11/17   http://motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/hatz
        Your cheapo motorcycle helmet could provide better protection
        than your $600 Arai helmet.
        \_ Thanks, this article is great.

11/17   http://msnbc.com/modules/take3/nov/default.htm
        The 60s Kids, Part 1. "...the dark days... what brightened
        it? Sex, drugs, and rock n roll"

11/17   Is there any on-line store that sells Big Game apparel which support
        Cal?  I only found a Big Game 'Ticket' tee which doesn't suppport
        either side.

11/17   Star Trek by Dr. Seuss
        http://www.seuss.org/seuss/seuss.sttng.html
        \_ This flashback brought to you by VH1's I <3 the 90s.

11/17   "I know what it's like to operate in a highly charged political
        environment ... people sometimes lose their cool, and yet ... you can
        ordinarily rely on some basic measure of truthfulness and good faith
        ... the suggestion that's been made by some U.S. senators that the
        President of the United States or any member of this administration
        purposely misled the American people on pre-war intelligence is one of
        the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city."
        -VP Cheney (Nov 16, 2005)
        "Well, look, ours is a country where people ought to be able to
        disagree, and I expect there to be criticism. But when Democrats say
        that I deliberately misled the Congress and the people, that's
        irresponsible. They looked at the same intelligence I did ...
        patriotic as heck to disagree with the President. It doesn't bother
        me. What bothers me is when people are irresponsibly using their
        positions and playing politics."
        -President Bush (Nov 17, 2005)
        \_ I'm looking for the interest here.
           \_ ok ok, I took out Dubya.  shorter now.
        \_ He added "I am not a crook"
        \_ Dude, isn't the like "how can we use this to hit iraq" post-9/11
           meeting like on record?
           \_ I don't know, can you produce it?
              \_ "But the fact of the matter is that when we were attacked on
                 September 11, we had a choice to make.  We could decide that
                 the proximate cause was al-Qaeda and the people who flew those
                 planes into buildings and, therefore, we would go after
                 al-Qaeda and perhaps after the Taliban and then our work would
                 be done ... Or we could take a bolder approach, which was to
                 say that we had to go after the root causes of the kind of
                 terrorism that was produced there, and that meant a different
                 kind of Middle East. And there is no one who could have
                 imagined a different kind of Middle East with Saddam Hussein
                 still in power." -Sec State Rice (Oct 16, 2005)
                 \_ How is this the "'how can we use this to hit iraq'
                    post-9/11 meeting"?
                    \_ Okay, what's the meaning of "this" in "how can we
                       use this"?
                 \_ We hit the trifecta! -GWB
\

11/17   I'm about to buy one of the condos in a big condo complex and
        I'm concerned about lighting. I'd like to know at what angle
        will the sun shine through the windows and if it'll be blocked
        by other units (which by the way tend to protrude out). I'm
        wondering about the path of the sunlight in respect to the
        season. What is a good web site that'll tell you these things?
        And since there is a 15 degree difference between true north
        and magnetic north, which one do people use? Thanks.
        \_ Just go there at the time of day you're worried about.
           \_ The sun's path through the sky is different each day.
        \_ true.  only USGS maps and similar care about magnetic
        \_ http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/highlights/sunrise/azel.html
           http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html
           The sun uses geographical (true) north.
        \_ I used to have an app on my Palm that would show you a true-north
           compass if the time was set correctly and you input your latitude.
           All you had to do was point it toward the sun.
           You could use CyberSky to view the sun's position from the city and
           that would give you those details, etc.
        \_ ObHousingBubble
        \_ If you really want to obsess about it,
           http://www.solarpathfinder.com.  -tom
        \_ Best solar path visualizer: http://solar.anu.edu.au/Sun/SunPath

11/17   Has anyone heard of Daikin? (http://www.daikin.com  I need to purchase and
        install an AC unit for a condo for myself, and I'm investigating
        good systems.  Daiking, though pricey, was recommended to me.  Any
        other recommendations?

11/17   Heh, heh.  Volvo Baggins
        http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/getfuzzy/index.html

