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[2005-02-07 21:52:06] - aaron:  heh.  it's weird because washingtonpost shouldn't have information on me to make their advertising so fitting.  scary.  http://aporter.org/pics/tmp/palazzo.png  ~a

[2005-02-07 16:58:34] -  ~a

[2005-02-07 16:54:53] - a: of course, the MPs probably weren't thinking too much about PR at the time...  who cares about that when there is a mud wrestling party to plan?    -mel

[2005-02-07 16:54:04] - a: so anyway, while I don't have a problem withe idea at all, it a bad PR move.  Both for the military and specifically for women in the military.  -mel

[2005-02-07 16:53:19] - a: I don't think it's bad to have a mud wrestling party between constenting adults.  I thought the whole story was pretty funny.  Of course, it's probably against workplace rules, so whoever was involved deserves to face whatever consequences.  -mel

[2005-02-07 16:48:26] - mel: 1. somebody was demoted so the gov isn't exactly condoning the party 2. they still might add on punishment in the future 3. it really wasn't that bad anyways.  ~a

[2005-02-07 16:41:14] - i don't know why, but this made me laugh.  "He flipped on his lights when the car turned into the apartment complex and struck two parked cars. The boy put the car in reverse and struck Osga's cruiser."  ~a

[2005-02-07 16:07:39] - http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/07/young.driver.ap/index.html 4-year-old drives mom's car to video store - aaron

[2005-02-07 13:49:50] - http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=7557055  US MPs in Iraq organized a mud wrestling party among the women guards.  But its ok because "Detainees were nowhere in the vicinity and they had no possible way of seeing what occurred."  -mel

[2005-02-07 13:46:50] - The saddest part is that she looked good before she started.  -mel

[2005-02-07 13:45:55] - http://www.awfulplasticsurgery.com/archives/000351.html  This is the scariest photo I saw on the site (SFW).  Its of Jocelyn Wildenstein.  She married a rich guy and when she suspected he was cheating, she became obessesed with winning him back by having more and more plastic surgery.  -mel

[2005-02-07 13:43:16] - The whole concept of plastic surgery almost seems like self-mutilation to me.  I am disgusted yet weirdly interested.  -mel

[2005-02-07 13:42:02] - http://www.awfulplasticsurgery.com/  -mel

[2005-02-07 13:41:53] - interesting (some disturbing) photos.  Maybe not SFW (no nudity but lots of photos of breast implants, collagen injections, etc).  I found this site to be addicting but it could be my skewed perspective from living outside LA.  -mel

[2005-02-07 13:36:18] - http://www.space.com/news/nasa_budget_050207.html  NASA 2006 Budget Presented: Hubble and Nuclear Initiatives Suffer    -mel

[2005-02-07 13:33:57] - Bush submitted the budget to Congress today, I think.  The NASA posrtion of the budget doesn't have any allottment for reparing the Hubble OR for the planned Jupiter Icy Moons mission (so I guess Its cancelled? )  -mel

[2005-02-07 13:30:35] - aaron: you know, I'm not surprised honestly.  -mel

[2005-02-07 13:29:56] - aaron: but with that in mind, its still not such a great thing to say...  No I didn't see Farenheit 911.  But my sister is in the Marine Corps so I've hung out on the base with her.    -mel

[2005-02-07 13:28:41] - aaron: I agree with you- its always good to hear honesty and from the quotes in the Post article, I think the Marine Corps general was for real (his comments sounds like he was being funny and off the cuff)  -mel

[2005-02-07 13:20:10] - What comes to mind is one soldier who was talking about how cool it was to blast Korn in his tank, while blasting apart buildings or something to that effect - aaron

[2005-02-07 13:19:17] - mel: I gotta say it's kind of nice to hear someone who's clearly not censoring everything they say before they say it. That said, it's still a pretty disturbing thing to say. Did you see Fahrenheit 911? They had interviews with troops who said similar things - aaron

[2005-02-07 13:11:45] - haha.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61672-2005Feb3.html  Marine Corps general says that is fun to shoot people.  Not such a great PR move.  Other news outlets wrote about it too, but I liked the Washington Post article.  -mel

[2005-02-07 13:04:08] - mig: Right. So plan-wise, they're definitely not worse than itunes. - aaron

[2005-02-07 12:39:46] - though thye do have a separate itunes like plan. - mig

[2005-02-07 12:36:22] - they do neglect to mention, though that their plan stinks for people who want to hold on to their music for a very long time. - mig

