Your friend could be a "quant" and help huge financial masters of the universe continue to rule the world. It's cool work and with a PhD in math, he or she should be golden (it would help if they had programming experience, but the teams often have programmers on staff).
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 10:19 AM on August 8, 2008

The only (2nd hand, more like 3rd hand) knowledge I have of condoms+oral is with prostitutes (see for example, these Lil Wayne lyrics). This is in the U.S., for what it's worth. Perhaps this is more common amongst casual (or boyfriendy-girlfriendy) partners the UK.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 9:56 AM on August 8, 2008

Inkin, Blinkin, and Nod. The stroller would then be dressed up to be the boat/shoe.

I think that any good costume also decorates or uses the stroller idea...
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 8:38 AM on August 7, 2008

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Kuhn. (3rd-ed). It's a great place to start. It explains how science "works" in periods of normalcy and in periods of scientific revolution (with a specific, very art-and-society centric definition of scientific revolution... not just some advertising "OMG REVOLUTINARRY!" sense of the term). It's a very fast read too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 1:22 PM on August 6, 2008

I like pole stars, too. The logo can be polaris.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 10:26 AM on August 1, 2008

Depends on the city you're in. I think $75 / hr is about right for a contractor. You have to buy your own benefits, and pay taxes, and they could change their minds and cancel your contract at any moment (so you have to have a cushion... which is all built into your hourly rate).
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 10:10 AM on August 1, 2008

Egg drop should have some constraints (speaking as a past middle school (and high school ... oh the nerdery) egg drop winner):

1. Teams are good, so that you can pair younger students with older students. Teams of 4 is about the max if you want the members to actually work. You can assign teams, but it's probably faster /easier / dare-I-say funner to let the students do it themselves. And the team name, banner, colors is also a good idea.

2.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 2:43 PM on July 31, 2008

US suggestions:

Florida Panhandle. Get a place about 5-10 miles from the beach, kinda near a wal-mart, and you'd be paying very very cheap rent and still be able to have fun with the hicks on the beach. The beaches are beautiful there, and there's easy access to internet. Places like Dothan AL, might also work.

Tenn / Kentucky ? Live in the hills or mountains. Those areas are economically depressed, so things are really cheap. Again, you'll be... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 6:22 AM on July 31, 2008

Criminal law is not monolithic and a DUI/DWI defense attorney is not going to provide the best defense in a murder or drug case and vice versa. DUI is particularly technical and scientific, and the best attorneys for those kinds of charges specialize in the science behind DUI/DWI, know a lot of specific caselaw (about proper and improper stops, proper and improper questioning, detention, coercion, etc.), and know how to use it in the courtroom. Same goes for other crimes.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 6:05 AM on July 31, 2008

You can go (come) to Saratoga Springs. It's got some funky museums (museum of dance, racing museum - duh, an automotive museum, and Skidmore's Tang art museum), good food, a great green market (saturdays and wednesdays), funky shops and is a fun walking city (and there are plenty of biking, hiking, and other outdoor activities nearby). $42 from Penn station. The only wrinkle is that the trains from Penn Station only run 2x / day and are not really set up for a day trip. So it' could be a great... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 2:47 PM on July 30, 2008

Bingo, thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 2:00 PM on July 29, 2008

Profwhat is right please stay with history as your B.A. degree.

Do what you love now and get a job later. It probably won't be doing historical analysis, but almost nobody does what's on their diploma (unless you major in engineering...). You can get jobs in lots of fields with a 4.0 gpa from a good school. No hiring managers will care in what exactly you did this degree, just that you excelled, are excited about learning things, and are a good person (history,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 8:46 AM on July 29, 2008

Porn mags. Wrap them in standard fare mags so that they pass casual inspection.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 7:21 AM on July 28, 2008

I had a nice (ish - approx $500) bike stolen in Hyde Park. The theif dug a stop sign out of the ground and left it (the sign, pole, and nice-sized hunk of concrete) sitting there waiting for me. Wow. This was basically *on* campus (by the gym which is now a dining hall). The bike was left outside for a weekend.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 3:19 PM on July 27, 2008

