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[2004-10-06 11:09:30] - Dave: What do you mean? -Paul
[2004-10-06 11:09:09] - I seem to remember a system I defended being criticized for allowing people to "buy" votes. Good thing our current system doesn't allow it.
-Paul[2004-10-06 11:07:34] - Paul: well, disturbing in the sense that I bet most people who vote to change it won't realize exactly what they're doing. -dave
[2004-10-06 11:03:12] - i'm sure everyone that cares already heard about ricky williams (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1895704) so what do people think? - travis
[2004-10-06 11:02:17] - paul: well, at least colorado shows some people think the whole electoral system is unnecessary and want to move closer to the actual voting determining the winner - travis
[2004-10-06 10:59:46] - Dave: No, I don't think he could be legally stopped. But I do find it interesting how blurry the line can be between legal and illegal ways of getting out the vote. -Paul
[2004-10-06 10:58:48] - Dave: You think the Colorado thing is disturbing? Why? -Paul
[2004-10-06 10:55:33] - Paul: You think Moore could actually be legally stopped from doing that stuff? I'm skeptical -dave
[2004-10-06 10:53:38] - Paul: re: colorado vote. That is truly disturbing. Kinda interesting that each state gets to decide how to distribute its electoral votes. -dave
[2004-10-06 10:49:46] - mig: That news comes as a surprise to me. Neither I, nor any other evangelical I know have been that disturbed by Bush's Israeli / Palestinian policy -dave
[2004-10-06 10:20:01] - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041005/ap_en_ot/people_michael_moore Republicans Accuse Moore of Vote Bribery -Paul
[2004-10-06 10:19:12] - http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1128290.html Fleeing villagers mistook disco lights for aliens -Paul
[2004-10-06 10:17:33] - http://www.nationalreview.com/gregg/gregg200410050833.asp "Colorado’s dangerous electoral move" -Paul
[2004-10-06 10:00:44] - http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/484861.html uh oh, bush might lose the evangelicals' votes. - mig
[2004-10-06 09:56:14] - If a draft bill is going to be passed, it's most certainly not going to be passed until after the presidential election because nobody wants to be passing something as potentially unpopular as a draft right before an election. -Paul
[2004-10-06 09:55:14] - Dave: The DNC knows it's audience.
-Paul[2004-10-06 08:57:17] - interesting note: the only election ads I ever see on WashPost are for Kerry/Edwards. -dave
[2004-10-06 08:55:51] - the article seems to imply that the whole draft issue is a non-issue and is only being brought up as a political tool in an election year -dave
[2004-10-06 08:53:41] - 2 dems voted for it -dave
[2004-10-06 08:53:22] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9479-2004Oct5.html doubts about a draft being reinstated? Repubs make political statement by using hijinx to bring only draft bill around to a vote. Bill defeated 402-2. Even voted against by its main sponsor, a democrat -dave
[2004-10-06 08:48:18] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10334-2004Oct6.html Combs ordered to pay 35k/month child support. Apparently, the 'logic' is that, it looks like he can afford it, so he should pay it. 0_o -dave
[2004-10-05 17:59:47] - a: yeah, I've seen that. I occasionally use it if I think I've missed an easter egg but I don't feel like looking for it. - pierce
[2004-10-05 17:48:46] - pierce:
http://www.hrwiki.org/ ~a[2004-10-05 17:41:30] - aaron: so i was wrong. ~a
[2004-10-05 17:22:26] - http://homestarrunner.com/sbemail115.html one of the funniest sbemails in quite a while... they brought back stinkoman! - pierce
[2004-10-05 15:43:41] - Is it South Park? -Paul
[2004-10-05 15:34:55] - a: I got aaron's ref. hahaha nice addition to the title - vinnie
[2004-10-05 14:56:25] - bahaha. i don't know why i'm so amused by the title. i just am. ~a
[2004-10-05 14:54:53] - aaron: nobody who reads this webpage watches anymore . . . i don't think they'll get the reference. ~a
[2004-10-05 13:02:15] - Travis: He must've been VERY drunk... -Paul
[2004-10-05 13:00:08] - http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=6406472 we've all heard of "choking your chicken" but this would hurt
- travis[2004-10-05 12:00:06] - "I'm so non-conformist, I'm not conforming with the rest of you goths. I'm voting republican." - aaron
[2004-10-05 09:53:55] - Vinnie: Goths can't care about politics! They must be posers. -Paul
[2004-10-05 09:44:47] - http://www.rightgoths.com/ republican goths?? I thought this was a joke at first - vinnie
[2004-10-05 09:43:52] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7044-2004Oct4.html Hehe, addicted gamer gets therapy. -dave
[2004-10-05 08:16:52] - oh, hey. that is funny. ~a
[2004-10-05 08:16:38] - why is the title nadsaq? ~a
[2004-10-04 12:25:22] - Mig: USAID! I used to work on their contract at SETA.
