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| 2006/3/27-29 [Politics/Domestic/Gay] UID:42447 Activity:nil |
3/27 Looking for more gay Icelander videos. I can't read Icelandic. Thanks
\_ Which gay Icelandic video URL did I post? I don't want
to repeat myself. - danh
\_ Someone posted one whose song was like this (E minor):
do do do -do | -re -do ti la | re re re -re | -me -re do ti
--- !OP
\_ http://www.hugi.is/hahradi/bigboxes.php?box_id=51208&f_id=1471
Personally I don't think this was gay, because I remember all
videos in that age were like that. -- !OP |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Uncategorized] UID:42448 Activity:nil |
3/27 Anyone know whether the recent SETI@Home donation mails that went
out are legit? Looks to be so, but just checking. -John
\_ Probably, because there's an article on the same topic in
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu, and the e-mail I got has the correct
SETI@home Classic statictics for my Classic account. |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Computer/SW/Languages/JavaScript, Computer/SW/Languages/Misc] UID:42449 Activity:nil |
3/27 Howdy, I just released the first beta of iGMonkey, a powerful
javascript framework designed to make it easy to query, retrieve,
manipulate, transform, and compare HTML and XML documents. Right now
iGMonkey targets the Google Homepage API
platform (http://www.google.com/apis/homepage but I plan to extend
it to support others, such as Firefox's Greasemonkey
plugin (http://greasemonkey.mozdev.org If you hack javascript or
Google Homepage Modules, please check it out and let me know what you
think:
http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~dans/igmonkey
P.S. OB Dieter says, ``Touch my monkey! Touch him! Love him!''
-dans
\_ Re: map() and foreach(): did you ever look at prototype.js? A lot
of this sort of functionality is in there already.
\_ Yes, I have. I plan to push some of my code back to
prototype.js. prototype.js' map function is a crippled map that
only takes a one argument function and one list. iGMonkey's
map is a true generalized map that takes an n argument function
and n lists. Don't get me wrong, I like prototype.js. Also,
prototype.js' goal seems to be to make javascript work like
ruby, which is fine, if that's what you want. Furthermore,
prototype.js is monolithic, as far as I know, there's no way to
pick and choose just the bits of functionality you want from it.
I am working on a real #include function for javascript to make
iGMonkey more component based. Hopefully the prototype.js folks
will find this useful. -dans
\_ That's it? That's your "I'm going to change the world" project?
\_ I don't believe I said I was working on a world changing
project. That said, most change is a gradual thing. Sure, if
you're the leader of a major world power you can demolish a
country on the other side of the world for shits and giggles
(oh and because its leader was a bad man), and do it in days.
Notably, the real change, i.e. the reconstruction effort usually
takes longer. If Linus declared that the aim of Linux was total
world domination in his original 1993 usenet announcement, I'm
sure you'd have written him off as a kook. But here we are 13
\_ You've already been written off as a kook.
years later, and Linux has changed the world. To me, starting
small is the only sensible way to single-handedly launch a
project. With hard work and a lot of luck, ambitious small
projects grow up into big world-changing projects, which is to
say that big projects and big ideas don't pop out of people's
heads fully formed like Athena. And to respond to the snark in
your comment, what have you written lateley? -dans |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Science/Physics, Reference/History/WW2] UID:42450 Activity:kinda low |
3/27 This is a very stupid and specific question regards to design
of main battle tank:
why the main gun of most of main battle tank in the world are
smoothbored instead of rifled?
\_ Just a guess but the advent of laser guided missiles obviated the
need for point-to-point riffled payloads. In another word there
is no longer a clear need for line-of-sight with modern missiles.
\_ I'm not an MBT designer, but I would guess that they're able to
accomplish the desired accuracy/range with a smoothbore, and a
rifled shell has less explosive power (because it needs a heavier
casing to withstand the greater stress of the rotation). Mortars
shells contain more explosive than equivalent-sized artillery shells
for the same reason (which makes them particularly deadly for
urban fighting). Oh, and the M1 (but not the A1 or A2 variants)
and the new Stryker multi-tank-thing, plus the British Leopard and
a few others, all have rifled cannon. -gm
\_ Find-stabilized shells, among others. Not all MBT barrels are
smoothbore (examples are Rheinmetall 120mm and several of the
newer Soviet ones.) What above poster said too, but it's not so
much the explosive power as for accuracy of heavier shells. Also
rifled barrels wear out faster. -John
\_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoothbore
\_ thanks. This is cool.
\- Hello, I too am not a MBT designer but having some knowledge of
EULER && LAGRANGE && NEWTON, I suspect the Moments of Inertia
which would characterize a tank shell would suggest it would not
be amenable to rotional stabilization as a small, cigar shaped
shell would be. For a discussion accessible to a science undergrad
see e.g. http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/336k/lectures/node74.html
particlarly the two conclusions at the bottom of the page. For a
more involved discussion, see the famous: http://csua.org/u/fc6
A simple demonstration of this can be done with a bed pillow
which isnt too floppy. say it is 20" long, 14" wide and 6" deep.
which isnt too floppy. say it is 2ft long, 1.5ft wide and 6in deep.
if you throw it up in the air in front of you spinning about each of
the possible axes, you will notice it is obviously less stable when
you spin it about the 1.5ft axis or "middle" Moment of Inertia axis.
you spin it about the 14" or "middle" Moment of Inertia axis.
This is actually something pretty cool to prove, rather than just
one of these artificial physics problems. And now we can talk about
THE FEYNMAN SPRINKLER.
\_ My classical mechanics text called this The Tennis Racket Theorem.
I tend to think a better example is with skateboards. Rotating
around the principle axis with the smallest moment of inertia
is a kickflip, rotating around the axis with the largest moment
of inertia is a varial or a shove-it, but the unstable middle
axis is called the "ollie impossible" for good reason. Both
the kickflip and the varial can be done by just kicking the
board and landing, but the impossible generally involves guiding
to board around with your foot to keep it stable. At least that's
how I do it. I could kickflip and varial years before I learned
the imposible, which I think you'll find is typical of most
skaters. Of course I could do all three years before I
knew what a moment of inertia tensor was or could prove the
tenis racket theorem.
\_ My classical mechanics text called this The Tennis Racket
Theorem. I tend to think a better example is with
skateboards. Rotating around the principle axis with the
smallest moment of inertia is a kickflip, rotating around the
axis with the largest moment of inertia is a varial or a
shove-it, but the unstable middle axis is called the "ollie
impossible" for good reason. Both the kickflip and the varial
can be done by just kicking the board and landing, but the
impossible generally involves guiding to board around with
your foot to keep it stable. At least that's how I do it. I
could kickflip and varial years before I learned the
imposible, which I think you'll find is typical of most
skaters. Of course I could do all three years before I knew
what a moment of inertia tensor was or could prove the tenis
racket theorem.
\- Oh, i havent heard that name. what CM text? that is a pretty
good name, although since a rackt isnt symmetric in one of
the axes, people may get distracted by that. i didnt claim
a pillow was the best object to demonstrate, but i think more
people on the motd have a pillow than a skateboard. but sure,
i think people have an intuitive sense of the instability of
of the "middle rotation" with the s'board and racket. i always
liked the calculations/proofs that had physical interp ...
kepler planet laws, calculate escape velocity, period of a
pendulum indep of mass ... more than the contrived problems.
\_ Barger and Olsson, which I loathed.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0070037345/sr=8-2/qid=1143569740/ref=sr_1_2/103-6187066-5024642?%5Fencoding=UTF8
I really liked that class, and learned from a mix of
different books plus lecture, but I do not recomend this
book except for a couple random topics. I see what you
mean about pillow vs. skateboard. I guess my point is
that while the typical pillow user does not do a whole
lot of rotational mechanics experiments, the typical
skateboard user spends hours and hours conducting those
experiments and develops a certain intuition about it.
