9/23    "The Pentagon announced Friday that it opened a formal criminal
        investigation ... Capt. Ian Fishback, a West Point graduate, went to
        the [Senate] committee with the charges within the last 10 days because
        he was frustrated that superior officers in his chain of command failed
        to respond ... The captain is the first officer to go public with
        allegations of detainee abuse in Iraq since the Abu Ghraib prison
        scandal erupted in April 2004."
        http://csua.org/u/dhr (LA Times)
        "Reached by telephone Friday night, Captain Fishback, who is currently
        in Special Forces training at Fort Bragg, N.C., referred all questions
        to an Army spokesman, adding only that, 'I have a duty as an officer to
        do this through certain channels, and I've attempted to do that.'"
        http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/24/politics/24abuse.html

9/23    Huh, I just heard on Coast-to-Coast AM that hurricane Katrina was
        caused by the Japanese Mafia.  Who woulda thought?
        \_ weatherwars.info.  Totally awesome.

9/23    A friend of mine needs a master's thesis topic.  Perferably in
        graphics, but he also has OS experience.  Any ideas?
        \_ It'll totally depend on the school and advisor. What school?
           \_ Chico State. (Cue jokes)

9/24    What is the process for having a President declared mentally
        incompetent and removed from office?
        http://www.vermontguardian.com/dailies/0904/0902.shtml
        \_ Haven't you learned anything? You can only be removed from
           office if you got a blow job from an intern. And even that
           isn't a sure bet.
        \_ Warning warning ultra left radical liberal rant alert!
           After watching this trash I need to cleanse myself by
           watching 5 hours of the O'Reilley show.
           \_ http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/63426
              Bush has apparently fallen off the wagon.
              \_ And after this news was reported, sales of Jim Beam Bourbon
                 Whiskey shot up by as much as 200%
        \_ You start by eradicating 51% of the mentally incompetent voters.
           \_ You mean eradicate all registered democrats? great idea.
        \_ You found it!  It's the smoking gun!  This fact filled article
           will surely be his downfall!  Congratulations!  This it it!
        \_ The "procedure" is given in Sec 4 of the 25 amd:
           "Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers
            of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress
            may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the
            Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their
            written declaration that the President is unable to discharge
            the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall
            immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting
            President."
           Ask yourself, would you prefer Pres. Cheney to Pres. Bush?
           \_ "Poor guy, he blacked out and hit the ground and he was out for
              four seconds. Fortunately, those were the same four seconds that
              Dick Cheney was conscious yesterday." --David Letterman
           \_ I bet half the people here don't even know who the Senate Pro
              Tempore is.
           \_ Actually, I would. Cheney at least appears to be competent.
              \_ The man couldn't even cover up or spin his former company
                 getting no-bid defense contracts. How competent can he be?

9/24    http://forum.anothersite.co.uk/showthread.php?p=610709#post610709
        A gift for John for posting good URLs-- Super Hot Nikkala. NSFW.
        \_ Too airbrushed for my taste, but certainly pretty girls.
        \_ Well done, young padawan.  I reward you with a trip to
           http://celebritymoviearchive.com  -John
           \_ You ASSHOLE. I sent you something cool cuz I liked your
              European sense of humor, and you sent this stupid site
              that requires registration and $. Fuck you. For this I
              take back my gift, and give you http://rotten.com
              \_ Why can't we all just get along?
              \_ Dude, even the free section of cma's pretty handy.
              \_ Pfft it requires nothing of the sort.  Click on "Tour".  I
                 was going to point you at http://www.beichthaus.de but then there's
                 that whole language thing.  Instead, I will recommend
                 link:tinyurl.com/965ma to you, which sort of transcends
                 translation.  -John

9/24    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050924/ap_on_re_mi_ea/nuclear_agency_iran
        IAEA votes to refer Iran to UN Security Council.  In order to obtain
        abstentions from China and Russia, language specifying "sanctions" and
        including a specific date were dropped.
        \_ how about N.Korea?

