Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Question

Are gmail addresses private?

sandyfrd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:57:39 -0800

gmail alerts...Through gmail alerts I try and watch which sites my son goes to. He has had some trouble. Is it possible anyone else could have the same gmail address, in another country or with a different password?

Library-Related Trivia?

Jaybo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:48:28 -0800

Library-Related Trivia? I'm helping to plan a fun, informal gathering for the professional librarians who work at my mid-sized Canadian public library system. For one activity, I'd like to have some library-related trivia questions.

These don't have to be 100% accurate. For example, Q: Anecdotally, this is the most stolen book in public libraries. A: What is "Sex" by Madonna (I would also accept "Joy of Sex"). Another one is "This is the most written-about historic figure in public library holdings." Who is Jesus.

The main thing I'm looking for is questions that most librarians would have a reasonable shot at answering. (I'll avoid the "What's the Dewey number for books on Platypus mating habits?")

Iphone Question

Noodles — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:53:49 -0800

I am getting ready to purchase an iphone. Just wanted to know if I can access auction sites that require me to log in with a password. Also I would like to know will I be able to bid on items. Please help, as I don't want to make a wrong decision. Thanks

Uh...hang on, just give me a minute.

Demogorgon — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:34:31 -0800

What is the most important scientific question of our time? I volunteer at an observatory for a local amateur astronomers' society and one of the guests at a recent star party came up and asked, "What do you think is the most important question science has to answer right now?" Obviously, there is no right or wrong answer, but after the party was over a lot of us were still talking about this question and I ended up learning a great deal from my fellow club members that I might otherwise not have.
The next time this question gets asked I want to be prepared to offer a variety of answers from differing fields and opinions. I don't expect to represent every answer as an expert, but I'd like to be able to give a few more examples than I was able to, and then correlate them to some book recommendations from the answers in this thread about introductions to your field.
I also think it is important to frame the question in a way that can be meaningfully answered, i.e. "What is the most important scientific discovery about to be made?" or something like that.
Of course, I had my own answer in mind, but as a relative layperson to that branch of study I had a really hard time articulating why it was so important to "science." Therefore, if you are uniquely affiliated with a specific field that you think will produce a game-changer, feel free to get as technical as you're comfortable doing.

Thanks!

Getting results, and paying out the ass for it!

chrisfromthelc — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:26:35 -0800

I need to conduct a survey, but I need the traffic to send to it. Are there any services out there (reasonably priced; they need not be free) that will host polls and provide traffic to those polls? I remember seeing ads on Facebook with polls, but can find nowhere to set one up. I'd like to also be able to limit the exposure by demographic (my "product" is pretty age-specific).

Any idea, hivemind?

Will Satellite work with leaves off trees?

priested — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:09:23 -0800

Will a Hi-Defintion Satellite Signal go through tree branches in the winter months? Just moved and found out the trees in my backyard will interfere with a Direct TV or Dish Signal (my request for them to move the satellites went ignored). Now I have cable and am just not a big fan as I don't get the international sports channels Direct TV offered (namely Gol TV) or the NFL package for free as Direct TV offered. It is also really expensive.

A Direct TV technician came out and said the trees in the back yard would've needed to have been cut back about 8 feet or cut down. This was in mid-Summer. I don't believe in cutting down trees for the boob tube (yeah, my relationship with TV is dynamic).

Here's the question... When the leaves fall off the trees (in about a month in my area), can a Hi-Def signal get through? My plan is to get Direct TV for about 4 months a year and possibly got on TV sabbatical for the other 8 or switch between cable and Direct TV. Any experience with this? Thanks in advance.

Condensed Matter Forum?

Aanidaani — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:20:27 -0800

I'm looking for a forum that hosts discussion in the field of condensed matter physics and/or materials science. I'd like a site where scientists can go to ask and answer questions, similar to Ask.Metafilter, but a general forum would be good as well. Does anyone know of such a site?

Income Tax Question

Kam1761 — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:43:46 -0800

We live in the state of Alabama. My son is 18 and a full time college student. He is starting a part time job to help with school. He will be making minimum wage and will work 20 or so hours per week. We are filling out his paperwork and came across the "Alabama Dept. of Revenue Employee's Withholding Exemption Certificate" http://www.ador.state.al.us/Withholding/FA4(01_07).pdf Would this apply to my son or do we leave it blank?

Polish Speaking Part?

parmanparman — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:28:04 -0800

I was told that foreign films that entered Poland during Communist times were dubbed into Polish but all of the voice work for both genders was acted out by one man. Is this true?

