I, too, live in the Hudson Valley north of NYC and am starting a first garden (with Mrs. Swift). A few resources we've found helpful:
There are tons of nurseries and garden centers in the area: we go to the Cortlandt Farm Market, but in lower Westchester there are bigger options.
Gaia's Garden, an introduction to permaculture concepts specifically for gardeners. Despite the title, it's more practical than new-agey.
Carrots Love Tomatoes, a great book on... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 11:50 AM on June 5, 2008

The PC and Mac are always on, and they all share a network.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 2:43 PM on February 8, 2008

And what, exactly, are you hoping to achieve?

I tend to use the PC (mostly for work), my wife tends to use the Mac. We both tend to use all the rest of the stuff.

I want to make it so I can, for example, keep Skype open while (supposedly) working on the PC. However, the webcam and microphone are connected to the Mac, where my wife tends to spend time, and who also uses Skype.

Is there some sort of switch/hub combination that achieves this sort of thing?
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 3:05 PM on February 8, 2008

Thanks, everyone! I'm going to check out Synergy and if that doesn't work, look at one of these boxes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 10:28 PM on February 8, 2008

It looks like these offer services for blog authors - what I want is something that forwards news items to my inbox, kind of like Rmail but in digest form. Unless I'm misunderstanding how these sites work.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 3:14 PM on November 12, 2005

There is actually a python script called rss2email, but so far I haven't gotten it to work.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 3:31 PM on November 12, 2005

Oh wow - that's perfect. Thanks panoptican.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 3:47 PM on November 12, 2005

were they those shitty little Nokia ones?

Well, these are shitty little LGs. The batteries last about 30 minutes, they miss calls even in high-reception zones, the menus are awful, and the volume button is sensitive enough to make the phone spontaneously ring in your pocket. There is a mirror on the outside with an LED that shines through it when you miss a call (where there should be a clock) and the screen is completely unreadable in the slightest... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 9:29 PM on October 3, 2005

Thanks everyone for the informative responses. It's off to Ebay for me.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 7:21 AM on October 4, 2005

I agree. Emacs always seemed a little overkill to me (but I'm a vim user...). Also, I use Texshop every day, and adore it. Look into it if you're on a Mac.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 6:46 PM on October 3, 2005

precipitate?
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 10:10 AM on October 3, 2005

If N were infinite, wouldn't people and their bones end up filling all the space in the universe, like clowns in a little car?
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 6:33 AM on May 27, 2005

Thanks, zsazsa!
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 3:37 PM on May 3, 2005

Well, not necessarily exact. An estimate would be fine if I knew how to go about estimating things like this. I'm no physicist, but I think there are easy ways to estimate things like, you know, the number of golf balls that would fit in the moon, or how many stars are in the sky. These are the kind of mental/statistical tricks I wish I knew for this problem.

I was thinking about doing something like marking off a section of skin in an area where the freckles are most... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 6:22 AM on March 31, 2005

Why do you need to count your freckles?

"Know thyself."
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 4:59 PM on March 31, 2005

On Channel 13 in NY, I've been seeing lots of actual long commercials between programs, sometimes even in the middle of programs. I guess I'm having a hard time understanding how public tv, which I thought was an alternative to advertising-supported channels partly because it avoids a lot of the problems with being beholden to advertisers, can serve the public good with such strong corporate ties.

It was almost as if a law changed, or there was some... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 5:33 PM on March 8, 2005

(lol)

This electrolux looks pretty good.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 7:50 AM on March 5, 2005

Actually, that's not a hand-held. Sorry.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 8:02 AM on March 5, 2005

For stealth recording I use a cheap MD recorder and a homemade binaural mic/headphone setup. You have to play with it first to figure out how to keep from picking up noise from the headphones knocking around, but once you do, the sound is pretty good. It's almost impossible to detect, too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 10:29 AM on February 16, 2005

The Elephant Man.

Too, too much, and too, too sad.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 7:11 PM on February 10, 2005

In NYC, a car sitting that long would be considered derelict, plates or not, and the police (or sanitation) could have it towed.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 6:37 AM on February 1, 2005

Never mind. Ipodder works after all. Carry on.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 8:28 PM on December 5, 2004

Good Wikipedia articles on Walmart here and here.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 5:25 PM on December 3, 2004

Network Solutions. Terrible service, high prices, constant nagging.

Verizon. Darth Vader commercials, credit check to get cellular service, high prices, Vonage.

I guess that's not really boycotting. But in both cases I give my business to the little guy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 10:23 PM on December 4, 2004

Spongebob Squarepants.