-Paul[2004-10-04 12:16:07] - i guess bush figures clinton didn't kill enough people over there. - mig
[2004-10-04 12:09:42] - http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1318628,00.html looks like the USG is looking for excuses to invade Sudan. - mig
[2004-10-04 11:53:26] - http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/10/04/spaceshipone.attempt.cnn/index.html SpaceShipOne officially wins -dave
[2004-10-04 11:37:35] - Paul: yay for Keira -dave
[2004-10-04 11:37:27] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5119-2004Oct4.html SpaceShipOne achieves goal...will win prize if certified -dave
[2004-10-04 11:18:09] - http://entertainment.msn.com/celebs/article.aspx?news=169336 Some interesting people on the top 100 sexiest movie stars list. -Paul
[2004-10-04 09:43:48] - $20? Never mind that's definitely worth a purchase. - aaron
[2004-10-04 09:40:51] - travis: Ha ha ha. Looks neat. Is it fun? I'd at least give it a rental - aaron
[2004-10-04 08:01:17] - http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/10/03/xprize.advancer.reut/index.html I guess SpaceShipOne's last flight did qualify, since the article title says 'One Flight Away from Prize' -dave
[2004-10-02 22:18:54] - aaron: here's the game i mentioned friday night, Katamari Damacy: http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/918766.asp - travis
[2004-10-02 20:27:04] - http://www.konami.net/appli/beatmania2dx.html for those of you who have really really wanted to play beatmania on your cell phone - aaron
[2004-10-01 20:23:56] - dang, really stinks that Firefly was cancelled. Just saw the episode with Saffron. Hil-ar-ious ^_^ -dave
[2004-10-01 17:58:41] - Dave: Yeah, except my stocks always do that and then they increase by a lot when the NASDAQ only has a slight increase or even a slight decrease, so who knows? -Paul
[2004-10-01 17:05:51] - dave: hahahahahahahaha funniest typo ever
[2004-10-01 16:34:25] - paul: oh, nm, I misunderstood your sentence. Yeah, that's really weird. you pick sucky stocks ^_^ -dave
[2004-10-01 16:33:52] - paul: really? how bizarre, the NADSAQ increased way more (percentage-wise) than either the Dow or S&
-dave[2004-10-01 16:33:21] - paul: yeah, I agree. The problem is, even if they are expecting it, they won't say anything. So if you don't do it and you're wrong, then they might be disappointed. -dave
[2004-10-01 16:09:23] - Dave: What's funny is that today my stocks have acted inverse to what the market was doing. As the Nasdaq kept climbing, my stocks (which are mostly in the Nasdaq) kept slipping. -Paul
[2004-10-01 16:08:26] - Dave: I know, but just because some percentage of women want men to cook for them on the 5th date or whatever doesn't mean that every woman does or that a man has to. Hell, I'm sure most men probably want sex on the first date, does that mean women should let that affect what they do? -Paul
[2004-10-01 16:07:16] - wow, sell your stocks while you can, Dow up 113 points, S&
up 16. -dave[2004-10-01 16:05:31] - travis: yeah, my ex-roomate tried to get into wine. I tasted some of the stuff and it was pretty bad. Although, I don't like how alcohol tastes in general, so that's a factor as well -dave
[2004-10-01 16:04:37] - paul: well, I think the point was, was that the girl commonly expects to be cooked for, so it would be something "they wanted" in that context -dave
[2004-10-01 15:04:26] - Travis: Yeah, and my knowledge of wine is pretty much zilch. I would have absolutely no idea of what kind of wine to order at a restaurant. -Paul
[2004-10-01 15:00:08] - sucks that wine is the expected drink for date dinners, too (not just from that book, but everywhere) since i don't like any wine - travis
[2004-10-01 14:58:25] - Dave: That, and I don't really care in general. If I'm dating somebody then all I care about is what they want, not what society says they should expect. -Paul
[2004-10-01 14:57:52] - so basically those guys wrote "cooking for dummies" and replaced "dummies" with "guys who wanna get laid"
- travis[2004-10-01 14:52:48] - Paul: inconsequential to us eh? ^_^ -dave
[2004-10-01 14:46:26] - Dave: *Shrug* Personally, I don't concern myself too much with what society says people should expect on dates.
-Paul[2004-10-01 14:40:20] - Paul: yeah, I mean I'd definitely heard OF it, but I didn't know it was "so common" or "expected" -dave
[2004-10-01 14:35:29] - Dave: Didn't you get the memo? Women aren't supposed to cook for men anymore, it's the other way around.
