Displaying post 1 to 50 of 297
I like singers with strange voices. I don't like novelty songs (e.g. Betty Boop) and I don't like "songs" that are so avant-garde that they're basically noise (e.g. someone screaming into a microphone). So I'm not looking for strange music. I'm looking for traditional (melodic) music sung by singers with non-traditional singing voices. Examples of what I like:
Joanna Newsom,
Leon Redbone,
Screamin' Jay Hawkins,
Elaine Stritch.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 11:26 AM on June 22, 2008
(103 comments)
Can I learn to create melodies?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 8:33 AM on June 15, 2008
(37 comments)
Help me stop cluttering up my (OS X) desktop.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 8:41 AM on June 7, 2008
(23 comments)
Is it possible to
rationally settle on an economic theary?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 7:29 AM on May 31, 2008
(54 comments)
Is it normal to have a hunger pang and then, a couple of minutes later, to not be hungry?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 9:31 AM on May 15, 2008
(12 comments)
My Macbook Pro was stolen. Just about the only non-shitty thing about it is that I keep my huge iTunes library on an external drive. All the music files are on the drive, but the data files (library.xml) were on the stolen Mac. I have another Macbook. What's the simplest way I can rebuild my library on it?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 7:39 AM on May 8, 2008
(13 comments)
Design-pattern (programming) question.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 10:19 AM on April 16, 2008
(41 comments)
I'd like to photograph the interior of a run-down old building. I live in NYC.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 12:06 PM on April 2, 2008
(9 comments)
stupid question: why are there left and right stereo speakers?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 1:01 PM on March 23, 2008
(31 comments)
Does anyone know a way to stop icons from bouncing on the OS X doc? I'm NOT talking about unchecking "animate opening applications" in the dock preferences. That only stops opening-app bounces. I want to stop warning bounces, too. They drive me crazy. Please note that I'm using an INTEL Mac (Leopard). I've only been able to find solutions for PowerPC Macs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 8:42 AM on March 10, 2008
(9 comments)
A Full-Cast Audio Play
My NYC-based theatre company is producing the (Olivier-award-winning, Tony nominated) play, "Our Country's Good" [
tickets].
The play tells the true story of the first penal colony in Australia: In the late 18th Century, the convicts acted in a play called "The Recruiting Officer" -- Australia's first play.
Thomas ("Schindler's List") Keneally wrote "The Playmaker," a novel about the convicts and their show. In 1988, playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker wrote a play based on Keneally's novel. She called her play "Our Country's Good." My company is reviving it.
In addition, we've produced "The Recruiting Officer" as an audio play, and we've made it
available for free download.
posted to Projects by grumblebee
at 1:17 PM on February 25, 2008
I want to stand up while I program. Please recommend a desk.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 8:58 AM on February 19, 2008
(24 comments)
My company, Nabbr.com, is looking for an full-time, onsite designer.
We already have two MeFite's working here. Let's make it a third!
Our company is thriving, full of talented people, and never boring. If you join our team, each project you work on will be wildly different from the last one. You'll be working on our web site, developing unique graphics for our clients, and making images for our sales team to use in presentations.
Most of our work involves promoting trendy products (bands, movies, video games, etc.) to young people, so you have to have a hip, cutting edge design style -- not a super-corporate one.
Take a look at our homepage, nabbr.com, to see our current design aesthetic. You won't be locked into this (we want someone creative), but you should feel comfortable with the whole "web 2.0, rounded corner" thing.
We'll need you to be able to create production-ready images, which means optimized and, if necessary, sliced.
If you have any Flash, web-coding, or video skills, those are pluses, but they're not requirements.
We pay well, and there's a possibility for equity in the company.
Please do not contact us if you're a freelancer in another city. We only want to meet people willing to work in our office, which is in lower Manhattan. We will entertain the idea of relocating someone, if he or she is talented enough.
