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[2011-04-13 15:00:47] - Stephen: Wait when does it start? I was thinking of purchasing HBO for the duration of the series... Depending on how much it costs... ~G
[2011-04-13 14:49:34] - a: i think it was something like 30% of my used space was fragmented, and 15% of my total hard drive space was fragmented. defrag thought i should defragment. windows 7 comes with a defragmenter but it said my drive was 0%-1% fragmented at home, so miguel's right, it's running on a schedule - aaron
[2011-04-13 13:15:58] - Who gets HBO and wants to host a Game of Thrones night? I'm not even familiar with the novels and yet I want to watch. - Stephen
[2011-04-13 12:27:29] - the question is, how fragmented was your partition before you ran the defragmenter? ~a
[2011-04-13 11:06:23] - mig: yeah i didn't see any improvement. - aaron
[2011-04-13 11:04:46] - aaron: the defragging experiment has proven to be inconclusive for me. - mig
[2011-04-13 10:12:37] - there's art of him on the mass effect wiki but I'm not 100% sure it's actually him. - mig
[2011-04-13 09:45:16] - paul: Joker is Jeff Moreou (sp?). James Sanders is apparently releated to a major character in the book series. - mig
[2011-04-13 09:20:44] - mig: Is James Sanders Joker? Also, that totally doesn't look like Ashley. -Paul
[2011-04-12 20:37:21] - mass effect 3 character information - mig
[2011-04-12 17:29:15] - fat? both fat and ntfs require defragmentation, right? ~a
[2011-04-12 16:59:08] - a: File_Allocation_Table#Fragmentation they don't have any speculation here (damn you wikipedia!) but i guess all the cons listed for "NTFS" are probably pros for "FAT". so i guess FAT performs better for smaller volumes? - aaron
[2011-04-12 16:28:26] - i wonder what the tradeoff is? 'cause i'm sure the filesystem people at microsoft are probably geniuses. ~a
[2011-04-12 16:27:01] - i know that some file systems resist fragmentation. i'm actually surprised win7 needs to run a defragmenter on a schedule. my main harddrive at home is four years old. i have never run a defragmenter on it and the filesystem is ~0% fragmented (0.4% to be exact). they stopped writing defragmenters for ext in the early 90s. ~a
[2011-04-12 15:30:03] - aaron: I defrag my parents machines if I try to use them and they are going super slow... And delete temporary internet files and such. I think it helps, but I am not sure how much ~g
[2011-04-12 15:20:47] - mig: yeah ditto! i don't have a lot on my plate right now, i'm going to benchmark it too to see if i can measure any sort of performance improvement for my day-to-day tasks. - aaron
[2011-04-12 15:19:08] - windows is recommending that I defrag my machine. I'll probably run it for fun when I leave work today and we'll see if that really makes any difference. - mig
[2011-04-12 15:17:02] - aaron: maybe it's important, but I'm guessing he just threw out something random to give the impression he knows things. - mig
[2011-04-12 15:09:16] - mig: oh that's not bad. wait you have to leave them on at night? are we supposed to do that? i thought computers needed 8 hours of sleep or they wouldn't perform optimally. maybe i'm thinking of people? - aaron
[2011-04-12 15:08:28] - mig: i only bring it up because jon is telling beymar that his computer is slow because he needs to defrag his hard drive. i'm trying to decide whether he's still living in the 90s or whether i actually just forgot how important it was - aaron
[2011-04-12 15:07:43] - http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2009/01/26/how-windows-7-handles-disk-defragmenting/ by default windows 7 will automatically do defragging for you (assuming you leave your machine on at night). - mig
[2011-04-12 15:03:50] - aaron: or I may be thinking of my comp before this last one. I'm not 100% sure if it's needed anymore. - mig
[2011-04-12 15:02:58] - aaron: I'm not 100% sure but I think my HD gets defragged on some sort of schedule. - mig
[2011-04-12 15:02:18] - do you guys still defragment your hard drives regularly? i don't know if this is as big a deal now that windows is off of FAT32. i don't think defrag is even "a thing" for ubuntu. but it just occurred to me that i don't think i've defragmented a hard drive since like 2005. - aaron
[2011-04-12 10:51:45] - itunes will grab extra metadata provided that you have the artist/album information already entered in (including things like album covers), I'm guessing it grabs the data from the same database the itunes store uses. - mig
[2011-04-12 10:47:57] - aaron: Cool, I didn't know it was a relatively standard feature in players these days. Explains why I had trouble finding a stand-alone product. Thanks. -Paul
[2011-04-12 10:34:09] - paul: a lot of applications use CDDB to populate ID3 tags, I think iTunes does that but if not, any open source players like amarok should have CDDB support - aaron
[2011-04-12 10:23:34] - I used to have a program which would scan my music files and populate the ID3 tags with information from the internet. Does anybody know of any software like that that exists now? -Paul
[2011-04-12 10:19:24] - usually i put the whole company on the TO line.
