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Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

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… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Holy Hell Everything Has Gone Bonkers

Holy Hell Everything Has Gone Bonkers

by | 168 Comments

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Supreme Court decisions, Freddie Gray verdict, shooter in Germany, and I am up to my armpits in pc guts as replacing a liquid cooling unit is more difficult than I expected and I have to rush my computer to a repair place so I can get it fixed.

What’s the god damned point of having large tower cases if they are going to cram everything into 1/3 of the god damned case?

WHY DOES EVERYTHING COST SO MUCH FUCKING MONEY?

Reader Interactions

168Comments

  1. 1.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    Air, lots of room for air, is what I’m told WRT tower cases.

  2. 2.

    Aleta

    The race-conscious admissions program in use at the time of peti- tioner’s application is lawful under the Equal Protection Clause.

    in the case challenging UT Austin’s admissions policy.

  3. 3.

    Cermet

    So far, the news is reporting no dead (except the shooter) but 20 – 30 injured; hope this holds!

  10. 10.

    JPL

    I’m sure Fisher is meeting now, trying to decide how to proceed. It doesn’t appear that she had standing, because UT showed there were many candidates on the waiting list before her.

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    From Benen – Hillary’s Statement about the Immigration Case:

    Update: Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign issued a statement soon after the decision was announced – in English and Spanish – reacting to the news. I don’t ordinarily quote candidates at this length, but given the circumstances, it seemed important to note Clinton’s statement in its entirety:

    “Today’s deadlocked decision from the Supreme Court is unacceptable, and show us all just how high the stakes are in this election. As I have consistently said, I believe that President Obama acted well within his constitutional and legal authority in issuing the DAPA and DACA executive actions. These are our friends and family members; neighbors and classmates; DREAMers and parents of Americans and lawful permanent residents. They enrich our communities and contribute to our economy every day. We should be doing everything possible under the law to provide them relief from the specter of deportation.

    “Today’s decision by the Supreme Court is purely procedural and casts no doubt on the fact that DAPA and DACA are entirely within the President’s legal authority. But in addition to throwing millions of families across our country into a state of uncertainty, this decision reminds us how much damage Senate Republicans are doing by refusing to consider President Obama’s nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. Our families and our country need and deserve a full bench, and Senate Republicans need to stop playing political games with our democracy and give Judge Merrick Garland a fair hearing and vote.

    “This decision is also a stark reminder of the harm Donald Trump would do to our families, our communities, and our country. Trump has pledged to repeal President Obama’s executive actions on his first day in office. He has called Mexican immigrants ‘rapists’ and ‘murderers.’ He has called for creating a deportation force” to tear 11 million people away from their families and their homes.

    “I believe we are stronger together. When we embrace immigrants, not denigrate them. When we build bridges, not walls. That is why, as president, I will continue to defend DAPA and DACA, and do everything possible under the law to go further to protect families. It is also why I will introduce comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship within my first 100 days. Because when families are strong – America is strong.”

    She needs to get on Univision and Telemundo and break it down like a fraction.

    YOU want something to change, then YOU have to register to vote and YOU have to vote in November, and not just for President, but Congress and Senate too.

  12. 12.

    Wag

    What’s the god damned point of having large tower cases if they are going to cram everything into 1/3 of the god damned case?

    Looks cooler if it’s bigger?

  13. 13.

    Calouste

    @Shell: Polls in the UK are open from 7AM to 10 PM (2AM to 5PM EST), a nice long time to vote and it’s the same time all across the country, like a democracy should be.

    Exit polls will be there shortly after the polling stations close and the result should be final around 4-5 AM BST, unless it is nailbiting close.

  14. 14.

    guachi

    Re: your computer case.

    I don’t know what kind of case you have, but it’s worth it to but a car that has a layout that isn’t terrible.

    I’ve had cases like yours. Never again.

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    @JPL:

    I’m sure Fisher is meeting now, trying to decide how to proceed. It doesn’t appear that she had standing, because UT showed there were many candidates on the waiting list before her.

