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Are "expiration" and "sell by" dates intended to communicate how long the product will last - even once opened? Or are they only meaningful in terms of shelf life
before opened? A jar of peanut butter might have an expiration date 2 years off. But that's only if it remains unopened, right? It's not going to last 2 years once exposed to oxygen, etc. Right?
I read these
two pages and am aware that these dates are guidance only, not law, and that they are imprecise, and sometimes refer only to flavor / quality not safety. I'm just trying to understand the opened/unopened thing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 8:08 PM on October 3, 2007
(12 comments)
I have an idea for a web project. It may have some commercial potential eventually but will basically be a night project for me and the other folks involved. Think of how MetaFilter got its start... hand-rolled / bootstrapped, whatever. My question is: how do you agree on who gets what share of any proceeds down the road? In particular, the design work will be heavy up front but tapering off after launch. Is it insulting to offer a designer a 5% share for a few days work? Does everyone brought in need to be made an equal partner? I'm sure the answer to that is no, but I'm not sure what the alternatives are. Paying people cash for work is not an option. There is no cash, and everyone involved is willing to invest some time and wait for results. The only thing is that some of us will be investing more time than others... so what to do?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 6:38 PM on September 5, 2007
(7 comments)
I'm a big meat-eater and I respect that choice. But I'd like to see the path to a more vegetarian diet.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 8:58 PM on July 28, 2007
(20 comments)
We just figured out our house was burgled. One laptop and a necklace or two missing. No one is in the house. We can see where they got in and we've secured it. What should we do now? File a police report? What about the laptop? Any identity theft steps to take? We changed the email passwords and stuff... Other suggestions welcome.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 9:59 PM on July 16, 2007
(16 comments)
$320 to replace the thermocouple on my classic 1950s-era oven. Too much? Nothing happens when I turn on the gas. I believe the guy when he says it's a bad thermocouple, I just don't know if the price is crazy or not. It's $65 if I send them home without doing anything. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 1:27 PM on May 16, 2007
(13 comments)
The cats are bein' bad...
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 5:12 PM on February 9, 2007
(18 comments)
Fast User Switching isn't working for me in Windows XP Pro.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 9:08 AM on December 22, 2006
(10 comments)
I have made an offer on a condo and it's been accepted. I'm in the contingency period and now is my chance to investigate/negotiate anything that might be a problem down the road. I'd like general advice on what to watch out for in a condo situation, and have included more specific details and questions inside.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 8:54 PM on September 26, 2006
(15 comments)
Please comment on the wisdom of buying a MacBook Pro PRIMARILY for use as a Windows computer.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 11:30 AM on July 29, 2006
(26 comments)
I have gotten two tickets now for expired registration tags on my truck. When I got the first ticket, I removed it from the windshield. The next day, there was a new one. I am late with the renewal but it's in the mail). Can I be hit again and again for this? It's $25 every time, and could get expensive. I'm in Berkeley, CA.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 5:50 PM on July 5, 2006
(14 comments)
I would like to purchase a high-mileage / low-emissions vehicle which I can drive (alone) in the carpool lanes around the Bay Area. Hybrids present one option, though I'd rather be in a diesel VW Golf, running biodiesel. I need help figuring out
the requirements listed here to see if a diesel Golf meets them. And does anyone know if filling it with biodiesel changes anything? What other vehicle options are there?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 1:35 PM on May 12, 2006
(15 comments)
I need to try to make a business case that my internet company should start publishing RSS feeds. We like traffic, and my claim is that RSS will bring new traffic in. But I don't have a frame of reference for how much. It would be great to know, for example, what percentage of MetaFilter's users click in from an RSS reader. Any data from CNET or any other site, really, would be helpful. How much traffic growth can RSS drive?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 7:28 PM on April 21, 2006
(13 comments)
I'm looking for a venue to hold an event for 50 or fewer people in Las Vegas. It will be a social event, basically people standing, talking, having a few drinks and eating. A sit-down restaurant is not quite it - not social enough. In the past, in other cities, we've rented out upscale beer joints for this event. Can anyone recommend such a place in Vegas? Close to the main strip and Mandalay Bay is preferred.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 2:29 PM on April 4, 2006
(8 comments)
Help me settle a physical sciences argument about boiling water.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 7:27 PM on March 11, 2006
(22 comments)
Wasn't there a site that existed solely to commemorate members of various online communities who have died?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 3:18 PM on February 23, 2006
(7 comments)
How evil is this
ad targeting company "
Revenue Science?" Would you want to be on a site that placed one of those cookies? Is it actually the kind of thing that might make ads more interesting? Privacy issues? Any security risks to the average web user? Any similarity or history shared with operations like Gator?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 12:27 PM on February 8, 2006
(4 comments)
I have a WordPress blog (linked on my profile page if that's helpful). It is set up to notify me when there are comments on postings. I've been getting spam comments and deleting them. They disappear from the post where they appeared. However, they DON'T disappear from the "recent comments" module on my homepage. This module contains a link to the spam URLs they are propagating. I know some SQL but almost no PHP. Is this a common problem? Any suggestions?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 5:32 PM on January 28, 2006
(11 comments)
I'm curiouser and curiouser about this "Rosetta" technology which will bridge the gorge between here and an all-Intel world for Apple. I understand that it is "binary translation" and not exactly "emulation," but I have some follow-ups...
