Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with brokenlink

What's this film about a couple of young boys that stole a car?

billysumday — Mon, 07 Feb 2005 10:43:16 -0800

MemoryJogFilter: While reading this story, I was reminded of a film from the late eighties/early nineties about a couple of young boys that stole a car (I think it was red and I think it was a Pontiac). That is unfortunately, about all I remember. Anybody have any ideas what the film was called/about?

Gadgets Around the World

Hash — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 10:59:51 -0800

The family and I will emabark on a 8-9 month world trip in August. This trip will occur mostly in the developing world. Despite reading all kinds of advice about leaving behind the gadgets, we intend on taking a basic 12" laptop, a cell phone and a PDA. Should We take a leap into the unknown or should we stick to the safe and familiar"? [MI] We have fairly basic needs. We want to have reference and education ware to help teach our kids (9 and 8 year old).
We will also use the laptop for entertainment(movies and games)and to store our journals and pictures. I'm keen on learning a new platform but I'm worried that I won't be knowledgeable enough to deal with the invevitable problems that come up. Also with being mostly unconnected, I won't have access to help.

Reward My Mom!

ruelle — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 23:44:07 -0800

My mom's got over 90000 (yes, ninety thousand) Wells Fargo Reward points. What do you suggest? Anything she should know? Any personal experience?

What are some good screensavers?

andrew cooke — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 18:41:51 -0800

Can anyone recommend a good screensaver (Win32)? I've got ecotonoha at the moment, which is pretty cool, but would like something that works well w/out an internet connection and is darker (ecotonoha is dark only during the night).

Looking for public domain art

Pericles — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 11:15:02 -0800

Long shot - anyone know of any public domain/ no copyright horribly twee paintings/ illustrations like this (not photos)?

Calculating Electoral Votes

PrinceValium — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 18:18:10 -0800

DiscreteMathFilter: Colorado will vote this November on a proposal to abandon its "winner-take-all" system in presidential elections, and award its electoral votes based on the percentage of votes cast for each candidate. I tried to model this based on the 2000 election, and the concept fell apart. [more inside] In the 2000 presidential election, 1,741,368 votes were cast in Colorado (8 electoral votes).
50.75% went for Bush.
42.39% went for Gore.
5.25% went for Nader.
1.61% went for other candidates.

Under the new system, Colorado's 8 electoral votes would be assigned as follows:
Bush: 8 * 50.75% = 4.06, rounded to 4 electoral votes.
Gore: 8 * 42.39% = 3.39, rounded to 3 electoral votes.
Nader: 8 * 5.25% = 0.42, rounded to 0 electoral votes.

Under the proportional system, what happens to the eighth vote?
Would you award it to Nader, because he has the highest remainder? Or would you award it to Bush, because he got the most votes overall?

Here's another, slightly different example:

In the 2000 presidential election, 10,965,850 votes were cast in California (54 electoral votes).
Bush: 54 * 41.65% = 22.49, rounded to 22 electoral votes.
Gore: 54 * 53.45% = 28.86, rounded to 29 electoral votes.
Nader: 54 * 3.82% = 2.06, rounded to 2 electoral votes.
Other: 54 * 1.08% = 0.58, rounded to 1 electoral vote.

You can't give an electoral vote to "Other," since "Other" is five different people. So where does the 54th vote go? Bush, because he has the highest remainder? Or Gore, because he won the state?

(Note: I'm not trying to ascertain the best public policy. I only want to know, from a purely mathematical perspective, how to most efficiently and fairly assign a fixed number of items to an awkward set of populations.)

Cool lists for my iPod?

alphanerd — Tue, 22 Jun 2004 18:19:12 -0800

I stumbled across piPod today. Are there any other cool listings like this for stuff in the NYC area, or other outstanding uses of iPod's notes feature?

Aquarium Live Rock

five fresh fish — Sat, 19 Jun 2004 19:12:51 -0800

Just a real quickie: what does this news article actually mean? Live rock? Huh?

