I just got back yesterday - the flights were fine, the food was fine, and it was all perfectly ordinary and hassle free. So thanks everyone.

I got some oddball combination of flights through lastminute.com with long layovers, and managed to get the Nightstop service added on at no additional cost by phoning the Sri Lankan office in London, even though I technically didn't qualify (I wasn't on the flights with the closest connections).

It's worth... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 6:16 AM on September 22, 2008

If bringing back from the dead counts, Buffy season 6.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 2:21 PM on February 22, 2007

Because the Google algorithm is fuzzy to reduce the amount of processing needed. Highly restrictive queries like yours are especially difficult to optimize. Basically they've come up with a system where 99.9% of queries are very fast but the other 0.1% fail.

(The actual inner workings of this I have no idea)
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 2:02 PM on February 22, 2007

The former
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 11:20 AM on February 22, 2007 marked best answer

For instance, my girlfriends camera works great in the low light conditions I describe

Most cameras display the exposure on the screen when they take a picture (usually as a fraction of a second, so 1/50 is half the length of 1/25). You'll find your girlfriend's camera is choosing a much shorter exposure. This can be tweaked by changing the ISO setting to a higher number, as explained above.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 2:32 PM on February 21, 2007

sqrt(1366^2+768^2)/25 inches=60 dpi.

You cannot use a 60 dpi LCD panel while at your desk. It will look horrendous. Most LCD monitors are 90dpi and up, so all your icons and text will be 50% larger than normal.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 7:31 AM on February 21, 2007

Delete all of the user folders except shared (maybe using Target disk mode from the MacBook), and you'll get the initial setup wzard the next time you restart. Also, there'll probably be all sorts of crap in /Library/ and elsewhere on the disk (NB don't touch /System/Library/). That'll give you close to a clean install.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 5:46 AM on February 21, 2007

This and this should help.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 2:05 PM on February 20, 2007

Tip of a small screwdriver.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 7:40 AM on February 20, 2007

but they are more often than not way too obfuscated for my pea-sized brain

Have a look at the lines immediately after where it says "Thread n Crashed". Those are the exact bits of code that are making it crash, and if you're lucky they'll have informative names.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 3:03 PM on February 19, 2007

Do the other crash logs you have also mention DVA_release at the top of the Thread Crashed section? If so you've found your culprit. It appears to be part of After Effects itself:

/Applications/Adobe After Effects 7.0/Adobe After Effects 7.0.app/Contents/Frameworks/dva_Release.framework/Versions/A/dva_Release

My first guess is the file is corrupt, maybe during the 7.01 update process. Try grabbing another copy from a working... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 2:07 AM on February 20, 2007

I'd suggest your CS2 installation is broken.

Currently, /Library/QuickTime/ contains

That folder starts off empty and is for adding plugins. It might be worth moving them all out to see if one of them is breaking it.

The standard QuickTime plugins are stored in /System/Library/QuickTime/, though I'd imagine things like TIFF support aren't plug-ins at all.

(btw,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 3:05 AM on February 19, 2007

On PowerPC Macs, there's an integrated Mac OS 9 emulator called Classic that allows you to run old programs. This has been ditched on Intel Macs, and in the upcoming Mac OS X 10.5.

SheepShaver posits itself as a replacement for Classic on Intel Macs, but I have zero experience with it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 3:06 PM on February 18, 2007

If so, will it constantly be using 1000W of power even when the receiver is turned off?

Almost without exception, the amount of electricity any device uses is equal to the amount of heat it kicks out. If it was using 1000W, you'd know.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 4:21 AM on February 17, 2007

I'd say the only even-vaguely convenient way to do this is to pay up for the Virgin box, or keep Sky+. Any other route is going to require two boxes (cable receiver and whatever recorder), and you'll spend your whole life making sure both of them are switched on and ready. Plus you will only be able to watch or record one channel at once, and the hassle of two remote controls and two user interfaces and so on.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 6:33 AM on February 15, 2007

Is the picture tearing or rolling? That means the TV is unable to sync. Chances are your VCR has a better sync detector and is inserting its own reconditioned sync pulses that the TV is able to cope with. Something like that.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 9:21 AM on February 12, 2007

Doing that bypasses the TV's tuner, so it might be that that's on the fritz. Does the sat box have RCA?
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 4:06 PM on February 12, 2007

Your modem should have a status page available that shows what speed it's actually connected at. Unless they've deliberately throttled it back to 512K (or 2M), it should be a very accurate indication of the capabilities of your line.

btw, what did they do to establish your line is limited to 512K?
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 7:58 AM on February 12, 2007

Go to the admin page on the router and select Status > DSL Connection. I imagine it will say 512K downstream, but it's worth a look. If it says 2048K, it means your line might support higher rates.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 9:04 AM on February 12, 2007

Does it change at all if you reload the page?

