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How do I legally get my parking spots back?

ylimah — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:40:47 -0800

What is the correct way to have visitors' vehicles towed from off-street parking spots at an apartment complex?

I googled towing specific to my area and couldn’t find anything. My boyfriend and I live in a small, northeast Indiana town. As such, online laws and regulations are few and far in between, on both the county and city levels. Neither the county nor the city websites have sections pertaining to traffic or parking. However, I found a MeFi topic that seemed to be what I was looking for here. Much of the advice seemed to be very specific to DC, and some of the advice seemed to be conflicting.

The answers to the previous MeFi question mentioned that having a sign makes it easier for police to enforce visitors to use the street, but one answer said that a “no parking” or “you will be towed” sign is almost necessary for a legal tow. Another answer said that off-street parking does not need police involvement but rather just a phone call to the landlord’s preferred towing company. I can only hope it's that easy.

In my situation, we live in a townhouse apartment complex; each apartment complex has six units, and each unit is designated two parking spaces – right in front of the unit. My boyfriend and I both drive cars, and we use both spaces. We both work and go to school, so visitors have ample time to beat us to our parking spaces before we come home for the night. Upon move in, we were told that the spaces were for us, and any visitors were to use the street. There are no painted lines or numbered spaces in the parking lot. Since we’ve moved in, we’ve had many problems with visitors parking in any available space. We’ve had our spaces taken 15+ times in less than six months (often times overnight), and these visitors are usually high school/just out of high school age. The landlord/owner told us that he will not interfere with parking, and it is up to us to deal with it. Yet, we are not allowed to post signs in our windows or outside of the unit, as he made my next door neighbor take down a sign from his window.

What is the legal, "foolproof" way to get these visitors out of parking spots that don't belong to them? I’m tired of staking out the vehicles and yelling at the owners. (And putting a foot and a half of snow by their driver's side doors while shoveling the sidewalk. Not that such a thing happened tonight or finally made me ask this question.)

You are not a/my lawyer.

Thanks!

SQL - Accurately show how many rows an UPDATE statement is going to affect before execution.

odinsdream — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:57:27 -0800

SQL - How to get an accurate count of the rows potentially affected by an UPDATE statement, or best practices for performing updates?

What's the best way to get an accurate count of the rows that an UPDATE statement will affect without actually updating them? This is on MS SQL Server 2000.

With simple updates, the SELECT with identical criteria gets you the right answer, but this isn't what I'm looking for. Just now I did an UPDATE whose SELECT returned 6300 rows. The update said "5349 rows affected." The SELECT for this included a JOIN, so my UPDATE was an UPDATE ... FROM statement.

I've tried reviewing the execution plan, but this isn't very accurate.

All I want to know is what number is going to show up in the "X rows affected." without actually running the update.

Basically I want to avoid the disaster scenario where my SELECT returns 56 rows, and I run my update and I see: 56,000 rows affected.

Acrobat has jumbled my pdfs!

AthenaPolias — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:39:34 -0800

I need to read a series of pdfs tonight - the trouble is, the resolution on them is messed up so as to be nearly illegible. Reading all of these will surely make my eyeballs shrivel up & fall out. With only access to Acrobat Reader, is there anything I can do to increase the readability of these pdfs - a way to change from color to b&w, increase the sharpness - anything?

If it helps, these were scanned at 200 dpi and show all the signs of being normal color pdfs - for some reason, the scanner these came from has suddenly turned text into pixelated nonsense. So bonus points if anyone can tell me why our scanner might have suddenly gone on strike?

My eyes & headache thank you in advance!

Maine in winter

domi_p — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:25:56 -0800

A friend and I are driving down to New England from Quebec next week. We'd be interested in snowshoeing somewhere in Maine, probably somewhere not too far from the 201. We were looking at the Kennebec Valley Trail. Anyone have recommendations?

We do not own any snowshoes so information about where to rent them would also be very welcomed.

I looked at previous questions (and lots of New England guides) but I guess it's not a very common winter vacation spot!

Help me get the most out of Flickr!

kylej — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:12:10 -0800

What are some of the best flickr groups?

I'm pretty new to flickr and I'm interested in hearing about what you guys think are some of the best groups on there.

I'm interested in both browsing and adding my photos, and I'd rather not join any where you have to vote or do something before you're allowed to post a photo.

I'm interested in all types of photography, including architecture, portraits, fashion, landscape, nature, macro, etc.

I'm also sixteen, so if there are any great "teenage" photographer groups or something that would be cool also.

(If you want to look at some of my photos there's a link on my profile)

Thanks!

I'm looking for some really bad ideas.

visual mechanic — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:07:12 -0800

What are examples of clearly *sketchy* situations and scams that you want to avoid at all costs?

I'm working on a creative project and I now need to think of a large list of situations that are obviously scammy, bad, unwise ideas – a smart person would pretty much know it's a scam and try to steer a more naive person away from it.

Examples would be: (1) Responding to one of those "too good to be true" foreclosure ads on craigslist (2) Agreeing to send some money to a Nigerian prince (3) signing up for one of those lose 30 pounds in 30 days programs that are posted on telephone poles, or (4) Agreeing to live as someone's roommate for free in exchange for "unspecified services."

Can you give me other examples of these kinds of "sketchy" propositions that people run up against that you should *never* respond to? It need not be online, but it need not *not* be online, either.

Does the WD H72 attach to the XHA1 without adapters?

occidental — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:58:37 -0800

Thinking of getting a wide angle WD - H72 lens add-on for an XH-A1 Digital HD Camera.

The problem is I am unable to find information on whether it just screws right on to the lens or not. Theoretically it should but I remember reading a couple of reviews (sorry, can't find link) of people having trouble attaching it. I am purchasing it online and thus don't want to buy the lens to not have it attach.

As far as the reviews I remember them saying that they were having trouble attaching the wide angle lens. It seems weird since its a 72mm filter and 72mm threaded lens but since I saw it more than once (presumably different people) I thought I would double check. So specifically:

Does the WD H72 attach to the XHA1 without adapters? If it does need adapters, what kind? If it doesn't need adapters is there something that I am missing in the reviews as to why their lens will not attach?

Bonus: Is the WD-H72 a good wide angle lens in your opinion filmmakers and photographers?

Professor, I couldn't finish the homework because I was on Metafilter all night.

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:34:38 -0800

How do I stay motivated to do well in important classes that I’m not interested in?

This semester, I am taking several classes that I have to take to graduate. I can’t switch out of these classes, or take them some other time. I also need to get a 4.0 this semester in order to get my GPA high enough to get an internship that I want next fall.

The problem is that these college classes are utterly uninteresting. I can barely stay awake in them, let alone do the homework or study for the tests. I am taking a couple other classes that I really enjoy, in subjects that are interesting to me and with professors that I respect and whose opinions I care about. I work for hours on those classes, and I’m doing quite well. So I know that I have the drive and the concentration to do well, if I could just motivate myself.

I am interested in stories or tips for how to actually do well in boring classes and in situations where I do not respect the professor. I guess my real question is, how to I motivate myself to do well in these classes so that I can actually do what I want to do next fall? The every day grind of small homework assignments and mind-numbing readings is preventing me from actually accomplishing my larger goal.

Anonymous because it’s pretty clear from my profile what college I go to.

Throwaway email is boringclasshelp@gmail.com

Time Needed for Sexy Fun Time

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:02:06 -0800

SexyTimeFilter: My wife and I are in our mid 20s and are starting to see a decline in the amount of sex we're having. By the time bedtime rolls around, we just want to hit the sheets, not roll in them. When do you have sex to avoid this, and what other things do you do so that sex isn't the last thing on your list?

My wife and I have been married for about 8 months, now, but we lived together for 2 years before that, and have been together for a long while. Like most romances, the whirlwind sex period happened, and the tapering has begun.

We're sexually attracted to each other, get grabby, make out, cuddle, and are physically intimate, but after a long day, making dinner, going to the gym, and everything else, sex isn't on our list. In fact, since we're both trying to get in shape, doing anything except breathing lighting after the gym is generally right out. Our usual was sex about 3-4 times a week at the beginning, but now we hover right around 1, which is less than we'd both like to be having.

My question is two fold: if you have sex in the evenings, when do you have it? It seems like there's always something else to do, or something else I should be doing (this has to be with procrastination and anxiety issues that I'm dealing with, but there ya go). It's not that I want to do my banal grading or something more than getting frisky, but I feel like I should accomplish what I need to first. Which I generally don't, leading to problems. By the time bedtime rolls around, it's late, and we just want sleep.

Secondly, if not in the evenings, when? I'm not asking for a poll, but moreso, what random times are good? I'm not looking to schedule sex (God help me if it ever gets to that), but ideas such as first thing in the morning (we're not morning people) and as soon as you get home (we're on schedules that don't always make that possible).

Our libidos have both been off a bit recently in general, and we're working on that as well. I just want to know: when you're tired, when the day is busy, when life happens, how do you make your sex life not seem like less of a priority?

Throwaway E-mail: AnonymousTiredDude@gmail.com

Too afraid to look

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:02:03 -0800

Is there a word for a condition in which a person is so afraid of success or failure that she does things like 1) Not check phone messages, 2) doesn't open mail, e-mail, etc.?

This is me. For the umpteenth time I've missed an opportunity because I was too afraid to open an e-mail. I was taking a class last semester (paid for by my job) and thought I got a D or worse, which meant not being able to move forward in my particular program. When I got an e-mail from someone from the school, I just "knew" it was bad news, so I didn't open it..or the following e-mail. A month later I decide to open it and it turns out I didn't fail the class and I should have been reporting to the new classes for this semester. Now it's too late...and now I'm back to square one, where I’ve found myself way too many times-- left behind, stagnant, afraid to move even though I hate where I am. You'd think that as much as I've complained and cried over the years about my life being unfair, I would have rectified this and made things so much easier. But alas, this madness continues.

There is something wrong with me. I don't know what it is. My gut tells me it is a severe fear of rejection on all levels. This has played itself out on so many levels. It's cost me closeness in friendships, job leads, you name it.

I know the consensus will be "get thee to the therapist" and maybe I will. But I just wonder if you have any ideas on what is wrong with me and how I can resolve this defeating habit once and for all so that I may have some kind of resemblance of a satisfying life.

Thanks in advance.

normal weight for 10 week-old kitten?

slow graffiti — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:58:17 -0800

Is my kitten underweight? Sick? Just small?

We adopted a pair of kittens at 8 weeks, now 10 weeks old, two boys, littermates. One was always bigger than the other, and I'm not 100% sure it's just because one was the runt. Is he just scrawny, or sick?

They have had the first round of shots and are not due for round two yet. They have had a Strongid-t wormer. Both are active and seem happy. Small one is leggy and 1.6 kilos and big one is a stout 1.8 kilos. Both seem to have fairly normal drinking, eating and pooping habits, although the small one has occasional loose stool, nothing persistent. Both are gaining weight at about the same pace. Does the little guy need to go back to the vet for further examination to rule out any parasites not covered in the basic vaccination routine? If he continues to gain weight, is he fine?
(obligatory kitten photos)

C'mon, DARPA, chop chop.

BleachBypass — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:48:00 -0800

Are beta blockers used in combat?

It seems as though the effects of beta blockers would be desirable in a combat situation. One AskMe question hints that they might. Has this been studied?

I understand that some training, especially realistic scenarios, are (at least partially) designed to "take the edge off" the fight-or-flight response, so that fine motor responses and calmer reasoning are available to the participants. (I'm recalling the "stress inoculation" training described in Blink [p.238], and a Nova [?] special on secret service training.)

Sure, even in modern combat theater, there likely still value in the fight-or-flight response that you wouldn't want to eliminate completely. (Off the top of my head - more sensitive hearing, perceptual time dilation and positive reinforcement from the "reward" of adrenaline.)

But even just using it to attenuate some of the less desirable effects? A steady shootin', clear-headed, non-tunnel vision soldier seems pretty handy when you're in the shit.

Is it better to be a specialist or a generalist?

quadog — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:43:07 -0800

Specialization or generalization: which approach has served you better in your career?

I would ideally like to know your profession, about how long you've been in the profession, and what approach has worked best based on personal experience or observation.

I've been researching the pros and cons of specialization versus generalization. There's a debate about which one will serve a person better throughout their career. Some career counselors advocate pursuing an expertise and criticize generalists as amateur dabblers. In conversations with friends and colleagues my impression has been the opposite. They've indicated that having a generalist knowledge has diversified their opportunities by allowing them to adapt and apply their knowledge into a variety of situations.

