4/17    United is in chapter 11 and has been asking to lower the pension
        obligations to persons already retired to keep the lameass
        management in power.  United had its most profitable years in the
        years the union owned them and operated them.  What do you think
        about a major US company renegging on pension promises? and
        about the bankruptcy court backing them up?
        \_ just goes to show, don't trust pension/retirement plans run
           by third parties.  I bet other bankrupt airlines will follow
           suit.  Pension plans are a thing of the past anyway.
           suit.  Pension plans are a thing of the past anyway, just like
           social security.
           \_ Company pension plans probably are, at least to some degree.
              I think the underlying phenomenon is more what we've been
              seeing for a long time now--that companies, because of apathy,
              shareholder value, excessive costs, and other reasons no longer
              feel it expedient to treat employees as long-term assets.  No
              news here, move along.  -John
                 \_ where is psb#1 fan when you need her?
                    \- ??? --psb
              \_ Not the general employees, no... they figured out that only a
                 few key folks are really necessary and the rest are just a
                 mass of replaceable cogwheels. They still take care of the top
                 people which in the case of an airline probably doesn't apply
                 to anybody actually operating planes etc.
                 \_ Practically everyone is replaceable, and the ones who
                    aren't are usually not management.
                    \_ "If you think you're indispensible, check your
                        appointment book a week after you drop dead."
                    \_ Yup, fact of life.  Best way to deal with this is to
                       be aware of it and replace the concept of "company
                       loyalty" with pure professionalism, i.e. I'll work as
                       long as they pay, but no more.  -John

4/18    OKC Bombing Linked to al-Qaida
        http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/4/17/112700.shtml
        \_ find a non newsmax link and i MIGHT click on it.
        \_ Hillary Clinton killed Vince Foster to keep this
           from leaking out.
           \_ But HRC is merely a pawn in the game masterminded by the
              Freemasons and the Jews!
              \_ Yeah, whatever. How much did the Illuminati pay you to post
                 that red herring?

4/18    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153586,00.html
        Is this a sign that I should be shifting my tech stocks into
        energy stocks?
        \_ Yes, you are reading Fox News, so you should follow the herd.
           \_ Because there's sooo much individuality in knee-jerk slams of Fox
              News.
              \_ "Again, the Fox New audience showed the highest rate of
                  misperceptions -- 45% -- while the NPR/PBS audience showed
                  the lowest -- 11%."
                  http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Media_10_02_03_Report.pdf
               http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Media_10_02_03_Report.pdf
                  Why do you keep deleting this? Can't handle the truth?
                  Oh, I forgot. You are a Fox News listener.
                  \_ I'm not deleting it.  And I don't listen to Fox News, I
                     watch it about 90 minutes a week.
                  \_ That's only because the facts rarely coincide with what
                     fox news reports.
                  \_ Because this could destabilize energy stocks for years
                     to come.
             \_ if everyone does something, then you better follow the crowd
        \_ Exactly the opposite.  Energy stocks are overvalued now while
           tech stocks are finally at reasonable valuations.
        \_ IBM is one company

4/18    My laptop is really weird. Occasionally, after I suspend it for 30sec
        to a minute, it automatically turns back on! I've turned off Wake-up
        on LAN and other things but nothing's working. What could be causing
        this?
        \_ poltergeist
        \_ demonic posession
        \_ Are you closing the cover?  Sometimes on my laptop, the cover
           will press a key when it closes, which causes it to wake up.  -tom
        \_ Totally and utterly possible. Thank you, I will check for that -pp
           \_ Which is totally possible, demonic posession or key issue?
              \_ demonic posession
                 |- i heard daemons and eunuchs run the Internet!
                 |- i heard their are daemons and eunuchs on the Internet!
        \_ Is it using ACPI?  Some ACPI implementations are just plain odd.
           Try using APM only.  I've had similar trouble.  -John

4/18    Why did the big cats survive (Tiger, Lion) but the big dogs
        didn't?
        \_ maybe the big dogs were in areas good for human agriculture,
           and so were actively hunted, whereas the big cats were either
           on continents not as effected by widescale agriculture, or were
           in niches that helped them survive like jungles and mountains.
           \_ This happened to lions in Europe and elsewhere... the African
              ones survived because of the vast wilderness areas. But now
              they're relagated to dwindling preserves. Tigers survived in
              some large jungles but humans have caught up to them now too.
              Those animals all need very large habitats and herd animals to
              prey on. Those herds will all be replaced with McDonald's
              cow factories.
              \_ Survival of the fittest-- homo sapien. YAY we're ALL WINNERS!
              \_ For tigers, I think it needs several sq. miles of territory
                 *per tiger* to survive.  For lions, since they live in groups,
                 I guess the area needed is smaller.
                 \_ They need pretty huge areas too. In the small preserves
                    they get under pressure from hyenas etc. and easy prey is
                    harder so they get injured more. If you consider the area
                    of the whole ecosystem it needs to be friggin huge.
                 \_ Several hundred square miles is more like it. It
                    depends on how food-rich an area is. Tiger territories
                    are anywhere from 8 to 400 square miles. Lions need
                    about 15-100 square miles per pride. I assume it is
                    less because big game is plentiful in most of Africa.
        \_ bigger teeth? dumbed downed by human domestication?
        \_ God didn't want them to.
        \_ the big dogs did, they're called wolves. - danh
        \_ I was under the impression that dogs and bears are relatively recent
           relatives, evolutionarily speaking.  So the primordial dog-bears
           diverged into wolves/jackals/coyotes on one side and bears on the
           other.
           \_ Bear dog!
              http://www.bbc.co.uk/beasts/evidence/prog3/page5.shtml

