Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with feedback

Good Phone for the Could You Speak Up A Little Crowd

DU — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:22:46 -0800

Loud, clear, land-line phone without feedback whine? I don't know if we are hard of hearing, or getting old or what, but I and especially my wife have a hard time hearing what people say on our landline phone. We turned up the volume to the loudest it goes and it's still not loud enough. This is a corded phone, btw.

Worse, the sound from the mic is feed to the speaker (I guess because otherwise you can't hear what you are saying? huh?). With the volume set high, this causes terrible feedback whine.

We tried a second phone and had the same problem. Are there phones out there that don't feed the mic to the speaker? Or that otherwise filter the whine out? Or simply a clearer, louder phone without me having to know how they made that happen?

We'd rather not spend $300 on a Special Phone but I do realize that we'll probably have to spend more than the $15 cheapest-they-had model.

Laptop audio feedback.

Juicylicious — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:11:54 -0800

Gremlins have taken over my laptop and now I get extremely loud audio feedback. In the last few days the audio has somehow become screwed up on my laptop.
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There is very loud audio feedback, which gets even worse when I begin to close the lid. It does stop when the lid is completely closed.

Also, audio cannot be played through the external speakers, which are connected via USB. Although headphones do work.

Yesterday, the problem was the complete opposite; I could only get audio through the external speakers and headphones, but not the built in speakers.

It seems that the built in microphone is keyed as the sound of touching the laptop seem to be amplified.

If I play something online that does have audio, it overrides the feedback. And for some reason it is no longer recognizing the CD drive. Sigh.

It is an IBM T42 running XP. I've tried to update audio drivers, but I cannot tell if it has been successful. This has been complicated by the fact that I had to wipe my hard drive several months ago. The person who reinstalled XP somehow erased all of the IBM info, including the serial number and customer ID. Thus, I cannot get support from IBM.

Any thoughts on how to fix this? It's driving me crazy.

Drop her like she's hot?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:51:37 -0800

What do I say to my friend about her bad attitude? I have this friend, I'll call her Sandy. Sandy and I met in my city a few years ago, through a specific local arts community. Sandy is avidly interested in this art form, and while she occasionally takes lessons in the subject, she mostly resides within the community as a sort of enthusiast. Sandy can be a very thoughtful, interesting person when she wants to be. The problem comes when Sandy's bad attitude turns up, as it inevitably does.

Sandy will be oddly antisocial when we go to functions, only interacting with the very short list of people she likes. She openly criticizes many artists in the community, their work/philosophies, etc. When debating the merits of one school of thought or another, Sandy has a terrible habit of throwing out "names" she knows and being quite arrogant about it. She is sycophantic to those who are known on a national level and has made some good connections doing so. She makes the point often that our local community is a "joke" compared with [other city] where many of her successful friends work. She will claim that some perfectly nice people have tried to "burn her" because they are jealous of her connections. She also gets great deal of pleasure in one-upping people on her knowledge of the art form, especially in a public space.

Certainly insecurity is an issue here. I am aware that she is nervous to spread her own wings artistically and have been very encouraging of her pursuing it further. I believe she falls back on her years as a semi-insider within the community as a way to earn her props. As I mentioned, she does have genuinely redeeming qualities, but overall l am frustrated.

I feel for her on many levels, as she is the perfect example of someone who is artistically blocked/fearful. I haven't said anything to her about it yet, but it's coming. She occasionally gets mad at me due to some small perceived slight (ie: not returning a call right away), or we might argue over her often irrational views of peoples' character/motivations. I don't want to pick friends based off public perception, but I think that going out with her socially may hinder my ability to make and keep relationships within the community.

Is there a way to give someone feedback about this behavior, in productive manner? Is it a waste to even try? I do value the parts of the friendship when we are bonding over our shared passion and I think that she does deserve a good friend, particularly if it helps her grow out of her bitterness. I don't shy away from ending relationships if there are no redeeming parts left, but I am hoping there might be some way to salvage this. Thoughts?