How to communicate with a loved one

CollectiveMind — Sat, 23 May 2009 06:50:48 -0800

Is there any reason why some people don't like to be "put on the spot" to answer questions? If it's true that everyone has their own way of communicating, mine is to ask questions. To me, it helps me learn something I didn't know, or solve a problem by asking questions that help me get to its root. But there are a couple people I know that say questions make them feel like they're being forced into an answer. They prefer statements of preference, since they say, statements make others to talk about themselves and their own feelings rather than trying to pull something out of someone else. They say I should ponder their statements and parce their truth from those statements rather than asking direct questions of them that they say make them feel anything from disrespected to attacked. I care about these people, so I'm not trying to make communication difficult, or sabotage it. But I don't see how an exchange of statements, and parcing truth from time spent "pondering" them improves or progresses communication or a relationship. Sometimes, I get frustrated because it feels like they're just dodging what I'm trying to understand, as if they're giving what they want but only on their own terms. But I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, so, I want to know is this common and what can I do to be better at interacting with these folks?

Craigs list 419er

citybuddha — Fri, 22 May 2009 09:58:40 -0800

I am selling a motorcycle on Craigs list and I am getting a few scammy kind of offers. I am thinking about playing one of these out and documenting the process on Facebook I will not sell this bike to this person but want to see how for it will go ala 419 eater Can anyone think of a reason not to do this experiment?

What is the answer to the question"where did the first mommy come from" for a 5 yr old?

aacheson — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:32:07 -0800

What do I answer my 5 yr olds question about "if everyone comes from mommy's belly, where did the first mommy come from?" I have no idea what the answer is...adults or kids. At some point in evolution a baby was born...from what??? I don't do the whole God/creationism thing so please none of that garbage. Thanks!

What to ask a holocaust survivor

Nighthawk3729 — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:50:47 -0800

I've got a holocaust survivor coming, and I get to ask one question. For some reason, I can't think of a question. We've covered most of the stuff in class, and I just can't think of anything to ask him. He's 82 btw, and hes coming to my college.

What should we discuss before we have kids?

saragoodman3 — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:20:02 -0800

Apologies, I know there is a lot on this topic, but I have a specific question that doesn't seem to be answered. We are thinking of having kids. We both want them. What should we discuss before we jump in with both feet? Who will stay home, and for how long? What kinds of names are you considering? What forms of punishment / praise will be used? When can she get her ears pierced? etc. There seems to be so much to discuss... and I want to start having the conversation before I get hormonal. This will be our first. What conversations did you have before yours were born?

A Riddle within a Nutshell within a...

Groovytimes — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:49:39 -0800

Need help answering a question about a "Flight of the Conchords" cast member! I am trying to answer this question a friend posed to me and I cannot for the life of me find the answer:

Q: What secondary cast member for Flight of the Conchords has a side project? He is male and also has a web series (I don't know if the web series is the project or if it is something else he does).

In this project he is quoted as saying:

"I'm in love with a girl. She's a philosopher. That's my luck. I'm in love with a philosopher. But she doesn't even know I exist. The worse thing is. She can prove it."

Now I searched the quote on google and got nothing useful.

HELP ME!

good college vs bad pro

cogneuro — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:25:26 -0800

Could a great college football team (like, USC) beat a lousy pro team (like, Detroit)?

relationship questions?

logic vs love — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:20:32 -0800

What are some good relationship-themed 'question of the day'-type questions that don't make too many assumptions about the audience's gender/status/sexual orientation/etc? I need to come up with a daily poll/question to help encourage discussion on a website related to relationships (any type of relationship, not necessarily romantic relationships), but I'm having a difficult time coming up with questions that are broad enough to be interesting to most people and not just a specific subset of people. Any suggestions?

Pet vet on the 'net yet?

pseudostrabismus — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:17:43 -0800

For minor pet health questions: suggest websites that are comprehensive & user-friendly? I'd like to avoid unnecessary vet visits. Last week my cat had runny eyes for no apparent reason, and googling common search terms (cat+eye+discharge, etc) led me to a lot of annoying sites jam-packed with ads, poor user design, and sketchy-sounding information. (He's fine, now, by the way. I imagine his cat allergies were acting up or something.)

I'd like a pet health website with comprehensive, searchable entries offering detailed and specific information about animal health issues. Everything should be explained in terms geared to the literate layman- in other words, use of Latin terminology is fine if it's explained plainly and intelligently, rather than cut & pasted from a vet textbook in indigestible hunks, or dumbed down into single syllable hyperbole in the vein of POOR KITTEH OH NOES! VET TIME HURRY! Levelheadedness would be a plus, as not every sneeze needs a visit to a vet. I'd love to see stuff like "If your cat is breathing fine, it's ok to wait out the sneezes or a week or so. After 10 days, if it's not better- or if the cat is gasping- it could be problem X or Y, so take him to the vet."

Can anyone recommend such a site?
Thanks in advance!

PS, Personally, I'm most interested in cats, but I'm sure other users would appreciate sites relevant to their pets too. So if you know the #1 health resource for the spiny echidna or whatever, well, shoot!

How to best communicate the data about which I will later AskMefi?

vanoakenfold — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:11:37 -0800

Question-Asking-Filter: What would be the best way to ASK a question on AskMeFi that I want to ask? Pre-question question-answers within. So I'm sort-of asking it now, but I want to pose it again using the answer(s) this question reaps. So anyway.

