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How should I go about formating and re-installing Mac OSX on a computer I've been upgrading and using for five years? I want to start fresh and clean with a new install of OSX, but with all my songs, photos, movies intact in iTunes and iPhoto on the new system.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 1:06 PM on May 10, 2008
(11 comments)
I'd like to do a time-lapse movie of photos taken every 30 seconds during a week-long, 500 mile ride I'm doing later this year. But the rig has to be small, light, automatic, and run for hours a day without a recharge. Is this possible? (something tells me Make Magazine probably already covered this at one point)
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 10:02 AM on April 8, 2008
(6 comments)
Why do cycling racers always warm up on a trainer/rollers thing before events, even ridiculously long ones? Doesn't it burn up energy they'll need during the race?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 3:28 PM on March 3, 2008
(13 comments)
Is there an expense reporting app that's flexible, handy, and will help me finish next year's taxes quickly and easily? I know about excel, quicken, and various financial transaction apps, but what if I drive 100 miles to a tech conference and want to note my mileage? And what if I'm out entertaining clients and I want to pop onto my iPhone to note the total bill for the evening (before I forget the next day to open excel). Are there any web-based flexible apps for doing all the expense reporting you might need for a small business' bookkeeping needs?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 2:04 PM on January 31, 2008
(7 comments)
Non-violent, non-scary movies for 3 year olds? My daughter likes watching movies as a special treat but is scared by Disney's trademark ultra-villains and even shouting or dark scenes are a bit much for her. So far the only two movies she loves beginning to end are the newish
Curious George movie and
My Neighbor Totoro. I looked long and hard and can't find any others. Any ideas?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 5:20 PM on January 4, 2008
(79 comments)
This question is morbid, but I've always wanted the answer. How on earth do funeral parlors (especially those that do cremation) operate in neighborhoods or right next to them without smelling horrible?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 9:27 AM on December 17, 2007
(15 comments)
Where could I find the exact dates of the last ten (1997-2007) Macworld keynotes by Steve Jobs, done in San Francisco? I thought some apple history sites would list it, but rampant googling has only turned up info on the last couple years of shows.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 8:21 AM on December 5, 2007
(4 comments)
How do I get started with cyclocross? I've been a spectator at a cyclocross race and I'm looking at picking up a low-end cyclocross bike, but what's the best way to get started doing it? How do you practice the odd obstacles and challenges found in courses?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 2:13 PM on October 28, 2007
(15 comments)
I like the HGTV show "Curb Appeal" and I'm familiar with most of the actual trades involved with redoing the front of a house, but where do you find a designer to handle it all?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 7:54 AM on September 28, 2007
(9 comments)
As much as it frightens me, I'm really starting to enjoy hot tubs. Would I really use one at home or am I just enjoying them during vacations?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 5:03 PM on August 10, 2007
(40 comments)
How can I make air conditioning work better in a 2 story house?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 2:52 PM on July 22, 2007
(13 comments)
Is a carbon fiber road frame worth the extra expense? I mean I've read loads of pros and cons but does it come down to a slight difference or a major one? I love to go on 15-30 mile rides but I'd like to increase my comfort levels (got a proper fitting and new seat/post so far).
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 8:53 PM on June 2, 2007
(27 comments)
Anyone know of any good large-format (5 foot by 3 foot poster) printers in the Portland, Oregon area? I've been burned by the wrath of Kinko's too many times and I need it within 48 hours. I know the right outfit could do it in just a few minutes, and I don't care what it costs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 10:11 AM on May 22, 2007
(7 comments)
I just bought a big grill for my new backyard but I'm feeling bad that my wife does all the grilling (she's an amazing cook). I'd like to help out more but I don't know where to start. Are there any really basic books on how to get started cooking on a gas grill? Everything I find online is a cesspool of ads or nonsense, so I'm asking here.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 10:47 PM on April 22, 2007
(35 comments)
In three cars I've driven, I get about 300 miles per tank of gas. But with all three cars, I can get up to 200 miles by the time I hit 1/2 tank. But invariably, by the time I near the 300 mile mark, I'm on E. Am I nuts or do gas seem to burn faster in the lower 1/2 of my tank? Is this mental or by design?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 9:35 AM on April 7, 2007
(22 comments)
Is there any easy way to find historic stock data for a ticker symbol? I'm wondering if you could easily and cheaply pull up the day's price on say, MSFT, on July 17, 1995. And maybe three years to the day after that. I usually only see a range or a trendline with historic stock data, but someone must track all of them individually over time like this. Are there services for this? I would even pay for it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 3:24 PM on January 9, 2007
(12 comments)
My wife and I are taking our first vacation in years, but we have a 1.5 year old now. We're headed to Hawaii next month and I'm wondering what travel in cabs and buses is like with a baby. Are there small carseats we could travel with or should we suck it up and get a rental car ourselves (and risk the rampant break-ins I constantly hear about)?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 9:07 PM on November 24, 2006
(12 comments)
I've got my wife's old powerbook and my old iMac G5. I'd like to basically copy everything on the powerbook over to the iMac. I know about the great migration app that runs when you first get a mac, but how do I go about wiping the iMac clean and copying powerbook stuff over as if the iMac were new?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 12:08 PM on November 9, 2006
(17 comments)
I get tons of spam in languages other than english -- entire messages in other languages that I can't even read to determine what the spam is about. I'd like to make a simple set of email filters to whack out any email in russian, chinese, japanese, and korean. Can someone give me a single character from each language that represents the most commonly used letter? (like the letter "a" in English)
