I did something similar to biscotti and it was reassuring to know I was organized. Visa Journey is a godsend, as you probably know.

Stationary, phone cards, and booze - that should help. Did I mention the booze? Nthing the booze and aspirin (not together of course).
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 8:04 PM on December 6, 2007

Have you tried some of the used clothing stores along Queen St. West between University and Bathurst? They might be able to help you - or at least call around to a bunch of them. Black Market has some good stuff. If you're thinking online, zappos.com is excellent; if by some chance they don't have spats (whoo! love them) try finding them through like.com, a visual fashion search engine.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 8:00 PM on December 6, 2007

Central Desktop? (not affiliated, not PepsiBlue - just a fan).
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 12:12 AM on November 3, 2007

Try also searching through istockphoto - they have a lot of great Vector art imagery that could get your inspiration started.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:11 AM on October 21, 2007

nthing ethel re: considering a leave of absence - it's not permanent, but just a stop gap until things get a little calmer. Be gentle with yourself - you've truly been through so much in one year, it's remarkable you're able to keep your head above water.

And yes, the food, the outdoors, all of this helps. Do what feels good. Take care of yourself - take advantage of any services your school offers - any counsellors, etc. Treat yourself to little gifts here and there,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 4:31 PM on October 13, 2007

I've also heard it attributed to Nellie McClung, early 20th century Canadian suffragist. If you Google "never apologize McClung quote" you'll get quite a few references to it - including this one:

"Never retreat, never explain, never apologize—get the thing done and let them howl." - Nellie McClung
Source: Colombo, John Robert, ed.. New Canadian Quotations. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1987, p. 2 - from the Calgary Public Library page.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 10:15 PM on October 10, 2007

Don't know if this helps, but Pownce has a Mac app that's on Air. It's pretty stable, although the site doesn't refresh much - I suspect that's because of the data (i.e. people thought it was hip, then stopped using it).
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 10:52 PM on September 4, 2007

Might want to check in with the folks at the Coworking initiative to see people's experiences. I'm not sure if anyone goes into this to make a pot load of money, but that page (and the discussion group) they've got might help clear up questions.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 5:13 PM on September 2, 2007

Seconding DailyKos' Markos - I'm sure he has some fantastic perspectives. Also check out any poli sci and technology sites, and sites like moveon.org - not sure if you can narrow it down to Web 2.0 or not (rather than 'just' blogging and YouTube) so much as people's interest to take political dialogue to the Web.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 1:53 PM on August 12, 2007

(For what it's worth, I think your question shows a little of the same confusion I've seen in so many co-workers. Sexual harrassment doesn't just mean "telling jokes about sex." It means, at the very least, that you're using the jokes as a weapon, to intimidate someone or make them feel unwelcome. Doesn't sound like you're doing much of that at the hospital.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:47 AM on August 5

Well said.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:59 AM on August 5, 2007

Nthing Larry Sanders and The Newsroom - anything by Ken Finkleman is brilliantly sardonic.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:17 PM on August 4, 2007

excellent suggestions - and I do like littlegreenlight's 'make it feel like home' suggestion. I bring tealight candles with me when I travel, and a little bit of domesticating a location (especially a hotel room) goes a long way.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 10:48 PM on August 4, 2007

It might be overkill, but Central Desktop might be good - there's also Ace Projects. Both are kind of clunky, but they have their virtues. Not exactly an extranet (which is what you need, in part) but might be useful.

(not affiliated with either of them - just tried them out for various clients).
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 8:12 PM on July 31, 2007

Also look into support groups - they can be an invaluable resource. It's heartening to know you're not alone (when you go to a group, or in this thread, of course), and that can sometimes give you a boost, energy wise, to get some sort of help.

Rooting for you and hope everything turns out ok...
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 10:08 PM on July 27, 2007

I don't know if there's an 'answer' to this - there are some interesting perspectives in this thread. As a Canadian living in the States, I see value in both countries - one would be a fool not to.

