4/17    Charles Ng. Crazy Hmong sharpshooter. Angry 24 year old Chinese
        engineering student. What is wrong with you Asian people?
        \_ The Virginia Tech student has been identified as Cho Seung-hui, an
           English major from South Korea.  http://cnn.com
           \_ and in the U.S. since ~9 years old.  went to high school in VA.
           \_ and in the U.S. since 8 years old.  went to high school in VA.
        \_ I made a prediction that it's an Asian bro who isn't getting
           enough or any poon. Just look at what sparked the Unabomber.
           Same thing!
           \_ I saw hundreds of them when I went to UC Berkeley.  This is why
              porn is essential.

4/17    Is it possible to buy hand grenades in the US?
        \_ yes, with certain restrictiosn.  Care to elaborate your question?
           \_ I'm the op. I don't understand WHY it is legal in the first
              place. My right to bear arms should be for self defense only,
              WHY are hand grenades even allowed? They are as ridiculous
              as shoulder heat seaking missle or RPG or mines. I can't
              imagine these things falling in civilian hands like that
              crazy VT student. IMHO highly offensive weapons that have
              very little self defense value should be completely banned.
              \_ Every well regulated militia requires a significant stock of
                 plutonium.  Mutually assured destruction baby.
        \_ Someone call 911!
        \_ You can buy a book like the anarchist cookbook, make something
           more deadly. I suppose that should be banned, too.

4/17    President Bush's approval rating goes up after the school rampage.
        Why? I don't understand it.
        \_ Americans are conditioned to glorify violence.  The more violence,
           the more approval.  See?
        \_ Americans are more united during crisis.
        \_ The President's popularity goes up in months when he manages to get
           less Americans in Iraq than are killed in school shootings.
           less Americans killed in Iraq than are killed in school shootings.
        \_ 1 right answer out of 3 is pretty good for the motd these days.

4/17    weird Vonnegut obit on Fox: link:redirx.com/?7ibw

4/17    http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/17/vtech.wounded/index.html
        for gun nuts wondering how a 9mm Glock could be so lethal, ER doc says
        every patient had at least three bullet wounds (not necessarily
        excluding defensive wounds from one round)
        \_ Everyone knows the South Koreans are the world's best computer
           game players.  If you can blow away 30 enemies in seconds on the
           screen, I guess it translates over.

4/17    Yangtze might be "irreversibly polluted"
        http://urltea.com/dv7 (boston.com)

4/17    Chimps might be more evolved than humans:
        http://urltea.com/dux (discovery.com)
        \_ Whatever that means.
           \_ They shouldn't have used our chimp-in-chief as the baseline for
              homo sapiens.
        \_ You don't mess with perfection. I wonder how much sharks have
           changed over the millenia. Same reason.
           \_ We are still evolving though.  We're getting taller, our brains
              are increasing in size and our (well half of us) dicks are
              getting bigger.
              \_ I would guess almost none of that is genetic, most would be
                 environmental.
           \_ I think one drawback of evolution by incremental changes is that
              it's hard to get out of a "local maximum" once something is
              evolving towards it or has evolved to it.  It needs big
              disturbance to jump out of the local maximum to go towards
              another, possibly higher, local maximum.
        \_ "This just shows us that we're ordinary animals," huh?  I think it
           shows the opposite.  Most animals are under some sort of
           evolutionary pressure.
           \_ Generally the top predators face fewer evolutionary pressures,
              e.g. sharks.
        \_ It has yet to be proven that higher thought is a long-term
           beneficial evolutionary adaptation.    -tom

4/17    Free Ben & Jerry's ice cream today:
        http://www.benandjerrys.com
        \_ Yum

4/17    In Linux 2.6, if two users runs Emacs 21 to open the same 100MB file
        for viewing, do the two processes eat up ~200MB of RAM or swap space
        just for that file?  Thanks.

