Sorry, there's a bit of confusion on the ram issue due to my mistake - I have 2 1GB laptop ram sticks currently sitting at home and I thought I would get the cheapest option on the website and simply swap out the ram myself. I wouldn't dream of doing 2D graphic editing on XP, let alone vista, with less than that.

Other than that, thanks for the great responses so far, keep them coming!
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 9:34 PM on July 11, 2008

I am an immigrant, so my view is obviously biased, though my accent is barely detectable. I genuinely believe that North America is accepting as you can get of foreign cultures. I'd like to think that I react no differently to the people I meet based on race, but that really isn't true. Similarity makes people feel at ease, and it's an easy conversation opener. I gravitate towards Chinese people, which I am ware of and try to consciously correct.

But I don't think the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 8:55 PM on July 9, 2008

If you can still bring yourself to exercise, then the situation is far from unsalvageable. Accomplishing small goals is definitely a good way to boost your self-esteem, and I'd start by (and this is what I do when I feel unmotivated) writing a list of things I need to do. They're usually really really small things, or small steps in big things. Stuff like "Pay phone bill online" and "change trash". Stuff that doesn't take more than five minutes to do. But crossing these... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 8:33 PM on July 9, 2008

Is the situation so dire that your recipient wouldn't be able to accept a post-dated cheque? (Let us know what happened!)
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 10:03 PM on July 2, 2008

Change your own "Location" to reflect the coordinates for Panama City, then go to your own profile and click on "MeFites nearby". Remove coordinates afterwards if desired.

(This seems better suited for MeTa, but eh.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 7:35 PM on July 1, 2008

Wapsi Square is fantasy with a plot-line and it's got a pretty big following. Strip format, pretty good sense of humour and really original plot.

Girls With Slingshots is more slapshots. It's got plot arcs, but mostly it relies on punchline, and does it ever do the punchline well. Very... genuine, I guess.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 7:19 PM on July 1, 2008 marked best answer

thinkingwoman: that's what I've been doing, thanks to sage advice gleaned from years of reading AskMe human relations threads, hoping he'll get the hint. So far, no luck.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 6:10 PM on June 16, 2008

I may come off a bit defensive in this reply, and for that, apologies in advance.

I didn't know he was hot for me; guys don't tend to be. I acted with him the same I act with all my friends, girls included. I'm on the sarcastic side and introverted, I didn't know that was considered flirting. I didn't know he was looking to jump ship on his girlfriend until after the movie. I've been avoiding him as much as possible ever since. I went to the movies with him because I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 7:36 PM on June 16, 2008

Awesome responses all around - I marked the ones that suit my personality better, but I really do appreciate all the replies. Thanks everyone, I think I'm good to go for this particular social faux-pas. Note to self: stop freaking out, haha.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 2:46 PM on June 17, 2008

Does this happen with all programs, or just with browsers, just with word documents, etc? Which spyware programs have you tried?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 9:12 PM on June 15, 2008

Hahah, I have next to zero experience in this field, but a guy pulled this on me and I thought it was adorable.

"Do me a favour?"
"what?" mildly defensively
"Will you smile for me?"

... yeahhh.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 10:22 PM on June 6, 2008

I can see why people thought it was condescending - and I don't necessarily agree that it was because I was already susceptible to his flirtations for reasons too complicated to go into. I think in my case it was "aw, you're cheesy, but you probably know you're being cheesy and that took a lot of guts."

Condescension I find comes primarily from tone and body language, and if you deliver it well, it makes it seem more mildly self-deprecating than anythign else.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 7:35 PM on June 7, 2008

I, too, am exactly like this, and Facebook has been an immense help in that regard. It honestly takes no time whatsoever to drop off a wall message, which are meant to be fairly short (2-3 sentences) anyway.

Then, once in a while, when you have time and energy - maybe set aside a weekend where you have absolutely no commitments and make an effort to keep it free - fire off a few emails to friends. Sometimes, even having taken the initiative can pardon a lot of past... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 4:51 PM on June 5, 2008

How old is your sibling?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 8:40 PM on June 4, 2008

Hahah, living in dorms is both a curse and a blessing. I lived off campus my first year of university, mostly for financial reasons (and also because I'm a total introvert), and while it was extremely difficult being so extremely isolated and excluded, it had one advantage - I was forced to try much harder to find people I would get along with, and I was a lot more active around campus in different clubs. My friends in residence, while they always had people around them, sometimes went away from... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 3:06 PM on June 1, 2008

Oh. Side note. Hal_c_on is right about the not trying too hard bit, and I touched on this but didn't clarify. Be yourself. Pretending just makes things harder. I mean, be nice to people and everything, but really, just be yourself. Having to pretend around people who're supposed to be your friends is miserable.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 3:08 PM on June 1, 2008

Here's my argument for 'reed'.

