I recently put together a decent gaming desktop rig for myself under similar circumstances. I wanted to tune the configuration a little with some stuff I probably can't get from major retailers, but I also didn't want to pay for the hype attached to certain high-end "gaming" brands.

I wound up finding a vendor on eBay that builds custom PCs with whatever crazy parts & configuration you can dream up, CPU coolers, elaborate vs. barebones cases, etc. It's the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 1:48 AM on July 25, 2008

I go with affectation. This is like yelling "ouch" when you hurt yourself. People don't really do that.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 2:11 PM on July 24, 2008

A) Why doesn't every suspect say they won't talk without a lawyer?
Most suspects talk voluntarily, even after proper Miranda warnings. (And don't forget, the vast majority of criminal matters end in a plea bargain, not trial)

B) Do people actually breakdown and confess like they seem to on every episode?
Rarely. According to the Inbau & Reid book, conscience-stricken confessions are rare and should be viewed with suspicion
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 9:32 AM on July 23, 2008

On my campus, the library, business, and education buildings have areas where students and sometimes faculty aren't allowed.

My college had a dorm in which one large portion of the building was basically held by the IT department as a storage room. It was rarely open, windows had blinds up, and naturally rumors formed about what went on inside. (Nothing at all interesting)
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 8:29 PM on July 17, 2008

Explain that, for a long time, people didn't even know that a different "taste" existed, and it was only discovered recently.

Actually the taste has been known for a long, long time. The recent discovery you make reference to is the identification of the specific taste receptors on the tongue that detect umami, not discovery of the taste itself.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 11:37 AM on July 17, 2008

I've started using the new Gillette Clinical Strength and it works just grand. The trick is you apply it before bed and let it work overnight, then you have to train yourself to not wash it off when you shower in the morning. Once you work it into your routine it's pretty foolproof.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 11:23 AM on July 9, 2008

So it's an underground railroad with speedboats? that sounds frickin awesome.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 10:30 AM on July 5, 2008

The Vaporcannon from Vaporwarez is excellent and comes with a warranty. Plus no bags to deal with.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 5:19 PM on June 30, 2008

le morte and kosmo have it--to distinguish the sign from a random letter. Reminds me of the probably now-obsolete practice in newsrooms of scribbling "lede" across copy that needs a lead written for it. The misspelling is intended to give pause to anyone who might be tempted to read it as an edit and actually insert the word "lead."
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 12:59 PM on June 30, 2008

Why would a place go to all the trouble of excluding the general public, but still allow a guy like you in? There are obviously all kinds of exclusive clubs in NYC, but a bar that is hard to get into does not a speakeasy make. It just seems to me that any place that would do that is probably putting on some cartoonish airs of exclusivity.

(And please, let's not set such a low bar for "speakeasy" that it can be satisfied simply by not being listed online. Bars... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 5:20 PM on June 29, 2008

Don't feel that because of your technical background, you're obliged to get involved in IP. It is an obvious and perhaps easy choice, but don't let that dissuade you if you really (really really) are interested in the criminal side. I know ADAs and AUSAS who boast of their ignorance when it comes to computer evidence issues or electronic wiretaps--you would thrive on that stuff.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 1:36 PM on June 25, 2008

You won't find accommodations in Pamplona this late in the game unless you're willing to lay out some serious scratch. People book stuff up for months ahead of time. The opening day of the encierro is the one with the big fanfare that you see on TV, but they continue doing a running every day for the rest of the festival. Your best bet would be to try to catch the tail end of it.

There is a lot of advice on how to handle the course on the web, and you should definitely... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 10:04 AM on June 23, 2008

A good friend of mine is just like you--she loves the smell of coffee but hates the taste. Don't sweat it, you're not missing much.

Two points:

Have you tried just a shot of espresso with some sugar? I know you say you don't like the bitterness, but if you pour enough sugar in there it satisfies the caffeine prong while still having a sweet coffeeness to it.

Cold-brewed iced coffee is the best method yet devised for... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 6:05 PM on June 22, 2008

About a year ago, I discovered that my severe depression and anxiety was due to a medical condition. The condition was easy to address, and I experienced improvements almost overnight.

I'm actually really interested in what this condition might be.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 9:13 AM on June 19, 2008

And please include some kind of description of why someone with air conditioning running all the time would need the climate control feature.