How do I evaluate feedback at a job interview?

Seeba — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:18:29 -0800

How do I evaluate feedback at a job interview? I've been having slightly more success recently in my search for a job, but after four or five interviews in the last six months where I've been told things like: (to give the most recent example) "Well, you're who I'm recommending as the candidate-to-hire, after my in four days where I'll present you, I'll give you a call, let you know where we go from here."

On that forth day, I received a form letter, dated the day of the interview, telling me "Thank you for coming in, we've decided to go with someone who more closely fits our... etc etc"

I am quite perturbed-- not so much that I didn't get the job (though I, every time, wanted it, showed my enthusiasm, etc), but for the false signals, and a few times for the outright lies. (Making sure I'm not giving the wrong impression here-- I assume people are telling me the truth, and don't really want to change that; I may have just had a run of bad luck.)

How do I evaluate the feedback that I get at a job interview? I can tell sometimes when the interviewer obviously isn't interested (setting the resume down and ending the interview a few moments later is usually a pretty good tell), or if I say something that shows that I'm not who they're looking for, but how do I approach someone who says "Yup, you're who we're looking for, we'll let you know in a day or two"

Is there a polite/politic way to say "I won't be offended if you tell me an honest yes/no/maybe... but I'd really appreciate a bit of blunt feedback."
(I understand, especially for companies that go through a lot of applicants, that time restrictions will prevent a lot of this, but on second or third interviews with the same company, I'd figure the applicant pool shrinks quite a bit, giving them the extra thirty seconds to a minute?)

A followup-- I normally send a two line "Thank you for your time" note to whoever does the interview; would etiquette see this as hostile to send it to someone who said "I will call you with your results" and instead, sent a form letter?

Make my feedback as funny as a frog in a sock.

taff — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:46:04 -0800

Help me write my ebay feedback... I'm a bit daggy and like to write my ebay feedback in similies. For no particular reason... just 'cause I'm a dag*. I've done over eighty and now I've run out of ideas. Can the brilliance that is Ask MeFi help me please?

Examples of my work so far:

-at fast as a greased gazelle
-as easy as getting back to kansas with toto
-as free as a greenpeace boat
-as fun as a haggis

the broad areas to comment upon are speed of posting, accuracy of description, "niceness" of the person and ease of transaction. Basically I need to comment on either the process or the item. They can be as obscure or as ironic as you can manage. I most often buy french clothes for my daughters so they can reference that too if you like.

Would love some help, need to leave a sh!tload of feedback and want to reach 100. Thanks in advance groovy Ask MeFi folk.

* dag= untrendy... Australian slang. Can also mean a sheep's bum. You can decide which one I am.

Solutions for reducing feedback from an amplified cello?

worstnerdever — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:03:46 -0800

We use a clip-on-bridge pickup ($20, but it sounds fancy) to incorporate cello into our 5-piece rock band. The cello is always the volume-limiting factor, though, and we'd like things to be a little louder. There seem to be no sound hole covers on the market, and we're not stuffing the whole thing with socks, so we're looking for anything that will reduce feedback and easily attach to the cello without having any, any, ANY permanent effect on the instrument.

How do I state my sexual preferences without sounding like a broken record?

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:30:05 -0800

How do I state my sexual preferences without sounding like a broken record? I (early 20's) am in a solid relationship with my boyfriend (early 30's) of one year and we're trusting, respectful, committed, affectionate and all that good stuff. He had sexual experience with long-term partners before we were together so he's sensitive and aware and knows how to turn me on (manually) but he had never given oral sex to a woman before. In my seven-ish years of sexual escapades I've had enough experience to know what works for me and I try to be open and honest about my preferences.

