subject: Re: 2 Fast 4 Furious Styles

text:
"Alan Brooks" <[email]> wrote in message news:<bcdg11$8li$[email]>...

I think that you may, to some extent, be romanticizing the history
both of publishing and of the stage. I know a lot of writers, and I
can tell you that many is the book that comes out under one "star"
writer's name that has actually been written, under secret contract
and handshake, by another writer, so that the first writer can spend
more time working on his next book, for which he's being paid
significantly more money.

I've read a lot of Rex Stout -- and I've got to tell you. There is one
early Nero Wolfe novel that I am morally certain was not written by
him. Has his name on it. But the style isn't his. Wolfe asks Archie if
he remembers his instructions -- all sorts of weird things that are
absolutely outside of the "Wolfe" world that never appears before and
never appears after. Not Wolfe. Not Stout.

Many are the "celebrity" books that come out under the names of people
who never put word to paper. Who, precisely are the "stars" that the
publishers care about in such cases?

Publishers publish tens of thousands of midlist books, fiction and
non-fiction, where the genre is what matters -- the authors, more or
less, are interchangeable.

Yes, I suppose, for the Stephen Kings, or the Tom Clancy's -- they're
stars. But the number of such stars are very, very few, in actual
number. And if you are not one of that number, don't think for half a
second that the editor won't feel absolutely free to tell you to
change your work in ways that are indistinguishable from the way that
producers will give "notes" for the improvement of your script.
There's a scene in the "Jaws" novel where Hooper imagines having sex
with the Sheriff's wife. Why? Because the editor wanted there to be a
sex scene in the book. So Benchley put one in.

That's how the "star" system works in the world of commercial novel
writing.

Maybe it works differently in the world of pure "literary" publishing
-- but the cold cruel fact is -- in that world, where they publish a
couple thousand hard covers of your uncompromised masterpiece, which
will get some great reviews in a literary magazine and never get
republished -- you can't make a living writing novels like that.

 Aside from profit, the sole end of book publishing is

More now than ever (and even in the past, it wasn't much different)
the goal has always been profit. Read Robert Heilein's account of the
relationship with the publisher of his juvenile works. He was one of
their best selling writers, certainly, within the realms of science
fiction, one of the best thought of. He wanted a downbeat ending on
one of his books, Podkayne of Mars. They said "No." He said, "You're
clearly prepared to take chances with your "A-list" writers. I've made
lots of money for you. You should be prepared to trust me and take
this chance. If you don't, I'll quit." They said, No." He quit. The
book came out with the happy ending. So much for Robert Heinlein.

The fact is, they didn't give two fucks about him. They don't give two
fucks about anybody. They give the absolute minimum amount of "fuck"
necessary to make money. And the extent to which even best selling
authors jump ship from one publisher to another demonstrates that
publishers frequently miscalculate even that mimimum amount of "fuck."

As for the stage -- especially these days, but even in the past -- who
are the "star" contemporary playwrights that drive broadway? Well,
maybe there's Mamet. Maybe Boublil and Schoenberg. Maybe Andrew Lloyd
Weber -- But with the latter names you're really crossing over into
the realm of producer/lyricist/composers rather that straight
"playwrights as stars."

What are the big broadway hits? Adaptations of movies, revivals of old
shows (the writers of which are generally dead) starring whom? Movie
stars.

Are there plays written by playwrights starring non-movie stars that
are great pieces of work? Of course. But they are rarely able to rise
to the level of being Broadway engines able to produce huge incomes,
last for hundreds or thousands of performances, spawn numerous
roadshows.

The Real Star Play Wright, the Real Star Authors, have always been few
and far between. The Best Selling Authors, the This Season's Broadway
Hit that's gone and forgotten in a couple years is far more common.

And so, certainly in contemporary terms, but also, honestly, even in
historical terms, the sense of the Exalted Author and the Exalted
Playwright as distinct from the Hack Whore Screenwriter, is largely
illusory.

The fact is, we're all a bunch of fucking whores.

In this arena, as in any other, market forces govern. Specifically,
the law of supply and demand. Control is an expression of investment
in a project -- of ownership. There is simply too large a supply of
sufficiently competent writers who are not interested in demanding
ownership as a necessary term of their labor for it ever to be
seriously considered by those who have the demand for that service. If
every writer in the world said that they wouldn't do it unless they
got a piece of the action, things might be different -- but they
aren't different, and they aren't going to be different.

But the fact is, it's not as if we, as writers, don't know both the
equation and the solution. The solution is that, if we want to
maintain ownership of our work -- we have to stop simply being griping
writers and become writer/producers. Or if we wish to be directors, we
can't simply sell our scripts and then ask, nicely, to be allowed to
be direct -- we have to create the situation where we are not only
able to direct, but where the demand for our work is such that those
who want our work, in particular, want it so badly that they are
prepared to bite the bullet and let us direct in order to get our
scripts as a condition of the sale.

And that means having to accept the possibility that the things we
write may not sell at all if our attachment as producer or director
renders them sufficiently unattractive. That's the downside of
ultimata. If you say, "My way or the highway" -- you have to be
willing to accept the highway.

But the purpose of all of those things -- the interviews, the
publicity, even in the larger sense, the director and stars, is simply
a way to get people into the theatres. And they haven't seen the
movie. When the fellow came to do the cement for our driveway, my wife
tried to explain what I did for a living -- he only had the vaguest
sense (and I'm still not even sure that he understands it now) that
movies are first written before being shot. I imagine that he only has
the vaguest idea of what a director does -- he's that guy who says
action and cut on the set. But he knows what stars are.

It's not the job of the studio or the publicist to educate the public
about our importance. It's their job to get as many of those people's
asses - smart, stupid, and everybody in between, into theatre seats
that first weekend as humanly possible. Lots of footage of
screenwriters talking about the story process isn't going to do it --
however interesting that might be to us.

Well, it's hard to say, because I think the potential of any reward at
all for any unsold writer is very close to zero. But given that one
will reap any reward, chances are that the financial reward that one
will reap through selling a screenplay will probably be greater than
one will achieve through selling a novel or a play.

As for respect -- I think the ratio of kissy-poo to the writer's face
compared to private "what a fucking piece of shit asshole that guy is"
in the world of publishing and the world cinema is probably
comparable. Of course it's true that nobody in the outside world knows
who the fuck the screenwriter is -- but what can you do -- we all knew
the job was dangerous when we took it.

Well, considering that both "Casablanca" and "Gunga Din" are examples
of movies that were "hacked out" as the movies were being shot, it's
hard to assert that this process somehow either intrinsically lessens
the quality of the finished film or lessens the esteem or respect in
which screenwriters are held.

There are lots of others movies that are written (or "developed") for
years and the result, when it's ultimately shot, is an
incomprehensible piece of shit.

I don't buy this idea, on the one hand, that it's easier to write a
screenplay than a novel, nor, even given that it were true, that it
means anything. I don't accept the underlying premise, that that which
is hard to do necessarily yields a work of quality whilst that which
is easy to do necessarily yields something that is inferior.

I don't think that you have to struggle in hideous agony to produce
something good. It doesn't have to be like climbing a mountain.

I think, more than anything else, that's a function of personality.
Some people have to struggle over every word. Other people don't. Some
people take forever to write something, be it novel, play, or
screenplay. Other people, Like Ben Hecht for instance, would have
three secretaries working in three separate rooms and would stroll
from one room to another, dictating three separate screenplays at one
time.

But I've always thought that it was foolish to presume that somebody
who takes ten years to write a novel has likely written something
really dandy because he's taken ten years to write it. Or, for that
matter, because somebody has written a novel in a month that it's apt
to be bad.

Same if we're talking a play, a symphony, a painting or a screenplay.

Or a movie for that matter. There have been great movies that have
been shot in weeks -- and great movies that have taken years to shoot.

If that's the case now, it's very different from the way things were
when I used to send material around, where the format most definitely
was as precise in terms of type face, line spacing, lines per page, at
al, (not to mention, in the days before computers, the ways in which
any corrections had to be made -- using the proper edit hash marks).

Maybe they don't give a crap now -- but if they don't, that is most
definitely a sea change.

A publisher doesn't care if you can't tell your verso from

Publishers don't care if you don't know the details of the way a book
is physically manufactured, any more than producers care if you can't
tell an f-stop from a C-stand. But publishers certainly expect you to
know and understand how to mark up a manuscript, just as producers
expect you to understand proper script format.

 In

I'm afraid that you're mistaken -- you should see some of writers'
guidelines that they publish in the "Writers Markets" -- it gives you
a sense of the kind of love and respect in which they hold the
contents of the slush pile.

Trust me -- no slush pile, anywhere, is treated as anything other than
a waste of good forest, and a potential source of a few good laughs to
be traded around the office.

And by the way, A few years ago, having gotten a bit discouraged at
the progress I was making selling screenplays, I tried my hand at
novel writing -- and I can tell you -- even getting a novel read, by
anyone, anywhere, is around fifty times harder than getting a
screenplay read. My wife, who's cold called my screenplays into some
of the biggest companies in Hollywood, has hardly ever gotten any of
my novels (which may not be great art, but aren't horrible) anywhere.

Even now, when she has as an opener, "Oh, he's sold X number of
screenplays for six and seven figures" -- it doesn't seem to mean
anything.

In my experience, at least, publishing is, compared to the movie
world, a very, very closed business.


author: trawsars

subject: Re: 2 Fast 4 Furious Styles

text:
[email] (nmstevens) wrote in message news:<[email]>...

My recollection of the novel is hazy, but I'm quite sure Hooper didn't
just imagine sleeping with Brody's wife. They really had an adulterous
affair, it was a significant subplot that added a great deal of moral
murkiness to what most people remember as a popcorn movie. (Recall
also that Hooper got eaten by the shark at the end.)

