I'm planning to add a feature to my website that will allow users to request periodic updates by email. I've cobbled together a little PHP script that uses the mail() function. It works perfectly when I test it myself, but I have no idea how this will work when released to a signficant number of users. [more inside]
posted on Jul 21, 2008 - 8 answers

What are some exceptionally well-performed audiobooks? [more inside]
posted on Jul 7, 2008 - 77 answers

What are the best strategies to help a performer roll with the punches? [more inside]
posted on Jul 4, 2008 - 7 answers

Please help me find a black floor length formal/evening skirt. [more inside]
posted on Jun 17, 2008 - 14 answers

Impending performance review. I don't know whether to quit or somewhat disingenuously promise improvement and committment to the job. [more inside]
posted on Jun 13, 2008 - 6 answers

MusicianFilter: I need a sturdy, but portable music stand to take to my band concerts this summer. [more inside]
posted on Jun 13, 2008 - 7 answers

PerformanceArtMakeupFilter: Asking for a friend who needs advice on full body cosmetics over extensive tattoos. [more inside]
posted on May 29, 2008 - 11 answers

How do I perform well after abstaining from sex for four years? [more inside]
posted on May 24, 2008 - 14 answers

Sometimes excel VBA code executes very slow. Sometimes it's really fast. I can't seem to pinpoint why. [more inside]
posted on May 21, 2008 - 8 answers

What copyright restrictions may or may not be placed on me of a picture I took of a band's setlist during a live, public performance? [more inside]
posted on May 15, 2008 - 31 answers

I want to start a night where a variety of local musicians cover the music of one musician with a large repetoire, or cover songs from one particular period/style of music. I'm looking for a good name for the (hopefully monthly) event and feedback on my ideas and "rules". [more inside]
posted on May 12, 2008 - 16 answers

Practicing & Playing Music in Washington DC: Learning the banjo without getting murdered [more inside]
posted on Apr 22, 2008 - 10 answers

I have a 1.25 GHz Powerbook G4 that has been running sluggish recently. Any tips for increasing performance with what I've got at hand? [more inside]
posted on Apr 6, 2008 - 7 answers

I need a really awesome entrance song. Something that makes the audience be like, "Aw damn, I now know that this is going to be very enjoyable, all because this song is so badass." [more inside]
posted on Apr 4, 2008 - 93 answers

G4 Powerbook (1.5 MHz, 2 GB RAM, Tiger) slows to a crawl and activity monitor shows 90-100% CPU usage - with minimal number of open applications. Might this be software (Tiger?) or hardware (CPU)? [more inside]
posted on Mar 18, 2008 - 6 answers

My son is having terrible problems playing WOW. He gets framerates of about 1-2fps, which is ridiculous. Help me diagnose the problem. [more inside]
posted on Mar 11, 2008 - 27 answers

I want to do a performance at my school's Japanese Spring festival, but I have no idea what to do! [more inside]
posted on Mar 5, 2008 - 6 answers

I'm interested in aspects of benchmarking with the help of UNIX's time, specifically, what user, system and elapsed times correspond to, within the functional context of the system and the tested application. [more inside]
posted on Mar 4, 2008 - 4 answers

How much should I charge to play violin at an old classmate's wedding? [more inside]
posted on Mar 1, 2008 - 9 answers

Caffeine-like performance without the caffeine? Details inside... [more inside]
posted on Feb 28, 2008 - 15 answers

My 9th grade son has taught himself guitar and he's thinking about entering the school talent show. He's trying to pick a good song that he can play and sing, and I'd like to help him out. What's a good song for one young man and an acoustic guitar and a high school audience? [more inside]
posted on Feb 22, 2008 - 45 answers

What's the easiest way to create a fake ZX Spectrum/Amstrad/C64 loading screen? [more inside]
posted on Feb 19, 2008 - 5 answers

Looking for examples of diplomats who were/are also involved in the performing arts. [more inside]
posted on Jan 12, 2008 - 35 answers

I've been invited to speak at an event - for an entire hour. How can I keep the audience awake? [more inside]
posted on Jan 9, 2008 - 21 answers

Dogs seem to be easy to train to do tricks, cats, not so. I have taught her to eat treats off the furniture (and she often fluffs that) but not much else. She doesn't respond to commands or perform any tricks on demand. Can you give me hints or tips I might employ to make my cat become a star?
posted on Nov 13, 2007 - 30 answers

Is Firefox churning my Powerbook? When I have more than a few tabs open, I hear (and see- on my little menubar app) heavy hard drive activity. It feels like it gets stuck in some kind of endless swap and the performance of the machine seems to suffer. More importantly, the noise drives me nuts. I suspect Firefox memory management issues. I know Firefox has a bad rep in this dept. Suggestions? Tweeks? Opera?
posted on Nov 6, 2007 - 18 answers

Is it too late to get into Acrobalance? [more inside]
posted on Oct 30, 2007 - 2 answers

