Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with protocol

Outgoing phone call protocol - how does it work?

Feel the beat of the rhythm of the night — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 07:12:22 -0800

When you make a call to a service or business, say, you're calling because you have a problem or require a service -- what do /you/ say? Do you say "Hello" and get right down to details?

Do you say "Hello, how are you today?" and then get down to details?

Do you identify yourself "Hello, my name is Frank Smith with [business name or organization]" and get down to details?

Or something else entirely?

What way have you found makes people happiest? I want to make people happier even if I have stuff they need to do for me (which usually makes people sadder, quite understandably.)

Dear Mr President, Am I Free to Say Your Name?

Effigy2000 — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 14:14:42 -0800

Protocol demands the proper way to directly address the US President is as "Mr President." Has anyone (not related) to the current or former US President ever publicly addressed them by his first or last name directly to his face? What happened? If this hasn't happened, what would be the consequences of doing so?

Disagreeing with a Client: Graphic Designer Filter

These Birds of a Feather — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 08:09:51 -0800

What's the best protocol to follow as a freelance graphic designer if a client requests something not possible or a graphic element that will ruin the overall composition of a given piece? One of my clients has asked for something to be added to an infographic I've designed that after a few tries is not easily rendered and is ultimately detracting from the design overall. I am about to email off the proofs for this latest round of work and I am thinking of saying something like, "I know you were interested in having X be a part of Y. After a few rounds of designing, I've determined that X reduces the impact of Y and am concerned about readability and clarity. What other ways could we incorporate X into this phase of the project?"

Is this an appropriate way to push back? I feel very strongly that for us to continue to include this "off" element would be to create a very muddy infographic, but I don't want to offend this client (one I have a close relationship with in general). Any guidance on professionalism will be much appreciated.

Is it okay to renege on a date that you didn't know was a date?

iLoveTheRain — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:15:29 -0800

Is it ever okay to renege on a date if you didn't know it was a date in the first place? A few days ago someone I don't know very well invited me out to an event. I said maybe and told the guy I'd get back to him once I knew my schedule. I was under the impression that this was to be a group outing, so I asked a mutual friend about when she'd like to meet us there and she revealed that she wasn't going because this is really a date and that this guy has been smitten with me since we met a year ago. (I haven't seen this guy since that first meeting.) Apparently he's been planning this for a while, which is sweet and everything, but I have no interest in dating this guy whatsoever.

Is it going to be bad form to reneg on the outing now that I know what I know? I've been pressured into going on dates with people I don't like before and I really don't want to do it anymore. What can I say to this guy so he understands?

A space in time removed, too soon to tell.

Anonymous — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:36:38 -0800

Grieving Protocol Question: My community lost a beloved friend in an accident on Friday night. I have some recordings of his voice. How soon can I share these? Part of my life's work is reinforcing the idea that we neglect sound as a trigger and a repository for memories. Most people take photos, shoot short videos, collect physical souvenirs, but not too many people just record the sounds of the voices closest to them in an everyday context. I've been doing so since I was a teenager, and it's provided me with an invaluable window on the person I used to be, and the people I've been closest to along the way.

We lost a beloved friend in a wreck this weekend. I have what amounts to several hours of this friend conversing casually at a gathering last fall. I would, at some point, like to share these with our mutual friends and loved ones, but in the interests of propriety, I'm not sure when the right time would be.

Everybody is still all over the map emotionally, and a few are still under very close watch. Knowing how intimate the sound of someone's voice can be, and not wanting to push anyone over the edge, I feel it would be indiscreet to just throw these out there without considering the ramifications. I'm inclined to sit on them a while, but I don't know how long.

MeFi, what would you do?

You are so cool, but I don't want to date you.

iLoveTheRain — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:42:37 -0800

Date-fail: I initiated the date, it was fun but just okay, was about to tell him no thanks to a second when he texts me and tells me he had a really good time and can't wait to see me again. My friends love him. I in post-breakup bravery decided to ask a guy I met online out tonight. It was good to meet someone new, and he is definitely a really incredible, interesting person, but I did not feel anything around him. My friends thought he was awesome, and he apparently feels the same way about me, but I was going to tell him that though I had a great time, I wasn't feeling it though I was glad to have met him.

Given that I was so jazzed to meet him at first and that I initiated the date, what's the protocol here for letting this guy know "you're awesome but this isn't a good fit"? I'm disappointed that I'm not attracted to him, but I know better than to push past that. I don't know how to respond to his message now that I know I don't feel the same way.

