1/20    Why buy a Shuffle?  It has no screen!
        \_ Shuttle?
         \_ new cheap iPod, sounds like...
           \_ Cuz $99 makes it actually competetive with other no-disc mp3
              players. I'm not going to spend $300 on an iPod but I might
              spend $99 on a Shuffle. Then again, I might not. I'm pretty
              stingy.
              \_ iriver and creative have displays.  shuffle does not.
                 \_ iriver has the infamous hiss sound. Can't believe they
                    can release this kind of crap.

1/20    Today's the big day. Go on you beatniks with your Not One Damn Dime
        campaign. Less of you to crowd the stores... I think I'll go
        get a new plasma screen today.
        \_ Beatniks?
        \_ WHOOPDEEDOOO! You go do that!

1/19    Please suggest activities for a romantic date in Berkeley area
        other than the usual dinner and movie. I don't have a car. Thanks.
        \_ easy. Get the hell out of Bay Area. I was there for 10 years.
           It really gets to your nerves. The women are lacking and/or ugly
           and you can make 6 digits yet still have a hard time buying a
           2 bdrm condo. Shithole. Get out.
           \_ I'm sorry that your brain is so small.  Perhaps you should find
              some activites that don't exceed its capacity so much to keep it
              busy.
           \_ I love how this answer has nothing to do with this question.
           \_ The nice part about the women is that you can bag them,
              though. They look 10x nicer in LA, but unless you are a
              sugar daddy, a plastic surgeon, or look and act like Brad
              Pitt you won't get any play. Bay Area chicks aren't as hot,
              but a bird in the hand and all that.
        \_ Walk through the UC Botannical garden.  Take the UC hill shuttle or
           hike up the hill.  Admission is cheap, or free for cal students.
        \_ Stay inside and fuck. Strip club. Ballet, museum, play, opera.
           Wine tasting. Stay inside, make dinner, then fuck. By the way,
           you can rent a car if you have to.
        \- what is cheeseboard.
        \_ Berkeley Rose Garden.  Free.  Grab the bus that runs up Euclid.
           Plus, once you're done wandering around the Rose Garden you can
           wander the Berkeley Hills which is a pretty area, or head up to
           wander the Berkeley Hills and burglarize heirloom silver
                                         \_ burgle.  And actually, you
                                            burgle a location.  You steal
                                            an item.
                                            \_ No nitwit, burglarize and
                                               burgle are synonymous. Next
                                               time you try to correct
                                               someone's grammar actually
                                               look it up, stupid.
                                               \_ Doesn't speak to the second
                                                  point, and the proliferation
                                                  of "ize/ise" endings is dumb
                                                  and unnecessary.
                                               \_ Moreover, they're equally
                                                  old (they both appeared in
                                                  the late 1800s) and equally
                                                  logical (they both come
                                                  from "burglar").
           out of nice homes which is pretty easy, or head up to
           Tilden Park.

1/20    Graduated from HS and can't find a place to live? Go back to your
        HS and eat free food at the cafeteria, no one will notice:
        http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/19/school.intruder.ap/index.html
        (PS this is just bizzar)
                          \_ bizarre too.  Not to mention weird.
        \_ When I was in HS, there was this older guy who had dropped out who
           used to hang out in the back with the stoners and pressure kids into
           going in and buying him food in the caffeteria.  He was amazingly
           similar to Todd from Beavis and Butthead.

1/20    Did you hear what I heard? An aggressive anti-abortion policy; force
        where diplomacy fails to promote freedom; the abolition of the Patriot
        Act.... Okay, maybe I'm being overly optimistic on that last one.
        \_ Perhaps I spoke too soon. Read and judge for yourself:
           http://csua.org/u/arr (ABC, full text of Inaugural Speech)

1/20    Is there an option to subversion to keep it from storing your
        password in cleartext?  The file in ~/.subversion/auth/svn.simple
        seems to do so by default.  Thanks.
        \_ Use svn+ssh:// or http:// not svn://.  In 1.1.x, you can turn off
           password caching with the store-passwords option.

1/20    I noticed a sharp drop in motd activities after 1/10. Less political
        trolls, esp. Anything significant happened after that date?
        \_ Freeper guy signed up for reserve duty and got shipped
           to Iraq painting smiley faces on cluster bomblets.
        \_ Some misguided soul started deleting anything vaguely political.
           Fortunately, that person seems to have given up.

