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[2013-08-15 09:48:46] - paul: yeah i don't want a politician whose beliefs are in conflict with mine, and will stand up for them, even when unpopular. and by the definition of "unpopular", you can't have one without having MORE of the other
- aaron[2013-08-15 09:20:56] - Aaron: Well, in an ideal world, I want a politician whose beliefs align with mine and will stand up for them, even when unpopular. I understand that's not really how our representative democracy is supposed to work, but I don't really care. Popular opinion is often wrong. -Paul
[2013-08-14 17:49:41] - paul: hmm. i'm not sure. i'll have to think about that. i mean obviously i like politicians whose beliefs align with mine, but if a politician has a really unpopular belief... i feel like i'd rather they listen to the people, rather than stand up for their personal unpopular beliefs - aaron
[2013-08-14 16:49:36] - Aaron: So, sure, I absolutely agree that he gets some credit for changing to the "right" way of thinking, but I give a lot more credit to people who stand up for what's right when it's unpopular, instead of only when it's popular. -Paul
[2013-08-14 16:46:29] - aaron: and we're certainly not saying that these things aren't worthy of any praise, just not as much as people seem to be giving him. - mig
[2013-08-14 16:46:14] - http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/how-opinion-on-same-sex-marriage-is-changing-and-what-it-means/?_r=0 Opposition to gay marriage was fairly consistently close to 60% for most of W's presidency. I'm saying if you take the same Obama that we have now and make him president during W's term, I don't think he has his "evolution". -Paul
[2013-08-14 16:44:40] - Aaron: Sure, but again, I have no desire to defend W on his social policies. He was bad on this issue. That doesn't make Obama praise-worthy just because he is better. I also think you two are underestimating the fairly dramatic difference in public opinion that has changed over the past decade. -Paul
[2013-08-14 16:39:25] - paul: (gwb jr either, i guess that's what i meant) - aaron
[2013-08-14 16:38:47] - paul: not 100% a fair comparison because it goes against the party line, but i don't know. i think it's totally worthy of praise that a politician would backpedal on something like this based on public opinion. i want my politicians and my laws to reflect public opinion, not a private agenda - aaron
[2013-08-14 16:37:56] - paul: i agree with adrian, i think that even if it's obvious, or even if it's something anybody should have done... i think many other presidents wouldn't have changed their position the way he did. can you honestly imagine george bush sr. giving the speech obama did with regards to gay marriage, or what kind of flak he'd have received? i mean obviously that's - aaron
[2013-08-14 16:35:40] - Aaron: But to crack down hard on legal (at least according to state laws) businesses and whatnot in the name of the drug war for 4+ years and then offer tepid support for backing off some after the public clearly is showing signs of going in a more tolerant direction... I just don't see any big reason to praise him for that. -Paul
[2013-08-14 16:34:09] - Aaron: Hey, I'm not bashing him for following the public, I'm just not giving him much credit. If he had stood up strongly for gay marriage or drug decriminalization as soon as he became president, I would give him more credit. -Paul
[2013-08-14 16:31:39] - yeah, i find it really annoying that our elected officials base their policies on things that americans want. like, they weren't pushing for gay marriage/drug legalizaiton back when people were against it... but now that 50% of americans are in favor of these things, suddenly they're changing their policies? wtf? - aaron
[2013-08-14 16:12:07] - "gay marriage legalized or drug sentences reduced" both of these are hot button issues with a huge portion of the united states that are very strongly against it. obama will alienate people for sure on both topics. it's politically risky, but hell, he doesn't have to run again. ~a
[2013-08-14 15:53:07] - a: He wasn't fighting against obstructionist Republicans or a "do-nothing" congress to try to get gay marriage legalized or drug sentences reduced. -Paul
[2013-08-14 15:52:23] - a: I understand, but like Miguel mentioned earlier, at least in this area, Obama had a lot of power to change things. It's not been a power issue for Obama (he's pretty freely overstepped presidential boundaries before), it's priorities. -Paul
[2013-08-14 15:32:29] - that's why i want you to put it in perspective of historical american presidents: the president, no matter how awesome you want him to be, can only do so much. even if ron paul or paul ryan or rand paul or gary johnson become president today, they won't end the fed tomorrow. so i use past presidents as a yardstick. ~a
[2013-08-14 15:28:41] - a: Like I said, I do give him a little credit on gay marriage and (maybe, possibly) the drug war, but it's mostly credit for not screwing up the change the American public has been helping to bring about by itself. Obama was still pretty horrible on the drug war up to now. -Paul
[2013-08-14 15:27:26] - a: Ok, sure. My point has nothing to do with how bad of a president Bush may have been, though. My point is how disappointing a president Obama has been. I knew he would be bad (IMO) on most things, but he wasn't any better on the few things I was hopeful for (civil liberties, mainly). -Paul
[2013-08-14 15:24:47] - "a little convenient that Obama evolves on gay marriage right around the time it crosses the 50% threshold of Americans" my point: the threshold for bush jr would have been like 80%-90% before he considered it something that wasn't horribly against his belief in jesus (both the gay marriage thing and the drug war). ~a
[2013-08-14 15:13:47] - a: So, yeah, I give him some credit for basically being the best president that we've had on those two issues so far, but I don't feel like he deserves much because all he basically had to do is ride the wave of public sentiment and not go backwards. -Paul
[2013-08-14 15:11:39] - I also expect a lot more from someone who called the war on drugs a total failure when he was a senator. - mig
