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2005/7/13-14 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:38589 Activity:low |
7/12 Any MUD afficianados around here? My buddy is teaching a class to kids in "interactive fiction" and wants a MUD or mud like app that - Easy and fun to learn. Presumably it is fun when you get a lot of results for little effort. - Can be played on the net via a java applet, so parents can play it without installing anything - Illustrations with the text -- some of the text adventure systems allow you to include sound or text, and that would be a fun thing to add to the story telling aspect. I.e. here's a picture, write an adventure related to it. Advise? \_ Why do you want to ruin their lives? -phuqyu \_ Why do you want to ruin their lives? \_ Weren't aaron / danh pretty active with arctic? I also recall sowings mucking with Genocide a lot a while ago. You have been eaten by a grue. -John \_ I played mume and sojourn once upon a day. Armageddon is probably the best roleplaying mud on the net. You know, now that I think of it, I am not sure there ARE muds for kids. Some infocom games might be appropriate, but they are not multiplayer. -- ilyas I think of it, I am not sure there ARE muds for kids. -- ilyas \_ You could port griljor to Java. Now _that_ would rock. -John \_ Check out http://www.skotos.net It was a mud company when I worked there, though it's branched out a bit in recent years. I'd particularly recommend checking out the articles section: http://www.skotos.net/articles Skotos' games are fairly complex and aimed at older audiences so they may not be the best thing for a class oriented towards kids, but the articles have a lot of useful thought on game design in general, and muds in particular. The articles might be useful food for thought for an educator crafting a curriculum. I'd also suggest taking a look at the single player interactive fiction development tools. On the easy and fun to learn front, you might consider rolling your own system in scheme or logo modelled after the 61A interactive fiction project. -dans \_ Oh yeah, now that I think of it, there was a lot of work done on Crossfire (which, although not strictly a MUD, still incorporates a lot of the elements of one.) For some names, take a look in /csua/share/include/crossfire* -John \_ I played mume and sojourn once upon a day. -- ilyas \_ there is no /csua/share/include \_ /csua/share/aliases.include. Sgt. Bobby Shaftoe says: "Display some fucking adaptability". And man locate, you Cal student, you. -John |
2005/7/13-14 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Israel] UID:38590 Activity:low |
7/13 Those of you who are interested in the Gaza Strip/Israeli conflict, here is an excellent site that shows you detailed information: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/gazastrip.html http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/gaza_strip_1999.jpg FYI I got interested after the CNN article that says Israel is closing Gaza Strip to 8000 resident, also home to 1.3 million Palestinians. Before this I had no idea where and how big Gaza Strip was and what the 6 Day War entailed. I can't believe how much conflict can exist in a country that is [officially] barely 10 miles wide, and 40 miles wide if you count West Bank. \_ Try reading the Old Testament Bible sometime. \_ The northern and the southern parts are much wider than 10 miles. \_ The northern and the southern parts are wider than 10 miles. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/is.html \_ Remember what the French ambassador to England said: "this international crisis causes by that shitty little country Israel" -- it is amazing how a country so small with so few people can cause so many problems. I guess we have all the major world religions to thank for that, parking so many holy sites on top of one another there ... \_ "caused by that shitty little country, indeed." Ivory Coast, Rwanda/Burundi, WWII (yes), Vietnam, and I guess he's not heard of the Sykes-Picot agreement or the Suez crisis. The phrase "you French twit" comes to mind. -John |
2005/7/13-15 [Recreation/Food] UID:38591 Activity:high |
7/13 Motd Diet Poll: M, for married, S for single, + w, for working, s for student. Most of the time, you eat: Fast food: Ss Lots of Meat, Fat: Lots of Meat (lean): Balanced (grains,veggies,meat): Mw, Mw, Mw, Mw, Sw Mostly Vegetables(or seafood): Ms, Mw, Sw Vegetarian: Ssw, Mw Vegan/raw foodie: Sw I don't know what I eat: \_ WTF happened to all the undergrads who eat nothing but fast food? \- i used to eat bacon, fat slice, blondies and 99cent burgers. however i had a super-fast metabolism then. i cant do that any more. now my metabolism has become super-efficient and i just eat 1.7 meals per day. \_ Their fingers are too chubby to type \_ But fast food is nutritious! Ilyas told me so, dammit! \_ Why is it that right-wingers get so worked up fast food? What the hell does fast food have to do with politics, aside from the fact that Republicans tend to be fat and lazy? \_ I am a right-winger now? And I get worked up about fast food? Are you one of those mental giants who divide the world into two exhaustive and mutually exclusive sets: People Who Think Like Me, and Right-Wingers? -- ilyas \_ I'm not worked up or right wing either -- I was just poking mild fun at you. I wonder what made him decide I'm a rightwingnut... -ilyas-is-nutritious-guy \_ Gaaaah, I am NOT nutricious, you cannibal! You stay away from me! -- ilyas \_ Sounds like a bad 1970's era movie: "Ilyas the Cannibal!!" -ilyas-is-nutritious guy \_ 'Cause I'm an American dammit, and no pencil neck geek should be telling me what to eat! Now, drug prohibition on the other hand, that's ok. \_ Fast food -> big chains -> big corporations -> Republican. Gourmet food -> local restaurants. \_ Kiss my shiny metal ass. -- ilyas \_ shouldn't this be "bite my ..."? |