The answer is probably contextual, but I think some data points from the hive mind would be helpful.

HDTV-buying for the confused

killdevil — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:41:37 -0800

My sis wants to buy a flat-panel HDTV, but is not terribly familiar with either the nomenclature or the various technologies underlying current-gen panel TVs. Can you help?

Specific suggestions as to what sort of HDTV she should consider buying are great, but since I'm not sure about her budget, it might be even more helpful if you could point us towards some good Web "beginner's guides" or "buyer's guides" to HDTV that'll help her to wade through the terminology and the technology options (e.g. 720p versus 1080i versus 1080p, the various input and output modalities available, etc.) and figure out what to buy.

As a side note, one thing I'm guessing she'll want to do is hook up her current-gen MacBook Pro to this thing, in order to play HD content on the big screen.

Gmail won't send or receive mail on my iPhone.

Flying Saucer — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:39:23 -0800

Why won't Gmail work on my iPhone?

I've already read about a similar problem on AskMeFi, but nothing is working. People say to wait it out; I've waited. People say to restart
the phone; I've restarted the phone. I still get the same connection errors.

I've looked everywhere, including Google's help forums, for assistance. I tried this strange captcha unlock thing, but it still doesn't work.

Gmail works fine in Safari, but the one thing I can't do in the mobile web version is send photos, which, of course, is the one thing I really want to do. So if anyone knows a way that I can use Gmail to send to, say, TwitPic, that works around this problem, I'm all ears.

Any ideas?

MAD or BCN, FTW?

soelo — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:33:06 -0800

How big of a headache will it be getting to either the Madrid or Barcelona airport using public transport at about 4am local time on a Wednesday? Would it be significantly easier in one city than another?

I'll be starting from a centrally located hotel (in the correct city, I promise). I can fly open jaw into/out of either city for the same price, but both flights back to Amsterdam are around 6am on Wednesday April 7th. That is three days after Easter, in case makes any difference.

Need to respond to a buyer's offer, but I can't get a hold of my agent. Oh, and it's a snowstorm.

pecanpies — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:31:11 -0800

How do I respond to a buyer's offer when I can't get in touch with my agent?

I'm selling a home. I received an offer (yay!) around 10 am this morning via my agent. I wanted some time to consider the offer and examine some comparable properties that have sold recently, so I wasn't ready to respond until 5 pm. My response is due in writing by 10 pm, but I haven't been able to get in touch with my agent at any of her contact numbers. How can I respond to this offer?

To make things even more exciting, the weather and roads are atrocious due to a snowstorm today. I don't have a fax machine at home, but I could possibly make it to a Kinko's down the road. I realize I've got several hours before the contract expires, but it's just getting worse out there and I'd like to get to Kinko's and back as soon as possible, if that's what it's going to take.

Questions:
1. If I can't get in touch with my agent, can I fax the signed contract directly to the buyer's agent?
2. Would it be completely inappropriate for me to call the buyer's agent, explain the predicament I'm in, and ask for an extension?
3. Anything I'm missing or forgetting?

In the words of Liz Lemon...flurdge.

Alternate way to power on a Moterola Rokr?

Scoops — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:30:18 -0800

The faceplate came off my Motorola Rokr Z6m. Anyone know an alternate way to power it on?.... since the power button is on the faceplate?

How to web2.0 a small library?

peripatew — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:08:29 -0800

What's the best way to update a small library, as in cataloging the books and having a way to check them out?

I'm working with a church on turning their library into a resource room. Basically purging 85% of their old books, and coming up with a new way to check out the current and new books.

That majority of the books will be resources, as in check them out for a short period of time. But there will also be a library of books to read, IE adolescent development, Christian education, etc... But there will be several copies of some books. If we are using a book for a 6 week study, we might have 12-20 copies of it in our library that we would check out to the people in the classes.

I'd like something that we could put on our website for people to see what we have available, but in order to check them out they have to go to the room where a "librarian" will check it out to them.

I'd love to keep it simple, but some features like auto emailing people when their books are due would be fantastic. The ability to print a label, bar code, whatever. We won't charge fees for books that are late though.

Any thoughts? I considering having everything in a simple database, a google document perhaps, but I think some added functionality would be good as the library itself grows.

Log file access in XP Home

chitlin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:54:46 -0800

Any way to keep track of when certain files were accessed and for how long in Windows XP Home Edition?

My company uses several individual computers running Windows XP Home Edition. Not everyone is great at logging hours worked on a specific project, so I want a way to go back in time and check when certain files were accessed, how long they were open, when they were closed, etc. I know there's a way of logging this in XP Pro, but can't seem to find any programs to monitor this in XP Home.

To be more specific, here's what I'd like to do ideally:

An employee has a folder on his computer that contains several subfolders with various projects. Inside those subfolders there are several files that get attention during the course of the project. When the project is over, I'd like to be able to go to that file, see all the times it was opened, how long it was open, and when it was closed. The file may have been opened and closed a dozen times throughout the course of the project.

Is there any program available that would log this for me?

Inspire Me With the Art of Children's Books

MonkeyToes — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:52:55 -0800

My local library's big fund raising event benefits the children's section, helping to purchase books for a well-loved and heavily used part of the collection. Help me set the scene with bookish decorations.

My friends and I have been asked to make decorations--most likely posters, or other banners/oddly-shaped flat cutouts that can be laminated for later use in the children's section--for this event. Although our kids will be responsible for choosing and making these posters (three certainties are Harry Potter, Curious George and The Magic Treehouse), I would also like to make one of my own with Norton Juster's "The Phantom Tollbooth" as its theme.

I am looking for a) ideas on how to design such a piece for the Juster book, and b) examples of cool posters/cutouts interpreting children's books, so we can get our kids thinking about design ideas and elements. Bonus points if you can provide ideas for table settings as well.

It's fair to say that the crowd will be older, and, at this point in their lives, more likely to be grandparents than parents of young children. They are likely to lean toward classic and conservative tastes, but whimsy (in moderation) won't go amiss.

(I am suddenly plagued about the legality of this, as there is money involved, although the event is an auction for a non-profit and these decorations will be placed in the library later.)

Inspire me, please?

The lines are everywhere.

hal_c_on — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:46:40 -0800

Anybody have any experience using minimalist themes for online forums?

I'm looking for a rather minimalist template for an online forum.

I know I have access to Vanilla, phpbb, and Simple Machines Forum, so it would be great if a theme was compatible with one of those.

I'm kinda annoyed by forums that have lots of lines. Lines between threads, lines between comments. And with the lines come usernames with avatars...for every single comment.

Anybody have any experience with this...or am I going to have to make a customized theme (If so...how?!).

Thanks in advance for all helpful answers.

I can't always read Metafilter

Space Kitty — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:35:38 -0800

Help me find some fun books for my commute.

So I got myself a library card and I'm looking for some escapist-type reading on the train.

My work involves a lot of dry technical stuff, so by the end of the day I really want a break. I'm looking for some funny, interesting, intelligent light reading. Recently I discovered that I really like books in a series and I have no idea what's out there. Bonus points for those recommendations.

I loved Harry Potter, although I’m not usually a fan of fantasy or YA books. The Sookie Stackhouse novels were fun, but mostly for the extra context it gives the True Blood series. I’m devoted to David Sedaris, but I’ve already read everything of his I could get my hands on. I'm not really into bodice rippers or gory violence, but I love some smart science fiction.

Given those broad outlines, what do you think belongs on my reading list?

Rats! They're in the walls!

xenophile — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:34:07 -0800

Our entire townhouse community is infested with rodents and we have some in the walls. The HOA is going to put poison baits around. Complication: we have two cats.

I live in the southwest and for about the last week have been hearing scratching sounds in one of my walls. My SO said it sounded like rats. A few days ago we got a note from our HOA saying it was a "rodent infestation throughout the community." We have been keeping our heat on because we think it keeps the rodents out, but if they're out, they can get to the poison baits set by the HOA. Then they could return to our walled backyard where our cats are allowed to go, and our cats could eat them and get the poison secondhand. Here's what we've decided to do:

-Keep the cats in until the rodents are gone.
-Get snap traps and put them on the roof where we believe they found access. We will put traps in any holes we find on the roof.
-Trim our olive tree back so they can't use it to get down to our backyard.
-Clean the backyard of anything the rodents might eat.

We're looking for more suggestions. We've never had vermin before so we're not sure if this will be enough. Plus, I'm worried about letting the cats back outside too soon. How do we know when the rodents are gone?

Indie documentary distribution for absolute beginners

mtgoldma — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:30:50 -0800

Beyond Film Distribution for Dummies: What do I need to know about distributing my feature-length grassroots documentary film? (specific q's inside)

I made a somewhat unorthodox documentary, a feature-length video about young women and sexuality around the U.S. I am not trained in filmmaking, although I've had lots of help along the way from my experienced friends. The project is basically done and, not too surprisingly, doesn't fare very well with the film festival programmers, even among the niche markets (women's film festivals, documentary festivals). Audiences who see the movie, however, have been extremely enthusiastic about the project. My primary goal is to reach the most people, my secondary goal is to make back the personal investment that I put into the project. I am not putting it on youtube and I am not cutting it down to a 30- or 60-minute version. I don't have my sights aimed at theatrical distribution (although I don't want to sell the project short), but late night PBS in small cities would be a dream come true. I am trying to develop grassroots outreach techniques to accommodate my grassroots project. So, my question is in two parts:

1. Immediate Issue/Self-distribution: For now, I am distributing it myself, through screenings on college campuses and the like. What is an appropriate rate to charge (if I charge at all) for a campus screening? Should that amount be less if it's a club with a small budget rather than a department? If I am invited to do a Q&A or lecture, what should my speaker fee be, again for clubs and/or departments (there is no "salary finder" for guest speakers)? I have also been approached by teachers and professors who want to use the film as part of a curriculum. I'm not sure how much that should cost, either, and what the terms of that transaction should be. I really don't want to prevent any screenings from happening but I also don't want to undervalue the work or give the impression of being unprofessional. I have checked out the fees on New Day Films, so I have $300 as an idea for an institutional purchase, but that feels like a lot for me to be asking someone who approaches me and wants to use this film in her college course.

2. Medium-Term Issue/Regular-distribution: I don't have a reasonable sense of whether a distribution company would want my project, and I've been hesitant to approach them without some knowledge first. I'm not incredibly excited about learning everything there is to know about distribution in order to do it myself, but I also want to retain control of what happens to the project. For instance, I would like to facilitate small MoveOn-party-style home screenings at little cost to the host, and I'd like to pursue pay-per-view online streaming, but I'm not sure that a distribution company would be open to those approaches. I could do each of these things on my own, but I am not sure how scalable my efforts are, and I'm not sure how much of a liability I am to the project with my lack of know-how. What are the ups and downs of seeking distribution? What are the differences between companies? What rights should I be looking to retain? The types of places I'm looking at are: New Day Films, Women Make Movies, Working Films, and Chicken and Egg Pictures.

Is there a (reliable) book I should be reading? What are your insights? Message me if a link to my project would be helpful for advice-giving.

P.S. I am familiar with MediaRights and I tried to obtain the toolkit mentioned by djacobs in a 2003 askme post, but the links seem to be out of date.

I've got the PDF, but I can't get to the Geo...

motherly corn — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:27:29 -0800

Can anyone recommend a GeoPDF toolbar that can be used on a mac?

USGS has been putting out topographic quads in the GeoPDF format, but without a toolbar for Acrobat that can access the file's spatial attributes, they don't have much functionality. I have used the TerraGo toolbar, but I don't think they have a mac version. What else can I use that will provide the same basic tools? I'm not looking for a GIS, I just want to be able to quickly pinpoint lat/long and measure distances.

Access 2007 help needed

jestonb — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:22:40 -0800

I need to create a form in Access 2007 that can look up a record by customer ID number for data entry. This is an often repeated task so I need the form to stay open.

I have an Access 2007 database that has about 40K customers in it, each with a unique ID number. I need to create a form that will look customers up by this number so that I can do additional data entry. How do I do this?

How do I win an election?

Despondent_Monkey — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:22:09 -0800

How do I win an election? I know all about the basics - but I would particularly like more in-depth, advanced information tailored to professionals on how to win.

I'm working on a fledgling campaign to support a ballot measure. The initiative enjoys broad support among the 18-29 demographic and solid support among lower-income residents. It also garners bipartisan support - nationally, majorities of both Republicans and Democrats support it. But there's a problem: our enemy's base votes, and our state's elected leaders use the power of their offices and a supplicant media to take potshots against us.

