Activity from Fiasco da Gama
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Right-to-left Cartesian planes
Has there ever been a convention for a Cartesian-style plane read right-to-left?
Operational activity game
I am interested in the potential design features of physical (NB. not computer) games, or tabletop style wargames, or RPGs, that can be used to simulate realistic operational activity, that are open ended, aimed at professional learning, and most importantly don't involve a combat mechanic. How do such games work?
Historical time management in very high latitudes
Before the availability of reliable and accessible clocks and watches, how did people in societies in very high latitudes (where the summer sun is all day and the same for the winter night) self-manage time? How did they decide ‘time to get up’, ‘time to go to work’, ‘time to go to sleep’ etc.?
Article witha great line about not having been convicted of murder
I remember reading a biographic article with a great line, which was to the effect of 'he was never convicted of murder, but crucially, not in the same way that you or I have never been convicted of murder'. What was the article? Whose line is it?
Border cities
I am interested to know or read about any border cities, which exist on both sides of an international border, but where there is little or nothing to control movement of citizens from one side to the other. Where, for example, someone can walk down the street and suddenly be in another country. What's it like to live there, to work, to socialise, to interact with both Governments?
Musician who told the crowd to clap on the 2 and 4
I recall reading an anecdote about a rock musician who, in the middle of a show somewhere in Europe (perhaps Germany), stopped and asked the crowd to clap on the 2 and 4, i.e. the backbeat, if they were going to clap, instead of the 1 and 3. Did this happen? Who was it?
Do balloons count to make a flying ace?
Everyone knows it takes five aerial victories to make a flying ‘ace’. But do spy weather balloons count? Do drones?
Authors whose works continue to be written after their deaths
Tom Clancy remains creatively active after his death (as in this previous ask). But are there other authors or artists whose estates have simply continued to publish under ghostwriters-collaborators and the 'brand'-IP of the author or their pen-name? Who?
Expressions for petty authoritarians
I am after expressions or slang terms for very junior people who, when given small amounts of power or recognition in organisations, let that go to their heads.
Welding classes in Sydney, NSW
I'd like to learn to weld, for hobbyist purposes (i.e. I'm not looking for a new job), and am in Sydney, NSW. How do I go about that? Who runs a good welding-basics course?
Songs in which a mother says not to do something, yet they do it
I am interested in songs (or poetry or indeed lit of any kind) which involve the trope of a mother telling someone not to do specific things, yet they do them anyway. Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues is the most obvious example.
Colloquial expressions for chaotic or poorly-run situations
When something goes horribly wrong, what do you call it? I'm after colloquial expressions for chaotic, disastrous, or poorly-run situations—in the style of the 'goat rodeo', 'clown show', clusterf*ck or trainwreck.
I'm particularly interested in obscure, older, professionally- or industrially-specific, or very local (and non-English) phrases, and much less in the obscene ones.
What was this early RPG I recall reading about?
I recall reading about an early (pre-D&D) form of role-playing game, in which the premise was that the player(s) were junior officers making a reconnaissance of a border town, where there might be other officers or agents from the other side, in the tension before a war about to start. What was the game? What did I read?
Term for a style of proverb/expression
There's a style of proverb or expression which has two clauses, one of which is a play on words (but not a reversal) of the other. Is there a name for this kind of construction?
Unidentified symbol in graffiti
Please help me identify this symbol or logo, if it has any association with anything. This was inside a derelict house that had been used as a squat.
How to remove film from a broken point and shoot camera
I'd like to remove a roll of 35mm film from a broken point and shoot camera. I have a dark bag and some simple tools.
English strip comic about an angry tabloid reader
There was a black-and-white comic strip, drawn in the UK in the 2000s, where the main character was an extremely right-wing middle-aged English man with a toothbrush moustache, and the premise was that he got angry at things on his computer. He made an onomatopeic noise like 'GNAARRR', and had a put-upon wife who was never actually drawn. It could be in fairly poor taste. What was this comic?
Experiences/descriptions of 20thC illegal gambling
I am interested in hearing about or reading about cultures of illegal gambling businesses in physical places, in the twentieth century, but before the era of the internet.
Remote driving range margin
How do people who drive long distances in remote areas calculate their margin of safety for carrying fuel?
