It's not part of your question, but be wary of used scooters. You never quite know the engine condition with a used scooter.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 3:46 PM on June 30, 2008

Archie McPhee and MOMA have fun postcards. You might try other art museum stores, too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 4:21 PM on June 26, 2008

I'd prefer non-speculative answers, if possible. Thanks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 11:35 PM on June 24, 2008

I guess I admit I'm concerned about the security of putting all my financial records on a free web site which has bugs in how it calculates sums.

I don't feel like hacking GNUcash to make it work with electronic bank data. It looks like it doesn't work well with financial services like TIAA-CREF and Fidelity. Doesn't seem like a good long-term approach.

I guess I could run Quicken through Fusion, but the horror stories are problematic.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 4:49 PM on June 25, 2008

Chopped ginger.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 1:12 AM on June 25, 2008

Objective C is the language Mac OS X applications are written in.

Cocoa is the framework ("building blocks") from which applications are made.

Xcode is the IDE. This is the tool you'll use to develop your projects.

Aaron Hillegass' Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X is probably the best introduction to Cocoa and Objective C development.

From there, you could visit the iPhone Dev Center and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 10:36 AM on June 22, 2008

I think U2's cover of the theme to Mission: Impossible changed it from 5/4 to regular old 4/4.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 10:51 PM on June 21, 2008

Physical music stores (if not now, soon).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 10:18 AM on June 21, 2008

If you're after synchronization between accounts, have you looked into rsyncx? You can do that without OS X Server or Linux. Regular old OS X runs ssh just fine. Here are some helpful instructions to get you started.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 4:18 PM on June 20, 2008

I first thought of rsync, but then it seems that rsync doesn't handle OS X's resource forks as well and I see that sometimes people reccomend unison over rsync for two-way syncing.

The rsyncx I linked to handles resource forks just fine, but if you want to use unison I suppose you could do that.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 6:06 AM on June 21, 2008

I broke a knee last year and had to wear a full leg cast. To shower, I wrapped the leg in a garbage bag and "sealed" it to the leg with duct tape. Unless you shave your legs, taking the bag off could be painful, but being able to shower was worth it, for me.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 4:35 PM on June 19, 2008

My friends and I posited that a lesbian bar might bring down the real estate value

Most gay neighborhoods (around which bars precipitate) in urban America tend to start out as depressed, high-crime regions and end up gentrified, pushing out the poorer gay element as the professionals move in (citation needed, I know, but I wish I had more time to write this). A lesbian bar might be set up in an area with low real estate values, but I'd doubt that the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:19 PM on June 19, 2008 marked best answer

• Hands-free Help
• Airwave Assistants
• Amplified Assistance
• Radio Relief
• Radio Rescue Unit
• Frequency Friends
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 6:12 AM on June 19, 2008

Lard will keep a couple weeks in the fridge and longer in the freezer. Fat will still go rancid in the freezer but the process will take longer -- you can help this by removing as much air from the storage bag as you can, as oxygen helps rancidify the fats.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 1:46 PM on June 18, 2008 marked best answer

How crucial is renter's insurance (I have a few computer and would probably have a semi-nice HDTV)?

A year of insurance is cheap enough that you should do it, in case of theft, fire etc. If you have auto insurance, talk to your company to see if they offer a deal on renter's insurance.

And lastly, how can I make this place my home?

Floor lamps, framed artwork, rugs, bookcases, string lighting are a few ideas.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:11 PM on June 17, 2008

Be warned that Eyesight and Eye Candy are very expensive.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 8:57 PM on June 16, 2008

You could easily spend $250-600+ for a pair of frames from the boutique stores. That doesn't include lenses.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 12:42 PM on June 17, 2008

Here is a review paper on some research into the subject. In addition to ethanol damaging a sperm's genetic material, which can cause birth defects, you might also consider the epigenetic effect of ethanol on the expression of the sperm's existing genetic material.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:26 PM on June 14, 2008

Alcohol abuse and moderate alcohol usage -- as the OP describes -- are not the same thing.

That's probably a fair observation, in most cases. However, the review paper may provide some insight into research about the larger subject of ethanol exposure, and what constitutes a "safe" level, if it exists.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 3:10 PM on June 14, 2008

Aneuploidy is where there are abnormal numbers of chromosomes. Down syndrome results from an extra 21st chromosome, for example.

Here's another paper that suggests ethanol exposure can increase rates of aneuploidy events, but 1. my University doesn't have a subscription to articles from 1987, so I haven't read it; 2. it appears to use the mouse as a model for establishing effects to genetic material; 3. I don't know how much alcohol is administered, relative to moderate... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 3:29 PM on June 14, 2008

Thirding the Hazan recommendation.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:02 PM on June 14, 2008

Knocking off credit card debt is almost always a good idea.

If you go back to school, you can almost certainly defer your existing low-interest student loan payments, and by earning (presumably) less income while at school, paying off the credit card may be more difficult.

I'm not sure what I'd do about the car, in your situation. You're losing money with the car, either way, it seems. Can you trade it in for a car with better mileage and lower... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:16 PM on June 13, 2008

Then k-means (with k=6) would seem to be the way to go.

The usage examples I see in Eisen's cluster and the kmeans function in R suggest they work with single points (e.g. gene expression level) as opposed to a vector of points (my score curve, or "profile", which are multiple "expression levels"). Do I just consider that the "time course" or "trial" columns are analogous to each position along the genome, and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 4:39 PM on June 11, 2008

Each curve you want to cluster is a vector of points? How long is the vector and how many dimensions are each point?

