Cook ordinary ginger snap cookies, and use them to scoop up pumpkin butter?
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 2:36 PM on October 6, 2008

For your birthday, I baked you cake, and now you can save the icing for later.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 6:40 PM on October 3, 2008

Reviewing fiction generally is low low pay, but focussing on specific non-fiction genres or specialty research areas can pay a little bit better. I had a friend who was a post-grad who made a little bit reading military strategy/history. I don't think any of this work is billable hourly, but rather by deliverables.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 4:54 PM on October 3, 2008

If you are planning on insuring the ring, you'll most likely need for it to be re-appraised every two years. Some local jewelers will appraise rings that they sold you for no charge, others will charge up to $100. It's a slightly annoying process, and I'm not sure how well Blue Nile handles it. If you don't get appraisals included, you are probably better off investing the insurance/appraisal payment and buying a new ring in the event this one is damaged, lost or stolen.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 4:49 PM on October 3, 2008

DSLreports.com

Speakeasy has some of the best customer service, but it costs a lot more.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 2:27 PM on September 25, 2008

Radio Alphabet: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc...

Periodic Table.

Chart of numerals in English, Chinese/Japanese, Arabic, Roman, Devanagari, and Hebrew.

Metric/English conversions, cooking conversions for weight to volume.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 9:18 AM on September 25, 2008

List of major cities, their GPS coordinates, UTC offsets, altitude, currency and languages spoken.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 9:21 AM on September 25, 2008

Volume formulas.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 9:22 AM on September 25, 2008

How about a working slide rule tattoo pair (or triple)?
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 1:36 PM on September 25, 2008

If you change the proportion of muscle to fat in your arms, aesthetically it will look like 'spot reduction'. If you can't exercise then the second best option is probably something like ultrashape.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 12:08 PM on September 25, 2008

She doesn't want a turkey in the house, or she doesn't want a raw turkey? Maybe you can get a pre-cooked turkey at your local supermarket (ordering ahead of course), or you could pick up the turkey and immediately deep fry the sucker and only bring it into the house fully cooked.

Supporting her vegetarianism is a good thing, but she should be supporting your dietary choices as well.

You could buy a small fridge that you can keep in the garage for meat.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 2:33 PM on September 24, 2008 marked best answer

Being icked out is not one that should rise to the point of impacting others.

Having been around kitchens cooking chitterlings (chitluns), I respectfully, extremely disagree with that point.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 7:52 AM on September 25, 2008

The ATM usually only adds 24 hours of hold time over a teller. The diff is that a teller can get the manager to clear the hold on the spot.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 6:28 AM on September 24, 2008

Someone intercepting the initial message in an SSL2.0 handshake can force the server and client to agree to the weakest mutually supported encryption standard. So if you are connecting to servers that support 40 bit export-weakened encryption, and transmitting sensitive info, you could have trouble. Maybe you can disable 40/56 bit encryption in Chrome. I believe non-secure connections would then fail.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 4:19 AM on September 17, 2008

The only possible reason I could see to using SSL 2.0 is if the WINE implementation of Chrome is using the schannel dll (via secur32), and there is some bug related to using SSL 3.0 in that DLL. Did you check the box to enable 2.0, or was it set that way by default when you installed? The windows version of Chrome has it unchecked.

When I worked in IT I often said that "bad security is worse than no security", I can't remember if I was... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 8:57 AM on September 17, 2008

How about Shakespeare's Hamlet in Klingon?

I'd guess I've read thousands of books in my life, but my collection speaks very little about me. It's mostly the books that were gifted to me that I'm reluctant to regift or sell, and those books that I didn't like much, can't sell but haven't figured out who to gift to as the friends of the library won't take them. If I'd pared the shelves down to the books I mostly cared to keep I'd be left with reference books, but that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 4:47 AM on September 17, 2008

Maybe: Quomodo Invidiosulus Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem Abrogaverit: How the Grinch Stole Christmas in Latin.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 4:57 AM on September 17, 2008

There are some very expensive pieces of furniture with inexpensive knockoffs that look the same out there; just to further muddy the waters.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 4:30 AM on September 17, 2008

The fact that grains make you feel bloated is a damn good reason to avoid them. I'm not sure why people think you are a freak for that when you are getting carbs through vegetables. Hitting a weight loss plateau is a fairly normal thing, it's difficult to make continual progress, and you may be stuck for a while. What has helped me to lose weight when I get stuck is to eat smaller meals more often (5-6 times a day). Also, resistance training (weight lifting) ~4 hours a week is key,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 3:09 AM on September 2, 2008

Oh, and I hope you are getting some protein from eggs, soy, cheese, and mushrooms. If you like mushrooms, they are a great protein source.

