8/29    Just a blast from the past:
        http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030501-15.html
        Wow, this guy really made us all look like fools, didn't he?
        \_ Only those who believed him.
           Oh, and that press release was altered after the fact; it was
           originally "Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended," they added
           "Major" several months later.  -tom
           \_ I watched the video, though.  It's clear he says "Major combat
              operations."

8/30    ride bike, into SUV!:
        http://tinyurl.com/gmfh5
        \_ The spree actually started in Fremont where the driver hit and
           killed one person before heading to SF.  That was just five blocks
           away from my home.
        \_ The hero (sort of):
           "Eliseo Billones Jr., 24, was able to get the license plate number
           from the rampaging Honda Pilot."
           http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=7&f=/c/a/2006/08/30/MNGPOKRNUA71.DTL

8/30    I got invited to a Chinese wedding. I'm a white boy. What are
        the protocols, especially with regard to gift giving? I know
        about the red envelopes, but how much money and when? Anything
        else I should know?
        \_ What color is their wedding invitation?
           If the wedding invitation is white or ivory, then, you can just
           buy something in the wedding registry treat them as "American."
           If the wedding invitation is bright red, then, you should seriously
           consider give out cash.
           The color wedding invitation is a good indicator how "traditional"
           the couple wants their wedding to be.  Being completely red is a
           good indication that they are going for the "traditional" route.
           Being completely white is a good indication that they are going
           for American style, as Chinese usually reserve white for funerals.
           If they have wedding registry somewhere, you could just buy
           something from there without offending anyone regardless the color
           of invitation.  If you hunch is telling you should give cash, the
           the general rule of thumb is between $100 - $200+.  Avoid $250,
           $140, $240.   As for how you dispense the cash.  The hard way is
           go to a 99 Ranch Market and buy red envelops and put money in there.
           The easy way is just buy a wedding card and stuck money in there.
           The money is usually collect right before the banquet starts.
           Contrary to what most of posting on motd, there is not much
           serious taboos here.  China is a vast land and regional culture
           within China differs a great deal.  Again, it depends upon the
           the color of invitation.  If you sense that this is going to be
           a "traditional" wedding, Some of more serious things are:
           1. don't give knives or weapons for gift. Instrutment of the death
           is generally regards as unlucky by nature for the Chinese.
           2. avoid clocks
           3. if you give away cash, REMEMBER to BRING IT.  one of the big
           taboo not mentioned in motd is that Chinese don't take raincheck
           for wedding gifts.  it is consider unlucky.
           4. it is ok to wear white or black, just not *ALL* white or
           *ALL* black (white suit with colored tie is ok)
                                                kngharv
           \_ Thanks for the response. As below, the invitation is a red
              traditional-looking one. So I should give $99 ideally?
              \_ that is fine.  good enough.  really appreciate the fact that
                 you are being sensitive about other's culture.
              As for suits, what if I wear a black suit with a colored tie?
              \_ The fact that you're asking so many questions is an
                 indication that you're intimidated by the culture. I can
                 assure you that you're probably over doing it. Just give
                 cash in red envelopes (which you can buy from Ranch 99) and
                 give 99, 88, 188, 288, whatever. If you REALLY want to
                 impress the parents, write a few words in Chinese and learn
                 a few phrases. By doing so, they will be pleasantly
                 surprised and remember you as the smart white kid who
                 is knowledgeable and appreciative of the Chinese culture.
                 They'll also probably remember your face and name forever
                 since very few whites even attempt to understand them. Make
                 sure you learn the right tongue though-- don't speak
                 Mandarin if they're Cantonese, and vice versa.
                 BTW "9" rhymes with longevity which is a blessing. 8 is also
                 very good. Everything should be in pairs. You want to pair
                 99 or 88 or some sort. Keep in mind that Chinese banquets
                 usually cost between $500-$1000/table (depending on seafood
                 quality, how exotic the seafood is, how prestigious the
                 place is), and each table sits 10 people. Assume $500/table,
                 that's $50/person, so you should give at least that much if
                 you're attending yourself, and double the amount if you're
                 bringing a guest. As long as you can help them break even,
                 you're totally cool. And if you can learn a phrase or two
                 and show her parents that you're a cultured, smart,
                 sophisticated multilingual man and not some horny white
                 dude, they'll wish their daughter is marrying you instead.
                 Good luck and tell us how it goes ok?          -Chinese
                 \_ I'm not intimidated. I just like to do as the Romans
                    do when I'm in Rome. I find it interesting. I don't
                    know much about Chinese culture.
                    \_ Is it better to say I dont know any Chinese than to
                       speak fake Chinese?  A friend of mine used to speak
                       to his chinese girlfiend's parents in fake Chinese
                       to his Chinese girlfiend's parents in fake Chinese
                       over the phone.
        \_ need more info from you. Are the hosts white washed asians or
           traditional asians? What type of Chinese?
        \_ http://csua.com/?entry=42989
        \_ Search for Wedding Tips: http://tinyurl.com/kzsav
        \_ need more info from you. Are the hosts white washed asians or
           traditional asians? What type of Chinese (HK/Mainland/Taiwan/
           Singapore/Malaysian)? If you assume all Chinese people are the
           same YOU ARE IGNORANT.
           \_ I have no idea. I know the groom, who is also caucasian. I
              don't know him that well either. His bride-to-be's parents
              mailed me a traditional-looking red invitation and the
              reception will be at a traditional Chinese seafood restaurant.
              \_ You have an easy case. Her parents are already disappointed
                 and thus their expectations will be very low. I mean their
                 rebellious daughter married a whity! They will expect