    Proceed?

    She phucking lost in a case that NEVER should have come before the court in the first place.

  17. 17.

    singfoom

    Haven’t done liquid cooling, have a giant tower case, maybe your case isn’t as large as you think. I think that liquid cooling might be bulky compared to a fan on the CPU.

    Lots of reading to do at Scotusblog. BTW, if there are any other people here that are podcast listeners, Dalia Lithwick’s Amicus podcast is always a great listen about SCOTUS.

    Haven’t even heard about the Germany shooter, ugh. Everyone stay safe out there.

  19. 19.

    Seanly

    @rikyrah:

    YOU want something to change, then YOU have to register to vote and YOU have to vote in November, and not just for President, but Congress and Senate too.

    But, but, but that requires that I put down my Xbox controller and get offa da couch! And, also, too, Bernie & Jill are the only pure unicorns to grace this planet so they should both run and steal as many votes from Klinntoon.

  20. 20.

    Keith G

    I spent some money today as well. This morning I received a note from Hillary’s website requesting another donation. In light of the news of the last 2 days it was a very easy to click donate.

  21. 21.

    SFAW

    @JPL:

    President Obama is going to make a statement about immigration at 11:45.

    Is that the one where he finally, at long last, admits that he was born in Kenya, and that he was actually smuggled into the USofA in 1967 on the back of some hermano with calf muscles the size of cantaloupes, but he’s granting himself retroactive amnesty? As well as launching an investigation into whether Trump’s mother was here illegally, etc.

    I would pay good money to see him give that speech.

  22. 22.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @MomSense: Guy opened fire in a theater somewhere in the general area of Frankfurt. Shooter dead, around twenty wounded.

  23. 23.

    redshirt

    @Shell: Amen. I have no skin in the game, but I sure hope they vote to remain.

    I don’t want to see further disintegration of our (Earth) political bodies. I’ve always thought growing multinational organizations bring peace and stability, so to see them threatened worries me. Because it is the forces of fear, hate, and anger that doing the threatening.

  24. 24.

    qwerty42

    … a nice long time to vote and it’s the same time all across the country, like a democracy should be. …
    What about having caucuses and letting people from other countries vote?

  25. 25.

    MomSense

    Ryan is now complaining that the reason the sit in is a stunt is because it already failed in committee and because the Dems are fundraising.

    I’m sure the going nowhere ObamaCare repeals were never used to raise money.

    Ryan doesn’t want to take constitutional rights away from law abiding Americans (tell that to our uteri, you wanker)

  26. 26.

    Brachiator

    @Calouste: From the Telegraph.

    Will there be an exit poll?

    Technically, no. An exit poll is conducted on a large scale outside polling stations but broadcasters have no way of knowing how accurate an exit poll would be as the last result they have to compare it to is the 1974 referendum. However, pollsters YouGov will be running an on-the-day poll on June 23, the results of which will be announced at 10pm, once voting has closed.

    This will be our last indication of which way the vote has swung until results are announced – although, due to inconsistencies in individual polls, no one poll can by wholly trusted.

  27. 27.

    germy

    What’s going on in Italy? New mayor of Rome. I’m trying to learn more about the Five Star movement over there. She is part of that group.

  28. 28.

    Shell

    @Seanly: And there are STILL some Bernie supporters that are convinced the final California count will save them all!

  33. 33.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @MomSense: Interesting timing. Took him this long to figure out he could block C-SPAN from carrying the streams by rowing a press conference.

    Looking for the POTUS remarks now.

  34. 34.

    Seanly

    So, with the 4-4 vote on Dollar General Stores v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the tribal courts do have jurisdiction per the lower court ruling, correct? Good.
    Happy to hear about the decision on Fisher (though the wording seems to try to make it very narrow). Worried about Whole Women’s Health…

  35. 35.

    ThresherK

    @dr. bloor: Hey, my computer case resembles that remark.

    I even have cat hair under my laptop keys, and I’m not prying off those fragile keycaps to remove it all. The canned air can work only so many miracles.

