Would this do what you want:

Get a splitter at Radioshack. Send the audio signal from your PC to both your M-Audio speakers and to the Logitech subwoofer. Don't plug the Logitech satellites in.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 11:10 PM on September 6, 2008

From the teachers I know:

- the worse part: self-righteous parents with a loud sense of entitlement.
- the bad part: the bureaucracy, especially around curriculum disputes, and the politics between teachers.
- the annoying part: never having any budget.
- the not-too-bad part: dealing with the occasional student who causes trouble.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 11:03 AM on September 2, 2008

Does your laptop have a TV Out? Mine does. I can plug a VCR into the TV Out of a laptop and record the video that it's playing. There, DRM broken with a technology worth 5$ on ebay.

Does your desktop have a TV In? Mine does. I can plug the laptop's TV Out into the desktop's TV In and record what's playing. That's quite convenient, since the process produces a file that can be uploaded to the web immediately. DRM broken again.

Some desktop... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 9:14 AM on September 2, 2008

Dragon is the only program to consider. Their recognition engine is years and even decades ahead of anybody else. They are even ahead of research labs in academia.

The more expensive version of Dragon 9 can transliterate a recording to text unattended (pro and up, I think.)

Dragon is very scriptable, and it can be extended thought an API. Technically, it would be possible to pay for a programmer to build the application you have in mind.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 6:26 PM on August 30, 2008

Experience. Read other people code's, see how they break thing. Read books on software design.

Vocabulary. If you don't know what a graph is, you have zero chance of realizing that your code can be refactored as an algorithm over a graph. Read books on algorithms.

Persistence. Apply brain to problem. Push harder.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 10:08 AM on August 30, 2008 marked best answer

Welcome him with a brand new hammock for two.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 2:05 AM on August 29, 2008

Christ, what an asshole.

If you give the same asshole vibe in person as you do in writing, and you were sneaking in my class, I would decide that you needed to be taught a lesson and advise my director that he prosecute you for theft of service.

If you asked me in person, came across as a nice chap who will not give trouble, and seemed genuinely interested in the material, I would invite you to sit in front of the class and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 3:56 AM on August 25, 2008

Read "On Writing Well" by Zinsser, especially Chapter 12 on interviews, and Chapter 21.

Every outstanding teacher has a special sauce. What is his? What has he discovered about giving a good lecture that nobody else is knows (yet).

When creating a course, a semester is never long enough. You always have to decide what goes in and what goes out. How does he do it?

Does he feel his lecturing is theatrical?... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 11:04 AM on August 24, 2008 marked best answer

Your question, if I understand correctly, is where to find more people like you.

Not at Microsoft, that's for sure.

I think you want to become a student of Jonathan Harris
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonathan_harris_tells_the_web_s_secret_stories.html
http://www.number27.org

or of anyone who works with the programming language Processing
http://processing.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 9:36 AM on August 24, 2008

In-ear earphones are extremely effective noise blockers. When I wear mine, I can't hear the babies crying on the airplane, let alone the engines. I spend the entire time surrounded by a flight crew who is pantomiming to me. It's great.

The more expensive models have an external microphone and a volume control. That should decide how much of the external sound you want to hear. It's useful to discuss with your seatmate for a moment.

They... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 1:59 AM on August 21, 2008

Second the T-Amp. It is a battery-powered amplified that competes favorably with 120 volts high-end amplifiers, both in sound quality and in loudness.

The company that invented the chip seldom licenses its patent, so their Sonic Impact amplifier is the only game in town.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-amp
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 6:50 AM on August 13, 2008

Logitech is a consumer electronic company that also does speakers.

Bose is a marketing company that employs some engineers to come up with gimmicks that sounds good in an ad. They also do speakers.

Altec Lansing is a speaker company that also does consumer electronics.

All three have decent offerings. However, their best sets cannot compare to that of companies dedicated to speakers, with names you have never heard of,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 9:23 PM on August 7, 2008

Breaking your articles into pages makes a huge difference on how much information you get about your readers from the your server log. If you have many pages, you can distinguish between readers who looked at the title and moved on from those who read to the end. If you are losing a lot of potential readers, your hook is not working, and you need to rewrite.

I vaguely remember reading that this was the reason why the New York Time separates every article in at least two... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 1:12 AM on August 3, 2008 marked best answer

Read the Bible :

Introduction to Algorithms
by Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, Clifford Stein

Then read the New Testament :

Purely Functional Data Structures (Paperback)
by Chris Okasaki

Read the proofs and understand how they're done. They do some of the exercises and find a generous soul to correct them for you.

Once you... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 11:30 AM on August 1, 2008 marked best answer

> I plan on getting a bachelors from a state university once I pay off my debts.

Have you considered taking a student loan to cover the cost of your studies? Check the rules where you live. Student loans tend to have low interest rates and accommodating repayment schedules. Shop around, ask a couple of banks. If you can roll your old debt into your new student loan, the whole will feel less threatening.

Plus, degree jobs pay much better.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 3:15 AM on July 30, 2008

I do research on programming languages, on type systems in particular. The most beautiful connections between program languages and natural languages I ever encountered involve delimited considerations.