I'm not familiar with Benchley's conversations with his editor, but it
certainly didn't seem, as you suggest, tacked on.


author: WRabkin

subject: Re: 2 Fast 4 Furious Styles

text:
And I recall reading that when Spielberg was offered the book, his one demand
was that they lose the affair.


author: George Holt

subject: Holt      H O T   S T O C K   R E P O R T   Wed 2/3  4:15PM EST *Dow +92* * Nasd  +30*  *MEYERSON M H & CO up 77%*

text:
******************************************************************
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       *                                                                *
       *                     http://holtreport.com                      *
       *                                                                *
       *                      [email]                          *
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0.40%   516.06  2.07    NYSE Finance            513.99  518.69  509.91  -1.0%
0.93%   751.68  6.90    NYSE Industrials        744.78  752.99  742.4   1.1%
0.83%   487.37  4.03    NYSE Transportation     483.34  489.42  481.71  1.0%
0.26%   442.30  1.13    NYSE Utilities          441.17  443.48  438.66  -0.8%
1.02%   635.69  6.41    S & P 100 Idx           629.28  638.67  625.89  5.2%
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0.47%   423.73  2.00    Russel 2000 Idx         421.73  423.74  420.66  0.4%
0.61%   995.40  6.05    Major Market Idx        989.35  999.69  983.87  0.5%
0.48%   606.87  2.92    Willshire Sm Cap Idx    603.95  606.87  602.11  4.1%
2.26%   512.19  11.34   High Technology Idx     499.79  512.19  498.15  14.0%
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NYSE Actives

 Company Name           Last  Change  %Chg   High    Low     Volume   Symb
MATTEL INC              27.31   1.94   7.64  28.00  25.38   9,513,900 MAT
ADVANCED MICRO DVCS IN  20.94  -3.38 -13.88  24.50  20.00  12,692,500 AMD
COMPAQ COMPUTER CORP    47.13  -0.31  -0.66  47.94  46.81  10,284,700 CPQ
CITIGROUP INC           54.31   1.25   2.36  54.88  52.00   8,701,200 C
FIRSTENERGY CORP        30.25   0.44   1.47  30.56  29.81   9,611,300 FE
A T & T CORP            94.94   3.94   3.26  95.00  91.31   8,144,800 T
AMERICA ONLINE INC     172.88   5.38   3.21 173.38 168.06   9,195,200 AOL
MORGAN STAN DEAN WIT &  91.63   2.25   2.52  95.00  87.44   6,800,300 MWD
FIRST UNION CORP        51.25   0.19   0.37  51.50  49.88   6,839,900 FTU
BOEING CO               36.88   2.69   7.86  37.19  34.25   7,424,000 BA

NYSE Gainers

 Company Name           Last  Change  %Chg   High    Low     Volume   Symb
PEROT SYSTEMS CORP      61.75  18.25  41.95  63.50  45.13   7,116,100 PER
NATL DISCOUNT BROKERS   37.63  10.63  39.35  39.25  26.50   8,124,300 NDB
TYLER CORP DEL           6.25   1.38  28.21   6.25   4.81     136,800 TYL
ANALOG DEVICES INC      33.88   5.75  20.44  34.00  30.88   3,874,200 ADI
SOUTHWEST SECURITIES G  40.69   6.13  17.72  41.50  33.63   1,022,600 SWS
NATIONAL PROCESSING IN   6.56   0.94  16.67   6.88   5.75      37,100 NAP
GRAHAM FIELD HEALTH PR   3.19   0.44  15.91   3.44   2.63     409,300 GFI
FAHNESTOCK VINER HLDG   16.50   2.25  15.79  17.00  14.25     337,000 FVH
VALHI INC               12.75   1.56  13.97  12.75  11.13      22,000 VHI
WW Grainger Inc         43.00   5.19  13.72  43.44  39.13     824,200 GWW

NYSE Losers

 Company Name           Last  Change  %Chg   High    Low     Volume   Symb
Range Resources Corp     2.38  -0.44 -15.56   2.94   2.31   1,864,900 RRC
TRANSCONTINENTAL RLTY   13.31  -2.38 -15.14  15.44  13.06      46,800 TCI
ADVANCED MICRO DVCS IN  20.94  -3.38 -13.88  24.50  20.00  12,692,500 AMD
Tele Celular Sul Parti  17.50  -2.25 -11.39  20.00  17.50      22,400 TSU
UNITED AUTO GROUP INC    6.38  -0.81 -11.30   7.19   6.25     320,000 UAG
O M I CORP               2.00  -0.25 -11.11   2.44   2.00     584,900 OMM
GIANT INDUSTRIES INC     7.00  -0.88 -11.11   7.25   6.50      86,600 GI
COMPREHENSIVE CARE COR   2.56  -0.31 -10.87   2.88   2.56      56,500 CMP
MAGNETEK INC            11.38  -1.38 -10.78  12.63  11.31     109,100 MAG
ASSOC ESTATES RLTY COR  10.44  -1.25 -10.70  11.69   9.63     496,800 AEC

Nasdaq Actives

 Company Name           Last  Change  %Chg   High    Low     Volume   Symb
THREE COM CORP/3COM CO  37.38  -6.75 -15.30  41.25  37.06  38,471,100 COMS
CISCO SYSTEMS INC      110.94  -1.45  -1.29 112.25 108.00  23,890,800 CSCO
DELL COMPUTER CORP     107.88  -0.75  -0.69 109.69 105.81  20,445,200 DELL
T E K E L E C           15.31  -4.69 -23.44  15.50  12.88  19,058,500 TKLC
MICROSOFT CORP         166.81  -0.81  -0.48 169.88 166.00  18,076,700 MSFT
SYSTEMSOFT CORP          1.28   1.03 412.50   1.8836164.0  17,280,900 SYSF
E TRADE GROUP INC       55.25  -3.00  -5.15  60.50  53.25  14,980,600 EGRP
INTEL CORP             138.69   4.11   3.05 139.00 132.81  14,184,700 INTC
MCI WORLDCOM INC        78.06  -0.88  -1.11  79.88  77.81  14,151,600 WCOM
C I E N A CORP          23.13   1.81   8.50  24.38  21.19  12,959,000 CIEN

Nasdaq Gainers

 Company Name           Last  Change  %Chg   High    Low     Volume   Symb
MEYERSON M H & CO INC    7.44   3.25  77.61   9.13   4.13   4,595,500 MHMY
ECOGEN INC               3.31   1.00  43.24   3.38   2.31     326,000 EECN
TRACK DATA CORP         12.38   3.63  41.43  13.25   8.50   2,411,100 TRAC
GILMAN & CIOCIA INC     18.31   5.31  40.87  18.38  12.19   1,242,500 GTAX
KINNARD INVESTMENTS IN   5.75   1.50  35.29   6.38   4.38     255,500 KINN
SPORTSLINE USA INC      50.00  12.88  34.68  50.50  36.31   2,538,500 SPLN
WIZTEC SOLUTIONS LTD    18.25   4.63  33.94  18.88  15.00     706,300 WIZTF
MACE SECURITY INTL INC   3.25   0.81  33.33   3.25   2.25      39,500 MACE
LIGHTBRIDGE INC          7.06   1.69  31.40   7.06   5.94     568,700 LTBG
WALKER INTERACTIVE SYS   6.50   1.50  30.00   6.50   5.25     296,100 WALK

Nasdaq Losers

 Company Name           Last  Change  %Chg   High    Low     Volume   Symb
NOVEL DENIM HLDGS LTD   15.25  -5.75 -27.38  18.63  15.00     206,700 NVLDF
T E K E L E C           15.31  -4.69 -23.44  15.50  12.88  19,058,500 TKLC
PHARMCHEM LABS INC       3.13  -0.75 -19.35   3.75   3.00      17,700 PCHM
CELL PATHWAYS INC        7.38  -1.63 -18.06   8.81   7.19   2,221,100 CLPA
GENESIS DIRECT INC       7.50  -1.53 -16.96   9.13   6.88   1,975,800 PRTM
DIGI INTERNATIONAL INC   8.00  -1.63 -16.88   8.63   7.50   1,311,100 DGII
P C SERVICE SOURCE INC   2.31  -0.44 -15.91   2.69   2.31       9,300 PCSS
COSMETIC CENTER INC      1.69  -0.31 -15.62   1.88   1.69      39,800 COSC
OPTIKA INC               4.75  -0.88 -15.56   5.50   4.19     176,600 OPTK
METRO INFO SVC INC      29.56  -5.44 -15.54  34.88  29.00     511,700 MISI

AMEX Actives

 Company Name           Last  Change  %Chg   High    Low     Volume   Symb
S&P DEP RCPTS/SPDRS TR 127.63   1.50   1.19 127.94 125.66  10,206,100 SPY
P C QUOTE INC            4.50   1.63  56.52   4.50   2.88   3,658,900 PQT
TECHNOLOGY SELECT SECT  37.47   0.27   0.71  38.06  36.81   1,334,100 XLK
NABORS INDUSTRIES INC   12.56   0.31   2.55  12.88  12.06   1,376,600 NBR
TRANS WORLD AIRLINES     5.75   0.50   9.52   5.75   5.25   2,288,700 TWA
HASBRO INC              37.50   0.50   1.35  38.25  36.75   1,146,700 HAS
VIACOM INC CL B         85.38   0.44   0.52  85.50  84.56     723,500 VIA/B
GREY WOLF INC          13/16    0.00   0.00 13/16 36223.0   1,130,700 GW
FOREST LABORATORIES IN  48.88   1.06   2.22  49.00  47.69     530,500 FRX
Assisted Living Concep   6.63  -0.19  -2.75   6.81   6.44     536,800 ALF

AMEX Gainers

 Company Name           Last  Change  %Chg   High    Low     Volume   Symb
JWGENESIS FINANCIAL CO  11.50   4.56  65.77  11.94   6.94     404,100 JWG
P C QUOTE INC            4.50   1.63  56.52   4.50   2.88   3,658,900 PQT
SURETY CAPITAL CORP      2.81   0.81  40.62   2.88   2.00     171,400 SRY
Iomed Inc                2.88   0.63  27.78   3.25   2.44      65,200 IOX
RANDERS KILLAM GROUP I   3.44   0.44  14.58   3.63   3.06      27,700 RGI/EC
POLYVISION CORP          2.50   0.31  14.29   2.50   2.13     195,300 PLI
GENCOR INDUSTRIES INC    6.75   0.75  12.50   6.75   6.13      65,300 GX
GILDAN ACTIVEWEAR INC   10.50   1.13  12.00  10.75   9.50      20,900 GIL
INTELLIGENT SYS CORP G   2.38   0.25  11.76   2.38   2.13       1,100 INS
TEXAS BIOTECH CORP       4.75   0.50  11.76   4.75   4.25     110,100 TXB

AMEX Losers

 Company Name           Last  Change  %Chg   High    Low     Volume   Symb
MILESTONE SCIENTIFIC I   2.00  -0.75 -27.27   2.75   1.81     133,600 MS
CANNON EXPRESS INC       4.00  -0.75 -15.79   4.63   3.75      11,300 AB
Security Associates In   3.25  -0.50 -13.33   3.63   3.25      16,700 SAI
MORGAN STAN DEAN WIT &  21.25  -3.25 -13.27  24.63  21.25       2,600 RPA
THERMOLASE CORP          4.06  -0.56 -12.16   4.50   4.00      70,500 TLZ
ENVIRONMENTAL TECTONIC  13.25  -1.25  -8.62  14.75  13.25      18,400 ETC
DANIELSON HLDG CORP CA   4.00  -0.38  -8.57   4.25   4.00       3,900 DHC
Rexx Environmental Cor   2.06  -0.19  -8.33   2.13   2.06       4,200 REX
THERMO VISION CORP       3.00  -0.25  -7.69   3.00   2.75      25,200 VIZ
ADVANCED MAGNETICS INC   5.50  -0.44  -7.37   5.88   5.50       5,600 AVM


subject: July 18 Price List @Hardware-Cafe.com

text:
--------------45FE451724E0F7A6D38086F4
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit


author: Alan Lichtenstein

subject: Kook Nicole

text:
Congratulations, on the basis of a near-unanimous vote of the elders of
news:misc.education , you have been upgraded from a mere arrogant twit
to the status of "Kook."  You almost got a unanimous vote, however,
Dorothy, did not feel that you had reached that pinnacle just yet.
Perhaps she felt sorry for you because it is "Be Kind To Animal Week,"
and I guess you'll just have to live with it.

Your selection as "Kook" was not made lightly.  First you had to be
adjudged worthy according to the criteria below:

	1) stupidity, as evidenced by five or less functioning brain
	   cells.
	2) arrogance, as evidenced by shouting, ranting, ad homenim
	   attacks.
	3) lack of reading comprehension, asevidenced by failure to
	   read and respond to posts
	4) failure to know to whom and what you were responding to.
	5) continued insistence of being right, despite being told by
	   just about everyone else that you wern't.
	6) poor interpersonal relationships, as evidenced by continued
	   name calling and insult.

