I thought so too, Greg, and I don't know. Lahm was playing a bit more forward and participated in the German attack during the first 15 minutes, so maybe he was just too exhausted to match Torres' speed. He got subbed out at halftime.

I think a lot of credit needs to go to Torres on that one as well. He had very little space and only a very short amount of time to take the shot, and still he made the German defense look like a bunch of idiots for letting that ball in so easily.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 12:18 AM on July 2, 2008

I recommend a walking tour from these people. It's a great way to see Mitte with a historical context. There is an incredible amount of history, from the Nazis, to the wall, to reunifcation that's packed into a small area.

The holocaust museum is worth a visit as well.

I'll also second the Mauerpark fleamarket, but it's only on Sundays I think. While you're in the neighborhood I would suggest taking a walk down Kastienenallee. There's a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 5:19 AM on June 7, 2008

You have too high expectations and sorry to have to break it to you, but it sounds like you are being a fussy tenant. The landlord is there to fix serious problems with the apartment which would make the apartment uninhabitable. He is not there to service $10 or even $20 parts that do not need a professional to fix.

When you have a problem, ask yourself, if it were your house, would you call a professional immediately? If so, call the landlord. No heat in winter, or... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 12:39 AM on May 13, 2008

The idea that chess masters sit and calculate 10 moves ahead for each side, and the better player calculates further, is a total myth. There is far more intuition in the game than that. As long as you don't neglect to do a cursory check of your moves, and you don't get impatient and play without thinking, it shouldn't be a problem.

Besides, in "classical" length games, with 2 hours per side, there is no way *anybody* can sit and concentrate at 100% for the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 2:23 AM on April 20, 2008

I know a couple people who teach English in Berlin (technically one teaches *in* English in an international school), and both taught english as a foreign language and studied teaching before teaching ESL in Germany. I was told that there is a German certification process in which being qualified as a teacher is important. Teaching without that certification is much harder.

My distinct impression is that the expectations of an English instructor in Germany are such... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 6:20 AM on April 19, 2008

The genre is called "Schlager". Now I'm not sure where Schlager ends and just a normal hit begins, but it's clear to me that Dschengis Khan is on the Schlager side of that division.

Some songs to consider:

Nico Haak, Schmidschen Schleicher

Wolfgang Petry, Verlieben Verloren, Vergessen Verzeihn

Trudi Herr, Ich will keine Schokolade

Marianne Rosenberg, Er gehört... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 2:14 PM on April 9, 2008

Hi, I'm an American living in Germany (Berlin), and I can tell you about my experience here.

This idea that most Germans speak English is not really that true, not like, for instance, the idea that all Dutch speak English, or all Swedes speak English. A lot of Germans speak some English. Most German businessmen or educated people speak good English. A much lower percentage speak very good English or are fluent.

They are, however, very polite... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 1:30 AM on March 26, 2008

nitsuj is right, you just have to go into the train station and ask for a seat reservation. If you explain the pass you have, they'll understand. And in the event that your pass is not good for that trip, they should tell you. In any case, trains from Berlin to Prague go several times a day and you shouldn't have any problems.

Also, FWIW, I believe you can travel with the pass *without* a seat reservation, though I am not 100% certain. I know that you can buy a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 4:38 PM on March 19, 2008

I find honey makes a better condiment than ingredient. Simple bread + butter + honey is excellent and dare I say, more healthy than most breakfasts. Also, granola + plain yogurt + honey. Or just skip the granola.

You could also try your hand at making baklava.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 1:17 PM on March 6, 2008

I just want to note a couple things that might make you consider emacs. First, OS X Cocoa widgets use emacs bindings for basic editing. You can do things like Control-k, control-y (C-y C-k in emacs speak) in other programs to cut and paste. It will help you avoid using the mouse in other programs if you learn basic emacs keys

Second, vi is a modal editor, so there may not be a way to map something like "delete-line" to a control key combination. I think... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 5:50 AM on March 6, 2008

Though it is gramatically possible to leave out "that", it is possible to create more interesting effects than "buffalo" and "fish" sentences. Try the following sentences, for instance:

The fat people eat accumulates.
The horse walked past the barn fell.