But there is something that speaks 'home' to Canada that will never be 'home' in the States. The problem is that we project what we see as 'the best' onto things that objectively don't always live up to those projections - and everyone's projections are different. I see... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 9:48 PM on July 27, 2007

check if the local SCORE association can help (retired executives who give free biz advice).
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:17 PM on July 23, 2007

sushi yes, and smoothies or fresh fruit are great energy boosters (YMMV etc. )
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:00 PM on July 10, 2007

Excellent advice from all - triple nthing the Camelback... just attach your wings to it or try to get wings that can have a backpack on top of them (some of them do). Nthing the idea that you will have to drink lots of water. Also maybe visit the medical tent at Center Camp and see what supplies they have just in case - I had a minor medical issue and was completely blown away by how efficient and prepared they were. Might be reassuring to know that they can set you up with a glucose drip... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 7:58 AM on July 8, 2007

Oh dear lord, please don't tell me you're not a 'good looking woman'. I just looked at your Flickr stream, and you're beautiful. You are an oil painting, from Pre-Raphaelite era. Meant in a not-creepy, compliment from one woman to another kind of way, of course. And I'm not just saying it because the women of Montreal are beautiful, either. :P

There's excellent advice from everyone here - and I agree, inevitably someone will take photos that show up on Flickr that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:46 AM on July 7, 2007

Do we have a citation for the "peasants, criminals, soldiers" here? Just curious.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:29 PM on July 4, 2007

Thanks for that site, acoutu - will check the book out. Also checked out your consulting web site - good stuff!

And thanks for everyone's comments, especialy meehawl's most recent ones. I only wish the hive mind were around to teach us high school history - most of us might have stayed away if we had more teachers who had a love of the topic...
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:42 PM on July 6, 2007

I'm tempted to say 'User Experience Designer', because I am one, but that title always sounds a bit like some stoners in California created the term. I've toyed with Problem Solver (because that's what I do, too) but it's a little too "I'm Winston Wolf. I solve problems" hitman-y for me.

I do like Renaissance Man and Professional Dilettante, for what it's worth. Do think of your audience, and do check out Flickr for Moo cards since people have posted A LOT of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 10:49 AM on July 6, 2007

RIAA issues aside, maybe the folks at the Metallica Bulletin Board might be able to help, too.

Me, I'm with Terminal Verbosity - perhaps they left that in to keep people guessing. Someone should start a site of little sonic screwups, hidden tracks, etc. etc.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 10:37 AM on July 6, 2007

I did what doubtful_guest said - the washi paper was perfect for mine :)

Also check out craftster.org - people post their finished projects, and that can be a good source of inspiration - even the stuff that's not done. Also what's your decor and/or design interest? That tends to determine what I'm going to build. Sites like Stylehive are useful for poking around at stuff, although it's more Mod in general. I often look at sites or books of what interests me (like,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 10:32 AM on July 6, 2007

I kind of feel most people at 25 seem shallow and snarky - I kid, I kid, of course. I do think there's definitely a certain urban club goer who's just plain annoying, and doubly so in a group - so you're not the only one annoyed.

There are a lot of great suggestions here - definitely go out to your local GLBT center, and also go to as many kinds of events suited to your interests. And there are a plethora of online dating sites of all types - sites like Consumating and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 10:27 AM on July 6, 2007

I hate seeing people suffering with sinus problems - I do myself, and it's damned unpleasant. I've found icepacks to be a big help with the headaches, and the only thing to really help is taking Reactine (in Canada - it's known as Zyrtec in the U.S.) and occasionally Benydril. I take the Reactine every day during allergy season, and even then I still get the odd killer sinus headache. The SinusBuster/Capasicin looks interesting - I'm going to try it myself. Sometimes I wish I could just... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 10:13 PM on June 30, 2007

Arc 90 does great work. I know of a couple of the guys there, and they're really nice, extremely knowledgable (check out Rich's blog - he's one of the cofounders, and his assessment on many topics is 110% right).
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 9:58 PM on June 30, 2007

First off, you're not clueless (we all start off at the beginning) and don't let the application snobs get to you (i.e. you'll progress from Publisher soon enough - don't let people browbeat you into buying CS 3).

