10/3    Why am I busting my ass working 6 days/week when the average #
        of days a congressman works is 2 days/week? WTF?
        \_ Yep, they work the same hours as a high-class whore, which is what
           they are.
        \_ I don't think that's true at all.  They spend 2+ days a week
           commuting between DC and their district, fund raising,
           talking to constituents, and flirting with pages over
           aim.
        \_ Because you took engineering classes instead of joining a frat,
           learning social skills and getting involved in local issues.
        \_ Yeah, its pretty clear you'd do better at thier job because you
           work more hours.  Shame you didn't get elected.
        \_ Why are you working 6 days/week at all?
           \_ He is probably stuck with a skillset that is too common and
              feels like he has to do that to do well. Code monkey perhaps?

10/2    30 year old something gunman kills Amish girls and then commits
        suicide. He said it's revenge for something that happened 20 years
        ago. What do you think could have happened 20 years ago?
        \_ And what could those poor innocent girls have had to do with
           it?
        \_ I am very impressed and moved by the reaction of the Amish
           community to this tragedy.
        \_ Nothing.  It doesn't matter what happened or he thinks happened
           when he was 12.  He was a mad man.  Now he's dead.  The world is
           better for it.
        \_ He got molested.

10/3    http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/Articles/000,015.htm
        In The Heterosexual Agenda: Exposing The Myths, you will learn how:
            heterosexual militants have embarked on a systematic
               assault on American values;
            heterosexual activists plan on recruiting your children
               into their lifestyle;
            heterosexuals are undermining traditional marriage;
            heterosexuals are undermining the health and safety of society;
            violence has become a hallmark of the heterosexual lifestyle;
            heterosexuals are intent on eventually recriminalizing
               all freedoms of expression for gay men and women.

10/3    Another Berkeley physics Nobel:
        http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2006/press.html
        \_ StanFurd picks up a nobel as well (medicine):
           http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2006/index.html
           \_ And now one in Chemistry. However, Fire (the medicine winner
              from Stanford) was a UC Berkeley math undergrad, so we can
              partially claim him.
              \_ Well, the NASA guy on the physics prize got his phd from
                 Berkeley also, so same deal there.

10/3    My manager and the project manager refuses to have a project plan
        (i.e., schedule).  Instead, they opted to track progress via bugzilla.
        Now my manager wants to know when we can release the product.  I
        told him that we really need a schedule to know that.  He then placed
        the blame on me for not having a schedule.  How would you respond to
        this? -abused employee
        \_  http://csua.org/u/h35
            \_ Let me counter with something more useful:
               http://csua.org/u/h37
        \_ It sounds like you are the technical lead.  The PM is the PM, and
           your manager is just a middle manager.  As the technical lead, you
           should obtain whatever data you can from above on what the
           schedule requirements are (this can even be just a "complete by"
           date), and create an implementation plan according to any dates.
        \_ Just do your own project management. I have often had to do this
           at various points in my career when my bosses were idiots. This
           also helps make you ready for the jump to the next level, if
           are so interested. -ausman
        \_ This is a pretty standard problem.  Check out the author
           Steve McConnell, and browse through his books Code Complete,
           Software Estimation and Rapid Development.  Trust me, you are
           not alone.  There are plenty of good discussions and data out
           there to help you deal with bad software management. --peterl
           there to help you deal with bad software managers. --peterl
        \_ You made a mistake on day 1 when you knew you needed a schedule
           and didn't make one.  Next time just make a schedule.  Print it
           and email it to your manager.  At that point it becomes his
           problem if he doesn't like it or it doesn't fit business needs.
           For your current situation, you can either flip him off and get
           another job, or you can take the mature approach, tell him it isn't
           about finger pointing but team success, blah blah, and sit his
           dumb ass down to write a real schedule from the point you're at now.
           \_ He was adamant about not having a schedule.  He made it clear
              that he did not believe in it.  He has tried it and it has
              failed every time.  I don't mind working on a schedule now,
              but knowing him, I know he will then turn around and say
              that's something I should have done at the beginning.  So
              instead of being praised for taking the initiative, I will
              get blamed for starting it late.
              \_ Yeah, a lot of incompetent and/or inexperienced software
                 managers behave like this.  I would suggest browsing through
                 those books, or similar ones, that I mentioned.  If your
                 manager is unwilling to make changes and continues to blame
                 you even after you discuss professional engineering standards
                 with him, then you'll probably have to transfer, quit, or
                 bring it up with his bosses.  Feel free to email me if you
                 want to talk about this further.  --peterl
              \_ In this case, if he didn't want a schedule, you should have
                 showed him an implementation plan, but one without dates.
              \_ Wow, that sucks.  What I have learned (the hard way) to do
                 with shitty managers who refuse to follow common good
                 practice or make bad calls is to send them an email spelling
                 out what they told me to do and ask them to confirm.
                 "So, Bob, just wanted to make sure we're on the same page and
                  you don't want a formal schedule for this project."  The
                 smart ones get the message.  The dumb ones will fail and
                 blame you no matter what.  If your manager really is that
                 dumb then sometimes quitting (or finding a new job in the
                 same company if the place is big enough) is the only answer.
                 It still sounds like your situation might be salvagable but
                 I'd have my resume up to date just in case.  BTW, according
                 to my tech recruiter friend there are lots of jobs now but
                 no one applying for them.
                 \_ I tried that.  I think my manager falls into the later
                    category.  I would send out minutes and he always later
                    claims that I shouldn't dwell on what we decided before--
                    as a startup, we need to be nimble and adapt.  Bottom
                    line is, regardless what I do, I am always wrong, even
                    if it were his bad decision.
                    \_ Just go get another job then. There are plenty out
                       there right now.
                    if it were his badi decision.