For the netflix player, you have to use VM / Fusion / Parallels. No native software yet. My friend who does this has basically zero trouble, and even runs a full screen of netflix-inside-vmware-fusion and then continues to run (serious) mac software on his other monitor. Pretty snazzy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 1:49 PM on July 25, 2008

Have friends at advertising companies? Marketing / branding companies? Because lots of corporations are looking for novel (read: not tv spots or billboards or magazine ads) ways to reach their customers. And this might be just the thing they're looking for. But blindly putting together a proposal for this might not ever reach the right CMO (chief marketing officer) type person. So you need to find / develop an "in" ...

Also, think creatively about how who... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 12:50 PM on July 24, 2008

Be honest. To a fault. Tell them the details (at least what you told us), and tell them that you've requested by not received the documents. They probably don't care about the documents (a ticket written out 18 years ago), but your clean background check search should satisfy them. Many professional organizations have a "professionalism" and "character" boards that deal with these things. If you come clean, you're good. If you don't, it could spell (big) trouble for you later.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 7:37 PM on July 23, 2008

Here's my ordering of universities above (went to U Chicago, looked at some of the others): Deep Springs, Hampshire, Harvey Mudd, U Chicago, Reed. Don't know much about Berea or Olin. Deep Springs is an insanely crazy (in a good way) place. I loved my experience at U Chicago. While there were people thinking conventional things (mostly these were econ undergrads who wanted to go on to consulting), the students there were very very interested in their particular thing. I hear that it's the school... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 7:29 PM on July 23, 2008

The victorian Adelphi Hotel in Saratoga Springs NY might fit your criteria. Saratoga is a great town, too, and staying here would put you smack dab in the middle of it (less than a mile from the horse track and the Saratoga Spa State Park (with SPAC inside)).
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 3:49 PM on July 23, 2008

I have 10.5.4 and whatever this issue is, it's still not fixed. So upgrading to Leopard won't help (just as a troubleshooting dead end for you). Perhaps Snow Leopard will fix it?
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 3:45 PM on July 23, 2008

Weird but true: They have stores all over the world. Sorry to be so snarky, but it's not like you can't buy any clothes, shoes, toothbrushes, deoderant, q-tips, books, magazines, hammocks, sweaters over there. So just relax and go with the flow. Having a roll of cash in your bag is a lot lighter than having "going out clothes" that you may not ever need (and if you do need 'em, they might be totally inappropriate for the local environment). Having the money in a bank account is even... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 10:27 AM on July 22, 2008

jschu is right, and less snarky than me. so listen to him instead. But definitely plan to buy what you need for your job you don't have yet over there instead of bringing stuff from home. Think about the awesome clothes you'll get over there, not all of your stuff that you'll lug around for weeks in Fiji.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 10:29 AM on July 22, 2008

Lots (and lots) of cleats are made of synthetic leather. PVC or whatever. They look like leather from across the room, but they're made of delicious delicious petrochemicals. This is especially true in the cheaper end of the range. *Indoor* cleats might be harder to come by in PVC. Not sure.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 4:02 PM on July 15, 2008

I think that $150 or so seems about right for a "garage sale" or craigslist price. I mean, it's not like if you win, you're being outfitted with boots that, you know, fit you, and a board that's big enough for you (see how much it changes based on height, weight, and usage at this calculator). You're getting whatever this board is. So you've immediately narrowed down the potential buyers/riders. Plus you don't get to pick out a board that speaks to you graphic sensibilities or that's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 3:56 PM on July 15, 2008

From the UI "patterns" side of things, I'd call that the overview (or thumbnail) area of a Overview & Detail interface (see examples here). This is slighly different from a Focus Plus Context design (academic-like dfn, bad example), where, as a very crude analog of human vision, we see the detail *in its proper location* and the context is blurred but is left in the correct spatial relation to the detail.

The advantage of doing the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 1:40 PM on July 14, 2008 marked best answer

Sorry for jumping in before you...