That said, people will post lots of links (and I will, if I remember to) and there are indeed great resources and books out there, but nothing quite replaces a good class on the topic. An 'intro to graphic design 101' course I took many years ago at a local... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 6:12 PM on June 27, 2007

(my comment on CS 3 not directed at boognish or anyone - just accidently occured, honest).
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 6:13 PM on June 27, 2007

Oh my lord - uh, we still have librarians, markovich, because there are still these ancient artifacts that many citizens around the world still have, called, uh, BOOKS. You'll find them in those equally out of date things like 'bookstores' and 'libraries'. Librarians often help us find things on the Internet, too - a lot of them become information architects. To say one profession is more 'useful' than another is pretty silly - or that one should only have a 'useful' job.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 10:14 AM on June 23, 2007

Fascinating thread. I didn't see it mentioned, but the Sue Townsend "Secret Diary of Adrian Mole" series might be fun. And OMG, someone mentioned "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" - bless you! A great book about kids trapped overnight in a museum. Quite a hoot. 12 year old girl protagonist, too.

(used to tell people that was my fav book, and by the title they look like they'd just been introduced to a Martian - "Basil E.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:26 PM on June 20, 2007

meevee.com?
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 12:27 PM on June 16, 2007

Great question. I'll second ActiveCollab as a recommendation (pretty easy to install etc.), and raise you two others you can evaluate: Ace Project and Central Desktop. dotProject seems to be good as well - thanks Tom for the chance to test it out. Very generous of you!

There are also a lot of project management related groups online - perhaps they can find you something Gantt-chart specific too. Perhaps we're stuck with having Project be a separate app...... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:45 AM on June 15, 2007

Yes, definitely sounds like fun. Don't know if this will help, but Ian Wood over at Astonished Head did a cross-country by bicycle road trip last year, and blogged a lot of it. He's got a good account of what he did to set up his gear technically - something involving a laptop, phone, solar panels and some such madness. Might be worth checking out.

Will definitely check out your travel blog when you have it - maybe post it over in Projects?... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 10:06 AM on June 14, 2007

On the one hand, someone who's single at 50 is fine - not everyone has the gold of being married and buying a house, and that's ok. One person's judgment of 'pathetic' is another person's acceptance of different strokes for different folks If he has no savings partly because he's travelled, that makes sense - if he's travelled lots and to exotic places, all the power to him... lucky guy. Heck, if I was a lawyer (especially a corporate lawyer), I'd be escaping on a boat every other... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:55 PM on June 6, 2007

Boy, I'll be watching this thread with great interest - I'm curious to see if anything actually exists or is local to me on the West Coast. There's the Stanford DSchool, which seems to really emphasize more of the product design aspect, but it's still fairly new and co-run by the MechEng and Fine Arts Dept - take of that what you will.

parmanparman, how much math are we talking here? ;)
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 9:57 AM on June 5, 2007

The Other Man - Sloan

nthing rhizome's and sunshinesky's comments - those are your best answers both right there :)
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 9:52 AM on June 5, 2007

nthing b33j's comments, but also suggesting "Nobody's Fault" by Beck for your mixed tape. Good luck!
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 9:30 AM on June 4, 2007

palmcorder has a great suggestion - it's personal without being too personal... and a nice switcheroo on the 'going away, will send you a postcard' thing. Make it romantic but not overly gushy... and perhaps offer to pick her up from the airport, which I think is an incredibly romantic thing. Maybe have a simple bouquet of flowers, even?

