MetaTalk posts by blueshammer

I asked before, but with the date approaching, I'l...

blueshammer — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 06:05:38 -0800

I asked before, but with the date approaching, I'll ask again: Anyone going to Origins, esp. for business reasons?

I'm not sure whether to post this here, or Project...

blueshammer — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 18:12:10 -0800

I'm not sure whether to post this here, or Projects, or AskMe, but I'll start here as it's sort of a MeFi meetup question: Is anyone going to the summer Midwestern game conventions, Origins (in Columbus) and/or GenCon (in Indianapolis)? Furthermore, is anyone going there on business? I'll be attending and am curious if there are any MeFites in the board gaming industry, or, failing that, if there are any enthusiasts to seek out for playtesting sessions.

I just skimmed the past two months of MeTalk looki...

blueshammer — Sat, 18 Dec 2004 17:27:53 -0800

I just skimmed the past two months of MeTalk looking for this thread and didn't find it, so excuse me if it's a DP, but: When I went to post an AskMe question today, I got this: You've asked a question in the past week. There is a limit of one question per week, which you've used up. Make them count, because you'll only get one a week. [+]

My sister has come into some bulk items that she t...

blueshammer — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 09:13:58 -0800

My sister has come into some bulk items that she thinks she can sell at a profit on eBay. Are there any good primers out there about starting a quasi-small business like this on eBay? She has basically no eBay experience.

Games for OS X: I'm looking for a good Scrabble cl...

blueshammer — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 13:17:08 -0800

Games for OS X: I'm looking for a good Scrabble clone and a poker game with quality AI. I've Googled and rooted around, but am now looking for trusted recommendations. Anyone? Will I get best results simply playing online?

I've got a friend from Chicago unexpectedly laid u...

blueshammer — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 09:02:17 -0800

I've got a friend from Chicago unexpectedly laid up at George Washington University Hospital in D.C. I'd like to get her something besides flowers, and have it delivered. Any suggestions? While I'll entertain suggestions about interesting gifts, what I'm really wondering about is the delivery aspect. Is there a Kozmo-like service still running in DC? Is there a, I don't know, bookstore that makes house calls? etc. I know I could try to use a taxi/courier service, but that seems like more trouble than it's worth to do remotely.

If I want to know where a certain website ranks fo...

blueshammer — Wed, 26 May 2004 11:30:29 -0800

If I want to know where a certain website ranks for a particular Google search, is there anything I can do other than just scroll through every page of results until I find that page? For instance: This is on the 29th page of Google results for "Ask Metafilter." If I was Mr. or Ms. Ofrenda, would there be a faster way for me to learn than that simply looking on every page?

AskLegalFilter: As a sort of follow-up to this thr...

blueshammer — Mon, 03 May 2004 08:22:22 -0800

AskLegalFilter: As a sort of follow-up to this thread, some friends and I have invented a game and have started to show it to representatives from game companies. There's been some interest, and before we can think about moving forward, I think we have to start with the legal stuff on our end. What sort of legal entity do my friends and I need to become so that someone can license intellectual property (mostly writing, as opposed to a unique style of play) from us and write us checks? And how can we do it for the least cost? Assume that we're more or less equal partners (somewhere between 33/33/33 and 35/35/30).

I have a game that I am interesting in self-publis...

blueshammer — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 08:49:39 -0800

I have a game that I am interesting in self-publishing. I don't have a lot of capital to put into it myself, so I'm thinking about using pre-orders to generate the bulk of the necessary revenue. What is the etiquette, if you will, of pre-ordering? What's "too long" between the submission of a pre-order and the availability of the product? I don't want people to actually give me money unless I can guarantee eventual shipment of the product; how is this handled? I'm thinking of how Amazon doesn't charge your card until an item ships; is that how pre-orders are typically handled? Do business that operate on pre-orders borrow against those pre-orders to pay for manufacturing, and then cash in on those pre-orders to pay back the bank? Any wisdom in this area is appreciated.

Looking for a free way to burn playable video cont...

blueshammer — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 07:05:40 -0800

Looking for a free way to burn playable video content using a CD burner in OS X. I'd like a solution that accommodates multiple input formats (AVI, mpg) and that someone here has successfully used. Also, is VCD the standard output format? Are there many alternatives?