In an Overview&Detail display like you're describing (and, I assume, you want to create):
the general configuration is to make both views update each other. It should be possible to click on the overview and this action would move the overview "viewport" ("view rectangle" as you describe it above) and update the detail view. If the user pans in the detail view, it should move the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 3:00 PM on July 14, 2008

If you're ready to disappear into a black-hole-vortex-message-board to help you look at combinations and read more about mens fashion than you ever need to care about, check out: Ask Andy About Clothes - Forum. There's a page called "What are you wearing today?" where, apparently, well dressed (or ?!!?) stock brokers and other suit wearing dudes post daily pictures of their ensembles. Yes, it's weird and very very fashion nerdy (there are discussions about shirt brands I have never... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 11:26 AM on July 14, 2008

"Well thought out" in the above tex reference refers to what computer scientists from the 1970s would prefer. Not what a good graphic designer / print designer / style conscious nerd of the aughts would do.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 10:00 AM on July 14, 2008

Does your car not have ac at all? Or are you attempting this contraption as an added boost for the 125 degree heat. Because it does get that hot and if you're traveling through that region you would be definitely endangering yourself and your passengers. Do not do this. Rent a car.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 9:49 AM on July 14, 2008

Check out the work of Tom Insel (MD, psychiatry + PhD in neuroscience). Here's an account of a talk he gave, which is much more accessible and less boring than his science and nature publications: Basically, the answer is yes and no.

But his "yes and no" is well supported by a ton of scientific research... He worked on species of prairie voles (think mice) and, in sub-species that mate for life, he swapped a single gene and caused them to be polyandrous. He... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 7:03 AM on July 14, 2008

1. Hip flask. Already mentioned by low affect. But you've got to find some way to make a night out drinking cheaper for you. This means probably that you can't buy rounds (and if you do, buy a cheap round (beers), early in the night (when people might remember it)), so you always need to have a drink. But you can't afford $100 of drinking / night. So start nursing those beers, drinking club soda, and, if you're game, splashing a nip into your drinks on the sly. Also, you will have to find the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 4:31 AM on July 14, 2008

To answer you question: anonymous posting was never very high tech. It was implemented before a lot of the changes here over the last year or so (since MF has had a development "team")... and so no, there is no record in the db where the real name is stored and then not shown. Anonymous posts are truly anonymous, unless the NSA wants to go to the trouble of reading Jessamyn's email when an anon poster contacts her and wants to reply/clarify/comment. So it's not technically possible.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 2:13 PM on July 13, 2008

Stunning work by Bill Viola, The Passions. He shot actors in various emotional states at 250-300 fps. Then slowed them down so that 1 second of real life is something like 3-5 minutes of footage. The frames are also jiggered (technical term) to have very smooth and totally imperceptible swaps. So that, standing in front of one, where a guy is about to burst out laughing say, you can tell that something is happening, things are changing. But you can't tell where / when / how.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 1:45 PM on July 10, 2008

Go on a (private? group is cheaper obviously, but less amazing) helicopter or fixed wing tour of the area. You can snap a lot of great photos from 1000 feet above everything... Maybe get into the mile high club while you're up there? A nice hand-written note is good too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 8:14 AM on July 10, 2008 marked best answer

I like the symbols for the sun and each planet.... Laying them out in AU-relative distance is probably too much to ask, so perhaps each symbol in a line across your shoulder blades, or down an arm?
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 7:57 AM on July 10, 2008

You really need to ask someone *in your field / at your company*, because nobody knows the culture better than them. It should be pretty easy to bring up. The next time you are in the field, wearing your front-brim nerd style hat, squinting and sweating, ask an experienced lineman where he got his full-brim-real-man hardhat. Then just ask him if he thinks you could 'get away with it' with the proper deference to his position... Either he'll pause and say maybe or he'll say who cares and then... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 7:48 AM on July 10, 2008 marked best answer