1/20    I need to demonstrate a special case of polymophism.  Say I have
        a "class A" and a "class B"  B inherits from A.  A defines foo
        and bar. B redefines bar.  A.foo() calls this.bar(), so if we
        call b.foo() we expect foo() to call the correct bar (B's).
        Can anyone think of a simple real world case where this happens?
        It's for a short talk I need to give, and I need a good example.

1/20    So how much power does my P4 with 350w PS consume? 350w or less?
        I am trying to figure out how much electricity I am wasting...
        \_ Less than 350W, plus your monitor and any powered peripherals.  If
           you really care, you can buy a device called 'kill-a-watt' which can
           tell you the usage of anything that plugs in.
        \_ My Athlon 64 3200+ Newcastle (0.13um) with 450W power supply uses
           70 watts at idle, around 120 at load.
           \_ Thanks!
              \_ oh yeah, it's probably like 25-50 more (I forget) when I'm
                 also playing a 3D game.
                 \_ Is this measurement through "Kill A Watt"?
                    \_ Yes.  You can also buy a Seasonic version (just search
                       for that) on http://newegg.com for $35.  I think they're both
                       accurate.  FYI, ThermalTake has an ATX power supply
                       that gives you a front-panel LED of wattage, but it
                       underestimates by ~ 20%.  That's the non-PFC version
                       at least.  Lameness.
                       Someone else said the ThermalTake was accurate, but
                       it's very likely to be the PFC version.
                       \_ Thanks!
        \_ I don't know the answer.  Just tell it to turn off your monitor and
           hard disk after X minutes of idle time.  And put the PC to
           hibernate and switch off the monitor when you leave your office.
        \_ http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,109379,pg,2,00.asp
           Calculating PC wattage

1/20    How true is this "Trixter" thing, 20 somethings who live off
        their parents, change jobs often, and change SOs often?:
        http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050124/story.html
        \_ It's a widely reported phenom in Japan, too, where they're called
           "Furita" (from the the Japanese transliteration of "free time").
        \_ The "changing jobs often" is a direct result of the destruction
           of pensions in this country.  As to the not getting married until
           later, I think this is a definitely good change.  I think in the
           next generation you'll see a lower divorce rate because of it.
           People have realized "I don't need to enter a world-without-end
           bargain with this person I don't even know", and so they find
           their own way in the world while looking for someone they can
           go along with.  I think these trends started with women's lib,
           and are for the best.  My mom married a horrible guy, got out
           when my sister was born, met my dad, and has been married to
           him for 25 years.  My sisters and I learned from that. --scotsman
                \_ ah that's because you're born in a hippie family. Look at
                   all the evil things in media-- violence, first person shooter
                   games, reality shows based on cheating and lying, etc. You
                   liberals don't know anything about family values and faith.
                   Have you been to your local church lately? You may find
                   peace and stability there. God bless.
                   \_ Hardly.  Why would you say that?  Because my mom
                      divorced?  Because she's a churchgoer and school
                      teacher?  Because my dad served in Vietnam and is
                      a retired LtC?  Get your head out of your ass.
                      You prefer someone getting married right out of
                      high school and being miserable for years in a
                      bad marriage?  I weep for your children.
                      Are you the same person that complained about the
                      guys who weren't allowed to "defend" the kid from
                      the empty water bottle?  --scotsman
                      \_ Heh, I know the guy that posted the water bottle
                         link; it's not the same guy as the one you're
                         responding to above.              -mice
                      \_ With all due respect to your veteran status (you're
                         almost as old as me) please don't feed the trolls.
                      \_ to the other guy: I'm a conservative, but in this
                         case, lay off scotsman even if he may be a hippie
                      \_ you are probably being trolled
                         \_ duh.
                   \_ Your brain is so small...I am so sad for you, so sad.
        \_ Damn, what a bunch of horseshit.  If faculty outside of the
           technical fields are not going to spend their time teaching,
           we should just fire their asses so they don't pollute the world
           with their moronic ideas.  Yes, these kids exist in massive
           numbers, and yes, they're lazy.
        \_ "Twixter" and this sounds exactly like my 25 year old brother
           and his friends. I hear from older acquaintances that many of
           their kids are the same way. In spite of what the article says,
           I do think they are lazy.
        \_ Anyone got the full article?  Also, I agree with the poster
           above.  Most twixters I know are that way because they are
           allowed to mooch.
        \_ I was like that until I was 35, but I didn't live off my
           parents. -ausman
        \_ Here in Texas, we don't have Twixters:
           http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/kdaly/2005/krd_0118.shtml
           \_ what are the Liberal Parenting Mantras?  What are the
              Conservative Parenting Mantras?
              \_ Conservative:
                 Spare The Rod, Spoil The Child
                 Children Should Be Seen And Not Heard
                 A Family That Prays Together, Stays Together
                 Liberal:
                 Bitch Betta Have My Money
                 It Depends On What The Meaning Of "Is" Is
        \_ It is a worldwide phenomena, no doubt the fault of the Lib Media:
           http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050124/sotwixter_chart.html
        \_ I see teenage moms on the bus everyday. Is this what Conservatives
           mean by "family values"?
           \_ funny, I've always thought they're liberal single parents
              like the ones you see in liberal media. Have you
              people ever wondered why conservatives are dominating
              politics? It's because they listen to people.
                Many people in America are pissed. People are sick and
              tired of liberal TV media that glorify late-20s/early-30s
              jobless comedians, minority ganstas, and gays & lesbians in
              NYC and Los Angeles. People are tired of seeing them
              sleeping with and/or shooting at each other. Call it
              evil media, bad influence, or liberal view, I don't care,
              but that is not America is about. Look, people want safety,
              security, stability, and family values, all of which
              conservatives have provided many decades ago.
                I know this thread is going to get a lot of flames.
              Typical liberal response.
              \_ The only thing in your list that any liberal would balk
                 at is "family values," and that's simply because of the
                 way social conservatives define it.  Of late (read last
                 2 decades), conservatives have not provided safety or
                 stability.  And many of the "family values" they offer are
                 not what I will try to instill in my family.
        \_ I'm not sure about in general, but in the south bay I think
           that more and more college grads are returning home after
           college. About 1/2 of my friends still live at home (we
           graduated 5-6 yrs ago). Some of us (including myself) still
           live at home b/c we are working on PhD or LS/Med school and
           don't want to pay rent in addition to tuition. Those who
           are working have taken over things like house payments or
           tuition payments for younger siblings.