9/24    http://tinyurl.com/atl2o        A Housing Crash Will Soon Hit
        America -- Find out Sir John Templeton's Advice and Prepare for
        the Coming Catastrophe
        \_ When? When?!
           \_ John Snow is in Beijing pressing China to revalue RMB again.
              If Snow gets what he wanted (40% increase in RMB value),
              we will see how fast housing market crashes.
              \_ I am an economic fool. How is a 40% increase in RMB going
                 to cause the housing market crash?
                 \_ 40% increase in RMB value will whipe out all trade
                    surplus China has with USA.  Consider that China
                    is running trade deficits with virtually all nations
                    except USA, this means China won't have spare cash
                    to buy a billions of US treasuries a month.  US
                    30-yr bond need to raise interest rate to attract
                    investors, and morgage rate is tied to 30 yr bond...
                 \_ 40% is ridiculous and won't happen, but if it does,
                    it means inflation since walmart, etc. will have
                    their costs increase, and inflation will force the
                    fed to keep on raising rates, supposedly.  The other
                    factor is how the asian central banks react to
                    a currency revaluation of say 10%.  I guess the
                    reasoning is that once PRC allows revaluation,
                    the other asian central banks won't be under
                    as much pressure to keep buying US treasuries
                    to keep their currencies just as cheap.  This
                    will force the US treasury to increase its
                    rates in order to continue attracting money to
                    service US debts.
        \_ This is just one big long fucking ad.  Why show us this?  And
           most people agree that the housing market's in a precarious
           state right now, but predicting exactly when it'll blow, or
           if it'll deflate with a hiss instead of a bang, no one can
           do, including "Sir John Templeton".  --PeterM
           \_ I believe the income vs. mortgage ratios are still lower than
              the last 2 times housing got thumped and even then all that
              happened was a 20% drop followed by years of decreased _growth_
              back *way* above where it was.  When I bought 5-6 years ago, I
              thought it was high then but was simply tired of being a rental
              victim.  I feel bad for all the folks who have been bitterly
              waiting for some giant corrective event that is simply unlikely
              to happen to any large degree.  If housing prices dropped in
              half because of all the risky loans all choking at the same
              time, all you'd really see is those houses being bought up at
              auction by people who do have money and can afford to rent at a
              loss for years until incomes/rental prices catch up.  The sky is
              not falling.  Even a 20% drop in housing would simply put prices
              back 6-18 months (depending on location) which is still higher
              than when people started screaming bust.  Going in after some
              not-yet-happened 20% drop would be worse than having bought in
              6-18 months ago at the same price since in the meantime the
              angry renter would have lost all the rent money, have a higher
              interest rate, started owning later in life, and suffered the
              extra stress and bitterness to get a house further away from
              their ideal location.  I didn't read the link and didn't see a
              point given the title.  Anyone hyping their stuff with
              "...Prepare for the *C_O_M_I_N_G* *C*A*T*A*S*T*R*O*P*H*E*
              !!@@!!@1111" doesn't deserve a click.
              \_ Well, I bought a house, just not in CA.  (Buying in CA
                 would have been silly since I live in NM.)  Regardless of
                 what you said, I still think that housing is in a precarious
                 state, and that there will be some sort of correction, but
                 I've no clue whatsoever when/how bad, and no one has any such
                 clue.  --PeterM

9/24    Scopes trial pt 2:
        http://www.pamd.uscourts.gov/kitzmiller/kitzmiller.htm

9/24    NO's flood walls were structurally flawed:
        http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8038
        \_ Well, DUHHHHHH....

