Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with lamp

Background mysteries within "Away We Go"

siclik — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:22:14 -0800

IdentificationFilter: I watched "Away We Go" this weekend and need help identifying this song and also finding an online retailer for this lamp (or something close). Ready . . . set . . . go! - The song started driving me crazy as soon as I heard it. My parents had an electronic keyboard (circa 1996) that had maybe 10 built-in synth tracks that you could play along with, and this song was one of them. I used to play along with it a lot, so when I heard it in the movie this weekend, a rush of memories hit me like a brick wall and I suddenly had a mystery to solve.

- The lamp is just cute and we would like to acquire it or something similar as an addition to our "woodland animals" themed nursery.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Can't turn my lamp on anymore

lockedroomguy — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:06:59 -0800

Can't. Turn. The. Switch. On my lamp. I have two identical table lamps bought at Crate & Barrel a year ago.

Six months ago, we found we couldn't turn the switch on one of them any more. It just wouldn't turn.

I unscrewed the black turny-thing and below it was a metal stem. I took a pair of pliers and was able to turn the stem that way, and I turned the lamp on. Then I plugged it into a power strip, and we just turn the power strip on and off to control the lamp.

This past weekend the same problem happened with the other lamp. Can't turn the switch by hand, need the pliers

I know lamps aren't that complex inside and replacing the whole switch mechanism is not that hard, but does anyone have any idea what is going on here? The switch is working, since it still turns the lamp on. It's just very hard to turn.

Does one 200 watt bulb put out as much or more light than ten 20 watt bulbs?

leemajors — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:26:17 -0800

Does one 200 watt bulb put out as much or more light than ten 20 watt bulbs? We were sitting in a bar the other day and there was a lamp on the table with a 200 watt bulb. Above us, were lots of lamps, each one considerably less bright than the lamp on our table but it got us to thinking: would the collection of lamps above us put out the same amount of light as the one lamp on our table? I

3-5 days and good programming skills. I wanna build something cool!

cgg — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:37:11 -0800

I have 3-5 days (starting tomorrow!) in which I'm off from work, and have really nothing planned. As a developer geek in a crappy economy, I'm looking at looming unemployment and/or the start of a freelance career in the very near future. I want to this time making "something" that I can use in my portfolio to show potential employers/clients. What on earth can I build? Ideas for sites are a dime a dozen, except for when I need one. I'd like to build something cool that I can show off. Trouble is, I'd like to get it out, at least v0.1, after only 3-5 days of work. All my ideas involve considerably more effort than that. And I at least want it to be somewhat fun and/or interesting and/or to teach me something new... I can write boring code at work.

So mefites -- what should I build? I know the LAMP stack pretty well, where the 'P' can be either PHP, Python or Perl (although right now PHP is my strongest language). I can thnk in SQL -- databases are not a problem. I have more than enough hosting and a good dev environment. I can learn things (APIs, etc) pretty quickly. Maybe something fun with Google Maps? A Facebook app? An entire site? I'm open to all and any ideas...

Yes, there are better uses for my time. I should be networking, yadda yadda, but this is my vacation and I don't wanna. :) I never get to write what I want to write anymore. Assume my resume is up to date and polished.

Should I be happy when it comes to SAD lamps?

jhighmore — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:47:49 -0800

I know there have been some other questions on SAD lamps, but I'm more interested in whether they actually do make a difference. Anecdotal and empirical evidence are both sought after. Also, recommendations in the UK. I couldn't say for sure that I suffer from SAD, but I know for a fact that I feel bad when there's no sun. So I thought I might invest in a SAD lamp... but is it worth it? If you could recommend any that you have used to your advantage (UK only plz) it would be much appreciated.

Also, I've been tempted by ones that are a light/alarm clock combo. Would I really end up using this that much?

I'd like my floor lamps to be more attractive than lightbulbs lying on the floor.

pemberkins — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:32:17 -0800

Help me turn a blindingly bright LED tube into a functional and decorative floor lamp! I have two LED tubes (that look vaguely like these, are about three feet long, and have a couple feet of power cord at one end). I would love to turn these into floor lamps. They're pretty blinding on their own, so some sort of lamp shade is in order. So, my questions...

1) What kind of lamp shade should I use for these? I'm happy to buy one (preferably on the cheap) or make one, but it needs to cover the whole tube.

2) What can I use for a base to get the tubes to stand upright on the floor?

