I think secretaries and assistants will know what zip archives are, but the people they work for don't always know that and you may sometimes need to work with them directly. While it is true that Windows natively supports zip, not all e-mail programs handle this gracefully, and they may be used to be able to simply double click the icon in the e-mail to get a (usually Word, Excel or Powerpoint) document. Zip may be confusing.

I would definitely not assume people know... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 5:21 AM on June 18, 2008

See also
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 3:08 AM on June 17, 2008

I think this will do what you want.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 6:55 AM on June 15, 2008

Try these recipes from an upcoming vegan cookies cookbook, Dreena's cookies or these double chocolate chip cookies.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 2:36 AM on June 15, 2008

Vice cream
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 3:44 AM on June 14, 2008

Seconding TypographicalError about what the parents of the children feel. I would have a really hard time referring to my siser as "Oncles" because to me that is just a male term, even though it may, in certain circumstances, mean aunts and uncles. It is like the generic "he" (in books and articles for example) that is said to include "she" as well - but it is still a male term.

I would have much less trouble with either cousin or a made-up... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 11:49 PM on June 5, 2008

Thanks for the quick answers! He is actually quite aware of his posture now because the doctor warned two weeks ago that painkillers were important because otherwise he might develop a bad posture. He does not normally drive in a car but he did last Sunday and that did not have any influence on the pain. I will ask about his work chair though.

His breathing is okay, but he did have a cough during/after the infection. The lung doctor made an x-ray of the lungs and they... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 3:17 PM on June 3, 2008

I understand that cough can lead to pain, I have experienced that myself sometimes. But my husband is very fit and strong. He does not get muscle pains easily, so it seems so weird that this totally superficial cough would cause this pain and that the pain would stay for such a long time. Also: the pain is really in one place, wouldn't a muscle pain "stretch out" more?

Rest doesn't seem to help much. Let's hope time does.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 4:04 PM on June 3, 2008

It is possible that he overtrained. He did not feel that way. He was following a schedule from coolrunning.com. He is an experienced but not excessive runner: he runs several half marathons a year, and one marathon a year. His last long run did not go well though: he had to stop after about 25 km (15 miles). This was two days before the infection, so there may be a connection.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 4:17 PM on June 3, 2008

Pleurisy sounds interesting, because the symptoms do match, but I assume that the lung doctor would have diagnosed that if that was the case. He did listen to the lungs and make an x-ray.
He has not gained weight, and that seems the biggest sign of Cushing's syndrome, but I will keep it in mind if things don't improve.
Today the right side pain is getting worse...

Thanks everybody!
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 2:11 AM on June 4, 2008

Thanks annieb. The cough wasn't that severe, it was persistant but superficial, so we find it a bit difficult to understand how that could cause this pain.
I think it is strange that the pain is sometimes at his right side as well, but I think that that makes it at least less likely that it is cancer.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 8:06 AM on June 5, 2008

The book that Greg Nog recommends is awesome, and you can search inside the book on Amazon. Their buttercream frosting is here. Maybe you could use lemon juice instead of soy milk? I never use the amount of liquid that the recipe calls for because it tends to get runny here as well.

I and many vegans I know substitute soy milk and margarine for milk and butter all the time, and it works well, if you use a good quality margarine. (If you don't, it still works, but it will... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 9:51 AM on May 29, 2008

GuyZero: most people on my vegan baking forums use non-hydrogenated margarine (Earth Balance is a favorite of many people there) and that works fine (but like I said, I use less liquid, perhaps to account for the water in the margarine). The vegan frosting I linked to is half shortening, which is 100% fat.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 12:11 PM on May 29, 2008

Cashew ricotta from Veganomicon (I have no idea how it compares to regular ricotta, but I love this for lasagna and pizza).
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 2:49 PM on May 28, 2008

Netherlands: I keep my shoes on mostly because my feet get cold on our hard floors, but I do have comfortable shoes. If I wear heavy shoes (in bad winter weather), I do take them off, and of course if it is really wet or dirty outside I take them off as well.

I love soft carpet. If I had a soft carpet and lived in a warmer climate, I would probably walk around barefoot much more often and I would be much more careful about it (which would be a pain with lots of children... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 12:19 AM on May 27, 2008

However, once you start doing business with someone, the only way to be fair is to try to get as much out of them as possible with no consideration of their interests whatsoever. Fair in life and fair in business are two different things.