A lot of us apartment dwellers don't have AC running all the time, and in fact try to be somewhat environmentally conscious by tolerating a broader temperature range. Thus, while I like my butter and eggs to be room temperature when cooking, if I leave them out during an August NYC night, it will be separated... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 9:24 PM on June 18, 2008

gustatory-olfactory harmony. ok, i just made that up.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 5:52 PM on June 17, 2008

On a related note, "The Power Broker" by Robert Caro is a biography of Robert Moses that details, among other things, Moses' push for housing projects in NY and their strident opposition by those who had to be relocated. It's an excellent book that illuminates a lot of the modern face of NYC.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 9:25 AM on June 14, 2008

Get a real, honest-to-god mousepad. No more book covers or sheets of copy paper.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 2:14 PM on June 12, 2008 marked best answer

Sensible, bright lighting everywhere. Too many poorly-lit kitchens in this world.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 7:37 PM on June 11, 2008

So many foods that fall into the category of truly "simple, easy, and good" are so simple that they don't really merit a proper "recipe." Like fried Indonesian tempeh. Or proscuitto on melon (don't forget the salt & pepper).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 2:38 PM on June 11, 2008

The incredible vocabulary and syntax of the "bee dance" never fails to amaze me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_learning_and_communication
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 9:04 PM on June 4, 2008

Check out the wonderful tutorial videos at TwistedMonk. Practice.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 1:34 PM on May 25, 2008

Is it really necessary to include the assignee's name in the computer name? It seems like it gives malicious folk an unnecessary clue as to whom the computer belongs.

At a small academic IT department that will remain nameless, the local administrator password was known by all the (student) help desk techs. Also with this version of Windows, every PC had a the C drive shared by default on the network. One day, someone idly wondered: Hm. What if a student were to use the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 6:48 PM on May 20, 2008

I'm probably pulling this from another post on AskMeFi or MeFi that I cannot find in the search engine. But, there was a famous occurrence at one of the proto-Nazi meetings Hitler attended before he attained power. Some guy loudly protested the ideas Hitler expressed at the meeting, but Hitler basically shouted him down. No one knows who the guy was.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 9:49 AM on May 17, 2008

I think they're saying that bridges are built in the name of progress, allowing disparate resources to be shared, easier transportation and communication, etc. But, this enhanced communication and resource sharing smothers development in the local community. Why should the local community grow and develop if it can more easily truck in stuff from elsewhere? Thus, bridges prohibit the progress they promote.

(I don't claim this is a correct statement or even a coherent... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 11:14 AM on May 13, 2008

The thing is, when the ads do start rolling out, the competition can be fierce because everyone is looking for room mate hookups for September when school starts. So you need to be ready to roll and able to pounce. The chances of somebody holding a room for you so that you can drive down from Providence on Tuesday to look at it is low.

Good advice. Basically, it's way too early. Craigslist is your best bet, but grad schools often have their own... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 9:11 AM on May 5, 2008

Frank Sinatra Has a Cold. by Gay Talese.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 9:42 PM on May 1, 2008

Soon-to-be patent attorney.

Most common first reaction, from other attorneys: "Oh. Do you have a science degree?" Having a science background, such as a science degree, is a requirement. (It's not a stupid question, just a common one.) Then: What area?

Other reaction: "Oh. That sounds boring." Conversations with these people seldom last long, but I usually try to spin it as working on high-tech stuff before anyone else sees it.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 1:39 PM on April 28, 2008

Reminds me. I had a microbiology professor in college. She told us how when she takes an airline flight, if she doesn't want to talk, when she is asked what she does, she'll just say, "I have a PhD in Molecular Genetics." If she's in a better mood, she's a college professor.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 4:33 PM on April 28, 2008

thepaperboy.com is a kind of portal for lots of smaller news sites. They might have stuff Google News doesn't. The search looks kind of weak but maybe you can combine it with some other resource?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 2:00 PM on April 28, 2008

Here is a link to Term Statistics for 2005 compiled annually by the Harvard Law Review. Looking at these reports year-by-year and working backwards will get you the data you need, assuming it's not already compiled elsewhere.

Page 427 has the chart you need.