Seriously, though, I didn't know it was expected that guys were supposed to cook for their dates. -Paul[2004-10-01 14:32:00] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62409-2004Mar16.html Jeez, when did this happen? We're supposed to cook for our dates? Coincidentally, a female friend of mine told me quite emphatically that guys were supposed to cook for their gf's on the 5-8th date -dave
[2004-10-01 14:00:28] - a: ok. - pierce
[2004-10-01 12:50:44] - pierce: can you not delete it? ~a
[2004-10-01 11:38:54] - dave: too much sci-fi, methinks. - pierce
[2004-10-01 11:38:35] - a: yes. - pierce
[2004-10-01 11:35:32] - hmm, or fazed, rather -dave
[2004-10-01 11:35:19] - jeez, DOW up over 100 pts? Apparently Kerry's "win" hasn't phased the market -dave
[2004-10-01 10:59:58] - vinnie/pierce: do you guys have the 1st debate on dvr? ~a
[2004-10-01 10:55:07] - Paul: wasn't exactly that, but yeah -dave
[2004-10-01 10:16:04] - Dave: I think that page, the page after, and one other moment stuck with me the most (and was the majority of what I saw). I remember one moment where Kerry basically challenged Bush to show how invading Iraq hurt Osama and Bush basically just said "I know it was Osama who attacked us" and that was his rebuttal. -Paul
[2004-10-01 10:05:24] - Paul: yeah, I agree, definitely not an outstanding defense -dave
[2004-10-01 09:53:29] - http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/01/debate.transcript.9/index.html This was one of the parts that I watched which I think Bush didn't handle too well. -Paul
[2004-10-01 09:53:13] - Dave: Reading parts of the transcript of the debate that I had seen on TV, it does make Bush's points sound better. -Paul
[2004-10-01 09:51:21] - http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/29/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm Gaming industry prepares to raise prices -dave
[2004-10-01 09:48:37] - http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=23110 The Sims 2 for $22, including shipping -dave
[2004-10-01 09:47:06] - http://www.pubpat.org/Microsoft_517_Rejected.htm Microsoft's patent of the FAT file system revoked -dave
[2004-10-01 09:44:57] - paul: ahhh ok. sounds like we just got different impressions from what was said. I thought Bush said good stuff from the transcript. -dave
[2004-10-01 09:44:28] - Again, this is only based on the half hour or so that I watched, but that was the impression I got. -Paul
[2004-10-01 09:43:58] - http://www.bbspot.com/News/2004/09/top_11_just_saw_porn.html haha, excuses for when you are caught with embarrassing pictures on your screen -dave
[2004-10-01 09:43:52] - Dave: No, I know. But when you waste away time on pauses and repeat yourself a lot, that doesn't leave a lot of time to actually express content. For instance. if asked about Iraq Kerry would talk a lot about what he would do and Bush would respond with (essentially) Saddam was a threat. And repeat that theme until time was up. -Paul
[2004-10-01 09:42:06] - paul: it's probably also difficult to separate the words etc. from the first context in which you saw/heard them -dave
[2004-10-01 09:41:27] - paul: but that's it exactly, the "content" didn't include things like pauses -dave
[2004-10-01 09:40:39] - http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/09/30/mexico.churches.ap/ Mexican churches use cell phone blockers to silence phones during mass -dave
[2004-10-01 09:39:21] - Dave: Well, going by that definition of content, it seemed like Kerry did better on the parts that I watched (didn't see the end though). Bush seemed to have a tendency to repeat himself and have long, distracting pauses. -Paul
[2004-10-01 09:36:34] - Paul: by content I meant what was actually said by the candidates, not necessarily that they said deep and meaningful things. In other words, from just reading the transcript, it seemed Bush did badly at the beginning and then did well for the rest. However, the non-content part, the body language etc, sounds like it made quite a difference -dave
[2004-10-01 09:31:13] - Dave: Honestly, I'm not so sure either did well on content. They both just had one theme that they kept hammering home. Bush is misleading and Kerry is indecisive. I watched portions of the middle of the debate I think. -Paul
[2004-10-01 09:26:30] - Paul: yeah, that seems to be what most people think. Several articles seemed to confirm what I thought, that Bush did better on content, while Kerry did better on style. Also that Bush didnt' do well at the beginning, but then came back strong after 1/3ish of the debate. Which portion did you watch? -dave
[2004-10-01 09:23:07] - Dave: I didn't watch much of it, but based solely on presentation, I would say Kerry came across better. He spoke with a lot of authority and had a lot of good sound bites whereas it seemed like Bush was always stumbling and bumbling around for something to say. -Paul
[2004-10-01 09:16:28] - hehe, very clever title "Blue vs. Red: The debate wasn't exactly a tie" -dave
[2004-10-01 09:13:08] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63944-2004Sep30.html interesting commentary on what facts were wrong or stretched -dave
[2004-10-01 09:09:48] - hmm, seems like most people think Kerry did better. Apparently much of that opinion comes from the body language and bearing of Bush/Kerry, so I can't really say, just having read the transcript -dave
[2004-10-01 09:01:37] - any thoughts on the presidential debate? I read the transcript and it seemed like Kerry came out stronger than Bush at the beginning, but then Bush seemed to take back control for the latter 2/3 of the debate -dave
[2004-10-01 00:50:55] - *** a is so dumb.