Chris Barker's paper on Continuation in Natural Language. He shows how continuations, a beautiful construct of programming languages on their own, can be used to elegantly capture certain phenomena in natural languages that are challenging to capture otherwise.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 4:15 AM on July 28, 2008

The trick to not lose anything is to have one well-defined spot for everything. If I worry I'm forgetting my batteries, I only have two check the top pocket of my backpack. You have to design your system so that you still won't forget anything in the worst case. Plan for that morning when you will be sleepy, druggy, sicky, stressed out and in a rush.

Bring mini snap hooks, also from camping store. I tend to hook everything to my backpack. The book I read is in a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 9:58 PM on July 10, 2008

The ICFP programming contest in 2004 had an ant theme. The teams in the contest were tasked to create a simulator for ant brains, then program an ant brain that could collect food the fastest. My team came in 19th place out of 369 teams.

Coding the ant brain was easy and a lot of fun. Coding a good simulator was hard, even for professional programmers. Thankfully, this part is done. You can download the code for many team's entry on their web page. There are link on... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 8:19 PM on July 5, 2008

I have always loved computers, and considered studying computer science in college. I first tinkered around with Linux when I was 14, loved working on the command line, and created websites with html and php.

Good!

However, I abandoned that goal as I wanted to do things that make a difference in people's lives

Oh come on!

Social life :... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 10:00 PM on July 3, 2008

One more thought: There are two kinds of computer scientists. The first kind like computers for their own sake, as the fun puzzles that they are, ever changing and endlessly fascinating. The second kind like computers as a mean to an end. They see how the computer can change the world and they want to participate.

I think you may be the second kind. Which is why you won't be excited about doing databases, until you know it is a database of whale songs that your... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 11:16 PM on July 3, 2008

The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith

Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond

The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, by David S. Landes

plus votes for Ender's Game, 1984, F451
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 5:41 AM on July 3, 2008

There are two questions related to this that show up on askMe.

1- "I tried to fix my girlfriend's computer, as a surprise, and now it won't boot anymore, and I think all her data is lost. Help me fix it before she comes back. I have an hour."

2- "I broke my girlfriends computer trying to repair it, lost all her data, and now she wants to break up with me. Tell me how to fix my relationship."

Fixing... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 12:23 AM on July 1, 2008

My main concern, however, is the sudden onset.

Yes, this is exactly how RSI works. Be careful, or it might turn into a sudden disability.

This is likely the most serious medical condition you have ever faced. I have dozens of friends with permanent limitation that their hand function because of RSI. For many of them, including myself, the pain never leaves.

Advice #1 : Stop typing and go see a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 7:05 AM on June 27, 2008

All right, I have just written up a 2000 words article containing everything I have to say about RSI.

It's even available in French.

Enjoy.

http://gmarceau.qc.ca/articles/your-wrists-hurt-you-must-be-a-programmer.html
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 6:27 AM on June 29, 2008

... but before you go to Vancouver, spend a weekend in Montréal. Toronto might have bad weather, but Vancouver has no weather at all. Montréal, bless her heart, has epic weather.

Joking aside, take the Canadian skilled worker immigrant self-assessment test, here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/EnGLIsh/immigrate/skilled/assess/index.asp

If you score above 67, you're in. The two big tickets items on the quiz are, having a job... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 12:37 AM on June 29, 2008

eh, *you* will be.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 12:38 AM on June 29, 2008

I have used two usb different video cards in the past. The first one had awful picture quality, was dog slow, and crashed my machine all the time. The second one had ok picture quality, was fast enough, and didn't crash.

Unfortunately, I do not remember the models I used.

If you go that route, buy locally, and be prepared to return the item a number of times until you find a decent brand.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 10:27 PM on June 28, 2008

Option one. Encrypt the password in a zip file. Make the password of the zip file some shared information. For example, tell them to decrypt the zip file using their SSID as a password.

Option two. Install Skype on everyone's machine. Tell them you will only send passwords through Skype. Skype is the only application that I know of that offers end-to-end encryption out of the box, with no configuration whatsoever.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 10:22 PM on June 28, 2008

Standard deviations = sqrt(1/n * sum[(xi - mean(X))^2])

Mean absolute deviation = 1/n * sum[ | xi ? mean(X) | ]

Everyone works with standard deviation. Why? The formula for mean absolute deviation is simpler, no?

Because the absolute value operator is a pain to work with. When writing a proof, each time you hit an absolute value you have to break into a case analysis. If those cases have absolute values themselves, then... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 9:59 PM on June 28, 2008

I've been told (I'll see if I can find a cite) that the male and female brains do differ

Gay Brain Structure Similar to Straight Opposite Sex
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 4:09 AM on June 23, 2008

You can't talk to the big corporate labels unless you have money and power at the level of Steve Jobs. So that path is out.

You're not the only one to find this unfortunate. You should contact people trying to build alternatives to the major labels. Two such company I know are Magnatune and The Orchard.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 12:38 AM on June 21, 2008

Google docs fulfills your criteria except integrated todos. It's only for text for office-style documents (text spreadsheet and presentations), though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 1:50 AM on June 15, 2008

I can't help but think the system needs to support web editing of individual files under version control--which would make it very easy for people to access and grasp--and automated merges, at least for the authors.

