Note also from fuzzbean's link that the shelves which are 33" x 20" are rated for less weight than the 33" x 12" shelves — 90 lbs. compared to 110 lbs. This seems a little paradoxical, but hopefully a structural engineer will happen by some time soon and tell us why this is.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 12:15 PM on August 4, 2008

That would be 99 lbs., not 90. I should really preview my comments occasionally.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 12:16 PM on August 4, 2008

A manual is not the same thing as a legally binding contract; in fact, the Student Manual for my institution explicitly says on the first page, "The contents of this manual do not create a contract between any individual and the University." It's possible that different institutions don't have this language explicitly in their student manuals, but even if they don't, you might have a hard time convincing a judge that they were the same thing.

You can always... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 1:45 PM on July 29, 2008

For more unusual double letters, check out this page (it's long, so do a "Find in Page" for "double letters".) Examples of more uncommon ones are bathhouse, hajj, vacuum, savvy, glowworm, and piyyut.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 12:00 PM on July 29, 2008

Watch it if you want to see Alan Rickman having a grand old time chewing up the scenery and winking at the audience while everyone else is playing deadly serious with somewhat weak material.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 9:56 PM on July 28, 2008

If you really want it, you can obtain a transcript of your old tax returns, including accompanying forms and schedules such as the W-2 — but you'd need to allow two weeks for delivery, and the information you filed with the IRS would just show your aggregate income for each year. You might be able to ballpark your start dates a little better with this info, but you might have trouble figuring out whether you started on October 14 or October 21.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 7:26 AM on July 28, 2008

The OED entry on -philia also supports up the "tendency" meaning:Forming abstract nouns with the senses:

a. ‘Tendency to’ (as in HAEMOPHILIA n., SPASMOPHILIA n.).

b. ‘Love of or liking for’ (as in ANGLOPHILIA n., NECROPHILIA n.), esp. ‘sexual interest in’ (as in PAEDOPHILIA n.), usually corresponding to an adjective in -PHILE comb. form, -PHILIC comb. form, -PHILOUS comb. form.

c.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 6:18 AM on July 28, 2008

Mitheral, where are you getting that? The section heading says that construction work "between the hours of 8 AM and 9 PM, pursuant to permits" is exempt from the 55 dB ordinance noted above — but outside of those hours, all previous sections apply.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 8:40 AM on July 21, 2008

The Book of the New Sun has quite a few messianic elements.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 9:00 AM on July 18, 2008

My parents' cats have this behaviour too. About a year ago, they brought a young (one-year-old) cat into the house with the already-established eight-year-old cat. Before the younger cat arrived, the older cat had impressive five-inch-long whiskers. Now they're about an inch or two long at most in all four locations (both eyebrows, both cheeks.) Their vet was unconcerned, and the only thing injured is the older cat's dignity.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 3:05 PM on July 16, 2008

The Straight Dope once did a column on how to pick the winning lottery numbers.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 6:56 PM on July 15, 2008

In cartography, it's generally called an "inset."

Isn't an inset usually a small side map that's drawn on a larger scale?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 2:46 PM on July 14, 2008

The first movie that sprung to mind for me was The Apartment, with Mr. Baxter nursing Miss Kubelik back to health.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 12:22 PM on July 14, 2008

Lets say you had a large, hollow, 100’ cylinder. This cylinder is on the back of a flat bed truck, travelling down the road at 60 mph. At the top of the cylinder is a small piece of string, holding a tennis ball approximately 12” from the ceiling. That piece of string is cut. Would the ball, as it falls towards the floor of the cylinder, travel towards the back of the cylinder as its speed decreases?

Nope; assuming that there aren't significant air... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 7:39 PM on July 9, 2008

The AP article on the subject says that the yellowcake in question was acquired before the First Gulf War:

Later, U.N. inspectors documented and safeguarded the yellowcake, which had been stored in aging drums and containers since before the 1991 Gulf War. There was no evidence of any yellowcake dating from after 1991, the official said.

posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 7:43 PM on July 7, 2008

Ontario is a big province — what general area were you thinking? Closer to Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, or Sudbury?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 9:41 AM on July 2, 2008

Sambuca is anise oil and alcohol, so maybe that has something to do with the ignition factor?

Sambuca also has quite a bit of sugar in it, which I would guess has more to do with it. In fact, I would guess that "too much water" is more of a factor in flammability than "not enough alcohol"; the two are correlated, of course, but "proof" only deals with percentage alcohol by volume.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 12:34 PM on July 1, 2008

Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire is the best Tu-Th-Sa comic I know of. Jonny Crossbones, when it was running, updated on Tuesdays & Thursdays; it's hopefully starting up again soon, but the update schedule might not be the same.