[2005-02-07 12:29:00] - Aaron: I guess that's true. It probably depends on exactly how many tracks you plan on listening to also. -Paul

[2005-02-07 12:12:24] - paul: I honestly think this pricing scheme is a lot more appealing than the $1 a song for iTunes. If i didn't have an iPod i'd seriously consider getting a napster-compatible player - aaron

[2005-02-07 12:10:00] - paul: Well i don't think it was false advertising or anything. They were right that it's much easier to get a large volume of music very cheaply. Especially if you're a gimmicky type who only plans to use the player for 3 months or something - aaron

[2005-02-07 12:09:35] - paul:  yes, although their plan is a lot better than when i heard about it initially, which was like over a year ago. - mig

[2005-02-07 12:08:28] - Aaron: So Miguel was mostly right about it not being as good as advertised? -Paul

[2005-02-07 12:02:11] - The music is WMA format. Also, it "can't" be burned to CD or played on a player unless it's a napster-compatible player, or unless you purchase the tracks for $.99 (which allows you unlimited use) - aaron

[2005-02-07 12:00:17] - http://www.napster.com/comparison.html in case anybody was curious how the napster pricing plan works. You pay a monthly fee for unlimited downloads from their database, or from other users. You can only listen to the music for the time that you maintain a subscription with napster - aaron

[2005-02-07 10:31:57] - aba: As for the link, I thought it would be a fun way to open up the new week. A prime examples of how stats can be used to show almost anything. -Paul

[2005-02-07 10:30:51] - aba: I haven't seen many photos of her so I really can't say. I do feel a little sorry for her because she seems to get made fun of for how she looks a lot when that really shouldn't make much of a difference. -Paul

[2005-02-07 10:26:56] - paul: also, your link makes my brain hurt with its gross mis-use of math and stats.  -  aba

[2005-02-07 10:26:22] - paul: it makes her look like a scary robot.  -  aba

[2005-02-07 09:46:46] - aba: Somebody probably told her that her promotion requires her to smile every once in awhile. Either that, or maybe she's doing more diplomatic stuff and so we see more pictures of her trying to be nice to foreign dignitaries instead of verbally dueling political television show hosts. -Paul

[2005-02-07 09:44:27] - http://voxday.blogspot.com/2005/02/republicans-are-smarter-proof.html Because there hasn't been enough people yelling at me lately... -Paul

[2005-02-07 09:43:22] - anyone else noticed that condoleeza shows up smiling in photographs a lot more now?  -  aba

[2005-02-07 08:43:14] - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6870901/ court cases in MMORPGs.  apparently companies can make a hefty profit running "sweatshops" of people playing games and selling their items on e-bay. - mig

[2005-02-06 12:19:29] - l: thanks!  good luck to you too!  -  aba

[2005-02-06 08:48:30] - aba:  happy is definately more important.  Good luck to you! - l

[2005-02-05 23:30:02] - i consider "professional social life" to be work, not social life -kris

[2005-02-05 23:29:36] - (that was me)  -  aba

[2005-02-05 23:29:25] - l: its ok.  im trying to get out of tech stuff and into environmental stuff.  ill be poorer, but definitely happier

[2005-02-05 20:17:10] - aba: thanks - but sadly i have chosen a field of poor do-gooders.  or so i like to believe.  - l

[2005-02-05 10:51:07] - l: aha.  if you were a tech person, i wouldve offered to shop your resume around my office.    -  aba

[2005-02-04 23:48:30] - i hope you're referring to your personal social life because your job requires you to have a uberdeveloped professional social life.  ~a

[2005-02-04 23:38:14] - my social life consists of saying hello to people i accidently run into while grocery shopping at Walmart.  -kris

[2005-02-04 18:32:00] - ahhhh, now I know who l is.  I thought it was a 1 (one) so I had no clue. - pierce

[2005-02-04 18:12:39] - aba: well - of the top three running - 2 are services jobs for the disabled and one is an HR position for a med company.  i'm an incurable human services whore - l

[2005-02-04 18:02:04] - gah! Six flights from columbia to dulles today, and mine is the one they delay.  I wanna go home. - pierce