  37. 37.

    schrodinger's cat

    I don’t have an opinion on Brexit. However you don’t have to be a xenophobe to realize that the EU as it exists right now has a lot of problems. EU’s handling of the situation in Greece last year and the ongoing situation regarding the migrant crisis has been awful, to say the least. An economic union without a political one is doomed to fail eventually.

  38. 38.

    JPL

    @Seanly: What happens if it is 4-4? I’m not sure how the lower courts ruled, but I’ll try to look it up after the President speaks.

  42. 42.

    Cermet

    @MomSense: A shooter at a Movie theater near Frankfurt shot a number of people; the shooter is dead. Details are being reported.

  43. 43.

    Calouste

    @Brachiator: Ah, should have realized that after the polling fiasco at the 2015 General Election.

    Failing any exit polls, there is one city (Newcastle or Sunderland IIRC) that prides itself on its efficient vote counting operation, and they usually have their results out within two hours. Which should give some clue.

  44. 44.

    Daulnay

    “WHY DOES EVERYTHING COST SO MUCH FUCKING MONEY?”

    Free market failure, a result of abandonment of regulation. Many of the markets are rigged by monopolistic cooperation between the few businesses in the market. In almost every market, there’s been concentration, with so many firms being bought up by competitors that many industries have only a handful of participants. Go into the supermarket, look at nearly any product. Behind all the different alternatives for it, there are a few suppliers. When there are few suppliers, there isn’t adequate competition.

    One example: for internet service at the level that consumers in S. Korea get, we have to pay 10 times the price they do. Internet service is feebly regulated, and in most U.S. places there are only 2 or 3 providers. Where there are more, prices are significantly lower.

  45. 45.

    JPL

    @JPL:
    Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt
    The Fifth Circuit upheld the new requirements, although they have not yet gone into effect yet.

    shit

  47. 47.

    germy

    As stated on its website, the CFR’s mission is to be “a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries”. The CFR promotes globalization, free trade, reducing financial regulations on transnational corporations, and economic consolidation into regional blocs such as NAFTA or the European Union, and develops policy recommendations that reflect these goals.[

  51. 51.

    raven

    @Cermet: Yea, that was “late breaking” and the MSNBC guy said that’s why they didn’t go with much from the early hysterical German news reports.

  53. 53.

    Calouste

    @schrodinger’s cat: Western Europe has had a financial union since somewhere in the 70s. It wasn’t formalized, but when the Bundesbank said “jump”, the rest of the central banks asked “How high?”.

    And whatever the EU’s faults are, no war for the longest time since Charlemagne (if not the Romans) makes it all worth it.

  54. 54.

    Corner Stone

    @SFAW:

    Is that the one where he finally, at long last, admits that he was born in Kenya

    Actually he did admit he was really a Kenyan. It’s odd how little reaction he got from the press there.

  55. 55.

    Keith G

    @Seanly: It seems to me that the folks needing the change that Hillary was writing about are not kids sitting on the sofa playing video games. I think her message was directed at the tens of thousands of citizens of Latin American descent who have a vested interest in a better immigration policy.

    I understand that it’s really cool to find some way to dump on the few Bernie supporters, but don’t be so quick to pull the trigger next time.

  56. 56.

    rikyrah

    @JPL:

    Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt
    The Fifth Circuit upheld the new requirements, although they have not yet gone into effect yet.

    So, it jumped from the 5th Cir. to the Supreme Court, right?

  57. 57.

    redshirt

    @Calouste: Furthermore, the UK gets all the best of EU while opting out of some of the more “onerous” parts. They’ve really got the best of both worlds with the EU and they’d be foolish to throw it away over some xenophobia.

  58. 58.

    Miss Bianca

    @shomi: Boy, don’t you ever get tired of your anti-Cole schtick? Because some of the rest of us sure do.

  59. 59.

    LAO

    @rikyrah: Yes — Circuit Courts are intermediate appellate courts, with the Supreme Court being the highest court. ie. District Court —> Circuit Court —–> Supreme Court

  60. 60.

