Agreeing with rossination. I usually wear an undershirt, but never a white one. This is as big a faux-pas as wearing white socks with dark pants and shoes (although I suppose a white undershirt would look alright with a white polo). Besides all the aforementioned benefits, a coloured undershirt is a nice accent. Match it with your shoes and you look like you put a little thought into your outfit.

I'm pale and scrawny, with a bit of chest hair, and the only time I would... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 3:42 PM on June 27, 2008

I'm sure this is way off, as it's from 1994 and not indie, but "Live Forever" by Oasis has the line "You and I are gonna live forever" in a male falsetto.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 7:04 PM on May 24, 2008

I found Fimoculous.com's Best Blogs of 2007 That You (Maybe) Aren't Reading to be informative when I was craving some new reading material earlier this year.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 2:10 PM on May 3, 2008

"Two" movies:
Two Girls and a Guy
2 Days in Paris (this one is similar to Linklater's Before Sunrise/Sunset).
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 9:18 PM on April 27, 2008

Is this it? (WAV version of the Windows 98 sound in !Jim's Youtube link.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 1:57 AM on April 20, 2008

Shout it loud and clear! TODAY'S SPECIAL!
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 9:59 PM on April 16, 2008 marked best answer

Is it Smashing Telly?
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 6:09 PM on April 16, 2008 marked best answer

I don't get GSM interference on my Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speakers. The same cell phone produces really loud interference on a pair of cheap Altec speakers I also have.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 1:20 AM on April 11, 2008 marked best answer

Interesting. "Peace be with you" ... "And also with you" is what Catholics say when they shake hands with people around them during mass.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 2:09 PM on March 19, 2008

I recently exported a few years' worth of email to .eml format from Thunderbird using the SmartSave extension. An .eml file is basically a text file that includes some header information at the beginning. I think from there you could just do a batch rename of all your newly-created files (*.eml -> *.txt).
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 1:28 PM on March 14, 2008 marked best answer

Thanks, phaded! I hadn't heard of this little app. Took a bit of searching and experimenting, but I finally managed to write a script that disables alt+tab only when Team Fortress 2 is running, which will be nice since I won't have to remember to enable and disable it every time I start and stop the game.

Here's the script I'm using, in case anyone else wants this functionality:

#ifWinActive Team Fortress 2
*!Tab::return

posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 10:05 PM on March 5, 2008

Rockwell Automation's Retro Encabulator.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 2:48 PM on February 25, 2008 marked best answer

Nthing the idea of losing the neck strap in favour of a hand strap. I've got a Rebel XTi, and hated the neck strap, so I recently switched to a Canon E-1 hand strap, which is much more comfortable, much less awkward, and much, much less tourist-y. It is designed to be used with a battery grip attached to the camera body, but if you don't have one, I hear good things about the Hakuba hand strap and the Camdapter.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 9:54 AM on February 25, 2008

I've also been using clearlycontacts.ca for a few years (aka Coast Contacts I believe). They're based in Richmond, or at least they have a warehouse there, and I usually get next-day delivery in Burnaby. Cheaper than the optometrist.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 5:08 PM on February 21, 2008

Damn you, ten pounds of inedita, I had just typed an almost identical response (complete with correction of Lower East Side). Was going to say Downtown East Side and Whalley are probably the worst parts of Vancouver, but also that "bad neighbourhood" is relative: Yeah there's a lot of heroin addicts and dealers in the Downtown East Side, but you can walk through there at night and you're not going to get shot and mugged like spaceman_spiff's poor friend in Chicago. You might get... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 12:49 AM on February 15, 2008

Dave Chappelle's Killin' Them Softly (sample).
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 11:18 PM on February 6, 2008

Oops, just noticed hjo3 already mentioned Chappelle. Well, I guess nobody's said Jerry Seinfeld. I'm Telling You For the Last Time is where he retires all the material from his TV show era.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 11:38 PM on February 6, 2008

Daft Punk's song "Alive" (preview further down the page), off their 1997 album Homework, uses instrumentation that mimics rhythmic breathing and a heartbeat.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 2:06 AM on January 31, 2008