In the first half of the 2000s, this issue was on the ballot and we lost by less than 5 points. Basically, the state Republican leadership mobilized against us even though a majority of Republicans nationally support our issue, and seniors came out against us as well. We didn't rack up a big enough margin in the urban areas to stop the "death by a thousand cuts" margins of the rural counties: minus-100 votes here, minus-234 over there doesn't look too bad, but it adds up quickly.

Our obstacle is the 65+ demographic; this group is an absolute slaughter for us. I don't think we have any chance of persuading more than a handful of these folks, because it's primarily a cultural gap. They always vote, though - so I think the best we can hope for is bad Jello at the retirement center on Election Day or something. Basically, when we focus on turnout, I want these people to stay home - we don't want to inadvertently bring any of them to the polls. I'll be really blunt here: we think we have a shot this time around because our enemy's demographic is dying off and attitudes are changing. But we have to convince more Republicans to get on board and turn out our base.

Unfortunately, the precincts where we won last time with > 70% of the vote are also the precincts that have the lowest turnout. The biggest problem seems to be security apartments - we can't get in there to canvass, but that's exactly where our base lives.

Basically, I have a couple of main questions:

1. The fundamental question I have is this: should I focus my efforts on turning out more of our supporters and changing a few minds on the other side just to staunch the bleeding enough in the enemy areas to win? Or do we win by persuading a lot more people and dealing with the lower average turnout of our base?

2. Should we hire a field professional? How much does a really good pro cost, and can we use him/her on a short-term basis just to get things going?

We don't have an excessive amount of money - our final fundraising total will likely be less than a million dollars. I made some pretty extensive spreadsheets with formulas, so we know where we need to mobilize supporters. Some of us were thinking that a pro might make extensive use of proprietary algorithms or advanced targeting strategies that we couldn't do, but we're not sure.

3. Do we want to conduct a professional poll? We know of some top-notch pollsters, but we need to know if it's possible financially for us to hire them. Of course, none of them list an estimated cost on their websites. Since we know our precincts well and we have our "number" that we need to win, is polling still worthwhile?

4. Does GOTV work as well for an issue campaign as it does for a candidate? Some of us want to run ads and basically repeat our message over and over again, while others don't like that and want to focus entirely on field operations.

Thanks for reading all of this, and if you have any advice or suggestions, I would love to hear it.

Teach me how to pick a new research laptop

shothotbot — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:15:08 -0800

Teach me how to pick a new research laptop.

I am going to need a laptop for research. My situation now is a 2006 era hp workstation xw6200 with a 3.4 ghz xeon processor and 3.5 GB ram, windows XP. My new computer will need to be a laptop as I will be working in multiple physical locations.

I run an unsightly mixture of java/mysql, matlab and foxpro programs. Programs take up to a few minutes to run on my existing configuration and I would like to improve on that if possible. The datasets are not enormous - 10s of thousands of records would be be big for me - but the calculations are complicated.

Honestly, I am not sure what I should be looking to maximize in terms of specs. Here is the only advice I have come across, but its talking basicaly about Stata, is that advice transferable? Should I be maximizing ram? What processor should I have? How many cores? Do I need to optimize code for parallel processing for the cores to matter?

So basically - what should I be looking for in a new research computer and any specific recommendations would be great.

Leading Me Unto

swlabr — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:06:53 -0800

I'd give anything if I could run Temptation Blocker on my Windows XP machines.

Thanks to a previous thread, I discovered this wonderful Temptation Blocker software for the PC and I have been enjoying it on my new home PC running Windows 7: it really helps me a lot with my internet usage issues.

But my computer at work is runing XP and this software won't work on it. (I "shouldn't" even be on metafilter now.) I get a runtime error where it can't find the "file specified." It has shown up as error 80070002 and, after some amertuerish tweeking, as 2147024894.

I have researched it as best I can and found that maybe if I had someone else's default profile and loaded it in the directory with the program, it might work. I also found that this runtime problem is related to XP with service pack 2. So, it worked with XP before SP 2, and works with Vista and 7. Oh well, I better get off the net and try to get some work done.... :P

What are your favorite veggie recipes?

kdern — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:40:37 -0800

What are your favorite veggie recipes?

I'm looking for some easy and TASTY veggie recipes. Nothing too complicated, please. Just looking for really great taste. Trying to add veggies to my diet without sacrificing flavor. Please, no recipes with heavy sauces or anything that will add a lot of calories.

Where should I spend my month of studying Spanish and volunteering-- Xela, Guatemala or somewhere else?

EmilyClimbs — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:28:47 -0800

I'm hoping to spend a month somewhere in Latin America volunteering and studying Spanish-- where should I go? I'm leaning towards Xela, Guatemala, but open to other possibilities. Have you been to Xela and what do you think of it? Should I be worried about safety in Guatemala? Do you know a great social/economic justice-focused organization I could volunteer with elsewhere in Latin America?

I'm planning to take a month off work this May and spend it somewhere in Latin America, improving my Spanish (which is currently at a low-intermediate level) and volunteering/working with local organizations. I'm hoping to have an enjoyable and fulfilling experience during the month itself, but also looking at it as a way of helping me figure out whether I'd like to spend a more extended period of time (6 months to a year) abroad sometime soon.

The volunteer work is a key part of this for me. I'm basically interested in getting involved with people working together for economic/social justice in their lives, work, communities-- so I'm particularly interested in things like fair trade, worker cooperatives, unions/workers' organizations, community organizing, popular education, etc. (I'm open to other kinds of organizations too as long as they're rooted in empowering local people and are trying to make lasting change to the causes of problems rather than just addressing the symptoms. Basically I'm trying to look at it from the angle of the famous quote: "If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.") Anyway, I know that logistically I won't actually be providing a ton of benefit to an organization in such a short period of time (and my very imperfect Spanish will be an additional challenge), but I'm basically hoping to find somewhere (or a couple places) where I can learn about and get inspired by what they're doing, in hopes that it will stick with me and get me excited about coming back longer-term and/or going home and spreading the word and sending donations. (While hopefully not being more hassle than help while I am there!)

I'm leaning towards Xela (Quetzaltenango), Guatemala, because they seem to have a whole bunch of interesting organizations (although I can't tell if it's just that they have a much better internet presence, perhaps due to lots of volunteers) and also they seem to get a lot of people volunteering, including short term, so I'm speculating that many organizations may be better set up to actually take advantage of rather than be inconvenienced by shorter-term volunteers. (There's also a few Spanish schools in Xela which focus on social justice and learning about culture, history, and sociopolitical issues, which is a real bonus for me.)

Besides being very interested in your experiences with/advice about Xela in general, there are two particular questions I have:

-- Terrific organizations: I would definitely be open to going elsewhere if I hear about a group/organization that I'd really love to volunteer with/get to know, so I'd love your stories about organizations/volunteer opportunities in Xela and anywhere else in Latin America.
-- Safety: Does anyone have information/advice on the safety situation right now in Guatemala generally and Xela specifically? It sounds like most of the serious crime (murder, assault, rape, etc) seems to be a result of either not following precautions (i.e. being out after dark) and/or resisting rather than giving up your money/valuables quietly when robbed-- does that sound generally right? From what I understand, Xela is safer than many other places in Guatemala, although I would like to spend a little time in other places while I'm there, like Antigua and Lake Atitlan. I'm most nervous/most unsure about traveling between cities-- it seems like I've read bad things/warnings about any method of travel-- any idea how concerned I should be? In general, I'm willing to stay in at night (and take other reasonable precautions) and I'm okay with the elevated risk of being robbed-- what I'm concerned about is my physical safety. If anyone has informed feedback and would recommend that I choose somewhere else safer, I'd be interested in hearing it-- or if you can offer an informed opinion that safety isn't enough worse in Guatemala compared to elsewhere that it should have a big impact on my decision-making, that would be great to hear too!

Thanks so much for any insight you have to offer!

One can't subsist on fat and sugar alone

camerasforeyes — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:26:03 -0800

My flatmate doesn't eat much, subsisting on yogurt and croissants. Advice on dealing with a anorexic roommate as a chef who cooks food all the time at home and how to get my mind around this.

A new roommate moved in a couple of months ago who I had known for a few months previously, a very positive upbeat girl in all estimations. It turns out once she moved in that she has had an eating disorder for the last 5 years (neglected to mention previously) and also is on all sorts of medication for depression. I have lived in shared accommodation for the last 10 years so am I used to odd vagaries in the human condition, however I have never had any experience of this kind.

The depression is a side note, outwardly everything is fine for the flat, she is very clean and respectful, works hard, interested in whats going on, seems happy and laughs a lot; she is an artist and paints frequently so emotions can manifest out on the canvas. That's not really the crux of the issue here. I know how to deal with depressed people. Found this previous question but she is already getting 'rogered' by her boyfriend so its not going to help..

My problem is that living situation with friends or acquaintances has almost always revolved around food. I cook dinner nearly every night and previously my flatmates and I would share food and all cook together. When she first moved in I would make stupendous dinners but after the food just getting pushed round the plate a couple of times in a row (is it too much salt? did I overcook the meat?) it made dinners slightly uncomfortable.

Since she has moved in I have not seen her eat anything other than a yogurt for breakfast and occasionally a croissant. However my question is definitely not a case of 'I wanted to eat together more' its a case of 'she doesn't eat at all', the refrigerator is devoid of her food, she always is busy when I offer to drive to the supermarket and she has not cooked once in 3 months of living here.

This wouldn't bother me in the slightest if she lived on takeaway or eating out. I am happy to cook for myself. The issue here is that she is not eating correctly; her health is at risk and it makes me feel uncomfortable when I prepare my own food. Do I offer her some? Not invite her for dinner so its not uncomfortable for her? And why didn't she mention this before she moved in when she knew the place was all about the eating? Help!

I am usually the dude that answers these questions. Today I am not this dude.

Oktober — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:23:57 -0800

I'm usually the dude that answers questions like this, but for the life of me, I can't remember the title of the film. It was early-mid 80's, possibly a TV Movie, where two "righteous dudes" are kidnapped and brought to this town that looks eerily like small town Kansas circa 1950. It turns out that this city is a training ground for Soviet sleeper agents, and the dudes were kidnapped to update the training program. In the end, the dudes lead an escape from the town back to America.

Isn't this great? I mean doesn't this suck?

surfgator — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:10:24 -0800

Language question: I'm searching for a word or phrase (in English or any language) that describes the act of communicating a positive opportunity/event/thing but then includes qualifiers that downplay the opportunity/event/thing.

Sort of like self-deprecating but a phrase/word that is external to self.

Example A: A friend exhibits to you a potentially exciting job opportunity but then includes qualifiers like: (a) you're probably over-qualified or (b) the company has lots of problems.

Example B: A friend gives you a shirt as a gift but then includes qualifiers that it probably won't fit or it probably isn't your color.

Example C (in a broader context): A spouse or partner tells you that the event sounds lovely and that they don't want to go to the event but they will go if you really want them to be there with you.

The communication frequently leaves the receiver of the communication in a sense of confusion about how to respond.

What's the current best computer for video editing currently available?

beardlace — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:07:50 -0800

I work for a nonprofit and we're starting up a media program.

I'll be teaching teenagers how to edit videos and do other media projects. I have a decent budget. I'm looking for the best performance to cost ratio. I've done a fair share of research. I'm savvy enough to install more ram, video cards, and other parts but I don't want to assemble a whole system piece by piece.

I'm currently considering the Dell Studio but was hoping the collective wisdom here would have a few ideas. previously in 2005.

Can I REALLY get a bunch of 18-year-olds to dig The Odyssey?

lucky25 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:03:06 -0800

I"m looking for good hints on teaching a literature survey course to (mostly) college freshmen. This will be my second year of this course, and I really need to make some changes from the way I approached it last year. Any hints from current/former teachers or students would be more than welcome!

The course is a 10-week survey (we have trimesters at this school) in which we are supposed to be covering from roughly Homer to TS Eliot. The main problem I had last year, I think, was that I was treating them like grad students and focusing too much on minutiae, unaware till roughly 4 weeks in that they were thus completely missing main themes. In addition, I'm a composition/rhetoric/persuasion theory junkie, and I had a really hard time making the switch from teaching that to teaching literary analysis and discussion. My specific questions, I suppose, would be:

*From the perspective of either a teacher or a student, what were some teaching styles/approaches that really, really worked for you? By this I mean, what got you or the students interested in something that has no immediate practical application? What got you or them to become skilled in understanding major themes, and applying them to your/their own life?
*How can I incorporate rhetoric/persuasion into a literature course? Does it translate well? I feel like this is kind of a dumb question, but for some reason I can't help compartmentalizing the two.
*What are some creative assignments that you've either designed or completed that will help with the two above goals?