~a[2011-04-12 09:20:39] - My company is pretty good at using BCC. Gurkie and I even convinced our Tae Kwon Do instructor to use it for his emails. -Paul
[2011-04-12 09:18:43] - It's free cone day at Ben & Jerry's! Too bad free cone day wasn't yesterday, though. - Stephen
[2011-04-12 09:02:02] - pierce: hardly any company-wide emails here use bccs. Almost all of them put everybody in To: or cc: or just send it to ALL_EMPLOYEES type emails. - mig
[2011-04-12 02:02:35] - on a tangent, I'd say the real wtf was the original email asking for emergency contact info, which specified everyone in the agency (or a mailing list of the same) in the "To" field instead of doing the "To: me; Bcc: everyone else" thing. - pierce
[2011-04-11 16:53:09] - it uses a feature i presume isn't defined by rfc2045 or any of the subsequent rfcs. ~a
[2011-04-11 15:52:20] - g: Well, I think that functionality only works if both the sender and receiver are using outlook, right? -Paul
[2011-04-11 13:32:01] - Paul: yes... but recalling it didnt seem to do anything. Its still sitting in my inbox. And now I can contact his wife, and his children ~g
[2011-04-11 13:14:05] - Yeah its pretty useless. Maybe a slightly faster way than just composing a new a new email to the same people that says ignore that first one! -Daniel
[2011-04-11 11:41:29] - g: Nice. So everybody gets his contact info, and then everybody gets another email asking to recall the previous email? -Paul
[2011-04-11 11:02:08] - mig: I agree. We got an email asking for emergency contact info today from the govt, someone hit reply all so it went to everyone in the agency... And then tried to recall the email. Now I am not surewhat I hit I thought I hit ok but it is still in my inbox. ~g
[2011-04-11 10:13:43] - Message recall is probably the single most useless feature I've ever seen in any email client. - mig
[2011-04-09 21:52:19] - a: Definitely. And it's a references I groove. So, props to title from me. -- Xpovos
[2011-04-09 16:29:51] - not me . . . but i'm guessing he/she is also referencing the government shutdown. ~a
[2011-04-09 16:26:36] - title: Who's quoting Dark City? -- Xpovos
[2011-04-08 16:40:47] - a: yes ~g
[2011-04-08 16:38:56] - white and riley? ~a
[2011-04-08 16:32:52] - http://i.imgur.com/AkNBo.jpg budget debate resolved - aaron
[2011-04-08 15:53:59] - my work had a tourney (I didnt get to go) but the two guys from my office who have played with us most, Mark and Matt both placed. Mark got first, Matt got eighth, but they both got prizes... ~g
[2011-04-08 15:53:03] - im excited for poker this weekend! ~g
[2011-04-08 15:51:46] - Paul: short answer, now we will switch everything to bank of america hun! ~g
[2011-04-08 15:33:58] - g: Happy Merril Lynch buy-out day? -Paul
[2011-04-08 15:31:52] - aaron: nice defense... but why was he giving me flowers cause merril lynch got bought out? ~g
[2011-04-08 15:26:49] - paul: we had even been dating for almost 2 years when that happened. meanie. ~g
[2011-04-08 15:26:09] - paul: you probably got it mixed up with "let me give flowers to you dot com" - aaron
[2011-04-08 15:18:15] - g: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_1995_and_1996 -Paul
[2011-04-08 15:17:45] - Aaron: I can't explain using it on Gurkie, though. I guess I'm just an asshole sometimes. -Paul
[2011-04-08 15:17:14] - Daniel: according to a coworker (I didnt google this) in the past 20 years there was a 1 week shutdown, a 1 month shutdown, and another 1 week one... ~g
[2011-04-08 15:12:41] - Aaron: Heh, yeah, I totally only did it because Pierce did it previously. If I know the answer, I don't see a reason to make somebody hunt for it. Also, thanks for the frequency and not making me google it.
-Paul[2011-04-08 15:10:34] - Stephen: As far as I know, only Pierce is known for lmgtfy-ing people.
-Paul[2011-04-08 15:07:59] - aaron: I would probably want to say something like that, but would hold my tongue (uncharacteristically, I know). - Stephen
[2011-04-08 15:06:33] - (source, sorry, that sounded meaner than i meant it to) - aaron
[2011-04-08 15:05:58] - reeeeeally bugs me when people dismiss questions with "just check my facebook page" or "google if yourself" and stuff like that. lucky other than paul and pierce i don't think any of our friends are like that (and i think they were doing it tongue-in-cheek to piss eachother off) - aaron
[2011-04-08 15:05:07] - g: Its hard for me to imagine it going that long. I think if it lasted two weeks I'd be pretty surprised, and even that I think would be a stretch. -Daniel
[2011-04-08 15:04:39] - Ugh, DHS doesn't know yet if a shutdown will affect my contract. Say yes, say yes! - Stephen
[2011-04-08 15:04:09] - one of the guys here made a comment about being closed until June or July... That would change my opinion of the shutdown. Right now I think of it as possibly giving me a break. But that would be too much. ~g
[2011-04-08 14:55:33] - stephen: idk some things are hard to google - aaron
[2011-04-08 14:53:41] - paul: 88.5 fm - aaron
[2011-04-08 14:50:54] - Paul: I actually wanted to ask that same question, for the same reasons, then decided that people on the msg board would yell at me for not using Google. - Stephen
[2011-04-08 14:49:05] - aaron: What frequency is NPR around here? I have found WTOP to be lacking in terms of fulfilling my desire for news. -Paul
[2011-04-08 13:40:01] - mig: all i was saying is that it's tough to find an unbiased media source for this particular topic, since my usual media source, NPR, is not neutral on the issue - aaron
[2011-04-08 13:37:30] - mig: sure, alright, that's true. not really relevant to my point.... but it's technically true - aaron
[2011-04-08 13:05:11] - unless there was an actual rider that siad that, but as far as I know the federal government doesn't have the power to shut NPR down that iI know of. - mig
[2011-04-08 13:04:13] - ummm, zero-ing out NPR's federal funding is absolutely not the same thing as "shutting NPR down", that's quite biased. - mig
[2011-04-08 11:27:18] - aaron: Right, it's difficult to say that NPR is neutral on this issue. I mean, it certainly seems to me that the Republican riders are absurd from a budgetary standpoint, but I think the Democrats' attempts to balance the budget are just as laughable. - Stephen