[2005-02-04 18:00:27] - l: what kind of job are you looking for?  -  aba

[2005-02-04 17:23:34] - none taken.  just explaining.   - aba

[2005-02-04 17:05:21] - i didn't means offense - i was just amused.  and of course i am jealous of anyone with employment... grrr

[2005-02-04 16:49:17] - l: well i figure if other people at work are allowed to take smoke breaks, i cant be penalized for surfing the web a bit.  -  aba

[2005-02-04 16:39:24] - and, yes, i know that one of those choices was a subset of the other.  ~a

[2005-02-04 16:38:41] - l:  both.  ~a

[2005-02-04 16:35:13] - dumb question - do you all actually work while you are at work or just talk on here?    - l

[2005-02-04 16:24:31] - what issue are you talking about?  ~a

[2005-02-04 16:23:58] - travis:  nope, just lucky.  plus i have a script that tells me when people post.  ~a

[2005-02-04 16:21:32] - man, are you just sitting there refreshing constantly? - travis

[2005-02-04 16:21:02] - (yes, that was supposed to be "faxes" and not "taxes" >_< ) - travis

[2005-02-04 16:20:26] - what taxes?  ~a

[2005-02-04 16:20:04] - plus there's the whole unfair lakes/oaks/taxes issue - travis

[2005-02-04 16:16:23] - a: most days i can drive from west ox road to vienna and only have to stop at a few stop signs and one traffic light, other cars aren't a concern - travis

[2005-02-04 16:13:05] - aaron:  the same exit that people take to get to the airport (via the gwp)  ~a

[2005-02-04 16:11:33] - a: No - aaron

[2005-02-04 16:10:51] - aaron:  have you tried to take jefferson davis highway?  ~a

[2005-02-04 16:05:25] - travis: you always deal with traffic even when you don't use highways unless you're going against traffic.  plus highways are usually better anyways.  like 395N at springfield?  you can go like 60 mph around 9ish.  ~a

[2005-02-04 15:28:06] - a: 66 is hard to get to from where we live - aaron

[2005-02-04 15:13:52] - a: except i don't use any highways to get to work so i'm not dealing with traffic anyway - travis

[2005-02-04 15:07:55] - living in fair lakes would mean going WITH traffic for like 100 miles.  ~a

[2005-02-04 15:03:55] - aaron:  why don't you take 66 to work?  ~a

[2005-02-04 15:03:48] - why don't the tysons people want to live in alexandria?  you could 395 northify and 66 westify antitraffic, couldn't you?

[2005-02-04 15:02:59] - i guess tysons is inside the beltway.  lots of people work in tysons, right?  that's nowhere near fair lakes.  ~a

[2005-02-04 15:02:08] - does anybody besides me work inside the beltway?  ~a

[2005-02-04 14:59:57] - Not to mention the fair faxes. -Paul

[2005-02-04 14:54:07] - and nearby the oaks are fair as well - vinnie

[2005-02-04 14:50:04] - and i prefer to live in a place where the lakes are fair, not like your lakes of the non-fair variety - travis

[2005-02-04 14:45:54] - first schmirst.  -  aba

[2005-02-04 14:40:37] - aba:  he was there first.  ~a

[2005-02-04 14:09:15] - hmmm.  four digit years http://aporter.org/msg/?action=previndex .  yay.  ~a

[2005-02-04 13:37:21] - aaron: or he really needs to move to alexandria!  -  aba

[2005-02-04 13:29:28] - travis: I'd hang out with you more if we lived closer. I really need to move to fair lax ! - aaron

[2005-02-04 13:27:47] - Travis: I think my social life is almost nonexistent no matter how you count it. -Paul

[2005-02-04 13:24:53] - i think i do more and talk with coworker friends more than with my non-work friends, so my social life would almost be nonexistent if you didn't count coworkers - travis

[2005-02-04 12:54:07] - aba: Coworkers can be friends. Besides, if you go to happy hour once a week with your coworkers, you're spending more time with them than I do with most of my friends. -Paul

[2005-02-04 12:54:03] - Aaron: Yeah, it's hard to figure out what's going to catch on a achieve pop culture status and what just becomes forgotten. -Paul

[2005-02-04 12:37:34] - paul: i dont know if it counts since its with my coworkers.  -  aba

[2005-02-04 12:25:09] - paul: Yeah, the whole "not that there's anything wrong with that" thing really caught on. I thought it was kind of a funny premise, but I was surprised that it ended up being like, possibly the most referenced seinfeldism in the universe (with "no soup for you" at a close second) - aaron

