Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with fair

I spy a mullet and a TO jersey!

SNWidget — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:14:36 -0800

ScavengerHuntFilter: My friends and I are attending the excellentness that is the Texas State Fair sometime in the coming weeks. Last year, we enjoyed simply taking in the craziness and consuming the large quantities of fried foods. This year, we want to do a scavenger hunt - that is, taking pictures of certain things that are often seen (and perhaps not so often seen) at a state fair. Any ideas as to what should be on the list? We've come up with a few things, such as:

1. Kid on a leash
2. Tony Romo jersey
3. Fanny pack
4. Mullet
5. Someone barefoot.
6. Someone not wearing enough clothes.
8. Baby drinking Coke.
9. Someone carrying too many stuffed animal prizes.
10. Kid having a tantrum.
11. Someone eating fried butter.
12. Someone vomiting.
13. Vomit on the ground.
14. Someone wearing high heels.

We're also looking for suggestions on superlatives - take a picture of the largest pig, the largest child, etc. etc.

Note that while we're sort of taking in the craziness that is the fair, the suggestions don't have to revel in the tackiness, and can include more positive aspects as well. As long as they can be photographed, covertly or otherwise.

Taking radio clips part of free usage?

fantasticninety — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:24:53 -0800

Could anyone check out this site to see if it adheres to fair use laws? Hi,

I've been working on a site that looks at the use of the French language. I take clips from radio shows and podcasts and transcribe them with basic explanations. There is no advertising on my site, and there is no method for making money from this.

Technically, I could make reference to every podcast that I take a clip from, but it would get pretty taxing from a paperwork perspective to do so. It would be pretty hard to keep track of.

I've felt like it's ok because even LeMonde has a podcast called LeRadiozapping which takes clips from other radio shows and doesn't cite where they all come from. Here's their site here.

Do you think that this is basically in line with fair use laws? Thanks in advance.

Everyone wants to give the money to the other person - what is fair?

true — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 06:32:17 -0800

14 years ago I was given a baby grand piano for Christmas, where it lived at my mother's house until now. She recently remodeled and sold it (with my full agreement) since I have no room for it and interstate moving would cost as much as a new piano. She wants to give me the proceeds since it was my present, but I think we should at least split it since it was a really expensive gift and it has remained at her house. What do you think? Both parties could make good use of the money but neither one really needs it more than the other. Everyone is amicable here and we'd like to here what other people think, so please favorite any answers you like.

Where to find a big place that offers little cool things?

Bakuun — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:41:01 -0800

There have got to be some fairs, antique markets, or craft events going on in southern California. Right? I'm dying to find some sort of fair or bazaar setting where people offer mostly hand-made or collectible trinkets, or similar odds-and-ends - without any 'modern factory-based goods' making their way into the booths. I hear the Ren Fair is starting to suffer from the later, as well as the Rodeum (sp?) in Torrance. The antique market in Alameda looks really cool, but... it's way up in Alameda, and I'm in the south bay.

This is a big state! There's gotta be something like that around here. Please help me find it!

Are Safeway organics really organic?

biwa-shu — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:24:34 -0800

Safeway: regular brands and house brands out the wazoo. It says organic, but is it? So Safeway and other stores too have their regular supplier brands, in regular and organic varieties, as well as their own house brand in varieties organic and not.

Today we bought organic Driscoll berries, but they looked just like the non-organic ones, except for the label on the container. After watching some videos on Driscoll's site, it seems that they get their berries from a number of sources, which might indicate that their organic berries only come from organic producers. But the container and the contents were totally identical--only the label differentiated them.

Then the eggs were even worse. The best endorsement a Safeway egg had going for it was "Laid by uncaged hens." Ok, great! You take them out of their cages before they lay eggs.

I asked the manager at the register about all this, and she gave me a glassy-eyed schpiel about how she had asked the same questions and was totally convinced that the answers she got were satisfactory. But it's so easy when it's the same company that writes your paycheck...

So where's the beef? To what extent can we trust the labels and the signs?

How do young professionals successfully negotiate a starting salary?

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:12:25 -0800

Do young professionals stand a change when negotiating a starting salary after a three-month probationary period? I started my current job a little while ago and it is now time for my three-month review. At the time I accepted this job, I was told that the salary I would be receiving ($35k) is non-negotiable during the probationary period, and could be reviewed at the three month mark. Although I found this somewhat suspiciously, I felt that this job was the best fit for me and was excited to start.

I’m feeling a bit more realistic and familiar with how things work at the land planning and design firm I work for, however still not 100% comfortable or confident in my skills. I am trained as a landscape architect, and have spent the majority of my time doing graphic design, editing and formatting using InDesign.

However, friends of mine in the same profession are receiving an annual salary of almost $10,000 more. I get the same types of benefits they do, and two weeks holiday time. At this point, there has been no discussion about perks, bonuses, or any incentives. I don’t drive, so cars/mileage isn’t factored in.