I have a few weeks before this begins, so I have time to sort through and ponder all sorts of answers. It's also not that I personally do not understand literary criticism and analysis - I just don't feel all that confident with communicating it. FWIW, I already know a lot of the students I have, and they are so bright and motivated! I really don't want to let them down. Thanks so much!

What is the definitive reference work for birth defects?

Hesychia — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:14:01 -0800

What is the definitive reference work for birth defects, that doctors are using?

A friend was looking to purchase Mary Louise Buyse' 1990 Birth Defects Encyclopedia, as she was told this is the go-to reference work...for birth defects. She isn't certain about her source, so she wondered if there is an updated or current reference work that has supplanted the '90 Buyse version. Thanks in advance.

The chicken says, "Book?" and the frog says, "Read it."

Madamina — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:09:37 -0800

I'm looking for suggestions for a "common read" book for a large public university. Any ideas?

This thread kind of got at the same thing, but it's a bit out of date at this point.

For those unfamiliar with the term, it's sometimes referred to with titles such as "One Book, One College" or "Read It, Share It." Basically, everyone (undergrads, profs, community members, staff) is encouraged to read and discuss the same book over the course of a year or so. It usually includes one or more visits by the author or related speakers, along with a bunch of related activities (art exhibits, concerts, community service, local outreach, etc.). These books tend to be either representative of some hot-button issues or have some sweeping implications.

Previously, we did Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food while our city (several years back) did Danzy Senna's Caucasia and Ann Patchett's Bel Canto.

Possible themes this book might address:
--Leadership
--Race relations
--Economics
--Politics
--War

The book could be fiction or nonfiction, and it doesn't have to be new, but the author (or someone very closely identified with the book or its subject) should probably still be alive and able to engage in some activities with us. For reference, Michael Pollan's live speech (free admission) drew 8,000 people.

If we pick your book, I will totally send you something cool. Thanks!

What does it mean to be UK resident for insurance purposes?

handee — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:09:27 -0800

What does it mean to be a UK resident for insurance purposes? I'd like to buy multi-trip travel insurance. However, I'm currently working on a contract in another country (France) until the end of May.

On the one hand, I have a UK passport, am still registered with a doctor in the UK, I have an EHIC card (as my contract is just one year, so I am kind-of UK for health purposes), and own a house in the UK. But on the other hand, I also rent a flat in France, have the obligatory french health insurance, social security number, and pay taxes here.

The insurance websites say things like this...

"You must be a UK resident. This means that your main home must be in the United Kingdom and you must be registered with a medical practitioner in the United Kingdom.

We are unable to insure:
a) Foreign Au Pairs working in the UK.
b) Foreign Nationals - unless you have been in the UK at least 6 months, have a permanent National Insurance number and are registered with a medical practitioner in the UK."

So do I qualify as a brit in this case, or will I have to polish up my Francais and try to get something locally?

Which hotel would you recommend in San Juan?

explosion — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:03:36 -0800

Where should we stay in San Juan, Puerto Rico?

My wife and I will be going to San Juan, Puerto Rico in late May, as I qualified for the Magic: the Gathering Pro Tour. I'll need to be able to get to the Puerto Rico Convention Center, but access to beaches, historical sites, or other points of interest are important, since she's not really much of a Magic player. Of course, I'd also like to get out a bit :)

The only other AskMe that seemed to touch on this question was asked here, but the recommendations were a bit out of our price range. Can we get a decent hotel room for around or under $100/night?

Tangentially, what are the transportation options in San Juan, and how bad is it that I don't speak any Spanish beyond "por favor" and "gracias"?

Beagle:Hound::Bulldog:?

2bucksplus — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:58:44 -0800

Pedandry Filter: You can call a Beagle or Dachshund a "hound", what do you call a Bulldog or French Bulldog?

The AKC suggests that the bulldog is a member of the "non-sporting group", but that is not very catchy.

Beagle:Hound::Bulldog:______?

Cross-linguistic romance

taramosalata — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:57:10 -0800

I think I'm in love. Problem is, my beloved speaks a different language -- a language I can understand much of and speak some of, but with little nuance, sophistication, or precision, thus doing no justice to what I mean, or indeed even to what he means. Yet of my language he speaks far, far less, so we stay with his. And we don't live on the same continent, so phoning/Skyping/emailing -- language-dependent communication -- will have to do for the times we can't rely on the tacit, graceful understandings that happen in person. I can be miserable about this, but my heart is full of ardor and my gut, even, actually feels a strong sense of hope.

But yes, there's a touch of misery, since expressing myself through language is pretty much my life. (And yet non-verbal modes of affinity are crucial to me, too, and we have that -- be it physically or philosophically. Philosophically in that he makes art and talks about it and the world in a way I understand... most the time. And for the rest Google Translate has been quite the convenience.) I should probably just invest some time everyday into improving my language skills -- right? Or, what? I'd like to hear from others who've gone through something similar. Did it work? How'd you make it work? This is someone I feel I may want to spend a lifetime with (in which case I'd move to his country, as I've an interest in and a possible future in that country anyway). And I'm a happily independent person who wasn't even looking. But naysayers, too, bring it on.

(This is being submitted to the writing & language rather than relationship category because I seek wisdom on the language more than the love part.)

How can I use a desktop computer while lying down?

freecellwizard — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:54:16 -0800

How can I use a desktop computer while lying down in order to avoid severe back pain?

I have had back pain for 20+ years and it has gotten worse even after a lumbar fusion (12 years ago). Recently I've tried all sorts of tests with negative results (myelogram, mri, ct scan), and all the pain meds I've tried give me terrible side effects. I am trying to swim and do some basic yoga, but I'm being sabotaged by having to sit in a computer chair 8-12 hours a day. After I sit for about 5 minutes I sart to get severe pain in my back and numbness and pain in my leg. I've tried my chairs, cushions, exercise balls, etc. to no avail. I try to take breaks, but getting up every 5 minutes isn't practical as I am a programmer.

I'm afraid of losing my job. I was thinking that if there was some way I could lie down and work, I could talk my boss into letting me work from home. Does anyone know of a good setup for working lying down? I hate laptops and small keyboards/screens ... I guess I could just lie prone and stick my monitor/kb/mouse on the floor, but I'm worried that will create a lot of strain on my shoulders and elbows.

There must be a way to make this work! I get extremely depressed about this and have had to drink more alcohol at night to ease the pain (much better than painkillers). I am even starting to think about applying for disability, but I want to work, and I have a large child support payment to meet. I am generally happy except for this, but it's ruining my life.

Song Recommendations?

fizzzzzzzzzzzy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:54:16 -0800

What classical songs and composers are similar in style to the intro of this song?

Awesome restaurants owned by a single company?

Doublewhiskeycokenoice — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:49:58 -0800

We've got $250 to spend on dinner in Chicago. Sweet. Difficulty:

It has to be a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant, but it can't be Cafe Ba Ba Reeba.

Other than that go wild. It's just two people who can each find something they'll love on any menu you care to name. We can even chip in a bit of our own dough if it becomes necessary, but letting the $250 gift certificate take care of it would be the most preferable option.

How does this thingamajig work?

edbles — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:46:04 -0800

Linear solenoids. Need help understanding how they work and if mine is broken.

I recently purchased an AC and a DC linear solenoid. I was told the DC solenoid would come standard with a spring return. It did not. Neither did the AC. Is there an expectation that the back and forth functionality of the device will be controlled by the current switching direction or some external force on the end of the device? Is this what I have misunderstood? Should I contact my dealer about a flaw in the equipment? (I’m asking here first because it’s a large corporation with a huge product line and sales people tend to guess at an answer that will make the sale and I’d like to be better informed when I contact them.) Another way to answer this question would be to suggest resources on linear solenoids that don’t relate to starting motors but use them as locking or positioning devices would be appreciated.

Tinnitus: Merely Annoying or Impending deafness?

functionequalsform — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:36:41 -0800

Tinnitus: Time to see the doc or no?

Ear health question, that I probably don't need a doctor to answer:

This post assured me that tinnitus is common— that much we generally know.

I've always had a little bit of ringing in the ears, but lately, it's gotten more frequent, up to three or four times a day. Also, a weird deaf/muffled-ness that had previously only happened perhaps once every few months has become more frequent too— up to two or three times a week. Oh yeah, the periods of muffled/deafness/ringing aren't becoming longer, just more frequent.

Ok. Now, it could be stress. It could be the nice Bose headphones that I just got (and use responsibly, not loudly). Or it could be that the years of metal shows I frequented as a youth are now returning to haunt me.

Tell me: am I descending into a world of silence, and should probably see the doctor? Or am I just noticing intermittent tinnitus for the first time, and should probably brush it off?

Tax Withholding, or lack thereof.

SirStan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:24:38 -0800

Tax Withholding - Question regarding rights, responsibilities, and dealing with incorrect IRS Tax Withholding at a job.

A friend of mine started a salaried position in the United States at an employer that pays bi-monthly (24 pay periods) for 86.66 hours a period. When she started the job, she decided to enter $10 into box 6 on her W4. Box 6 states, "Additional amount, if any, you want withheld from each paycheck".

Fast forward to January 2010. The company switches payroll vendors, and her paycheck is $80/m lower. Upon review of her paystubs, I find that the employer was only deducting $10 *total* for federal tax withholding. All other values (FICA, etc) are accurate.

So I had to explain the $80/pay check bad news, followed by the fact she owes ~$3k in taxes for 2009 because her employer didnt withhold them, and she didn't know it was an issue.

What recourse does she have? Will the IRS have any mercy? Is the employer at fault?

Tabs vs Windows

zzazazz — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:19:19 -0800

What really is the difference between a new tab or a new window while using an internet browser? Does opening a tab take up less RAM than a new window or is it merely more convenient?

Why doesn't my snow blower blow snow anymore?

Eddie Mars — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:58:47 -0800

Why doesn't my snow blower blow snow anymore?

I have a 10+ year old Toro brand snow blower. (Model #501) This is a 2 stage blower, and has been fairly reliable in the past. The engine still starts on the first pull, and I've been fairly good about maintaining it.

I'm on the East coast, and last week we got hit with about 30" of snow. Tonight we're forecast to get another 18"+. My problem is that my snow blower is now getting clogged with anything more than about 1/2" of snow. That is, the chute which blows the snow out to the side gets plugged up at the bottom and snow stops coming out. The rotors in the front then grind to a halt and I have to clear the chute by hand before I can get things into motion again. The engine never stops running during all this, and doesn't even sound like it's struggling.

Anyone have any idea why this might be happening, or maybe have a trick to stop it?

Help me find software to speed up recorded movie files for time-lapse.

PetiePal — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:56:47 -0800

How do I speed up a movie I recorded for hours so it's like a timelapse? My cameras and video cameras don't support time-lapse so I'm looking for a program that can speed things up by a determined speed factor. Free would be preferable!

I've got a few digital cameras and video cameras but none of them are compatible with those external timer things that allow you to take a picture at set intervals. Also the video camera doesn't have time-lapse functionality built in.

I'd like to do some time-lapse videos, one of me sleeping at night (no worries it has nightvision), or a big snow storm blowing in, clouds blowing across the sky...Filming for hours etc is not a problem but finding a way to speed up my video is. Windows Live Movie Maker doesn't seem to have the functionality and I don't have anything crazy like Sony Vegas to do heavy editing.

Is there a program out there that will simply speed up a video to a factor you decide?

How to negotiate problems with my new living situation? -- Or should I just move out?

cotesdurhone — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:55:34 -0800

How to negotiate unforeseen problems with new living situation -- Dog peeing. Roaches. Roommate smoking -- Or should I just throw my hands up and move out in a few months?

