Search results

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    Roth 401k and IRAs

    AFAIK, the main reason to switch to a Roth 401k/IRA is that it is better to be taxed now at a lower rate when you're younger than when you are older and at a higher rate. So, the key is trying to predict the tax rate when I retire. My question is: When I retire, won't my tax rate be lower...
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    [Poll] Wait till I go to the Philippines to buy a camera?

    I've been looking for a deal on a Canon Rebel XT to use on a trip to the Philippines. Then I realized that that money goes a long way in the Philippines. Should I just wait to buy a Rebel XT there? Are there rules/taxes regarding bringing electronics into the US? Should I be worried about...
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    Unix command help

    I need help from Unix gurus on AT. I want to be able to append some text to the end of a file. For example, I want to do: prompt% <some_unix_command> "Version 3.1" <file_to_append_to> The result would be that after opening the <file_to_append_to> in a text editor would show "Version...
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    What do you think is the least crowded day...

    Thinking about going on a weekday... but which one?
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    Thinking about moving to Manhattan

    Thinking about going to grad school there. What are some good points about living in Kansas?
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    21st Century auto insurance

    They quoted the best price for me (24, 2004 350Z, no tickets/accidents, discount as an engineer/student for $683/6 months) I just wanted to know if anyone has had any experiences dealing with claims with 21st century. Any horror stories?
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    How is everyone doing with their New Years resolutions?

    I had the typical "regular exercise" resolution. I remember early January the gym was packed with people with the same resolution. A month later, things are back to normal. Have you been keeping up with your resolution?
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    Need advice about old Bally's fitness account. HELP!

    Six years ago, I had a free month membership to Bally's. Fast forward to today. I get a call from a collections agency saying that I owe Bally's $1400. The funny thing is, I don't remember signing anything regarding a membership. Maybe a health waiver at most. The collections agency...
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    What does "green" mean in the context?

    Hey Guys, I am still waiting to hear back from Mr. XXX. He is pretty green so we are going to have to put up with it. I should know something by the end of the day! Have a good one! JR
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    Colored contact lenses: fun or tacky?

    I hear they dry out too quickly.
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    Do you think it's a buyer's market now?

    I spoke to a real estate agent regarding buying a condo in the Southern California area. He mentioned that its a buyer's market since last October. For anyone that pays attention to RE, do you think it has reached the point of a buyer's market?
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    [poll] What percentage of your gross pay do you put into your 401k?

    Just curious what's the typical savings rate into 401k. Edit: I'm in at 15%.
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    Why the range in selling price?

    I've been looking at listings for condos. The majority of the time I see that the owner is "entertaining offers between $350,000 and $385,000." Is there something I'm missing? What's the point of putting $385K? A buyer would probably offer the $350K at first and go higher.
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    Buying a condo

    I'm in the market for a condo, but I'm wondering whether I need/should have a buyer's agent. For anyone that has bought property before: Did you get a buyer's agent? If so, was he/she helpful? btw, this is probably the first in a series of newb real estate questions, so bare with me.
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    Bad consequences from flaking out?

    Well, I agreed to rent a place starting January 1, 2005. But, now, I'm starting to have second thoughts. I haven't signed anything. But, I have given a deposit to the manager ($350). I was never told that the deposit was non-refundable. I feel bad because it's so close to January 2005...
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    2-seater cars

    I'm in the market for a new car and am currently thinking about a 350Z. I'm afraid I'll end up regretting it later because it'll be inconvenient b/c it is a 2-seater. I may go with something more roomy like G35C. Anyone that bought a 2-seater regret it? background: 24 years-old, no family.
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    How old is too old to be living at home with the parents?

    After what age should someone seriously consider moving out of the house?
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    Two GRE questions I can't seem to figure out

    1. What is the largest integer value of n where 6^n < 10,000 A. 5 B. 6 C. 7 D. 8 E. 9 2. Tim went to a office supply store where he bought 85 paperclips for $13.10. Some of the paperclips he bought were 16 cents. Some were 14 cents. How many 14 cent clips did he buy? A. 16 B. 25...
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    Anyone have any experience buying a car through Costco?

    Costco Auto Anyone have any positive or negative experiences buying through Costco?
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    Jello shots

    After you mix the water, vodka, and jello, should you put them in the freezer? Or will the fridge be ok? edit: Oh and how many parts water to vodka would you suggest?
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    What does that AIM emoticon mean?

    When the menu of smileys comes up in AIM, I'm talking about the one on the top row, thrid column from the left. It looks like a sideways dollar sign for a mouth.
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    What's the most expensive thing you've won in raffle?