During my interview, I specifically asked if there would be a considerable amount of overtime. They answered no, as long as you finish what you need to do. However, in one two-week pay period, I worked double the time I was supposed to, twelve days in a row, and spent the entire weekend at the office. I received one day off in lieu for this time.

It is a 9:00am-5:00pm job, however everybody knows you come in at 8:00 and you leave at 6:00pm at the very least. Nobody gets up from their desk at lunch time, and in the summer we are supposed to have half-day Fridays… but nobody ever takes their half days. The idea is that you come in to work earlier and stay later to take a half day off, but really… you just end up working more.

The office is severely understaffed and during the time that I’ve been here (3 months) I’ve attended three good-bye parties. Prior to my arrival, one of the partners quit and took two employees with him to a different firm. Am I wrong to see this as a red flag? This is a small firm, with about ten people.

I believe that I’m worth more than my current salary, and assume that they would expect some negotiation during my hour-long review tomorrow. However, if I ask for an increase, I don’t want to slave away and feel obligated to stay late at night and come in on weekends. They’re severely short-staffed and I believe that some of the project managers lack proper organization skills – but how does a Junior Designer bring this up?

My ideal salary would be $41,500 – given my education and overseas work experience. I’m trying to gauge what other young professionals make in Toronto, but everybody is pretty tight-lipped. I highly doubt they will give me this. I do enjoy my work, and money isn’t everything, but I’d like it to be fair.

How do I politely ask for at least what I feel I’m worth? How can a young professional argue that they’re worth it, they’re willing to work hard but not sell their soul?

How to fairly split costs on a roadtrip

biwa-shu — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:51:04 -0800

What's the fairest way to split gasoline and other costs between riders on a roadtrip? We will travel in Japan, and there are many variables in our trip, but I imagine the same information could be used in light of the rise in gas prices in north america!

-One person will incur costs traveling by train to our start point.
-We will travel by toll road.
-We will pick one person up along the way, incurring costs when we exit from the toll road. Does that rider pay the entire cost? Is he responsible for his share of our entire toll burden, or only the cost from his point of pickup?
-Also, should all riders split gasoline evenly, or only depending on how far they travel (eg: we split gas 3 ways until we pick up our 4th rider, then split it 4 ways)?

Because I own the car, I am interested in collecting as much money as I can--I have to think about oil, wear and tear, and cleaning time. Would it be fair to split the entire cost of our trip between all the riders evenly?

Income tax versus Fair tax....help

madmamasmith — Sun, 04 May 2008 14:32:48 -0800

I need to better understand the proposed tax systems. Mainly the fair tax or sales tax versus an income tax. I am writing a paper for school on the viewpoints of TTARA (The Texas Taxpayers and Research Ass.) and CTJ (citizens for tax justice) but cannot gain a clear idea of what each side is proposing. Obviously the republicans want the fair tax, and since TTARA is business minded, I assume they too seek the fair tax, or at least support it. But what is the Dem idea of fair taxation? Do they want an income tax? What is all this talk on CTJ about income tax cuts? I don’t have the patience to sift through all the material so I'm hoping someone can give me a basic idea of the differing positions on the matter. Mainly answer the question of who wants what and why, and who benefits most from each plan.... Also what about the working poor, do they benefit most from an income tax? Etc. Etc.

i missed the carnival, and its not fair!

gcat — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:40:06 -0800

help me find carnivals in San Diego - not just right now, but in general. every once in a while, i will be driving somewhere in san diego and i will notice a carnival- or fair-type event. i forget where ive seen them, exactly. it seems like one that ive seen several times over the years must have been at this park by sunset cliffs blvd and nimitz.

of course, im always on my way somewhere else, and then i kinda forget about it for a while - out of sight out of mind. then, usually weeks or more later, it will occur to me to wonder if it is still there.

does anyone know of a website or even a phone number to call that would list ongoing carnivals and fairs (not the county fair) in san diego county? or even just central san diego? in all these years, only once or twice have i followed up my wondering with a trip to ocean beach to see for myself, so a site or phone number would be helpful. (im guessing its not cool to post phone numbers, so maybe a link to phone numbers?)

or - does anyone have any other tips for trying to find out info on these types of events? (ive tried google, of course.)

Not a goth girl, not yet a tanned woman

Rosie M. Banks — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:05:17 -0800

De-gothify me, good MeFites! I'm looking for bronzing and self-tanning products for the very fair-skinned. I'm a brown-eyed brunette with very fair, cool-toned skin. Normally I burn easily and don't tan well. This was all well and good in my goth days, and works out fine in the winter when I can just play up my high-contrast coloring, and my legs are discreetly masked by tights or pants.

