Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with lifetime

Gold's Gym Lifetime Membership?

cdemay — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:46:18 -0800

Has anyone heard of lifetime memberships at Gold's Gym? They don't list it on their website, and I can't find any reference to it online, but I thought I heard something about it recently (on TV?)... Ideally, I'd like to buy a membership that doesn't expire and allows me to use any Gold's Gym. I don't care if it is transferable. I would appreciate any information you might have on the matter.

Too flat too soon, too bad?

gergtreble — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:05:25 -0800

How long does your iphone (3G) battery last? I've read this thread. And I have implemented some of the suggestions. But as now we are 3 months into our iPhone 3G experiences I thought I would see how everyone is doing, and try to get some useful data to see if my phone is lemony. If the admins think it is too soon for such a similar post then feel free to get rid...

I'm getting a bit worried about my iphones battery. A couple of weeks a go I had a problem where the phone got REALLY hot and the battery drained within about an hour. Now I have heard that high temperatures can damage the battery. Since then I've been a bit paranoid about it.

On Friday my phone had quite a bit of use, but not what I would call excessive. I took a few photos and videos. Made a few calls and did a bit of browsing. But by 9:30pm the battery was as flat as a pancake. It was fully charged at 8am.

Today. No calls, one text message sent. Its basically been on standby on my desk all day and the battery has drained by nearly 25%. And that's without 3G or wifi switched on. With 3G on its down to about 60% at the end of the day. (8hrs)

So in order to figure out if I need to visit apple. Can you guys (and gals) who have an iphone let me know how your batteries are faring up?

Cheers in advance.

Help me build a device to last the ages... and still work!

-harlequin- — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:47:11 -0800

Help me build a device to last the ages - and still function! For a hobby/art project, I'm building a pocket-sized gadget comprised of electronics, gears, metal, glass, wood, plastic, etc. Is there any particular book or other source that stands out as the bible on issues of long-lasting methods and materials? Ie covers questions like how transparent and strong various plastics remain after X years/decades of sun and UV? Which material/method of lubrication for gears will best last decades under X conditions? Which soldier alloy? If it's relevant, I am prepared to use exotic materials and techniques where useful for longevity (for example gold plating, or hermetic sealing, inert gases, etc).

The problem is that each of the example questions I mention above are subjects on which tomes and tomes of research and detailed engineering analysis have been written. And I have hundreds of questions like these spanning many fields. I do not have the lifetimes to become an engineering specialist in a hundred fields, yet I would still like to have a decent shot and building things that are seriously reliable for seriously long time (compared to modern consumer standards). I want something that systematically just gets to the point for a wide range of materials and techniques.

Is there any particular book, or reference that stands out on the subject? A Pocket Ref of long-lasting methods and materials?
Or a few key books (2-4) that together cover nearly everything?
Or some other way to learn a lot about the tricks of building electronics and devices to last?

For most of the example questions I mentioned (best solder alloy, etc) I already have a pretty good idea of the answer - they're just examples of the kind of questions I have, so don't worry about trying to directly answer them here - I'm much more interested in finding a book or something on this stuff, especially to learn about my "unknown unknowns" - the longevity problems that haven't even occurred to me, familiar materials with long-term properties I had no idea about, etc.)

I actually have a range of things I'd like to build, and for all of them I basically want to learn how to go the extra mile (or six) to make them really long-lasting.

Where/how can I watch Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime?

nitsuj — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 10:10:15 -0800

Where/how can I watch Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime? It premiered on April 1, 2006. Discovery's website has a schedule saying it's playing on August 29th and 30th on Discovery HD, but I don't have that channel. I can't find anywhere that would have it on DVD. I can't even find a torrent for it (though I'd be up for paying for it if there's a legal way to do it). I can't find any reference of it on the regular Discovery or Travel Channel websites (both of which have been advertising the show).

Any ideas of how I can see this show?

How do I get a lifetime subscription to Harper's?

crazyray — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 21:00:51 -0800

When I was a (very) broke college student, I somehow scrounged enough money together to pay for a one year subscription to Harper's magazine. At one point they offered me a lifetime subscription for a few hundred dollars, but I did not even have enough money to pay the rent... much less a lifetime sub to a magazine. Many years have now passed, and I have tried to no avail to get them to make the "lifetime sub" offer again, now that I can afford it. How do I get them to offer me a lifetime sub again? While we are on the topic, how do magazines like Rolling Stone, Readers Digest, etc., even choose when to make these once-in-a-lifetime offers? Is there a way I can can trigger Harper's (or anyone else outside of 2600) to offer me a lifetime sub? Do I need to move back into a school dorm or something?

yes, before anyone asks, I have inquired directly to Harper's about this, but the customer service rep didn't know how to sell anything longer than 36 month subscriptions.

TiVo - buy out right or subscription?

ColdChef — Wed, 11 Aug 2004 19:03:33 -0800

I'm in the market for a TiVo recorder. Should I pay the $299 one time fee or pay the $12.95 monthly subscription fee? Common sense says that if I have it for at least two years that the lump sum is the way to go, but I'm afraid that in that amount of time, TiVos will have gone the way of the MiniDisc. Should I have asked this question two years ago?