I'm an artist with little $, spent a lot of money moving from out of state to a 2 bedroom apartment in Brooklyn near Prospect Park SW a few weeks ago. Turns out that my housemate stretched the truth in regards to several issues with the place:

(1) She has an 11 year old poodle that she adopted from a shelter when the dog was 2. I like dogs, so this was fine. When discussing renting the place, she told me that that the dog has 'an occasional accident' (pee), which she cleans up promptly. -- Turns out that the dog is peeing 4-5 times a day around the apartment as if it's his territory. Initially, I cleaned up after him a few times (my family owned dogs, so I've done it before and it doesn't bother me terribly), but it's not my responsibility. I work from home a lot, am in the apartment much of the day (which I told her beforehand), and walk outside my bedroom regularly to find the kitchen stained with four or five puddles of pee. Well, what do I do with this-- I don't want to clean it up, and I don't want to leave it while I'm making food and sitting at the kitchen table. The room smells of stale urine. -- I've spoken with my housemate about it somewhat. She seems to take it fairly lightly. She claims that it started when the dog was 7 or 8, after she got divorced, and the dog began experiencing 'separation anxiety.' She hasn't really made an attempt to train the dog out of it, and simply cleans it up (sometimes missing areas) when she returns from work. She's mentioned that it's doubtful that an 11 yr old dog will be able to change its habits.

What, if anything, can I do about this? -- I've considered asking her to purchase a mat for the dog. But where is the guarantee that the dog will use this mat if it already sees the entire apartment at its disposal? -- Also have considered asking her to put doggy doors blocking off the kitchen (which she might consider cruel to the dog, since the common area is fairly small) -- Or, not an ideal solution by any means, asking for lower rent for mopping up after the dog. -- Any other ideas?

(2) She said she 'smoked occasionally out her bedroom window.' I was ok with this, since the rent is fairly cheap, and the bedrooms are large and far enough apart that it wouldn't carry (much?) into the apt. -- When I moved in, the apartment reeked of cigarette smoke, and it turned out she had been smoking numerous cigarettes in her room with the window closed. -- Amazingly, she actually had cancer a year or two ago (also didn't mention until after I moved in), which she recovered from, and continues to smoke. -- I spoke with her a number of times about this, got her to agree to actually smoke out her window and limit it to a few cigarettes a night or otherwise go outside. Since then, it has been significantly better; have only smelled a trace of smoke once or twice. -- Also suggested she purchase the following smokeless 'electronic cigarette.', which she expressed some interest in.

(3) Finally, there is a mild roach problem, which she did not mention at all. I did not think to ask, since I moved from an area where this wasn't common, and forgot about the prevalence of roaches in NYC -- Apparently, over the last several years, she 'bombed' the apartment twice for them, sprinkled boric acid powder in corners, put Raid gel in crevasses, put small roach traps around, and sprayed the shit out of various areas with Raid spray, all of which materializes as a patina throughout the kitchen and bathroom areas. She also got little vials full of little mustard-colored pellets or grains from Chinatown which she's sprinkled in corners (doesn't know what they are; says that the Chinese use them to good effect) -- I'm wary of chemicals (pesticides, etc), and would like to make the apt as chemical free as possible within reason while warding off roaches. To this end, I want to: (a) clean the kitchen and bathroom thoroughly; (b) plug up cracks and holes with steel wool and caulk; (c) make boric acid balls with egg yolk and sugar, and put them in corners; (d) and put many large-size combat roach traps around in strategic places. I think this would do the trick -- However, this will take a few days, and I'm not looking forward to investing time in this. I feel like she should help me do this, but, on the other hand, she's fairly uninformed about the issue, and I would feel odd 'directing' her.

Phew! That's it -- Should I try to negotiate all this, or is it too much, and should just move? -- The upsides are that the bedroom is huge, the size of a studio; the area is pretty good; and the rent is pretty cheap (for NYC standards). The apt is 2 minutes from Prospect Park and the subway. -- Also, in spite of these issues, my roommate is generally nice, and seems fairly amenable to suggestion. -- As I mentioned, I have little $, I spent a lot of $ moving here, it took me a week to get my bedroom & other practical things set up, and it would be really inconvenient, time-consuming, and frustrating to start looking for another apt and move again. -- I'm not on a lease, which is both good and bad, since I can basically move out whenever, but she can also ask me to move out whenever if I aggravate her too much.

Suggestions?

Is it time to give up on vegetarianism?

4ster — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:32:09 -0800

I'm considering somewhat abandoning vegetarianism and I need some advice.

I became an ovo-lacto vegetarian in 1999 when I was 28. It was easy for me, because I never liked wild game or seafood of any sort, so all I really gave up was chicken, pork, turkey, and beef. I also gave up anything seasoned with meat and anything that contained gelatin. I love all fruits and vegetables, so I have had that in my corner. I also like tofu and soymilk.

The problem is that I do not feel that I have never learned to be a very good or very smart vegetarian. I have never made any effort to make sure I am combining foods to create "perfect" proteins. I eat too much bread, pasta, and meat substitutes like Boca burgers. Most of my protein comes from yogurt, peanut butter, cheese, and (probably) granola, to name a few.

I am also about 25 pounds overweight, and I never seem to feel very energetic. So far, I have chalked this up to aging (I am 39) and lack of exercise. Now I'm not so sure.

So my question is this: If I started eating a serving of boneless chicken breast twice a day, would I notice any difference in things like my weight and/or energy level, or am I just looking for a quick fix? Have you been a vegetarian, reintroduced some meat into your diet, and seen some changes (good or bad)? If so, what were they?

As always, thanks for your help.

Help me find the perfect coffee table legs!

kmtiszen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:26:47 -0800

Where can I buy old iron legs with casters for a coffee table build? Examples within!

I'm collecting reclaimed materials for a coffee table I'm interested in building/have someone build. I have the wood, but I'm having trouble finding the right legs. I'm interested in something similar to the style of leg featured on this table from Anthropologie. I'd also settle for similar legs without the casters.

Anyone know a good place -- either online or in NYC -- to find something like this?

Thanks!

Efficient But Unfussy Lulu Print Job

jimmyjimjim — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:12:48 -0800

Any advice re: settings for printing up a a book containing a slew of articles for reading in paperback form via Lulu.com?

There are lots of tutorials for (and discussion of) Lulu.com. But I can't find any resource with advice for using Lulu for what I'd imagine to be a bread-and-butter purpose: to print out a slew of articles accumulated (via web, email, etc) which I would, at this point, prefer to print in tidy book form rather than do a 300 page print-out on 8.5x11" sheets.