[2013-08-14 15:11:04] - paul: not to mention that his "evolution" conveniently came around 3-4 months before the election. - mig
[2013-08-14 15:09:40] - a: And it seems like he had his hand similarly forced when a few states legalized marijuana. Continuing to prosecute the drug war like he had in the past would bring up some tough legal battles pitting federal law against state laws. -Paul
[2013-08-14 15:08:05] - a: It seems a little convenient that Obama evolves on gay marriage right around the time it crosses the 50% threshold of Americans supporting it (and it getting legalized in many states) and right after Biden forced his hand by talking about how he was ok with it. -Paul
[2013-08-14 15:06:49] - a: No, but the political environment is also much more different. Up until pretty recently, gay marriage was still pretty unpopular in the US and decriminalizing drugs in any way was associated only with crazies like the libertarians. -Paul
[2013-08-14 15:02:46] - paul: "in both cases I feel like he could've done a lot more a lot sooner" put it in perspective of the presidency. would bush (jr or sr) have done anything about evolving his stances on gay marriage or the drug war even given public opinion swings? i'm not even sure that clinton would have gone this far this quickly. ~a
[2013-08-14 14:57:02] - mig: I basically agree. Obama gets a little credit for his "evolution" on gay marriage and harsh drug war sentences, but in both cases I feel like he could've done a lot more a lot sooner, and instead he waited until public opinion had clearly swung that way to change his stance. -Paul
[2013-08-14 14:47:37] - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_STOP_AND_FRISK_CAMERAS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-14-06-49-04 NYC officials cool to idea of police body cameras - aaron
[2013-08-14 13:52:39] - Paul: I'm not sure how many games i would count Andrea in for. I'm probably in for 4ish games though anything Feb onward will be trickier for me though not 100% out of the question either. -Daniel
[2013-08-14 13:38:19] - Daniel: I haven't heard anything from the sales rep I dealt with before for Wizards tickets, but I was thinking maybe the same number of games but only 4 seats per game. Are you and Andrea interested in going to about the same number of games as last year? -Paul
[2013-08-14 13:37:40] - Daniel: Hmmm, not sure if power forward was an area of need (I think I would rather see a backup point guard), but I guess it doesn't hurt much. -Paul
[2013-08-14 13:34:46] - Paul: Also do you plan on doing Wizards tickets again this year? Less games/tickets than last year? -Daniel
[2013-08-14 13:34:06] - http://www.hoopsrumors.com/2013/08/wizards-sign-al-harrington.html Most of interest probably to Paul. -Daniel
[2013-08-14 13:27:59] - a: Nah, I'm fine with the Vinnie marketing too. I'm sure he has some interests that coincide with mine. -Paul
[2013-08-14 13:14:26] - ok, fine. all message board advertising will be targeted towards vinnie. remember, option B: $.01 per decade: my internet bandwidth is getting super expensive. ~a
[2013-08-14 13:00:29] - I'd be ok with msg board advertising as long as it was always targeted towards paul - vinnie
[2013-08-14 12:25:26] - Now that everyone acknowledges that a lot of people are in prison that shouldnt' be there, what is stopping him from rectifying the situation himself? The "obstructionists" can't stop him and he has no re-election to worry about. - mig
[2013-08-14 12:23:06] - And I do hope it will lead to more people asking why the president doesn't use his unilateral powers of clemency. After the law eliminating the disparity between crack/cocaine sentences, he has only commuted the sentence of exactly 1 person who was serving what now everyone acknowledges is a unduly harsh sentence. - mig
[2013-08-14 12:13:04] - and even if it's six years too late. - mig
[2013-08-14 12:12:57] - at reform, even if it's a modest one. - mig
[2013-08-14 12:12:45] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/as-prisons-overflow-attorney-general-holder-calls-for-new-approaches-to-criminal-justice/2013/08/11/38e25dc8-0 i'll give the administration some credit here. Unlike previous statements that were all talk and no substance, this seems like it's actually seems like a sincere attempt
[2013-08-13 19:23:16] - the EFF thinks that it's lame that we can't run "servers" from our home computers . . . what's more, EFF agrees that the definition of a server has become blurred in recent years. ~a
[2013-08-13 16:32:20] - false. ~a
[2013-08-13 16:30:16] - a: "everybody should be switching over now before it's too late" When is it too late? I thought only people with something to hide have to worry about the NSA... -Paul
[2013-08-13 16:28:54] - aaron: Me too. I was worried when all the coverage was all about, "Where is Snowden? Is he in China? Russia? On the Bolivian president's plane?" Now that Snowden is finally "settled", people are actually paying attention to what he leaked. -Paul
[2013-08-13 16:27:32] - a: I like it. It would make a good homepage for me. I'll choose the free version.
-Paul[2013-08-13 16:20:02] - me on bitmessage: BM-Gtyyapqoe2WRMYeCgs7meXcemjfUafwZ ~a
[2013-08-13 16:08:30] - paul: i'll say it again, i'm just surprised and pleased that it's getting this much publicity. i find it ironic that these e-mail providers are doing so much more for e-mail security by shutting down, than they ever did by delivering e-mails - aaron
[2013-08-13 16:03:00] - paul: VERY TARGETED. so damn targeted. it'll be about all paul all the time. ~a
[2013-08-13 16:02:35] - paul, i'm scared too. everybody should be switching over now before it's too late: bitmessage, textsecure. don't assume that because you aren't saying anything important that your messages shouldn't be protected. ~a
[2013-08-13 16:01:48] - a: What kind of advertising? Would it be targeted? -Paul
[2013-08-13 15:59:45] - paul: i thought about making that joke earlier. i was going to propose: choose one: A. 99% of the message board will be covered in advertising B. you must pay me $.01 per decade. ~a
[2013-08-13 15:55:09] - a: I'll understand when suddenly the message board is down with a cryptic warning about the NSA and cookies being on by default.
