I was only wondering if there was anything else to do in the meantime, or some obscure Apple policy or something (delusional, I know) that covered my stupidity 10 days out.

Actually, yes, if you had the foresight to buy it with the right kind of American Express card. Gold cards and above carry automatic theft and damage insurance on new purchases for 90 days.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 3:31 PM on October 15, 2009

The bartender's lemon trick with the bitters has always worked for me.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 8:01 AM on October 15, 2009

Have a good cry about it, and let it go.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 3:14 PM on October 14, 2009

Not only is cooking wine awful wine, it's usually salted. It's really just not good for anything. I would definitely try some recipes with some decent wine. Have you had wine braises in restaurants? If not, try that too. Most of my best braises use half wine and half stock.

No help on the cookbook, but I have a recipe for braised pork shoulder (pulled pork) that has no wine and is fantastic. Preheat oven to 350F. Cut about 10-15 slits in a pork shoulder and insert... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 3:10 PM on October 14, 2009

I am not a lawyer. Can you establish that you have an expectation to privacy by having your lawyer record the call and saying "I don't think anybody's listening in, so we should be able to talk freely."?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 8:04 PM on October 9, 2009

I sure am glad that nobody is listening.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 6:49 PM on October 10, 2009

Also keep in mind that ground meats have far greater surface area available to pick up germs.

This is not the real problem with ground meat. The real problem with ground meat is that it's often made from parts of tens if not hundreds or thousands of different animals, and contamination of any one of those contaminates the whole batch. Also, to keep costs down, it's made from inferior cuts which are more likely to be infected with something nasty.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 7:02 PM on October 9, 2009

The Sarlacc is actually calling all of the shots. You would not _believe_ the strings it had to pull to get that Boba Fett snack.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 11:07 AM on October 7, 2009

So for story purposes it had to fail, and then everybody came into play with all their POW-fighting-in-the-rear prowess.

Isn't this the point of dramatic storytelling anyway? If all plans always worked, most stories would be kind of boring.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 7:33 AM on October 8, 2009

I've noticed that using Fluid or Safari results in my being logged out almost immediately after loading any FB page, but Opera and the iPhone client both work fine.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 5:35 PM on October 6, 2009

Cooking is not an option. Parsley doesn't seem to help - I neglected to mention that I've tried that also.

Fennel and anise are the kinds of seeds I hate second and third most (caraway is #1 - I gather that they're all related), but I'd be interested to know if that works.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 2:16 PM on October 1, 2009

Anyone have a reputable source that can answer the "where does the smell actually come from" question?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 2:17 PM on October 1, 2009

Don't talk to AT&T's business department. It will be a waste of your time, and iPhone business accounts are a particular pain in the ass because there are a few different business departments at AT&T, and none of them really understand the iPhone plans. Here's the relevant piece of information you need: there are no business discounts until you hit 5 phones on your plan. You might be able to convince them to drop the old plan, but you might just have to suck it up and pay the ETF.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 10:10 PM on September 17, 2009

Some good answers here - I will have to check some of those out.

Yes, I've seen the Black Hole. No, it's not appropriate for small children.

Lilo and Stitch has a surprising amount of violence in it. We tried that one about six months ago, and he really wasn't following most of it and just wanted to know why that guy kept dropping his ice cream.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 8:46 PM on September 2, 2009

In case you hadn't noticed, Lilo and Stitch is actually rated PG, not G. People always seem surprised when I mention the violence. I don't think I'm overly sensitive, but it really stood out for me when I watched it again with my son, and I'd had almost no memory of any of it from the first time I watched it. There's a lot of pushing, punching, biting, aggressive growling, and shooting, with very little context or anything that would give him any explanation of what's going on. I recommend that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 11:39 AM on September 3, 2009

What is up with the usability disaster of the common refrigerator control dials?!?! Mine say "freezer: warmer/colder" and "refrigerator : 1-5". The freezer one actually controls the flow of air from the freezer to the refrigerator (i.e.: if the freezer is warmer in relation to the total amount of heat in the box, the fridge is colder), and the refrigerator one actually controls the base temperature of the freezer (i.e: if the freezer is colder in relation to the outside... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 9:43 AM on August 25, 2009

I agree - I think it's a great movie. It's wacky and clever.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 7:09 PM on August 24, 2009

I put it cut side down on a plate, invert a small bowl over it to keep the fruit flies away, and keep it on the counter. How long it lasts depends on how ripe it was.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 12:07 PM on August 24, 2009

google released an appliction which runs on android and blackberry phones. they also released the product for the iphone but it was banned.

It's worth noting that Apple has claimed to the FCC that they're still evaluating it and have not rejected it outright. Though, there were several 3rd party ones that got pulled.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 10:48 AM on August 24, 2009

Can you be more specific about what's wrong with the above suggestions? It seems like it does exist.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 10:37 AM on August 24, 2009

thejoshu, that's great info. I owe you a beer or three.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 9:36 AM on August 24, 2009

If you're reasonably handy in the kitchen, this homemade version tastes really good.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 8:28 PM on August 23, 2009

I don't have a spring clip case, but the Seidio Innocase I just bought is quite nice. They sell a few varieties of cases, some of which have spring clips.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 8:01 PM on August 23, 2009

Incidentally, I found while camping one summer that marshmallows basically turn into fluff if you pull them between your fingers for a few minutes. I don't see any reason why this wouldn't work with minis. Just grab a handful and pull them in half, mash them back together, and pull apart again until they're the consistency you want.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 7:34 PM on August 23, 2009

Definitely Bittman. Pretty much every recipe I've made of his has been spot on.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 6:47 PM on August 23, 2009

I've never found a cherry pitter that works as quickly and reliably as a bamboo chopstick.
Remove the stem and poke the chopstick through where the stem used to be. If it's tightly bound to the flesh, the pit will pop out the other end. If it's loose, you may have to twist it back out the stem hole. Either way, it's fast, and you don't run the risk of missing any, which can happen with the more automatic methods.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 9:30 PM on August 15, 2009

Anyone who makes clafouti and leaves in the pits deserves to be smacked upside the head. That's just inconsiderate.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 6:44 PM on August 23, 2009

Second the kickboard. No comparison.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 3:10 PM on August 18, 2009

My favorite fruit juice is pineapple grapefruit.