[2005-02-04 12:03:41] - Aaron: That is one of my favorite Seinfeld moments. Where Jerry and George are emphatically trying to state that they aren't gay while also desperately trying to make sure that nobody thinks they hate gays. -Paul

[2005-02-04 11:59:30] - On that page: "WMA is gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Some of my best friends use WMA." - aaron

[2005-02-04 11:56:35] - http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=23766 80% of MS employees who have an MP3 player have iPods ^_^ -dave

[2005-02-04 11:49:59] - Dave: Wonderful. -Paul

[2005-02-04 11:49:29] - i leave work 4:30-5:30 depending on how late i feel like staying and when i came in. - mig

[2005-02-04 11:47:23] - Paul: You'll like this http://news.com.com/Group+aims+to+drastically+up+disc+storage/2100-1041_3-5562599.html?tag=nefd.top potential new standard, HVD. Stores 1 terabyte on a disc ^_^ -dave

[2005-02-04 10:51:01] - aba: If you're going to happy hours after work, then it sounds like you've got a more active social life than I do. -Paul

[2005-02-04 10:31:18] - s/home/happy hour/    -  aba

[2005-02-04 10:06:27] - http://movies.msn.com/beacon/editorial1.aspx?ptid=bb81afb0-cfd3-4bb2-ac54-3a774f57d6ad Casting rumors for X-Men 3 -Paul

[2005-02-04 09:49:40] - a: Usually between 6:30 and 7:00. -Paul

[2005-02-04 00:36:30] - I usually go home at friday. - pierce

[2005-02-03 22:46:46] - paul:  when do most people go home?  i go home between 4 and 8 depending on the day.  ~a

[2005-02-03 18:15:20] - Heh, you can always tell when most people go home. -Paul

[2005-02-03 17:03:31] - a: i think my mom definitely would have noticed.    -  aba

[2005-02-03 17:02:57] - a: there are some people who i talk to on a regular basis, and im sure they wouldve noticed had i not told them.  i guess i can never be 100% sure but oh well.  -  aba

[2005-02-03 17:02:50] - aba:  that's what i'm saying.  how do you know?  ~a

[2005-02-03 17:01:49] - paul: none taken.  i know already that thats the case.    -  aba

[2005-02-03 17:01:33] - a: i mean that most people wouldnt have noticed that i was even gone.  -  aba

[2005-02-03 16:58:46] - aba:  do you actually know that people who you hadn't told wouldn't have known?  i mean, how would you actually know unless you actually didn't tell anyone?  ~a

[2005-02-03 16:49:41] - aba: No offense, but I certainly wouldn't have. -Paul

[2005-02-03 16:46:39] - paul: yah, apart from work, my mom and the guy im dating, i doubt anyone wouldve noticed i was gone if i hadnt said anything.  -  aba

[2005-02-03 16:45:41] - a: i was in australia for almost 3 weeks, came back for 1 week, was in copenhagen for 1.5 weeks, came back for 1.5 weeks, and then went back to copenhagen for 3 weeks.  been back since saturday.  -  aba

[2005-02-03 16:39:01] - aba: Although maybe I guess that's your point. -Paul

[2005-02-03 16:39:00] - aba:  australia?  ~a

[2005-02-03 16:38:43] - aba: Maybe. But I'm not sure there are really any negative implications if you don't have contact with said person. Up until a week ago, Dewey could've been in Russia for the past year and I probably wouldn't have noticed. -Paul

[2005-02-03 16:33:39] - http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/hard_news/000192.php vote or die .... literally. - mig

[2005-02-03 16:27:17] - paul: i think its kinda sobering when youre gone for most of a two and a half month span and almost no one notices.  -  aba

[2005-02-03 15:23:19] - a: thats cool.  well I like the location.  -mel

[2005-02-03 14:52:35] - aba: *Grumble* Still sounds a lot like what I was saying a year ago *Grumble* Ok, I'll accept your innocent and simple explanation. For now. -Paul

[2005-02-03 14:45:51] - i've been by a couple times this week.  ~a

[2005-02-03 14:45:40] - paul: its not because my boss told me to and its not because i dont have anything better to do.... i definitely still have tons of work to do, but ive realized that i need to take a step back and breathe every once and a while.    -  aba