You're not talking about the pronunciation of the word. Because then the parenthetical addendum would be (pronounced like blah blah blah). You're talking about the subtext, stuff you read into.

"John is dry (read: boring)." is similar in meaning to "John is dry. Btw, I'm trying to say he's boring without being an asshat. In case you didn't get it"

Whereas... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 4:54 PM on May 30, 2008

Another blog you might be interested in is "Tales of the Boobie Bar", found here on LiveJournal, chronicling the work of a stripdancer. She's got an excellent sense of humour.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 6:09 PM on May 21, 2008

Seconding The Time Traveler's Wife. Audrey Niffenegger, btw.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 6:06 PM on May 21, 2008

Heh. I always recommend Full-Metal Alchemist. I myself have only seen the full Anime, and I'm told the manga is vastly different (in a good way). The writing is absolutely superb and the plot is a lot more... well, deep, than a lot of mainstream animes. (Think: Naruto, One Piece, Shaman King, etc... *shudders*) What I really really appreciated was that the writers set out with a goal to deliver a message, and actually STOPPED after the message was delivered. Man. The anime only spans 51 episodes,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 8:32 AM on May 19, 2008

It's different with work emails, as far as I know. At my work place, all emails sent and received and email accounts are "public property". In other words, don't do anything with them that you don't want your boss to see, because if he hates you, he WILL see them.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 7:52 AM on May 19, 2008

I don't think there's been a thread on AskMe thus far that did not recommend the Shures whether or not the asker was asking for earbud-type headphones. That should tell you something about their quality. I personally have had the E2Cs for two years plus - the quality is absolutely outstanding, and once you get them, you can never go back.

What is more, they have an absolutely superb 2-year warranty. Any defect at all, send it back, and they replace it no questions asked.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 11:16 PM on May 17, 2008

(PS, that $60 includes tax and shipping)
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 11:16 PM on May 17, 2008

If there's a Chinatown near where you are, they tend to have variety/general stores ranging anywhere from adorable anime/sanrio stuff to intricate crafts to pots and pans. You'll find origami and star paper and glass jars and all that.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 5:48 PM on May 14, 2008

Rather than the "philo" prefix, it might make a lot more sense to use the "-philia" suffix. I say this with little knowledge of Greek, merely gauging from my vocabulary. Example - logophilia, the love of words, wherein the logophile would be the lover of words.

Obligatory Wikipedia entry here. I don't see anything related to style though, sorry.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 4:00 PM on May 7, 2008

It also sounds like Dragon Beard Candy, fwiw.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 10:30 PM on May 2, 2008

Maybe I'm not understanding the question correctly - could you select all the data in both columns, sort by column 2 in ascending order, and select the data you need to plot a graph from?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 9:44 PM on May 2, 2008

ACK. Disregard answer. I completely missed the bit about not sorting, apologies.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 9:45 PM on May 2, 2008

NGH.

My parents did that for a while. The whole Multi-Level-Marketing crap and all that. MLMs in general tend to be shady. Ask your friend to provide concrete reasons for why they think they could profit from this, since few of their clients actually make money through selling products and any profit you do manage to reap would be from scamming other "marketers" into the same thing. The only reason my parents did it was so they could write off a few expenses... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 9:42 PM on May 2, 2008

And additionally, coupons are a good way for the company to appear more competitively priced than it actually is, as you tend to automatically associate "coupon" with "deal" regardless of whether or not the rebated cost is actually lower than the next competitor's cost. Thus, increased perceived customer value, increased satisfaction, loyalty, recognition, etc.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 4:49 AM on May 1, 2008

Western, from my POV, especially if you talk to Asians.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 6:39 AM on April 30, 2008

Just a data point, I've never considered South America when hearing the phrase "Western World", though it makes sense that it is included - it has just never been something I've included. It always meant North America and Western Europe (As I think it has to do with those cultures more so than Central or Southern American).


Ditto qwip. Geographically it makes more sense, but colloquially Western has always had a connotation of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 7:30 AM on April 30, 2008

Chinese.

Translated literally, it means: "Houyi shoots at the sun, raise your cup and celebrate together". It references a Chinese folklore in which there were ten suns in the sky, scorching the earth and rendering life impossible. The emperor invited Houji the archer to shoot down nine of them, doing a great service to the country, thus the celebration. Read more about this legend and how it relates to the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Wikipedia page.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 7:26 AM on April 30, 2008 marked best answer

Rent-A-Coder is your best friend for small, one-time contract gigs like this.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 3:10 PM on April 29, 2008

Born in 89 (yeah yeah), I don't really remember my parents singing to me. My grandparents did, for the two years I lived with them, and I loved it. Mostly Chinese folk songs and the like. Like all Chinese families we had the requisite tolerance (if not affection) for Kararoke and my parents had a few tracks of old Chinese pop singers that they really really liked, but it was mostly humming along to something, rarely singing out loud, and never affection directed through song.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 7:47 PM on April 21, 2008

I read that book as a child, and I wouldn't necessarily say it pushes the boundaries of 'good' or 'evil' per se; it's an old book and scare tactics were simply the way to go in terms of morals. Think of Hans Christian Anderson and Brother Grimm Tales, un-Disneyfied. They're mostly fairly gruesome and morbid.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 7:18 PM on April 21, 2008

Cake is always good. Serve cake a bit into the party so you can always threaten them with removing the cake if it gets too rowdy.