Second, since normal people, such as the elders of news:misc.education
do not have the necessary abnormal frame of reference to properly judge
your kookiness, the results of your ratings on the above scale were
submitted to our resident kook, Kook Waters.  Ascribing to the
fundamental thesis that "it takes one to know one," your results were
submitted to a bonafide kook for review.  Of course, in keeping with
your kooky pronouncements, we transmitted your results via the Internet
through telnet from our remote cache which was downloaded on to Kook
Waters' computer.  Naturally, it went via an ISP, because as you have
told us numerous times, USENET is part of the Internet.

Well, Kook Waters reviewed your credentials and he balked( would you
believe it ).  He said that you hadn't as yet risen to his level of
stupidity and you needed to make more of a fool of yourself before you
could be granted the hallowed title of "Kook."  After all, Kook Waters
had to make a fool of himself for almost a month before HE earned his
title, and why shoud you get if after a few measly days?  But sensing
that Kook Waters was only fearful of his own standing, we persuaded him
that he would always be the #1 Kook, and you would only be a second rate
kook at #2.  So he relented, and we are now pleased to confer on you the
title of "Kook," albeit a second-rate one at that.

Henceforth, you shall be called by this title that you have justly
earned and granted all the rights and priviledges commensurate with it.
And by the powers vested in the elders of news:misc.education, let it be
known that the arrogant twit, posting under the name of EXCIUSEME, whom
LeChevalier has identified as Nicole, shall no longer be considered a
mere arrogant twit, having met, in full the conditions of "kookiness."

Congratulations, your kookiness on your elevation.  May your stupidity
precede you forever.


author: James Powell

subject: Re: Kook Nicole

text:
"Alan Lichtenstein" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...

<snip>

Has anybody kept track to see if this is a record rise to kookdom?

James Powell


author: Byron Canfield

subject: Re: Kook Nicole

text:
"Alan Lichtenstein" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...
....

(snicker) Must be kinda akin to playing "hearts" and "shooting for the
moon", eh?

But I did note one glaring omission from the qualifications, and that is
(apologies to Dave Barry): an IQ that could easily be mistaken for that of a
jar of mayonnaise.


author: Magi D. Shepley

subject: Re: Kook Nicole

text:
:sniffle:  Why didn't I get to vote?  Haven't I been here long enough to
be an 'elder'?  :sniffle:

Magi

Alan Lichtenstein wrote:


subject: Re: Kook Nicole

text:
Byron Canfield wrote:
( previous post snipped-follow thread )

I thought that was implicit in the qualification specifying five or
fewer functioning brain cells.

                       Alan


author: Herman Rubin

subject: Re: Kook Nicole

text:
In article <[email]>,
Magi D. Shepley <[email]> wrote:

I believe I have been here that long as well.


subject: Re: Kook Nicole

text:
Magi D. Shepley wrote:
Of course you did Magi.  Did you forget that you sent your proxy in?

                  Alan


subject: Re: Kook Nicole

text:
"Magi D. Shepley" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...
of a

Oh, oops! Geez, Mayonnaise -- EXCUSE ME! ;)


subject: Re: Kook Nicole

text:
Herman Rubin wrote:

Indeed you have, Herman.  In fact as seniority goes, you are among our
most senior members.  Did you not submit your proxy?

                    Alan


subject: Re: Kook Nicole

text:
I guess I did.  I support the decision... did you or Bob vote my proxy
for me?  :)

Magi

Alan Lichtenstein wrote:


subject: Re: Kook Nicole

text:
Magi D. Shepley wrote:

I don't recall, but I can assure you that your vote was counted.

					Alan


author: Robert C. Buss

subject: BALLY's Health Club Premier Plus Membership - eBay auction ends 3/15 (item #76019925)

text:
If you're interested in acquiring a Bally's health club membership,
please read on:

BALLY'S PREMIER PLUS MEMBERSHIP  ---  Auction begins @ $450, and ends on
3/15

With 1999 prices in effect, Bally's Premier Plus Memberships have been
selling for over $1400 with 3-year contracts! Now is your chance to
purchase the same membership for a reduced cost and without the
long-term contracts. This membership is currently paid in full through
5/8/99 with monthly renewals at $16.92 per month (less if paid yearly in
advance). No long-term contracts!

This Bally Premier Plus Membership includes:
    -- FREE Day Care
    -- FREE Tanning (where available)
    -- FREE Racquetball
    -- FREE Aerobics
    -- Full access 7 days a week
    -- Access to any of the Bally's locations nationwide

NOTE: The buyer will pay Bally's $100 transfer fee. This transfer fee is
over and above the price agreed to here on the eBay auction. The
transfer process is fairly simple. After receiving payment for
membership, I will fill out the transfer form and then send it to you.
You then complete your portion of the form and send it and the $100
transfer fee to Bally's. Once Bally's accepts the transfer fee, you will
be able to use the membership with a temporary pass and a permanent pass
will be issued in the near future.

This membership contract can only be transferred once. You, the buyer,
will not be able to transfer this membership again. To cover increasing
costs in providing fitness services, monthly dues may be increased on
the anniversary date. The increase can't be more than $1, 10%, or the
increase from year to year in the consumer price index, whichever is
greater, plus tax.

*Check with Bally's customer service for information related to any
clubs that require special membership (i.e., Gorilla Sport and Pinnacle
Fitness in San Francisco, Sport Clubs in Manhattan, New Jersey, and
Kansas City, and the Bally Bloomfield Hills, Michigan location.

Money Orders and Cashiers' Checks accepted. See the Bally's web site for
more information on Bally Total Fitness.  www.ballyfitness.com

Go to www.ebay.com and look for item #76019925 to enter your bids.

Thanks,

Rob


author: WYSIWYG

subject: Re: I'M SICK OF CHRISTMAS

text:
I think you are a fuckin complainer Wally! Have a life. You think you are
going to impress people her?

<[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...


author: Dave C.

subject: Re: I'M SICK OF CHRISTMAS

text:
"WYSIWYG" <schasse2000> wrote in message
news:14Ku9.9719$[email]...

Wow.  I can't believe I'm the only one who agrees with wally here.  Do most
people REALLY want to start celebrating Christmas in September/October?  I'm
with wally!!!  -Dave


subject: Re: I'M SICK OF CHRISTMAS

text:
I agree with Christmas but the the hose.

"Dave C." <[email]> wrote in message
news:RzZu9.9440$[email]...
are
most
I'm


author: youngearth

subject: Re: -- Here' How to Monitor What Your Kids are Doing Online

text:
We did the same thing. Even our 19year old doesn't have unlimited access.
Molly does use surfmonkey, but not without my permission.

Jaynee

Terry Walters <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...
<[email]> wrote:
are
account
to do
Click
about this
with internet
chairs. The
computer
on without
online.


author: Don

subject: chili sauce

text:
Hi,

I've been buying Heinz chili sauce for about $2 and been making some nice
recipes. The problem is that it is a small bottle and expensive. Most
recipes only need about 1/2 a cup of chili sauce - not the greatest amount,
but there is only about a cups worth in a bottle.  Anyone have an easy
substitute recipe for chili sauce that mimics the Heinz one to some degree?


author: Serendipity

subject: Re: chili sauce

text:
Don wrote:

Don, I make a homemade chili sauce but it is homecanned not made fresh
when you need it.  I generally make 12 - 14 500 ml (1 pt) jars at a
time.  Years ago, chili sauce was used much like salsa is used today.
If you google for chili sauce, you should be able to find something but
I doubt any that isn't homecanned.  If you decide to homecan chili
sauce, I don't seen any reason you couldn't use 250 ml (1/2 pt) jars as
there is certainly enough acidity in the sauce.  BTW, my recipe is one
that has been passed from generation to generation only within the
family.  While I can't share it, I will say it surpasses Heinz chili
sauce by a long shot!


author: Lucy

subject: Re: chili sauce

text:
Don,
I use it too.. so I googled, and found nada. I guess you could look at the
ingredients on the bottle and try to improvise a copycat? Or maybe just add
minced onions to ketchup?
Good question though.
lucy

"Don" <[email]> wrote in message news:[email]...


author: MilkyWhy

subject: Re: chili sauce

text:
My ex made a great Chili sauce. Only made it at the heighth of Summer, after
the whole crop of tomatoe's came in. Involved pressure cooker and whole 9
yards. Was great though.


author: Bob Ward

subject: Re: chili sauce

text:
On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 06:49:56 GMT, "Lucy" <[email]> wrote:

No guarantees - not even from Justin Wilson - but check this one out:
http://www.recipesource.com/misc/canning/00/rec0001.html

                      *  Exported from  MasterCook  *

                                Chili Sauce

 Recipe By     : Elizabeth Powell
 Serving Size  : 60   Preparation Time :5:00
 Categories    : Canning, Preserves, Etc.         Pickles & Relishes

   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
 --------  ------------  --------------------------------
    4      quarts        red ripe tomatoes -- chopped
    5                    large onions -- chopped
    4                    sweet red peppers -- chopped
    2      cups          cider vinegar
    1      cup           brown sugar
    1                    stick cinnamon -- broken up
    1      tablespoon    yellow mustard seed
    2      teaspoons     celery seed
    1 1/2  teaspoons     ground ginger
    1      teaspoon      ground nutmeg
    1      teaspoon      peppercorns

      Tie spices in a cheesecloth bag. Combine with all other
ingredients in
 a heavy, enameled kettle and stir. Bring the mixture quickly to a
boil,
 stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens,
about 3 to
 4 hours. Sauce should be thicker than ketchup, but not as thick as
jam.
 Monitor closely, stirring often, to prevent scorching. Pack hot in
sterile
 jars and process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Makes 5-6
pints.

                    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 NOTES : Makes 50-60 three-tablespoon-sized servings.


subject: Re: chili sauce

text:
On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 06:49:56 GMT, "Lucy" <[email]> wrote:

Or this one...

Browse by type:
Main Dishes
Soups & Stuff
Baked Goods
Fruits, Grains & Vegetables
On the Side
Sweets & Desserts
Snacks & Appetizers
Holiday Foods
Restricted & Special Diets
Miscellaneous & Other
Other info:
About Us
Contact Us
Site Map
Site News
Submit a Recipe

                      *  Exported from  MasterCook  *

                            Bobbie's Chili Sauce

 Recipe By     :
 Serving Size  : 1    Preparation Time :0:00
 Categories    : Sauces

   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
 --------  ------------  --------------------------------
   12      cups          tomatoes -- peeled and chopped
    3      cups          celery -- chopped
    2      cups          onion -- chopped
    1      cup           green pepper -- chopped
      1/4  cup           salt
    2      cups          sugar
      1/4  cup           brown sugar
    1 1/2  teaspoons     pepper
    1 1/2  teaspoons     mixed pickling spice
    1      cup           white vinegar

 Combine 1st five ingredients and let stand overnight.  Drain in
colander
 but do not press.  Place in a large kettle and add remaining
ingredients
 (pickling spice in cheesecloth).  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and
 simmer for 15 minutes.  Fill jars and process for 10 minutes.  Fills
12
 - 8oz. jars.