                 every single thousand-year-old traditions to be broken by
                 white people who are known to break them over and over
                 again. So you're cool. Go ahead and do whatever you want.
                 I recommend you buy them nice knife sets, preferably with
                 FOUR sharp knifes that are easily accessible in the
                 kitchen. The knives will be handy when they get into fights
                 7 years from now.  -Chinese
                 \_ thousand year old traditions?  you know Chinese is made
                    of hundreds, if not thoussands of tribes, right? you know
                    inter-racial marriage has been going on for 3000-4000
                    years, right?  virtually all Chinese are mutts of some
                    sort.
                        \_ Then how come they all look the same to me?
                    \_ But traditions are passed down the male line.  When a
                       woman marries a man of a different "race", she adopts
                       the tradition of the man's "race".
                       \_ So you're saying that her tradition will soon be
                          replaced with "Beer and football on Sundays"?
                 \_ Bravo!  Bravo!  That was magnificent.
                 \_ Fuck you, you racist piece of shit.
                        \_ Calm down, whitey.  It's all true.
                           \_ No, fuck you.  Seriously.  There are plenty
                              of white supremacist christians, black
                              supremacist muslims, nordic supremacist
                              pegans, racist japanese nationalists, and
                              so on and so on out there in the world,
                              but *none* of them ever appear on the motd,
                              or anywhere else in civilized company in
                              this country.  Yet somehow when the racist
                              is Chinese, it's ok?  Not in this country.
                                \_ Take a deep breath and re-read that post
                                   that set you off.  I took it as being
                                   ironic and tongue-in-cheek (but with a
                                   hint of truth as to the actual view
                                   probably held by the bride's Chinese
                                   parents).  The fact is that the parents
                                   probably do have lower expectations for
                                   white people when it comes to following
                                   Chinese traditions, and they probably are
                                   disappointed in her for out-marrying.
                                   Simply observing that other people likely
                                   have prejudiced views doesn't make your
                                   observation racist.  If you think it does,
                                   you obviously have never experienced
                                   racism.
        \_ Didn't we already do this one?  Chinese related subjects are
           probably the most effective trollbait on the motd, but not when
           they're recycled.
           \_ I wasn't paying attention then. Should the gift of dollars
              end in and 8 or a 9?
              \_ 8's are lucky, 4's are unlucky.  Don't give either knives or
                 clocks/watches.
                \_ This is Chinese tradition, but do all Chinese people
                   really care.  I mean if I was Chinese, I'd realize this
                   is silly and just give whatever amount I want.  I mean is
                   it really that big of a deal, like if someone gets a watch
                   as a gift, they believe their marriage won't be happy?
                   \_ watches are okay, no clocks though
                \_ Yes 8's are lucky in general.  But for weddings you should
                   give an amount with a lot of 9's, e.g. $99.99 or $199.99.
                   That's because "9" sounds the same as "long-lasting" in both
                   Cantonese and Mandarin, and I guess they sound similar in
                   other dialects too.  OTOH "clock" sounds the same as "end",
                   and "giving clock as a gift" sounds the same as "sending
                   someone off in a funeral".  -- Cantonese
                   and "giving clock as a gift" sounds the same as "seeing off
                   the deceased in a funeral".  -- Cantonese
                    \_ What if I want to use Hex?  So, then I'll give
                       $99 Hex, which is $153 in base 10.  But that has a
                       3 and a 1 in it and 3+1=4, so I'm screwed.  But then
                       again, 1+5+3=9, so I'm good.  Or, I could just use
                       binary and give $111111111, which is $511.  On the
                       other hand, $9 in binary is $1001, which is 4
                       digits, so it's unlucky.
                       \_ Since binary and hex have not commonly been used
                          in Chinese business transactions in the past
                          couple of centuries, it does not matter, nor do
                          combinations of numbers, etc.
                       \_ Yawn.
                \_ what about the case of a mixed white/chinese where they had
                   a registry and included things like knives and clocks on it?
                   \_ Then it depends on the the relative open-mindedness /
                      bitchiness of the in-laws on both sides.  Some in-laws
                      are kind-of open-minded these days.  For example, they
                      don't object the bride wearing a gown in white, which is
                      traditionally a color of bad luck and is only worn in
                      funerals.
                   \_ Get something from the registry.  Then bring a red
                      envelope with some small amount of money.
                \_ Unrelated, but tangential:
                   Why do Asian girls walk differently from every other
                   race? It's a sort of shuffle. Latinas, caucasians, etc.
                                \_ Footbinding?
                   do not walk like this and it is distinctive from a distance.
                   \_ I think you saw Japanese girls.  Girls in Japan do walk
                      in certain way, and those who came to US recently walk
                      the same way.  I don't see how Chinese girls walk
                      different than other races.  -- Cantonese
                        \_ Japanese girls walk bow-legged because they are
                           into anal sex.  Those women are not inhibited by
                           stupid Judeo-Christian views on morality.
                           \_ Ooh.  When's the next flight available to
                              Japan???
                           \_ Dude, that's French girls.  Not Japanese girls.
                              Japanese girls are into kinky bondage sex.  It's
                              the French chicks that dig it up the old Hershey
                              highway.

