9/24    What does it mean when you run a card (e.g. a video card) at
        4x or 8x? Thanks.
        \_ It means that the strobe signals used for clocking AD and
           SBA data switch 4 or 8 times per reference clock which
           runs at 66MHz for AGP. Actually, I'm over-simplifying here.
           In AGP 4x and 8x, the strobe signals are paired (sometimes
           differential) so those signals only switch at 2x or 4x
           of the reference clock.

9/24    Is there a reason why my wireless router is stuck at channel 6?
        I don't have an option to go to any other channel. ok thx.
        \_ Because you bought a crappy router?
        \_ You probably have a D-Link with "Extreme G".  You need to turn off
           whatever it calls the 154 Mbps mode ("Extreme G", I think).  The
           way this mode works is it uses multiple channels, thus they lock it
           on 6.  Turn it off and you can pick a different channel.  --dbushong

9/26    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050926/od_nm/germany_porn_dc
        Public porn shoot at the Munich Oktoberfest

9/26    "Defying expectations, sales of previously owned homes rose in
        August to the second-highest level on record with home prices
        rising at the fastest pace in 26 years."
        Go housing go!
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050926/ap_on_bi_ge/economy
        \_ it costs $5000 per month to own a $1 million house,
           but only $2400 per month to rent.  Do you think the
           economy will become very hot soon so people can
           increase the rent?
           http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/25/realestate/25cov.html?pagewanted=1
           \_ $5000 per month buys you about a $700K house with nothing
              down for 30 year fixed at ~5.6%.
              \_ No it won't, you doofus, you forgot the land tax. At around
                 $1 million the land tax becomes significant. The mortgage
                 you can pay off, the land tax is forever.
                 \_ I was counting property tax, dude. The payment for the
                    mortgage alone is $4000/month.
           \_ The economy will be very hot for the owner of the
              $1 million house, when it becomes a $2 million house.
              \_ that will just make me even happier living in a $2 million
                 house for $2400 per month while the owner is paying
                 $10000 per month.  yea, some owners bought it while its
                 cheaper, but I will find the owner who just recently
                 bought and rent from him.  that will make me feel good!
           \_ It's the dawn of the age of the NEW ECONOMY!!! Aquarius!!!
              \_ Do not misunderestimate the staying power of the Age of
                 Pisces!  Us Pisceans are not done yet!  We shall sock
                 you with one last tidal wave of natural disasters,
                 financial disasters, wars, plagues, and famines, and acts
                 of mass terrorisms, and lots of WMDs!  Just watch!
                 \_ Aquarius!
                    \_ Aquarius?
                       \_ Aquar-ee-us!
           \_ My theory is that as long as house prices keep growing at
              the current clip homeowners will keep rents low because they
              are making so much money just by property appreciation.  I don't
              know what will happen if the housing market stalls/crashes.
              \_ You have a good heart, and believe people have good hearts
                 too.  But market theory says otherwise.
        \_ still waiting for our social-communist commentator lafe to say
           something about the evils of being an efficient capitalist by
           owning too much and controlling other people's lives...