1/20      http://cryptome.org/hsomb/hsomb.htm
          \_ Is there some reason you can't describe this link?
             \_ Homeland Security warnings, for official use only,
                but left open to the public due to some beauracratic
                oversight. Interesting reading.
        \_ Is there some reason you can't describe this link?
           \_ Homeland Security warnings, for official use only,
              but left open to the public due to some beauracratic
              oversight. Interesting reading.

1/20    Waaaaaaa!

1/20    Any recommendations for photo gallery software?  I'm looking for
        something simple and not too fancy.  Thumbnails would be nice too...
        \_ Thumbs Plus is actually really nice.  If your needs are simple,
           you might be able to find a shareware version out there somewhere.
        \_ /bin/sh + ImageMagick or Perl + ImageMagick
        \_ Gallery
        \_ What's photo gallery software?
        \_ If you use the Mac, ask the dude at http://www.yellowmug.com to write
           you one.
           you one.  He is an eecs alumni.  Very nice guy.  If you have
           any Mac small software ideas you don't mind giving away,
           tell him.
        \_ If you already have Photoshop, it can generate web pages,
           thumbnails and a thumbnail page from photos in a directory tree.
        \_ I keep hearing good things about Google's Picasa.  2.0 came out
           recently.

1/20    Non semper ubi sub ubi

1/20    http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/20/rollling.stone.ap/index.html
        Is it just me, or it seems like there are a lot more religious/
        family first/church advertisements on cable TV and newspaper ads
        in the past year or so?

