5/16    I have a sleeping disorder, does melatonin help?
        \_ What kind of disorder?  I have friends who have had success using
           melatonin to treat mild insomnia. -dans
           \_ Beware that melatonin can cause some strange effects in some
              people.  It gave me terrible nightmares.
        \_ It could, although I've read that if it doesn't work after 3-4
           nights you should stop.  Talking to a doctor instead of the motd
           might really help, though... -John
                 \- if you are in SFBA, the fraud has a sleep study center.
                    i have evolved beyond sleep.
        \- I just have sex every night before I go to sleep.
           \_ I have sex every night in the shower when my wife is asleep too.
              \_ Prison shower sex doesn't count.
                 \_ No, I have shower sex with Rosy Palm and her five sisters.
                    \_ Rosie, you're all right, you wear my ring.
                       When you hold me tight, Rosie that's my thing.
                       When you turn out the light, I've got to hand it to me.
                       Looks like it's me and you again tonight, Rosie.
        \_ Assuming you are around 20-40, the age of typical sodans,
           you should treat this as a serious problem. If you continue
           your current habit, it will only get worst as you ages and
           will be more difficult to overcome. You can find many
           recommendations online and in medical references, a lot of
           them involve breaking the 'bad' habit. Medications are good
           temporary solutions, but you don't want to be dependant on
           sleeping pills. Without more specific details, here are
           some general recommendations:
           - allow your biological clock to settle on a regular
             sleeping cycle, ie, go to bed at 11pm, wake up before
             8pm. You may need to do this gradually as we sodans
             typically go to sleep very very late, and wake up very
             very late, which is very very bad.
           - take a warm shower before you sleep, read something,
             don't do activity that are too stressful/intensive before
             sleeping time, like playing intensive games or watching
             horror movies.
           - get more exercise, 3-5 times weekly of 20-30 minutes of
             cardio exercise. This will improve your sleeping quality.
             It's best to do the exercise in the morning, as it will
             get rid of some of the not enough sleep feeling and
             energize you for the day, which will hopefully allows you
             to sleep better.
           - talk to a doctor if the above does not bring noticeable
             improvements... it may take a few days or weeks before
             you see any improvements, be patient.. Do NOT let this go
             on for a long time, as your body slowly adapts to the
             less sleeping time and it'll be harder to fix.
             \- I have evolved beyond sleep. Soon I shall evolve beyond food.
                \_ Graveyards are full of those who have evolved beyond sleep,
                   food or water.
        \_ I tried melatonin the other night. Fell asleep well enough, but
           could not stay asleep at all, which pretty much typifies every
           night for me for the past 3 years or so.
           \_ I sleep like a rock but when I wake up I'm not rested at all.
              I always feel tired during the day.

5/16    Anyone has any experience with wireless headphones?  I am looking
        into buying a pair for my gf and her roommate so the

5/16    Anyone else getting spambombed by Germans with a grudge against
        the Turks?
        \_ Umm.. no.  What does the email say
        \_ It's a new virus.  -tom
           \_ Not new. http://csua.org/u/c3a
              \_ Yesterday's not new enough for you?
                 \_ I 4M 3133+3! G1V3 M3 Z3R0 D4Y \/\/4R3Z!!1!
           \_ Funny enough, something similar was going around a while ago,
              but on a more limited scale.  They were sending around not
              quite as offensive shit.  -John
        \_ Yep. And, conversely, I just got a random piece of spam in
           Turkish. Seem to just be advertising hosting, nothing against the
           Germans (yet?). -alexf

5/17    Which  one is more energy efficient?
        1. Hybrid vehicle
        2. Burn the same amount of oil at a power plant and use the electricity
           to power an electric-only vehicle.
        Thanks.
        \_ hybrid.  electrical generator are not very efficient unless you
           do it on a massive scale.  then, electricity can't be stored.
           you would be better off with some sort of hybrid.
        \_ I don't know, but I'll guess the Hybrid.  The power plant would
           probably have the edge in just plain kilowats/gallon, but car
           batteries have a pretty big creation cost.  The energy of
           making the batteries is pretty large.  Again, I don't really
           know though.
           \_ not to mention how much power is lost in the battery
              charge/discharge cycle.
        \_ We don't usually burn oil at power plants.  We use coal.
           \_ Yeah, but there are power plants that run on oil.
                \_ Like Hawaii
                   \_ Is it coconut oil, or tanning oil?
                      \_ Oriental massage oil.
                   \_ But here in CA we only burn natural gas.
           \_ coal, gas, hydro, nukular, etc.. --  the beauty of the electrical
              distribution system is the generation sources are diverse as well.
              No reliance on one increasingly rare resource.
              \_ Yes, we should be using nuclear.
                 \_ And the newest round echo-chambering begins...