9/26    So, Katrina, Rita, what is the verdict?   I remember someone here
        on soda saying that federal government shouldn't get involved in
        hurrican relief.  I would like to hear your opinion on Bush's
        vast mobilization of federal resources *BEFORE* the Rita hits.
        Do you still believe that federal government should be hands off and
        let the state and local officials do their thing? and why.
        \_ I'm tired of this thread. Why don't you email jblack directly?
           And why are you obsessed with proving that you're right and
           they're wrong? A real conservative sticks to his guns and
           never flip-flops his position. In another word, a real
           conservative never admits anything wrong.
           \_ Apparently niether do real liberals.  That's why we call then
              "far"-left/right.  (Or extremists)
              "far"-left/right.  (Or extremists)                -jrleek
              \_ Hello, Mr. Conservative.
              \_ No, a real liberal flip-flops (changes his position) all
                 the time to gain the most advantageous views.
                 \_ A real liberal is reasonable to changing his mind
                    in the face of new evidence, but I don't call that
                    flip-flopping, I call it intelligence.
                    \_ Go Kerry the Master of Flip-Flopping!
                    \_ but every time a new opinion appears?
                       \_ Are you stupid or just stupid?
                    \_ Intelligent flipping.
                       \_ Intelligent flipping is a baseless myth. It's really
                          just the evolution of an opinion.
        \_ I am still waiting for answers.  I am not trying to embarass
           anyone, just curious on what is other point of view. -op
           \_ Complete government fuck-up all around, brought out the worst in
              "normal" people, those responsible should be sacked, shot and
              shot again, is that what you were looking for?  -John
        \_ Rita and Katrina prove one thing: the government is inefficient.
           Throwing more money at the government is not going to solve
           the problem. Look at the late 1800s. The fire department was
           privatized and they only had to put out fires for paying
           customers, and the end result was less idling firemen playing
           cards and more PROFITS. Let me ask you this. Today, except for
           the USPS which is not even funded by tax payers, which government
           agencies profit?
           \_ ...and lots of burned down cities, don't forget that.
              \_ Incomplete argument--burned down cities = economic output
                 dip = lower economic performance = impact on pocketbook of
                 those hiring private fire depts. = no more $$ to hire private
                 fire depts. = their houses burned down.  So does this mean
                 that funding a fire department is an example of Keynesian
                 economics?  -John
                 \_ What happens while your neighbor's house is on fire and
                    they aren't home?  Do you call your fire department (and
                    foot the bill)? Call around to try to determine which
                    fire department your neighbor has?  What happens when a
                    fire spreads from one building to another, such as from
                    a "paid up" warehouse to the apartment complex full of
                    poor families (likely not all paid up)?  -meyers
                    \_ I think you sort of missed my point, meyers.  -John
                    \_ (tongue in cheek since this is all silly) Presumably the
                       apartment complex or home owner's association would
                       charge a fire-fighting fee so you and your neighbor
                       would be on the same fire figther's network.  Then of
                       course there is the problem of who to call when you
                       see the apartment or house in the next neighborhood
                       on fire so we should really all band together to cut
                       costs and have a city wide fighter fighting company and
                       just charge a fee for it to reduce costs but of course
                       then another city upwind might be on fire and your
                       city directly borders theirs so really we should just
                       have a county wide fire department to better spread the
                       cost and since we all need it equally, hey let's just
                       have a 1/2 cent tax on all sales to fund it since an
                       individual share is to hard to calculate.
                       \_ Sounds like a tax to me.  -John

9/26    Reports that apple nano screen scratches and damages very easily:
        http://www.flawedmusicplayer.com
        \_ Evidence to the contrary:
           http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nano.ars/3
           \_ scratch = yes (gets ugly fast), "damage" = no (still plays)
              how often/easily the LCD really cracks from the inside = ?
              \_ If the song names are unreadable and the photos are
                 unviewable, that == damage.
           \_ Yes this is 1 data point that everyone keeps referencing.
        \_ I can tell you that after having the Nano for 2 weeks, it does
           indeed scratch very easy.  I'm one of those people who take
           VERY good care of my electronics, and even I got various scratches
           on it that make the screen unreadable.  Simply having a cell phone
           rub up against it in my pocket, while other devices with nice
           screens (i.e. PSP) have no problem.  Hopefully Apple will use a
           tougher screen going forward, I had the iPod-Mini for a year with
           not a scratch.

9/26    Everytime I get a http://proxyvote.com I get the following:
        "PROPOSAL FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE ADOPTION OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2006
        EXECUTIVE BONUS PLAN." I always vote no because my CEO is a fucking
        playboy and a dickhead who doesn't do anything. I've been voting
        no for the past 8 years and it's annoying seeing this everytime
        proxyvote comes. Is there a way to find out the past results of
        my votes? Thanks
        \_ Is your CEO named Larry and have a fetish for all things Japanese?
        \_ Should be part of the annual report.  -tom
        \_ you don't need to look it up.  I assure you that it has passed
           every year. -phuqm.
           \_ and if there's an accounting scandal, well, he doesn't do
              anything so he wouldn't know anything about that!