1/20    So it turns out Michael Moore doesn't want you to have a gun, but his
        bodyguard can have one.  And it doesn't even have to be licensed.
        http://csua.org/u/as0
        \_ Who said he doesn't want you to have a gun?  You're a fucking idiot.
           \_ Hahahaha, are you watching the same documentaries with your
              eyes open? Did you see Bowling for Columbine? Did you see the
              part where he got K-Mart to stop selling bullets? What kind of
              chimpee are you? Next time, actually WATCH the documentary
              and keep your eyes OPEN and use that stuff between your eyes
              to RECORD in your MEMORY on what happened. I don't know what
              other type of action would qualify you more to be a pro-gun
              regulation person. Also, it's somewhat ironic that he's afraid
              now and requires a bodygaurd when the whole message behind
              now and requires a bodyguard when the whole message behind
              Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 was that fearmongering was
              generated by the Repubs and WASP America. The mere fact that
              he has a bodyguard pretty much undermines his message.
              \_ Dude, did we watch the same documentary? He's not anti-gun,
                 he's anti-gun lobby and anti-gun-stupidity. It's not a binary
                 world out there.
                 \_ Dude, talk about splitting hairs. That's like saying "
                    well, I'm not anti-gay, I just don't support gay marriage."
                    Dude, you're ANTI-GAY. So he's ANTI-GUN. Okay?
                    Okay. (Who the hell are these fucking morons who post
                    on the motd anyway?)
                    \_ I am not anti-gay but I don't support gay marriage.
                       (I support government recognized unions between
                       arbitrary sets of people, for bureaucratic purposes,
                       and private religious institutions of marriage between
                       whoever -- as long as you can find a priest to marry you).
                       I do not support gay marriage under the current use of
                       the term marriage in our society.
                       ... Having said that.  Does anyone here actually believe
                       Moore believes in the interpretation of the 2nd amend.
                       which states private citizens can own guns?  If so,
                       can I get a quote of his to this effect, rather than
                       idle speculation, or post hoc reasoning to justify
                       the fact that he has an armed bodyguard? -- ilyas
                       \_ I think not, but I'm pretty sure you couldn't find
                          one where he explicitly advocates banning guns
                          either.  I think the reason that Bowling for
                          Columbine was an interesting movie, while F911
                          was total horseshit was that it asked more questions
                          than it answered.  Ignoring the bloviating dickhead
                          above, Bowling for Columbine never really advocated
                          any particular position on gun control.  In fact
                          his whole point in talking about canada in the movie
                          was that they all have guns, but have a lot less
                          gun violence, in contradiction to the guns=violence
                          theory.
                          \_ I don't know, I think he asked fairly leading
                             questions (why not do things the Gandhi way?).
                             Of course, he may just have been trolling...
                             in which case he was using rhetoric (in the
                             dirty word sense found in Plato). -- ilyas
                             \_ I think "trolling" is actually a perfect
                                description of what Micheal Moore does, and
                                I think creative trolling really works in
                                certain circumstances.  This whole thread
                                is the response to a troll.  In F911 he
                                crossed the line from troll to one of those
                                long, disconnected rants that get moved
                                to /csua/tmp/looneytoon or whatever.
                    \_ Your position is pretty dumb.  There's these thingies
                       called 'rights' which are granted by this other thingy
                       called 'The Bill of Rights'.  It is possible to dislike
                       one person or group's implementation of those rights, or
                       the nature of a group's constituency while still fully
                       believing in the rights granted.  This isn't splitting
                       hairs, it's one of the benefits of education (well,
                       theoretically anyhow) -- it's called 'critical thinking'
                    \_ So if you don't believe that everyone has the right to
                       carry M16s in public, you are "anti-gun"? I thought
                       Mr. Moore was a big-time gun rights supporter!
                       \_ "Mr. Moore"?
                    \_ "Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than
                       to speak and remove all doubt."  -Abe Lincoln
                    \_ Let's see: I don't like you, so I must be a
                       misanthropist.
              \_ He got K-Mart to stop selling bullets?  Then he's just anti-
                 bullet, not anti-gun! :-)
        \_ After all the death threat's against him posted to Free Republic,
           he needs an armed bodyguard.
           \_ That's what the police are for.
        \_ All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
        \_ add Feinstein, Boxer and Schumer...
           \_ And State Senate Pro Tempore Don Peralta. They all have
                                               \_ Perata
              personal concealed carry licenses but don't you to have it.
        \_ Dude, RTFA: Moore has nothing to do with this nut having or not
           having a gun. The guy's a contract bodyguard, not part of Moore's
           retinue. "Burk has been assigned to protect Moore at times in the
           past, but is not his personal bodyguard, Gavin de Becker [Burk's
           boss] said." Nice troll, though, lots of cookies.