11/17   I'm 41, so what am I allowed to complain about on motd ? I think
        if anything, you becoming more accepting of things  the older
        you get.
        \_ If you're replying to the "at least wait till you're 40" post
           below, I was not meaning to imply that being over 40 makes it cool
           to bitch about young people--just that bitching about young people
           when you're barely over 30 demonstrates spectacular levels of
           assheadedness.  There have always been good people who work hard and
           don't complain, and there have always been stupid whiners.
           \_  I can agree with that. I went back to college for awhile
               and found it odd to be in classes with people who
               were not even born when you started college.
               \_ Hot and easy college babes are worth it, though.
                  \_ and if you can't get them, there is always the moms.
        \_ standard grumpy-old-man stuff about how things are easier these
           days and th whiners should shut up, because you had to hike to
           school 5 miles uphill each way, in the snow.
        \_ You can always bitch about punctuation and formatting.  What
           year were you?
           \_ Let me put it to  you this way, my first  college level
           CS course (in pascal) was in 1983 and was done on punch cards.
            ( .. which leads to  many .. in my day lines ... )
              \_ I am curious because I thought there wasn't anyone from an
                 earlier class than me ('89) on motd.  In fact, when I
                 graduated, I was the first CSUA excom member to do so in
                 2 years.
                   \_  I did not actually graduate from Cal; so you
                       probably don't know me.
                       \_ Well, it's either that or you're okamoto.
                          \_ I actually know Jeff; but its been a few
                          years (over ten now) since I did anime stuff
                 \_ Indeed, who are you, ancient master? -jrleek
              \_ Punch cards?  Didn't Apple ][ support Pascal?
                 \_ These were batch jobs run on the campus mainframe.
                 At that time; only  CS majors got the priviledge of
                 using green screens since they were in short supply.
                 This was not at Cal; btw.
                 \_ Yes, Apple ][ did support Pascal. But in 1983 Apples ][e
                    cost more than a semester at Cal.
                 \_ You have an odd sense of punctuation; btw.
              \_ When I first learned C after using Pascal for a year in
                 school, I though C was cool.  Now after using C for 15 years,
                 I miss Pascal.
            \_ The sad thing is you're only 13 years ahead of me and time has
               been flowing exponentially faster year after year. Ok maybe
               logarithmically. or something.
                 \_ Its like Indy used to say: "Its not the years; its
                    the mileage"

11/17   Anyone noticed ilyas' absense on motd? Has he finally quit
        being a government leech and become a useful member of society?
        \_ no, he's still in grad sk00l far as i know, but yeah he quit motd
        \_ You could simulate most of an ilyas by randomly nuking the motd!

11/17   Warp Drive Patented:
        http://tinyurl.com/dhp8q
        \_ While this patent is clearly bullshit, it is not completely clear
           that Podkletnov's work is all bullshit.  It's true that no one
           has been able to duplicate it, but Podkletnov is a very odd
           person, and has been very paranoid about giving out certain key
           details about how to duplicate the experiment because he hopes
           to perfect it on his own with a shoestring budget and get rich
           off of it.  A friend of mine is totally obsessed with this work,
           and is neither a believer nor a total skeptic, but has spent time
           sniffing around in Europe, talking to some of Podkletnov's
           co-authors trying to get to the bottom of this, and he's still
           not convinced either way.  Part of what's interesting about it
           is that since no honest person seriously claims that high T_C
           superconductors are understood, there's plenty of room for crazy,
           unanticipated physics, and some theorists have been able to make
           crap up that might support Podkletnov's work.  Definitely worth
           keeping an eye on.
           \_ "yeah, who needs a Nobel Prize, I'll just advance the frontiers
               of science by screwing around in my garage."  The guy's an
               obvious crackpot.  -tom
        \_ You might want to listen to Act III from This American Life:
                http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/05/293.html

11/17   The dude who was cured of HIV didn't have it in the first place:
        http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20051116-015251-1581r
        \_ Gee, what a surprise.
        \_ Someone told me that Magic Johnson had been "cured" of AIDS, that
           they haven't been able to measure virus in him for years.  I
           found that hard to believe.  --PeterM
           \_ First part sounds like the wrong words. Second part is
              believable, the current powerful HIV medications can reduce
              the viral load to undetectible levels. Doesn't mean he doesn't
              still have HIV though..
              \_ The guys I currently work for make blood testing devices--
                 they use something called protease chain somethingorother to
                                           \- PCR, sort of invented by ex-UCB
                                              person/surfer kary mullins who
                                              uses his nobel prize to get
                                               chicks and hangs out with OJ.
                 basically breed any of several hundred families of virii in
                 a blood sample from "undetectable" levels to where you can
                 actually measure them.  So while possible that you wouldn't
                 detect something you're actively looking for (like HIV in
                 Magic's bloodstream) it's fairly unlikely, as far as I
                 understand the workings of the gizmos.  -John
                 \_ The plural of virus is "viruses".
                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_of_virus
                    \_ And the plural of anal retentive idiot is?  Consider
                       me eduficated, thanks teach!  -John

11/17   Cost + 7% coupon for CompUSA good on Nov 19th.
        http://image.compusa.com/retail/collateral/35208_Cost7_ROP.pdf
        \_ So instead of their usual margin of 7% on near-loss-leader items,
           you'll be getting a margin of... 7%!
           \_ yeah, first thing off google I found
              http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/543437
              basically the stuff that's eligible is already at Cost + 7%