In my view.. there are 2 types of people:

1.) The person who has plenty of resources and chooses willingly to make a major lifestyle change. Sure - they are motivated and inspired,etc,etc... and its great to see someone explore something completely new/unknown. (if you are person#1: would you make the same choices for life change if you literally had nothing but the clothes on your back? If YES, how ?)

OR

2.) The person... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 2:35 AM on August 7, 2008

Carillon,
The suggestions you get from this thread are going to be pretty vague and useless unless you give us some specific explanation of 1.) why you hate iTunes and 2.) what features you are looking for (or trying to avoid).

In other words,..there are a variety of media players out there. No doubt some of them are "better" (or possibly "worse") than iTunes, but everyone has their own personal preferences. What are yours?
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 6:46 AM on August 4, 2008

Yep.. Gateway's website says "USB Speakers"... so I'd be willing to bet quite a bit of money that the USB connector is for POWER...

You'll need to have BOTH the green 1/8inch audio jack plugged in.. as well as the USB connector in order to hear sound.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 5:17 PM on July 27, 2008 marked best answer

There are a few things I agree with here,.. and a few I dont:

The good stuff:
1.) definitely invest a little time each day (even if its only a few minutes) to your hygiene and general appearance. Everything should be clean and simple, possibly a little personal style if genuinely reflects who you are. Personally, I feel I've accomplished something in this category when people find it difficult to decide what class I come from :) (course, i also dont want to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 2:20 AM on July 26, 2008

You definitely should give a listen to "Pistolero" by Juno Reactor.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 9:50 AM on July 20, 2008

PosterWhore has some neat stuff
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 1:48 AM on July 19, 2008 marked best answer

I'm a little disappointed. I was hoping from your description that the sphere would look more like a large red hamster ball. :|
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 3:01 AM on July 16, 2008

Welcome to the club.... ?

I feel your pain.. I have rare glimpses of the ideal person that I want to be, and completely frustrated that I'm not able to make it happen on a more regular basis. I consider myself pretty web-savvy, read a lot of blogs and subscribed to various feeds like Steve Pavlina. The problem (as I see it) is that a lot of the advice is good, but everyones life situation is unique. Having the quickness and clarity to apply the correct approach to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 5:20 PM on July 14, 2008

The above advice is accurate.. but one thing i want to comment on. Even if WindowsXP has legitimate reasons for running a boot-time CHKDSK... it shouldn't take anywhere near "6 to 12 hours"... thats hideously long. (I've seen 500gig drives completely CHKDSK's in much shorter time.)

I also have a Macbook Pro that is Bootcamp'ed OSX/XP.... I've never had reason to run a CHKDSK on it, but its only a 160gig drive (split 50/50, so the XP side is only 80gig).. I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 7:29 AM on July 14, 2008

A lot of fairly accurate comments so far. I would agree that every IT dept I've ever worked in was definitely "no-nonsense, heads-down, get-to-work" type of atmosphere (but that doesnt mean we dont know how to have fun.) I've very rarely had to deal with "office politics" or "drama".

1.) Ask if you dont know something. As others have said, IT types LOVE to explain things (show off their knowledge, and because the majority of us totally get... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 10:09 AM on July 13, 2008 marked best answer

Spent the last hour or two browsing various city websites. Do they all have to be blue? I mean seriously. I have to say I'm pretty impressed with Baltimore's website. Its has great visual impact, although I havent had time to dig in and see how functional it is.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 6:29 AM on July 11, 2008

I understand what dirtdirt is saying... I guess I'm just hoping that I can take some of the ideas floating around my head and develop them in a way to help my cities website be better. It seems like the vast majority of municipal websites are average at best (but mostly total suck)... so in that regard it seems like it wouldnt take much to make something "stand above the crowd" so to speak. Although I think the biggest hurdles arent technological... the biggest hurdles are... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 10:13 AM on July 11, 2008

"Sorry, but you're in field that requires a degree. Plain and simple." - wfrgms

I dont know that i would agree with that. I'm 35yrs old, just picked up a 2nd full time job (that pays $5 more per hour than my primary full time job). So effectively I've just doubled my salary and I never set foot in a college.