If you're a pro, you already know this, but I need to see a portfolio.
posted to MeFi Jobs by grumblebee
at 9:00 AM on January 25, 2008
16th-18th Century (Western Europe): Did working-class women wear corsets?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 7:18 AM on January 20, 2008
(15 comments)
Why did the emergency-room clerk want to know my wife's religion?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 7:13 AM on January 9, 2008
(30 comments)
Is there such a book as "The London Times Historical Atlas"? Google and Amazon are clueless.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 9:51 AM on December 22, 2007
(6 comments)
Help me shoot my wife: suggest a first-person shooter we can play against each other. I'm on a Mac (pentium macbook pro); She's on a PC (about four years old, without the latest and greatest graphics card). We have a home network.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 11:00 AM on December 13, 2007
(27 comments)
I have to share an office with a "percussionist." He drums on his desk, taps his foot, etc. It drives me crazy, and I feel like my head is about to explode. Is it rude for me to ask him to stop? If so, what else can I do?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 10:50 AM on November 29, 2007
(56 comments)
"This is the story of when I re-wrote the Lotus Notes Formula Engine....
So here was I was, offered this position that I clearly wasn't qualified for. I had no experience with language runtimes or compilers, I knew very little about C and didn't know anything about C++, I had never dealt with platform byte ordering and packing and all the other issues associated with writing something for eight different operating systems, I had never even used proper version control. But none of that mattered to me. It seemed to me like an amazing opportunity and I would be doing exactly the kind of stuff I enjoy most..."
posted to MetaFilter by grumblebee
at 10:00 AM on November 24, 2007
(64 comments)
I'm looking for cheap, deep-in-the-ear earbuds for listening to audiobooks. The sound quality doesn't have to be great, because I won't use them to listen to music. I want cheap ones, because I inevitably break headphones, and I don't want to have to spend $100 every month. On the other hand, I'm willing to spend $20 a month if I have to. In-the-ear, because I don't want to keep my wife awake with "leaking" sound.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 12:01 PM on November 20, 2007
(22 comments)
My favorite piece of music is Stravinsky's "Petrouchka."
(Scroll down to the 2002-2003 Season for mp3s.) Today, I was blown away by
this recording (CD for purchase, alas) of parts of the piece
played on accordion. (If you're a Stravinsky fan, please do yourself a favor and acquire this CD!). I've always associated accordions with
polkas (and
Ennio Morricone music ... and, of course, the
Doctor Who theme). I never
knew they were rich enough to
stand in for a whole
orchestra! And I didn't know much about accordions used in
classical music. Anyway, back to
Petrouchka: here are videos of the ballet:
bit,
I II,
III,
IV.
posted to MetaFilter by grumblebee
at 7:41 AM on November 10, 2007
(14 comments)
Psychology: is there a term for someone who can't define himself -- who has a hard time saying "I'm an X person" or "I'm a Y person"?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 2:33 PM on November 5, 2007
(40 comments)
Help me destroy the rain forest: I'm want to print out a huge
manual that only exists as a web site. What (free? cheap?) app exists that will allow me to suck the entire site into a PDF or some other sort of printable document? I'm Mac based but can scare up a PC if necessary.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 9:31 AM on October 14, 2007
(5 comments)
Comp Sci: What's the best Design Pattern or structure for dealing with a complex relationship between many booleans?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 7:24 PM on September 25, 2007
(34 comments)
Help me ditch Word, yet still deliver a document that uses Word templates.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 8:47 AM on September 3, 2007
(17 comments)
"How I Became A Programmer"
veers between linear biography and brain dump. The piece meanders through its theme, stopping along the way to flirt with word origins, family politics, the senior prom, Japan, airlines and military recruitment. Reading it, I felt trapped inside inside an extremely quirky -- yet recognizable (in a too-close-for-comfort way) -- mind. About half the time I yearned to tell him that he needs an editor; the other half, I was grateful that he didn't have one. Mostly, I'm amazed he HAD a date to the senior prom!
posted to MetaFilter by grumblebee
at 7:45 PM on August 18, 2007
(52 comments)
I finally found you, Kelly Shanks -- or, rather, you found me!