9/24    Any recommendations for extracting text from a WPS file?
        Apparently it was made with MS Works. OpenOffice can't open it
        \_ tr -d "\000-\010\016-\037\177-\377" <  test.wps

9/24    Is there a link btwn global warming and hurricanes?
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4276242.stm
        \_ Thank you. You're right there is not enough data to suggest
           global warming->hurricanes. I will continue driving my SUVs
           because I don't believe in stuff like pollution->cancer.
           I hate it when you liberals accuse me of causing cancer and birth
           defects. There's plenty of air and oil to go around. MY SUV, MY
           property. Keep your liberal laws off of my SUV.              -trl
           \_ Get off the SUV drivers backs ;  anyone driving a gas/diesel
              powered vehicle is guilty, weighted in their actual fuel
              consumption.
              \_ Yes, I agree. Everyone who burns fossil fuel is guilty
                 to the extent that they consume that. What peeves me
                 is that SUV drivers don't pay for their fair share
                 of things. They cause more damage to our roadways from
                 their extra weight, they cause more environmental damage,
                 and they are a greater risk on the road. But SUV drivers
                 get away without paying more in taxes and, in some
                 cases, get tax breaks. So no, I won't get off SUV
                 drivers backs until they pay their fair share.
           \_ Hehe, and it was you liberals (or more accurately you
              environmentalists) who have helped set back atomic energy
              for decades, resulting in our continued dependency on
              inefficient and ultimately hazardous fossil fuels.
              Stuff like renewable energy isn't a real solution to
              the problem. Neither is "ride bike" bullshit. If people
              want a real solution we should start looking into viable
              long-term strategies and not be knee-jerk about it.
              Of course, this will never happen.
              \_ You are a useless sack of shit.   Maybe we can solve
                 the energy crisis by running turbines off of the hot air
                 that comes out of the mouths of jackoff know it all sysadmins
                 like you.
              \_ Hehe, and it was you republicans (or more accurately you
                 SUV drivers) who have needlessly wasted our fuel supply
                 for decades, resulting in our continued dependency on
                 inefficient and ultimately hazardous fossil fuels.
                 Stuff like "Why do you hate America?" isn't a real solution
                 to the problem. Neither is "Why do you support terrorist?"
                 Stuff like invading another country isn't a real solution
                 to the problem. Neither is "Why do you hate America?"
                 bullshit. If people want a real solution we should start
                 looking into viable long-term strategies and not be
                 knee-jerk about it. Of course, this will never happen.
                 \_ Do you understand that the guy you're responding to was the
                    fuckhead who thinks people who don't like the way the 2004
                    election turned out should all move to Canada?
              \_ You are a useless sack of shit.
                 \_ Pot. Kettle. Black.
              \_ Yeah, "real solutions" like invading other countries.
              \_ $6/gallon gasoline tax would take care of the problem
                 pretty quickly. We should make the SUV drivers shoulder
                 the true cost (military, etc) of their gasoline.
                 \_ Troll?  I'll respond anyway but I'll keep it simple:
                    $6/gallon gas tax: dead economy.  Low gas prices pay for
                    themselves by having low prices for everything else.  Do
                    you work?  You won't have a job.  Are you in school?
                    Forget loans and grants.  Forget social programs including
                    education.  We should continue to ignore crack pots with
                    an axe to grind.
                    \_ How'd UK and Japan survive?
                       \_ They're falling apart.  You want to swap economies
                          with either one?
                          \_ Do you equate success and value
                             economic numbers and nothing else?
                             \_ Which economy would you swap with and what
                                positive thing do you think you'd be getting
                                along with your screwed up foreign economy?
                                If you're going to troll, you need to bring
                                your own troll toys to play with.
                          \_ FWIW, Japan's economy is finally having a
                             revival.  It's bad bank debts have been mostly
                             dealt with already.  Buy some Japanese stocks.
                             EWJ perhaps?
                             \_ Granted, they're no longer in a deep recession
                                but would you trade economies with them?  What
                                country would you swap economies with at this
                                time?
                                \_ Denmark. !op !pp
                                \_ I am not sure what you mean by "swap
                                   economies".  I wouldn't mind swapping a
                                   S&P500 index fund for a TOPIX fund
                                   S&P500 index fund with a TOPIX fund
                                   though, at least for the next year or two.
                                \_ Australia.
                                \_ I would swap economies with any Northern
                                   European nation. I want six weeks of
                                   vacation and six months of paid family
                                   leave. I would pay $6/gallon gasoline
                                   for things like that. I bet over the
                                   next 20 years, as Peak Oil hits, they
                                   will do much better in every way
                                   economically.
                                   \_ Must be why so many Swedish white collar
                                      professionals are moving to the UK for
                                      its low (!) taxes.  -John
                                   \ Even the Japanese take more
                       \_ UK economy is pretty strong is it not?
        vacation time than we do and crime is practically
        non-existant compared to the USAnot to mention a great public
        transit system. The cute girls  is a nice perk too  ;-)
        Heck; even moving to canada would be an
        improvement
        \_ Why do you care?  We just heard that global warming is irreversible
           now.  I'm burning tires for electricity.