    Iowa Old Lady

    Here’s a FB post from a friend in England whose husband recently died of cancer.

    Just one last thought on this whole, sorry mess.
    When Peter was being treated…

    The oncologist he saw more than any of the others, is Polish;
    One of the others was from the Middle East;
    The cancer nurse who was collating information for research on oesophageal cancer was from Zimbabwe;
    One of the chemo nurses was from Brazil;
    The registrar at the Churchill was French;
    The 911 dispatcher was American;
    The consultant on the acute care ward was Indian;
    One of the nurses on the acute care ward was Spanish.
    One of the hospice nurses was American, another, Australian.

  62. 62.

    Punchy

    What’s the god damned point of having large tower cases if they are going to cram everything into 1/3 of the god damned case?

    I just struggled mightily to understand which SCOTUS decision involved a tower. Fuck you Cole and your 180-degree unannounced and poorly communicated change of topics.

  63. 63.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Calouste: I think EU is a good idea that needs some reform. I am just a long distance observer and I don’t understand the minutia of British politics or that of any other country in western Europe for that matter.

  66. 66.

    greennotGreen

    What’s the god damned point of having large tower cases if they are going to cram everything into 1/3 of the god damned case?

    More room for clouds, old man.

  67. 67.

    Seanly

    @Keith G:

    I was speaking with my tongue firmly in my cheek. I agree completely with Clinton’s statement as well as rikyrah’s closing sentence which is what I was blockquoting. There are many people though who do think Clinton isn’t pure enough and think we need to have both Sanders and Stein in the race to reduce votes for Clinton.
    I don’t agree with Clinton on everything and do hope that she keeps her leftward shift. The stakes in this election are as high as they’ve ever been. If the Republicans aren’t going to follow the Constitution and allow Obama to select a Supreme Court justice then I want it to be Clinton doing it.
    Also, as a 48-year old gamer, I am actually insulted that you think it’s still something that only teenagers do. Even Cole posts about his occasional gaming.

  68. 68.

    JPL

    @rikyrah: That’s what I read. Only the Texas law is being considered, I think. Hopefully, the lawyers will pipe in, but it looks like if it is a 4-4 split, Texas can close most of their clinics.

    We should know what happens on Monday.

  70. 70.

    MattF

    Yeah, everything is expensive. As my old man used to say, “Rich or poor, it’s nice to have money.”

  73. 73.

    Chris

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I mean, the big problem with the EU that we saw played out in Greece was the currency. Since the U.K. isn’t on the euro, it would seem that the biggest problem with the EU doesn’t apply in their case.

  74. 74.

    Mary

    Holy Hell Everything Has Gone Bonkers

    Just for Mnemosyne: “The world turned upside down!”

  75. 75.

    burnspbesq

    @JPL:

    If Whole Women’s Health is AEDC’d, the Fifth Circuit opinion is authority in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. There is a similar case pending in MS. I assume (and hope) that if similar legislation were passed in LA, it would get vetoed, but I don’t know enough about the makeup of the LA legislature to have an idea whether a veto would stand.

  76. 76.

    jake the antisoshul soshulist

    It is the nature of politics that we almost always have to choose the lesser evil. Due to human nature, those that seek power are those that should be kept farthest from it. So we have to determine whom will do the least damage. Hillary will almost certainly do less damage than Trump, and might potentially do some good.

  77. 77.

    eataTREE

    Water-cooled systems are the end-user-PC equivalent of driving a sports car. That they are more expensive and more difficult to maintain is sort of the point.

    Oh, and happy birthday!

  78. 78.

    Billy K

    What’s the god damned point of having large tower cases if they are going to cram everything into 1/3 of the god damned case?

    There’s only one company that gives a rat’s ass about actually *designing* their computers anymore (I’ll give you one guess). The rest just slide by with, “well, this is how we did it before. Just do that again and make it look a bit different.”

  79. 79.

    Keith P.