10/3    I'm addicted to crystal meth on MTV
        http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/arts/television/03true.htm

10/3    http://movies.crooksandliars.com/TDS-Foleygate.wmv (and .mov)
        Daily Show on Foley scandal.  The first half of the video re-enactment
        is particularly amusing.

10/3    How do I "unlink" people from my LinkedIn account, and how do I
        delete myself from LinkedIn?

10/3    lafe, why do you hate jblack?
        \_ Random guy who's scripts don't work, what the fuck are you talking
           about? -lafe
           \_ Left wing nut lafe, what scripts are you talking about?

10/3    http://csua.org/u/h3a (reuters.com)
        Maybe this is the October Surprise:  The Ramadan Agreement
        "Iraqi leaders hope to flesh out a deal to end sectarian bloodshed in
        Baghdad when they meet again on Tuesday but conceded a four-point plan,
        drafted under U.S. pressure, was still a long way short on vital
        substance."
        Perhaps Dubya will also proclaim victory (security forces are
        standing up in decent numbers, and time to let Iraqis fight for their
        democracy) and redeploy the troops.

10/3    http://dynamism.com/nabaztag/main.shtml
        Cute rabbits
        \_ It would be cooler if you could buy two, supply them with power,
           and sell the results.

10/3    Let's say I just bought a new home. I heard that you can minimize
        capital gains tax by keeping track of home improvements. Does that
        mean I can use all of my Lowes and Home Depot receipts this year
        and subtract them from my income?
        \_ No, but you can add them to the cost basis of your house, which
           could have an effect on the capital gains when you sell it.
           (Well, to be accurate, you can add items which are part of
           renovations to the cost basis, but not items which are part of
           maintenance.  So if you replace a broken toilet, you can't add
           that to your cost basis, but if you remodel your bathroom, you
           can add that).  There is a fairly large exemption on capital
           gains on the sale of a home, anyway, so unless the house has
           appreciated more than $250K ($500K if married) at the time you
           sell it, your Lowe's recepits won't come into play.  -tom
           sell it, your Lowe's receipts won't come into play.  -tom
        \_ As Tom says, you can't. Wouldn't that be nice, though? Save them
           to use when/if you sell the house, though. I never thought I'd
           need that stuff, since the capital gains exemption is so high,
           but then the real estate market went crazy and I'm glad I saved
           that stuff.

10/3    Breaking news on http://abcnews.go.com:
        "FORMER CONGRESSMAN MARK FOLEY WAS MOLESTED BY A CLERGYMAN AS A
        TEENAGER AND IS GAY, ACCORDING TO HIS ATTORNEY"
        \_ And the Clergyman was a hardcore left-wing Democrat who supported
           evil Clinton so it is Democrats' fault afterall!
        \_ They're not sticking with the stock-and-trade conservative "alchohol
           made me do it but we should still be outlawing pot, but I'm checking
           myself into rehab so we can all forget about it" approach?
           \_ So, any kind of misconduct is excusable provided the committer
              was a victim?
              \_ Nahh, this is likely an attempt to turn this into a "gay"
                 scandal thus getting MORE Republicans to the polls rather than
                 less.
              \_ Maybe the priest was a Democrat, see it is the fault of the
                 Democrats after all!
           \_ Actually, they are - but with a twist.

10/3    Foley now a Democrat?:
        http://www.bradblog.com/Images/FoxOReilly_MarkFoleyDEM_100306.jpg

10/3    Hi Honey, I'm huge!
        http://image30.webshots.com/31/7/74/91/2381774910066501007KtqyhH_fs.jpg
        \_ Please to marking these with "Attn: motd boob guy"

10/3    Stanford kicks ass!
        http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/10/02/robot.challenge.ap/index.html

10/3    So I heard rumors that there would be a Alumni social/BBQ in Oct.
        Is that still on?
        \_ they're waiting until soda crashes on the day of the event to
           put it in the MOTD

10/3    The October Surprise is cheap gas. Supplies!
        \_ It's pitiful that people think paying $2.30 - $2.50 at the pump for
           gas per gallon is considered "cheap gas" now.  Thank you, Mr.
           President.
           \_ It's pitiful that people think paying $3 at the pump for gas per
              gallon is expensive. Look at how much gas costs in Europe. Or
              how much a gallon of milk costs in the US. Or bottled water.
              Thank you Bush-bashers for your culture of entitlement.