[2011-04-08 11:21:46] - aaron: yea, I agree to some degree... and I guess its that the media is the only way I have of knowing what is going on but it seems like both sides are more interested in blaming each other than in figuring something out... ~g
[2011-04-08 11:19:25] - Reading a software site's page the second sentance is "There is nothing special about it." I <3 it!!! ~g
[2011-04-08 11:11:00] - NPR's spin has mostly been that the republicans are making unreasonable demands and that they've repeatedly increased the amount of cuts, and attached a dozen riders (including shutting down NPR) but, seeing as how NPR is one of the bargaining chips on the budget it's hard to consider them unbiased - aaron
[2011-04-08 11:09:49] - g: i think it's really hard for anybody not involved to understand whether either side is legitimately negotiating, or whether they're just trying to make unreasonable demands to force a shut down for political gains. so i think the public is going to rely on media coverage to derive an opinion, and it's just going to come down to which side has media support - aaron
[2011-04-08 10:55:18] - my impression of the politics of the shutdown... Both sides are okay with the shut down so long as the other side gets the blame. ~g
[2011-04-08 10:52:07] - g: I think he could have made progress on budget issues with the Dem congress but then health care reform probably wouldn't have happened. Cutting into defense spending is hard for Dem congress people too since cutting defense spending is the equivalent of firing people, whoever has those people in their disticts oppose the cuts (D or R). -Daniel
[2011-04-08 10:06:52] - stephen: Back atcha! ~g
[2011-04-08 09:57:27] - g: Happy (hopeful) Furlough Day to you, too! - Stephen
[2011-04-08 09:56:11] - aaron: While Barack does have to work within similar confines now, I think before the 2010 election he had a lot more ability to make progress since the dems were the majority... And while I dont pay as much attention as I could, I think he could have made more PROGRESS. Albeit no matter what he did I would probably want more progress. ~g
[2011-04-08 09:50:19] - they were talking on NPR about how when making budget cuts, there was absolutely no chance of cutting into defense spending (because it wouldn't draw republican support) and no chance of cutting into entitlements (i think this is a more bipartisan thing.) i assume barack has to work within similar confines, i mean, maybe not - aaron
[2011-04-08 09:47:43] - walking in today some guy, that I dont think I know, says "Happy Furlough Day! um, I mean Happy Friday." made me smile! ~g
[2011-04-08 09:46:13] - g: yeah, i think a lot other people wish that too - aaron
[2011-04-08 09:45:31] - paul: but... but exaggerating your argument makes me feel more sensible! - aaron
[2011-04-08 09:44:45] - aaron: I know you want to drop this so Ill just make one comment. Personally I dont hold him responsible for starting iraq/afghanistan but I wish I had seen more action on his part to stop the ongoing action there. And this might just be that I am unaware of what is going on. ~g
[2011-04-08 09:38:29] - aaron: Fine, we can agree to disagree, but I don't think it's fair for you to characterize my argument as "he's arguably fully responsible for every social/foreign policy the US ever did ever". I don't recall ever saying that, and I'm pretty sure you know that. -Paul
[2011-04-08 09:32:05] - it's not like we're going to learn anything except for how arguably silly the other person is - aaron
[2011-04-08 09:31:39] - paul: i think you already understand why it's arguably silly to hold obama responsible for iraq/afghanistan and i already understand why he's arguably fully responsible for every social/foreign policy the US ever did ever, so let's just say we understand eachother and disagree, i don't feel like talking about this anymore - aaron
[2011-04-08 09:29:47] - aaron: You didn't think what was relevant to my argument? -Paul
[2011-04-08 09:29:10] - aaron: For the record, the article you linked to also mentions how Obama said he didn't feel like he deserved the award. I'm not saying that necessarily means anything, since he could just being humble, but I figured it was worth mentioning. -Paul
[2011-04-08 09:29:00] - paul: i don't know, i didn't think that was relevant to your argument - aaron
[2011-04-08 09:27:37] - aaron: Why does my argument seem silly to you? I feel like it's pretty simple and obvious. A peace prize shouldn't go to somebody who is overseeing two war-things and hasn't seemingly done anything to advance peace. Which of those do you disagree with? -Paul
[2011-04-08 09:24:48] - aaron: Right, but what has he done to advance those causes? Even the article you linked to seemed to indicate that it was based somewhat on embracing the message that he stood for and tring to assist his foreign policy goals, rather than for anything specific he did. -Paul
[2011-04-08 09:24:07] - although it's also a possible reason why anybody of any significance should be passed over by the nobel committee, in preference of people who haven't done anything at all. so where's my god damn peace prize - aaron
[2011-04-08 09:22:45] - paul: your argument seems really silly to me, if someone else wants to tear it apart that's OK. if not that's OK too. but you're right, he was overseeing two war-type-things at the time he received the award and that's arguably a reason why he shouldn't have received it, despite any of his past work - aarib
[2011-04-08 09:20:39] - paul: well, i guess that's one argument why you should have received the nobel peace prize insetad of barack obama. at least you're not overseeing two wars right! - aaron
[2011-04-08 09:19:48] - aaron: Even if you don't want to call it a war, it's still two very non-peace-type activities. In fact, I can't think of much that is less peace like than extended military involvement. To me, it's like giving an NRA safety award to the Arizona shooter. -Paul
[2011-04-08 09:19:18] - paul: apparently he was nominated based on his work to prevent nuclear proliferation, climate change, and support for using the UN to accomplish policy goals. and when you're saying "now", i assume you mean, like, "2009", or whenever, when the peace prize was awarded? - aaron