JDate, block these creeps already.

These Birds of a Feather — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:34:55 -0800

JDate Filter: Am I being rude/off-putting by including a semi-terse "I'm not for you if you're older than X" message at the top of my profile? I joined JDate a month ago and I've gotten a lot of pestering messages from men that are old enough to be my father, and from some who are just very much out of my age range. With most of the super creeps I've just blocked them and moved on, but some of the younger ones are persistent and have circumvented JDate's weak blocking protocols by keeping tabs on my profile and visiting it over, and over, and over (which is actually rather distressing).

I now have a gentle, but kind of terse disclaimer at the top of my bio that explains I don't want to date anybody that's outside of my explicitly stated age range, and that I am absolutely not the right match for men who are 35+. I am still getting messages from older men who say really condescending things like, "You just need an older guy to show you around the world, honey" and crap like that.

In the long run, am I going too far by being up front about my age preferences right away? I am not flattered by the influx of interest from men 10 to 30 (!) years my senior. Is there a way to set this boundary but still present myself positively or should I just ditch my profile and move on from the whole site in general?

(Please don't suggest OkCupid as an alternative. That's where I was when I met my last boyfriend and I am super, super over it as a result.)

How to Say "Thanks"

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 20:43:29 -0800

Do people give their graduate advisors presents following a successful defense? What would qualify? I'm grateful to my committee and want to acknowledge how much they've helped my project and my career, but I'm not sure (1) if it's appropriate (2) what would probably signify my gratitude.

Help me reverse-engineer some bitstrings

larkery — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:56:24 -0800

Hackers of MeFi, assemble! I have an undocumented serial protocol I want to reverse engineer - help me turn some mysterious bit strings into meaningful data. I recently bought a V-Fit 10kpt treadmill for use in a treadmill desk arrangement, which is working out well. Like most treadmills it has a fairly rubbish interface on a control unit; the control unit talks to the treadmill itself over a single-wire serial protocol, which I've reverse-engineered enough to replace the control unit with my own microprocessor + desktop application.

So far so good, but my solution involves capturing the serial traffic at a given speed as a bit sequence and then playing that bit sequence back to set that speed on the treadmill. I'm like the man in the chinese room experiment.

This is where you, the good people of ask metafilter, come in; can you help me turn these meaningless bits into comprehensible data?

At a given speed the device plays out a 120 bit sequence at 1200 baud, repeated every 7.2 milliseconds; here is an example bit sequence (this is a recording of the logic levels on the wire with no further processing). Each of these 120 bit sequences is a speed command.



bin: 00001011 00110000 10000011 00000010 00110000 01010111 00000000 01110100 00111111 00000000 01110001 01000111 01011011 00110110 00010011

hex: 0x0b 0x30 0x83 0x02 0x30 0x57 0x00 0x74 0x3f 0x00 0x71 0x47 0x5b 0x36 0x13

I've broken this into bytes as its length is divisible by 8, and I can't see any obvious pattern of start and stop bits like you'd get in normal RS232.

It turns out that every command starts with 0x0b 0x30 0x83 0x02 0x30, and ends with 0x13, so I'll leave those off from now on; from there we have one special command, played when the device is stopped:



stop (bin): 00000111 00000000 01110000 00000111 00000000 01110001 01000111 00011110 01110110 

stop (hex): 0x7 0x0 0x70 0x7 0x0 0x71 0x47 0x1e 0x76

and then at least 96 speed commands, going from 0.5kph to 10kph in 0.1kph increments. Every speed command is prefixed with 0x57, presumably identifying it as a speed, followed by 3 variable bytes, followed by 0x00 0x71 0x47, followed by two variable bytes whose final nibble is always 6. Here are some examples (leading 0x57 omitted):