However, spring has sprung and with it nice warm weather. I want to go bare-legged for once without forcing all in my vicinity to put on sunglasses to escape the glare from my milk-white legs. I want to wear bronzer on my face without looking like I have jaundice. Most of all, I want to have a healthy glow overall without looking like George Hamilton or a porn actress. I know it's not realistic, given my skin, to expect a deep tan; I just want a nice glow.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks between me and tanning products is that I naturally do not look good in brown, gold, and earth tones in general. I have not for the life of me been able to find a face bronzer that doesn't make me look sallow and muddy.

What are my rights for republishing screenshots/promotional material in an academic text?

serial_consign — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 22:01:49 -0800

What right do I have to republish software screenshots and promotional material within a critical/academic context? Do I need to get formal permission from the corporations that own & distribute this material? I'm submitting a book chapter and the publisher for this text appears pretty stiff on copyright protocol. I want to republish screenshots from early GUI's (i.e. Xerox Star) and also some interface applications for the iphone. Do I need to get in touch with Apple/Xerox for this kind of republishing? I was planning on using promotional and or archival images..

This is all in the context of a scholarly text. Also, with the iphone specifically I'd be writing about an interface designed for it, not so much the device itself and I would have permission from that designer.

I've never got formal clearance for republication of images - I've only dealt with Creative Commons content online - if anybody could provide any input/direciton it would be greatly appreciated.

Family Budget Decision-making

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 16:37:36 -0800

Look, I truly do get the “know your income, know your expenses” bit about budgeting. And I’m pretty frugal in my habits. My problem is this, as the financial head of this family, I have to decide what we will spend our inadequate resources on. So in general, how to prioritise discretionary spending in a fair and efficient manner? We’re not broke-poor, but while I’m studying and working only part-time, we have limited discretionary funds. Before quitting full-time work to study, I locked the house rate in, and created a slush fund which is half gone, the remainder earmarked for a deposit on a second-hand car.

Specifically, here’s the competing stuff.

Teen daughter would like a mobile phone, more expensive razors than I currently buy, hair dye, professional haircut (not boutique, just not at home) ,hair product to keep the haircut looking normal, eyebrow waxing (again, not at home) and a new electric toothbrush (after her alleged neglect killed the last).

Teen son would like university books paid for, regular junk food (ie two bottles of Pepsi a week and an occasional pack of chips (not a real lot), fixings for pizza – his main food group), transport to uni (train, bus, bus), occasional LAN party permission where two other very tall people come and eat chips and drink Pepsi and sleep in the daytime.

Husband (& major breadwinner) would like new computer (his died) but not bottom of the range for WOW, must be good enough to do coding on (don’t ask me, I just work here), a new washing machine (the current one puts lint all over our clothes), a new dryer (the current one works intermittently) and the rights to buy lunch at work. He also feels that a Wii and a big screen tv would bring the family closer together.

My list: buy a second-hand car (we don’t have one currently), send husband to the dentist for the tooth chipped over a year ago (no, he doesn’t want to go), replace guttering (okay pipe dream), have a trip away (camping or some such cheapo thing), get a fence, get a whippersnipper.

Clearly, the kids need to get jobs, but without licenses (they’re too young and we don’t have a car) most of the jobs they’re eligible for involve them walking home in the dark (I don’t like that for my daughter) or spending most of their wage on taxis (pointless and public transport around here is pretty tragic). I could earn more money but I’d have to quit full-time study (and I’m up to my last year with 264 days to go, not like I’m counting).

So again, how to prioritise discretionary spending in a fair and efficient manner?

Next week, how to encourage a very shy teen boy that being a check-out chick is fun and profitable.

Where can I find clear rules for fair use of online videos?

m2002 — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 17:08:58 -0800

Clear rules for fair use of online videos? I'm building a website that will often use video clips from various sources, ranging from home videos to movie/tv clips hosted by Youtube. Where can I find rules and guidelines for fair use of videos?

I know the general rules for fair use but I couldn't find any hard rules (e.g. how many seconds of a clip is ok).

My website is not a video critique site, not educational, and it runs advertisements. It will be a pretty big website so it won't fly under the radar like so many personal blogs.

My biggest concern is to AVOID LITIGATION.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Quick dose of the Bard

Hargrimm — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:27:32 -0800

Searching for an understandable snippet of Shakespeare. In school, we are putting on a miniature Renaissance Faire, and I am going to be doing a quick reading of Shakespeare. I need a short selection from Shakespeare that would be understandable to 9th graders that I can memorize. Any suggestions welcome.

Game Ideas for a Fall Festival

ThePinkSuperhero — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 19:31:05 -0800

Step right up! I need some fun, cheap games & activities for a fall festival. I'm organizing a "fall costume" (Halloween) festival at my church for the neighborhood kids. I need some fun ideas for games/activites- I'm thinking organized little games like ring toss, bean bag toss, etc., but all ideas are welcome- there was some game I did at a fall festival once that involved a huge mountain of packing peanuts, I can't remember the point but it was SO FUN PACKING PEANUTS WEEE- I want stuff like that, too. An idea for 1 good, engaging craft (something that the Ladies Aid could do halfway and kids at the fair could finish, perhaps) would be good, too.