Also - remember that you can use the carrot pulp for cooking after making carrot juice. It adds a lot of moisture to baked goods.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 7:47 AM on August 18, 2009

Cheney
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 6:52 PM on August 16, 2009

like the simple fact that Syler has so many powers at this point it's ridiculous

He may have a lot of powers, but he doesn't always remember how to use all of them at once. Every time he learns something new, it pushes something old out of his brain.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 5:53 PM on August 11, 2009

Get a bicycle. It's great exercise, it's free transportation, and you can't use it in the house. Used basic rideable bikes can often be had for very little money and they cost almost nothing to maintain if you learn how to fix them yourself.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 7:03 AM on August 1, 2009

I have shipped plastic wrapped blueberry/cranberry muffins across country via priority mail on several occasions. They arrived fine. They'll last longer if you glaze them (mix water with enough powdered sugar to make it thick but not a paste, then drizzle over the top of cooled muffins and let dry).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 11:52 AM on July 22, 2009

I put this in my crontab to give me a little time pulse every 15 minutes:

0,15,30,45 * * * * /bin/date +\%m/\%d/\%y\%n\%H:\%M:\%S | /usr/local/bin/growlnotify -n BEEP -I /Applications/Countdown.app

posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 9:29 PM on July 8, 2009 marked best answer

In response to this -

However, sometimes before we had sex, he would tease the opening of my vagina with his penis when he wasn’t wearing a condom. Sometimes this would happen after he had just ejaculated from oral sex. Because of this, my gynecologist thinks that this pregnancy MIGHT have been the result of precome. I had always believed that the whole you-can-get-pregnant-from-precome thing was the kind of myth they told you in what passes for sex-ed classes... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 1:35 PM on June 22, 2009

Do NOT replace all of the filter media at once. No more than 50%. As noted, the beneficial bacteria in the filter do a lot of the work, and you need to leave enough for them to re-establish in the new medium.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 5:52 PM on June 20, 2009

Are there other features of datebk6 that you need besides the ability to ring alarms some time before the actual event? Pretty much every modern calendar implementation I've seen does that. I have no particular experience with the ipod touch, but I'd be surprised to find it won't do that.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 1:37 PM on June 13, 2009

In fact I would go the other way and take some water _out_. Eggs actually aren't just 'white' and 'yolk', there are two different consistencies of white - call them thin white and thick white. What you want for substantial egg dishes is the thick white. Crack your eggs into a fine strainer, and whatever falls through is thin white. Get rid of that and make your omelets with what's left. Fresher eggs (ideally from a farmer's market eggs) will have a much higher proportion of thick white. Old... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 11:52 AM on May 25, 2009

Definitely Tabla.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 11:42 AM on May 25, 2009

I use Limewire and I have yet to get a virus that Avast hasn't caught.

If your virus scanner didn't catch it, how do you know you're not infected?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 9:01 AM on May 21, 2009

I recently grilled some butterflied chicken breasts that were vacuum packed and frozen for at least two years. I have pretty high standards for chicken quality, and these were from a free range local bird. Properly marinated and then cooked through, they were actually pretty indistinguishable from any other decent frozen chicken breast.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 8:15 AM on May 21, 2009

I don't like the memory foams that Tempurpedics are made of, but I can't imagine sleeping on anything other than a solid core latex mattress. The synthetic ones are pretty affordable, and you might look into that as an alternative. They break down, but only after about 15-20 years.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 8:09 AM on May 21, 2009

Asimov has several large short story collections. I also really like Larry Niven and Spider Robinson for entertaining shorts.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 8:16 AM on May 18, 2009

Back in front of a computer now, here's Asimov's Complete Stories Volume 1 and Volume 2; Niven's The Draco Tavern, Limits, and Flatlander; and Robinson's Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (the first of many), Antinomy, and Melancholy Elephants.

There are other good ones, but that's a decent start.

For fantasy shorts, I really like this: 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories. They're all under 2000 words.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 12:00 PM on May 18, 2009

I saw the IMAX version. It was very big, and I didn't notice any significant image degradation. I'd say it was worth it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 9:49 PM on May 11, 2009

And yes, this was real IMAX, not the inferior IMAX Digital.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 6:51 PM on May 13, 2009

Malor, there is no way the formula for Cherry Robitussin is the same now as it was when you were a kid.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 1:48 PM on May 10, 2009

I ordered roasted garlic powder, toasted onion powder, mesquite powder, and tomato powder from the Spice House, and I'm cooking up a batch today.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 12:13 PM on May 9, 2009

Okay, the first batch was good. Not great, but this is definitely on the right track. Tomato powder, mesquite powder, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, caster sugar, and salt is a tasty mix. It's okay plain, but much better on the chips themselves. This blend would probably also be good on chicken.

Now I need to get the proportions right...
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 1:25 PM on May 9, 2009

Is it plain cast-iron or enameled?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 11:33 AM on May 9, 2009