Reversal rates like this are going to invariably change as the sitting judges of the 9th Circuit and the Supreme Court change. These courts do not exist in a vacuum.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 3:16 PM on April 23, 2008

See also this chart on pg 523, which goes back to 1994. What more do you need?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 3:20 PM on April 23, 2008

Asinine! It's fun to say, it makes people giggle, and it's all too often perfectly appropriate. Foolish, or resembling an ass.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 9:08 PM on April 22, 2008

Urban Navigation: Look at where the buses are going to figure out where the major thoroughfares and population centers are. If lost, look at a bus map, or a map inside a telephone book inside a payphone (getting rarer).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 1:08 PM on April 16, 2008

allkindsoftime: SRO closed recently. It was great for impressing tourists.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 1:52 PM on April 13, 2008

You should check out webehigh.com, which gives you local info on marijuana enforcement worldwide.

When I was in Amsterdam I was on a tram out on the suburbs, I saw two other guys on the train smoking a joint. Other people on the train, who I presume at this point were pretty much all locals, were clearly pretty pissed, and one by one they left that car and sat or stood in the next one over. I'm pretty sure that even in Amsterdam, this could be a citation or something,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 8:58 AM on April 9, 2008

wow, four "prettys" in one message. i'm embarrassed.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 8:59 AM on April 9, 2008

My family favorite is linguica, a garlicky Portuguese sausage marinated in red wine. Kind of a hard sausage to find, but worth the search if you like meaty toppings.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 7:49 AM on April 9, 2008

I seem to recall Alton Brown freezing it and eating the balsamic-ice on bread, or with ice cream.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 5:13 PM on April 8, 2008

Big question is whether this discredits regime change as a whole, or whether the Iraq war just discredits incompetent, poorly planned regime change.

Things like the Future of Iraq project suggest that the present state was not inevitable, and could have been prevented with better planning.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 2:02 PM on April 8, 2008

I think doriangray has the most likely explanation, although with regard to the Aluminum-Alzheimer's link I will just say "correlation is not causation" 100x and hope the thread doesn't derail.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 11:23 AM on April 7, 2008

I'm not sure what you mean by "another view." As compared to what view?

A.M. Hamilton, A Road Through Kurdistan
Great account of road-building through Kurdistan, written by a British engineer.

Anything by Gertrude Bell.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 11:09 AM on April 5, 2008

BTW, you mention she's 23. Just lately I've noticed some young ladies in this age range going text-crazy, making it their primary and preferred means of communication. I agree with the other commenters that asking a girl out in this way is generally deprecated over the more traditional live phone call, but she may not see it that way. Times are a-changin'.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 10:59 AM on April 5, 2008

I am a fellow Brooklynite and have had to deal with this problem. In NYC, fishing around alleys and dumpsters for big boxes just don't work the way it does on the West Coast. I broke down and ordered a kit of boxes from moveout.com and haven't looked back. Saving yourself the stress and aggravation is totally worth the money.

You get new, clean boxes, in sizes you can actually use. And you can use the box the boxes come in to pack your framed pictures and posters!... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 2:57 PM on April 2, 2008

Not what you're looking for, but related.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 5:41 PM on March 30, 2008

I'm with Pollomacho. I do not think the guy in the photo is intended to convey any particular message towards viewers of that profile. Just happens to be a pic in which she thinks she looks good. Considering she's on a dating website, and I presume she indicates what it she is looking for (friends/etc), I would not consider the presence of the photo a reliable indicator of being presently involved with someone.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 1:45 PM on March 28, 2008

One time in college while browsing the reference section of the library I found a directory of experts, in topics ranging from political talking heads to some incredibly obscure scientific disciplines. It looked current and like something you could subscribe to. Can't recall the title exactly. Point being: this is a very much in-demand service, and there are middlemen that cater to it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 9:21 AM on March 28, 2008

I would be surprised if eBay didn't have a guide for sellers somewhere that didn't contain this kind of information.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 12:26 PM on March 27, 2008

This is why I wish the iPods had a built-in "mono" mode. I like to listen with one earphone in so I can be somewhat aware of my surroundings. I bought a mono headphone adapter from Radio Shack but it doesn't quite fit given the case I use. It would be trivial for Apple to implement this, but they haven't seen fit to do so. Steve Jobs, are you reading this?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 12:35 PM on March 24, 2008

What you're describing is legally defined as a partnership, as you have already figured out. There are many, many books like this one that can get you started.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brian James at 4:49 PM on March 20, 2008