When receiving oral sex, I prefer to enjoy the anticipation of touch for a time before direct clitoral stimulation begins. When this happens, I tend to moan and otherwise express pleasure; he takes this as a sign that I want more pressure and immediate stimulation and so things quickly progress. I've tried saying "I prefer less pressure, especially early on" and "remember that time you teased me for a long time..." and, when necessary "hey, that's too much" but it never seems to stick. That is, he will take what I've said into consideration for a little while but then reverts back to the original technique (or he is gentle during that session but the next time he seems to forget what I asked for).

I should be clear that I believe this behaviour relates to his enthusiasm/arousal and not an intent to ignore what I'm after. He's very willing to give oral sex and so I certainly don't want to discourage him. I'm also cautious about being too critical or giving only negative feedback as I'm his first partner in this regard and I want him to know that I appreciate his generosity. I want to get my point across without repeating myself every time we're together - how can I accomplish this? Or, more generally, how do people prefer to receive sexual feedback?

Cerebral Psychosomatic Scramble Stasis

Christ, what an asshole — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:27:14 -0800

Looking for specific songs that have a very particular, idiosyncratic quality to them... The quality I'm looking for can best be described as ... a sublime mind fuck. A very particular sound quality that makes the eyes flicker and the mind reel. It's an instrumentally guitar-heavy characteristic with ample amounts of foot pedal action, usually heavy distortion and feedback, with a windfall of melody comprised of high frets on the neck of the guitar.

I know it sounds somewhat confusing what I'm looking for here, so I made a little sample compilation: mp3

Songs used:

Paik - Tinsel and Foil
The Voom Blooms - Aeroplanes at 3am
Cecilia::Eyes - Shiftkill
The Radio Dept. - The City Limit
Ceremony - Old
Moving Mountains - Cover the Roots, Lower the Stems
Mahogany - Domino Ladder Beta
M83 - Gone
The Bridal Shop - Spectrum of Clarity
Have a Nice Life - I Don't Love
Cut City - Just Pornography
Asobi Seksu - Red Sea
Bitcrush - Drop Entitled
Stars - A Thread Cut With a Carving Knife
Port-Royal - Anya-Sehnsucht (Dedo Remix)

So you can kind of get the impression that I'm looking for surging, pulsating, ethereal, engrossing, hypnotic songs with a certain shrillness to the melody.

....

Anyway, things I'm not looking for include genre or band suggestions. I'm looking for specific songs, because this particular quality is rare to come across, but means the world to me.

My last.fm page and music blog if you need a frame of reference.

When and/or how do I ask for feedback at work?

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:35:43 -0800

Have you initiated asking your boss for feedback on your job? When is the time to do it, and how's it done? I have recently transitioned from lab-bench academia to administrative-ish-but-we're-all-still-geeks academia. In graduate school I always had problems knowing if I was doing well, doing enough work or producing enough data, especially with a lab adviser who rarely gave regular feedback on my progress. Therefore, I definitely would like to generate regular feedback from my current, new supervisor. I do worry about sounding somewhat "needy" however, or begging for compliments (I have a sneaking suspicion I am prone to such behaviours.) So how does one go about initiating asking for feedback, if at all?

eBay shipper sent me a religious tract - should I note this in feedback?

Cranialtorque — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:05:36 -0800

An eBay purchase just arrived. I have no complaint at all about the item, and it was shipped quickly. The seller included a religious tract in the package, though, which bugs me. I would like to note this in the feedback, politely, as a negative. It seems reasonable to note something about the transaction that I disliked, but worry that it may not be worth the potential hassle. Yes, I am an atheist. No, I don't make a habit of provoking religious folks. I do not appreciate being witnessed to, proselytized to, or preached at, especially when it invades my everyday business. This is not a Jack Chick level of tract, not hate-spewing or overly gory. But I don't enjoy "Turn to JESUS or you will burn FOREVER!" being a part of this transaction.

I do not plan to actually leave negative feedback, as I am happy with the item and the shipping. My plan is to mention it as a negative in the comment section.