Beyond that, I also know of a few comics that update on one of those three days: Multiplex updates on Mondays & Thursdays (although that's somewhat flexible); Nothing Better updates on Tuesdays & Fridays (it's on hiatus for the summer,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 11:22 AM on July 1, 2008

As I mentioned in the previous thread, I did have NR73 go through and was declared a deemed non-resident by the CRA (then the CCRA.) There were two main differences between my situation and yours: first, tuition remissions were fully taxable at the time, and second (the big difference) I have citizenship in both countries.

I assume, from what you mentioned in your question, that you answered the following question "no" when you submitted your NR73:... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 2:58 PM on June 30, 2008

The Museum of Science & Industry has its moments, but given that it's several miles from the Adler and downtown and you only have one day, I'd probably skip it. If you do decide to go, though, you must see the U-505 exhibit.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 7:36 AM on June 30, 2008

Farther afield than Three Floyds or Two Brothers, but not as far as Cleveland, there's also Bell's Brewery and Founders Brewing, in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, respectively. A Bell's keg would be especially an especially good coup for the Chicago beer aficionado, as they no longer sell their original styles in Illinois. Their Oberon is particularly tasty.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 10:06 AM on June 29, 2008 marked best answer

This sounds a little like the secretary problem, although to apply that algorithm you would need to know the number of gas stations you expect to pass before running out of gas.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 12:41 PM on June 26, 2008

Boeuf Bourguignonne.
Coq au vin.
That is all.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 8:48 AM on June 26, 2008

If you're getting 10% of your daily calories from meat, then that's about 200-250 calories per day — which is about a "recommended serving" of most lean or medium-fat meats, every day. So that puts you well into meat-eater territory.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 5:56 PM on June 25, 2008

Sudbury to Montreal is going to be a rough drive. Not very exciting, and at the very least 8 hours long.

Yeah, if you can spare some time, stay in Ottawa for a night or two. Check out the Houses of Parliament and the National Gallery.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 11:16 PM on June 23, 2008

City of Joy is a good movie, although not a great one.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 1:23 PM on June 23, 2008

I've always been a fan of Nick's Math Puzzles (and by "a fan of" I mean "deliciously frustrated by".)
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 7:54 AM on June 23, 2008

Also, if you want ridiculously difficult math problems, try the Putnam problem archive.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 7:59 AM on June 23, 2008

The local ones may not be in season yet; at the farmers' markets here in Chicago, they tell me that the Michigan cherries will appear some time in the next week or two. So even if you don't find them now, I'd check again in a week or so and/or ask the managers when they expect to get them.

(And yeah, local farmers' markets would also be a good bet.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 6:49 AM on June 21, 2008

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 11:33 AM on June 18, 2008

My family (parents & two adult kids) stayed in a cottage last summer at Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort. The cottages were, unfortunately, kind of on the small side for four people; but given that you'll have an average of two people per cabin, it shouldn't be as bad. Other than that, we liked it fine; the hot springs were a good way to relax after a day or two of hiking, and the free breakfast buffet was a nice feature, too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 7:00 PM on June 17, 2008

I'll add to the folks saying Chicago, and throw in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Saskatoon (suggested above) isn't all that flat, since there's some interesting topography associated with the Saskatchewan River valley; the Red River (which flows through Winnipeg) doesn't cut much of a valley at all.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 5:41 AM on June 17, 2008

A really good way to get an introduction to classical styles, to be honest, is to listen to classical radio stations. You won't hear all that much modern stuff on such stations, but you should get a good feel for which composers and which styles you like. Jot down the pieces and the composers you particularly enjoy; once you've got a feel for which composers and which styles you particularly like, then you can start thinking about specific recordings to buy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 7:30 PM on June 16, 2008

Visit Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, MI. Then take I-94 across Michigan and take some pictures of the scenery at Warren Dunes State Park.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 3:08 PM on June 16, 2008

A Short History of Nearly Everything reminded me a lot (and I mean a lot) of The Secret House by David Bodanis. Lots of neat scientific, engineering, and historical factoids that are easily digestible in 10-minute chunks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 6:13 PM on June 12, 2008

I will be printing it in a very large format - 3" x 4"

Wow, that's practically Stonehenge-sized.

In all seriousness: I wouldn't get spooked by the resulting file being small. The way vector graphics work is to specify a list of instructions; for example, "draw a circle of radius 100 points centered about the point (420, 189)." It doesn't take much significantly more (if any more) file space for the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 3:15 PM on June 6, 2008

Are you necessarily limited to only two days to get there? I was once a wiggly kid myself, and my parents took me and my sister on lots of road trips. What strikes me about them in retrospect is how little distance we would cover in a day; when I was very young, the distances we would cover wouldn't really take more than six hours. The rest of the day would be spent at roadside parks, museums, and other neat attractions.