5/16    What's a good pair of wireless headphones to get?  My cute gf
        and her sexy roommate want to watch TV and study at the same
        time in their noise insulation poor home.
        \_ Since you baited us, please post pics of her sexy roommate before
           you get pointers.
           \_ I can't ... they will kill me!  Pointers please.  Pointers
              please.
              \_ How would they find out?
              \_ Yeah, but it would be a pleasurable way to die.  Now please
                 explain in 500 words or less how you plan to use the sound
                 isolating headphones to facilitate a three-way? -dans
        \_ All wireless headphones are too heavy.
        \_ How can someone watch TV and study at the same time?
                \_ No one is this stupid accidentally.

5/17    My garden has big rat and previous attempts of poisonous baits
        were not effective at all.  I am considering using mouse cage to
        catch the rat but I am concerning with the disposal of the rat.
        What is a humane way to dispose the caged rat?
        \_ May I ask where you live?
        \_ it might sound nasty, but... boil a pot of water and pour on it.
           then burry it somewhere.   you don't want to touch it, and kill
           them by physical means gets nasty... blood everywhere, etc. mind
           you that when rat dies, it tend to poop, so, you want to do it
           outside somwhere.            -been there, done that
        \_ 22 or BB gun
           \_ I agree. BB gun is a lot more fun too, though it's not always
              that effective (you can't get rats when it's dark). They're good
              for gopher shooting though.
        \_ There's no such thing as one rat.
        \_ Take it to Tilden Park and let it go.
        \_ Are you using mouse poison or rat poison?
        \_ Wait... poison... humane?  Dude, rat poison is not a pleasant death.
        \_ Feed it rat poison.
        \_ Feed it to a snake.
        \_ Take it to Casa Zimbabwe and let it rejoin its family.
           \_ <clap> <clap>
           \_ I lived in CZ and had mice, but not rats. A few traps and
              they figured out to stay away from me. They are smart little
              buggers. They would purposefully pass by my room.
              \_ What about the fleas, coop residents, and other assorted
                 vermin?  -John
                 \_ Never had fleas. The residents, well...
                    \_ We had several infestations while I was there, and
                       often it was some of the residents that had the fleas.
                       I just vividly remember one of the vegan nutjobs
                       nearly throwing a shitfit at the idea of gas-bombing
                       the place because she wouldn't have chemicals.  She
                       stormed out of a house meeting after all the semi-sane
                       people laughed at her idea that we all just eat more
                       garlic because the fleas would hate it.  And almost
                       every building where there's food lying around has
                       mice, it's just a question of scale.  -John
              \_ There were plenty of mice in the radiators.  As for the
                 compost heap, I believe it had plenty of rats.
                 \_ Probably. They are always rats outside. That's why the
                    original poster is a putz. Rats live, uh, outside. I
                    never saw a rat inside of CZ, though. Mice, yes.
                    \_ Wow.  are people really this stupid?
                       \_ No, just you.
        \_ A spring trap, while gruesome, is a pretty quick death if you pick
           the rat-size ones.
           \_ Unfortunately, even the rat-sized spring traps don't always kill
              rats right away.  My girlfriend managed to get a rat with its
              nose cut off running around the living room, bleeding all over
              everything.  It did die eventually, though.
           \_ What if a cat steps in it?
              \_ Nobody said anything about cats.  Can you place a trap inside?
                 \_ Wow, way to think ahead.  It's a *garden*, so it's outdoors,
                    where cats are...
              \_ The cat doesn't catch rats?
                 \_ "...and we get the cat skins for nothing"
        \_ The 'easiest' way would be to drown the rat by sinking the
           cage under water. Rats are like mosquito, you need to get
           'rid' of it, not relocating it.
           \_ Think 'Caddyshack'.  -meyers
        \_ My friend's roommate has a cat that keeps catching mice in the
           apartment. Get a hunter cat (abassinian?) to take care of the rats.
           \- do you marry a plumber if you have a "plumbing problem"?
              "get a cat"is not the solution to the vermin problem, it is
              a solution to the "i dont have a cat and would like one"
              problem. maybe hire a cat.
           \_ I used to keep an applehead siamese and it regularly caught
              rats and mice outside (though other small animals fell victims
              to it too. I guess that's the collateral damage)
        \_ Flush it down the toilet.
           \_ you can clog the toilet.
        \_ You want to get rid of your roommate?
        \_ My dad got a high-powered rifle with IR & laser scope for the
           muskrats on his farm.  That may not be the most practical solution,
           but it's sure the most entertaining one if you don't mind a bit
           of a mess (and have tolerant neighbors.)
           \_ Too much for a rat.  Just a simple 22LR with subsonic ammo will do.
              \_ Muskrats.  Big 2 foot long fuckers.  I recommend you watch
                 'Split Second' for how to deal with rats.  -John
        \_ What do people think of RatZapper?  Sounds like it would work well
           indoors:  http://www.epestsupply.com/mice.htm