Civilization IV, while turn-based, is "big-picture" strategy. The vanilla game is all about resource management, research, diplomacy, etc, in addition to warfare, but there are many custom scenarios that ship with the game (and its two expansion packs) that are all about straightforward war. There's also a sizeable player community that creates scenarios, and you can create them yourself relatively easily. These can range from WWII to the American Revolution to the Peloponnesian War.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 7:57 AM on January 17, 2008

How about "The Setup" by Obie Trice?
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 10:01 AM on January 15, 2008 marked best answer

Thirding CBC Newsworld. They show some great documentaries.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 8:37 AM on January 13, 2008

Just thought I'd add that the Chapters at Robson and Howe has a decent selection of notebooks, journals, and planners (including Moleskine) if you want to physically inspect one before you buy it, although they seem a bit pricey there: something like $25 for the 5.25 x 8.25 ruled Moleskine notebook vs. $15 online.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 6:55 PM on January 10, 2008

Vancouver's SkyTrain (opened in 1985) is mostly elevated except downtown, where the tracks are underground. The new line currently under construction will also be partially underground. I guess it's not a true subway though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 11:58 PM on January 4, 2008

iso50
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 6:22 PM on December 31, 2007

The book that helped me understand what quantum physics is about is The Dancing Wu Li Masters. It's a layman's introduction, so it never really went above my head, and I've had about as much formal education in physics as you, nihlton (i.e. basic high school stuff).
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 3:37 PM on December 20, 2007

I haven't listened to many, but I enjoyed Kafka's Metamorphosis, read by David Barnes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 1:47 PM on December 19, 2007

I get most shows through RSS (though not Sasuke). I get my RSS feeds from tvrss.net.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 10:03 PM on November 4, 2007

There's also Zoom Player, which does keyboard (and mouse) shortcuts. I've found it's much smoother than VLC when jumping around in a video. I don't think it does transparency, but it does have a minimal mode which is just the video with no interface around it, which I often leave in the corner of my screen with "Always On Top" enabled while I do other stuff.

The standard version is free and will play WMVs. The Pro version adds DVD playback, and the WMV Pro... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 4:07 PM on October 17, 2007

I don't know too much about the scanner in question, or about scanner technology in general, but I bought a Canon 3000F (similar to this one) a few years ago, which is consumer-grade flatbed scanner with the ability to scan film. I tried scanning some 35mm negatives a few times, but I was not impressed with the results. The scans are very blurry and not suitable for printing. It cost about $150 at the time (maybe 2002 or 2003?), so I'm thinking you need a specialized device to produce film scans... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 11:26 AM on October 17, 2007

You can limit autosync to specific playlists.

Yes, this is how I manage to squeeze a 40GB library onto a 20GB iPod. My "iPod Worthy" smart playlist is pretty simple: exclude songs that are 1 or 2 stars, limit to 15GB, selected by highest rating, match only checked items. So a 3 star or higher rating will guarantee a spot on the iPod, while unrated songs get randomly selected from. Add to this my other playlists like Added Today and whatnot,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 11:39 AM on October 7, 2007

iTunes should automatically use the most recent rating for each song, whether you rated it on your iPod or from within iTunes. The only thing you probably need to worry about when it tells you that "All existing content on the iPod will be replaced with content from your iTunes library" is songs that are on your iPod that are not on your computer in your iTunes library. So if a friend gave you a song from his/her computer that you do not have on your computer, you... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 1:22 PM on October 7, 2007

That was quick, thanks folks! I've heard that song too, guess I didn't recognize the intro. And I was probably taught it properly, but that was ten or so years ago and I just recently tried to play it again from memory. Now I know what to go look for.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 3:03 PM on October 3, 2007

My own beer snobbery aside, if I'm going to be drinking a beer straight out of the bottle I prefer the feeling of a pop-top bottle's lip against my own to that of a twist-off, which feels rough and cheap. That might be a factor in the continued popularity of pop-tops.