\_ I replied earlier and it got deleted. The text was
Barger and Olson[sp?], which I do not recommend. The class
kicked ass, but that text was overall pretty weak. I see
what you mean about more people having access to a pillow.
My arguement is that while there are fewer skateboard users
than pillow users, most pillow users rarely do rotational
mechanics experiments with their pillows whereas skaters
spend so much time doing these experiments that they have
multiple names for all three of the principle axes. Also,
I think a lot of non-skaters now know what the kickflip
and the ollie impossible are because of that Tony Hawk
video game.
\- oh, i have not heard of that book. i didnt think
MARION and THORNTON was that exciting. GOLDSTEIN
was really good but pretty hard. herstein:algebra::
goldstein::mechanics. VI ARNOLD was life changing, but
really that is an EVANS HALL book not a LECONTE book.
have you also used LANDAU and LIFSHITZ? I have only
analyized their awesome Stat Mech book, but their
Classical Mech book is also supposed to be awesome.
BTW, the AMAZONG comments for some of these books
are pretty funne, esp for MISNER && THORNE && WHEELER.
oh, i suppose you can alos do the "tennis racket"
experiment with an UNOPENED CEREAL BOX.
One of my favorite AMAZONG comments is from UCB
MONSTER FIELDS PROFESSOR about BOGOLIUBOV QFT book
at: http://csua.org/u/ahe
\_ I think the Jackson comments on Amazon are some of
the funniest. Also the comments on Wolfram's
latest doorstop are hillarious. Yeah, L&L rules.
I used that a bit during the course. Where you a
physics major, or are you just into it for fun?
\_ started in physics but didnt want to do 111
and a year of 110 [i spent some time designing
the polarimetery system of a satellite so i
got enough EM on the job] so ended up doing
a lot of work in smplectic geometry and
ergodic theory and lie algebras.
\_ thanks... i flunked my Fizzix 7A :p
\_ I tried the pillow experiment. That is cool. |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/Companies/Apple] UID:42451 Activity:nil |
3/27 Any recommendation for a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card for an older
Powerbook with USB 1.1 builtin? Or should all cards be
about the same? |
| 2006/3/27 [Uncategorized] UID:42452 Activity:nil |
3/27 Party hard! |
| 2006/3/27 [Uncategorized] UID:42453 Activity:nil |
3/27 Let's do this! |
| 2006/3/27 [Uncategorized] UID:42454 Activity:nil |
3/27 Is this on? |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:42455 Activity:nil |
3/27 Bush was determined to go to war, WMD or not:
http://csua.org/u/fc8 (NYT)
\_ OMG! This is totally smoking gun material! Spread the word!
\_ Well, Dubya doubted Blix would find the WMDs, but he was sure that
Saddam had them, so he attacked in March '03 to prevent Blix from
not finding them longer. |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Recreation/Media] UID:42456 Activity:moderate |
3/27 Can someone post a link to the text of the Wall Street Journal's
review of "V For Vendetta"? Obviously I am not a WSJ Online
subscriber. Thank you.
\_ please delete after you are done. :
\_ Why did someone delete the review? Thanks for posting it. -!op
\_ Because it was stupid to post the content rather than a link
in the motd.
\_ It's not deleted, it's behind the paywall.
\_ I mean someone posted it to the motd then it was gone from
the motd a few mins later. Nevermind, I got to read it. I
hop the op did, too. Thanks to whoever posted it.
\_ stubborn and stupid person try 2:
---
FILM REVIEW
By JOE MORGENSTERN
V for Violent, Vapid:
Sci-Fi 'Vendetta' Celebrates
Love, Liberty -- and Terrorism
In "V For Vendetta," an action fantasy set in London in 2020, the
masked hero calls himself V, models himself on the 17th-century
political bomber Guy Fawkes, and says that words will always retain
their power. He certainly uses them with verve -- especially v-words,
as in his devotion to "vindicating the vigilant and the virtuous."
Eventually this literary veneer devolves into vexatious volleys of
cultural ventriloquism, or, if you will, a vichyssoise of vapid
verbiage. But images have power, too, and several sequences in this
film are powerful indeed, as in the apocalyptic fulfillment of the
Gunpowder Plot, Fawkes's failed attempt to blow up the Houses of
Parliament. "V for Vendetta" is a veritable gallery of forceful
images, and provocative notions, recycled from such sources as "The
Phantom of the Opera," "The Mark of Zorro," "1984" and "A Clockwork
In "V For Vendetta," an action fantasy set in London in 2020,
the masked hero calls himself V, models himself on the
17th-century political bomber Guy Fawkes, and says that words
will always retain their power. He certainly uses them with verve
-- especially v-words, as in his devotion to "vindicating the
vigilant and the virtuous." Eventually this literary veneer
devolves into vexatious volleys of cultural ventriloquism, or, if
you will, a vichyssoise of vapid verbiage. But images have power,
too, and several sequences in this film are powerful indeed, as
in the apocalyptic fulfillment of the Gunpowder Plot, Fawkes's
failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament. "V for
Vendetta" is a veritable gallery of forceful images, and
provocative notions, recycled from such sources as "The Phantom
of the Opera," "The Mark of Zorro," "1984" and "A Clockwork
Orange." It's also a sententious piece of pop pap that celebrates
terrorism as a necessary evil, and peddles anarchy in a user-friendly
package. [Hugo Weaving]
The film was written by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski, the
brothers who created "The Matrix" trilogy; they based their screenplay
on the comic book series of the same name by Alan Moore and David
Lloyd. (The first-time director, James McTeigue, was assistant
director on all three "Matrix" productions.) For a while "V for
Vendetta" draws expertly, and extravagantly, on the primal power of
its pulp antecedent. The fancy language, the mysterious protagonist,
the pervasive sense of evil in an England tyrannized by steely
fascists and religious crackpots, it all promises to be great fun. And
so it is when the epigrammatic swashbuckler V, who's played by Hugo
Weaving (Agent Smith in "The Matrix") crosses paths with Natalie
Portman's Evey, a frightened little mouse who doesn't know what to
make of him -- "Are you like a crazy person?" she asks -- or when V,
like some latter-day Vaughan Williams with a vicious streak, conducts
his own explosive London symphony from a rooftop. (The film is also
being shown in IMAX. I haven't seen it in that format, but I'll bet it
terrorism as a necessary evil, and peddles anarchy in a
user-friendly package. [Hugo Weaving]
The film was written by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski,
the brothers who created "The Matrix" trilogy; they based their
screenplay on the comic book series of the same name by Alan
Moore and David Lloyd. (The first-time director, James McTeigue,
was assistant director on all three "Matrix" productions.) For a
while "V for Vendetta" draws expertly, and extravagantly, on the
primal power of its pulp antecedent. The fancy language, the
mysterious protagonist, the pervasive sense of evil in an England
tyrannized by steely fascists and religious crackpots, it all
promises to be great fun. And so it is when the epigrammatic
swashbuckler V, who's played by Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith in "The
Matrix") crosses paths with Natalie Portman's Evey, a frightened
little mouse who doesn't know what to make of him -- "Are you
like a crazy person?" she asks -- or when V, like some latter-day
Vaughan Williams with a vicious streak, conducts his own
explosive London symphony from a rooftop. (The film is also being
shown in IMAX. I haven't seen it in that format, but I'll bet it
looks impressive.)