Or this one

                      *  Exported from  MasterCook  *

                            Favorite Chili Sauce

 Recipe By     :
 Serving Size  : 6    Preparation Time :0:00
 Categories    : Tomatoes                         Peppers
                 Pickles                          Vegetables

   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
 --------  ------------  --------------------------------
   25      Each          Large Ripe Tomatoes
    3      Each          Sweet Red Peppers *
    1      Each          Small Bunch Celery Chopped
    6      Each          Large Onions -- Chopped
    3      Each          Cloves Garlic -- Minced
    2      Tablespoons   Whole Allspice -- Tied In Bag
    2      Cups          Cider Vinegar
    1 1/2  Cups          Light Brown Sugar
    2      Tablespoons   Pickling Salt
    1      Teaspoon      Pepper
    1      Teaspoon      Dry Mustard

 *    Peppers should be seeded and chopped.

                    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


subject: Re: chili sauce

text:
MilkyWhy wrote:

There is no need to pressure can chili sauce.  It is acidic enough to
use the boiling water bath method.


author: Robert Morien

subject: Re: chili sauce

text:
In article <[email]>,
 [email] (MilkyWhy) wrote:

I don't think the trellis is anywhere near 9 yards, but I'll go out
tomorrow and measure it. I do remember, and you were correct to guess
it, that it was made of redwood.


author: [redacted]

subject: Financial Investco Info wanted

text:
I read an article recommending Financial Investco's Liesure fund. I understand
they also have an environmental fund. Does anyone have any info on this family
of funds? Recommendations etc?

*****************************************************************
John R. Cobarruvias, Texas A&M Class of '78,
NASA Johnson Space Center Houston Tx.
(713)483-9357

"And to think..................I hesitated" (Hellraiser II)
*****************************************************************


author: Mike Northam

subject: Re: Financial Investco Info wanted

text:
Looks like several of us picked up on TRADER's recommendation in
rec.gambling :-).  I already put my meager 1992 IRA contribution into this
fund (If only as another way to invest in casinos :-)).

Regards, Mike


author: Kenneth B. Elliott III

subject: Re: Financial Investco Info wanted

text:
[[email] writes:]

I just obtained a prospectus for Investco's Financial Strategic funds
(of which the Leisure fund is a part).  It started out in '82 at 8.00
a share, and is currently at around 18.00 a share.  Their Strategic
Health Sciences fund in the same period has gone from 8.00 to around
43.00 (it doubled in 1990--from 20 to 40).  I haven't purchased any of
their funds, but am contemplating it.

One thing to note is that as of January 1st, the new minimum opening
balance is $1000, not $250 as it used to be.  However, if you happen
to have gotten an application with $250 on it, they are still
accepting $250 minimums with those applications until April 1st.
Minimum buy after the initial one is $50.  They have a program (called
Easivest) which debits your checking acount X dollars (where X >= 50)
every month; minimum initial purchases for these types of accounts may
be lower; I didn't ask.

KBEIII


author: Jim Beam

subject: Certified True Copies - Singapore

text:
Dear all,

Any idea where one could get the necessary documents certified (in
Singapore) as true copies without paying a small fortune?

Can the Police certified it 'legally' for the OZ govertment?

Any folks with experience?
Please kindly advise.


subject: Re: Certified True Copies - Singapore

text:
i keep seeing reviews and raves about this naturalisproducts.com and
organiconline.com.sg . many people are discussing in beauty forums and
magazines have positive reviews on this . but this thing ain't new, its
been around for 20 years! anyone tried can feedback to me on exactly
how good it is?

----------------------------------------
<quote>
[email]
can anyone help me please, am looking for the local distributor or any
shop selling the naturalis range of skin and body care products, from
this company http://www.naturalisproducts.com . looking for this
urgently. for those who have not come across it, its some foodbased
anti-aging products. i googled for this and received result
showing its available at http://www.organiconline.com.sg. i need this
urgently but shipping from singapore will take some time, if anyone is
distributing this please contact me at [email]
urgently. i have a group of us looking to buy this. thanks!


author: Dan

subject: Re: Certified True Copies - Singapore

text:
Hi,
I sent mine to a lawyer for notarisation.
I got it done pretty cheap.

Danny

"Jim Beam" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...


author: ptlabs

subject: Re: Certified True Copies - Singapore

text:
The police won't entertain you. A solicitor should do the trick. A
Notary Public or Commissioner for Oaths can do so too.

Feel free to shop around. There is no standard fee for this.

Peter


subject: Re: Certified True Copies - Singapore

text:
To add on, mine was done in Singapore.

Danny

"Dan" <[email]> wrote in message
news:crdde1$pdi$[email]...


author: woz

subject: Re: Certified True Copies - Singapore

text:
In Singapore, the standard rate for notary public certification (for
Australia) is $5 per certified document.

"ptlabs" <[email]> wrote in message
news:32$275199$1938929$[email]...
advice.


subject: Re: Certified True Copies - Singapore

text:
This is also the rate for New Zealand.
Lowest rate I got was SGD5 per page and SGD1 for the back page (on the same
sheet).
Beware, there are some notary public charging SGD40 per page.

"woz" <[email]> wrote in message
news:41da8424$[email]...
immigration


subject: iPhone to used as iPod ONLY on holiday

text:
Hi all,

Got one of the new 3GS models recently and I want to use it as my iPod.

As I don't want to be bothered on my sunbed, how do I switch the phone
capabilities off (also avoiding god knows what kinds of expense!) and use
the iPhone as an iPod only?

Obviously, I also need to know how to switch the thing back on when I come
home.

Is this possible?

Hex


author: nospam

subject: Re: iPhone to used as iPod ONLY on holiday

text:
In article <[email]>, Hexen666
<[email]> wrote:

settings, airplane mode.


author: Jim Mason

text:
In article <[email]>, hexen666
@NOSPAMbtinternet.com says...

Yes. Settings - Airplane Mode. Switch it on then back off when you come
home.


text:
"Jim Mason" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...

Thanks Jim and nospam!

Hex


text:
Hexen666 wrote:
You can automatically set it to voice mail, if you want.


author: Marc Heusser

text:
In article <Bnfqm.96190$[email]2>,
 "[email]" <[email]> wrote:

At least over here in Switzerland this incurrs high charges every time
someone calls you and leaves a messge visual voicemail. Better switch
that off (with some key combination like dialling *#121#, depending on
your phone network)

HTH

Marc


subject: 18 gig barracuda $750 New

text:
Forsale Brand new seagate 18 gig barracuda Ultra SCSI internal hard drive for
ONLY $750.

Model # ST118273N , this is 3.5" half height internal drive with 5 year
warranty from seagate.

For further specs go to www.seagate.com.

If anyone wants references from people i've sold these and other drives just
ask.

bye

-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/rg_mkgrp.xp   Create Your Own Free Member Forum


author: Michael

subject: Re: Eating Beef Heart?

text:
"Janet Baraclough.." <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...
. The only person


author: Don Bruder

subject: Re: Eating Beef Heart?

text:
In article
<WKtQc.176925$[email]>,
 "Michael" <[email]> wrote:

Nope. You've just tripped over the exception to Godwin's law:
Deliberately invoking hitler/nazis/etc in an attempt to end a thread
does not work.

On the other hand, shutting your trap and not continuing a thread with a
post of your own works wonders.


subject: Re: Eating Beef Heart?

text:
"Don Bruder" <[email]> wrote in message
news:0EuQc.5924$[email]...

Pot...Kettle...Black?

Unimportant stuff deleted


author: Kent Paul Dolan

subject: order of algorithmic complexity: attention to details

text:
As an object lesson to others, a confession:

In a RouletteWheel random selection mechanism, my software was using a
linear search to find the roulette wheel slot given a real number
distance around the wheel.  (A RouletteWheel is a special purpose
biasing mechanism where the slots are of variable width depending on
what proportion of the time you want to use the slot index in some
client method).

This was this trivial little class off in a corner, which got no more
attention once it was written, debugged, and worked.

Wrapped around it were vastly more complex heuristics, which
incidentally used this RouletteWheel as a biasing mechanism.

One of them called inver-over used it rather extensively, in a nested,
though not innermost, loop.

I happened to notice a substantially disproportionate decrease in
execution speed of that one extensive user, as the population size got
increased from 601 to 2529 in a test run.

The RouletteWheel was being used to select a member of the population
biased by its fitness, a floating point number.

Not liking slow code in situations where Sagans and Sagans of loop
iterations are happening, I bothered to investigate.

And stumbled upon this modest, forgotten class.

And screamed silent imprecations at programmer stupidity, and replaced
the linear search with a binary search.

And saw the runtime for the entire, much more complicated heuristic drop
73% with this one bit of stupidity repaired.

Moral: there are no unimportant programming decisions, just careless
programming decision makers.

FYI.

xanthian.

To the tune of "If I were a rich man..." I'm now trying to sing "If I'd
used a profiler...", but the meter clunks.

I'm off to go check the Java Glossary for profilers, to try to find a
freebie one.


author: Marshall Spight

subject: Re: order of algorithmic complexity: attention to details

text:
"Kent Paul Dolan" <[email]> wrote in message news:[email]...

I dunno. It's a good story, but I don't think it illustrates an actual
failure of any kind. You wrote some code; it had a performance
issue in it; you didn't find it at the time you wrote it because you
didn't extensively inspect, test and profile. Then later, you found
and fixed a performance problem.

If the implication is that we should all extensively inspect, test and
profile every class for performance, then I'd say it's going to be
taking us all three times longer to write programs.

If the implication is that *just* this class should have been inspected,
then the question is, how would we have located that one class that
had the actual significance to performance? And the answer is: your
story.

I think what you've described above is the process *working*, not
the process *failing.*

Marshall


author: Laurence V

text:
On Fri, 7 Jun 2002 22:50:31 +0000 (UTC), "Kent Paul Dolan"
<[email]> wrote:

I agree with Marshall... you didn't do anything wrong. Your approach
was correct: first you code the simplest possible code that will do
the job, and then LATER, when system performance is *evaluated*, you
identified a bottleneck.. and you addressed the problem.

Linear searches are OK, they are not evil, unless they end up forming
a performance bottleneck.

   L.

---
World-on-a-Disc, Interactive Map-Driven CD-ROMs Bursting with Photographs.
http://www.worldonadisc.com


author: blair[no spam]@world.std.com (Blair P. Houghton

text:
Kent Paul Dolan <[email]> wrote:

Why?

Why not just set up the slots in a 37-element array then do
'slot = slot_array[(int)(37*(distance/circumference))];'?

				--Blair
				  "Tell me this is possible."


author: Babu Kalakrishnan

text:
On Sat, 08 Jun 2002 08:11:47 GMT, Laurence V <o@o> wrote:

While I agree that premature optimization is very often
counter-productive at a micro level, my point of view has always been
that a good programmer should always have an awareness of whether a
certain approach is optimal or not in the back of his mind all the time
especially at the macro level.

My experience has been that the time taken to write sloppy code that
just about does the job is not going to be too much less than giving
some thought towards finding the optimal solution and writing it that
way the first time around. Also, the time differential between the two
comes down as the programmer gains experience writing code the right
way, because thinking about optimal solutions becomes second nature to
him/her, and doesn't take any extra time or effort.

As an example I can point out Jon Skeet - I'm sure he can write a
StringBuffer implementation for repeated concatenation of strings in
about the same time as one that uses a "s += newString" approach :-),
basically because he *knows* in the back of his mind that it is the
optimal solution.

Also in a majority of cases you would find that there is not too much of
difference in complexity between the right solution and the quickfix one
anyway.