[2005-02-03 14:45:37] - well, i might visit it.  we'll see.  ~a

[2005-02-03 14:45:18] - mel:  nope.  and i probably won't be visiting it until i move in, which doesn't happen until mid-march.  ~a

[2005-02-03 14:32:44] - aba: Ok, sorry if I was being a bit too prying. I was just curious if you're trying to reach out to people because your boss told you to (ie, for work) or because you want to. And if you want to, if you only want to because you don't have anything better (ie, work) to do. -Paul

[2005-02-03 14:31:32] - a: so congratulations on your new condo.  got pics?    -mel

[2005-02-03 14:22:00] - paul: interesting question.... not sure i can give an answer without actually being in the situation.  -  aba

[2005-02-03 14:00:41] - a: I remember the scene now, thanks. -Paul

[2005-02-03 13:51:37] - paul:  http://www.lyricsbox.com/family-guy-lyrics-randy-newman-song-da-boom-qhk1dh2.html  ~a

[2005-02-03 13:49:53] - a: Sounds like Family Guy. -Paul

[2005-02-03 13:41:37] - paul c essen, reaching for an apple.  gonna take a bite, nope, nope.  he gonna breathe on it first, wipe it on his blouse.  he takes a bite.  chews it once, twice, three times, four times, stops!  saliva workin', takes a hard long look at randy ... five times.  fat old husband walking over.  ~a

[2005-02-03 13:12:42] - a: I don't like apples, I prefer PCs. -Paul

[2005-02-03 13:11:59] - apples.  ~a

[2005-02-03 13:09:40] - a: Sure, what would you like to talk about? -Paul

[2005-02-03 13:08:27] - not really.  can we change the subject?  ~a

[2005-02-03 13:05:53] - a: Happy? -Paul

[2005-02-03 13:05:49] - a: Very interesting guess, although I would like the wait for her to answer the question if you don't mind. -Paul

[2005-02-03 13:02:40] - paul:  ~a

[2005-02-03 13:02:14] - a: What am I supposed to respond to? I really don't have anything to say about your guess as to her answer. -Paul

[2005-02-03 13:01:50] - http://kutv.com/utah/UT--SuddenlyIllegal-en/resources_news_html USU student suddenly discovers she is not a legal resident -Paul

[2005-02-03 12:59:58] -  because you took too long to respond.  ~a

[2005-02-03 12:54:02] - a: Why apparently not? -Paul

[2005-02-03 12:33:36] - apparently not.  ~a

[2005-02-03 12:07:29] - if that's your question.  ~a

[2005-02-03 12:07:20] - she usually values work over pleasure.  ~a

[2005-02-03 12:06:07] - aba: But what if you realized you miss having friends but still hadn't established yourself as a superstar? Then what would you do? In other words, which is the real reason? -Paul

[2005-02-03 11:53:00] - hahahahahhaha.... nooooooooooooooooooo, thats not it at all.  i just realized that i miss having friends.    -  aba

[2005-02-03 11:35:09] - aba: Ah, ok. Now that you're a superstar, it's time to go back and honor the lesser folk with your presence? -Paul

[2005-02-03 11:32:19] - paul: a year ago, i was still trying to show them that i could be a superstar.    -  aba

[2005-02-03 11:22:50] - aba: Oh, and if you're trying to reach out to people, then you might be better off trying to get in with the Aaron/Adrian/Vinnie/etc group since I get the impression they get out and meet a lot of people. My events are usually just the same half dozen or so people over and over again. -Paul

[2005-02-03 11:15:30] - aba: Isn't that what I told you like a year ago? -Paul

[2005-02-03 11:06:46] - i also had a conversation with a manager here, who pointedly told me that now that ive proved myself, i really need to cut myself some slack.  he told me that nobody would think any less of me if i wasnt putting in the same number of hours anymore.  it put things in perspective for me.  -  aba

[2005-02-03 11:03:29] - paul:  im trying to be less of a workaholic.... looking over the past year and a half, ive accomplished some great things jobwise but i realized that my personal life has taken a huge hit leaving me rather unhappy.  im trying to make a conscious effort to reach out to people.    -  aba