I just bought a pretty high-end Dell PC with a large LCD monitor. It's got dual Core2 CPUs @ 2.66GHz, 4 GB of RAM, and a decent graphics card. The monitor is a widescreen 27" Dell Ultrasharp. So far, I like the PC. But I was disappointed to find that the first PC game I tried (BioShock) runs TERRIBLY. The game does run pretty well on my slightly older PC, which only has a 19" monitor. So, I think the large, widescreen monitor is the problem. Is that correct? Are there tricks to running the latest games on a large LCD monitor? Many thanks in advance for any advice and insight.
posted on Sep 26, 2007 - 19 answers

How does one go about acquiring the permit for a band (not solo performer) to perform/busk on the streets of New York City? [more inside]
posted on Aug 16, 2007 - 6 answers

SingingFilter: When I sing in certain keys / registers, my head seems to vibrate, and more. [more inside]
posted on Jul 20, 2007 - 8 answers

I am attempting to configure caching on an Apache server. I have it right for the most part, but.....I would like to prevent browsers from even checking the server once files like images are in the browser cache until an expiry date is exceeded. [more inside]
posted on Jul 18, 2007 - 2 answers

Anyone know popular/easy tools for monitoring JBoss server performance? [more inside]
posted on Jun 11, 2007 - 3 answers

Hypothetical-sensible-dream-car-boyzone-filter: After a long phase of big-city living, I may have to drive a lot. I don't want to be a total pig about fuel consumption or emissions. But I want serious performance. Let's say I have $25K . . . . [more inside]
posted on Jun 7, 2007 - 53 answers

Help me troubleshoot performance issues with digital media sharing between two computers. [more inside]
posted on Jun 6, 2007 - 5 answers

Narrative/fiction movies with unexpected elements of "reality" or fourth wall breaking or other interesting metaness? Illustrative examples inside (without spoilers): Sling Blade, Bamboozled, Shortbus, Timecode, South Park, etc. [more inside]
posted on May 3, 2007 - 77 answers

When did directors of plays and operas start the practice of overtly imposing their own visual interpretation of the play at the expense of the stage direction of the author? These days if you go to see a Shakespeare play, it's even odds that it's set in modern times, or the early 20th century, or what have you. Were there 19th century (or earlier!) productions of Shakespeare that set his plays in what were then "modern times"? At what point did staging old plays become just as much about the director's vision as the playwright's?
posted on Apr 20, 2007 - 17 answers

Looking to do live music performance with my laptop, how can I make sure it's rock solid and stable during performance sessions? [more inside]
posted on Apr 8, 2007 - 9 answers

So I saw Sufjan Stevens at the Kennedy Center with members of the National Symphony recently... [more inside]
posted on Feb 22, 2007 - 2 answers

I'm an amateur classical pianist. I used to give solo recitals at college, and I would like to start performing again out here in the real world. But what sort of group/organisation/event do I need to get involved with to have this kind of opportunity? Could I organise a little independent recital for myself, or is that weird and too egotistical? [more inside]
posted on Dec 19, 2006 - 18 answers

Can anyone help a n00b with a MySQL (& coldfusion) problem? [more inside]
posted on Nov 20, 2006 - 12 answers

Language/Dialect-filter: In search of "authentic" Southern (American) accents... [more inside]
posted on Oct 11, 2006 - 48 answers

My girlfriend is looking to buy powerful laptop to use Autocad software on in it for work. Any suggestions? [more inside]
posted on Oct 9, 2006 - 15 answers

I've recently become aware that my boss only sees value in a small part of what I do. [more inside]
posted on Sep 25, 2006 - 12 answers

How to improve MySQL (5.0.22-max-log, PPC) + InnoDB table performance? [more inside]
posted on Sep 24, 2006 - 9 answers

I want to perform my solo music project live and I'd like suggestions on how to do it. My music involves a keyboard, guitar, drum loops, multiple vocal tracks and random sound effects. [more inside]
posted on Sep 22, 2006 - 7 answers

I'm writing a program that uses lots of memory. I'd like a utility that can show me what it's using the memory for. For example, one part of the program processes an XML file, creates an object and loads a WebBrowser .NET control. I'd like to see how much memory was required to parse the XML file, how much memory my object is using, and how much memory the WebBrowser control uses. [more inside]
posted on Sep 14, 2006 - 3 answers

I have a C#/.NET Application on IIS. I am rewriting the URLs via ISAPI Rewrite. The rewritten URLs are all loading twice. ISAPI Rewrite's creators insist it isn't them, but visiting the non-rewritten URL, the page only loads once. What could be causing this? [more inside]
posted on Aug 30, 2006 - 1 answers

What are some simple ways that I can improve the speed of my laptop? [more inside]
posted on Aug 29, 2006 - 6 answers

Installed a cold air intake on my car. How does one maintain a CAI?
posted on Jul 27, 2006 - 4 answers

What does stage management entail? [more inside]
posted on Jul 25, 2006 - 11 answers