At its entertaining best, "V for Vendetta" has the courage of its
borrowings, and conviction in its posturings. (What's not entertaining
is the smarmy tone of its potshots at an America in the throes, we are
told, of a civil war. "Here was a country that had everything," a TV
voice intones at one point, "and 20 years later it's the world's
biggest leper colony.") Some details of the musty English dystopia may
seem familiar to moviegoers old enough to remember Terry Gilliam's
"Brazil." Still, the movie is pitched shrewdly to young audiences,
what with its heroine, Evey, in constant jeopardy, and a hero who
turns out to be tortured, horribly mutilated -- Darth Vader with a
smirky if not quite smiley face -- and conflicted in the bargain,
since his ostensibly principled terrorism is tainted with a mad lust
for revenge. ("Do you really think blowing up Parliament will make
this a better place?" Evey asks him earnestly. The answer is yes, he
does.) [V] Evey (played by Natalie Portman) is held prisoner in 'V
For Vendetta.'
Yet the film is beset by incoherence and implausibilities that are
perplexing, given the close relationship between the Wachowskis and
the director, Mr. McTeigue -- this is not one of those familiar cases,
it's safe to say, where the writers lost control of their material
when it went into production. Evey's background clearly makes her ripe
for radicalizing, but it's never clear who she's become, or what she's
up to. At work as a secretary for a TV network that resembles the BBC,
she's middle-class. Away from work she could pass for a Dickensian
shop girl. An older, rebellious man who works at the network stars in
At its entertaining best, "V for Vendetta" has the courage of
its borrowings, and conviction in its posturings. (What's not
entertaining is the smarmy tone of its potshots at an America in
the throes, we are told, of a civil war. "Here was a country that
had everything," a TV voice intones at one point, "and 20 years
later it's the world's biggest leper colony.") Some details of
the musty English dystopia may seem familiar to moviegoers old
enough to remember Terry Gilliam's "Brazil." Still, the movie is
pitched shrewdly to young audiences, what with its heroine, Evey,
in constant jeopardy, and a hero who turns out to be tortured,
horribly mutilated -- Darth Vader with a smirky if not quite
smiley face -- and conflicted in the bargain, since his
ostensibly principled terrorism is tainted with a mad lust for
revenge. ("Do you really think blowing up Parliament will make
this a better place?" Evey asks him earnestly. The answer is yes,
he does.) [V] Evey (played by Natalie Portman) is held prisoner
in 'V For Vendetta.'
Yet the film is beset by incoherence and implausibilities that
are perplexing, given the close relationship between the
Wachowskis and the director, Mr. McTeigue -- this is not one of
those familiar cases, it's safe to say, where the writers lost
control of their material when it went into production. Evey's
background clearly makes her ripe for radicalizing, but it's
never clear who she's become, or what she's up to. At work as a
secretary for a TV network that resembles the BBC, she's
middle-class. Away from work she could pass for a Dickensian shop
girl. An older, rebellious man who works at the network stars in
a broadly comic TV show that electrifies the nation by making a
mockery of England's dictator, yet he's confident he won't be fired --
an inexplicable misjudgment on his part for what was obviously
seditious conduct.
V, the only character with sufficient magnetism to hold the narrative
together, drops out for an extended period while Evey endures a
hellish imprisonment that's contrived in more ways than one, and in
the end awfully silly. Natalie Portman, as skillful as she is
attractive, does have her moments -- it's affecting to see her hair
being shaved, like Joan of Arc -- but wide-eyed Evey whimpers
endlessly, and tediously, on her way to becoming a fearless woman
who's able to love. And speaking of love, things go blooey instead of
gooey whenever heroine and hero come close enough to touch; far from
being sensual, let alone erotic, the movie proves to be not much fun
at all.
But then fun isn't high on the agenda, crowded as it is with solemn
debates about the role of terrorism in the face of tyranny. The
movie's heart, a mechanical pump connected to a reservoir of
adrenalin, throbs for the smash finish in which the biggest bomb goes
off, and the Houses of Parliament come tumbling down, along with Big
Ben, a frequent casualty in disaster movies. "V for Vendetta" wasn't
meant to be a disaster movie, of course, and there's no reason to
think it will be a disaster, even though its original opening date of
November 5th -- Guy Fawkes Day -- had to be pushed forward after
real-life terrorists attacked London last July. These days filmmakers
who play with fire don't get burned, they get rich.
---
\_ Why did someone delete the review? Thanks for posting it. -!op
\_ It's not deleted, it's behind the paywall.
\_ I mean someone posted it to the motd then it was gone from
the motd a few mins later. Nevermind, I got to read it. I
hop the op did, too. Thanks to whoever posted it.
mockery of England's dictator, yet he's confident he won't be
fired -- an inexplicable misjudgment on his part for what was
obviously seditious conduct.
V, the only character with sufficient magnetism to hold the
narrative together, drops out for an extended period while Evey
endures a hellish imprisonment that's contrived in more ways than
one, and in the end awfully silly. Natalie Portman, as skillful
as she is attractive, does have her moments -- it's affecting to
see her hair being shaved, like Joan of Arc -- but wide-eyed Evey
whimpers endlessly, and tediously, on her way to becoming a
fearless woman who's able to love. And speaking of love, things
go blooey instead of gooey whenever heroine and hero come close
enough to touch; far from being sensual, let alone erotic, the
movie proves to be not much fun at all.
But then fun isn't high on the agenda, crowded as it is with
solemn debates about the role of terrorism in the face of
tyranny. The movie's heart, a mechanical pump connected to a
reservoir of adrenalin, throbs for the smash finish in which the
biggest bomb goes off, and the Houses of Parliament come tumbling
down, along with Big Ben, a frequent casualty in disaster
movies. "V for Vendetta" wasn't meant to be a disaster movie, of
course, and there's no reason to think it will be a disaster,
even though its original opening date of November 5th -- Guy
Fawkes Day -- had to be pushed forward after real-life terrorists
attacked London last July. These days filmmakers who play with
fire don't get burned, they get rich.
[ reformatted - formatd ]
\_ Placed in /tmp/VforVendetta.WSJ for posterity. --erikred
\_ And if you put it on HTTP it'll be archived in Berkeley MOTD
forever! Yeah!
\_ Btw, I found WSJ's dislike of "the [movie's] smarmy tone of
its potshots at an America in the throes... of a civil war"
to be laughable. What, it's okay to have a totalitarian
England but it's unforgivable to imply a failed USA?
\_ Agreed, but they are right when they say that the Evey
character is incomprehensible. In the comic book she was a
teenage prostitute, but the story clearly had its rough
edges sanded off for mainstream appeal.
\_ plus the movie ending took out the entire reason for
her being in the comic, which was one of the most
powerful parts of the story.
\_ Reread the book: She was _not_ a teenage prostitute;
her one foray into prositution (out of desperation)
was the incident that led her to meet V. However, I do
agree that her straitened situation would have been
more evocative than what featured in the movie.
\_ thanks for your help. - stupid and stubborn wsj scrounger |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Uncategorized] UID:42457 Activity:nil |
3/27 Hindi new couple wedding matrimony advice insanity:
http://www.hindimatrimony.com/consult/private/index.shtml
\_ As such it is a criminal act according to the INDIAN PENAL CODE.! |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Recreation/Dating] UID:42458 Activity:nil |
3/27 http://www.shareasale.com/image/tower.ashe.002.jpg Is this girl hot? What do you guys think? I give her 11 out of 10. SHE IS SOOOOO HOT. Yes it is work safe. \_ Women in panties are not worksafe for most people \_ Flat chest, not my type. But otherwise hot. \_ You know, motd boob guy, when your oven stuffers get old they turn fat and saggy. Small breasts rule! \_ but by then you've moved on to newer models. \_ Small breasts can turn saggy as they age too. \_ Check out http://www.mommygotboobs.com |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:42459 Activity:low |
3/27 Right, things are SOOOOO stable in Iraq right now -- it's so obviously
*all* the media's fault:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/03/27/iraq.main/index.html
\_ The first thing you need to understand is why this is not civil war.
The helpful editors at exile.ru have spelled out exactly why this
is not civil war. Please take note.
http://www.exile.ru/2006-March-24/the_civil_war_debate.html
\_ Unbelieveable! He's setting up the strawman and attacking it again!