8/30    Does anyone know of a good or free C++ static analysis tool?
        We've looked at flexilint, covarity, and Klockworks.  So far
        they've all either sucked, or been far to expensive for our
        little project, or both.

3/30    Does anyone know a good, free, C++ code formatter?  We'd like to
        enforce some semi-arbitrary coding guidelines.  (Like, a keyword
        should not be on the same line as a closing brace.)
        \_ astyle comes with Cygwin http://astyle.sourceforge.net
           \_ Cool, this looks like it might help.  Thanks. (Does
              anyone else have suggestions?) -op

8/30    Why did all child sex scandals of Catholic priests involve boys and
        none involved girls?  Is it that Catholic priests tend to be gay, or
        is it that scandals involving girls don't get national media coverage?
        \_ They tend to leave the girls to the nuns...
        \_ There have been a few.  They do seem to get less coverage though.
           \_ I'm not sure.  I was out of the country when it really hit
              the fan over this, but I seem to recall about equal coverage
              from the news I saw.  Now, there are certainly a lot more
              jokes about priests the boys, but that's a different issue.
        \_ More helpers that are around priests are male.  Historically, it's
           been seen as an acceptable choice for same-sex attracted men to
           enter the priesthood (and thus remain celibate).  However I've
           heard that it's a problem now--the seminary has enough gay men that
           they're getting sexually active with each other.
           \- Live Girl < Live Boy ~= Dead Girl, scandal-wise.

8/30    Governor signs bill requiring any institution in CA to condone sexual
        deviancy.   http://csua.org/u/gsw
        \_ What a loaded way of putting it.  What do you mean by sexual
           deviancy?  Child rapists?  Or hetero blowjobs and cunnalingus?
           \_ Congratulations, you have been trolled.
              \_ I was trolled?  I thought I was calling out a troll.
                 \_ No, I wasn't trolling.  It's not PC, but homosexuality,
                    transgenderism, etc. are sexual deviancies. -op
                    \_ A deviancy is a variance from the norm.  Blacks in
                       Danville are racially deviant.  OK to discrimate against
                       them?
                       Danville are racially deviant.  OK to discriminate
                       against them?
                        \_ It's ok to descriminate against all
                           residents of Danville.  It's fucking Danville for
                           Christ's sake.
                        \_ It's ok to descriminate against all residents of
                           Danville.  It's fucking Danville for Christ's sake.
                           \_ So what about Danville?
        \_ "Focus on the Family (FOTF) Action chairman Dr. James Dobson and FOTF
           Action senior vice president of government and public policy Tom
           Minnery pointed out during Wednesday.s radio broadcast that the bill
           could result in a church no longer being able to receive police or
           fire protection if the pastor preaches from biblical passages
           against homosexuality"
           That can't be true.
           \_ How could you ever imply the Honorable Dr. James Dobson could
              be so bold as to fib?  You sir, offended me.
              \_ I wonder what BUD DAY thinks.
           \_ Some of the text: (from http://csua.org/u/gsy
              "No person in the State of California shall, on the basis of race,
              national origin, ethnic group identification, religion, age, sex,
              sexual orientation, color, or disability, be unlawfully denied
              full and equal access to the benefits of, or be unlawfully
              subjected to discrimination under, any program or activity that
              is conducted, operated, or administered by the state or by any
              state agency, is funded directly by the state, or receives any
              financial assistance from the state."
              I can see Dobson's interpretation being an interpretation of this
              text (though it seems unlikely).
           \_ http://www.outinamerica.com/home/news.asp?articleid=29852
              They have the same interpretation as Dobson.
              \_ Not quite: "Senate Bill 1441 protects all Californians who
                 utilize public services such as police and fire protection,
                 financial aid, social services and food stamps."  It's saying
                 it protects the consumers of those services, which makes it
                 sound like that was an end run around the issue of "it only
                 protects citizens"
                 \_ Read the article in context.  It protects them from
                    discrimination based on sexual orientation.
                    \_ Right, but it implies that the people it's protecting
                       are the service consumers, not that it's targetting
                       service consumers for coercion.
        \_ How does it  feel to be on the losing end of history, you hate
           filled little bigot? I guess you know how the crackers in The
           South felt now after the Civil Rights Act was passed, don't you?
           \_ Wow, just wow, this is awesome.  In only three lines you managed
              to spew generic hatred, racist hatred, and look like an idiot
              all at the same time without adding any value to the thread.
              That is a rare feat even for the motd.  I salute you, sir!
        \_ Why do gays hate America?

