You sound like me 3 years ago before I started my PhD program. I thought I would have to quit blogging, quit checking RSS, and concentrate on academics 24 hours a day.

There have been busy times when I haven't kept up my blog, and times when I might not have checked kottke.org for a whole week, but no matter how busy you are, you don't work 24 hours a day. You are going to have establish a new work/life balance anyway that includes some recreational time. Cutting back a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 7:03 AM on July 4, 2008

It makes quite a difference whether you are talking about rectal mucosal prolapse (where the lining of the rectum bulges out of the anus), or rectocele (where the rectum bulges forward making a lump in the vagina) They can both cause tenesmus.

I don't specifically know of any studies showing benefit from pelvic floor muscle training / kegels for rectal mucosal prolapse, and I couldn't find any looking briefly just now on PubMed.

Pelvic floor... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 11:12 AM on July 3, 2008

You could have one feed that combines news for all the keywords you are interested in by simply using the OR operator:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=DISNEY+OR+STEAMPUNK+OR+DRM&ie=UTF-8&output=rss

Or you could use an Excel macro to generate the list of separate URLs, and then you could manually paste them one by one into the "Add subscription" box in Google Reader.

Unless the lists... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 7:56 AM on July 3, 2008

Just copy my one:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=FORD+OR+APPLE+OR+MICROSOFT+OR+YOU+OR+GET+OR+THE+OR+IDEA&ie=UTF-8&output=rss
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 8:35 AM on July 3, 2008

Have you looked at Yahoo Pipes?

This configurable pipe lets you paste in a whole bunch of keywords at once for an aggregated news feed. You could clone the pipe and cut out the news sources you don't need.

Using this your co-workers would only need to maintain a text file of their company names.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 9:48 AM on July 3, 2008

Screw that, I just tried it out and it seems to be borked. But Pipes is still one option for handling this.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 9:52 AM on July 3, 2008

And even better (for me at least) iSearchBetter UK. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 3:20 AM on July 3, 2008

The method suggested by averyoldworld seems to be available only for certain categories, and not at all for amazon.co.uk.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 8:25 AM on July 3, 2008

I am a native English speaker from London UK.

I've tested this out in my head with a bunch of different examples, and I can't really detect any difference.

I suspect one or other might be generally more common in different english speaking regions. From this side of the Atlantic "not more than" sounds just as good as "no more than", so I think Jaltcoh is on the right track describing this as an idiomatic difference, rather... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 8:16 AM on July 3, 2008

The most likely cause depends how old you are.

This is definitely worth a trip to the doctor who will check your urine, maybe run some blood tests, and could arrange referral to a specialist, possibly a urologist.

Once you've been checked out there are lots of simple things you can do to help, including trying something called bladder retraining, or considering starting a medication like oxybutynin or solifenacin.

Here's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 8:05 AM on July 3, 2008

As a diehard liberal I'm slightly ashamed to admit this, but since we had an intruder in the apartment last year while we were asleep, I keep a replica handgun and a samurai sword by the bed.

My only "clever" thing is a small decorative cardboard box that I can dump my daily disposable contact lenses into before falling asleep. I can't see well enough to navigate from the waste bin to the bed without lenses.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:39 PM on July 2, 2008

There's a good Muscovite example. Every summer foreign journalists write articles about pukh, a kind of fluff shed from Balsam trees that clogs the streets.

It's not caused by collective amnesia, but by lazy journalists looking for an easy story.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 6:03 AM on July 2, 2008

I totally know what you are getting at here. This recipe is adapted from something my father-in-law serves as a canape.

1. Fillet the sardines and slice in half lengthways.
2. Lay a half fillet on a slice of raw red or yellow pepper roughly the same length and width. 3. Salt and pepper to taste.

The crunchiness and tangy vegetable aroma of the pepper helps disguise the over-fishiness of the canned sardine.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 4:58 AM on July 2, 2008

Plantarflexion?
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:19 AM on June 27, 2008

"We obviously won't be fly fishing, being such novices and all."

I haven't fished the Yuba, but in many places fly fishing is a more productive way to catch trout than bait fishing, even for a novice. Splashing bait and spinners around scares trout like crazy. You could spend 10 minutes watching casting videos on Youtube to learn to send a fly in roughly the right direction. If you are tempted by fly... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 4:06 PM on June 26, 2008 marked best answer

For animal welfare reasons the done thing among turtle/tortoise enthusiasts in the UK is to buy your turtle/tortoise direct from a reputable breeder, rather than use a petshop. Message boards / forums have to be the way to go.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:19 AM on June 26, 2008

For the England leg, why don't you book tickets for the Reading Festival (easily accessed from London), and something you like the look of at Brixton Academy (my favourite London venue), plus maybe something at Koko or the Roundhouse so you get a bit of the legendary Camden scene. For smaller venues. just scan the NME listings for stuff you like the look of.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:01 AM on June 26, 2008

I loathed Gang Leader for a Day, utterly uninspiring, out dated, and lacking any kind of insight.