    What’s the god damned point of having large tower cases if they are going to cram everything into 1/3 of the god damned case?

    Not much of one, IMO. Most people would do just fine with a docked laptop, or even an Intel NUC (4″ square PC). Want more power? SFF cases can handle i7s with bigger display cards.

  81. 81.

    germy

    Maryland Green Party U.S. Senate nominee Margaret Flowers was profiled by MintPress News.

    Flowers said that while she is “supportive of the Green Party’s national agenda,” she “is primarily focused on building local political power.” Flowers said, “It’s really organizing within neighborhoods to empower them to look at what their needs are look at what their resources are and look at how we can harness all of that.”

  82. 82.

    gene108

    Hey John G. Cole isn’t today your birthday or was it yesterday?

    Happy Birthday big guy!!!

  83. 83.

    Larryb

    @singfoom:

    I think that liquid cooling might be bulky compared to a fan on the CPU.

    I have liquid cooling. The part that attaches to the cpu is tiny since it has no fins, heat pipes or fans. The bummer is routing the coolant hoses and getting clearance to mount the radiator on the side of the case.

  84. 84.

    James E Powell

    Wondering if this decision will generate increased turnout for Ds from the Latino voters.

  86. 86.

    Mark B.

    There are some self-contained liquid cooling systems on the market which are pretty cheap and easy to install, like the Corsair H55. It costs about $60 on Amazon.

  87. 87.

    nutella

    One of the interesting and perhaps dramatic effects if Brexit passes: Will all the millions of British pensioners living in Spain, Portugal, and other European countries have to pay cash for their medical care? Because the reciprocal EU arrangement they have now would have to disappear, right?

    The thing that drives me most crazy about Brexit is that nobody could be bothered to investigate what specific changes it would make (Who knows? Maybe they’re not bad! Maybe they’re disastrous! Let’s burn it all down and see!!) but they’re still going to vote on it.

    They’ve got plenty of voters who would love Trump, too, I guess. He’s got no program that he describes the same way from moment to moment but what the hell. Burn it all down and see.

  88. 88.

    Hoodie

    @shomi: Cole is likely running overclocked for gaming, hence the water cooling. Air only has so much thermal capacity, no matter how hard it blows.

  89. 89.

    Calouste

    @germy:

    Maryland Green Party U.S. Senate nominee Margaret Flowers was profiled by MintPress News.

    Flowers said that while she is “supportive of the Green Party’s national agenda,” she “is primarily focused on building local political power.”

    One of these is not like the other.

  90. 90.

    rikyrah

    @James E Powell:

    Wondering if this decision will generate increased turnout for Ds from the Latino voters.

    If knowing that the Supreme Court holds your family in the balance doesn’t get you out to vote and one candidate has already called you rapists and criminals and will build a wall….and the other candidate is like, I support your right to be here….

    I don’t know what else could motivate you.

  91. 91.

    Elie

    @Miss Bianca:

    Hey Miss B —

    What is it with the power of resentment and grievance these days. Honestly that seems like the main psychic energy powering any action or thought these days. And it is so negative — so draining ultimately and yet, it powers on — filling everyone with the desire to turn away from each other, not towards anything…. It unfortunately defined Bernie’s campaign to a large degree as well as Trump’s. Actions like the House sit in and other hopeful and positive actions counter this but the weight of these people’s spiritual darkness is the challenge of our times, don’t you think?

  92. 92.

    Steve Finlay

    Everything seems to cost a lot, but on the other hand — when I was about 10 and you were born, that computer would have cost you a few hundred million dollars, and would have required a few floors of an office building and several megawatts in order to run.

  93. 93.

    Mark B.

    @Hoodie: Well, even water-cooled systems eventually use the ambient air to disperse the heat from the CPU, they just use a small radiator and coolant like a car to transfer the heat out of the case. I use a small liquid cooling system because it’s just quieter, not that I’m overclocking.

  94. 94.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @piratedan: I think something got broken/regressed recently where naked links put you in moderation.

