Activity from MiguelCardoso
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How can I save my love from dying?
Knowledge-based hope is much needed. Since my first plea -- which helped a lot, really, this month of May has been sorrowful for Maria João and for me. A metastatic brain tumor (around 3 cms) was detected and removed. Gamma-knife surgery is next.
Tomorrow starts the search for other cancerous tumors in her body. We both feel, against all odds, that we will be lucky.
But what should we do? What should we hope for? Statistics are againsts us but we love each other truly.
Two months ago we found a beautiful house to move into. We could move in come July, after all the tests are made.
What should we do? What should our attitude be? Should we move or stay put? Should we change country? Should we prepare to die? Or live as much as we still can?
Desperate questions need realistic answers. We're fighting for our lives here. Please tell us, knowingly, how to behave.
For what it's worth - usually nothing - I think this time we'll be lucky enough to survive. Whatever happens.
What's the best way, in 2009, to beat breast cancer?
My wife has breast cancer - the tumor, discovered only last week, is now just under 4 centimetres and it has reached at least one of the lymph nodes - probably caused by the breast biopsy itself, but a metastasis all the same. Please help us decide whether we're doing the right thing.
Is there a computer I can use in sunlight?
I desperately need a computer I can use in the sun. Any ideas?
How To Be A Concierge To A Couple Of Swallows?
Spring is raging in Portugal: the air is choking with pollen and musk and every flower, insect, bird and mammal is happily and successfully shouting "Fuck me now!". Meanwhile, a loving couple of dark blue-and-white barn swallows have taken a fancy to the air conditioner in my study, in our new house in Sintra.
How can I be a good Grandfather?
This week I'm going to be a grandfather. His name will be António. I need advice. My daughter and I get on famously. I very much like the father. But I want to be the best grandfather that I can possibly be - probably not very good, but still. Very good. Useful; an ally; a butler even. The other grandparents are earthier - hunters and developers, good people - while I am airier and fairier, meaning literary and intellectual. There's a possible aesthetic and philosophical clash. But much love all around. Though there's distance (80 miles) and differences, How can we (all) achieve harmony? I realize my role is minor but I'd like to play it to the best advantage of my grandchild. Please help.
How do I reformat my pdf books and magazines so that they can be readable on a 9 by 12 cms, 6-inch e-ink screen?
How can I read TNR, Commentary, The Weekly Standard and other emags and ebooks on a Hanlin reader?
Does anyone know how to deal with frozen barber-pole Spotlight indexing in Mac OS X Leopard?
Will the Spotlight indexing on my Leopard update never end? It's been on blue barber pole for 12 hours now and it's dragging everything with it. What can I do?
Sexy Havens for Sophisticated Silver Surfers
A very quick and light-hearted 80-year-old I'm been sweet on since the day I was born is about to cast caution to the winds and enter the Internet. What chatty-but-literate merry widow and laughing cavalier websites should be fighting for her attention?
Please help for a friend guilty of manslaughter
A year ago, a friend of mine was drunk-driving and killed his best friend in a car accident. He needs help. Where can he turn to?
Do I Grab the 24" iMac In Front Of Me Or Wait For Its Bigger Sister?
Please tell: Is it worth waiting 4 whole weeks for the 2GB RAM, 500 GB HD 24" iMac I want to arrive, if Apple here in Lisbon can bring me the standard 1GB, 250 GB set-up tomorrow? Is the spec difference worth the wait?
An excuse to exchange imacs
How can I convince my accountant and my tax inspectors that I truly do need to buy a new 24" iMac in order to continue being a productive member of society? Because I don't. Please help me lie.
How to foil an internet impersonator?
Someone is impersonating me on the web. How can I stop him/her?
Need help picking a microphone for recording interviews
I badly need a recommendation for an audio-recording instrument (and directional mike) for print interviews. Many thanks beforehand. [More inside.]
How Do Americans Use the Phrase "Later"?
I'm baffled by the American colloquial expression Later and its many usages. Can someone pin it down for me? [More inside.]
Have you taken Zyban to quit smoking?
I'll be 50 this year and I've decided to give up smoking, My doctor's prescribed Zyban but, after reading the leaflet (more like a computer manual, actually) that comes with the package, I'm terrified. Has anyone had any direct experience of the drug? Many thanks! [More inside.]