Obviously, in this situation I don't care about finesse. But I do want the result to be highly readable, and to make reasonably efficient use of the paper. So I'd love to suggestions re: fonts, margins, gutters, and any other settings people have found to work dependably for this sort of relatively unfussy purpose.

~~~~~~
Standard disclaimer:
Yes, I realize that my question itself is unfathomably stupid, and all my assumptions and motives are in sore need of questioning. By conceding all that, I've saved you the trouble of having to point it out! And discussion will hopefully proceed from my idiotic question, rather than loop back to parse its idiocy. Thanks!

Going to see Champtanystropheus americansus

I am the Walrus — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:02:53 -0800

Looking for lodging suggestions on or near Lake Champlain

My daughter has an intense fascination with the Loch Ness Monster, so this summer (early August) I am taking her to see America's Loch Ness Monster Champ. I am looking for lodging recommendations, preferably on or very near the lake, for around $1500 for a week. Someplace with a kitchenette would be nice.

Also, if anyone has suggestions of things to do in the area, or of places where Champ is commonly seen, those would also be appreciated.

Mini displayport stops 802.11g from working? how? why?

thewalrus — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:53:33 -0800

Mini displayport to DVI adapter stops 802.11g from working? What?! We have a Macbook5,1 which is plugged into a 21" Dell LCD using the Monoprice mini displayport to DVI adapter. When the displayport is unplugged wireless works perfectly. When it's plugged in, the wireless NIC remains associated to the WAP but there is instant 100% packet loss.

The WAP is a Linksys WRT54GL which is located about one meter from the laptop. We have three other laptops in the house and various iPhones and other 802.11g devices, none of which have connectivity problems even as far out as 30 meters.

The laptop is a Macbook5,1 running the latest updated version of Snow Leopard. When the mini displayport to DVI adapter is plugged in and the 21" LCD is turned on, the laptop can see various WAPs in the area but cannot associate to them. If I unplug the display, connect the laptop to a WAP and run packet loss tests to our NAT gateway, there is an average 0.5 to 1.1ms latency and 0% packet loss. The instant I plug back in the displayport adapter there is 100% packet loss and the laptop falls off the net.

If I leave the displayport adapter plugged into the laptop but power off the 21" LCD, there is about 60% packet loss to our WRT54GL's NAT gateway IP (192.168.101.1). That is particularly weird.

This seems like some kind of weird voodoo - any chance we have a defective macbook motherboard that glitches when the video output circuitry is used at the same time as the wireless NIC? Any other ideas?

Help me save my tea tumbler!

amileighs — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:51:38 -0800

Help me save my tea tumbler!

I bought two Tevana Tea Rhapsody Glass Tea Tumblers last week and have been merrily using them. Anyway this morning I popped them out of the dishwasher and filled them up, only to have one of the lids get stuck on. Stuck such that neither me or my boyfriend can wrench it off! In retrospect I discovered you are not actually suppose to put the lids in the dishwasher, thanks packaging instructions for not making that more explicit.

Now normally I would employ some manual force but the tumbler itself is made of glass, so that prohibits the force I can actually use. Comparing the two tumblers together, the stuck one's lid is slightly raised and off balance. Likely there is something funky with the threading, hence the stuckness. It is also 3/4 full of tea, which drips slightly when upturned, further proof that the threading is off. I've tried WD-40, and castor oil to try to lubricate it, but to no avail. Is there any other suggestions from the hivemind that I can try, before I give up on the damn thing!

How do I tell my boss I hate my job . . . productively?

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:40:35 -0800

I want to talk to my boss about getting more work that is aligned with my skill level than what I am currently doing. However, I'm not sure how to go about doing it. My boss is a very reasonable person, and I think of I can make a strong case, he will be inclined to oblige if he can. Help me make that case please.

I started a new job just over a year ago as an in-house web designer in a medium-sized corporation. At the time, they weren't looking for someone as skilled as I am, but were impressed with my skills and experience, and decided they wanted to offer me the job, with the notion that I would handle their more involved, bigger projects that weren't getting done. Fast forward to a year later, and I'm doing very junior level work like banner ads, email blasts, product image cropping, etc . . . and only on rare occasions do I get a bigger project. And when I do, I'm bombarded with the same junior level requests, making it hard to work on the other projects anyway. I'm getting extremely frustrated because I'm not doing the work work I thought I would be doing. That, and I'm genuinely afraid they'll realize they could have a fresh collage graduate doing the work for a fraction of what they pay me.

Part of me thinks I should just find a different job better suited to my skills. The thing is, I like the company and I like the people I work with. I'd rather pursue what I can do to make the job better before bailing. I've thought about approaching my boss and suggesting that I be assigned more work that is in-line with my skill level. What I fear that would mean though is just more work assigned on top of what I have to do, not a shift into more appropriate work, and the work I want to do would continue to be low priority, just a longer list of it.

One factor that plays into this may be that my boss is not the one that assigns the daily workload, it's the senior most designer that does this. But the senior designer doesn't really have authority over what my role is in the company. I've talked to him about getting help with daily work when I have other projects, and he either gets defensive or agrees but then an day or two later (while I'm still working on said projects) he's back to assigning me other work. My boss is likely not even aware of how tasks are being assigned. In fact he probably has no idea why the work I'm doing is less desirable than the work I thought I'd be doing. The other part of the problem is that bigger projects tend not to be considered a priority. And this is generally company wide so I'm not even sure there is much that can be done. On top of that, some of the work I thought would be exclusively assigned to me based on pre-hiring conversations has either been spread out between the designers or is contracted out to other firms.

I'm really not sure how to approach my boss. I am trying to think of how to put it in terms of this is why its good for the company and not just complain about how I felt the job isn't turning out the way I want it or how the work I'm being assigned is crap. I would really appreciate suggestions about how to frame the conversation.

I'm also wondering, I have my first review in a couple months. Should I wait to talk to my boss until then, or should I do it right away. My gut is right away, but I know my review will include conversations about my job so may lend itself to this type of conversation.

Available for followup at: srslyhatemyjob@gmail.com

Arranged Marriage: My wife prefers tradition over me

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:40:23 -0800

I agreed to a long-distance arranged marriage to the woman who is now my wife and I think I made a mistake. How do you know when to cut your losses?

Some background:

We're a couple in our late 20s. We're both born in the US but entered into the arranged marriage process because of our mutual religious and cultural values.

We've been legally, and religiously, married for 3 months, but only had 1 big cultural wedding ceremony which means we're only partially married culturally speaking. One of the events that still needs to happen is the homecoming where the bride can live with the groom and makes it permissible to consummate the marriage.

Long distance issues:

We live apart. She lives with her family and goes to grad school and I work in another state. I feel like I'm discouraged to visit her until the whole marriage is complete. For example, to visit her, I must book a hotel and may only spend time with her during the day. She is not permitted (or so she says) to visit me in my city.

I just don't get a sense of her making an effort to meet me halfway. However, she does insist that my family and I buy her cultural gifts, like gold sets, diamond wedding bands, a substantial cash dowry among other things.

I feel like I'm being used. When I raise this concern, she assures me that she loves me, and that all these concerns are just part of the marriage process and everything will be better when we live together. Part of me wants to believe this, but part of me mistrusts her.

What do I do?

1) Divorce- I'm actually contemplating divorce, since we've been married for a short time, and she can remarry faster with less stigma I guess. I don't think she will ever be loyal to me because when it comes to me or a cultural tradition (like the ban on visiting me), she picks the cultural tradition. I want companionship but she seems more interested in what I can offer her in gifts.

2) Stick it through - eventually she will move in with me. I do like spending time with her and maybe when we actually have more face time, we can adjust to each others needs. She won't say, but maybe the reason she is being super traditional is that she is living with her parents, and won't risk displeasing them.

Best language / tools / platforms / tutorials to teach to an entry level game design enrichment?

satori_movement — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:36:47 -0800

Best language / tools / platforms / tutorials to teach to an entry level game design enrichment?

I have decided to teach an after school game design enrichment at my school. My students will predominantly be 9th-12th grade, and most will be new to programming though some may have had some experience with javascript / java.

Obviously, a large part of the class will cover the fundamentals of programming, with a focus on creating games.

My guess is we will meet either after school or for a few hours on Sunday. In addition, there might be a 24 hour lock-in or two.

I am familiar with pretty much everything from scheme, to python, to tcl/tk, to c++/qt, to c#, java, ruby, c, php etc. and would feel comfortable working in pretty much anything.

Personally, I'm leaning towards teaching them canvas in Google chrome because of the power of that platform and how useful it will be, but I am completely open to any other tools or libraries. Bonus points for platforms that have good tutorials I could work my students through.

What language / tools / platforms / tutorials should I use for this enrichment?

Help a yoga novice find the perfect yoga DVD.

miltoncat — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:17:00 -0800

What is a good beginning yoga DVD?

I hate hate hate exercising, but I like yoga. I love the stretching and the mental calmness it can give. Money is VERY tight right now so classes are not an option. I'm very out of shape but relatively flexible (I'm 37). I've tried different DVDs but have yet to find one that makes me want to keep with it.

I would like a DVD that has 30-minute sessions and is a beginner level. I'm not picky as to what kind of yoga it is (kundalini, etc), but don't want Bikram-- which I'd think is rare to find on DVD anyway, given that it's done in a hot room.

Slick, web-based tool for comparing lots of stock histories

jbickers — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:07:59 -0800

Good online tool for comparing the historical results of stocks?

So I have a list of twenty stock symbols, and I want to be able to compare their historical performance for various date ranges, and slice and dice the data all different ways. Tools like Yahoo Finance aren't slick and shiny enough for me ... what are the really intuitive, Web 2.0 ways to cross-examine tons of stock performance data?

Video editing for noobs

ObscureReferenceMan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:02:21 -0800

Best video editing software for a novice?

I saw this question, but I think I might need something more. I have a Kodak DX (something) camera, and it has a video mode, which is OK for what I want - taking video of martial art stuff, and posting on youtube. But I want to do more - edit them down, maybe add audio, effects, etc. I'm a little unsure exactly what I want to do. I'll probably find out as I start. So feel free to ask if something is not clear.

Also, I want to be able to work with different formats as needed. For example, a friend gave me a DVD that he took, but the format was something I hadn't seen before.

So, what is a good package to use? From some brief reading, I thought about Adobe Premiere, but have not seen very favorable reviews. All recommendations are welcome, as is general information I might have overlooked ("You do realize, you'll need a new Fractus Bi-modulating Polymerating card, of course!"). Thanks!

What is the best path for a person with a bachelors degree in psychology to take to become an elementary school general music teacher?

bingwah — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:00:06 -0800

Career switch advice - from web designer to music teacher. I have a bachelors degree in psychology. What is the best path for a person in my situation to take to become an elementary school general music teacher?

I've been a web designer for about 8 years. I work for a small agency. It's the only real adult job I've ever had. I'm now looking to make a career change to an elementary school general music teacher.

I live in Rockland County in NY. I have a bachelor's degree in Psychology. I know there are many ways to get a teaching degree but I'm having a hard time figuring out what the best way is for me to get there. I want to teach music specifically and don't necessarily care if I'm certified to teach other subjects. To be more specific I'm not looking to teach chorus or anything. I just want to teach general music to kids in a public school.

What qualifications/schooling/certifications do I need?

looking for violin audio

mrmarley — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:57:09 -0800

for a project, i'm looking for a piece of music that is: a single violin performance (no other instruments) in the public domain/free (classical?) not too frenetic, not too morose, but "dignified" about 3-6 minutes long (would be icing on the cake) any suggestions? thanks!

How do I make my toilet flush completely?

milkman — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:48:10 -0800

Toilet Filter: After putting down a new floor and re-installing, my toilet won't flush all the way. I've completely rebuilt the guts (new fill mechanism, new flush valve, new flapper), I've maximized the tank fill, plunged and augerred, and even used muriatic acid to clean the jets (though I might not have done it correctly), with no results. (More Inside...)

Some additional info:

- When I pour a couple of gallons of water from a bucket, it flushes without any problem.

- I've replaced my flapper and entire flush valve -- I'm certain that it's operating properly and that the flapper opens fully and stays open for long enough.

- The FluidMaster fill/float mechanism that I bought doesn't fill the tank to the old line -- even when it is adjusted to its maximum setting -- but when I manually keep the float down and allow the tank to fill to just below the overflow pipe, the flush still doesn't execute.

- The muriatic acid fix that I tried came from here, and didn't specify the quantity of acid to use, only the dilution. Other instructions I've found (e.g. here) don't say to dilute the acid at all, and suggest a much more elaborate process of taping off the toilet and letting it work for much longer.

I'm very frustrated, and simply can't afford to pay the several hundred dollars that a plumber wants. Any advice from experience would be appreciated.

Because All The Cool Kids Have Them

DWRoelands — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:41:09 -0800

Looking for recommendations for a desktop iPhone dock/charger. 3Gs compatible, must allow me to dock the phone without taking it out of its case, under $30. I don't need fancy, and I don't even particularly case how it looks so long as it works.

Please just tell me if you don't want to hire me.

amandarose — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:23:45 -0800

Should I follow up with a company I'm dying to work for?

In early January, I sent in an application for a nonprofit job I'm incredibly interested. It's in my field and the organization (Organization A) is a great fit for me. About a week and a half later, I received an email from the executive director, telling me that I was a finalist for the position and asking for a some more information. I emailed back and forth about my grad program for a couple of days, and then got the "We'll be in touch." I haven't heard a word since then - it's been three weeks.

In the intervening three weeks, I've heard back for and have begun the training process for a part-time gig at Organization B that I feel pretty lukewarm about. I don't want to commit to this job when the training is finished at the end of next week if the full-time job I would love is still an option.

Can I contact Organization A and ask where they are in the hiring process? I've always been told never, ever, ever to do that, but it seems like it might be okay in this situation.

Why is being single suddenly the worst thing in the world?

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:07:34 -0800

After years of being perfectly happy when I'm single, I'm suddenly frantically desperately lonely. How do I fix this?

Me: 28, male, straight, living in a big East Coast city. My friends are awesome - a close-knit 20something tribe of varying lifestyles and viewpoints. My own career is absolutely fantastic - I'm very much in demand in my field, and I find my work very rewarding both financially and emotionally. My hobbies are progressing nicely. In short, I'm incredibly happy with basically everything in my life.