\_ Riiiight, 30 dead in a suicide bomb, 16 dead execution style,
(in one weekend!) and that's just a strawman... Uh huh. Your
worldview is tweaked, man.
\_ He was refering to the comment, not the article, moron.
\_ Uhm, yes -- I thought that was pretty obvious, but thanks
for sharing Ad Hominem Troll!
\_ The levels of violence are the same pre-Shiite mosque attack and
post. Iraqi politicians have looked into the abyss and didn't like
what they saw. Nothing to see. Move along now.
\_ Wow. Unfounded claims abound!
\_ It must be true if Gen. Casey, Rummy, and Dubya say so, duh!
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/03/07/rumsfeld.iraq
\_ So look at the rhetoric. This is getting scary. Rummy's
clearly saying that the free press is providing aid to the
terrorists. How long before we start getting laws that
restrict _all_ actions that "further the cause of terror"?
Of course no one will think that applies to the press... at
first. All it'll take is one more large attack.
\_ A thousand points of light! Not at this junct-ure ... Not gonna
do it! A thousand points of light!
\_ break up with her, man. she won't worth it. |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Recreation/Dating] UID:42460 Activity:low |
3/27 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060327/od_nm/risky_sex_dc "Women who felt more positively about their looks had fewer partners and used condoms more frequently." So if you want to have great sex, date ugly women. \_ Duh. You had to have Yahoo tell you that? Ugly women put out more easily and are freakier in bed. \_ what chapter are you talking about? \_ Or else find one good looking woman and stick with her? And not get AIDS. \_ Wait are you claiming condoms = bad sex or is it lack of previous partners? \_ Hello??? I'm complaining BOTH. I hate using condoms and my gf who used to be very horny stopped the pill and doesn't even want sex anymore. I mean what good is it to look at her pretty face when you can't even touch her. It's no different than reading the Penthouse magazine. -frustrated \_ Go the gay way \_ break up with her, man. she won't worth it. \_ Or you can say that good-looking women had fewer partners, because they perform better in sex and they get dumped less frequently. Anyway I don't know which one is true. I never figured out how scientists identify which is the cause and which is the effect from an X-Y correlation found in a study. \_ read Freakanomics \_ what chapter are you talking about? \_ I took an econometrics class at Cal that did this very thing. It's a statistical problem. You can even calculate the coefficients of correlation. It's a lot easier with hard data like economic data, of course. |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast] UID:42461 Activity:nil |
3/27 "Polar melting could raise sea levels six meters by 2100: study"
http://csua.org/u/fc9 (Yahoo! News)
\_ That's sooo last week! (was in friday's SF Comical)
\_ Well, before that happens, the Gulf Stream will stop or even
reverse because of decreased salinity fucking with the convection
currents in the Atlantic. Goodbye, habitable Europe...
\_ that would be neat. |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Politics/Domestic] UID:42462 Activity:nil |
3/27 http://www.bustedtees.com Stupidily humorous liberal shirts. Or something like that. \_ basically the same shirts you can buy at bear basics and tons of other stores. Theres a sudden explosion of these companies a couple others are http://www.defunker.com and http://www.threadless.com alot of them are selling the exact same shirts. Most of them are selling shirts on consignment for the original artist. -shac |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Transportation/Bicycle] UID:42463 Activity:nil |
3/27 I hadn't biked for about 8 years and decided to buy a brand new
bike this weekend. I was so excited that I decided to cruise around
the beach an entire day yesterday. When I got back I was pretty proud
of myself; for someone who hadn't biked for 8 years, I did pretty
well. Today I sore like hell and I can hardly move my legs. I called
in sick and I'm working from home. I'm in total serious pain.
Need advice. Now. Thanks.
\_ Hahaha, it'll get better tomorrow, like any exercise. have fun!
\_ What bike did you get? And what beach was this?
\_ I got a Raleigh C200 with Shimano Doere shifters/derailleurs.
It's the best bike I've ever gotten in my entire life. It's the
first bike I've ever owned that has gear shifts. It's
extremely quiet except in certain gear combinations. For
example when I'm on the highest gear in front and the middle
gear in the back, it starts to click click click. Is this
normal for a brand new bike? -totally excited
\_ When you get indoor plumbing, share the excitement on
the motd too!
\_ Someone who obviously never tried a real bike.
\_ I don't think there should be much clicking although
that should be pretty easy to adjust. After some use
a new bike usually can use some tune up as things
get broken in. So... first bike with gears? How old
were you when you last rode a bike? My first bike
as a little kid was a 3-speed, although that was
a bit unusual. It was a 3-speed internal hub.
Worked great.
\_ I had one of those cheap BMX-like bikes. It was heavy and
the brake required pedaling backward. It was also a girl's
bike. My mom got it so that my big sister (many years
older than me) could ride it. It turned out that my sister
rode it like, ***twice***. She soon turned 16, got a car,
all I got was a fucking girlie bike. DAMN STUPID BITCHES
it makes me SO MAD to think about it!!!! Anyways it's all
in the past. I just got an awesome Raleigh bike, one that
FITS ME and looks great and rides great and no kid on
the block's gonna make fun of me anymore.
I FEEL SO ALIVE AGAIN!!! -excited |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Politics/Domestic/President, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Troll] UID:42464 Activity:nil |
3/27 hybrid motd boob guy / movie critic says
Inside Man has it all:
guns, Jews, New Jersey boobs, Denzel Washington
being The Man, lesbians, cool shots of NYC,
National Socialists fans, hot Albanians, racial
politics, humor... please see this movie instead
of fucking V FOR VENDETTA or give your money to
a deserving homeless person outside of the theater.
\_ See both.
\_ take the $20 you save from not seeing these, and go buy the
V for Vendetta collection at your local bookstore. So much
better. |
| 2006/3/27 [Uncategorized] UID:42465 Activity:nil |
3/27 what's a cool 8 char word from "ABCDEF" besides CAFEBABE? |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Health/Sleeping] UID:42466 Activity:nil |
3/27 "Bizarre events linked to sleeping pills in US"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060315/ts_nm/insomnia_dc
"CHICAGO (Reuters) - Strange behavior by insomniacs taking prescription
drugs, ranging ...... to having sex while asleep ......"
Hmm, where can I get some of those perscription drugs?
\_ I guess having sex with a real person in your sleep is less messy
for a guy than having sex with a fantasy person in your sleep.
\_ The legal consequence can be more messy. Some gold digger chick
can scream rape with DNA evidence deep inside her, and you'd
honestly have no memory that she committed the act consensually.
\_ Well that DNA is only evidence of sex, not rape. |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:42467 Activity:nil |
3/27 I've learned of two good arcade games to play on MAME through the
motd, "Gain Ground" and "Strike Force." What other slightly obscure
arcade games do motders like?
GunForce - Awesome Contra Style shooter (GunForce 2 is good two, it's
a different style of shooter.)
\_ MERCS, Ghouls N' Ghosts, Black Tiger, Magician Lord,
Peter Packrat, NARC, Crystal Castles, Indiana Jones
and the Temple Of Doom, Rampage, Sidearms, R-Type,
Strider, Ninja Gaiden, Alien Syndrome, Altered Beast,
Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters,
In The Hunt
In The Hunt, Karnov
I would play Forgotten Realms if there was an easy way to
duplicate the 32 way (I think?) directional joystick.
\_ 1943
\_ Cabal, Hammerin' Harry
\_ If you enjoy totally studly homoerotic games about wrestlers
battling Jean-Claude Van-Damme vs giant BDSM leather daddies
wearing gimp masks and knife wielding Frenchmen,
Pit Fighter is your game!
\_ ...and "Hammerin' Harry" isn't homoerotic?