Do rice and corn make you feel bloated too? I hate white rice, but brown basmati is good stuff.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 3:18 AM on September 2, 2008

Self-harm UK. I have no experience with that site. Good luck.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 10:54 AM on September 1, 2008

From Wikipedia:

Contrel, the Belgian company that developed the frameless GyneFix IUD, is developing a lower-dose (14 micrograms levonorgestrel per day) T-frame IUS named Femilis. Femilis would come in a smaller size (Femilis Slim) for nulliparous women. It would be inserted without a plunger, and it is hoped its performance would be less dependent on the experience of the health care professional.

Several trials with positive results... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 2:33 AM on August 23, 2008

Second liketitanic. Also, it's hard to overindulge in really dark chocolate, or something really spicy. I can eat a whole jar of jam if I'm not careful.

You could make a fourteen bean soup mix or something with a lot of fiber in it. My wife made cocoa mix with milk powder / cocoa / mini-marshmallows one christmas. The act of preparing it means he can spend a little time measuring out how much he wants to eat.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 1:42 AM on August 23, 2008

From a western lens what your parents did was utterly wrong, and quite deliberately invasive. However, I'm guessing that this is a cultural thing and you are straddling the boundary. I can't help you with that, but I'll say one thing. If they didn't already have a copy of your key, they've made one now. They won't hesitate to use it if they feel justified. Change the locks in your apartment, and keep the old ones. If you decide to temorarily trust them to help you in... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 1:29 AM on August 23, 2008

My limited experience in computer security is that no one wants to think about it or budget for it unless they get burned. You can't scare them into it without them fearing you, but maybe you could work an angle where you look for businesses/CEOs who've been burned recently and try to get your foot in the door while they are feeling vulnerable. The smart/paranoid ones are going to be looking very, very hard at you though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 2:23 AM on August 20, 2008

Sorry if the hive mind is tapped out, but you might want to try RIDGID tools forum, SawmillCreek.org, or woodworkingtalk.com. Motor wiring questions come up on each of those forums, and there are people who can dig up owner's manuals and wiring diagrams. Good luck.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 4:20 PM on August 14, 2008

White gold will yelllow within a few years, but if you mean develop a patina over time, copper (and/or iron) are a better bet. If you want a very slow change, maybe you could find a jeweler who would make a rose gold ring with a higher than usual copper content to the alloy. Anodized titanium will lose colour over time, but I suspect that is not what you want.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 10:27 AM on August 14, 2008

Do you know what an Anglican ceremony entails that would make you unhappy / make you feel like a hypocrite?

I mean, this is a big event, and you want to solemnize it with some kind of ritual. There being no particular Atheist ritual that I'm aware of for solemnizing weddings, perhaps you should think about how much of the Anglican framework is objectionable and how much you can downplay those elements or work them out of the wedding.

I'm an... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 2:34 PM on August 13, 2008

BTW, I do get crap from two of my atheist buddies about getting married in a church. I can't really bring myself to care though, as we are still good friends, and if they weren't giving me crap about a church wedding, they'd be giving me crap for something else.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 6:33 PM on August 13, 2008

You can create a really cheap parabolic directional reflector to amplify the wifi signal. Basically you point it towards the wifi hot spot that comes in weakly to your brother's room. If you don't have an external antenna on your laptop's wifi it may be hard to make it work though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 3:22 PM on August 11, 2008

The legality of accessing even unsecured computer networks (WiFi) without permission may or may not be a crime in your jurisdiction. If you can let us know what state and/or municipality you are in, that would be helpful.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 5:53 PM on August 11, 2008