[2011-04-08 09:16:14] - aaron: It's not like he was a non-violent protestor for decades, got awarded the peace prize, and then kicked a cat years down the road. He was given the award at the time when he was the president of a country overseeing two "extended US military involvement to a new country" things. You would think that would case the committee to think twice. -Paul
[2011-04-08 09:14:18] - aaron: I'm not arguing that he should give it back or anything, I'm saying he never should've received it. To my knowledge, he did nothing worthy of receiving the prize AND was actively engaged in activites which seem contradictory to the spirit of the prize when he received it. -Paul
[2011-04-08 09:12:47] - aaron: Absolutely I do. It's not like he once was a terrorist and is now a peace-maker (which would be the argument for Yassar Arafat). Even if he did do something worthy of receiving the nobel peace prize previously (and I have no idea what he did to deserve it), I think you have to take into the consideration what the man is currently doing now. -Paul
[2011-04-08 09:12:20] - aaron: I think you're technically right in that Obama didn't "start" the civil war in Libya, but he certainly got us militarily involved in that war. - mig
[2011-04-08 09:11:53] - you grew up on WWF and stuff so maybe you're thinking of it more like, a prize belt; where someone more peaceful should be able to kick obama's ass and take his nobel peace prize... hmmm.... wait that would be AWESOME - aaron
[2011-04-08 09:09:17] - so that no matter how fat or warmongering or stupid you get or how many indiana jones sequels you make, people will understand that there was a time when you were worthy of this award - aaron
[2011-04-08 09:08:54] - paul: i mean i understand the point that he should give back the award, or whatever, much in the same way that george lucas should give back a couple golden globes/academy awards, or maybe olympians should give back gold medals after they get fat and stuff, but i think that's the point of an award, something permanent to represent something you did in the past - aaron
[2011-04-08 09:05:57] - paul: you think that somehow negates the reasons for which he was given the award? i thought he was given the award based on some specific stuff he had done to advance peace during his time as a senator; i thought it was coincidence that the award ceremony coincided with this presidency - aaron
[2011-04-08 08:55:55] - paul: I believe also that GW Bush and Tony Blair were at one point nominated. - mig
[2011-04-08 08:53:19] - a: The movie comes out on the 15th, and is currently only showing in your next of the woods (Alexandria and Arlington). There's a decent chance I am busy that weekend, though. When would you be free to go? -Paul
[2011-04-08 08:52:16] - Of course, they also gave it to Yasser Arafat, so I guess giving it to ironic recipients isn't anything new. -Paul
[2011-04-08 08:49:52] - a: Because I find it to be absolutely hilarious how meaningless the prize has become. Giving it to somebody who was (at the time) overseeing two wars and had done seemingly nothing to advance peace? And now he's started an "extended US military involvement to a new country"? Giving it to Al Gore was genius compared to that. -Paul
[2011-04-08 08:45:27] - a: since he accepted the award, I don't think it's unreasonable to bring it up or expect him to live up to the standards of what that award is supposed to mean. - mig
[2011-04-08 01:20:46] - why does everybody keep bringing up the nobel peace prize thing? it's not like he gave it to himself. paul, you have mentioned it six times.
~a[2011-04-07 19:17:20] - aaron: You're definitely right about most (if not all) of our recent presidents undertaking numerous military engagements during their terms. I didn't mean to say that particular thing was unusual, only that I felt it was unusual for a nobel peace prize winner to do that while carrying out (at least) one other "war". -Paul
[2011-04-07 19:13:37] - aaron: Is Afghanistan a war? Is Iraq still a war? Was it under Clinton? How about Kosovo and Somalia? -Paul
[2011-04-07 19:09:47] - aaron: Well, you're technically right, since Congress never declared war, so legally it isn't one. I can see your point about it being an exaggeration, although I wonder where you draw the line. -Paul
[2011-04-07 18:34:27] - paul: i'm interested. ~a
[2011-04-07 17:59:54] - paul: i guess more interestingly, can you name a recent president who hasn't done that in their first term? - aaron
[2011-04-07 17:59:19] - perhaps the distinction between libya and iraq is fuzzier than i think it is, but it seems different to me - aaron
[2011-04-07 17:57:40] - paul: "starting a new war" is kind of an exaggeration isn't it? assuming you're talking about libya i guess the correct term would be more like, "extended US military involvement to a new country" or something like that, in which case i would bet like, 90% of presidents since like the 1940s have done that - aaron
[2011-04-07 17:07:22] - Daniel: Don't get me wrong, Obama has certainly accomplished a lot. How many other presidents can claim to have gotten a near trillion dollar stimulus bill passed, enacted a major overhaul of the health care system, replaced two supreme court justices, overseen two wars and started a new one, and won the nobel peace prize all in their first term? -Paul
[2011-04-07 16:53:49] - I mean, I would love to go over them one by one. Some of them are "extend so-and-so", which hardly seems like it would be an accomplishment. Others involve creating committees to study a topic, or appointing a czar to look over things or directing people to "think about" things. -Paul
[2011-04-07 16:53:39] - Daniel: I just got updated if there is a shutdown its up in the air as to whether we are working from elsewhere or not allowed to work... either way though my company will pay me... ~g
[2011-04-07 16:51:26] - http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/244/provide-affordable-high-quality-child-care/ This was listed as a promise kept because he threw money at the problem in the form of the stimulus. Maybe that counts as keeping his promise, but I don't know how much I would applaud him for that. -Paul