1/20    anyone get one of those share your minutes family cell
        phone plans?  was it worth it?  is it better
        than your family members just getting their
        own goddamn plan? - danh
        \_ it really depends on how much you and family use the minutes.
           i'm on a 400 minute plan and can add on family members for $10,
           which also gives me 100 extra minutes. i barely use half my minutes
           a month, so it would probably be worth it for me. if you guys will
           be constantly fighting for your minutes, then don't do it.
        \_ For 4 years I was on a 125 anytime + 1000 off-peak/weekend plan
           shared among three phones.  Our total minutes were like 20 anytime
           and 100 off-peak/weekend.  We never got close to half the limit.
        \_ My girlfriend has one with her family.  Her sister uses way too many
           minutes so my girlfriend is always worrying about going over.
           Overall I think it's a good idea but you need to be wary of selfish
           family members.
        \_ It depends on your family usage.  My wife and I don't use more than
           400 minutes a month.  It's mor worth it for us to have a family
           plan.  I paid $10 more for the secon line as opposed to another
           $30+ plan.
        \_ My mom and my brother have a shared plan and it worked out cheaper
           (~ $20/mo) for them to share minutes than to get two separate plans.
           I would have joined their plan, but I want to get a Treo650 and
           cingular doesn't allow the Treo's on a shared plan :-(

1/20    I need to buy luggage.  I want something that I will be
        able to bring on the plane as carry-on luggage, but that I
        can easily fit a week or 2 of underwear, shirts, socks, and
        2 or 3 pairs of pants/jeans, a sweater or 2, plus a pair
        or 2 of shoes, and maybe a couple of books.  So I want
        something with the volume capacity probably at least 3 times
        as big as my normal backpack, but something that isn't
        bulky, so that I will easily be able to avoid having to
        check it at the airport.  Any suggestions as for where to shop,
        what to buy, or how much to expect to pay?
        \_ As long as you shop for plane tickets somewhere other than me,
           I don't care where you shop.  I hate people like you.
           \_ So you always check-in all your luggage?
           \_ If they didn't take half an hour to get my luggage to the
              baggage claim area, and if there was no such thing as lost
              or delayed checked luggage, then I'd be happy to check my
              bag.  It's people that take a full minute to stow their bags
              while people are trying to get on the plane behind them that
              bothers me, but that's another topic.  -op
        \_ You're not going to get that much capacity in a carry-on.  Costco
           has good luggage (with the fat zippers and wheels) at a good price.
        \_ Get the ebags professional 22" carry-on.  A little pricey but very
           nice: http://tinyurl.com/5pj35
        \_ You can't fit 2 weeks of clothes into a carryon. Bring a couple
           of days worth and wash clothes in your hotel room and/or have
           them done by the cleaning service.

1/20    I've googled and haven't found anything decisive:  is mandatory
        vacation time legal in CA?  If not, is there an exemption for small
        companies?
        \_ Do you mean "are companies required to give paid vacation time"?
           http://lawzilla.com/content/ca-emp-002.shtml
           \_ no.
        \_ My gf's company pays out the remaining vacation hours at the end
           of the year at your current salary.
           \_ Lame, but sounds legal to me.
              \_ Lamer is capping your possible vacation hours.  I'd gladly
                 take a vacation time payout.
                 \_ You *have* to be compensated for paid vacation.  If they're
                    capped you must be compensated for any hours above the cap.
                    \_ You can have a "no additional accrual" policy, but you
                       can't "expire" standing vacation time ("use it or lose
                       it").  The company I work for caps sick time, but not
                       vacation time.  Sucks less, but both are legal
        \_ No, I mean: "the company will be closed days x y and z, you can use
           vacation time there or take unpaid time off."  Applying to exempt
           employees.
           \_ Oh, plenty of companies to that.  Even big ones.  Applied
              Materials does, for example.
              \_ Which doesn't mean it's legal.  This:
                 http://www.ztrace.com/sites/26jule01/abcnews/abcnews.htm
                 says that Sun backed off it a few years ago.
                 \_ You do realize that the same article quoted an attorney
                    saying "Most companies are well within their rights in
                    forcing workers to take vacation time."
                    \_ You do realize that the paragraph before says that CA
                       may be an exception to this, right?
                       \_ That's because CA DLSE issued an opinion that
                          contradicted federal law.  The DLSE subsequently
                          withdrew that opinion letter and the IWE affirmed
                          CA's compliance to the federal standard.
                          contradicted federal law, but the opinion had no
                          force until it was adopted by either the IWC or
                          the court system.  The DLSE subsequently withdrew
                          that opinion letter and the IWC affirmed CA's
                          compliance to the federal standard.  The DLSE opinion
                          was withdrawn in 6/01, so at the publication of
                          the news story (assuming it was 26jul01), there was
                          no legal basis to think that CA had different
                          requirements than the rest of the country.
                 \_ Sun still does the "the company is shut down - use
                    vacation days or go unpaid" every year for the 4th of July
                    week.  Has since the bubble burst.
           \_ HP's had x-mas shutdown for the five years i've been here. I
              would think they would've stopped if it was found to be illegal
              by now.
        \_ Is my employer required to give me vacation time?
           No.  (from that URL)