I've also been single for nearly my entire post-college life. Not exclusively - of the seven years since I graduated college, I've been seeing someone for a total of about 18 months, most recently a six-month relationship that crashed and burned two years ago. I date when I meet someone I find interesting; otherwise, I just... don't. I've never felt like my life was missing anything, or that I needed "someone" to make it complete. When my aunts would ask me when I'm going to "settle down" I'd just calmly tell them that I'm quite happy, thank you, and change the topic.

Sometime around this past fall, though, something snapped in me. Suddenly I'm miserable being single. Suddenly I wake up and look at the side of the bed I'm not on and it's an empty expanse. I recently took a trip to to England visit my brother, who's doing a semester abroad, and took a few days to travel Europe on my own. Instead of being perfectly happy with that, as I was during previous solo trips, I found myself aching to share the trip with Someone. I find myself green-eyed with envy for my friends who're in serious relationships, after years of being happy for them but not feeling like I needed to follow in their footsteps.

I feel incredibly, heart-achingly lonely now, and I really have no idea why. Sure, more and more of my friends are paired off, but that's not really a new thing - a lot of them were engaged within the first couple of years after graduation. I don't have any desire to settle down, I don't want kids or a house, but I want to share my whole life with my totally-hypothetical girlfriend. Desperately. I should also note that sex is certainly a part of this, but it's a relationship-focus: I don't just want to have sex, I want to have sex with someone I really really care about. I envy my friends not for getting laid, but for having a sexual relationship they can evolve and build on.

The question portion is simply this: What the fuck do I do with this new emotional state? It's awful and I hate it, and I'd really love to be content with my life like I used to be. Inasmuch as "Find a girlfriend" is the answer, desperation certainly isn't going to help me. Is this abruptly developing need normal? Is there something wrong with me? Is this a standard experience that I've just finally hit, and I need to just deal with it until I happen to run into the right girl to be happy with?

Male equivalent of flowers?

angab — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:03:47 -0800

What small gift can I bring home to my stressed out boyfriend?

My boyfriend is totally stressed out right now. He's in way over his head with work and school. I want to do something little, but nice, to brighten his day. Although it is stereotypical, he has brought me flowers during weeks when I am feeling stressed out, and it always makes my day.

What can I get him that would show I'm noticing his hard work and trying to be supportive? I'm analogizing to flowers because I want it to be a small, relatively inexpensive, yet meaningful gift. However, ideas other than "things" are welcome, too.

(And yes, I've already thought of favors of the sexual variety - certainly something to be considered, but I'd like to explore the non-sexual realm of gifts as well.)

Shipping to Kosovo

strangelove — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:42:11 -0800

I am looking for a courier which can ship a small package on ice-packs to Kosovo from the USA.

how to hyperlink inside word document

kitkat09 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:41:41 -0800

how can i hyperlink inside word document?

hi,
I am using Microsoft Word 2003 writing up my dissertation. i need to hyperlink inside my document. I tried to use Microsoft Word 2003 "insert hyperlink" feature, but I found it quite complicated and time-consuming. look for example, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291182

does anybody know better software that allows me to hyper link two words in the same document so easily? jump to another words,object ,page within the same document?

any help is appreciated
thank you.

Seeking a recipe for Hint fruit-infused water

sfgeeklady — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:35:56 -0800

I normally don't like to buy/drink bottled water because of the waste and expense, but I really like the taste of Hint water, and I'm supposed to drink lots of water because I am pregnant. Does anyone know of a similar home recipe? Is it as simple as mixing fruit essence oils with water?

...like I like my women: unobtainable.

pokeydonut — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:34:34 -0800

Does anyone know how to make good espresso with an Alex Duetto II espresso machine? I'm lost.

My boss just purchased a $2500 espresso machine and a Mazza Mini grinder to go with it - both commercial grade, high quality machines - and for the life of us we cannot seem to get anything out of it other than shots of espresso that alternate between undrinkably bitter and sour. We've adjusted the grind, the dose, the temperature, the brew time and the tamping pressure and we still can't get something palatable. We're using Counter Culture Toscano Espresso beans purchased weekly so that's not the issue either.

I suspect that we're doing something horribly wrong, but I'm not sure what. The brew boiler PID is set to 200 and we're using a grind that's fine enough that when you tamp it medium-hard it takes about 6-8 seconds for anything to come out. Obviously, grinds are hard to describe in words.

Does anyone have experience with this machine? Does anyone live in New York City and want to flex your coffee geek skills? My boss and I are trying to justify this purchase to the CEO and it would help if the damn thing could make coffee! I could really use any advice or help you can offer.

Like to the lark at break of day arising

so much modern time — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:58:12 -0800

Recommend literature/poetry set to (classical) music for my mix!

I'm making a mix of songs that are adaptations from literature and poetry.

So far I have:
- I Saw No Shadow of Another Parting: An operatic aria sung by Kiri Te Kanawa, from the film Great Expectations that adapts a passage from the book.
- She Walks in Beauty: Byron's poem as a song.
- Sonnet 29: Rufus Wainwright sings a Shakespeare sonnet.
- The gorgeous Rilke and Neruda songs as sung by Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.

I'm not looking for songs about writing or literature (as in these previous threads), but specifically literary adaptations.

What else could be added to this mix? All of the examples here tend to lean towards the classical/opera side of things as I'm particularly partial to literature/poems as arias. (This list was mildly helpful, but seems to lean more towards rock?)

Can I use iTunes to handle the music on my iPod Touch, but use another program (gPodder, Juice) to handle podcasts?

JoshTeeters — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:50:56 -0800

Can I use iTunes to handle the music on my iPod Touch, but use another program (gPodder, Juice) to handle podcasts?

I'm more or less happy with iTunes for music and playlists, but I'm not very fond of how it deals with podcasts. I'm especially tired of losing episodes of podcasts when iTunes decides to stop updating them if I haven't listened to an episode in a while. (E.g., the In Our Time feed only has one episode up at any given time; if iTunes decides to stop updating and I don't catch it, I can't just click "Get Episode" to get the older one.)

Will iTunes play nice with another piece of software, or am I going to run into them fighting, trying to overwrite one another's data, etc.? After using gPodder or Juice to put podcasts on my iPod Touch, is iTunes going to prompt me to restore?

If they'd clapped a little quieter I'd have no problems

sully75 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:49:32 -0800

Music recording filter: I think I need to use a compressor/limiter on an audio track but I don't know how.

I've been messing around with audio software for many years but really still don't know how to do anything. I can cut and splice and things like that, but compressors and limiters are still totally confusing.

So: I can take your advice and direction, I know how to turn the thing on, just don't know what to do with it.

I have an audio track of an acoustic music house concert (fiddle and flute for what it's worth). It was recorded by a friend on a digital recorder. For the most part the volume is quite low. However the applause is very loud relative to the rest of the track.

I would like to raise the volume on the entire track, and reduce the level of the applause. Can I do this in one operation? For the most part the applause is not clipping.

I've been trying to use Reacomp from Reaper but really can't figure out what to do.

Need new workout music

joost de vries — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:31:42 -0800

I'm getting tired of the music that I play on my mp3 player during my workout. I haven't been taking notice of the energetic music of the last 2 - 3 years. So; please provide me with suitable recent workout music. Youtube links are appreciated.

The kind of things I do during a workout are; spinning, running, rowing and weightlifting.

For me criteria for workout music are approx.:
- the beat is regular. I can't change my pace of running or spinning to match a syncopated beat. So no jazz f.i.
- energetic. A lot of dance music is energetic. But a of lot old fashioned hard rock fits the bill as well f.i.
- it's nice when there's a driving beat for the lower brain functions and a more mellifluous melody or mellow sounds on top of that for the higher brain functions. A lot of dance follows this pattern.
- I don't mind mainstream music per se. Indie cred is not important for me either.
- bpm can be between 60 - 110 approx. But around 90 bpm is prefered.
- songs with a surging pattern fit my interval training very well. I.e. slow relaxed phases build up to energetic apotheoses. F.i. Dream on by Aerosmith.
- I don't like hip hop and rap

Help with .xls files on a G1.

piratebowling — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:16:19 -0800

My G1 or gmail has stopped converting .xls files to google docs. Can I fix this?

I get my work schedule through my gmail account, which I usually read over my G1. What used to happen was I would click the preview button, and I'd see an HTML version of the .xls file (standard excel spreadsheet).

A month or two ago, when I tried to click the preview button, I got a message that gmail had unexpectedly quit and gmail would have to close. It has happened every time since.

Android is totally up to date, no other problems with gmail as far as I can tell.

Desperately seeking desperate art.

howiamdifferent — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:12:49 -0800

I'm looking for paintings on desperation.

Looking for famous paintings that depict some form of desperation (to use in a presentation). Famous as in made by a prolific painter instead of someone's talented but still tragically unknown neighbor. The depiction of desperation doesn't have to be very literal. The more subtle the better. Non-gory paintings are preferred.

Bonus points if the painting is colorful, and/or in the Renaissance or Baroque styles.

Find the Font

herbplarfegan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:00:42 -0800

what font is being used on this album cover?

I hired a graphic designer to put this cover together 2 years ago. Currently, I'm looking to include the same motif for the artist/title on the cover.

I have looked on Photoshop for a font that matches it, and it's nowhere to be found. I'm pretty sure the graphic artist used an earlier version, but does that mean that the font is gone forever? seems like that can't be. The designer isn't sure why nothing's matching, either.

I figured if someone recognized the font and had specifics on whether there are considerations that need to be made beyond just the name (ie. "oh-- that's fontname 3.0; you actually do need it from an earlier version"),

then it would be very helpful, because I really want to preserve that look, and using a font that's really close is 10x worse than scrapping the attempt to match them and just going in another direction.

http://cannibalplanet.bandcamp.com/album/crankblooming
(this ain't a case o' pepsi-blue; I really want to preserve this aesthetic for one more album, and no one else has been able to help me)

My macbook is taking pictures of me, I want it to stop.

ryaninoakland — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:50:51 -0800

I downloaded some antitheft software for my macbook (takes a snapshot every minute, uploads to a "secure site") I'm pretty sure I found the software via metafilter but I can't come up with the link. I uninstalled the software but it still continues to apparently take the timed snapshot. Any ideas how I can disable this automated function? I've checked my automated tasks directory and haven't seen anything that looks right.

Identify my cactus things!

floam — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:57:00 -0800

I was given a couple little plants. They're succulents or cacti. Can you tell me what they are? I took a picture.

The pots are like four inches each. I'd be interested in knowing exactly what species they each are.

The label (which doesn't identify anything) says I should water sparingly and let them dry out in between. How often is that? It also says to fertilize every other month if it's not winter. Do I really need to?

Thanks!

What to do with "fun-stuff-only" donation for college students?

elsewhen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:35:01 -0800

If you were given $2000 to do something wacky and fun for 400 college students, what would you do?

My college is divided into sub-groups of about 400 students each which are essentially little microcosms of the school, and the one I belong to just received a "fun-stuff-only" donation. We were instructed that it is specifically for doing something to liven up the social atmosphere and/or do something completely crazy and fun. Ideas so far include a "paint war" and a massive water balloon fight, but I'd really like some other creative suggestions for the best way to entertain 400 college students with $2000. Thoughts?

Why does entry level intimidate me?

shesbookish — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:14:30 -0800

How can I be the best one-day-per-week volunteer receptionist ever?

I am about to start volunteering as a receptionist one day a week for a non-profit. I want to be a great receptionist, but I'm worried about learning how to be one when I'm only there one day a week.My duties will include greeting people who come in for meetings, accepting packages and answering the occasional phone call that isn't taken care of by their automated system. So, any advice on being a great receptionist? Any other advice about being a great worker when I'm only there one day a week?

Helping a child that isn't mine

GrubbyUtter — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:07:06 -0800

If you had $200 to help a child, what's the best way to spend that money?

I'm in an odd situation where I'm living with a single-mother and her 10-yr old daughter, for another couple weeks. They are not charity cases, nor are they well off.

I've been given the said amount by a friend from a church back home, to spend on the girl. It is a slippery situation b/c I don't want to offend the mother and I don't need to pretend to be a father, but I do want use the money in the best way possible... on the girl, as it was intended (as opposed to simply giving it to the mother).

The girl is intensely smart and a few years ahead of her peers socially and maturely. My only idea so far is vague, but I think the money would have the most impact if I could use it in a way that would enable her to help somebody else in need - potentially teach her the benefit of giving of yourself / paying it forward. I simply don't have any specific ideas on how to do this. I am in the mountains, not far from the Denver area, if that helps.

But I'm open to all ideas, not just ideas along that line of thinking. I also welcome discussion about the risks of doing something like this with a girl that isn't my child and I've only known for a few weeks. I don't want to cross any lines or stir up any drama with the mother.

Earth Class Mail Substitutes?

FuManchu — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:56:25 -0800

Current reviews of mail scanning and forwarding services? Trying to avoid Earth Class Mail.

I've been a customer of Earth Class Mail for a while, which has gotten a lot of positive recommendations on AskMe. I've been very happy with the service so far. Unfortunately, the forced price change means I'm going to pay a *lot* more, and I'm not sure it's worth it. I don't like the way they're changing, and want to know if there are good substitutes.

There don't seem to be a lot of options besides them. Paperlessmail.com sounds like a great substitute for the original price I was paying at ECM, but the website looks a bit sketchy.

Has anyone been happy with other services that aren't Earth Class Mail? I'm looking for a address in the US.

Your Best Sales Advice

1awesomeguy — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:39:41 -0800

I have owned a small B2B business for the past three years. It is basically a one-man operation though I have a few part-time employees. I am pretty good at everything, except for one thing: sales. I suck at sales. The way I am currently doing my sales is I send sales letters to people I know are interested in our services and then follow up with them via email or the phone. I'm not bad at writing sales letters, but when it comes to closing the deal, I always have a hard time. With the recent economic downturn, our profits have dropped and I need to drastically improve my sales. If you have any experience selling to people, what have you learned? Anything applicable in the slightest would be very helpful!

Posession is 9/10 of the bed

Jon_Evil — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:38:16 -0800

YANML: Who owns this bed that's been in my house for 2.5 years?