2005/7/13-14 [Recreation/Dating, Science/Physics] UID:38592 Activity:high |
7/13 Color footage of Einstein: http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2673351 \_ obJewBaiting. \_ The bastard is smart but is still a bastard. "His letters reveal a tumultuous personal life, married twice and indifferent toward his children while obsessed with physics. Yet he charmed lovers and admirers with poetry and sailboat outings." What as ASSHOLE. I guess you can say that he's extremely brilliant and contributed greatly to mankind. He's also extremely horny and takes little responsibility for women he fucks and children he created. http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/Newszine/health_science/5.html http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153696,00.html \_ Hey asshole. Why do you keep deleting all replies to your frothing? \_ I didn't delete them, I just unintentionally overwritten them since I don't use motdedit or vi \_ I didn't kill him, I just shot him in the head. Blame the bullet. \_ I think this kind of defense are actually used in manslughter trials, sadly. \-FYI: one of einstein's children operated out of ucbberkeley \_ Frank Lloyd Wright did many of the same things: ignored children, had mistresses, obsessed with his work. Are there examples of geniuses who were consummate family men? \_ Yes, but FLW wasn't a Jew, which I suspect is what is really clamping froth-boy's nipples. \_ Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole. Not like you. \_ is that a punk rock reference? you're so cool! \_ It is much cooler to accuse someone of anti-semitism on the basis of absolutely no evidence. \- there is a somewhat famous example in moral philosophy that looks at paul gaugain chosen by bernard williams [now dead but formerly ucb phil] on this point ... "does success excuse not honoring some claims people have on you". \_ iirc, Euler was a family man (twice married) but took care of his kids, grandkids, &c. Other examples from the top of my head: Bohr, Feynman, Jefferson (and don't give me that crap about Jefferson's slave kids, DNA testing shows that Jefferson's brother was most likely the parent of the slave kids - Jefferson gave his word to his wife when she died that there would be no other women and Jefferson kept it). Re Einstein - Two points: (1) He is not a bastard as his parents were married at the time of his birth. (2) Even assuming the colloquial meaning of "bad person", Einstein does not qualify. He may have been a distant or less than ideal father (many non-genius fathers fall into this category) but he never really neglected his children. For example, he provided Mileva (wife 1) and the children w/ all the money from his Nobel prize. Also, he was basically separated from Mileva when he started seeing Elza (wife 2). There is some evid that he saw women on the side some years after he married Elza but there is no proof that he fathered any children w/ them (or that he dated anyone other than Elza during his marriage). \_ meh \_ There was color movie back in 1943? \_ Ever seen Wizard of Oz? \_ This reminds me of the Calvin and Hobbes where Calvin asks his dad why old photos are always in black and white. |
2005/7/13 [Uncategorized] UID:38593 Activity:nil |
7/13 I read the top of motd as "Rove is planning to swap out scotch.CSUA..." Too much frothing I guess. |
2005/7/13-14 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:38594 Activity:low |
7/13 "I say give Karl Rove a medal, even if Bush has to fire him." http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,162335,00.html \_ stop stomping. \_ stop stomping other people's posts. \_ That's as silly as giving George Tenet a medal ... Oh wait ... |
2005/7/13-14 [Recreation/Food/Alcohol, Recreation/Food] UID:38595 Activity:nil |
7/13 Coffee shop opens in Utah without coffee, cigarettes, or alcohols because Mormons can't touch them: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,162317,00.html \_ I'd say that's totally gay, but Mormons don't like that either. \_ Well, sell to your customers. It's not hard to get coffee and alcohol in Utah if you want them. |
2005/7/13-15 [Computer/SW/OS/OsX] UID:38596 Activity:nil |
7/13 Does gmail crash Safari in OSX 10.3.9 for anyone else? This behavior seems to have appeared just today, and is repeateable - Safari I parsed this, as "post signed by safari@csua" _/ immediately exits after you login. |
2005/7/13-14 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:38597 Activity:nil |
