10/21   I am one of the biggest sceptics of Roomba iRobot. 2 of my friends
        had the first and second generation Roomba respectively, and their
        feelings for it were lukewarm. Their units were loud, a hastle to
        use (need to find the unit and charge manually), and most
        importantly, DUMB. Well, after doing an extensive research, I
        decided to buy the latest Rooma anyways. I got a Roomba 560,
        the FIFTH generation and boy, it is the most amazing thing I've
        even seen and cleans amazingly well! Here are the highlights:
        1) auto docks when it is done or gonna die. The homing beacon
        mechanism is amazing!!! 2) 7 day timer so you don't even have to
        press start 3) cleans very well, goes under my bed too! 4) it's got
        external corner brushes to clean the sides REALLY well, in fact
        better than my regular vacuum cleaner 5) it comes with 2 virtual
        wall/room units, so you can block or request to clean up to 3
        different rooms (and it'll remember which room it is in)  6) it is
        a lot quieter than the first generations and lastly 7) it is
        a LOT smarter than the first and second generation Roomba and
        statistically goes through different surfaces quite evenly. It
        knows to clean the sides (did I mention it's got side brushes?).
        Roomba 5th generation is a quantum leap from the first few
        generations, and it's worth every penny. Good job iRobot, looking
        forward to buying your stock.
        \_ can it do stairs?
           \_ No because it doesn't have a penis.
           \_ Assuming it can't do stairs, can it not fall down stairs
              if it is upstairs?  Is it smart enough not to go over a
              cliff?
              \_ It cannot do stairs, there are no vacuum robots today
                 that can do stairs. It does have fall/cliff protection
                 so you don't have to worry about a thing. If you're
                 curious just check out some Roomba 560 vids on YouTube.
                 \_ I'm not sure how 'newer' models do  with stairs, but ours
                    has managed to go fall down our stairs once or twice
                    when let loose in the upstairs.  My current peeve is the
                    irobot can be activated unexpectedly by a cat walking
                    on its power button. -ERic
                    \_ Uh, ya, blame it on the machine and not the cat.
                       Brilliant. How about putting a cardboard on top
                       of the button? Actually, I'm curious Eric. Do you
                       have no pet peeve with cats? What do you like
                       about cats?
                    \_ I'm sorry to hear that. I don't seem to have that
                       problem with my dog.
                       \_ Cats are programmed statistically to walk on every
                          horizontal surface in a house 1-4 times a day.
                          \_ LOL. My Roomba is just as entertaining and
                             smart as my cat, but my cat is still cuter.
        \_ I don't get it.  Is running a vaccuum over a floor every so often
           so hard you need a toy to do it for you?
           \_ It is tedious when you have pets and/or children. In my case
              any hour I can gain a week is a HUGE gain  -tired guy w/chores
              \_ Is this the life you planned for yourself?  Is it worth it?
                 \_ Most of the people in this world don't plan every little
                    detail of their lives. Most kids, even in developed
                    countries, are still "accidents."
                    \_ Sex without condom/pill/whatever that leads to
                       children is not an accident.  The failure rate for
                       various methods is under 10% on average.  If he has
                       kids, odds are greatly in favor of him planning on it.
                       \_ abortion or lack thereof is also a choice
                          \_ True.  So all these parents in one way or another
                             have chosen it.  Which goes back to my original
                             questions to the tired guy w/chores,
                             "Is this the life you planned for yourself?
                              Is it worth it?"
                             \_ I am not tired guy with chores, but I too have
                                a daughter that keeps me busy and I can say
                                without reservation that it is the greatest
                                thing I have ever done. Even if I do have to
                                hire a maid to clean the bathroom, since I
                                am too busy (usually playing with my daughter)
                                to do it myself.
                                to do it myself. And yes, this is the life I
                                planned for myself.

10/21   I've gotten two bounced back e-mails from my CSUA address that I
        didn't send.  Does this mean my account is compromised by a
        spammer?
        \_ Probably not, the spammer is probably just joejobbing your
           address. -dans

10/20   If company X has open trading window for their employees tomorrow
        and stock X has been as high as ever, then traditionally, would
        their employees most likely start dumping stock X, making a good
        time for bozos like us to short X?
        \_ When bozos short stocks they're usually wrong.  Short a stock
           because you don't believe in the company, not because you think
           you see some technical factor.  -tom
           \_ You can totally believe in a company and yet it is too expensive.
              \_ That is usually a bad candidate for a short.
                 \_ Exactly.  Do you really think you can predict the moment
                    at which the market is going to turn?  Here's a rule
                    of thumb for you: Don't short good companies.  There
                    are plenty of bad companies out there to short, if that's
                    what you want to do.  -tom
                    \_ Bad companies are usually valued like they should be.
                       Good/bad shouldn't enter into it. Just valuation.
                       Valuation is not a "technical factor".
           \_ Or don't believe in the sector, like housing stocks at the
              end of the housing boom.
              \_ Good point here. Plenty of good companies tank if their
                 sector tanks.

10/19   People say "jew-lery" and "re-lator" instead of
        jewelry and realtor. Are these proper pronunciations?
        \_ I don't think so.
           \_ Racist!
              \_ So you think "realtor" and "relator" should sound the same?
                 -- PP, Chinese
        \_ I have never heard anyone sal jelery.  Re-lator is because
           Realtor (tm!) is a stupid fucking made up word that would never
           be an english word if someone hadn't made it up.  The l to t
           transision is just fucked up.
           \_ hello bitter housing guy! How's your rent?
            \_ Not bitter housing guy, just bitter abuse of the english
               language guy.
        \_ Thats totally NUKULAR!
           \_ Isn't this an accepted pronunciation in one of the
              dictionaries?
              \_ Only if you're a fan of Jimmy Carter.
                 \_ Or Dubya. Is this just a Southern thang?
                    \_ Dunno but JC was way ahead of Dubya on the Nukular thing

10/21   In the "is it The Ongion or is it Real" category:
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7055625.stm
        \_ What a lying headline. The monkeys didn't kill him, him
           falling off the terrace killed him.
           \- You may wish to discuss that with Donald Davidson if
              you end up whereever he did.