6/22    Who Ruined California Public Schools?
        http://www.broowaha.com/article.php?id=267
        Is it true that CA is 42nd in school spending? By what measure?
        \_ Oh yes, blame it on Prop 13. Why do you hate tax cuts?
        \_ No, it's a simple lie.  CA spending has been well outpacing
           inflation, and enrollment has actually declined significantly.
           \_ Other states could still have raised their spending more.
              Do you have any data that supports your claim?
              \_ Which means nothing.  Performance has almost no correlation
                 with spending.
                 \_ So does that mean you have changed your tune and now
                    agree that CA is 42nd in school spending?
                    \_ Not the PP and I'm not sure what the right number
                       is, but it has nothing to do with Prop 13 as CA tax
                       revenues are the same as they always were.
                       \_ You need to explain what you mean by "the same as
                          they always were". Same in nominal dollars, in
                          inflation adjusted dollars, in inflation adjusted
                          per capita dollars or as a percentage of GDP dollars.
                          Those are all pretty different things.
                  \_ http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2004/RAND_MG186.sum.pdf
                          We used to spend 4.5% of total income on education,
                          now we spend 3.5%.
            \_ Enrollment has declined since 1978? Are you crazy?

6/22    Glass' solid/liquid nature explained:
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/4rh9ro [new scientist]
        \- "John Kerry, is glass a solid or a liquid?"
        \_ This article is a joke, right?
           "Although glass feels like a solid, its molecules cannot quite
           settle into a regular 3D lattice and, given enough time, it flows
           like a liquid."
           Um, no it doesn't flow like a liquid.
           \_ It doesn't?
           \- yes it does. have you ever seen multi-hundred year old windows?
              without obsessing over the "like a liquid part", glass does flow.
           \_ Have you ever seen really old windows?  -- ilyas
              \_ No, it doesn't.  Otherwise all glass bottles over a certain
                 age would be glass puddles.  Yet we have them from the middle
                 ages.  It's a common misconception, most likely due to early
                 glass pane making techniques that made glass panes thicker on
                 one end than another.  Now, when people point out the thicker
                 bottom on glass panes they say that's proof that it's a
                 liquid.  They conveniently overlook panes with thicker tops
                 and sides.  The real slowest solid-like liquid is pitch IIRC.
                 http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/pitchdrop/pitchdrop.shtml
                 \_ Why not put the whole setup in a centrifuge to accelerate
                    the process?

6/21    Pasadena reached 100F and San Fernando reached 106F and it's
        only June. Remind me, what is it about LA that's so great??
        \_ Freedom.
           \_ Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.
        \_ Rose Parade. Free heater.
        \_ In'N'Out nearby.
        \_ far away from feces flinging hippies.
        \_ 100F? I live in Pasadena and it was 108. However, I heard it
           was a frigid 98 in San Jose. When it's 75 in January you gain
           a new appreciation for LA. This 100+ stuff is not typical.
           \_ Well get used to it, because it'll be like this for many
              decades to come.
           \_ It was 72 in San Francisco today.

6/22    RIP George Carlin

              70 miles. I guess you think this is acceptable. I don't.
              \_ How long would it have taken you on a bus? What about
                 Metrolink? It's not much less. Overall I can get to
                 \_ His whole point was that LA really blows because it
                    lacks *REAL* mass transit systems, defined as systems
                    that work INDEPENDENTLY of the freeway infrastructures.
                    When the bridge collapsed, people could take BART.
                    But when 101/405 collapse in the future, what redundant
                    system do you have? LA totally blows. PS. Buses are
                    not real mass transit systems, mkay?
                    \_ You do remember the BART strike back in 1997, right?
                       And the 10 freeway did collapse in LA. It was back up
                       in less than a month.
                 Riverside in less than an hour unless I am unfortunate enough
                 to go during rush hour(s). Driving is much, much faster than
                 other methods 80% of the time and probably equivalent 10%
                 of the time leaving only about 10% of the time where I'd
                 even bother with transit. And then once at your aunt's
                 what happens when you need to go somewhere? Wait another
                 45 minutes for a bus and then transfer to another one and
                 then walk 5 blocks with your bags. Are you kidding me?
                 That stuff works in Tokyo or NYC where it's really dense.
                 Doing that in Riverside would be stupid. You made the
                 right move even if it cost you 2 hours up front.
                 \_ You are right, in LA I have no choice. Apparently you
                    think that is acceptable. I don't.
        \_ shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, tits!

