9/16    Weldon: Atta Papers Destroyed on Orders
        http://csua.org/u/dek (wpost)

9/15    How often should I run my laptop's 'Improve Battery Health' deep
        discharge program?  It's showing 89% of rated capacity and 135
        discharge cycles.

9/15    Nintendo revels their new controller, and it really is different.
        REALLY different.
        http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3143782
        \_ It looks all good until you get to the "plugging shit in and having
           it dangle" stuff
        \_ I see carpal tunnel all over this thing.  You can only squeeze
           your hand so many times to press a button.  At least with two
           hands you get some leverage off of each hand.

9/16    Anyone out there have any tips/recommendations for juggling clubs?
        I've juggled bags for a while, and would like to give clubs
        a whirl.  Willing to spend up to ~$100 for a set of 3, wondering if
        anyone has tips for something good for beginners to start with that
        will also still be good later on as well?  e.g.:
        http://www.airtime.uk.com/clubs.html .   Thanks!
        \_ I've juggled with a lot of different clubs, and there really
           isn't a whole lot of difference in terms of being able to learn.
           It's nice to have a soft handle/end cap because you wind up
           dinging your fingers less often that way.  But other than that
           there aren't a lot of major differences other than appearance
           (which matters if you want to perform).
           Come by the Berkeley Juggling+Unicycle Festival and you can
           try out a bunch of different ones; there will probably be vendors
           there, too.
           http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~juggle/festival.  -tom
        \_ Juggling is as sexy as going to a StarTrek convention. SEXY!

9/15    Uh oh.  Consumer confidence at 13 year low.
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050916/bs_nm/economy_consumers_dc
        \_ And the housing boom continues. It is dawn of the NEW MARKET
           and housing will continue to boom forever!
           \_ seconded.  housing is the most essential and limited asset
              you can buy in the US, hence the boom!  Peak median price
              should reach 30 * median annual income, that's how long
              most people have mortgages anyway.
              \_ it's a good time to buy second homes too.  since even if
                 it doesn't appreciate, you can always rent it out.
                 \_ where are you finding the renter to cover that mortgage?
                    rents aren't that high so if it doesn't appreciate, you
                    lose.
                    \_ I believe the ppp (to whom you replied) was kidding.
                       Were you kidding, ppp?
                        \_ :-)
              \_ Because people don't need to eat and can afford to put 100%
                 of their income into a mortgage?
                 \_ if you watch your pennies, food can be a very small
                    % of your income.  You should see my Chinese parents!
                    \_ All I ate the first year after I bought my first house
                       were free company meals and instant noodle.  My
                       monthly food cost was < $10.
                       \- did you become a puffy supergiant?
                          \_ I ended up consuming fewer calories than I would
                             otherwise, though those calories are of undeniably
                             lower quality.
                \_ How big is people's monthly food budget generally?
           \_ Housing will only boom till eternity in Prop-13 places.

9/15    "I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I
        intend to spend it."

9/16    I'm currently a software engineer at a mid-size company... thinking
        of taking a contract job at a small company that would be able to
        convert to a full-time job in the future (basically they've already
        offered me full-time but I'd like a contract to try them out and
        see how the work/environment is) ... how much more should I ask
        for given that I'm (1) switching jobs, and (2) going to a contract
        from a FT salary. I'm guessing health ins (thru COBRA or free-
        lancers union?) will cost around ~$300/month at most? thanks
        \_ The usual add on is +25-30% of salary. This includes SS, medical,
           dental, vision, life insurance, overhead, etc.
        \_ I usually get 2-2.5x for short contracts.  You should get paid
           for the extra flexibility the contract affords the employer and
           for the extra risk you're carrying.
        \_ good god, why is health insurance that expensive??
           \_ Your company health insurance is expensive because it is not
              underwritten.  COBRA is just a continuation of that.
           \_ Have you ever had surgery? If you have, you know why. Even
              tests like MRIs are a couple of thousand bucks. A moderately
              complicated surgery will cost tens of thousands.
           \_ I suspect ridiculous health insurance costs would receive a
              lot more objection if people actually paid them themselves,
              rather than letting their employers eat the expense.
        \_ sounds like work environment is pretty important to you, and that
           you must have it pretty good at your current job.  make sure
           that money will be worth the sacrifice of your happiness.
           \_ current job is ok ... good in some ways. "change is good" ...
              sometimes.

9/16    Speculators rushing in as the water recedes
        http://csua.org/u/deq (LA Times)
        "Messages from those wanting to buy houses -- whether intact or
        flooded -- and commercial properties are outrunning those who want
        to sell by a factor of 20"
        \_ This makes me proud to be an American.
        \_ I hope eminent domain to create parks kicks in.
           \_ more likeley eminent domain as a form of urban renewal to clean
              out the trashed poor neighborhoods and replace them with rich
              high-tax-paying ones.
              \_ Pfizer employees need homes!

9/16    http://community.webshots.com/photo/371810784/371842361MVyjje
        me again
        \_ Are you actually going through webshots looking for this stuff,
           or are you getting it off that blog?
        \_ once again: eww.
           \_ I'm sure your virtual girlfriend is much hotter.
           \_ once again: you're high.
              \_ Sorry, breasts the size of a woman's head don't do it for me.

9/16    What is this burning in my eye?
        \_ need Visine?
        \_ Never put salt in your eyes.
        \_ The pointy ends go over your ears.
        \_ yermom
        \_ didn't you know semen stings?
           \_ current job is ok ... good in some ways. "change is good" ...
              sometimes.

9/16    How "dangerous" is it to be connecting to the internet via an
        "unsecured" network?
        \_ depends how secure your computer is.
           \- i think if you can turn your computer into an "edge" node
              meaning it runs basically no inbound listeners and you
              juse use ssh and a browser outbound, probably can be reaonably
              secure except for mobile code. of course you can get mobile
              code problem even if not connected to the net. you can checksum
              your OS on top of that.
        \_ if its windows box, you can expect it to be pwnz0red in minutes.
            Been there, done that,  reinstalled it...
            \_ If it's a properly patched Winbox with a decent personal
               firewall, no open bluetooth/wifi, and some basic stack
               hardening/permissions set, I wouldn't worry.  If you're taking
               a laptop to blackhat or some other place full of k1dd13z
               without backups, that's different.  -John

9/16    Hmong hunter convicted after 3 hours of deliberations by all-white jury
        http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_22619727.shtml
        \_ It's Wisconsin.  Of course it's an all-white jury.
        \_ Saying your victims deserved to die won't earn you any sympathy.
           And he basically admitted shooting an unarmed girl for inscrutable
           reasons.
           http://www.startribune.com/stories/467/5616664.html
           \_ Well I applaud Vang. I have this secret wish that someone
              like Vang the hero would kill off all fucking whitie KKK bigots
              in the midwest. I support Vang for killing Crotteau, I hope he
              rotts in hell. However I feel bad for the 2 other innocent
              whities.
              \- does anybody have a Vang Barrel?
              \_ bad troll!  no cookie!
        \_ You mean, "Admitted mass murderer convicted after telling jury his
           unarmed victims deserved to die for making him feel bad after he
           trespassed on their land carrying a firearm".

9/16    Stolen UC Laptop recovered:
        http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/16/BAGSGEO6CE1.DTL
        \_ how did they track the laptop to LA ... saw the MAC address
           somewhere?