Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with making

Did the Brita filter spoil my homemade wine?

kturner — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:57:41 -0800

Does Brita filtered water work for making wine? My experiment got no yeast fermentation in four batches of wine using Brita filtered water and great yeast fermentation in three batches of unfiltered tap made similarly as a control. I know yeast needs trace nutrients to live and multiply. Does the Brita filter out enough of these that the fermentation will fail?
Due to the success vs. failure rate this seems like the likely reason.
Unless the filter leaves some type of inhibitor residue in the water?
I plan to add some unfiltered water and then more yeast culture.

"If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put the vowels all at the beginning... what?"

LSK — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:51:59 -0800

Help an aspie initiate making out with girls in college. I've adapted to most social situations, mostly due to reading about them, but this is one field that seems to assume that the participants have an instinct for it. I've had a friend with benefits before, but we met online, basically solely with the intent of a FWB relationship, and she had walked me through my first makeout session with her and with sex.

I'm not exactly sure wherein my issue lies, or what I'm failing to grasp. I've made multiple female acquaintances, some of whom live in my dorm, but I have no idea when it's appropriate to initiate making out, where to do it, or how to start. I've been told it just happens, but I don't think I'd ever initiate anything if I were "just letting what happens happen" - I'd be too afraid.

Admittedly I want to avoid a committal monogamous relationship through most of college. I genuinely want to get sex out of college, and avoid tying myself down in the non-kinky way (An education is a higher priority, but of less relevance to this post.)

trashcan sinatra

Potomac Avenue — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:29:25 -0800

What crazy looking instruments can i build with a minimum of skill + resources and a maximum of WTF. i'm in a band playing keyboards, and sometimes i have nothing to do. tambourine and shakers are fine but sometimes i would like to make percussion noises like this:
BONG BANG BOMG BOOM

or sometimes I would like to make noises like this:

crashhhhh PING clang ttttttttcccchhhhhhhhhh AxAxAckAx riiiiiiiiitttchhhhhhhh
pppppsssssssss!

or sometimes maybe a little bit of eeeeeeeeeeeeexxxxxxxxxxCCVVVVViiiiiiiiiiiREOW! like a dying robot

Have you made strange percussion instruments? What did you do? Have you made traditional folk instruments in bizarre artistic shapes, or re-purposed regular household things to make amazing noises when you hit them together? Example: I used to play a big cardboard box with fly swatters-- it was beautiful.

Electronic suggestions are great too but i really dont know how to sauder or wire anything--but if you think of a toy or piece of electrical equipment that makes a crazy sound I'll take it.

Even if you haven't actually made them before please help me think of some new cheap but wild ideas out of your brain instead!

finally it'd be ideal if they are easy to transport and repair on the road.
anything i build i will obviously post pictures of them herein.

i thanks you and my adoring public thanks you in advance.

if you must know, yes i totally stole this idea from Drink Up Buttercup

Where can Mrs. Jones find a good pattern making class in the greatern NYCity metro area?

IndigoJones — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:06:27 -0800

Where can Mrs. Jones find a good pattern making class in the greatern NYCity metro area? She can sew, and well at that, and wishes to make her own clothing, despairs of most of what is out there either in patterns or on the wrack. The ideal course would be under a semester and not seriously expensive. But of course life is never ideal. Anyway, thoughts and anecdotes, recommendations and warnings of any kind would be most gratefully appreciated.

She would do the same for you.

Photographer access to restricted areas

TokyoLight — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:20:03 -0800

I'm about to widen my photographic and film interests and turn my hobby into something more professional. I've always wondered how photographers/artists are able to get into places such as prisons, military sites, 'secret' industrial buildings and other seemingly restricted areas etc to take authorized pictures. How do they do it? What's the trick?

How do I build a social life at 30?

runflats — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:53:36 -0800

How do I build a social life at 30? Or how do I get better at building/maintaining casual relationships? So, I've been meaning to ask this for a while. I've concluded that I suck at making friends. I'm also pretty sure that I suck at keeping friends. I want to change this. It's seems like a gyroscope, tough to get started but a lot easier to keep going once it's going already.

It can't be as hard as I'm making it as most everyone seem to be doing it just fine. It seems to be effortless for most people.

WHERE I'M AT

-Work full-time in a very challenging job (lots of interaction is necessary and good communication skills are vital, by the way) and I'm good at it

-Live in a conservative area. Most people are married in their early 20s here, part of the culture. Lots of very religious people here (the majority) who are generally inclusive. I'm not religious, at all. I think it's a limiting belief to say that I can't be friends with them, but there are some real, widely known difficulties with doing so. My experience is mixed.