Dealing with Christmas
How do other Jewish members here - whatever their affiliation, if any - deal with Christmas? [More inside.]
Best Philosphy Departments for Ph.D study in the US or UK?
Which would you consider to be (or have heard to be) the best philosophy departments (for a Ph.D. tentatively on "Husserl, Time and Love") in the U.S. or the U.K. in a pleasant, interesting, social and cultural environment? [More inside.]
What do the various New Yorkers think of NJ?
What does New Jersey mean to a New Yorker - and does it mean different things according to what borough you live in? [More inside.]
Rejection Slips: How should they be worded?
Rejection Slips: How should they be worded? [More inside.]
Do People Actually Die in Their Sleep ... Without Ever Waking?
Can people actually die in their sleep, without first waking up with the pain or surprise of the sudden crisis that lead to their death? What are the chances? [More inside.]
Saying No
What do you say or do when someone out of the Blue - generally a fellow user who rarely comments and so is quite new to you - suddenly e-mails for the first time saying he or she will be in town, is interested in something you could help with and would like to have a drink with you?
It's clearly a friendly invitation but how do you politely decline, without having to lie and/or appearing to be a stuffed shirt?
It's clearly a friendly invitation but how do you politely decline, without having to lie and/or appearing to be a stuffed shirt?
Bush/Kerry recipe ideas, please!
Bush Food and Kerry Food: Any ideas for a light-hearted Election Night buffet and cocktail party? [More inside.]
Senior songwriters?
Here I am enjoying "Dear Heather", the new record from Leonard Cohen, who turned 70 last month and wondering how many other septuagenarians and eightysomethings are still out there and still adding a fine song or three to the repertory of popular song?
Just what are the socioeconomic and cultural stereotypes for Manhattan's more traditional department stores?
A NYC Question: Just what are the socioeconomic and cultural stereotypes for Manhattan's more traditional department stores? In other words, why is Bloomingdale's often referred to as exclusive by (possibly ignorant) British journalists? [More inside.]
I'm a loser, baby.
I've never understood. Is loser an all-American, classless and politically neutral term of derision, or is it predominantly used by people who tend to place a high value on the importance of winning and success, i.e. significantly more likely to admire capitalism and be critical of more cooperative and less competitive frames of mind ? [More inside.]
Doesn't Know From
Where does the American construction doesn't know from come from? How is it used? [More Inside.]
Is there an understanding which unites Mac users which goes beyond other brand loyalties?
Is there an unspoken brotherhood/sisterhood of mac users?[More Inside.]
Can genius be used as an adjective?
Can genius be used as adjective, as in this example from the BBC: "Send Dave your genius idea."? If so, why? [More Inside.]
Do table manners dictate finishing everything on the plate, or leaving a little bit of food?
Do current table manners in your part of the world suggest you should finish everything on your plate or leave a little? [More inside.]
Intelligent, Cool, Conservative, Quiet, Traditionally Minded, Non-Religious, Non-Libertarian, Non-Gung-Ho, Non-Gun-Totin', Non-Evangelist Celebrities?
Are there any intelligent, cool celebrities (specially women, gays and intellectuals) who are conservative, quiet-spoken and traditionally-minded (and preferably non-religious) in a soft-spoken, non-libertarian, non-gung-ho, non-gun-totin' sense? Here's a list and here's another - but they both seem full of loud-mouthed, unthinking yobs or evangelists. Many thanks for any help with a list I've been asked to compile.
What/Where is Globalization?
Where is this globalization one hears so much about? [More inside.]
Looking for Unpretentious, Professional, Gregarious Truthteller Celebrities
I'm compiling a list of good, decent, honest men and women who aren't saintly, moralistic or freakish and do their jobs in a professional, hard-hitting and yet fundamentally human and gregarious way. The best example of the kind of person I'm looking for is Tim Russert. [More inside.]
Is there a Canadian-American community?
Is there a Canadian-American community? [More inside.]
In the U.S., what is a date? What's "first base", "second base" and "third base"? How do you invite someone out non-romantically?
Baffling Things About America, #819: What is a date? [More inside.]
OS X "beachball" interrupt?