[2004-09-30 17:57:29] - k ~a
[2004-09-30 17:49:01] - That link also says that many of the quotes have been mis-attributed or taken out of context, so I don't know which article to believe (hence the "if it's true" comment). -Paul
[2004-09-30 17:22:05] - a: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about/thisispp/sanger.html ? -Paul
[2004-09-30 17:11:36] - paul: yeah, except she wasn't the founder of planned parenthood. how delicious. ~a
[2004-09-30 11:48:31] - "Some have written to Nelson officials to say they’ll never visit the town again." Since I'm sure it was #1 on their vacation lists before this. -Paul
[2004-09-30 11:47:40] - Travis: What 13 year old heterosexual male doesn't? -Paul
[2004-09-30 11:25:32] - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132971,00.html that's right, blame canada
- travis[2004-09-30 11:23:35] - paul: about teacher/student article, best quote "I also knew he had girl interests." wow, i bet that was hard for her to figure out
- travis[2004-09-30 11:16:37] - http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/oct3/Sex.html How the libertarian party can do a better job of reaching out to others. -Paul
[2004-09-30 11:13:28] - http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15220 Interesting information about the founder of Planned Parenthood (if this is true). -Paul
[2004-09-30 11:10:45] - http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/09/23/tender_terrorists/ Difference between how female and male terrorists are treated in the media. -Paul
[2004-09-30 11:08:21] - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,133447,00.html What a deliciously biased article.
-Paul[2004-09-30 10:50:05] - Dave: How do you know I wasn't kidding too?
-Paul[2004-09-30 10:20:31] - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3699286.stm "Some women on the British Pacific colony of Pitcairn have criticised sex abuse trials due to get under way on the remote island on Wednesday." -Paul
[2004-09-30 10:20:10] - Paul: silly Paul, can never figure out when people are being sarcastic HEHE
-dave[2004-09-30 10:19:45] - a: not really, school and work have been quite busy -dave
[2004-09-30 10:19:31] - paul: sarcasm. ~a
[2004-09-30 10:18:00] - a: I'm just quoting the article, don't go yelling at me. -Paul
[2004-09-30 10:17:26] - http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0409/0923ringtones.html Japanese using cell phone ring tones to try to get bigger breasts? Mindboggling. -Paul
[2004-09-30 10:16:06] - paul: you silly. being mean to women (making them pay MORE) is sexism; not anti-sexism. ~a
[2004-09-30 10:08:02] - http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0%2C6903%2C1307890%2C00.html "Women would be forced to pay hundreds of pounds more for their car insurance under new EU anti-sexism laws" -Paul
[2004-09-30 10:07:04] - http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040922-122847-5968r.htm "More than 25 percent of public school teachers in Washington and Baltimore send their children to private schools, a new study reports." -Paul
[2004-09-30 09:51:50] - hello, my cstdio friends. be careful what you send to *printf's format parameter (always escape the %). a bunch of new sprintf format vulnerabilities have come out. ~a
[2004-09-30 09:45:54] - dave: did you do anything fun for your birthday? ~a
[2004-09-30 09:43:08] - Dave: Good, because I don't think I got that point across before to Mel.
-Paul[2004-09-30 09:37:01] - vinnie: thx! -dave
[2004-09-30 09:36:54] - Paul: *nod* understandable -dave
[2004-09-30 09:36:47] - vinnie: twas me. ~a
[2004-09-30 09:29:05] - Dave: Right, I don't disagree. I'm just saying that I don't think the actions of the bus drivers were simply them being unable to control themselves. I think they were consciously trying to send a message to the women. -Paul
[2004-09-30 09:06:21] - dave: haha, I thought that was funnier anyway. also happy b'day since it wasn't me who put up that title - vinnie
[2004-09-30 08:30:07] - oops, I just noticed that 'four points' was supposed to be 'four pounds' -dave
[2004-09-30 08:28:54] - paul: like extremely annoying / frustrating people make you want to smack 'em over the head...but we're supposed to suppress those urges as well. No one really thinks making up a rule that 'annoying people not allowed here' is very practical -dave
[2004-09-30 08:27:54] - paul: I can definitely empathize with the females wearing revealing clothing = unsettling sentiment, but at the same time, society requires people to keep their negative impulses in check all the time. -dave
[2004-09-30 08:26:29] - mel: I guess what I'm trying to say is it seems much easier to find purpose in school vs. purpose at work, which sounds rather odd since so many people find purpose in work -dave
[2004-09-30 08:25:36] - mel: at least when I'm in school I can tell myself I'm working towards a degree or something, and see tangible results such as finishing classes etc. With work...it's just more and more work...without any clear goal / end in sight -dave
[2004-09-30 08:24:53] - mel: for me, just working often makes me feel like i'm standing still and not making any real progress towards anything -dave
[2004-09-30 08:24:23] - mel: I can entirely understand the desire to get out of school...but at the same time, just working day in / day out also can be quite frustrating -dave
[2004-09-30 08:20:42] - http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/09/29/life.bear.reut/index.html Bear breaks into home, eats 4 points of chocolate -dave
[2004-09-29 23:31:13] - mig: that's a sad article. ~a
[2004-09-29 21:01:18] - http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1891629 Kobe and Shaq, still not getting along... -Paul
[2004-09-29 17:49:20] - http://reason.com/0402/fe.mw.injustice.shtml how easy it is to get labeled a deadbeat dad, even if you've never fathered a child. - mig
[2004-09-29 17:41:49] - Travis: The solution? Call the kid "superman" anyway and to hell with what the government says. -Paul
[2004-09-29 17:40:40] - http://www.nypost.com/gossip/29289.htm jack daniels did some research that says people wanted less potent alcohol so now JD will be 80 proof instead of 86 - travis
[2004-09-29 17:38:21] - and with all the worrying about the government controlling our lives that's been going on here, don't move to sweden or you the tax authories won't let you make a fool of your kid
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200409/s1209140.htm - travis[2004-09-29 17:35:22] - i don't really care about spaceballs but i know most of you like it so you might like to know mel brooks is writing a sequel http://comingsoon.net/news.php?id=6547 - travis
[2004-09-29 17:33:31] - Mel: Heh, I miss the days I used to go home around 5:00.
