Thanks all so far - it would seem that I should definitely test drive the Matrix and the Fit, and also the Versa.

I must admit what I've heard (and seen above) about the Mazda 3 and 5 doesn't give me a good impression, but if I see one on the lot I'll still hop in a give it a whirl if I've got the time.

I've not ruled out the Accord, and will still give a Civic a shot (or at least sit in one). I prefer fuel efficiency over power, so I'd probably... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 6:59 PM on May 9, 2008

One small update - haven't made too much progress other than test driving a (sadly $2000 too expensive) 2007 base-model Matrix.

Other than the price, the two big strikes are no cruise control and no side-curtain airbags, which we'd like to have but it's not a deal breaker. I hear both are standard on the XR trim models.

I also noticed the cabin was a bit sparse. I've become accustomed to my Galant's sunroof, but could live without it. However the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 7:59 PM on May 25, 2008

I have now driven a Vibe as well, and it is really is a clone. The interior is just about indistinguishable, except for that back pillar. I must admit I prefer the one in the Toyota - I know I could get used to the mirrors more, but that back view just seems more obstructed in the Pontiac.

Still haven't gotten into a Fit, but I think I'd rather have the extra cargo room rather than the better mileage. That said, I really should try one out.

And... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 6:55 AM on July 11, 2008

It depends on what's making you consider switching. I remember the day, long long ago, when I switched from MovableType to WordPress because WP didn't download twenty images every time I did something on the admin pages.

I'm working on switching now from WP to Habari because I know a couple of the developers and it's already just about functional enough for my needs. If there's something I need, that's where the community kicks in - I can log a ticket, write a tweet, or... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 9:42 AM on April 24, 2008

George Saunders writes great essays (The Braindead Megaphone) but is better known for his fantastic short stories and small fiction books.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 5:40 AM on March 12, 2008

Here's another no-vote for the headaches. I've never worn a monocle, per se, but I have much experience using only one of my two contacts at a given time.

My prescription wasn't altogether strong (-2.25 in both eyes) but once I got used to it I could function quite well on only one contact lens. The only real problem is focusing near and then far - using a computer or reading was somewhat tiresome with both eyes open.

It led to some interesting... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 8:57 PM on December 6, 2007

I have a Chinese copy of The Cannonball Run and I think it's as Abiezier stated above... much of the dialogue is re-written entirely (Dom Deluise's character is called Fatso) and on the whole it was something of an improvement.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 8:07 PM on October 27, 2007

There's an option to rebuild the database in EphPod.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 9:42 PM on October 14, 2007

Search for the lyrics.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 9:36 PM on October 14, 2007

You're probably looking for an older iPod Updater.

Try some of these here: http://www.ipodwizard.net/showthread.php?t=7369

You only need one, of course, but I'm not sure which one's best for that particular ipod.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 9:16 PM on October 6, 2007 marked best answer

Aha! That's what I thought... but all I could find was the main theme and love theme. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 8:26 PM on October 5, 2007

forallmankind: Yes, that's it exactly. I was afraid that would be the answer.

Your point about opportunity costs is well taken.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 7:40 AM on August 28, 2007

Franky, "love" doesn't enter into it. I'm not a cat person or a dog person -- I just hate stupid pets.

My neighbor has a mangy lazy-eyed poodle that barks at me, my wife, the air, trees, anything really. I guess I can understand why my neighbor seems to just shove it out in the yard all the time, mean as that may sound. Stupid dog, stupid owner.

I worked on a project once at a house with a little scottie. It was always getting underfoot... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 10:39 AM on July 11, 2005

Incidently, a fair number of the Night Gallery plots weren't very macabre at all, unless sticking Caesar Romero as Count Dracula trying to get a loan from a bloodbank strikes you as particularly macabre.

Many were, however.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 10:48 PM on April 5, 2005

Sadly, no. I already checked that -- Hong Kong's not that big but it's also not that small.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 7:08 PM on February 22, 2005

I play with apprentice/mindless. o2b -- don't pay for cards you can't shuffle!

I went to the Betrayers tourney last month and had some fun, but I've shelved the cards in lieu of my virtual ones.

Anybody who wants to try a game over IP, let me know. I've got a killer goblin deck.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 11:26 AM on February 18, 2005

Yes, the sites work. Yes, it's a pyramid scheme.

I'm currently working on a 20gb ipod from 'offercentral' (not their site) if you're interested, but I'm trying to do it with the people who are willing to help me and/or owe me favors.

