9/18    Easy advice 2.  If you have PIMCO, please consult a professional
        financial advisor about whether to move ALL of that PIMCO money into
        cash or a mostly Treasury-backed bond fund (note to avoid agency paper,
        MBS, and swaps with major banks, ESPECIALLY investment banks).
        I got my wife to sell all her PIMCO today; I originally said to sell
        after the FNM/FRE bailout.
        Also read today's latest PIMCO news and how Bill Gross is feeling.
        Yes, a lot of institutional funds (including pension/retirement) have
        PIMCO.
        \_ There are a lot of different Pimco funds, what are you talking
           about? All of them?
           \_ the ones with lots of MBS and agency paper.  Total Return is one.
              \_ I see your point, though this stuff looks like it is
                 backed by the US government at this point. How is it
                 different than a T-Bill?

8/11    Why the heck did China want to have the Olimpics in Beijing anyway?
        Surely China has SOME nice areas...

8/10    "Some Opening Ceremony fireworks were fake"
        http://www.csua.org/u/m1v (sports.yahoo.com)
        "London's Telegraph newspaper reports that some of the fireworks which
        appeared over Beijing during the television broadcast of the Olympic
        Opening Ceremony were actually computer generated. But -- hold on --
        it's not necessarily as bad as you think."
        \_ I 100 percent support CGI fireworks on TV over real live
           fireworks

7/9     Why do foreign companies like Toyota start new manuafcturing plants
        here in the US?  Should they be going to China or Thailand or India
        where blue-collar labor costs are much lower and regulations are
        looser?
        \_ It is a way to get around protectionist US import quotas.
        \- YMWTFG(Voluntary Export Restraints)
        \_ It's good public relations. More recently, some manufacturing
           work is moving back to the US due to the higher costs of
           shipping product from overseas.
        \_ It's cheaper to build it here when you're selling it here.
         \_ Which is key.  The parts are built out of country.  Parts are
            easier to ship and easier to do JIT delivery over long time
            frames.  Labor savings are not as important as being local when
            it comes to the finished car.  (Also us workers, while costly
            are also pretty damn educated and OSHA laws actually have huge
            benefits when it comes to not losing educated workers or time.)
            \_ I didn't know these.  Thanks.  -- OP

5/10    will more hot desi women move to the states, now that
        all of India is about to run out of water?
        http://tinyurl.com/3q27x2
        \- No, they wll be moving to Australia, starting in August.
           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGzGIef4GqE&feature=related

3/20    http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=^IRX&t=6m&l=off&z=m&q=l&c=
        3-month T-bill yields plunging to 50+-year lows
        \_ America! Fuck yeah!
        \_ How does this translate to homeowners (apprec/deprec property)?
           \_ severe recession -> deprec property
              http://market-ticker.denninger.net

1/9     Gates to leave forever!
        http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22538447#22538447
        \_ Is Steve Ballmer an improvement?
           \_ Wasn't he the chair-chucker?
              \_ Watch "developers,developers,developers" -- he's not going
                 to make 60 without a heart attack.

12/13   Outsourcing Surrogate Motherhood:
        http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22441355
        \_ Old news.

11/8    For the person who claimed the "toys from China" debacle could not
        be laid at BushCo's feet:
        http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/630782,CST-EDT-edit01a.article
        Only one person for toy testing.  Think that might cause a bit of a
        backlog?  Just maybe?
        \_ The problem is that China is holding $1.4 Trillion in cash.  Don't
           piss them off, or they'll crash the entire US economy.
           \_ Yeah, that's the direct cause of the obliteration of our safety
              agencies... Uh huh...
              \_ You haven't heard the noise China has been making, saying
                 we're making the whole lead thing up?

9/4     Happy Labor Day! Thank you, Labor, for weekends, mandatory breaks,
        and a generally un-serf-like workplace.
        \_ There are a few books coming out about how horrible the
           New Deal was for America.  I love it.
           New Deal was for America.
           \_ There are also books out about how much the Jews control
              the world.
              \_ The revisionist New Deal books are by the The Wall Street
                 Journal editorial page crowd.  Did you read today's
                 Pat Buchanan column?  He managed to blame the Jews
                 for everything at the end.
                 \_ ZOG!
                 \_ I am embarassed to admit, this comment got me to track
                    down Pat Buchanan's latest column and read it. There
                    is no mention of Jews or Isreal anywhere. I am not
                    about to read every one of his missives. URL?
                    \_ i exagerate a bit but not much.  grep for
                       "israeli lobby".

8/15    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=asB8GsoJEzoY
        Yield on 3-month T-bill falls from 4.6% to 4.0%, biggest 1-day decline
        since 1989

4/29    U.S. Q1 2007 GDP only up ~1.3%?  It don't matter to investors in China!
        http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=000001.SS&t=5d&l=off&z=m&q=l&c=

4/23    NYTimes, reform the farm bill!
        http://urltea.com/fbx (nytimes.com)

4/23    NYTimes, reform the farm bill!
        http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/magazine/22wwlnlede.t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

4/12    "Bill Gates eyes flight to space: cosmonaut"
        http://www.csua.org/u/igl (Yahoo! News)
        Gates: I'll pay you ten times for the trip if you'll switch your flight
                computers to run Windows.
        Russian Space Agency: Well, did I mention that our trip is a round
                trip?

3/15    YEEEHAAAA!!!!
        'ATLANTA - A panel of Georgia lawmakers signed off Thursday on a plan
        to create a Confederate heritage month, even as legislative leaders
        reacted coolly to a push to apologize for the state's role in slavery.
        Sen. Jeff Mullis' bill would dub April as Confederate History and
        Heritage Month to honor the memory of the Confederacy and "all those
        millions of its citizens of various races and ethnic groups and
        religions who contributed in sundry and myriad ways to the cause of
        Southern Independence."'
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070315/ap_on_re_us/confederate_month
        \_ WTF?  Is that a joke?
           \_ Nope.  YEEEEHAAAAA!!!

11/7    Hey motd, I've gotten quite popular lately because I've been
        exchanging $2 bills with my friends. I'm known as the $2 bill
        ATM, people come to me to exchange money. I've even gotten a
        date this weekend!!! Go $2 bill!!!              -$2 bill guy
        \_ http://www.msnbc.msn.com
        \_ Gee, how many did you have?  I've got around 80 of them.
        \_ Funny.  I met another guy like you.  He always went into the bank
           in person and asked for all his cash in 2 dollar bills, and then
           used them all the time as a novelty.  Do you find that a lot of
           people in stores don't know they're actually legal currency?  He
           found that.
           \_ I find it hilarious that people in stores don't know that
              they are legal tender. -different $2 guy
        \_ Hi, please go back to playing WoW.  Ok tnx.
        \_ I've done that with the Sacagawea dollars.  It can be fun.
           \_ An SF cop once thought I was trying to pass slugs when I tried
              to get change in MUNI for a Susan B. Anthony dollar--after the
              MUNI booth monkey called over about it.  -John

11/7    I just received my 250GB segate HD that is made in China. I've
        had good experience with segate but they were made in
        Singapore. Has anyone been using Segate drives made in China?
        Any issues? It'll suck if my 250G drive would go bad..
        \_ It doesn't matter.  Your drive *will* go bad, it is just a matter
           of when.  Do backups, use raid or mirroring or both.

10/6    Bill Gates donated $48K to Democrats!
        http://www.newsmeat.com/billionaire_political_donations/Bill_Gates.php
        \_ l4m3.  now tell motd why you're l4m3.

10/31   Good ol' Bill Nye puts the Pluto thing into perspective.
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pu2KLUzHbQ&eurl=

10/9    http://www.sea-code.com
        Bringing Outsourcing Closer...
        \_ motd necromancy?  That's soo far from the past...
        \_ keywords: outsource outsourcing cruise cruiseship code monkey codemonkey

10/9    What's so hot about e-bill or other web-based payment systems for
        paying utility bills?  The old-fashioned method of automatic payment
        from checking accounts has existed for more than 20 years, and it
        doesn't even require any user action as some e-bill methods do.
        \_ Plus if you're a hermit and set up all your bills this way, you
           can die in your apartment or house and it can take years for
           people to discover your dead body which is cool.
        \_ I'd rather have user action (don't like automatic deductions),
           and I'd rather not have paper bills or checks.  -tom
           \_ I agree with tom. I don't like automatic deductions.
              \_ Specifically, say you cancel your service with a company
                 but for some reason they keep billing you.  With direct
                 withdrawal, they're still taking money out of your account
                 every month until you get it worked out; with the modern
                 systems, you can choose to cut them off any time you want.
                 Here's the setup I use: whenever my bill payer receives a
                 bill for me, they automatically *schedule* it to be paid
                 in a few weeks.  If I'm paying attention, I can log in and
                 edit or cancel the payment before it goes out; if I'm not
                 edit or cancel the payment before it goes out.  If I'm not
                 paying attention, my bills still get paid.

9/28    Okay, it looks like the Senate today voted to pass the detainee bill.
        65-34.  This occurring among reports that senators didn't quite know
        what many of the bill's provisions meant.  I guess I was wrong.
        \_ Awesome.  Now the Dred Scott case, the Chinese exclusion act,
           and the Smoot-Hawley tariff act have some new buddies!
        \_ "Stop throwing the Constitution in my face," Bush screamed back.
           "It's just a goddamned piece of paper!"
           \_ That's a cool quote.   When did he say that?  I'd like to use it.

9/12    Fold $20 bill to look like WTC on fire
        http://tinyurl.com/l6tlq (news.yahoo.com/photo)
        \_ Yeah, um we saw that 5 years ago.
        \_ One can fold a pre-1997 Hong Kong $100 bill to show the male
           genital.
           \_ urlP

9/12    http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060911/photos_wl_me_afp/05733a7fdedcf379fa4b8729915dffc3
        Fold $20 bill to look like WTC on fire
        \_ Yeah, um we saw that 5 years ago.
        \_ One can fold a pre-1997 Hong Kong $100 bill to show the male
           genital.
           \_ urlP

9/8     If free market encourages competition, which encourages Comcast,
        Adelphia, Time Warner, etc to compete with each other, how come
        my cable bill has been going up the roof for the past 10 years?
        \_ Along similar lines, how is it that I can have any long
           distance company I want, but only the Bells can install my
           phone line?
        \_ Have you noticed how many more channels you get now?
           \_ Yes but 1/3 of them are Spanish which I don't watch, and the
              rest are purely trash. The exception would be the History
              Channel and HGTV. I guess bundling things people don't want
              and charging a bundle is the business model of the 21st
              century. Bill Gates was right afterall!
           \_ Uh, no.  7 years ago I was paying $32/mo.  I think HGTV is
              just about the only new channel on my service in that itme,
              and the price has nearly doubled.  Fuck off.
        \_ in case you haven't noticed, cable companies DONT compete with
           each other, they all have local monopolies. The only "competition"
           they have is with the satellite operators.  The telco's are now also
           trying to get into this racket.
        \_ Who said that the competition in this particular industry should
           bring the prices down?
           \_ The invisible hand says you need a spanking.

7/25    I guess China is really pissed at North Korea's missile test.
        Again, I don't think China has full control of N.Korea, but it
        does have a bag of tricks dealing with N.Korea:
        http://tinyurl.com/r5fu8
        \_ No one said they had "full" control.
        \_ Did North Korea return the trains that it seized from China?
        \_ NK printing US money at will, nice. Hadn't heard that one.
           \_ I heard Iraq did the same.
                \_ At Abdul's nuke shack we sell an awful lot of goodies ...
                   but we don't take dinars.

4/6     Police in China (si-chuan) in action:
        /csua/tmp/kngharv police_chongqing.jpg

4/4     http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060404/od_nm/india_books_dc
        Donkeys are more loyal than wives, says textbook.  \_ I would say
        domestic housepets are even more loyal.
           \_ "You bitch!"  "Thanks for the compliment!" \_ "You give a
           beggar a meal, he only loves you while it's on his
               lips."

4/4     http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060404/od_nm/india_books_dc
        Donkeys are more loyal than wives, says textbook.
        \_ I would say domestic housepets are even more loyal.
           \_ "You bitch!"  "Thanks for the compliment!"
           \_ "You give a beggar a meal, he only loves you while it's on his
               lips."

3/31    Current immigration law concerning illegals:
        http://csua.org/u/fe4 (USCIS)

3/28    So the House passed an immigration bill which uses the stick approach.
        The Senate (subcommittee) passed a very different bill which is almost
        the opposite of the House bill.  Assuming the full Senate passes their
        version as-is, how do they go about resolving the differences?  I know
        the general idea and I can see how they can split the difference on
        spending bills and such but what has happened in the past on bills
        like this where spending and taxes aren't the primary issue?
        \_ Bill Frist will not allow the senate version on the schedule, and
           will try and force through the house version with minor alterations.
           Barring that, they may just say "Yeah, they're the same" and pass
           them on to the President to sign, ala the AEI link below...

