Activity from Artw
Displaying post 1 to 50 of 73
from
ask
Travelling as a new US citizen without a US passport
I am a recently naturalized US citizen who may need to travel outside of the US on extremely short notice due to family events. I have a certificate of naturalization and a passport for my home country but not yet a US passport. What is my best course of action?
Best network and plan for a tween's Nokia 3310 3G?
Our tween kid received an unlocked Nokia 3310 3G for Christmas, which she loves the design of and we are pretty happy about feature-wise as . However our family is on Verizon, which does not seem to support it, and a brief foray into alternative networks has only turned up very expensive plans so far. Looking for advice on the bets network and plan to get this thing on, ideally low cost and just voice and text. We are based in the US.
How to be totally Square at the comics convention
I'm looking into setting up a Wifi hotspot at a table at the NYCC to take credit card payments over Square. There will be multiple people taking orders, some with UK phones, so we want to use a dedicated device for this purpose. Oh, and it needs to work well in the Javits Center, and be pay as you go...
How much help will chemo be for our cat?
Our 15 year old cat has liver cancer - a diffuse carcinoma. We've just got the news from the vet and are trying to figure out the best course of action. Prior to this he's been hiding away, barely eating and drinking, not grooming and having trouble using the litter box. His mobility is now pretty poor. Chemo could extend his life, but should we?
Spending time at Disneyland Vs Universal Studios
Our family of four is going to California in less than two weeks. Our mission is basically to see Disneyland and Harry Potter World/Universal Studios. We have 2 little girls, one in Kindergarten and the other a Fifth Grader. We have six days to spend between these parks. We are thinking about 4 days at Disney/California Adventure and 2 days at Universal/Harry Potter world. Does this seem like the right allocation of days in these parks?
Boardgames for a group of 10 year olds
Looking for suggestions for board games for our 10 year old to play with her friends. Preferably something easy to pick up but with a fair degree of depth, and she's also interested in something with a bit of a fantasy roleplaying vibe - I'm thinking something like GW's Heroquest from back in the day might work, but nothing more complicated than that. Any suggestions?
Inconceivable!
Why wife strongly recalls having seen an edition of The Princess Bride where all the interruptions from the reader are in red, and the introduction matches the movie with a Peter Faulk type character rather than the one with William Goldman's rambling take of being at the poolside with the starlet and taking phone calls from his wife. Does such an edition exist?i can find no trace of it online.
Best Science Fiction of the last year
I've gotten out of the loop on recent Science Fiction writing. What are the best science fiction short stories and novels published within the last year?
Gamer teen to coder
A friends teenage (16) son is considering skipping university and instead training themselves to be a programmer, with a particular interest in making games. Assuming he's starting from scratch what would be some good cheap or free resources to get him started? Both in terms of getting the basics and allow him to work on a game-related project that might hold his interest?
Zap! Pow! Wizards grow up!
So I've been reading Harry Potter to the kiddo (7) at nighttime for a while and she's loving it. I'm enjoying it too to the point where I don't really want spoilers on anything. However as things get darker I have some concerns about the stories ahead...
Spooky guides to Seattle?
I'm looking for recommendations for unusual guidebooks to Seattle and the surrounding area, with a particular emphasis on ghost stories, the supernatural, the strange in general and the just plain odd. Being well tied in to historical context would be an advantage, as would be meatier text rather than just bullet points and captioned photos.
Is this stuff in my suitcase toxic?
A sheet of plastic on the inside of an old suitcase I'm using has crumbled into this brittle mess, which I've been scooping out of with my hands. It smells like warm plastic or crayons, but really strong Any idea what has happened, and should I have been wearing gloves?
Elevator question
When an interviewer asks an interviewee for a programming job to design an object-orientated elevator control system, what are they looking for in a good answer?
Chromebook questions
Would the Chromebook be right for me as a writing device? I'm looking to replace my old netbook I use for writing with something more swish and it looks to fit the bill, however I'm not a Google Docs user - how easy is it to transition to from using OpenOffice/Word? How well does the local storage/offline working option work? How easy is it to export Word files and how well does formatting carry over? Is there anything else i need to know?
Scream Metafilter Scream!
What are the actual good, worthwhile, non-ironic, non-self-referential horror films of the last ten years?
