6/15    in anime titles, what does 'OVA' mean?
        \_Original Video Animation...it's like straight to video.
          -scottyg
        \_ scottyg is correct.  There is also an alternate form OAV.
           Generally they tend to be higher quality than TV, but lower
           than movies.  The also tend to be mini-series. -jrleek
           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OVA
        what does fan service mean?
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_service

6/15    MOTD boob guy apprentice here, I got my account
        turned on again.  Sorry I've been away.
        http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/6cd20bd009.gif
        \_ http://www.aminaked.com is all you need -scottyg
        \_ This woman is freakish.  That's all i can say.
        \_ http://weakgame.com/media_10547_Sexy_Soccer.html
        \_ These are worse: link:tinyurl.com/mv94v

6/15    Dear MOTD apprentice lawyers, I sent in a camera to be repaired
        under a third-party warranty.  When I filled out the repair
        website, after indicating that I am in South America, it indicated
        that return shipping would cost $10 (the company's in the US.)
        Now I receive a mail telling me it will cost $72 to get my camera
        back, and that the $10 is only for US shipping addresses.
        Aside from the fact that this is b.s. (I could see $25-$30), does
        anyone have any advice on how to best get my camera back without
        forking over?  It's more a matter of principle...  -John
        \_ Where are you? My friend is going to Peru with her girlfriend and
           they are wondering how scary it is for two girls to be wandering
           Peru alone.
           \_ I think the state department has regular updates/releases
              about safety for Americans travelling abroad.  I'll see if I
              can dig up a URL if I have the time.     -mice
              \_ Some travel links:
                 (US State Department Travel Warnings)
                 http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html
                 (Consular information about Peru -- the section on crime
                 seems pretty detailed, while the Safety and Security
                 section gives a good overview of the general political
                 climate)
                 http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_998.html
                 (General List of Countries)
                 http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1765.html
                 I hope this helps!               -mice
           \_ Chile.  Most S. American tourist stuff is perfectly safe.
              A friend of mine took a budget bus tour into Bolivia, and
              had absolutely nil problems.  I think if you stay out of
              most parts of Colombia/Venezuela and exercise caution in
              most urban areas (mainly Buenos Aires and Brazilian cities,
              according to friends) you should be fine.  From what I hear,
              Peru is very safe.  A good site for info about more exotic
              destinations (beyond "where not to go as an American") is the
              Lonely Planet BB at http://thorntree.com--I also assume your friends
              are not going to be running around in neon shorts and fanny
              packs talking in loud nasal American tourist voices.  -John
                \_ I thought FARC and the shining path had their
                   own Disneyland area in Peru
                   \_ FARC, maybe in way Northern Peru, who knows, but SL
                      were supposedly pretty well castrated by Fujimori and
                      his goons.  -John

6/15    Movie trivia question:  In the 1968 Peter Sellers film "The Party",
        he arrives at the party in a cool 1930s-looking roadster.  What
        type of car is that?  -John
        \_ Oop, found it, Morgan 3-Wheeler.  -John