3/28    "This nonsense of 'jobs Americans won't do' is an age-old lie that's
        been around as long as the republic. Prior to the illegal alien
        problem, the same excuse was applied to the perpetuation of slavery.
        Georgia Representative James Jackson rose in opposition to a Quaker
        petition to end slavery in 1790 by fuming 'that rice cannot be brought
        to market without these people [slaves].'  William Loughton Smith added
        that slavery was an economic precondition for prosperity of his
        constituents, as author Joseph Ellis noted in his book, Founding
        Brothers . 'Such is the state of agriculture,' Smith said, 'that no
        white man would perform the tasks.' "
        http://www.philvalentine.com/IllegalAlienMyth.htm
        \_ this is stupid.  everyone knows 'jobs Americans won't do' means
           'jobs Americans won't do at the current wages'.  There will be
           people willing to do almost anything if the price is high enough.
           \_ And yet that keeps getting dropped in conversation.  And people
              keep acting as if "Americans" won't do the jobs under any
              circumstance.
              \_ yea, but the question is "why pay a higher wage when
                 someone is willing to do it at a lower wage?".  It's
                 laws vs economics.  The biggest loser?  Probably black
                 males whose plight has been deteriorating even during
                 the prosperous 90s.  Unemployment isn't high for other
                 ethnic and gender groups.  If you didn't graduate from
                 high school, yes, your livelihood would likely be
                 affected by the many illegal aliens, but otherwise,
                 you likley won't be affected and may even benefit from a
                 cost standpoint.
                 \_ This post seems like a non sequitur to me. The point
                    is that the employment at the lower wages is illegal,
                    and talking about "jobs Americans won't do" implies
                    all sorts of things which is why people say that. I've
                    seen it raised on the motd, as in "how are you gonna
                    get fresh produce???!11/??"
                    \_ yea, and slavery was legal, so please explain
                       how the comparison with slavery makes sense.
                       \_ slavery was an abomination and is now outlawed
                          everywhere in the world but places you'd never set
                          foot in.  what does the legal status of slavery in
                          this country 150+ years ago in _some_ states have to
                          do with whether or not slavery is ok or the price of
                          berry picking or anything else today?
                          \_ exactly, thus the quote op posted is stupid.
        \_ So the point is 'Jobs American's won't do (for how little we want
            to pay )'.  However, if the employery were to offer to pay what
            it would take to get Americans to work them, would those jobs
            still exist?
            \_ If they need to exist. Some would and some would not. The
               net effect is more jobs for "Americans", although perhaps
               fewer jobs overall.
               \_ nah, it will further increase cost of doing business in
                  the US, and trigger more outsourcing, and moving of
                  factories and jobs overseas.
                  \_ You can't outsource most of these kinds of jobs or
                     that would've already been done. These people are
                     maids, day laborers, farm hands, and the like. Some
                     businesses will fold because of the increased cost of
                     doing business and some won't. Mostly, I think it
                     will be the same amount of $$$ spread out across
                     fewer employees in aggregate.
                     \_ I don't know.  The janitorial and cafeteria
                        people at my company are all hispanics.  So are
                        the people keeping the company's lawn looking good,
                        as are the movers, drivers, etc.  Cost of
                        doing business will increase as living costs
                        increase.  Nobody is talking about outsourcing
                        these jobs, but the rise in cost of doing
                        business.  As it is, we aren't having an
                        easy time competing with China and India.
                        \_ Well, someone above *did* write "trigger more
                           outsourcing" and "mov[e]... factories and jobs
                           overseas." I imagine the cafeteria staff at your
                           company is not comprised of illegal aliens.
                           Gardeners may be. I know that it costs a lot more to
                           have a gardener in places w/o a lot of illegals,
                           even in places where the cost of living is much
                           lower. So fewer people will have gardeners and the
                           gardeners that are hired will make more money, but
                           will probably be better gardeners. I know an
                           old-time tree trimmer and his company has been
                           driven to the brink of bankruptcy by competition
                           with illegal aliens who aren't arborists, but who
                           charge 1/3 the price for the work such as they
                           do it. The cost of doing business will increase,
                           but so will the average wage. More money will
                           stay in the USA, instead of being sent to family
                           abroad. Somehow Europe manages to stay competitive
                           despite higher wages and a higher standard of
                           living. Competing with China and India on price
                           alone is a recipe for disaster, anyway. Maybe
                           people wouldn't need to shop at Wal-Mart for
                           Chinese-made crap if they had more money in
                           their pockets.
                        \_ Yes, the costs will rise.  Or they won't.  And we'll
                           go on with life.
                           \_ life's pretty good as it is today.
                              \_ life was pretty good with slavery.
                                 \_ slaves did not come voluntarily.

3/7     Demographics in China.  http://www.slate.com/id/2137680
        \_ hehe.  so India and China might face the same sort of problems
           we have here - competing with immigrants for jobs.
           \_ Sorry, when did you last have to compete with an immigrant for
              a job?
              \_ I have applied a few times at KODAK/OFOTO in
                 EMERYVILLE.  as required by law, they advertise
                 now and then on Craigslist and make a half hearted
                 effort to interview people.  My internal sources
                 say they keep subcontracting all the work through
                 inefficient, but very cheap Indian programmers,
                 I think through Wipro, and they haven't hired an
                 actual American citizen in recent memory.  So:
                 yes, I feel like I am competing with huge amounts
                 of imaginary immigrants even though its just outsourcing.
                 \_ It's pretty common.  Anyway, I have it from people who
                    have worked there that it's a mess at Ofoto anyway.
              \_ I see your point, but don't be so callous.  I grew up in
                 the central valley where many Americans have been left
                 behind.  In some cases it's their fault, in other cases
                 it's because the educational system is pathetic and
                 because they grew up in really, really crappy dysfunctional
                 families.  And they compete for jobs with immigrants,
                 legal and illegal.
                 \_ I certainly don't mean to sound callous, but competing
                    for jobs with legal immigrants sounds like a natural
                    process and wholly in keeping with the American Dream.
                    However, if you're suggesting we need to pump more public
                    funding into education and enforcing fair labor practices,
                    I'm right there with you. Just don't blame it on the
                    immigrants.
                    \_ I'm sure immigrants have helped engineering job
                       salaries to shrink somewhat. I'm sure the dotcom bust
                       has also contributed to that more.
                    \_ I'm sure immigrants have helped cause some tech
                       salary deterioration, if just a little.  Depends
                    \_ I'm sure immigrants are responsible for some tech
                       wage deterioration, if just a little.  Depends
                       on how far up the corporate ladder you stand.
                       \_ AGrove and POmidyar probably skews the scale way up.
              \_ H1B? Outsourcing?
                 \_ Well, H1B, green card, or naturalized if we're talking
                    legal immigration; outsourcing wouldn't qualify as
                    outsourcing unless you lost your job to Little Kabul.

2/1     Bill Gates: Do No Evil
        http://csua.org/u/evf
        \_ He doesn't say that.  He says there's no point in the Chinese
           or other repressive governments to try to with hold information
           because the population will get it anyway.  This is also a back
           handed cover for being evil in the first place ("it doesn't matter
           if we're evil, it has no effect, buy my product!") and is very
           similar to the google excuse for being evil ("evil is good!")
           \_ More, "it's our corporate responsiblity to be evil." Why doesn't
              anybody think of the poor stockholders?

1/20    http://finance.yahoo.com/columnist/article/futureinvest/2237
        India and China to enjoy prosperity for the next few decades.
        \_ Possibly.  Or possibly not.  Especially in China's case.  They have
           some serious issues with food supply/arable land.  *SEVERE* water
           pollution and a few zillion less than entirely happy peasants in a
           constant state of low level revolt.  India is a better bet now that
           they appear to have resolved their issues with Pakistan such that
           nuclear war isn't very likely and they're working on modernising
           their internal structure, legal system and education system.  They
           are still a third world country by any measure but are working on
           it.
           \_ Just OOC, not disagreeing with you, what would pessimists have
              said in a similar vein about the prospects for the US in, say,
              1940?  (and _why_ would they have ended up being wrong)
              \- IMHO, the india-pak threat was never both of them going
                 to nuclear war, it was pakistan having a meltdown. and that
                 is still possible and that is a problem for more than india.
              \_ The US became a power because of its natural resources.
                 While China and India also have lots of natural
                 resources, their populations are much larger.

12/7    We are so fucked
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051207/ap_on_hi_te/india_microsoft_20
        \_ Uhm, huh?  Why?  I think you're being a tad "chicken little"-ish.
        \_ get out while you can, kid
        \_ British Raj is being replaced by the American Raj.

10/23   I was reading a Chinese newspaper, and according to an article in
        it, they now have 8000 people in rural villages in China working
        to make virtual gold for World of Warcraft.  The job for these
        villagers in China is to play the game and do simple repetitive
        tasks to earn gold.  The virtual gold is then sold to US players.
        The money they make doing this is better than what they get from
        farming.  The article also says that these people are causing
        severe inflation in the WofW world, since what they do is like
        printing money.  Because of the inflation, they are making less
        than before but it is still very profitable.  It also quoted an
        estimate that says China will make 100 million US dollars from this.
        One guy doing this business says he makes US$10000 per month.
        \_ Could you please post the url, or was this a physical paper?
           \_ this is from the "weekly magazine" that comes with today's
              (Sunday) copy of World Daily, a US newspaper owned by one
              of 2 major newspapers of Taiwan.
              (Sunday) copy of World Daily (US subsidiary of one of
              2 major newspapers of Taiwan) which I get for free when
              I buy $20 worth of groceries.
              2 major newspapers of Taiwan).
        \_ The Economist had some mention of this, but nothing on this scale.
        \_ OMG WTF when did the world turn into a Neil Stephenson novel?!?!1!!
           D0000D!!!!11!!
        \_ Either PC Gamer or Computer Gaming World had an article about this
           it's big business in asia, boiler rooms full of people running
           scripts over and over again and selling the stuff.  My question
           always is: who are all these clowns spending real $$$ for this
           stuff?
           \_ You can spend 6 hours of time on tedious gold gathering
           \_ You can spend 12 hours of time on tedious gold gathering
              activities, or you can spend 2 bucks for the gold, and
              head on off to exciting adventures with your buddies.
        \_ what I dont understand is most of the stuff truly worth getting
           in world of warcraft you can't buy from other players and have
           to go and get yourself.  There's not a lot of worthwhile stuff
           that is buyable with gold alone.  So who are these farmers'
           customers and what the heck are they buying? -Avid WoW player
           \_ I only played for a month and got bored and cancelled.  If the
              good stuff can't be bought with gold, then why is the person
              above talking about spending 6 hours gathering it?  What use
              does it have?  I never got above level 20 so I have no idea
              about the high level game but I never found myself starving for
              cash.  I used the junk that dropped, sometimes nabbed something
              cheap at the auction house, bought some trivial supplies a few
              times, but never felt that "in only I had another 100,000 gold
              I'd be set, I should farm it for 6 hours or spend real money
              buying it".  I just played the game, such as it was.
              \_ I don't play, but don't you have to buy your "mount" with
                 gold? And maybe skills and stuff?
                 \_ the 'mount' and 'epic mount' are really the only major
                    thing you can get with gold alone.  The basic mount is
                    100g, and usually you have enough gold for that accumulated
                    by the time you are high enough level to use it.  The 'epic'
                    mount, at 1000g, certainly would take extensive farming. but
                    it is a one-time purchase, and not that great anyway.
                    I still dont see a $100M market out of gold just for mounts.
                    And skills aren't that significant an expense either, and
                    also, one-time purchase per character.
        \_ I read a short story where rival "farming" gangs hired players
           to knock off the others' farmers plus the added twist where some
           person was trying to unionize them. Cute bit of fluff.
           \_ I ran across an article that describes how these "sweatshop"
              workers manage to smuggle some of the gold from their bosses
              to make profit on the side.

10/18   RIP Bill King.
        \_ I may dislike the A's, but King was a class act.

10/13   Gates says Computer Science: For Great Justice:
        http://tinyurl.com/9obe4

9/23    US homosexuals 'worth $1 trillion'  -- That is just... amazing:
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4276302.stm
        \_ I think we've already long ago established that corporate
           monopolies such as the ones created by Bill Gates exists.
           The real question is, is that a good thing or a bad thing
           for the American people.
           \_ yup, I missed the day of AT&T owes everything and that
              there is only one oil company in entire nation.

9/15    Does anyone have the video of the Bill Gates vs Napoleon Dynamite
        spoof? http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/fun.games/09/14/gates.video.reut/index.html
        \_ http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2679657?htv=12&htv=12
           \_ And that is why Soda Search is better than Google!

9/2     Evil Corporation Wal-Mart response to New Orleans looters:
        http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=170102839
        \_ $15m in goods at retail prices or Wal-Mart prices?
        \_ When is Bill Gates going do donate some Office 97 to the victims?
           \_ I wish you'd post your names so I could hate you both properly.
              Fucktards.
           \_ What do you think the "sandbags" are filled with?

8/26    What are the pros and cons of Arnold's plan to increase the time
        it takes for public school teachers to gain a tenure?
        \_ One of the problems (and always a sure sign that something else
           is going on) is the wording here.  The "tenure" that they're
           talking about isn't tenure.  For the first two years of a new
           teacher's career, it's basically at-will employment.  After those
           two years, they can be fired but must be given a review process
           to defend their position.  In a job where 40% of people leave in
           the first 5 years because we DON'T PAY ENOUGH TO KEEP THEM, and
           where there are extreme shortages pretty much across the board,
           this measure is a petty slap in the face so the gropenator can
           say he's doing something about the schools.
           \_ So you agree with the idea of ending any sort of tenure and
              pension system for teachers and treating them like any other
              degreed professionals? Meaning: at-will for their entire career,
              their retirement is whatever they can get from social security,
              and personal savings in their 401k, but pay them higher wages
              along the way?
              \_ Yeah, I'd love to see it.  But the "higher" wages would need
                 to be on par with, say, tech workers.  A 10 year veteran
                 should be pulling down 6 figures.  I doubt we'll come anywhere
                 near this sort of a system in the next 50 years, though. Until
                 then, because the wages are so low, I'm all for teachers
                 having strong unions yielding good job protection.
                 \_ Are you effing kidding? 6 figures?! Lots of university
                    professors aren't pulling that down!!!
        \_ Doesn't matter.  They shouldn't get tenure anyway.
           \_ Right, take away the one thing that actually attracts people
              to teaching jobs!  That'll learn 'em!
              \_ Your solution to bad schools is to guarantee life employment
                 for anyone hired in after a short period of time?  How about
                 paying them more and making it easy to get fired, just like
                 the rest of us.  Professors get tenure so they can say/write
                 wacky things that might actually be true and not get fired
                 for it.  People who aren't willing to take a 10th grade
                 proficiency exam should not be teaching.  They sure as heck
                 shouldn't get locked in for life.  Worse than tenure is the
                 teacher's unions but that's another story.  Why should
                 teachers get tenure and no one else?  I don't have tenure.
                 You don't if you're not a teacher.  There are lots of crummy
                 jobs that need doing that don't provide tenure (all of them).
                 They don't provide pensions either.
                 \_ Your argument sounds suspiciously like "I didn't mine, so
                    why should anyone else get theirs?" The solution to your
                    problem, brother, is to unionize your profession, not
                    complain because others have unionized theirs. And before
                    you get into the evils of unions, remember that if you're
                    in on the ground floor, you can avoid the mistakes of
                    others.
                 \_ Your example fails on the first step. No one is offering
                    teachers bundles of money. In addition, at-will employment
                    would be disasterous. Changes in administration could
                    result in mass job dissatisfation. Say CA does a Kansas and
                    implements an Intelligent Design requirement or something
                    more subtle such as using a certain teaching method which
                    some disagree with. Most teachers I know are working more
                    than 8 hours a day on a job that requires more than a
                    little emotional attachment to their students and their
                    futures. If you make teaching just another job to them
                    where they have to worry about the bottom line instead of
                    a life choice, you're going to lose a lot of good teachers
                    to other jobs where they aren't going to be hassled.
              \_ Since when did public school teachers officially get tenure?
                 \_ It has occurred to me that part of why pols can use public
                    schools and public teachers as punching bags is because
                    people know very little about public schools and public
                    teachers. To answer your question: Since before you were
                    born, at least, in most districts. I'm told that polling
                    shows the odd result that people generally feel their own
                    kids' school is in good shape and should simply receive
                    more funding while feeling public schools, at large, are
                    in awful shape and require massive reform. -- ulysses
                    \_ That result is interesting to me because I've lived
                       in 3 seperate CA school systems, Bakersfield, Santa
                       Maria, and Chico. Chico was ok, Bakersfield wasn't
                       good, and Santa Maria was mind-bogglingly awful.
                       -jrleek
        \_ The biggest problem is not the tenure portion of the initiative but
           rather the part where ANY teacher (even those "tenured") can be
           dismissed for having a unsatisfactory review. This means all
           teachers fall into an at-will employment situation. A neat trick
           to avoid paying pension and retirement benefits. Another is to
           drop the at-will teacher after four years to prevent having pay
           more for the five-year vet vs the new kid. This will be especially
           useful for those school systmes who are experiencing budgetary
           problems. A nice quick fix.

