So, I followed the link to the data, looked around a bit, and decided to see if I could get ahold of a decently large and interesting dataset that I could play with. I've been messing around with Fortran and OpenMP, and this sounded interesting.

So I go to the website, and it's... bad. Slow as fuck, no browsability (just searching through large categories), back button doesn't work right... it might be all right if you know exactly what you're looking for, but there's no discoverability there.

So I came here and it's nothing but asshats talking about their insecurities over gender issues.

Guess this place really is dead now.

It's also the world's messiest urinal.

Clinton's situation is exactly like Nixon's, except she doesn't have anything to resign from.

Think about it. Nixon was raked over the coals by the press and the Dems. Nixon was never convicted. A president let Nixon off "for the good of the country."

Clinton is being raked over the coals by the press and the GOP. Clinton won't be convicted as long as the Dems hold the White House. The current president is making excuses for Clinton.

Clinton might actually get convicted if a Republican wins the White House, although I doubt it. The Clintons have a lot of influence, even across the aisle. It'd also set a precedent, and no politician wants to face the chance of being held responsible for their actions. Honestly, I was shocked when Scooter Libby was convicted (although note who was convicted, what he was actually convicted of, and that jail was considered "too harsh" for what could be argued was a national security breach).

As far as Obama's situation - what situation are you talking about? What has Obama done that a president would fear impeachment? Any Democratic president would have the nuttier part of the Republican party screaming for impeachment, just as the nuttier part of the Democratic party was screaming for Bush's.

The entire point of political parties is to create a group of people who believe in similar things so that they can pull favors from each other and give each other a lift when they need it. There's nothing democratic about them at all - they consist entirely of back room deals and power plays. They're a necessary evil - our system of government couldn't exist without them - but don't expect justice or personal responsibility.

Sorry, that's a level of evil far beyond what even emacs is capable of. You may want to consult a priest, or perhaps a demolitions expert.

I may not know everything, but at least I know how to read and apply critical thinking.

I said:

Emphasis added for the thinking impaired.

Nixon wasn't the only person with power. He still had enough to never be convicted, though.

Since you've turned this into a personal attack, log in or I'll just ignore you from now on.

No, he hasn't. It's the same standard that's always applied to people at that level of power.

Laws don't apply to those in power. They're tools to be used against rivals, or just a way to control those without power. It's been that way ever since laws have existed, and it exists in every form of government. If someone can't get themselves out of trouble, they don't really have power, do they?

It's still a better term than "thieves," which even people around here use, which is just as inaccurate.

A lot of people who do not-for-profit copyright infringement call themselves pirates. I'd say the definition has changed.

I run emacs with evil mode, so everyone can hate me.

Oh wow, I've looked for those before and never found them. Thanks, man.

I've got a few Sun keyboards around here with the extra keys on the left, and never did use them for anything (other than Stop-A to drop to the firmware). I've always been curious how useful those would be, but never used a Sun workstation for anything other than sysadmin stuff. I don't like the keyboards much, though, so I never seriously considered getting the adapter to use them on PCs.

I thought it'd be cool to get a 104-key and have custom caps printed with Super and Hyper (for the Windows and Properties keys), but Unicomp don't offer that sort of thing for meta keys.

There's a lot of people that think we should be taking a closer look at lava tubes on the moon as potential sites for bases. The same could be used on Mars. No radiation, stable temperature, protection from micrometeorites... seems a no-brainer, except we haven't actually explored them yet.

With less gravity, you can have larger caves. There is evidence for lava tubes on the moon that you could fit stadiums in.

Something like this could be a cost effective way of using natural caves and lava tubes as bases. If you want the fabric to press against the walls, though, you'd have to do some excavation and smoothing first, though.

I had one of those (the original from IBM, not the Unicomp version). The plug wasn't compatible with anything I had, though, so I ended up tossing it.

I've thought about picking up one from Unicomp (I use their 101 key type-M remakes exclusively), but there's a few things that would drive me nuts, like where the backslash/pipe key is.

Have you set up actions for all the extra keys? Is that as useful as it seems it should be?

It's not about the public being willing to pay for it. The public doesn't get the choice.

Eliminating customer service personnel is a cost cutting measure. That's the real reason why banks are generally closing branch offices and pushing online banking. That's also why you either get a robot or some person with an indecipherable hindi accent when you call tech support. Do they ask the customers if they're willing to pay extra for these things? Generally, no.

It's not about customer choice, it's about economics.

I'm fully aware my plea for retaining human customer service personnel will remain unheeded. I just think it sucks.

Not all ATMs have the service, and the service isn't available all the time.

Just look for the ATMs near the scantily clad loiterers at night. Use the ATM to withdraw cash, then hand it to the woman in the corset and fishnet stockings standing nearby. The better ones are self-cleaning and offer better privacy than the alley around the corner.

Oh yeah, here.