7/13 http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28385-2003Jun24 One theory is that Miller is the leaker. My theory is that she works for the CIA on WMD, and that's why she knew Plame. \_ That's a stupid "theory." Actually, its a "wild assed guess," probably spread around in attempt at FUD. \_ The CIA does not use journalist as a cover except in extreme circumstances. New York City does not qualify. |
2005/7/13-15 [Uncategorized] UID:38598 Activity:nil 61%like:38555 |
7/13 Scotch coming down tonight after 7pm. Read the official motd. - jvarga |
2005/7/13-15 [Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:38599 Activity:low |
7/13 Info about the 2006 Civic Hybrid: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/07/information_abo.php Verdict - Not as k3w1 as a Prius but not bad \_ Crap! You know why? because it's still a fucking car. Make a car that comsumes only trash, emits a sweet smelling mixture of oxygen and pure gold, and I'll still say it's crap because cars will always suck ass. Making them pollute less is just a distraction from their infinite suckage. \_ Where is my Odessey Hybrid or Sienna Hybrid??? \_ Look, they can use whatever fancy shmacy engine all they want but the fact of the matter is if their bottom line sucks then no one is going to buy their shit. When I say bottom line, I mean mileage, cost, and usefulness. If they can't get better mileage [than a Prius], lower price, and at lease same capacity then people will not buy their crap. Until Honda understands this, their Hybrid Civic will just sit in the dealer lot like they are doing now. -Honda Owner, Disillusioned \_ And the fact that they waited so long after Prius came out to produce their new Civic shows that they're way behind Toyota in hybrid technology. The new and improved Prius is coming out soon, which means whatever minor incremental gain Civic has over Prius will be only be short lived. -pp \_ What's different about this "new" hybrid Civic from the "old" hybrid Civic? \_ The article OP posted describes the differences. \_ "Biggest novelty probably is that during light crusing the engine shuts down and the car can be powered by the electric motor alone. This is not quite like the Prius, which can use electricity only from a complete stop and travel relatively long distances at moderate speed on battery alone, but it's a step forward." I don't get it. Is it saying that the Prius way (being able to use electricity only from a complete stop) is better then Civic way? Why? \_ Maybe they mean "which can use 'electricity only'", meaning the Prius is still more advanced. \_ Oops! Pardon my reading comprehension. \_ Notice Honda keeps talking about how good their engine while Toyota talks about a COMPLETE redesign, from new frames to extremely good aerodynamic fairings to the integrated electro/gas system. If you compare the HP output between the Prius and the current Civic, you'll see that the Civic is still primarily a gasoline powered car (over 85%) while the Prius balances power between the engine and the motor. This is the same with Honda Accord, where they get their efficiency primarily through their efficient engine. In another word, the Prius is a truly hybrid car, whereas the Honda hybrid is still primarily a gasoline powered car. And with Toyota's employee and R&D size that is easily 3-4X size of Honda, it is understandable why Toyota is kicking ass. Toyota to Honda is like Intel to Cyrix. \_ well, they're both "primarily a gas powered car" \_ but toyota will never be an elite rice car |
2005/7/13-14 [Politics/Foreign, Computer/SW/Security, Politics/Domestic/Crime] UID:38600 Activity:nil |
7/13 http://csua.org/u/cp6 (findlaw.com) "Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both." ... so, what do you think? I don't see "name" in the above, just "identifies", so I guess it depends on what the meaning of "identifies" is. A lot of it is also intent and foreknowledge. \_ Rove's claim that "I didn't know her name" is totally irrelevant. Identifying someone as "his wife" uniquely establishes her identity, except possibly in Utah. |
2005/7/13-14 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:38601 Activity:moderate |
7/13 So Molly Ivins makes another mistake in her retraction (but to her credit she did retract it): http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/23493 She claims: "The high-end estimate of Iraqi civilian deaths in this war is 100,000, according to a Johns Hopkins University study published in the British medical journal The Lancet last October, but I was sticking to the low-end, most conservative estimates because I didn't want to be accused of exaggeration." But the study she's citing didn't determine whether people who died were civilians or not, right? \_ No. it didn't. It studied Iraqi deaths. period. Thus, the number includes Iraqis who normally would have died of natural causes. \_ What the hell is the "Lancet"? I've never heard of it, and I'm pretty sure I've heard of everything. This sounds like something only NERDS have heard of. Is that a TV show? \_ No. it didn't. It studied Iraqi deaths. period. But the 98k estimate was extra-deaths beyond those