I got Kyle Baker's King David graphic novel from t...

blueshammer — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 20:34:41 -0800

I got Kyle Baker's King David graphic novel from the library. In this copy, the very last panel is of David and Bathsheeba discussing their son's breathing. Is this really the end, or have previous patrons depaged the book? I can see it as a very somber, elliptical ending, but that's not really Baker's style, to me.

When someone noted we were approaching the 10th an...

blueshammer — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 13:25:00 -0800

When someone noted we were approaching the 10th anniversary of Cobain's suicide, I remembered an interview I did with a fellow high-school student who made the pilgrimage to Seattle in the weeks after his death. One of the things I remember him saying is that on his marathon drive from Wisconsin to the west coast, he smoked "water cigarettes." Not wanting to present myself as a complete doofus when it came to illicit substances, I nodded and recorded what he said. But now I've got to wonder: What in the world was he talking about? Did I mishear the phrase "water cigarettes"? Google has no results.

Because I only know pidgin HTML, I'm not sure if w...

blueshammer — Tue, 30 Mar 2004 13:12:32 -0800

Because I only know pidgin HTML, I'm not sure if what I'm about to ask is Web Design 101 or Web Design 665, but: If I want to have a collapsible list, such that if someone clicked on "Words that start with B" in the following:

Words that start with A
Words that start with B
Words that start with C

the page would then reformat to show

Words that start with A
Words that start with B
balustrade
brickbat
bumptious
Words that start with C

without the whole page having to reload. Can someone please point me to a resource or study-able example?

My 1999 Toshiba tray-loading single-disc non-progr...

blueshammer — Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:35:28 -0800

My 1999 Toshiba tray-loading single-disc non-progressive scan DVD player has stopped playing DVDs. What can I do to try to fix it? [simorede]

On the heels of his induction into the Rock & ...

blueshammer — Tue, 16 Mar 2004 11:23:08 -0800

On the heels of his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I've been thinking about Prince again. I flirted with his music in college, but his discography has gotten so out of control that I don't even know where to start. Did he ever write/perform a better song than Little Red Corvette? Are there gems on his epic 3-disc albums? If you were going to make an all-Prince compilation disc, what would you be sure to include?

Mail question: I recently got a new iBook and Mail...

blueshammer — Tue, 09 Mar 2004 15:17:59 -0800

Mail question: I recently got a new iBook and Mail for OS X has been behaving oddly. [more inside]

Can I put my electric toothbrush in the dishwasher...

blueshammer — Sun, 07 Mar 2004 10:56:09 -0800

Can I put my electric toothbrush in the dishwasher? The bristle is detachable from the powered handle, and the threads collect gunk that I would just as soon power-wash away. The handle seems watertight -- the bristlehead moves via magnets, and the charging element is behind plastic.

Why does Google, which purportedly have a mondo ca...

blueshammer — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 11:33:40 -0800

Why does Google, which purportedly have a mondo cache of everything, "lose" search results over time? That is, if I search on something today that I last searched on a year ago, my results don't include all of last year's results. I understand that there's a complicated ranking algorithm, but that doesn't explain why some results go missing altogether.

Going to Scotland and don't want to blow up my new...

blueshammer — Fri, 27 Feb 2004 15:23:58 -0800

Going to Scotland and don't want to blow up my new iPod, so I'm looking for some firsthand knowledge here -- do UK cars have the same kind of AC cigarette lighters? Will I be able to power the 'Pod with my Belkin car adapter in my rental car? Or do I have to spring for the "world traveler" adapter kit to power the blasted thing while I'm across the pond?

I know this will probably mark me as hopelessly be...

blueshammer — Wed, 25 Feb 2004 10:27:15 -0800

I know this will probably mark me as hopelessly behind the times, but I picked up The Grey Album yesterday, which reminded me that I finally have the hard drive space and internet connection I need to go find out about these mash-ups all the kids are talking about, or were talking about six months ago. Recommendations for titles, DJs and, if appropriate, locations would be appreciated.