I'm not sure that sleeping 10-12 hours is a healthy habit either... what is the point of try to do so?

I think if you find yourself dozing off during the middle of the day, then that is a sign you are not getting enough sleep. If you aren't doing that, then I don't see why you would want to start sleeping for 10-12 hours (and whenever I sleep that long it makes me really groggy too!).
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 9:03 PM on July 17, 2008

Here it says that the slash would often be used to represent abbreviations.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 7:58 AM on June 30, 2008

@sunshinesky

We also hear phrases like, "the rule is: ladies first", and that the typical bad lover who only makes sure he comes. Some guys are aware of things like this and feel guilty or selfish if they come and the girl doesn't. It's not insulting if a girl doesn't come, the guy just feels like a person who received an awesome Christmas present and didn't buy anything in return. It's fine to explain that, no, you don't always need anything in return. But... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 7:18 PM on June 15, 2008

Going north-south in Texas seems pretty far: 908 miles.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 11:52 PM on June 3, 2008

Now, let's pretend that you were allowed to cash in your Forever stamp for money. Sweet!, you just got back $1.02, but you only spent $1.00 to buy the stamp in the first place. How psyched are you, you just made two cents?

But we're comparing it to buying a $1 stamp. Like, you either buy a book of $1 stamps or Forever stamps. Flunkie specifically said that he is not talking about investing in stamps, but just buying the normal amount that you buy,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 5:44 PM on June 2, 2008

Just ditch games. I used to play tons of games and I was really good at them, but I would get sucked into them and forget to eat and use the restroom sometimes. I just took the approach that I take with junk food, which is that I'm not strong enough to resist the temptation if they are right there in my house, so I just don't buy them. Sure, you'll miss em, kinda... but only for a while. Nowadays I just sometimes get sucked into a game when I am visiting a friend who has video games, but... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 1:20 PM on May 31, 2008

Sometimes there is a cache on the server side as well, especially if the pages are dynamically generated. That way, commonly loaded pages can be cached for some set amount (could be minutes, could be hours, could be days) so that there isn't a load on the server or the database (which is what happens when pages are dynamically loaded).

Probably once the new content does show up, that's when a new cache has been generated.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 1:17 PM on May 31, 2008 marked best answer

I just want to reiterate what some other people have said about the fact that everyone is coming in fresh. It means that making friends is totally different from almost any other time. Nobody has their group, their routine, their comfort zone. At the beginning, you can just start randomly talking to people, or randomly sit down with people at meals, or do anything else you can think of. There are no rules when you get there. That's what is so great about it. Definitely, like some other... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 11:38 PM on May 30, 2008

Germans pronounce the word "szene" as [stsene], where [ts] is an affricate along the same lines as ch (= t + sh). It's not such an easy combo for English native speakers.

Here is the pronunciation of "die Szene".
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 7:55 PM on May 23, 2008

@languagehat

The original question was "How do you pronounce the "sz" in a German word or name that begins with it"?

So, I believe "Szene" is quite relevant.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 10:17 AM on May 27, 2008

The real difference seems to be whether the reference point is the speaker or the listener.

In English, you are particularly looking at a special case, when you are talking about moving towards the listener. Normally, the speaker is the reference point:

1. He is going to the park. (= The speaker is not at the park)

2. He is coming to the park. (= The speaker is at the park, or expects to be at the park when... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 9:50 AM on May 27, 2008

As for the car renting advice... I'm pretty sure that you have to be a licensed driver in order to be allowed to drive a rental car, i.e. she would have to show them a driver's license or else she would not be covered under any insurance. So that is probably not going to be possible.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 10:50 PM on May 21, 2008

@ROU_Xenophobe
Why include a "might" that's not absolutely necessary, when you can say "would," and that avoids getting nailed for missing some deadline?

Because "might" is the truth and "would" is a lie?
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 11:05 AM on May 21, 2008

Frankly, I don't see anything particularly wrong with a fib here. It's not like bellbottoms didn't break her wrist, so she isn't asking for anything she doesn't deserve. She's just, maybe, not in full compliance with bureaucratic details about getting what she deserves.

If she truly deserves it, there should be no reason she needs to lie about it. However, if she lies about it, and the professor does follow up with the TA (perhaps telling the TA that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 12:45 PM on May 21, 2008

This may be silly, but our Tivo requires WEP only, so I just have two wireless routers. One wireless router is WPA2 for all of the computers on our network, and the other is just plugged into the main one and serves a mini WEP network for my Tivo. You could do something similar if you got your hands on some cheapo router.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 6:49 PM on May 19, 2008

Closed captions are subtitles but subtitles are not closed captions. Go with subtitles.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 5:41 PM on May 19, 2008

I think that saying that there is just no rhyme or reason is just a cop out. I would say that we haven't figured out all the intricacies of why these things work the way they do.

Another interesting quirk of English contractions is this (I don't think anyone's mentioned it):

(* = bad)

* I've.

I've not. (OK in England I think?)

I haven't.

I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 3:21 PM on May 15, 2008

I saw my grandpa after he had died (I was there when he died), and it was just surreal. It certainly didn't make things easier or give me some sense of closure. More than anything, it's frustrating. You want to hug the person or comfort them or do something, but the person is cold to the touch and beyond your help.

I don't think there is any solution that is going to feel "right"... death just always seems like a raw deal. If I had the chance to view a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 11:08 PM on May 6, 2008

Start changing the stress on his name, and see what he says.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 1:07 PM on May 5, 2008

It's possible (or used to be possible) to "upgrade" your clipboard into more fancy clipboards with history, but there's nothing you can retroactively do now.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 1:02 PM on May 5, 2008

I'm confused by your examples that serve as the basis for your question.