[2005-02-03 11:01:37] - life is rarely fair.  ~a

[2005-02-03 10:49:48] - a: That doesn't seem very fair. -Paul

[2005-02-03 10:42:45] - by me.  ~a

[2005-02-03 10:17:24] - a: And how are results judged? -Paul

[2005-02-03 10:13:35] - paul:  results.  ~a

[2005-02-03 10:07:38] - a: What counts then? Nothing? -Paul

[2005-02-03 10:03:46] - nope.  not that either.  ~a

[2005-02-03 10:01:49] - a: It's the pretense that counts? -Paul

[2005-02-02 21:58:24] - paul:  no.  ~a

[2005-02-02 18:02:57] - Travis: Almost assuredly not. But it's the thought that counts, no? -Paul

[2005-02-02 18:00:43] - paul+aba: now the question is will aparna actually want to see movies paul organizes trips for - travis

[2005-02-02 17:37:56] - Aaron: Exactly. They might as well named it "Citizens against the Racehorses Gentlemen's Club", unless there are other nude juicebars elsewhere that they are also against. -Paul

[2005-02-02 17:28:15] - paul: Ha ha ha! I didn't even think about how inconsequential that part of the acronym was. Why even mention the juice bar part? If it was a nude frozen banana stand would they be less infuriated? - aaron

[2005-02-02 17:20:37] - Aaron: Still, having that juicebar part doesn't seem to take away much of the vindictiveness of it. -Paul

[2005-02-02 17:07:46] - paul: I think the organization may have just been made to run this guy out of business, but they gave it a generic name so they wouldn't seem as... "vindictive?" - aaron

[2005-02-02 16:55:03] - paul: *firstname* @ *lastname* . com    thanks (and yeah, im still working off of fullerton) -  aba

[2005-02-02 16:43:16] - I can't believe there is actually an organization called that. It doesn't even spell something out as an acronym. -Paul

[2005-02-02 16:27:32] - http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/02/02/nude.juice.bar.ap/index.html Citizens Against Nude Juicebars and Pornography doing their best to get a club shut down - aaron

[2005-02-02 15:38:07] - Either way it doesn't make much of a difference, since I work more than a half hour away from where I live. -Paul

[2005-02-02 15:37:39] - aba: Still living with my parents for at least another half year or so. Are you still working off Fullerton Road or whatever? -Paul

[2005-02-02 15:33:43] - aba: Ok, if you can send your email address to me somehow, I'll send you any emails I send out about movies and stuff. I haven't been planning much as of late, though, because of a combination of holiday busyness and not many good looking movies coming out. -Paul

[2005-02-02 15:02:38] - paul: do you still live with your parents?  i work like 10 mins away from there.    -  aba

[2005-02-02 15:01:59] - movies and stuff would be nice.    -  aba

[2005-02-02 12:18:13] - aba: But if you're talking about meeting for lunch or something during the week, I'm not sure many people live/work close enough to do that (I know I don't). -Paul

[2005-02-02 12:17:26] - aba: Do anything like what? If you're interested in me keeping you informed of movie viewings and other things that I plan I can add you to the list. -Paul

[2005-02-02 12:14:23] - will do.  ~a

[2005-02-02 11:52:44] - well.... if anyone does ever want to do anything, let me know.    -  aba

[2005-02-02 11:10:14] - yeah im in del ray.  right on mount vernon ave down near st elmo's coffee shop.  -  aba

[2005-02-02 11:00:28] - you're near del ray, right?  that's where my realtor is.  ~a'

[2005-02-02 10:59:18] - paul/dave:  thanks.  ~a

[2005-02-02 10:59:07] - aba:  not really.  i ate at la piazza on saturday.  ~a

[2005-02-02 10:51:31] - Dave: It's all the poor's fault, I tell you. -Paul

[2005-02-02 10:51:25] - "The Redskins are one of the most financially successful teams in sports, with a resale value estimated by some at $1 billion and an operating income of $70 million for the 2003 season, according to Forbes magazine. " Snyder bought the Redskins for $800 mil -dave

[2005-02-02 10:48:15] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55582-2005Feb1.html interesting article discussing SS and the elderly population problem. -dave

[2005-02-02 10:44:26] - a: congrats.... do you guys actually do stuff around alexandria?  you live really really close to where i do.  -  aba

[2005-02-02 10:43:10] - Paul: yeah, well the public sucks. they're the whole reason we have a sucky program like SS in the first place ^_^ -dave

[2005-02-02 10:42:41] - a: wow, you bought a place? 0_o grats -dave

[2005-02-02 10:36:17] - a: If you file for bankruptcy, let me know so I can bid on your foreclosed condo. -Paul

