I attended my friend's wedding at Hakone Japanese Gardens in Saratoga just a few weeks ago, and it was really beautiful. It's a mini-botanical garden and you can reserve the time before the public is allowed in so you have the place all to yourself. It's got nice flowers, a creek, a bridge, etc. Plenty of places to take photos, and they had around 100 seats and an "entryway" for the bride.

Here's the website
http://www.hakone.com/
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 6:44 PM on April 24, 2008

I took the cozycab as Marit recommended. $20 each way directly from the airport to the hotel. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 9:08 PM on October 7, 2007

If you are a broker, why wouldn't you sell at 4pm and buy at 9:30am and make free money on your client's money (in the tunes of millions)? Being the broker eliminates the problem with fees.

As for the aftermarket trading, sure it goes up/down but it should generally at least even out, right? Stock markets have a tendency to go up.

Banks may not operate in real time, but that doesn't mean my money is worth nothing on the weekend. There is still a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 9:52 PM on May 27, 2007

Since the canadian dollar is almost worth the same as the US dollar now, I'll just give you the recommendations I have from US stores.

I use only hard-anondized cookware, and I get the Calphlon brand. I've gotten them on sale for about $20 a piece from Amazon. They fit all your requirements and are as solid as a rock. They are fairly heavy and feel extremely durable. I have been using mine for 2 years, and they are as good as when I got them (barely discolored, and I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 11:59 AM on January 10, 2007

Hi, thanks for the suggestions so far.

As yeoz mentioned, Blue Cash is 0.5% for the first $6500. Is there better?

blue_beetle: I've looked at CreditCards.com and they don't specific which ones give you credit vs send checks vs gift cards and other stuff.

Cash Freedom and Citi Dividend says they offer rebates.. which I think means checks in the mail.

Keep em coming!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 8:38 PM on January 7, 2007

IndigoRain: I have the amazon card too. It's a good card but it doesn't credit the statement, which is the key factor for me.

It looks like the American Express Blue Cash card is the best bet so far, but it has 0.5% until $6500.

I found an Orchard Bank 2% Back Prime Platinum MasterCard which credits your statement, but when I filled out the form, it only offered me the Orchard Bank 2% Back Platinum MasterCard, which has a $39 annual fee. How... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 11:15 PM on January 7, 2007

The website says that the NationalCity Visa sends checks, and only when you reach $100.

The "best answers" ones still seem to be the best bets. The perfectcard being slightly better since you don't have to wait until January to get the credit. I didn't see anything about the "use at least 9 times" on their website.

Thanks all, and I'll keep checking this thread to see if anyone has a lesser known card that does cash back crediting.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 1:53 PM on January 8, 2007

Aren't umbrellas one of the easiest things to lose? I'd imagine since you are not used to carrying them around, when you do bring one you don't have the "grab my backpack and coat" reflex. Given that, I'd probably want a cheap, almost disposible umbrella.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 2:29 PM on December 24, 2006

I second the waveceptor. I have this one and it seems to meet all your criteria. I'm not sure about world time because I don't use that feature, but I'm fairly certain it can do multiple timezones, and it has a metal band.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 11:21 AM on November 29, 2006

I interned there this summer. It was just a pretty standard tech interview over the phone, with 2 different people. I was asked questions about how I would design their ads system, etc. Not too much about my past work, and I don't even think they were looking at my resume.

Good luck!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 10:59 PM on November 18, 2006

I worked the drive thru window at a McDonald's several years ago. I was never told an official policy about non-vehicles through the drive-thru, and it only happened a dozen times over 2 years, but the problems with people coming through with bikes/walking were:

1) Bikes/people don't activate the weight sensor and so our headsets don't get a BEEP sound to let us know to say "welcome to McDonald's, how may I help you" on our headsets

2)... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 12:01 AM on September 22, 2006

First you want to make sure what you want to do hasn't already been done. A lot of my "brilliant" ideas have turned out to be previously published work.

You could read some research papers that interest you, and then something in the "Future work" section. Beware of items that authors put in Future Work to fend off reviewers but are nearly impossible to actually do.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 10:06 PM on September 5, 2006

Most of the advice here is pretty accurate, so I'll just try to supplement it.

I'm in grad school for CS. You will probably take classes for 1-2 years, which will be similar to your undergrad but possibly more interesting and less mundane. The second phase is doing your research and hopefully by then you have an advisor and topic, and your schedule is very flexible at this point. Some days you will read a lot, some days you will write a lot, and some days you'll just do... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tasty at 9:29 PM on September 5, 2006