You've never indicated to someone that you wanted to ask a question by just saying "question"?

You've never called your dog "Dog"? I have called my cat "kitty" or "cat" on many occasions.

When you call a company or a friend, don't you sometimes say, "John, please" or ask for the salt by simply saying... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 3:26 PM on May 4, 2008

Sorry this is so late, but I ran across the perfect card for you to give.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 12:16 PM on April 30, 2008

Actually he would have to give it to you :)
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 12:19 PM on April 30, 2008

Perhaps the reason you cannot get your point across is because people generally do not like to be told what to think :)
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 1:22 PM on April 19, 2008

You can run some diagnostics, cleanup, and repairs with OnyX.

Your internal HD has 9 GB out of how much total? As a general rule of thumb, it is good to try to aim for about 10% of your HD to be free.

When you installed Leopard, did you do an upgrade then? If you did an upgrade, then it might actually be beneficial to do an Archive & Install (making sure to check the box to preserve Users and Network settings). This has the effect of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 9:50 PM on April 6, 2008

PMU = Power Management Unit. Unless I am mistaken, your MacBook Pro doesn't have a PMU (all Intel machines have something else called the SMC, System Management Controller). Here's how to reset the SMC.

Don't know if that will actually solve the problem but it may be worth a try.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 2:47 PM on April 5, 2008

Although someone already mentioned that "could care less" could have a sarcastic sense to it (nobody ever complains when people say "big deal", and note our well-established "slim chance" vs. "fat chance"), I do enjoy occasionally referring people to have a look at the Caring Continuum. It's just funny.

As for some of the complaints about words changing syntactic categories (e.g. nouns becoming verbs, ADD used as an adjective), I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 9:44 PM on April 2, 2008

At Stony Brook University the library search engine is called STARS, and my local library search engine is called WebPAC.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 9:41 PM on March 24, 2008

As a patron who is afraid of dogs, I'm not going to make a scene if you bring your dog in with you. Since I'm kind of non-confrontational, I'll either go someplace else, or else I'll get what I need fast and get out of there. (I seriously doubt that, if I became vocal about my discomfort when someone has a dog, it would actually convince people to leave.) If I remain in the establishment, my attention will have to focus on the dog and exactly what it is doing for the duration of the time I am... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 12:17 PM on March 22, 2008 marked best answer

Brockles

Yes, the reason it needed to be replaced was that the water was sucked into the engine (I got unlucky on that one).

As for the electrical: before towing it to the shop, I tried to start it up. The starter motor revved, but the engine made a boom, like metal on metal. All the other electrical stuff inside seemed to be working, keyless entry was fine, lights were working. There was no sign of any immediate electrical problems.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 4:40 PM on March 13, 2008

Kevin S

Unfortunately, I think it's too late for doing my own tune-ups. The insurance company wants to move things along quickly and also I might start getting charged a storage fee.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 6:28 PM on March 13, 2008

Good point about the Car Talk link.

But, I guess you folks are all pretty swaying me in the direction of junking the car... but as I try to work this out, it's surprising how much sentimental attachment I am realizing I have!

Thanks for all the advice so far.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 9:11 PM on March 13, 2008

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk

The first track of Made from Technetium by Man or Astro-Man, where the CD introduces itself to you (sample on the linked page).

Generate Bodies by MJ Lan
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 9:47 PM on March 1, 2008

One problem that confuses the issue is that in (at least American) colloquial speech, it is very common to allow the use of "there's" (in contracted form) for singular or plural. That is to say, one often hears "there's tons of cars on the road" or "there's millions of solutions to the problem".

Notice that if you separated out "there is" (like, for emphasis), it starts to sound wrong. In colloquial speech, "there's"... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 8:56 AM on February 26, 2008

GuyZero, I thought that the first MP3 encoder didn't come out until sometime in mid-94 and the name MP3 was invented like a year later... maybe your friend wasn't downloading MP3's as such?
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 1:32 PM on February 15, 2008

Isn't the Spanish word for mountain "la montaña"?

Even if one believes that dreams have a meaning and aren't random, surely your brain is not accessing the ability to speak languages that you don't know... right?
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 8:59 PM on February 8, 2008

If you like/are amused by the Star Trek genre at all, then there is also Galaxy Quest, which I found surprisingly entertaining. The washed up actors from a Star Trek-like movie end up in space, fighting aliens.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 7:26 AM on February 4, 2008

My last name is a girl's first name. Whenever somebody makes a joke about that, I usually react by saying something like, "wow, you are actually the first person to ever have made that connection. Nobody has ever thought of that joke before. That is very, very clever." And so on. But obviously, that is not in the context of a random exchange.

Personally, I think these brief exchanges of words with strangers are a waste of time anyway, because nobody is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 9:27 PM on January 30, 2008

Also possibly worth mentioning is the fact that in many other countries, the house number follows the street name. When I mail something off to a friend, I write the label thusly:

Georg-Bonn-Strasse 120
22609 Hamburg
GERMANY

I would be incredibly frustrated with a co-worker who is as ridiculous as yours. He's wrong to object at all, wrong to change it himself, and wrong in his reasoning for why it should be his way.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 3:58 PM on January 30, 2008

The place that I always find to have more mature discussion threads is Slashdot. The site is billed as "News for Nerds", so it has a strong tech and geek angle to it, but I find the discussion (when browsing at a threshold of +3 or above) to be quite insightful.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 10:15 AM on January 29, 2008

In Berlin I recommend the DDR Museum. It's fairly new and I visited there for the first time in May; the museum is very well done. Everything in the museum is translated into English.

I think there is no better place to get a crash course on life in the former East Germany.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kosmonaut at 6:45 AM on January 28, 2008