9/24    I was thinking about buying a Canon EF 28-135 IS lens, but
        I just noticed that it is sold out in several places (bhphoto,
        adorama). Does anyone know if there is a new model on the
        way? If so, I'm wondering if I should hold off for a little
        while.
        \_ you sure you want that lens? at that focal length, IS is not
           really necessary.  You might as well go for something that
           has bigger maximum apature.
        \_ Do you have a film or digital camera?
           \_ does it matter?
              \_ 28-135 IS is perfect for film.  Digital SLRs have a
                 cropping factor.  There is a similar version of the
                 IS for digital cameras.  I might have a 28-135IS used,
                 for sale.
           \_ I have a digital rebel.

9/24    Lecture on imaging other "earths" in Zellerbach on 7 Oct:
        http://www.otherworldslecture.org

9/24    Hi, I'm finding myself having to convert network order
        to host order for uint_16 as follows, is there a cleaner way?
            src = buffer[2];
            src = src << 8;
            src += buffer[1];
        \_ man htons
        \_ Uhm, I don't think your way is even correct.
           1. Do you really mean to use 1-based array indices?
           2. You're always storing the most-significant-byte in the
              position of the least-significant-byte. (Note that this is
              irrelevant to whether your host is big- or little-endian.)
              Simply writing src = buffer[0] << 8 | buffer[1] should be
              sufficient.
              \_ I thought network order was LSB first?  So it should be:
                 src = buffer[1] << 8 | buffer[0]
                 \_ You thought wrong.  Do some homework.
           \_ If you are overlaying a buffer onto the short, that is
              inherently endian-dependent. Use htons, duh.
              \_ He's not overlaying a buffer onto a short.  He's reading it
                 into a buffer first.  When he reads it out of the buffer
                 with shift and bitwise operators, the endianness of the host
                 is irrelevant. (And I'm not suggesting not to use htos, I'm
                 just saying that what he wrote originally was wrong.)
                 \- "is there a cleaner way" ... gee, ya think?
                    if this is for work, have them buy you all the stevens
                    books. if they will only buy you one, probably get
                    STEVENS: Network Programming v1. I have the 2nd ed but
                    I am sure the edition++ is fine if not better eventhough
                    STEVENS -> dead. This is "the standard". oktnx. --psb
                    STEVENS -> dead. Like VAX BSD 4.2/4.3, this is "the
                    standard".  oktnx. --psb

9/23    "135 women receive bachelor's degrees for every 100 men. "
        This can't be true. It certainly wasn't true when I went to
        Cal. Either that or Cal women look like men.
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20050923/cm_usatoday/biglackofmenoncampus
        \_ Note: receive bachelor degree != attend
        \_ Note: Cal is not representative of US population as a whole
           I bet UCSB or USC are better examples
           I bet UCSB or USC are better examples.  The gender ratio at Cal
           is more a reflection of how men tend to excel higher than women.
        \_ Note: You're posting on the CSUA motd. Odds are the last woman to
           touch you was yermom. CS is not gender friendly. Try English,
           Biology or Business.

9/24    http://tinyurl.com/7aspg
        IKEA votes to refer domination to Walmart.  In order to obtain
        abstentions from socialists and liberals, language specifying
        "Republicans" and including a specific date were dropped.
        \_ how about the Religious right?

9/24    Lessons learned from Rita: Be sure you have a Magellan RoadMate
        and a Japanese car.  http://slate.msn.com/id/2126827/?nav=ais