Moreover, making the trip in three six-hour... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 11:22 AM on June 5, 2008

I've gotten results on botched mail-order stuff by contact the vendor's local Better Business Bureau. Here's the Vermont BBB—it might be worth a shot.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 2:26 PM on June 3, 2008

Agreed. I've bought a bunch of denominated stamps because I liked the designs, despite the availability of the "forever" variety. I go through them quickly enough that the extra expense is minimal, and now that postal increases are predictable I can always buy Forever stamps if a rate hike is imminent.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 11:42 AM on June 2, 2008

"Tree of consciousness", perhaps?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 8:21 PM on May 27, 2008

Colorado is bounded by lines of latitude and longitude, which are straight for the curved surface of the Earth.

Lines of longitude are straight, since they're segments of great circles. Lines of latitude are not, except for the equator. So even Colorado has a slight concavity: a great-circle route connecting the northeasternmost and northwesternmost corners of the state will run a few miles into Nebraska & Wyoming.

Also,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 9:01 AM on May 24, 2008

There was apparently a bright meteoric fireball observed over the southeastern U.S. in late March 1985, as a Google News Search shows. Unfortunately, all the articles describing it are subscription-only, so I can't get any more details. Meteoric fireballs can be seen over quite wide regions — the famous example is the Great 1972 Daylight Fireball, which skimmed through the atmosphere from Utah to Alberta, so it's conceivable that your sighting was associated; but it's not a bet I would place... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 6:43 AM on May 21, 2008

In most scientific disciplines, tuition is in fact paid for by the assistantship and/or fellowship you hold; very few students, if any, actually pay for their own tuition. You might also look into whether graduate students are eligible for housing assistance or renting from the University; I know that my own graduate institution (in Chicago) has a fair number of apartments that it rents out to graduate students, and I've heard that that NYU has something along those lines as well.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 8:26 PM on May 18, 2008

Peas are lots of fun, though they do need something to climb on. I'd especially recommend some variety of sugar snap peas or snow peas, which can be eaten raw — as a kid, I was always particularly fond of the veggies I could pick off the stem and eat right away without any need for cooking.

Carrots will take a while, and won't get big & long in areas like Toronto with a short growing season. The baby ones have a wonderful flavour, though, and if the kids want 'em,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 2:32 PM on May 12, 2008

I think it would depend on what time of year it was, relative to Superman's position on the Earth. I mean, if he were in a wintertime environment, the rays would be weaker, and thus maybe he'd have less stored up.

Carrying this to its logical extreme, keep in mind that Superman's Fortress of Solitude is, in many incarnations, located in the Arctic or the Antarctic. So there would be some periods where he wouldn't get any direct sun at all for weeks at... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 1:52 PM on May 9, 2008

If you're looking for a crisis (in the sense of Kuhn) in physics, where you have a phenomenon that's observed experimentally and no good model to explain it, the best candidate is probably high-temperature superconductivity. Quantum gravity (as mentioned above) isn't so much a crisis, in the sense that there aren't really any experimentally observed phenomena that seem to need quantum gravity.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 6:05 AM on May 6, 2008 marked best answer

Looks like aninom's right — the photo's owner just posted a comment to the Flickr page.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 5:41 AM on May 5, 2008

Yeah, the tax thing might sink you. Canada considers you a "deemed resident" if you are physically present in Canada for 183 days or more out of the year, don't have "residential ties" with Canada (a home, a spouse, or personal property), and aren't considered a resident of the U.S. under the U.S.–Canada tax treaty. As long as you have very few "personal & economic" ties with Canada and a lot with the U.S., you might be able to get away with it; but really,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 6:42 AM on May 1, 2008

Perhaps enroll in a continuing ed class, then ask. That way, at least you'd be a student at the school.99.5. (c) An individual who is or has been a student at an educational institution and who applies for admission at another component of that institution does not have the rights under this part with respect to records maintained by that other component, including records maintained in connection with the student's application for admission, unless the student is accepted... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 6:25 AM on May 1, 2008

Yeah, looks like you're going to have to eat some crow. Table 5 in the report that Artie (above) linked to indicates that there were 9,683 life sciences doctorates awarded in 2006, 7,461 physical sciences doctorates, and only 5,576 humanities doctorates. In other words, over three times as many science doctorates as humanities doctorates were awarded in 2006. This preponderance of scientists seems to hold back as far back as 1976, too, so it's not exactly a recent phenomenon.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Johnny Assay at 8:48 AM on April 28, 2008