Activity from Shepherd
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Is hand-washing two peoples' clothes feasible for several months?
We've ordered a new washer and dryer -- paid already -- as part of an overall, long-budgeted kitchen reno. Unfortunately there's no firm date on delivery (supply chain issues), and initially we were happy to wait a few months so we could synch this up with other things like getting a window enlarged. But the old washer died this morning. What's the challenge rating for a couple washing clothes by hand, possibly for several months?
What makes a large employer good at internal comms?
Have you ever worked for a large (250+ people) organization that just did an amazing job at internal communications? If yes -- what did they do and why did it work?
Tips on re-energizing for mental work in the evening after a taxing day?
I'm pursuing a graduate degree part-time, and it's down to the major paper. I'm having a really hard time, after a full day of a challenging job that combines managing people, creative work, and strategic/tactical problem-solving, to find it in me to work on the degree. Ideas for re-energizing?
Why is the landlord in the Wicker Man played in the camp style?
My wife and I were watching The Wicker Man (1973, the 'Final Cut' released in the 2000s) for the summer solstice, and neither having seen it for decades, had forgotten quite a few of the details -- including the fact that the landlord in Summersisle can only be described as tremendously camp. It's great to see queerness in cinema, but we're wondering what the narrative point is.
I Am Not A Lawyer & This Is Not Legal Advice
A result of the "make a request" thread I posted here a couple weeks back! I recorded the banjo, and greenish supplied the signing. This is for a presentation at a conference I'm part of in July.
Can you make requests?
While I can flail away slightly at the banjo, I am not past the 2-chord stage and can't manage to play and sing at the same time, which seems like wizardry. There's a teeny >20-second song I'd like to make for a thing I'm doing in July. Can I ask, or is that out of place for MeFi Music?
Cheap cell numbers for annoyance validations?
A Discord I occasionally post in is now saying "I must verify my identity by phone before you can send messages in this server." It won't accept my VoIP phone (even though it can accept text messages). Is there any very low-cost way I can get a forward-only "cell phone number" to manage a rapidly growing number of companies I don't want to give my phone number to, but still want to use?
Citeable source on the growth of higher ed digital presence?
I'm working on an essay for a law course I'm taking on information privacy; attempting to trace the evolution of "privacy in public" theory in the context of photo consent, and contrast it to both Canadian legislation and the growth pressures people in higher ed marketing are facing. I'm looking for information on how much higher education presence online has grown in the last decade -- increasingly large websites, more social media presences, etc. -- and it's been surprisingly difficult to find anything definitive, but I figured maybe y'all would have some ideas?
Why is my network appearing even when the router is off?
After a few days of wonky Internet I decided to do a periodic reset, and unplugged the modem and router across the house. The wifi network is still appearing, though, and phones and desktops are connecting to it (without internet), even after “forget this network”, it’s findable and connects. I can’t ping or connect to other devices in the house, though. What’s up with the “ghost” network?
Zen story... possibly from Xen Cuts?
About 25 years ago, there was a track that mashed up hip-hop beats with a Zen-like story (Jack Kornfield?) about a bug who lived his life in carpet fibre, and only when getting scooped up by a... bird?... could see the beautiful pattern of the carpet. Do you know what track that was? It may have been on the Ninja Tune Xen Cuts compilation.
GREETINGS FROM 2019, FUTURE HUMANS OR SENTIENTS
I have to get my shared sewer line dug up and there's currently a 10-foot hole in my driveway. I'm thinking about shooting a little iPhone video with my wife and bunging it on a USB key or something for when they fill it in, to probably never be seen again, but you never know. Any good ideas on extremely cheap ways of future-proofing this?
A celebration of blasphemy, with 17 kinds of poutine
I got sick to the teeth of the constant whining...
A Internet Argument Ender about local tax rates I got sick to the teeth of the constant whining about our municipal taxes on local social media and Reddit, so spent an afternoon doing some research on comparable municipalities and tax rates in Ontario. The more valuable end of this from a broader perspective might be a follow-on page about why ratio complaints (our city pays more for XXX than any other city, or our city's taxes are a higher percentage of YYY than other cities') are kind of bullshit.
What questions about media and the law would you like answered?
I'm the staff coordinator for a project in which law students will research media-industry questions for people. They are not lawyers and will not give legal advice, but will answer with links to relevant statutes and court decisions to let you know what the laws are. I'm trying to furnish them with questions to answer to kickstart this project. What media-related questions would you want to ask them?
What's the best (paid) stock site out there in 2018?