\_ You need to play Pit Fighter. It's totally insane.
Buff dudes in their underwear beating the shit out
of each other. Sometimes you get a "brutality bonus".
Maybe I can find a screen shot of "TOTALLY STUDLY."
\_ http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9034
\_ "Orientation: Horizontal"
\_ http://www.consolevision.com/members/covers/gen/pitfighter.jpg
\_ Doesn't hold a candle to Knuckle Bash
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=K&game_id=8338
\_ Zombies Ate My Neighbors
\_ Two Tigers (This game is weirdly addictive) |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Recreation/Music] UID:42468 Activity:nil |
3/27 My choir is having their 25th Anniversary Gala concert this weekend.
http://pacificmozart.org/calendar
This is the choir I went to Berlin and Carnegie Hall with. The
concert is Mozart's Grand Mass in C Minor, with new completions
by Dave Brubeck, Meredith Monk, and David Lang. It should be good.
Saturday, 7:30 at Herbst Theatre (SF) in the Green Room, and Sunday
5pm at St. Mark's on Bancroft (Berkeley). --scotsman
\_ I don't know anything about Grand Mass in c Minor, but isn't Brubeck
a jazz guy? What does he have to do with a Mozart piece?
\_ Mozart never finished the Grand Mass before his death, so we
commissioned new pieces by these composers for the "missing"
sections. It's the same Brubeck. For the last 20 years or so
he's been writing sacred pieces in a heavily polytonal style.
--scotsman |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Troll, Recreation/Media] UID:42469 Activity:nil |
3/27 Wait, what if motd boob guy, star trek movie guy, and movie critic
guy were all the same person? Wouldn't that be like some sort of
stereotypical geek trifecta? Or would he need to be Asian, too?
\_ I think that person exists and his name is Roger Ebert.
\_ I thought Russ Meyer was the boob guy.
\_ You are of course aware Roger Ebert cowrote
"Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls" with Russ Meyer
\_ Roger Ebert lives with boobs 24/7
\_ Anyway, when did Ebert get a CSUA account and
start posting URLs from bustywebshots?
\_ "I thought the acting was wooden, there was no character
development, and the ending was predictable, but check out the
chick's boobs! Two thumbs up!"
\_ I don't watch enough movies to be the mmc. And I'm not much
into boobs. Though I would not turn down the opportunity to
watch Jadzia running around DS9 shooting people w/ a concussion
phaser rifle. -stmg |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:42470 Activity:low |
3/27 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060327/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq U.S. and Iraqi army units (headed by a Sunni) kill ~ 20 Shiite insurgents in or just outside a Shiite mosque in Baghdad. Baghdad governor cuts military/political ties to U.S., Baghdad council suspends cooperation with U.S. on reconstruction projects. Iraq president calls for investigation. \_ so, should mosques be a place of sanctuary, or a safe base of operations from which to launch insurgent attacks with impunity? \_ they should be a place of sancturary, unless they are used as a base of operation for insurgents \_ which sure looks like what was going on from the quoted news story. And yet, protest from Baghdad governor. \_ "And yet, protest from <political official doing what's popular with his constituency>" \_ what do Shiite insurgents do? I know Sunni insurgents attack Americans, Iraqi police, and blow up Shiite civvies. \_ Probably they attack Americans, Iraqi police, and blow up Sunni civvies. \_ Aren't nearly all Iraqi police Shiites? Can you give me a URL of Sunni civvies getting blown up as an intentional target by Shiites? When's the last time Shiites attacked Americans? http://www.islamonline.org/English/News/2006-03/27/article05.shtml _/ \_ http://csua.org/u/fcn (islamonline.org) \_ So which is it? \_ Not quite. They attack Americans, and with the acquiescence of the Iraqi Police, execute Sunni civilians. \_ "Police and representatives of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who holds great sway among poor Shiites in eastern Baghdad, said all those killed were in the complex for evening prayers and none was a gunmen." So believe al-Sadr now? \_ Bush vs Al-Sadr. Who has more credibilty? \_ FYI, my take on this: Iraqi army (headed by a Sunni) told U.S. Army that a Sunni dentist was taken hostage by al-Sadr Shiite militia 12 hours ago. Americans, wanting to send a message to Shiite militia (who have been on a death squad spree on Sunnis since Feb 22), went on a joint op with Iraqi army. Iraqi army entered the mosque and shot everyone up, including the 80-year-old imam; Americans stayed on the outside and shot up all the Shiite militia running out. -op \_ Mission Accomplished! |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Politics/Domestic] UID:42471 Activity:kinda low |
3/27 yaMotdPoll - What are your favorite shows currently on tv? (feel
free to add other shows)
24:
SG1: ..
SGA: ..
BSG: .
Hustle: .
Prison Break: .
Dr. Who: ..........
The Shield: .
Aqua Teen Hunger Force: .
The Daily Show / Colbert Report: ...
Real World/Road Rules Gauntlet: .
Law & Order: .
Black & White: .
House MD: .
Lost: .
Deadwood: . |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Politics/Domestic/Immigration] UID:42472 Activity:moderate |
3/27 http://csua.org/u/fco "Due to its size, the protest shocked the American media. A wave of 500,000 people pouring through Los Angeles is one of the largest protests in the history of the whole country. Thus, the protests have been reported as an extraordinary reaction to events in American politics. But they are not extraordinary at all. They are just the typical way that governments are influenced in many Latin American nations. "What the protests truly represent is the colonization of America by the Latin style of politics. Rally, demonstration, march and protest are the tools of the politically dispossessed. They carry with them the intrinsic threat that is always associated with the gathering of large crowds in acts of political demonstration. And they are standard fair in the lopsided politics of many foreign nations, including Mexico." \_ props to George Will on this issue: "Morality without practicality is immorality." \_ The INS shoulda posted up at the protest and started carding people. \_ Deine pässe, bitte. \_ Why do Republicans hate democracy? ...and brown people? \_ Why you do troll? ...poorly? \_ It's not a troll. It is, however, rhetorical. This racist spew is truly disgusting. \_ One guy gets quoted and all people of the same party are evil racist stalinists? It's a troll. Sounds, smells, looks, walks and talks like a troll. It collects tolls at bridges. It's a troll. \_ _This guy_ is spewing racist crap. I think you would find more R's than others who would think it sounds reasonable. I also think there are many other ways that R's dis democracy to a greater extent than others. This columnist has the distinction of crossing both lines. Republicans == racist was your leap, not mine. \_ Ok, I'll ask out right: do you think Republicans are racist? Assume that Republican = follows the party line. \_ I think everyone is racist. Period. I think many people struggle against it, some more successfully than others. This columnist is failing his struggle. Sensenbrenner failed his struggle long ago and gave up. \_ let me see... white can buy American oil company, but yellow can't. white and yellow can operate sea ports, but brown arab people can't... hmm... i don't know. it is pretty even so far. \_ Only Republicans were against the Uncol and UAE deals? Hmm.. maybe you need to take off those blinders. \_ Yes, if a country oppresses its poor and powerless, it eventually leads to tension and strife. Protests are exactly that, protests. \_ The threatened legislation would do more than oppress poor and powerless people. Just wait till the senior engineer on your project who happens to be a German or Korean or Indian citizen suddenly turns up in jail with a *felony* arrest because he fucked up some paperwork. This kind of shit will destroy American science if it's not turned around. Regardless of how you may feel about poor mexican immigrants, this xenophobia represents a clear and present danger to the continued technical dominance of the united states. I've already seen top European scientists turn down U.S. offers partly because they were tired of being treated like criminals in the post-911 paranoia. \_ 1. Poor Mexican *illegal* immigants. 