9/26    ING Direct is offering 3.4% while PayPal is offering 3.5%. Any reason
        why I should keep money in ING Direct?
        \_ Emigrant Direct is offering 4.00%:  http://www.emigrantdirect.com
           \_ What's your experience with this bank? Drawbacks?
              \_ good rate, bad user interface, be patient with
                 the opening process/links to your account, okay
                 once you get used to it.
        \_ Does that 0.1% really matter to you?! At that point I'd be
           looking at level of service and convenience over an extra 0.1%.
           I am not saying ING offers more, but that I would focus on that
           versus the rate.
        \_ how much money are you guys talking about?
           I look at these rates and I thought they aren't bad, but when
           I calculate how much I would earn in a year with a $10000, it's
           like really anti-climactic.
           I calculate how much I would earn in a year with $10000, it's
           like ... not very exciting.
           \_ I suggest you go into the loan shark business.
        \_ Only if you care about other stuff that ING offers, i.e. CDs,
           investment accounts, etc. If you care and plan to use those
           services you might as well stick with one banker. If paypal offers
           better rates and same services go with Paypal.
           \_ what about the part where paypal is a buncha mofos?
              \_ Well, I've done quite a bit of paypal stuff (I run
                 an online store with a buddy for fun and profit) and
                 they are mofos. However, they've never held on to our
                 funds for long, so I would assume the same goes for
                 their savings/checking account. So if you do have
                 trouble with it you can just cancel it and go with
                 someone else without too much hassle. They are owned
                 by ebay, so it is relatively solid. I personally do
                 ING for my savings, but I purchased CDs at 4%, and
                 I also have an IRA with them for retirement derivatives,
                 so that's the only real reason why I would recommend ING
                 over paypal. If it's a principal thing and if you feel
                 a bit squeemish about paypal then definitely go with ING.
                 It's not worth fucking around with 0.1% if you have grave
                 doubts (and some of them are justified) about Paypal.

9/26    I have set some local filesystems not to mount at boot in vfstab
        When I do go to mount them, though, i'd like to go through the whole
        fsck pass like it would if it was set up to do so at boot.  What is
        the_standard/an_easy way to do this?  tnx.
        \_ Make up an alias that basically does "fsck -p /foo && mount /foo"
           \_ I may resort to this (except not -p because slowlaris doesn't
              have that option on it's fsck) but the regular boot up process
              - if i'm not mistaken - only does this if it detects that the
                filesystem is "dirty" right?  or it has been X mounts or Y
                days since last FSCKing. Is there no way to just do exactly
                what it would have done at boot time?
           \- i think some OSes have an option to say "fsck every N mounts".
              not sure about solaris [which is what i assume you have].

9/26    Don Adams R.I.P:  We'll miss him by _that_ much.
                                            \_ Awesome reference.  I'm sure
                                               he'd approve.