I've got more than a hanfdul of wooden cubes stuck face-to-face together in oddball configurations that, together, form a mystery number of x-by-x-by-x cubes, that I made many years ago and have since forgotten the solutions. How should I present the spectrum of the piece configurations, in a text-based setting like Ask-Mefi?

(a) Is there a freeware PC/web-based program I could use to build a visual representation of them, take screenshots and post for MeFites to mentally assemble?

Would the question be too much to ask, considering I don't know how many x-by-x-by-x cubes the pieces actually form total?

(b) should I instead type out a series of..
XXX // XOX // XXX
XOX // OOX // XOX
XOX // XXX // XXX
..whereas O is the wood and X is absence of wood, for each piece?

I'm truthfully not even certain all of the available pieces are even present, given that I don't know their solution(s), but they were all found in a sealed baggie so I might presume they were the complete set(s).

Things I do know: some of the pieces are shorter in overall cube-length than the entire assmbled-cube's max width. I did make a 4x4x4 cube and a 5x5x5 cube at some point. I am the originator of the puzzle and the solution has not ever been posted on the web by me or anyone else to my knowledge (although the gnomes who often scamper about and hide my keys in random places may have at some point posted the solution). There are 25 pieces, with a maximum piece-length of no more than 5 cubes across.

The question though -- how I could I best communicate the configurations of these pieces, and perhaps secondarily, would anyone even bother answering it, and perhaps tertiarily, would providing a non-MeFi-based incentive for answering it encourage someone to answer it?

High level website concept -does this functionality exist out of the box?

muchomas21 — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:04:01 -0800

Is there a Joomla component or other out-of-the-box system that does this already? --Website concept Say I want to start a website that allows Ice Cream Parlor owners to post their daily featured ice cream lists to their Profile Page. Each Ice Cream Parlor can only update their own Profile Page, but they can see everybody else's Profile Pages.

Is there a Joomla component or other out-of-the-box system that does this already?

What is a confusing phrase I can use in a conversation?

mckennage — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:52:04 -0800

Do you know of any phrases that can be used to confuse someone in a conversation? I saw a list long ago but don't recall any if the phrases. It could be a question or an answer. The purpose is to say something that sounds natural and like a plausable statement but is difficult to decipher (or even non-sensical) and makes the other person feel stunned and speechless as they try to figure out what you said. I seem to recall that one of the items on the list was an answer such as "You know that I believe that what you didn't say is true." That isn't the phrase but it was something along those lines that would be an unexpected statement and so would cause the other individual to have to repeat back in his mind the phrase as they try to figure out what you meant. I think it was the kind of thing that causes the other person to feel like they are drawing a blank or having a hard time thinking. But the phrase isn't so ridiculous that they'd be able to immediately call you out on it.

Fun, easy and cheap ways for contestants to "buzz in" to answer quiz questions?

VeniceGlass — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:28:51 -0800

Our corporate outing next week is going to include a few trivia questions, and we need a good way for people to answer. There will be 10 teams and a captain on each team. Money's a little tight, so those cool electronic buzzers are out. I'd prefer not to suffer the chaos of shouting out answers and figuring who is quickest. So I'd like a method that's fun and accurate. Any ideas?

Do I give them an out?

sully75 — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:46:31 -0800

Totally silly detail of asking questions filter: When you ask for something, do you give them an out? Situation: I'm writing a note to someone who I've never met but who I admire. (A photographer, in this case). It's someone I wrote to a few years ago and had a few nice emails volleyed when I was asking for advice.

I saw that she's passing through my town, possibly, and I'd want to ask her if she'd have a minute to get a cup of coffee with me so I could ask her some questions.

So I'm emailing her, saying "hey there, remember me? I see you might be passing through my town. If so, would you have a little time to join me for a cup of coffee?"

Now my question is, after this, do I say something like, "if not, no sweat, I hope you have a great trip?" Or "regardless, I hope you have a good trip?" It seems polite to offer an out, so if they can't/are not interested/whatever, they can just email back and say, sorry, and perhaps stay in touch. But I'm not sure if that's encouraging someone to turn me down.

As a totally guilt ridden person, I think I'd appreciate that in a note, and I don't think it would sway me particularly. But wondering what the hive mind wisdom is on this.

It's something I think about a fair bit.

Leopard is a virus. That you pay for.

mecran01 — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:20:41 -0800

I tried to install Leopard on my macbook, which is less than a year old. I got a kernel error, so I ran FSCK twice until no errors were showing up. I still get the blinking question mark, twice, then a normal boot sequence. Is this a software problem caused by Leopard (a friend's machine had the same response), a failing hard drive, or something else? I can image my machine with a firewire drive and do a clean install, but should I be worried about the integrity of my drive?

Also, I used to have a separate windows partition that I removed a long time ago. I wonder if that is what caused Leopard to freak out. Why is Leopard so mean to me? What did I do wrong? How can I make this relationship work?

Thanks.

Is there an open course codebase similar to ... Ask Metafilter?

clango — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:53:46 -0800

Is there an open course codebase similar to ... Ask Metafilter? I have a fun idea for a specialized group Q and A blog, but I'm not much of a coder.