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Why do flip flops go flip flop? As opposed to flip flip or even flop flop?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 1:55 PM on July 4, 2008
(27 comments)
Seeking DVDs for a European to learn American history. Learning Company comes to mind, but your minds are more varied than mine. Any advice greatly appreciated.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 10:12 AM on June 13, 2008
(12 comments)
Seeking hard stats on how much of the wealthy population is genuinely rich (owns outright solid assets, stocks, cash, gold, real estate) as opposed to living rich (owns much of above but with borrowed money). I'm curious as to how many people living on, say, Fifth Avenue or in Atherton or Greenwich can actually afford it and how many are simply spinning plates on borrowed time, borrowed money, and a (for now) high income. (Time will tell, of course, and perhaps sooner rather than later, but I'm curious
now.) Many thanks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 6:20 PM on April 25, 2008
(18 comments)
The Man is turning the company into an SAP shop. SAP offers training, but I'm looking for third party vendors who offer a better or cheaper option. Specific areas on interest are Portal and BI, possibly XI and MDM. Focus should be Administration more important than end user, but all is of interest. Horror stories welcome, good experiences more so.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 7:19 AM on March 19, 2008
What do governments do with seized contraband that cannot legally be bought or sold, cannot be set free, but ought not be simply destroyed? I'm thinking elephant tusks and rain forest hard woods, that sort of thing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 5:48 PM on March 10, 2008
(9 comments)
Co-worker's Outlook (2003) reminders pop up fifteen minutes and five minutes before appointments, but invariably hide behind whatever application is being worked on. Meetings are being missed or appearances are late because of this. How to make the reminders less shy? My searching turns up nothing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 9:04 AM on February 21, 2008
(10 comments)
Slight tangent from
this question: the sourdough rises on command and leavens the bread, texture is fine - but the sour is gone.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 11:07 AM on February 3, 2008
(10 comments)
Scoobie Doo endorses Mac&Cheese by allowing his likeness to appear on the box. Question- how do his master and the folks at Kraft decide on his price?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 5:36 PM on November 16, 2007
(5 comments)
How quickly do the parking lots near the Staten Island ferry fill up on any given Saturday? Sunday?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 10:46 AM on October 11, 2007
(2 comments)
Ingestible supplements for long distance running that are safe, effective, and not intrinsically disgusting?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 2:01 PM on September 10, 2007
(26 comments)
I heard once that the Indian accent for spoken English is a legacy of Welsh missionaries/teachers in the subcontinent. Granted, the cadences are similar, but on the whole the story sounds a little far fetched to me. Can anyone out there confirm or deny the truth of it, preferably with footnotes? Many thanks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 6:30 AM on August 9, 2007
(11 comments)
The US government does not consider IRA money or 401K money (or stock market investment of any kind) to count as "savings" when they calculate US savings rates. Thus our perennially lousy savings rates vs. other countries. Or so I read. If true, what is our government's reasoning?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 5:34 PM on April 10, 2007
(24 comments)
Best large Spanish-English dictionary? Also best dictionary for Cervantes era spanish? (Reasons why best a bonus.) Many thanks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 11:24 AM on April 3, 2007
(10 comments)
Charles Dickens claimed he never dreamt about his characters. Is this par for the course for fictionists?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 5:04 PM on February 14, 2007
(10 comments)
Daughter (age six) perhaps to begin piano lessons. Considering a weighted response electronic keyboard as a piano substitute. Seeking advice in brands, models, retailers, price, durability, and indeed, overall wisdom of this route over standard piano. All views even slightly extraneous welcome. Thanks in advance.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 6:28 AM on January 16, 2007
(25 comments)
Needed- best running shops in the New York metropolitan area for getting feet (flat) and gait (upright) analyzed and shoes recommended. A place that knows its stuff and isn't going to shove whatever they have the most of in back down my leg. (Or am I being hopelessly naive?) Thanks in advance.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 8:31 AM on November 8, 2006
(7 comments)
In the US army, majors outrank lieutenants, but lieutenant generals outrank major generals. How did this happen?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 5:41 AM on October 23, 2006
(5 comments)
Has anyone ever produced a movie with wholly Latin language dialogue? Not just snippets (e.g. Passion of the Christ), but a clear better-than-fifty-percent on-going conversation. (Productions of Latin plays definitely acceptable.)
Second best would be extended audio only. (I did a post once with snippets- I'm looking for extended play, something commute worthy, say.)