I work on a team where we're going to need a number of semi-generic images, sourced by various people for various things at various times. What's the best stock image site out there right now? Money is not no object, but we're willing to pay for quality and variety. We're in Canada, if it matters.
Consider the hagfish.
What is this round ball of twine thingy?
My mom won this at a curling club raffle. She doesn’t knows what it is. It appears to be a ball of twine about five inches in diameter, with a braided twine “handle”. It’s heavy — about two pounds — heavier than I think it would be if it were just twine. She has glued the “handle” to the ball to make it into a base, and is using it as a doorstop. Here’s a picture: ball of mystery.
What's the best combination of weight, cost, size and availability?
I want to make a small (8" x 8") piece of plywood very, very heavy by affixing something to the top of it. It could be a single solid object, or a container filled with a very heavy particle (sand, metal pellets, whatnot). The weight on top of the plywood can be up to 4" in height but no higher. I'd like to do this as cheaply as possible.
What will give me the best combination of (a) weight, (b) cost to purchase, (c) availability and (d) size?
"We're a single engine, that's it."
Mastodo's and Mastodon'ts
I'm considering setting up a Mastodon instance at the school (college, so adult students) where I work. Have you done something or used something similar? Any advice or recommendations as I look into this?
Debunked best-sellers of days gone by
What best-selling books that "explain things" have gone on to be thoroughly debunked? I'm thinking of things like Guns, Germs and Steel and The Bell Curve.
Can I restore this decorative stone bowl?
My wife and I were given a nice stone bowl as a wedding gift about 10 years ago. Over time, it's gotten some discoloration and "tarnishing." I'm not sure what type of stone it is, or how to clean/polish(?)/seal(?) it. How would I go about this?
Canadian law is fun and cool and exciting! Every...
Fundamentals of Canadian Law: a podcast about the law in Canada! Canadian law is fun and cool and exciting! Every three weeks, we release another podcast where we take something in the news or the general cultural conversation in Canada, and break down how the law applies. The web link works, but it's better to look it up & subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, etc.
I hate autoplay videos.
I'm 99.9% sure that there's no practical way to get the user base to stop linking to sites that have autoplay video embedded in them, but as a techno-doof, I'm wondering if there's any kind of, I don't know, pass-through or something that can generate URLs that set autoplaying videos to not play? Like an appended bit of code along with all the tracking kerfuffle on the URL?
Failing that, any recommendations for video autoplay blockers for Chrome that actually work would be most welcome. My test page (which all the autoplay blockers fail at blocking autoplay on) is this one, which was linked from this post.
A different theme each week! MeFite Kitteh and I...
WAFFLES! A weekly radio show/podcast on varying themes A different theme each week! MeFite Kitteh and I co-host a Saturday-morning radio show at CFRC in Kingston, Ontario, and for over three years we've picked a weekly theme and explored it through music, in every style imaginable.
I've been pushing the archives to podcast (legally, under a SOCAN 22F tariff) for a while now. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or Google Play (search for Waffles Radio)!
The site also archives a summer radio fill-in/podcast on video game music and composers, Virtualosos, which ultimately wasn't sustainable.
What movies/TV shows have somebody saying "wake up"?
I'd like to find movies and television episodes where somebody says "wake up," or something idiomatically similar ("rise and shine," "wakey wakey," "get up," etc.).
Ideally with links to clips of that moment in the movie or TV show. This is for an audio project, so "interpretive" wake-ups (silent films with title cards, animals making noises to wake each other up, foreign languages) are delightful but don't serve my purpose: hoping for clear, English-language "wake up" spoken clips.
Getting from zero to USB MIDI in as few steps as possible
I have (a) a USB MIDI keyboard, (b) a licensed copy of Reaper, and (c) kind of an understanding that there are things called VSTs that make the keyboard go 'boop'. What's the best/fastest way of understanding how all this works?
Name my law podcast!
I'm working on a podcast that will support an undergraduate-level university course, available online, intended to give students a comprehensive overview of Canadian law. What do I call it?
The following is an actual legal dispute. Like, for real.
Podcast to the head!
Venerable Canadian comedy troupe The Frantics have pored over their entire CBC radio archive for a (planned) 50-part Best Of Frantic Times podcast. Perhaps better known outside Canada for their relatively short-lived TV sketch show Four On The Floor, The Frantics were a four-man comedy troupe most famous for Mister Canoehead, the ubiquitous-for-Doctor-Demento sketch and song Ti Kwan Leep and Boot to the Head, and a fairly well-received Star Trek sketch in the early days of the Just For Laughs comedy festival. Some of the material is... anachronistic is the charitable description; "sexist as hell" is the more accurate label. But for Canadians of a Certain Age, this was the cornerstone of our pre-KiTH comedic development.