My concern is not that the seller might leave me a negative feedback; who cares. It is that this action could either trigger a flurry of email or snailmail from the seller (and his fellow congregants) or some sort of dispute with eBay, and that it just could be a big headache. (I'm not particularly worried about any live harassment, as we live on opposite sides of the continent.) When I transpose the situation to a physical retailer, I think I would act similarly, and I think I would be unhappy with myself if I let this go.

What do you think, hivemind?

Suggestion Box

kaizen — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 04:17:11 -0800

I have been charged with developing a employee suggestion system. Has anyone seen a organization do it right? My challenges are in eliciting valuable suggestions ( not complaints ), recognizing contributions, and defining what suggestions are good versus those that are bad. Has anyone seen a system that actually works, gets people engaged, and gets results?

How do I keep my headset from causing feedback in Ventrilo?

Kraki — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:00:30 -0800

How do i keep my headset from causing feedback in Ventrilo? If someone else is talking while i have my push-to-talk button down, i seem to send their voice right back to them, like if i had a microphone up to a set of speakers. I use Ventrilo for voice chat while i play World of Warcraft. I know its frustrating when other people do not use a headset, because when i talk, if they have their push-to-talk (hereafter ptt) button down, i end up hearing myself from their speakers too. when several people try and talk at once it gets quite unintelligible.

I purchased headphones a while ago to alleviate this problem. For some reason however, if someone talks while my ptt button is pushed, it causes the sound that should be going to my ears, to also go back through the microphone.

How can i stop this feedback?

Sound system gonna bring me back up, yeah...one thing that I can depend on

ostranenie — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:03:00 -0800

AudioEngineerFilter: I'm now in charge of a medium-sized (50 people) auditorium and the sound output system is okay, but the wireless mic system is limited to two mics (a handheld and a lavalier), and it needs upgraded...and quick! The room is a large round table which will have the guests/participants sitting around. The requirement is to capture everyone's voice with a wireless mic and broadcast it right back out to the room. There are speakers everywhere.

We have one lavalier mic that transmits instantaneously and causes godawful feedback if you're anywhere near any of the speakers, and one handheld with a slight delay (100ms?) that has virtually no feedback unless you're on top of the speaker. I was thinking we could buy some kind of omnidirectional wireless microphones that sit quietly in strategic locations around the round table, picking up whatever anyone is saying and transmitting it over to the mixer, feeding it back into the system - enough for everyone to hear, but not enough to feed back into the mic. I'm also inclined to introduce a delay inline so there would be less feedback (amateur that I am). But I don't know who to buy from and what to get!

Any suggestions? Can you recommend a delay and a set of wireless omnidirectional mics (and a receiver)? I have a nominal budget of $1000, but it can be more if it needs to. Thanks!

Where can I get feedback on my programming?

giggleknickers — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:27:40 -0800

Is there some community where programmers can submit their work to each other and get feedback? I'm learning Java and rather new at it. I'd like some community where programmers can show what they've done and others will critique it. Your average java community probably wouldn't take too kindly to me making three threads a day saying "This is the latest thing I've done. Please give feedback!"

If there isn't such a community already, would anyone want to get together and make one?

Turn it up to eleven and lean the guitar against it...

merocet — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 17:32:04 -0800

I'm looking for songs which contain guitar feedback. Easy huh? Nope, I need songs that have sections of guitar feedback where there are no other instruments playing. Of course there's Metal Machine Music, also the beginning of Bauhaus' Dark Entries has a great example but more? They escape me.

Extra points for ear-hurty-ness!

Software development: How to best get useful feedback from users?

doomtop — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:51:00 -0800

Software development: How to best get useful feedback from users? We are developing a customer service / tech support customer management software. It is web-based and being developed entirely in-house.

We have a call center staff who is not hugely technical oriented. They will be the primary users of this system. They have been using/testing some of the system in early stages of development.

The biggest issues have been how it works for these users. We want the system to work for them and realize that their feedback/input will be hugely valuable to making this system the best it can be.