4/18    Can we please stop it with the political correctness already?
        http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/42923.htm
        \_ who's being politically correct?
           \_ the City Commission on Human Rights.
              \_ how is defending someone's rights over popular objection
                 "politically correct"?  -tom
                 \_ Allowing a man to define himself as a woman is politically
                    correct.
                    \_ It's also politically stupid, ergo being politically
                       correct is equivalent to being politically stupid.
                       Anyway, the constitution doesn't provide for equal
                       protection of stupidity. No matter how man fags try
                       to tell you otherwise, sex is a "physical" attribute.
                       \_ This is true for most people, but not everyone.
                          There's a whole range of transgendered people,
                          including some who were born with ambiguous gender
                          and some who take hormones and have had a lot of
                          surgery.  The actual sex-changing operation is a
                          pretty small part of the whole process, and I'm not
                          sure we should define people's gender based on that.
                          Of course, I'm not sure we should let them pick
                          arbitrarily either, but it's not as unreasonable
                          as it sounds.  Keep in mind that, in a civic sense,
                          gender doesn't make that much difference anymore --
                          gender doesn't make too much difference anymore --
                          nowadays it's pretty much marriage, affirmative
                          action, and bathrooms, and the first two seem to
                          be on their way out.  --liberal
        \_ This is great! So can I define myself as a Native American so I
           can benefit from affirmative action?
           \_ It worked for Ward Churchill.
              \_ touche -pp
        \_ Awesome, so now I can saunter into a woman's dressing room in
           a store and claim I'm a woman. 50 years of civil rights and
           look at the progress we've made!
           \_ Well, unfortunately for you, that still only applies to
              (a (woman's dressing room)), rather than to
              ((a woman's) (dressing room)).

4/18    If a conference deadline gets pushed again and again (from 4/14 to
        4/18 to 4/26), does that mean it's a bullshit conference?
        \_ It's reasonably often that, for a reputable conference, this
           happens _once_ for any given deadline. I'd guess it's not
           impossible that there's a rare instance of it happenning twice.
           Any more than that is quite suspicious... but then, really, if
           you've never heard of the conference before and neither has
           anyone else you talk to who works in the same field, it's in
           all likelihood bogus. Academia is too small of a world to not
           notice such things. And if the "conference" makes its name by
           spamming every damn person in the field several times a month,
           the rest shouldn't even be a question. And no, "SCI" is not the'
           only name that these scammers go by. Do a little digging online,
           and you'll notice that there's upward of a dozen fronts that
           these assholes advertise under. -alexf
        \_ All other things being equal, this is a bad sign. But there are
           legitimate reasons to do it (publisher becomes more flexible,
           many people ask for extensions and the organizers feel it's fair
           to give one to everyone, etc.).

4/18    Just curious, who (what country, where) has reminants of Hitler?
        Is it Russia? Or is it still in Germany?
        \- Brazil
        \_ There are rumors that Russian soldiers removed his charred body
           to Russia after his adjudant burned him & Eva Braun in front of
           their bunker on 30.04.1945.  Other eyewitnesses say that he was
           thrown into an unmarked hole & buried.  As far as I can tell, the
           NSA is keeping his brain alive inside a jar next to Kennedy at the
           Smithsonian.  -John
           \_ I heard a story second hand from a Russian soldier who was there
              that he saw a whole room full of dead hitler lookalikes at one
              point.  So if that's true, who knows what body was what?
              \_ Lord knows I'm not one to let a straight line go to waste,
                 but this one's just too easy.  :-)  -John
              \_ I'm trying to remember this joke correctly ... During the
                 US invasion, one of Saddam Hussein's generals meets with
                 Saddam's 20 body doubles.  He tells them "I've got good news
                 and bad news.  The good news is, even though American bombs
                 hit the palace Saddam was hiding in, he's still alive so you
                 still have your jobs.  The bad news is, he lost an arm in
                 the attack."