6/14    I'm in S Cal and LA Dep of Water and Power charges me approximately
        $1.00 per 10KWH (KWH is 1000 watt hours). I don't watch TV at all,
        but my computer's on all the time. Suppose I do get a TV,
        and suppose I watch TV 4 hours a day and the TV is rated at
        300W, how much does that contribute to the cost?   -cheap ass
        \_ Look for a product called "Kill A Watt", it's about $29.
           It's really nice at telling you what's sucking up all the
           juices. My old VCR when powered off sucks 15 watts! To
           answer your question, your computer is probably consuming
           more power than your refrigerator and is likely the biggest
           electricity hog. Do you really need it to be on 24x7?
           \_ or if you do, think about getting a laptop instead.
           \_ I have a kill-a-watt, and have done extensive power surveys
              around my home -- highly recommended. A typical PC computer
              eats around 100W on continuously. I ran the math and it came
              out to about $20 a month at my Ream-you PG&E rates of about
              $.24/KWH.  A TV's power consumption varies widely, depending
              on the picture (and the technology).  My 32" CRT TV displaying
              white images burns like 40% more power than when displaying a
              black screen.  The actual wattage rating it shows on the UL labels
              on the back has little to do with its real-life power consumption.
              Incidentally, flatscreen / LCD tv's and monitors save a ton of
              power, almost 50%.  -ERic
           \_ I might note as well that your power supplier's  cost might
              not be linear.  PG&E rate, for example goes, up a lot depending
              on your total monthly consumption, and this varies with where
              you live.  They give more consideration for folks in areas that
              "require" heavy use of air conditioning.  So your actual cost
              may go up more than just based on the  extra consumption, if it
              kicks you into a higher rate zone. -ERic
        \_ 300W * 4hr/day = 1.2kWh/day
           1.2kWh/day * 30day/mo = 36kWh/mo
           36kWh/mo * $0.10/kWh = $3.60/mo.

6/15    Hey root, can you reenable finger motd@csua.berkeley.edu?
        \_ Also can you please re-enable kais motd's search and intellidiff?

6/15    Would appreciate assistance identifying this character:
        http://www.gotohogwarts.com/about/2.gif
        \_ looks like Zartan's face on top of the Green Arrow
           \_ Yes, that's it, thanks, spot on.
           \_ Nah, it's just Zartan.

6/15    Hi guys, my dad was recently billed $180 for outpatient services and
        $200 for the actual process of removing wax from one ear.  After the
        Medicare deductible, he has to pay $160 (the govt is paying $380).
        Is this normal?  Thanks.
        (FYI, I had the same process done for myself under my company health
        plan, and didn't pay crap.)
        \_ Sounds about right.  Think about how many man hours went into
           getting his ear dewaxed.  Reception/doctor/maybe a nurse.  Cleaning
           up after he left, supplies, billing, paperwork whathaveyou.  Stuff
           costs money.  160 dollars isn't that much these days.
        \_ what does ear dewaxing do for you?
           \_ basically when your ear's clogged up with wax it's really
              clogged up.  fyi, i've since learned you can buy a $5 kit on
              the shelf at the drug store and save yourself the dr.'s visit.-op
              \_ Does the type of earwax (dry or wet) matter?
                 \_ I don't know.  Presumably if the $5 kit doesn't work, it's
                    time to visit the doctor.
                    \_ The doctor will shoot warm water in your ear and catch
                       it in a bucket.  Even if they threw the bucket away
                       afterwards, the procedure shouldn't cost $380.  But
                       yes, that's "normal" in the U.S.  -tom
                       \_ Thanks, tom.  A word of warning to do-it-your-selfers
                          though:  If you stick the syringe in your ear and
                          squeeze, MAKE SURE to leave an opening for the water
                          to pour out of. -op
                       \_ The doctor is the expensive part, not the bucket.
                          If you go see a doctor (and in this case, it sounds
                          like he went to a hospital) for basic personal
                          grooming, why would you expect it to be inexpensive?
                          He's paying for the doctor's time and the hospital's
                          facilities.  Would you also expect it to be cheap
                          to visit the emergency room and have a surgeon trim
                          your toenails?
                          \_ OK, how much do you think five minutes of time
                             with a doctor should cost?  You think $300 is
                             reasonable?  -tom
                             \_ Most professionals set minimum billable amounts
                                of their time (often one hour or one day).  Are
                                you saying that doctors should bill by the
                                minute?  If that was a minimum billable amount
                                of one hour at $150, plus that much again for
                                the hospital, then I'd say it sounds about
                                right.  Frankly, I wouldn't want it to be cheap
                                to get my ears cleaned by a doctor at a
                                hospital.  I'd prefer that this be expensive to
                                make it less likely that hospitals are clogged
                                with stupid things like this when someone goes
                                in with a real problem.
                                \_ Fortunately, it's expensive to do
                                   anything at all at a hospital or doctor's
                                   office; up to five times as expensive in
                                   the U.S. as in other comparable nations.
                                   And the crowding problem is mitigated by
                                   the fact that millions of Americans don't
                                   have health insurance.
                                   If you think the U.S. health care system
                                   is good at anything other than providing
                                   Viagra, you're either nuts or trolling. -tom
        \_ I think the $7 kits are just 90% isopropyl alcohol or something like
           that so you if you have a syringe don't need to spend $7
           when $0.99 will do.
           \_ Debrox, the most popular OTC treatment, is 6.5% carbamide
              peroxide with citric acid, glycerin, propylene glycol, and
              other lubricants.  This is why you don't necessarily read the
              motd for medical advice and squirt the i-PrOH in your ear.