9/26    Butch from Little Rascals.. R.I.P

9/26    A few more bad apples:
        http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1108972,00.html
        \_ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1490301/posts
           \_ The third post is the best.
        \_ http://csua.org/u/dii (LA Times)
           "[CPT Fishback] wrote that Army guidance was 'too vague for
           officers to enforce American values.' He concluded that violations
           of the Geneva Convention were 'systematic, and the Army is
           misleading America.'"
           \_ if USA is not subject to international jurisdiction, this
              thing will happen.  If you guys recall, even those who
              are responsible for May Lai only got a slap on the wrist.
              My favorite story is IR655.  They actually got metals for
              shooting down an airliner.
        \_ Doesn't he know there's a war going on?
           \_ That's just great. We should disband the Army and use harsh
              words when our enemies invade. I totally lost faith in our
              military. All those people they have helped mean nothing when
              they are misleading America! For shame!
              \_ Did you read at all about the taxi driver who was beaten
                 to death in Afghanistan?  The totally innocent, not a
                 terrorist, taxi driver.  How many more taxi drivers are we
                 torturing?  Laws aren't there just to protect the guilty.
        \_ this is not few bad apples.  This is systematic abuse that is
           directed by people all the way to the top (recall Pentagon decided
           that Geneva Convention doesn't apply to war on terror?)
           \_ Your sarcasm filter is set too low.  Of course it's not a
              few bad apples.  Of course it goes to the top.
           \_ And the Geneva Convention should apply to non-state actors
              who do not adhere to it b/c WHY? The executive needs the
              fifth freedom in order to properly deal with the enemies
              of the republic.
              \_ You're one sick monkey.  How 'bout you sign up and go over
                 there?  With statements like this, I bet you'd fit right in
                 with the other PUC fuckers.
              \_ The Geneva convention is irrelevant here, except for the
                 fact that it provides for the protection of civilians when
                 possible, which we can argue about.  However, last I checked,
                 the US was a civilized country, and civilized countries do not
                 condone, defend or justify abuse of prisoners of any sort.
                 There is no argument about this.  This is not torture to find
                 the location of the bomb that'll go off, or punishment, it is
                 wrong, I don't care what sort of scumbag is being abused.  I
                 don't think this is a case of the military or the US "system"
                 or whatever being fundamentally fux0red, but there is no
                 excusing this at all.  -John
                 \_ Well said!
                 \_ When rights are accorded to prisoners in the context of
                    war it is b/c there is an implicit understanding that
                    those same rights will be accorded to our own who are
                    captured.  When this implicit understanding is no longer
                    true, there can be no claim of rights - as they reserve the
                    the right to use any and all means against the republic,
                    so too must the republic reserve that same right. The
                    extent to which this right is exercised is a matter solely
                    for the discretion of the executive.
                    \_ Or in other words, the "they started it!" defense.
                       Sorry, it doesn't fly; we are signatories to the
                       Geneva Convention and our treatment of prisoners of
                       war must be subject to those rules, even if we
                       think our opponent wouldn't afford us the same
                       protection.  -tom
                       \_ Conventions only apply amongst those who
                          actually sign the convention. The provisions
                          of the convention do not apply to non-parties.
                          The non-state actors who currently oppose the
                          republic are non-signatories and therefore
                          have no claim to rights under the convention.
                          Furthermore, the geneva convention only applies
                          to conventional warfare, not this current type
                          of conflict.

                          \_ The present Convention shall apply to the
                             persons referred to in Article 4 from the
                             time they fall into the power of the
                             enemy and until their final release and
                             repatriation.

                             Should any doubt arise as to whether
                             persons, having committed a belligerent
                             act and having fallen into the hands of
                             the enemy, belong to any of the
                             categories enumerated in Article 4, such
                             persons shall enjoy the protection of the
                             present Convention until such time as
                             their status has been determined by a
                             competent tribunal.
                             [Shocking news, Gonzalez/Rumsfeld ignore this
                             provising.  -tom]
                             provision.  -tom]
                    \_ No, being a civilized country and adhering to absolute
                       standards of civilization is not at the discretion of
                       the executive.  Look up "moral high ground".  -John
                       the executive.  Are you saying that "the executive"
                       knows of and condones (or even orders) this sort of
                       thing?  Note that we are not even talking about Matt
                       Gonzalez' "torture is OK in some circumstances" memo,
                       but random abuse.  Or are you saying that the executive
                       doesn't have a clue what the armed forces under its
                       command are up to?  I am curious.  -John
                       \_ My view is that the executive branch needs unlimited
                          pwr to defend the republic - the means which they
                          choose to employ are at their sole discretion. If
                          they choose to condone this conduct, then so be it.
                          If they choose to prosecute this conduct, then that
                          is okay as well. If they don't know and they choose
                          not to find out b/c they have something more impt.
                          to do that is okay as well.
                          I also reject the view that there is something
                          special about civilization that compels us to act
                          in a particular way w/in and w/out. Inside the
                          walls of civilization I agree that there must be
                          civilized conduct, but outside, in the jungle,
                          if civilized conduct is a liability then those
                          charged w/ the protection of civilization must
                          be free to dispense w/ civilized conduct.
                          \_ You're right, so as you're outside the walls of
                             my civilization, let's have GUN DUEL.  -John
                             \_ Not sure if a gun duel is legal. How about
                                a StarTrek phaser duel? Is that legal?