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 3:54 AM on January 15, 2006
(14 comments)
Free Windows chart-making software that works with simple tab-separated data files and beats Excel's charts for options, esthetics, and readability?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 5:16 PM on December 29, 2005
(7 comments)
Help me help my grandpa. I need a record player that will spin 33s/45s/78s AND support stacking up a bunch of discs that will then play in succession. He doesn't believe that 78 players are still sold, period. I know that's not true but finding one that will play a stack of discs one at a time is another story. Any help? Something slim and low-profile which I can install into his old stereo console will be helpful. Bonus points for sub-$200.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 8:13 PM on November 26, 2005
(11 comments)
I'd like to find a deluxe banana seat to put on
this bike - so deluxe it'll practically be a motorcyle seat. I'd like a lot of comfortable padding for a nice, easy ride, and a split-level / two-seat configuration, kind of like
the seat on this thing. It will be mounted on the bicycle seat post + sissy bars down to the rear dropouts. I am finding squat on eBay / Froogle. Any help?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 5:51 PM on November 10, 2005
(7 comments)
When will new Battlestar Galactica episodes resume? Season 2, episode 10, "Pegasus" was billed as the "summer finale," but I think there's more to come before Season 2 is done. Sci-Fi's website is pretty uninformative about this - though it looks like they'll be airing repeats for the next few weeks at least.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 7:02 PM on October 1, 2005
(18 comments)
The
Logitech Harmony 680 is looking like a good way for me to control my Media Center Edition PC plus projector/audio receiver. However, its specs do not list a USB infrared receiver. It says it's good for controlling MCE PCs, but I can't figure out how it connects. I do not already have a remote hooked up to this MCE PC. Probably a dumb question, but... help!
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 10:51 PM on September 13, 2005
(6 comments)
Damn it all to hell, I've gone and "pinked" both pairs of jeans I own by washing them with something red in the same load. Clearly, my innate stupidity is incurable, but is there hope for my pants? I think I'd rather walk into work in my boxers than swish in on twin ringlets of pink fringe.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 12:17 PM on July 21, 2005
(11 comments)
I have two computers, each with something like 350W power supplies. By keeping them on 24/7, am I consuming the equivalent of seven 100-watt light bulbs around the clock? What can I do (either software or hardware) to make my machines more power-efficient?
Also - while I'm on the subject - does an incandescent bulb consume less when it's on a dimmer and that dimmer is turned down?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 10:30 AM on July 7, 2005
(18 comments)
When you own a house and live in it but rent some of the rooms out to other people, is the landlord/tenant situation different than it is for renting out an entire property? Obviously, in the latter case you can't be evicted from your apartment for not doing the dishes. But what about if you live in the same house as the person who owns it? How about rent control? I'm in the Bay Area, CA.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 10:35 PM on June 24, 2005
(5 comments)
I have an old Nikon N6006 film SLR. I am interested in buying a Nikon D70 digital SLR and would like to know if my old lenses will be compatible. I don't know much about what types of Nikon lenses are out there, but the ones I have are autofocus and work with my N6006. How can I tell if they will work with the D70?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 12:10 PM on May 18, 2005
(12 comments)
Heh. I may be asking for trouble posting this here. I'm having trouble with the Fark website. In Firefox, when I click any of the links, I get a popup window, but it is blank white, with the word "Stopped" in the status area. Help me see boobies! (It's actually all links, not just a couple that have been "farked" by a traffic spike).