posted to MetaTalk by grumblebee
at 2:23 PM on August 17, 2007
(99 comments)
Is there a default understanding the word "between," if the speaker/writer doesn't say whether he's being inclusive or exclusive? For instance, if I say "Pick a number between 1 and 10," would you assume that 1 and 10 are okay picks or just 2 through 9? I suspect there isn't a RIGHT answer, but is there a common, colloquial understanding?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 10:13 AM on August 8, 2007
(50 comments)
I need to spec out a huge, complex application in UML. I'm looking for good tools/techniques to do this in a fluid situation, where there are a ton of classes and new ones will be added all the time.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 10:54 AM on July 26, 2007
(11 comments)
Where can a guy get a good turkey sandwich (the carved-right-off-the-bone kind) in NYC?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 5:49 PM on June 28, 2007
(10 comments)
My boss has challenged me to complete some sort of marathon workout at his gym. I'm not very athletic, but if I can finish, my boss will buy all his employees an expensive steak dinner. I need tips -- especially as to what/when to eat. The workout is at 8pm tonight.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 8:57 AM on June 19, 2007
(23 comments)
Is there an easy-to-use site that lists all movies, theatres and showtimes in NYC. Please, God, PLEASE don't say citysearch!
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 9:02 AM on May 27, 2007
(14 comments)
"The old, mean man" vs. "The mean old man."
Here's an aspect of English (and other languages) I've never thought of before. If you're using a string of adjectives, there's a natural order for them to appear in: "opinion :: size :: age :: shape :: color :: origin :: material :: purpose". (Although I find "old, mean," due to it's strange order, sort of striking.) [more info:
1,
2,
3]
posted to MetaFilter by grumblebee
at 11:58 AM on May 19, 2007
(92 comments)
Nabbr.biz is looking for a UI expert with strong HTML, CSS and Javascript skills. You'll be building both large- and small-scale web applications.
Design skills are a plus, but we're more concerned with your programming skill than your abilities as a designer.
We want someone located in the NYC area. We work as a tightly integrated team, so we'll need you onsite.
We have a great team comprised of business people, Flash developers and back-end scripters. To round off our staff, we need someone who excels at browser scripting.
Nabbr is a "Social Promotion" company. We make widgets -- little mini websites -- that run on site like MySpace and spread virally. Most of our clients are in the music industry. We've created widgets for The Beatles, Justin Timberlake, Mika, Pink, etc. We're starting to branch into other fields -- such as movies, TV-shows and games.
We're a venture-backed startup, but we're doing very well. How well? Check out the live "total videos served" ticker on
www.nabbr.biz!
Employees earn a compensative salary with the possibility of equity in the company.
We're located in downtown Manhattan.
posted to MeFi Jobs by grumblebee
at 11:23 AM on May 15, 2007
Javascript / Prototype problem: I've written a function that inserts new content in a div whenever you click on a link in that same div. It works, but with the added "feature" of scrolling to the top of the page after the new content has been added. I don't want it to do this. How do I stop it? Here's
the page. (Scroll down to see the link.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 7:04 AM on May 2, 2007
(11 comments)
"Someone in a Tree" -- an incedibly rare video from the original, 1976 production of "Pacific Overtures."
I grew up listening to an L.P. of these same people perform this same song, but I've never before seen them perform it. I grew up in Southern Indiana, so actually seeing a Broadway show was out of the question. But I loved this song, and -- years later -- I read that it was Stephen Sondheim's favorite of all the songs he ever wrote. Today, I found this video on YouTube and it was like finally seeing someone after being blind for years. I still have chills running up and down my spine. Also: Sondheim
forum, online
journal, and various gems (and bombs) on
youtube -- including
the man himself teaching a master class and
this 12-year-old's spirited performance!
posted to MetaFilter by grumblebee
at 1:33 PM on April 28, 2007
(14 comments)
Are you a Highly Sensitive Person?
This trait ... is inherited by 15 to 20% of the population, and ... seems to be present in all higher animals. Being an HSP means your nervous system is more sensitive to subtleties. Your sight, hearing, and sense of smell are not necessarily keener .... But your brain processes information and reflects on it more deeply. Being an HSP also means, necessarily, that you are more easily overstimulated, stressed out, overwhelmed. This trait ... has been mislabeled as shyness (not an inherited trait), introversion (30% of HSPs are actually extraverts), inhibitedness, fearfulness, and the like. HSPs can be these, but none of these are the fundamental trait they have inherited
...