How is it that a site which hosted over 46 trillion dollars in transactions is sold for less that one billion dollars?

djacobs — Fri, 21 May 2004 06:41:38 -0800

Tradeweb is an unqualified success. Built in collaboration with eight major banks, it's a trading platform to facilitate the sale of bonds and other fixed-income assets. It's hosted over 46 trillion dollars in transactions. Yet this Reuters article says that Thomson just acquired the platform for between 500 million and a billion dollars - which seems like an impossibly low price. How is that possible? (from the give mark-cuban-a-login department)

I am looking for the typeface used in VH1's "I love the 80's" shows.

quibx — Thu, 13 May 2004 08:02:44 -0800

I am looking for the typeface used in VH1's "I love the 80's" shows. Not the text, but the symbols - Specifically the giant robot shown here. I am looking for the whole set - or where I can buy it. I don't need to ID the robot. I know it is inspired by the Shogun warriors (designs originally created by Go Nagai), but not any actual robot. Thanks in advance. I know for sure it is a typeface.

Can anyone tell me what it says on this coffee mug?

Frasermoo — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 12:51:31 -0800

Can anyone tell me what it says on this coffee mug?

That's a cute keychain.

brownpau — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 07:33:56 -0800

Calling MeFi Kerry insiders: look at this picture. Can anyone explain to me why John Kerry has what appears to be a large plastic daisy flower keychain? It's kinda cute. (Mirror in case Yahoo News expires the photo.)

What is the source of this image of a happy green thing merrily trotting forth?

Pink Fuzzy Bunny — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 18:50:32 -0800

Does anyone know the source of this image? (happy green thing merrily trotting forth)

What's going on with this site?

Johnny Assay — Mon, 15 Mar 2004 21:26:03 -0800

Can anyone explain to me what's going on with this site? I know such sites have popped up from time to time in the blue, but I can't remember whether there was any consensus on what they were for (if they in fact have a raison d'être other than their stochastic beauty.)

TMD treatment experiences?

gnomeloaf — Thu, 11 Mar 2004 09:08:05 -0800

I have TMD. My oral surgeon gave me two choices - remove the fluid and debris in my jaw joint (via needle) and then inject steroids, or a hard mouth splint worn at night (not covered by insurance, so it'd cost me $650). He could give me no guarantees that either solution would be a permanent fix.

Haven't ruled either out yet (yay for tax refunds) but I am wondering if people have had experience with either and would share their experiences.

Seeking archived copy of a video file

oissubke — Sat, 31 Jan 2004 12:51:24 -0800

How can I find a copy the file that used to be at this url? (Of a guy clocking a goofy singer with a book) I'm sure it's got to be mirrored somewhere, but I haven't been able to find it.

iTunes gap

terrapin — Wed, 28 Jan 2004 07:14:18 -0800

In order to gear-up for the MeFi Swap I started making myself more familiar with iTunes. While doing so, I found out that even when one checks the "none" setting for seconds between songs, iTunes still ads a short gap between songs. Does anyone have some suggestions for how I might get iTunes to do Disc-at-Once (DAO)? If not, suggestions for other programs are appreciated, but realise I don't have Toast-like money handy. Thanks!

How could I go about verifying John Titor's claims on the IBM 5100?

banished — Mon, 26 Jan 2004 17:27:50 -0800

Does anyone out there have contacts with anyone at IBM? Specifically the original engineers of the IBM 5100 computer from 1975 that was built in Rochester, Minnesota? I have been researching the story of John Titor and I was wondering if the claims at Titor's Claims on the 5100 can be verified.

Self-Service Scanning

internal — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 13:49:46 -0800

The U-Scan stations: how do they know that the item you just scanned is the actual item? [More inside] My co-worker thinks that they know what every item should weigh based on its UPC. Thusly, the location where you place the items you have scanned is just a big scale. While this seems plausible to me, I want better evidence. My Google searches have only brushed the subject - no obvious text saying how it knows what item is what. Anybody know for sure?

What did they call Canadian Geese before Confederation?

antifreez_ — Sun, 11 Jan 2004 22:16:20 -0800

What did they call Canadian Geese before Confederation?

What is the name of this song?

armoured-ant — Sun, 04 Jan 2004 19:19:27 -0800

It's driving me mad. My girlfriend thought it was The Entertainer, my housemate calls it Chopsticks. What on Earth is this tune called? Apologies for crap use of recorded midi guitar noise.