Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with lost

Looking for books where a person or people are searching for a long lost person.

reenum — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:41:37 -0800

Looking for books where a person or people are searching for a long lost person. I loved Hunting Eichmann and would like to read more books about a person or a group of people banding together to find a long lost person.

I'd prefer nonfiction, but well written fiction will work too.

Thanks!

Screw Ivy League. What should i do?

freddymetz — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:42:27 -0800

Screw Ivy League. What should i do? Im currently spending a year doing social work in a developing country and the time has come to start applying to universities.

Ive been working on my ivy applications ever since i finished high school (in germany) half a year ago, but somehow I lost sight of my old goals and do not wish to study in these institutions anymore.

Ive also come to doubt the effectiveness of studying there whilst spending approximately 30000 dollars per year.

I also believe that i dont need to study at university to create and build up businesses, but i have enough common sense to at least have a plan B if it all goes wrong.

So where should i study?

Im looking for types of institution or names of instutions (country doesnt matter, it can be in mexico, usa or japan) i should be looking at if princeton, duke and co dont work out.
They shouldnt be too expensive either.

If anyone has been in a similar situation and has relevant advice to give, im all ears for that too!

thank you.

Email lost in space?

MaudB — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 09:28:19 -0800

Where does email go when it's sent and then lost in the ether? I recently read -- or think I remember reading -- an article wherein the author explored where lost email goes - not lost in your email software, but lost in space once it's been sent. Now a friend wants to see the article and I can't find it anywhere and can't seem to Google it, either. Does this ring a bell with anyone?

How do I deal with a friend's lost object?

fiasco — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:05:40 -0800

Friend said I lost something of his, asked me to replace it. What should I do now? The other night, several friends and I went out on the town. We then met up with another friend -- let’s call him Friend A – who drove us to another (and the last stop) bar.

Preface: I was on my way to becoming very drunk.

Friend A said he found his iphone charger in my belongings. I think that I might have grabbed it accidentally, mistaking his charger for my cell phone charger. He took it back; all was well.

Later, my friend reported that he lost his iphone. He asked me to search my apartment, etcetera. I searched my apartment high and low. I called the bar we were at and asked them to check the lost and found to no avail. I reported my findings to him.

Friend A then responded that he believes when I got out of the car to go to bar, he thought I dropped something. He assumed it was my phone and that I picked it up but he thinks now that it must’ve been his iphone.

I do not believe I dropped anything as I got out of his car. I was drunk at that point, but not annihilated. I feel that I would have noticed and/or retrieved said fallen object.

To figure things out, I asked my other friend (a third party – let’s call him Friend B) if he saw anything slip out with me. Friend B said he was getting out on the same side of the car as me and no, he did not see or hear anything fall out. He said if he had, he would have helped me out. Friend B also stated he never saw me with the iphone in my possession.

This all leads to my question. Friend A asked me to replace his iphone. I am not in a financial position to do so. I was pretty passive/helpful at first, doubting myself, and thinking it might have possibly been my fault, but at this point, I’m a little salty about the allegation.

I do not steal things. I have never stolen anything (except a piece of candy in a department store when I was seven) nor do I think it’s funny or mischievous to steal things when I am drunk. I have never been that type of person. I’ve heard about people who do that type of thing when loaded and I’ve always wondered where the humor or logic is.

Our friendship is important to me but there is no feasible way I can pay him. What is the right thing to do? How would you handle this situation?

I used to have a dearth of iPhones. Now I have a glut of iPhones.

harperpitt — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:11:09 -0800

Last week I lost my iPhone. Yesterday my new iPhone was delivered. Today we discovered my original iPhone lying face-down in my front yard. Now what? After drinking way too much bourbon, I woke up last week to find that my iPhone 3GS had disappeared. After tearing up the house looking for it, I resigned myself to the fact that it was lost or stolen, and I bought a replacement.

Through at&t's website, I "upgraded" my phone to a refurbished 3G model with only 8GB of memory, as opposed to the 16 my 3GS had. I paid $250 and reset my contract to get this new refurbished model, which was delivered yesterday.

Today, my roommate discovered my first iPhone laying face-down in the mud of our front lawn. Its sturdy rubber casing prevented it from getting any (obvious) damage, and it boots up just fine. Obviously, I have no idea if there are any problems with the phone I can't see.

So now what do I do?

- Can I return the crappier iPhone to at&t? Can I get my money back, or my contract changed back?

- Should I do this, or is the second iPhone (crappier though it may be) safer, since it's never been exposed to water?