I'd suggest talking to Tiscali about whether they're capping it or whether they're letting the modem find the best rate. If they are capping, ask them about raising it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 9:37 AM on February 12, 2007

As far as your concerned, the seller has failed to supply you with an intact item, and deserve a refund. The circumstances of how it happened are irrelevant. As someone said on a previous thread here, insurance is there to cover the shipper's ass, not yours.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 8:07 AM on February 12, 2007

You're doing it the wrong way round. Assign boxes to balls. Binary-wise make each of the boxes A,B,C,D 00, 01,10,11 respectively. Then you can represent all possibilities as a 20 bit integer, and every combination is simply the numbers between 0 and 1,048,575.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 1:50 PM on February 9, 2007 marked best answer

I'd suggest exporting the whole thing as a text file (using either the built-in mysqldump program, or PHPMyAdmin, or any other GUI tool), loading it into a text editor and doing the search and replace there, then re-importing it.

Alternately, a command like this will do search and replace in place:

UPDATE table SET column=REPLACE(column,'search string','replacement string');

(NB no easy undo method for the above)
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 10:15 AM on February 6, 2007

recently
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 5:16 PM on February 4, 2007

Every one I've heard about that's bought one has been happy with it. The only thing you might not get is a proper box.

I don't know why everyone's recommending Applecare. You get a one year warranty anyway.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 3:25 AM on February 3, 2007

foreach ($rss->items as $item) {

should be

foreach ($items as $item) {

right?
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 12:40 PM on February 2, 2007 marked best answer

London to York is operated by GNER. They do deep discounts if you buy far enough in advance (a few weeks). Go to the GNER website and put in your details. On the results page it'll say something like "It could be cheaper to buy 2 singles. Click here". Do so and it'll give you the special offers.

Your friend is right that most train tickets cost the same if you buy them on the day, but certain companies (Virgin and GNER mainly) have started doing their own... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 9:31 AM on February 2, 2007

(the reason you've got three different answers is that ticketing is centralised, so you're accessing the same system whatever you do. But since you'll be travelling with GNER it's best to book via their site)
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 9:38 AM on February 2, 2007

The binary encoding scheme is binary multiplied by 17, as Wikipedia says. The whole formula is an elaborate way of reading bits from n.

- (-17*floor(x)-aMod(floor(y),17) creates an address from the x and y coordinates that can be used to select a particular bit from the data.
- floor(y/17)*2^address shifts the data to the right (note the negative above) such that the wanted binary digit is next to the decimal point.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 7:34 AM on February 2, 2007

If you take n and divide it by 17 and convert to binary, you get a very long number, the last few digits of which are:

000000100101000001100001000100001100111000000011100100001111111000001000000000000000011111111111111111

If you split that into groups of 17 digits:00000010010100000
11000010001000011
00111000000011100
10000111111100000
10000000000000000
11111111111111111Replacing the zeroes with... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 8:06 AM on February 2, 2007 marked best answer

Rumors aside, that is a gap in the lineup and they like to announce new machines to keep the sales machine running. It seems quite likely a 12" Intel MacBook Pro will show up soon.

But people have been saying this since the MacBook was introduced last May. Apple have made it pretty clear that the MacBook is meant to replace the 12 inch PB, both by retiring it on the same day the MacBook was introduced, and by adding lots of previously pro-only... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 12:35 PM on February 1, 2007

On most phones, you have to put a disallowed card in and it'll ask you for the code.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 1:39 PM on January 31, 2007

Here's your question answered by actual London Underground employees. Note the jargon:

CTBC = Main speed control lever
Section gap = what Steven said
Pilot light = Indicates doors are all properly closed (etc). Losing it immediately cuts power to the motors.
Oxo = Oxford Circus

You may be experiencing a shift between manual and automatic control. That would be my first guess anyway.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 4:47 PM on January 29, 2007 marked best answer

The wires are different colours so that the manufacturer can wire them up properly, although the choice of colours is up to them. You need to follow the wires to the speakers themselves. Each terminal should have a - or a + on it. At that point you have worked out which pin is L-, L+, R- or R+, and it's just like wiring a regular set of stereo speakers to an amplifier.

Does your amplifier have stereo outputs for the centre channel?
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 8:31 AM on January 27, 2007 marked best answer

"my subject" makes it sound like you're writing us an essay, not linking to something cool on the web. If you can't make it work in that format, it shouldn't be an FPP at all.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 3:14 AM on January 22, 2007

Replacing the hard disk in a 15 inch PowerBook shouldn't take you more than a couple of minutes. You only have to undo the screws that hold the top case on, lift it up, and the drive is right there. I'd say you're best off paying attention to what's in front of you and not following the guide for every step.

