3/3     Has the CSUA considered asking alumni to ccme back and give talks about
        the cool stuff they are doing? I'm thinking of bz (Cyan), maybe aubie
        (Pixar)... I'm sure there are plenty of others I'm forgetting (no
        offense intended). Twohey, lea, myself and others could talk about
        grad school. Brg could too, but I don't know if you would want that.
        I bet mconst could put on some kind of freaky variety show (he'll
        solve an open math problem, patch a critical kernel bug, then kick
        your ass at any video game in  existence). There are distance issues
        involved for some folks, but if they were asked (well, if I was asked)
        I bet people would make an effort. I think this could be a huge draw,
        and take advantage of one of the CSUA's core strengths. I'll leave
        you with the opening to a talk I was writing for UCB undergrads about
        going to grad school:

        "This talk is either going to suck donkey balls, or rock you like an
        exam written by Hilfinger _and_ Garcia. And I just came from the
        Super-DC,  where they are FRESH OUT OF DONKEY BALLS. As Yoda says,
        there is no try, only do."
        -jhs
        \_ I brought in a guy from work to talk about election security.
           It was a facinating talk, but, of course, almost no one showed
           up. -jrleek
           \_ There hasn't ever been anything resembling serious election
              security in this country.  Probably not in most others either.
              \_ Umm, no duh?  So we can't have a talk on it? -jrleek
                 \_ Of course, but it's such an obscure topic for most
                       \- vertex algebras is an obscure topic.
                          election security is hardly obscure.
                    people, especially the politically unaware freshmen
                    that I'm not surprised it wasn't well attended.  Do you
                    think most people are aware elections have been rigged
                    since forever?  Most people don't even vote so why would
                    they care if an election is manipulated or not?
                    \_ Well, this was primarily about electronic voting.
                    \_ Erm, isn't that sort of part of the purpose of a
                       university, to expose you to obscure topics?  -John
                       \_ No.  You're supposed to get a 'higher education'
                          which isn't necessarily the same thing.  Anyway,
                          even if it was the point, attending a side lecture
                          or talk like this, no matter how interesting or
                          educational, is still voluntary.  How many times
                          were you in class when a prof went off on some side
                          topic and someone asked, "will this be on the exam?"
                          Thus, few people attended something that may have
                          been quite interesting and educational.  It wasn't
                          on the midterm.
                          \_ Of course it's voluntary.  But let's face it,
                             you could, theoretically, learn all the crap you
                             get from a university from books.  I don't know
                             about you, but the most valuable thing I got
                             out of Cal was the sum total of exposure to ideas
                             and people that I would not otherwise have had
                             access to.  I think "will this be on the exam" is
                             one of the saddest questions imaginable.  -John
                             \_ Of course it is.  However Cal probably isn't
                                the best choice for people looking for a
                                classical liberal arts education.  After the
                                various admissions and self filtering that
                                goes on to create a freshman class, plus
                                the environment once you get here there isn't
                                a lot of room for that sort of thing.  Thus,
                                you get a high percentage of people who won't
                                attend what was probably an interesting, yet
                                entirely voluntary/no credit talk.
                                \_ Why not?  I don't know about nowadays, but
                                   course catalog when I attended (92-96, to
                                   be honest) was jam packed with interesting,
                                   esoteric stuff.  I had a lot of amazing
                                   profs _and_ good TAs, as well as contact
                                   with some really funky, smart people who
                                   enjoyed attending "interesting", voluntary
                                   talks.  Same university?  -John
                          \_ You're either smart and cynical or just plain
                             dumb.  It makes me glad I devoted time and effort
                             to fucking with your kind when they were my peers
                             in classes or students in classes I TAed. -dans
                             \_ Ok since you can't even figure out what "kind"
                                I am....  I'm just glad I was here today to
                                give you the opportunity to post how smart
                                you are and how you abused other people in
                                class.  Whatever.  I don't know what button
                                of yours I hit with my harmless reply to John,
                                but your response is... interesting.
                                \_ This isn't about smart or dumb.  It's about
                                   your assertion that the purpose of attending
                                   university is to get a `higher education'
                                   (whatever that means), a view that I hold
                                   to be either cynical and shortsighted or
                                   outright stupid.  Individuals who approach
                                   university classrooms with your attitude
                                   water down the university experience for
                                   everyone.  Every time some selfish or
                                   stupid twit asks ``Will this be on the
                                   midterm,'' it takes away from class time
                                   that could be spent *gasp* learning.  Thus,
                                   I view it as a duty to encourage others to
                                   move away from a fundamentally parasitic and
                                   harmful attitude toward the university
                                   experience, if necessary, by beating it out
                                   of them.  Cheers. -dans
                                   \_ Unfortunately you didn't do as well in
                                      reading comp as you did in nastiness
                                      and self righteousness.  Go re-read and
                                      try again.