Get Out of Cell Jail Free
Is it easy to start a natto culture? To perpetuate one?
So I'm down to probably about 50 lbs of soy beans, and having recently found and tried natto, really like it! So I'd like some natto-culturing advice.
100 days in, I think this is "real"...
Jerk in Progress - a daily sobriety/accountability podcast 100 days in, I think this is "real" enough to share now -- starting on January 1, I thought I'd reinforce my good intentions with a daily podcast about sobriety, exercise, diet and generally trying to do better. Each daily podcast is at or under 3 minutes, including a 10-second "check-in" at the end.
Hint: there's a lot of stuff having to do with chords
What's your go-to SHORT inspirational/motivational phrase?
There's a great AskMe about inspirational quotes, essays, etc., but I'm wondering if you have a specific short, like 12 words or less, "go forth and conquer" thing you say to yourself when you need an internal kick in the pants, shot of confidence or to ground yourself before a challenge.
What's the coolest ($3 or less) swag you've received recently?
Helping organize a 450+ attendee conference, with a focus on I.T. in education for next year at my home institution; among other things I'm looking into various swag ideas for those who come. What's the coolest conference swag you've seen recently that has a pretty low price point?
ANY QUESTIONS?
Balancing community obligations with operational needs in a public org
I'm on the board of directors for our local community radio station, sitting on the grievance committee, and trying to help the station move forward from a situation where a problematic volunteer meant well in some ways but was a toxic presence in others, and was ultimately dismissed. Is there any existing work or wisdom on how to balance a community organization's obligation to accommodate community members against its practical limitations in dealing with people with extraordinary needs?
The Cleveland Team
"Do I save the robin, or do I eat it?"
Margaret Atwood (and artist Johnnie Christmas) have created Angel Catbird, a comic book about a winged human/cat/bird hybrid. It will be published by Dark Horse, and chronicles the adventures of a genetic engineer whose DNA is mixed with that of a cat, and an owl. The comic is part of her advocacy work for Keep Cats Safe and Save Bird Lives.
This post is under 24 hour video surveillance
Brockville, Ontario is the newest place to add an Internet Purchase Exchange location to their municipality -- this one in a video surveilled section of the police parking lot. The idea seems to be relatively recent, but catching on, starting with one of the first in Mobile, Alabama and now with locations in Texas, Massachusetts, Virginia, Utah, and across Canada. With over 100 murders now linked to Craigslist, is this an idea whose time has come?
Soy far, soy good
So I have a thrift store soy milk maker and one thing led to another and now I have a 60 lb. sack of dried soy beans. What can I do, besides soy milk? Tofu is an easy answer, but what else?
For Men* Who Desperately Need Autonomy
Nora Samaran writes on men, autonomy, and how it is created, not taken. "Emotionally immature men who believe that autonomy is something you take, rather than something you create, may live their lives in a continual nightmare of ‘needs they can’t meet’ that they never come to understand."
Part Two: The Tricks of Shame and Hope
‘Myths of rape should be dispelled’: Ontario Court Justice Zuker
“The myths of rape should be dispelled once and for all,” he announced near the long-awaited end of his verdict. “It doesn’t matter if the victim was drinking, out at night alone, sexually exploited, on a date with the perpetrator, or how the victim was dressed. No one asks to be raped.”
He underlined that last line, literally.
Curious about megathreads
We seem to be having more of them, lately, and I stress that this is not a complaint, they're fine, but I was just wondering what that reflected regarding the userbase, and don't have the infodump skills required to figure it out.
Longshot filter: current, updating, blogs about French music in Quebec?
I'm finding it harder than I figured to keep up with Quebec music, two years after moving to Ontario. I'm looking for websites or blogs that are currently active, and focus on French-language music in Quebec.
All work and no play makes Aes a dull Rock
"We don't know why it came to this."
Not songs _about_ April Fools, but songs that _illustrate_ April's Fools
Working on the weekly radio show for Saturday, April 2 and looking for good songs to celebrate April Fools... not songs _about_ April 1, but songs that are themselves tricks, jokes, fake-outs and deceptions. Some examples...
Any ideas for speakers for a conference about how I.T. benefits people?
I'm helping organize a 2017 conference on I.T. in higher education; the theme is going to be how I.T. benefits people on a daily basis. We've got an array of prospective speakers already, but in the interest of broadening the pool... any suggestions?