9/26    With the recent screenies of MS Vista, I think the main technology
        update has been:  How to keep the icons/text non-tiny for 1600x1200
        displays.  (Ob also copying OS X 3D effects)

9/26    http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3513_7-6333507-1.html
        Closer look at the recent studies comparing IE and Firefox security.
        Summary:  For the selected time period (Jan-Jun '05), Firefox had
        more critical vulnerabilities reported than IE -- but many more of the
        IE vulnerabilities remain unpatched.  Also, expanding the timeframe
        to start Aug '04 (when Firefox 1.0 came out), IE had more than double
        the Firefox flaws, and again IE has many more vulnerabilities without a
        patch (amazing what expanding the range by 5 months can do).
        Conclusion:  Use Firefox 1.0.7 or whatever the newest one is.
        \_ firefox sucks
           \_ Wow.  So useful.
           \_ with such a comment, you are required to supply a non-sucky
              alternative
             \_ ok.. what about an "I've been Trolled" T-shirt?

9/26    How come diesel engines run more efficiently than regular
        gasoline engines? Is it because diesel fuels contain more
        energy/volume? If you burn the same quantity of diesel fuel
        as regular gasoline, will both release different amounts of
        heat?
        \_ Yes diesel is more energy dense.
           \_ and it's also denser too.
        \_ "On average, 1 gallon (3.8 L) of diesel fuel contains approximately
           155x10^6 joules (147,000 BTU), while 1 gallon of gasoline contains
           132x10^6 joules (125,000 BTU)."
           http://auto.howstuffworks.com/diesel3.htm
        \_ They have a much more effient thermodynamic cycle,
           higher compression, and they don't draw a vacuum on partial
           throttle. --jwm
           \_ "A gasoline engine compresses at a ratio of 8:1 to 12:1, while a
              diesel engine compresses at a ratio of 14:1 to as high as 25:1.
              The higher compression ratio of the diesel engine leads to better
              efficiency."  http://auto.howstuffworks.com/diesel1.htm
              But I don't understand how higher compression ratio leads to
              better efficiency.  Maybe there is more air to burn per unit of
              fuel, so closer to 100% of the fuel is burnt.
              \_ Compression ratio matters not so much because you're
                 compressing more air into the gasoline vapor, but because
                 after ignition the exhaust gas is at a higher pressure and
                 pushes on the piston for a longer distance.  Imagine after
                 pulling in the fuel-air mixture it is at pressure P.  One
                 engine does some work to compress to 10P while the other does
                 more work to compress to 20P.
                 The gas engine has expended 9P on compression while the diesel
                 expended 19P.
                 After ignation the pressure
                 goes up another 10P, so the gas engine is at 20P while the
                 diesel is at 30P.  Now on expansion the gas engine expands 10x
                 to do (20-20/10)P=18P work.  The diesel expands (30-30/20)P=
                 28.5P work.  Subtracting the original work of compression the
                 gas engine gained a net of 9P while the diesel gained 9.5P
                 work.  Not a big difference but as you keep increasing the
                 compression ration the amount of work extracted converges to
                 the amount the gas provided, 10P.

9/26    http://www.csua.org/u/did
        Told you Sheenan was a whack job.
        \_ I'm a liberal and I don't like her. She should tone down a bit
           and stop saying stupid things. I do like the movement that is
           going on right now. It'll prevent [Jeb] Bush from seeking an
           election like the way it prevented LJB.
        \_ Right...anyone who protests is a whack job.  All Hall Our Great
           Leader!  -tom
           \_ Are you an evil socialist?
           \_ Not everyone who protests, just Sheehan. However, there is
              no evidence of it in that particular article.