yahoo group |
latest research (fascinating!) |
newsletter |
wikipedia |
blog |
via
posted to MetaFilter by grumblebee
at 12:19 PM on April 8, 2007
(154 comments)
Jeff Hawkins,
co-founder of
Palm and Handspring, has started a new company, called
Numenta, to test his
controversial theory of intelligence. Whether you find his theory plausible or not, his
book, "
On Intelligence" is fascinating. Numenta is attempting to build A.I.s using Hawkins' theory as a backbone. They've developed a software engine and a
Python-based API, which they've made public (
as free downloads), so that hackers can start playing. They've also released
manuals,
a whitepaper (pdf) and videos [
1] [
2]. (At about 30:18 into the first video, Hawkins demonstrates, with screenshots, the first app which uses his system.)
posted to MetaFilter by grumblebee
at 1:35 PM on April 4, 2007
(22 comments)
I need someone to find someone capable to teaching this class:
4/16/07 Mon 2:00 PM 3:15 PM Why Reinvent the Wheel?: Easy Ajax and DHTML with Prototype, Rico and script.aculo.us
The class will be in Vegas, and if you wind up teaching it, my company will pay for your flight there and your hotel. So it's a free trip to Vegas for an hour's work!
This will also be a great opportunity for you to network with people in your field. This will be at a high-profile conference, and speaking at it will look really good on your resume.
-- You should know the topic.
-- You should be a good presenter.
-- It would be great if you lived in the US so that my company doesn't have to fly you in from overseas.
I've delivered many sessions like this, so I can help you prep for it and answer your questions.
posted to MeFi Jobs by grumblebee
at 7:49 AM on March 28, 2007
Nabbr.com (see also: nabbr.biz) is seeking a kick-ass Actionscript programmer to join its small, talented team of developers.
Nabbr has deep hooks into the entertainment industry. Our clients include Ford Models, The Beatles, Justin Timberlake and other high-profile clients.
We offer employees a competitive salary, equity in the company, and a fun (laid-back) environment. We're a small company, so each employee makes a huge impact. All employees pitch ideas and innovate new functionality.
We're primarily looking for someone with strong AS skills (OOP, AS2.0 and 3.0, Design Patterns, etc.). PHP/MySQL experience is a plus. Please send us a resume and/or link to your portfolio.
NOTE: we're looking for full-time people only, and we need someone who can start ASAP. We're located in downtown Manhattan.
posted to MeFi Jobs by grumblebee
at 1:34 PM on March 7, 2007
Can you help a reasonably smart layperson (who is not very good at math) understand how the word "information" is used in physics?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 7:05 AM on February 15, 2007
(35 comments)
When I was a kid, my dad, who grew up in London, during the Blitz, used to play this old record: a song called "The Laughing Policeman."
It always put a smile on my face. According to
Wikipedia, it was written in 1922 by Charles Jolly, who wrote "numerous other laughing songs (The Laughing Major, Curate, Steeplechaser, Typist, Lover, etc)." If you want to hear the happiest policeman ever,
here's the mp3. The song has inspired
cartoonists,
mystery novelists (great series, by the way!),
filmmakers, a
more-recent recording (
mp3), and, inevitably, some
scary people on youtube. Speaking of youtube,
this is how I remember the song.
posted to MetaFilter by grumblebee
at 12:05 PM on February 11, 2007
(41 comments)
I'm running Parallels; I need to install Bootcamp.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 7:02 AM on January 16, 2007
(9 comments)
What is a TV "Network"?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 2:20 PM on December 12, 2006
(23 comments)
I imported some mp3s into iTunes, searched for them in my music library and couldn't find them. I tried re-importing them: same thing. Finally, I found them in the podcast library. I don't want them there. How does iTunes decide to put a particular mp3 in the podcast library? I can't see any obvious tag that tells it to do this. What can I do to these mp3s to get to to show up in my main library?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee
at 5:03 PM on December 2, 2006
(9 comments)
My company is looking for kick-ass developers. We're a startup that is deeply hooked into the entertainment industry, and we're developing web-based tools for our clients. We're also a fun group of people to work with.
We need LAMP people who are also fast-learners. This company is likely to grow in all sorts of interesting directions, so whatever you're doing for us this year will probably be very different from what you're doing for us next year. Be flexible!
We're also looking for designers and Actionscript people.
posted to MeFi Jobs by grumblebee
at 7:52 AM on November 27, 2006