*waits for anti-romance brigade to attack*
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 4:57 PM on June 3, 2007

there's also impersonals.com, although consumating is cute, and okcupid has more of the 'matching compatibility' factor going for it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:20 AM on June 1, 2007

wow, Mach3avelli - a post that helps me rather than me helping you? What an incredible selection of music. Thanks for this.

Off the top of my head all I have is Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (the studio version with strings - a video version here can't quite compare) which is kind of the hokey folk suggestion, but the way Art sings it still gives me chills. Interesting to think of sonic crescendos and how the timing of lyrics and music... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 9:19 AM on May 31, 2007

Whistle in open spaces - sounds like a good guide in life. Whislters who pick good tunes (like Summertime) are fine by me - I just feel jealous since I can't really whistle for some reason. Anyone who tries to bring a little levity and music out in the open and into the day is good in my books - that someone's got a song in their head kind of cheers me up. And sometimes a whistle is JUST a whistle.

But damn, a theremin? Now that's some beautifully creepy whistlin'... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 8:59 AM on May 31, 2007

wait, you're a MBA student and they haven't told you? What hope is there for the rest of us? And presumably you have access to resources on campus that those of us out of school don't even have.

ubujackson's link is quite good, btw. There are infinitely lots of biz resources online - is this homework filter? Sorry, don't mean to be snark here... apologies with the tone.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 11:03 AM on May 30, 2007

Would looking at books on innovation help? I agree - there seems to be a lack of info on that creative spark possessing people to a point of actually implementing something - and then something giving us the details about why one idea or model was better than another.

And I agree - info overload is a huge concern. Trust me, I'm working in a field trying to do things to help improve user's abilities to find the info they actually need.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 2:26 PM on May 30, 2007

I sympathize with the 'not knowing many people in your past to use as a reference' issue. Think of anyone who can confirm that you're trustworthy (which is the heart of the issue if you're going to be bondable or whatever). Are there any friends of the family (your parents friends, that type of thing) who've known you a while who can at least a) vouch that you're a real person, b) say that you're fairly ethical and trustworthy, and ideally c) that they've known you for a while? I've used... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 8:17 PM on May 22, 2007

I don't know if these are necessarily insulting, but Torontonians have some interesting names for two of their suburbs - "Etobichoke" (for Etobicoke) and "Scarberia" (for Scarborough).

There's always the ever popular "couple of beers short a 2-4" type insults ("couple of Timbits short a full box" etc etc.).

kch's got a great list of suggestions, and yes, I hope someone will pipe up with some Atlantic provinces related insults.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 3:43 PM on May 21, 2007

ah, so *that's* where Gord Downie gets it from! (re: "lord Thundering Jesus", which was sampled from a Tragically Hip concert and is found at the beginning of a Change of Heart song). < / obscure canuck music filter> Now I just have to find the story behind the 'Killer Whale Tank" monologue, and I can die a happy kid.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 6:45 PM on May 21, 2007

Try astro.com - I don't know if the free version goes into transits per se, but it's a pretty handy site. You can do a full natal chart there, which makes me think it might be semi-useful as opposed to the 'sun sun = me' type blather found in the newspapers.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 8:43 AM on May 19, 2007 marked best answer

first off, congrats on quitting smoking. Good for you (and your nose, etc.) It's probably a huge explanation for why things have improved.

Have you been to an allergist? It can help to know what specifically you're allergic to. I used to think I had hayfever, but a simple skin test got more specific regarding tree pollens etc. It might help, and they might be more qualified to help prevent anything in the future from starting up again. I too have heard that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 9:42 AM on May 16, 2007

I might have the name of one person who's a vlogger who's opinionated on what makes a good vlog hosting service - that may be a good thing. For what it's worth, the whole 'video on phones' thing seems optimistic at best to me; the commercials where people around the world are transfixed by a video of a kid dancing in his kitchen is great PR but not reality, and perhaps it shouldn't be.

Having said that, here are some thoughts. If you stress the 'new service, want to get... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmm at 1:20 PM on May 13, 2007 marked best answer