5/17    To the person who was looking for a Dell 20.1 widescreen before:
        http://tinyurl.com/crzhu $397.

5/17    My company is sending me to Hamburg for 2 weeks to setup equipments.
        I'm thinking of taking another week to rent a car. Does anyone know
        how hard it is for Americans to rent a high performance car, and
        if there are special requirements to drive on Die Autobahn? How about
        how to get an international license?
        \_ It's Guten Tag!
        \_ No special requirements.  When it's marked 130, go 130.  Don't hog
           the left lane.  Most fast cars you can rent from "conventional"
           agencies will probably be big Mercs or BMWs.  Have fun, drive
           safely.  Avoid currywurst. -John
           \_ And no tailgating, no crazy lane changing, no challenging nor
              racing against another driver.  All these are illegal and bad
              etiquette, while going at very high speed in itself is legal.
              \_ Oh yeah and no passing on the right under any circumstances.
                 They will stop you, take vhot zey vant, und zen decide
                 vhezer to blow your ship from ze vater.  -John
                 \_ So anyone with a California license can rent a car?
                    Do they lend you American cars if you're from Tennesse?
                    http://www.acme.cg.yu/slike/DIVXslike/1044.jpg
                    \_ You may need an intl. driver's license.  Why don't
                       you just call them and ask?  -John
                 \_ In 1998, John wrote "Ve haff high-speed, high-tech,
                    high-gloss Autobahn you peon. Learn to build roads,
                    Amerikaner Schweinehund pig dogs." Are you insulting
                    us John? ARE YOU?
                    \_ Verdammt, you found me out.  Quick, Klaus, hide ze
                       blutwurst...