It's an interesting abuse of syntax since the sentences are syntaxically correct up until the last word. Though the last word doesn't make the sentence... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 4:50 AM on March 6, 2008

For a fixed cost through Skype, your friend can buy an American number that's local to you. I think it's $60 per year, or alternatively, roughtly a quarter of that for 3 months. You could then split this cost, and then you always initiate a call to this number when you both want to chat.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 2:39 AM on February 27, 2008

Having been that international person, and having looked for a short term leave for a few months in Massachusetts while I was between places in travelling, I think you should let her stay another month and have a talk with her about not breaking stuff. It can be hard to find a room, and additionally, as you may have noticed, hard to fill a room for the short term. There isn't a large market.

Which is why, if you don't think she's a bad person, or irresponsible, and is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 2:09 PM on February 23, 2008

What Corky wrote above is perfect.

You are more capable than you know, and the reason you don't know is the abuse.

The way people gain their independence is that they make reasonable plans and follow through. They don't know that things will work out until they get life experience, and until then, they just have to take some things on faith.

In your position this is twice as hard, because on one hand you're sheltered... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 12:32 AM on February 20, 2008

You will feel better if you give yourself a couple days to do it to be on the safe side, but the paperwork shouldn't take that long. Look at it this way: if you wanted to buy a car on the same day, then the dealer will make it happen. And, if you want to sell your car at a low enough price, the dealer will make it happen.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 12:10 AM on February 12, 2008

I am a software engineer who is finishing up completing the same thing you're looking into now. I was looking at Ireland, the UK, and Germany. It turned out that's in increasing order of difficulty.

Ireland has a program called the 'Green Card'. There are a lot of immigrants in Dublin now and the economy has been doing great.

In the UK, the HSMP point-based programme is good but for this you will need the degree. You get extra points for... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 2:07 PM on February 4, 2008

I think a source of your confusion and anger is this idea that certain types of sexual activity "counts" as sex, and other types do not. It's a little too simple to call only vaginal penetration by a penis sex. Oral sex is sex. Anal sex is sex. Lesbian sex is sex. The 10 minutes of touching and penetration by finger that you were enjoying, that was sex too.

This has to be unclear to the guy: you withhold consent at first, then give consent when you start... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 12:15 AM on January 15, 2008

If you have 2 semesters of Java, then you may have a basic understanding of elementary data structures and loops. If you do, I would also echo the other recommendations for the "CLRS", The "Introduction to Algorithms" by Cormen, Liverson, Rivest, and Stein.

Pay special attention to Big-O notation. In industry it will come up in virtually every task. IMO, understanding asymptotic running time is what separates the engineers from the programmers --... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 2:43 AM on January 13, 2008

Check out Screaming Jay Hawkins
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 3:31 AM on January 6, 2008

Kid A was one of the best albums I'd heard in years, but my understanding is that it's not quite radiohead's usual style. To be fair, my musical tastes are more towards electronic and classical, especially modern classical, than rock, which I think explains my preference. Depending on which direction you're coming from, I you might want to check out Kid A as well.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 1:12 AM on January 6, 2008

My own thoughts ... the only important things to keep in mind for good stir fry are:

1. Start with hot oil (duh), then add garlic and ginger, then whites of scallions, then meat, then veggies. This is a good base for flavorful oil to fry in.

2. Don't crowd the pan or wok or you will have to cook for too long, and you'll end up with something more like a grainless casserole.

3. Don't add the sauce too early or else you... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 12:51 PM on January 5, 2008

Can you start by getting access to therapy through your school? You sound like you need someone to talk to on a regular basis, before you can find the courage in yourself to move out and start your own life on your own.

Talk to the medical services in your school, make an appointment, and don't tell your parents. You really need help and there is no reason to give your father the opportunity to deny you this help.

In the back of your mind,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 12:27 AM on December 24, 2007

Your stepdaughter is telling you these secrets in order to bond with you, because you two didn't grow up together and you're going to be a parent to her now. These secrets do not sound like important information that must stay hidden, they only are important because they are shared, and signify something between a stepmom and stepdaughter.

The only reason to share these secrets is to reject your stepdaughter.

