8/27    Is there any object ID built into java?  In Ruby and Python
        there's a method on every object, getObjectID() that returns a
        unique ID for any object.  Is there anything like that iN java?
        \_ Object.hashCode() in general will return a unique value, although
           that is not contractually guaranteed.  You could get two different
           objects wiht the same hashcode, but Object.equals() should return
           false in this case.  There is no perfect ironclad method that I
           know of.  If you tell me what you're trying to do maybe I can
           suggest an alternative.
           \_ What I'm doing is a bit complex to explain on the motd, but
              basically, I need a simple (int, long, float, or string)
              unique identifier for each object.  I ended up writing a
              static class with an incrementing long.
              \_ You *did* make it thread-safe, I hope.
                 \_ No threads, although I guess it might be a good idea
                    anyway.  Although it's certainly not the only thing in
                    this code that's hideously un-thread-safe.

8/24    Any recommendation for an SATA/eSATA PCI card for Linux?
        \_ Isn't there a hardware compatibility list for the major distros?
           \_ Yes there is a chip hardware compatibility list for linux, but
              I need an actual card. I think I'll get the Addonics ADSA3R5-E
              which has the Silicon Image 3124 chipset.. Any experience with it?

8/27    hey meth fans read this:
        http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060828fa_fact2
        \_ Thanks! great article.  -meth fan

8/28    http://csua.org/u/gs5 (pcmag.com)
        http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2009199,00.asp
        Huge batteries and aggressive battery mgmt still don't give 4MB-shared-
        cache Core 2 Duo (Merom) based notebooks equal or better battery
        life over Core Duo (Yonah) - both 65nm.
        Need info on:  2MB-cache Core 2 Duo battery life and performance.

8/28    "Former Marine who sparked Okinawa furor is dead in suspected
        murder-suicide"
        http://www.csua.org/u/gsd (http://www.estripes.com
        \_ Why is this newsworthy?
           \_ Because some of us were paying attention when this asshole
              went and tarnished the reputation of Marines everywhere. -!op

8/28    In Amazon, can I search only items sold by Amazon and not by
        other merchants?
        \_ I wish.
        \_ yes, to some extent - http://tinyurl.com/jjqay - not perfect,
           but some techniques work reasonably well.  Also some info
           here: http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/30124
        \_ Wow.  I emailed Amazon to ask them that a few days ago.
           They said:
           Although currently there is no option to look only for the items
           sold by Amazon; however, we appreciate the time you've taken to send
           your suggestion.
           I've passed along your comments to our developers; customer feedback
           like yours is essential in helping us determine what additional
           features our visitors and customers want most.

8/28    http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/755793.html
        Olmert appoints two investigative comittees with limited power
        "We do not have the luxury to sink into investigations of the past,
        we need to focus on the future and the Iranian threat"
        "it's absolutely clear that Hezbollah has been whipped"
        \_ Wow, Bush-style governing is spreading 'round the world
        \_ gee, I thought "Spreading of American-style Democracy" only limit
           to democracy based upon one superior race over another.
           \_ No, you didn't.

8/28    When will the housing sector hit its bottom?  -patient investor
        \_ Fuck you, asshole.   If it weren't for parasitic fucks like you
           who buy houses they don't plan to live in as "investments", there
           would be no housing bubble, many many more people would be
           living in their own homes, and the coming crash would not happen.
           I have an idea, why don't you go find a sector of the economy to
           invest in that has growth based on real productivity instead of
           some ludicrous bubble and the victimization of ordinary working
           people.
           \_ So what you're really saying is no one should own more than 1
              house.  That there should be no rental market for houses.  Or
              that house rentals should only be through corporations.  Ok.
              Ordinary working people can rent an apartment for less than the
              monthly on a house.  If you think these people are making money
              off their recently purchased second homes as rentals you're
              terribly confused.  They're taking a huge risk that they'll be
              able to sell higher than they bought, they are subsidising some
              one's rent who is likely not even covering the monthly and they
              are supporting the housing industry so there is more supply which
              drives prices down, not up.  There are so many things wrong with
              your rant I'm going to have to stop there before the motd runs
              out of bits.
           \_ Same thing can be said about stocks / gold / frozen concentraded
              oragne juice / ...
              \_ Yeah, but housing affordability can translate directly into
                 commute time.
              \_ and oil.  google the word "contango"
        \_ If you honestly believe you can get an answer to a question like
           that you're not an investor.
        \_ Swami the Magnificent says Nov 17, 2007.
           http://csua.com/2005/03/22/#36812