0.5kph 00000000 01110100 00111111 00000000 01110001 01000111 01011011 00110110

        0x0 0x74 0x3f 0x0 0x71 0x47 0x5b 0x36

0.6kph 01000000 00110011 10000011 00000000 01110001 01000111 01101100 10110110

        0x40 0x33 0x83 0x0 0x71 0x47 0x6c 0xb6

0.7kph 01000000 00110110 11100011 00000000 01110001 01000111 00001001 10110110

        0x40 0x36 0xe3 0x0 0x71 0x47 0x9 0xb6

0.8kph 01000000 00110000 10110011 00000000 01110001 01000111 01010111 11110110

        0x40 0x30 0xb3 0x0 0x71 0x47 0x57 0xf6

0.9kph 01000000 00110101 01001111 00000000 01110001 01000111 00100010 01110110

        0x40 0x35 0x4f 0x0 0x71 0x47 0x22 0x76

1.0kph 01000000 00110010 00011011 00000000 01110001 01000111 01111001 00110110

        0x40 0x32 0x1b 0x0 0x71 0x47 0x79 0x36

1.1kph 01000000 00110111 10111011 00000000 01110001 01000111 00011111 00110110

        0x40 0x37 0xbb 0x0 0x71 0x47 0x1f 0x36

1.2kph 00100000 00110001 11000011 00000000 01110001 01000111 00101010 11110110

        0x20 0x31 0xc3 0x0 0x71 0x47 0x2a 0xf6

...



9.9kph 01000100 01110110 10110011 00000000 01110001 01000111 00001000 00110110

        0x44 0x76 0xb3 0x0 0x71 0x47 0x8 0x36

10kph 01000100 01110000 11001011 00000000 01110001 01000111 01010110 01110110

        0x44 0x70 0xcb 0x0 0x71 0x47 0x56 0x76

My guesses so far on speed command format are:

First 3 bytes could be a 24-bit floating point; they are not lexically ordered against speed which fits this possibility

Final two bytes could be a checksum of some sort; the device has lots of ambient EMF because of the motor, and it would be bad if a few bit errors could stop the belt or run it at 10kph suddenly

Middle bytes are just a separator, maybe again to provide some bit error / timing error stability

One other point of interest: the devices speaking this protocol are AVR ATMega8 microprocessors, so any common data they use could be involved (I don't get why the engineers here didn't just use the built-in standard 8N1 serial?!?!). The micros' flash memories have their lock bits set, so I can't just download their programs and reverse-engineer directly (first thing I tried).

Over to you, metafilter; thanks!

A subscription service for professional grade protocol signatures?

Tell Me No Lies — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:49:35 -0800

A subscription service for professional grade protocol signatures? I need an initial dump followed by an ongoing stream of current protocol signatures. They need to be extremely high quality, way beyond anything that ethereal et al. use.

I don't particularly need heuristics or decoders, but I wouldn't say no.

What I emphatically *don't* need is a code module that does the recognition for me.

Is anyone aware of a company out there selling this service? It seems like a golden startup opportunity.

Inn at Little Washington pro tips

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:03:10 -0800

Looking for tipping protocol and other pro tips from people who have been to the Inn at Little Washington. (Anon because this experience is a surprise for my spouse.)

In a couple of weeks, we are going to the Inn on a "holiday package" that includes (language from them):

Room Rate plus tax, Afternoon tea, Dinner for two including tax and gratuity, our Hot Breakfast including tax and gratuity, a $100 gift certificate to our gift shop and a Christmas gift from the Inn. Beverage and tax/gratuity on beverage is not included. Valet and Housekeeping gratuity is not included, along with other orders from our bar or room service menu.

I asked a follow-up question about tipping and they said:

With the package your tax and gratuity is included for your dinner and hot breakfast at a rate of 20% for gratuity and a 7 ½% tax rate. The gratuity is divided between all of the wait staff. This does not include housekeeping, front desk/valet. If you wish to add additional gratuities it is permitted.

So I'm really looking for people who have been there and can let me know what the norm is for valet (unless we don't use that -- would that be lame of us?), the tea, the breakfast, housekeeping, and beverages. We are not big drinkers, but we may each drink one or two glasses of wine if we feel like it, or we may both want to have Cokes. Or water.

Anything you can tell me on recommended amounts, procedures (Do I tip in the restaurant? Do I add it to my bill at the end of our stay?? Do I need cash?), etc. would be great. This will be our first time there and, obviously, we don't want to do it wrong.

Any other suggestions for making the most of our short (1 night) experience would be welcome, too!

Am really looking for folks who have experience with this particular Inn, rather than general tipping tips. Thanks everyone.

two jobs, one business: yes or no?

CookieNose — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 06:05:36 -0800

Is it kosher to apply for two positions at the same place at the same time? I am very interested in two positions at a university. I have to apply through their online application system, as opposed to just emailing resumes to that position's hiring manager. Is sending two applications within a couple days of each other a real no-no? They'll ultimately end up with different people, but will the HR person who sees them first just toss them because it's a huge faux pas?