Finally, repeat above questions for ancient Greek. (There is a video of Medea by the NY Greek drama Company (1986, good luck finding it now). Anything of that sort would be of interest.) Thanks in advance.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 9:30 AM on August 26, 2006
(8 comments)
Who are Oscar and Emmy's parents?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 6:40 PM on January 31, 2006
(7 comments)
Where did pirate speech come from?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 11:12 AM on January 9, 2006
(18 comments)
How many golden tickets does the publishing world hand out annually?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 4:50 AM on November 7, 2005
(5 comments)
Funny native accents?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 11:23 AM on October 16, 2005
(51 comments)
When, specifically, and under what circumstances were non-Muslims first barred from Mecca? Is there a scriptural theological basis for this? When was the last time an interloper was caught, and what happened to him (or was it her)? What is the current offical penalty for non-compliance? Foot notes appreciated.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 11:32 AM on October 5, 2005
(17 comments)
What would Lincoln have done if the south had not fired on Fort Sumter?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 9:00 AM on September 28, 2005
(12 comments)
Tom Clancy's absurd Debt of Honor (1992) has a politically motivated suicider crashing an airliner into the capitol building. Hector Bywater's novel The Great Pacific War (1925) sort of kind of predicted December 7, 1941. Any other examples come to mind, novels presaging alarming events? Thanks in advance.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 5:01 AM on September 13, 2005
(24 comments)
Hernando Cortez- what's his reputation in modern Mexico?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 6:07 PM on August 29, 2005
(11 comments)
American Investor seeks Discount Brokerage Firm with access to Toronto Stock Exchange. On line access preferred. Foreign incorporation considered.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 10:17 AM on August 18, 2005
(3 comments)
When, how, where did the distinction between commissoned and non-commissioned officer in the military originate?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 7:49 PM on July 21, 2005
(9 comments)
Is stuttering more common in some languages than in others? If singing is supposed to suppress it (true?), does that mean tonal languages (e.g. Chinese) do not suffer the phenom? Indeed, are there any languages in which it does not appear at all? If so, any theories why?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 4:25 AM on June 10, 2005
(7 comments)
What's the deal with book publishing?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 5:43 AM on June 2, 2005
(11 comments)
Any legal historians out there? Can you tell me, historically, what's the deal with punitive damages?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 4:30 AM on May 17, 2005
(9 comments)
I'm reading a French text printed in Paris in 1527. The language is clear
enough, no less intuitive than Olde Englysh, but the typography can be a
poser. Can anyone recommend a particularly good reference text (or web site) that lists
the various abbreviations, letter, and number variations, that keep cropping up?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 3:34 PM on May 9, 2005
(5 comments)
Another lost movie. Last seen 1973 in Europe, presumably made that year or slightly earlier (it may never have reached America). Setting: Britain (mostly London?) Pre WWI and just after. Cast: Attractive, British, youthful. No big names that I recall. General themes: I think- women's rights, problems of romance & politics, the pity of war. Two scenes vividly remembered: Young man appreciatively watching a woman on stage, she singing con brio "Votes for women, votes for women, la de da de da da dee!" Final scene young woman sitting in an art gallery post WW1 watching with emotion some "modern" art. I think her young man has died in the war. Scenes less well remembered (VERY POSSIBLY misremembered) generic love scene, generic romantic argument, suffragettes being run in by the police, young man getting a fleeing suffragette out of the way.
A UK production, more art house than mass release, but wonderful atmosphere, which is probably why it sticks in my mind all these years later.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 9:46 AM on April 30, 2005
(6 comments)
I commute and run to books on tape. Every so often, I will get a spate of too fast, high pitched Alvin Chipmunk playback. Flip the tape to side B at the same point- no problem. Flip it back- Alvin. Change tape player- same thing, so it seems not to be the machines. At worst this can go on for an entire side. A solution would be welcome (slapping tape firmly does not help, nor does rewinding), but mostly I'm wondering, what gives here?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 5:07 AM on April 22, 2005
(10 comments)
I once saw an alleged V.S. Naipaul quote to the effect that India owed much of its latter day poverty to Islam's incursions. Any notions where this comment might be found? Also, any other books on the history of Islam's spread into India (old, new, passionate, dispassionate, biased, unbiased- the more points of view the better) would be most welcome. Many thanks for your help in this matter
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 4:54 AM on April 14, 2005
(9 comments)
A literary agent friend of mine says that publishers dislike publishing funny novels because "humor is subjective". Certainly I have stumped bookstore clerks by asking them to recommend a funny novel. Not "Humor", which includes Garfield the Cat, Dave Barry, and Jokes for the John, but honest to God novels, with characters and plots and such. I have a little list of authors and if anyone can add to it, I will be in her or his debt.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IndigoJones
at 4:37 AM on April 6, 2005
(101 comments)
