Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with best

What's the best WYSIWYG software for web design these days?

julen — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:03:57 -0800

What is the best WYSIWYG website builder for PCs out there these days? My uncle is still using an archaic version of Front Page to produce his family websites. The results look OK but are unusable (hyperlinks don't work) if you are using a Mac or Firefox, which is pretty much rules out 90% of his audience.

So what is the best desktop app for designing websites on a PC these days? He doesn't know HTML, and online webapps aren't an option. It should be easy to use but produce good clean code. Help me only fix the HTML once!

What are the best, almost scientific, alternative health food/supplement recommendations?

HopStopDon'tShop — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:38:53 -0800

[Alt-health filter]: what are your top 10, most important, almost scientific (ie. generally accepted) foods and/or supplements that I should focus on to improve my health? Speaking from a general well-being, alternative health-type of point of view? I don't mean 'vegetables' but very specific stuff like "linseed oil is the very best thing in the world" and "resveratrol kept me alive for 200 years" etc. I'm not an alt-health fanatic but I know there's something there, sometimes, and I'd like to know what you think are the most important, and widely accepted.

"Avoid aspertame" would be a good example. But I can't determine which other stuff is as generally accepted as bad, or good, for you as aspertame. And honestly, I don't think I have time to eat all the things that I'm supposed to be consuming if I was to take everything I read on this seriously ("just 5mg of ... a day..." and "just 10ml of ... in the morning will..." multiplied by 50 just doesn't work).

What's best cheap sled?

LittlePumpkin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:35:49 -0800

I want to go sledding with my two year-old this winter -- what's the best cheap 2 person winter sled, either makeshift (garbage lid) or sled-proper (sled)?

Best peacebuilding blogs

j0hnpaul — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:28:38 -0800

What are the best blogs on nonviolence, particularly writing grounded in satyagraha, Gandhi's philosophy and practice, or Jim Corbett's civil initiative?

What album is so good that you never skip a song?

cranberrymonger — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:56:01 -0800

What album is so good that you never skip a song? You know those albums that peter off halfway through or rely on a couple singles? I don't want 'em! I'm looking for solid albums that are listenable from beginning to end.

I'm partial to rock, folk and pop and not-so-partial to rap.

Best American hostels?

smackfu — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:58:49 -0800

What are the best hostels in the U.S. and Canada? The various hostel finder sites are aimed at people who know where they are traveling and want to find a place to stay. This works well in Europe where they are usually a dozen choices so you can travel anywhere, but not so well in the US where some major cities have zero good hostels. And I don't really care where I go, I just want to go away for a long weekend and not spend much money.

You can define "best" however you wish, but not requiring a car would be a big plus.

What would you focus piano practice on if you could do it all again?

HopStopDon'tShop — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:28:42 -0800

You play the piano fairly well, you've had lessons, you enjoy it and when I tell you that I'm learning the piano you tell me that looking back on all the years of lessons and practice, the one thing that helped you the most of all was ________, and the thing that you felt was a biggest waste of your time was ________. Can you fill in the blanks for me? I'm just trying to find out what things people, in their personal experience, felt helped them the most in getting to where they are as a piano player, and what helped them the least.

Very personal, I know there's no secret trick, just curious.

Places to eat in Philly

Aanidaani — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:15:12 -0800

I just moved to Philly and I want to know what some of the best places to eat around town are. I've checked Philly Magazine, but a lot of those restaurants seem to be upscale and out of my price range. What are some affordable, good places that I should check out? I'm interested in all varieties of food, so any suggestions are welcome.

Where to begin?

papayaninja — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:48:16 -0800

If I want to start listening to [insert artist here] and don't know where to start, is there a website or resource I can use? Where do I start with Frank Zappa? Sonic Youth? David Byrne (post-Talking-Heads)? Nina Simone?

These questions come up all the time, but it's a waste of an AskMe question, and it seems like there ought to be a website devoted to discussion of where to start with each artist. Is there? Metacritic or a bunch of Wikipedia tabs can come up with answers sometimes, but other times it's harder (like right now with Townes Van Zandt.) Does such a site exist somewhere?

When to book to get cheapest flights?

ragtimepiano — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:23:21 -0800

Given that the airlines are reducing the numbers of flights due to the economic downturn, what is the optimal time to book cheap flights? In the past, I've had great success booking domestic flights 2-3 days before. This time, we will be booking 2 round trip tickets. I just booked a flight from the western US to Montreal for my husband, three weeks ahead, as we found the planes were filling up rapidly. We didn't get much of a deal. Standby is not on option as I'll be flying with an autistic person. Any and all hive-mind thoughts are welcome. Thanks!