Hen Party Rejectee

Anonymous — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 20:08:24 -0800

I was invited to a wedding but not the hen party. I'm not hurt or angry, I'm just curious. And also slightly embarrassed and awkward... My friend, let's call her Anna, is getting married this summer. She has invited me to her wedding but not her hen party. Details are:

1) We're in our mid 20s.
2) She has invited about 15 women to the hen party.
3) We were part of the same five-people group when we were undergraduates, but our recent contact in the last year has now been limited to sporadic emails and an occasional meetup if we are in the same town. In other words, she was a "life-phase" friend - we had great times back then, but we have both moved on. Two of those people are in our group are guys and they have not been invited. The other girl has been invited, but she was closer to Anna than I was. And she was also part of the second group (see 4)
4) She has invited all the girls another group from uni. We were all in the same course, but I wasn't particularly close knit friends with that other group.
5) Transportation involves a small flight, but it is not a big issue (and she knows this).
6) I think the wedding will be about ~120 people or so, but I could be mistaken.
7) Would I invite her to my hen party? I think this is a different question, as I feel supremely uncomfortable about the thought of having a hen party just for me. I think it'll be just my very very closest girl friends, i.e. 3 people, max, if I even do have a hen party. So, no.

So, am feeling slightly awkward. What is the appropriate hen-party protocol? I know that sometimes people are invited to hen parties but not invited to weddings, but not the other way around.

Another question: How do I deflect questions of "how was the hen party" gently (so as to not embarrass her or I) as it seems that I was the only girl from her undergraduate years who wasn't invited... I can't even say something along the lines of, "Oh, I was busy," because I wasn't. The worse part is that photos will be up on facebook.

Anonymous because I'm feeling really awkward.

Least expensive source for Follistim?

roxie110 — Sun, 29 May 2011 10:13:44 -0800

Where can I find Follistim at the lowest possible price? I'm paying out of pocket for Follistim & Ganirelix for an egg retrieval cycle... frighteningly expensive, so I'm wondering if others could share their (reliable) sources for these fertility medications. The Follistim will be 300 IU pens and Ganirelix 250mcg.

Thanks so much for any advice! Also, if you were on this protocol and care to share any side effects or experiences you had, I'd be grateful.

Hey, listen... You gonna buy that?

iLoveTheRain — Sat, 28 May 2011 18:43:23 -0800

What's a professional way to let a customer (or even a potential customer) know that they're taking advantage of your kindness with their assumption that "try before you buy" is a given? I'm a freelance designer that specifically markets wares on websites like Etsy and Artfire. Every now and then I'll get a customer who wants to see a sample proof of what one of my pre-made designs would look like with their shop name and tag-line prior to purchasing said pre-made design. I usually don't mind doing the edits and sending them a watermarked proof, but lately I've had a slew of customers who don't understand that they need to purchase the design in order to customize it beyond the initial proof, and now my desire to be, you know, accommodating, has been backfiring. I'd honestly rather lose the customer sometimes than make the sale because the situation is not under my control anymore.

What should be my policy on this from the get-go, and if I get myself into this situation again, what's a nice but professional and assertive way to gently push these customers back and let them know that a purchase is necessary prior to full customizations? The latest customer I've been working with inadvertently got me to do five different iterations of one design and she still hasn't purchased anything and I just feel stupid about it. This is really a personality flaw on my end and I gotta nip it in the bud because it's costing me money and resources.

Resume Protocol After Quitting

iLoveTheRain — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:17:21 -0800

Long story short: great job, great experience, great skillsets gained, have to quit after only 5 months of employment for medical reasons. I want to keep job info on my resume. Can I? I just gave my two weeks notice to a retail job at a special store that has yielded some incredibly rewarding work experience. I've only been there since November/December and have to quit because I am about to have some surgery that will make it difficult for me to stick to the schedule that the aforementioned position necessitates and as a part time employee I don't qualify for extended medical leave. My bosses like me and have invited me to return if I can/want to.

As much as I have enjoyed this job, I do plan to seek employment elsewhere simply because the end game at this retail location is not the end game I really want. The skills I've gained at this job over the short amount of time that I've been there are significant and relevant to other positions I plan to apply for. I also would like to be able to return to this current position as a back up in case I need supplemental income.