[2011-04-07 16:50:23] - Arg, I meant things that people HERE are happy about. -Paul
[2011-04-07 16:48:34] - Daniel: Sorry if I gave the wrong impression, I'm sure Obama has accomplished a lot, I was more wondering what he has accomplished that people are happy about. Also, a ton of items on that list seem rather sketchy to me. -Paul
[2011-04-07 16:43:45] - I figure it's a long shot, but is anybody interested in seeing the Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 movie with me? -Paul
[2011-04-07 16:39:21] - I think Paul was asking about things Obama had actually done? http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/rulings/promise-kept/ There is a list of stuff. Some of it is kind of vagueries like 'direct military to start thinking about end of iraq war' instead of 'end iraq war' but its still helpful to get an idea of stuff that has happened. -Daniel
[2011-04-07 15:58:10] - i'm always uneasy when boycotts accomplish anything. sure, this time maybe it was sane advertisers boycotting an insane show. but it could just as easily be insane advertisers boycotting a sane show and it makes me nervous when i realize there's no differerence between the two scenarios except for my rather skewed perception on which party is sane - aaron
[2011-04-07 15:54:13] - g: Apparently our contract is the same, no days off if the gov shuts down. -Daniel
[2011-04-07 15:45:05] - a: poor ratings does surprise me, though I think advertiser boycots would play a bigger factor. - mig
[2011-04-07 14:23:25] - poor ratings? that surprises me. i guess people were actually able to see past his BS. ~a
[2011-04-07 13:06:31] - nm i guess it's due to poor ratings and an advertiser boycott. oh well - aaron
[2011-04-07 13:05:54] - mig: pretty sure that cheers up everybody on this board. honestly i think the move will benefit the republican party than anybody else, which is probably why fox news is doing it - aaron
[2011-04-07 12:04:22] - in some news that will cheer up the liberal amongst this board, glenn beck is officially done at fox news. - mig
[2011-04-07 11:41:41] - Technically it will be unpaid. It will have to be "paid back" at some point, either through making up the hours missed or taking it out of vacation time. - mig
[2011-04-07 11:40:30] - mig: will you have paid or unpaid "vacation"? Cause that is what I would have been concerned about... ~g
[2011-04-07 11:07:35] - Our resident Tom Smykowski would have us believe that terrible things will happen but worse comes to worse people will have some "vacation" and that's about it. - mig
[2011-04-07 10:46:39] - a: also I assume you would be adversely affected since your situation is different. ~g
[2011-04-07 10:46:11] - a: although I thought your comment was more that I, aaron, and mig would be affected not the companies we work for. I am sure that some of our (Ametnra's) govt projects would be adversely affected but our employees will still be paid. ~g
[2011-04-07 10:45:08] - a: yes, our company is being paid from already allotted/paid(?) money. We can not win new contracts during the shutdown but my current work would be mostly unaffected. Plus my company does a lot of commercial consulting as well. ~g
[2011-04-07 10:16:14] - g: your company would still get paid if the government shut down? ~a
[2011-04-07 10:13:14] - g: I would probably have to work part-time, although I'm not sure if it would affect my income. - Stephen
[2011-04-07 09:57:03] - a: Im wondering how many govt contractors it would hurt... I know I would be fine... ~g
[2011-04-07 08:50:07] - a: I knew it! You can now call me Nostrapaulus. -Paul
[2011-04-07 08:49:29] - a: Or outright government employees, although I don't know if we have any on the board. -Paul
[2011-04-07 00:19:04] - PAUL! it has come to pass. extinction of men can now commence. ~a
[2011-04-06 19:59:49] - paul: it would probably hurt the government contractors on this board even more. ~a
[2011-04-06 17:09:41] - Vinnie: My guess is that the referees might have done something to indicate that the shot didn't count, so the players were expecting two free throws instead of one. -Paul
[2011-04-06 15:57:10] - paul: I think the announcers were sleeping too. no one except Lebron seemed to know what was going on - vinnie
[2011-04-06 15:14:28] - mig: Wow, that is pretty embarassing. Surprised the announcers didn't sound more shocked. -Paul
[2011-04-06 15:12:53] - Stephen: I would love a temporary government shutdown, even though I wouldn't benefit from it and it would probably actively hurt my company. -Paul
[2011-04-06 14:49:02] - hurlie or something? ~g
[2011-04-06 14:48:33] - aaron: I think my name has come across pretty odd from you before... ~g
[2011-04-06 13:29:34] - http://damnyouautocorrect.com/
[2011-04-06 12:33:44] - g: ha ha ha!!! that founds like it god have been really funny. i've sent some stupid text messages with fat thumbs and autocorrect before - aaron
[2011-04-06 11:33:40] - I would be good with a shut down. It wont save me work but it will save me commute time
~g[2011-04-06 11:01:31] - Stephen: I could be OK with a short-term shutdown. Nothing like a little political theatre. Got to love my most expensive free-entertainment system in the world. -- Xpovos
[2011-04-06 10:53:41] - paul: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Video-Heat-and-Timberwolves-fall-asleep-at-the-?urn=nba-wp833 the play we were talking about last night - mig
[2011-04-06 10:43:39] - Using swype this morning I almost send ane mail reading "found god" instead of "sounds good" ~g
[2011-04-06 10:39:04] - Stephen: I'm not sure if I would get any days off or not but I wouldn't mind a a few days off. I'm in the same boat that I get its not a good thing overall but I also like sleeping in. -Daniel
[2011-04-06 10:37:51] - Am I the only person who is selfishly hoping there is a temporary government shutdown? I'm pretty sure it'd be bad for this country, but I'd like to work part-time... - Stephen
[2011-04-05 18:10:13] - aaron/gurkie: mine. used when i wasn't planning on going home any time soon.