Granted, having a degree might get you further-faster, but IMHO having a degree is no replacement for... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 12:41 PM on July 9, 2008

"I remember chastising an out of touch older friend once about how I'd never get too old that I wouldn't have heard of any of the bands in the top ten of the Billboard chart. That day keeps getting closer and closer." - any major dude

I would argue that the jury is still out whether your comment says more about "people getting old" or "new music sucks". (IE = just because something is popular doesnt mean its good and vice-versa)... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 9:47 AM on July 7, 2008

I cant vouch for Kenneth Cole (I've never owned any).. but I wanted to make the comment that: Not all $100 shoes are made the same. (in other words, just because you pay $100 for something, doesn't mean its high quality, OR that its going to last.)

I pay approx. $100 for Doc Martens. I typically only have 1 pair at a time, so I wear them every single day. On average a pair of Doc Martens will last me 2 to 3 years, depending on how much I'm on my feet each day.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 1:44 AM on July 6, 2008

Its not exactly "body" related.. but I found Mind Hacks to be an entertaining read.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 12:01 AM on July 3, 2008

I'm with paperclip on this one.... wth is "waist pinching" ?... (yes, I've tried googling it.. but all i'm finding are instructions on how to measure bodyfat)

I'm 35.. and I've never seen, heard or otherwise noticed anything close to resembling flirting with someone by pinching their waist. Is it some new trend?... I think if someone did it to me I'd be to terribly confused to even speak... "dude.. what the F was that ?.."
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 12:48 AM on June 30, 2008

As someone who (financially) barely breaks even.. lives paycheck-to-paycheck, and some days cant even afford to eat... I am struggling to comprehend how living on a six-figure income you say you cant afford to invest in your dreams. How hard would it be to set aside a little money?.. rearrange your schedule to have fridays off and spend your 3 day weekends doing something creative?... nurture your industry contacts in your spare social time and volunteer to be involved in random creative local... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 12:00 AM on June 30, 2008

I would agree with smackfu. Historically speaking, the societal reasons probably were that the "man of the house" went to work, and expected the "woman of the house" to be out running errands. (and more basically, it makes more sense to have businesses open during the daylight hours because a) people are awake then and b) at night most people are home with their families.)

I feel your frustration though. And I would agree that society is changing and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 9:24 AM on June 18, 2008

It really depends on how different the motherboards are.

If they are motherboards with similar chipsets (for example they both use Intel D865)... then your chances are fair to good.

If the motherboards are quite different (one uses Intel D865 and the other uses VIA chipset).. then you might have some pretty big problems.

Arniec's advice is the strategy I've used in the past... but in my experience it was no where near... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 8:53 AM on June 16, 2008

nth'ing what others are saying:.... When given a choice, most human beings would avoid any kind of messy, emotional, awkward conversation if the other option is just "letting it fade away". Yeah, it sucks (for the dumpee).. and it doesnt help you in future relationships, but its human behavior.

The reality is... typical breakup conversations are rarely easy or fair. One person inevitably always feels "hurt".. and no matter what you say, or how you... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 1:00 AM on June 14, 2008

You would think... as a food blogger... you would WANT a meta-list type site like Tastespotting to be "spotlighting" your fab' creations. Tastespotting was one of my (almost) daily reads, and definitely the very first place I would turn to whenever I didnt know what to make. ("Damn, I only have noodles, lets search Tastespotting for "noodles")...

Bummer :(
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 2:41 AM on June 13, 2008

These two things:
1.) effects both Firefox AND Internet Explorer
2.) HTTPS (port 443) works, but HTTP (port 80) doesnt

...leads me to guess that (its not a browser problem).. rather that something is blocking port 80

But I'm at a loss to guess what that might be.