Can I retain this job on my resume to highlight the experience I've gained without nixing myself for other positions in the near future?

How can I explain to a potential employer that my decision to leave this company to pursue other interests happened to coincide with a medical procedure that had to be completed?

Will the 5 month duration factor screw me over as a recent college grad applying for her dream job(s)?

Incorporating the Rosary into a funeral service? Some guidance?

Tchad — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 10:56:10 -0800

Calling all Roman Catholics, Nuns, and Priests! Help me incorporate the Rosary into a Funeral Service for my best friend! (kinda long) My best friend just died. He was 60.

He was a pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic who was heavily involved in the church as a child, almost became a priest in the later 1960s but never took orders.

I am not a Catholic. I am not a believer in any conventional sense.

As he made his way through life, regardless of the direction his spiritual journey took (and pretty much it took every direction), he always maintained a fondness and powerful respect for the Rosary as a spiritual manifestation of the Divine and as a form of powerful meditation.

Being about 13 (at the time of VCII) and very involved in the Church, he was also familiar with the older Latin prayers and Mass.

At his memorial service, I would like to incorporate this into the program, but have a few questions:

My initial idea was to take the rosary he died with and say, during the eulogy, that it was important to him and Latin as the vehicle was important. Then I would say something along the lines of the basics of what the Rosary is, then say the eight prayers in sequence in Latin (I do know them), and ask that the audience, if they are Roman Catholic to meditate on the mysteries and if they aren't they should feel free to meditate on what Greg meant to them. I did not intend to do a Rosary properly, but just enough to make it mean something.

BUT!

From my research, the Rosary is meant as a personal devotional and not as a public set of prayers and shouldn't be broken up like that. To do the partial main prayers of the system without a full circle isn't what it is for and may be slightly offensive or at least misplaced. This will be a mixed group of counter-cultural folks from the 60s to prim family members to loosey-goosey United Methodists and Unitarians to any number of other believers.

SO!

I was then thinking that Latin needs to be a part of this, as does the Rosary, so perhaps I can talk about what it meant to him and then say something along the lines of: "Although it isn't appropriate for the Rosary to be said under these circumstances, the Lord's Prayer and the Our Father are important parts of all Nicene worship and I would like to recite the Our Father in Latin...etc" While holding the beads.

I guess I am looking for input. I don't want to offend anyone by mis-use of the beads, but it needs to be part of this. How can I best do it without offense?

The service itself is at a United Methodist Church, it is not a Catholic service, there is no priest involved, but there will be a number of people with whom he grew up (different varieties of American Catholics) present.

Thoughts/Opinions? I will be at the computer night and day for a while yet, so feel free to ask questions and let me know your thoughts.

YANMP YANAP
Thanks, everybody.
I want to do this right.

All Right, I'm a Lawyer: What Do I Ask?

amicamentis — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 07:18:54 -0800

What specifically happens between a lawyer and his client once the client commits a crime? I have always been curious about the protocol (if any) followed by a lawyer once his or her client is arrested or under suspicion for a crime. How much does it depend on the individual lawyer or firm?

What kinds of questions does the lawyer ask? How does he or she make sure to get all of the relevant details? How much time does this take? What instructions are given to the client?

If the lawyer hears about something that may negatively impact their case ("I stashed the bloody towel in a neighbor's shed, the police haven't looked there yet") what is their obligation in that situation?

I understand that there may not be any one general way but am hoping to hear how real-life is different than TV.

Post-interview thank-you note ... without contact info?

Xany — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 18:22:47 -0800

I just had an interview, and I know standard post-interview procedure is to send in an email thanking them for the opportunity. But ... I don't have my interviewer's contact info. In fact, when I asked for an email address at the end of the interview in case I had more questions and so on, his reply was "Best go through your HR contact; they'll pass on anything relevant." What should I do - should I send a thank-you note to HR? Send a note and ask them to pass it on? No thank-you note? The interviewer did say they'll contact me again within a few days to tell me if I've made it through to the next round or not, so I'm not sure if there's a "Don't call us; we'll call you," subtext here.

Yes, I'm probably overthinking this. A lot. But I really want this job, and I don't want to blow my chances by failing to do something trivial like this. In all previous interviews I've had with other companies, interviewers were either willing to give out or volunteered their contact info, so it's never been an issue before.

Relevant details: the job is a graduate position with a consulting firm in Australia.