~a[2011-04-05 17:16:38] - gurkie: i knew him a little i guess. he was friends with somebody i knew. (pic1, pic2, cs at uva) ~a
[2011-04-05 16:04:33] - aaron: I figured it was yours... ~g
[2011-04-05 15:58:53] - i'm pretty sure that was one of your away messages in college. - mig
[2011-04-05 15:55:58] - title: whose away message was that? it sounds like something i would say - aaron
[2011-04-05 15:50:12] - he apparently just started at my company, so I had a call with him today, hence why I was wondering. ~g
[2011-04-05 15:13:41] - g: I mean I recognize the name, but I didn't really know him. - Stephen
[2011-04-05 15:06:21] - was that a no one knows of a vic kumar in tj 99? ~g
[2011-04-05 15:01:36] - Stephen: who would vote for a german? <<kidding>>~g
[2011-04-05 14:50:17] - Aaron: I'm perfectly willing to concede the point. I'm surprised that not even candidate Obama was apparently against the Patriot Act. I guess instead of growing a pair, I wish he cared for civil liberties then.
-Paul[2011-04-05 14:50:13] - g: Just 35, actually, so we are almost there. Maybe changing your name to Essen would do the trick. - Stephen
[2011-04-05 14:40:17] - I could be Georgia Washington. ~g
[2011-04-05 14:39:35] - Stephen: I forgot about the age requirement... You have to be what? 45? Ill change my name to... Jane Smith... Look much more American. Although maybe I should pick a more notable politics last name like Bush, or Kennedy, or Clinton ~g
[2011-04-05 14:23:49] - g: I'm sorry to say that you are too young. Plus, I will need to see your birth certificate - "Gurukirn Cheng" looks awfully suspicious... - Stephen
[2011-04-05 14:13:19] - xpovos: I was about to announce my bid for election as POTUS in 2012... I was going to be in the Republican primaries... ~g
[2011-04-05 13:45:44] - g: And this is why you, and James K. Polk will never be elected. -- Xpovos
[2011-04-05 13:37:23] - i mean it doesn't seem like there's any kind of campaign doublespeak this time, it seems like he's pushed for revisions of the patriot act that have been stalled in the house/senate judiciary committees. politifact is pretty thorough, although maybe they're biased - aaron
[2011-04-05 13:32:48] - http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/179/revise-the-patriot-act-to-increase-oversight-on-go/ this is the only thing i can find on politifact, regarding his campaign promises; he never said to repeal the patriot act, just to revise it - aaron
[2011-04-05 12:55:42] - In a way, it doesn't matter to me if Obama always supported the Patriot Act or if he just renewed it for political expediency. I was against the Patriot Act when Bush pushed it and I don't think Obama has done nearly enough to reform it to where I would consider him notably better. -Paul
[2011-04-05 12:45:34] - Aaron: You could be right about him being against the Patriot Act. Like Miguel said, I thought candidate Obama was fairly against it, but I'll fully admit that I am not sure one way or the other. -Paul
[2011-04-05 12:44:03] - If I were ever in public office I would like to think I would work towards my goals for the job not just for re-election. ~g
[2011-04-05 12:27:38] - mig: i mean if you're right, then theoretically we'd see him repeal it towards the end of his second (?) term - aaron
[2011-04-05 12:27:14] - mig: that's one way of looking at it, that link daniel posted also indicates that most democrats are for certain parts of the bill, and against other parts of the bill. maybe he wanted to keep it active so it could be amended? - aaron
[2011-04-05 12:21:07] - aaron: candidate obama was against the patriot act (not entirely, but against some of the more controversial aspects of it), but president obama grew a little too fond of the powers it gave him. - mig
[2011-04-05 12:19:21] - i can't really rationalize why, unless somehow it makes him more appealing to some tiny demographic of swing voters. or maybe deep down he just really likes the way patriots act or something idk - aaron
[2011-04-05 12:17:29] - paul: i thought obama actually liked the patriot act; most democrats voted against the extension when we were talking about it back in february so I thought obama was "growing a pair" by standing up to the democratic party and voting to continue it. - aaron
[2011-04-05 11:04:13] - g: That may be the case (although I still don't think that's a good reason). If Obama sold the Patriot Act opposition down the river in order to pass his health care bill, that is NOT a positive for me. -Paul
[2011-04-05 11:02:45] - Daniel: Ah, ok. Sorry, I slightly misunderstood/misread your initial point. I thought you were saying that we would have a super conservative Supreme Court if a Republican were elected in 2012. -Paul
[2011-04-05 10:53:01] - Paul: I would imagine there is a lot of maneuvering behind the scenes... "okay I wont put my energy into blocking your health care bill, if you dont actively pursue the patriot act." "okay, its a deal" or some behind the scenes stuff where priorities are made. ~g
[2011-04-05 10:52:38] - Paul: It can happen but odds aren't in favor of that happening. -Daniel
[2011-04-05 10:52:14] - Paul: Right but thats assuming I want things kept even - I don't want the court to become more conservative - which is what electing Obama did the first time around - and if he can make it less conservative his 2nd time around thats a plus - I'm more happy with Kagan than another Thomas/Scalia - also - Daniel -
[2011-04-05 10:51:16] - Daniel: And it's always hard to draw associations between presidents and justices anyway. Republican presidents have nominated justices who ended up being "liberal" and I'm sure the opposite has happened too. -Paul
[2011-04-05 10:50:21] - Daniel: "conservative" justice would keep things even. -Paul
[2011-04-05 10:50:00] - Daniel: Wait... what? Bush nominated two new justices and Obama nominated two, so we're "even" over the past 11 years. There's no guarantee that justices are likely to retire or die over the next 4 years (didn't Clinton not have any nominations in 8 years?) and it's entirely possible that a "conservative" would retire/die, which would mean being replaced with a... -Paul