On the snobbery side, in Canada it's the imports that have pop-tops, and many of us beer snobs prefer mass-produced European beers to mass-produced North American ones. The division breaks down when it... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 12:14 AM on September 27, 2007

"Photograph" by Weezer

"Of Montreal" by The Stills includes the lines:
The night's so happy
The bass drum heavy
The photo glossy
The people pretty
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 2:08 AM on September 20, 2007

Well, two that come to mind that fit the long-distance relationship criteria are "Transatlanticism" by Death Cab for Cutie and "Hackensack" by Fountains of Wayne.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 12:59 AM on September 16, 2007

"Across the Sea" by Weezer
"True Love Waits" by Radiohead (I don't think this was ever recorded in a studio, but you can find it on their I Might Be Wrong - Live Recordings EP)
"The Trees" by Pulp
"Your Ex-Lover is Dead" by Stars
"Blind" by TV on the Radio
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 1:42 AM on September 16, 2007

Ronald McDonald and Hamburgler?
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 7:36 PM on September 14, 2007

A couple of iTunes exclusive EPs that I've bought and enjoyed are Broken Social Scene's Live at Radio Aligre FM in Paris and Imogen Heap's Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) (that's the exact wording of the album title).
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 10:36 PM on September 9, 2007 marked best answer

(Hmm, on closer inspection, that Broken Social Scene EP probably isn't an iTunes exclusive after all.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 10:38 PM on September 9, 2007

The first and third link look pretty fake to me. Especially the third one. Her face look pasted on someone else's body, and/or it's just an incredibly bad airbrushing job.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 2:09 PM on September 9, 2007

I read much of A History of the African People by Robert W. July for a second year history course in university. It's a dawn-of-man to decolonization overview.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 1:08 PM on September 9, 2007

I went to Hastings Driving School (which is on your list), and passed the driving test on my first try. Of course, this was back in 1998 or so, before they introduced the graduated license system, and I believe the tests were easier than they are now. Hastings had no classroom sessions, just hour-long one-on-one sessions with an instructor in one of those cars with two steering wheels. Perhaps they offer classroom sessions, I don't know, but they weren't required when I went there.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 7:19 PM on August 27, 2007

Growing up in the early 80s I had a book, I think it was called The Soft Book, that was made out of fabric, probably felt. Don't remember if there was any gold or not. I think you could attach and detach little felt objects to the felt pages with Velcro. I couldn't find any info about it on Google. Hope that helps, although I know it's a stretch.
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 2:28 AM on August 14, 2007

Good call GaelFC, when I read the question I thought of the scene in High Fidelity where Jack Black busts in on Cusack and the other clerk listening to "sad bastard music" (Belle & Sebastian), then puts on that song. From the opening bar you know that is the perfect choice of song for the antithesis of sad bastard music.

Also, since we're listing all the canon of sad and/or bittersweet songs, no one has mentioned "What a Wonderful... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 12:18 AM on August 9, 2007

Tegan and Sara? (last.fm, YouTube)
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 1:09 AM on June 30, 2007

I worked in fast food for a couple of years. I wouldn't say that deliberate "messing" with food was that common, although I did witness at least a couple of instances where asshole customers got some saliva in their food, and once even a bit of dishwashing detergent, which is why you should always be nice to the zit-faced teenagers at your local McDonald's / Burger King / whatever, even when you want to blow a gasket because they screwed up your order.

The type... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 10:23 PM on June 27, 2007

Big second for Jordan Jesse Go!, although I fear that their humour might be a bit generational, meaning that their demographic is folks in their mid-20s. But as a guy in my mid-20s myself, I might be ill-equipped to determine if others would also find it as funny.

You could also try Slate's Daily Podcast. Most days it's a dude reading selected articles, which is cool because they cover a wide range of topics, but on Fridays it's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 5:20 PM on June 24, 2007

Okay, I'm shocked nobody mentioned "The Lady in Red" by Chris de Burgh. Does it not fit the criteria?
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 12:09 AM on June 14, 2007

Hmm, on second thought, I guess it's more "ballad" than "power ballad."
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 12:10 AM on June 14, 2007

A couple more of my favourite love 80s love songs (again, not sure if these fit the question, but no one's mentioned them yet):

"Wild Horses" by Gino Vannelli
"Send Me An Angel" by Real Life (possible my favourite of all, mostly because of the BMX-dancing prom scene in Rad, where one-half of the couple dancing was Lori Laughlin from Full House. Cine-magic!
posted to Ask Metafilter by good in a vacuum at 12:41 AM on June 14, 2007