8/17    http://yahoo.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_34/b3948472.htm
        Cover Story on how India and China will outclass US.
        Sigh .... at least my India fund is doing well ... 85% gain since
        nov 03.  I think I will throw more money at India.  I like it more
        than China.
        \_ Did you actually read the article?  It is nothing like your
           description.
           \_ http://csua.org/u/d2n
              India and China join force to grab world oil resources.
              \_ login?
              \_ Personally, I can't wait for the end of American empire.
                 Things will be so much better when China is in charge!
                 \_ Why don't you go there?
                    \_ Racist.
        \_ Which India fund? I hold IFN, since I like ETFs.
           \_ that's the one I have too, but I thought IFN is a closed
           \_ yea, that's the one I have, but I thought IFN is a closed
                end fund and not an ETF.  there's also IIF and ETGIX.

8/15    India's IT companies emulating Toyota to combine low cost and
        talent with discipline, quality and continuous improvements.
        Man, you guys are deadmeat.
        http://yahoo.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_34/b3948443.htm
        \_ "Think of any job that can be done remotely, by computer or
           telephone, and you're looking at a job that can be done by an
           Indian" and therein lies the crux of the problem.  How long do you
           think these guys are going to want to do the backoffice out-of-sight
           shit work?  They'll start outsourcing the outsourcing to China.
           And at some point you're going to get enough local demand there for
           consulting know-how to absorb all their cheap excess capacity.  At
           the same time, you'll see companies in other parts of the world go
           for competitive advantage through knowledge of their local markets.
           I'm not weeping, nor am I worried.  -John
           \_ that's just your wishful thinking.  the answer to the question
              "How long ...." is there are 1.4 billion indians, pakistanis
              and bengali.
              \_ Yes, and another 1.x billion Chinese, and another uncounted
                 hundreds of millions of Indonesians, Malaysians, Thais and
                 other smart, educated and ambitious folks.  So?  It's a
                 peculiar sort of arrogance to assume that these people will
                 all be happily living in mud hovels while they evolve
                 economically.  Power to them.  Likewise, the more advanced
                 local economies become, the more demand you'll see there for
                 goods and services of the sort that American and European
                 firms were happily providing to each other for decades.  Go
                 join a union or something, the rest of us will be working to
                 adapt and compete with these guys on increasingly equal terms.
                 It's called "progress".  -John
                 \_ This reminds me of Hong Kong.  While virtually all textile
                    and electronic industries, once the dominant driving forces
                    of its economy, have relocated to the nearby SE China,
                    people in Hong still managed to survive somehow.  What do
                    people do to make a living these days?
                    people in Hong Kong still managed to survive somehow.  How
                    do people make a living these days?
                    \_ err ... it's much easier for a hong konger to go
                       start a business or go work in shen zhen, etc., then for
                       your american worker to go work in bangalore.  the
                       relationship between hong kong and its south china
                       hinterland is very different from that between US and
                       India / China.  another example is taiwan where the
                       starting salary for university graduates has been
                       dropping, and unemployment rates rising, while the
                       rich business men of taiwan are doing well in china.
                    \_ When it gets down to it -- talking trade balances here --
                       once we've brain-drained all our technology into other
                       countries, once things have evened out, they're making
                       cars in Bolivia and microwave ovens in Tadzhikistan and
                       selling them here -- once our edge in natural resources
                       has been made irrelevant by giant Hong Kong ships and
                       dirigibles that can ship North Dakota all the way to New
                       Zealand for a nickel -- once the Invisible Hand has taken
                       all those historical inequities and smeared them out into
                       a broad global layer of what a Pakistani brickmaker would
                       consider to be prosperity -- y'know what? There's only
                       four things we do better than anyone else:
                                music
                                movies
                                microcode (software)
                                high-speed pizza delivery
                       And I guess all the Hong Kongers are into banking or
                       similar now.  Remember that all the Guangzhouers or what-
                       ever they're called also want the shiny cars.  -John
                       \_ John, I never would have guessed you were a
                          Stephenson fanboy.
                \_ Language barriers will still be an isssue with many of
                \_ language barriors will still be an isssue with many of
                   the outsourcing efforts.
                \_ really?  check out the trade statistics with US among
                   the more advanced countries of asia.  "progress"?  sure.
                   american capital, know-how and expertise flowing freely
                   to china and india most certainly will help them progress,
                   and help the rich capital owners in the US prosper.
                   big loser?  american workers, who are getting screwed in
                   so many different ways.
                   \_ So what do you suggest?
                   \_ Apparently not.  "barriers".
                      \_ I suggest a career change.
                         \_ I work for the government.  My work is not
                            outsourceable.
                            \_ thanks for sharing.
                               on a national basis, globalization meant
                               that the corporate response to the
                               opening of china and india is simply to
                               move operations there.  the burden thus
                               falls entirely on US workers to adapt.
                               there is little incentive for US corporations
                               to change in terms of investing in
                               automation, R&D, worker training and
                               education, etc.  In fact there may even
                               be less of an inventive than before since
                               they can just obtain their labor source
                               from china and india, abundantly.  thus
                               US workers would receive little help
                               from US corporations.  this would be
                               different if capital does not flow as
                               freely and US corporations and workers
                               must compete as a unit.  Is this a
                               case where government provided
                               incentives are called for?  in the form
                               of incentives for corporations to invest
                               in the US on R&D, workers training,
                               equipment, etc., and perhaps also more
                               direct government help with education and
                               training of US workers?  these would
                               help mitigate the transition, without
                               stifling free market and competition, and
                               are done by countries in asia and elsewhere.
                               \_ Part of the problem is not just that
                                  corporations are moving abroad without any
                                  penalty (which they should be free to do) but
                                  that they're being stupidly subsidized while
                                  doing so.  A good start would be to encourage
                                  SMEs by reducing regulatory and tax burden
                                  on small companies, so people don't feel
                                  beholden to large outfits for jobs.  -John

8/1     Another nice economist article on china, which among other things,
        provides some investment insights:
        http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=4221685
        "the entry into the world economy of China, India and the former
        Soviet Union has, in effect, doubled the global labour force ...
        The new entrants to the global economy brought with them little
        capital of economic value. So, with twice as many workers and little
        change in the size of the global capital stock, the ratio of global
        capital to labour has fallen by almost half in a matter of years:
        probably the biggest such shift in history. And, since this ratio
        determines the relative returns to labour and capital, it goes a long
        way to explain recent trends in wages and profits."
        \_ China has been making huge investments in capital. The former
           Soviet Union had a lot of capital. I don't think a shortage of
           capital is the problem. I think it has more to do with the ratio
           of consumers to producers. That is, those countries produce more
           than they consume. I'm speaking of course about the types of globally
           desirable products that bring in profits, like iPods, and not
           commodities like rice.
           \_ nah, china, russia and india doesn't have much capital.  that's
              why they all try to grab the fdi from the west, and japan,
              korea, taiwan.  china/india pop >> usa, but china/india cap <<
              usa.
              \_ It's not about population or about comparisons to the USA.
                 China has a large (and getting larger) manufacturing
                 capacity, perhaps even too much. If China had the
                 manufacturing capability of the US it would make things
                 worse, not better. I believe the problem to be (as I stated)
                 that China (and India for that matter) produces much more
                 than it consumes. If the domestic populations of those
                 nations consumed at a higher rate than they do now there
                 would be less product to export and more desire to import
                 high quality products. It's not a numbers game in terms of
                 ratio of workers to capital, especially since most of the
                 populations of these countries can't seriously be counted
                 as 'labor' by Western standards.
                 \_ why does it have a "larger [and growing] manufacturing
                    capacity"?  because capital rich west and developed
                    asia keeps pumping in capital to exploit the abundant
                    labor.
                    \_ I think maybe we are working with two different ideas
                       of capital. I am thinking capital in terms of
                       equipment, not in terms of dollars. The two are
                       related, in that dollars can procure capital, but
                       not identical. The West is investing in China, agreed.
                       However, I am not sure it is relevant where the dollars
                       are coming from. I would also replace 'abundant' with
                       'cheap'. There is no labor shortage even in the US. Why
                       is the labor so cheap? Because they are not consumers
                       in the way US labor is.
                       \_ yes, I am referring to dollars when I say capital.
                          there may or may not be a labor shortage in the US,
                          but wages are not growing even though companies
                          are doing well, which is the point of the article.
                          wages are not growing in the US because 3 book
                          keeping kindly grandmas who don't like to touch
                          computer can be replaced by one indian college
                          grad paid at 1/5 their salary.  big winner:
                          US capital holders, countries with lots of natural
                          resources; small winner: labor in
                          developing countries; big loser: labor in developed
                          countries.
                          \_ But *why* is the Indian grad willing to do a
                             grandma's job for 1/5 the salary? I would argue
                             it is only partly a supply/demand issue and has
                             more to do with standard of living. It's not
                             that capital is static and labor has increased.
                             The labor has always been there, right? For how
                             long will that Indian grad accept a 3rd World
                             lifestyle?
                             \_ Or for some kinds of labor it has to do
                                with being in countries where you can
                                get away with killing people who try to
                                organize unions.
        \_  Thanks for the link. I'll need to read it again and think a
            bit more about it, but it's definately an interesting article.

6/23    For sodans working in industry: How much outsourcing of IT (not
        software development) do you actually see going to India/China?  How
        effective is it to outsource IT, esp. non-web application IT needs?
        \_ A lot of "business" side stuff (such as making good presentations
           out of drafts) goes there.  Much of the sevice type stuff is
           notorious for being of super-low quality, 1 million new IT grads
           per year or not.  -John
           per year or not.  As for IBM, they just announced something like
           14k jobs there, so YMMV.  -John

5/13    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,155745,00.html
        I don't like Microsoft but at least they're backing Gay Rights.
        Go Microsoft, go diversity, go tolerance, and go gay pride!
        \_ Go CEO Bill Gays!
        \_ Bill Gays!  Bill Gays!  Bill Gays! ......

5/3     http, dig dis://<DEAD>www.msnbc.msn<DEAD>  'S coo', http://bro.com/id/7693580/site/newsweek/consenso
        "Beijin'": China out-maneuverin' político ylos E.E.U.U.
        diplomatically ineptos.japoneses del
        \_ los "no se han compo'tado puh'fectamente, sino que se han
           several para su agresión del tiempo de guerra.  Sheeeiit."el
           Also, mi lectura del artículo es que, político, China tiene
           been to'pe.  What it is, Mama!
           Sayin' son mejo'es que Dubya no está diciendo mucho.

4/29    "Two wealthiest men help guide Berkshire-- Bill Gates to join
         Buffett to take over the world"
        http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7670056

4/7     Yay outsourcing!  Indian call center employees use customer banking
        information to steal $350,000.
        http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1070986,curpg-1.cms
        \_ I'm sure that would never happen in the U.S.  -tom
           \_ Yeah, but the money would be easier to recover.
              \_ In the Bay Area there was recently a couple of people who
                 worked for BofA who embezzled millions over the years.
                 They're going to jail, but $5 million is still unaccounted
                 for, and very little of the money was recovered.
  http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/03/15/BAG73BPFIJ1.DTL
                 http://tinyurl.com/69dq9 (sfgate.com)
                   -tom
                 \_ Any theft that goes 5 years undetected will be hard to
                    recover.  If they were busted after a month like the
                    Indians I bet most of the money would be found.
                    \_ Maybe if we'd outsourced to India they would have been
                       caught faster.  -tom
                        \_ are you actually pro-outsourcing or just poking
                           holes in her arguments?
                           \_ I am neutral on outsourcing; I think blaming
                              embezzlement on outsourcing is ridiculous.  -tom
                              \_ Not necessarily. Trusting sensitive data to
                                 a 3rd world country is a problematic concept
                                 \- apparetly it is also problematic to
                                    trust ucb.
                                 in itself. The above data point does not prove
                                 it either way, nor does your counterpoint,
                                 but your assertion is plainly just dumb.
                                 \_ There was a previous case where a local
                                    hospital outsourced their medical
                                    transcription to some company, who
                                    outsourced it to another company, who
                                    outsourced it to India, and then stopped
                                    paying their employees, who threatened the
                                    hospital with publicizing medical records
                                    unless she got paid.  While that could
                                    still happen in the US, there's *way* less
                                    recourse when the person is in another
                                    country with a different set of laws.
                                    \- two words: "union carbide"
                                       \_ While that's a local downside of
                                          outsourcing, they got to run the
                                          plant cheaply and with lax safety
                                          procedures, and then ended up paying
                                          way less in damages than if they
                                          had killed Americans.
                                          \- well ok more than two words:
                                             how do you think some indians
                                             feel about foreigners being
                                             outside the law. anybody have
                                             relatives in canada? what do
                                             they think about congressmen
                                             saying "we cant trust crazy
                                             unsafe canadian pharmaceuticals".
                                             \_ *cough*BEXTRA*cough*

4/1     Man killed over virtual sword:
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4397159.stm
        \_ I thought you wrote "Man killed *with* virtual sword".
           Now that would be cool.
        \_ But he sold it for non-virtual cash, and screwed over the guy who
           lent it to him. What an asshole.

3/30    Do I have to give a 1099 form to a contractor who works on my house?
        If not, what's the difference between him and a guy who works on my
        computer?
        \_ you don't give the guy who works on your computer a 1099 either
        \_ I am pretty sure you are supposed to.
           \_ Why?  You're not their employer.  I thought 1099's were for
              employers reporting wages for an independent contractor.
              I would think a housing contractor would be self-employed,
              or an employee of a firm (who would handle 1099 reporting)
           \_ Why?  You're not their employer (or are you?).  I thought
              1099's were for employers reporting wages for an independent
              contractor.  I would think a housing contractor would be
              self-employed, or an employee of a firm (who would handle 1099
              reporting).  I would think the distinction is that you, the owner
              of the house, are not a business.
              However:
              http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99921,00.html
              \_ If he is self-employed and you give him money, who is
                 supposed to report it? Yeah, it says right there that
                 you are supposed to file a 1099-MISC for payments of
                 over $600.
                 \_ What if he is not self-employed, but works as a sole
                    proprietorship or has incorporated?
        \_ I think you've got the definition of building "contractor"
           confused with the HR definition of 1099 "contractor."  The guy who
           works on your house is just someone with the word "contractor" as
           a job descr/title. For the "guy who works on your computer" he's
           a "contractor" as an employment category.  Both are self employed,
           yes -- but the building contractor probably has his own business
           and is (hopefully) licensed and bonded.  You would probably not
           issue him a W9.  You would probably just pay his company.
           \_ What is a W9?

