6/11    http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/easternsuburbs/story/365899.html
        Family finds backyard is off-limits because of conservation easement.
        "Kevin King and his wife, Donna, dream of installing a backyard pool
         But the young couple got a rude awakening when their pool contractor
         drove to Lancaster Town Hall to get the construction permit this
         spring.
        "That's when the Kings learned for the first time since buying their
         home in 2003 that they legally have only a 3-footdeep yard in which to
         build their pool.
        "Or to enjoy a swing set with their kids, ages 3 and 5.
        "Or to do much of anything else, it seems.
        "Turns out the Kings technically aren.t even supposed to mow the grass
         in their 60-footdeep backyard because of a conservation easement."
         \_ Gotta love reporters that don't ask questions.  Why the hell didn't
            these people have due diligence done on their property when they
            bought it?  This sort of thing should be in any contract.
            \_ Yeah, I'm sure the easment was there before they bought the
               property.
            \_ Yeah, the easement was there before they bought the property.
            \_ Srsly. Why is this news? My neighbor when I was growing up
               had a large easement on his property. It was part of the reason
               why his lot was bigger than the others for the same price. I
               forgot why it was there but eventually he got it removed and
               now his property is worth more.
            \_ The question was asked in the article.  The couple claims they
               don't recall the paralegal who sold them the house mentioning
               the easement. They admit to not doing their due diligence in the
               article.  I think the interesting thing here is that the
               the easement. They admit to not doing their due diligence in
               the article.  I think the interesting thing here is that the
               easement is completely pointless in this case.
               \- As associate of an associate of mine bought a house
                  in Los Gatos. It would later turn out the seller paid
                  a nearby autobody shop to close up shop during the
                  buyer's visit. The sale was reversed later on on those
                  grounds. Interesting to note the remedy was an action,
                  not money damages.
                  \_ Totally different case unless you are arguing that
                     the easement was not disclosed which is possible but
                     seems unlikely.

6/11    Real life Unicorn:
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080611/ap_on_fe_st/italy_unicorn
        \_ Throw jewels at it!

6/11    Welcome back sloda!

6/10    Slow down everyone!
        http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/06/06/balance.slow.movement

6/10    So what did YOU do with your ECONOMIC STIMULOUS CHECK?
        \_ I invested in Exxon, took my earnings from there and reivnested in
           the triple crown race, picked the first place horse, and now I'm
           trying to decide which island to retire on.  How about you?
        \_ I didn't get one, you insensitive clod!
        \_ Applied it retroactively to my purchase of a 40" HDTV.
        \_ Tattoos
        \_ took spelling lessons

6/10    Can "obaachan" in Japanese mean grandmother?  I thought grandmother is
        "obaasan", but someone told me it's "obaachan".  Thx.
        \_ AFAIK they are both grandmother.  They differ in levels of
           familiarity/respect.
           \_ Thx. -- OP
        \_ "-san" is an honorific; "-chan" is more of an affectionate term.
           "obaa" is the base term meaning grandmother; colloquially, it can
           also mean "old woman," though you would only use the base without
           an honorific if you were being rude. To be really rude, you could
           even skip the initial honorific "o-" and substitute a curse-word:
           "kuso baabaa" = "shitty old bitch." Then run. --erikred
           \_ hahahaha funny. How about the store "Obaji" where a bunch
              of old women go to get their facials done?
              \_ Perhaps you mean: http://www.obagi.com ?
                 Also, the base term for grandfather is "ojii-"; hence the
                 same for "old man," which is why all the kogaru call you
                 "sukebe jiijii!"

6/11    Oil companies may have under estimate their reserves:
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/4omqlj [new scientist]

6/11    Forget something?
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7449255.stm

6/11    Poor Judgment? http://preview.tinyurl.com/54onws

6/11    To the person who asked about VirtualBox...
        I just tried it out with XP and Vista as the guest OS and it seems as
        feature-complete and responsive as VMware.  USB devices mount nicely
        and can be filtered well.  I haven't tried a network share between the
        host and guest though.
        \_ Does USB 2.0 devices work?  Thx.  (not the original person who
           asked about VirtualBox)

6/11    What's a good place to buy nice Aeron chairs from?