                                      \_ Unfortunately your composition skills,
                                         appear grossly inferior to your
                                         apparent selfishness and
                                         defensiveness.  In particular, your
                                         capacity to clearly express your
                                         views deserves as C+ at best.  Back to
                                         English 1A with you.  It saddens me
                                         that you think it is nasty when people
                                         call attention to the, in this case
                                         ugly, truth of your words. -dans
                                         \_ *laugh* "I know you are but what
                                            am I?"  You're so funny.
                                            \_ I'm someone who has the
                                               conviction to sign my name and
                                               stand behind my words.  Who are
                                               you? -dans
                                               \_ I don't play that game.  You
                                                  can deal with what I say,
                                                  who I am is not important.
                                                  If you can't deal, don't.
                                                  I don't care and didn't ask
                                                  you to throw your over
                                                  wrought spew on the thread
                                                  in the first place.  You
                                                  chose to join a thread and
                                                  respond to an anonymous
                                                  person.  No one forced you.
                                                  \_ Eh. -dans
                                                  \_ You say I don't understand
                                                     what you wrote.  I say
                                                     you're backpedalling
                                                     because your words
                                                     express a cynical and
                                                     selfish attitude, and I
                                                     called you on it.  We
                                                     can't both be right.
                                                     Personally, I throw my
                                                     hat in with the guy who
                                                     signs hist name, but I'm
                                                     biased. -dans
                                                     \_ You're an idiot. -gwb
                                                        \_ No, Mr. President,
                                                           what you meant to
                                                           say was ``Fuck
                                                           off'' -rbc
                                                    \_ I'll explain slowly for
                                                       you: I have no reason
                                                       to backpedal anything.
                                                       I'm somewhat anonymous,
                                                       this is only the motd,
                                                       \_ If it's ``only the
                                                          motd,'' why do you
                                                          care so much about
                                                          your anonymity? -dans
                                                          \_ Meow!
                                                       any intelligent person
                                                       who reads English can
                                                       understand what I said,
                                                       \_ I disagree with this
                                                          assertion. -dans
                                                          \_ MeOW!
                                                       I never took back a
                                                       single word of it, and
                                                       \_ I disagree with this
                                                          assertion. -dans
                                                          \_ meOW!
                                                       signing your name only
                                                       means you like seeing
                                                       your name in lights.
                                                       \_ If you believe this
                                                          ridiculous idea, it
                                                          directly contradicts
                                                          your statement that
                                                          ``it's only the
                                                          motd.'' -dans
                                                          \_ mEOw!
                                                       I wouldn't take the
                                                       signed over the
                                                       unsigned.  I would
                                                       actually read what
                                                       two people actually
                                                       said and decide from
                                                       that alone who was
                                                       correct and to what
                                                       degree.  Their name
                                                       status carries no
                                                       weight.  Again, you
                                                       \_ Your arguments in
                                                          this thread are,
                                                          imprecise, sloppily
                                                          worded, and, based
                                                          on some readings,
                                                          logically flawed.
                                                          You use the resulting
                                                          lack of clarity as an
                                                          excuse to justify
                                                          backpedalling, and
                                                          then assert that
                                                          ``any intelligent
                                                          person who reads
                                                          English can
                                                          understand what
                                                          [you] said.''
                                                          \_ MeOw!
                                                       voluntarily responded
                                                       to an anon person. Why
                                                       bother if you
                                                       automatically dismiss
                                                       them on that basic
                                                                    \_ [sic]
                                                                       \_ MEOW!
                                                       alone?
              \_ Heh.  I *broke* the ASUC election system the first year it
                 was computerized.  As in I produced a demonstrably working
                 exploit.  I then took my findings to the elections chair and
                 worked with him to secure against my exploit and other
                 avenues of attack.  I spoke about this at DefCon and
                 Computers Freedom and Privacy in 2004.  The following year
                 the election technical lead didn't test the old code until
                 the eve of the elections, and I led the team that wrote a
                 superior replacement in under 8 hours.  If you include time
                 to recruit the team members, it took approx. 12 hours from
                 start to rollout.  Last I checked, this code was still in
                 use, albeit with some modifications by OCF members.  If folks
                    \_ Oh shit. --team member
                 would like, I'd be happy to do a talk on this.  If you time
                 it at the beginning of the ASUC election campaign season and
                 flyer on south side, it would probably be a great way to
                 bring in more members that don't have traditional computing
                 backgrounds.  If current CSUA members want to see this
                 happen, email me. -dans
           \_ I probably would have attended. I think what you need to do
              is get people excited somehow, and then make sure that the
              talk delivers (see, for example, the series of talks by
              Brewer, Karp, etc, last year). The CSUA needs positive buzz.
              In my mind this means more than flyering - it means people
              going into classes and being _enthusiastic_ about what they
              are selling. Does current pburo have the mental energy to
              pull this off? Not meant as offensive. Also, as alumni,
              I could be wrong, full of shit, or both.
              -jhs