-College full-time, at night, 4 days a week. Will finally be done at the end of the semester. Have been doing this for 6 years straight (not always full-time). Class has not provided few social opportunities as people don't generally converse much. It's a commuter campus. It's also at night, so by 9pm when we get out, everyone is beat and just want to get home, including me. My energy is gone at this point.

-Generally outgoing, tons of acquaintances, but few friends and seem to be unable to turn acquaintances into friends. Lack of trying, lack of know-how, and fear of rejection play into this, although I do try sometimes

-Getting very few invites. Sit home most weekends. Don't like it.

-As a kid, I always had a few close friends, or a best friend. Not popular, didn't care, never tried to be, didn't know how to be, although I wish I knew how now

-I'm very friendly in-person but since I'm so busy, it's like if someone isn't in front of me, they don't get any mindshare. I know I'm bad at keeping friends. I don't call them often, if hardly ever. Feel weird calling dudes to see how they are doing anyway. :) I don't invite people to do things, partly because I like I don't have time, partly because I don't have a crew to do things with, and partly because none of my hobbies are social ones.

-Everybody seems to be into sports. They're only attractive to me for social reasons. I'm 30 and I don't know how to play most of them. It would be weird to join some team or league or something and not know what I'm doing at all.

-I don't stink, am attractive, fashionable, have some disposable income, confident, etc. I actually smell good, haha.

-I'm not creepy or a perv or antisocial. I might be a little weird or quirky, but who isn't?

-After searching the net, everybody always seems to say "go do what you love" or "find some hobbies". Easier said than done. I have lots of hobbies, I just have little time for them, and none of them are really social, nor are they very conducive to meet people I would consider similar to me. I'm learning to play the drums, play video games, learning to snowboard, produce dance music. I workout, random times and frequency, equipment at home. Would be into camping, hiking, biking, roadtrips, clubbing, traveling, etc if I actually had people to do those things with. I also am into entrepreneurship and startups. Most of my 20s was spent in a few startups of my own (like the bootstrapping sort where you are locked away trying to get things off the ground with minimal overhead), which left me with little, if any, time to socialize.

-The friends I have now are few and far between. There's one here, there's one there. Most are married and doing that whole thing. Not really interested in living it up like a single person, going out, etc. I'll see them occasionally, go to lunch or dinner or something. If I'm lucky, I'll get them to party a little.

-I'm not on facebook. I don't really want to be, but I'm starting to feel like I need to be. I did myspace a few years ago, I guess I'm over it. I don't like the time it sucks up. I don't like how it tends to replace real social interaction, to whatever degree.

-Have had an average number of girlfriends. These type of relationships come a lot easier to me. But I have yet to maintain a girlfriend and have an active social circle at the same time.

WHERE I WANT TO BE

-Would like a small crew of somewhat like-minded people to run with. Do activities, go out, hit the bars, try new things, etc.

-I would prefer that they were similar to me, outgoing, attractive, into similar things, have goals in life, going somewhere, etc. But I realize you can't necessarily choose your friends..or can you?

-Want to know how to turn acquaintances into actual friends. I must have missed learning how somewhere along the way, because I suck at it, girls and guys.

-Want to get invited, be included by others. There is nothing quite like the sting of not being included. Don't want to invite myself...tried it once, really awkward, haha.

-Want to meet new, preferably cool people. Don't know how or where. I could re-join the dominant religion and take advantage of that. Lots of people similar to me there, except with a magical worldview that conflicts with a lot of things, like the simple pleasures of imbibing and being vulgar/non-PC occasionally. :) There are always a zillion church activities going on, plenty of people my age, although mostly married.
Not an option because I think the religion is bogus and intrusive, but it's there. I've heard about meetup.com. It seems to cater to an older crowd than me. Singles or mixer-type events seem to be freakshows around here. Tried those a couple of times anyway.

-Having friends creates more opportunities to meet girls, too. Always good. I can make it happen anyway, but it would help. Plus I would assume girls think it's a bit odd that I don't have a group of friends..

In This current monitary climate, why don't manufacturers sell their goods at a cheaper price??

maxmix — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 14:05:39 -0800

In This current monitary climate, why don't manufacturers sell their goods at a cheaper price?? Wouldn't it be better for companies to sell their goods at a lower price, making less profit,but selling more, rather than at a higher price, selling less??

I'm trying to edit a home video before uploading it to Utube and the sound quality sucks.

dthm42 — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:47:05 -0800

I recorded it using the web cam on my HP Touchsmart PC and the playback makes a distorted, squelch sound every time there is a loud part in the video. What's the best way to keep the original soundtrack, but remove the feedback noise? Also, is there a way to adjust the recording levels to improve audio on future projects?