    I've never won anything in a raffle before. At a recent company party, I won an Ipod. Fourth-generation, 20-gig. What's the best thing you've won at a raffle?
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    Annoying Norton AV "Expired Subscription Notification" popup

    My T41 came bundled with Norton AV including a 3-month subscription. The subscription has since expired. But, now I get an annoying pop-up from Norton AV that asks me to renew my subscription. My only choices are to "Renew Now", "Remind in 1 day", or "Remind in 15 days." I want it to "Remind...
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    Algorithm to determine time given a number of ms

    Does anyone know an algorithm that takes the number of ms starting from January 1, 1980? For example, given 5,000,001 milliseconds since 01/01/1980, what date/time does that translate to in the format MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS.msec? It seems like there should be a mathematical formula, but I can't...
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    How to concatenate multiple files together?

    I have files numbered: file001.txt file002.txt file003.txt . . . file100.txt Is there a way to concatenate all these files in numerical order?
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    Sports Illustrated Scorecard Daily

    Sports Illustrated just started a new section on cnnsi.com called Scorecard Daily. It's like the Daily Show but with a sports slant. SI's scorecard daily I don't understand how anyone can find this stuff funny. I just found a lot of the jokes unoriginal and bland. What do you think?
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    Casualty of a hit and run

    Text Apparently someone backed into a Honda, which caused it to back up onto a new Corvette.
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    Casualties of a drunk driver.

    Text Not my site, but it happened near where I live.
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    C Question: sizeof operator

    Here is the output: sizeof test_ptr = 4 sizeof(test_ptr) = 4 sizeof test_ptr = 4 sizeof(test_ptr) = 4 sizeof test_ptr2 = 33 sizeof(test_ptr2) = 33 My question is: After test_ptr has been malloc'ed, why doesn't the sizeof report a size of 17? When I staticly allocated memory for test_ptr2, it...
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    Delete your AIM logs if someone else requested it?

    Let's say that you had some conversations with Person B over AIM, which were logged via DeadAim. If Person B found out that you were logging all the conversations and she asked you to delete them, would you? On one hand, they're your logs. On the other hand, they were logged without both...
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    How will your "Start Date" affect your odds of getting a job?

    I understand that it's pretty particular to the position involved, but here's my situation: I am currently under contract until the end of June. Knowing this, I am interviewing with another company for when I stopped working. I told them I can start working July 1st. At the time of my...
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    C question and memory

    I know this is bad: int * f1(){ int j; j=100; return &j; } When f1 returns, the memory taken by j may or may not be reclaimed, which is bad. But is this bad? void f2(){ int j; f3(&j); return; } void f3(int * ptr){ printf("%d\n", *ptr); } I would say the contents of j will...
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    C Help? Memory allocation & pointers

    I know this is bad: int * f1( void ) { int j = 999; return &j; } and this is good: char * f2( void ) { char * array; array = (char *) malloc(8); return array; } But is the following allowed? char * f3 ( void ) { char * array2; array2 = f2(); return array2; } void main...
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    Help! C question

    Here's the problem: Given: 32-bit integer Output: byte array of integer. (assume a byte data type exists) For example, given the number 1000 in decimal. In Hex it is 0000 0000 0000 1388. As an output, I want an array of bytes = 00 00 00 00 00 00 13 88. Here would be the signature: byte *...
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    Annoying C compilation error

    I have the program: static int var1; static int var2; static void f1(void){ int local_var1; local_var1 = var2 - var1; return; } I get a compilation error: Serious error: C2953E: Illegal in the context of an l-value: 'unary -' and it refers to the line "local_var1 = var2 - var1;" Any...
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    Unix search command

    When I used Linux at work I used the command: find . -name "*.c" | xargs grep <expression-to-find> | more Now, that I changed jobs (and OSes), the same command doesn't work anymore. FYI, I am using cygwin. What is another command that searches similar to the above? What it the above command...
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    C question: How many %d and %s in a format string?

    Is there an easy way to find out how many %d's, %s's are in a string. For example: count_specifier("arg1: %d, blah %d %s %s\n"); Should return 4. Is there a function that does this already? I heard there was, but does anyone else know about this? I could do it the brute force way and count...
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    Perl Question: How to strip off filename extensions?

    I have multiple source files: file1.c, file2.c, file3.c. For each file, I want to do: $filename = <some command to strip off extension>; Anyone know of the easy way to do it in Perl? Thanks so much.
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    Confirmation on C problem

    I just want to confirm something with someone: some_ptr = (char *) (void *) diff_ptr; This line will cast diff_ptr to a void*, then to char*, right? Weird thing to do, I know. But please humor me.
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    Who's responsible? (Stolen package)

    I ordered a text book from a seller at half.com. Yesterday, I received an empty envelope (12"x14") on my doorstep. The envelope had been open at the top and no book inside. I don't really suspect that someone took it from my house because it is a relatively safe neighborhood. If so, why...