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 9:25 AM on April 29, 2005
(8 comments)
What's the risk in exposing your bank account and routing number? Let's say you wrote VOID across a check and dropped it in the street. Could anyone use the information on a check to withdraw cash from your account, issue charges to your account, get themselves a new phone line on your dime?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 2:06 PM on April 8, 2005
(22 comments)
I've built a PC with a Shuttle AN35 mainboard (with Award BIOS) and it won't shut down or standby. When I shut down (through software) it goes through the motions of shutting down, but then instead of ultimately going black & quiet it just reboots. Same with attempts to make it standby - it just reboots. I have checked the connection of the PC case's PWON connector to the motherboard, diddled with Windows XP's power settings, and poked around in the BIOS a little but am not sure what to do. This sucks because when I ultimately have to shut it down to move it or something, I have to do it the ugly way: with the mechanical switch on the power supply. help!
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 9:56 PM on March 18, 2005
(4 comments)
Let's say you've had an experience and written about it. And let's say it's something others on the internet might want to know about. And let's say you have it saved as a simple html doc and would like to get it out there, accessible via Google, etc. And let's say you'd like perfect anonymity. What can you do to get it out there and indexed but not traceable? Free? Anonymous? Publish and forget?
Obviously, this is about battling spammers at some point. Advice?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 12:19 AM on March 11, 2005
(16 comments)
I have an iPod and a truck with a crappy factory stereo. I have tried 3 different FM transmitters and I'm giving up on using them to play the iPod through the car stereo. If possible, I want to avoid buying a new stereo that has aux-in. It's a big expenses and invites theft. Can I add aux-in to my existing stereo? I've heard that car stereo places will do this, wiring a headphone-jack cable to your seat/dashboard. Is that true? How do they go about it? And how would I "tune it in" after such an installation?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 11:36 AM on February 26, 2005
(13 comments)
Cold/Flu Contagion:
1) Is there any truth to the rumor that "once you manifest symptoms, you're no longer contagious?"
2) If you're recovering from one illness, are you more or less suceptible to others? eg: If I've just gotten over a cold, is my immune system weak and susceptible to strep throat? Or is it on high-alert and likely to protect me better?
3) Following on number 2, why don't more people get multiple viruses/bugs at once, or in rapid sequence? Anecdotally, it seems that most people enjoy an interval of good health after recovering from something. Is that true?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 1:20 PM on February 16, 2005
(4 comments)
Online dating diplomacy. If you decide after an email or two that you are not interested in the other person, either because the conversation is uninspiring or the pictures they send are unappealing, should you actually write to tell them "sorry, but I'm not interested?" Or is that worse than falling silent and letting the correspondence die? Some people persist if you don't respond, and ask "what's the deal? you didn't like my pic?" I honestly don't know what's the best thing to say, if anything. Honesty is not the same as full disclosure, and I just feel that random people really don't need to hear that I find them undesireable / uninteresting. I figure if I just stop writing, most people will simply write me off and move on. What do you think?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 11:04 PM on January 31, 2005
(38 comments)
I have exercised stock options and taken possession of a small number of shares. I have not sold anything, but am wondering how screwed I am, tax-wise. First, do I have to declare the value of the stock as "income" for the year that I acquired it? Second, if I should sell it, do I add the money I receive from that sale to my regular taxable income? Do I deduct the amount I paid in? Is the net difference subject to other taxes? Is this handle-able by an average person or do I need an accountant?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 3:49 PM on January 13, 2005
(6 comments)
I'd like to learn how to control and manage all the video/audio codecs on my Win2K and XP computers. There's no control panel for this, unfortunately. I know sometimes I have several codecs installed that can play a particular video, but one has priority. How do I control which one, or disable/suspend others? How can I even tell what all I have installed?