2. This happened to one of my girlfriend's film students. He went on vacation to Mexico and ended up in jail in Texas (and was later deported). No issues if you immigrate like you should. Both my parents came here from Europe. My dad came illegally and was later deported (and then came back legally). Why do Latin American immigrants think they are so special? --dim \_ You either don't know what you're talking about or are intentionally stating falsehoods. None of the staff scientists, grad students or post docs I work with are illegal immigrants from Latin America. But I would say that due to the vile idiocy of U.S. immigration laws and the incompetence and stupidity of the people in the embasies who carry out those laws more than half of the scientists I know have had serious problems with their visa status which caused them to either get stuck outside of the U.S. or to be "illegal" for some number of days/weeks while the paperwork got straightened out. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass about illegal mexican immigrants, but when a bunch of flag-waving republican morons decide they're going to start throwing scientists in jail it threatens everyone. \_ Well, I don't know. jblack seems to like it. Less competition with the minorities he despise of. \_ Why are you blaming the laws when it's obvious that the scientists are at fault here? Since I work for NASA, I can concur that 'foreign nationals' are treated poorly here, although not as poorly as when our guys go to, say, France. However, if they end up in jail because their paperwork wasn't in order then whose fault is that? \_ I just don't know what to say to that. First of all, I'm guessing you're a sysadmin and not a real scientist, which would explain your attitude. Second of all, if you actually bothered to talk to foreign scientists you'd learn that there is a random element to the visa process that goes beyond just doing the paperwork the way you're told, and can lead to month long delays getting back into the U.S. for reasons that are *never* explained. Third of all, our country is number one in the world in science largely because these people *want* to be here. The losers will always be willing to work here, but the top guys are all turning down offers from other countries when they come here, and if you start throwing absent minded academics in jail for not filling out some \_ I just don't know what to say to that. First of all, I'm guessing you're a sysadmin and not a real scientist, which would explain your attitude. Second of all, if you actually bothered to talk to foreign scientists you'd learn that there is a random element to the visa process that goes beyond just doing the paperwork the way you're told, and can lead to month long delays getting back into the U.S. for reasons that are *never* explained. Third of all, our country is number one in the world in science largely because these people *want* to be here. The losers will always be willing to work here, but the top guys are all turning down offers from other countries when they come here, and if you start throwing absent minded academics in jail for not filling out some \_ maybe we should get rid of traffic laws. those absent minded scientists might be inclined to speed, or drive on the wrong side of the road, or something, which might get their license revoked, interfering with their ability to go to their scientist lab. they might get fed up with it and go home and then we are doomed. Or the dimwits might forget to pay for stuff at the store. Or maybe the retards will drive over some children on the way to work while pondering the frequency of baldness among condom users. \_ I support the death penalty for car drivers. \_ I support the death penalty for whiny wanna-be extremists. forms, they're not going to come here, and I can't blame them. I could say something about what most scientists think about their local sysadmins, but I'll hold my tongue. \_ Maybe they can go do research in Europe. LOL! Having talked to 'real scientists' who are working in Europe (and Japan) I can tell you that if they go there then they get what they deserve. Your complaint is about the process, not about the law. As for the rest of your comments, you're obviously a poseur asshole who thinks much too highly of himself. You should hear what most scientists say about their fellow scientists! \_ And finally, fuck you. I've had enough flame wars with your dumb ass over the years to know when to quit. \_ I figured that you were full of shit and didn't know what you were talking about. Now I don't even have to guess. I'm going to bet that you have absolutely no idea what life in academia is like in Europe. You're just pissed because your advisor spent the weekend in jail because he figured that being an important scientist was enough to get him back into the USA from Budapest. \_ Fuck you. \_ So you insulted an entire segment of the tech world on a tech message board of a tech student group and then get all pissy when you got corrected and the poor dumb sysadmin/non-scientist didn't bow down to your superior godly scientistness? For someone so snarky you've got a really thin skin. Don't dish it out if you can't take it. --someone else \_ And fuck you as well. \_ And fuck you as well. Let me clarify. I hate sysadmins, I hate academics, I hate other scientists, I hate dipshit net dorks who use the word "snarky", I hate fat stupid SoCal republicans, and I hate you. So fuck off. If fuckwits like dim want to destroy America they can go ahead. I have contingency plans for that. \_ Oh my God! You have a career in comedy if science doesn't work out! --dim \_ My career in science will last just long enough to earn the money to buy the land I need to get off the grid and away from you fuckers. You won't take me without a fight. In 21 months I'll be trolling the motd from a fortified compound in a remote location via sattelite uplink. Did I mention fuck you? Oh, yeah. Fuck you. \_ At first I thought I was going to be Thin Skinned Guy's #1 Fan, then you turned into Weak Troll Guy. --sad that Thin Skinned Guy was really Weak Troll Guy and unworthy of fandom \_ Fuck you. \_ I was thinking something similar when watching the protests over high gas prices in SE Asia. It's a very naive and ineffective form of influencing government. In many cases (as with gas prices) it's not really clear what the government is supposed to do in response. I don't see it as very sophisticated, or even effective, politics. \_ Did Vincent Fox secretly sponsors the protests? \_ i thought Thailand government is at blink of collapse due to massive protest, no?? \_ You can bet when they gather to protest pending legislation, that legislators pay attention. Especially in that kind of numbers. \_ Maybe, but if it was more routine (as in, say, Latin America) it would be less effective. \_ really? didn't people power rid the filipines of Marcos? \_ Did Vincent Fox sponsor the protests? \_ I was talking to a Mexican guy I know, and I said something about Bush being a dumbass. He said that you can only call Bush a dumbass if you've never heard Fox give a speech in Spanish. He claimed that Fox raises politician stupidity to new heights. \_ So when the Promise Keepers gathered on The Mall, was that an intrinsic theat, too? \_ No. The Million Man March, however... \_ Which was not even a Million. \_ Estimates ranged from, what 470k to 1.04M? \_ fyi, this was the 2nd largest protest in American history, second to the pro-choice march in DC in '04 with attendance of ~ 1 mill \_ BTW, I live 8 miles from downtown LA and didn't even notice anything until I saw the news. In short, who cares about how many protested? It all gets the same PR whether it's 8, 80, or 800,000. \_ Sure it was. But how many were U.S. citizens? This is important distinction. \_ Having laws that are not enforced is worse than having no laws. I think the best way to stop illegal immigration is to \_ How do you feel about the speed limit? \_ speed limit is a good example of the above claim. punish the employers who hire them, coupled with deportation of the illegal immigrants. I support the protests against stupid inhumane ineffective laws targetting exclusively the illegal immigrants. What we have today with a economic carrot asking them to come and unenforceable laws that try to prevent them from coming is stupid. We need to take away the carrot, or make it only available to those who come legally. punish the employers who hire them. \_ You can away some carrots, but there's too many rabbits and they'll eat anything they can find and they will multiply like crazy until they run out of food. \_ it's like pigs vs rabbits. the pigs don't wanna do any work, but just want to eat and get fat. yet, the pigs are messy and leave leftovers all over the place, and their are too lazy to clean up, so the rabbits come and eat them. |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Computer/SW/Languages/Perl] UID:42473 Activity:nil |
3/27 Anyone have experience with embedded Perl in C/C++ apps? I've been
using this for a while but now I find out I can't "use POSIX" for
example in the Perl code, and trying to follow instructions on
the internet for how to load extensions like this doesn't seem to
work. So, maybe someone can help describe what should be done...