I suggest Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. It's the most fun difficult work of modern fiction going. Most people have heard of it but never dared tackle it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:58 AM on June 25, 2008

This guide to making dry stone arches explains that they must have a former in place before the keystone is dropped in, and suggests a bent piece of plywood as a likely candidate.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:47 AM on June 25, 2008

Stimulating the vagus nerve, which you can do by poking things in your ear, causes nausea. I'm wondering if with the earpiece sticking in your ear, perhaps the movement of your jaw as you speak, is enough to cause this effect.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 5:41 PM on June 3, 2008

I don't think the statues are in and of themselves racist, but displaying them on your lawn is absolutely definitely racist. Wikipedia (again) suggests it's equivalent to a Cigar store indian.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 12:33 PM on June 2, 2008

I sold my Wii after 3 months, for more than I bought it for, and I haven't regretted it for a second. The type of games they are producing just aren't worth me wasting time on. As and when I do want to play something, I'm sure the Wii itself will have come down in price.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:14 PM on May 29, 2008

Coutts also uses a passcode calculator.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 4:20 AM on May 22, 2008

If you look at my blogger blog (self-link), I have a little faint double hyphenated line around the whole text, and marginalia, of every individual post. Feel free to rip that off from my stylesheet (http://howithappened.com/styles2.css). I think I stole it from fimoculous some time in 2003.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:15 AM on May 19, 2008

8 hours later, I just noticed that I've inadvertently tried to out myself in the question. I meant "fiancee" not "fiance". Thank you for so much good advice, and good examples.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 5:57 PM on May 15, 2008

For a randomly timed episode of full penetrative intercourse the rate of conception is somewhere between 2% and 5%. However at the most fertile time, the rate of conception from a single episode of penetrative intercourse is somewhere between 10% and 30%.

The chances in this case are lower because intercrural sex is less effective at delivering sperm towards the cervix. However it is possible, and in fact I have seen a case, which I wrote up for the British Journal of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 5:24 PM on May 15, 2008 marked best answer

Intuitively I think it is because saying "I'm" does not allow you to emphasise the verb in the sentence, as you would if you said "Yes, I am" out loud.

It's a bit clearer with "I've" which is obviously not an acceptable abbreviation for all uses of "I have". For example you can't say (at least in most english dialects) "I've herpes", you have to say either "I have herpes" or "I've got herpes". There's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 6:47 AM on May 15, 2008

My great-uncle is in his mid-eighties. He hasn't changed at all in the 30 years I've known him. He is a retired GP, but he smokes a pipe, refuses all blood pressure and cholesterol meds, and leads a thoroughly active life. This weekend we're going fly fishing with my father and my uncle. Three generations all up to our waists in the river with a fly rod, all doing what still makes us happy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 3:43 AM on May 15, 2008

Strangely Sente isn't on the Wiki comparison lists. It's OSX only, but fantastically good, and doesn't require Firefox, unlike Zotero.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:13 AM on May 15, 2008

I FPPed some links that led to a good discussion of these issues last year. Essentially Gramcracker has it nailed though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 4:46 PM on May 14, 2008

I am never ever watching Audition again, which I guess is a recommendation.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:01 AM on May 14, 2008

polyglot your answer is basically just wrong. As minus zero points out there are lots of case reports of both inadvertent and planned Botox during pregnancy, with no apparent side effects. You should not be speculating based on one animal study, even if reported in Newsweek, that Botox can cross the placenta. That isn't even remotely biologically plausible.

This is not the kind of medical problem where we are ever going to have good data to show that Botox is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 1:53 AM on May 14, 2008

I graduated in 2001, and I've forgotten every mnemonic I ever knew, except one, for the order of the carpal bones:

She loves to p***, her c***'s too tight.

It doesn't even make sense, but the lurid imagery has had it stuck there these last 7 years.

I'm not sure I have any other advice, except that the best pre-clinical anatomy book I owned was Instant Anatomy, which is all online now.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 8:48 AM on May 13, 2008 marked best answer

I use Le Parfait jars for canning / preserving / pickling which are not even USDA approved. I take a much more French attitude to the whole process, being careful but not utterly meticulous about sterility. This eGullet guide is a good basic primer for the sort of stuff you can easily handle at home without specialist kit.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 9:25 AM on May 8, 2008 marked best answer

On my macbook the "wacky client" mounts the volume as some kind of DVD-ROM, to which I have neither read nor write privileges. I can't figure out how to get rid of the encrypted part.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 7:03 AM on May 8, 2008

Wait - not so fast!

It depends on the data itself which test you need to pick. Questionnaire data with discrete reponses would often be analysed with non-parametric tests. I would use the Mann-Whitney U test to compare the change in scores from baseline between groups.

If after adding up all the reponses from each questionnaire into a single score, you find that score is roughly normally distributed, you can still use the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:28 AM on May 8, 2008

Nthing i_am_a_Jedi and kimdog's suggestion of seeing a plastic surgeon sooner rather than later. If your sister has significant tissue loss on her nose, it might scar really badly.