Enjoy your lab testing. -Paul[2004-09-29 17:32:59] - Mel: Well, I think there is a clear difference between refraining from gang-raping somebody and being offended by their clothing. -Paul
[2004-09-29 17:23:25] - Paul: I know it's past 5 Pm over there, so I'm guessing you'll be going home soon. I need to go to the lab to do some testing. Anyway, I'll talk to you tomorrow.
-mel[2004-09-29 17:22:20] - Paul: well I know it
[2004-09-29 17:19:22] - vinnie: toodles. see you tomorrow.
-mel[2004-09-29 17:17:54] - anyway my parents are expecting me so I'm off. toodles - vinnie
[2004-09-29 17:17:16] - I think in a way I'm lucky that I had that long stretch of time between school and job because I think I would've had similar problems adjusted to work right after college. but after you've done nothing for a few months you'll take any new adjustment - vinnie
[2004-09-29 17:16:59] - paul: seriously speaking, the bus drivers should be able to have the self-control to see a woman wearing a mini-skirt and not need to gang-bang her. That is clearly wrong. Maybe they should stay home if they can't deal with that. -mel
[2004-09-29 17:15:35] - paul: about the bus drivers, I know you get upset at women for wearing revealing clothing. Maybe you are too sensitive. Not everything has to be sexual. -mel
[2004-09-29 17:15:22] - that refers to your frustration comment, although it suppose it applies to both - vinnie
[2004-09-29 17:14:26] - mel: I can see that - vinnie
[2004-09-29 17:13:28] - paul: for me, the challenge right now is having a life without school. I've never really done that before. I miss college but I don't think the solution for me is to go back. I need to figure out how to live my life without that. It has been disorienting. I feel like I'm still recovering. -mel
[2004-09-29 17:11:29] - vinnie: very. It was a weird movie. I can see what you liked about it. For me, at some point it got too frustrating seeing the characters fall into bad situations (or die) over and over. -mel
[2004-09-29 17:11:17] - wow that sounded very harsh. I found college fun but I felt like I should've done so much more than I did - vinnie
[2004-09-29 17:10:28] - bleh. I'm so glad to be done with school too. maybe if I had actually done more in college it wouldn't have seemed so worthless - vinnie
[2004-09-29 17:09:44] - Paul: I miss it too. Especially now that the school year just started over here. I miss the friends, the community of people all working towards the same thing (graduation
, the parties, not having too much responsibility. I loved college. But I don't miss the sleepless nights, the sets I didn't finish, the tests I was scared I failed...[2004-09-29 17:09:05] - Mel: I guess I misunderstood you about the bus drivers because that (distracting) is what I was talking about. If you want answers, I can probably provide them because I think I understand the rationale of the bus drivers since I often get upset by women that wear revealing clothing as well. -Paul
[2004-09-29 17:08:17] - mel: I think the weirdest (and best) thing about city of god, even though I can't believe I didn't mention it in that blurb, it that parts of the movie are actually fun! like the kids chasing the chickens, or the scenes where they spend their cash. such a strange contrast in moods - vinnie
[2004-09-29 17:06:39] - Mel: I'm kinda the opposite. Despite the homework and tests and everything, I find myself often wishing I was back in school. I might not have appreciated it at the time, but I surely do now.