- Can I take the iPhone Mark I to an Apple store to find out if there's any insidious damage I can't see?

- Is there anything else I should be thinking about here?

- Can/should I make the iPhones duel to the death?

To key or not to key

AlliKat75 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:33:38 -0800

What is the probability that the worst will happen? My girlfriend lost her keys. What are the odds that someone will find all the right places to use these keys? The details: We live in the East Bay. She works in San Francisco. She took the Bart this morning and is positive that her keys were in her backpack around lunch time. The lost keys include our car key, our house key, our mailbox key and her work key. What is the probability that someone will find these keys (were they possibly stolen?) and know where to use them? Should we re-key everything?

If you think about it, if someone helps CF Kane get the sled back earlier, a lot of people lead much better lives. So who is that hero?

rileyray3000 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:53:57 -0800

Say that Citizen Kane really wanted to find Rosebud - who would he call? Is there a kind of specific person who tracks down these personal lost things? So I’m doing research for a project and I’m wondering if there is a specific class of person of searcher, or researcher or private investigator who goes looking for objects that are lost. Kind of like art provenance people but more general if that helps.

If there’s a name or kind that exists and you can tell me, that would help. And if there really is some sort of expert out there you can name that I could then try to reach out to and ask some questions that would help more.

Where did my Little Java Link Go ?

duckus — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:36:21 -0800

I found a great Java programming site awhile back. I was given a programming task and could get immediate feedback on whether or not it was correct. Tasks were things like, test if two integers are equal and 'reverse a string'. It was targeted toward learning .. but I seem to recall the tasks had advancing levels of complexity. This is not Java BlackBelt. I can't believe I didn't bookmark it. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Help me find a vibrant Protestant church in the Cleveland area. I'm between denominations.

debbie_ann — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:54:45 -0800

Help me find a vibrant Protestant church in the Cleveland area. I'm between denominations. I love the idea of going to church, but I've yet to find one where I feel comfortable coming week after week. Maybe you know the denomination I'm looking for.

I presently go to children's weekday Mass at a wonderful little Catholic church. I love it for the following reasons
+ The sermons are wonderful. We always learn about a Saint or a story about Jesus, and then the Priest helps us understand how to apply the lessons to daily life.
+ We all sing together. 100 school children, their teachers and many grandparents sing a simple song every week. Last year it was "we are made for service".
+ There is a fantastic sense of community. I know everyone. Everyone knows me. When we pass the peace, we mean it.
+ We all pray together.
+ I leave feeling refreshed and inspired to be a good person, with very clear directions about where a good person should head this week

However, I am not Catholic for all of the reasons that Protestants usually state. I'd like to find a church where I can take communion. I've tried the following... and had the following problems.
- Going to my parents Presbyterian church. It's mainly blue-hairs. I feel lonely during coffee hour. Everyone who talks to me pretty much just asks how old I am now, and tells me how much I've grown.
- Going to a Unitarian service. It seems to be more of a theological class than a worship service. We didn't pray.
- Going to a born again nondenominational church. We sang and prayed for a half hour, which was AWESOME..... but then the sermon would invariably be a half-hour pro-life rampage and during coffee hour teenagers would pass around petitions to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
- Going to a Non-denominational Contemporary church. Very vibrant, but the service lasted for hours. I had to leave because I was faint with hunger....and my ears rang all day from the excessive volume.
- Not going to Church for years. It leaves me with an emptiness... a yearning.
- Going to a Lutheran church. I felt bored and couldn't sit still.
- Going to a different Presbyterian Church. Great sermon.... but we're given about 5 seconds to 'privately confess our sins' before being forgiven. I find myself both too hurried to reflect, and bored after the sermon. Also, just a handful of adults under 40.

The issue is rather pressing because I'd like my son to have Sunday school experiences. I'd like to find a church (in or near Cleveland) with the following qualities, where I can settle down . . .
+ Young people. I'm in my late 20's and would like to be part of a community that includes a substantial number of adults under 50. Other families with kids would be great. People in their 20's and 30's would be awesome!
+ Protestant denomination
+ a sense of community
+ reasonable amounts of singing
+ prayer
+ sermons that teach about Jesus, God, the Bible and how to be a good person
+ vibrant worship (as opposed to the soul-stifling sound of an entire congregation boredly reciting 'Alleluia' and 'it is right to give thanks and praise in unison)

Waitress lost my phone...now what?

shopefowler — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:19:11 -0800

Left my phone at the restaurant/bar after dinner, went back and was told they had it but the waitress had misplaced it. Is there anything I can do? [sob story] I wouldn't be so upset except that I upgraded my phone last week, (iPhone 3Gs) and it didn't work out of the box. They made me make an appointment at the Apple store (3 days later), where they discovered my phone was defective and replaced it with a new one. While I was there getting my phone replaced, my wallet was stolen out of my purse. [/sob story]

One week later...I'm at dinner tonight and I paid the check and left my phone on the table. When I returned for it about 15 minutes later, the person behind the bar said Yes! The phone that was just turned in! And proceeded to leave me waiting. Then the manager came over, apologized profusely and explained that the waitress had my phone but had laid it down somewhere and now they can't find it.