[2011-04-05 10:48:27] - daniel: that's a fair point. But I'm not sure though why any progressive would be thrilled about Kagan though, who happens to be a fan of Bush-style executive power. - mig
[2011-04-05 10:41:07] - Also important are replacing SCOTUS Justices as they retire. If a repub was president now then the balance would be super conservative since we've had two new ones in the last 4 years. -Daniel
[2011-04-05 10:40:33] - g: I can see that for some things like closing Guantanamo and renewing the tax cuts, but I don't feel like there was any political pressure in the US to attack Libya. Also, Obama fought plenty hard for his health care bill, so why couldn't he grow a pair and stand up to the Patriot Act? -Paul
[2011-04-05 10:40:21] - So, like most everyone else, if I voted for him in that binary election, it would be because I still somehow perceived him as the lesser of two evils. Which is pretty sad for Palin and Huckabee, based on my previous statements. -- Xpovos
[2011-04-05 10:39:28] - Paul: About the only thing Obama did that would make me more likely to vote for him in the next election is the increased efforts to win the conflict in Afghanistan. IMO, we wasted a lot of money and time traipsing through Iraq to no purpose, when we should've been putting those resources to work in Afghanistan. -- Xpovos
[2011-04-05 10:38:21] - Stephen: Fair enough, although even with Republicans in control of the presidency and both branches of congress, they were really only able to increase restrictions on abortion a little bit. I feel like most of those things are sound bites to rally their base, but not practical political moves. -Paul
[2011-04-05 10:35:34] - http://www.billandted3.com/ A movie I never thought would be made. -Paul
[2011-04-05 10:28:38] - paul: also id rather have someone in office who agrees with me more even if politically they feel trapped into doing things the other way, because I believe they will be more likely to curb the excesses. ~g
[2011-04-05 10:27:44] - paul: I understand that not all goals are necessarily politically viable if you want a second term. I wish that presidents didnt really think about it like that, i mean they got voted in for a reason some people like their ideas, but they do. ~g
[2011-04-05 10:25:36] - Paul: I'm not sure we can answer your question about what Obama has done that has made his supporters happy. I know I can't. I can tell you what would make me even less happy, though - increased restrictions on abortion, taking away birthright citizenship, and passing a federal marriage amendment. - Stephen
[2011-04-05 10:24:01] - Paul: I don't know if they will get rid of the bad parts or not. Dem's are pretty big wusses when it comes to national security issues a lot because any wavering gets jumped all over by the repubs. I hope they do but we will see. -Daniel
[2011-04-05 10:23:42] - paul: even with all that, I can't imagine anybody here who voted for obama to vote for a Romney or Pawlenty or Palin. There's nobody really on the green or liberal independants I can think of that would be appealing either. - mig
[2011-04-05 10:22:20] - g: Unless you were really excited about the health care bill or the stimulus or having a nobel peace prize winner as president.... I'm not sure what Obama achievements are exciting. I understand Bush "stood" for things people here disagree with, but in a practical sense, how has Obama been better? -Paul
[2011-04-05 10:20:20] - g: I understand, but I feel like this is almost taking things too far. I just can't fathom what Obama has done that could make his supporters happy: Patriot Act renewed, Guantanamo Bay still open, soldiers still in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush tax cuts renewed, drug war still being fought, another war started... -Paul
[2011-04-05 10:14:54] - Who knows Vic Kumar? Apparently he was TJ 99 but I didnt see anyone that I would associate as a "vik" in the yearbook photos. I am guessing it is the guy that has a v first initial and kumar as his last name... ~g
[2011-04-05 10:13:55] - Paul: I think its a difference of opinions you tend to vote for what you want rather than vote for the lesser of 2 evils. I do think a lot of people prefer to vote for the lesser of 2 evils rather than vote for someone they agree with who has no chance at winning. ~g
[2011-04-05 10:12:16] - Paul: I would likely vote for Obama too... I could say that it will depend on the situation such as if there was a third party candidate who had a chance to win... but barring that I am likely to vote for Obama. ~gurkie
[2011-04-05 10:05:16] - Daniel: Do you think they will get rid of the "bad" parts? -Paul
[2011-04-05 10:04:59] - aaron: Maybe it's normal for Russia and England to bounce in Norway, but it seemed crazy to me that both of them managed to avoid picking up any SCs. - Stephen
[2011-04-05 10:02:58] - Paul: Nope, it's one of the main reasons I have become disillusioned with the Democrats over the last few years. I just wish we had more than two real options come election time. - Stephen
[2011-04-05 10:02:20] - Paul: Sort of like Daniel said, I couldn't vote for a Republican party whose positions on the role of religion, immigration and the military are so starkly in contrast with my own. - Stephen
[2011-04-05 10:02:11] - Stephen: Oh, ok. So I feel like we've seen where the Democrats stand on the Patriot Act, then. Do you expect a different result in May? -Paul
[2011-04-05 10:01:14] - And please don't think I'm trying to criticize or anything, because I can certainly understand that logic and even partially agree with it (especially considering the presumed GOP favorites right now). -Paul
[2011-04-05 10:00:14] - Paul: Yes, Obama signed legislation a year ago furthering the life of some of the most controversial parts of the Patriot Act. - Stephen
[2011-04-05 09:59:33] - I guess I find it curious, because it sounds like some (most?) of the responses are that you guys will probably vote for Obama (barring something unexpected) and a (the?) big reason seems to be because you don't want Republicans to win the office. Does that seem fair? -Paul