How do I make my own lavender-filled softies?

mippy — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:47:46 -0800

How do I go about making my own lavender bags? I'm planning on making some softies for Christmas presents and am unsure on whether they need to be fully filled with herb (dude) or whether a mixture of polyfilling is needed (less expensive). I'm also wondering what kind of lavender to use, and where the best (UK) place to obtain it may be. I've tried using oils to scent a Companion Cube I made previously, but they lost their smell, and I like the way lavender helps people sleep.

The Picky Introvert's Guide to Making Friends?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 May 2008 07:02:30 -0800

I'm a male introvert with very, very few close friends. I can make casual friends no problem, but I'm rather particular about the type of people I'd want to be serious friends with. Difficulty: I'm an atheist liberal eco-friendly vegetarian tech nerd who doesn't drink, smoke, or do drugs. Meeting people casually has never been an issue; I'm plenty friendly and can "play the part" pretty well, but when it comes to strong friendships I'm pretty easily turned off. I don't like people who drink, I don't like religious or "spiritual" people, I don't like conservatives, and I don't like luddites. (Note: I'm BASICALLY Straight Edge, save caffeine and sex, but I hate the people and music that go along with the scene so I don't use the label.)

Finding a godless liberal who doesn't eat meat isn't terribly difficult, so it seems like the biggest problem is the anti-drinking/smoking/drugging part. I'm definitely an introvert - I live with my girlfriend of 3 years, work full-time for a tech company, and neither of us go to parties or bars or are terribly social. Weekends are spent together, either out doing simple activities or inside watching movies, etc. We're homebodies. I can entertain myself just fine, but I feel like I could unlock more islands, so to speak, of my life and myself by making some close friends. (I've been playing a lot of GTA, sorry about the metaphor.)

So, please, help me out here. I just feel like if I'm going to invest in a friendship, it had better be with someone who I respect. Settling for less seems like a recipe for disaster. Advice? Where/how do I find like-minded people?

(PS - If you happen to fit the qualities I mentioned, uh, we should be friends! Leave a comment and I'll msg you from my real account.)

How to make egg noodles?

macsigler — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:35:52 -0800

How do I make decent egg noodles? I've been trying to make Chinese egg noodles but they come out weird. Ideally they should be the skinny, long, round noodles. Instead, the dough clumps together, smushes when I try to roll it up, breaks when I try to unroll it, and I basically just lose at life. :P
What is the secret to making these? Is there a step-by-step recipe or method that you've used that is tried and true? Thanks in advance!

Mind-melting scenarios...

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:52:32 -0800

Early sexual/non-sexual odd-experiences filter. How common is a guy climaxing without any sex at all? So, twice, a while ago, in my first real relationship, during some very intense making-out, but with all of our clothing certainly on, I ejaculated. Since I was not at home, this was unexpected, crazy, and, in my mind, very bad. After that, I was very hesitant about getting to that level. A little while ago, a friend implied (on a separate issue) that the same thing had happened to him. I figure, without the whole walking-home-and-feeling-insane part, it might be something sort-of okay, but there isn't much discussion other than the obviously-kidding 'came in my pants' type remarks.

how do i make decisions like a grown-up?

genmonster — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:06:17 -0800

how do YOU go about making a difficult/complex decision? so i need to decide if i should move out of my apartment or not. but instead of going into all the gory details, i want to know of decision making methods that have worked well for you. do you make a totally analytical pros/cons list? are you happy with the outcome it provides? just go with your gut?

living-situation type choices usually make me nuts, so give me a method to follow that will help me make a decision i'm happy with.

How to meet people in Chicago in their 20s.

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:37:36 -0800

[ChicagoFilter] I moved to Chicago recently, and I'm having difficulty making friends and meeting people who are around my age (early 20s) who share similar interests -- and I am looking for suggestions on how to branch out. (mi) I am in my very early 20s, not in grad school, and have a job that exposes me to approximately 4 people every day (all of whom are at least a decade older.) I'm going to stick with this job for possibly a decade, so I won't meet new people through work. I can't think of anyone I know in a similar situation (I don't live anywhere near anyone from college, but my college friends either stayed in that city, went to grad school, or work with people their own age.)

I don't plan on going to grad school for any future degrees. I'd be happy to take classes to meet people, but I'd have to take them at night, and my work schedule is somewhat erratic which prohibits having a set schedule. I called UofC about possibly taking grad classes in the humanities, but they don't allow that without being in a PhD program - I looked into DePaul and Loyola, and the classes aren't offered at times I can take them.