Is there any standard method of getting feedback from system testers like this? Any list of questions that will help them think about how the systems works and be able to give suggestions that will benefit the development towards improving the various aspects?

I am having a hard time figuring out how to best facilitate the feedback process and make it easier for the users to put their feedback into words that I can take and formulate into a document that will support the developers in understanding the point of view of the users and how the system works for them.

Any suggestions very much appreciated!

That awful noise.

tmcw — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:42:51 -0800

How do I tackle feedback with a piezo pickup on a very small instrument (ukulele), running it through guitar amps or PA systems? So I have a concert ukulele, and I've hooked it up with a K&K Big Shot piezo pickup, positioned right behind the bridge. I've been running it through either a Fender Princeton 112+ or Peavey Classic 30 guitar amp, and I've found that any high volume will cause almost unavoidable feedback - even when I'm holding all of the strings still. The problem seems to be reduced when I cut off the mid & bass at the amp level. I know that distance is pretty key here - I need to be further from the amp - but it's still pretty bad. Is there anything that performers do about this that I don't know about? I'd really like to get this thing in action and on stage someday.

Thanks!

eBay retaliatory negative feedback retaliation

tipthepizzaguy — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 18:15:51 -0800

I won an eBay auction, but the seller didn't have the item in stock at the time of the auction's completion. Two weeks later I was given a full refund via PayPal. I left neutral feedback (pretty neutral experience, wouldn't you say?), and got retaliatory negative feedback from the seller, along with a request to have the feedback mutually withdrawn. How can I stick it to him? The guy has 100% positive feedback, so I'm assuming he achieved it through similarly scumbagish means. He now has the item in stock, and when I demanded the item at a discount he offered $2 off. It was a $56 item--fat freaking chance.

Did he break eBay's policies enough (by not actually HAVING the item he was selling) that I could file a claim against him? Does it matter that he now has the item in stock and is offering it to me at a similar price? It's my understanding that I'm not obligated to accept any alternate deals from a seller.

He's obviously a vindictive prick (though I suppose one could argue that I am as well), so I have no desire to continue doing business with this guy. Should I just put my tail between my legs, withdraw the feedback, and be done with it? Or is there a specific eBay policy that he's broken that could justify a claim against him?

Bonus points: If he hasn't technically broken eBay policy, is there anything more nefarious (and legal and within eBay policy) that I could do to "get back" at him?

How can I recover from upward feedback?

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 04:44:41 -0800

How can I recover my confidence after upward feedback that was less than complimentary? I received some quite confronting, harsh criticism from a very experienced team member yesterday. It was mainly about my decisions about the scope of a project, issues currently unresolved and my efforts in getting the team understanding and working on their allocated deliverables. The thing is, I think he's probably right on the team side of things. I didn't argue and accepted his feedback and today have come in with a new effort to fix the problems and get things back on track.

Here's the real problem - I've found it to be a real confidence sapping experience. I've dealt with criticism and advertisity before in the workplace, but now I find myself doubting so much that I'm becoming less productive than before. I think the team member has noticed, because now he's asking for my input on inconsequential things. If I've corrected the original source of the problem, how can I get back on track?

Side point that are probably relevant, he has far more experience and I've previously made it clear that I value his opinion. I am usually seen by my mgt as a productive and useful employee (we have frequent written feedback to validate this). Now I almost feel that he's directing my work and I've lost all momentum - help!

(anon because peers read mefi)

Barking Subwoofer Blues

I, Credulous — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 13:51:36 -0800

My mother-in-law plugged in her laptop via a docking station, hit the on switch on the powerstrip, and two disturbing things happened... 1) the external monitor's switch had been left in the "on" position, so there was a "bwong" noise from the monitor (sounded like a nasty de-gaussing, really)

2) the 2.1 speaker system started emitting this sound like "BWOooooom" every five seconds or so. It sounds kind of like bass feedback that builds relatively quickly in volume (not percussively, but a quick swell), then trails away (as if an electrical charge had been, well, discharged), and then it cycles up again.