I left them a number to call when they find it, but what else can I do? Other than very politely asking that they "fix it" (i.e., pay for it) do I have any recourse if it doesn't turn up?

How safe/unsecure is the Mail data on my stolen iphone?

kev23f — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:36:06 -0800

Iphone cached data question: How much of my Mail data is cached on the iphone, and how much is fetched each time i connect to the mail app? My phone was stolen so am very concerned about the data that might be left on it, even though the phone itself has been cancelled. Full details:
My iphone 3G (3.0) was lost or stolen yesterday.
I immediately contacted my provider (O2 in Ireland) and they confirmed that they would cancel the sim card, and blacklist the IMEI number.
The phone was jailbroken, but not unlocked.
The Mail app was set up to fetch my gmail messages only.
I did not have push enabled.
I changed my google password.
I had not subscribed to MobileMe.

Is it possible for someone to access the device now and launch the Mail app? And if so, how much of my messages will be there now that i've changed my password.

Thanks in advance.

Where has my movie Gypsy gone?

Jubey — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:04:20 -0800

Name that Aussie kids' movie - - does anyone remember a kids' movie back in the 80s about a boy and his lost border collie, Gypsy? I'm racking my brains to find this, Google has revealed nothing. The plot from my hazy memory is that a schoolboy's (could be girl) border collie goes missing and it's all about how he finds it. I think it was set in a small country town. We were shown it at school around 1984/85. The dog to my memory (and the movie, I thought) was called Gypsy. I've searched the Australian database of movies for that time and it doesn't seem to exist. The theme song went a little like, "Gypsy, Gypsy, Gypsy, Gypsy, where has my dog Gypsy gone?" (Repeat adinfinitum). At the end, he gets the dog back. Shocking, I know. Does anyone remember this or have I made the whole thing up? It may be a made for tv movie but I don't remember it as such. Thanks!

Find a cast list for The Radio City Orchestra

Captain_Science — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 08:27:31 -0800

Help me play internet detective...I am trying to find a list of the members of The Radio City Orchestra from around January of 2009. My co-worker found a micro-SD card on the subway platform and gave it to me since she knows my phone uses that type. I checked out the card and found it loaded with over 150 photos from the previous owner and a good number of them are pictures of the owner’s new baby.

I have been trying to play internet detective, but am coming up short so far. I have a number of first names but nothing really helpful “uncle mike”, “aunt Sarah”, and the baby’s name “Cole”. The best lead from the pictures is that the owner plays the French horn and was “Horn 2” in The Radio City Orchestra. The meta data on the photos was also a wash, just the phone type (A LG)

I had though about trying to call Radio City Music Hall and talking to someone there but I’m just afraid my request will be a bit vague and come off as stalker-ish (“I am looking for the blond woman who played the French horn…No, I don’t know her name but I know she had a baby back at the beginning of the year”.)

I don't really mind investing a little time into this project, because I know if nothing else I would like my photos back if I had lost them.

Any ideas would be welcome, I guess I could throw a few of the picts up on flickr but I already know they live/work in NYC and what not so I don't know how much help that would be.

How do I know if a Masters is right for me?

tumples — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:44:00 -0800

A year away from graduating my BA in history, what next? Is a Masters the right course for me? I am starting my third and final year (UK) of my BA in history and I have no idea what I will be doing this time next year.

I have been looking into Masters degrees as the start of my search as this seems like the next logical step after my undergraduate degree, especially given the figures on graduate unemployment and the fact that I still haven't found a direction for post university life. I am really enjoying being in education and would happily stay on, but I don't know if these reasons are the right ones.

If given a choice of Masters programs I would look at doing something political or in international relations, but I don't know how much I should be considering future employment or other important serious life decisions in my choice. I would also love to study abroad if possible, the Netherlands and Canada look like they would be incredible for a curious but monolingual Brit. But again, this decision would be based on wanting to 'experience and learn the world, expand my horizons' sort of thought, not for any more serious or well thought out reasons.