My feeling is that in todays world, there has been too much of hype
about the "Silicon is cheap, manpower is not" syndrome, and sloppy
programming practices are even encouraged - which in my opinion is
extremely counter-productive in the long run.

Linear searches are OK - but given an ordered list and need to search,
the first thing I would think about is the population. Anything more
than say  30 to 40 elements, and I would pick a binary search anytime -
especially given that it is a single method call in the library and
would probably take even less time to code than a linear search. And
this is *irrespective* of whether this can form a performance bottleneck
or not - Because finding out later that this was a performance
bottleneck would cost much much more in terms of time.

Imagine the collective manhours we would have saved everyday if Windows
NT (or 98 or 2K or whatever) could have taken even 5 seconds less to
boot up if a few programmers at Redmond had put in a little bit of an
extra effort to write optimized code. :-)

So what Kent said is perfectly valid - programmers need to think about
what they code, something that *does the job* is not enough. And I would
say that it is much more important for young programmers to realize
this, because this is something they need to grow up with, and what
eventually makes the difference between a good programmer and a mediocre
one.

BK


author: Mark Thornton

text:
<blair[no spam]@world.std.com (Blair P. Houghton)> wrote in message
news:[email]...

He said that his 'slots' were not of constant width.


text:
"Blair P. Houghton" <blair[no> wrote:

Umm, you missed the issue of the slots being differently widthed(*), I
think.

Nope.

xanthian.

(*) That _must_ be the politically correct way to say that.


author: Richard Reynolds

text: Agreed, the later you find the problem, the more you gotta fix.


text:
On Sat, 8 Jun 2002 17:08:56 +0530, [email] (Babu Kalakrishnan)
wrote:

At the macro level we're not talking coding anymore. We're not even
talking algorithms... we're talking architecture. And at the macro
level, I agree with what you say. But at all levels below macro, you
should always implement the simplest, clearest design/code possible,
and once it works, profile and see whether your performance needs to
be cranked up or left as-is.

The majority of programmers are average programmers. Given this
reality, it pays to approach software development with these people in
mind. With these people in mind, you KISS, KISS, KISS. And later, once
your system works, you address performance issues only if performance
happens to be inadequate.

Like Jon, I know what the compiler generates for a String
concatenation... and I don't care whether I've got this in a loop or
not, UNTIL that time when I've idenfified that PARTICULAR piece of
code as being THE bottleneck of the system.

The right solution is the solution that

- works
- performs at least as well as required
- is as simple as possible
- is within budget
- is delivered as per schedule

Whether the solution contains linear searches or less primitive, more
efficient algorithms is neither here nor there.

There's a difference between developing a system as simply and quickly
as possible, and downright incompetent sloppiness... of course.

But in an industry that is notorious for delivering semi-functional
systems over-budget and very, very late, I'd rather stick to a
development methodology that follows the simplest possible route and
keeps optimization for the point when the system has been proven to
work as per requirements spec, but fails in the performance
benchmarks. I believe XP is such a methodology and I think most of the
XP stuff is spot on.

Just nit picking here.. but a binary search requires your list to be
ordered, which means either you need (more complex) code to constantly
keep the list ordered, or you need to call a sort routine which may
blow your binary search advantage right out the water.

.. and this highlights my point again: you're very often deluding
yourself thinking ahead about such micro-performance aspects. Because
you don't yet have a working system, running with real-life data. So
you're quite possibly worrying about "ghost" problems. Problems that
will never actually materialize.

Not if the team is competent with a profiler. Profilers instantly
point the finger at the one and only TIGHTEST bottleneck, so it's
quite trivial having a look at the associated source and seeing what
obvious improvements are necessary to widen the neck of the bottle....

Just prune a few of the frivolous things that load at startup... that
usually fixes it for me.

I would have said exactly the same thing you just said 5, 10 years
ago, but nowadays I sing from a different sheet. If our profession is
ever going to EARN the badge of engineering (as in software
engineering), then we need to find a repeatable process to deliver on
time, and under budget. We'll never get there if we, the developers,
do not work to minimize complexity and time wastage at every stage of
the game.

Once a decent architecture has been determined for a new system,
coding any searching with a linear search to begin with is a perfectly
acceptable approach, if not the best, IMHO.

   L.

---
World-on-a-Disc, Interactive Map-Driven CD-ROMs Bursting with Photographs.
http://www.worldonadisc.com


text:
"Babu Kalakrishnan" <[email]> wrote in message news:[email]...

LOL. The issue isn't "sloppy" vs. "optimal."

The issue is how much time you want to spend optimizing something
that might have a less-than-epsilon impact on performance.

What I advocate is not "sloppy!" (Of course!) What I advocate is writing
clear, straightforward code, paying attention to quality and correctness, and
minimizing thinking about performance until later. Clarity and correctness
matter everywhere; performance only matters in a few methods. And you
can run a program that will tell you exactly which methods those are!

"You're bound to be unhappy if you optimize everything."
                               --Donald E. Knuth.

Marshall


text:
Mark Thornton <[email]> wrote:

Oh.  Okay.

Don't forget to sort them by size before building the
binary search tree.

				--Blair
				  "My neighbors used to complain,
				   but then I explained how it would
				   make the mailman's job easier."


text:
Kent Paul Dolan <[email]> wrote:

Depends on when your crossposting mixed with your crossed ganglia.

Cool.

"Fatteningly challenged."

				--Blair
				  "Willie Nelson."


text:
On Sat, 8 Jun 2002 15:41:29 +0100, "Richard Reynolds"
<[email]> wrote:

Bugs are not the same things as performance problems. Bugs can be
discovered very, very late... while performance problems are normally
not. Yes, late bugs can be very expensive to fix. But we're talking
about performance issues here, not bugs.

   L.

---
World-on-a-Disc, Interactive Map-Driven CD-ROMs Bursting with Photographs.
http://www.worldonadisc.com


text:
"Laurence V" <o@o> wrote:

Just nit picking back, but in this case, the original list was in
arbitrary order, but it was a list of _slot weights_, and what I needed
was the point in that list where sufficient weights had accumulated
(starting from the left, arbitrarily), to put a random, uniformly
distributed number from zero to the total list weight into the slot
where that much weight had been seen, as a way of choosing that slot
with a frequency proportional to its weight.

What I _did_ was create _another_ list, this one ordered, of _cumulative
slot weights_ (from the left, again arbitrarily), and do my binary
search on that, with a bit of specialization because I was searching for
an interval, not a point.

Since I needed to do the build of the auxiliary array just once per
roughly 22500 times I did the search, this was where the huge win arose.

Moral: sometimes transforming the data helps.

xanthian.


text:
"Blair P. Houghton" <blair[no> wrote:

Well, no, as explained elsewhere, it was easy enough to do the setup in
linear time rather than doing a sort step, since I wasn't searching for
a slot of a certain size, but trying to turn a uniform distributed set
of double precision floats from a pseudo-random number generator into a
slot width biased distribution of integer slot numbers, or "select from
population biased on differential fitness".

xanthian.


author: Timo Kinnunen

text:
"Kent Paul Dolan" <[email]> wrote:

I would rather put it this way: understanding the problem helps.


text:
Kent Paul Dolan <[email]> wrote:

Okay.  Then sort them by bra size.

				--Blair
				  "A genetic algorithm I'm all for validating."


author: Frank Ellis

subject: Environmental groups

text:
http://www.sacbee.com/news/projects/environment

Read about how the Sierra club and others have become big business.  While
their rank and file members recycle the elite of these groups wine and
dine in luxury.  A weeklong series in the Sacramento Bee

Think about it during the next rolling blackout.


author: John Navas

subject: Re: Environmental groups

text:
In <9c1kkq$[email]>, [email]
(Frank Ellis) wrote:

Corporate interests like nothing better than to have the advantage of
size.  ;-)


author: John Higdon

subject: Re: Environmental groups

text:
in article 9c1kkq$[email], Frank Ellis  wrote:

There have been similar stories in the Chronicle and SJMN for years. This is
nothing new.

The Sierra Club is endorsing the Metcalf Energy Center in San Jose. It is
the double-pandering wimptone mayor and the NIMBY residents of south San
Jose who stand alone opposing it.


author: David Kaye

subject: Re: Environmental groups

text:
Frank Ellis wrote the quoted material below:

" Read about how the Sierra club and others have become big business.  While
" their rank and file members recycle the elite of these groups wine and
" dine in luxury.  A weeklong series in the Sacramento Bee

If it wasn't for the Sierra Club, those state and national parks you enjoy
every summer wouldn't exist.  It was the Sierra Club's lobbying efforts
that have led to the preservation of millions of acres of land for public
use.  If it takes wining and dining to get it done, so be it.  The Sierra
Club has a very large membership for a reason:  The Sierra Club works.

" Think about it during the next rolling blackout.

You obviously haven't been following the Sierra Club.  They SUPPORTED the
Metcalf plant, for instance.


author: Joseph Michael Bay

subject: Re: Environmental groups

text:
John Navas <[email]> writes:

OH MY GOODNESS SOME PEOPLE IN THE SIERRA CLUB DRINK WINE!

GASP!

Also the President wears a FANCY SUIT!


author: MB

subject: Re: Environmental groups

text:
Same thing with the NRA.

mike
00000000000000000000000000000000

David Kaye wrote:


author: galitz

subject: Re: Environmental groups

text:
While that may be overstating the case, slightly, there is
increasing sentiment that the Sierra Club is drifting away
from it's consituents.  I believe the last election of the
Sierra Club President (or whatever he is called) was a
reaction of that sentiment.  Isn't he the youngest guy to
take the post in some number of years?

Anyways, Sierra Club guys I meet on the street sure seem
quick to dismiss the efforts of other organizations.  I for
one, have less faith in them than I used to.  Undoubtedly,
though, they we do owe them a lot for their past and current work.
OTOH, I'm not going to blindly follow them when their interests
begin to diverge from mine.

-geoff


author: slowthinker

subject: Re: Environmental groups

text:
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 05:22:15 -0400

In article <9c1vnd$1mbr$[email]>, David Kaye
<[email]> wrote:

Lobbying isn't necessarily bad or ineffective, but how can one account
for the benefits? My impression is that the Sierra Club lobbies, and
then takes credit for federal action that protects land. But they can't
be expected to _prove_ quid pro quo to some sort of auditor and I assume
they don't. Post hoc != propter hoc. So how does one define their
effectiveness, in principle, or in practice?

How do you think the Nature Conservancy compares to the Sierra Club?
They claim 12 million acres bought & 12% overhead.


author: Michael Dix

subject: Re: Environmental groups

text:
MB wrote:

Really? I hadn't heard the NRA had taken a position on the
Metcalf Energy Plant.


subject: Re: Environmental groups

text:
I was contrasting Kaye's "ends justify the means" support of the sierra
club, to quote:
"If it takes wining and dining to get it done, so be it.  The Sierra
 Club has a very large membership for a reason:  The Sierra Club works."

mike
000000000000000000000

Michael Dix wrote:


author: 100% Isento De Toxinas

subject: Pizza or Roids

text:
If Chritian Bale went from weighing 140 lbs in "The Machinist" to what
he looks like in this link in 4-6 weeks then dare I suggest he took
roids and ate like a pig.

http://imdb.com/gallery/ss/0372784/Ss/0372784/BD1664.jpg?path=gallery&path_key=0372784

Andrï¿½


author: Steve McDevitt

subject: Re: Pizza or Roids

text:
"100% Isento De Toxinas" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...