I talked to a miller the other day. He told that he used to mill all the flour for a local bakery, until they got a new owner. The new owner "demanded" lower prices. The miller explained that that just... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 11:36 AM on May 23, 2008

Full meal muffins.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 2:29 AM on May 22, 2008

In case you do have a fake meat craving some day, these sausages are really popular in vegan food blogs at the moment. They are really versatile, lending themselves to many variations. I do second the suggestion that if you are starting out you do not eat these on their own as if they were meat. They are great chopped up in stews and other meals when you want a little bit of meaty flavour or texture.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 10:21 AM on May 20, 2008

I would recommend to hire a certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) again. Babies grow so fast at this age, she may know totally different things to try now.
I know that formula is not the end of the world, and if breastfeeding does not work out it is great that it is an option, but you really wanted to breastfeed, so it makes sense to hire a professional again.
I am not normally the person to recommend "get a lawyer" or "go to a doctor" but this is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 9:00 AM on May 14, 2008

social security
According to Dutch happiness researcher Ruut Veenhoven this does not have as much influence as most people think. Income differences also do not matter much. Freedom is what is most important. He researches happiness on a sociologic level, not on an individual level, so he does not say that an individual person would not be happier with more money or social security, but that in general people in countries with better social security are not necessarily happier.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 3:01 PM on May 6, 2008

Don't listen to people who tell you that you need to reduce carbs to combat diabetes. See Dr McDougall's diet for example.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 6:31 AM on May 6, 2008

I am a Mac->PC convert, but my Mac was an older iBook, so I don't know how relevant that is. Still, I remember very well that back then everybody too raved about how much better macs were than Windows, whereas my mac was slower and much more unstable than a comparable Windows PC. I used to work on a helpdesk in a company that used Macs almost exclusively and I was not impressed with MacOS there as well.

For me, the biggest reason why I do not want to use MacOS at the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 6:29 AM on April 30, 2008

Thanks cosmic osmo. I know it is not a bug, I talked about this with an Apple Store employee who insisted I was wrong for preferring MS fonts because "everybody knew" that MacOS font handling was in fact superior to Windows font handling. Joel's article is interesting in that respect, though my experience is different: I was used to MacOS fonts, both at work and at home, and never looked back once I discovered ClearType.

Still, ClearType is optional in Windows,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 7:26 AM on April 30, 2008

I'm a stay-at-home-mom.
"Yes, but what do you do?"
or
"Really? When are you going to go back to work?"
or
"Oh, how I wish I could do that, but, you know, some of us have mortgages to pay"
or a myriad of other responses that are not about me but about the asker.

I now usually say that I build websites (which is also true) and then they ask "Do you make money with that?"
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 10:50 AM on April 28, 2008

I like this quinoa salad, which looks like what thinkingwoman described, but with avocado instead of feta.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 9:55 AM on April 19, 2008

The Post Punk Kitchen Forums have quite a few soy free people (and people with other allergies or food restrictions). That may be useful for getting a bit more variation in the part of your diet that is still vegan.

As for ethical milk: even the small organic local farms around here that treat their cows relatively well sell their "useless" male calves to factory farms.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 1:58 PM on April 6, 2008

Check out The Babywearer.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 5:41 PM on March 13, 2008

The people I met that said that vegetarian diets did not work for them or do not work for everybody ate unhealthy vegetarian diets (even though they thought they were eating healthy) and switched to healthier diets with meat. It was not the meat that helped them, it was the better balanced diet. Of course, vegetarian diets can be just as balanced, without things like "protein powder", but I do think it is harder for some people than it is for other people.
See also less... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 7:05 AM on March 13, 2008

If you believe that an average human diet should contain 60% protein, I agree a vegan diet is impossible.
The vast majority of people who do this don't make a major change in their diets, other than adding some meat to the things they already eat
But that's exactly my point! Most people who become vegetarian do not change their diet very much, they just cut out the meat (or replace it with nutritionally almost useless fake meat). That will lead to an... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 1:38 PM on March 13, 2008

I know a few people (online) who had great improvement after following the Eat To Live diet from Dr Fuhrman.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 10:25 AM on January 31, 2008

You could look for inspiration in the raw food communities. There are many dehydrated cracker or bread recipes (like this). You do not need a dehydrator, just bake them in an oven on a very low temperature.

You do not mention reasons to limit your bread intake. There is an enourmous difference between different bread. Sprouted spelt bread, for example, is completely different from supermarket bread.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 4:42 AM on January 31, 2008

I have the same problem with a new laptop (from another brand). The rmclock utility seems the best option, but it only works if you have a processor that supports Intels speedstep technology. My laptop has a Celeron-M, which does not support this technology, so there is no way to underclock or use other power management features that would help with this. There are a few threads on the RMclock forums about this.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 10:57 AM on January 26, 2008

This article and the discussion may be useful for people who want to cool down their laptop.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 5:22 PM on January 26, 2008

I liked the way this book explains these concepts.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 7:30 AM on January 25, 2008

Vegetarians have to worry about how much protein they get
This is not true. Most people who eat meat get too much protein (and iron - another commonly mentioned but nonexistant problem of vegetarian diets) these days. Protein is not at all a problem in a vegetarian diet, and all expert organizations (like the ADA) agree on this. The only way protein can become problematic is if you either eat a starvation diet or eat only processed junk food.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 12:43 PM on January 23, 2008

Thanks nomisxid and samsara. I think that I will probably start with a big company, because I don't think a small company will have entry level positions for these jobs. I have worked in both small and large companies and do not have a preference, though I do not think I would be happy long term in a large IT organization. I prefer a large "normal" company or a government organization.