-Paul[2004-09-29 17:03:00] - Paul: About the bus drivers, I think it's a self-control issue. "The bus drivers banned miniskirts on buses earlier in the year, saying they were distracting and encouraged lustful thoughts." -mel
[2004-09-29 17:01:50] - Paul: No, I'm glad I finished. But being out of school (and not having homework, tests, etc) is so nice once it happens that I'm not sure I would have been able to motivate myself to go back to all that. -mel
[2004-09-29 17:00:28] - Paul: I agree with you. IMHO it's more common among the kids of rich parents. It's easy enough to get into and pay for college that they decide that maybe this isn't what they want. Instead people go "find themselves." If its a struggle to pay for college in the first place, I think you tend to appreciate it more. And not drop out. -mel
[2004-09-29 17:00:23] - Mel: I don't think it's about self control necessarily, I think it's more about the drivers being offended by the women wearing such revealing clothing. -Paul
[2004-09-29 16:58:22] - Mel: I'm confused. You're glad you never dropped out because you don't think you would've come back? Doesn't that mean that you would've been happier had you dropped out or something? -Paul
[2004-09-29 16:57:17] - Mel: No, I don't recall ever wanting to drop out of college (or if I did consider it, it was in the sense of never coming back). I guess it just doesn't make sense to me. Why not figure this out BEFORE going to college? How does bicycling around Europe help? -Paul
[2004-09-29 16:56:16] - travis: interesting article about bus drivers in Swaziland. Don't the bus drivers have any self-control? -mel
[2004-09-29 16:53:27] - Paul: It's actually pretty common at Caltech anyways to drop out, do something crazy/weird/alternative for awhile, and eventually come back. Did you want to drop out when you were in college? I'm glad I never did because I don't think I would have come back. -mel
[2004-09-29 16:51:27] - Paul: yes exactly, I didn't want to use guts twice. I think he needed to do this trip to figure out if finishing Caltech is what he really wanted. Or if school was what he really wanted. He ended up coming back and finishing. Dave's best friend (and my boyfriend for awhile) also dropped out of school, worked as a mechanic, and came back. -mel
[2004-09-29 16:48:52] - dave: yes, you are right they are supposed to send three people up. Hmm. I only read accounts with one pilot. So maybe this first flight doesn't qualify? I'm not sure... -mel
[2004-09-29 16:48:46] - Mel: Strange that there really isn't a comparable phrase to "having the balls to do it" for women. I guess you could've said "had the guts to do it" but you had already used 'guts' once in that sentence... I don't suppose there is a good reason as to WHY he did this bicycle trip? -Paul
[2004-09-29 16:48:05] - vinnie: I like your comparison to watching a car accident.
-mel[2004-09-29 16:47:24] - vinnie: about city of god, I found the movie difficult to watch because it could be so depressing some times. I wanted to yell advice to the characters many, many times. -mel
[2004-09-29 16:45:40] - Paul: about the bicycle trip, I think he saved some money over the school year. Maybe several hundred or a thousand. Then he took off and just started biking. he ran out of money in Macedonia and started working there for awhile. Pretty gutsy trip, I'm not sure I would have the balls
to do it. -mel[2004-09-29 16:34:36] - Dave: Hard to say. In theory, democrats should have greater respect for civil liberties but it would also be a lot easier for a democrat to get such legislation passed. I would say it's equally likely either way (although I won't go so far as to say it's inevitable yet). -Paul
[2004-09-29 16:31:11] - Paul: do you think repub vs. dem. politics makes a difference? or inevitable in either? -dave
[2004-09-29 15:57:33] - travis ye gads re: hiv vaccine - vinnie
[2004-09-29 15:53:14] - Dave: I think it's a bad thing and also close to inevitable in our current political climate. -Paul
[2004-09-29 15:51:24] - Dave: Right, I know, that's another reason why I think it hasn't happened yet. The technology is there but we're still not ready to tie it all together yet. -Paul
[2004-09-29 15:50:20] - Travis: Great article.
-Paul[2004-09-29 15:47:17] - Paul: do you actually think it would be a good thing for the government to collect all that info? or are you just saying that it is inevitable? -dave
[2004-09-29 15:46:25] - Paul: that is to say, even though we may have the technology necessary to share all that information, we may still be a long ways from actually having it happen -dave
[2004-09-29 15:45:24] - Paul: Incidentally, the vast majority of building projects and engineering projects only put together pieces that have been available for a long time, and yet it still takes a huge amount of time and money to logistically pull everything together. -dave
[2004-09-29 15:43:34] - mel: on the SpaceShipOne thing, I think they have to send three people, or their weight equivalent, into space. From what I've read, they only sent the pilot up this time. However, I'm not positive since article titles say they are now one step closer =/ -dave
[2004-09-29 15:39:56] - http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996451 guy injected himself with HIV six times to test his vaccine and hasn't contracted the disease yet, now that's dedication - travis
[2004-09-29 15:38:00] - http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/09/29/ibm.supercomputer.ap/index.html IBM unofficially claims supoercomputing title -dave
[2004-09-29 15:36:46] - don't worry, that's a news story from swaziland, not some porn site - travis
[2004-09-29 15:36:11] - http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?newslett=1&click_id=79&art_id=vn20040927105338482C352432&set_id=1 ""Women who wear miniskirts want to be raped, and we will give them what they want." - travis
[2004-09-29 14:54:05] - Travis: Those sound like they could be Meyers/Briggs questions too.