-Paul[2013-08-13 15:54:31] - a: Yeah... it's pretty dramatic stuff. They can't even give a warning to their users and they can't tell anybody why they're doing what they're doing. It's getting kinda scary. -Paul
[2013-08-13 15:52:55] - "Without warning ...the firm not only quit the business, it destroyed its servers. Clients' e-mails vanished without a trace." shit. ~a
[2013-08-13 15:37:23] - wtf, this guy is a genius ~a
[2013-08-13 15:35:23] - http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/rieder/2013/08/12/reider-nsa-snooping-collateral-damage/2642557/ More information on email providers shutting down. -Paul
[2013-08-13 15:10:16] - And I only like targetted ads in certain circumstances, and I'm very fickle. I like going to BoardGameGeek and seeing an ad for a new Vlaada Chvatil game. I like using my Amazon Cloud Player and having it tell me, "You might like Pirate Hooker by Zomboy." But, I dislike when ITunes gives me music recommendations. I don't know why. - aaron
[2013-08-13 15:06:23] - Just to chime in on the advertising thing; I personally don't have a problem with targetted ads, but I think the average person does. I think Mozilla is smart to make these changes to the default cookie policy, because default settings should reflect the preferences for a normal user. If you (like me) still like targeted ads, you can change your prefs - aaron
[2013-08-13 13:39:02] - paul: obama does an awful lot of talk show interviews as well, and arguably he have less time to do these things than a senator. - mig
[2013-08-13 13:37:57] - I have no idea how Rand Paul finds so much time to do interviews. Are we sure he doesn't have a twin brother? -Paul
[2013-08-13 13:37:28] - a: Also, apparently Rand Paul was on the Daily Show last night to discuss Obamacare. -Paul
[2013-08-13 13:33:12] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/smells-team-spirit-yankee-candle-releases-line-college-161051471.html#more-31373 get your VT scented candles! - mig
[2013-08-13 13:28:34] - haha yeah 14 was awesome. ~a
[2013-08-13 13:27:08] - a: Regarding your onion link: I won't lie, I could almost believe #14 if it wasn't from the Onion.
-Paul[2013-08-13 13:23:54] - mig: the level of ads i'm seeing are the amount of ads that people in general are willing to tolerate. but i'm hoping for a world where: A. people are willing to tolerate less ads. B. people can opt-out of ads for a price. ~a
[2013-08-13 13:22:16] - mig: lots of these markets don't exist. nobody will let me watch the daily show without ads (for a fee). granted, hulu is amazing and definitely in the right direction, but why doesn't hulu have a no-ad tier? would it actually be that expensive? how much does hulu get paid per time they show me the same damn ad? ~a
[2013-08-13 13:21:30] - paul: taxes should be 0%. i'll get my government services for "free" with advertising. ~a
[2013-08-13 13:20:54] - Whether you like it or not, the level of ads you're seeing now are presumably the amount of ads that people in general are willing to tolerate. - mig
[2013-08-13 13:18:01] - a: Just because we both agree that all TV all the time shouldn't be advertising doesn't mean we agree in any meaningful way, I don't think. We both probably agree that the tax rate shouldn't be 100%... that doesn't mean we have meaningful agreement on what taxes should be.
-Paul[2013-08-13 13:17:52] - a: isn't that what we have markets for? Some of the more obnoxious ad formats (the interrupting flash add splashing over whatever article you're reading), seem to have been phased out in favor of more subtle stuff. - mig
[2013-08-13 13:17:24] - mkay. ~a
[2013-08-13 13:16:57] - a: Right, but you're somehow missing out on all the times I've said I think there are probably too many ads now and less would be better. I don't think at any point anybody was arguing that what we really need is more ads. -Paul
[2013-08-13 13:15:14] - http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/13/xbox-one-then-and-now?utm_campaign=ign+main+twitter&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social "The end result of all these changes is that the Xbox One is now functionally almost identical to the PS4 in most crucial ways" -Paul
[2013-08-13 13:14:38] - paul: ok, to follow that thread: what if the unobtrusive ads were twice as long as they currently are. you'd be fine with that? what about 100 times as long. for each 3 hour show, you have to watch 2 hours and 58 minutes of advertising. we all agree there would be a level (hopefully way before that) that you'd just stop watching the show. ~a
[2013-08-13 13:12:15] - the 35 best times someone on facebook thought the onion was real ~a
[2013-08-13 13:11:37] - a: While I think that ads serve a purpose, and while lots of them (and lots of non-targeted ones in particular) are annoying, I am very much ok with relatively unobtrusive ads (specifically if they are smartly targeted). -Paul
[2013-08-13 13:09:36] - a: I think we're further apart than you're trying to portray, though. Sure, less ads would be cool and I would be for that, but you seem to think that ads are evil and anything that can reduce their affect on your life is good. -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:58:32] - we can all agree there could hypothetically be a level of "too much ads" right? I think we just disagree where that level is. ~a
[2013-08-13 12:57:50] - I just don't get the hysteria over "tracking" people on websites and the like. I mean, back in college I would keep hearing the refrain "information wants to be free" now all of a sudden people want to add the caveat "unless it's my data". - mig
[2013-08-13 12:56:50] - Oh, and that trailer is probably NSFW.... I just watched the first few seconds to make sure it was the movie trailer and not an ad. -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:56:09] - a: I just went to the kick ass 2 website (http://www.kickass-themovie.com/#/video) and the trailer started right up with no ad before it. -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:55:11] - I've seen ads before watching videos online, but not often for watching movie trailers. -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:52:05] - websites show you an ad before you can see the movie trailer. you've seen this, right? ~a