It would be the minimum length of the vectors I'm comparing. The vector could be as short as 40 points.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 7:32 PM on June 11, 2008

Why do production companies show their logos before a movie? Because you consciously or subconsciously associate that company with a product you (hopefully) like, thereafter.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 8:04 PM on June 10, 2008

If your budget is limited and a MacBook Pro is out of range, maximize your RAM and buy an external Firewire hard drive. An internal laptop hard drive is not made for multitrack recording.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 3:56 PM on June 10, 2008 marked best answer

Speaking as a gay man, I, too, absolve you of any responsibility for the Holocaust.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 3:47 PM on June 10, 2008

If you use rsync for backups, you could use the --stats argument to log statistics on a daily basis, to help answer these questions.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 12:53 PM on June 10, 2008

This isn't chatfilter. Please just answer the question, flag it, or go to Metatalk.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 12:15 PM on June 10, 2008

I have relatively minor credit card debt n.

Why not apply for a 0% credit card and do a balance transfer? That will give you breathing room to make smaller payments until you can get your finances in order.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 11:00 PM on June 9, 2008

Maybe because if they could do that, they would have already? I mean, the poster said they could only qualify for a loan of n/2.

Is that from a loan or from a 0% credit card?

Plus, credit card transfers will generally accrue a 3% balance transfer fee.

Whatever that fee is, it's lent at 0% interest, which gives time to make smaller payments without compounding debt. A 3% transfer... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 11:21 AM on June 10, 2008

Consider taking a look at the www.php.net reference. There's lots of detail about classes. When you're browsing functions, scroll down for code snippets and usage gotchas.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 12:36 AM on June 10, 2008

I think you're expecting a lot more order and structure from the PHP language than you should :)

It is possible, although difficult, to create a good PHP application. The problem is that there is so much PHP 4 legacy code from the non-OO days.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 10:42 AM on June 10, 2008

Rigorous exercise raises adrenaline levels. Adrenaline is a natural decongestant. Your airways will accordingly open from your exercise.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 8:45 PM on June 9, 2008 marked best answer

I'd skip out on the G4 Powerbooks. They run hot and slow. You will have a miserable experience. Consider looking for a used or refurbed MacBook, instead.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 4:35 PM on June 9, 2008

As a general background issue, AT&T is in a revenue-sharing agreement with Apple for the iPhone.

Apple doesn't have anything to do with moving a previous AT&T account over to a new AT&T phone. They just make the phones. I would talk to a customer rep.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 1:28 PM on June 9, 2008

Here's a twist on the colored ring I've always had my eye on, which has a geometric arrangement.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 11:48 PM on June 8, 2008

Web Style Guide, 2nd Edition
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:46 PM on June 7, 2008

If you rent bikes in Old Montreal, ask for maps so that you can follow a bike trail up to the observation point on Mont Royal. You can see a good swath of the city from there, and if you get bikes with panniers, or wear a backpack, you could bring a pack lunch and have a picnic with the kids up in the Mont Royal park.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:17 PM on June 7, 2008

I always read that it was done by someone who lost his virginity.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:13 PM on June 7, 2008

Akira will be out on Bluray this summer. It might be worth the wait, if you have a BD player.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 11:22 PM on June 6, 2008

I have seen the the rerelease and the dubbing didn't have the quaintness of the Japlish of the original dubbing

Yeah, I have the "special edition" and the re-dubbing is just painful and awkward, compared with the original.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 11:36 PM on June 6, 2008

Why not use cedar? It's naturally repellant to some insects and doesn't have the nasty health effects if you machine it or sand it indoors. And it smells wonderful.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 8:16 PM on June 4, 2008

Sweaty (Shazam Mix) - Muscles

can't stop playin' it...
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 10:53 PM on June 3, 2008

I'm unsure why you think the symptoms you're reporting indicate a memory leak in the X server.

From the tools I am using to report usage, it appears to be using between 50-100% of 4 GB of system memory. Granted, those values are not consistent between monitors, but they do seem consistent within the monitor used.

X is pretty widely used, so if it was leaky you wouldn't be the only person to notice.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 3:43 PM on June 3, 2008

Does he call his behavior excessive, or do you?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 4:55 AM on June 1, 2008

Visible sunlight is a mix of colors. Remember that the color you see when you look at something is the color that's not reflected. For example, when you look at the leaf of a plant, it is absorbing green and reflecting all other colors — that's why it looks green.

So a sunshade with a lighter hue (probably the silvery side) will reflect more of the spectrum of sunlight than the darker color and will help reflect more thermal energy away.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 10:07 PM on May 27, 2008

Ableton Live is the standard for this sort of thing, with a much larger user base than Fruity Loops and, accordingly, a much larger group of people to share tips, ideas and questions with. Fruity Loops is also a bit of a toy, and for what you'll spend, you'll want a powerful app that will grow as your skills and library grow.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 12:14 AM on May 27, 2008

What is disgusting about Optima?

Not disgusting, but it is somewhat dated. Use only for emergency ironic references to Expo '67 perhaps.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:11 PM on May 23, 2008

We were looking into PostgreSQL a few months back because of its custom data type support, which would help with more focused queries in bioinformatics applications. This overview from 2005 might be useful, as well as this one.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 4:43 PM on May 22, 2008