Does the group have to be that big? My sister's 8 and she's never had parties of more than 8-10 people, even within controlled party-type settings.

These threads may help.

T-Shirt painting is cool. Crafts in general are cool. Organize a tag game, a dodgeball game, musical chairs, soccer game,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 3:24 AM on April 19, 2008

It's totally awesome to see a relationship thread where the OP actually takes the advice :D Good for you for seeing this for what it really is!!
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 2:22 PM on April 18, 2008

In this tax scheme, rich families without children pay 2x amount of surcharge. Poor families without children only pay x amount of surcharge. If the rich family decided to have kids, the surcharge of 2x would be nullified, and they would be 2x better off. If the poor family decided to have kids, they would only be x better off.

Yet if the situation involved a credit system, we would expect the poor family to receive a rebate of 2x and the rich family to receive a rebate... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 12:30 AM on April 16, 2008

I don't think you're a cocktease. *shrugs* Your standard for "waiting period" or whatever should be set by your own comfort level and nothing else. There is no rulebook, not even "guidelines". Don't let it bother you too much; different people have different levels and standards and it really just means that you're different, not that you're wrong or anything.

If he did consider you a tease, as your original post (and as cosmic osmo) suggest, that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 3:42 PM on April 15, 2008

Very cool recs all of you! I've listened to clips and samples of all the songs (except for the two kind souls I emailed about your particular versions). Andy Summers and Julie London are exactly what I'm looking for, many many thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 3:15 PM on April 15, 2008

Play guitar! One-time cost of 100$ for a beginner one. This gets recommended on MeFi all the time so I thought I'd throw that in.

Less specific: Learn a programming language. Write a book. Make a list of books you want to read and read it. Learn how to make bracelets (hemp, friendship, bead, etc. .. it's more complicated than it looks). Learn how to fold Origami well. Learn how to cut Kirigami well. Learn how to knit and set yourself a project with a deadline. Learn how... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 5:49 AM on April 14, 2008 marked best answer

This may not work and may get written off as contrived, but what I found really helped me in times of general unhappiness was saying to myself "This too, shall pass" and then honestly believing it. Life is a series of ups and downs, and soon enough she shall get her up. (Also, totally atheist here, but the first four lines of the Serenity Prayer was really helpful. I'd take a step back when I got too upset, take a deep breath, and recite it to myself. Minus the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 9:57 PM on April 13, 2008

As a girl, I read this question cringing every step of the way, because I've known girls like this and they are not. Good. News. Trust me?

The ex is a ship that's sailed and that was her fault. Whether or not you get back with her is at this point obviously up to you, but you don't seem to be too interested in her anyway, and even if you got back together you need to think long and hard about whether you can handle the initial breach of trust she committed and really... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 6:49 AM on April 12, 2008

Yeah, no, the lack of tax is really just the equivalent of a drop in price the same percentage as the actual tax. Purchases in Europe don't get tax added to them, but that doesn't mean there's no tax, just that the tax has been precalculated into the sales price.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 6:31 AM on April 12, 2008

Am I to understand that neither you nor your friends actually speak German? Hmm. Though I suppose my suggestion doesn't really change whether or not you speak German. Otto Waalkes is a German comedian-parody artist with a rather crude and loud sense of humour. Lots of puns and fun stuff if you speak the language, decent beat and random English words if you don't.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 1:03 PM on April 8, 2008

Can you use one communal account for all those people? Is there a reason everyone needs a separate account and why all those accounts all need to go through you?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 4:16 PM on April 7, 2008

If I were in your situation (and as a college student who DOES have to pay full tuition out of pocket, I wish I were) I'd save at least $400 of that. It'd give you $100 every month spend, which is a fair bit. The rest either goes into a high-interest savings account or a 401, depending on whether or not you'll need the money on short notice.

Alternatively, I'd set a fairly high savings goal each month, say $1000. And if I wanted money to spend after I hit that goal, I'd... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 4:07 PM on April 7, 2008 marked best answer

Thirding CPU-Z by a long mile.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 2:09 AM on April 4, 2008

This isn't really a FrontPage question, this is definitely a file structure question. If all your assets (images, video, whatever) were put into the same folder and each subsite linked to the same folder, it would be a simple matter of replacing the file. As it is with the given file structure, there's no way to do it that I can really think of. Seconding manual replacing through windows explorer, sorry.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Phire at 7:58 PM on April 3, 2008