[2013-08-13 12:49:34] - a: Amazon has it's famous related items lists and recommendations. Are those ads? They kinda are, but I like them because they're often helpful to me. -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:47:56] - a: And I also feel the line is starting to get blurred between what is an ad and what is just a personalized experience for people. I like watching movie trailers. Showing movie previews in a commercial on TV is an ad, but slap it on a website and I'll gladly go to it and watch it without considering it an ad. -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:45:51] - a: But I also would be pretty into really intelligently targeted ads as well. I would be more than happy to have banner ads telling me about movies I might like or video games that fit my tastes or new restaurants in the area. -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:44:46] - a: Ok, I feel like you're being a little misleading by saying you want "less ads" because your "less ads" really means zero ads, right? This is a little weird, because I kinda agree that a world with no ads would be kinda cool... -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:43:47] - that's a good point. we're heading the right direction. but imo, we're not there yet. ~a
[2013-08-13 12:42:47] - a: I feel like we're mostly moving towards less ads as a culture, though. Compare the number of ads on TV with the ads on YouTube or Hulu or Netflix. -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:42:08] - paul: i don't want less but more-targeted ads. i want less-ads and less-targeted ads. i just want less ads. if that means i have to pay for things i actually use, i don't mind paying for things i actually use. ~a
[2013-08-13 12:40:59] - i don't want to be tracked. i don't want to be a product. i don't want to be a commodity for sale to the highest bidder. thank you firefox, for protecting my privacy from an industry that throws around words like "responsible and transparent use of cookies" and expects me to believe them. ~a
[2013-08-13 12:40:37] - a: I guess I agree on wanting less ads... but that also feels completely counter to everything you had said before that.
-Paul[2013-08-13 12:39:02] - i honestly believe more informed consumers will make for less shitty advertising. i hope i was clear: i don't want no-ads. i want less ads. i want to pay less money to the advertising industry. ~a
[2013-08-13 12:37:51] - "there are still times when advertising is the first I hear about stuff" it's very infrequent that advertising actually informs me. and if i could pay money to a company, to get services that i actually want, it would be awesome that i'd no longer need to pay that money to producers of goods. ~a
[2013-08-13 12:36:48] - I'm not sure that I'm against targeted ads either. If I have to experience ads for whatever I'm watching I'd rather it be relevant than totally wasted. -Daniel
[2013-08-13 12:35:56] - yes
ok . . . maybe not. ~a[2013-08-13 12:35:28] - a: But that's not going to happen (all advertising stopping) and I don't even know if I would want it to stop happening. Sure, at this point I mostly find out about cool new stuff before advertising begins, but there are still times when advertising is the first I hear about stuff. -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:34:01] - a: And I'm completely fine if you don't like ads targeted to you vs random ones. I'm just pointing out that some people do. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "completely effected by advertising". Are you saying I buy everything I see advertised? -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:33:35] - "over-the-air TV certainly would be" total cost, paul. tv would be more expensive and products would be cheaper. net change for you is less money being "wasted" on advertisers and advertising creation. ~a
[2013-08-13 12:32:04] - paul: you prefer ads that are targeted towards you? i do not. if you become a consumer that is completely effected by advertising, then the ads will only increase. ~a
[2013-08-13 12:31:05] - a: Right, that's why it was in quotes. Still, though, if there were no advertisers, then how many otherwise "free" websites/apps would have paid memberships? Not sure if cable TV would be more expensive, but over-the-air TV certainly would be. -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:30:38] - mig: well fortunately for me since i didn't go
~a[2013-08-13 12:28:42] - a: no sc2, unfortunately. - mig
[2013-08-13 12:28:01] - ha! advertising doesn't make things free, paul. come on. you pay for the advertising and the services you called free when you buy stuff. ~a
[2013-08-13 12:26:51] - a: And are there alternatives to cookies? Because for the most part, I prefer ads that are intelligently targeted to me rather than just random ads for stuff I probably don't want. -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:26:03] - a: I dunno, I kinda like advertisers. They make it so that lots of things that I enjoy are "free" to me. -Paul
[2013-08-13 12:18:22] - "thank you advertisers, we love you!" said nobody. ~a
[2013-08-13 12:18:04] - "Finding stuff you’re interested in on the Internet is easy these days. That’s because advertisers can tailor ads to specific interests through the responsible and transparent use of cookies." these are the best kind of lies because they're obviously lies. ~a
[2013-08-13 12:08:50] - interesting. was there any sc2 playing? ~a
[2013-08-13 10:50:06] - a: I take back my reservations about going to public tenley. It was a much more pleasent experience this time (service was much better despite it being arguably more crowded). Though I don't remember if I had their pizza last time, it was also tasty. - mig
[2013-08-13 10:22:50] - Daniel: A single family home in Oak Hills (which is a part of Herndon). It's probably 10 minutes or so north of where we live now. -Paul
[2013-08-13 10:18:33] - Paul: Where are you moving to? Doubling is a big increase. -Daniel
[2013-08-13 09:58:31] - Xpovos: Thanks. I'm actually hoping the unpacking won't be that bad since we're probably doubling the amount of space we have, so it should be easy to find places to "dump" stuff. -Paul
[2013-08-13 09:57:44] - aaron: I know, I do too! Sadly, my wife does not.