I think you feel "weird"... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 4:34 PM on December 20, 2007 marked best answer

My experience was that any prepaid SIM card is available from a cellular phone store. It turned out to be more than the 5-10 dollars that I expected, though not as much as a phone. I don't remember how much it was, but I do remember that I had to specifically ask for it -- they definitely will try to sell you a phone.

In the end, I ended up calling my provider's customer service, and they switched my existing, monthly plan SIM into a prepaid plan. So, if you can get... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 2:46 PM on November 18, 2007 marked best answer

talk to your doctor, and see if your testosterone levels can be checked. A lowered libido in females can be caused by deficient androgen levels.

Birth control changes can mess with your androgen levels, so that could be a cause. But a blood test can help answer the question, if it's in your head or if it's hormonal.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 10:39 PM on November 10, 2007

The avant garde-squatter-art house that is worth seeing is Tacheles. At U-bahn Oranienburger Tor.

Also, second the Currywurst recommendation ... you can get one anywhere, but there's a popular place near comumbiahalle on Mehringdamm called "curry 36". It's right outside the U-Bahn Mehringdamm.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 6:59 AM on November 2, 2007

I saw Tacheles in September, and while there may be tourists wandering around, it's not like the place is full of them. There are still artists there giving exhibitions, and the physical space still feels and looks like a squat. It still seemed a bit off the beaten path to me, and I agree that none of this affects the recommendation to visit. In fact, Since the OP was interested in squatter-tourism, I think Tacheles is pretty much what he would like to see.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 4:22 PM on November 2, 2007

My own experience with a partner's dishonesty taught me something. His dishonesty was like yours, I think, in that it was not malicious, it was like he couldn't help it. I think in retrospect, he lied because he didn't trust me. (Maybe that will seem true in your case as well, since you are after all posting your problems to the hive mind instead of talking to your partner).


The striking thing I learned was this: Distrust is an actual... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 6:43 AM on October 27, 2007

I think she needs to talk to the police again. This doesn't sound right. Has she tried to report the car as stolen?

Another thing to try is talking to the insurance company. If this sort of loss is something that's covered by her policy, (i.e. someone taking your stuff and selling it seems like pretty cut-and-dry theft to me) then the insurance company has an interest in helping her out.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 2:40 PM on September 17, 2007

Homework problems. You need to practice using the formulas. Do these problems without looking at the formula unless you have to.

It doesn't hurt to understand the meaning of each expression in the formula, or how to derive the formula either, but for a short timed test that's probably not good enough. The easiest way to have instant recollection of a formula is to have recently solved the same problem with different numbers.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 10:02 AM on July 16, 2007

Nori usually comes pre toasted, in my experience. Are you cutting the sheets in half, though? And using only a small amount of rice?
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 12:32 PM on July 11, 2007

She needs to trust that you. It's that simple.

A casual attitude is the best way for you to prove yourself untrustworthy. She was -- and still is -- quite serious about how she feels about you. If you cannot match that then perhaps you really are not ready.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 10:25 AM on July 11, 2007

I suspect that getting home is making it worse. Have you tried not letting yourself go home immediately? Do you have anything that you have to do in the evenings?

Going home means you're done for the night. This happens to me and I suspect it's nearly universal. I don't know if it's nesting instinct, or what, but it seems very obvious when you think about it -- if you're lying down, or sitting on a sofa, at 6pm, chances are very low that you're going to be doing... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 8:26 AM on July 11, 2007

You should leave as soon as possible. You cannot trust their promises and, even though you gave up a lot to join this company, you don't actually have enough invested there to make staying worth it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 1:59 PM on July 10, 2007

What you're trying to do is basically manage a "keychain", so searching for that might help.

I am sure that ssh-agent can do this, if the systems in question are unix or mac os. You add the passwords to the ssh-agent program, and then give access to the running agent to each user's login. The agent usually runs on a socket, and you can "give access" to it through the filesystem.

The users' own logins would then give them access to the agent.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 11:00 AM on July 9, 2007

OMG, roadrespectrage! Did you just get that smug over someone getting a bike ticket? This is someone asking for help fighting stupid beaurocracy, not a lecture about cycling traffic safety on quiet residential streets.