4/18    How do I do all that dsa_id public thingie so that I can ssh/scp into
        my cluster of machines (that happen to have the same NFS mount)
        without having to type password?                -dsa ssh idiot
        \_ http://www.arches.uga.edu/~pkeck/ssh
        \_ http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~ranga/notes/ssh_nopass.html
        \_ Assuming that all of the systems in your cluster mount your
           home directory the following will probably work for you:
           1. Generate a dsa key pair (can be on any system):
                $ cd && ssh-keygen -t dsa -f .id_dsa -P ''
              This creates .id_dsa (private key) and .id_dsa.pub (public
              key) in your home directory
           2. Copy .id_dsa.pub into your nfs accessible home directory:
                $ scp .id_dsa.pub user@host:.ssh/authorized_keys
                $ scp .id_dsa.pub user@host:.ssh/authorized_keys2
              (This assumes that you don't have authorized keys
               already)
           3. Test it out:
                $ ssh -i .id_dsa user@host
              You should not be promted for a password. If you
              are try ssh -v and/or make sure that the authorized
              keys files are 0600 and the .ssh dir is 0700.
           4. If you always want to present the same id to all hosts
              add the following to your ~/.ssh/config:
                Host *
                        IdentityFile ~/.id_dsa
              If you want to restrict (on your cluster systems) the
              hosts from which you will accept a particular id, try
              adding 'from="ip range" ' before ssh-dsa.

4/18    Am I a conservative or a liberal? I'm actually quite confused.
        I don't believe in war for ANY reason (liberal), and I don't believe
        in gay marriage (conservative). I do I believe in separation of church
        and state (somewhat liberal), and that religious text like Intelligent
        Design should be taken out of public schools (very liberal). On the
        other hand, I also believe in smaller, more efficient government
        (conservative), and at the same time they should provide more public
        infrastructures for us, like better roads, more redundant power grids,
        equal education across States, etc (liberal). I think SS and housing
        projects should go away, and let low-lives learn how to be productive
        members of society (conservative). I do however support better public
        education and opportunity so that there will be less need for SS and
        housing projects (conservative). I don't mind more taxes, in fact, I'd
        delight in seeing a pre-Reagan tax rate (liberal) as long as there is
        a lot more accountability in the government. I totally support in
        programs that strengthen family values, like going to church or
        community centers (conservative), but not at the cost of public
        funding (liberal). So what am I, a liberal or a conservative?
        \_ "Smaller" and "more efficient" are two separate parts.  When R's
           say "smaller" (at least in the last 30 years) they mean less
           regulation, not necessarily less in outlays (and usually exactly
           the opposite).  They also most definitely do not mean "more
           efficient".  These stands are indeed "conservative" values, but
           they are rarely expressed by R's.
        \_ Neither, you're what's known as the "typical American", who
           is a moderate.
           \_ The typical american is real dumb, with an IQ around 100.
              \_ precisely.
        \_ you're just a wuss
        \_ Sloppy with your labeling.
        \_ So when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, you would have just ... uh,
           what would you have done?
           I think what you meant to say was, "I believe war is always morally
           wrong, but it's at times necessary as a last resort, such as when
           Japan bombed Pearl Harbor."
           \_ Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?!
        \_ You are, for the most part, socially moderate and economically
           conservative =~ libertarian.
           \_ except that he wants high(er) taxes.
              \_ I agree:  Wanting less waste in government, while being for
                 higher taxes spent wisely makes him moderate.  However,
                 wanting to get rid of social security pushes him to the Dark
                 ^H^H^H^H^conservative side.
        \_ I don't know anyone who is for less "efficient" government spending
           except the politicians who favor pork barrel spending to keep their
           jobs.
           \_ Until Democrats work "more efficient government" into their
              platform, this property is squarely in conservative-land.
              Sorry, that's just public perception - I'm not really disagreeing
              with you.
              This is especially true now that Dubya has begun real
              implementation of performance-based pay in the area of "cushy
              government jobs".
              \_ Don't you remember Al Gore's "re-inventing government"
                 initiative? He made some headway with it, too, but I guess
                 he didn't get any credit.
                 \_ you forget he invented the INTERNET
                    \_ Actually he wrote the bill to fund APRAnet.  The big
                       "I invented the Internet" Lie never happened, and
                       would have been mostly true if it had.  Take a
                       contrast with the Goerge Bush whopper to take credit
                       for the Texas Patients' bill of rights, which was
                       passed over his veto.  He got a pass from the press
                       on that one...liberal media my ass
                       \_ I like how even in this age of unprecedented
                          communication and recording, something like this
                          so easily becomes folklore and fact, yet people
                          have no problem believing ancient religious texts.
        \_ do you believe in civil unions, then that makes you
           moderate-liberal on the gay marriage issue.   As someone
           moderate on the gay marriage issue.   As someone
           pointed out above, everyone would like more efficient
           government. As for "smaller government," you need to
           decide which you value more: that or "public infra-
           structure, ... education, ... funding."  If the latter, then
           overall, you are on the liberal side concerning the "size
           of government."   Liberals also believe in "family values,
           ... church, ... community centers."  The only issue above
           that is a firmly conservative value is your dismissal of
           "SS and housing projects."  Given that, I would say you
           are a moderate liberal.  A lot of what you believe to be
           "conservative" values that you listed are actually
           media distortions that make you think "liberals"
           don't approve.  For the current US political situation,
           it would seem that Democrats are the party of smaller government.
           \_ What happened to the party of 80 character columns?
              \_ fixed.

