If you haven't chosen a state yet for the scenario you're working on, you might also consider California. =)

It seems to have enough resources to survive on its own, it pays far more federal taxes than it receives back in federal benefits, and it has somewhere between the 7th and 10th largest economy in the world when compared to other countries.

I don't live there, but I might consider it if they seceded. =)
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 9:03 PM on September 23, 2008 marked best answer

When I was very young, if I complained about being bored, my mom would give me a newspaper and tell me to bubble in all the 'o's on a page (like a scan-tron). I still do this occasionally on handouts, syllabuses, etc.
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 8:46 PM on September 23, 2008

If this is a social event where it would be a faux pas for someone in your office/group/etc to not attend, keep in mind that not everybody is into unusual cheeses; you might want to make some simple alternatives available (including non-cheese snacks for people who can't eat cheese).
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 7:16 AM on July 21, 2008

If you don't know what an aneurysm is, you need to. Don't mess around with hypochondriaphobia (is that a word?) -- if you do have one and it bursts, you are almost certainly instantly dead. There's no time to get you to a hopsital for something like that. People who have an aneurysm burst even while already in a hopsital can often die.
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 1:57 PM on June 17, 2008

If he's older (~50+), he may have Diabetes -- which can do some real damage to your lower legs (due to Diabetic neuropathy and poor circulation).
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 1:00 PM on June 17, 2008

Wow, I serendipitously came across this thread while in the process of performing this exact ritual/habit. I've been doing this ever since I've had facial hair. I tend to do it most while browsing the web or watching TV -- when my hands have nothing to do.

As you said, my hand wanders in search of a hair "bump" to pluck. I don't pull any other hair on my body. I also spend ridiculous amounts of time doing this, and I frequently observe the phenomenon of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 7:37 PM on June 13, 2008

I've seen transformer/power line arcing during tropical storms and hurricanes in Florida, and the color, way it lights up the sky, pulsing pattern, and total duration are exactly the same. On occasion they also show up in hues ranging from violet to orange, but most of the time it's more blue/indigo like in these videos. Given that the third video has a simultaneous power blackout, I'd have to weigh pretty heavily on the hypothesis that the lights in the three Peru videos is probably... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 1:36 PM on May 21, 2008

JQuery was made specifically for easily selecting a set of DOM elements and applying changes to them.

I've not used it extensively, so I couldn't give you the exact code, but if you look here, under "Making Something Happen on Click", it should be fairly easy to modify that to change the target attribute.
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 11:23 AM on September 20, 2007

Re: nixerman and 4ster's recommendations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method

It seems like a great way to go, as it lets them work towards answering their own question from their own base of knowledge. Also try searching the web for "teaching socratic method" for examples. =)
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 2:41 PM on September 13, 2007

I also have a 42" 1080p Westinghouse; I it bought open-item at Best Buy for $999 about a year ago. Westys are an excellent deal if you are not a perfectionist about black levels.

I avoided plasmas because I play games extensively and didn't want to have any worry at all about burn-in; plus there is a lot more glare on plasma screens if you watch them in a well-lit room. Of the plasmas though, I did notice that the Panasonic models seemed to have the best set of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 11:31 AM on August 30, 2007

Not a book, but might be in the direction you're looking -- UC Berkeley has a bunch of audio/video streams of course lectures up on their website, including Introduction to General Astronomy.

There's a bunch more for astronomy and other courses; you can also watch them for different semesters. One of the best courses that i've seen is their "Physics for Future Presidents" course. It goes into a bit of astronomy as well.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 1:40 PM on August 9, 2007 marked best answer

I once heard an interesting theory on the nature of reality which I remind myself of when I feel the way you do.

What if there is only one soul, and it is living out all the lives in the universe (perhaps as a way to stave off boredom)?

That would mean that when you are nice to someone else, you are also being nice to yourself on another trip through this reality.

As an agnostic, I don't necessarily give this any more... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 11:59 AM on May 24, 2007

I'm 31 and I have the white/ceramic braces on my top teeth and metal on the bottom. I've had them for about three years now and drink one or two cups of coffee per workday with no visible effects.

One thing I can say since I have both types is that the metal ones seem to be more troublesome for them to attach and remove the wires from when they replace them; occasionally the clips seem to get stuck and won't open or close completely.

The white... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 2:51 PM on May 16, 2007

What if you have not yet opened the box and therefore haven't agreed to the EULA?

If you see a copy of the software in your university bookstore and simply buy it at a register without agreeing to anything explicitly, would you still be prevented from reselling it?