Gspot is helpful for peeking on a per-movie basis. What else is out there? Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 3:34 PM on December 10, 2004
(8 comments)
I've got a 160GB hard disk capacity issue, plus a little bit of a chicken-and-the-egg dillema [come on in!]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 10:27 PM on November 22, 2004
(37 comments)
What's the deal with Azureus for OSX and opening .torrent files by default? [more inside]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 7:27 PM on November 21, 2004
(9 comments)
Let's say you had a wooden box you wanted to turn into a PC case. Where would you buy a metal 5.25" bay assembly? I'm talking about a U-shaped piece of flat metal that will screw onto the wood box wherein a couple of drives can be mounted. There's just way too much noise in Google on this one. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 4:35 PM on November 19, 2004
(7 comments)
Who makes sweet-ass PC cases? Note: I don't want anything neon green with gills and a tail, or an aquarium built-in. I am building a media center PC and can't find a slim, tasteful case that will look good in the living room. I prefer horizontally-oriented and absolutely require two 5.25" bays in front (behind a door is okay). Silent-running features are a plus. Any suggestions?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 1:50 PM on November 15, 2004
(15 comments)
There's something long and hard inside my forearm, and it's not my radius or ulna! Tendonitis? Carpal tunnels? Repetitive Stress Injury? Keyboard allergy? Whatever you call it, I'm experiencing some pain and even a little numbness. I'm working on ergonomics, using ice and advil. A little massage. Rest. Any other suggestions? I will see a doctor but I welcome advice and anecdotes on computery injury / strain. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 12:29 PM on November 6, 2004
(13 comments)
I have put my Moveable Type weblog to sleep, although I am keeping its archives up. Not surprisingly, comment spam continues to come in. It looks like there is no way to globally turn commenting off in MT. Rats. But I do have MT Blacklist installed, and I'm wondering if there's a good way to add some kind of regex wildcard to my blacklist that will deny
all comments. Any ideas on how to stop all comments?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 9:36 AM on November 3, 2004
(12 comments)
Last night I watched my neighbor's dog kill a cat. [more inside - may be disturbing to cat lovers].
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 12:08 PM on October 28, 2004
(78 comments)
Election season special. Just to make sure I'm not missing anything: when a ballot measure says it will "issue $30 million in bonds" to pay for a highway or school retrofit, that means "go into debt" or "borrow the money," right?
Secondarily, let's say such a measure passes - what's to stop a legislature from canceling it thereafter, in order to balance a state/federal/municipal budget? Is that bond money somehow "separate" from the general fund?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 8:27 PM on October 21, 2004
(7 comments)
DVI connection types! (who knew there was more than one?)
The "Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter" that came with my 12" Powerbook (revC/1.33) won't connect to the DVI cable I bought. According to
this chart (scroll down), the Apple adapter is a DVI-D Dual Link type (female) and my cable is a DVI-I Dual Link type (male). As you'll see from the diagrams, the 4 pins around the big flat pin are where the mismatch lies. The Apple adapter doesn't have 4 holes to accommodate them. Can I just snap the extra pins off the cable and use it?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 6:55 PM on October 19, 2004
(6 comments)
I had a wild idea today. I'm pondering several career moves, mulling over various choices. Suddenly I thought: hey, what about politics/civic office?
Suggestions?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 10:14 PM on October 9, 2004
(12 comments)
I'm looking at keyboard/mouse/monitor switches with DVI & USB. I want to set one up with 1 PC and 1 PowerBook G4. Audio switching included would be nice. It's hard to beat the price tag on the
Belkin SOHO ($200
including cables), but the series has gotten some
tepid reviews. Everything else I've seen is closer to $
400. Any suggestions?
Also - what keyboard would I use with such a device?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 10:09 PM on October 5, 2004
(4 comments)
iDVD presales questions [mi]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 6:24 PM on September 29, 2004
(4 comments)
600MHz G3 iBook / 30GB / 256MB
-->
1000MHz G4 iBook / 60GB / 512MB
Worth the upgrade? Or do I need to dig deeper into my wallet? I'd like better AVI playback and iMovie performance, as well as the ability to run GarageBand.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scarabic
at 8:12 PM on September 28, 2004
(16 comments)