Roller skates (quads) are awesome. Blades are (early-1990s-neon-'radical') not. Outside rollerskating is even awesomer. Videographic evidence.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 7:43 AM on July 10, 2008

Wow I always thought this was a visio bug. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 7:30 AM on July 10, 2008

When you say studio, do you mean that you were in a recording studio, like with fiber panels (egg crates) on the walls? And was the room small, like a control room where a recording engineer works? Because I'm afraid that this matters. It's not just the gear, man, it's the room. Or at least a big part of it is the room. So give us some deets on your environment...
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 2:56 PM on July 9, 2008

Best diet lesson ever: It's okay to be hungry. It's not really that bad. You might struggle a bit with concentration at work or whatever, but you're not going to do any damage to anything in your body by consuming less of everything. In fact, eating 60% of a day's calories lets mice live much longer (but probably less happy) lives. So knock off that 500-1000 calories of whatever you're eating and you'll be cut/lean in no time. You'll just be a bit hungry for a few hours a day.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 2:05 PM on July 9, 2008

Flac will make you seem like a jamband loving hippy. That is all. If you can stand the stigma, then go for it. Apple AAC is very nice (and has a smaller footprint, since it's adaptive), but it's not free-as-in-liberty, so you might have to transcode to flac at some point in the future. As Brian Puccio mentions, not a big deal, but why bother.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 7:22 AM on July 8, 2008

Ask for your number. You already have justified it to yourself and can make those justifications to HR if necessary. Tell them that you are excited about the job and really want to work, but that you feel like you are worth $YK.

You are in the position of power here. They want you and they need that work done. You are not asking for a job at this point. Everyone will be happy with your work (I'm sure, based on how happy they were with your previous work); you, them, hr.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 7:13 AM on July 8, 2008

Very short term: throw the money into a 14-day "jumbo" CD and have it roll-over. This will at least get the money working for you in the next 2 weeks while you sort out who you need to talk to.

Then, talk to somebody (a CFP) who can help you make a strategy.

I am huge on ETFs (exchange traded funds) instead of mutual funds, so see if your advisor will recommend some to you. These would be used instead of mutual funds... they are baskets... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 7:05 AM on July 8, 2008

I sometimes consult on web strategy and the like, and, when I'm dealing with a small law firm, or construction firm, or other somesuch, they often want to buy a URL. These companies are sometimes regional players (so maybe a million (or two?) a year in total rev, enough profits to put the main guy(s) in a nice house, but they will never be household names or big national outfits) and they struggle to find good short domains. I've made offers in the range you're seeing.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 4:51 PM on July 7, 2008

An aside: The liners are also treated with BHT and BHA. So if you are concerned about preservatives, re-using these bags is probably not that good of an idea.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 5:44 AM on July 7, 2008

I'll just come back for a quicky note: your internet provisioning is fine. You probably won't need to run QOS on the routers, if you're only doing a few sites, but you can always turn it on if you have trouble. The usual videoconferencing packets are UDP anyway (they get streamed and if you lose a few, who cares, there's a million more behind 'em) versus TCP/IP packets, which you need all of, even if it takes a while (an email just isn't as good without all the packets eventually arriving).... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 11:29 AM on July 2, 2008

crazylegs, thanks. I know that people use "the blue and gray" but I've never heard the hat reference. freaking yankees can't even get the "war of northern aggression" references right (note: this is mostly a wives tail like cow tipping. we don't call it that, except as a joke).
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 11:20 AM on July 2, 2008

I agree with judith, you should have NO TROUBLE finding a UX job in northern california. And proabably a highly paid one at that. Good luck!
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 11:11 AM on July 2, 2008

They clean them every day. Or at the very least, after each guest leaves. I think if you washed your shower curtain with a bleach solution daily (and also did the tub, tile, and other things that the curtain touches), you too would have no mold problem.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 8:39 AM on July 2, 2008

Zimbra is great. Georgia Tech is about to roll it out to their entire campus... iCal is a great front end for it, so that's nice.
posted to Ask Metafilter by zpousman at 4:58 PM on July 1, 2008