8/30    The "Doh!" flight you did not want to be on
        http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/30/plane.crash/index.html
        "Tire marks indicate the plane's wheels went into grass beyond the end
        of the runway. It became airborne after hitting an earthen berm,
        clipped a perimeter fence and struck a stand of trees before hitting
        the ground ... Runway 22, the one Flight 5191 should have been on, has
        a hump in the middle, so pilots cannot see the whole thing as they
        begin takeoff. Runway 22 and the much shorter Runway 26 can appear to
        be the same length"
        \_ The pilot's sitting 20' off the ground!  How big a "hump" _is_ that?
           \_ What it probably means is that the hump is not like a speedbump
              on a flat street, but that the runway is shaped like two slopes
              joined together, like /\.  I've never been to this airport, but
              I've been to the St. George airport in Grenada 11 years ago which
              had a runway like that.
           \_ The hump is probably 2/3 mile away.  20' is nothing.
              I've been to the St. George's airport in Grenada 11 years ago
              which had a runway like that.

8/30    I just configured a Dell XPS M1710 with the 2.0-GHz 4MB-cache
        Core 2 Duo with WinXP Pro and 3 years warranty.  $3,106 after tax!
        Dang, some rich kids will be spending bux on their computer for
        undergrad WoW.
        \_ Excuse my lameness, but it this faster than a 3GHz Pentium D ?
           I know MHz doesn't matter anymore, but it doesn't feel right.
           \_ I believe all Pentium D's up to 3.6 Ghz are blown out of the
              water by a 2.0-GHz C2D with 4MB-cache.
              http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=12
              The above has desktop Core 2 Duo vs. Pentium D, not mobile C2D,
              but you also need to consider the 1.86 C2D desktop has only
              2MB of cache.
           \_ In my (limited) experience, Core (1) Duo 1.86GHz >> Dual Xeon 3.0

8/30    Dear motd career advancement specialist,
        I need to fill out a self appraisal form for my performance review.
        and I'm curious how other people approach these things. I can rate
        myself on a scale from 'Exceptional' to 'Not Performing' in several
        areas (with some guidelines provided). I'm not sure how honest to be
        and how modest (I don't want to sell myself short but I don't want to
        sound like an asshole). I've gotten good feedback from my boss in
        general and I know he's happy with my overall performance. Any advice
        is appreciated.
        \_ Here's how mine went: I put "meeting requirements" (the middle one)
           for everything but a few where i gave myself excellent, b/c i was,
           and one were i put one tick below avg b/c i was.  My boss took it,
           and one where i put one tick below avg b/c i was.  My boss took it,
           changed all of my answers to excellent, and submitted it.  Apparently
           they put both on file, but his determines the raise I ended up
           getting.  Hurray for boss, boo for stupid pointless system.
           \_ I put the best rating that I am prepared to defend. I agree
              that it is pointless.

8/30    Jewish columnist responds to excuse that Hezbollah hid among civilians
        http://csua.org/u/gt6 (Wash Post)
        \_ Looky there, a self-hating Jew...
           \_ self-hating Jews := don't agree with everything IDF do

8/30    I have a real job now and I'd like to buy a nice Cal cycling jersey
        to match up with my new yellow/black trim full carbon bike. Where's
        a good place to buy Cal cycling jerseys? BTW I'm not in CA anymore.
        \_ http://www.calcycling.org/memclothing.php.  -tom