On preview, HifiToaster, I think you just proved PrinceValium's point.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 7:42 AM on November 25, 2004

You can also ask metafilter a related question.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 5:18 PM on November 23, 2004

If metafiction is not dead and only smells bad, my apologies. However, the question still stands.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 3:36 PM on November 22, 2004

Thanks all. Of course I don't expect anyone here to correctly identify the next big thing. Just curious what seems to be on the rise.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 5:54 PM on November 22, 2004

I hear a lot about magical realism lately, mostly in connection with Chicano writing. Wish I knew more about it.

I guess everything goes back to Don Quixote, for my money the only really non-genre novel in history, except for maybe Gulliver's Travels.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 8:12 PM on November 22, 2004

Octaves, baby. For all your adult contemporary needs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 1:00 PM on November 22, 2004

Texan: Mah grayin mah got a buhloo cheekin.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 11:42 AM on November 22, 2004

I second Throbbing Gristle. Also, to awaken the devil inside, try Crash Worship if you can find any.

The Ligeti stuff in 2001: A Space Odyssey is absolutely creepy, as well.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 6:39 PM on November 16, 2004

Drink alcohol before and while you're writing. Try using a pen or old typewriter instead of a computer. Dictate into a tape recorder. Look at your old notes and ideas and flesh them out. Attempt to write as poorly as possible, or to write about completely uninteresting topics. Do cut-ups. Meditate. Turn a newspaper story into something fictional. Write a thinly-disguised autobiographical anecdote about a seemingly minor event. Write poetry. Write a kid's book. Get stoned. Drink... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 11:12 AM on November 10, 2004

Her favorite love songs. Her favorite bands. The songs she used to hum. That will make you depressed.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 6:05 PM on November 8, 2004

Great suggestions, thanks. I'm reading some Neruda and Lorca right now. I'd like to get to where I can read Borges' Ficciones.

The novelas aren't a bad idea, too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 6:01 PM on November 8, 2004

It's possible for A (or B) to force stalemate by getting B's king into a corner (say, h1). If A's rook is on g2, and A's king is adjacent to the rook, then there's nowhere to go for B. This is especially true since A's rook can sneak over there much quicker than B's knight.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 10:48 AM on November 7, 2004

With the knight, however, this would probably end up as a draw-by-repetition, not stalemate.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 10:49 AM on November 7, 2004

It would actually not be too hard to get rid of the knight, by keeping the the king in check until the king ends up on the same rank/file as the knight.

Then stalemate.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 11:48 AM on November 7, 2004

The knight doesn't have to be behind the king. They just have to be in line with each other.

- N - - R - - K

The Knight and King could stay closer, but eventually they'd have to get in line to remain close. Otherwise, the Knight strays and you get the configuration above.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 4:01 PM on November 7, 2004

Que hay que hacer para ir a Carnegie Hall?

Hay que practicar.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 6:55 AM on November 7, 2004

Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 9:22 AM on November 6, 2004

Dutch is very easy to learn. Many of the words have similar roots to English (Old English and modern Dutch are almost the same), grammar is simple, and things are pretty easy to pronounce.

Think Smurfs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 11:19 AM on November 3, 2004

Also, most Dutch people speak English and a third language, not to mention their local dialect. I think it's due to some crazy idea about spending lots of money on education, but I'm not sure.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 11:23 AM on November 3, 2004

Good stuff - thanks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 7:56 PM on November 1, 2004

I have an iBook, and one thing their notorious for is their bad logic boards (the logic board is just like a normal computer's motherboard). I had an experience similar to yours and had to have it (the board) replaced, though the problem was hard to reproduce because it wouldn't happen all the time.

Of course, mine is a G3 - Apple may have fixed that problem.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 3:07 PM on November 1, 2004

She's never used instant messaging of any kind, doesn't have an AOL account, and recently starting receiving messages on her T-Mobile cellphone. The messages are mildly sexual, and at first she thought maybe some kid was just sending messages to a bunch of numbers.

But now it turns out the person knows her name, and she's freaked out because there's a possibility she's being physically stalked. There haven't been any indications, however, that the person knows what she... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 6:07 PM on October 25, 2004

Well, they're sending instant messages, and the username is from AOL. Maybe the whole AIM thing is a bad assumption though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 6:32 PM on October 25, 2004

Is she up to something sketchy?
I don't think she's involved in anything sketchy, but just thinks bringing the police in at this point is a bit overkill.

one could easily call the number and get voice mail to learn the owner's name.
That's a great point.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 7:26 PM on October 25, 2004

Thanks everyone.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 7:17 AM on October 26, 2004

Related: NYC has 10 sister cities.
posted to Ask Metafilter by swift at 6:22 PM on October 19, 2004