-Paul[2013-08-13 09:39:16] - paul: boo! i love your house! - aaron
[2013-08-13 07:41:25] - Paul: So, congratulations. Unfortunately, I think most of our moving boxes still have stuff in them. Moving is 'easy'. It's unpacking that's hard. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-12 17:34:12] - It's looking increasingly likely that Gurkie and I will be moving in the next 5-6 weeks. If anybody here has any moving boxes that they are trying to get rid of, we would be happy to take them off of your hands.
-Paul[2013-08-12 16:10:31] - It's unlikely, sure, but I could end up with close to 44 grandchildren on my own. Assume: I have 2-3 more children. Each child then has a similar number of children... boom that's as many as 36 right there. I've seen some family portraits, 8-9 kids, similar numbers of grandkids from each kid... it's like 100 people in the photo, and still only three generations!
[2013-08-12 15:46:44] - that sounds like the worst kind of hell. ~a
[2013-08-12 15:43:27] - a: Sounds like somebody (or their wife) needs to volunteer to be our octomom. -Paul
[2013-08-12 15:38:49] - yeah we very likely won't hit 44. even if we get to 15 (which is unlikely) now, that means a 3-child-per the next generation (TNG!). ~a
[2013-08-12 15:34:36] - "Unless we have some odd intermarriages" aaron and i figured out the math of that: just use .25 for each grandparent in the group. ~a
[2013-08-12 15:17:04] - a: Our graduating class over their lifetimes? Yeah, I think they'll hit 50%. We had a few mormons in our class, right?
-Paul[2013-08-12 14:58:51] - But if the question is: will the 11 of us have, collectively, 44 grandchildren, my guess is, "no." -- Xpovos
[2013-08-12 14:58:20] - I remember reading a study a while back about modelling 'success' in genes, and it wasn't based on number of children, but on number of grandchildren because too many random factors can affect a single generation. The same math works, just exclude children and count grandchildren and divide by four. Unless we have some odd intermarriages. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-12 14:57:08] - a: Hitting ~90% would be 'average' for the U.S. up until last year when we jumped back to almost 100% for a bit, but we'll probably trend back to ~85-95%. The sample is interesting because it's so heavily slanted male. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-12 13:31:30] - yeah, aaron also proposed a different group: the six people he sat with at lunch in high school. that group will likely fall short too. i wonder how our ~400 graduating class would measure. would we even hit 50% do you think? ~a
[2013-08-12 13:29:21] - a: Oh, I know. I wasn't suggesting a different group, just explaining why I think the group will fall short. -Paul
[2013-08-12 13:19:34] - the group i picked out was based on lack of knowledge about which people ended up reproducing: it was just a group of people that we hung out with 75%+ of the time over the 4 years of college. ~a
[2013-08-12 13:17:26] - if you start eliminating people from the group because of various reasons like that, then it's a pretty biased example. ~a
[2013-08-12 12:57:35] - a: Right, with the group you picked out, it seems pretty unlikely, because don't three of them not even want kids? That's a heavy burden for the reproducers to replace. -Paul
[2013-08-12 12:36:31] - i specified the 11 people i was counting, but i wonder which group you would count? unless you intentionally pick out a group with hindsight, (you, travis, andrew, and dewey?), i doubt you're going to reach replacement. ~a
[2013-08-12 12:27:34] - Ah, ok. I just didn't know what you guys were trying to count. I suspect our group from college won't replace themselves, although it does depend on who you are counting. -Paul
[2013-08-12 12:12:01] - paul: we're trying to figure out if our friends from college will replace themselves in one generation. so, each person needs to have 2 children on average. - aaron
[2013-08-12 11:36:29] - ... aaron was counting how we have effected the global population. do you understand the .5 per parent or should i try to explain that part? ~a
[2013-08-12 11:10:19] - a: Ah, ok... -Paul
[2013-08-12 10:49:00] - mig: yah, perjury was what i was thinking about. i'm wondering how perjury and classified programs can coexist. i guess clapper could have just said he can't answer about classified programs . . . instead of saying "no sir". ~a
[2013-08-12 10:46:33] - paul: each one counts as .5 per parent. (in this case, you can just divide by two.) ~a
[2013-08-12 09:52:30] - a: usually when people testify before congress they do so under oath, so that's where the legal part of it comes in, so it's not really "lying to congress" that's the crime per se, it's simply perjury. - mig
[2013-08-12 09:38:01] - aaaron: Not sure what you two are talking about, but shouldn't the number be 6? Unless Andrew <> Xpovos. -Paul
[2013-08-12 09:36:11] - a: oh! okay - aaron
[2013-08-12 09:23:53] - no, i don't think i'm counting future babies with "3". ~a
[2013-08-12 09:19:49] - a: hey you're counting future babies! but yeah 11 is very ambitious - aaron
[2013-08-11 20:24:13] - aaron: me+miguel+pierce+dewey+paul+travis+vinnie+david+you+aparna+andrew=3. i have a feeling like it'll be 5-6 in the next five years or so. i doubt we'll ever hit 11 unless we count a third generation. i can think of many different ways of counting children+grandchildren. ~a
[2013-08-09 17:54:22] - i guess maybe if you've taken an oath to deny the existence of something, then congress asks you about that thing, you're probably in some crazy legal limbo. ~a
[2013-08-09 17:42:39] - director of national intelligence james clapper answered "no sir" when wyden asked whether the nsa had collected "any type of data at all on millions of americans." . . . lying to congress isn't a crime? ~a
[2013-08-09 17:34:09] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/09/edward-snowden-patriot/ -Paul