INT. Study - Night

the NATURAL — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:14:41 -0800

ScreenplayFilter: What are the best screenplays that you've ever read? What are the best screenplays you've ever read, produced or unproduced? (And, if they're unproduced, where could I secure a copy to read?)

You know what I mean -- the ones that you pick up and suck you in, entirely, wholeheartedly, until you are seeing the movie through your own eyes. Those which are so well-written, well-thought out, and clever, that you can't help but be impressed by the screenwriter's talent and artistry.

For me and my marginal experience, it's The Shawshank Redemption, Michael Clayton, Stranger Than Fiction, and Syriana. But what are yours?

That sounds "Polly Wolly Crappy!"

hector horace — Sun, 31 May 2009 16:17:16 -0800

Guitar teacher filter: What's the best contemporary guitar method book for beginning (younger) guitar students? I'm gearing up to give pro bono guitar lessons this summer to elementary through high school aged children. Now, I imagine that most of the time I'll be teaching practical applications, (ie how to play such and such a song), but it would be great to have a method book that provides interesting and contemporary examples of techniques and musical theories for students who are interested in pursuing that route.

Nothing against the Mel Bay etc books of the world, but I know I got bored really fast learning the tunes in those books when I was coming up and I imagine that someone must have authored a more up to date, fun, and practical instruction book by now.

Can you recommend the book that you use for your lessons? Or alternatively if you're a student, a cool book that your teacher uses.

thanks.

PS Online resources are great but I'm looking specifically for a physical book.

which is the best music for eighteen musicans recording?

6am — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 05:05:42 -0800

what's the best recording of music for 18 musicians available? ...in your opinion of course?

I love this piece of music, but have only heard it through MP3s and would like to buy a really nice CD recording of it - with several available and money not infinite I wondered if any of you had an opinion on the best?

The new Grand Valley State University version sounds great, worth setting up a 5.1 system to try it on. But are the older ones more worth the money?

If any of you are on Spotify and haven't heard Music for 18 Musicans, I urge you to click.

Airports to avoid / favorite airports

pandabearjohnson — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:14:18 -0800

What airports do you try to avoid in western Europe and North America?Also what are your favorite airports in western Europe and North America? I am arranging a flight from Minneapolis to Nice. Normally we fly MSP - Amsterdam - Nice, but that route is not available this time. Now we are looking at MSP - O'Hare - Zurich - Nice; or MSP - Toronto - London - Nice; or MSP - O'Hare - London - Nice. Can anyone comment on airports they would definitely avoid on this route? For example, we always try to avoid Charle de Gaulle if possible. Thanks

What is the best external flash for the Nikon D40 camera?

Craiggy83 — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:15:04 -0800

Which external flash should I purchase for a Nikon D40? I just purchased a Nikon D40 with the Nikon 18-200mm lens for my girlfriend. She is an artist and is going to Italy during the middle of march. I want her to have the best set-up she can to take great indoor photos and outdoor photos. I went with the above lens because I thought it would be more convenient then switching between different lenses. Neither one of us has much photography experience, which is why I have asked those out there who have the experience. I have read that the SB-400 flash is an ok flash, but would it be good for indoor and outdoor shots. I also heard good things about the SB-600. I am looking for flash recommendations of any brands which will be the best choice for her trip to Italy. I'd like to spend around 200 max, but don't let that stop you from making your recommendation. Thank You!!

When did the Beatles become the Best?

electric_counterpoint — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:21:41 -0800

At what point did our culture decide that the Beatles were the best band ever? This isn't meant as snark — for what it's worth, I'm inclined to agree that the Beatles were the best band ever. And I realize that Music Isn't A Competition™, and there really isn't a way to be "best."

The point remains, though, that the Beatles have had more superlatives applied to them than any other band in (at least) the English-speaking world. More than that, these superlatives are applied across a range of cultures (young, old, high-brow, low-brow, a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll) that, if you take a step back, is frankly amazing. The Beatles are musical hegemons, and that's that.

So please take my question at face value: when did people start saying that the Beatles were the best band ever? When did this become an accepted tenet of Western culture? They were obviously a hugely popular band during their existence; did the idea that they were the best flow naturally from that while they were still together? Did, say, Sgt. Pepper immediately seal their legacy? Did it take some years after 1970 for the idea to really coalesce? Was it a product of the red and blue retrospectives, or music criticism's embrace of "top hundred" lists?