Thanks!

What shade should I put on this lamp?

arnicae — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:53:48 -0800

I just found this funky diamond shaped lamp and am not sure what it is, or what kind of lampshade would look right on it. It is a ceramic lamp with thin brass overlay running around the base and a (hand-carved, I think) wooden base. No obvious maker's marks. It looks old-ish, at least mid-60's because it has a woven flat electrical cord, which I think went out of common use around that time.

But the biggest question is what kind of shade I should put on it! I would love it to fit into our apartment which has a sort of simple, dark wood, craftsman style.

Anyone know anything more about this lamp, or have any lampshade suggestions? Thanks!

How can we quickly deploy to multiple LAMP environments?

hitopshelf — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:57:52 -0800

Are there any tools to help with deploying LAMP sites to multiple environments? We have 3 Ubuntu Server environments (development, preview, and production) that need to have file and database updates pushed through multiple times a day.

We're manually using MySQL Administrator for database restores and Beyond Compare 3 for file updates but there has to be a more automated way.

The database and file systems between the environments end up nearly identical because the project is still in development and we have everything under source control.

Are there any good tools or CLI tricks that can handle quick backup and restore of the database and mirror of the file system?

Floor Lamp Me!

roundrock — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 07:35:02 -0800

I just moved to a new home that has poor lighting in my office. I'm looking for a nice freestanding floor lamp with some powerful bulbs to illuminate the office or another suggestion on what to do. The office is used mainly for reading and writing my law related stuff. I'm willing to pay a $100 (possible more) for a quality floor lamp. I liked this one from amazon but the shade is plastic and I think it might look cheap in person. Points if the link is to something I can order online! Thanks!

Enlighten my patio.

halogen — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:44:34 -0800

Does this lamp exist? I need a motion-activated flood/security light for the fenced patio right outside my bedroom, but I also want it to stay dimly lit during the remainder of the night and turn itself off in the morning. It needs to be weatherproof, and ugly is okay.

Need to shed some light...

yellowbinder — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:24:55 -0800

Where can I get a light therapy box for S.A.D. in Toronto? Pretty gloomy here, and me and my man are looking for some energy providing light. Thought it would be easy to find such a sun lamp, but not so much. Tried a Shoppers and Walmart. Where they at?

230v converter for lamp in U.S.

dearleader — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:17:06 -0800

I bought a great lamp in Denmark, but I live in the U.S. Apart from rewiring, has anyone had any luck with a converter/transformer that would allow me to use this stateside? The plug notes it's 230v, 50 hz (inductor type BL1); I believe it's a "C" type plug with the two pins. It's a very small lamp, I can't imagine it uses much power. Anyone had any luck with this sort of thing?

The bubbles.....they MOVE!

SNACKeR — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:59:56 -0800

I need to buy a lava lamp last minute...can anyone give me some pointers of where to look?

Brass lamp socket?

Marky — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:25:24 -0800

Where can I find a lamp socket (like this one) but in brass?

Help me find an electric Moroccan lantern!

kingjoeshmoe — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:32:25 -0800

Help me find an electric Moroccan lantern! Basically, I'm looking for something like this, but with a light bulb instead of a candle in the middle, and that plugs into the wall. When I was in Egypt, our hotel had a very simple one, so I know they exist. (That one was a bit cheaper, I think it had white plastic instead of glass, and the shape was a bit more arabian nights looking. I'll take anything close.) But I've scoured the internet and can't find anything like it at all. Can you help me?

How many MeFites does it take to find a clamp for this vintage architect's lamp?

barnone — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:46:49 -0800

Vintage lamp clamps? I have this red vintage desk lamp, similar in style to an architect's lamp (like this newer version). It has a thin cylinder at the bottom, presumably to fit into one of those C clamps. Where do I find the right clamp to attach this lamp to a desk or table? Here are a few photos of my lamp: 1, 2, 3, 4.

It has a thin cylinder on the bottom, presumably to fit into a clamp like this or this or this.

Are those the right kinds of clamps? The bottom cylinder is about 0.5" in diameter. I've emailed the companies and they're not entirely sure how big the diameter of the holes are. Do I just have to order a whole bunch and deal with returns? Or is there a place that deals with vintage lighting and might be able to help me?

Also, what's a safe wattage for a vintage lamp like this?

Many thanks in advance.