    Use the “Basic HTML Tips” button in the Comment area, or make an anchor tag manually yourself:

    [a href=”http://www.my.url.of.video.of.interest.here.com/url”]My name for the link[/a]

    with the square brackets replaced by the corresponding triangle brackets (and the URL and text replaced, also too).

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  97. 97.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @Mark B.:

    There are some self-contained liquid cooling systems on the market which are pretty cheap and easy to install, like the Corsair H55. It costs about $60 on Amazon.

    This is Cole we’re talking about. Nothing is easy, when he gets involved.

  100. 100.

    Josie

    @Punchy:
    I guess I’m as ADD as John Cole is, because it didn’t confuse me at all. Different strokes and all that….; )

  103. 103.

    Shana

    I’ve been in London since Sunday. Not that I’m an expert on the issue but it seems that all the crap people say they don’t like about the EU wouldn’t go away if England votes to leave.

    I’ve seen way more In stickers and signs around this week than Leave ones. And Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian gave a righteous rant to remain at last night’s 20th anniversary Tigermilk concert at the Royal Albert Hall. I’m interested in what he has to say at tonight’s Sinister show.

  104. 104.

    germy

    What’s the god damned point of having large tower cases if they are going to cram everything into 1/3 of the god damned case?

    I read quickly and thought you were saying “large lower cases” in some sort of unhinged rant against font sizes and styles.

  106. 106.

    Mark B.

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: True enough. When I installed it, it took me about an hour, because all of the different ways you can set it up for different CPU sockets are a little confusing in the directions. If I had known exactly what I was doing, it would have taken about half an hour or less. I don’t know how to translate that to Cole hours, but probably a lot longer.

  108. 108.

    Belafon

    The first computer I bought for myself, in 1993, cost $3300. While things are more than we’d like to pay, things are significantly cheaper. I now look at a PC that costs more than $700 not including a monitor with suspicion.

  109. 109.

    Mike J

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    I think something got broken/regressed recently where naked links put you in moderation.

    Outbound link tracking got turned back on, no idea why. The poorly written plugin that does the tracking (even when you have do not track set in your browser) repeats the url 3 times in its javascript and triggers the “more than three links is spam” filter.

  110. 110.

    Mnemosyne

    @Steve Finlay:

    One of the commenters here mentioned that when she worked at a university in the 1970s or 1980s, they circulated the water from their swimming pool to simultaneously cool the computer and heat the pool.

    I am typing this comment from a handheld device that probably has 100 times (at least!) more computing power than that one did.

  111. 111.

    schrodinger's cat

    A Day in the Life of WV Blogger

    Everything costs too much
    The mustard is still lost,
    And the Subaru languishes forlorn in an empty field.
    The naked man mops
    While his four legged menagerie looks on.

  114. 114.

    Enhanced Voting Techinques

    Ah, and who will weep for poor Mr Ryan is all this horror?

    Does anyone here think that the young and supple Paul Ryan’s dreamy eyes were mean to behold the sorry spectacle of politics being done in Congress, of all places? A resounding no and thousand times no! Dreamy Paul Ryan was mean to behold better things, things serious and solemn. Like telling the lower social orders it’s their civil duty to lose their retirement so a rich man can get a tax cut.

  115. 115.

    schrodinger's cat

    A Day in the Life of a WV Blogger


    Everything costs too much
    The mustard is still lost,
    And the Subaru languishes forlorn in an empty field.
    The computer is too hot
    The naked man mops
    While his four legged menagerie looks on.

  116. 116.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Mnemosyne: When I was the signal officer of a Division Artillery, I had to store a magnetic core memory unit for the designed in the 60’s fire control system in my COMSEC vault, because it had classified data on it. The thing was no longer used, but we didn’t have authorization to dispose of it, so it took up space. The thing was 2’x2’x3′, or thereabouts, and weighed something like 600 pounds, and had the memory capacity of a 5 1/4″ floppy disk.

  117. 117.

    Mike J

    @Mnemosyne:

    I am typing this comment from a handheld device that probably has 100 times (at least!) more computing power than that one did.