[2013-08-09 16:06:15] - http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57597819-1/master-swordsmith-forges-zeldas-master-sword/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=readMore Real life Master Sword is forged by blacksmith. The video is pretty cool, including some nice shots of the sword being used to cut things near the end. -Paul
[2013-08-09 11:27:12] - *make. ~a
[2013-08-09 11:26:22] - "Congress has passed laws that say otherwise" referring to "congress shall pass no laws" you think? ~a
[2013-08-09 11:22:22] - aaron: iknow. ~a
[2013-08-09 10:55:08] - paul: that sucks, hopefully it draws negative attention from the right kind of people, but i think it's too complicated an issue to really explain to a layperson - aaron
[2013-08-09 10:16:37] - http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/08/ed-snowdens-encrypted-e-mail-service-shuts-down-leaving-cryptic-message/ -Paul
[2013-08-09 10:10:16] - a: there's no space between "i" and "anal" in that particular context (unless i misunderstood your context) - aaron
[2013-08-09 09:46:37] - WTOP had a segment on Sarvis (TJ educated libertarian candidate for VA governor) this morning. It was a perfect example of why I sometimes hate listening to that station for news. It was probably a minute long, with two quotes from him and touching on three issues. That's it. -Paul
[2013-08-08 18:40:36] - xpovos: hmmm. well, at the very least, it's not specified. if there was a non-willful omission, i could see someone arguing that it doesn't clearly forbid it. i anal, of course. ~a
[2013-08-08 16:08:14] - "[...] shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony. For purposes of this subsection, "serious injury" shall include but not be limited to (i) disfigurement, (ii) a fracture, (iii) a severe burn or laceration, (iv) mutilation, (v) maiming, (vi) forced ingestion of dangerous substances, or (vii) life-threatening internal injuries." -- Xpovos
[2013-08-08 16:07:39] - a: Here's the full statement. "§ 18.2-371.1. Abuse and neglect of children; penalty; abandoned infant. A. Any parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of a child under the age of 18 who by willful act or omission or refusal to provide any necessary care for the child's health causes or permits serious injury to the life or health of such child [..]"
[2013-08-08 16:02:24] - bundled hdmi is fantastic, hopefully sony will have followed suit, though it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, I'd just use my hdmi cable from my ps3 and change the ps3 output to the component cables. - mig
[2013-08-08 15:50:21] - i might disagree with aaron, but regardless it'd be nice to see some context since we're discussing the context. ~a
[2013-08-08 15:09:51] - http://i.imgur.com/hfWJlqN.jpg what's the first rule of fight club? - aaron
[2013-08-08 15:09:21] - xpovos: i'd assume "willful act || omission" since in most contexts, they wouldn't care if the omission was deliberate or accidental - aaron
[2013-08-08 14:40:04] - English logic question time! "willful act or omission". Does it mean "willful act || [willful] omission" OR "willful act || omission"? -- Xpovos
[2013-08-08 14:25:30] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbrmAsxJPv4 xbox one unboxing -- lots of improvements over the 360, comes bundled with an HDMI cable and built-in wireless internet. also i'd heard rumors that microsoft wasn't bundling a headset this gen, but they are - aaron
[2013-08-08 14:11:22] - Aaron: So bizarre that they had to make a special coffin for that little girl. -Paul
[2013-08-08 13:30:05] - they said they tore down a lot of the houses, replaced the topsoil, and it's been 25 years -- so i guess i'm not too surprised - aaron
[2013-08-08 12:14:00] - roberto dos santos' house, same story. ~a
[2013-08-08 11:47:33] - devair ferreira's scrapyard is on google streetview. it's empty, now, but there are tons of people that live near it. ~a
[2013-08-08 11:44:21] - this wasn't that long ago, i wonder if he is still alive. ~a
[2013-08-08 11:42:13] - woah, another surprising turn of events in the article: devair ferreira survived even though he received the most radiation! ~a
[2013-08-08 11:37:19] - a: Yeah, the ring thing too! Ugh... and the poor little girl with the sandwich.
-Paul[2013-08-08 11:36:02] - We need a Portuguese translation of "Alas, Babylon" stat. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-08 11:34:57] - paul:
~a[2013-08-08 11:34:33] - "He inserted the screwdriver and successfully scooped out some of the glowing substance" "he intended to make a ring out of it for his wife" "applying it to her body" what the fuck. even if these people thought it was supernatural, weren't they worried it would maybe hurt them? ~a
[2013-08-08 11:33:43] - aaron: "He inserted the screwdriver and successfully scooped out some of the glowing substance. Thinking it was perhaps a type of gunpowder, he tried to light it, but the powder would not ignite." I almost want to laugh at that, except it's so sad at the same time... -Paul
[2013-08-08 11:33:09] - aaron: I know! They must not have known about the existence of radioactive materials or something. "That same evening, they both began to vomit. Nevertheless, they continued in their efforts." -Paul
[2013-08-08 11:29:14] - paul: yeah, it made my stomach turn reading about people getting dizzy, losing fingers, having their limbs swell, and they just continue handing the radioactive device... - aaron
[2013-08-08 11:28:21] - http://i.imgur.com/cDWjnTc.jpg Wiehle-Reston East sign is up - aaron
[2013-08-08 10:42:18] - Aaron: Wow, no. That's almost painful to read about, just person after person doing the worst thing you would want them to do with radioactive material. It's amazing only 4 people died. -Paul
[2013-08-08 10:13:16] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leide_das_Neves_Ferreira#Hospital_abandonment did anybody ever hear about this brazillian nuclear disaster in 1986? - aaron
[2013-08-07 20:21:12] - what a weird colbert report last night. this news show had . . . no news . . .
