In a lot of circumstances, I'd say go for the graduate school. Engineering is generally kind of an exception to that. I'm in grad school for mechanical engineering without having gotten a job first, but I was offered funding when I was accepted at the school I'm currently attending, so I didn't have to pay for it myself. In many cases in engineering, your company will gladly pay for you to get an advanced degree.

Regardless, even if I had had no experience with grad... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 8:42 PM on December 7, 2009

The 6th seems alright, but at that point in time I may or may not be swamped with school work (the last day of class for UT is this friday, the 4th, and I have an exam and a largeish final project due in the following weeks). I'll try to make it, but no promises.

Have we figured out where it will be yet? I'll put in a vote for Crown and Anchor, because I like it and because it's easy for me to get to (and right across the street from my office, so if I am working I'll... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 2:40 PM on December 1, 2009

My work is turning out to be going not as quickly as I hoped, so I'm out. Sorry about that, hope to make the next one.
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 1:09 PM on December 6, 2009

You say you're about to be a student in English, and I'm going to take that to mean you're going to college. If this is the case, you're probably, ultimately, going to want a laptop. Having that level of portability is really indispensable.

Apple's laptop prices are falling more in line with the equivalent mainstream PC prices as time goes on, but they still tend to be on the expensive side. I think any extra cost is generally worth it, but I'm a big fan of Mac OS and... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 11:36 PM on November 24, 2009

If you want to meet engineers, a lot of us seem to spend almost all of the time we're not working at either JP's or Crown and Anchor*, on the northeast side of campus. They're pretty grad-studenty places. Dog and Duck strikes me as having a similar, low-key feel. Flying Saucer is kind of douchey, but at any given point in time in the evenings you're likely to find a reasonably heavy grad student contingent.

I'm a current 2nd year grad student, writing this from my office... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 12:28 PM on November 24, 2009

Got my tickets, but I'm scared that I might actually win and have to think of a good name.
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 11:46 AM on November 16, 2009

Somehow I missed this thread and didn't see it until I was looking at the sidebar. Fontophilic and I will try to be there!

(Just to clarify: it's at 3pm at Dog and Duck on Sunday, November 15th, 2009, yes? This thread has many suggestions.)
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 8:47 AM on November 12, 2009

Alright, so whoever didn't know about the whole Zalgo th- o͕̹hm͎̟͎͚̯̞̠y̠̘g͖̻͕̱o͚d͍̥̩̪̘̞o̪͚̫̫ͣͦ̾ͣ͐h̳͕̼͇̫͎̼̤̓̉̂͗ͬ̔̍m̙̱͗͋̓̀̈ý̤̩̮̩̼͎̗̆̌̄ͦ̉ͬg͓͙̈̐̎ỏ̳̺̺͖͖̠̗̰͑̂ͩď̲͔͇͚͍̙̎Õͦͥ̊̈̅ͯ͆̄͌͐͂̈́͆̏͒̚̚͞҉̞̭͍͓̺͔̀͞H̷̡̡̡̢̭̙̤͉̥̭̼̗̲̥͇̙̹̞͇̓͛̿͆͒̓̈́́̈́M̴͌͛̽͛̌́͘͠҉̣͓͔̯͕̤̖̼͚ͅY̵̛̞̙͉͕̯̠̝̼̬̠͚͈͉̱̬̏ͣ͋̽̿̄̂ͭ̈̀̀̚͢G̵̨̧̧̹̰̗͎͓̳̼ͧ̓̏ͯ̉͒̐́ͫͣ͘O̶̢̜͕͕͖̠͔̹͕͚̮͉ͧͥ̽̔̐͆̄ͭ̃ͪ̐̐ͦͅD̢͍͓̖̞̰̙̖̥̘̯̹̙̤̥͚̬̎ͦͤͣ͋ͪ͆̿̇̀̚͘͜ͅH̵̴̛͉̭̰̭̘͉̦̗̤̦͚̞̺̣̣̝͈̩ͨ͛͛̿͆ͩE̶͎̼̥͉̽̿ͭͯ̈̆̐̃̂̿̅͛̀... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 6:04 PM on November 15, 2009

Oh, and good meetup by the way. Sorry we seemed to kill it when we left. I've been feeling kind of sick today.
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 6:05 PM on November 15, 2009

I'm pretty sure this kind of scenario is why Verizon is planning to raise its ETF to $350. So yeah, maybe telecoms are catching on to the idea that it's too easy.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 10:47 AM on November 12, 2009

When you say furnace, do you mean one of those below-window radiators? Like this?