4/18    It Can Happen Here:
        http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0719-15.htm
        \_ Reasonable point.  Problem with the presentation, though; such a
           phaenomenon in a "western democracy" would be unlikely to take the
           shape of Hitlerism.  Conjuring up images of Nazism immediately
           makes Joe Average think "oh, a kook" and look away.  -John

4/18    Ms. Right - Time Magazine features Ann Coulter
        Cover: http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101050425,00.html
        Story: http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/04/18/ann.coulter.tm/index.html
        Quotes: http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050425/what_did_she_say
        "I think we ought to nuke N. Korea right now just to give the rest
        of the world a warning.  Boom! ... They're a major threat.  I just
        think it would be fun to nuke them and have it be a warning to ...
        the world." - Jan 2005
        "They're terrible people, liberals. They believe -- this can really
        summarize it all -- these are people who believe," she said, now
        raising her voice, "you can deliver a baby entirely except for the
        head, puncture the skull, suck the brains out and pronounce that a
        constitutional right has just been exercised.  That really says it
        all. You don't want such people to like you."
        The couple at an adjacent table -- which, this being Manhattan, was
        a handsbreadth away -- visibly stiffened, and the man groaned.  The
        woman looked at Coulter with white-hot hatred, and Coulter ... blushed.
        \_ Ann Coutler is a nut job, not a conservative.
           \_ Ann Coulter is a typical Republican.
              \_ No she's not, she's typical of a segment of smug, dogmatic
                 Republicans the same way some of the Berkeley fucknuts you
                 see being plain stpuid at protests are typical of a segment
                 of smug, dogmatic Democrats.  -John
        \_ Can someone explain to me how the term "conservative" and
           "liberal" came about? I would consider myself
           conservative/traditional in the normal sense, but
           politically it seems that I matches that of a liberal.
           Which part of "nuking NK" is being conservative? I don't
           see how aggressive = conservative but apparently that is
           the case...
           \_ They were financial terms.  Liberals were okay with
              deficeit spending with a pay later attitude.  Conservatives
              wanted to run surplusses for a rainy day.  Now the
           \_ They were financial terms that have sponged up so much
              extra political baggage as to be uselss.  Useless terms
              are of course, the preferred terms of the media.  The
              Republican party is no longer conservative.  The
              Democrats are still liberal, but not as liberal (in the
              original financial sense) as Republicans
              \_ Well, not really.  Deficit Spending as we know it today pretty
                 much didn't exist until the last few decades.  The terms
                 liberal and conservative get very muddy when applied to
                 different arenas.  I tend to look at it as the level of
                 involvement you want from the government.  This tack breaks
                 down, though, when considering the term "social conservative".
                 In any event, Conservatism has generally comprised of: laissez-
                 faire domestic policy making for smaller necessary government,
                 isolationist foreign policy, making for smaller necessary
                 military expenditures, and a federalist tendency.  Of these,
                 only the first seems to still be a tenet of the R's.
                 only the first seems to still be a tenent of the R's.
           \_ Liberals=compromise with your enemies, lay down weapons,
              smoke weeds and make peace. Kind of like what wussy French
              people did when Hitler attacked. Conservatives=no compromise,
              stand up to your principles, increase defense (Republican
              president=expanding military), you go our way or else. Nuking
              N Korea is just a figure of speech.
              \_ the French didn't lay down.  All of their fighting adult
                 men were killed in WW1. - danh
                 \_ And they still lost 800,000 in WW2, about the same as
                    all US combat casualties from all US wars combined.
                 \_ I guess that lots of German soldiers survived?! This
                    seems like a poor excuse. The French haven't had any
                    soldiers worth a damn since Napoleon.
                    \_ It's more complicated than that.  The French lost almost
                       5 percent of their population fighting a vicious 4 year
                       trench battle in Northern France during WW1, and then in
                       WW2 they first fought a defensive war against the
                       new German army, an army that was running around
                       all over Europe with their new blitzkrieg tactic
                       that the French defensive line was unable to handle.
                       Actually just about every other European army at
                       the time was unable to handle it that I can
                       WW2 they first fought a defensive war against the new German
                       army, an army that was running around all over Europe
                       with their new blitzkrieg tactic that the French defensive
                       line was unable to handle.  Actually just about every other
                       European army at the time was unable to handle it that I can
                       think of right now.  - danh
                       \_ You're all massively oversimplifying.  Terrible
                          generalship, German chutzpah, poor politics &
                          capricious fortune all played a major part.  -John
              \_ You might as well say that anything Coulter writes/says is
                 a "figure of speech" then.
                 \_ Anyone who takes Ann Coulter seriously is an idiot.
                    She writes to inflame.
                    \_ If Time magazine had this on the cover next to her
                       photo, they might actually have done some serious
                       journalism.
              \_ "The best way to talk to a liberal is with a baseball
                  bat." -Ann Coulter. Of course, this was a figure of
                  speech. She meant the best way to talk to liberals
                  is to herd them into camps and gas them.
           \_ Yer more like O'Reilly (conservative/traditional)
              Coulter is something else ...
           \_ Coulter is not a real conservative. She's a well educated
              Redneck. Rednecks!=Conservatives, althought these days they have
              more in common with each other.
              \_ Meh.  I'd call her a partisan Republican.  When I see her
                 criticizing Republicans for not holding to conservative
                 issues, I'll call her conservative.
              \_ This is really really well-phrased.  -John
        \_ Time Magazine is pretty good at calling the "top" of political
           and economic trends. Remember when they had Steve Case on the
           cover?
           http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101000124,00.html
           \_ Yeah, except it was his second cover. Look forward to two
              more years of Coulter dominating the national discourse:
              http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101970922,00.html
        \_ Please stop paying attention to this woman.
           \_ Your cock is so BIG and TAX FREE!
              \_ Oh, it's taxing, baby!
           \_ Why don't you write a letter to Time magazine?
              \- AC is a hack to says extreme things to make money,
                 get airtime etc. i think rush limbaugh deserves to
                 be taken more seriously because i think he probably
                 has more of an effect on things because of his greater
                 mount of airtime.
                 \- the CSUA should put out a "I denied Ann Coulter sex"
                    tshirt.
           \_ Why don't you write a letter to Time magazine with this sentence?