~a[2013-08-07 16:04:54] - aaron: Also, there are parts where it almost seems to step into a parody of ME, but never quite crossing the line. Definitely a few inside jokes, though. -Paul
[2013-08-07 16:04:17] - aaron: Yeah, I highly recommend. It's very much "lighter" than the rest of the game in terms of tone, but that worked out fine for me since I played it so far after finishing the game. -Paul
[2013-08-07 15:51:30] - paul: i've heard great things about citadel, i've gotta try it some time - aaron
[2013-08-07 15:34:41] - mig: Yeah, I read some stuff online and was shocked by how much I missed. Definitely need to replay it with a quiet party and/or a different LI and/or invite fewer people up and/or with a femshep and/or take somebody else to the casino and/or... -Paul
[2013-08-07 15:28:43] - paul: and surprisingly very replayable too. - mig
[2013-08-07 15:20:35] - I know I'm a little late to the party, but have all the Mass Effect fans here played The Citadel DLC? Wow, I loved it. As a send off to the series, I think it was great. It even got rid of most of the bad taste that the ending left. -Paul
[2013-08-07 15:08:30] - a: that sounds much better, depending on the tone, you could read the original quote as him being dissappointed that so few people are dying in terrorist attacks. - mig
[2013-08-07 15:08:02] - mig: Sure, but it's still not a very politically astute question, as has been pointed out repeatedly to gun control proponents, of which Obama is one, that the odds of dying in a Columbine/Sandy Hook/Aurora type of mass/spree shooting is much lower than vehicular accidents too. UNFORTUNATELY, people like to make hay with low probability horrible situations. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-07 14:58:16] - unfortunately . . . yeah, if the opposite were true, would he be saying "luckly, the odds of dying in a terrorist attack higher than they are of dying in a car accident" ?
~a[2013-08-07 14:56:18] - xpovos: if he just removed the "unfortuantely" at the end it would have been a lot less awkward. - mig
[2013-08-07 14:40:10] - mig: Yeah, it's kind of buried in here. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/08/06/obama-frustrated-by-russias-decision-to-grant-snowden-asylum/ -- Xpovos
[2013-08-07 13:14:44] - Lemme know if anybody here wants to join an NFL pick'em league (and hasn't already been invited to the one I created). Thanks. -Paul
[2013-08-07 12:49:59] - xpovos: this is a barrack quote? - mig
[2013-08-07 12:46:07] - Almost makes me long for W. At least his flubs tended to be funny. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-07 12:10:35] - "It is unfortunate that the rate of death by vehicular accident is so high, but because of our anti-terrorism efforts, the rate there is very low, much lower than for those vehicular accidents." What he meant to say. What he said, "The odds of dying in a terrorist attack are a lot lower than they are of dying in a car accident, unfortunately." -- Xpovos
[2013-08-07 12:02:01] - http://foododdity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/bread-gloves-640x640.jpg bread gloves - aaron
[2013-08-07 10:01:04] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/raul-ibanez-might-made-worst-throw-ve-ever-092033111.html#more-95956 the astro's style of play is CONTAGIOUS! - mig
[2013-08-07 09:03:05] - http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1ju5o3/what_is_your_favorite_people_watching_game/cbidb2p two new games to play next time you show up 2 hours early to a concert. "guess who" and "life horse" - aaron
[2013-08-06 13:02:32] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/few-reminders-comically-large-jonathan-ogden-including-great-144548655.html jonathan ogden is very large. The photo from his HS days is quite terrifying. - mig
[2013-08-06 11:43:34] - if i buy 8 weeks do i get free shipping? ~a
[2013-08-06 11:42:41] - No, no. He's wealthy. Therefore he's eccentric. And this is a perfectly eccentric thing to do. COMPLETELY unrelated, I just got an advert in my FB feed offering me 4 weeks of digital access to WaPo for $0.99. The eccentric man works fast. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-06 10:27:24] - a: so is he less crazy to you know or crazier? - mig
[2013-08-05 22:10:21] - uhhh, i thought he was crazy. ~a
[2013-08-05 21:05:54] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/washington-post-to-be-sold-to-jeff-bezos/2013/08/05/ca537c9e-fe0c-11e2-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html wapo being sold to Jeff Bezos. - mig
[2013-08-05 14:29:57] - mig: You'd think so. But I'm skeptical still. Safer. Besides, part of me is wondering why the NSA is interested in advocating cryptography. These are the people who basically outlawed PGP, before that all fell apart. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-05 13:42:04] - if it was in the hashing algorithm someone would have found it by then. - mig
[2013-08-05 13:39:07] - a: Right, mathematical. Software has to be out of the question because the algorithm for hashing has to be at least somewhat open in order for it to work. And installing a mathematical back door in an open hashing algorithm would be an impressive feat. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-05 13:33:15] - re "clever backdoor", to be clear, you mean mathematical backdoor, right? not a software backdoor? because a software backdoor is pretty much out of the question. ~a
[2013-08-05 13:22:39] - s/effect/affect/ ~a
[2013-08-05 13:21:05] - i'd suggest sha512sum and if anybody brought up the NSA, i'd probably roll my eyes at the same person that thought cleartext passwords were a-ok. ~a
[2013-08-05 13:20:48] - don't confuse the issue with the whole NSA thing. there's like barely over a 0% chance that ONE government agency could maybe do something that wouldn't even effect you: if they have your hashed passwords, they probably have everything else already. ~a
[2013-08-05 13:19:36] - i would still recommend sha512sum over clear text regardless. clear text passwords are super problematic especially in a corporate environment: these passwords can be used to harm more than just your corporation, they can mostly all be used to login to remote systems (since like 99.9% of people use the same passwords elsewhere). ~a