Iraqis who normally would have died of natural causes, estimated excluding Falluja deaths. Additionally, the study concluded 98,000(iirc) deaths during the time period studied (approx. the first year or so). IOW, currently, the death count should be about ~200k. -nivra currently, the death count should be about ~140k. -nivra \_ First, I'd like to thank you for correcting my (mistaken) objections the the Lancet study's statistics. Second, I don't objections wrt the Lancet study's statistics. Second, I don't think it's reasonable to do a linear extrapolation to 200K now. -emarkp \_ Oops. My original extrapolation showed 140k deaths - straight proportion from iraqbodycount. I pulled 200k out of my ass. FWIW, here are deaths from IraqBodyCount: -nivra up till 3/20/03: 4221 - 5406 (major combat operations) 3/21/03 - 9/20/04: 11740 - 12908 (up thru lancet study) 9/21/04 - 7/02/05: 6877 - 7555 (post-lancet study) \_ I agree with nivra - Ivins misinterprets the report. But, her 20K number may actually be accurate: http://www.iraqbodycount.net/database It's too bad the military doesn't record this data, or there might be a list of civilian deaths caused by U.S. action in descending order, sortable by military ID and COs. E.g., PFC x is responsible for 5 confirmed civilian deaths along with 10 confirmed kills, LTG y is responsible for this many and that many for all under his or her command. The military loves data, normally. \_ Hardly. 20k, no matter which way you hack it, is grossly under- estimating. Most of this has been hashed out between emarkp and I in the past, but the lancet study is accurate, if not precise. So use their low end confidence numbers(eg. from the first quartile). if you want, that still gives you over 2x the number dead. -nivra \_ Yeah, I should rewrite that to "20K number may actually be accurate as a low-end figure for civilian deaths caused by both insurgent attacks and coalition activity" both insurgent and coalition activity" \_ Ok, I looked up the kais motd thread: http://csua.com/?entry=38205 At 75% confidence, you can state there have been 108k Iraqi deaths since the war started. At 90% confidence, you can state there have been 65k Iraqi deaths since the war started. (Again, estimates do not include Falluja deaths due to massive outlier status) \_ Yeah, yeah, I know. The Lancet report talks about total extra deaths including combatants and civilians as you noted. I'm talking about 20K as a low-end figure for civilians only. Even that 20K number is probably a lot higher, but we're talking low-end, and civilians only, right. Anyways, I know pro-war people would have big issues with lumping in deaths caused by insurgent bombs too. \-the only think worse than listening to unfunny and fat molly ivins is listening to unfunny and fat jeaninnie garafolo. |
2005/7/13 [Uncategorized] UID:38602 Activity:high |
7/13 http://ifuckedanncoulterintheasshard.blogspot.com |
2005/7/13-14 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Troll/Jblack] UID:38603 Activity:low |
7/13 Just out of curiosity, who's the fanatic motd spammer? I'm not so interested in the politics of it, but it just somehow reminds me of the random guy in SF yelling about UFOs. -John \_ finger jblack! \_ Yeah, I have, and his .plan is one of someone who's very, uh, convinced, but it doesn't indicate total insane wacko. -John \_ 12 GALAXIES!! \_ According to Tom Holub they are jblack, reiffin, crebbs, and ecchang \_ [Don't name random names if you don't know what you're talking about. Thanks.] |
2005/7/13-14 [Politics/Domestic/911, Politics/Domestic/Crime] UID:38604 Activity:moderate |
7/13 There's a lot we don't know yet about the CIA flap http://hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Comment/ByronYork/071405.html \_ We do know that this guy is a National Review hack, however. \_ If you don't know what "being obtuse" is, here it is. [restored by !poster. fuck off, deleter] \_ I deleted my own post because I didn't think it was as accurate as I would have liked. It's maybe about 80% "being obtuse". \_ A lot of those questions have been answered. For instance Judith Miller was drawn into the case via phone records. \_ I stopped reading when he didn't acknowledge that the signed waivers were coerced and thus not authentic releases. What's the strongest evidence of this? Matthew Cooper didn't spill until he got an explicit release from Rove, and at the last minute too. \_ I don't think this true. Karl Rove's attorney has denied that Rove has contacted Cooper recently. Rover did sign a blanket waiver a while ago letting any reporter discuss all this crap. I think it's not really clear why Cooper suddenly said Rove is his source, it could be for a variety of reasons, maybe he just didn't feel like going to jail for 18 months to protect Karl Rove. - danh This is an opinion piece supporting Rove which dodges essential facts like the above. \_ FUD from the National Review. How uncharacteristic of them. |
2005/7/13-15 [Uncategorized] UID:38605 Activity:nil |
7/13 Interview with Frank Herbert and Beverly Herbert from 1969: http://www.sinanvural.com/seksek/inien/tvd/tvd2.htm \_ Why are you posting this now? \_ I don't know why whomever posted that did it but the interview is damned interesting in spots. |