I suffered a similar injury falling off a BMX, and even after a repair by a plastic surgeon on the same day, the scar is quite noticeable 10 years later.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:41 PM on May 1, 2008

I can't find the related paper anywhere, but last year I saw a scientific presentation at a urology conference that showed that people feel strong urinary urgency in a variety of bodily locations. In the study participants had their bladders filled until they were desperate to go, and then marked on a map of the body where they felt the sensation. Most people, most of the time, feel it either in the lower abdomen, or in the perineum, but some people feel it in all sorts of odd places. I think... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:34 PM on May 1, 2008

It's unusual for a 25 year old man to wake up more than once at night to pee.

Your doctor should have sent off a sample of urine to exclude infection, and done a basic check for diabetes.

If behavioural changes like fluid restriction aren't helping, consider an anticholinergic medication, rather than a sleeping tablet. Medications like oxybutynin, tolterodine, and solifenacin relax the bladder muscle, and reduce sensation from the bladder, so you... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 8:12 AM on April 30, 2008 marked best answer

I can't believe no one's mentioned benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) yet.

The reason it wasn't mentioned is because it doesn't affect 25 year old men. Figure 1 in this paper demonstrates that the rate of histological BPH (i.e. not even necessarily associated with symptoms yet) is basically 0% in men in their twenties.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 9:00 AM on April 30, 2008

ob, men actually hold a greater volume, and go less often. From this paper:

"Men had higher total fluid intake and mean voided volume than women (p <0.001 and 0.04, respectively). Women voided more frequently than men (p = 0.006) and had more voids per liter of fluid intake (p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This analysis suggests that there are significant gender effects on 24-hour diary variables, with females tending to void more often and at lower mean volumes.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 9:03 AM on April 30, 2008

In the article I writing I'm specifically trying to make a comparison between female genital mutilation, and female genital cosmetic surgery. I therefore need this word to include France/Germany/Spain/Scandinavia and other western nations where female genital mutilation is illegal, but female genital cosmetic surgery is popular.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 8:22 AM on April 30, 2008

I agree that the branding for Liverpool 08 is a bit trippy. I figured they were making a graphical link to psychedelic art from the Beatles era.

However some of the other things you are experiencing, and the way you described them here, seem like examples of either ideas of reference or magical thinking. When you previously asked a question about stabbing pains in your foot due to hypnosis, many people suggested you see a doctor. If you haven't been yet, I think it would... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 6:00 AM on April 30, 2008

I'm not sure if Eurocave have a distributor in the US, but their "wine storage solutions", are absolutely incredibly deluxe. They would be my first choice for "brand quality", if I could afford one.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:09 AM on April 28, 2008

Depending on which study you look at between about 8% and 45% of women using MIRENA report some weight gain. The magnitude of the average weight gain is definitely less than for depo provera though.

We don't know what other medication you are taking, but all sorts of anti-psychotics and mood stabilisers can also cause weight gain. I would talk carefully to both your psychiatrist and your gynaecologist before making a decision to remove the MIRENA.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 2:03 AM on April 23, 2008

About 50% of all women who have ever had a baby have some uterine or vaginal prolapse, and about 11% of all women will undergo an operation to correct prolapse. It's so common that your friend really needn't be embarrassed.

There are almost always no serious health consequences, so unless the prolapse is uncomfortable, or is causing bladder problems, she may not even need any treatment.

If she does go ahead and have surgery she will usually be... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 3:56 AM on April 22, 2008 marked best answer

What should I ask my team to do?

Ask your doctors for a transvaginal ultrasound scan on the earliest date they are prepared to offer it. The amount of information available from the scan will depend on the quality of the scanning machines, and the experience of the sonographers. 5 weeks gestation can now often be enough to confirm a healthy intra-uterine pregancy (or two), so you might only have to wait 3 days. At this stage the scan will not however... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 7:59 AM on April 21, 2008 marked best answer

If by relevant doctors you mean haematologists, general surgeons, and gynaecologists, then I think you've got access to all the expert advice you need already. If you haven't seen a gynaecologist specialising in fertility and/or a urologist specialising in male fertility, then I think you should get a referral to your your local hospital's assisted conception unit. To a large extent they should be able to allay your fears. It will probably be at least 6 weeks before you can be... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 9:56 AM on April 18, 2008

I attended a wedding of a guy who got remarried last year. He makes a big deal of the fact that they consumated on the night, even though his wife wasn't expecting it, and was basically too tired and drunk. I find that a really crass, creepy, overbearing start to married life.

I'm getting married in 6 weeks, and I'm not making any specific plans re: sex or sleep. There are enough organisational anxieties as it is, without being really un-spontaneous about something... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 3:35 PM on April 14, 2008

Or you could buy the film online from a San Fran camera store, taking advantage of the cheap dollar, and have it shipped to your first night's accommodation.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roofus at 3:49 AM on April 7, 2008