4/18    Surgery, with no anesthesia
        Fell the knife pierce you intensely
        Inferior, no use to mankind
        Strapped down screaming out to die
        ANGEL OF DEATH
        Monarch to the kingdom of the dead
        Infamous butcher,
        ANGEL OF DEAAAATH!!!!1!1!
        \_ Deflowering, with viagra
           Feel the prick pierce you intensely
           Superior, ecstatic for MANkind
           Strapped down screaming out to comply
           ......
        \_ Grimly I dig up the turfs
To remove the corrupted stiffs
Trying to contain my excitement
As I desecrate graveolent crypts...
Fingers claw at coffin lids
Eager festal exhumation
Hugging your wry, festered remains
With posthumous joy and elation...
Body snatched, freshly interred
Whatever takes my fancy
To satisfy my gratuitous pica
My culinary necromancy...
Scrutinised then brutalized
My forensic inquisition is fulfilled
My recipe is now your epitaph
Be it fried, boiled or grilled...

4/18    Has anyone tried those liquid CPU cooler? How much noise does it
        reduce? I have an AMD and I'm not sure whether the noise is from
        the CPU fan, power supply fan, gaming card fan, or the motherboard
        chipset fan. If you have those cool liquid coolers, how much did
        you spend on it and do you think its worth it?
        \_ If you want a quiet computer, it is most effective to tackle
           all sources of noise at once. http://www.endpcnoise.com
        \_ A colleague of mine bought a Zalman TN1500A, with a bunch of
           super quiet fans (Papst?) from http://quietpc.com.  He has a load of
           SATA disk in there, and the thing is dead silent.  Costs a bunch,
           though.  -John
           \_ they have a really quiet power supply I'd like to get (350W
              and less than 20db? That's just amazing). But how do I know
              if it will fit in my enclosure? The web site has no spec
              \_ Google?  :)  Seriously though, also look at papst fans.
                 I've had trouble finding resellers, though.  -John
              \_ The advertised decibal rating is MISLEADING. They claim 19dB,
                 but don't tell you that it's under light load. If you look at
                 specs here: http://www.nexustek.nl/nx3500.htm you'll see that
                 at full load, it is near 30dB.