You also said that you tried System Restore and that did NOT fix it... Do you have any other computers on the same internet connection... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 7:49 AM on June 12, 2008

If you're worried about DNS.... just go out to a Command Prompt (DOS Prompt) and type the following:

nslookup www.google.com

You should get a response similar to this:

Server: resolver1.opendns.com
Address: 208.67.222.222

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: google.navigation.opendns.com
Addresses: 208.69.32.230, 208.69.32.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 8:11 AM on June 12, 2008

Ok Leigh1,

If you're still out at a DOS prompt, run this:

ipconfig /all

You'll get an array of information about your network settings. Somewhere in the list, there will be an item labeled "DNS Servers" and it should show 2 IP addresses

What are they ? (and if you DO have 2 DNS Servers listed... can you PING those IP's ?... )
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 8:25 AM on June 12, 2008

The IP address 192.168.2.1 is most likely your wireless router. The fact that you get a nice strong ping reply is a good sign. (atleast it would seem your laptop has a solid connection to your router)

Normally I would ask you to reset (unplug Power..... wait a minute or two... replug Power cable) your wireless router, BUT you said your friends laptop is working fine. Wouldn't hurt to do it anyways. (rebooting the router might clear some of the routers cached info about... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 8:45 AM on June 12, 2008

Leigh1: "I think that I picked up some malware and wasn't able to clean it completely.
For example, I'm seeing this picture on a bunch of sites I usually visit, this is the same picture on bunch of sites, not some random ad, but the same picture everywhere. And that is really weird."

Ah. Why didnt you say that in the first place? :P

Yeah, you've definitely got some kind of spyware/malware. Here is what I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 4:12 PM on June 12, 2008

You sound exactly like me. I mean, EXACTLY.

I'll be turning 35 in about two weeks and I'd love nothing more than to get out of IT and "find what I love". I consider myself a very creative "ideas" type of person.. but am in to much debt to invest any time or money in exploring other options. (seriously, at the moment, I can barely afford to eat) I especially identify with your last paragraph.

Your geographic location may... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 7:42 AM on June 8, 2008

Sounds like the computer isnt recognizing the hard drive, so its skipping it and trying to boot from the network card (PXE "pixie" is part of the bootable network components). I suppose its also possible (somehow) the BIOS settings got changed to try booting from the network card BEFORE the hard drive..

Only thing to do is find a way into BIOS (F1 or some key during the boot sequence) and look to see if the BIOS is detecting the hard drive.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 6:47 PM on June 2, 2008

I have to agree with what others have said... that the best thing I "figured out" about iTunes was to turn OFF all the automatic settings BEFORE importing any music.

True, this means you'll have to manage things by hand.. but it gives you finer control over your file locations, file names, song info and library content. It takes more effort on your part, but the final product (the quality of your library) comes out EXACTLY the way you want it to.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 6:44 PM on June 2, 2008 marked best answer

I used to have a pair of Pearl Izumi bike shorts .... they were awesome. Whenever I thought I'd be excessively active (hiking, yardwork,etc).. I'd put them on under my jeans/shorts and never once got thigh rubbing. ( I even wore them a lot in the winter just for warmth) Sadly, the eventually (after years) wore out, and I havent had resources to replace them)
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 7:07 PM on June 1, 2008

Another vote for Plextor
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 6:07 PM on May 29, 2008

Definitely fxcuisine. Their layout/pictures always blow me away.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 7:41 PM on May 27, 2008

1.) eat it ?
2.) run it through a fine grater and use it in recipes that call for coconut?
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 3:41 PM on May 27, 2008

"A History of Comic Art" is a pretty sweet book (I own it). However, it approaches the history of comics and graphic novels from an artistic perspective, and doesnt go in depth explaining the history of individual characters or comic "families". I still highly recommend it though, because it does a great job of "schooling" you on the origins of comic art, and how it developed over the decades. Through each decades history, it mentions all the important characters,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 4:27 AM on May 23, 2008

Umfeld.

You can thank me later. ;)
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 2:07 AM on May 17, 2008

Thanks grouse,

Thats the part I'm worried about. ("no tool is going to be able to read your mind")

I struggled through what I needed to get done this morning by:
1.) looking at previous regex tests my coworkers had written
2.) because I'm only doing subject line searches and matching on the EXACT string (example: "Earn a degree")

I realize that if I want to do anything more... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 4:25 AM on May 12, 2008

DarkForest - "What tool are you using to check the email for your regex patterns?"

Honestly (and I know this isnt helpful)... I really dont know what the backend tool is. I believe our companies filter is based on Spamassasin, but all I have to submit spam tests is a front end web-management interface that basically allows me to submit a new spam test, include the regex string, and modify a few basic settings. Beyond that, i really dont... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 4:54 AM on May 12, 2008

jepler - "Spam filtering is really hard, and I suspect that almost nobody does it by manually writing regular expressions any longer."
jenkinsEar - "Nthing the idea that regex-based spam hunting is the path to perdition..."
Flunkie - "Get yourself a good, premade, Bayesian spam filter."