I looked through the major job boards and see that most of the database... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 4:58 PM on January 15, 2008

Use dry beans. Bring to a boil the night before the day you want to eat them, and boil for two minutes. Let soak in this water. The following day, refresh the soaking water a few times (use cold water now). Boil again in fresh water without salt, for two hours (depending on your beans). Discard foam while cooking. (Add salt afterwards, if you like).

Small beans digest better than large beans. Sprouting is also really helpful (you can cook them after sprouting).... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 9:35 AM on January 14, 2008

Quinoa is great, but contrary to popular belief, it is not actually that high in protein. It gets 15% of its calories for protein. Wheat is 14% protein, so that's about the same.
I'd argue that it is much more useful to watch your micronutrient intake (phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals), than it is to watch your macronutrient intake (protein, carbs, fats). Beans are still great no matter how you look at them though.

Green vegetables and berries are among the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 1:47 PM on January 12, 2008

I would be interested to hear from older mefites on this issue. I am surprised that people who are in their thirties consider themselves "older" in this thread.

I think the difference is, with kids, you have a grand adventure through them. Without them, you have it in the world..
I think that that is very much not true. I am the most "mommy mom" I know in real life. And still I have a grand adventure in the world. I am... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 3:17 AM on January 7, 2008

I'm a world-class poker player and very soon to be a published author, both of which would not have happened had I been focused on raising children.
Why not? Many published authors have children. I don't know anything about poker, but I just found one world class player with four children as well.

I'll say again that having a child does not mean that your own life ends, though it may feel that way sometimes during the first years,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 6:30 AM on January 8, 2008

Thanks for your replies so far! I'll check out the meds (and the marihuana?!) and discuss them and your other suggestions with her.
A few more things: she does try to get enough fluids, but it is hard. She cannot go to another doctor, even if there were another doctor that would be knowledgable (you cannot choose a doctor where we live). She is sick enough that getting dressed is a struggle. She does not leave the house. She found hyperemesis information herself as well (and got... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 5:49 PM on January 7, 2008

Thanks everybody, for the advice and for sharing your experiences. I really appreciate it. I am so sorry to read that some of you had such an awful time during pregnancy. I had a pregnancy related complication during my last pregnancy and remember the complete dismissal by midwives and doctors. I agree that she needs to be assertive. I don't think doctors in this country are necessarily unwilling, they just really don't know much about it. They don't know about the successful treatments in other... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 4:00 AM on January 8, 2008

According to Pollan, reducing diet to stats is ridiculous at best and harmful at worst.
I agree that there is some harm in reducing diet to statistics, but I think Pollan's reducing ethics to convenience is much more harmful.

To me, the China study is one more data point that a diet that is low in meat can be very healthy. If you want to read more about health arguments for strongly reducing meat and dairy, you may want to read something... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 2:10 AM on January 3, 2008

If you are a women, you may not want to tuck in your pelvis, as pazazygeek recommends. Tucking your pelvis in is not a natural posture. My physical therapist recommended a posture that was like this one (I know I linked to this site before. I do not have any affiliation with them and do not agree with everything they say, but their advice on posture and yoga is in accordance with my experience and the advice from my physical therapist).... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 5:28 PM on January 1, 2008

Ecover is organic, but not usually unscented. There are unscented and hypoallergenic products available in a health food store. There is a book: Better Basics for the Home that gives solutions for all kinds of chemical sensitivities in household and personal care products. I have heard good things about soap nuts or laundry nuts.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 4:53 PM on December 30, 2007

Taff, you could start with Hold on to your Kids by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate. Neufeld is a clinical psycholigist (PhD). Mate is an MD. They provide many references to other academic literature.

In other related parenting news, this week, a professor who is well known for his SIDS research and who discovered the risks with putting chidren to sleep on their bellies, stated that daycare is another major SIDS risk. The hypothesis is that this is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 2:42 AM on December 27, 2007

Hold on to your Kids is more a book written by educated people, but it does mention and cite research. It is definitely the most textbook like book about parenthood that I own (it is uncomparable to for example the Sears parenting books), but the author does have an opinion, based on his clinical practice.

I can only find Dutch references to Dr de Jonge's work, so I am afraid that that's not that helpful. The daycare/SIDS link was big news here last week but I could not... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 3:00 PM on December 27, 2007

I have an older Creative Muvo that does this. To me, the iPod Nano was a major step back, precisely because of the lack of microphone and drag/drop music via usb drive capability.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 2:30 PM on December 24, 2007

Be careful with yoga and pilates. They were originally designed for men, and womens bodies are very different. Since you already have problems, I would stay away from it.

I don't understand why so many people refer you to physical therapy, since you already said that physio made things worse (unless physio and physical therapy are not the same thing in English as they are where I live?). In my experience, physical therapists do not necessarily know enough of women's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 9:12 AM on December 18, 2007

Sanity: Can anyone here speak from experience on whether I'm a nut for wanting to move to the Netherlands?
It would help a lot if you shared why you want to move here.

The suggestions above are great. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is the lack of nature. Our country is a bit crowded. There are no vast amounts of nature. Our air is not that clean either. Politics are leaning to the right at the moment and people are wary of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 1:21 PM on December 15, 2007