Long-ass story. I am the leaseholder on an apartment, in New York, and Housemates A, B, C, and D have all lived in the same room at different times, never simultaneously.

In Sept. 2007, Housemate A buys a bed and moves it into his room in the. After one year (Sept 08), Housemate A moves back to Ohio to live with his girlfriend, and Housemate B moves in. Housemates A and B make a verbal agreement that Housemate B can use the bed, but if and when Housemate A returns to New York, Housemate B will relinquish the bed.

However, in Feb 09, Housemate B also moves back to Ohio to live with her girlfriend. No mention is made of the bed's fate during the move-out process, it is simply left in the room when Housemate B leaves. Its trusteeship is unclear. From February - May '09, Housemates A and B live in the same town in Ohio and are co-workers and friends. They have ample opportunity to discuss the fate of the bed, but if they do, I hear nothing of it.

In March of 09, Housemate C moves into the empty room, and seeing that there's already a bed, decides to use it, rather than lug his own bed around. I see no problem with this arrangement and allow it, though I do not make any attempt to contact Housemates A or B about the situation.

That July, Housemate C moves out and Housemate D moves in, and is still here, still sleeping on the same bed. In December, Housemate A returns to New York, and is staying with his parents until he's able to find a job and an apartment. Housemate A states that when he finds an apartment, he expects the bed will be returned to him by Housemate D, as per his agreement with Housemate B.

Housemate D and I both think this is preposterous, but want to make sure we're in the right before getting all pissy at Housemate A, who is our dear friend when he isn't being a total moron. As the lease-holder on the apartment and its only constant occupant, I think the bed was abandoned, and ownership reverts to me, or to the landlord, but either way it has become a de facto feature of that bedroom, and is under the control of whoever lives in that room.

Am I wrong?

Peephole Weekly

I EAT TAPAS — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:21:53 -0800

In the early 80s, I was browsing the magazines at a local grocery store and found a humor magazine that had a parody of People Weekly -- called Peephole Weekly here -- as either its front or back cover. What magazine was this? Bonus points for a date of publication.

Note that this was a large, family-friendly grocery, so I don't believe this parody was the product of an X-rated magazine.

Why does beer make my leg muscles tense up?

ixohoxi — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:56:42 -0800

Why do my muscles (particularly my leg muscles) get tense and uncomfortable after drinking in the evenings (particularly after drinking beer)? Has anyone else experienced this? And is there anything I can do about it?

Often, after I've had a few drinks in the evenings, I have trouble getting to sleep because my leg muscles are—tense? restless? It's hard to describe. It's not a cramp, or a tic, or anything that severe—just a discomfort, as if the muscles have a mild but insistent urge to contract or move around. They don't move unless I tell them to, but it causes me to toss and turn. I occasionally get similar sensations in my arms, but it's most common (and most annoying) in my legs.

I definitely notice it more after drinking beer, as opposed to wine or liquor. I mainly notice it at night (but, then, I mainly drink at night). I don't have to be intoxicated to experience it: two or three 12oz beers over the course of the evening will often do it to me. I don't remember when I first noticed the phenomenon, but it was at least a few years ago, if not more (I'm 32). FWIW, I'm (mostly) an ovo-lacto vegetarian.

It eventually wears off, presumably as my body processes whatever substance in the beer causes it, or otherwise renormalizes its systems.

A lot of the Wikipedia article on restless legs syndrome sounds familiar to me. It says that the most common cause is iron deficiency; the article about iron deficiency mentions "substances (in diet or drugs) interfering with iron absorption" as a possible cause. Could the beer be (temporary) interfering with my body's ability to absorb iron? Why would this happen mainly with beer, and not happen with more potent alcoholic beverages? Or could it be due to simple dehydration? (I pee a lot when I drink beer, which is one reason I prefer wine and liquor.)

It's not a serious problem, but it is annoying, and I've always been curious about it. YAN(A|M)D. Thanks!

How to encourage my boyfriend to work on his drinking problem?

blackcatcuriouser — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:25:53 -0800

Boyfriend is a problem drinker - but not necessarily an alcoholic. What can I do to help him? And how do I protect myself here?

My boyfriend and I are in a loving, committed relationship. We rarely fight and our relationship is pleasant and drama-free. He's a really good guy. Until he starts drinking.

There have been several instances in which he has gone totally overboard in terms of speed and quantity. It doesn't happen every time there's alcohol around, and he doesn't drink daily. But if there is some sort of celebration, or birthday, or sporting event, or some occasion where there's unlimited alcohol, he WILL be bombed. He won't get tipsy, or just nicely buzzed. Or even "normal" drunk. He will be obliterated and totally unmanageable.

Recently, we went to dinner and a dive bar to celebrate my friend's birthday. He drank several glasses of wine at dinner, and had about five 32 oz beers at the bar afterward. In the past, he's asked me to let him know when he's had too much to drink. So when I spotted him with a SIXTH beer, I said with a smile "Nuh uhhh, I think you are done, sir!" and calmly took the beer from him. At this point he was slurring and stumbling. Of course, this was not well received. He threw a tantrum, accused me of trying to ruin his good time, and demanded that we leave the party immediately, because he was now forbidden from drinking. When I explained that I'd still like to stay because I was enjoying my friends, he stormed out. He eventually returned, and we left the party because he was starting to embarrass me. I was a bit drunk myself, but what happened afterward was quite sobering.

During our cab ride back to his place, he tried repeatedly to pick another fight. I told him I didn't feel like fighting, I just wanted to go home and sleep and we'd talk in the morning. He responded to this by telling me to get out of the cab and not go home with him. I told him that I was done with his behavior, couldn't do this anymore, and promptly left.

There is no talking to him when he is in this state. He is nonsensical, illogical, irrational, and mean. He is pushy, instigating, and obnoxious. He teeters between desperate melodrama ("WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME? WHAT DID I DO WRONG?") and extreme hatefulness ("F-YOU, BITCH. GO DATE SOMEONE ELSE.") It is disturbing and hurtful, even though I know he doesn't mean what he says. And the next day? He doesn't remember a thing. He is extremely apologetic, weepy, embarrassed, confused -- and begs me and pleads with me not to break up with him. Agrees that things got way out of hand. Promises it won't happen again. He'll be on his best behavior for awhile, and of course, the next time there's a birthday or an open bar, he loses control again.

This time, however, I told him that if he didn't seek counseling and seriously work on this, I could no longer be in this relationship. He agreed that this wasn't fair to me, that he should talk to someone about this, and that he had a problem with drinking. He said he didn't know why he lacked an off switch, and it was starting to worry him. I referred him to some counseling resources, which he has yet to use.

I want to make it clear that this isn't a moral issue. I enjoy going out and drinking with friends too, and I have no problem with being drunk myself. I just know when I've had enough, which he doesn't seem to be able to see. There is also a history of addiction in his family, and I worry that he's headed in that direction.

Is there anything else I can do to help him? And how can I make it clear now that I won't tolerate this behavior anymore, after a looong time of putting up with it and ultimately forgiving him? I feel stepped on and weak, and sometimes downright stupid for allowing it to happen time and time again with no real repercussions for him. I realize this hasn't helped him, and it's been to my detriment as well. How can I put my foot down now?

What's that song from the Yo-Plus ad?

mossicle — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:45:41 -0800

Song-ID-filter: What's that song from the Yo-Plus ad?

In Target Women: Yogurt Edition, at 2:34 they show an ad segment for Yo-Plus yogurt. What's the name of the catchy song in the ad? All I get from the lyrics is "More, gimme more, gimme more more more" - a pretty useless word combination on google.

I don't know art, but I know what makes my water.

Admiral Haddock — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:14:02 -0800

Art-sleuthery, part 943: Lithograph, possibly by Nam June Paik, with some Asian (Korean, if Paik) writing on it. Any ideas?

This piece has been in my mom's closet over two decades. She recalls it being by Nam June Paik (obviously known for his video art, but he did some very occasional print work, apparently). The piece was given to my father by Paik for some work that they did together.

The piece depicts two wild circles framed with horizontal lines on the top and bottom, with some Asian writing on the left. What appear to be two signatures, presumably of the same person, appear in light blue crayon on the bottom, in Asian writing on the left and western script on the right.

The piece is triple-printed--i.e., the litho plate was impressed three times, offset about 5 mm each time. This makes the piece almost uncomfortable to look at, honestly--it's very destabilizing and you feel dizzy. The photos are, in fact, in focus--it's just this weird moire effect.

Does anyone have any idea what this is/who it's by/what the writing says/what it might be worth? I have no intention of selling it (or looking at it, ow), but it's part of my family history and I'd like to make sure it's stored properly.

The cursor on my MacBook jumps around like crazy.

Optimus Chyme — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:00:52 -0800

When typing, my cursor jumps around like crazy, highlighting paragraphs, jumping back words, and making it impossible to type normally. MacBook4,1 (whatever that means), Mac OS X 10.5.8 (9L31a).

I have searched high and low for what this could be, and only come up with one or two mentions of it, with no real resolution. To give you an example of what happens, here is the first sentence rewritten without correction:

normally.When typing, my cursor jumps zy, highlighting paargraphs, jumping back words, making it impossible to typeararound like cr

elderly memoirs

jcbach — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:27:11 -0800

I am looking for feedback on the possibility of creating an elderly memoir blog. A couple of weeks ago my mother’s minister told a story based his father’s reminiscing about the past. The minister fortunately videotaped the conversation with his father so it was saved but he added “many great stories die with the storyteller.” His remarks got me to thinking that many stories and much wisdom from the elderly will be lost if not recorded in some fashion.

As examples, I found the city of Boston and the state of Ohio has memoir projects. The first project, http://www.cityofboston.gov/elderly/announ_memoir.asp, combines the efforts of the city of Boston and the Grubb Street writer’s group to teach the elderly how to tell and write their memoirs. The state of Ohio Great Depression Story Project, http://aging.ohio.gov/news/greatdepressionstoryproject/ is based on interviews and focuses on the early lives of the elderly.

My original idea was to conduct interviews in nursing homes but it appears HIPAA regulations will not allow the elderly to share personal information with an outsider. Of course, there are plenty of elderly citizens who reside in places other than nursing homes. I have thought of working through churches.

Any and all advice on collecting elderly interviews and turning them into a blog would be appreciated.

How can I stop feeling jealous of other people's past lives?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:11:26 -0800

I had a miserable upbringing. Other people didn't. How can I come to terms with this?

When I was eight I was sent to a British all-boys private boarding school. I spent the next ten years of my life scared and alone. There were incidents of bullying (often - both institutional and by peers) and sexual abuse (very occasionally). I have no sisters, and barely spoke to a girl until I was in my late teens.

I'm in my thirties now, and thanks to therapy and a change of country have got the perspective to see my schooling for what it was - a very bad idea for the kind of sensitive vulnerable child I was. I'm on the whole moving on, and feeling good about it.

However, I frequently feel a lot of grief that I missed out on the experience many other kids/teenagers had growing up. I especially feel a kind of crushing jealousy when people talk about boy/girl teenage romances, and friendships - whether they ended well or badly. It makes me sad that I will never get to experience that part of being young. (Instead I had not very healthy unrequited crushes on other boys at school).

Therapy is helping, but I'm worried it's not enough to help me through these sad-attacks when watching movies, talking to friends, or listening to music, when the subject gets onto the stuff 'normal' teenagers get up to. Which seems to be a lot of the time.

My question then: what positive cognitive steps can I take to stop feeling jealous of other people's past lives?

How do we make Joey a more socialized, better trained, and happier dog?

seagull.apollo — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:59:00 -0800

I am in the increasingly frustrating position of being housed with Joey, my room-mate's dog, who is poorly socialized, and barely trained. What should I do?

Joey is a Burmese cross, medium sized, very cute, generally pleasant temperament, around a year and a half old, and energetic. That's the good news. A brief rundown of my room-mate, and Joey's walking pattern:

Room-mate is 22 years old, single, female, and working. She works a couple jobs with varying schedules, totaling around 45 hours a week, in six to eight hour increments. When she is home, she usually sits on the computer, knits, or watches movies. She will take the dog for a three-quarters-of-an-hour to hour long walk in the evenings, and a round-the-block pee walk in the morning, generally not more than half an hour. On the weekend there will usually be at least one good, multi-hour walk. Around once a week Joey will spend a day or so at room-mate's mom's house, where walks/attention will be frequent.

To reinforce the point, Joey spends the majority of days at home, alone, in an suite in a house without a yard. I work 8-5, Monday-Friday, so I am only available to spend time with Joey in the evenings. Even then, I have a busy life, and generally not a lot of time to help with dog care outside of feeding, and the occasional walk. This is something that I would be willing to adapt to if it meant improving Joey's life, but what little I can do will not alone solve these problems.

Now, a brief run-down of the issues that I am hoping to understand and solve:

CHEWING:
When we are away from home, Joey goes to town. Shoes, laptop cords, nice chairs, and perhaps worst of all, the original trim on our hundred year old suite. This is a big deal, because I was the one who gave my word to the landlords that there wouldn't be any problems. Yes, I understand that such a promise was premature.

TRAINING:
Joey is a year and a half old, and the only commands she has mastered are 'sit', and to a lesser extent, 'lie down'. 'Stay' is intermittent, 'come' is non-existent, 'no' works on occasion, and only if Joey has nothing to gain by disobeying.

Room-mate's take on the training situation is that Joey is 'just one of those dogs', and she points to small improvements (such as Joey no longer jumping up and licking/biting guests) as signs of improvement, despite these small improvements coming and going being based on Joey's moods, and not on any kind of training. Puppy classes were gone to, 'young dog' classes were gone to, but room-mate has taken the path of least resistance and surrendered to Joey's bad habits. I believe more classes are upcoming, but this is a tentative plan rather than a set-in-stone schedule.

GENERAL DISOBEDIENCE:
I chose the title for a lack of a better phrase to explain Joey's habit of running away, such as when being told to come when she doesn't want to, or when she has an item in her mouth that she wants to keep. It can be a half hour long adventure to fanangle Joey into a car to leave the park, and it is useless trying to get an object from her that she wants to keep. Room-mate doesn't use a commanding tone with Joey, either using the cajoling 'come here joey, that's a good girl' or the angry 'JOEY, YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF! COME HERE!! JOEY COME HERE!'

POOR SOCIALIZATION:
Joey interacts with other dogs in a way that makes me ashamed to take her to the dog park. She chases, jumps on and bites at other dogs long after they have no interest in playing. Off leash areas are terrifying; I feel as if there is a danger of her doing that to a kid, or to a dog that would rip her face off, and both of those possibilities are not acceptable. Even with people she knows, such as me and room-mate, Joey will bite, jump up on, and generally misbehave with abandon.

This list is incomplete, but it serves more as a testament to how many problems there are with Joey than as an index of the issues themselves. I'm appealing to you out there in the dog world to shed some light on what is creating these problems, and how we can go about changing them. Feel free to ask for any more information as you see fit, and thank you very much if you managed to get to the end of this long and ranty question. This affecting my relationship with my very good friend, and I want to find a way to solve this.