I completely agree, and would love to follow the above advice, however... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 6:04 AM on May 12, 2008

I'm in the same spot you are.. except I'm 34. Although I love the "travel" advice, my personal advice to you would be to definitely go to college. You dont wanna start hitting your 30's without having finished college. Trust me on this. True, you can be successful without college, but its not easy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 11:51 PM on May 8, 2008

Acro,

I like that, but I dont understand how an end-user accesses it. If its not part of a CMS, Blog or Hosting Control panel, where does the end-user go to turn on the editor?

Lets say for example we scripted the process to create the end-users first webpage (index.html). Is there a way to password protect the editing functions?. Because we obviously dont want any public web surfer being able to modify the end-users content.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 3:07 PM on April 29, 2008

burnmp3s,
Will Google Page Creator allow our end users to update and modify sites that are hosted on our servers? (or another way of asking: Can we use Google Page Creator but make it transparent to the end user ?)
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 3:15 PM on April 29, 2008

Acro - http://www.wysiwygez.com/

I saw that too,.. and got excited, but their "Demos" page seems to imply that its only available as a plugin to CMS packages (Joomla/Mambo/Drupal/Wordpress,etc). :(
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 3:44 PM on April 29, 2008

burnmp3s - configuring Google Page Creator and redirects

I like the creativity of that solution, but we're hoping to avoid anything overly complex/kludgy on our backend. Meaning = if we had 50 clients asking for this, we dont want to have to jump through all those redirect hoops (and have to track/document all the setup configuration).

I'm sorry if it seems like I keep shooting down ideas. I'm not trying to poo-poo everything, I'm just being... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 3:47 PM on April 29, 2008

candyland - "Amaya ?"
Sorry, but I need a server-side app (something they can access through a browser)

Crios - "Weebly ?"
I dont think thats gonna work for us because Weebly hosts the content on THEIR end. We need a solution that integrates with websites hosted inside our building.

Mr_Chips - "Coffee Cup ?"
I like... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 4:16 PM on April 29, 2008

AmbroseChapel: Cuchycms

Oh..we're getting closer....
I like the slick web 2.0 implementation of that, especially how it connects to any hosted FTP site. The only caveat I can see is the "new page creation" mechanism seems kinda convoluted. We're hoping for a simpler way a client can just click "create new page" and that each HTML page would have some sort of "Edit me" link. (similar to Flyspeck.net's PHP implementation.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 4:52 PM on April 29, 2008

Acro ,
TinyMCE - as far as i can tell, TinyMCE is only available as a plugin for CMS's. Sorry, not what we're looking.
wikiwyg - Ok. I REALLY REALLY like the simplicity of that, but there doesnt appear to be any security (anyone would double-clicks can edit. Not a good idea. :(

Chesty_a_arthur : Soholaunch ?

Hmmm.. you might just be onto something there. Its not Free, but it appears like you can install it without... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 5:06 PM on April 29, 2008

chesty_a_arthur , "even if you install it with Fantastico, you access the front end editor by going to something like yourdomain.com/proedition."

But doesnt that still require some kind of (backend) hosting panel (like Plesk or cPanel) ?

I'm sorry it appears like I'm so easily confused (or its not me, and these application websites explanations are terrible)... but I cant find any definitive answer to that.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 6:43 PM on April 29, 2008

AmbroseChapel: "But I think what you actually want is a CMS, even though you say it isn't."

Oh, trust me.. I'd install a CMS or some control panel in a heartbeat if I could :P, but they want the cheapest simplest solution.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 7:55 PM on April 29, 2008

bdc34 , "Consider Wordpress, really."

Yeah, thats the "middle-ground" answer I'd really like to convince them to consider.
1.) client calls up wanting a drop dead simple to manage website.
2.) We create Mysql database and script Wordpress install and send them back an email saying: "Here you go (insert link to Wordpress Admin logon)." Have a nice day.

We already support... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 3:41 PM on April 30, 2008