The 'gratis network' just got its TRUSTe status revoked despite being much-loved by the free-ipod-getting community. I've never done any offers with them, but if you search forums for them you find a lot of threads... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 11:09 AM on February 18, 2005

Comedies are underrepresented here, but perhaps because many are very, very bad. Don't watch Ed and his dead mother unless you're a completist.

Now, My boyfriend's back gets a bad rap but I think it's worth watching. It's an earlier love-story-with-zombies (well, one) -in-it but as an exploration of ow ordinary people approach the undead it's very unique.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 7:19 AM on February 15, 2005

"It's those fifty cent extras that sometimes mean the five-dollar upcharges."

A marketing person at my company mentioned this once in an email about changing thread colors inside pants. The idea (often) is if it looks more expensive, you'll pay more for it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 10:41 AM on January 20, 2005

Forgive me for the name, but Anal Cunt does a fantastic, mellow folk version of "Last Caress" (also covered by Metallica, original by the Misfits?)
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 9:28 AM on January 19, 2005

hrm. I am married, have no regular cellphone contract nor broadband access, and never post photos to my "page".

I try not to call it a blog, though. Maybe that's the distinction.

(I'm not particularly well off, nor am I a complete pauper. Let's say that I make less than forty thousand US dollars a year right now but more than ten.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 10:42 PM on January 12, 2005

Get more sleep.

Seriously. I tend to get songs in my head far more frequently when I haven't had a good night's sleep.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 10:40 PM on January 12, 2005

Any chance somebody out there can find links to these commercials online? For those of us without TVs in our caves?
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 9:12 PM on January 9, 2005

Halo Jones is pretty interesting, the ballad thereof.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 3:24 PM on January 2, 2005

I figured that they were trying to fill up my Wordpress spamwords list with garbage. Which, for a little while, they were doing.

It seems to just be a tantrum, since all of the attacks are the same, not some intelligent probing of my defenses. Then again, perhaps they're checking how much of a DDoS I can handle...
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 12:08 PM on December 29, 2004

Kids don't like being condescended or patronized any more than you do.

Mastering proper grammar isn't difficult nor is it a waste of time.

People often get grumpy when they are hungry (low blood sugar and whatnot). Don't start arguments right before dinner.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 7:08 AM on December 28, 2004 marked best answer

If you're buying a house in the midwest US or anywhere with lots of rainfall and snowfall (or enough for a couple freeze/thaw cycles per year), don't avoid the houses with steel beams in the basement already. It'll save you the trouble and money of putting them there yourself.

When signing a contract with somebody, make sure to read all of the small print. I just barely got out of paying a 20% "restocking fee" on a $17,500 contract by one day, even though there... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 8:09 AM on December 29, 2004

Welcome to the city, alumshubby.

I lived in a decent enough place/community called The Heritage west of Campus (and a stone's throw from the West OSU Campus) that was quiet enough during any rioting and near enough for my wife to walk to classes. The rooms were affordable but not spectacular: I'd priced out the Jefferson and the Meridian before settling on the Heritage for about half the price.

I found a lot of good information on Rent.com back... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 7:17 AM on December 28, 2004

A $100 GPS receiver, or three to four months of broadband. I have neither, nor do I need them, but they'd be nice.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 6:51 AM on December 28, 2004

I think I'd like to direct movies. I certainly can't write the damn things.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 9:27 AM on December 20, 2004

For years now I've been using my glasses only to drive and contacts in social settings. At work I go around blurry, which is okay since I can focus perfectly to about three feet.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 10:07 AM on December 16, 2004

I got roped into working in the city today and tomorrow, and didn't have time to come up with any plans for tonight. Is there anything interesting (by any standard of the word) going on tonight?
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 9:46 AM on December 13, 2004

Thanks all for the resources. And jonmc: will there be refreshments? :)
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 12:16 PM on December 13, 2004

I really enjoy the commentary tracks of Terry Gilliam, some of which are unfortunately only on laserdisc. He gives equal time to thematic concepts (plastic covers on the couches and evil henchmen in Time Bandits) and technical stuff (slanting the walls of the studio for the top down shot of the radio booth in The Fisher King).

As for American Beauty, it's a good track but a bad DVD. More than twice Sam mentions cut... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 7:42 PM on December 11, 2004

"Happy Jack" in the Hummer ad was a great ad for a not-so-great (in fact the opposite of great) truck.

As for Devo, Mothersbaugh found it funny to remake "Whip it" into "Swiff it" if I recall reading that correctly once. He didn't just license it, he actually re-recorded it.