Going with what saysthis recommends regarding dialup, some ISPs allow you a certain number of dialup hours with your DSL in case of failure (or for travelling). With Speakeasy I get ~15 hours a month. You might want to check if there is a dialup account associated with your DSL provider.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 5:56 PM on August 11, 2008

I'm not sure how your DSL terminates, but maybe you could buy another version of the DSL router and plug it in to the phone line in your room at night (if your Dad actually shuts off the downstairs one). Depending on your DSL, you may have to do some wiring and/or figure out a way to get a PPPoE password. Also, unless your Dad is thick, you will get caught.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 12:42 PM on August 12, 2008

Sorry, I lost some detail while editing for readability. What I'm describing is a red patch on the skin just outside of the outside corner of the eye. It's a triangle that borders the upper lid and kind of points towards the temples. I've only seen it happen to Type I diabetics, but that may be confirmation bias.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 6:06 PM on August 11, 2008

The marks are slightly red, like chafing or very mild inflamation (not welted) and do not resemble the Purpura or Petechiae which appear to be the symptoms of capillary fragility. Really good guess though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 6:52 PM on August 11, 2008

I think it's the skin just outside the lateral canthus, but I don't have a good diagram. It basically overlaps the area where crow's feet form when squinting.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 10:13 PM on August 11, 2008

Bad Faith Insurance has ratings, and Insurance Transparency Project has blog coverage of the industry. Personally I've been happy with both AAA and Assurance so far.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 3:30 PM on August 11, 2008

'Key Alike' is the terminology IIRC.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 3:14 PM on August 11, 2008

Very small possibility that the motor seized. Turn off the vacuum, and try turning the beater by hand to make the motor turn slightly before turning back on.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 4:24 AM on August 10, 2008

The beater is the brush under the vacuum that beats the carpet.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 4:26 AM on August 10, 2008

Sorry, never mind, googled your vacuum. Rotating the motor manually wouldn't work that way on a cannister.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 4:55 AM on August 10, 2008

I'd suggest figuring out the spacing before affixing it to the mask. The best thing to do might be to leave a stub of armpiece and affix that to the side of the mask with clear tape or glue. You may need a spacer; I'd try packing foam cut to the width of your armpieces.

If you have a spherical correction less than -8 diopters, I think you'd be better off having a 9.95 pair of Rx goggles shipped to your home or the hotel where you are staying.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 4:18 AM on August 6, 2008 marked best answer

The IRS page on Offer in Compromise is a good place to start learning about this. You should be able to complete the application yourself without assistance. If you do need assistance, I'd go to a CPA, EA or Tax Attorney depending on your situation and how accurately you think your original tax filings were (you may be able to amend and get out of some of your taxes).

“This program serves an important purpose for a select group of taxpayers. But we are... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 6:03 AM on August 1, 2008

Also, see Installment Agreement Request. Please note that negotiating a payment rate that results in more than 5 years to pay off your debt will adversely effect your credit rating.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 6:06 AM on August 1, 2008

Also, telling us which state you are in would have been helpful.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 6:06 AM on August 1, 2008

I am not an accountant, and I am not your accountant. There may be circumstances where you can lose money filing an offer in compromise and then defaulting on it. Read all the linked pages on the IRS site, and all pages linked off the offer in compromise article before attemting to do it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 6:10 AM on August 1, 2008

I've been using Speakeasy for 8+ years, and I've only had to call tech support three times, two of which were my error. I've moved once, and transitioned to a 'naked' DSL line (no phone service required on the line), so that I no longer have to give AT&T any more of my money. I had a lot of experience when I worked in IT with getting DSL for clients, and Speakeasy was the best after Megapath (which only sells expensive business class DSL). I can't stress how great they've been as a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 5:54 AM on July 31, 2008

Exercise, good sleep, taurine.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 4:19 AM on July 31, 2008

I'm going to apologize in advance for answering a slightly different question. If you haven't already secured lodging for yourself, there is at least one pet friendly hotel in Niagara. That combined with a doggy daycare may be easier than an overnight kennel.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 3:53 AM on July 31, 2008

Losing weight and avoiding 'bulking up' muscle are somewhat contradictory goals.
posted to Ask Metafilter by BrotherCaine at 3:09 AM on July 30, 2008