Yep, that's exactly what google docs does.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 9:51 PM on June 19, 2008

You don't have to wait for it to learn. If you clear your history, Firefox 3 will figure out what you mean from the first time you browse to metafilter. Try that before you turn it off.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 6:24 PM on June 19, 2008 marked best answer

The clone is definitely better. It saves you the effort needed to reinstall everything by hand, piece by piece. Plus, if you don't back up everything, I guarantee you will discover that some important file was not stored in My Documents. I just lost my email address book that way.

Your drive will fail soon enough. If you wait, it's pretty much a given that you will lose the work between your last backup and the failure. You should switch right away.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 7:29 AM on June 14, 2008

I can't seem to find any actual legal or economic basis for saying that companies must be unethical to profit.

Economically speaking, the contrary is true. The belief that profits are unethical created 50 years of economic misery in India. Before the reform of 1991, the draconian system of regulation meant you effectively needed license to profit, which the government gave but rarely.

The profit-is-ripoff interpretation --... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 3:03 AM on June 14, 2008

Dropping them early because of their look might not be the best strategy. Don't go for gold. Your first mail should merely try to set up a fun e-mail correspondence. In addition to being fun, that correspondence will try to set up a good time over coffee. Sharing coffee occasionally lead to a friendship, and if you're lucky, a relationship. Try to enjoy yourself at each step, because the end goal is so far you will never get there if you don't have fun on the way.

In... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 10:57 PM on June 13, 2008

Have no doors on the cabitnets. I spend all my time opening and closing cabinet doors, or knocking my head on them. Without the doors, your attractive serving-ware serves as decoration, and your guests can navigate your collection. Dust was not a problem in my apartment. If you are worried, install transparent doors that folds into the cabinets so they are out of the way while you're cooking. Or install translucent curtains.

The trash can should be on a pull-out rail... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 11:34 AM on June 11, 2008

I intend to code some heavy processing functions.

This shouldn't affect the language you code in. The heavy processing you will code as a C function, which you will access through your chosen language's foreign function interface.

I guess .NET is a possibility but this goes opposite to portability.

Code in C#, but dont use MS's virtual machine. Use mono instead, which is three way... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 3:46 PM on May 31, 2008

Some Trojan damage the system as a side effect of their propagation, or simply out of spite.

For some Trojan, the implementation of cleanup routines is really hard because the Trojan might be programmed to fight against its removal.

Even when removal does work and the propagation stops, the antivirus will not repair the damage to the system. That damage might be irreversible, short of a reinstall.

You document files might... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 11:41 PM on May 27, 2008

Gravitas, the universe in motion

It is a free bittorent download.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 4:53 PM on May 26, 2008

In high school, mathematics feels of rote learning and execution. I loved math. I was good at it and I felt its power. It wasn't until University that I discovered it is also a creative endeavor. You need creativity to make a difficult proof go through. You need to invent notation, and to break the sequence into lemmas the way an author would organize chapters.

In high school, problems always tell you which tool to use to solve a problem. Real life math isn't like... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 8:43 AM on March 27, 2008

"Not Responding" means your program may or may nor have gone into an infinite loop. Unfortunately, neither Windows nor anyone can tell whether it has. c.f. The Halting Problem.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 8:49 PM on March 21, 2008

When I attended ISSTA 2006, there were about 30% woman in attendance. I remember because a found it striking enough that I took take the time to count.

ISSTA an academic conference with a solid industrial presence. While I would think that few in the audience would consider themselves members of the open source community, lots of the paper presented during the day talked about a piece of code released under an open-source license. So, technically, they are open source... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 1:33 PM on March 19, 2008

Skype has excellent cryptography out of the box. The bonus is, using it is unlikely to arose suspicious. Skype is a useful program on its own, with or without the cryptography. If somebody comes knocking, your friend will have plausible deniability.

Tom Berson did an independant evaluation of Skype usage of crytography in 2005.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 10:50 AM on March 18, 2008

JungleDisk can be mounted as a drive. That makes it a little bit better than Mozy for your purpose, since you could play your music directly off of that drive.

JungleDisk gets more expensive than mozy beyond 33 gigs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 8:43 PM on March 17, 2008

Google Sketchup does section planes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 8:40 PM on March 17, 2008

At the same volume level, you get: I=V/R, so half the resistance, twice the current. P=IV, so twice the current, twice the power, and so 6 dB more sound. To convert from Watts to decibels add 6 dB for each time you double the power.

You should check that you are not running too much current through the amp or thought the speaker, or you will fry them. The easy way to check is to put your finger on the amp while it is playing at full volume. If it gets burning hot, your... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 10:52 AM on March 17, 2008 marked best answer

Thunderbird stores mail as mbox, Sylpheed stores them as Maildir, which is essentially one file per message.

So, if you just install Sylpheed and use the file/import to import your mbox file, you will be done.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 12:34 PM on March 14, 2008

... then again, the early worm gets eaten by the bird.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gmarceau at 12:28 PM on March 14, 2008