Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with challenge

I'll have eight hours to write a screenplay from start to finish. Help!

Cantdosleepy — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:23:12 -0800

Screenwriters - advice for coming up wirth effective short film scripts QUICKLY! I'm involved in a 48 Hour Film Challenge at the weekend. On Friday at 19:30 we will be given:

1) a genre
2) a prop
3) a line of dialogue that must appear in the film

(All teams have the same prop and dialogue line. Each team has a different genre, picked out of a hat.)

We have to submit an edited short film by 19:30 on Sunday evening.

The plan in the past has been: write on Friday, shoot on Saturday, edit on Sunday.

As you can imagine, going from a first concept to a shooting script in one evening, after a day at work, can be a challenge.

Any advice from people experienced in this would be gladly received. Length, drafting, idea creation, etc etc.

What can I do to prepare before the day? What things should I have at the front of my mind? There's obvious stuff - don't include expensive props that we don't have etc. What are other things that should be written on a piece of A4 and stuck above my monitor as I'm writing?

COME ON!!!

gergtreble — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:39:02 -0800

So... I may be going on television... There is a chance that I will be going on University Challenge (College Bowl for you Americans) in the next month or so. So I need the most bad-ass awesome T-shirt to wear. Can I buy an AskMefi shirt? Also any other tips you want to send my way would be well received!

don't hurt your brain

dnial — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:48:12 -0800

Is it possible to write a story with no hint whatsoever of any other being but one? I am wondering if it is possible to tell a story about one character, and one character only. What I mean is, can a story - that others would accept as a "story" - exist in which there is no reference to any other living being but the main character? And I mean no dead persons, no thoughts about other beings, no clues to the results of actions of any other life-forms, no imagined people, animals, supernatural beings, no impersonal roles (or groups of people) that somebody would have to fulfill eventually, no imagined life-forms in matter like machines and so on.

The closest I could imagine was
* a story about someone thinking about his or her past or future, but if you are strict you could classify this as another character
* a story about natural phenomena that does not connect them to any possible higher powers
* a story about phenomena that happen in or on someones body
* a story in a technical context which ignores all inherent connections to other people

Does the concept "story" imply that more than one character has to be in it? And are there any philosophers, culture, social or media theorists, linguists, authors, whoever who have thought and written about this?

Where can I find a good EATING CHALLENGE?

jabraham — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 08:57:02 -0800

Does anyone know a good EATING CHALLENGE? Looking for a restaurant that offers a "finish it in an hour and it's free" type challenge, where you get your face on the Wall of Fame.

Why should I pay when I had to teach myself

filthy light thief — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:27:10 -0800

If I paid for a class to help me pass a test but I received real assistance towards passing the test, can I contest paying for that class? My wife attended the teacher education program through the University of La Verne, at one of their satellite campuses near our home. Ideally, she would have continued on to get her masters through this program, but her experiences with the teaching program made her (and her classmates) decide it wasn't worth it.

My wife took one class in particular to pass a test (I've forgotten the name, sorry) that would allow her to be a high school teacher. The professor of the class treated her class as more of a hindrance to her weekend plans than her job (the teacher lived a couple hours away, and the class was on the weekends). The professor's job was to prepare her students for this test, but she wouldn't give specific feedback in some cases, because she was also a grader for these test, and could end up grading on of her students. When my wife asked the head of the local program, she was told that there wasn't a conflict of interest, and the professor should be giving specific feedback. When my wife and other students complained higher up the chain, they were told the professor was a good person, and "don't worry, you'll all get A's."

My wife and some of her classmates studied and worked together to make sense of the study material. They ended up passing, and she is now teaching. She hasn't paid the remainder of her tuition yet, and one of her class-mates was looking into how to challenge paying for some classes. I figured I could tap the hive-mind for some insight.

Notes: I won't name any names beyond the University, because I don't wish to lay much blame on anyone beyond the University. My wife and her classmates had enough experiences with La Verne that they aren't shy about their feelings. If calling out the university is bad form, I'll accept post deletion. My wife and I will pay some of the tuition, and all if need be. The tuition pay-back will be a temporary financial strain, but that's not the issue. She feels that she and her friends taught each-other the material, but still payed the professor to come and have a weekend get-away in our town, and the administration treated the students like children.

Tiny reader seeks education.

jlowen — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:11:07 -0800

My daughter is on her 5th day of Kindergarten and it is quickly becoming apparent she is not being challenged at her reading level. What can I do to challenge her growing mind? My daughter has had 2 years of pre-school. One year was at a Montessori school, and the second at a fancy-ass prep school. We have since moved to a progressive community and made the decision to put her in public school. She is a good reader (as I type she is sitting next to me busting out Green Eggs and Ham like a champ which is a 2.2 reading level book) yet her "homework" tonight was to sit down with a parent and have them explain that words go left to right and up to down. She is waaaay beyond that kind of assignment.