Fantastic Plastic Machine "Get me to the church" ?

grobstein — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:16:17 -0800

Find me the Fantastic Plastic Machine arrangement of "Get me to the church on time" (or whatever it's called) from My Fair Lady, featured in the Uniqlock (recent FPP). The Googles, they do nothing! I've tried googling around for this track, but come up with nothing. It must be that either

1. The track has a loopy, non-obvious title,

2. It's unreleased,

3. Something else.

Has anyone heard this outside of the Uniqlock context? I neeeeeeed it!

Fair Use: Embedded video in quotation form?

Quarter Pincher — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 06:47:45 -0800

Fair Use Filter -- I want to take clips from movies and embed them in an online essay as quotation-style references. I want to write an essay to be posted online, using clips from major motion picture studios as references in a kind of quotation form, using YouTube/Metacafe/etc as the embedded bandwidth supplier for the clips. They are only pieces of scenes of movies, and used in context with a running commentary of a particular theme other than what the movies themselves are about, giving full credit of the original producers, etc, and not making any money off their reproduction (no advertisments at all).

Is this fair use?

Wonderful street markets?

Morrigan — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:10:49 -0800

Can you recommend the most amazing street markets? I love outdoor or indoor markets in urban areas where you can wander and get lost for hours. I'm thinking Albert Cuyp Market in Amsterdam, Khan el-Khalili in Cairo, that sort of thing. Holiday markets, too. Any ideas?

Miniaturized world fair cartoon?

Baldons — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:05:54 -0800

I remember in my childhood a short cartoon. It was black and white and seemed from the fifties. It began with someone clicking on a capsule, or otherwise activate the enlargement mechanism of this thing that became an enormous world fair or luna park or something. The cartoon ended with the same thing, reversed. It was wonderful! Someone remembers something like that? I don't think there were famous characters, but the drawing style was similar to fifties mickey mouse or Warner brothers cartoons. I saw it on italian television so it must not have been THAT obscure. I know it's hard, hive mind, I know it's hard.

Looking for advice on selling goods at a popular art/craft fair.

Ostara — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 15:05:19 -0800

I am going to be selling my wares at an outdoor arts and crafts show in a couple of weeks. This show usually gets a turnout of anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000 people, depending on the weather. I am looking for suggestions on making this a success. I make soy candles, and will be one of three candle sellers at the fair. There are going to be 70 artisans total. I have my tent, my knuckle-bustin' credit card swiper, a cash box, about 300 candles (still making more) bookmarks, flyers, a banner with my company name, tables, tablecloths, acrylic risers and a few other odds and ends.

Although I sell my candles at stores in the St. Louis area and through my web site, this will be the first time that I will be selling at an arts and crafts fair.

I am looking for input from people who have sold goods at such shows in the past. What else should I bring? What problems should I anticipate? Any other general advice?

Also, for those who enjoy attending such shows, what draws you into an artisan's booth? What entices you to buy?

Science fair!

sindas — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:19:28 -0800

Help with a science fair project idea My friend's kid is 9 years old, working on a science fair project. He wants to do it on "metabolism"... This type of project is supposed to answer a question... So what question could he be answering? and some ideas on the experiment too... Thanks! (think 6th grade-ish level...)

Why couldn't they show the Chanel logo on The Simpsons?

benrodian — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 11:14:18 -0800

What are the rules for using company logos in creative works? Specifically, why was Marge able to refer to Chanel many times in that one Simpsons episode while the logo was never fully visible? In the Simpsons episode where Marge gets the Chanel dress really cheap, the Chanel name is never fully visible. The word is obscured by a tree, etc. This leads me to think that representing the logo would be a possible copyright violation.

I also remember the McDonald's logo being represented in a very angular version (rather than the normal curvy logo) on the show.

Why is it permissible to have a character talk about Walmart but not permissible to show the complete Walmart logo?

Can anyone explain the rules to me in a simple way?

Polling center PAC question - why didn't the MoveOn guy have to leave?

caution live frogs — Tue, 02 Nov 2004 04:59:20 -0800

ElectionFairnessFilter. So i just voted (yay) and noticed something odd - a man in the polling place sitting quietly behind a MoveOn PAC sign. I didn't think we in the US could have anyone inside the polling place advocating a specific voting paradigm (even if I do think it's a good paradigm to support), and so I wasn't surprised when a lady complained and an officious-looking man walked over to talk to the seated gentleman - but after a short conversation, they let him stay. Anyone know what gives here? Why would they not ask him to leave?