I recall back when I was in college (about 12 years ago) that they sold academic versions of PC software in the bookstore. I never bought any of it since I used an Amiga at the time,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 9:28 AM on April 18, 2007

I can't help but be reminded of this:

"Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft."
-- Mary Schmich, "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" [known popularly as Baz Luhrmann's "Everybody's Free (to wear sunscreen)"]
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 8:43 AM on April 18, 2007

The "Fuel Saver" one looks familiar. I think that exact product might have been shown on a Mythbusters episode where they tried this and a few other of these types of devices (none of which worked).
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 8:27 AM on April 18, 2007

Readily admit when you're wrong -- to others, but most importantly to yourself. If necessary, use humor to help you swallow your pride.
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 1:14 PM on March 23, 2007

One thing to keep in mind is that most common capacitors people deal with today hold a relatively small charge capacity compared to a fairly new technology:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultracapacitor

These tiny beasts are typically rated in full farads and in some cases even kF -- not nF, pF or µF. An ultracapacitor the size of a normal flash camera capacitor can hold 120F at 2.5v (750 joules), compared to the standard camera capacitor holding... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 2:39 PM on January 23, 2007 marked best answer

Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 9:41 AM on January 18, 2007

Is there a term for the opposite effect?

I'm easily fascinated by chaotic swarms of things. I love to spend unusually long lengths of time focusing my attention on swarms of ants, bees, brownian motion, artificial life, etc. usually to the point where I start to lose track of time and what's going on elsewhere around me.

I love to watch how ants can cluster onto a food source and slowly disassemble and carry it away piece by piece. When I was... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 9:27 AM on January 18, 2007

When a writer uses proper English words, it allows for more mistakes to be made before comprehension becomes difficult. With netspeak, a single mis-typed letter can make an entire phrase vague or ambiguous.

The main problem that I have with "netspeak" is that the lazy writer who uses it is minimizing their effort at the expense of the reader. The amount of work that they save by not typing a few extra keystrokes gets shifted to the reader and multiplied in... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 9:56 AM on January 15, 2007

I'm the opposite. I always get this sort of euphoric "warm and fuzzy" feeling when there's a thunderstorm outside. I really can't explain it.

If it's a steady, rolling thunderstorm I feel very calm and at peace with things -- my mind relaxes and I lose most of my incessant worries and obsessions. I usually feel like lying down and taking a light nap or just lying awake and letting my mind clear.

If it's a strong, energetic storm, I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by joquarky at 11:48 PM on May 26, 2006

On the bright side, maybe this case will force Congress to fix the patent system. Need I remind you how many people in Washington live by their Blackberries?

This is exactly the reason that NTP have been so "generous" in making an exclusion for government employees, should a shutdown occur.
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 1:13 AM on January 24, 2006

FYI, the code wasn't accidental. The source code for the object even contained a comment indicating that it was intended to spread like a virus and cause trouble.

So what some of you are saying is people who write and deploy viruses intended to take down a network should NOT be reported to law enforcement?
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 5:58 AM on December 16, 2005

I wonder if print.google.com is mentioned in this book... =)
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 2:36 PM on November 3, 2005

Am I the only one who noticed that at about 2:48 into this video, the "robot" sounds like it's saying 53581 instead of 53589? c.c
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 5:33 AM on October 17, 2005

"And I don't believe for a second that Apple couldn't retrofit it for video playback with a stupid firmware update."

It's quite likely that they needed to add some rather robust data-crunching processor(s) to do realtime MPEG-4 decoding.
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 12:14 PM on October 12, 2005

Sci-Fi is my favorite genre to read/watch. The first trailer for Serenity was my first exposure to the whole story.

My first impression from the trailer was "this looks like some kind of cookie-cutter dark gen-x sci-fi like Battlefield Earth". This idea was probably catalysed by the fact that it was billed as by the same guy who made "Buffy" and "Angel" -- both series had no appeal to me, and I had never heard of this Joss person before.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 5:14 PM on August 11, 2005

It's just a reflection on the past -- courtesan
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 7:20 AM on August 12, 2005

I've been in SL since November 2003, and while I've participated in many online games since then, I still find myself going back to SL, sort as if it is my "home" online.

While the article discusses a lot of the social aspects of SL, it doesn't really mention the technical aspects. SL is much more technically sophisticated in comparison to Active Worlds, There, Atmosphere, and other "multiperson virtual worlds".

A few quick... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 2:24 PM on August 2, 2005

Wanna make money playing games?

See Second Life (non ref. link). It's a MMO virtual world where you can create just about anything you can think of in 3D and sell it for currency which is openly trade on sites like Gaming Open Market.

Unlike other games, SL's developers encourage you to trade the currency for real money, as it encourages innovation.