I really like the populism and character building of public schools, yet worry that my little brilliant spawn is not being challenged. I would really like to keep her in her current school as it is a lovely little neighborhood school that is very close to our house.

I already plan on talking about this with her teacher. What else can be done? Hire a private tutor to offer more challenging work? Are there any great curriculum that we could use at home to the same effect? Should I consider asking for her to move up a grade?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Srsly, I can't be arsed.

droplet — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:54:04 -0800

How to encourage myself to put forth the effort to actually live a life? I'm living as a physically and intellectually mature 3-year old.

I have a job. I sleep. I eat. I read. I bathe and brush my teeth twice a day. But for things I claim that I really want to do, such as have good friends, become fit, be in a romantic relationship, make films / comedy, live in London, sing in a band (even for fun), invest in real savings for my future and not merely some sluggish 401k, I don't make any effort to meet any goal. I don't make goals, rather. 99% of what I have in my life right now didn't take much effort to get. The only things I've actually worked hard on for my own benefit was physically escaping my abusers at 18 and getting an internship my junior year of uni. For the life of me, I can't remember how it felt to want those two things so badly that I did what I had to do. With regard to the abuse, I claim to want to get over what happened, but only just figured out that I've shut down all real communication with my therapist and have used my 40 minutes every week to harangue the people who hurt me. I have to force myself to go to therapy! I don't even make an effort to do the things I claim to enjoy, like music or movies or cooking or travel. I've taken classes in things, but stopped when they required real commitment, emotional or otherwise. I could say that about my relationships as well. I have a job. I sleep. I eat. I read.

What's frightening me is that deep down, it feels like a large part of me doesn't want to do anything, even something as simple as doing the laundry. Some of these things I do, but there's no sense of, "It has to be done to get what you want and that's OK." I get upset that I actually have to clean my apartment or do laundry. It's been this way at least since 5th grade. I don't want to work, even at the job that's currently paying my bills. I don't want to talk to people and find it a hassle to have to return phone calls and emails, so never mind true intimacy with a friend or partner - that's too much work. I don't want to try. Yet, I'm angry at myself for sitting around on my ass just reading , just eating, envying Bob Odenkirk or the woman at my job who's happily married to a nice man. I'm angry at myself for the little kid inside who's all, "DON'T WANNA! GIMME!", while knowing logically that the world owes me nothing, nothing will be handed to me and that no one is truly going to care about me except me, and no one's going to give a damn anyway if I don't.

In looking to be honest with myself, I've been asking: Is my current routine all I truly want or am capable of? Why am I unwilling to accept risk? Why won't I challenge myself? Why am I unwilling to do the work it takes to make my life better? Am I one of life's cowards? If so, can I learn to make peace with this? I feel frozen, and the answers haven't been forthcoming.

I want to know if any MeFites have gone through this issue and what they've done about it.

Need help finding a specific article on work/computer addiction due to the mind not being challenged

JPigford — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 20:33:28 -0800

Need help finding a specific article on work/computer addiction due to the mind not being challenged In the past week or so I read an article somewhere that talked about how many people are workaholics or addicted to their computers and spend all their free time either working or doing mindless computer activities all because they aren't doing anything challenging with their free time. So when they think "free time" they just think "boring" and "sitting around doing not much of anything."

But, as luck would have it, I can't find the article anywhere. I've searched The Google far and wide and dug through the past months worth of my RSS feeds...it just seems to have disappeared.

So...I'm looking for someone who might know which article I'm referring to.

52 Week Challenge

alona — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 04:45:51 -0800

I've decided to write down 52 challenges for myself and to give myself one week for each of them, making up a year. Right now, I'm at 31. Help me think of more! Okay, I know I didn't invent this idea. I actually got to it through YouTube. A young man by the name of Owen decided to make a documentary called "An Alternative to Slitting Your Wrists". (my computer is being stupid and not letting me link, so: www.analternativetoslittingyourwrist.com)
I decided that I wanted to make a similar list, but I found one thing wrong with his: I, at 16 years old, could not do all of them, nor did I want to (things like bungee jumping or holding a scorpion.)