3/22    Interesting. China can put a man in orbit but needs to buy night
        vision goggles from EU?
        \_ Who said they *NEED* to?  Maybe the EU sells better ones and China
           hasn't gotten around to ripping off their technology yet.
        \_ The US put a man in orbit 50 years ago. When were night vision
           goggles invented?
        \_ China wants to buy offensive weaponry from the EU, e.g., the
           Tiger attack helo, being built by a joint French-German-Spanish
           venture.  80% of the airframe will be constructed of lightweight
           composite materials.  First deliveries are this year with 80 for
           France and 80 for Germany.
        \_ We can put a man on the moon, and we need to buy computers from
           China.
        \_ We invented the Internet, and we download Japanese pr0n.
        \_ Regardless of whether China really needs the night vision goggles
           and other European-made weapons (they have been buying pretty much
           anything they want from Russia throughout the last 10 years), the
           lift of the European weapons sales ban would certainly be a very
           significant political victory for PRC.

2/16    Do TVs and VCRs in China use NTSC format?  If I record a tape with my
        VCR here, can someone in China watch it?  Thanks.
        \_ A lot of VCRs there are dual format. Most likely they will be able
           to watch it.
        \_ nobody here has VCRs.  Only DVD and VCD players.
           \_ I have 2, shut the fuck up. -!op
           \_ I have betamax!

12/30   So I missed my CC bill last month by maybe 2 days and now
        they're charging me $35 for late fee and $20 finance charge.
        It's an honest mistake, is there anything one can do about
        it, like explaining something happened at the mail box,
        mail delay, etc?
        \_ What company is this and what card?
        \_ Call 'em and ask-- they'll usually let you slide on a couple
           small misses each year.  Be nice, but if they won't budge then
           cancel the card on that same phone call.
           \_ Agreed.  As long as that you don't do this too often.  On a
              side note, if you tend to pay all the balance off every
              month, consider using some sort of automatic bill pay (either
              from the CC company itself or your bank).  Saves on stamps
              and not have to worry about mail lost in transit.
              \- they will cancel the late fee but not the finance charge.
                 \_ Your CC sucks.  I've done this twice now once with Bank One
                    (who suck in most other ways imaginable) for VISA and once
                    w/ Discover.  Neither one batted an eye: refunded late
                    and finance.
        \_ If it is with a bank and you obviously had enough money in
           your checking acct to pay the bill, you can probably convince
           them to waive the charges if you go to your "home" branch and
           talk to them in person.

12/15   some terraserver data in color now in urban areas
        http://csua.org/u/ad4 - danh
        \_ Jesus, I can see my sister's car.
           \_ Peter, I can see your house from here.
                \_ i can see his mom
        \_ this is still cooler
           http://keyhole.com
           \_ this IS cooler, but it ain't free like TerraServer
        \_ I can see my wife in the pool and ...... hey, who's that man!?
        \_ This is awesome.
        \_ alright this is awesome. Let's collect some interesting data
           points, like Sather Tower, Statue of Liberty, Bill Gates' house,
           etc etc. Can someone start the list? Thanks.
           \_ http://csua.org/u/adi is slightly out of date - danh
           \_ http://tinyurl.com/4nuzj   Oracle, my former employer
                Anyone know the address of B Gates and Larry Ellison?
                I'd like to know where the rich Walmart people are as well.
                \_ Ellison has a home in Pac Heights on the same block
                   as Sen Feinstein. I am pretty sure it is that last
                   block of Broadway just before the Presidio. Not
                   sure exactly which house though.
           \_ http://tinyurl.com/5dy83    Soda Hall
           \_ http://csua.org/u/ads http://csua.org/u/adr - danh
           \_ http://tinyurl.com/3jyta Hearst Castle

12/14   Has any Sodans dated anyone from aboard? Like China or India?  I
        am sure there are success and failure stories. Anyone care to
        comment?

11/30   I am looking for some handymen to do termite, gutter, basic carpentry
        works, etc. around South Miltipas / North SJ.  Anyone has any
        suggestions for some reliable handymen or sites recommending such?
        \_ I've used a guy named Virgilio Baclig in San Jose for a one-day job
           to fix up a hole on a dry wall, replace broken lawn water pipe,
           seal the bath tub edges, and other little things.  Very reasonable
           labor price.
           \_ how much would should i expect to pay a handyman to fix a dry
              wall hole? (it's about the size of a tennis ball). do they
              generally charge by the hour or by the job? how much did you
              pay your guy? -!op
              \_ I don't remember how much he charged for just fixing the
                 volleyball-size hole on my wall.  For all the items together
                 he gave me a quote of 8 hours of labor at a rate which I
                 forgot.  When he finished, I paid him $255 for labor plus
                 material.  I think it's a good price because another handyman
                 once charged me $90 for merely replacing a bath tub faucet.
           \_ Would you please send me contact info for Mr. Baclig? - tse, !op
        \_ Si is muy facil, puedes hablar con la gente cerca de Home Depot.
        \_ Si es muy facil, puedes hablar con la gente cerca de Home Depot.
           \_ Sí, es muy fácil....
              \_ No quiero la ASCII-alta
                 \_ Bien, pero debes usar "es" en vez de "is" por lo menos.
                    \_ Ah, no vi ese error, lo corregi.

11/18   Bill Gates receives only 4 million spams a day:
        http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/11/18/gates.spam.ap/index.html
        \_ What's his email address?
           \_ i've read it's billg@microsoft.com. try it.
              \_ i highly doubt that's it. I just emailed that address w/ a
                 SUPER low m o r t @ g e offer and he didnt even reply, so...
                 \_ Offer him discount Windows XP for only $20.

11/9    looking for stable employment, will shovel hay/ horse manure..
        \_ That all depends...Are you out standing in your field?
           \_I'm out standing in a field, need sheltered employment.
        \_ there's a ton of contracting jobs out there.  i'm beating them off
           with a stick.

9/29    A while ago someone posted this tech support company (URL) in
        India that only charges like $8 a day. Can someone please post
        that again? ok thx
        \_ Get what you pay for.
          \_ tell that to the management. It's like the Atkins diet. Everyone
             knows that it's good for something and bad for another, but
             no one's listening because IT WORKS. And stop deleting this
             because you're just wasting time.
                \_ It doesn't "just work".  You get people who won't wipe
                   their ass without a work order in triplicate.  All the
                   outsourcing I've seen (a lot among my clients) has been
                   good for defined work blocks, but useless and shit for
                   anything requiring innovative thinking, sorry.  Management
                   sees this as well too, if they're not cretins (not all of
                   them are, surprise surprise.)  -John
        \_ http://www.supportempire.com remote tech support for only
           $2.30 per hour. That's 10X cheaper than US workers.
           \_ cheaper per-hour maybe.  But are they as good?  Because if you
             waste 10x as long fixing a problem with them, not only are you
             now just breaking even, you also lsoe big time on your own
             staffing costs in time dealing with them.
             \_ No.  Missing the point.  If they can't help a customer they
                are pissing off the customer who will then never buy your
                product, tell their 10 friends to never buy your product and
                some of them will put up a website such as
                <DEAD>www.your-company-name-sucks.com<DEAD> which will convice hundreds of
                others not to buy your product, but at least you saved a few
                bucks in support.  And since product sales will drop like a
                rock, support costs will go down, too.  Nice how that works.
                \_ Yes, it's stupid.  Companies doing silly things to
                   satisfy bean counters is hardly new.  Look at IBM.  They
                   do this ALL THE TIME.  It just happens that they're big
                   enough that a different sector's profits can make up for
                   incrediably stupid moves in this sector.  Most companies
                   just die.
                   \_ It's not to satisfy bean counters.  Most managers who
                      do this kind of thing are not around for long enough to
                      suffer the consequences.  "Save" money in the short
                      term, get a nice big bonus, and get headhunted to
                      another company.  -John
            \_ Few people here wants to do tech support work.  It's a good
               idea to outsource it.  Tech support here are sometimes
               horrendous, other times exemplary.  It's not like it's all
               good here.
               \_ A *lot* of Americans want to do tech support but they can't
                  live on $2.30/hour.  Good or bad, at least they speak
                  English.
                  \_ Sure they can. Put them up in barracks and feed them
                     prison food. Show them free movies at night. Pretty
                     soon that is what a "job" will look like in America.

9/21    What's an inexpensive way to add usb 2.0 to a computer?
        \_ USB 2.0 PCI card.  What you're deciding is which brand and how
           many ports and whether you want FireWire with the card or not.
           Browse through http://newegg.com or CompUSA / Best Buy.
           \_ Agreed, although unless you have a good reason, son't spend more
              than $15-20.
              \_ I used to think the same thing, but then my $15 USB 2.0
                 card broke one of its 4 sockets.
                 \_ My $15 USB card is just fine, and since both $15 and $40
                    cards are made in China by probably the same company, I'd
                    expect the $40 one to break too.
                    \_ You're right about them all being made in China, but
                       it's reasonable to assume they differ in quality, and
                       you can pick good ones.  I recommend op check http://newegg.com
                       and look for highly rated USB 2.0 PCI cards.  I see
                       one there now for $13.50, but it's out of stock.
        \_ If you're upgrading a system, don't overlook firewire if your
           device supports it.  It's specced slower but generally performs
           better in real life.
           \_ I am looking for possibily a usb 2.0 and firewire combo card.
              any specific recommendations? I guess I can also swap out my
              dell motherboard with an ASUS one that has USB 2.0 and firewire
              for around $100, but it seems troublesome... -op
              \_ I'd just get the $22 one and if it sucks get another brand:
                 http://csua.org/u/957 (newegg.com)

8/9     http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2004-08-09-mic-onboard_x.htm
        \_ couldn't happen to a more ridiculous band.  -tom
        http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/bizarre/2707648
        What is it, stupid texans day?
        \_ my older brother's notebook was stolen out of his rental car
           trunk last week in San Antonio while he was having lunch.  no
           broken windows, it just had an iffy trunk latch, and there was
           a high school nearby.  he hadn't backed up in a year.  oops!!
           (stupid californian day)

8/9     On IT outsourcing failures.
        http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/09/customer_always_wrong
        \_ What I don't understand about this is the accusatory undertone
           towards the outsources.  It's commonly known that Accidenture, EDS
           and their ilk have screwed up projects big-time (just look up
           "national police computer" for a good example.)  However, they're
           just trying to make money.  What I object to is that people rarely
           take a long, hard look at who makes the decisions to hire these
           people.  "Nobody ever got fired for hiring HP/IBM/whoever"" is a
           bit too deeply ingrained in a lot of management thinking.  -John

8/6     Show this to management the next time they start talking about Indian
        outsourcing: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=17700

7/26    what do you think about good "viruses" that spread to
        people's computer but do scientific computations to
        help mankind, only runs when computer is not being used?
        \_ Still bad.  Are you sure you have no programming errors that
           eat CPU when the computer is being used or abuse bandwidth
           looking for other hosts to infect?  What gives you the right
           to decide how my CPU is used or to keep it active instead of
           going into low power mode when idle?  Are you going to pay for
           the increase in my power bill?  Are you sure it's not really
           monitoring a critical piece of equipment that it needs to
           respond quickly to when an interrupt comes in?

6/1     What's the average bi-monthly Berkeley EBMOD bill for an appartment
        with two people living in it?
        \_ I'm guessing lower than yours.
        \_ you get bi-monthly bills?
           \_ I got EBMUD (water bill) bi-monthly (every 2 months) -!op
        \_ By the way, does anyone know why EBMUD asends me newsletter to my
           home address in Fremont, even though Fremont is served by ACWD and
           I've never been a EBMUD customer elsewhere?

5/10    I hope responses don't go too much out of control, but I'll risk
        it. How much do you think Bill Gates himself had to do with
        the way MS currently runs as a business (practices like unfair
        strategies, software bundling, buggy code, non-original ideas,
        etc.)?
        \_ I think the policies are set 100% from the top. M$ has been
           like this from the beginning.

5/9     If Bill Gates designed buildings instead of software:
        http://www.eecs.mit.edu/images/big-stata5.jpg
        \_ http://broken.typepad.com/b/2004/02/modernist_archi.html
           What does Bill Gates have to do with anything?  Microsoft may
           produce bug-filled software with some ill-conceived features, but
           they don't do avant garde nonsense.
           \_ both have bad design and the name william h. gates.
              http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore.html
        \_ That actually looks like a very cool building. I wish Gates
           would design buildings.
           \_ http://www.eecs.mit.edu/images/big-stata23.jpg  you like?
                \_ Again, yes, I do. It's refreshing to see unique and
                   and unusual building designs. Let me guess, you hate
                   it for those very reasons. right?
                   \_ it looks like something out of a demented dr. seuss
                      fantasy. it isn't exactly cool, just interesting in
                      a bizarre psychopathic way.
                   \_ No, I like interesting buildings, but this is the
                      worst design I have ever seen. I cannot imagine
                      people working in that space without going insane or
                      becoming very unhappy. I have heard that people are
                      already getting lost in this building. Have you ever
                      heard of Feng Shui?
                      \_ I can't help but be reminded of that Dilbert strip
                         where PHB's secretary convinced him the computer fan
                         was killing him.  The fact that people take Feng Shui
                         seriously makes me sad. -- ilyas
                         \_ There are enough buyers who care about Feng Shui
                            that it seems to have an effect in certain Bay
                            Area housing markets.  When I was house shopping
                            in Foster City, houses with obviously bad Feng
                            Shui were selling at a discount (of 10% by my
                            estimate).
                         \_ A lot of "bad feng shui" is generally annoying
                            even if you don't care about that kind of stuff.
                            For instance having a house at the head of a T
                            intersection sucks no matter what.
        \_ This building has bad Feng Shui.
        \_ NERDS!!!