    In the 70s, a Cray-1 could do 80 million floating point operations per second. A Samsung Galaxy S5 can do 140 billion.

  119. 119.

    The Other Chuck

    @Mike J:

    Outbound link tracking got turned back on, no idea why. The poorly written plugin that does the tracking (even when you have do not track set in your browser) repeats the url 3 times in its javascript and triggers the “more than three links is spam” filter.

    I was under the impression this was done somewhere server-side in PHP, not in client-side JS. If it is being done all client-side, I think I have some work to do with EBBJ, which hasn’t had any love in a while.

  124. 124.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mike J:

    I have never concealed the fact that I’m terrible at math, which makes it even more important for me to have a computer in my pocket at all times.

  127. 127.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @raven: So did the units you were with. It just that their basements were back in the US where the units’ formal homes were.

  128. 128.

    raven

    @Omnes Omnibus: Hmm, I dunno about that. So the 7th ID in Korea that had been there since 1951 had a rear somewhere stateside?

    “From 1953 to 1971, the 7th Infantry Division defended the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Its main garrison was Camp Casey, South Korea.[2] During these occupation duties, the division saw a complete reorganization in compliance with the Reorganization Objective Army Divisions plan.[3] The division’s former headquarters company grew into the 1st Brigade, 7th Infantry Division while the 13th Infantry Brigade was reactivated as the 2nd Brigade, 7th Infantry Division.[3] The 14th Infantry Brigade was reactivated as the 3rd Brigade, 7th Infantry Division.[4] In 1965 the division received its distinctive unit insignia, which alluded to its history during the Korean War.[5] On 2 April 1971, the division returned to the United States and was inactivated at Fort Lewis, Washington.[6]”

  131. 131.

    raven

    @Omnes Omnibus: But weren’t the units in Vietnam the same? I know we were one of the last to ship as a unit but I don’t remember leaving anything at Ft Lewis? Maybe we did and shitheads like me didn’t know it.

  132. 132.

    Corner Stone

    @The Other Chuck:

    I think I have some work to do with EBBJ, which hasn’t had any love in a while.

    Is there a wait list someone could get their name on? Asking for a friend.

  134. 134.

    J R in WV

    @Punchy:

    I completely and totally disagree with your old-fashioned and straight-line thinking about blog posts – you, sir or madam, are just wrong !!

    By involving several topics in his post, more comments will be made by more people, provoking more discussion on all the topics John brought up, Even topics John didn’t bring up, like these comments on how John brings up multiple topics in even a short post.

    So thank you for adding complexity to the discussion, even if you were so totally wrong !!!

    Take it easy, fellow Balloon-Juicer, and enjoy the upcoming weekend…

  135. 135.

    Enhanced Voting Techinques

    @schrodinger’s cat: I am sure Tompson and McCain Male-on-Prisoner-of-War collaborative political slash fiction must be out there on the internet somewhere.

  136. 136.

    Davebo

    Why are things so expensive? Because some dumb asses put liquid cooling systems on a computer in an attempt to squeeze just a little more power out of a processor they could just upgrade.

    Let me guess Cole, you also have neon lights and 12 case fans!

  137. 137.

    raven

    @Omnes Omnibus: That unit was actually the 2nd Air Assault and was re-flagged as the 1st Cav and the 1st Cav became the 2nd ID in Korea. There was still a lot of Cav stuff around since we were actually in the Cav/2nd ID AO as arty support. That doesn’t mean that there was not a structure at Benning. I did basic at Campbell, tow of the thee 101st Brigades had shipped but one was still there. I guess it depended on the size of the unit since my signal outfit was just a battalion.

  139. 139.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Villago Delenda Est: Not nearly in the same class, but this made me think of the giant decks of punch cards the programmers would haul down to the data center for batch processing.

    As for the nose-in-the-air about water cooling, it is typically more efficient and quieter. Yes, air fans can do it, and when the cpu is kicking 85% or greater keeping up with some of the crazy graphics in the games now, it gets noisy as hell.