One thing to note is that this world can't be... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 12:30 PM on July 6, 2005

marvin: In the past few years Discovery Channel has become less about science and more about chop shops and the like. It's best not to judge anything by how television presents it =P
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 3:22 PM on June 9, 2005

As if we need *more* over-reactionary ultra-conservatives in positions of power.

Sigh.
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 9:54 AM on April 19, 2005

I'd like to see something like this for independent restaurants that deliver pizza =)
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 12:29 PM on April 5, 2005

intermod wrote: the charging current demands would be enormous (i.e. think laundry dryer connection)

I was kind of wondering this too.

I'm not exactly an electrical engineer, so my basis could be completely off, but wouldn't a 600mAh battery, charged to 80% capacity in 1 minute come to:

0.6 * 0.8 * 60 = 28.8 amps? eep.

And that's assuming a 100% efficient transfer of energy.
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 10:32 AM on April 1, 2005

Ah thanks. I thought 28.8 amps seemed a bit crazy =)
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 11:45 AM on April 1, 2005

I like these kind of hoaxes for the temporary suspension of disbelief, much like getting completely wrapped up in a good sci-fi book, but then there's always that let down when you realize it's not real.
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 1:36 PM on January 19, 2005

More forms of escapism are growing on the intarweb, and I think these are just a few very vivid examples. I personally don't see any problem with them, and in fact I encourage diversity and for people to do what makes them happy.

I see a lot of people who play out just about every role imaginable in a sophisticated virtual world called Second Life.

I've seen nearly everything roleplayed in SL, including cute woodland creatures, robots,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 1:18 PM on September 17, 2004

This is a neat quiz, and seems to give fair scores after factoring in how close you were, and how much slack you gave (ie more slack = lower score). It also seems to consider tossing you a point for at least being in the right order of magnitude.

I got a 33%, but I'm not from the UK, and my least favorite subject is history =P

It'd be awesome if there were more questions, or if this quiz engine were opened for people to build their own quizzes from.
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 10:27 AM on August 27, 2004

He says that if the lives of others are equal to his, then he has a moral obligation to help other people. This can be reconciled by setting the "value" of life equal to zero - now everyone's life is worth equal, but no one's is worth bothering over.

See: Nihilism
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 3:35 PM on August 11, 2004

For those who read the words "decapitated" or "chopped off" and build a clean-cut hollywood style image in their minds of someone being quickly executed guillotine-style have no fucking idea.

A much more accurate account should mention how they pinned him to the ground face down, grabbed a handful of his hair for leverage, and then spent a whole fucking MINUTE cutting and sawing THROUGH his neck with a large knife, while Berg screeched in horror for... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 2:32 AM on May 12, 2004

Here's a good example of how review quotes can get misused...

What the article says:
"On a scale of 1 to 100, I'd have to give this movie a rating of only 10.5 on the reality scale."

The carefully edited "review" quote:
Rick Wilson of the California Geological Survey gave it a "10.5 on the reality scale"
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 9:36 AM on May 4, 2004

While we're keeping in focus the importantce of context, let's keep in mind how the industries that both Bush and Cheney participated heavily in prior to their current employment both are benefiting quite well from our current situation.

I'm not saying anything, just putting things in "context".
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 11:03 AM on April 13, 2004

The report on the conclusions on the space shuttle Columbia disaster also found that powerpoint is not a good tool for communicating, especially in an engineering environment.

It stated that engineers who use Powerpoint in place of technical papers are more at risk of making miscommunications, vauge descriptions, and confusing inconsistencies in their attempts to be brief.

Most importantly, they found that since sentences and phrases are often... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 12:06 PM on December 15, 2003

My Third Place is my Second Life =P

Seriously though, I think things like this are going to really start to take off, as it requires a lot less energy and time to form a "third place" in cyberspace than in meatspace.

Places like Second Life are much more realistic than an IRC channel or AIM chat room, becuase there are so many more ways to interact and make new friends -- maybe not as many as in Real Life, but considering the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 9:06 AM on November 18, 2003

(NSFW) Not all digital manipulation is necessarily bad =P
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 11:56 AM on November 10, 2003

The first one was overrated to begin with, all it did was 'invent' a special effect that probably would've invented for some other movie eventually.

You mean like _Lost in Space_? They didn't use the effect as much, but they did it a year before The Matrix.
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 8:22 AM on November 6, 2003

Looks like it's down for the count. Anyone have a mirror?
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 9:09 AM on October 29, 2003

Night Owls now have a more official-sounding name for their condition: Delayed Sleep-Phase Syndrome
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 2:07 PM on October 14, 2003

Justice you say? That was no justice. The shroud of the fark side has fallen. Begun, the Phone Wars have.

=)
posted to MetaFilter by joquarky at 12:34 PM on October 14, 2003