Regardless, I don't think you'd have any problem attaching some kind of insulation to the bottom of the desk - either mccarty.tim's suggestion of foam board or a small piece of insulating foam from a hardware store should work just fine.

A word of warning, though: try to figure out how hot it gets. Having paper-covered foam board near a very hot surface (the... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 8:39 AM on November 12, 2009

I came here about to tell you to do it the way crapples suggested, only to find that you sort of shot it down.

It could be your browser being somehow incompatible with AT&T's website. For what it's worth, I just did the following operation:
- Went to AT&T's website
- Searched for "ringtones"
- Got to their media page
- Searched for "manos al aire"
- Picked a track that looked right,... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 9:34 PM on November 9, 2009 marked best answer

I wanted to like this a lot. I mean, the instrumentation was great -- the banjolele is the perfect instrument for this. But I feel like Mr B himself is just sort of trying way too hard. It went past the point of funny for me.
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 12:36 PM on October 25, 2009

I called the Gibson a couple of hours ago and asked if they could take us, and the woman who answered flat-out said no (but nicely!), which is too bad because it sounds great. She said the patio will be open, but that it's first-come-first-serve and that she wasn't too optimistic that it wouldn't be crowded.

Eventide is booked solid all night long.

I called Room 11, and they said they'd be happy to accommodate us and haven't been quite as busy as... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 10:54 AM on October 22, 2009

John Gruber has a quick analysis of the commercial on Daring Fireball.

I'm tied into Verizon by contract and because a) they have good coverage in places where I spend time (especially rural southwest Virginia) and b) most of the people I talk with are also on Verizon, so I talk to them for free. I'm interested in an Android phone, so I've considered trying to change to T-Mobile... but if this phone is anywhere near as awesome as Boy Genius Report is making it seem that... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 8:53 AM on October 20, 2009

I shouldn't say this but what the heck: I'm staring at a Droid phone on my desk right now and it's great.

*convulses with fits of envy*
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 10:51 AM on October 20, 2009

This was so completely fantastic. Thank you.
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 10:28 PM on October 9, 2009

I loved Life of Pi and 100 Years of Solitude and have a copy of The Yiddish Policeman's Union that I haven't really gotten around to reading yet, so I probably have somewhat similar tastes to what's being mentioned in this thread.

People have talked about Calvino (an author I've been meaning to get into), so I figured I'd recommend a book by someone who was influenced a lot by Calvino: Jedediah Berry's The... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 6:53 PM on October 7, 2009

Oh man, my parents were and are totally awesome.

They met in Morocco on an archaeological dig in the '70s -- my dad was working on his PhD in archaeology and my mom was in architectural school, doing drawings of the excavation. They've since traveled all over Europe, rented an apartment from an apparent cult in DC in the early '80s, and lived all over the country (including in a cabin in the woods in Wisconsin).

Now, probably a couple of weekends... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 7:09 AM on October 6, 2009

I'm sorry if people have interpreted my brief anecdote about my parents being in postgraduate school and traveling as bragging and classist. I certainly didn't intend it to be, and again I apologize if I've somehow offended anyone. I was just trying to give some context to what was happening in their lives.

When I think of the time they've spent together in my head I'm not thinking "oh wow its so cool to be privileged and rich and do whatever you want". I'm... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 12:16 PM on October 6, 2009

jayder: Guero's on South Congress is the best Mexican restaurant in Austin.

I cannot express how much I disagree with this statement. We live within a few minutes walk of Güero's and we have eaten there all of once. Why? Because our tacos consisted of dry chewy hunks of beef on dry crumbly tortillas, for which we had to wait 45 minutes and pay way more than they were worth. I want to give them another try at some point because I feel like I... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 10:06 AM on September 24, 2009

I am all for an ACL-concurrent meetup, and I'm saying this as someone who was just at the meetup yesterday. But I agree with bluishorange on doing it outside the park -- fontophilic and I aren't going to ACL either, but we love meetups.

I like the idea of going to a place on Barton Springs (I'm a big fan of Uncle Billy's). Any restaurant there will be relatively easy to get to from the festival but they might be really crowded. Anyone have experience with this? Last year... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 10:28 AM on September 21, 2009

bluishorange: There was a meetup yesterday?

Yeah. Sorry you missed it.