-Paul[2004-09-29 14:53:19] - the song also uses fortune cookie sayings, not sure if that's supposed to be a commentary on scientology or not
- travis[2004-09-29 14:52:34] - mel: there's a song from faith no more called "land of sunshine" that uses questions from the scientology test, like "Do you often sing or whistle just for the fun of it?" and "Does emotional music have quite an effect on you?" - travis
[2004-09-29 14:38:33] - mel: awesome! I wrote about it a while ago which is why I didn't repost it http://palpable.org/12-2003.html#27 - vinnie
[2004-09-29 14:38:06] - darn, lunchtime. be back soon. -mel
[2004-09-29 14:37:15] - Mel: Bicycling around Europe? I always wondered how that works. Did he stay at a hotel every night? Did he have enough money to essentially take months off without any income? -Paul
[2004-09-29 14:33:23] - Mel: No, they never administered a personality test, although it was mentioned a couple of times. I wish they had done something like that, though. I think I saw the exact same film as he did though. Funny that he is so quick to be willing to take the page down. -Paul
[2004-09-29 14:32:36] - vinnie: hey, so tell me what you thought of City of God. I saw it listed as one of your favorite movies of 2003 but you didn't write your opinion yet. I rented it last week and it was not at all what I expected.
-mel[2004-09-29 14:30:50] - vinnie: Dave Marcus' web page is very funny in general. He has all these articles he wrote from when he dropped out of Caltech and went bicycling around Europe. I haven't been stockpiling links, it's more like all of sudden now I have a bunch of stuff I want to post. -mel
[2004-09-29 14:27:48] - mel: have you been stockpiling links in your absence or something?
- vinnie[2004-09-29 14:27:13] - "my mission was to learn more about the religion which has gained the faith of such intellectuals as Kirstie Alley and John Travolta" hahahaha - vinnie
[2004-09-29 14:27:04] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58074-2004Sep28.html Liquor accidentally served to elementary school kids at Alexandria school. Haha. Sorry, its a washingtonpost article so you have to login. -mel
[2004-09-29 14:23:38] - It's called the Oxford Capacity Analysis. -mel
[2004-09-29 14:18:03] - Paul: the categories they meausre (nervous, unstable, withdrawn, etc) are interesting choices. -mel
[2004-09-29 14:16:58] - Paul: hey, when you went to that Scientology meeting, did they ever give you a personality test? You might remember a guy named David Marcus from TJ. he graduated a year before us. They gave him a personality test when he went to the Scientology meeting. Check it out, it's interesting. http://www.davidm.sidspencer.net/scitest.htm -mel
[2004-09-29 14:14:54] - something about Branson (the Virgin Airlines guy) makes me think of a cult. -mel
[2004-09-29 14:14:32] - http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/09/0929_040929_spaceship_one.html Virgin Airlines guy plans to sell space flights for $200,000 by 2007 using SpaceShipOne technology. -mel
[2004-09-29 14:10:38] - http://www.wired.com/news/space/0,2697,65129,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1 SpaceshipOne makes first of two flights to (possibly?) win X Prize. -mel
[2004-09-29 12:32:08] - You think that the line won't be crossed and I think it's pretty likely it will be, I don't know if we can really go any further from that.
-Paul[2004-09-29 12:31:13] - Pierce: This is all hypothetical so it's somewhat hard to "prove" to you that this situation is inevitable or anything. All I can really do is show you how all the pieces are in place and that there is precedent and that all it would take is a combination of what is already in place. -Paul
[2004-09-29 12:28:41] - And the will hadn't been there to use it until recently. The political climate has changed a great deal in the past couple of years. We've had the capability to lock up lots of people without a trial before but hadn't done it until terrorist acts caused enough public backing of it for it to happen. -Paul
[2004-09-29 12:27:47] - We're on one extreme of a pendulum swing at the moment, because technology has revolutionized the ability to gather and use data on a very low level. But even at this extreme, we're not plummeting into 1984 by any reasonable measurement, so I don't see the pizza hypothetical as having any meaning. - pierce
[2004-09-29 12:27:24] - Pierce: I'm not so sure we've had the capability for a long time. The infrastructure for collecting all of this information, storing it and managing it is all pretty massive. The technology might've been there, but not necessarily the infrastructure. -Paul
[2004-09-29 12:20:30] - And frankly, the fact that people are worried about it at all will prevent it from progressing to the point established in that blog entry. - pierce
[2004-09-29 12:19:55] - Paul: the fact that you can envision that future doesn't avoid the fact that we have these capabilities right now, and have had them for quite a long time, and yet we don't currently use them in that way. - pierce
[2004-09-29 12:18:18] - Mig: you can't just say "it's not too far of a stretch". I say it is too far of a stretch to assume "the availability of individual personal information to any private enterprise for the purposes of individual welfare" from "government collection of individual information for the common welfare" without significant evidence. - pierce
[2004-09-29 12:02:04] - and given that bush has already advocated mandatory mental health screening for everyone, it's not too far of a strecth that it could be expanded to things that were mentioned in the pizza article. - mig
[2004-09-29 11:57:54] - paul: the "american community survey" i linked to yesterday sounds like a good start on that central information gathering agency. - mig