6/15    In YM, AIM, G Chat, and other programs... are they smart enough to
        do point-to-point, intranet to intranet communication when they are
        close (same subnet, domain, etc) to each other? Or do they all go
        to a centralized server?
        \_ It all goes to Mother Brain Chat Server Central.
           If you are concerned about this, either install your own
           local jabber server, or investigate
           Off The Record messaging (OTR).  There are plugins
           for Gaim and probably other stuff too.
           \_ I'm a sysadmin and an engineer, and I've yet to find a Jabber
              server for *nix that I can figure out how to install _and_ get
              working with more than one client.  What am I missing here?
              \_ I have this working in Debian:
                 http://www.jivesoftware.org/wildfire
                 I have seen it work with Psi and Gaim on unix and
                 windows. - danh
        \_ yahoo seems to default to trying to connect locally on the same
           subnet -- or at least that's what I can make out of the strange
           connections to my co-workers

6/15    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1649811/posts
        Freepers not sure how to react as al-Qaeda in Iraq plan states number
        one goal is to get U.S. into a war with Iran
        \_ The enemy of my enemy is my friend's cousin's sister-in-law's
           uncle's high school sweetheart?
           \_ But...what does that make me?
           \_ But...what's that make us?

6/15    Is Bernanke a Democrat or a Republican? How about his predecessors?
        \- He used to drive a Sienna minivan. Maybe you can do some kind of
           Bayes Rule thing based on the car->party statistics to come up
           with a guess. [for the record, he is a Republican, but not a
           party hack ... he was an academic most of his life. Considering his
           portfolio, his views on more technical questions are probably more
           meaningful than broad party affiliation. I am pretty sure the only
           guy who voted against his confirmation was a Republican senator
           who or why.]. GREENSPAN was a Randroid. Paul Volker [appointed
           who or why.]. GREENSPAN was a Randroid. Paul VOLKER [appointed
           by Carter, reconfirmed by Raygun] is an interesting question.
           The Fed, unlike some other administrative agencies, does seem
           to officially discourage its officers from partisan activities.
           See e.g.
     http://stlouisfed.org/publications/re/2000/c/pages/presidents-message.html
           --psb

6/15    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060615/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_terror_blueprint
        This convinced me that the Iraq War was the right thing to do.
        \_ This might be an argument to convince someone that staying the course
           a little longer is the right thing to do, but what's your rationale
           for finding this a convincing w.r.t. starting the war?
        \_ USA also have blueprints to nuke entire USSR and China out off
           the face of the earth.  Does it mean USSR/China is justified to
           invade USA in the name of self-defense?

6/15    http://www.flickr.com/photos/pelzig/167844070
        The Germans had nightvision in WW2. HEIL!
        \_ as did the US thanks to RCA/Zworkyin
        \_ as did the US thanks to RCA/Zworykin
        \_ Versions of the Vampir were also mounted on Panther tanks and
           halftracks.  -John

6/15    A little old, but I'm sure you all want to know about ATI's new
        video card optimized for ASCII gaming.
        http://bbspot.com/News/2003/02/ati_ascii.html
        \_ I know it was satire, but you could do that with pixel shaders.

