Ask MetaFilter posts by mkultra

How do I get Apple Mail to stop re-caching my messages all the time?

mkultra — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:34:31 -0800

Apple Mail keeps re-caching my messages... I use Google Apps for domains for my email, which is basically the Gmail engine. I've got 2 computers polling the same account via IMAP, both on 10.5.4- my laptop is fine, but my desktop is always Caching my messages over and over (I can see this in the activity window). In addition to having a lot of disk churn, it's eating up crazy space on my Time Machine every day. The desktop has this problem whether the laptop is on or not, so I'm pretty sure it's not some odd race condition with flagging messages.

What gives? I've tried deleting and re-creating the account, but I can't figure out which file holds the actual headers (when I re-create the account, the message list comes back immediately, intact)?

Bonus question- how do I selectively remove my recent mail message backups from Time Machine? It's about 100G I'd like to reclaim.

How can my wireless base station and extender play nice?

mkultra — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:03:31 -0800

How can my wireless router and extender make my entire network seamless? I've got a Linksys WRT54G (WPA2 password) as my base station and a Belkin F5D7132 Extender down the hall to extend the WAN to my office.

I've configured the Belkin to use the Linksys's credentials, and it's currently working using its own SSID. Under this method, I can machines connected to each SSID, and most of the data seems to flow OK. However, I've got two big hiccups (so far):

- I'm running AirTunes, attached to the Linksys. My desktop, which is attached to the Belkin, can't see it.

- I back up my laptop wirelessly to my desktop using Time Machine. Yes, I know, this is not a recommended use of Time Machine, but it's worked fine for ages. Now, I get a kernel panic (gray screen) whenever it tries to back up.

Is there a setting for making the entire network completely seamless? The documentation for the Belkin blows.

What's a good, rugged shopping cart?

mkultra — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:10:12 -0800

What's a good, rugged shopping cart? Since I now live ~1 mile from my grocery store of choice, I need a kick-ass shopping cart. Not one of those rickety jobs they sell at all the hardware stores- I want something built to last.

I'm mostly concerned about the wheels- does anyone make them with the rubberized wheels like rollerblades have? Good wheeled luggage has them, but I have yet to find a cart that does. If it's collapsible, that's a *huge* plus!

How much do the tech specs of HDTV's matter?

mkultra — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:42:06 -0800

When buying an HDTV, how much does 120mhz vs. 60mhz refresh, and 4ms vs. 5ms response matter? I'm taking the HDTV plunge, most likely picking up a 1080p LCD from Samsung. Is the ~$350 price increase from the Series 5 (last year) to the Series 6 (this year) models worth it? The Series 6 models have a slightly faster response time (4ms vs. 5ms) and a better refresh rate (120mhz vs. 60mhz).

I'm looking forward to sports and XBox360 in HD, though I'm not quite so fanatic as a lot of the folks over in AVSForum. How much will I notice the difference in these things? Bonus question: will either of these improve playback of SD/DVD content?

Where is the .NET cloud?

mkultra — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:53:20 -0800

Is anyone offering hosted, scalable .NET virtual servers? There's a lot of buzz lately about fully hosted virtual servers running Linux (e.g. Amazon EC2), which gives developers a dedicated, scalable dev/deploy environment without having to buy hardware. I'd love to be able to lease space on a .NET cloud- is anyone doing this on the Windows/.NET front?

Slingbox experiences?

mkultra — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:08:30 -0800

How good is Slingbox's video? I'm mostly interested in the possibility of using it as a 2nd TV around the apartment- how good is the picture on a LAN, using the Mac client (assume HD)? On a Macbook, is it comparable to watching TV directly? How good is the quality over the internet, served from a standard TWC cable modem? Also, can the Slingbox's on-screen remote control the TWC DVR?

Get a mortgage from an unstable bank?

mkultra — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:59:42 -0800

We're getting a mortgage. One place I'll be shopping is Citibank, since I've been a customer for a long time. My concern with them is the massive shedding of assets they're undergoing and how it would potentially affect me as a lendee. I'm not concerned with whether this would impact my ability to get a good rate through them or anything- either I will or I won't. My concern is if they come up with the best deal.

If I take a mortgage from them, and they turn around and sell either the mortgage or the entire business unit, are there any additional risks this would bring to bear upon me? Yes, I know that mortgages are bought and sold regularly, but are there any outlying scenarios that could make it not worth doing?

Haggadah recommendations?

mkultra — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:59:13 -0800

Got any Haggadah recommendations? I'm looking for something that non-Jews can easily follow and participate with.

Is there a consensus on the grammatical relationship between emoticons and punctuation?

mkultra — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:37:33 -0800

Is there a consensus on the grammatical relationship between emoticons and punctuation? Completely serious question- have any of the big style guides addressed this burning issue? To wit-

Which applies best?
A) That's classy ;)
B) That's classy. ;)
C) That's classy ;).

If it's a single sentence, I usually go with A, but if it's in the middle of a paragraph, it's suddenly an awkward construction. Also, does it apply across the board to other punctuation marks like exclamation points and question marks?

What's the best way to get up-to-date baseball scores on the iPhone?

mkultra — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:03:33 -0800

What's the best way to get up-to-date baseball scores on the iPhone? It's baseball season, and I need real-time access to scores so I can obsess over my fantasy teams. Who's got the best interface? Here are my requirements, in order:

- Real-time, or as close as possible
- Drill down into box scores/scoring plays
- iPhone-specific interface, or at least nicer than basic WAP text
- Free
- Push/auto-refresh

I know about Pickleview, which is slick, but the scores seem to lag badly and the drill-down is weak.

Any recs? Any of the big boys built an iPhone interface yet? Nice (low-bandwidth) web pages are an option, since I've got Safari, but no Flash or Java. I'm willing to pay a subscription, but the app had better be good.