Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with passive

Can you find documentation regarding Windows ftp.exe and passive mode?

Roger Dodger — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 09:49:10 -0800

The Windows ftp.exe command line program does not support passive mode. Can anyone point me to definitive documentation, preferably from Microsoft, that states this is true? I know this is true from testing and network traces. You can, however, issue a QUOT PASV command, which returns a server response saying the server is now in passive mode. But, ftp.exe never then connects to the server, as it should in a passive session. I am having a hard time finding any documentation for this, and a lot of people on the internet seem to think that issuing the QUOT PASV command and getting a successful response means that you are now in passive mode. The successful response just means that the server has now been placed in passive mode, not the client. Please help me find this documentation to support this fact.

When should I change my 401K investment strategy from active to passive?

shinybeast — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:21:23 -0800

Given today's equity market conditions, when should I change my 401K investment strategy from active to passive? In my 401K, I'm planning to switch investment styles, moving out of diversified actively managed equity funds to diversified passively managed Vanguard equity, REIT, bond, and TIPS index funds.

The question is, when should I do this, today or when my current fund mix has climbed above the performance of the S&P 500 index? Or, should I wait until the market recovers its YTD losses. I'm using the S&P 500 as a crude performance benchmark. According to Morningstar, my mix of funds is currently underperforming the S&P 500 by 4% YTD and underperforming the funds' respective category benchmarks by 0.25%.

Currently, YTD, the S&P 500 is down 20%.

I can't quite figure out when to make my move. My fear is that if I move money into REIT, bond, and TIPS funds now, I'll lose out if the equity market makes a healthy recovery later.

Any suggestions?

Mean teacher or loving educator???

winks007 — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:45:30 -0800

Is there a term for this? A high school honors teacher is being unreasonably hard on my daughter..... Overall a good student, the teacher (also the football coach) smokes and jokes with the boys in the class but, really comes down on the female students. According to the dean of students, he's only hard on her because he knows she's a good student.

It seems as though they always fall back on some old "cliche?" He only does that because he thinks she has potential. If she's taking 11th grade chemistry for her 10th grade honors class, isn't she already living up to her potential?

For the record, she does very well in school, gets along socailly with her peers in class and extra-cirricular activities. It just seems like there is always some asshole who says " I treat you this way becuase I like you" or something like that.

Is there a name for this behaviour? Also...how can I relay that to the coach that he is using the exact opposite technique than what her mother and I have used to help her get this far?

Is there a program/script for finding passively scanning wireless cards?

bjtitus — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:49:27 -0800

Is there a way to scan for passively scanning wireless cards. I'm looking for a program (command line, gui, any os) that will allow me to be alerted to passively scanning wireless cards. Ideally, it would be something like Look@LAN or even better, a script that might turn off the router when such scans are taking place. This could ensure that a wireless network with a hidden SSID stays hidden.

I'm really wondering if anyone knows if it's even possible to single out laptops which are passively scanning. (Kismet might have a way of doing this, I don't know)

Learning assertive communication

mintchip — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:35:46 -0800

Can you guys recommend any resources for learning assertive communication? In my family I learned to avoid conflict at all costs. Therefore, I don't know how to approach "difficult conversations" directly. For instance, if a friend flakes on me at the last minute, or says they will call me to make weekend plans and then don't, I simply don't know how to broach the topic and tell them I don't like it without sounding like a b*tch. On the flip side, when I don't say anything or am too nice about it, I'm at risk for being a doormat.

I really want to learn the way to address these issues assertively. What works for you? I feel that the issue would be pretty easy for me to resolve except that I don't always have the verbal facility--the actual words--that will let me get my point across in the right way. Whenever I do address something it always sounds "mean" to me.

I will consider books but am hoping there might be resources I'm not aware of (online videos or tapes, etc.) that others can recommend.

How do I know when I'm being self-assertive vs. being a jerk?

treepour — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:00:36 -0800

How do I know when I'm being self-assertive vs. being a jerk? This question has plagued me for a long time, but I currently find myself in a job where it's become pretty central. For the first time in my life, I'm working in a relatively small and pretty unstructured environment where there's no clear path to making my needs/wants known.

I feel like I'm missing some sort of internal barometer here, that I lack an innate sense the difference between not speaking up and being too much of a "squeaky wheel." As such, I almost always err on the side of not speaking up, but I feel like this needs to change in order for me stay afloat -- if I don't assert myself, I feel my requests for support/help/assistance/etc. will remain at the bottom of everyone's priority list, but if I'm too overbearing, I fear I'm going to come across as a jerk, overly sensitive, or both.

What social cues or internal signals should I look for to help me determine whether I'm being appropriately assertive or too demanding?

Japanese Passive Aggressive Bento Blog?

duckierose — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:44:02 -0800

I am looking for a Japanese blog about a woman who left passive aggressive notes for her husband and son as part of the food in the bentos she made them. A few years ago a friend of mine stumbled upon a Japanese blog of a woman who would create daily bento boxes for her husband and son, but leave passive aggressive notes in them as part of the bento.

Examples, via my friend: She would do stuff like draw a graph of their electric bill on his rice. There was another one where she drew a map of their house to the pharmacy out of nori and a note that said, "Don't forget to pick up your meds!" written out in fish flakes. And there was another one where she made a stereo out of nori with a note that said, "Your music is too loud!" and she put it in her kid's bento.

She, of course, has lost the link. I've run a few searches, but I think the whole "it's a Japanese blog" is making it more difficult.

Does this ring any bells for anyone? Its sounds just awesome enough that I would love to look through it.

passive voice question

kenko — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 16:07:05 -0800

He was killed; he got (himself) killed. It was sold; it got sold (possibly out from under me). What sort of semantic difference does using forms of "get" versus "be" in passive constructions convey? At first I was thinking that "he got killed" makes it seem more like a process ("it got dark" meaning not that first it was light and then, wham!, dark, but that it gradually darkened), in which a sequence of events culminated in his death, with "he got himself killed" implicating him in the events' turning out the way they did. But I'm not sure that's right, really, especially with "it got sold". But it does seem that there's a distinction being made: "I wanted to buy it but it was sold to Jones (in the end)" and "I wanted to buy it but it got sold to Jones (in the end)" do seem different (and here I want to say that the second case is more impersonal than the first, that it just sort of magically got (itself) sold, whereas it was sold by someone). I did find this but the explanations seem inconsistent from example to example—eg, we're told that gunfire can't perform an action, much less cause itself to be heard, but books can't perform actions either, much less cause themselves to be torn.

What's the truth about passive smoking?

Acey — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 06:27:38 -0800

What's the truth about passive smoking?

Passive/Agressive

eas98 — Tue, 24 May 2005 11:20:02 -0800

Please tell me your experiences with passive agressiveness in your relationships. I believe I may be involved in one.. I want to know what your experiences were and how you (or your partner) personally dealt with them.

Thank you.

Should avoid the passive voice in an undergraduate history thesis?

PhatLobley — Tue, 25 Jan 2005 03:47:03 -0800

Grammar/ Style Filter:
I'm writing an undergraduate history thesis. Should I do all I can to avoid the passive voice? [More has been placed inside] American Heritage is inconclusive and little bit confusing.

I once had a history GSI (like a TA) tell me to never use the passive voice. I see his point, but Wikipedia says it is often found in academic writing, in which I like to flatter myself and think I'm engaging.
I'll certainly bring this up with my advisor, but after learning so much here about split infinitives, I thought it would be useful to ask.
Thanks!