4/17    Home Depot giving away 1 million CFLs on Earth Day:
        http://www6.homedepot.com/ecooptions/index.html
        \_ How much mercury is that?
           \_ About a litre.
        \_ I *hate* CFL bulbs. They are ugly and so is the light they
           emit. For fish, I have no problems using them. For my house,
           the government will have to pry my incandescent bulbs from my
           cold dead hands.
           \_ How d'you like LED lights?
           \_ if you have your hands on your incandescent bulbs, I suspect they
              are not cold, but rather burnt dead heands.
           \_ Incandescent light is pretty damn ugly; you're just used to it.
              \_ The CFL bulbs themselves are ugly.
        \_ Lots of CFLs suck.  I've bought many.  The GE 26W 4-pack sells
           for $14 at Target and is excellent.
        \_ and all of them are made in China.  Biggest producer of greenhouse
           gases in the world now.
           \_ 1. bull shit.
              2. Global Warming is largely due to human activites in past 100
              years in *SEVEN* industrial nations.  If you want to play fair,
              Let China and India do their thing for next 100 years then we'll
              talk.
           \_ urlP
              the US has higher emissions total, and (obviously) per capita
              than china.
           \_ Is it the biggest per capita?
              \_ of course not.  That's no excuse for the kyoto protocol to
                 exempt them.
              \_ Anyone want to guess who the biggest per capita is? It isn't
                 who you'd think...
                 \_ Australia is #1 and Canada is #2.
                    Oops! Bad guesses:
                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita
                 \_ I'm guessing Australia is #1 and Canada is #2.
                 \_ Per capita by itself is not an interesting figure.  It
                    matters what is created or done with all the energy and
                    resources that created the emissions.  If you spent 25%
                    of the world's resources but produced 30% of the world's
                    goods and services you are efficient and should be looked
                    upon as the way to go, not looked down on.
                    \- So a law firm and an aluminum plant that have the
                       same sized contribution to GDP should have the same
                       "pollution credits"? Should law firms get water credits
                       just like farmers do? Are you sequestering large
                       amounts of carbon between your ears?

4/17    HAW HAW HAW
        "Even if it does not turn out that the shooter is Muslim, this is a
        demonstration to Muslim jihadists all over that it is extremely easy
        to shoot and kill multiple American college students."
        --Debbie Schlussel, after initially blaming the attack on a "Paki"
        http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/04/who_is_the_asia.html
        \_ The comments on her pages are amusing, and her habit of
           responding IN ALL CAPS TO ALL OF THEM is even better
           http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/04/virginia_tech_s.html#comments
           http://urltea.com/dxr (debbieschlussel.com)
        \_ I keep trying to come up with something to say here and fail
           every damn time.  Some things can not be improved upon.
        \_ Who the fuck is Debbie Schlussel?
           \_ Blonde haired, blue eyed "Conservative political commentator,
              radio talk show host, columnist, and attorney."  Ann Coulter
              wannabe of sorts.  Also claims to be an "expert" on "Islamic
              terrorism."
        \_ It's easy to kill bunches of people almost anywhere. I think
           even jihadists realize that. The problem is that public opinion
           is not so good toward your cause when you do so.
        \_ The best parts of that blog post are the comments.  My god the
           insanity is delicious.
           \_ Yeah, ol' Debbie's site might be even more entertaining than
              freep.
        \_ Why do you care?  Who is this person?  An AC clone?  No one cares
           about her, why should anyone care about an unknown third rater?

4/17    http://tinyurl.com/3973ly (latimes.com)
        http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0417071vtech9.html
        Killer, a 23-year-old senior English major, virtually never spoke to
        roommate or suitemates.  Wrote a play for class where a kid suffocates
        his father-in-law with a rice krispy treat.
        \_ Mr. Robinson?

4/17    Is IMAP up?  If not, how can I get pine/mutt to read my new
        maildir-based mail folder?
        \_ Pine and mutt both have native maildir support -- they should be
           able to access your inbox without any special configuration.  You
           can also use IMAP if you want, but only the secure version (imaps),
           Let me know if these aren't working for you.  --mconst
           and you need to use <DEAD>mail.csua.berkeley.edu<DEAD> as the server.  Let me
           know if these aren't working for you.  --mconst

4/17    In Linux 2.6, if two users run Emacs 21 to open the same 100MB file
        for viewing, do the two processes eat up ~100MB of RAM/swap-space, or
        ~200MB?  Thanks.
        \_ Test and see.
           \_ It seems to be the latter.  Too bad.  Thanks.  -- OP
              \_ Considering how emacs handles buffers that's almost a given.

4/17    NSFW link:tinyurl.com/2rq4ls
        \_ Yucks.