[2011-04-05 09:58:13] - Vinnie: Can I ask why you would vote for Obama, then? Is it just to keep the Republicans out of the office? -Paul
[2011-04-05 09:55:39] - Stephen: Has a Democrat dominated congress had any votes to re-authorize the Patriot Act yet? For some reason I have it in my head that the Democrats had their shot and voted for it anyway, but I have no proof of that and suspect it's false. -Paul
[2011-04-05 09:53:25] - but yeah like stephen if there was a non-republican incumbent i might actually have to give it thought, i just draw too many negative mental associations with republicans to even hear them out anymore. - aaron
[2011-04-05 09:50:44] - aaron: well it's logical to blame bush for the afghan/iraq wars. he started them. - mig
[2011-04-05 09:46:33] - but i tend to blame presidents for a lot of stuff they don't do; just stuff that happened during their presidency. for example i still credit clinton for the tech boom of 1995-2000 and i still blame bush for 9/11 and the iraq/afghanistan wars. i know it's dumb, but i'm human and human brains are programmed to draw these kinds of flawed associations - aaron
[2011-04-05 09:46:06] - Hmm my url got messed up if you get rid of the ) at the end it will work. -Daniel
[2011-04-05 09:45:19] - paul: well, to rephrase; i think our economic standing has improved, and i don't think he did anything to impede that. i think it's partially due to the economic ebb and flow and partially to the TARP stuff that GWB put into place. so i'm willing to admit it's not necessarily anything he did right. - aaron
[2011-04-05 09:44:11] - Assuming they do actually get rid of some of the bad parts that seems a reasonable approach. -Daniel
[2011-04-05 09:43:56] - A couple of different Dem's posted their thoughts on the Patriot Act on reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/fvvd4/iama_member_of_congress_rep_john_garamendi_dca_ama/c1j04fr) for example. Mostly their thoughts were parts of it are good so we don't want to get rid of the whole thing, parts of it are bad so we want to get rid of those. -Daniel
[2011-04-05 09:42:18] - stephen: germany in marseilles was really crazy. other than that and the failed lepanto i don't see anything too unusual although i might have skipped over something important - aaron
[2011-04-05 09:28:47] - aaron: According to Wikipedia, the Patriot Act was extended for 90 days on 2/28/11. I guess in May we'll see whether the Democrats really care about civil liberties. - Stephen
[2011-04-05 09:26:27] - almost certainly voting for Obama. the election is still a year and a half out and things could turn around, but it probably won't be with much enthusiasm - vinnie
[2011-04-05 09:17:20] - Voting for Obama. Its hard for me to see voting for a Republican when I see them as the party of anti science and social conservative champions. Also their main selling point of 'fiscal responsiblity' seems to get shot in the foot by their constant insistence of tax cuts for the wealthly. -Daniel
[2011-04-05 09:01:21] - aaron: Also, it's worth noting that I believe we still have thousands of troops in Iraq, they're just considered advisors instead of combat forces. -Paul
[2011-04-05 09:00:14] - aaron: Interesting. You think he has improved our economic standing? A lot of people feel like the economy could be a problem for him in the upcoming election. -Paul
[2011-04-05 08:57:55] - a: Right, but I'm not the one claiming that I might not vote for Obama depending on who the other candidates are.
-Paul[2011-04-05 08:41:20] - it's "What the heck, England" and "Nice play Italy". Not two phrases usually used in 1901... -- Xpovos
[2011-04-05 08:40:30] - Stephen: Interesting. Spring I was "Aw, poor France" and "Look out for the Juggernaut". Fall its' "
[2011-04-05 08:30:54] - diplomacy people: For a very strange 1901, look at 2011-7. - Stephen
[2011-04-05 08:30:19] - Paul: I would consider voting for a throwaway candidate from the Green Party or something, but I would never vote Republican. - Stephen
[2011-04-05 08:30:02] - also i forget, i know the dems voted against the patriot act in some sort of like, "should we vote on the patriot act" kind of preliminary thing, did they end up reversing their decision when it came time to vote on the actual bill?? i remember some people predicting that they were going to, that voting against it preliminarily was just for show - aaron
[2011-04-05 08:25:52] - and as a bonus i feel like US favorability ratings have gone up and i mean, i don't know. compared to the previous two presidencies at least nothing exploded nobody got a hummer and i can't think of any "blank crisis" that came up, except for maybe unemployment - aaron
[2011-04-05 08:22:36] - paul: it doesn't matter to me, i'll vote for him no matter what. he hasn't done anything to really disappoint me, i didn't have particularly high expectations at the beginning of his presidency i just kind of wanted him to improve our economic standing and remove US troops from iraq although at the time i didn't think the latter would be feasible. - aaron
[2011-04-05 01:20:38] - and i would be just as shocked if you voted for a democratic candidate. ~a
[2011-04-04 22:39:23] - a: Well, there aren't any well known potential libertarian candidates right now (unless you count Ron Paul). And for the record, I would be pretty shocked if you voted for a Republican candidate. -Paul
[2011-04-04 21:33:44] - Paul: To answer your secondary question, I'd vote for Obama in a binary election over Palin and Huckabee, but would probably side with Romney, and Gingrich. Of course, I'd vote for Ron Paul over Obama in 2012, seeing as I did in 2008 as well. -- Xpovos
[2011-04-04 21:32:25] - a: I'd consider Ron Paul pretty libertarian, even if he ends up running as a Republican. -- Xpovos
[2011-04-04 21:25:10] - i have no idea. probably wouldn't matter for palin, imo. but for the others it might matter. i think i need to learn more about some of them. honestly, i'm a little surprised that you chose only republican opponents. who are the potential libertarian candidates? ~a
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