Duh question: On OSX is there any neat way of interrupting that annoying, multicoloured spinning fan that tells you it's still trying to load a page, short of just rebooting? You know, to tell your computer you're no longer interested and would prefer to move on. Many thanks for any tips!
It's Bad For You!
I'm trying to write an essay on the current nostalgia for guilt-free (and information-free!) smoking, boozing and drug-taking and desperately need sources, whether web-based or bibliographical. [More inside.]
Pop-rock bands from Manhattan only, not other boroughs; all eras
I've been asked to present a special three-hour radio programme on pop/rock bands from Manhattan. Not NYC - a very limiting factor. I'm currently bowled over by The Walkmen and I want to book-end them with The Velvet Underground. Any suggestions for in between? All I can think of is John Lurie and his progeny, as we tend to think of New York bands, rather than "Manhattan". Thanks beforehand!
Roasted Salted Nuts
Thanks to a MeFi friend, I postally exchange my favourite weakness (American, Virginia-grown peanuts, the best in the world) with theirs ( >70% cocoa dark chocolate). As the next exchange is coming up and my scant experience of U.S. nuts is limited to Beer Nuts and Planter's Cocktail Peanuts, I need to know what other roasted, salted, expertly packed American nuts are worth trading for? [More inside.]
Swedish Hillbilly Commercial
Does anyone remember a funny U.S. commercial featuring three bumpkins ("Little Yuka" and "Big Yuka", pronounced "yooka") living in the back of beyond, where one is found to be uncool for some reason (he breaks something?) and is duly whacked for it? The voice-over was, I think, in a Swedish-inflected hillbilly accent.
Bad links on major news sites
Why do the most professional news web sites so often - and increasingly often - include bad or wrong links? I'm talking NYT, WP, Daily Telegraph and Google News et al. (For a recent example, click on the Researching the New Joy of Sex highlight in today's Observer and you get this.)
Ameica the vast
Here's what could be called an urgent question for Europeans who make their living writing (amongst other things) about the United States. How do you explain to intelligent Europeans that "America" is actually as big and varied a proposition as "Europe"? If not more. [More inside.]
Which are quintessentially American sodas and bars snacks?
Which are the truly, undeniably American sodas and bar snacks?
Help me manage my Safari bookmarks
Another (probably stupid) Safari question: how can I (if it's at all possible) add bookmarks without driving one of my essential links off the toolbar? [More inside.]
Are there any foreign-product swaps like a CD swap?
There are a lot of American products you can't get in Europe and vice-versa. Does anyone know of any private, Internet-based mail-swap scheme, similar to CD swaps? [More inside.]
Taking Notes
It's embarrassing but a real need: Is there a simple one-click way, freely downloadable or hidden somewhere, to keep a permanent notebook while surfing and writing? I'm on an imac with OS X/Safari. [More inside.]
Bush vs. Kerry - American Aristocracy Contest?
Excuse my naiveté: is Bush vs. Kerry the first modern presidential contest between two members of the American equivalent of the aristocracy? Call them patricians, preppies, rich kids, "old money", members of the upper or property-owning class; whatever. What does this mean, if anything? It looks significant seen from old Europe. [Given that Kerry is, like the Kennedys, a Catholic, I suppose WASPs no longer mean much in this respect.]
Piri Piri chicken
How Portuguese is Piri Piri chicken? I suspect it's almost universal. [More inside.]
How does British English read to Americans?
A writer's question: how does British English read (and internally, silently sound) to Americans? [More inside.]
Wisconsin Dinner
A panicky question: we've invited over 2 American and 3 Portuguese couples on February 17th to watch the Wisconsin Democratic primary. We rashly promised a "typical Wisconsin supper" because we received 2 pounds of delicious (if salty) 7-year-old Wisconsin cheddar last month. Yeah, right. What about the rest of the meal? Any (simple) menu suggestions gratefully received. [More inside.]
Hiding a Folder
If several friendly, nosy and very tech-savvy, code-breaking sort of people have access to your computer and you wouldn't wish to hinder their access, but still need to hide, beyond all chance of detection, a folder where you keep your works in progress; innermost thoughts and tentative, early drafts (the kind that could easily be misinterpreted, specially if you write fiction); is there any John Le Carré-approved way of guaranteeing a private patch? I.e. So that they would think it's all open to anyone, but not really? [Mac OSX, if it's relevant.]
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