5/17    "I don't care much about world perception of the US.  The right
        thing to do is sometimes unpopular." says emarkp. Mr. Ping,
        can you please explain to me what is right and what is wrong?
        Who is the arbiter of righteousness? People? God? If God, then
        which God? And if Bible, which version? How about Koran,
        is that right or wrong?
                 \_ Restored. If you don't feel like answering, don't.
        \_ No Mr. Anonymous Troll. -emarkp
           \_ It's a valid question. Knowing who wrote it is not relevant to
              the core of the question. The fact that you need to know who
              wrote it says a lot about your character and belief.
              And good job for nuking responses.
              \_ Oh, I thought the question was for me.  So I nuked the one
                 parodying me and the rest for completeness.  I don't answer
                 questions from anonymous trolls. -emarkp
                 \_ Restored. If you don't feel like answering, don't.
        \_ those who are agree with me and share the same values are right.
           those who are not are wrong.  simple.
           \- hello, this is too big a topic to try and lay out something
           \- hello, this is too big a topic to try to lay out something
              comprehensive, but one thought: without being a full-blown
              relativist or a hardcore "might makes right" adherant [both of
              whom are to some extent begging the question, sometimes con-
              sciously doing so], it is not unreasonable to believe different
              standards apply in "society" and in the "state of nature".
              if you are looking out for yourself in the Stag Hunt scenario
              than is different from stealing from your neighbor in berkeley,
              ca. you can certainly debate to what extent is the international
              system like the anarchic [meaning non-hierarchical with no
              ruler who can "lay down the law", not meaning it is chaotic]
              international system vs a "community" with norms and standards.
              \- this may be a little hard to follow if you dont have some
                 knowledge of the framework/tradition i am coming from.
                 a concrete example of this difference in standards is how
                 you assess the question "is lying bad?" is different
                 in the context of friends, companies and soverign states.
                 ok tnx.
                 you assess the question "is lying bad?" in the context of
                 friends, companies and soverign states. ok tnx.
        \_ While there is no "absolute right", there are time when it's
           pretty clear.  One hopes that one's leadership would be wise and
           differentiated enough to know when this is the case.  -John
        \_ In discussion right and wrong, the concept of right does not
           necessarily flow from the notion of divinity. Assume for the
           sake of argument that the big bad universe doesn't give a damn
           about what a bunch of overgrown hair-less apes are doing on
           this minor world.  These same apes can have relative notions
           of right and wrong that help to maximize their long-term
           survival and order their affairs.
           The conflict is thus based purely on the choices that a subset
           subset of the species feels maximizes the overall survival.
           A choice may be right, in that it maximizes overall long-term
           survival, but unpopular, in that it creates short-term barriers
           to survival for many.
           \_ Almost correct, but wrong. You need to rephrase your last part
              to "A choice may be considered right in that it is BELIEVED
              to maximize..." The point is, 1) you don't know the future
              and 2) past does not always predict the future because life
              has too many variables to consider. Either you're a dumb ass
              or I've been trolled.
              \_ I guess this wasn't clear.  Whether the choice was right
                 or wrong can only be judged in retrospect. In the present
                 it is unknowable whether the choice was right.
                 it is unknowable whether the choice was right. The belief
                 that something is right in the present is based on the
                 notion that your mind has been able to predict the outcome
                 based on the information that is available.
           \_ Yes this is again aligned in conservative point of view. How
              do you know with certainty that the money you spent on war
              will in the future improve Iraq? There are lots of other things
              you can spend your 300 billion on to improve other parts of the
              world, and you think that a regime change (resulting in massive
              Arab humiliation and resentment) is good in the long term?
              I hope there is God, so that you'd go to hell.
        \_ No Mr. Anonymous Troll. -emarkp
              \_ I never said the Iraq war was right. I said that it could
                 be right. For example, the argument you have made was made
                 by many re Revolutionary War, Civil War, Desegregation, &c.
                 The idea that freedom maximizes suvival of the species was
                 the basis for entering into those conflicts and may be
                 considered the basis for entering into the present conflict.
                 As this idea has served our species well in the past, one
                 cannot be faulted for believing that it will serve us in
                 this and future conflicts.
        \_ BTW, I have an email address. -emarkp
                 \_ Why does this keep getting deleted?

5/17    http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix
        "A system administrator, angered by his diminished role in a thriving
        defense manufacturing firm whose computer network he alone had
        developed and managed, centralized the software that supported the
        company's manufacturing processes on a single server, and then
        intimidated a coworker into giving him the only backup tapes for that
        software. Following the system administrator's termination for
        inappropriate and abusive treatment of his coworkers, a logic bomb
        previously planted by the insider detonated, deleting the only
        remaining copy of the critical software from the company's server. The
        company estimated the cost of damage in excess of $10 million, which
        led to the layoff of some 80 employees."
        \_ Whose fault was this?  Now consider:  whose responsibility is it
           (not for failing to look over his shoulder, but for allowing this
           much "power" to concentrate in one set of hands)?  -John
           \- fault is not zero sum. poor decision making on part of the
              company doesn't remove his culpability. legally it may be
              up in the air to what extent can say a shareholder hold
              the negligent management responsible vs the malicious employee
              but ethically, the failure is on the "evil employee".
              \_ Well, the company holds the evil employee liable in its
                 turn, but it's kind of a case of where the buck stops.  That
                 said, dingdingding.  -John

5/17    Trading cards for the sodan who has everything.
        http://www.psychedelicrepublicans.com