Exacerbating the situation somewhat -- at least, in Chicago: I don't drink, I'm pretty shy, and I'm not into the entire Wrigleyville/downtown scene on the weekends. I tried improv, but I didn't really care for it -- and Chicago seems very cliquey in terms of all of the people who migrated here from UofI, Northwestern, UofC, etc., and therefore have set social networks in place.

I love comedy, and writing, and artsy stuff. I like baking and papercrafts and biking. I've always had a bucket of friends wherever I happened to be -- but I also happened to be in college and/or a job with people my own age and/or in a city where I had a social network in place.

I have none of those things now -- and I would like to make friends. I'd be happy to volunteer or join groups or collectives or visit places or go to lectures. But I'd like to meet people in their 20s, if possible.

How do I make friends without breaking the bank?

notjustfoxybrown — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:38:52 -0800

I need a less expensive way to make friends. Any suggestions? Yet another "give me more ideas about making friends in a new place" question.

Judging from the numerous questions I've asked related to my move to Phoenix (click handle for more), I'm having a really hard time getting adjusted here. It's a big, spread out growing place with people of varying degrees of friendliness.

One of the things many people have suggested when questioned about making friends is that I make finding new acquaintances an everyday thing, i.e., going to the same coffee shop each morning, eating at the same breakfast place each week, frequenting the same bar.

I've been trying to do this with the understanding that the interactions I have there might lead to some friendships (I have not one, not ONE friend here and the guy I was dating is out of the picture too).

Is there another way to go about this making new friends without depleting my savings? I've tried the Craigslist route. No luck. Also, I'm taking some time off from dating so that's not an option.

I should add that I'm a liberal black girl in what is the whitest place I've ever lived ...and I spent four years in Minnesota! Not that white people aren't nice. Some of my best friends ...and ex-boyfriends ..are white! :)

I did visit the Unitarian Universalist church last weekend...It was nice but everybody was like 80 years old.

I have to stay here for awhile. I do love the weather and the laid back atmosphere and even appreciate living closer to my neurotic parents ... but I need friends!

How can I make a cool looking book?

hoverboards don't work on water — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 17:47:48 -0800

What's the coolest book I could possibly make myself? I'd like to make a book (of blank pages). Ideally, it would have that 2000-page large-format wooden-board-covers musty leather-bound inlaid-silver Book-of-the-Dead look about it. Exceedingly durable would be good too. How do I do it? How do I bind an extremely large tome? How do I attach hard covers? What do I use for the spine? Is there anything else I could use for a cover other than leather? Difficulty: I have lawyer-hands, not artist hands.

Casting in silicone?

bradn — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 09:47:55 -0800

Casting (molding?) a solid object in silicone or similar... I am interested in casting solid objects out of silicone/silicone rubber, latex, foam rubber or a similar soft, flexible, pliable material. I need to do this very inexpensively, and I don't have access to any professional equipment. I have been putting a lot of thought into it, and I can't think of how the silicone or similar material will cure in the center of the mold, where it is an inch or more thick.

I conducted an experiment to see if I could use regular GE silicone rubber sealant that you can get at Home Depot in caulk tubes. I put it into a 2in diameter by 2in long section of PVC pipe and left it since Friday night to see if it would cure through. It shows no signs of ever curing on the bottom, and surely in the center, where no air can get it.

Can anyone recommend an alternative (inexpensive) material with similar physical properties, or an alternative method to get the material to cure through?

Make Money The Odd Way

divabat — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 19:08:19 -0800

Interesting entrepreneurial ventures - what are some unique and quirky ways that people have used to make money? The ones I've heard:
Million Dollar Homepage
Selling stories on the street

Any others?

Reliable CD manufacturer?

frankie_stubbs — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 11:51:26 -0800

A reliable CD manufacturer with quick turnaround? A friends band need about 100 copies of their CD's made. Nothing too fancy: single page colored insert in a jewel case, with info printed on a cd-r. We've had trouble finding a place that will make these at a decent rate (paid $250 for 100 before), and one that makes the smaller amounts. Also, the place should hopefully have a decent turnaround rate. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Resources for amateur filmmakers?

FakeOutdoorsman — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 20:31:45 -0800

Resources for student or amateur filmmakers. I'm updating [my film site] to list useful resources or little known tips such as DIY equipment, free music scoring, free software, how to articles, etc. What can you recommend that is helpful? Example for music:
The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program offers scores to the productions of student filmmakers. Not only is the great for avoiding licensed music but it is also free.

Making Money Fast

drezdn — Fri, 19 Dec 2003 22:44:32 -0800

Besides stripping, or selling everything one owns, what's a good way to make a lot of money quickly- without any capital? P.S. $3000 would be a lot of money to me.