6/22    I got a bunch of AA batteries that are about 0.8 - 0.9V. They're
        not strong enough to power the devices I need. What are some creative
        ways to get the most out of your batteries besides recycling?
        \_ Look up "Joule thief"
           \_ Seconded
           \_ Wow, that's cool.  I have all the parts except the transistor.
              Anyone know where I can find a transistor really cheap/free?
           \_ Here's an improved circuit that includes a capacitor:
              http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/LEDTorchCircuits/LEDTorchCircuits-P1.html
              http://preview.tinyurl.com/2llkrq [talkingelectronics]
           \- http://www.slate.com/id/2193827

6/22    Public transit blows part deux:
        So I am in Boston for the week. My hotel is near downtown. I decided
        that since there is a 'T' line right outside my hotel I would take
        the train. Strike One: It takes 47 minutes to get to Beacon Hill if you
        plan your trip so that you don't wait for trains. It can't be more
        than a few miles away, but you have to take a train to hell and
        back to transfer to another train. So I took a cab. Strike Two:
        \_ Try taking a cab in LA. Har har har.
           \_ I don't get it. LA has plenty of cabs.
        I took the 'T' to Cambridge. It's *supposed* to be a 30 minute
        train ride to go 2.5 miles. Again, that's if you plan your trip to
        coincide exactly with the arrival of a train. You have to transfer
        once. Well, what I got was the line I needed to transfer to being
        closed and everyone herded onto a bus with a belligerent drunk who
        the bus driver eventually threw off the bus for being a nuisance
        \_ bus != real mass transit. It is a bandaid to a more serious problem
           \_ Yes, ignore the mass transit you don't like.
        (he was cussing in front of kids, grabbing people, and eventually
        threatened to strangle someone). Then we got on another train line.
        My total cost was $10 per person round trip. Oh, yes, I can't wait to
        take public transit again. It is so much cheaper, more convenient,
        and pleasant than driving. My drive out to Cape Cod went well,
        \_ you're more than welcome to drive in Boston or NYC. Good luck.
           If you're skilled enough to drive, then drive. Obviously, you're
           not skilled enough to take the mass transit. I mean, if you take
           a New Yorker (who normally doesn't drive) and stick him in
           Los Angeles, what would he have to say about driving? Probably
           as much praise as you give to mass transits. You're as dumb
           as your trolls.
        though. $20 in gas to drive by myself 200 miles in air conditioned
        comfort and incontrol of my own itinerary. Imagine that. Next chance
        for public transit will be to go to the Museum of Fine Art. I am
        anxiously awaiting to see what Strike Three is because I won't
        count being passed by in Berkeley seeing as a bus is not public
        transit. Only high-speed Euro-style rail from LA to Las Vegas
        counts as public transit.
        \_ Why not take your car to the Museum of Fine Art and tell us how
           it goes?
           \_ I've driven in Boston twice now. It's a pain. I prefer it to
              mass transit and I will drive a lot more than I planned
              based on my experiences so far. If I ever go back to
              Cambridge I will definitely drive there. Also, there's a
              rstaurant in Beacon Hill I want to try. I will drive there,
              too. Apparently the best way to get around is by cab. Is a
              cab considered mass transit? I will be in Manhattan in a
              week and I plan on taking cabs there and never touching the
              mass transit.
        \- i have never taken muni in the ~5yrs i have lived in SF and even
           *i* took the T in Boston [even when on expense account so no
           cost to parking, rental etc]. although i walked to the MFA.
           if you go to the MFA see the excellent Dante and Vergil "buddy
           movie' bronze. there is also some total fraud there like this:
           http://tinyurl.com/3zjucq and the stuff like the RRAUSCHENBERG
           cardboard boxes.
           \_ I took it, too, but my experiences have sucked. Having the
              police come to cart a crazy guy off of a bus that you
              weren't supposed to take except that the line you needed
              closed unexpectedly tends to ruin the experience.
        \_ Misanthropes should probably not ride transit, if they can avoid it.
           \_ Well, that's the problem with mass transit. Anyone can and
              does ride it.