jfields

Hmm. Which computer? Wife's: Dell Celeron 700mhz Boring WinXP Pro 768 mb RAM Mine: Intel ISP2150G 2U rackmount Dual 650 mhz xeon 2024 mb RAM RedHat 8 MegaRAID SCSI w/hot-swap backplane 48gb SCSI2 system drive 3x 18gb SCSI2 RAID 5 array Video: Cirrus Logic GD5480 Monitor: I don't need no steenkin' monitor! My other box: Dell SC500 900mhz 20 gb system drive 2x 60 gb data drives Video: yeah, it has it. CDR Win2k Server My work box: Micron Millennia 667 mhz 256 mb RAM SCSI CD SCSI CDR 16mb video card WinXP Pro Can you tell I'm not really a gamer? No high-end processors or video cards. I'll take an overload of RAM and a reliable box over cool & glitzy any day.

Chalk up another office geek. I.T. geek for a small law firm. I have a BS, but it really didn't teach me much related to my job, even though it was in computers. The real knowledge was from OJT and RTFM.

Depends on who is wearing them. From your link, I'm in favor.

I'm happy that I'm not required to fly for business. It would drive me nuts. My family just took a vacation that involved air travel, including the post 1/1/03 security changes. It was a pain in the ass, and I wasn't even traveling with my rig. Right now, there seem to be no standards. The TSA isn't about safety or security. It is about the illusion of safety and security. The airlines want passengers and revenue more than they want effective security. I just made an international flight, using electronic self-check in. Nobody ever asked for the document I listed (birth certificate) and my passport is expired by 2 years. The inconveniences I faced on this trip were all unrelated to anything that actually made any difference in the safety of my flight. Some of the factors that could have made a difference were sloppy business as usual. The problems with the lack of accountability in resepect to luggage were discussed in Quade's thread about it, but they are valid. I wouldn't want to depend on the screeners or the airlines for proper handling of anything valuable, but there isn't much choice. It just sucks. There are over-reactions all over the place. It isn't just in air travel. I was in the mall the other day while on my vacation. I was hauling around a bunch of winter coats, backpack, shopping bags, my daughter in a stroller, etc. I asked someone at one of the stores if I could have a large plastic bag to put all the coats in for easier carrying. The answer was, "No. For security reasons, we can't do that any more." That is typical of the absurdity we are facing. Had I spent $100 on some bulky purchases, they would have happily given me all the bags I wanted to haul my merchandise around in. I could have then dumped the merchandise and used the bags for whatever nefarious purpose I intended. They were right under the counter and plenty of customers had them. Like terrorists wouldn't have enough money to make a purchase if they wanted a bag. Or they could just carry one in. I'm all for security improvements, if they actually work. I'm a generally patient person, and I'll put up with a good amount of inconvenience. But what we have now is a flailing overreaction. Private companies, organizations and the government are all blundering around trying to looking busy to reassure they public that everything is fine. They are throwing up smoke and mirrors to tell us we are safe. We aren't, we haven't been, and we won't be. Things could be better, but there are still no guarantees. That's just life.

However true they may be, if you say things like that, you gotta put a smiley next to them. Otherwise, Clay's itty bitty wittle feewings will be huwt.

Well, when you phrase it like that.....

What do you care? You'd be chasing around Gargamel's cat anyway.

Whatever, Wildblue. The next thing you know, you'll be talking about getting fisted by Smurfs. Man, you are sick!

Between the Sports Authority, Home Depot and the HHHH livestock show, your love life is set up for years to come.

If he is your designated successor, are you giving him the velcro gloves?

I have venison jerky in the fridge at home and venison steak in the freezer. It seems like between the two of us, Bambi didn't make it to the new year.

Spray? Most guy cologne doesn't have a spray top. It is in a regular bottle. Maybe the manufacturers are infererring that a light spray wouldn't be enough to cover a real manly stink. I don't know. I don't use the stuff myself more than once or twice a year. Bag it and just go with the clean & scrubbed scent. Less maintenance, and no chance they'd find it annoying or overkill.

Blind dates can work. That is how I met my wife.

Sorry, Lummy. He is ineligable. There wouldn't be enough room on the certificate for his screen names.

It worked for me when I saved to file then played, but not when I tried to stream it. But you're right. That IS poor.

Isn't that what Good Girls are for?

Man, can't I just pick on Clay in peace?

You could always just drink 3 1/3 regular bottles of Rolling Rock. Or had that math eluded you?

Forget Clay. I nominate a tie between Skybytch and JumperPaula. It is all about the boobies. And we thank you for sharing yours during 2002!

Tell the truth. Did you learn it in a context like this: or this:

Who are you, and what the hell did you do with Clay?

Lou, I'm not saying there aren't threats. You are in a much better position than I am to judge. However, the _appearance_ to the world is that we are being a bully. If American citizens aren't privy to the information that justifies the actions, foriegn citizens sure aren't either. Combine that with the more general anti-American sentiment, and you have to admit that to some degree, we are stirring up our own opposition. There may be no other choice than what we are doing. But the veil of secrecy may mean that we are losing the PR war even if we are winning the covert ops war. On the world stage, PR means a lot. Sometimes it is the impression we give off that gives impressionable zealots the nudge from disaffected youth to suicide bomber. By singlehandedly being the world's police force, we become the focal point for their retribution. I'm not suggesting the military tell the public everything. When I was in the Public Affairs Office of the 82d, we got some really stupid phone calls. People would ask, "We know you are going to Somalia. What units are you sending, where precisely are you sending them, what are your deployment dates, and will they be accompanied by armor units?" Stupid shit that made me laugh, before giving out a canned (but true) response about not divulging the information due to the lives of the soldiers that may or may not be involved. If there is a need for military action, we should do it. But our government needs to multiply our political effort dramatically. While we may be able to handle it all ourselves (I have doubts), we should be going about it under the auspices of the UN. Even if we still send the majority of the troops and provide the majority of the intel, my personal view is that it really ought to be a united response from the world's foremost countries. We shouldn't (and should have to) go it alone.

Nobody is trying to say that Iraq's leadership are really a bunch of swell, but misunderstood guys. Not at all. But the timing and motivation are both questionable. Also, part of the problem is the US acting alone to deal with the threats of the world. Our arrogant world policy is directly contributing to threat against us, by stirring up discontent. If all the actions were to come from the UN, then it would more reflect "the world" dealing with "world threats". Now, it looks like the US being a bully to protect oil interests.

I agree completely, Bill. There are some greatly distorted priorities here. We should finish one thing (Al Quaeda) as completely as possible before abandoning it to pursue other actions. I have yet to see any really compelling reasons why we need to gear up and invade anyone else right now. It does make you wonder about all the ulterior motives swirling around Washington, doesn't it?

3 hours of real work? That would take me all day! Can't let the postwhoring slack off!