Sad thing is he was in terrific shape for American Psycho. I mean, really
great shape.


subject: Re: Pizza or Roids

text:
"100% Isento De Toxinas" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...
http://imdb.com/gallery/ss/0372784/Ss/0372784/BD1664.jpg?path=gallery&path_key=0372784

Where'd you here 4-6 weeks?  Because I thought the Batman production didn't
start until 10 MONTHS after the Machinist was completed?


subject: Re: Pizza or Roids

text:
"Steve McDevitt" <[email]> wrote in message news:<CiLqe.46915$xm3.11685@attbi_s21>...

I wasn't that impressed, frankly. His hips are very wide and as a
result he has a very wide looking waist even though he was decently
ripped.

Even though Bale might be bigger the truth is Brad Pitt often looks
more impressive because of his shoulder to waist diferential being so
accentuated. I don't know how heavy Pitt is but his small waist always
makes it look like he has pretty wide shoulders. Ever since "Fight
Club" that I think Pitt's shoulders look disproportionately big from
the rest of his body.

Andrï¿½


author: Terry

subject: CKS- (VSE)  NEWS RELEASE

text:
CONSOLIDATED SILVER TUSK (CKS-VSE).

IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN TODAY'S NEWS RELEASE

RICH GOLD POTENTIAL IN MALI

CONSONLIDATED SILVER TUCK LTD. announces the signing of a Letter of
intent to acquire 100% of a potential major open pit GOLD mining
property, well situated in the Birrimian gold/diamond formation in
Mali, West Africa.

The property is surrounded by four Major Mining companies and has been
explored, trenched and some drilling completed, with positive results.
Several millions of dollars has been spent in exploration  by the
owner and a Russian mining  group.

Consolited Silver Tusk's mining consultant has been on site and
reported huge oxidized structures with great gold potential for open
pit situations.

Included with the property is a fully equipped mining camp and over
$ 1 million in mining equipment, which will allow Consolidated Silver
Tusk to begin production almost immediately.

The Formal agreement will be signed on or before October 15, 1995 in
Lausanne, Switzerland.

SAM WINROD- 1-800-211-7977 - INVESTOR RELATION


author: graphics

subject: FS Apple Imagewriter II

text:
Apple Imagewriter II (two) dot matrix printer,supported by all macs and
apple II's, warhorse of all dot matrix printers, works beautifully,
complete with power cable and din 8 serial cable to fit all macs from
plus up,
print head pins in good shape, $85 plus shipping

If you email that you want it, I will ship ups COD cash only (not
personal check) including ups and COD fee.  If you are replying from
compuserve or other .com account better give me an address and phone
number with your first reply.   Email seems to often bounce back from
those accounts.

Bill Draper
Chemistry Department Graphics
Michigan State University

home:
513 Woodland Drive
East Lansing, Michigan 48823
phone 517-351-4632
email:  [email]


author: carlye

subject: Sudden decrease in morning sickness symptoms at 8 weeks?

text:
This is probably one for the categories of "stupid questions" and "be
careful what you wish for," BUT --

I'll be 8 weeks tomorrow with #3.  I've had pretty nasty morning
sickness since 4 weeks exactly.  Severe nausea, headaches, MANY food
aversions, etc.  Not as bad as many women, but bad enough that many
days I got by with nothing more than buttered toast and applesauce,
and enough that I'm down 3 pounds overall.

All of a sudden yesterday, I started feeling WAY better.  Still a
little "uneasy," but nothing like it has been.  I am grateful, yet I'm
scared.  Isn't this way too early to be noticing a decrease?  I was
about this far with DS before I even started having morning sickness.
Should I be concerned about a hormone level dropoff?  Or is this
possibly normal?

Please advise.  Thank you!

-Carlye
DD 9-2004
DS 6-2006
#3 due 4-2009


author: NL

subject: Re: Sudden decrease in morning sickness symptoms at 8 weeks?

text:
carlye schrieb:

Seriously, thank whichever deity you believe in and hope it lasts. I had
the severe morning "morning" sickness for the first 4 months with both
of mine, hospital stay8s) included for dehydration (yes, nothing stayed
down, not even water). For me it pretty much stopped within a week when
it finally did stop.

cu
nicole


author: lu-lu

text:
"carlye" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...

I don't know about a sudden drop off, but I was plenty worried this time
when I had no sickness at all. I hope all's ok, you could always get a check
up if you're worried...

Lucy x


text:
On Aug 21, 2:01 pm, "lu-lu" <[email]> wrote:

See, that's the thing -- my doc won't see me.  Not for something like
this.  I -did- fall down yesterday (ended up fully flat out on the
floor -- I am a klutz) and thought about calling in about that, just
as an excuse, even though I didn't fall on my belly at all. But I
don't know if I'd even get seen for that.  The doctors around here are
really strict about seeing moms before the 11th week -- it just isn't
done unless something extraordinary is going on.

-Carlye
DD 9-2004
DS 6-2006
#3 due 4-2009


text:
On Aug 21, 2:40 pm, "lu-lu" <[email]> wrote:

Okay, that might go in my book for Most Insensitive Things Ever
Spoken.  I certainly get that -impression- from the doctors around
here, but I cannot believe, especially considering your history of
losses, that he'd actually say that out loud!  I understand that the
risk of miscarriage drops at 12 or 13 weeks, but why do so many
physicians act like it's not even a -pregnancy- and it doesn't even -
matter- until that time passes?  Argh!

-Carlye


author: cjra

text:
On Aug 21, 8:45 am, carlye <[email]> wrote:

It's probably normal, not necessarily reflecting a hormonal drop off.

I noticed the opposite when I started miscarrying - nausea and
headaches got much worse. This has happened with both 'natural' m/c,
whereas my healthy pregnancy I had very little.

All that means is, everything is normal. DOn't worry :)


author: Kat

text:
"carlye" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...

I can't say either way, but I know I'd be thankful when morning sickness
stops!
With me, I get horrible, horrible morning sickness at all hours of the day
and night and sounds about what you described.  Certain foods - no way -
same with smells.  With both boys, I had this really bad from the very
beginning.  From probably 4-6 weeks in.  I was told it will drop off soon
and I'll be great, but with both boys, it was identical and didn't stop
until about 4 weeks before they were born.
With both girls, no morning sickness at all.  Completely opposite from my
boys, and the only problem I found with the girls (and with this pregnancy,
which steers me to think girl again) is brushing my teeth.  Each and every
time, I get feeling like I'm about to puke but most of the time I'm able to
hold it down.
Maybe I've been lucky as far as that goes with girls.  I just know that with
the boys, boy was that NOT a good scene ;)
I think that each pregnancy is very different - well, except with me, it's
each pregnancy of the same gender is identical and completely opposite from
the other gender ;)  lol


author: Jeni

text:
On 21 Aug, 14:45, carlye <[email]> wrote:

No idea of it's normal but I had days like that with my second pg and
the little monster is now nearly 7 months old:).
Also, with my mc I still had rotten ms right up to the day of the scan
when they saw the heartbeat had stopped. So ms or lack of it was never
a useful sign of anything good or bad for me. Try not to worry, easier
said than done I know.

Jeni


text:
On Aug 21, 8:45 am, carlye <[email]> wrote:

Thanks, everybody.  I obviously spoke too soon because after two days
"off," my morning sickness came right back.  I think it's a little
milder than it was before, but it's definitely returned along with
food/smell aversions like never before.  My DH thinks I'm crazy --
I'll catch a whiff of something I perceive as unpleasant, and I spend
the next two hours trying to eliminate any hint of what he thinks was
a nonexistant smell in the first place!  :o)

Thanks again!

-Carlye
DD 9-2004
DS 6-2006
#3 due 4-2009


text:
"carlye" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...
On Aug 21, 2:01 pm, "lu-lu" <[email]> wrote:

check

See, that's the thing -- my doc won't see me.  Not for something like
this.  I -did- fall down yesterday (ended up fully flat out on the
floor -- I am a klutz) and thought about calling in about that, just
as an excuse, even though I didn't fall on my belly at all. But I
don't know if I'd even get seen for that.  The doctors around here are
really strict about seeing moms before the 11th week -- it just isn't
done unless something extraordinary is going on.

-Carlye
DD 9-2004
DS 6-2006
#3 due 4-2009

That's stupid, esp for an experienced mum that has genuine concerns.... the
only real thing that I know you can do at home is to do another HPT and
check that it's still coming back as strongly and as quickly as it did
before....

That said, when I was pg the 3rd time, I saw a doc, and explained my history
of losses, and that I was about 5 weeks pg. He said "Oh well, we don't take
pregnancies seriously until the 12th weeks anyway". Sorry you have a crappy
doctor too :( *hugs*

Lucy x


author: fred

subject: Re: Law Degree for Fred

text:
On Fri, 21 Jan 2000 05:39:46 -0200, in
<[email]> SPARTACUS <[email]>
wrote:

Sparky, either you are a mind reader or you have hired a private
detective. You may be the first here to figure out my primary
motive.

I have no fear of these doctors -- even the "very best" of them
are weak and stupid. They are nothing more than overachieving
order-takers for MacDonalds. My sadistic need to pop them like a fat
juicy zit has become insatiable. For me, the taste of their "blood" is
more than real -- it has awakened my primal killer instinct.

I like to play with them as a cat would a mouse, batting them
about like puffed up little rodents filled with their self-importance,
bloated egos and god-like fantasies. And then, once broken, crippled
and bloodied, turn them over to the legal kittens for some "training"...

Besides, a class-action would not only be a piece of cake from the
standpoint of science and politics, but it could unravel the whole
fucking scam and advance from one medical field of corruption to
the next.

You know, as it SHOULD be!

Actually, the establishment -- including the Acupuncture establishment,
have abandoned the notion health care for quite a long time now.

They are overdue for their collective "come home to Jesus" rally.

In the west, acupuncturists have been reduced to the role of
struggling to repair the wreckage of the medical doctors.
The patients in the west expect the quick fix that the
medical doctors hold out. I have seen less than a handful who
are willing to do the work their health requires.

In China, Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors are only
paid when the patient is healthy.

In the west, doctors only get paid when their patients get sick.

The problem of doctor-motive becomes obvious.

The Chinese had a problem with the sickness motive thousands
of years ago.

It should begin by sending Der Fuehrer Fauci straight to
fucking jail where that little monster belongs.

Once the "Night of the Long Knives" begins, the Medical SS Corps
will snap to attention and take the lesson.

Better: think private detectives... (they've already tried that as
I know who they hired <I laugh in their crooked faces!> --
my background is impeccable -- the best they could cough up
is my belated CEUs -- the worst they could come up with is
my professional experience as a court investigator>

Quite true.

You ARE a mindreader!

A viewpoint that works better: if you are going to be
30 in 2-3 years, would it be better to be 30 with a
law degree? <I recently turned 30 again...>

Actually, you may send THE FAUCI FILES to any entity you feel may
need the education, but I can use your help most in distributing
the most imporatant of the TFF to the political hierarchy -- the
Congressmen (all), the health committees, the Prez, the Supreme
Court justices and The Justice Department (Janet Reno). Don't
bother with that little troll Donna (Donald?) Shalala -- she
has been apprised of certain criminal acts not yet publicized in
the TFF and has presided over more than one coverup. (Actually
I think Shalala and Madelyn "Halfbright" Albright are both
J. Edna Hoover in tacky drag).