It also seems like, according to the ACL webpage, there might be some kind of shuttle service to and from Republic Square @ 4th and Guadalupe. So maybe it might be possible to do something on West 6th or the Warehouse District if Barton Springs is going to be crazy crowded? I have no idea if the shuttle thing is actually happening and I... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 11:33 AM on September 21, 2009

Plutor: somewhere near Republic Square (we still haven't decided where, despite the fact I mentioned the one bar I've been to in downtownish Austin)

I like Gingerman, but I'm not sure that they really have all that much food (I've only been there for beer). The menu indicates that they have a few snacky-type things and a couple of sandwiches.

If that sounds cool to everyone, then we should go there. If we decide more food is... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 11:08 AM on September 23, 2009

I'm game. I was actually thinking of starting a meetup thread sometime but hadn't gotten around to it yet. When are we going to do this, next weekend?
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 8:12 AM on September 7, 2009

djduckie: Does anyone know if we can call ahead?

I'm pretty sure it would be no problem to call, but in my experience it's not all that hard to find a table for a group of 5-10 people unless there's something in particular going on (trivia, UT game, etc).

I go to the Saucer more frequently than I'd like to, since a number of my friends are in the drinking club thing that they have (drink 200 beers, get a plate on the wall with... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 12:34 PM on September 7, 2009

Nah, it doesn't totally suck -- if you haven't been there, it's worth checking out. They do have a huge beer menu and they have flights, as I recall, though I've never gotten one. I'm a fan of the Dog and Duck, but maybe for next time.
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 9:25 PM on September 7, 2009

I'm down for Sunday, 9/20, at 1pm. Everyone who can come should!
posted to MetaTalk by malthas at 3:12 PM on September 8, 2009

My Dad was a government archaeologist in the Department of the Interior for a while, and now works for an agency in the executive branch doing historic preservation work. He got his BA in anthropology, his MA in archaeology at a different school, and did a lot of work towards his PhD in archaeology at a third school (though he never finished his dissertation).

1. The above is as much information as I can give you about your first point. He was interested in archaeology... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 11:48 AM on August 24, 2009

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Yes, it had its problems. But it was very refreshing to see a new, original sci-fi film -- so many, lately, have been awful blockbusters based on crappy old franchises. (And, yeah, I say that as someone who also really liked the new Star Trek.) The last time I remember feeling that way about a sci-fi movie was when I was watching the fantastic Children of Men, which, sadly, doesn't seem to have even made back its $76 million... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 10:22 AM on August 23, 2009

This is amazing, but it seems to run really poorly on my laptop. Guess I'll have to wait until I get home to play it properly.
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 1:31 PM on August 21, 2009

DC's winters are miserably DAMP, and that makes for a different kind of bitter cold.

QFT. This is absolutely, 100% true. I grew up in the DC area, and it was not uncommon at all for it to be ~35°F and raining. While the highs during the day in the winter will usually be in the forties and the lows at night in the twenties, having it be wet makes a huge difference as far as how cold it feels. I have felt much less cold in the blowing winter snow of... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 11:16 AM on August 21, 2009

Wow. That was absolutely astounding. Thank you so much.
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 10:53 AM on August 21, 2009

My family went on trips to the Outer Banks every summer for probably 15 straight years. We've been all over, from Corolla in the North to Rodanthe in the South. Mostly we stayed in the Duck/Southern Shores area.

I'll take you on a short tour of the islands. If you take US 158 down and across, as you get off the bridge, you have the choice of going north or south. The area right around the bridge is fairly commercialized. If you go south, you get to the relatively built... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 9:23 AM on August 20, 2009 marked best answer

It's a wall-inset bank of boxes at my complex. There is no outbox or flag.

Boo. That sucks. My apartment complex has the big wall-inset bank of boxes, but the locks on about a third of the boxes don't work at all. Of the remaining two-thirds, about half of those are so stuffed with mail that they just randomly pop open and spill flyers and inserts and other junk mail all over the place.

We have an outgoing mail box, but the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 10:49 AM on August 19, 2009

As the boyfriend in question, I'm fairly certain that we saw the alleged orangutan at this intersection, though fontophilic disagrees with me on that as well. She thinks it was around here, but I remember discussing that the people looked like they had been heading home from the school. The address she pointed to in her response above is where we were eventually headed.

It did, as I recall, look "realistic"; I'd say that it was a decent doll... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 2:22 PM on August 18, 2009

Since we moved to Austin about a year ago, the parking lot next to the big church on South Congress (one of the areas in the Flickr link) has gone from having pretty much just the Hey Cupcake! trailer at the far end to having at least 5 trailers on a full-time basis. It's kind of ridiculous, and the trailers are starting to fill up all the empty spaces around town, though I do feel like the explosion is much more concentrated on the south side.