5/3     The new $50 bill:
        http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/main.cfm/currency/new50
        \_ Who uses $50s?  I thought $100s were the drug dealer cash of
           choice.
           \_ $100s for the middle men on up, $20s for the street trash.
              \_ Middle men and higher use $20's becuase everyone gets paid by
                 the lower tier.
                 \_ Gotta change them into $100s though.  The US $100 has long
                    been a currency of choice for international crime and
                    terrorism of all kinds, because of its decent cash/weight
                    ratio.  I'd hate to take a million dollars worth of $20
                    over the border in a suitcase (well, several suitcases).
                    \_ People moving pounds of weed use $20's.  I'd say for MJ
                       that is top-tier.
                    \_ I've heard the 100 Euro note is taking over due to
                       inflation (internationally)
                       \_ There is also a 500 Euro note.
                       \_ What about the 500 Euro note?
                          Why does the AMC keep deleting this comment?
                          Jesus Fuck, you can't even make an innocuous comment
                          anymore without some asswipe taking offense.
                          \_ Innocuous comments get deleted by people who don't
                             use motdedit squishing changes, or people using
                             motdedit squishing changes of people without a
                             file lock.
                             \_ they also get deleted when the whole motd is
                                deleted, then restored by someone with a stale
                                copy.
                          \_ What will Warren Buffet say about this?

5/1     Did Bill Gates coin the term "Content is King"?
        Google seems to tell me he did.
        \_ It's a phrase, not a term.

4/20    I just learned that Sun Microsystems signed a non-aggression
        pact with the Evil Empire Micro$oft. Since when did McNealy
        becomes Bill Gates' bitch?
        \_ "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."
        \_ This happened a couple of weeks back.

3/27    I have been using bigzoo to call china, but the line quality is pretty
        bad, with long delay and echos.  Anything better out there?  Any
        10-10 plan with no monthly charge/minimum?
        \_ http://www.vonage.com
           This stuff's pretty cool. You need a decent broadband connection
           but you can say goodbye to SBC for almost everything (you still
           need them for DSL). I used my friend's box to call Germany and
           it worked like a charm. The line quality was crystal clear and
           it worked transparently. There's a $15 monthly charge. I think
           Circuit City has a promotion.

3/22    Can someone give me tips on getting in touch with people working at
        local (small-ish) telcos in South/SE/East Asian and Pacific countries?
        Is there some equivalent of NANOG for S. Korea/China/India/
                                    \- yes, BOWMOH [bastard operators with
                                       mandate of heaven]
        Philippines/etc?  Some colleagues in Europe are looking to talk to
        people running regional phone service providers in that general
        area about new business ventures.  -John
        \_ I've got some contacts. If interested drop me an email.
                -williamc

3/5     Al Gore created the Internet, Bill Gates to destroy it with
        email stamps.

3/3     Um, outsourcing is most definitely good. Get an education,
        then report back if you still think outsourcing is bad for
        the American economy.
        \_ Um, only an uneducated simpleton like yourself would assert
           that a major shift in global economics can be framed in the
           context of it being "good" or "bad" for American interests.
           Outsourcing is merely one aspect of a complex global dynamic,
           and the benefits and/or costs of it have yet to be determined.
           --williamc
        \_ It can be good if people elsewhere are doing a better job. The
           Germans and Japanese outsource to the US all the time. On the
           other hand, outsourcing to save a dollar is silly. It depends.
        \_ Not everyone is as lucky.
        \_ Wow, you sure convinced me.
        \_ Look, it's all about REDISTRIBUTION of resources. Look at Women's
           Sufferage. Men were happier before, but now with strong womenazi
           competing with men, we no longer have a lot of pride in what
           we do... They could ditch us anytime they want because they
           have a career and what not. So while they're happier than before,
           and we're not. HAPPINESS (a resource) has been redistributed. If
           you can sum it up, it's all the same. And I'll say the same
           thing with wealth, power, etc. The total sum is the same, the
           distribution isn't.                                  -bdg
           \_ Dude, you're pathetic.  Get some therapy and get over it already.
                \_ Therapy?!?! Therapy costs money, something which I
                   no longer have in abundance thanks to the community
                   property state and a court system that automatically
                   assumes that women are right even when you produce
                   evidence that they are lying because the judges "know"
                   that even if the woman was lying in a specific instance
                   there must be other instances that she can remember or
                   that might come up in the future where you will act
                   like the monster that all members of you sex are.
                   BTW, -bdg is an imposter.
                   \_ Therapy costing money?  You do know what insurance is,
                      don't you?  No wonder she divorced you.  I feel sorry
                      for her.
                      \_ Insurance doesn't always cover these things and not
                         100%.  --BDG #1 Fan!
                         \_ True, but for someone with bdg's issues it ought
                            to be covered.  But he's lame and self-pitying,
                            so no, it's not really an issue anyhow.
           \_ Life is not a sum-zero game.  I also don't think you're the
              real BDG.

3/2     Lou Dobbs tonight: "taking a look at top U.S. universities for
        computer science":
        http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight
        \_ exporting America?  ouch... blame globalization, huh?

2/29    http://csua.org/u/686
        bill gates is worried that too few people are studying cs in college
        and is trying to do something about it. good luck getting other
        companies to follow, bill.

2/29    bill gates is worried that too few people are studying cs in
        college and is trying to do something about it. good luck getting
        other companies to follow, bill.
        http://csua.org/u/686
        [ reformatted - formatd ]

2/23    I'm looking at microsoft's career page.  I'm surprised that there
        are very few SW development jobs in India.  It's all support and
        and services.  Almost all their development is done in US around
        I remember reading some article that quoted Bill Gates
        saying that he's not moving jobs overseas because "Microsoft is
        not about making windows 5% cheaper."  Anybody know more about this?
        Action speaks louder than words.  I'll work for Bill if
        he means what he says about not moving jobs overseas and
        continues to hire in the U.S.   The real evil empires are run by CEOs
        who move jobs overseas to cut cost and keep prices high so that they
        can give themselves giant bonuses.  As John Kerry calls them,
        "Benedict Arnold CEOs"
        \_ You're looking at the wrong page.  Try MS's India page.
        \_ ob economics 101 and ownership of public companies discussion.
        \_ I didn't know M$ hires PRs from CSUA.
        \_ I think Microsoft *contracts out* a lot of development to firms
           in India.
                \_ Yep - like Wipro:
                        http://www.wipro.com/aboutus/whoweare.htm
           \_ just watch for the chinese to mass hire indian microsoft
              subcontracters for their own windows-clone os.  coding with
              tar... just love it.
              \_ Except they won't.  They clone with a CD burner.

2/15    Israel! Palestine! Bush! Pine!  Global warming! Outsourcing to India!
        \_ Cutting government spending, and then cutting taxes, followed
           by building more houses to cut the cost of houses (a.k.a.
           increasing supply to lower costs) will do much to cut the
           cost of American labor.

2/11  Here is what I think will happen to the hi-tech industry as the
      outsourcing trend continues:  The data-entry, call center, and back
      offce jobs will continue to move to india.  That won't stop.  There
      will continue to be small increases in higher paying SW/HW engineering,
      sysadmin type jobs. But we won't reach the tech employment levels
      like in 1999 or 2000.  The one thing that will change is that people
      who didn't do their bachelors in CS or EE or who went to third tier
      schools will have a hard time finding work.  You have to justify the
      80+K salaries somehow.  Only the best will remain.  During the boom
      years, a lot of people got into tech just for the money.  They weren't
      any good at it but got hired anyways because there was a labor
      shortage.  -tawei
        \_ what makes you think that someone who got a bachelors in a non-cs
           field and/or went to a third tier school isn't one of the best?
           \_ where you go the education from  won't reall matter as much as
              drive, and well as always, your contacts.
              \_ and, of course, whether you can speak and write intelligibly.
              \_ there are mediocre survivors, even now. they are either
                 lucky or have (office) political connections. survival of
                 the fittest doesn't always imply technical pedigree.
        \_ Quick!  A Controvercial Thread!  Kill It!!!
        \_ From what I've heard about the top Indian IT firms, I won't be
           surprised when mid-level dev jobs start moving too.  The quality
           is there, it seems.  These arguments are always funny too because
           of the obvious implicit assumption that the arguer is "one of the
           best."
        \_ What about System Administration jobs?
           \_ heh, sure, try to outsource sysadmin jobs offshore.

1/14    Forget India, the next outsourcing trend is South America:
        http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/040113/sb200401120920_1.html
        \_ Yeah, I want to outsource to South America, good idea with
         the Argentine government in near shambles, Shining Path getting
         back together after the failed reforms in Chile, Columbia continually
         drug smuggling and Venezualan guerillas bombing pipelines on a daily
         basis. It makes the Kashmeer fueds look like small potatos.
         Anyway, if I was going to outsource south I'd be thinking Mexico
         before any of the S. American countries.
         \_ Oh yeah and India was such a bright choice being under constant
            thread of nuclear destruction for years?  Mexico?  It has similar
            problems to SA, as well as rampant corruption, an entirely fucked
            up federal government and a hot and cold running indian rebellion
            in the south.  Good call.  Mr CTO?  You're fucking fired!

1/7     Anybody know of any stable high tech companies that is NOT moving
        jobs to India?   Just for the heck of it, I searched Apple's career
        page.  All the openings seems to be in the U.S.  Any other tech
        companies that does this?  Thanks.
        \_ Cisco is keeping most of its real software development (IOS,
           NMS, VoIP, etc) in the US. The stuff they are moving to India
           is the monkey-push-the-button SQA, porting and IT web tools.
        \_ are european and japanese high tech companies outsourcing to
           india also?
           \_ A bunch of 'em, but it's mainly for routine shit (line
              programming, backoffice, call center.)  I know of very little
              architecture or proj. management type stuff that's going there.
              A lot of people I work with have had good experience with
              outsourcing things like bill processing or creating ppt
              presentations, but _nothing_ good to say as soon as anything
              innovative comes into play.  The consensus is, and sorry, I'm
              both a messenger and someone who's had this experience, that
              Indian techs will not wipe their ass without training or a
              manual, or take any sort of initiative.  On a side note, Roche
              pharmaceuticals is (attempting) to move all its IT support to
              Madrid from Switzerland, with round-the-clock support done by
              Mexico City.  It was either PWC's or McKinsey's idea, and it's
              looking pretty grim already.  The big "threat" for countries
              like Germany is actually Poland--lots of educated young people
              coming out of college and a _lot_ less bureaucracy than some
              of the more entrenched EU countries add up to factories moving
              there.  There are quite a few examples of Germans commuting
              to work in Western Poland nowadays.  -John
              \_ Yep.  It's a slow grinding downward death spiral for the
                 once great European empires.  Down to the last dregs before
                 they're just history book fodder.
                 \_ So then what does that say about our Empire?
           \_ EU is.  No idea if Japanese are.  Probably not since they're
              a bunch of super racists.
              \_ Yeah but I think they don't mind doing stuff with China.
                 It's not just India, Singapore is another big one.
                 \_ dont forget Russia
                    \_ which is outsourcing to North Koreans:
                       http://www.iht.com/articles/120603.htm

12/9    Fill in the first person that came to your mind:
        technical guru: Bill Joy:asshole, GeneHKan RIP
        rich geek: Bill Gates
        crook: Sadam Hussein - Kenneth Lay - Nixon - Dick Cheney - W
        conceited: Larry Ellison - Michael Jackson
        cool geek: Woz - John Lennon - Matt Dillon
        \_ Justin Frankel
        motd censor: tom holub
        \_ i think you mean paolo
        evil: Bill Clinton
        stoopid: George W. Bush

11/19   China to attack Taiwan:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031119/ap_on_re_as/china_taiwan_5

11/18   Outsourcing not the panacea of cost-cutting
        http://news.com.com/2100-1011-5108257.html
        \_ And you know what? The folks making the decision will ignore this
           and every other such report in their greed. Good luck out there.
           I predict most grunt software workers today are not so far from
           the skilled manufacturing worker bees of a few generations ago.
           \_ the report says that 71% of companies save money when they
              outsource, while 9% have greater expense.  That sounds
              like a good argument for outsourcing.  -tom
              \_ It depends on what you're outsourcing. Just because it is
                 cheaper doesn't mean you maintain the same level of service.
                 See: http://csua.org/u/518
              outsource, 9% have greater expense.  That sounds like a good
              argument for outsourcing.  -tom

10/23   I just heard that you get $300/week if you picket 40 hours a week.
        Now I know why they're so active in front of Albertsons/Ralphs
        \_ no shit. in the meantime, I can't go shopping for food because
           of those overly needy bastards.
           \_ I can't wait till your job gets outsourced to India.
                \_ sorry. I'm still in school and will never
                   work in the hitech industry.
                   \_ how about medical transcribing?  how about finance?
                      how about manufacturing?  exactly what skills do you
                      have and what makes you immune to outsourcing?
                        \_ He'll make a fine collector of the dole.
          Hi troll. Immigrants wouldn't do well in finance _/
          or any other job that requires fluency in English. Even with fluency,
          you still don't have the same grasp of the language and the PEOPLE.
          Can't you see??? I have people skills! I'm a people person!!!
          \_ DIE!
          \_ who said immigrants?  we were talking outsourcing and they've
             been outsourcing all sorts of finance jobs to india for quite a
             while now.
          \_ I know many Chinese immigrant friends in accounting.
        \_ This is a ripe opportunity to bring our immigrants into the
           economic system.  We can kill two birds with one stone by replacing
           the Americans who are unwilling to do this mostly unskilled labor
           at the going rate with lower paid immigrants.  Everyone wins.
           \_ Alberston's outside my complex was offering up to $19.98/hr
              for scabs.
           \_ agree, agree.
              \_ so you want to put americans out of work and scab them off
                 with illegal aliens?  that's a good thing?  i didn't know
                 there was anyone on the motd *that* far to the right.
        \_ Do they pay for 40 hours picketing per week?  Also, union workers
           have been contributing an extra $2 per week to the strike fund for
           the last year or so, to prepare for this.
        \_ Just go shopping. I didn't want to, but I had to have a particular
           item and no other stores had it. So I went. It was no big deal.
           I'm going to go again, too.
           \_ No big deal until some striker follows you back to your car and
              beats you with a bat.
              \_ Yeah, right. I'm so scared.
              \_ The guy was a scab, and he tried to run over some picketers.