I have modern furniture. Now what?

burnmp3s — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:36:38 -0800

Help me find some modern accessories to go with my modern furniture. I ditched my old furniture and went with a modern style (lots of glass, steel, and shiny plastic). Now I want to continue that style with the rest of the decor. I'm looking for lamps, clocks, coasters, art, etc. Basically anything that isn't a table or something to sit on.

Please point me in the direction of stores or individual items that would fit. I'm located in between Chicago and Milwaukee, but I'm expecting that I'll probably buy a lot of it online.

I Swear I'm Not Steampunk

The White Hat — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:19:41 -0800

Where can I find a new carbide bike lantern for cheap, or how hard would it be to build one? I recently read about carbide lamps and I found them fascinating enough to consider buying one for my bike. Most of the stuff on eBay is old stock, expensive, and ill-suited to my purpose-- more collectors items than anything else.

I found one company that sells the things, JK Dey and Sons, but they're in India, don't seem to have an importer in the US, and haven't responded to my e-mails.

So barring divine AskMe intervention, I might be SOL in the retail sector, which brings me to the backup question: How might I go about building one of these lanterns? I think I can get old plans from the patent library, but I don't have much in the way of power or machine tools. Is it still possible to construct one with, say, soup cans, rubber gaskets, and used lab equipment?

Light me up!

roomthreeseventeen — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 06:21:38 -0800

Help me find something that looks like this lamp. Boyfriend bought them sometime in the late 80s/early 90s in a shop in NYC, but one is ripped now. Made of a thick paper. Anyone know where I could find ANYTHING similar? We're in NYC, and Saturday's his birthday.

How can I light up my apartment?

jennyesq — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:20:44 -0800

How can I light up my apartment? Although I have been able to make do with my apartment's built-in lighting, I would like to add some extra light to my apartment.

My apartment has built-in ceiling lights in the entryway and kitchen areas, and I have a few desk lamps in my bedroom. However, both my bedroom and my living room have inadequate light. The light in my bedroom is a bit dim, and I have been using my kitchen and hallway lights to light up the living room.

I am at the point where I would like to start inviting people over, so I would like to have a well-lit living room. Plus, I'd like to have more light in both rooms, for my own sake.

I would like to buy some lamps that will light my room efficiently but complement my furniture. Most of my furniture pieces are made of dark wood, and my chairs are light browns or neutral tones (like this). I am open to a range of suggestions, but would like to avoid "shiny" metals.

Thanks!

Is running a lamp cable under a pile of sleeping bags dangerous?

optimuscrime — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:19:37 -0800

Greetings, Hive Mind. I need to know if I'm going to start a house fire. I have a lamp whose power cable currently goes underneath a pile of sleeping bags before hitting the wall outlet. Is this dangerous y/n?

I checked a couple other lamp cables in the house and all of them seem pretty cool to the touch, so I figure I'm probably not creating a fire hazard. (By comparison to, say, laptop cables, which get super warm).

Weigh in. Time to buy fire insurance y/n?

If I had a time machine this wouldn't be an issue.

you're a kitty! — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:45:10 -0800

Any idea where I can find this deco lamp? I haven't been able to find much of that type online so far, other than the super-expensive (or really trashy) things on eBay. Does anyone know of a company that makes reasonably priced deco reproductions? This company has exactly what I want, but, well, anything that requires a quote is pretty much sure to be out of my (grad student) price range.

Can a one-way CFL bulb be used in a three-way socket?

binary — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:38:02 -0800

Can I use a one-way CFL bulb in a three-way socket? I bought a lamp with a three-way socket that vaguely warns against using a one-way bulb. I quickly discovered that three-way CFL bulbs are incredibly expensive, so can a one-way CFL be used in it? Is this safe, and will the life of the bulb be affected?

LAMP to WISA

gringoese — Sun, 18 May 2008 18:18:53 -0800

After working in a mostly LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) environment the last few years, I need to make a quick switch to WISA (Windows, IIS, MS SQL, ASP). I have very little experience with WISA. Give me some tips to make a smooth transition. What is different and what is the same?

Open source PHP software and IIS

fx3000 — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:04:18 -0800

Disadvantages working with Open Source PHP Software in a WIMP environment? I may be looking a bunch a of work in a WIMP (Windows, IIS, MySQL, PHP). I typically utilize a lot of open source PHP open source software in a LAMP enivronment. I'm wondering how much of a disadvantage working in the WIMP environment this will be.