I love it. Walking down to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 9:02 AM on July 29, 2009

I'd just like to echo a lot of the sentiments already expressed: a lot of the differences between France and the US can be found just by going through everyday life and seeing how you both challenge each others' preconceptions of your respective cultures. In large part, and for some reason I always find this interesting, it happens through food.

True story: my French foreign exchange student (when we were both in high school) had never had root beer. She thought it was... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 2:12 PM on July 28, 2009

Alright, I have the final tally/sign in sheet! Overall, according to my sheet, 23 people showed up (though I think there were at most 21 or 22 at a time there). They were:

popechunk
malthas
fontophilic
adamrice
katemonster
djduckie
Xezlec
muddgirl (and her +1, "mudddude")
youcancallmeal
NemesisVex
Flail-Bot
Faux... [more]
posted to Tenth Anniversary by malthas at 6:44 PM on July 18, 2009

The gameplay's great and all... but I wish the graphics were a little bit tighter, you know? It would have made the surprisingly long intro a little more tolerable. Which would have been good, because once you get past that it's really a lot of fun.
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 10:30 AM on July 10, 2009

Boo, only two Virginia comments? There's nothing more Virginia than peanuts or ham. Not pork in general, but specifically ham. As far as specific dishes, I'd say either peanut soup or Brunswick stew (as mentioned above). Or maybe ham steaks. I grew up in "fake" Virginia, though, so what do I know. I did once go to the Pork, Peanut, and Pine Festival.

Texas, where I live now, is surprisingly tough. Chili seems to be the official, but Texas BBQ... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 9:11 AM on July 9, 2009

I'm not really going to particularly endorse the move from Arlington to Austin. I will try to present some (hopefully) informed and relatively objective information.

Having moved from NoVA to Austin, the switch definitely brings to mind many of the things you're looking for. As for your points in particular:

1. Depending on what part of Arlington you're living in, you may find Austin to be either more or less walkable than what you're used to. If... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 5:13 PM on July 5, 2009

One of the guys I lived with in an apartment in undergrad had a Model M. He loved it so much, just typing away all night and all day. He played a lot of WoW, so he was going pretty much all the time. CLACKETYCLACKETYCLACK.

God, I hated that motherfucking keyboard. I could hear it all the way across the apartment, a good 40+ feet away, through 4 solid-core doors. I really wanted to just bust into his room when he wasn't there and smash it into a thousand pieces, and then... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 10:05 AM on June 22, 2009

Dear lord those are terrifying.
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 6:53 AM on June 22, 2009

Aren't nuclear reactors are basically steam engines?

Virtually all of the major power generation systems (coal, nuclear, natural gas, etc.) are "steam engines", though they output electricity rather than direct mechanical power. They basically just heat up water and run the steam through a turbine (though it's somewhat more complex than that) -- the only major difference in the various concepts is what's used to heat the water.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 3:54 PM on June 20, 2009

We don['t have a Mr Deeds going to DC to make change all by himself with a few nice gestures.

I'd like to point out that we may have a Mr. Deeds going to Richmond, at the very least. I don't know if he can make change there all by himself, though.
posted to MetaFilter by malthas at 12:40 PM on June 18, 2009

I'm not sure the other posters so far really get what you're trying to do. You're trying to, essentially, use the desktop itself as Windows Explorer, right?

So if you had a folder, say "Pictures", on the desktop and double-clicked it, what would be displayed on the desktop would no longer be what's in C:\Documents and Settings\[insert username]\Desktop, but rather what's in C:\Documents and Settings\[insert username]\Desktop\Pictures, correct?... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 2:16 PM on June 12, 2009

Oops, should've previewed.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 2:16 PM on June 12, 2009

Was just coming back so say exactly what clarkie666 just said. You can use the "Active Desktop" function built into XP to essentially accomplish this. The problem seems to be that, at least by default, you can't actually change the directory once you've got it set up -- it seems like it just opens up a new explorer window. But it seems to be on the right track at least.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 2:27 PM on June 12, 2009

Haha, your viewing habits sound similar to ours - we just switched our Netflix queue from all of Northern Exposure to all of DS9. I'm personally a huge Trekkie so it's hard for me to get where you're coming from with the other Star Trek series, but whatever.

I heartily second elendil71's recommendation of "anything by Brian Fuller". Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies are two quick-witted, quirky shows from what I've seen of them.

Firefly... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malthas at 6:51 AM on June 10, 2009