It is good to put them all on notice, even if they are in bed
with the drug companies (at least they cannot claim ignorance
about the fascist takeover of "health").

Besides, I have an inside tip from a VERY VERY high-level
source in the gov't that the announcement of the next
direktor of the NIH is coming soon... the time to unload on
the politicians is NOW <the timing of the thermonuclear
burst is everything>.

Of course, the Pharma Fascists will find all of this quite
disturbing, and right at the beginning of a restful weekend!

fred


author: Gary Stein

subject: Foaming at the mouth frod fantasy factory Was Re: Law Degree for Fred

text:
"fred" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...
<[email]>
degree.

Frodlet you could not get accepted to a phony web based diploma mill,
further more get into an accredited Law School your reading and
comprehension skills just aren't up to the task. I can just see you
sitting at your little desk drooling all over the test form and trying
to figure out what all those big words on the LSAT are all about.

Maybe this will help;
Woman's Guide to Law School
http://lawbooks.com/storesense/scripts/store.exe/detail?404
Discount Price: $11.96
Save 20%!
Everything You Need to Know to Survive and Succeed in Law School--from
Finding the Right School to Finding the Right Job.

http://studentmarket.com/studentmarket/aboutlsat.html

Good Luck you need all the luck you can get.


subject: Re: Law Degree for Fred

text:
Fred wrote:

Ohhhh please Fred, leave some for me.  I am not a 'legal kitten', but would
love to obedience train some "professionals".  I was (ONE) too many times left
in the lurch by a Doctor.  Back in 1983, I was told there was "no such thing as
Candididasis" and I " would have to learn to live with irritable bowel
syndrome".

They don't really want HEALTH care, they want what the pharmeceuticals will
bring in and the very expensive diagnostic procedures!  You called that one
right Fred!

THIS IS SICK!  But unfortunately I believe true!

If we had more Social Medicine, maybe we would get healthy, instead of the
higher ups getting Wealthy and the poor dying!

Just my .02
Linda


author: Chookie

subject: Biting

text:
Help!  Lachlan (8.5mo) is cutting his third tooth, and is biting me.  It's not
more than once during a feed, and about half the time he bites my nipple when
latching on.  He's so quick and so unpredictable, I'm not sure how to make him
stop (apart from by cutting the tooth!).  I am bruised and he has actually
drawn blood a few times.


author: Matt

subject: Re: Biting

text:
I had this same exact problem with Zack. And what worked for me was saying
no firmly, putting him down for a few minutes. Then try again to nurse.
Being persistant with this technique helped me. After a few times he should
catch on and realize that biting means no nursing.
                 -Autumn
                Mother to Wm. Zachary
                6-17-01

"Chookie" <[email]> wrote in message
news:ehrebeniuk-94E35E.09460707122001@news...
not
when
him


subject: UPDATE Re: Biting

text:
Lachlan's two top teeth came through within a day of each other and he hasn't
bitten me since.  Autumn -- thanks for your help -- I'll bear it in mind for
next time (if the mother's brain permits...)


author: Kent Paul Dolan

subject: Re: One way to get to the asteroids

text:
Ace Lightning <[email]> wrote:

Well, no, that's just two of something, harnessed to rotate because
that makes for a much easier test jig than having one of something
blast down a rail, dragging a power cord; and magnetic levitating
rotary bearings are quite a bit easier and a more mature technology
than magnetic levitating monorails, to achieve frictionless test jig
bearings in either case.

The thrust is very much linear, but what is exciting is how little
power is wasted in a capacitive rig as opposed to the usual inductive
rig doing the same chore (think linear accelerator), where electricity
churning back and forth through the wiring at high frequency and
amperage of necessity suffers substantial resistive losses.

xanthian.

The electrons(or perhaps ions?) are pumped, too.


author: Gordon D. Pusch

subject: Re: One way to get to the asteroids

text:
[email] (Kent Paul Dolan) writes:

I am quite unable to take =ANYTHING= J.-L. Naudin says _AT ALL_ seriously.
Naudin is a "True Believer," and his website is a tarpit of every crackpot
idea ever promogulated, from "free energy machines" to "perpetual motion"
to "reactionless" drives --- and he claims that =ALL= of them work !!!
If Newton's Laws and the Laws of Thermodynamics are _THAT_ broken,
it would be noticed by _EVERY ENGINEER IN THE WORLD_, not just one lone
crackpot French garage gadgeteer.

Furthermore, in addition to Naudin's clearly often being sloppy with his
measurements and in failing to rule out known confounding factors,
I quite frankly suspect him of flat-out FRAUD in reporting some of his
alleged "experiments" --- particularly some of his "video evidence."
(It would certainly not be the first time a "True Believer" faked data!)

As for the alleged "NASA patent claims," _ALWAYS_ be careful of accepting
an "Argument From Authority:" The alleged "work" was done under a BPP grant
to "Transdimensional Technologies" <http://www.tdimension.com/> ---
and just the _NAME_ of that "corporation" should send up a red flag that
that particular outfit is run by Yet Another Giant Raving Looney Crackpot.

-- Gordon D. Pusch

perl -e '$_ = "gdpusch\@NO.xnet.SPAM.com\n"; s/NO\.//; s/SPAM\.//; print;'


subject: Re: One way to get to the asteroids

text:
[email] (Gordon D. Pusch) wrote:

..where DC power moves once one way down a wire...

You're ranting, Gordon.

Yes, but your objection is to his reputation in general, not
(so far) to anything about this device in particular.

That particular argument doesn't hold water on its best day;
raving loonies run sedately name corporations, and sober
businessmen call their auction houses "eBay", their salad
bars "Sweet Tomatoes".  No one takes patents seriously
anyway, the patent office is, next to the War Department,
(which goes by some other name these days) our most gullible
US governmental agency.

Anyway, the device doesn't seem to break any obvious
physical laws, but your objection makes Ace's more valid:
it's a lot easier to fake rotary acceleration, for example
by using frictionless magnetic levitation bearings which
just happen to be also electric motors, than to fake motion
along a line, where the accelerating coils would have no
obvious alternative purpose.

Still, given as a starting point that the guy's a gullible
fraudulant nutcase, even a stopped clock is right twice a
day, and he might have done something valid by sheer
accident.

I will nevertheless on your usually excellent (though
occasionally incredibly wrongheaded) advice henceforth
restrain my enthusiasm about this device.

Sigh.  I did so want to hollow out a rock and point it
toward Beta Centauri, and report back along the way while
I survived.

xanthian.


author: Monte

subject: WTB:Laptop hard drive

text:
im looking for a hard drive for my Gateway Solo 5300
10GB-20GB

Monte Keller
[email]


subject: Re: WTB:Laptop hard drive

text:
Try http://www.apcsolution.com/aPCsolution/details.asp?item=FJ07MHT2020AT .
I got mines from them last time I had to replace my notebook HDD.

"Monte" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...


author: urbanelectron

subject: Re: WTB:Laptop hard drive

text:
But how do you replace the hard drive? Appreciate any hints...

33788 wrote:


author: mike

subject: Re: WTB:Laptop hard drive

text:
urbanelectron wrote:

on my 5300, you take out the screw and it slides out the front.
mike


author: A Michigan Attorney

subject: Re: CitiBank Branch Refuses To Honor Series E U.S. Saving Bond Without

text:
Mike wrote:

The main difference is that in your hypo, the obligor is
not the federal government.

Because Congress has constitutional authority to make laws,
but you do not.


text:
Mike wrote:

You omitted the part requiring presentation of proper
identification.  Is it not possible that a social
security number is now an element of such "proper"
identification?


author: John Levine

text:
The treasury quite clearly says that you must
provide an SSN when you cash a bond.  What
matters is what the law is, not the 40 year
old boilerplate on the back of the bond.

www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/indepth/ebonds/res_e_bonds_eeredeem.htm

--
Regards,
John Levine, [email], Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. http://jl.ly


author: Rich Carreiro

text:
"Jay F. Shachter" <[email]> writes:

SCOTUS has held that the prohibition on "ex post facto"
laws only applies to criminal statutes, IIRC.

--
Rich Carreiro                            [email]


author: Seth

text:
Jay F. Shachter <[email]> wrote:

Are you prepared to have the bank withhold 20% (I think)
of the interest, since it can't file a 1099-INT without
your social security number?

Seth


author: Robert Bonomi

text:
A Michigan Attorney  <[email]> wrote:

Available evidence suggests that that is -not- the case.

Fed requirements for redeeming bonds require
providing SSN only if the value of the bond being
redeemed exceeds $1,000.

The OP ran into a 'problem' because he let the
bond lie idle for multiple decades past the
maturity date, and the accumulated value
exceeded that threshold.


author: Mike

text:
A Michigan Attorney wrote:

Good point there. The wording DID omit what was to
constitute "proper ID." But.......I haven't looked at my
SS card lately but I do know they USED to say "not to
be used as ID" (or words to that effect.) Now they
might no longer say that and if the law says "proper
ID includes a SS number" then you have an extremely
valid point.

And remember, I did say in my initial post in this
thread that I agreed with the reasoning behind
requiring the SS number, etc. I was simply
questioning the validity of (apparently) changing
the rules in the middle of the game as opposed to
grandfathering in the old bonds.


author: Stuart A. Bronstein

text:
Rich Carreiro <[email]> wrote:

In addition, the Constitution prohibits the states from
impairing the obligation of contracts.  By implication
it allows the federal government to impair the obligation
of contracts.  And it does so in, for example, bankruptcy
laws.

In any case, OP's case is not a contract issue.  The bond
doesn't say that he can cash it without disclosing his
social security number.

It just gives instructions on cashing it that doesn't
include his SS#.  The law has since changed, so that tax
evasion can be reduced. Those instructions are now
incorrect.  OP did not negotiate an agreement that he
could cash his bond without disclosure of his SS#, not
did he get one.
___
Stu
http://DownToEarthLawyer.com


text:
Stuart A. Bronstein wrote:

Just to play devil's advocate a bit: He bought a
bond. The bond (and the then current laws) said
"you can cash this bond by following these steps..."

How is that different from you buying a car from
me and the contract saying "you can receive
delivery of the car by following these steps..."
or contracting a loan with me that says "and
after so many years, I will pay you back $X and
you can collect by following these steps..."?

If we had a contract for a loan where you loaned
me money, I couldn't then say at a later time "But
I won't pay you unless you do these other things
that weren't in the original contract but that
I'm now imposing."  The purchase of the bond WAS
simply a loan to the government to be paid back
after so many years on specified terms. So why
does the government get to change the contract
when I couldn't?

(I do agree with the reason as to WHY they've
changed it, although it would seem that
money-launderers would not want to have their
money turn over so slowly. I'm simply questioning
HOW they claim the authority to do so.)


text:
Mike <[email]> wrote:

In the case of a bond, there are other ways to cash it.  The terms
only give an example.  It's not something that is bargained for or
is part of the essence of the contract.  In the other situations
you mention, the terms are essential to the contract.

And besides, as I said before, the federal government (unlike state
governments) can pass a law that changes contracts.

Because it's the government.

___
Stu
http://DownToEarthLawyer.com


text:
Mike  <[email]> wrote:

[[ sneck ]]

Sorry, but such things _do_ happen.  A change in
_law_ trumps terms in a contract.

Note well, that contrary to the OP's assertation,
it was not the bank where the instrument was presented
that was imposing this requirement, rather it was the
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT that did so.