4/18    Please stop restoring trolls that tom holub worked so hard to get rid
        of! Respect tom, as he is older and wiser than you        -tom #1 fan
            \_ "Had you been as wise as bold,
               Young in limbs, in judgment old,
               Your answer had not been inscroll'd:
               Fare you well; your suit is cold."
               Cold, indeed; and labour lost:
               Then, farewell, heat, and welcome, frost!
               Soda, adieu. I have too grieved a heart
               To take a tedious leave: thus holub part.
        \_ sorry, kchang, I haven't done any deleting today.  Your spy
           script sucks as badly as your MOTD web site.  -tom
           \_ Tom, you really are an ass.  The MOTD web site may not be
              perfect and kchang may be sort of an odd guy but it is much
              better of a hack and more of a resource than your twink script
              or twink points or anything else you have done for the CSUA.
              \_ Kchang's site is a nice service, and appreciated, but it is
                 not perfect, and it has done a bit of munging before.  And
                 let's be honest, do a wc -l /etc/passwd for a rough idea
                 of how many potential h0z3rz you're dealing with.  I know Tom
                 can be rough (occasionally justifiably so) but for the same
                 reason I think he's self-confident enough to not go around
                 wantonly nuking motd threads.  Get off it.  -John
              \_ I was considering writing an asshole script for the motd,
                 but then tom would rate so high that it would totally
                 skew the graph and I'd have to go logarithmic.
              \_ You guys should feel sorry for Tom.  Anybody who takes the
                 MOTD and wallall so seriously can't have much of a life.
                 He's also so blind to his own problems.
                 \_ I love it when anonymous cowards who know nothing about
                    me comment on my life.  -tom
                    \_ Tom, deanonymizing in this case would not add anything
                       to the discussion and would be a distraction.  I don't
                       know anything about your life beyond soda, true, but
                       this is a big part of it, clearly.  And there is a lot
                       of material here to draw conclusions from.  It appears
                       I agree with you on many political issues, but the
                       vigorous and vitriolic pursuit of so many petty
                       squabbles seems pathetic to me.  You can do what
                       you want with your day of course, but we all have only
                       24 hours at our disposal.  To spend so much of it
                       picking on the soda little fish seems...again, the
                       best word is pathetic--like the school yard bully
                       who will never amount to much in Real Life.  While
                       you may add "character", I believe your conduct over
                       the long run does harm to the soda community.  I find
                       your pompous pontificating and especially your dissing
                       the efforts of so many others (while having so few
                       credentials or contributions yourself) especially
                       obnoxious.  Choose to ignore that or wear that as a
                       badge of honor.  For example, it is clear kchang is
                       a vastly better programmer than you are.  As far as
                       I know, using the geek gold standard of actual code
                       written or bugs fixed, rather than just user interface
                       feedback, you are a zero.
                                           \- "cipher" --psb
                       \_ Soda community?  Uh, right.  For those of us who only
                          keep our soda accounts so we can log in and watch or
                          participate in idiotic, spittle-filled flame wars,
                          tom *definitely* adds to the soda community.
                       \_ gee, who's the one spending all of his time
                          pursuing petty squabbles?  -tom
                          \_ Pathetic reply, Tom. -!pp
                       \_ How ironic. "anybody who takes the MOTD so seriously"
                          applies only to yourself, not tom. Tom doesn't
                          post all that much as a rule, but since he's signs
                          his name you jump on him more easily. Just like you
                          dumbshits did every time ilyas posted. Which is
                          partly why I'm anonymous. Although sometimes I wonder
                          why I bother spending time here. I occasionally learn
                          interesting things though.
            \_ Too bad. I actually support deletion of political trolls.
            \_ Too bad. I actually support deletion of trolls.
               All hail to whoever's doing that. Keep it up.

4/18    Here's a fun one.  If you could pick any historical era to have lived
        during, what would it be?  I would choose Enlightenment era Europe.
        \_ If you mean other than the current era, I would choose Ancient
           Greece, around the time of Socrates.
           \- you mean during the peloponnesian war and plague of athens
              which kills +25% of the population? what are your second and
              3rd choices? the black death and london 1666? --psb
              \_ To see Socrates deliver the Apology would be
                 worth it. The only thing that even comes close
                 would be to see Lincoln at Gettysburg.
                 \- Socrates was ugly and smelled bad. --fwn
                    \_ Yeah, but he was honest about it. -socrates #1 fan
                       \- i think it is pretty tough to pick an "old time"
                          to actually live in [no antibiotics,anesthetics etc],
                          but if i had to pick single day, I would rather go
                          hear Homer the singer of songs tell of the Wrath of
                          Achilleus. Not only would it be an amazing and
                          unique performance, but you could answer the great
                          "Homer Question". If I had to pick from from 5th
                          Century Athens, tough call between Apology and
                          something like the Pericles Funeral Oration. However,
                          speading the day with Socrates in Pireaus beats
                          both of those [and certainly beats Symposium] ...
                          "I went down yesterday to Pireaus with Glaucon
                          some of Ariston and PSB son of NGB ... Polemarchus
                          some of Cephalus, noticed us in the distance and
                          son of Ariston and PSB son of NGB ... Polemarchus
                          son of Cephalus, noticed us in the distance and
                          sent his slave to tell us to wait for him ...".
                          If I had to spend 5 min somewhere, it's temping
                          to be a "fly on the wall" at the meeting of Attila
                          Hun and Leo I [one of the two "Great" Popes] to
                          figure out what the hell he said to get Attila that
                          figure out what the hell he said to Attila that
                          got him to turn around and go home. There is also a
                          story about Scipio and Hannibal meeting [in Plutarch,
                          I believe] but I am not sure that really happened.
                          \_ Ah but would you understand anything these people
                             were saying?
                             \- It would be greek to me.
                                --pater andron te theon te
       \_ If I get to keep all the knowledge that I know now then take me
          back to 1995.
       \_ Only the modern era has the three most important inventions:
          Hot running water, air conditioning, and dentistry.
        \_ Just a few years back so I could take advantage of well known
           stock price fluctuations.
           \_ Sheesh, don't you guys understand the term "era"?
        \_ Early 1930s or late 1940s if I got a boatload of cash.  -John
        \_ This really depends on WHAT I'm going to be. Do I get to choose
           to be a peasant or a war lord?
           \_ Let's say you keep your current relative level of wealth and
              power.  So, if you're in the 80th percentile for wealth now,
              you'd be in the 80th percentile then.  Bush would get to be a
              warlord; maybe you can be a successful merchant. -!op
              \_ So how do I find out what percentile I'm in? Am I above 80%
                 by the simple virtue of having a degree from Cal?
                 \_ In 2003, the 80th percentile U.S. household made $86,860.
                    http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032004/hhinc/new05_000.htm
        \_ If I can keep prior knowledge, I would pick the 40s. In fact,
           I'd pick 1945. I'd study to be a nurse, and then work at New Haven
           Hospital in Connecticut. I'd wait for a new born, Georgy, on
           7/6/1946. And then I'd "take care of him". By doing so, I will
           have saved a lot of innocent blood and revived our Great Nation.
           \_ Such a deep sense of patriotism, and you served when?
              List other government offices you've served in:
           \_ oh, I dunno, offing stalin might have done us better.
              \_ Stalin affected Russians, and I don't really care about
                 them. I care about how US economy and US policy is fucked
                 up, because I'm an American, and I'm here. Now. 21st century.
                 \_ you are reason #1 why we should go back and start offing.
        \_ unless it is a holiday you experience relative to your real life,
           only a romantic fool would prefer to live in the past. born there,
           you will miss the context within which it seems so nice to
           modern daydreamers... i'd consider the future but not without
           some reasonable travel guides so i can pick the utopian or livable
           parts and avoid some b-movie post-apocalyptic cannibal feast.
           \_ Soylent green is PEOPLE!!!