I tried putting in an xs_init function generated by ExtUtils, but
for example when the DynaLoader tries loading POSIX it can't
resolve symbols that come from perl.h (PL_sig_name). |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/Others] UID:42474 Activity:nil |
3/27 yes. muslims are psychos.. DIVORCE in sleep.. no need for vegas
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/03/27/india.religion.reut
index.html
\_ This is in India, a country whose history of bureaucracy is
surpassed only by China's. Cf. also the endosulfan, India's
Living Dead: http://csua.org/u/fcq (TIME Asia) |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Politics/Domestic/911, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:42475 Activity:nil |
3/27 http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/27/radioactive.smuggling/index.html This is rather disconcerting news about US security. |
| 2006/3/27-30 [Politics/Domestic] UID:42476 Activity:very high |
3/27 Amway
\_ Sundari
\_ Market America
\_ INA
\_ Crooks
\_ Quickstar
\_ Quixtar
\_ Alticor
\_ Scam
\_ Scientology
\_ Xenu!
\_ Semprini
\_ I thought that wasn't allowed? Also w**-w** and kn*ckers. |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Uncategorized] UID:42477 Activity:nil |
3/27 The recent protest shows one thing in common between the jblacks
and the latinos. It's much easier to find a million unemployed
jblacks and latinos than whites.
\_ yea, but it's easier to find a million white pedophiles. |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:42478 Activity:nil |
3/27 Poll. The small scaled Iraq Civil War will: .
get better:
get worse: .
stay the same:
split up into three pieces
split up into three pieces and Iran and Turkey is redrawing their
borders:. |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Finance/Investment] UID:42479 Activity:kinda low |
3/27 Why must interest rates increase by 1/4%? Why don't they just
get it over with and hike it 1/2% at a time, or in the case of
dot-com and real-estate bubble, hike it to the level that they
think it should be more quickly?
split up into three pieces
split up into three pieces and Iran and Turkey is redrawing their
borders:.
\_ They don't have to increase by 1/4%. If they felt it were
appropriate, they could increase it by more (or less, e.g. 1/8%).
The Federal Reserve tries to `herd' (in the herding cats sense of
the word) the economy by adjusting the supply of money. This
requires kid gloves. If they cranked up interest rates by a larger
value (say 1%), it could set of panics in financial markets which
would have serious, likely unpleasant, ripple effects in the
national and global economy. -dans
\_ They also don't raise it all at once, because they need to
keep the market offbalance. If they raised it 1% then the
market would assume that it was all done and act
accordingly. Monetary policy often works best when the
market isn't sure what's coming.
\_ These are not serious answers. I can recommend a
book to you if you would like but I cannot write
a motd entry on how the Fed works.
a motd entry on how the Fed works. Consider this analogy:
if you have 3 passengers in your car and your are coming up
to a red light, eventhough everybody knows you are going
to stop and could brace themeslves for a studden stop,
you deaccelerate slowly. BTW, Milton Friedman also has a
funny analogy about backseat driving and monetary policy.
(google for Lerner, friedman, steering wheel monetary policy)
\_ Au contraire. Market psychology is a very important
reason why rates are not moved all at once. The market
tends to overreact/underreact to major policy moves.
That is *why* they accelerate/decelerate slowly. It's
not just about avoiding shocks to the economy, but
also managing market psychology. If you knew that
tomorrow would be the last of the rate hikes then
you'd behave differently than you would if you weren't
sure of the final outcome. How often is it that
anticipated rate hikes are already priced into the
market? How does that compare to a sudden shift in
policy? Which one moves the markets more and has a
larger effect? Of course, it's not necessarily
desirable to have a large effect (up or down) but
neither is it desirable to have nil effect with policy
moves. Monetary policy has a stronger effect when the
market doesn't expect it.
BTW, this is a good article:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/200405202
\- that is not the only reason they react slowly. large
change in the money supply has real effects, not
just effects based on expectations. it is a long
standing debate whether the fed should play this game
and react with discretion or whether they should
publish a formula and pretty much react in a deterministic
fashion to other variables. the interest rate is not
something announced like the price apple announces
it will sell a computer at. it is the side effect
of open mkt operations [for now i elide issues of
defensive and dynmaic FOMC operations and discount
rate and fed funds rate ... the fed has multiple
competing goals after all, including real factors
like growth and high employment, macro econ factors
like i-rate and inflation/price stability, and then
financial mkt issues: stability of mkt and FX stability
(changes in i-rate in high K mobility world generates
large in/out flows with effects on $ exchange rate ...
not an issue when the fed got rolling, but big issue
today). anyway, psychology and your theory of "rat
expectations" may play a big role in the financial
mkt areas, but the "real effects" are significant too.
BTW, the Fed pretty much has an infinite budget, so
if you want publications from them, the will send you a
lot of interesting stuff for free. the SF Fed may be
a good place for you real estate people to look at.
i dont read the stuff any more, but that is something
the traditionally have good analsysis of. BTW, speaking
of Rat X on sloda, isnt aswan@sloda friends with either
EPRESCOTT or TSARGENT?
\_ I didn't mean to claim that rational expectations
are the sole reason. They are one factor. A
bunch of small rate hikes prove to be more
effective than one hike of the same size. There
are other reasons, of course. |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Politics/Domestic/Immigration] UID:42480 Activity:high |
3/27 I can't stand that mantra that I keep hearing from politicians,
that immigrants do jobs "Americans just won't do". It's such
utter bullshit. Americans aren't doing them under the conditions
that the illegals do them, full stop. Fucking imbeciles.
\_ that just doesn't have the same ring to it.
\_ What gets me about all this is what they're *really* saying is,
"We love slave labor". How can anyone be in favor of a system
that *requires* having an underclass of powerless underpaid
people? In 1986 there was a general amnesty. Did that solve
anything? Here we are 20 years later in the same situation but
with even more people. Will we do this again in 2026? I suspect,
"We love slave labor!" wouldn't have the same ring to it either.
\_ Yep. Without all that slave labor cotten prices will skyrocket!
Wait a minute, why are most of my clothes 100% cotton?
\_ I suggest you start by setting a good example for everyone, going
into the kitchen the next time you go into a restaurant, and
giving 20 bucks to some of the dishwashers, prep cooks, busboys
and other staff, many of whom are likely to be illegals. I think
this is pretty great of you. It probably comes nowhere close to
matching the conditions under which Americans would do them, but
it's a good start, wouldn't you think? -John
\_ Yeah, that's what we need, another "good will gesture" instead
of a real solution. Folks, the primary reason why there are so
many illegal immigrants willing to work for substandard wages
is merely one of supply and demand. An illegal immigrant
costs not merely less in terms of a per hour calculation, but
also in terms of paying payroll taxes and the dreaded workman's
comp. It currently costs an employer at least twice as much to
properly hire an individual vs. an illegal if you were to pay
them the same wage. If you really want to get rid of illegal
immigration then you'd have to get rid of a lot of the tax
that employers have to pay. In addition, you'd have to basically
get rid of the minimum wage laws. Neither, of course, will
happen, and therefore illegal immigration will not merely
continue, but continue to thrive. As the old saying goes
you can't legislate morality, and in a sense, wage laws
are morality laws (for other failed experiments in moral
legislation, check out prohibition, the current "war on drugs",
and software piracy).