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 8:12 AM on September 21, 2006
(15 comments)
A few months ago,
there was news that Kevin Smith would release a director's commentary early, so fans of Clerks 2 could rewatch the movie in a theater with an iPod. Clerks 2 has come and gone from my local theater but I'm still wondering if this audio ever came out, because I'd love to hear it and watch the movie again (have to catch it at the $1 theater now). Anyone ever heard what became of this? I don't see any mentions of it online
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 2:49 PM on August 27, 2006
(8 comments)
When something is gone from Costco, is it like totally gone forever and there's no chance I can ever purchase the item? I know they do seasonal stuff, but I saw this item less than a month ago and checking three locations reveals they replaced the item with a different yet similar product. Do they ever have overstock sales? Should I call every Costco within several hours of driving distance?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 6:25 PM on May 31, 2006
(22 comments)
Question for the SQL ninjas in the house. Say you're grabbing data from a bunch of similar tables in a big union. Now say you want the last ten items added anywhere to the database, from any one of those tables. What's the most efficient way to do that?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 12:06 AM on May 10, 2006
(22 comments)
How do I get a bird to stop sitting on my side mirrors and shitting all over my car?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 4:35 PM on April 6, 2006
(31 comments)
I keep finding live flying bugs in my windows and lights and our house is very tight and doors open only rarely. I can't tell if this is normal springtime bug populations or if I have an infestation in my attic. When is it time to call the exterminator?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 9:09 PM on March 16, 2006
(10 comments)
I'm somewhat of a professional computer guy but even I am totally mystified by the current state of Intel and AMD processors. Can someone hip to the latest explain why chips are suddenly only going 1.8Ghz again, which chips from Intel are powerful enough for HD playback, and what, if any, good a 64 bit processor does for today?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 11:16 AM on February 28, 2006
(23 comments)
I tried out Apple's Aperture for a month to see if I liked it and if it saved any time, but now that iPhoto 6 is out, I'd like to go back to iPhoto which runs loads faster on my iMac. This means I have about a month's worth of photos in Aperture I'd like to salvage in iPhoto. What I can't figure out is how to export photos from Aperture into iPhoto, instead of vice versa. Any tips?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 4:09 PM on January 18, 2006
(7 comments)
New bank for a new year: I'm looking for a bank to help with my financial future. I want a flexible bank that will let me set any number of rules on incoming deposits. I'd like $x automatically going into a IRA each month, I want 10% of any deposit going into one rainy day savings account, and maybe 5% going to another, set aside for vacations and fun. What I want is one bank account, with many sub-accounts, and automatic rules to move it around for me. Do any of the big banks offer this?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 10:21 PM on January 2, 2006
(15 comments)
I'm looking for a charity related to rebuilding New Orleans to donate to as a gift to someone that used to live there and was heartbroken by the hurricane aftermath. The Red Cross or United Way seem too big and non-specific. I'd like to give to something with a bit more direct impact on improving things there. Suggestions?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 4:14 PM on December 23, 2005
(7 comments)
I think I froze my iPod to death. Is there anything I can do to revive it?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 4:50 PM on December 11, 2005
(11 comments)
I've quieted my PC by getting rid of loud fans. As my s.o. wakes me up with an old, loud hair dryer every morning, I wonder if a company has done the same with that appliance. Are there any quiet hair dryers available that still do the job? Money is no object if there's something out there that puts out heat, dries hair in a couple minutes, and is say, under 60db.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 3:59 PM on November 28, 2005
(14 comments)
How do I swap the control and command keys on a mac? Since I use a PC from the very same keyboard, I'm constantly flubbing up my copy and pastes between OSes. I'd like to just stick with one, and control-c feels more natural. I've tried the Keyboard system preferences pane. I've changed the Modifier Keys settings to swap them, but it doesn't do anything. Do I need to run an app to swap these keystrokes?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 8:40 AM on November 18, 2005
(8 comments)
What's the deal with hand tattoos?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 3:24 PM on October 7, 2005
(29 comments)
Where can I see "lyrical" dance being performed?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 9:32 AM on September 20, 2005
(14 comments)
Home Networking: how do you go about connecting a cable modem to a house with in-wall ethernet in every room?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 10:02 PM on August 29, 2005
(24 comments)
I'm thinking about moving to a more minimalist home theater -- in-wall speakers, all components in a nearby closet, nothing in the room except the TV attached to a wall. I'm not finding much in the way of resources for doing this in existing construction. Anyone ever try something like this?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 2:45 PM on August 17, 2005
(12 comments)
I've finally noticed and started enjoying
the digital music channels that came with my DirecTV setup. But it's kind of silly to use my home theater system and DirecTV receiver just to hear some music. Does anyone know how I could hack this kind of satellite music playback into a separate stereo system? Anyone ever heard of a digital music receiver for DirecTV?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 5:52 PM on July 25, 2005
(8 comments)
I have two cats (brother and sister from the same litter 8 years ago) and one baby. The cats have never messed with each other beyond play fighting every so often and chasing each other for kicks. But recently, we noticed a horrible new behavior: when the baby cries at full tilt (only once every 3-4 days), the male cat gets up and goes after the female and tries to mount her, in an almost automatic, robot-like response.