[2005-02-02 10:35:49] - a: Congratulations. I hope all goes well. -Paul

[2005-02-02 10:31:50] - paul:  if i file for bankruptcy in a few months, don't be surprised.  ~a

[2005-02-02 10:30:41] - paul:  by selling my soul to satan (contract not contingent on appraisal or inspection with a 5k escalation), i won the bid for a condominium.  i settle in six weeks.  ~a

[2005-02-02 10:21:24] - Dave: Not to mention that if they stop collecting now, they probably would only be able to pay those collecting benefits now for a little over a year before needing to find a new source of income. -Paul

[2005-02-02 10:20:21] - Dave: That might not go over too well with the people paying now. -Paul

[2005-02-02 10:16:17] - Paul: I agree, let's abolish it entirely. Use the money onhand to pay benefits for those retired now for as long as possible and mebbe a number of people who have like 5 years to retirement. ^_^ -dave

[2005-02-02 10:12:43] - Dave: Well, if you're asking me, I think both systems suck. If you're asking democrats, I can't really answer for them since I'm not entirely sure what their objections are. You would probably be better off asking Pierce or Adrian or somebody else. -Paul

[2005-02-02 09:57:22] - Paul: in other words, is it worth being guaranteed $50 when you're 80 when you put in $200 when you were 40? The privatization seems a better way of giving somewhat proportional wealth back (which I guess would be bad from a Dem's perspective) -dave

[2005-02-02 09:55:54] - vinnie: they had both multivar and diff eq when we were there -dave

[2005-02-02 09:55:41] - put in vs the money you get out? -dave

[2005-02-02 09:55:33] - Paul: yeah, I thought about the guaranteed thing, but I figured it was outweighed by several factors. Chiefly, our (the young generation) has far from guaranteed SS because the program in its current state will be kaput by the time we get there. Secondly, is the money being 'guaranteed' worth the difference in money you... -dave

[2005-02-02 09:55:08] - whoa, did TJ really have diff EQ when we were there? or has that been added since - vinnie

[2005-02-02 09:51:51] - a: Moving closer to the Virginia Theological Seminary I see. Is it another apartment or are you buying something? -Paul

[2005-02-02 09:50:54] - Dave: http://www.democrats.org/ Better yet, just read what the DNC says about it. It seems to be a popular issue on their website right now. -Paul

[2005-02-02 09:49:39] - Dave: I think the most common argument against it is that they are shifting from a "guaranteed" system to one where people could lose money. -Paul

[2005-02-02 09:11:45] - social security doesn't need to be reformed.  it needs to die.  It's a scam run by liars and thieves, and any reforms are just ways those liars and thieves can milk more money out of us. - mig

[2005-02-02 09:07:33] - and personally, i'm against any "reforms" in social security that don't result in its immediate and utter obliteration. - mig

[2005-02-02 09:07:04] - dave:  most of the arguments that i've heard are arguing are about the cost to create and maintain the "private" accounts (something like $6 trillion over the implementation period). - mig

[2005-02-02 08:01:57] - I can understand the reluctance to make this shift since it probably brings the problems of paying the debt to SS to the forefront now, but I honestly think this should be dealt with sooner rather than later anyways -dave

[2005-02-02 08:00:12] - I mean, to me part of the problem with SS was that we were trusting the govt to keep the money for us, and obviously that trust was misplaced, so what's so horrible at partially getting away from that? Having private accounts also boosts the general economy by investments etc. -dave

[2005-02-02 07:58:37] - ok, I don't get this fight over social security. The partial privatization of accounts makes some sense to me since it seems to begin to guarantee individuals that the money they are putting in will actually be there for them when they retire. What's the argument against this? -dave

[2005-02-02 07:29:17] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52344-2005Jan31.html Jefferson, science, math, and the gender difference -dave

[2005-02-02 00:08:20] - Cool, I never noticed that wikipedia had an entry for TJ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_High_School_for_Science_and_Technology - pierce

[2005-02-01 18:33:29] - a: Heh, only because twenty some people posted scores. -Paul

[2005-02-01 18:28:36] - you'd be in the top twenty something in "Best Score Per Person"  ~a

[2005-02-01 18:23:24] - Yuck, not even #48, more like #98 or something. -Paul

[2005-02-01 18:22:35] - Although, there is nobody representing Virginia on the list... -Paul

