                 warranty (transferable) went for < 3000. -jrleek
              \_ I never went to one myself, but a coworker did. His
                 friend bought a car there which turned out to be a great
                 buy BUT it was out of gasoline and the battery was dead.
                 Getting it home was a lot of fun, since the gas cap had
                 a key which was missing, too. People who go often know to
                 bring a charger, gas, and some tools. They let you start
                 the cars, but you cannot drive them. Caveat emptor.
2025/03/15 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
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Berkeley CSUA MOTD:2005:January:19 Wednesday <Tuesday, Thursday>