By variously plugging and unplugging things, I narrowed it down to the subwoofer box itself. even with no input from the computer and the satellite speakers removed, powering up causes the feedback-y sound to start. It seems willing to continue forever, too.

My first thoughts were that perhaps some circuit or circuit protection in the subwoofer box had gone "poof" and the subwoofer was shot.

Any thoughts?

(BTW, if the subwoofer's toast, I'm definitely bringing it home to sample this sound -- it's killer!)

How do I get rid of the feedback in a WAV file with Audacity?

dw — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 14:48:47 -0800

I have a WAV file of a lecture I'm trying to edit into a Podcast using Audacity. There's some feedback and ringing during some of the speaker's talk. How do I get rid of it (or at least minimize it)? Admittedly, I'm a novice with Audacity and sound editing; this is podcast #8. I couldn't control the feedback because I wasn't running sound; I (or rather, a student assistant) plugged the recorder straight into the sound board. (It's a Marantz, so it's not exactly a cheap digital audio recorder.)

It's not as if the feedback/ringing dominates the talk, but there are 2-3 minute passages where the ringing is more pronounced and annoying. And it is recorded as a WAV file rather than as an MP3.

Any ideas as to how to get the sound out or at least minimize the impact of the feedback?

Looking For Feedback, For Sites that give Feedback.

bleucube — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 20:38:09 -0800

Do you know of a place, beside Metafilter, to post web projects and get feedback? Looking for alternatives to post web projects and get feedback. I've posted a couple projects here and received really good feedback from the hive mind. To the point were it really impacted how the project performed.

I feel I need to contribute more to Metafilter before posting any more, my stats are pretty unbalanced. So in the meantime, where can I post a pretty unique project and it valuable feedback?

How to get constructive feedback on a client pitch?

DCTapeworm — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 10:10:31 -0800

What techniques do you use to gather feedback about client pitch materials before they're presented? Hi there,

I'm employed at a marketing firm, which actively does client pitches for project work. While we base our success on how many pitches are ultimately accepted, I'm wondering how I can improve the pitches that fall short.

Does anyone have any recommendations on getting internal feedback from our own employees (or others) on client pitches before they happen?

I could haul 2-5 people into a room and get their feedback, but I'm wondering if I can figure out a better way...

Please comment if you can spare the time.

We're going to air, please turn down your radio

tellurian — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 14:52:21 -0800

Phoning a live radio show while you have your radio on causes some problems. I was listening to a radio station this morning and three people had phoned in to be part of a competition. One of the callers had their radio on and it caused the most unholy squealing feedback giving the presenters conniptions.
Can anyone explain to me in layman's terms what's happening here? What configuration has to be in place for this to occur? Other answers I'd like - How close to the radio does your phone have to be (or is it the volume)? Do you or the station have to be making a sound before the feedback happens? Do you have to be tuned to same radio station or is it just the fact the you have the radio on?

What is going rate for catalog design

goalyeehah — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 22:34:12 -0800

To all professional graphic designers - What is the going professional rate for designing a catalog. My graphic design business was contracted to do a 32 page full color catalog for a longtime client. We shot the cover photo with a model we supplied and did all of the 50 product illustrations as well as about 10 other how-to illustrations. The job has been ongoing for about a year. We asked for $1200 six months into the project but haven't done any interim billing as we have had other projects.

We are good at what we do, have 20 years experience and have worked for reputable graphic design firms. We have successfully met all of our clients needs artistically and professionally and all have been pleased with the results.

I've had this client for about ten years and have worked with his company since it began as a startup. My fees were initially modest.

We are about to upgrade our fee structure and are unsure as to the ongoing rates for a job of this size .We have heard from other designers that the rates can be anywhere from $3200 to $10,000 for the whole catalog. We also want to charge a separate fee for the model (my graphic design partner) and are unsure of modeling fees.

Feedback, please?