10/6    http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/33217.html
        http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/32038.html
        is this a good prediction, or a self fulfilling prophecy.  Are computer
        jobs going to go the same way as weaving/sewing/clothing jobs?
        \_ No.  I read an interesting take on it recently (Economist?) which
           said that manufacturing jobs were going due to efficiency as much
           as corporate migration, and that with high efficiency, time-to-
           market and responsiveness to local needs outweighed the minor
           resulting cost gains from moving manufacturing offshore.  I see
           the same happening with IT, regardless of what people tell me about
           Indian call center workers with perfect Texan accents.  I've seen
           too many offshore moves by development and support teams (don't even
           start on business IT consulting) to have any faith that it'll make
           a really serious impact in the long run.  On the other hand, there's
           historically been a trend for 'simpler' work (witness mining,
           steel, shipbuilding, electronics) to move from 'core' to 'periphery'
           countries, without really affecting prosperity in the developed
           world.  -John
        \_ Why would they not? There was an article that mentioned silicon
           valley will recover by 2010, but the trend to offshore jobs will
           continue. There will always be cutting-edge jobs here, but the
           easier jobs will go overseas. One thing they haven't taken into
           account is the transfer of intellectual property to these countries,
           and the new competition that will result.
        \_ Dontcha just love globalization?
        \_ Not until software is truly a commodity and bug free.  You'll see a
           swing back from foreign countries for core work that must be done
           right because quite frankly they aren't skilled enough to do that
           overseas.
           \_ Not to mention the communcation issues (language, culture  and
              time difference) which make requirements/specifications difficult
              to iron out.
              \_ Yep.  I've seen a three year, $50 million project from India
                 produce nothing but bills.  And oh yeah, some folks got fired.
                 That was the only good to come from it.
                 \_ I ve seen a dilbert about this recently.

10/3    http://www.ucomics.com/foxtrot/2003/10/03
        \_ Bill Amend released a patch:
                http://homepage.mac.com/billamend

9/16    Shutterfly on http://fuckedcompany.com.  Add this to my list of a few days
        ago about why *not* to use them.
        \_ Who cares if Best Buy is or isn't using them?  It's a good
           service.  -tom
           \_ Because they're a dotcom with no parent company, too many staff,
              high prices and one less big customer.  I just hope you keep an
              original of all your pictures and copies of everything your
              friends have shared with you.  When they go, they're going to
              go POP! really fast.
        \_ I ended up going with http://pbase.com. Yeah, it's a pay service ($23/yr),
           but it had all the features I wanted in an attractive package.

8/5     Forget outsourcing to India, I'm going with chimpanzees:
        http://www.newtechusa.com/PPI/main.asp
        \_ old.

7/14    http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/07/14/moves.offshore.ap/index.html

7/14    ''India group: Outsourcing saves U.S. jobs''
        http://zdnet.com.com/2001-11-0.html?legacy=zdnn
        \_ Cool.  How much of money saved on outsourcing is going to be spent
           hiring Americans to fix or replace all the crap coming out of India?
           It'll cost twice as much in the long run to get the same results.

5/15    what is a reasonable way for me to pay the shipping from china for
        a company that is going to ship me a sample?  I can only find Fed-Ex
        (UPS doesn't ship from where i want) and it is going to be over $50
        for a small package.  That seems excessive.  Any advice?
        \_ that is about the right price.  I don't know about China, but
           don't they have some sort of Postal Service there?

5/6     Whatever happened with that Peruvian bill to mandate free software?
        The letter by Villanueva and Bill Gates visiting and all the rest--
        did the bill pass?
        \_ Since they're not buying more than 2% of their software anyway, does
           it really matter?
           \_ just curious.

3/26    Petition to get India a permanent seat on the UNSC:
        http://www.sulekha.com/un
        \_ what possible benefit would that be to anyone but India?
        \_ I doubt Pakistan would be happy with that.  Do you really want a
           nuclear war in asia?
        \_ How about a petition to re-org the UNSC since it's entirely
           anachronistic and idiotic in today's world as it's formed now?

3/20    http://www.techsunite.org/news/techind/offshoring1.cfm
        drop CS while you can!
        \_ We got too many h1b visas out there to make offshoring
           really viable. If you want to solve of the problems
           first cut down on the immigrants. We earlier immigrants
           don't need the competition.
           \_ Sink or swim, white boy!
                \_ Guess who built this country.
                   \_ uh, immigrants?
        \_ Coders of America Unite!
           \_ Yeah, why don't you join a union, start a lobby, and buy
              some politicians to get anti-competitive laws passed?
              the irony of watching a bunch of cs-libertarian-dickheads
              turn to these methods would be priceless.
              \_ I thought geeks were Gore voters...that is,
                 stereotypically.
                 \_ uh...do you read the motd?  most people here are
                    either to the left of Gore or to the right of
                    Bush.
                    \_ that's what makes it so exciting!
                 \_ Of course!  Without Gore inventing the internet, there
                    wouldn't have been a dot-com boom and we wouldn't have been
                    getting six-figure salaries for monkey-coding.
                    \_ some of us earn it.  also your 6 figs is nothing next
                       to the hundreds of millions or even billions that
                       many ceo's have gotten for killing companies.
              \_ So, since you don't like all those cs-libertarian-dickheads,
                 how would you describe YOUR political leanings?

3/11    Libraries post Patriot Act warnings Santa Cruz branches tell patrons
        that FBI may spy on them.
        http://csua.org/u/a83
        \_ Many verbs unnecessary used repeat cloud meaning sentence.
           \_ just put a colon after "warnings," and/or get a clue.
        \_ See one librarian's response:
           http://www.librarian.net/technicality.html
           \_ hahaha, this is good one.
        \_ So what? What do you think you live in? A democracy??
           \_ but I thought ..

2/14    What is a good internet phone card for calling China?  Thanks.
        \_ I usually use http://www.cybercalling.com  I don't know how it
           compares to others.  Is 3.3 cent good price for calling
           compares to others.  I thought it has good prices for China,
           Taiwan, and even US.  Is 3.3 cent good price for calling
           within the US?
        \_ http://www.pincity.com  : 4.9 cents (using local access #)
           http://www.onesuite.com : 3.9 cents (using local acesss #)

2/13    Where can I buy a $10,000 bill?  I searched all over the web
        and can't find any stores that sell it.
        \_ how about that trillion dollar bill shown in the simpsons?  :-)
        \_ EBay
           \_ Can't find it on eBay.  url?
              \_ http://csua.org/u/947

12/25   "A couple of years ago, the biggest American corporations would have
        considered it risky to outsource mission-critical work to India,
        but it is now becoming a common-sense proposition."  --Bill Gates
        Keep fighting those H1-B visas, guys; maybe you'll be able to beat
        the ocean back with a broom.  -tom
                \_ I've worked on multiple projects that involve people
                   in India. The only "mission-critical" work that you
                   can have them reliably do is stuff like QA (monkey
                   push the button style) or minor sysadmin type work.
                   If you have one of these types of jobs then maybe
                   you should be worried.
        \_ it's unclear to me. do you support H1-B's or are you saying that
           we're losing an important battle?
           \_ Fighting H1-B's is just encouraging companies to move their
              whole operation to India.  -tom
              \_ "Turn around, bend over, relax and think of Bill Gates."
              \_ As someone who has never worked in industry you wouldn't
                 understand that offshore projects are 99% doomed to utter
                 failure.  The successful ones only work with *rock* solid
                 contracts, *top notch* American managers, and lots of travel
                 and daily communication between the indians and the Americans
                 running the project.  I've been there, done that, etc.  They
                 can try it and after multiple multi million dollar losses and
                 dead projects, they'll abandon india for serious work.  They
                 can keep the monkey QA jobs.  Any company moving critical
                 work to india is doomed.  Since this started with a BG quote,
                 let me ask this, "how much critical work has MS moved to
                 india?"  Thought so.
                 \_ I won't bother responding to your head-in-the-sand
                    comments, but just will point out that I worked in
                    industry for 8 years.  -tom
                    \_ Did you ever graduate, tom?
                       \_ No, but how is that relevant?  -tom
                          \_ You seem bitter.  It might be having an negative
                             impact on your perspective.
                             \_ I've never been a matriculated student at
                                Cal, so I don't know why I'd be bitter for
                                not graduating.  -tom
                                \_ Who said Cal had anything to do with it?
                                   That's a weak rhetorical dodge.
                    \_ You won't bother responding because you'd just open
                       yourself to being shot down again as we'd find out
                       you've never been associated with any sort of over
                       seas projects therefore your 'experience' is
                       meaningless in this context.  My comments are not head
                       in the sand.  They are the reality of having personally
                       witnessed multiple overseas projects waste 10's of
                       millions of dollars to produce *nothing* but welfare
                       for incompetent and veru sub-par indian coder monkeys.
                       \_ I think Tom counts grovelling at L&S as "industry"
                          \_ I worked for GE for 8 years.  -tom
                             \_ How DARE you counter baseless ad hominem with
                                facts!  -mice
                                \_ He still hasn't claimed any personal
                                   knowledge of how overseas projects really
                                   work or having worked with such people
                                   himself.  "X many years in industry" does
                                   not mean he knows anything at all about the
                                   topic here which is that overseas projects
                                   are 99% fucked.
                 \_ I'd be remiss not to comment that most projects are doomed
                    from the beginning, offshore or not. However I disagree
                    that fighting H1-Bs is pointless. There is a case against
                    having workers being exploited locally. There are many
                    companies that don't farm out work offshore. People who
                    currently live in America have the right to fight to keep
                    their jobs by opposing H1-Bs.

11/14   <DEAD>www.thechequerepublic.com<DEAD> - are these guys for real?
        the cheque designs are amusing, but i was wondering if I could
        trust these guys.  Anyone heard of them?
        \_ not that amusing...
        \_ pretty much a big yawn from over here.  why dont you go into BOFA
           or Wells and get the nice kitty cat or balloons checks?  or maybe
           the one with the flowers and trees and nice people smiling?
        \_ Why do people pay $22.50 or $35 when they can get generic ones
           for $6?  Why do people still write checks at ALL? (esp. in the
           express lanes of supermarkets! :( )
           \_ GRRRR!!  DEATH TO FOOLS IN THE EXPRESS LANES!!!! GRRRRRRRR!!!!!
        \_ 1) You people pay for checks!?  2) You people use checks!?
           \_ Rent, parking tickets, expenses to friends after a weekend
              trip.  Some utilities.  Some monthlies only have an automated
              payment which I won't do - less control.
           \_ Not every bill can be paid using a Bill Pay-type service. --dim
                \_ given that billpay generates checks, why not?
                   \_ 1. You have to pay for Bill Pay, too. 2. What happens
                      when you can't wait for/setup Bill Pay? For instance
                      buying something at a yard sale.
           \_ I prefer balancing a physical checkbook. Gives me time to
              contemplate my financial situation as I write checks for bills.
              \_ I balance my checkbook in a plain .txt file.  Same reason.
           \_ One check for rent, one check for church, one check for credit
              card, one check to transfer money from internet bank to credit
              union (got to have some cash).  I like beautiful checks with
              carbon copy.
              \_ Church?  You pay real hard earned money to a Church?  Why?
                 \_ Yes, as a matter of fact. Where do you pay your
                 \_ Yes, as a matter of fact. To where do you pay your
                 \_ "What was in their possession in the morning, was given
                     away by the end of the day."
                        - description of Mo-Tzu and his followers
                    real, hard-earned money? -!op
                 \_ "What they possess in the morning, they give away by the
                     end of the day."
                    "The chimney of where they stay never blackens (for they
                     were too busy helping those in need to stay at one place
                     for any length of time)."
                        - Description of Mo-Tzu and his followers by their
                        \_ The church is how we make it to be.  Check around
                           (not just here, but also in less developed countries)
                           to see how many schools, universities, hospitals, etc.
                           have church affiliations / origins.
                          contemporaries.
                     \_ The biggest property owner in New York is the Roman
                        Church.
                        \_ The church is how we, through Christ, make it to be.
                           Check around, not just here but also in less
                           developed countries, to see how many schools,
                           universities, hospitals, etc. have church
                           affiliations or origins.
                           \_ I'm actually pretty much pro-church. You should,
                              however, be made aware that your statement is
                              presumptuous in several ways.
                              \_ It is simply my observation which I believe
                                 runs counter to the more cynical views
                                 more prevalent today.
              \_ You got the carbon copy thing to work?
           \_ none of you use quicken?
              \_ It's more of a mental exercise than using quicken. I like
                 to do the basic math and review the bills as I write checks.

10/22   http://www.cluetrain.com/dillo2.jpg
        I'm sure those of you who do nothing but sit on your fat asses all
        day in front of the computer have already seen this.  For the rest of
        us, here it is.
        \_ still bitter about the bill gates mugshot thing, huh?
           \_ My friends almost always know about "the links" before
              I do, and even I knew about the mugshot.  That guy was
              such a twink, and his I'm-cooler-than-you-because-I'm-
              feigning-ignorance thing was so pathetic.
        \_ The cluetrain people are schmucks.

10/21   Is there any service that takes email and sends regular mail?
        Like bill pay, but with email instead of checks.  I should be
        able to set up "sendees" and they could print and send my emails
        to them.  Then i could correspond with my amish friends!
        \_ don't you have a printer, stamps, paper, and envelopes?
           \_ I'm VERY LAZY and am willing to pay someone else to
              specialize in that and get the economies of scale.
        \_ http://www.usps.com/mailingonline
            \_ cool, thanks.

10/14   Why all the H1B posts? Our jobs, esp support and QA are already being
        exported to countries like India and China. There was a report from
        60 Minutes that says a few phone companies already shifted their
        phone support ops to India. They even train the workers to be
        knowledgeable about the American culture (football, beer, etc).
        Face it, many jobs are indeed exportable. IT is just a glorified
        auto/steel/whatever industry.
        \_ You're a Cal grad and doing phone support and QA?  Jesus F. Christ!
           Did you graduate with a degree in English or something?
           \_ I thought Jesus' middle initial was 'H'.
              \_ You don't know what the 'F' is for?
        \_ Agreed, IT = auto = steel = dockworkers.  However, since most
           motd readers are sys admins, they confuse themselves with
           real software engineers and architects.  We're not worried
           about H1B workers.
           \_ uh, it's the software development that can be easily exported,
              not the sysadmin work.  Think autoworker vs. policeman.  -tom
           \_ *laugh* As a sysadmin, the last thing I'm worried about is my
              job getting exported to another country.  No sysadmin confuses
              what they do with what a coder monkey does.  When a coder monkey
              fucks up, you get a bug which gets caught by QA (in India). When
              a sysadmin fucks up, the whole shop goes down.  No one is going
              to ship their servers to India.  Silly troll, cookies are for
              kids!
        \_ Recently had trouble with an http://amazon.com order. Emailed them
           (the only way to reach them) and all I got were replies
           from folks with Indian-looking names. All replies either
           had good english or good scripts or both. I suspect
           amazon support may be outsourced?
        \_ I have never gotten good customer service of any kind from
           an Asian-outsourced helpdesk.  In fact, this is the main reason
           why I refuse to buy anything from http://Amazon.com anymore.
           My experience with US helpdesk workers is mixed, although mainly
           positive (unless you're dealing with a fucked up company like Sony.
           The only consistently good tech support I've gotten was from Irish
           call centers (most European tech firms redirect English-language
           calls there.)  -John
           \_ Was on the phone with a Netapp chick in Singapore last night.
              She didn't fix my problem but had a sexy voice so I still logged
              the call as a "10" in their customer service records.
           \_ I have never gotten good customer service of any kind
              through the phone, period.  Almost.
              \_ B&H over the phone seems okay.
        \_ Exporting software jobs is the best thing that ever happened to
           the software industry.  Perhaps now, we will realize that many
           engineering positions are filled by glorified, semi-skilled
           typists (software).  Let's face it-  software systems are LARGE
           nowadays-  but innovation is the crux of value, not WPM.  Stop
           complaining about your obsolete job.  Coding is a monkey task
           that should be outsourced, not protected by some archaic notion
           of an ivory tower of academia.
        \_ Which is why I would recommend moving up to a more architectural
           or managerial level, to avoid your job being 'exported'. I agree,
           coding, not only a 'monkey task' as the above posted noted, is
           often considered a thankless job. Don't shoot the messenger, this
           is what I heard.
        \_ Put it this way.  Number of engineers produced per year in US:
           65000, in China 700000, and their quality is improving.
           \_ This is exactly the kind of reasoning upper management uses to
              justify H1b's shortly before they get a http://fuckedcompany.com entry.
              Because if 1 american engineer can do it in X days, then 10 H1b
              engineers can do it in X/10 days.  Right?  Good math.