Baby on a bus situation
So it looks like I might need to start taking the baby on the bus to her daycare, which is downtown. I say baby… she's pretty much a toddler now, being just under one and a half, and pretty squirmy with it to. My preferred travel option with her when on foot is to put her in a backpack, which she loves and which chills her right out, but we also have a stroller. So… what is the best way to carry her on the bus? I've considered just standing with her in the backpack the whole way, but it seems like there might be a safety concern. There's taking the backpack off and keeping her in it, which seems like it might have similar concerns. Taking her right out of the backpack and putting her in my lap seems like it might be the most safety conscious option, but that assumes a seat and that she will stay put - that later condition being highly unlikely. And then it may be the same deal with the stroller. Thoughts?
Eww-lbow
So... over the course of the day my elbow has gone weird looking - it's red and swollen and sort of squooshy feeling. The skin feels warm to the touch and it is tender. Doctor Google tells me it's probably Bursitis. So... I should probably go get it checked out. But is it a rush to the docs tonight thing or a wait to tomorrow thing?
Jocks, Nerds and Rebels (tm)
To what extent do American Highschools resemble the stereotypical American Highschool seen in just about every movie and TV show ever, withever present competition for social status, rigidly defined cliques, omnipresent bullying, etc... etc?
Best games for Leappad?
My 5 (near 6) year old daughter is in love with her Leap Frog Leapad, which she got for Easter. She especially loves the photo features and pet that comes with it, as well as a Tinkerbell book and Dora game. She's wondering if she can have another game though - which we'd happily get her, but as they are rather expensive we'd like to get a good one that's worth it. So, what are the best Leappad and compatible Leapster games? OUR PREFERENCE: Educational, particularly reading skills. HER PREFERENCE: Angry Birds. Hmm, maybe not kid...
A is for Android
What are some good educational Android apps for a 5 year old? Particularly ones involving reading or number skills.
While Rome burns
What tunes would the roman emperor Nero have been likely to have played on his fiddle?
An ill wind
Are there any mythological creatures or figures in Russian folklore that are particularly associated with storms, wind or bad weather? Are there any particular stories that expand on what Wikipedia has to say?
Get rid of rats, leave the cat
What's the bets method for getting rid of rats in a house that has a cat and small kids? Obviously snap traps are out of the question, as ius posion and probably glue, but are tunnel like electrical traps safe? How effective are the humane traps? (I do not, TBH, care that much about about being humane to rodents, but safety is a concern)
Killer kitty
Our cat, who in the previous 6 years has not brought home any animals, has brought home 3 dead rats. Ew! What's up with that? Why now? Should we put a bell on him? Is he fighting off a rat infestation? Should we do anything about it?
Thrrrrrrrrt!
So, my 4year old can;t blow her nose. Any amount of explaining how to blow your nose does not seem to help her, though TBH I am not sure I am doing a good job as is it's difficult to describe it more than "just blow out through your nose". Is this something that can be taught? When do people usually figure it out?
Only War! And bibliography.
I've got a memory of seeing a long list of books, either recommended reading or as acknowleged sources of material, in an early edition of the Warhammer 40K rulebook. In my recollection it neatly sumarised all the works that influenced WH40k. Did this actually exist? What were the books on the list?
Product placement
What boozes and other items would go well in a Mad Men themed gift basket?
Spoilers!
Are there any examples of particularly elegant implementations of "spoiler tags" out there that work well with both screen readers and touch/mobile based site designs?
The Indespesible Gaga
If I wanted to make a compilation of the best tracks by Lady Gaga, what would those tracks be? Smash hits and obscure remixes both considered.
Writing on android
What options for word processors are there for Android tablets? How well do they work? Would a keyboard attachment make one equivalent to working on a netbook?
SFX in the US
What would be the American equivalent of SFX Magazine? What would be the major sources of science fiction and other genre media news, online and off, in the united states?
A New Hope
What is a good age for a child to watch Star Wars for the first time?
Film recomendations are SERIOUS BUSINESS
I'd like some good recommendations for films that revolve around something being serious business. The more obscure that something is, and the more the move generates unexpected dramatic interest in it the better.
Kid Freindly North Seattle Restaurants
Were sick of Zeek's Pizza. We're sick of Blue C Sushi and Taco Del Mar. We're even sick of Red Mill. What are some good kid freindly dining places in the Phinney/Ballard/Fremont area? (said kid is 4)
All space capsules have returned safely, and vodka production has been increased!