At least it was him that did it. Kohl's (I think) butchered "Always something there to remind me" to "...excite me" many a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 1:36 PM on December 9, 2004

Well, it's not Superman 3 but I doubt it would've hurt the film to have thrown that in too. The scene with the walk/don't walk sign guys fighting is one of the (oft-forgotten) lowest points of cinema in my opinion.

It's also not Stir Crazy.

The quotes page for 1988's Moving makes a finger reference, but that's the best I could find.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 1:21 PM on December 9, 2004

hetero male blah blah blah...

I have watched the show and didn't mind it. Some of it made me laugh, and I think I recognize the absurdity and extremes that it goes to.

Unless it isn't exaggerated, of course.

I joked to my friends that I watched it for research. Mind you this is before I got a job measuring women's jeans and whatnot. It gave me little references to things that I could joke about to my [female] friends who... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 9:13 AM on December 9, 2004

If you look back at the show/DVD of Firefly you might notice soldiers wearing the armor from the first Starship Troopers movie.

I recall some of it being on ebay some time ago.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 8:34 AM on December 9, 2004

(self link) I wrote about it here, but there are far more readers here. Basically they've got a slightly new angle on scamming. They tell me I've won a prize (in a contest I didn't enter) but I need to pay for the shipping.

With a debit card. And I need to provide them my card number, expiration date, and PIN. Does this sound fishy yet?

As of the time I am posting this, saprizo.com is unregistered. How can there be a site there, and is there... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 2:11 PM on December 1, 2004

Okay, let me rephrase. These are scammers. Nobody's ever said anything about them, nearest I can tell. So, um, discuss.

I just registered for spamcop. I hadn't thought of this as a conventional phishing, since it wasn't spoofing/pretending to be another legitimate place.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 2:18 PM on December 1, 2004

majick: I see a bunch of question marks up there.

(Has) Anybody ever heard of saprizo.com?

Does this sound fishy yet?
Feel free to ignore this one. It's somewhat rhetorical, in retrospect. Kinda funny, though, since I didn't immediately recognize this as phishing.

saprizo.com is unregistered. How can there be a site there?
And it would seem... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 3:27 PM on December 1, 2004

Thanks all. Incidently, five other people have stumbled across my link and commented that they received the same code. Clearly their three winners a month is a lie, and gee golly I bet the whole site is a scam.

Spaghetti, please accept my apology for self-linking, but I didn't want to paste all that here and, as I mentioned, nothing else out there mentioned the site that I could find.

As for the haste, for that too I apologize. There's a lot of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 8:22 PM on December 2, 2004

Has anybody looked into the money flow from these things? Why not just send five bucks over there (or invest in proper armor or whatever they need at the moment) and be satisfied with yourself?

As somebody who hasn't purchased a single one nor supported the troops other than paying my taxes, I'm not sure what to think when I see stacks and stacks of them at every wal-mart and gas station I see. Where's the guy who's getting rich off of mass-producing these?... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 10:25 AM on December 1, 2004

All THX optimized releases should have one, but they don't. I know that the just-released Star Wars does not on the episode VI disc.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 10:06 AM on December 1, 2004

I recently picked up the first X-Com game (UFO: Enemy Unknown elsewhere, X-COM: UFO Defense in the US) for the second time in the decade since I originally played it and I love it still, though there is a fair bit of micromanagement.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 12:59 PM on November 24, 2004

I got a lot out of the (now outdated, and out of print) Cartoon guide to economics.

Seriously.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 6:29 AM on November 24, 2004

Heh. I remember back before you could find out where every Holiday Inn or Krispy Kreme was that there were a raft of options for mapquest. These all disappeared quite a while ago, and I've been using mapsonus since, though it seems to be missing some information (exit numbers, I believe) and some updates.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 1:43 PM on November 23, 2004

Paul's Boutique samples here, but not too many other places have gone into such detail for other artists and albums.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 10:48 AM on November 19, 2004

I already tried the obvious: saving the page in my browser. No dice. I'd consider saving it as a video file if such were possible.

I realize I can do a screenshot, but the niftiness lies in the drawing, not the end result.

[on preview: Sorry, askme didn't want to load the page for a while]
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 9:18 AM on November 18, 2004

Despite living within the outerbelt of Columbus Ohio (and before that a half hour walk from OSU) I have never been close enough to a CO to get DSL.

I do not want cable. So there you have it. I use my 28.8k dialup, and I just make do.
posted to Ask Metafilter by codger at 8:24 PM on November 12, 2004