2005/7/13-14 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:38606 Activity:high |
7/13 25 years! Jacques de Molay, you are avenged! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4680221.stm \- if i were king, i would approve. \_ Partha, you will always remain our Once and Future motd king. \_ You can't imagine how depressed it makes me to realize psb turned out to to have a soul of a small time oriental despot. -- ilyas \- i guess STALIN makes POL POT look small time? although if you measure in terms of fraction of your country killed, mr. pot does pretty well. you may also wish to see the War of the Triple Alliance. see War of the Triple Alliance. \_ I think the only distinction between Pol Pot and Stalin was that Stalin was placed in a position where a wider application of power was possible, not any sort of tangible moral difference. -- ilyas \- i wasnt not talking about moral difference. i was a little surprised pol pot is considered "small time" in ilyas world. BTW, i think you are misunderstanding my somewhat tongue in cheek comment about pol pot. but i am touched my your disillusionment with me. --psb \_ Well, I asked you once if you were kidding. You said you weren't. Are you tongue in cheek or not? Words mean things, etc. -- ilyas \- roughly this is what i mean: if i were a absolute despot, i think i would be inclined to somewhat arbitrarily punish people whose lifestyles i disapproved of. this doesnt mean people who wear glasses or engage in sodomy or other thing violating dogmatic views of morality but people i consider decadent. spending $6000 on a shower curtain would merit punishment. \_ Well, that might make you better than Pol Pot or Stalin, who had somewhat broader tests for applications of power. On the other hand, to paraphrase someone I know, who are you to tell me how big a car I should drive or how big the breasts of my wife should be, etc? Is this grounded in aesthetics for you or what? -- ilyas \_ So when's the marriage to Linsey Dawn McKenzie, ilyas? \_ What is this person famous for, other than having large boobs? \_ Use google and find out! \_ What's it like to go through life without a sense of humor? \_ I asked him twice if he is joking or not. I don't think he's joking anymore, I think he really would put 'plutocrats' and 'degenerates' to the torch. The joke's on you. -- ilyas \_ hey, you just stomped on dan's post, and you use vi. \- i didnt say degenerates or plutocrats. i wouldnt have bill gates killed. i would have the decadent punished not preverts and all rich people. trump gets put in concrete and urinated upon. bill gates just gets anti- trust enforcement. --psb \_ Anyways, sense of humor guy, I await your apology. (Btw, sorry for stomping your post dan, if it was me). -- ilyas \- i think you are lacking a sense of humor about this too. but maybe it is because you have some trauma associated with growing up in russia? i can understand somebody from cambodia not thinking this is a good way to make a point \_ Look partha, I am going to put this as kindly as I can. Why have you been yanking my chain for 2 threads now? Is this how you troll? If you claim to be serious then I assume you are, and sense of humor is not an issue. I guess what I learned today is I can't take any answer of yours seriously, which is also kind of depressing. This whole "I was joking after all" thing is pure wankery on your part, imo. -- ilyas \-was not intending to yank your chain. although now i am sort of amused. i think it is an interesting state of affiars to say that i would get more milage out of punishing people than say looting the country if i were given the keys to the kingdom. do you love pushkin? |
2005/7/13-15 [Transportation/Car] UID:38607 Activity:low |
7/13 Top ten movie car chases: http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/12/Autos/funonwheels/car_chases/index.htm \_ Fuck all car chases, and fuck all cars. A car chase can ruin a whole movie. I had to walk out of Ronin because of its endless car chase. What the fuck is the matter with people that they like watching people drive around? If you want to watch people drive around, you can do that anytime, anywhere. Why not list the all time best movie scenes where someone takes a shit in real time? \_ Don't forget the guns. -John \_ What about the guns? \_ Any self-respecting car chase needs serious guns. \_ There've been versions of this list before. Anything without The French Connection is bunkum. Where Eagles Dare gets honorable mention. -John \_ Of course, The Bourne Supremacy chase would have been better if the cinematography hadn't been in handheld-vomit-inducing-cam. |
2005/7/13-15 [Computer/SW/Apps, Computer/SW/OS/OsX] UID:38608 Activity:nil |
7/14 what is some OCR software for OSX that doesn't suck? - danh \_ I hear the super-expensive Acrobat is good, but if you find a cheaper quality alternative, please let me know. -brett \_ I've used Photoshop + Acrobat to OCR magazine articles and papers and found that it works pretty well. If you want to save some money buy a copy of Acrobat v6. --ranga |
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