The only page you need to really pay attention to is this one. If you bend that tab, the casing by your DVD drive will always be slightly wonky.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 1:49 AM on January 22, 2007

Your dad is correct. European mains power is universally 50Hz. North America is 60Hz. AC motors tend to be designed for one specific frequency and may work inefficiently or not at all (or burn out) at the wrong one. The only way to find out is to try.

You could side-step this issue with cordless tools, but you'd still have to check what voltages/frequencies the charger supported.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 6:59 AM on January 21, 2007

Most North American strips will only be rated to 120V.

This is definitely something you should worry about. American electrical fittings tend to be pretty flimsy, so putting double the rated voltage through one sounds like a great way to start a fire. Don't do it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 12:48 PM on January 20, 2007

most likely you will get a free os upgrade if it comes out a month later

The Tiger up-to-date period was 17 days and Panther 16 days. And it only applies if you buy after the release date is announced. If you buy a Mac today (when it hasn't been), there's zero chance of getting a cheap upgrade.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 6:15 AM on January 20, 2007

I had no problems installing a second (PCI) graphics card in my Power Mac, as long as you install the drivers. Even with a very low-end Radeon 7000 (which are very cheap on eBay), I never had any complaints about performance. Quartz Extreme doesn't do a whole lot.

Whichever way you go, you need to buy a special "Mac Edition" version of the card.

there's a slim chance the card installed is already dual-capable... does it have 2... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 12:29 AM on January 20, 2007

Alexei is correct. Calling mobile phones in Europe from abroad is expensive because calling them while you're in Europe is expensive. In the scenario you describe, the service would end up paying 25 cents a minute (or close to it) to make the call to the cellphone.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 12:13 AM on January 20, 2007

A user database I have handy says mean 19.57, median 19, mode 18, std 4.09. 50% are 16 to 22 characters, 90% are 12 to 26 and 99% are 6 to 32.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 3:21 PM on January 16, 2007 marked best answer

Hang on, my ranges are wrong. The should read 50% are 17 to 21 characters, 90% are 13 to 25 and 99% are 7 to 31.

I don't for a minute believe that they're common enough to fall into the 99.9% bracket, much less 99%.

I went for symmetrical brackets either side of the median. You are correct in saying the lower end of such brackets is empty.

More usefully, the narrowest bracket that covers 50% is 17 to 21; for 90%, 14 to 26 and for 99%, 11 to 31.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 4:43 PM on January 16, 2007 marked best answer

One of these things might work for you. Poke around eBay and there are lots of different models.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 3:07 PM on January 15, 2007

The thing about Bexhill seafront is that (unlike Brighton and Hastings) it isn't a main road, which I guess is good, but on a cold day it feels like you're the last person alive. The town centre is cold, grim and has a high percentage of shops that do just enough business to stay open but not enough to be nice.

Hastings has some nice bits if you look hard enough but the reputation for being rough is deserved, if exaggerated. I don't remember it having any culture though.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 11:14 AM on January 14, 2007

Apple's own iPod Hifi has an aux in.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 5:51 PM on January 13, 2007

By the way, the pink G3 iMacs had pretty small hard drives (I want to say 10gb) and only had USB 1.0 connections (no firewire).

There were 3 models of iMac available in pink (self link). The last one has FireWire.

You probably need to press the power manager reset button. Instructions here.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 4:28 PM on January 13, 2007

Is there a good application that can create the coding and website for me, if I give it the right information?

For anything non-trivial, coding is the most efficient way of giving a computer info on what to do. Unless your ideas are very similar to something that already exists, the only way to make something work the way you want it is to express it in code.

You might want to give Ruby on Rails a look,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 1:05 PM on January 13, 2007

I used to have a CRT front projector. You get the same rich colours and naturalistic image of a tube TV. There are a few drawbacks:
- Flicker is a problem when screens get that big (your peripheral vision is more sensitive to it)
- The red, green and blue images come from separate lenses, and you'll never get them perfectly aligned.
- All rear projection TVs suffer from limited viewing angle.

(As far as I'm aware, CRT projectors are... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 1:18 AM on January 13, 2007

How about (temporarily) switching off "Move deleted messages to Trash mailbox" and running the newly available "Compact Mailbox" command on your Inbox. Does that work?

That actually works, though the command doesn't seem to change name (It's still "Erase Deleted Messages"). This looks like a workable solution.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cillit bang at 12:40 AM on January 13, 2007