Challenging Video Editing Software for PC Question

noir — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:56:42 -0800

Challenging Video Editing question: If I wanted to take video from a multiple number of different sources (off DVD's or maybe Blue-Ray) and produce a single video from those sources (say each video has its own quarter of the screen), which editing tool(s) would be best to perform these tasks? Software must be PC. By best, I mean: * relatively simple to learn, * open source, or relatively inexpensive * produces good quality, quad-screen videos in high enough resolution to look good on typical home televisions, not just computer screens. *Makes it easy to add your own music tracks or soundtrack, or it can use audio from any of the 4 videos as well, preferably both.

Somewhere new

brandnew — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 07:42:27 -0800

I would like to travel more this year. Where should I go to best balance cost and experience? The NYTimes published an article recently about the 44 best places to travel this year. I became discouraged after reading the article because most of those places were expensive. $400 (US) a night for a hotel room is way outside of my budget.

Assuming that transportation to get there is free, what would be the best low-cost travel destinations this year?

I'm up for anything, but I particularly enjoy
* Art
* Culture
* New experiences
* Options to meet and converse with new people
* Nature
* Time for reflection

More info: I don't travel much outside of the USA, but I would like to. My two favorite cities in the USA are NYC and San Diego, but I'd like to consider places with less population, as well.

Must See Movies

netbros — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 08:47:38 -0800

What were the movies that made you go WOW? I recently got a DVD player (yes, I finally joined the 21st century) and it's time to catch up on what I've been missing. Please help me find classic films, cerebral plot-twisters, mystery and science fiction, light-hearted romance and comedy... basically anything that when you walked out of the theater or saw them on TV, you said to yourself, "WOW!, I want to see that again!"

What Akira Kurosawa movies do you recommend?

AZNsupermarket — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:55:39 -0800

What Akira Kurosawa movies do you recommend? I have seen the following Kurosawa movies:
Stray Dog, Rashômon, Ikiru, The Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Hidden Fortress, The Bad Sleep Well, Yojimbo, Kagemusha, Ran, Drunken Angel, Sanjuro

As you can see, I am big Kurosawa fan. I felt that Kagemusha and Ran went on a little long, but overall I enjoyed them all. I also plan on watching:
High and Low, Red Beard

Are there any other great Kurosawa movies that I should check out?

Is this friendship over?

shaun uh — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:52:33 -0800

Is my best friend growing apart from me, or is she throwing herself headlong into a seriously unhealthy relationship? Here's the background:

I've been friends with this girl - lets call her Betty - for a little over five years now. We've been calling each other best friends for three. The transition from college to the real world (a year and a half ago) was surprisingly easy on our friendship. Although we both moved to opposite sides of the country, we called each other constantly. Both of us have been through some fairly tough times, and we've always been there for each other.

Betty was depressed for the past year and a half. She would call me up constantly for reassurance or just to talk about what was going on in her life. She would frequently apologize for "making the conversations all about [her]" but I told her (and meant) that I was happy to be there for her when she needed me and that I was sure she would do the same for me.

The thing is, I'm no longer sure that that's true.

This past summer (at the end of July) Betty fell in love. This is her first real relationship - she's never been in love before. At first, I was really excited for her. The first few weeks after they got together, she called me all the time to give me updates and ask my advice.

Then she fell off the face of the planet. No contact - she didn't call me, she didn't return my calls, no e-mails, nothing. At first I thought it was pretty normal beginning-of-a-relationship infatuation. But it's been four months now and things have descended into a really painful mess.

My list of complaints:
~ No phone calls. We went from 2-3 phone calls a week to maybe 1 phone call a month. (To clarify, we talked this much both before and while she was depressed.)
~ When I told her that I understood her needing to talk less, but would like for her to acknowledge that she'd gotten my calls with a text message or something, she did this exactly once and then stopped.
~ When I went to visit her two months ago (we live in cities about four hours apart), we went to her girlfriend's apartment the first night and she asked if I could walk home to her place alone so she could stay there. The next day, I told her that I wanted us to stay in the same place, so she invited her girlfriend over the next night and they had loud sex while I tried to fall asleep.
~ When she came to visit me a month ago, she brought her girlfriend and she ended up spending half the weekend with her.

I've told her that I'm upset by this several times. She says that I want too much of her and that I'm giving her an ultimatum, although all I've really said is that I feel like she doesn't care about me anymore and that's not okay with me.

Complicating things is the fact that we're part of a group of friends. I live with another very close friend of mine, lets call her Wilma. Wilma & Betty are also pretty tight - Betty stayed with Wilma for three months last year, when Betty was unemployed and feeling really depressed, and Betty and I were both bridesmaids in Wilma's wedding this summer. Anyway, Wilma had a really rough summer this year - a mixture of academic panic and delayed grieving for her father - to the point where she couldn't get out of bed sometimes. Betty called her twice and both times just wanted to talk about the girlfriend.

