2/5     Is CS 162 considered one of the more difficult UCB CS courses? I
        remember everyone being afraid of CS 150.
        \_ In the old days, 150 was a pain in the butt because of breadboards.
           One can easily spend 1/2 a day only to realize a wire is
           missing or popped off during transport. The fact that you gotta
           wire everything based on TTL/CMOS chips and having to go through
           cookbooks, makes it a total pain and error prone. Nowadays,
           CS150 is done mostly via Xilinx tools. You use some tool to
           wire components, then let the compiler route, then program
           your FPGA, and voila! Well, it's not THAT simple, but at least
           much more pleasant than breadboards. So, yes 150 used to be the
           project everyone feared. Nowadays, 162 is THE feared project
           as well as 164.
           as well as 164.      -TA who taught during the breadboard
                                 to new Xilinx tools transition during the
                                 mid-90s when the tools really sucked back
                                 then but has improved a lot since then.
           \_ Wow you guys are wimps these days. Esp. if you fear 164.
              Unless things have changed dramatically in the last say,
              5 years, which I doubt.
        \_ It's "more difficult" in the sense that the project is more work
           than the typical CS class. Same with 150, though projects there
           probably are even more work than 162, esp. since the groups are
           smaller.
        \_ 162 was a lot of work, but it seemed to flow together logically.
           It wasn't that hard, but it was time consuming.  For some people
           in my class it was pretty obvious they never "got" it, but really
           those people should have taken it as a sign that they needed a
           new major.
        \_ From my ancient experience (15 yrs ago) CS 150 was much more
           difficult than any other CS class by a LOT.
           \_ Difficult because it was TIME CONSUMING. Not as theoretically
              difficult as theory or math, for example. Who taught 150
              15 years ago?
                \_ Difficult both by the subject matter and the insane
                   amount of time you had to invest
        \_ Wow, I remember it as 160.  The projects were big, especially if
           your group bailed on you.  However, when I took the class, we used
           NACHOS, not BSD.

2/6     Chu says global warming will turn CA into a desert.  Why can't I see
        any trend on Tahoe snowfall in the last 100 years?
        http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pj0h2MODqj3hvJSHq8lYoEA
        \_ Because you're an idiot.
           \_ Wait, there IS a trend there?  Can you point it out?
              \_ There does not appear to be a trend in that particular
                 set of data, taken out of context.  The fact that you think
                 that is significant is why you are an idiot.
                 \_ The context to me is that there has been warming over the
                    last century, but no trend in the snowpack.  Can you
                    explain why that's not significant?  -op
                    \_ Your graph is snowfall, not snowpack.  It's also picking
                       only one spot, when mountain conditions vary wildly from
                       one place to another.  And the effects of global warming
                       are not linear.  -tom
                       \_ Ah, thanks for pointing out my mistake of pack vs.
                          fall.  Far more useful than simply saying I'm an
                          idiot. -op
                          \_ That's not why you're an idiot.
                          \_ FYI, your an idiot b/c you have dared to doubt
                          \_ FYI, you're an idiot b/c you have dared to doubt
                             the revealed truth of the prophet Gore. How dare
                             you! Who are you to think unapproved thoughts!
                             \_ The one good thing about Global Warming is that
                                it might (might!) dry up some of that froth.

2/6     The Romance of Alice & Bob:
        http://abstrusegoose.com/113
        \_ Um, mazel tov?

2/6     The 2/5 meeting minutes say:
            "T-shirts going to the printers tomorrow, get them by Thursday
             if possible"
        How does a crufty alum buy one of these T-shirts?
        \_ I want an "I partied with Nick Weaver" t-shirt.
           \_ Shouldn't that be "I partied with nweaver"?
          \_ Those are for the Hackathon, although we do have CSUA
             shirts available as well.  They are $13 apiece.  You can
             drop by the office and buy one, or if you're willing to pay
             shipping and handling and such email politburo@ and we'll
             see if we can send one off to you --steven
             \_ Is it the same one from a few years ago with the ascii
                cow on the back?

2/6     Looking for a web site with historic price watch (charts) on
        consumer products like computers and cameras. What's a good
        site that does this?

2/6     I'm hearing about "The worst CA drought in 20 years."  Honestly, I
        can't seem to recall any year when I didn't hear about a drought in
        CA.  Still, it seems to be raining more than last year.  Does anyone
        have the numbers to show this drought is so bad?

2/6     I need to make a small run of business cards.  Any recommendations?

2/6     I think it's funny how Obama keeps saying things like: "Debate is
        good, that's how democracy works.  Now knock it off, I won."
        \_ Debate is not obstructionism.  Let me guess, you were
           shocked, SHOCKED! about the democratic fillibusters in 04-06.
           \_ The stimulus bill is a farce, and should've been blocked.  It
              needs a lot more debate to become reasonable.
              \_ I doubt more debate can bridge the divide between the
                 "tax cuts for the rich" vs. "handouts for the poor and
                 middle class" ideas on stimulus. Do you?
           \_ Election is over.  Now you obey!