1/20    CNN: "Bush vows to spread democracy" seems more like "Bush vows
        to spread White-man disease", haha.
        \__ Democracy IS a white-man's disease.
        \_ world's largest democracy is India, where many brown
           people live. - danh

1/20    From CNN: "Democratic Sen. John Kerry, who lost to Bush in the
        November election, stood a few feet behind the president as he
        was sworn in." Is this just because Kerry was the challenger in the
        election, and if so is this the tradition (to have the losing
        challenger stand nearby, during inauguration)?
        \_ I don't know, but technically there were also other losing
           challengers.

1/20      Did you hear what I heard? An aggressive anti-abortion policy; force
          where diplomacy fails to promote freedom; the abolition of the Patriot
          Act.... Okay, maybe I'm being overly optimistic on that last one.
          \_ Perhaps I spoke too soon. Read and judge for yourself:
             http://csua.org/u/arr (ABC, full text of Inaugural Speech)

1/20    dump truck = http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,144951,00.html
        \_ "At the time, a band spokesman said that Wohl had said he was
           not involved with the incident."  What Wohl said,
           "Dude, I was smoking out behind 7-11, and some bum came up and
           stole the bus!  He came back 10 minutes later and the tank was
           empty.  Seriously, I have no idea duuuude."

1/20    If I go through the bridge toll plaza on a "FastTrak/cash" lane, is the
        transponder supposed to beep?  I did it twice on the San Mateo bridge
        and it didn't beep.  I got worried and now I only use the FastTrak-only
        lanes.
        \_ there is a sign which says Valid
        \_ This is STFW day today, isn't it:
           http://511.org/fastrak/faq.asp
        \_ do you have the regular transponder or the Continuum Transponster?

1/20    Heh.
        http://www.thestranger.com/2005-01-20/bigcover.html

1/20    Dear muslim experts, how exactly did that huge black square
        (Hajj/Ka'bah/Makkah) came about? I mean, someone, or some
        authority must have spent a lot of money making it. Is it
        concrete inside and marble outside? Who maintains it (you need
        to clean, polish, patch crack)?
        \_ Not an expert on Islam, just a humble web researcher:
           http://www.unc.edu/courses/2003fall/anth/023/001/images/conti.htm
           [The following URL was not submitted by the same person:]
           http://tinyurl.com/5tl2w
           \_ ow my eyes!
           \_ 2nd link NSFW
           Short answer: origins lost in the shrouds of history and legend.
           Maintained (and reconstructed several times) by the rulers of Mecca.
           \_ it would be REALLY funny if say an alien craft hovers on
              top of that black stone, and then shoots a lazer beam at
              it till it cracks or vaporizes. I wonder what that'll
              do to the Muslim faith.
              \_ LASER is Light Amplification by Simulated Emmission of
                 Radiation, so it wouldn't make sense to write it as lazer.
                 \_ yu0 = teh ghey.
              \_ They'd just blame it on the Israelis, saying the UFO was
                 sent over from Tel Aviv.
              \_ Did they do that in Mars Attacks?  Or would that be too
                 un-PC?  -John
                 \_ I think this was a minor plot in an Iain Banks (sp?) novel
                    except the qaaba was itself an alien artifact.
                    \_ The Business, and it's the plot of a movie one of the
                       flaky side-characters gets talked out of making.
              \_ It would be funnier if the Pope shot death rays from his eyes.
                 Or how about a battle between the death-ray shooting Pope and
                 the lazer-beam UFO from Mecca?
                 \_ Man, I can totally see this as a StrongBad episode.
              \_ Create more fanatics who are "true believers".