This weekend she came up for a Thanksgiving gathering of friends. She decided to stay with another friend without telling me or Wilma this, and when she did come over, she purposefully avoided being alone with me and/or Betty. I am at the point where I am ready to stop trying to stay friends with her. I have two questions though.

First, and most importantly, I'm worried about Betty's relationship with her girlfriend. It's not just me and Wilma who have felt like Betty's "dumped" them - our other friends have told me on occasion that they wish they were as close to her as they used to be. I also know that Betty isn't doing any creative writing anymore, which has always been her biggest passion. Lastly, she's been having trouble with her family, which is not surprising since they've never exactly been accepting of her being gay, but in the context of also not writing and growing apart from her friends, as I said it makes me worried.

It seems to me that a good significant other would be worried by their partner dropping everything else in their lives in order to be with them. I don't know if the girlfriend is just kind of oblivious to what's happening, or if she's encouraging it. I know next to nothing about her - I've only met her twice - but Betty did tell me early on that she (the girlfriend) had once cheated on a partner. I also know that for her birthday this year she's planning a sex party and that Betty is uncomfortable with that but apparently it's still happening. I don't want to jump to conclusions about the girlfriend but not knowing anything about her, I worry that she could hurt Betty.

Also, whether or not the girlfriend is good people, it's entirely possible that the two of them will have a bad breakup and she won't want to see Betty anymore. If Betty dumps all of her old friends and interests to be with her, that would be devastating. Betty was bulimic in high school and had suicidal thoughts once our first year of college, and I'm honestly worried that she would try to hurt herself if she breaks up with the girlfriend. She told Wilma that she doesn't call us or visit us because when she's not around her girlfriend or talking to her girlfriend she gets depressed.

Secondly, if I do decide to just give up on the friendship, should I do it quietly or should I send Betty an e-mail or leave a phone message telling her that's what I'm doing? The latter option seems sort of drama queen-ish but at the same time, Betty and I have always tried to be very honest and upfront with each other and this would be the most upfront thing to do. Also, I guess part of me has this fantasy that if I tell her we're not friends anymore she'll be so shocked she'll start trying to fix things. And I guess part of me wants to hurt her like she hurt me.

But on the other hand, if she really needs me, I want to be there for her. If she hurt herself because she didn't think she had anybody to turn to that would be the worst thing ever.

Sorry for the length of the question. As you can see, I'm going around in circles. So, hivemind. Any advice? Am I overreacting? Am I being a doormat? Am I right to be worried about her, or am I just being jealous?

What's essential to have in a HD movie collection?

thewalrus — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:06:47 -0800

What do you consider to be the best or most important movies of the past 20 years, whether Hollywood or international? I'm rebuilding much of my movie collection in 720p H.264 (approx 5GB each) or 1080p and want to be sure I don't miss anything. There's a lot of content from the 1990s I want to keep on hand in a high quality format, from a variety of genres... Everything from Gattaca to Baraka. Can anyone suggest some 'essential film' lists or provide input from their personal collections?

Help me figure out to go with my free plane ticket!

D Wiz — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:41:45 -0800

I have a free ticket to anywhere in the 48 states (no Hawaii or Alaska) that I need to book in the next week. I am one person and expect to go for 5-7 days. Please help me decide where to go and what time of year to go there. (The ticket can be booked for any date within the next year.) I've been considering either the grand canyon or the parks in Montana/Wyoming but I am interested in other suggestions. I am interested in all sorts of attractions including amusement parks, cultural and natural sights etc. I've been to LA, NYC and Vegas so those are definitely out. I am looking for suggestions for where to book my ticket to as well as where to go once I am there. Since I can book it for anytime of year, please include what time of year I should (or shouldn't) go to your suggested location since I might as well book the ticket for whenever is best. Also, including which airport to fly into (if you know) and the reason why you made your suggestion would be helpful too. Thanks!

Austin to Port A

rleamon — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:53:14 -0800

The best route to drive from Austin to Port Aransas, Texas? If you know a faster way and a slower, more scenic one, plus something in between, bonus points to you!

Skills - Bills != Enough

emptyinside — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:38:37 -0800

What's the best freelance job site? I have a solid background in interactive development and I'd like to break out past craigslist for looking for work online. However, the field is quite daunting as there's plenty of places that want my money, www.guru.com, www.getafreelancer.com, etc.

Where have you had a good experience? I'm most interested in development and design projects. Video / Audio especially.

Thanks!