\_ Maybe, but you sure can cut it back. People have always
tried to cheat on their taxes too, but somehow governments
have always collected enough to function. Well, not always
but you know what I mean.
but you know what I mean. Most businessmen are not interested
in breaking the law in a serious fashion, so if employing
illegals was made a jail time kind of crime, it would
mostly stop.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0308-20.htm
\_ I was being sarcastic, in reference to my opinion that many
people screaming "get rid of all illegal immigrants" are
probably not aware of how much the prices of a lot of the
goods and services they take for granted are affected by the
willingness of illegal immigrants to provide them for
peanuts. Note that I'm not saying the presence of illegal
immigrants is good or bad, just that this is something
to consider before ranting. -John
\_ No, that isn't something to consider. The prices of goods
and services is completely irrelevant on this issue. I'm
not willing to say "well this is bad but hey, look at the
prices of goods and services!" And besides that, I'm not
convinced that spectre of prices shooting up is even
accurate. In the overall picture the economy may stand to
benefit with more wages in more legal jobs, more consumers,
and more productivity and efficiency. I'm in favor of
strict employment enforcement but no minimum wage. Instead
of min. wage, if we want to ensure a minimum living std.
then that should be done through a welfare program people
can apply for. I don't know where you were going with the
giving $20 to busboys thing. All I'm saying is Americans
WILL get these jobs done, they just need to pay enough and
improve the equipment and working conditions. And all that
effort ultimately benefits everyone. -op
\_ My point with the "$20 to busboys thing" is that
currently, illegals do the work you are so keen on
Americans doing under amazingly crappy conditions, long
hours and low wages, none of which would be tenable
if you got rid of them. Once again, I am not defending,
excusing or impugning what you call a "social evil",
just looking at it as a current given in neutral
economic terms. Getting rid of this phaenomenon will
raise prices, period. Whether it would benefit the
economy is possible, albeit debatable, but prices
_would_ rise. -John
\_ Your point is well-made but should not be used as an excuse
to continue this social evil. Just because something is
hard doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. --erikred
\_ I'm ok paying twice as much for my lettuce and
strawberries or cutting into a business owner's bottom
line. Slave labor is not the answer.
\_ "Slave labor" is really not an appropriate term.
The illegals want to be here and want to work.
Closing the border and enforcing immigration and
employment laws more strongly would be a negative for
the people who are currently doing the work. There
are aspects of the situation which make it easy to
exploit them, but they are not slaves. If your
concern is really for the workers, the thing to do
would be to loosen the immigration laws so they are
more able to come here legally and have legal
protection. -tom
\_ I agree that this is probably the best solution.
Minimum wage should then be abolished, too. The
resulting wage deflation won't be good for a lot
of Americans, though. Still, that's how our
country was built and what made it so great. --dim
\_ Your free market approach to labor and wages
works only as long as there are still places to
go if you don't want to be a factory-slave
(cf. expansion West as the Great Steam Valve
during the period "our country was built").
We reached the limits of that system at the end
of the 19th century. We need new solutions, not
reversions to feudalism. --erikred
\_ You think the free market is a form of
feudalism?!?!?!
\_ So, what you're saying is that you're a
communist.
\_ So, dim, you couldn't be sufficed with one
pointless retort? You had to do two?
\_ I didn't write both of those, you git.
I am curious how a free market economy
is a reversion to feudalism. --dim
\_ I think "slave labor" is the right term. You can use
"serf" or "indentured servant" or whatever other
euphemism you'd like but they're all just another
way of exploiting people. The H1b program is a
perfect example of that. Bring people here from
other countries, pay them under scale, work them
hard and put them in a position where they have no
job mobility. I don't see how having 'half-way'
citizens who have the right to be underpaid and
overworked is a good thing for anyone but the stock
holders. Let them come here as citizens with full
rights or don't.
\_ There are plenty of exploitative work
relationships which don't involve
slavery. "Slave: 1. A person who is held
in bondage to another; one who is wholly
subject to the will of another; one who
is held as a chattel; one who has no
freedom of action, but whose person and
services are wholly under the control of
another." Immigrant workers are not slaves;
they are disadvantaged in a number of
ways, but they have freedom of action. -tom
\_ Why did you omit the other meanings?
from "dict slavery":
2. A condition of subjection or submission characterized by
lack of freedom of action or of will.
3: work done under harsh conditions for little or no pay
You can claim whatever you want but you're
just plain wrong tom.
4: whatever I want it to mean when I'm aguing with people
so I don't have to be precise or clear in my language.
\_ If you're just going to quote the dictionary
while ignoring what I said, whatever. I made
it clear the issue was not the specific word
chosen to describe the situation so much as
the underlying situation itself, but hey, as
long as you can get cheap produce, anything
goes. Everyone has freedom of action, but some
have more legal freedom of action than others.
\_ pardon me. I interpreted the phrase
"I think 'slave labor' is the right term"
as meaning you think "slave labor" is the
right term.
-tom
\_ "You can use 'indentured servant' ... but
they're all just another way of
exploiting people".
\_ All ways of exploiting people are
equivalent to slavery? -tom
\_ I'm not going to get sucked into
rhetorical games while you duck the
real issues of using exploited
powerless people so Americans can
get cheap lettuce, child care and
unskilled construction.
\_ You must be confusing me with
someone who thinks the current
situation is a good idea.
It's not. It's just not
slavery. -tom
\_ I'm going to side with tom
on this for the following
reason: real slavery still
exists in this country.
If an exploited farm worker
is called a "slave", the word
loses meaning for the sex
slaves who fit the
old-fasioned definition.
\_ You can side with tom's
rhetorical misinterpret-
ation or you can read what
I actually said. If you
want cheap lettuce, that's
on your soul, not mine.
\_ Here is my question of the day. Why not just build a Great Wall
armed with machine gun tower and landmines? At the same time, why
don't we throw employer in jail if we found he/she hires an illegal?
why not implement a database look up so the employer can check the
authenticity of social security number in real time (similar to
what Visa/Master card has done?). I am not disagreeing with John
on the fact that there is a real economic impact on getting rid of
illegal immigrants. But my arguement is that the presence of
illegal immigrants actually makes people look in other way when
deal with real problems.
For example, the issue of child care become less
problematic if I can hire some illegal immigrants to do the work.
If I have to pay 20-30 per hour for a nanny, I probably will harass
my congressman to try to help me to resolve this problem in a real
way, etc.
\_ Been tried, didn't work. The Mongols just brought ladders. -John
\_ I agree with you. However, things should be done gradually.
\_ gradually? haha, very funny. DO you know that there are
US congressmen in China right now demanding devaluating
Chinese Yuan 40% overnight right now?
A sudden elimination of illegal immigrants may majorly
screw up many businesses, causes inflation and interest rates
to shoot up and send the US economy into a shock. It would
also increase the trade deficit.
\_ Except that the Senate subcommittee version of the bill is
not aiming at ending illegal immigration. It seeks to expand
the cheap labor pool and create an 'out' for employers to
*legally* abuse people. The abuse becomes codified in a
system of law. I find this far worse than what we have now
where at least there is a hope some future generation will
figure out the right thing to do since the current system is
such a dismal failure. Codifying failure is just ugh... I'm
done. |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Politics/Foreign/Europe, Politics/Foreign/Asia/China] UID:42481 Activity:kinda low |
3/27 Poll asks if "the free enterprise system and free market economy is the
best system on which to base the future of the world".
China: 74% agree
US: 71% agree
France: 36% agree
"Large companies have too much influence over our national govt"
France: 86% agree
US: 85% agree
China: 47% agree
http://csua.org/u/fcp
\_ this is a reflection of these nations' standard of living gradient
\_ Or their competitiveness.
\_ this is a reflection of these nations' standard of living gradient\
\_ Or their competitiveness.
\_ Pretty funny to see a higher acceptance in China than the US...
\_ even more funny when these guys are calling China the Communist
evil empire. |
| 2006/3/27-28 [Computer/SW] UID:42482 Activity:nil |
3/27 http://www.anthemamerica.com/index_2.htm Funny videos and pictures. Enjoy! |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:42483 Activity:nil |
3/27 http://research.microsoft.com/towards2020science/downloads/T2020S_Report.pdf Microsoft looking at year 2020 and how it relates to computer science |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Recreation/Dating] UID:42484 Activity:nil |
3/27 http://www.sexworkersartshow.com/photos.html Sex Worker Art Show |
| 2006/3/27 [Uncategorized] UID:42485 Activity:nil |
3/27 After many months of really lame text in spam/virus email, I've
started getting some pretty interesting stuff this week:
repudiate eggshell amiably
gusty banner numbness
a tropical fire extinguisher
appraisal on pliant mattress
shriveled dire wimp
balmy, the emptiness mule. |
| 12/24 |