Is it wrong to follow/friend a job applicant?

janet lynn — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:46:59 -0800

I'm hiring, and in addition to interviewing, checking references (official and un-), etc., I'd like to see how candidates are using Twitter, Facebook, and/or Tumblr. Facility with this stuff isn't a primary requirement of the job, but it's helpful; I also think it's a good way to gauge a candidate's judgement and to see how they manage their public face. On the other hand, it feels like following or friending is weird, or possibly an invasion of privacy. Is it?

Am I a bad sister?

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:27:24 -0800

Is it a horrible breach of family trust that I shared an email from my sister to me with my husband? My sister (Jessica) and I are not on good terms. We had had a very fragile relationship for about a year in which hurtful things were said by both of us, over email and in person. At one point, in the midst of a larger, seriously stressful back and forth on email, she said some things to me that I found particularly awful and since my husband (George) had been hearing my side of the story throughout the debacle and was currently sitting next to me when I received the email, I had him read it. This email also contained some disparaging remarks about George's brother, Ian. George read the email, on my invitation, and then not only was upset on my behalf for what Jessica said to me but was also offended by what she said about Ian.

Even though I asked him not to, George emailed Jessica to suggest that though he hoped she and I could work things out she should leave Ian out of the discussion. And then all hell broke loose. Jessica claims that I broke a sacred sisterly bond by sharing the email with my husband. My main objective was to give George a better understanding of my reasons for being so upset with Jessica and feel like I should be able to share anything with my husband. My family (father, brother, etc) think that I was disloyal to my sister for having showed George the email. Did I screw up?

Help me not to offend people

cromagnon — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 04:07:24 -0800

Help me not to offend everyone in the whole world! I have a new job starting in the autumn. In it I'll be meeting lots of different sorts of people from all over the world, which I'm looking forward to. But it opens up a whole load of questions: should I offer to shake hands with a muslim man from Indonesia? A Thibetan buddhist woman? Do Pacific islanders drink alcohol? Coffee? Is the high five still the best formal greeting for Americans, or has it been replaced by the chest bump? And so on :)

in short: how should I learn international interpersonal protocol skills?

PS: meeting these people is not my main role, otherwise my employer would be providing training - I've already had diversity and cultural sensitivity courses, but they focus on "within workplace" longer term interactions. I want to know how to come over well in fifteen minutes with someone I'm not likely to see again.

What's the protocol for doing research in an archive?

colfax — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:01:46 -0800

What's the protocol for doing research in an archive? I know I probably have to call in advance, but is there anything else I should know? And do I have to know exactly what I'm looking for before I go? I'm thinking about applying to history Ph.D. programs next fall, but I'm still relatively new to the field. I would like to investigate some of the local archives to see if there's anything in there that could be useful for my research (or rather, potential research), but since in the past I've found all of my primary sources online or in regular libraries, I'm not really sure how to proceed in an archive.

Am I allowed to just go in as an unaffiliated researcher? Do I need to know what I'm looking for beyond my specific subject areas? I mean, I know I'm looking for stuff about German immigrants in my state, but it's not like I know I'm looking for the letters of Frau Whatever. Do you have any tips for how to do productive research in an archive (I hear it's a different sort of animal than regular library research), or about the general protocol while I'm there? The archives I'm looking at are all state archives, if that makes any difference.

I need GOLD, Jerry!

cmoj — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:43:49 -0800

When is it appropriate to ask someone out? I don't know how to date, because when I was younger I never had to. I'm not sure how it worked out any more, but things just seemed to happen until i was 20 or so, and then things got harder, possibly simply because of the decline in popularity of AIM in my age group. After a slump, it's become apparent that since clubs (both the dancing and the common interest variety) don't appeal to me and I tend to be very serious and focused in class-type situations I'm gonna have to learn to date.

So when and who is it appropriate to ask? Long time medium-level friends? Acquaintances? Employees at establishments you frequent? Upon meeting someone at a party? Randomly on the street?

What's the difference between asking on a date and asking for a number? I've never actually witnessed any of these things happening, but I know it must. A lifetime of Seinfeld is not adequate socialization for this!

How to deal with flakes at work?

mpls2 — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:14:03 -0800

I want a communication escalation algorithm. What's your basic algorithm for dealing with non-responses to work communications (or personal for that matter)? e.g., an email or phone call asking for something specific that doesn't get returned. How long do you wait and what's your usual follow-up message?

Thanks!