2/26    How does a hot air balloon pilot control the flight path?  I'd think
        one can only control the vertical movement using the flame.  Thanks.
        \_ You move vertically trying to catch wind currents blowing in the
           direction you want.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_air_ballooning

3/20    I own the new iPad. Behold, my enormous penis!
        \_ Huh?
           \_ He's obviously got it backwards.  He got the iPad
              *because* he's got a tiny rod and needs something else
              to boost his perceived self-esteem.
              \_ Ding ding ding! (but no dong) -OP
        \_ I am going to get one for my wife.
           \_ The new iPad or the enormous penis? :-)  -- !OP
              \_ I would be happy to get her both, but she would probably
                 only enjoy the iPad.

3/21    ipad 2: if you own one, and think it's worth it, lemme hear your
        delights of it.

4/2     iPad Haters: Your Dumb. This thing is awesome.
        \_ and you're (you are) dumber, as you've proven with your own post.
           \_ Your an idiot. Would you feel better if I wrote,
              "Your [sic] an idiot?"
              \_ Satire is hard to get right.
                 \_ True. Pedantry is easy to point out. My other favorite
                    is referring to "bitly.com" and hear the whines of nerds
                    who point out that it is "bit.ly, http://bitly.com makes no
                    sense!" and then just laugh.

9/6     40-Year Old Virgin-- totally funny, and very different. Go see it!
        \_ It could have been modeled after some unnamed sodalites.
        \_ It is hilarious. I also recommend it. Question. What does singing
           "The Age of Aquarius" have anything to do with getting laid?
           My history of the hippy era is pretty bad. Please explain, thx.
           \_ It was a poke in the eye to the boomers. That song is their
              anthem. That is how I read it, anyway.
              \_ Interesting. What year was the zenith of the hippy era?
                 \_ Depends who you ask.  The zenith of its visibility and
                    influence on the wider culture was probably Woodstock
                    in 1969.  If you ask those who considered themselves the
                    "true hippies," it was probably the early '60s era in
                    San Francisco - Diggers, Merry Pranksters, etc...by the
                    time the "Summer of Love" happened, most of the "true
                    hippies" felt the whole thing had gone to shit and just
                    become an excuse to get high and fuck.
                      -- had hippy parents
                    \_ lye, did your parents smoke pot? Are they still
                       liberal or have they become a lot more conservative?
                       \_ Clearly you don't know me at all if you're asking
                          what happened to my parents.  I'd rather not go into
                          it on the motd.  You can email me if you're really
                          interested.  --lye
                    \_ Isn't that it was always about? In any case, its
                       Zenith as a cultural movement was probably '68
                       "Summer of Love" or soon thereafter.
                    \_ I've seen what people looked like (especially hippies)
                       in the 60s ... I'd probably have to be high to fuck
                       anyone back then.
                       \_ I dunno. Gogo boots and minidresses are pretty rad.
                          It's the 70s that make me wanna hurl. Of course,
                          the above isn't 'hippy' attire.

5/20    DO NOT buy a Hitachi HD!!! Their return procedure sucks. I returned
        my drive 2 wks ago and they still haven't shipped my replacement.
        Service is just abysmal. FUCK HITACHI!!!
        \_ Just wait.  I remember it took a couple weeks from the day
           I dropped it off at the post office.
           \_ SEVERAL WEEKS? Western Digital gives you a new one the next day,
              even before you returned the defective one (provided that you
              give them a credit card). If you return the defective one within
              30 days they won't charge your card. It's called the Advanced
              RMA. Face it. Hitachi sucks.
              \_ Well, Hitachi RMA sucks, in terms of taking as long as
                 four weeks ("14 business days" + shipping).  But I still
                 trust Hitachi most in terms of reliability.  The
                 difference may not be that great for desktop drives, but
                 Hitachi/IBM makes superior notebook drives.

9/7     Hi, I have a Hitachi 80 GB drive.  It's begun failing.  The five
        minutes after a cold boot it's fine.  Then it starts clicking a bit,
        but gets worse over time; after half an hour, it is choking for 1-5
        seconds on random sectors every 10-30 seconds.  When I run Drive
        Fitness Check, it reports bad sectors but nothing else.  Can I return
        it?  I'm hoping someone knows to save me the trouble calling tech
        support.  I've returned two dead drives to Hitachi without calling
        before, but those were easy.  Thanks.
        \_ Return it with a description of the problem.  What's the worst they
           could do?  Tell you "It sort-of works!"?
           \_ I'm afraid they'll say, "Bad sectors mean it hasn't failed yet."
              But thanks, this is probably what I'll do.  I am wondering if
              I should also write:  "If it doesn't qualify, please don't send
              it back." -op
        \_ Drop the drive on the ground a couple times.  You should have no
           trouble returning it then.
           \_ Although I know above is a joke, I understand they have "ways"
              of determining whether it's user damage. (damage to external
              casing, i.e., hammer marks)
              \_ While it's running and reading/writing, shake it like mad.
                 \_ Like a Poloroid?
        \_ had the exact same problem with my WD drive. Turns out that when
           it gets really hot (after 30 min) it starts to do the exact same
           thing. Try to cool it down using a fan, back it up, then return
           or exchange it.

7/25    On another related note, I love my Hitachi 7200rpm notebook drive.
        http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=100519
        Too bad it's on backorder from the cheapest place.  http://newegg.com
        has it under "hitachi 7200rpm 9.5mm".

4/18    Toshiba or Hitachi laptop drive?
        \_ Hitachi.. they are/were IBM... the quietest and fastest
           laptop drives on the market (if you buy the 5400rpm).
           IBM sold their whole storage division to Hitachi.
           \_ Yeah, that's what I was thinking.  I don't see any 9.5mm drives @
              5400 rpm though.
              \_ Ah, just checked.  60gb drives are about $80 more if you go
                 from 4200 rpm to 5400.
           \_ Yeah, that's what I was thinking.  I don't see any 9.5mm
              drives @ 5400 rpm though.
              \_ Ah, just checked.  60gb drives are about $80 more if
                 you go from 4200 rpm to 5400.
        \_ I bought a hitachi travelstar 30 gb drive last week for
           around $90. It has 2 MB cache and is pretty quiet and
           suprisingly fast for a 4200 RPM drive. Similarly spec'ed
           toshiba's are a bit more expensive and since I had to keep
           it under $100, I chose the hitachi.

3/31    Where can I get a hard drive enclosure for a Toshiba Tecra 740 CDT
        hard drive?  I want to use this drive with a Toshiba Tecra 750
        CDM, but the 740's drive is too big (physically).