4/04    Is there a good way to diff 2 files that consist of columns of
        floating point numbers, such that it only tells me if there's a
        difference if the numbers on a given line differ by at least a given
        ratio?  Say, 1%?
        \_ Use Excel.
           1. Open foo.txt in Excel.  It should convert all numbers to cells in
	...

12/20   A higher percentage of people in China than in Pakintan have an
        unfavorable view of China:
        http://www.pewglobal.org/database/?indicator=24&response=Unfavorable
        Go figure.
        \_ damn these self critical liberals!
	...

11/27   CalMail has been down for a few days (hardware failure and database
        corruption -- sounds like fun!) and is starting to come back online.
        Looks like they're planning to outsource all campus mail to either
        Google Apps or Microsoft 365 as part of Operational Excellence.
        <DEAD>kb.berkeley.edu/jivekb/entry!default.jspa?externalID=2915<DEAD>
        \_ http://ist.berkeley.edu/ciocalmailupdates/november-30-2011
	...

1/22    looking to buy a new development laptop
        needs ssdrive, >6 hr possible batt life, and runs linux reasonably
        Anyone have a recommendation? Thx.
        \_ thinkpad t23 w ssdrive and battery inplace of drive bay
        \_ Ever wondered what RICHARD STALLMAN uses for a laptop?  Well,
           wonder no more!
	...

10/27   I just read an article that Facebook had moved their database
        to all SSD to speed throughput, but now I can't find it. Has
        anyone else seen this? Any experience with doing this? -ausman
        \_ I hope you're not running mission critical data:
           http://ask.slashdot.org/story/09/10/27/1559248/Reliability-of-PC-Flash-SSDs?from=rss
        \_ Do you have any idea how much storage space is used by Facebook,
	...

9/23    I never took CS188, is there a good book that's an intro to formal
        database theory, normalization, etc.?  I've got experience with SQL
        (MySQL & MSSQL), and understand tables, etc.
        \_ You mean CS186?
           \_ Oops, yah.  188 is AI or something?
              \_ That's right.
	...

9/9     Larry Ellison is a bigger idiot than I thought:
        http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/10/oracle-to-sun-customers-and-ibm-were-in-it-to-win-it
        \_ My company's customers are insurance companies. Non-tech corporates don't
           trust open source. Why risk it. They have tons at stake and are willing
           to spend for solid products, support, and consultants who don't have long
           hair. They're being raped by IBM mainframes for millions. An optimized
	...

7/27    I have an actual technical question here. My MySQL DBA tells me
        that I can't expect a MySQL port to be able to run effectively
        on more than a two CPU box, he says that the extra CPUs will
        sit there unused. Is this true? I have a bunch of new quad core
        servers that I would like to use as Database machines. -ausman
   \_ It's not that simple.  If you stress test your new fancy multi core
	...