  140. 140.

    Immanentize

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Nobody needs a fucking liquid-cooled PC.

    Although my son’s computer does not fuck, per se, it is overclocked with 16 gig RAM and needs a big honking cooling system (not liquid) to keep it fucking awesome! The big tower cases are so you can put in multiple drives, media cards and large heat sinks and fans. So I’m told….

  141. 141.

    Origuy

    @Mnemosyne:

    One of the commenters here mentioned that when she worked at a university in the 1970s or 1980s, they circulated the water from their swimming pool to simultaneously cool the computer and heat the pool.

    I don’t know who posted that, but I may have as well. Indiana University did that when I worked there in 1975. I wasn’t in the main computer center, but before it became the computer center, it was the University telephone switchboard, the old kind with operators plugging wires into holes. My grandmother worked there for years.

  142. 142.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    We frequently have problems in our server room, and have to run both an AC unit and backup AC, and the towers in there are onlly serving about 50 different terminals, laptops, etc.

    Stays fucking hot in there. AC went down last year and that temp shot into the high 90s – completely fried the server.

  143. 143.

    Immanentize

    @Mike J: The computer on Apollo 11 was the size of a refrigerator and had the computing capacity, basically, of a digital watch. Morgan Freeman told me that.

  145. 145.

    Miss Bianca

    @Elie: Yes, I definitely get tired of all the negativity, and I wonder at my lack of tolerance for it! //

  146. 146.

    Trentrunner

    Holy hell, indeed:

    CNN has just hired Corey Lewandowski as a political commentator, according to Politico.

    I guess Goebbels was unavailable.

    What the actual fuck, CNN?

  149. 149.

    Chris

    @nutella:

    One of the interesting and perhaps dramatic effects if Brexit passes: Will all the millions of British pensioners living in Spain, Portugal, and other European countries have to pay cash for their medical care? Because the reciprocal EU arrangement they have now would have to disappear, right?

    “Fuck them, they live abroad. It’s their fault for living there in the first place. They probably do it because they hate Britain and think they’re too good to live here with all the rest of us. If it’s such a problem, they can just move back.”

  150. 150.

    Calouste

    Just reading an article in the Guardian about Adolf Trump’s Scottish golf course. It’s located 10 miles north of Aberdeen (avg. high Dec-Feb: 44 F), so unsurprisingly it is closed a number of months during the winter, and also unsurprisingly, it is losing money.

  151. 151.

    germy

    @Trentrunner:

    CNN has just hired Corey Lewandowski as a political commentator, according to Politico.

    To give fair, balanced, unbiased analysis of the presidential race?

  153. 153.

    Feathers

    If you’re looking for fun, #beckywiththebadgrades is Black Twitter’s discussion of the UT case.

  155. 155.

    Feathers

    @BruceFromOhio: My mother worked clerical jobs for the Army during her summer vacation from college in the early 60s. One summer she typed a bunch of reports onto paper tape. The following summer she typed the same reports onto punch cards.

    Best depiction of punch card computers is in Our Man Flint.

  158. 158.

    Eric U.

    I was buying a high-end workstation from Dell recently, and they had water cooled options. I imagine that the cooling would be the first to go, so I didn’t buy one.

  162. 162.

    Aleta

    @germy: It’s important for the media to be fair. Since Rick Tyler got a political commenting job at MSNBC immediately after Cruz fired him, this is only right. Anyway, it’s just until they run for office in a couple years.

  163. 163.

    JGabriel

    John Cole @ Top:

    What’s the god damned point of having large tower cases if they are going to cram everything into 1/3 of the god damned case?

    Why is everything crammed into a third of the case? Did you put a MicroAT motherboard in there instead of a full-sized AT board? Also did you buy commercial or build it yourself? Since you mentioned NewEgg, I’m assuming, possibly incorrectly, that you built it.

    Anyway, what are you using for water-cooling? I’ve got a Corsair H90, and it only took about 45 minutes to install, if I recall correctly.

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