[2005-02-01 18:22:17] - a: I dunno, either way it's not much of a concern to me. Maybe if it was high enough to get in the top ten or something, but not if I'm going to be #48 or whatever. -Paul

[2005-02-01 18:18:10] - if not, you should submit them (yes, you'll probably need proof)  ~a

[2005-02-01 18:17:51] - paul:  did amy delete your scores?  ~a

[2005-02-01 18:16:23] - a: Good. -Paul

[2005-02-01 18:15:09] - I think the coding standards thing is not so much poor design or obfuscation as it is the desire to cut down on any unnecessary bytes.  I'd be willing to bet they have a script that automatically compresses javascript into one-letter variable and function names and whatnot. - pierce

[2005-02-01 18:14:12] - paul:  no, the making-blocks-by-clearing-lines was only for fun.  that "strategy" was not actually used in the high scores.  ~a

[2005-02-01 18:11:50] - a: Ah, ok. I guess that could save time if you could get it to work, but it seems too restricting in terms of how you can make your blocks. -Paul

[2005-02-01 18:10:33] - paul:  unless you make a block caused by clearing lines.  aaron has done it before.  one thing we didn't think of though, is making two blocks by merely clearing lines.  ~a

[2005-02-01 18:08:54] - a: You can place pieces while blocks are forming? I didn't think the next piece started to fall until the block was completely formed. -Paul

[2005-02-01 18:07:26] - they even talk about clearing lines to make blocks.  you can place pieces while blocks are forming.  ~a

[2005-02-01 18:04:35] - a: I make blocks with 10 seconds to go. Usually followd up by finishing with two or three extra blocks. -Paul

[2005-02-01 18:02:30] - and of course he was making a block with 10 seconds to go.  he even tried to finish a line with 1 second to go.  ~a

[2005-02-01 18:02:26] - I guess when you've figured out their random number generator. -Paul

[2005-02-01 18:02:14] - a: No doubt what they're doing makes perfect sense and is beyond my comprehension, but I just can't imagine it's that easy to play both sides all the time. -Paul

[2005-02-01 18:01:41] - a: No, I mean do they put the bottom piece down first, then the side, then the top, then the other side? -Paul

[2005-02-01 18:01:25] - i guess you have to when you want 800+  ~a

[2005-02-01 18:01:19] - and of course, they play both sides 100% of the time.  ~a

[2005-02-01 18:00:33] - a: That doesn't seem to make sense either, at least how I'm thinking about it. I guess it's something I have to see. -Paul

[2005-02-01 18:00:14] - everything is top side.  and purple and pink are all swasticas (sp?).  never the symmetrical vertical (or the new symmetrical horizontal that aaron said you showed him)  ~a

[2005-02-01 17:59:23] - top side.  ~a

[2005-02-01 17:59:15] - they also have perfect control of the down button at weird places.  ~a

[2005-02-01 17:59:13] - a: How are they setting up yellow monos? Bottom, side, top, side? -paul

[2005-02-01 17:58:49] - like.  to do a swastica (sp?) they rotate a piece three times to place the third piece (which goes on the bottom)  ~a

[2005-02-01 17:57:41] - paul:  i know about those two yellow spin dealies, this is a different one.  no no, every time they place a piece, they do some weird spin dealie that i have trouble even following.  ~a

[2005-02-01 17:56:48] - on that topic, it seems like EVERY piece placement has been optimized past my comprehension.  ~a

[2005-02-01 17:55:47] - a: I can't imagine that is ideal, considering that little spin dealie only works some of the time. -Paul

[2005-02-01 17:55:29] - they also do a weird thing to finish yellow monos.  ~a

[2005-02-01 17:53:53] - i'm watching a video.  they do the thing in the purple green multi where they put a green piece in last.  ~a

[2005-02-01 17:51:40] - a: Heh, I didn't quite understand the random screens bug thing. I think I almost understand what they're talking about but I get lost about halfway through. -Paul

[2005-02-01 17:49:43] - Aaron: Yeah, while I was reading it I was wondering exactly how they found out about it. -Paul

[2005-02-01 17:49:34] - did you guys read the "random screens" bug?  it's obvious these guys are programmers (and good ones)  ~a

[2005-02-01 17:46:58] - paul: Did you see that pause trick? That's the only video i really want to see. That sounds like a funny trick. - aaron

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