'I think I'm the only one here who's only been born once'
I recall, during the George W. Bush era, an anecdote in which an official looked around a meeting room and broke the ice by saying 'I think I'm the only one here who's only been born once'.
Who said it? Was it a real person, or if not, whose joke am I thinking of?
A succinct enunciation of Star Trek' 'Prime Directive'
I need a piece of material for a classroom exercise which involves some succinct explanation of the 'prime directive' in the Star Trek franchise (with which I'm very unfamiliar). Ideally it would be Kirk explaining it interestingly and theatrically, but any bit of video or text, that I could show or read to my class, would be useful.
Framing double-sided posters
I've got several double-sided posters, A3 sized, which I'd like to frame for display so that they could be regularly turned around.
Is this a Chinese or Japanese character?
I'm fairly sure this thing I saw this morning is going to be a vertical growing tower for plants. Is it also a Chinese or Japanese character? If it is, what is it?
What is this mock-Gaelic limerick I am thinking of?
There's a famous limerick I'm after which I suspect was the work of a major or minor Irish poet. It mocks the Gaelicisation of Irish place names and has a last line which goes (Anglicised) something like "which makes driving in Ireland so dreary".
How do motorcyclists and cyclists around the world greet each other?
What kinds of different greetings do motorcyclists and cyclists in different parts of the world have for each other when they pass on the road?
Canonical works of Spanish-language literature
I'd like to broaden my reading in Spanish, and would like recommendations for books, originally written in Spanish, which are canonical enough to have been on Spanish or Latin American high school reading lists, or canonical enough that someone educated in Spain or Latin America might assume familiarity.
Where can I get thirty kilos of chopped onions in Sydney?
I need about twenty five to thirty kilos of chopped onions for a very large barbecue. Is there anywhere in Sydney where someone will sell me large amounts of chopped onion?
Help me stop my motorcycle's number plate cracking
Help me stop my motorcycle numberplate cracking.
Making a budget
I'd like to make a budget, electronically, and track my expenditure.
Help me resuscitate an ageing G4 Power Macintosh with a linux distribution
Can I rehabilitate an elderly Power Mac G4 for study?
Good, healthy, takeaway food in Haymarket in Sydney
Help me find a relatively cheap, relatively healthy takeaway alternative to greasy fried chicken or chain pizza to feed to groups of volunteers in Haymarket in Sydney.
Help me find a TV documetnary on a self-building housing co-operative in the UK
I'm after a documentary I once saw about a self-building housing co-operative in the UK—or more information about the programmes.
Examples of news media outlets specialising in industrial relations?
I'm looking for examples of media outlets and organisations which do quality labour and industrial relations reporting.
What does alcohol breath smell like?
What does alcohol on someone else's breath smell like?
Tell me about gangster funerals
I'd like descriptions or, fiction about, gang and gangster funerals.
Help me organise an excellent Melbourne Cup sweep
How can I make my office's Melbourne Cup sweep interesting?
How does one auto-fill an Excel spreadsheet with terms?
How does one auto-fill an Excel spreadsheet with terms from another data source?
Are iPads and tablet PCs viable substitutes for speaking notes?
Could a tablet PC or a device like an iPad feasibly be used instead of paper notes in public speaking?
Is a mature-age apprenticeship a good career move?
I'm interested in advice about changing career in one's thirties: specifically, learning a trade.
Help me plan to build a boat
Help me think about and plan boat building.
Help Me Become Well-Read About Lebanon
I'm interested in Lebanon, (relatively) modern Lebanese history, Lebanese literature, and the Lebanese diaspora.
Golliwog Etiquette
Golliwog etiquette required.
Why Did Mary And Joseph Have To Go To Bethlehem?
What technology would have been available to Biblical census-takers?
Christ, I'm an arsehole
I'd like examples of best practice in apologising on internet forums.
Help me remember a documentary
Many years ago I either heard or read a documentary about an American rock 'n' roll producer who was—according to this documentary—highly influential but never particularly famous, but whose name I cannot now recall.
Why do tea leaves gather in the centre of the cup?
Why do stirred tea leaves tend to move towards the centre of the cup?
Is "shonk" antisemitic?
Is or was the word "shonky" antisemitic?
The Goggles Do Nothing
Save me from the pain of chilli-in-the-eye.
Industry-specific social networks?
Good examples of web-based professional social networks?
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