I have some ideas of why, but I can't find any tips on what to do to stop it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 2:34 PM on July 8, 2005
(26 comments)
Where can I find stainless steel for outdoor garden use and how do I buy it?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 1:12 PM on June 29, 2005
(12 comments)
I've been playing with kites lately and I want to try my hand at kite photography soon, but I'd rather not use disposable film cameras -- I'd like to rig up a digital camera. I'm looking for a small, light camera that can shoot automatically.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 5:58 PM on June 19, 2005
(14 comments)
I upgraded my wife's powerbook (15" titanium/867Mhz, from 2003) to tiger last week and now it seems when unplugged it doesn't recognize the battery in the status monitor. I've searched google but can't find any fix.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 11:52 AM on May 18, 2005
(2 comments)
I've got a mac and a PC sharing the same desk, both on a 802.11g network, but file transfer between the two is atrociously slow, like only a couple hundred kb/sec. Is there any way to transfer lots of data quickly between the two (like several Mb/sec)? A crossover ethernet cable between the two? USB? Firewire?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 12:47 AM on March 31, 2005
(12 comments)
Anyone know of the best way to take screenshots of video on a PC? I notice that DVDs and mpegs and avis all seem to do a weird matte screen thing where video is projected "above" the video player on your screen, so all screengrabs are blank. There must be a hack to get a simple grab every now and then off this sort of video. Anyone ever figure this out?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 11:23 AM on March 21, 2005
(8 comments)
I'm starting work on a new deck and ideally when the project is finished, I'd like to swap out the standard sliding glass door that leads out from the kitchen with out-swinging double french doors (
something like these). But can they also be practical?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 5:37 PM on March 8, 2005
(14 comments)
I've been reading up a bit lately on
cord blood. It's kind of a cool idea, to capture stem cells your child may need someday -- kinda like always having "spare parts" available if anything goes wrong and technology continues to innovate. But I get the feeling that it costs a grand or so to start, and hundreds per year. I also hear that it may only help in childhood leukemia instances, so I'm on the fence. Is it worth the money? Are the applications for it real and tangible? Is it a smart insurance policy at this point or a silly thing worrisome parents are being bilked over?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 1:07 PM on February 25, 2005
(25 comments)
From cycling I'm aware that rotational weight is the best to cut for efficiency, and when I think about my new car and ways to coax more mileage out of it, I wonder if getting a lighter set of wheels would improve that measurably? I can't tell if anyone has ever looked at gas savings vs. wheel weight before in my google searching. [+]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 1:32 PM on February 3, 2005
(31 comments)
iPhoto 5: I love the new iPhoto and I'm really impressed with the new photobook formats. I want to order one, but after using the auto-format, half the images did a nice full page bleed while others are tiny and centered on the page. I can't seem to figure out how to stretch the smaller photos into a full page bleed. The photos are all the same large size and bit depth. Anyone figure this out yet?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 10:36 AM on January 27, 2005
(8 comments)
Last week, I updated my linksys WRT54G's firmware and soon the hardware was dead (I think it was a coincidence). I was stranded without a connection and picked up a brand new
WRT54GS which worked ok, but keeps dropping wireless clients and the point will disappear every so often, even though it is only 15 feet away. How can I fix this? (a bit more inside)
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 2:11 PM on January 10, 2005
(20 comments)
A friend just had a premature baby at 32 weeks (just below 4 lbs), and to complicate matters further, she was on vacation with family out of state and will likely be stuck there until the baby is healthy (if they were home, I could go right over and help make food, etc). I'm kind of feeling paralyzed wondering what an appropriate gift would be though. Small baby clothes? Send money/gift certificates to help offset travel bills? Flowers? I'm guessing it'll be a month or so before she comes home.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 3:35 PM on December 31, 2004
(15 comments)
Whenever I see people post photos of their car online, they almost always blur the license plate, which seems an obvious protection, but then I thought: Who on earth besides DMV employees can ever figure anything out from a license plate number? Are there scary public apps that will pull my home address up if my license plate ever shows up in public? I ask because people with custom plates never seem to mind sharing them in photos, and only people running 3HJK23D seem to always protect their identity. Is it much ado about nothing?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 2:57 PM on December 17, 2004
(13 comments)
Any relaxation tips for dentalphobes going to the dentist? I've tried them all, and I'm still the most tense, problematic, patience-testing patient at my dentist's office. I hate to be like this to dentists and I hate to scare myself out of revisits. So how do I overcome my fear and relax?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mathowie
at 10:55 AM on December 9, 2004
(24 comments)