10/10   Sweet.  http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/gatesmug1.html
        \_ WOW!  I've never seen that before!  Except for the other
           87 times.
           \_ You're so special!  Not all of us spend our lives on the net.
              \_ Oh please.  It's not like the image just hit the internet
                 yesterday.
                 \_ I've been on the net since '85 and never saw it.  You *are*
                    special.  Very *special*.  You know... *special*.
        \_ Pretty cute, compared to his evil look now.
        \_ my dad's friend's brother was the cop who booked him
           \_ can you find out what he did?
              \_ at a New Mexico rest stop, he was monopolizing the john

9/18    Please point me to the tutorial of spamassassin.  I want to know how
        to set it up.
        \_ Wow, people STILL can't use search engines? --aaron
                \_ some of us are >inside< china
                   \_ So?  As if *every* search engine was blocked.  Nonsense.
                      Use one of the dozens that aren't.  Or move to a free
                      country.
                   \_ cool.  Where in China?
                        \_ Slave labor Nike factory/politburo courtesan
                           training camp #114
                   \_ So why don't you login to soda and use lynx to get
                      to http://google.com or some other search engine?
                   \_ There are a dozen other search engines.  Use one.  Or
                      better yet, don't live in an oppressive state and then
                      whine and moan and bitch about it like it's someone
                      else's fault you live in a shithole.
        \_ cat ~crebbs/.procmailrc
           \_ hmm, i've been made an example of before, but never quite like
              this. -crebbs
              \_ At least it's a good example.

7/26    My computer monitor stopped working recently (screen is
        completely snowy white). I want to get rid of it, but I'm
        not sure if throwing it in the garbage is the best thing to do.
        Is there any sort of place that takes in non-working computer
        equipment like this? I'm not in the Bay Area.
        \_ try throwing it off the top of a parking garage.  make sure
           you have two escape routes or more.
        \_ eBay?
        \_ Depends on your community. Your dead monitor has lots of
           lead in it. See if your local garbage collector has a program
           that deals with dead TVs and monitors.
        \_ your monitor is officially hazardous waste, to just toss it in
           the trash would be breaking the (poorly enforced) law.
        \_ Look around.  There are dead computer collection events every
           2 or 3 months in my community.  I heard some of these get
           shippied to China and dumped in inappropriate places, but hey,
           that's not our problem right?
        \_ computer recycling center: http://www.crc.org
           \_ I wish I knew this before I threw away my 386 several years ago.
        \_ I also have a broken monitor...it's missing the color blue...
           does anyone know the best way to fix this?  Thanks.
           \_ Did you accidentally mess up the color balance setting on the
              monitor?  It happened to my cousin once and that took me a while
              to figure out.
        \_ Ship it directly to China.  That's where all the warm fuzzy feel
           good "recycling" places are taking theirs.
        \_ Throw it in da Bay.
        \_ toss it in your neighbor's dumpster.
           \_ oooh, good call.  I wish I'd thought of that first.

7/3     Seven airline crashes this year already, and we're only half way
        into the year.
        \_ Well, one of them was expected on account of being China Airlines
           (a misnomer since they don't really belong to China).
           \_ yeah it is.  Republic of China, stupid! If you don't know
              anything about it, shut the fuck up
              \_ Actually, it's the PRC, The People's Republic of China.  If
                 you're going to call someone stupid for not knowing something,
                 maybe, just maybe, it would be a good idea to know that same
                 thing yourself?  Just a suggestion.
                 \_ Wrong.  China Airlines is based in Taiwan, and Taiwan (plus
                    a few small islands) is Republic of China, ROC.  Air China
                    is based in Mainland China which is the People's Republic
                    of China, PRC.  (Of course each China claims ownership of
                    the other, unlike North/South Korea or East/West Germany,
                    but that's a different thread.)  -- yuen
        \_ Four of them were deliberate.
           \_ This is 2002, not 2001
              \_ April never ended
        \_ and all of them were the work of anti-semites.
        \_ Duh!  Where have you been all this time?  The rest of us knew about
           this conspiracy years ago!  Art Bell!
           \_ they were just blown up as a coverup for the chemtrails.
              ...must photograph flying triangles before black helicopters
              use weather control to destroy my home.

6/24    Yet more evidence that Sun is screwed up:
        link:www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/3532881.htm
        \_ I don't even have to read the link to know Sun is screwed up!  :-)
        \_ SUN is done and the sad part is that they don't realize it. If
           they realized it then maybe they'd be able to do something about
           it, but pride is a bitch. --dim
           \_ someone forgot to tell SGI they were "done"
              \_ I'm friends with an SGI fanatic.  It's sad.
              \_ SGI is "done" as far as competing in the marketplace is
                 concerned. The only thing that keeps them going is huge
                 tax payer subsidies in the form of DoE, DoD, USGS and
                 NASA contracts.
        \_ hiring cheap H1B workers over citizens is unethical but not
                  \- why is it unethical? --psb
           illegal. It cuts costs and makes stock holders happy. Welcome
           to the new economy.
           \_ The only reason it is legal is because high tech companies
              lobbied to change the law and increase the number of H1B
              visa-holders allowed in. And because high tech workers did
              not try to stop them back in 96 when we had a chance, or
              even in 2000, when they increased again the number allowed.
                \_ yes, in America, justice is a decision in your favor,
                   and legal is when you have the money to make it so.
           \_ How is it unethical?
              \_ It is not. There is no ethic but the desire for money.
                 Anyone who tells you otherwise is a communist.
           \_ Incorrect. It is illegal and unethical. For illegal, see:
       http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ETA/Title_20/Part_655/20CFR655.739.htm
              Unethical because the company is not using the immigration/work
              policy in the spirit in which it was concieved and established.
              \_ Guess where the companies will go if they can't hire
                 enough workers at competitive rate.  See all the industries
                 that left US for cheaper labor?  Companies are in it to
                 make money.  They will go where the money is.  The trend l
                 ately is to open design centers in India and China, tech
                 will probably go the way of other industries eventually.
                 make money.  The trend lately is to open design centers
                 in India and China, tech will probably go the way of other
                 industries eventually.
                 \_ There is more to an economy than cheap labor. If that was
                    all there was to it, countries like Nigeria would be
                    booming, instead of the basket cases they are. Business
                    needs a stable legal system, respect for property rights
                    and an educated and entrepreneurial workforce. Why don't
                    all the silicon valley companies just move to Mississippi
                    or better yet Nigeria if labor cost was all there is
                    to it? We will lose some jobs to other regions, but I
                    think business owes some responsibility to those regions
                    and economic systems that make them successful.
                    \_ Being meritocratic is part of what makes the system
                       work.
                    \_ True.  But when the rest of the world can provide
                       equally good labor at cheaper rate, corporations will
                       move.  I don't advocate it, but I dont want to be
                       a victim when it happens, see the textile and steel
                       industry.  What's left for people that worked in the
                       steel factories for decades, only to find out that
                       the factories are bankrupt and can not afford the
                       retirement benefit that was promised once upon a time?
                       US has distinct advantage of able to gather some
                       of the brightest minds, with some of the best
                       universities, but eventually, the rest of the world
                       will catch slowly as far as technology goes.  Some
                       of the more "trivial" tasks like tech supports are
                       already being moved off shore, what's to gaurantee that
                       companies won't do the same for R&D jobs?
                 \_ Which means, what, that US industries should adapt
                    illegal and unethical practices in order to compete?
                    Lovely thought. You es eh! You es eh! Exploit! Exploit!
                    Race ya to the bottom. Let's see who falls apart first.
                    \_ If companies/execs care so much about ethics, there
                       wouldn't be likes of Enrons and Imclones.  When execs
                       stands to reap millions in options by beating the
                       forcast by a cent, they'd do it in a heart beat,
                       ethical or not, sometimes even illegally.  Wake up
                       to reality.  Make yourself employeable, and not
                       wait for ethical companies to save you, they hardly
                       exist.
           \_ But is considering citizenship status when doing layoffs
              ethical or illegal discrimination?  If they laid off all the
              H1-B's first, it would look a lot like illegal discrimination
              against Asians.
              \_ Nonsense.  First of all, the H1b program is not for Asians.
                 It is for any foreigners with tech skills desirable to this
                 country's employers.  Secondly, by definition an H1b worker
                 is not a citizen and therefore does not have all the same
                 rights a citizen has.  They're guest workers and subject to
                 being first-fired with no recourse.  That's the risk they
                 take for the bigger bucks available.  And thirdly, Jesus F.
                 Christ on a stick!  Get over all the PC _bullshit_!

4/28    http://www.cybcon.com/~weitzeo
        \_ can't sleep.  clown will eat me.  can't sleep.  clown will eat me.

1/8     I want to go to grad school but don't have any publication (yet).
        What's the best way to go about getting an undergrad research position
        (CS199) and doing publications? I don't know what is interesting or
        not-- pretty much everything is interesting to me.
        \_ D'you think that speaking to a professor might be a good start?
        \_ Who are you, what are you interested in? ("Everything" includes
           Gay&Lesbian Studies, Plant Biology, Architecture, and Aramaic.
           Be as specific as possible.) What's your background in terms of
           classwork? What year/major? Relevant past employment perhaps?
            \_  He mentioned "CS199", so we can infer the general area of
                Computer Science, Cog. Sci, or possibly celtic studies,
                maybe chicano studies.  I bet Computer Science though.

11/21   What's better/worse: A recommendation from your TA or a recommendation
        from the industry?
        \_ industry.  Unless you are trying to work for the same prof your
           TA is, and your prof thinks highly of your TA.
           \_ to be precise: "[one from] industry is better"
           \_ What about if you get a letter from a TA but get the prof of
              the class to also sign it? A friend of mine did this for her
              History class.
              \_ the admission comitte may wonder why the prof
                 won't write the letter.  The precedence goes from :
                 influential industry leader (Bill Gates) >
                 inflential prof (Patterson) > normal prof >
                 normal industry Joe > TA > None.
                 \_ I would put Patterson before Bill Gates.
                 \_ hey moron, if the prof signs it they never know that a TA
                    wrote it.  I've had several TAs offer to do this.

11/5    Looks like Passport isn't as safe as Bill claims it is:
        http://www.msnbc.com/news/652089.asp?0si=-&cp1=1
        \_ And you're surprised by this because.  .  .  ?
           \_ I'm not surprised, but my phb is.
                                         \_ phb?
                                            \_ Pointy-hair boss.
                                               \_ sheesh, they'll think up
                                                  acronyms for anything.
                                                  \_ It's just a TLA.

10/15   I've been getting spam that says something like "This message is sent
        in compliance of the new e-mail bill: SECTION 301. Per Section 301,
        Paragraph (a)(2) (C) of S. 1618."  Is there really such a bill that
        says unsolicited e-mail is legal?
        \_ http://www.cdmcpcs.com/Resources/web/spam.shtml
           Add "section 301" to your procmail filter.
        \_ a bill is not a law until it's been approved.  Do a google
           search.
           \_ I'm just a bill.  Yes, I'm only a bill, and I'm sitting here
              on Capitol Hill. .... And I hope to be a law someday (at least
              I hope and pray that I will, but today I am still just a bill).

10/11   "Soviets planned smallpox attack"
           \- really, i thought it was yermom
        http://www.msnbc.com/news/616710.asp?0cb=-21330726
        Cities of both US and China were targeted.

10/10   I don't know how aware you guys are about the SSSCA but it's a
        bill that must be opposed at all cost.  I encourage you to write
        a response to the redhat network who are actually collecting
        email from people and sending it to the congressman who is
        proposing this draft.  I hope that you too will become involved
        in the campaign against the bill and that you make all your
        family members, co-workers and friends aware of what's going on.
        This is a very serious issue that will affect how you live your
        life.  For the link check out:

        http://redhat.rgc2.com/servlet/website/ResponseForm?koEahsspgnlzNkOLR
        (YES THIS APPLIES TO FREEBSD TOO.)
        \_ I'm so sick of hearing how *everything* must be opposed "at all
           costs".  I would not put down my life over this.  Would you?
        \_ no, write a paper letter to your Congresman, not email to RedHat.
           \_ sure that works even better.  I merely provide the link for
              the more laconic people.  But, by all means, write/fax your
              congressperson.
        \_ Is the SSSCA that no distro'ing software publically thing?
           It sounds pretty bad, but even if its passed, it can't stop
           freenet et. al.
        \_ Althought the republocrats are all the same, My old self is
           demanding that i point out that this bill was introduced by
           a democrat.
           \_ An Alaska Republican is lined up to co-sponsor the thing. He
              is just waiting until he agrees with the language.
           \_ and this is relevant, how?  Seriously, dem, rep, it doesn't
              matter.  it's clue vs. non clue.  have vs. have not.
              \_ yeah. i think if you look at scientific and technology
                issues in general, there are not really any party lines
                to speak of.  probably because your average voter(and
                your average representative) do not understand or care about
                 most of these issues.
                \_ compounded with the fact that they want to be like
                   Justice Hand and  want to be in the history books as
                   the first person to legislate about something; so they
                   hurry thru the legislation creation process.