I'd say to go back and get a picture of the intersection.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 1:07 PM on July 5, 2007

Once the purchase closes, you own the appliances as they are in the house. This isn't like renting where you are promised working appliances for the length of your lease. You should get these things sorted out before you sign the final papers. If you knew the dishwasher was broken, you should have asked for the closing price to be lowered to reflect the cost to replace it.

What do you expect, that the new buyer will be your house's personal superintendent for a while... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 1:31 PM on July 2, 2007

BTW, I have a friend in the area who can see the place, so presumably there has to be an actual apartment. I won't send the money up front from overseas.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 11:20 AM on June 29, 2007

Yes, my friend in London would be able to meet the person and view the apartment. The person seems very pushy to have me view the apartment as soon as possible.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 11:41 AM on June 29, 2007

Jose Gonzalez might be worth a listen. He did a well known (and commerically co-opted) acoustic version of Heartbeats which you might have heard before. (Might not be lyrics for a wedding though)
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 5:07 AM on June 27, 2007

Use it instead of honey for sweetening tea.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 8:12 AM on June 26, 2007

I am in Cambridge around Inman. I switched from Comcast to Speakeasy because I wasn't happy with the comcast downtime.

Basically, the comcast would go down for 30 seconds to a minute or two at a time during peak hours. The bandwidth was great, except that for the online gaming I care about this was not acceptable. I cared more about consistancy than download speed in the end.

The DSL, which I think it through Covad, ended up not having the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 5:22 AM on June 26, 2007

Getting to the south shore, by car, while living north of the city is just awful in rush hour. You might think it's against traffic, but it's not, because you only have 2 options:

(a) go through the city at rush hour to make it to 93 south. This will take 45 minutes. And 93 is brutal.

(b) go out of the city to 128 (aka I-95) at which point you're going around the city just like everyone else, and you're no longer against the flow of traffic.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 9:07 AM on June 18, 2007

Macallan is one single malt that is quite good at the 18 and 25 year old ages. I have a bottle of the 18 here, but I have also tried the 25 and it is indeed quite good.

Glenlivet also gets my recommendation as well for a scotch that ages well.

There are other single malts that I like, that are good values or have a particular flavour that I enjoy, but that can vary from person to person. The Macallan is the kind of pick that's simply high... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 7:43 PM on June 14, 2007

Oh, I might as well mention since it's on topic, but one lighter scotch that doesn't get enough recognition, IMO, is Craggenmore. It's a speyside, bordering on sweet, floral, and very very drinkable for a 12 year old. That's actually a bit *below* your price range, but perhaps you might find it a little older and more expensive (not that, IMO, you would need to)
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 8:26 PM on June 14, 2007

Do be careful about driving on any underpasses on memorial drive in Cambridge or Storrow Drive in Boston. In general, don't do this in a rented moving truck. The bridges are very low and you can get stuck.

You can find on street parking and worry about paying a parking ticket yourself. It's not that much and it's just as much of a hassle as finding a garage.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 9:40 AM on June 14, 2007

Am I the only one who thinks its weird that he wants to annul a 20 year married 2 months after his spouse passed away? And that the idea to do that comes from a woman he just started dating?

I would be very wary of someone who is capable of exercising that amount of control over someone who is obviously vulnerable. I don't think the seven weeks time is the most interesting thing here. Unless there was something wrong with the marriage, there's something wrong here.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 5:09 AM on June 4, 2007

oh, just saw the thing about the annullment being with someone else. never mind
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 5:10 AM on June 4, 2007

Second the Vitamin E. You can buy ingestible gelcaps and break 'em open as well. It's the same thing as cremes but a lot cheaper -- the industry knows it can charge for vanity.

It'll also lighten with time.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 6:04 AM on May 30, 2007

raf has it. Your "buy at yesterday's market close" order is an *offer* to buy and it's not guaranteed to find a seller. You can instead say "buy at market" but then you're not necessarily going to get the same price. You'll get the lowest price of the people who are offering to sell.

Your money is in fact out of the market for 16 hours a day and there are real effects for that -- even if theoretically no trading goes on off hours.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cotterpin at 5:38 AM on May 28, 2007