[2013-08-05 13:09:04] - I'm concerned about recommending SHA to anyone these days, given that it was designed/produced by the NSA. It's probably clean, but what kind of clever backdoor might have been created? -- Xpovos
[2013-08-05 13:06:23] - a: I don't have that kind of information. The previous work I did with them indicated it was an SQL-based backend, but the fact is despite being a subsidiary for a 'big enough' company, they have zero technical expertise anywhere on staff. The current database has password data in clear text, which just boggles my mind anywhere, let alone from a company. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-05 12:59:48] - xpovos: do what the experts do: /etc/shadow uses crypt which nowadays uses sha512sum (with a very very long salt). apache's htpasswd uses the same technique. what kind of software is using this database? you really should be using software that salts/encrypts your passwords for you. ~a
[2013-08-05 12:14:54] - If I wanted an MD5 alternative to recommend to someone building a corporate/enterprise database with passwords (and the fact that I'm the one making the recommendation here should tell you something) what would be a good option? -- Xpovos
[2013-08-02 17:08:15] - daniel: the astros have been basically rebuilding since they went to the WS in 2005. - mig
[2013-08-02 16:55:59] - Daniel: Sadly, this is not a one-year problem. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-02 16:22:57] - I don't follow baseball much and I know the Astro's are having a super rebuild year but it is disheartening to see them used as the baseline for ineptitude. Only three months to start of nba season! -Daniel
[2013-08-02 16:14:35] - I think I'm quicker to forgive physical errors than mental ones, which is where most of the Houston laugh-riots end up. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-02 15:42:36] - mig: Still looks incredibly funny. -Paul
[2013-08-02 15:42:29] - mig: I can actually see how that could easily happen. He doesn't have a good grip on the ball, and tries to bring it back quickly to throw it as fast as possible to home and it just slips out of his grip... -Paul
[2013-08-02 15:38:43] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/melky-cabrera-disabled-list-severe-embarrassment-horrible-horrible-191823764.html the houston astros's monopoly on horrific baseball play is being threatened. - mig
[2013-08-02 15:38:14] - Xpovos: Uh oh. I hope nothing bad happened... -Paul
[2013-08-02 15:12:36] - *sigh* So I'm officially on the job market again. Any solid leads would be appreciated. At this point I'm probably even willing to re-locate. -- Xpovos
[2013-08-02 15:11:09] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvA_FxcaLzE this was on reddit today, I was very amused. - mig
[2013-08-01 16:47:33] - mig: Or, actually, 1 to 10. -Paul
[2013-08-01 16:47:14] - mig: I don't think it's a sure thing either, but I think the odds are much better than 1 to 6. -Paul
[2013-08-01 16:46:51] - paul: i dunno if gary johnson is a sure thing. Honestly he seemed to not like the whole "running for president" experience. - mig
[2013-08-01 15:56:17] - a: Damn, thought I was going to get some easy money with Gary Johnson.
It's an interesting bet. I could see both Hillary and Rand having good odds for presidential nomination OR vice presidential nomination. I would be a little surprised if neither was on either party ticket. -Paul[2013-08-01 15:53:46] - any number of people and party information is ignored (though it does have to be for one of the two major parties. no fair trying to guess the libertarian party nomination). ~a
[2013-08-01 15:49:48] - a: Am I picking both? Or just for one party? -Paul
[2013-08-01 15:06:34] - i may or may not repackage your bet into a betsofbitco.in bet
~a[2013-08-01 15:05:54] - paul: 6 to 1 if you want to pick the VP OR PRES nomination. 10 to 1 if you want to pick the PRES nomination only. each name is a separate bet and for each name you must specify the amount and whether its VP/P nomination or just P nomination. ~a
[2013-08-01 15:01:04] - 6 to 1 aren't nice enough for you? ~a
[2013-08-01 14:58:19] - a: Not if you would be getting the field. I would put my picks up against yours (if you had ones from back then) or I would need some pretty nice odds to even things out. -Paul
[2013-08-01 14:56:23] - .1btc? ~a
[2013-08-01 14:45:52] - I wouldn't put any amount of money on my picks because I just don't feel that confident in them. Like I mentioned before, Romney vs Obama was pretty obvious last year. This year? Hilary appears to be the only "sure-thing", and she was also supposed to be a sure thing in 2008... -Paul
[2013-08-01 14:44:34] - aaron: Yeah, for the record, I don't really disagree with you. Most years it's tough to predict, especially there isn't an incumbent on one side. -Paul
[2013-08-01 14:16:12] - "one of the 2016 presidental nominees" for clarity, were you including VP nominees? or not? ~a
[2013-08-01 14:14:23] - ha, i was about to post "hell i'd be willing to pay 20 to 1 today.
~a" before i saw your #121938 post. i assume paul didn't actually put any money on either of his candidates? ~a[2013-08-01 14:11:42] - miguel said chris christie and joe biden; xpovos said eric cantor and martin o'malley - aaron
[2013-08-01 14:10:18] - http://aporter.org/msg/?action=prev&prev=121750#121938 "i'd be willing to pay like 6 to 1 to anybody who thought they could actually predict one of the 2016 presidental nominees right now". and yeah, paul said mark warner + paul ryan - aaron
[2013-08-01 14:08:40] - i remember arguing that these things couldn't be predicted - aaron
[2013-08-01 14:07:55] - a: Whatever it was, I'm sure I won.
-Paul[2013-08-01 13:28:16] - yeah, i honestly don't remember if it was the primaries or the election. the fact that obama is on there makes me think it was the election. ~a
[2013-08-01 13:19:16] - a: I have no idea. Did we try to do a draft of people we thought might win the election or something? -Paul
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