9/1     Happy Labor Day weekend

8/30    Linus: Uncle Sam vs. Bill G, Bill G cries Uncle!
        http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/21347.html

8/22    Do Disneyland in LA and Universal Studio close during Thanksgiving
        long weekend?  Thanks.
        \_ That would be foolish of them.
        \_ no.  ex disneyland employee. (guest control/riverbell terrace)
        \_ I don't know about Universal Studios, but Disneyland is open
           365 days per year. They *never* close and I confirmed that by
           phone like you should've done you lazy fuck. --dim
           \_ You get to make free long-distance phone calls?  I already
              tried the web site before I asked here, but I got errors when
              I tried to look up schedules for those four days of the weekend.
              \_ Not only are you lazy, but cheap as well. How much is
                 admission? You think an extra dime for research is going
                 to kill you? Seriously. I took less time to call and find
                 out than for your atrophied brain to cobble together
                 these sentences. By the way, you are welcome. --dim
           \_ They *never* close?  They close at night don't they?
              \_ ooh, the semantics police. well, technically, they close
                 to the public, but from the moment the gates close to when
                 the gates open, there are cleanup crews and technicians
                 getting the park ready for the next day. so yeah, they
                 never do close in a sense.
                 \_ I'm usually not that picky on people unless it's someone
                    bitchy.
                    \_ No they are open 24 hours per day, Einstein. If you
                       want to be a bitch then *yes* they do close during
                       Thanksgiving weekend at some point. --dim

7/23    Anyone recently changed jobs could comment on the current
        climate for employment?
        \_ i'm hiring, if you've got the right skills.  right skills being
           high-speed logic design, cot backend, sonet, error correction
           if you have a phd in the right things.  i'll sign my motd if
           you'll sign yours.

7/19    Yet more people with too much time on there hands:
        http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010719/wl/india_bush_s_cat_1.html
        \_ Is India even called "India" in India?  --PeterM
           \_ Sure, they all speak English anyway (there's no one "Indian"
              language.) The word comes from the Indus River, or Sindhu,
              also the word Hindu, and Hindustan. But it's irrelevant;
              they seem to think it's insulting on the principle, like
              if you named a pet dogshit France, even though the French
              don't call themselves France.
           \_ Bharath is the real name for "India". Hindu is also not
              a indian word, it is a arabic term invented by muslim
              invaders.
        \_ Are they suggesting that our pres should get a lion instead?
           \_ ^t a^t eaten by a

6/21    David Copperfield, a magician in the US, is a master of supernormal
        abilities who once performed the feat of walking through the Great
        Wall of China. When he was about to pass through the Wall, he used a
        white cloth as a cover, pressed himself against the Wall, and then
        proceeded to go through it. Why did he do that? Doing it that way
        would lead many people to consider it a magic show. It had to be done
        like that since he knew there are many people in China with great
        supernormal abilities. He was afraid of interference from them, so he
        covered himself before he went in. When coming out, he raised the
        cloth with one hand and walked out. As the saying goes , With it done
        this way the audience thought it was a magic performance. These
        supernormal abilities are called magic because they aren't used for
        cultivating the human body, but for stage performances in order to
        display unusual things and to entertain. From a low-level perspective,
        qigong can change the condition of one's body, achieving the goals of
        healing and health. From a high-level perspective, qigong refers to
        the cultivation of one's original-body (benti).
                http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/flg_1.htm

6/12    china barbi

4/16    Is this real?  http://www.mugshots.org/misc/bill-gates.html

1/3     At what temperature do you set your heater?  After last month's $140
        PG&E bill, I lowered mine to 63 degrees and wear two sweatshirts around
        the house.
        \_ 78.  $200 bill.
        \_ 40
        \_ Wear a wool cap. You lose a lot of heat from your head.
           \_ spare us a lot of suffering, and just wear a bag over your head.
        \_ Somewhere in the 70's. Just pay the $200 bills, geek boy.
                \_ Issues of responsibility go beyond fiscal prudence.  -tom
        \_ buy fluorescent energy saving lightbulbs, they'll save u $$
        \_ just turn off your heater entirely, that's more efficient than
           leaving it slightly on.
           \_ Indeed.  My southern exposure apt is finally pleasant for once.
       \_ Who uses a heater?  Our apartment is heated by the four computers
           and various assorted other electronic devices.
       \_ 13 dollar electircity bill and a toasty warm apartment.  Love
          that central heating.
        \_ $36 for electricity plus gas.  Living in a house in Fremont,
           central gas heater turned off, even the pilot light.  Just wore a
           coat and closed all windows.
        \_ If you can move the water heater and the cloth dryer to inside the
           house or at least re-direct the exhause pipes to pass through the
           living space befoing going to the outside, the leaked heat should
           warm up the house somewhat.  But that's quite a bit of work to
           do and I didn't do it.  Plus you have to reverse it in summer.
           --- yuen
           \_ That's a really bright idea.  The walls will be nice and damp
              as an added bonus...
                 \- just have your utilities billed to your employer in
                 return for working from home. --psb

3/13    What's up with Bill joy?
        http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/03/13/MN108057.DTL
        \_ He's gone loopy and joined the church of the unabomber.
           \_ He is too rich for loopy.  He is 'eccentric.'
                \_ They're in my brain!  They're eating my braaaaaaaaaaaain!!!

1/22    What are some good places where an employee can have his employment
        contract evaluated, and where can one get good advice from an attorney
        about stock options in employment.  I am not sure whether I got a fair
        shake.  THanks
        \_ A lawyer.

12      So I here this senator make a remark on a radio address saying that
        if Bill Gates wanted to teach a course in computer science he should
        be allowed to because of his level of expertise in the area. Anyone
        find our politicians somewhat idiotic?
        \_ I bet he knows more about software engineering than you do
           \_ A. computer science != software engineering.
                 \_ also, bill gates != computer science
                          bill gates != software engineering
              B. knowledge != ability to teach
              C. the fact that whatever politician is responsible for the
                 remark thinks himself capable of judging this is laughable
                 in itself.

11/15   Bill Gates @Comdex: does further blatant embrace & extend on JAVA.
        Write once, run anywhere, so long as it's on a M$ platform.
        \_ Write Once, Test Everywhere.
        \_ Write once, brainwash your audience into thinking that Microsoft
           is a kind compassionate business advancing technology and protecting
           your "right to innovate" and that Linux and Sun are pure evil.
                \_ I'll bet BG doesn't even *own* a BIKE! much less RIDE! one.

8/3     Linux Torvald - 15th ranked person of the century by Time:
        http://cgi.pathfinder.com/cgi-bin/time/osform/gdml3
        He's closing on Madonna and two ahead of Bill Gates.  It's just sad
        that Elvis is up there.

7/15    MSFT wins the case against Bristol.  Stock at another all time high.
        Market cap tops $500 billion dollars. I would like to personally
        thank Bill Gates for making me a multimillionaire.
                - proud shareholder of MSFT for the last 10 years
        \_ Eat me. - proud shareholder of AMZN for the last 10 months

6/21    Opinions on "Pirates of Silicon Valley"?  I thought it was good, but
        too short.  We didn't see the official introduction of the Mac and
        the subsequent decline of Apple.  Plus it focuses too much on Jobs and
        the baby girl he tried to disown.  The image of bill gates doing
        a Travolta "saturday night fever" was great though.  :-)
        \_ Plot line: Jobs is a bastard.  Gates is a bigger bastard.  Gates
           won.  Pity neither bastard, they're both scum.
        \_ That wasn't really Steve.      -someone who works for Steve.
        \_ The casting was great for most of the characters, but the
           story was poorly handled, poorly presented, and was missing too
           much detail to appeal to anyone who knew the story and wasn't
           coherent enough for people who didn't know it. But I didn't
           expect anything else. They could have phrased Microsoft's Apple
           stock purchase a little less misleadingly too.  -cdaveb
        \_ Darn!  I missed it.  Will there be a re-run it on TNT?
                \_ tonight 11pm and weds. 8pm.
                        \_ Anyone offering a place to watch it? -jnat
                                \_ 306 soda.  this weekend.  If interested
                                   email prole@soda

6/8     Does anyone have experience with outsourcing software projects?
        Is it worth while?
        \_ How about outsourcing to foreign countries (such as India,
           Singapore, Philippine, or China)?
           \_ at my last job international outsourcing turned into a big
              joke, with crap code, communications problems (the problems
              you'd expect) - but ymmv
        \_ No, but I've read only bad things about it in IT mags.  They said
           it sounds good on paper until you get the broken code and spend
           numerous times on the phone at 2am to try to talk to your Indian
           counterpart.  Never read anything good about it.  This was an
           article for execs trying to get rid of their high priced, lazy,
           over paid American programmers.  The answer was: don't.

5/27    http://www.mugshots.org/misc/bill-gates.html

3/22    Bill Gates' wealth is hoovering around 97 billion dollars right now.
        Anybody plan to celebrate with me when it hits 100 billion dollars?
                                        -MSFT millionaire
        \_ so is that why he's married.
        \_ Disgusting!  Yech!
                                        -MSFT millionaire
        \_ Ah, the Y2MS bug will strike and $100B == ZERO!
        \_ Yeah! I'd like to throw a pie at Bill too!
                                        -MSFT millionaire janitor
                                        \-i am richer than you. --msft janitor
                                          \_ I am yet richer than you!
                                                        - begger in front
                                                          of msft HQ
        \_ I cannot even begin to conceive how much 97B is... it is like
           totally titanic.
        \_ How much of that is not in stock? What is his salary anyway? 500k?
           \_ no doubt much larger than that.  McNealy got $33M last year.
           \_ Most of what Gates owns is in stock. Why do you think his
              "net worth" keeps increasing at this breathtaking pace?
              Magic?  I'd say that, in terms of actual cash, he has no
              more than 1B.
              \_ At least $5B is diversified, so though not cash, it has
                 nothing to do with MS.
                 \_ ~$60M is in his house...
                        \_ he might have spent $60 mill on it, but no one
                           would pay $60 mill for it, so its worth is lower.
                   \_ peanuts.

 1/2    I got a $2000 credit on my MBNA credit card bill listed as
        "PMT From Bill Payer Service".  What is a bill payer service?
        \_ It might be a scam.  Maybe you should ask MBNA?
        \_ sounds like an EFT payment happened.. possibly by mistake.. -shac
                \_ What's an EFT payment?
           \_ yup.  Maybe you should spend it all and close the card.  :)
                \_ max out your credit cards and then visit Dr. Kevorkian
                   \_ then how will i pay the doctor's bill?

11/4    http://www.cnn.com Bill Gates admits to affair with intern!  Says he's
        sorry and it's everyone else's fault.
        \_ Did he use the cigar?
           \_ that's bgcInternInterface to you, buddy!
        \_ URL? http://www.cnn.com is too broad...

7/1     "If Bill Gates had a dime for every time a Windows box
        crashed...wait a minute.  He does."    - Phil Proctor
        \_ $45 billion...That comes out to 450 billion crashes.  Sounds
           about right.

6/10      Here is an item of some interest for you:

     The real name of the Bill Gates is William Henry Gates III.
     Nowadays he is known as Bill Gates (III), where "III" means the
     order of third (3rd.)

     By converting the letters of his current name to the ASCII-values
     and adding his (III), you get the following:

     B       66
     I       73
     L       76
     L       76
     G       71
     A       65
     T       84
     E       69
     S       83
     +       3
     --------------------
            666!

     Some might ask, "How did Bill Gates get so powerful?" Coincidence?
     Or just the beginning of mankind's ultimate and total enslavement???
     YOU decide!

5/10    Which one is Bill Gates' address:
        http://phone.whowhere.com/telephone.psrch?fname=william&name=gates&City=&state=WA&zip-code=&submit.x=25&submit.y=11
        ????

5/18    I want to see Janet Reno sodomizing Bill Gates with a baseball bat.
        I want to watch Bill Gates bleed to death from the lawsuits!

4/23    David Letterman's top ten on Bill Gates: link:www.examiner.com
        \_ Yawn.  Saw it live.  Letterman needs a new act.
        \_ Boring...

3/24    I know some Indian friends who are BIG AND BUFF like football players,
        and some even have blue/hazzle eyes. I sware they almost look white!!!
                                                 \_ swear
        Why are a lot of Indians like that? (this is a serious question!)
        \_ Mutations as a result of the massive radiation and pollution
           released by British experiments on the fusion reactor from an
           alien starship that crash-landed in the Ganges River valley during
           the winter of 1945.
           \_ That's right.  In fact, the reason that they decided to make
              India independent wasn't Gandhi . . . During the course of their
              experiments, they created a hole in the space-time continuum
              that threatened to SWALLOW THE ENTIRE BRITISH EMPIRE WHOLE!
              The only way to avoid this was to make sure that India was no
              longer a part of the British Empire.  That way, if the hole
              expanded beyond their control, India would be lost, but the
              Empire would be safe.  Hail Brittania!
                \_ is it just me or does the motd get dumber every day? -aspo
                   \_Would you like to see Brittania rule again, my friend?
                     All you have to do is follow the worms.
                      \_ Brittania rules the waves!

3/3     For those who said Jim Barksdale "admitted to being a Bill Gates
        admirer", read CNET's homepage today. The main headline is:
        "Gates gets grilled by Senate, Jim Barksdale and Scott McNealy."

3/3     Jim Barksdale admits that he is a Bill Gates "admirer". http://www.cnnfn.com
        \_ Who is this and why do we care?
                \_ ceo@netscape.com
                \_ Ok, now why do we care?
                \_ If you admir your enemy, then you are STUPID. And you NSCP
                   people, don't even try to erase this message again!
                        \_ Your spelling and attitude demonstrate your
                           ignorance clearly.  Mr. Barksdale on the other
                           hand obviously sees Mr. Bill has built Microsoft
                           into an incredible juggernaut, and can admire him
                           for that while trying to compete against it.
        \_ This is like saying "I think Hitler is c00l, but I hate him."
                \_ No, this is like Jason Kidd saying "I think Michael Jordan
                   is a great basketball player even though I have to try
                   and beat him when our teams play each other."

2/4     Bill Gates has been hit by a cream pie.  See
        http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9802/04/belgium.gates.ap
        \_ and the computers used in the factories used to make that
          cream pie are running MS windoze.  And that's why gates is
           now worth 50 billion or so.
           \_ Actually, that pie was made by a little old lady in a small
              community bakery.  She uses a computer to help keep her
              books, but it's a Commodore PET using whatever passed for a
              home computer OS in the 1970s.  I have documented,
                        \_ consisting of a command line and
                        commands such as "run" and "load"
                        \_ What's unclear about "run" and "load" commands?
              undeniable proof, you scum sucking, pro-M$ bigot.
              \_ show me. url? or am i to believe a name-calling weenie? :-*
              undeniable proof, you scum sucking, pro-M$ bigot.
              \_ show me. url? or am i to believe a name-calling weenie? :-*
                \_ CNN.
              \_ The sad thing is that even in the 70's the BASIC that ran
                 on the PET was written by M$oft. -ERic
                 \- I thought M$haft was brought to life in the early 80's...
                   \_ It "went public" in the early 80's; before that,
                     it was a partnership between gates and what is face
                     (allen) since i think 1975.
                     \_ The good ole days when a company actually had to
                       make money to "go public"