So far, this coming year for one week I will:

1. Wake up early every morning (think 6 or 7am) and go for a walk.
2. Be at tzofim every day. (my Israeli scouts!)
3. write only in lowercase letters.
4. Read either two short books or one long book.
5. Tell at lease one person each day how much I appreciate them.
6. Learn a new song a day on guitar.
7. Learn one new piece on the piano.
8. Write in a journal every day.
9. Not eat sugar all week.
10. Go someplace different each day to take pictures.
11. Draw every day.
12. Finally perfect my juggling skills.
13. Make a half-hour each day for "Alona time" to just sit and think. And the ten minutes before I fall asleep don't count!
14. Not turn on the computer all week!!!
15. Read an article a day on Wikipedia.
16. Do yoga every day.
17. Surprise someone each day with something that will make them happy.
18. Drink just water.
19. Make dinner for everyone in the house each evening.
20. Volunteer - even though I don't have to anymore =D
21. Run for 20 minutes each day.
22. Make someone's wish come true.
23. Write all my regrets on notes and burn them.
24. Knit a scarf.
25. Organize my room (this one will be hard to finish in a week).
26. Grow food (or at least, start growing food).
27. Build something electrically-powered.
28. Go to a protest.
29. Catch up on my cinematic education. Meaning: watch movies such as the Godfather, Minority Report, Pulp Fiction, etc.
30. Forgive someone I am mad at.
31. Make a video and post it on YouTube.

I hope to complete the list soon so that I can start working on it. I am already working on number 2 and if tomorrow I am at tzofim it will be complete!
When I finish my list I plan to start a blog so that I can write about my challenges and so that I can post pictures of them as well.
If you have any idea, please post!

Cooking Challenge Part 2: Food Allergies + No Kitchen for 3 Days

sdis — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 23:32:49 -0800

Cooking Challenge Part 2: Food Allergy + No Kitchen for 3 Days! Tips needed for keeping food fresh, for making food that doesn't go bad, and for getting all my nutrients! (And Davis, CA suggestions for restaurants! See inside) After some helpful info from Cooking Challenge Part 1, I have gone a good 22 days with this crazy allergy-elimination diet [rules described in Part 1 and summarized below], but am a bit lost without a kitchen.

I have a plane trip to Davis, CA from 1pm Thursday to 9pm Saturday. I need to keep myself fed during this time. I can probably bring a cooler as one of my checked-in bags, and I'll be staying at a Motel 6, which maybe(?) has an ice dispenser? (anyone know?)

So.

•Staple #1: Dried fruit/honey/almond butter balls.
These are good, and 200 calories a piece, but I imagine eating more than 4 of these a day will cause unfortunate intestinal distress, so I'm gonna need something else. Also, not much protein in these.

•Staple #2: Turkey meatballs: I'll eat 'em cold, if I can keep them from going bad. How long can I keep these safe in a cooler if I don't have ice? Do Motel 6's have ice?

*Staple #3: Assorted fruits and nuts. Avocados. Also wary of eating too much of these for same reason as Staple #1.

Remaining needs:
•How do I make vegetables edible without a kitchen? Which vegetables? Can I cook something in advance that will be somewhat palatable cold and last in the (potentially ice-less) cooler?

•Some restaurants in Davis that would be willing to grill me some orange roughy, halibut, or salmon without anything but lemon and salt and maybe an herb or two? (No pepper or non-olive-oil, for example)

•Any road-trip recipes that will help me through these few days. I've gotten pretty good at substitutions, though a recipe that is based upon a forbidden ingredient doesn't really work (garlic crusted broccoli, when garlic is a no-go, will be hard to substitute)

Elimination diet rule recap
Meats: Turkey, Lamb, Deep ocean fish, wild game. Nothing else
No grains(rice, wheat, anything)
No milk products
No tomato, apple, garlic, onion, legumes (including peanuts), peppers, soy
No fermented products or mushrooms
Other fruits and veggies OK
Tree nuts OK

Challenge based spam filtering

Nelson — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 09:27:59 -0800

Can anyone recommend a challenge-based spam filtering system with good usability? mailblocks.com recently shut down. I've got a brand new domain name and I'm interested in being more aggressive about spam filtering. procmail and its Bayesian filter aren't good enough. I was all set to go with mailblocks; the first time you mail someone at mailblocks you're challenged to prove you're a human, then subsequent responses go through. A sort of automated whitelist. A friend loved it, but alas they've terminated services.

I run my own Debian server with Postfix and procmail. I'm happy to host the software myself. What I care about is automation and ease of use, both for me and the poor bastards who try to email me. A quick search turned up ASK and TDMA. Any experiences with those? Any alternatives? Something that can install easily on Debian is preferred.

What international tournaments exist that might be thought of as "mental" Olympics?

badstone — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 11:03:37 -0800

What international tournaments exist that might be thought of as "mental" Olympics? (That is, they contain a range of competitions based on intellect, strategy, problem-solving, mental arithmetic, etc...)