1/20    So I want to get a scanner (prefer 1394 but USB2 would be okay) with
        document feeder (I want to archive my records electronically).  Any
        suggestions?  What price range should I expect?
        \_ do you want a flatbed with doc feeder?  HP has one, but not
           highly rated by Amazon users.
           \_ That would be fine.  What's the model?  Was it the 5550C (I found
              that one on Amazon--the complaints are about the software
              basically making the feeder usless)?
              \_ HP ScanJet 5590
              \_ Also Xerox DocuMate 510

1/20    What happened to the egg & tomato throwers? And what happened
        to the Turn-Your-Back protestors? I don't see it on news.
        \_ Yeah, I watch Fox News, too.
          \_ actually Fox News has a section on protestors.
        \_ "The procession of cars sped up as President Bush neared the
           designated location for protesters on Pennsylvania Avenue. Two rows
           of police lined the street in front of the main protest site.
           Officers stationed atop buildings along the route kept close watch
           on the crowd." -AP
        \_ you know, the President probably didn't even get to see them
           and even if he did, SO WHAT? You liberals are wasting your
           time. You lost, get over it.
           \_ Dubya now has the opportunity to fix his administration's
              mistakes for the next four years.
              \_ mistakes in the eyes of hippies and tree-huggers.
                 \_ "If I could just say one thing, though, about lessons
                    learned, and that is that I spoke yesterday about the
                    important work that we've been doing on the Office of
                    Reconstruction and Stabilization. I think that's a lesson
                    learned.  We didn't have the right skills, the right
                    capacity, to deal with a reconstruction effort of this
                    kind." -Hippie / Tree Hugger Condi Rice
        \_ Just a snowball!  http://csua.org/u/as4 (Yahoo! News photo)

1/20    Why do people bid up items past its Buy It Now Price?
        \_ why does the interface allow them?  shouldn't it just BUY NOW
           as soon as they reach the 'buy now' price?
           \_ once you start bidding on a Buy Now item, the Buy Now option
              goes away (unless there is a reserve)
        \_ The buy it now price is generally set above the opening bid.  Once
           someone bids for the item the buy it now option generally goes
           away.  Basically, the seller is hoping someone is desperate and
           will immediately pay more for the item.  The bidders, by bidding
           instead of paying the buy it now price, are hoping no one else will
           want it badly too.  Sometimes bidders miscalculate and there is
           a bidding war ... On some items the buy it now price is the same
           or just pennies above the opening bid, meaning the seller
           essentially just wants to sell the item for price X.  If someone
           bids on that one, then they are morons.
           \_ yeah, well the exception to this is that the supply is so great
              (for example I was buying a popular DVD movie) that even when
              you've been outbidded, you can just go to the next item. This is
              effective when the item is popular and when you're really cheap
              and want to save a buck or two.

1/20    "People are buying strictly on the basis of price appreciation, and
        that's a recipe for disaster," Thornberg said. "It's obvious we've
        peaked out. The question now is when do we start coming down the
        other side? -UCLA economist Christopher Thornber (on home prices)
        http://csua.org/u/as3
        \_ I like Mr. Fair and Unbiased Poster! The whole article is saying
           how things are unclear, there's indications that the market could
           head either way, and he/she posts the last paragraph in the article
           as if that's the proper summary. Fine work!
        \_ These grapes, dey are so SOUR!
           \_ *sniff*! Yeah, I sure miss being sick half the year from the
              fucking polution, sitting in traffic for an hour to get anywhere,
              and dealing with the attitudes of fucks like you.  I wish
              I were worthy of the privelage of paying an outragous fraction
              of my income into a mortgage on some fucking tract home
              surrounded by strip malls.  yep. Sour grapes all the way.  You
              just keep telling yourself that, buddy.
              \_ You are worthy.  Your spelling qualifies you.
              \_ Well, I live in San Francisco, with the cleanest air and
                 water of any big city in the nation. I don't sit in traffic,
                 in fact I don't even own a car. I use Muni to go back and
                 forth to work. And yeah, it is late sometimes, but even
                 on a bad day, it only takes me 50 minutes to get to work.
                 50 minutes I spend reading the paper, I might add.
                 \_ SF and north bay are tolerable. It's south bay/silicon
                    valley that is the shithole. -not previous guy

1/20    I am getting spam that doesn't have a "for" header.  It has a Received
        "By" and "From" header but no "for".   Is "for" not required?  Does
        "legitimate" mail ever not have a for header?  If not how would I tell
        procmail to filter it, if so, how would I tell spamassassin that it
        \_ well, how about the following in your .procmailrc?
# The following deletes anything that doesn't have the right To field.
# However, most mailing lists don't have it either, so you may
# want to rewrite rules.
:0
* !^To: holubtom@csua.berkeley.edu
spam