Is there any particularly Russian shout of celebration? Like "hooray!" or "hurrah!", but more Russian?
Annoying cat is annoying
So we have a cat. He came with the house, and probably not the cat we would have picked for ourselves, but now he's ours and we love him. However he's recently added a new behavioral problem to a list of behavioral problems that isn't as short as all that: From 3 in the morning onwards he wanders the house and meows constantly.
The spooky spooky woo woo show
If I wanted to watch Fringe, what episodes should I watch If I don;t want to watch a lot of boring monster-of-the-week stuff? This list seems like a good starting point, though I'll happily include episodes that are watchable or good rather essential to the overall series mythology. For bonus points, which disks of the DVD library should I get from the video store to see the good episodes?
☥☦☪ ☬ ☭☮ ☯ ☸✝
Science Fiction character identification: Which SF story had a sort of Friar Tuck like character who followed all faiths simultaneously and had the symbols for multiple world religions hung around his neck?
Best Music Videos of the 00s.
The Directors Series is a neat collection of great music videos, ordered by director, but leans heavily towards the 90s. If you were putting together a similar collection of music videos for the 00s what directors and what videos would be essentials for it?
Rainy day games
What are some good board and card games for 3-4 year olds that a 6 year old might enjoy too? I'm think of Zingo and the like.
Some homuncululi may have been injured in the production of this banana peel based construction material
Help me identify a dimly remembered short story... A scientist has created or evolved a race of tiny super intelligent creatures. By setting cruel puzzles for them (such as a descending weight that threatens to crush them) he gets them to invent things for him, one of which was a super strong material made out of banana peel. It most likely ends badly for the scientist.
"When I'm washing windows"
Any recommendations for songs for a Ukulele songbook to be used in schools in Kenya? A friend of mine got asked to to help make suggestions for the songbook.
Installing an SSD on a HP netbook
I have a HP Mini 110 with a 160 GB HD running Ubuntu. I'm pretty happy with it, but I don't really need all that space (currently I'm filling a tiny portion of it) and would prefer a faster boot time. What kind of improvements in speed should I expect if I swap out the hard drive with an SSD? What is the level of expense and difficulty involved in the install? Would I be better off just getting a newer notebook with an SSD already installed? What is the best source for a suitable SSD?
Don't drink the brown water
Without warning my hot water (and hot water only) has suddenly started running brown, and when I drain a tub of it silt like material is left in the bottom. I suspect it's rust. After running the water for a long time it does not seem to be going away. Am I right in thinking that this is probably my boiler and it should be replaced? The suddenness seems weird. Also: my family has been showing and bathing in this, could it be harmful in any way?
Asking the way to Slough
In which black and white film (Probably from the 40s, UK) were german spies detected by their mispronounciation of "Slough"?
Carrying a kid and an iPhone sover hardwood floors is a bad idea, because you never know when you might have to choose which one to drop
My iPhone has a cracked LCD, and I'm considering sending it to Mission repair, who I found via this ask. Does anyone else have any experiences with them to share before I send away my phone? Are there any steps I should take to make data safe, or am I just being paranoid there? Are there any alternatives I should consider in the Seattle area? Note that the phone is not under warranty.
Underground, overground...
Half remembered short story identification filter: A story in which scientists discover grids underground which might be the cities of beings who live at a greater density, and then at the end scientists from the underground city are looking through the documents, having wiped out humanity accidentally just by coming to the surface.
Damn moles, get off my lawn!
We've been getting molehills in our front garden lately, and we want them to go away. Which anti-mole technology is best for us?
More New York in the 30s questions
Some more 30s New York questions: Would a police detectve in 1930s New York be a uniformed or a nonuniformed role? In the 30s would there be such a thing as plainsclothes police outside of the feds? Are there any years in the 30s in which the New York summer was particularly hot? And, just to be totally random, what popular newspapers in New York in the 30s would have been giving favourable coverage to Hitler, and when would he have started being front page news?
Hard drinking NY cops from the 20s and 30s
Are there any accounts of cops in prohibition/depression era New York being drinkers? Would drink be widely available to the point where no one would think much of it, or would it be especially difficult for a public employee?
Page:
1 2