[2004-09-29 11:54:45] - And instead of having to ban big macs or sue McDonald's, they can just restrict people from eating fast food to just one meal a day. Instead of forcing everybody to partake in social security, maybe just those without a 401(k) or IRA. The possibilities are endless. -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:53:35] - The information is out there to be had, it's just that the government hasn't reached out to pull it all in and tied it all together yet. And once they do that, they could allow all sorts of specialized services. Maybe we allow 18 year olds to drink legally as long as it's only one beer a day. -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:49:00] - All I'm saying is that I can easily envision a point in the future where the government decides that it should better coordinate all it's information gathering into a single agency which interacts with private businesses to compile all data "necessary to the security of the nation" or some such. It even sounds really good and efficient. -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:47:56] - Pierce: Again, I agree. Currently we don't do the things stated in the pizza article. Right now the interaction between government and private businesses for information gathering is clumsy and ill-defined. -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:36:06] - I don't think TSA should be able to look at your library usage, but we're getting onto a different topic than pizza if we start arguing that side of it (and we're more likely to agree in that context) - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:35:20] - So even if TSA can look at your library usage, it's not being put into the private sector without your permission. - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:33:35] - that's nowhere near addressing (b). - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:33:23] - Paul: so you picked the two most obvious examples of a benefit to the common good through individual identification. But importantly, neither of those industries can, say, check your library usage. They get your SSN, they send it to a TSA computer which flags you or doesn't flag you, and that's all the interaction they get. - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:28:04] - Pierce: We already entrust a lot of information to private enterprises and the precedent is already there for the government to ask private enterprises for information (airlines) or force them to collect information (guns). -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:21:24] - Before I go, I gotta respond to that: how does that fulfill part (b)? We're not entrusting that data to any private enterprises. I know you don't feel like there's a difference between government collection of data and private collection of data, but there is and it's a prerequisite to the "pizza" hypothetical. - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:20:50] - Pierce: Again, I'm not saying that we jail people who vote libertarian. I'm just saying that many people would be FOR collecting information on people who the government deems to be a possible threat. -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:19:50] - I gotta go now, I'll resume later. - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:19:39] - Pierce: I'm not saying outlaw flying lessons and box cutters, I'm saying I think most people wouldn't have a problem if the government tracked people who took flying lessons, came from the Middle East a year ago, and attends anti-US rallies. I'm arguing that the data collection part is reasonable. -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:18:53] - Paul: tobacco is different because nonsmokers objections relate to their having to be in smoking environments. Again, that's protecting people from others' actions. - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:18:09] - And voting libertarian cannot possibly be construed to be a "threat to the common good" without being completely ripped to shreds in the court system. - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:18:00] - Like the commercials funded by tobacco companies telling people how stupid it is to smoke. Who does that make happy? It pisses off a bunch of people and seemingly makes nobody happy. -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:17:30] - Too many people use boxcutters and fertilizer for nonthreatening purposes for them to pass any real legislation against them. - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:17:23] - Thin people do care, I've heard plenty of people react with disgust about how fat americans are and how something should be done. It sounds strange, but then what about some of the tobacco company rulings? -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:16:53] - Paul: again, these things you mentioned as part of (b) would have to clearly be arguable as beneficial to the "common good". Flying lessons are genuinely the "common good" because it's essentially flying a missile through the airspace that we collectively own. - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:16:13] - It's one of those things that is hard to argue against. Who could possibly be against tracking this stuff unless you have something to hide? Personally, I'm against it, but I've found it to be hard to support in the face of security concerns. How do you justify not wanting people to know you buy viagra with the lives of thousands of people? -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:14:59] - Thin people don't really care, fat people would be angry and wouldn't vote for that politician, and the fast food industry would be mad and withdraw financial support from that candidate. - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:14:46] - Paul: look at it pragmatically: politicians won't vote for legislation that makes it so fat people can't eat at McDonalds, because that legislation wouldn't appeal to anyone and would piss a lot of people off. - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:14:29] - Pierce: (b) could be extremebe easy I think. A few more terrorist attacks could have everybody clamoring for the government to track people who buy box cutters and take flying lessons, or possibly vote libertarian and buy lots of fertilizer. -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:13:01] - Along with the continuing attempts by the intelligence agencies to gather more and more information about people, and I see it as a logical extension of government policy. -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:12:23] - Pierce: I agree with what you say. It is another step from where we are now. I'm just looking at the general trend over the past century (less personal responsibility, more government nannying) and combining it with the current drive for a national ID. -Paul
[2004-09-29 11:09:17] - (a) is at least fathomable, though I consider it unlikely. (b), however, is completely ridiculous IMO. - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:08:33] - So what you have to show is that (a) some stimulus has made us willing to combine individual identification with protection from our own mistakes, and (b) that we'll be willing to entrust that responsibility with both the government and private enterprise to the point of providing them all of our personal information. - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:05:18] - he (uncombined) = here (uncombined) - pierce
[2004-09-29 11:05:05] - But you didn't make any argument about how we're willing to go from he (uncombined) to there (combined), given that we haven't done so already using the existing national ID system. - pierce
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