6/15    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199623,00.html
        The Iraq War is going in the right direction.
        \_ In other news, Fox is the mouthpiece for the administration.
           \_ I'm glad we have friends like these. I wish they existed
              back in WWII. I bet we'd have won that war faster with the
              press second-guessing everything.
              \_ In some ways it's similar.  I seem to recall that "Nazi's
                 have killed 6 million Jews" was not a big news story.
                 Now we have: "insurgents" massacre civilians? Ho hum.
                 Heroism by US troops? Nah.  Accusations of US troop
                 misconduct from anonymous unauthenticated source?  Stop
                 the presses!
                 \_ if putting things into perspective. number of Russian
                    casualties, number of Chinese caulties, number of casulties
                    in Southeast Asia.. then, while 6 million is bad, but
                    rest of 40+ million is pretty bad too
              \_ Live in the present, grasshopper. Painting a rosy picture of
                 inanity and incompetence does no one any good.
                 \_ This is not about the present or the past. It's about
                    a systemic and pervasive hidden war against those
                    who disagree with qualifications. Are you a soldier?
                    Are you a historian? Can you cite precedence even?
                    It's just arrogant presumption, not to mention, cynicism
                    that clouds your judgement in this and all matters related
                    to BushCo/OIF or even Dems vs Repubs. It does no good
                    if all you do is second-guess, complain and offer no
                    real solutions. Like they say put your money where your
                    mouth is. I have not see any 'money' yet from anyone.
                    \_ Here's a solution: don't fucking invade Iraq.  There
                       were several million people (including me) who took to
                       the streets to make that point.  It is disappointing
                       that the administration went ahead with Operation
                       Clusterfuck anyway, but it is not at all surprising
                       that we're now in a protracted war with no real
                       end in sight.  -tom
                    \_ It's not arrogant or cynical. The reality is that Bush
                       is rash and incompetent. This and WWII have almost
                       nothing in common.
                    \_ What, aside from voting, protesting, and donating cash
                       to political candidates that support your point of
                       view can your typical dissenter do?  What, in your mind,
                       constitutes "putting your money etc" in this context?
                       \_ I think he means "ok, now that we're there, how about
                          some constructive ideas" which is legit, but
                          something I see as a really incompetent, pathetic,
                          juvenile and cowardly approach to foreign policy if
                          this were really the thinking behind the Iraq war.
                          I.e. "well, we're all in this together"--same as
                          when your little brother floods the basement and
                          you have to help clean up, or live with the mess.
                          Except that in the real world, the little brother
                          gets a knock upside the head.  -John
                          \_ OK, suggestion one is for the whole frickin'
                             crew to admit they're completely unethical and
                             incompetent and immediately resign.   -tom
                             \_ Well, good luck.  Maybe they'll all have a
                                sudden attack of conscience and
                                responsibility, and monkeys will fly out of
                                my ass.  Great thing about a democracy is,
                                if 51% of the people whose votes count don't
                                want accountability... -John
        \_ in Fox News defense...  I don't think Fox News is a mouth piece of
           the administration.  I think it's just a pure MONEY generating
           machine which knows exactly what its audience *WANTS* to hear.
           And most American citizens prefer simplicity over complexity;
           prefer good news over bad news; prefer USA is a benevolant
           superpower that invades another country for the goodnes of
           man kind than a country which its own private business' interest
           trump everything else.

6/15    Victories in Iraq, Bush Approval Up
        http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199668,00.html
        \_ In other news, Fox is the mouthpiece for the administration.

6/15    Alright, wall.log rotations *should* be back and working right
        We'll find out at 4AM, when it rotates.
        Also, find a number of old wall tools reinstated in /csua/bin
        --michener
        \_ Okay, so date(1) on BSD is different than Linux. And my perms
           are better now. So hopefully this evening instead.