"Because they say so."  <wry grin>

They _are_ the Federal Government.  This gives
them 'effective' privileges that the 'average
joe' doesn't have.

I will also note that *IF* the bondholder had
exercised his redemption rights 'in a timely
manner', the issue he is bitching about would
_not_ have arisen.

There _was_ "notice by publication" of the changes
in the redemption requirements -- no notification
of actual bond-holders was possible since there is
no registration of who, how, and _where_, the bond-
holder could be contacted.

Bond-holders _did_ have a 'reasonable' period to
"exercise their rights" under the 'old' rules,
before the 'new rules' took effect.


text:
Stuart A. Bronstein wrote:

I'm not seeing why one is seen as not essential to the contract
and the other is. I.e. the loan contract said "you can (may)
collect by following these steps..." and the bond said "TO RECEIVE
PAYMENT, THE REGISTERED OWNER OR COOWNER MAY PERSONALLY PRESENT..."

Yeah, if we don't like it, they'll take their ball and
go home, eh?  *rolling eyes*....NOT at you, Stuart,
rolling them at the government. They DO have a tendency
to try and change the rules in midstream.


author: Cheryl Nakao

subject: Re: NURSING BLANKET--GREAT FOR PUBLIC

text:
Geez, let's make it 100% obvious that we're nursing in public why don't
we? Looks like a big billboard that you tie around your neck.

There's already a company that makes a nursing blanket along the same
concept, and it's a lot more discreet.

Cheryl


author: Charlotte Millington

subject: Re: NURSING BLANKET--GREAT FOR PUBLIC

text:
madmax ([email]) wrote:

: This nursing blanket will allow you to feed your child in public without =
: others viewing your child. Special design allows airflow during the =
: feeding.  Great Idea for any expecting mother, or those breast feeding.

What a great idea!  I have to admit I am a bit squeamish when I see babies
covered with pureed squash.  Do they come in bigger sizes as well?  A guy
in a cafe near me the other day was quite the messy eater.  I can read
about placentas during lunch, but to watch a grown man slobber and goober
food was a bit more than I could handle.  He shoulda been draped.

I would have loved a few of these when I was breastfeeding in the early
days.  I got quite a few nasty comments, as has been covered regularly in
posts here, and I would have loved a few of these to pass out to the
people who complained.

I wholly support any company that spams newsgroups, especially if their
product can be used to cover up adults who don't want to see mothers
breastfeed.  It's about time someone started selling these!

Charlotte


author: TXSherry

subject: Re: NURSING BLANKET--GREAT FOR PUBLIC

text:
Came forth --> madmax <-- saying:

snip
oops

Sherry, mother of Natalie Ruth 5/18/2000
www.CactusBlossom.org
***********************************************
M.O.M.    Mother's Own Milk
When you care enough to give the very best!
***********************************************


author: [redacted]

subject: Re: NURSING BLANKET--GREAT FOR PUBLIC

text:
In article <[email]>,
  Cheryl Nakao <[email]> wrote:

Amazing, innit?  Considering that while wearing a nursing
crop top, breastfeeding at an outdoor barbeque, I've had
people come up and ask to hold my baby ("sorry, not now"
"why not?" "well, right now she's nursing...."), I gotta
believe it's possible to nurse in public quite discreetly
without draping oneself in a tent

Cheers,
Sydney

Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/


author: Angela

subject: Re: NURSING BLANKET--GREAT FOR PUBLIC

text:
"Cheryl Nakao" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...

Well, why *not*? Why not have a giant blanket printed with 'GOT MILK' or
'NURSING BABY' or 'NO, YOU MAY NOT HOLD THE BABY BECAUSE SHE'S GOT A DEATH
GRIP ON MY NIPPLE'?

--angela


author: Larry McMahan

subject: Re: NURSING BLANKET--GREAT FOR PUBLIC

text:
You go girl!  Save me composing a post.

Larry

Charlotte Millington <[email]> writes:
: madmax ([email]) wrote:

: : This nursing blanket will allow you to feed your child in public without =
: : others viewing your child. Special design allows airflow during the =
: : feeding.  Great Idea for any expecting mother, or those breast feeding.

: What a great idea!  I have to admit I am a bit squeamish when I see babies
: covered with pureed squash.  Do they come in bigger sizes as well?  A guy
: in a cafe near me the other day was quite the messy eater.  I can read
: about placentas during lunch, but to watch a grown man slobber and goober
: food was a bit more than I could handle.  He shoulda been draped.

: I would have loved a few of these when I was breastfeeding in the early
: days.  I got quite a few nasty comments, as has been covered regularly in
: posts here, and I would have loved a few of these to pass out to the
: people who complained.

: I wholly support any company that spams newsgroups, especially if their
: product can be used to cover up adults who don't want to see mothers
: breastfeed.  It's about time someone started selling these!

: Charlotte
: --
: Read what else I write.  Visit
: http://www.dreamwater.net/biz/mom/articles.html for a list of my articles.
: From tips on how to entertain your baby to how to torture a new mother
: simply by bringing her lasagna.


author: Greg "Goof" Shortridge

subject: Re: NURSING BLANKET--GREAT FOR PUBLIC

text:
HA! Great answer, Charlotte.  My sentiments exactly!
~Molly

Charlotte Millington wrote in message <[email]>...
=


subject: Re: NURSING BLANKET--GREAT FOR PUBLIC

text:
In article <[email]>,
  [email] (Charlotte Millington) wrote:

their

Charlotte,

ROTFLMAO!  Thanks for the chuckle!

Sydney

Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/


author: Lynne

subject: Re: NURSING BLANKET--GREAT FOR PUBLIC

text:
[email] wrote in message <95n2g6$f2u$[email]>...

No kidding.  The other day at Wal-Mart I nursed ds in the sling while we
checked out, making only a minimal effort to be discreet ("Is the whole side
of my breast hanging out?  Nope?  OK.").  I still had a couple of people
commenting on how peacefully he was sleeping.  I didn't tell them that his
eyes were closed in milk-ecstasy, not sleep!

OK, I'll admit to having bought a nursing "shawl" right after ds was born.
I used it exactly once.  It was hot and uncomfortable, I couldn't see a damn
thing under it, ds hated it, and yes, I felt like I was wearing a billboard
that said, "Hey everyone, this woman is BREASTFEEDING her baby!!!!!"  After
that fiasco I just became determined to learn how to nurse discreetly
without covering up.  And more recently, I've simply stopped worrying too
much about who can see what.

--Lynne
mom to Fletcher, 7/31/00
http://www.picturetrail.com/fletcher


subject: Re: NURSING BLANKET--GREAT FOR PUBLIC

text:
I don't post much here.  :(  I am a old mom, my youngest is 18 and due July
9.....  You all talking about bf in public made me laugh as me and my best
friend both had our babies within a couple of months of each other.  We
would be walking in the mall bf'ing and people would come up and admire the
babies.  One day my best friends daughter decided to smile back at someone
that was talking to us and admiring the her and exposed moms breast.  LOL
was that person red faced.  Here was the beautiful child with a milky smile
on her face.  :)  Other wise no one ever knew the difference and if they did
who cared we were doing what was best for baby.  :)


author: Rod Speed

subject: Re: "Dry Drowning" - A rare killer not many people know about.

text:
[email] wrote:

Its not rare at all, 10-15% of the deaths by drowning happen like that.

And its very well known to those who matter, lifeguards and ambulance personel etc.


author: Brian Link

subject: Guess my injury

text:
I mentioned a couple weeks ago my Ambien-induced tumble (read:
bodysurf) down my stairs.

Luckily for me, the effect Ambien had was similar to that of the drunk
totalling his car after flipping it a dozen times who walks out of the
wreck with nary a scratch.

However, I still have some pain in my back and shoulder. I still have
some numbness in a couple fingertips.

Went back to the gym after a two week layoff, and have the following
report (all weights set at 1st round HST, 2 sets  x 10) (ie: pretty
low weights)

1. Squats: Fine, and actually seemed to help my knees
2. Good Mornings: Fine, lower back a little tight the next couple days
3. Bench: Fine
4. Curls: AIIIEEE!!! Lot of pain on the right side just below the
clavicle. Stopped after one set of 5 reps
5. Lat Pulldowns: Fine
6: Calf Presses: Fine
7: 3-Way Crunch: Fine
8, Shrugs: Fine
9. Over-head Triceps Press: Fine

WTF is causing a problem with my curls? I'd expected a rotator-cuff
injury given what I determined was the path of my fall (using CSI
methadology on my abrasions, since I was totally asleep when I took
the tumble).

Thanks for any info.

BLink


subject: Re: Guess my injury

text:
Hey dumbass, you were given the right advice in the last thread you
posted, but ignored it. GO TO A CHIROPRATOR you dumbass SOB!


author: Steve Freides

subject: Re: Guess my injury

text:
"Brian Link" <[email]> wrote in message
news:[email]...

With the understanding that this is a guess, and not "info:"

Broken collar bone.  As evidence by, most famously of late, Tyler
Hamilotn in the Tour de France, one can function pretty well with a
broken collarbone except for certain ranges/planes of motion.  The
collar bone frequently doesn't "come apart" like, e.g., a broken arm or
leg might - the bone cracks but all the pieces are still more or less
where they're supposed to be (which does, I know, also sometimes happen
with arms and leg and whatnot).

I'd get thee to a doctor and see what he/she says - they'll probably
take some pictures.  The usual treatment for the type of collarbone
injury I described is immobilization of some sort - my son's friend did
this and all they did was put his arm in a sling for a few weeks.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com


author: Runs With Knives

subject: Re: Guess my injury

text:
In article <[email]>,
	Brian Link <[email]> writes:
[snip]
[snip]
[snip]

Here's a really radical idea--just a thought, mind you: Go see a
doctor and maybe get some X-rays?  I don't know as that would be
nearly as effective as guessing at what injuries you might have, or
asking in a Usenet newsgroup, but you never know.


subject: Re: Guess my injury

text:
On 6 Jun 2005 02:43:41 -0700, [email] wrote:

Okay. I will. Should I go to a witch-doctor, acupuncturist or
faith-healer too? I've heard their respective effectiveness is about
equal. Except the witch-doctor doesn't irradiate you and charge you
zillions of dollars.

Hm

Perhaps you can point me to another type of practitioner who practices
the medicine practiced by the UFOs that have anally-probed you.

Looking forward to your educated reply.

BLink


subject: Re: Guess my injury

text:
On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 16:00:59 -0000, [email] (Runs With Knives)
wrote:

I wouldn't have asked here if I hadn't already seen a doctor.

She basically told me I was fine, I'd be a little sore, but that
things would get better over time.

Day-to-day I'm pretty much unimpaired, it was just in going back to
weight lifting (a topic supposedly discussed here with some
competence) that I found some issues.

Going back to the gym today. If I've still got issues I'll prolly just
go back and see if she can take a closer look.

BLink


author: Delenn

subject: Re: Guess my injury

text:
Brian Link wrote:

My experience is that it only works to see a doctor if you've already
figured out what's wrong with you and just need a doctor's help in
treating it.  Maybe some of you live in a world where doctors diagnose
injuries in otherwise well people, but in MY world a sports injury gets
"rest it" as the answer 100% of the time.

Delenn


author: Seth Breidbart

subject: Re: Guess my injury

text:
In article <[email]>, Delenn  <[email]> wrote:

You need to see a doctor who plays sports, preferably the same ones.

Seth