8/28    This is not a troll. Do Taiwanese girls, that is those who actually
        grew up in Taiwan, usually tend to be self-righteous,
        incredibly stubborn, and frighteningly materialistic control
        freaks, or is it just the girl I happened to run into? It
        seems like she just keeps arguing only for the sake of it,
        however irrational she may sound at the moment (sometimes she
        regrets that, but then it's already too late).
        \_ tawei is that you?
        \_ Hello nickkral!
        \_ Yes, Taiwanese girls are fucked up.  I went to high school with
           tons of them in the San Gabriel Valley before going to school with
           tons of them again at Cal, so I know that they are flat-chested,
           dirty, bossy, stupid, lying, conniving bitches.  To be fair,
           Taiwanese guys are also dandruff-infested, dirty, bossy, stupid,
           lying, conniving scumbags.  My opinions are borne from years of
           experience watching them cheat in school, refuse to take showers in
           P.E. or wear deodorant, argue endlessly about incredibly boring
           and geeky topics like China-Taiwan politics or Final Fantasy games,
           hold stupid bigoted opinions about other people from other parts
           of the world, steal money from the government and cheat their own
           employees, and generally engage in dirtbag behavior.  None of those
           Taiwanese pussies can drink even a tiny bit of alcohol without
           turning bright scarlet red from head to toe.  They also suck at
           driving and never take personal responsibility for the messes that
           they create (especially car accidents, illegal immigration, tax
           fraud, enormous unpaid gamblings debts, and sexually transmitted
           diseases).  Taiwanese, especially the girls, have no sense of
           style, as they were these gaudly, tacky, ugly clothes that
           combine great color schemes of bright red, shit yellow, and
           black sequins.  Nothing says "class" like heinous dressing and
           zero fashion sense.  Even the Taiwanese "models" in their pitiful
           pop magazines are heinous.
           What do you expect from a country that consists of all the scumbags
           in old China who raped, destroyed, and exploited their own kind?
           So much that the Chinese majority wanted these landowning
           degenerate scum to be killed...except that they escaped with Chiang
           Kai-Shek to Taiwan.  Taiwanese in California in the last 20 years
           are just like the old Cuban undesirables of Scarface notoriety were
           in Miami in the 70s and early 80s:  the worst, most materialistic,
           most amoral segments of a Communist regime that got evicted by their
           own government.  Very clannish, insular people with idiotic
           political views.  Only difference is that Taiwanese chicks are
           overall extremely butt-ugly in comparison to smoking hot Cuban
           women.  Shout out to Jenny Wu, Amy Wan, and Cathy Cheng from high
           school.  -not a Taiwanese or Chinese
           \_ Kind of funny but needs a bit of work. I would give it a grade
              of "work in progress." Post again when you're done with the
              rough draft.
           \_ Wow, that was impressive. Articulate and impassioned.
              *polite applause*  What about the religious ones?
              \_ I just found it hateful and lengthy.
              \_ Started okay but got too bitter and hateful towards the end.
                 I also agree it's too long, try to trim it down a bit.
                 \_ Since when was "length" a bad thing?  -Dirk Diggler
        \_ You're not alone:
           http://csua.com/?entry=42532
           http://csua.com/?entry=39422 (2nd reply)
        \_ This word you keep using(troll)--I do not think it means what you
           think it means...
        \_ Girls are people.  You'll find angels and gold-diggers and the
           down-to-earth.  But it is definitely a well known phenomenon among
           young adults in Taiwan about Taiwanese girls hooking up with a
           lonely 30-something engineer who never had a girlfriend, works
           long hours, is faithful, and brings home the $$$.  It is also
           assumed that Asian guys raised in Asia are chauvinistic, and
           parachute kids in the U.S. are spoiled players.  Therefore,
           Taiwanese/Asian girls raised in Asia may have a chip on their
           shoulder when it comes to Asian guys.  This post might be a troll.
        \_ Taiwanese girls are generally racist against those from mainland
           or anything related to China.  Aside from that, they are pretty
           much the same as everyone else.
           \_ I don't think that counts as racist.  Taiwanese and Chinese
              being the same race and all.
              \_ it is racism.  Like everywhere else, "race" has less to do
                 with color of skin and DNA make up.  Just like everything
                 else, race is arbitrarily defined (go find out the definition
                 of "colored people" in America and South Africa).
                 I hope those American who supports Taiwan realize that they
                 are supporting a regime whose power is based upon
                 instutitonalized racial discrimination and flaming ethnic
                 tensions.
                        born in Taiwan, work in Taiwan, classified as
                        a Chinese Pig in Taiwan
                \_ This seems true, but I have known well only one Taiwanese
                   girl, so my sample is very small. It happened several times,
                   that as soon as I mentioned the words China or Chinese in
                   any context that had to with the mainland, however
                   unoffending the topic could be (like movies or food), she
                   would immediately interrupt me and say something negative
                   about what she thought I was about to say without even
                   letting me finish that sentence. Her attitude towards the
                   mainland could be best described as snobbish. -white guy who
                   already got burned by it. never again.
                   \_ So are you going back to blondes again?
                   \- if you cant think of a way to yank the chain of
                      an anti-mainland taiwanista, you are really lacking
                      in imagination.
                      \_ This is like doubling-up on a lost bet, until you
                         break even. Unless you're willing to make her cry or
                         and/or walk away from her, she'll make you pay.
                         break even. Unless you're willing to walk away from
                         her, she'll make you pay.
        \_ I thought Hong Kong girls are the ones that are self-righteous,
           incredibly stubborn, and frighteningly materialistic control freaks,
           not Taiwan ones.  --- guy from Hong Kong
           \_ Never dated a HK girl but I can tell you Taiwanese girls
              are really bad. I wouldn't be surprised if Taiwnese girls
              are worse than HK girls. Frankly I don't understand why
              some white men have Asian fetish.    -- guy from Taiwan
              \_ And the better alternative to Asian women is... blond
                 bimbos with big breasts?
                 \_ Uh, as opposed to flat-chested, flat-assed, stupid,
                    annoying, bossy, shallow, loud-mouthed bitches from Taiwan
                    who have poor personal hygiene?  Hell, yes, give me
                    Victoria Silvstedt, Lisa Dergan, Rachel Hunter, Molly
                    Sims, Shakira, or Stacy Keibler any day of the damn
                    week.  -not a Taiwanese or Chinese
              \_ Racist. Why do you hate Taiwanese girls?
                 \_ I only hate the ones who don't want to fuck me.
              \_ see, chauvinist!
           \_ Can't they both be?
           \_ As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again!

8/28    If you are at the gym on a cardio machine and sweating heavily,
        is it your problem if you are giving off odors or is this a case
        of "coming to a nuisance"?
        \_ Within reason, the latter (i.e. it's assumed you don't have a
           5-day layer of stale sweat making things worse.)  -John