I feel lost in a sea of life decisions with no idea of what direction I want to take. Is it a wise choice to study a Masters (possibly abroad) for no larger reasons than wanting stay in education, give me a few more months to grow up and think of a plan and to possibly see some of the world at the same time?

Any personal anecdotes or relating to feeling completely overwhelmed by the future is also really welcome :)

How to clear a portion of my Netflix history?

shrimpsmalls — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 07:56:06 -0800

Can you tell me how to clear the list of recently watched videos on Netflix? After an extended session of Lost (on netflix watch instantly) during the past week, our recommendations will likely be leaning to other videos of similar content and quality in the future. I have enjoyed the show, but the account is primarily my roommate's and he is annoyed by this. He is rarely a fan of tv and shows of this nature. Can anyone suggest a way to clear the evidence of my Lost marathon, so as to keep the recommendations coming according to his preferences?

Reporting lost/stolen birth certificates of minors.

magnoliasouth — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:45:17 -0800

What should I do to report a lost or stolen birth certificate of a minor? Here's what happened:

I've had some health issues of late and was scheduled for a MRI followed immediately by a doctor's appointment on the day my son was to be registered for school. I asked my nineteen-year-old daughter to take my son and do the registration for me. I gave her a manila folder with my son's certified birth certificate, a utility bill in my boyfriend's name, a notarized letter from my boyfriend which says that we live with him and a letter explaining my present medical condition and why I was requesting them to allow my daughter to do this.

All went well at school, but when my daughter got home, the folder was gone. It never made it back inside the house. This means she lost it before she made it out of the parking lot at the school, since the windows were rolled up.

I tried calling the school, but they have not found it or rather, no one has turned it in. My daughter spent all afternoon searching the school grounds, plus the cafeteria where the registration took place.

My son is fairly certain that the folder was in her hand as she left the cafeteria. Our best guess is she set it on the roof while unlocking the car and drove off. However, within 15 minutes she was back looking for it only to find that her space had already been taken and no papers were anywhere to be found.

So... all of that is to say, what should I do? Besides the obvious on ordering a new one, what other steps should I take? He doesn't have a driver's license nor a checking/credit account.

Replacement UK ID card

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:55:59 -0800

I've lost my UK identity card for foreign nationals and was planning to travel in 3 weeks. Is there any way to get a replacement, fast? I have lost my identity card and only discovered it this weekend when preparing for visa applications for a dream vacation in mid-September. Gulp. After tracking down, with some difficulty, the website page saying what to do, I've learnt it takes 4-14 weeks to get a replacement by post, and requires that I file a police report. There is no fast-track service listed. Does anyone have experience of getting a replacement? How long did it take? Was there any way of getting accelerated service which is not mentioned on the website? I haven't called the Borders Agency to ask, because I'd rather not report it lost until I've done that last final sweep.

Quack quack, woof woof.

txvtchick — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:09:06 -0800

Does swimming dog + smartass ducks = lost dog? I'd like to let my labs swim more often but am afraid that they'll swim off after a duck and get lost. How can I let them swim without losing them? Have any of you ever lost a dog from taking him or her swimming? And finally, why do ducks seem to enjoy screwing with my dogs?

Tale of two dogs: one black lab male, one chocolate lab female. The male has a solid recall when he's not in the water. The female has, shall we say, selective hearing.

Some time ago, we took the male to Town Lake in Austin and started tossing a tennis ball in for him to chase. When some ducks swam by, he abandoned the ball and started swimming after them.

We called him back to no avail. Soon he was swimming around the middle of the Colorado River, following the ducks around. He did this for about 20 minutes. I couldn't see how he would find his way back to where we were, and worse, he could decide to swim all the way across and exit onto an area with a busy road. We kept calling him and soon nearby joggers and walkers took pity on us and started calling to him, too. It was quite comical. He eventually made his way back, but I've been too scared to take him swimming since then.

A similar thing happened yesterday with the female. I found a cove-like area with no people around, and decided to let her fetch/swim a bit. She did fine until a duck appeared - then she abandoned the ball and swam after the duck. Fortunately she turned around after about 50 yards.

In both cases, the ducks swam in a very leisurely manner, just barelyyyyy out of reach of the dogs, instead of just flying away. Why? I did not see any nests around, but maybe they were leading the dogs away from a nesting area? It looked like the ducks were enjoying themselves in a "la la la la la, you can't catch me" way. Anthropomorphizing, I know.