4/17    Dear home loan experts. I'm thinking of doing a traditional 30 year
        6.250% loan. However the loan officer is also suggesting a
        non-traditional fixed 30 year INTEREST ONLY loan for only ~5.85%
        with the option of paying more a month which will count towards
        the principle. Suppose I pay a constant amount of money per month
        REGARDLESS of the first or the second type of loan. Wouldn't the
        second type of loan be better because it has a lower interest rate,
        meaning that more of my payment will go towards paying the principle?
        Please help, thanks.
        \_ I think your analysis is right on.  I don't see any benefit
           to taking the traditional loan, *IF* you actually plug more
           than the payment in every month.
        \_ Well, sure, all else being equal.  However, is the interest-only
           loan adjustable?  Also check the "points", and fees.  Never trust
           anyone trying to sell you something.
           \_ Ding ding!  What are the closing costs?  If there's no prepayment
              penalty, and the closing costs (including points, origination
              fee, etc.) are the same, pick the lowest interest rate.
           \_ The guy already said "fixed 30 year INTEREST ONLY", so it's
              not an ARM.
              \_ Ah, right you are.  I missed the 'fixed.'
        \_ So you're saying that, if you elect to pay interest-only for the
           whole 30 years, then 100% of the principal is due at 30 years in
           a balloon payment, OR you refinance?
           But regardless it's 5.85% on (remaining) principal for the entire
           30 years?
        \_ you sure the 5.85% is for fixed and not for an ARM?  Your loan
           officer may not have been clear about that.  If fixed is 6.250%,
           I believe fixed interest-only should be ~ 6.375% or more.
           \_ Why do you believe that? Interest only loans can have lower
              interest rates. The reason is the amount of money at the
              backend. I am guessing that the total costs of the two loans
              are not the same. Is this guy quoting the APR or the nominal
              rate?
              \_ http://tinyurl.com/2gsavl (azcentral.com)
                 "fixed-rate interest-only mortgages typically carry a rate
                 that is one-eighth to three-eighths of a percentage point
                 higher than the rate on a traditional 30-year fixed-rate
                 mortgage"
                 once again, I think the most likely explanation is op /
                 op's loan officer is confusing fixed rates with APR rates
                 \_ Key word: typically.
                    \_ okay, I provided evidence for my side.
                       your evidence is, "well, i think this could be an
                       exception!"
                    \_ Please provide URL showing that "Interest only loans can
                       have lower interest rates" - without a catch like a
                       prepayment clause and obvious ones like paying points

4/17    http://tinyurl.com/3973ly (latimes.com)
        Killer, a 23-year-old senior English major, virtually never spoke to
        roommate or suitemates.  Wrote a play for class where a kid suffocates
        his father-in-law with a rice krispy treat.
        http://tinyurl.com/34dewa (washingtonpost.com)
        Simultaneously wielded handguns in both hands during the attack.  High
        school friends say he was a big fan of Counter-Strike.
        \_ Mr. Robinson?
        \_ Chau Yun-Fat style.

4/17    Foreclosures up 800% in California from a year ago
        http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-foreclose17apr17,0,6881514,full.story?coll=la-home-business
        \_ "Los Angeles County, the largest housing market in the state, is
           surprisingly strong."  Santa Clara / SF probably "stronger".
        \_ link:www.mercurynews.com/help/ci_5684801
           "On a loan-by-loan basis, mortgages statewide were least likely to
           go into default in Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara
           counties"
           \_ Defaults are also up in these counties.

4/17    http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3048108
        Professor who taught a poetry class he was enrolled in:  Cho seemed
        "extraordinarily lonely -- the loneliest person I have ever met in my
        life"
        \_ What is the standard procedure for civilians when someone starts
           shooting, according to the gov? "Stay put, do what they want,
           don't fight back. Bend over." That's insane, that's the exact
           opposite of what they teach LE and military. They teach you to
           shoot back! Fight back when given a chance. Look for cover,
           move! Not to stand still and just let him shoot you.
        \_ They've all heard the Barbara Streisand (BS) that "if you resist
        \_ They've all heard the Barbra Streisand (BS) that "if you resist
           you stand a greater chance of getting hurt or killed." Or that
           "if you give them what they want they'll go away." What do you
           then do if "what they want" is your life!
        \_ I think most of the deaths happened in an enclosed space
           and the targets had no way of running away.  What do you
           think?
        \_ Gun control advocates state that if you have a gun it
           will most likely be used against you.. .too bad out of 32
           chances for that to happen it didn't happen .. no one
           took the gun away from the shooter.. but on 33 the gun
           did get turned against the shooter when he killed himself.
           \_ yeah, those goddamn cowardly stupid victims should've been
              NRA members and held civil disobedience against the stupid
              gun ban.
              You know, I think you guys have this right.  This is the
              perfect time to carve empty political points out of a
              tragedy.
              \_ Yes and the anti-gun folks aren't hammering away at this
                 from the get-go, right?  PKB.

4/18    His plays:
        http://newsbloggers.aol.com/2007/04/17/cho-seung-huis-plays

4/17    Are there any VT Counterstrike maps?

4/17    Intel to release new chips about 40% faster!!!!!!! Go Penryn
        processors YAY BABY!!!!!!!!!! It's the WORLD'S FIRST 45 nm processor!!!
        http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18157813/from/RS.2
        \_ I know you're all jazzed, but what is the big deal?  Are you an
           Intel employee?  Did you work on this chip line?

4/17    Foreclosures up 800% in California from a year ago
        http://urltea.com/dxp (latimes.com)
        \_ link:www.mercurynews.com/help/ci_5684801
           "On a loan-by-loan basis, mortgages statewide were least likely to
           go into default in Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara
           counties"
           \_ Defaults are also up in these counties.
              \_ agreed, and at a significant rate from the previous quarter,
                 but my point is it might not be enough