4/18    Defender of Earth, Destroyer of Big Fat Ugly Hummer, sentenced to 8
        years. It's a sad sad day.
        http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/04/18/suv.vandalism.reut
        \_ 8 years? He should have gotten more! Get real. Destroying
           SUV does NOTHING to save the earth. Neutering people will,
           starting with people like you and him.
           \_ Yes sir! Damn the Yankee Rebels who threw our pretious tea
              into Boston Bay. They all should be punished. All Hail Her Majesty
              into Boston Bay. They all should be punished. All Hail Her
              Majesty
              \_ This stupid fool is on par w/ the patriots of the
                 Boston Tea Party? WOW. After years of being deprived
                 of their fundamental rights w/o representation the
                 patriots took to violent protest. This guy chose
                 violent protest as a FIRST resort. Show me how the
                 sovereign (ie US gov) has deprived this man of any
                 rights w/o representation.
                 \_ Do we get to vote out the Saudi prince, the sheik and the
                    ben ladens, who walks all over us?
                    \_ This has something to do w/ Hummers how? I hope
                       you realize that most of the crude does not end
                       up in the belly of a hummer.
        \_ I'm sure he'll become real familiar with Hummers while in jail.
        \_ I disagree with his message and certainly don't condone his method,
           but I am bothered by the hypocrisy behind it.  Years ago it caused
           an outrage when Singapore gave a mere 15 symbolic caning to an
           American playboy who damaged private cars for thrills and then let
           him walk.  Now a political act in the American tradition of Boston
           tea lands one in Sodom for 8+ years.  What's wrong with America?
           \_ Gee, spray painting is a different crime than arson; how
              hypocritical!  Moron.  -tom
              \_ 2 seditious aliens who fled did the arson; at least the
                 prosecution did not (bother to) prove otherwise.  Where does
                 your notion of justice go?  And how is arson better than
                 shipjacking and destruction of 45 tons of public property?
                 As for the insult, you are what you are.
                 \_ I think you need to do a little research about how any
                    sane or reasonable court system works.  It's not the
                    prosecution's job to prove the innocence of the guy
                    they have in custody...that's the defense's job.  The
                         \- not all countries use the adversarial system
                            used in the US. e.g. the german system is very
                            different. practically nobody else uses juries
                            any more. --psb
                            \_ True, but this divergence rather misses my
                               point.
                               \- in the case of some systems the judge
                                  is not passive but actively participates
                                  in establishing the "truth of the matter"
                                  including the guilt or innocence of the
                                  defendant. while that doesnt make it
                                  the prosecutions job, the state does
                                  play a role on his behalf. i'm just
                                  suggesting the "a reasonable ct system"
                                  is not code for "the us style adversarial
                                  system". BTW, martin shapiro's book
                                  courts is pretty interesting. well done
                                  "scientific study" in the social sceinces.
                    they have in custody...that's the defense's job.  The
                    prosecution's job is to put a malicious arsonist behind
                    bars.  *Of course* the defense is going to make the
                    claim that 'it was someone else that did it, my client
                    was innocent, blah blah etc'.  A jury didn't agree or
                    he chose to plea bargain.  I have very little sympathy
                    for an idiot that chooses to attack the property of his
                    fellow citizens because of an obscure and noncritical
                    political point (which, if you're really an educated
                    reader, should show up *at least* two major differences
                    from the Boston Tea Party).
                    \_ The accused is presumed to be innocent.  The prosecution
                       should prove beyond reasonable doubt that he took part
                       in the arson or has full knowledge in advance.  He is
                       guilty of spray-paint, but that doesn't mean he is
                       guilty of arson because he is a fool and cannot afford
                       a lawyer who can "prove" one's innocence.  Is your
                       freedom guaranteed by the Constitution or provided by a
                       lawyer for a hefty fee?
                       guilty of spray-paint, but convict him of arson just
                       because he is a fool and cannot afford a lawyer who can
                       "prove" one's innocence?  Is your freedom guaranteed by
                       the Constitution or provided by an expensive lawyer?
                       \_ What you've basically just said here is "I don't
                          agree with the verdict, so the whole justice system
                          must therefore be broken".  Uhm, yeah.  This
                          conversation has no future.
                       \_ A person need not be charged w/ commission of the
                          substantive crime in order to be found guilty of
                          it. Ex. the dude could have been charged w/
                          conspiracy to destroy property, which means the
                          people only have to show that he agreed to this
                          conspiracy and that someone else who agreed to
                          it committed the arson. Alt. he could be found
                          guilty on accomplice liability theories also.
                          The motivation for this type of liability is
                          obvious, society has an incentive to deter
                          these type of crimes to ensure everyone's safety
                          and welfare.
                          This is not about needing a "expensive lawyer",
                          this is about not being STUPID and committing
                          crimes.
                          Perhaps you forget, but every man who signed
                          the declaration (and many of those who dumped
                          tea into Boston Harbor) was a traitor to his
                          majesty and would have been hanged if caught.
                          Most lost their homes, businesses, assets, &c.
           \_ the american boy in spore only got 3 strokes of the cane.
              originally it was 6, but they reduced it to 3 after
              bill clinton pleaded for the boy.  He was 18 years old
              at that time.
              \-he was more of a bratty kid than "playboy" as suggested above
                but there are a number of interesting details ... in a new
                yorker kind of way ... to the story not mentioned here (like
                one of the cars painted belonged to a judge). YMWTGF "michael
                fay". an interesting double standard is women are not subject
                to caning in SIN. --psb, pro-beating
                \_ Yeah, I'll bet you're pro-beating.
                \_ I think I'd rather be caned 3 times than be raped and get
                   HIV in jail.
                   \_ Well, of course.  But comparing the Singaporian incident
                      and the corresponding sentence to the SUV guy...man,
                      it's comparing apples to oranges -- just in terms of
                      property damage *alone*.
                      \- a better comparison is to vandalizing protestors
                         like anti-nuke people, animal rights freaks etc.--psb