I don't know of a fenced in area with a pond that we could use. We don't have a swimming pool. I think training a bird dog to ignore ducks is probably an exercise in futility, but I'm open to suggestions. Any ideas? Or should I just give up on taking them swimming?

Baby making music

jadepearl — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:30:04 -0800

songfilter: I heard the fragment of a song years ago and it is a long shot. Hope me! I heard this song years ago like circa 1999-2000 in the bay area and thought it was by Janis Joplin but no dice on the phrase lyric, "I just want to make sweet love to you" Style is similar to R&B Blues of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings and Joplin's Move on Over.

I am horrible in tracking down music and hope that the powers of the green are strong enough to provide artist and song.

Where does my spirituality lie?

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:33:04 -0800

I don't follow a religion, and my spiritual life feels so empty without one that it bothers me enough to disrupt daily life. I believe in nature spirits, and I have a strong spiritual connection with nature. However, I also feel a connection to Christianity that I can't quite identify. I believe in spirits such as tree, wind, and rain spirits. Not rock, technology, plastic, or any spirits of that sort. I've tried looking into paganism, but I need dogma for a religion to resonate with me.

I find myself spiritually drawn to Christianity, but I'm not sure I believe in God and if I do, I'm not sure I like him. I was raised Christian, and was turned off to it because I never understood why God didn't make everyone happy and also able to appreciate what they had. That, and the vengeful stories.

Despite that feeling, I find myself wanting to rediscover Christianity on a day to basis, and it's usually because I'll come across a Christian whose values resonate with mine.

Does "Christian" and "believes in nature spirits" go together at all? Is there another religion I might be overlooking here?

RFIND

mthomps00 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:22:29 -0800

I'm looking for recommendations for some sort of gadget that'll help prevent my boyfriend from losing stuff. Every system or mindhack we've devised for helping my boyfriend keep track of his stuff has failed. Now I want microchips to help. Here's my vision... Usually, he only misplaces his keys OR his phone OR his wallet, not all at once. Ideally, he could have a small receiver/monitor that he could keep in his pocket or affix to one of these devices. We'd attach small electronic tags to the other devices. If the monitor were separated from one of the devices by ten or twenty feet, it would alarm.

This product claims to meet the requirements, but I'm skeptical without seeing any reviews or manufacturer info.

This is a common enough problem that there has to be a well-regarded technological answer to it, right? Right?

Need luggage delivered from France to UK!

FuckingAwesome — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:40:45 -0800

I have accidentally left some luggage at a hotel in France and need it delivered to the UK as soon as possible. All of the courier services I have been in touch with seem not to deal with personal effects. Any recommendations would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Lost Cat in New Neighborhood

SociologistTina — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:06:23 -0800

If an outdoor-access cat moves to a new neighborhood, what are the chances that she would get lost and not be able to find her way back after about half a dozen or so forays into it? I have lived in this location for 6+ weeks, but most of that time she has been inside, although she was an outdoor access cat in my old place (thru a slit in the window screen.) I just got a new kitty door in my new apartment. I decided to just got to bed at about 3AM last night because she really seemed to want to roam and I couldn't get her.

I'm not totally sure she had the concept of coming into the new kitty door-- she has never had one before. I probably would not have heard her if she came to the regular door while I was sleeping, but the kitty door was definitely open and accessible.

I did spend some time teaching her how to go in and out of it yesterday.

Do you think she will be able to figure out how to get back to my apartment? She has in the past, but the most she was gone was about 3-4+ hours.

I'm very anxious about this. She's been gone almost 14 hours, although in the old place she occasionally was gone a day or 2 or so. I'm worried that she tried to get in the regular door, but since I was asleep and couldn't hear her, maybe she freaked.

She doesn't wear a collar or ID tag.

Some of my neighbors think that coyotes could have gotten her, but I just think that she's too smart and quick for that.

Face it next season isn't until next year...

Mastercheddaar — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:57:25 -0800

Lostfilter: Hey fellow lost fans I have recently started watching Lost re-runs on SciFi and I am noticing a ton of little things that did not make sense then when they aired, but do now when I re-watch them. I am sure everyone that watches the show has noticed them. For example in the episode where Desmond is a munk and he is being kicked out by the head munk, on the desk there is a picture of the head munk with Daniel Farraday's mother. The first time I saw this episode I didn't pay much attention to it. Now I am seeing things like this all over the place. Anyone else notice anything like this when they re-watch the older episodes?

Where No Man Has Gone Before...

Avenger — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:22:07 -0800

Give me some ideas on some exotic and "remote" places to vacation. Remote as in, obscure, sparsely populated areas. I've already considered Greenland. Anything similar?