4/18    I'm thinking about getting a TV Tuner/Video input card for my Mac,
        specifically this one (AlchemyDVR ~ $120):
        http://miglia.com/products/video/alchemytvdvr/index.html
        Does anyone have experience w/ this card (or alternatives)? I'm mostly
        looking to convert VHS/8mm tapes into DVDs.
        \_ If you want to make DVDs, then you eventually have to encode
           to mpeg-2. The original instructions, as I recall, recommended
           that you either capture in mpeg-4 or MJPEG. MJPEG takes huge
           amounts of disk space. I have the alchemy, but I also have the
           eyetv200. The eyetv has better software, encodes using mpeg-2,
           and the built-in editor is pretty good. EyeTV also works well
           with toast and popcorn since the founder of roxio also founded
           the eyetv company. The alchemytv is pretty decent for the bucks,
           but if you have the bucks, the eyetv is way better.
           \_ So my plan was to play the tape and then use iMovie to
              capture and edit the video and then use iDVD to burn a
              DVD. Is the software that comes w/ EyeTV better/easier
              than this solution?
              \_ I haven't used those programs to do what you are trying to
                 do. However, I was under the impression that Apple's tools
                 work with DV. If that's correct, then DV takes up a lot of
                 space which is one thing to consider. I did hear that the
                 iMovie editor is kinda nice. It may be better than the eyetv
                 editor, especially if you can cut to an individual frame,
                 and do final cut pro style edits. The nice thing about
                 importing directly into eyetv is that the file is in mpeg-2
                 (smaller file sizes), and the quality presets are pretty
                 good (highest quality is about 3GB per hour, standard
                 about 2GB per hour, etc.). You will probably have nicer
                 DVDs using iDVD (nice themes, compared to toasting them).
                 I've been using eyetv to import videos, cut with FCP, and
                 then using DVDSP3 to build a DVD on the hard drive. Then
                 use popcorn to burn the disk if I go over 4.39GB.
                 \_ I think you are right re Apple's tools and DV however
                    I'm not that worried about disk space b/c I have a 250
                    gb drive w/ 100 gb free and I'm going to pick up another
                    one when fry's has them on sale. I'll think about the
                    eyeTV but for what I'm trying to do I'm not sure the
                    extra $100 or more is really worth it. Thanks.

4/18    Do the Swiss ever use the 1 centime? Or are prices almost
        exclusively .05/.10 ?
        \_ .01/.02 coints aren't made anymore except as novelty items.  They
           sell them in little glass pigs as lucky charms.  I can probably
           find you one if you want.  -John
           \_ it seems like the .02 is gone:
                http://www.swissmint.ch/e/products/index.shtml
                \_ When I saw that, I thought it was mint, as in chocolate.