Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with read

Someplace to read, write, work alone at night in NYC

laptolain — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:29:54 -0800

Someplace to read, write, relax alone at night in NYC. I'm looking for somewhere to go where I can unwind alone. I live in Maspeth, Queens where it's mostly residential and after 8PM almost everything is closed. Any place in Queens, Manhattan or Brooklyn would be fine, I don't mind long train rides.

The perfect establishment is very dark inside but all the tables have sufficient lighting for reading/writing. There might be music playing or some kind of live band but it's not a club or frat hang out. I like all kinds of jazz so that would be a bonus. The train station should be a reasonable distance since it's getting pretty cold now. It's open till 3AM or later, never very busy and at no point will I be expected to get up and leave for new customers. I don't want to sit at the bar.

Beer, liquor, coffee and food are all fine but none of them are priority over the atmosphere. As cheap as possible is probably second to atmosphere. I'm looking for a place that's the opposite of where people go to get seen.

I found a few older, similar posts but they seemed focused on Manhattan.

Thanks :)

need publisher, imagination will travel

gypseefire — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:49:06 -0800

I've recently begun work on a children's book. It is inspired by my granddaughter. I was wondering if anyone had any information on how to get a children's book published? Suggested Publishers? Also, any other information pertaining to this process, would be appreciated. ***I realize that children's books are a dime a dozen...but mine just might be spectacular ;)***

Libraries are awesome

serazin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:11:52 -0800

I've taken responsibility for a very small children's library and I'd love your ideas for making it awesome. My kid is going to a tiny little school where every parent takes a volunteer job. I chose the job of managing the small library. I'm supposed to keep it organized and accessible, and to create displays and possibly events. I'm also supposed to coordinate a Scholastic book fair (I'm sure everyone would be open to some alternative to Scholastic - so suggestions welcome on that score as well.)

I don't have a ton of time, and the school doesn't have a ton of money. Given those limitations, I'd love to hear any ideas you have for making the library useful, attractive and vibrant.

(Note that I admire and respect librarians, and recognize that I am not one! I wish all schools had a paid librarian, but this school doesn't - it only has two paid staff people all together - so I hope to do my best with what's available.)

What are your favorite books to read aloud to young children?

palliser — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:13:12 -0800

What are your favorite books to read aloud to young children? I have an almost-three-year-old son who seems like he'll be ready soon for listening to chapter books read aloud, a few pages at a time.

I have my own favorites from childhood -- not necessarily when I was that young: the Little House books, the Anne of Green Gables books, Five Little Peppers, All-of-a-Kind family. (Just typing that out -- parents apparently heavily into meaningful deprivation.)

But I'm sure there are gems out there I don't know about. Also, I think my list might be a little more appealing to girls. (My sister and I were the ones being read to.)

So -- what are your favorite chapter books to read aloud with children? The ones from your childhood, or the ones you've read with your child(ren)? I'd like to refer to this list in the future, so please don't feel constrained by his young age. I'd be happy to have some to save for when he's older.

Finally, I saw this question, but (a) it's been years since it was posted, and (b) the suggestions seem more for six-year-olds to read themselves, as opposed to have read aloud.

I want to read while in Califorinia

Jesus Malverde — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:47:02 -0800

Will be living between Joshua Tree and LA county for 3 months...how do I get a library card? I read like a fiend, and so I have several library cards in places I often stay...but this has not come up before for me...
how do I get a card and the privilege to check out books in, say, LA county, for just a few months?

Hard Drive Recoverable?

jules1651 — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:48:53 -0800

I just pulled an older computer out of the closet to donate, and yesterday it booted up fine. Today, I get an error stating "A disk read error occured, press CTL ALT DEL to reboot." I used UBCD for Windows and I cannot see the hard drive when I boot from there either. What other avenues should I explore to try and fix the disk, or is it toast and the files unrecoverable? I am willing to open it up. Thanks in advance. Info on the computer:

Dell Dimension 2400
Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz processor
Chipset: Intel 845GV chipset
Memory: 256MB PC-2700 DDR memory (one module)
Networking: Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 40GB ATA/100 7200RPM hard drive
CDROM: Hitachi 48X CD-ROM drive
BIOS: A05

Good places to study along the 1 line in NYC?

Outis — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:20:39 -0800

What is a good place to study in the evening and at night along the 1 line between Penn Station and City College? I'm living in Harlem (W 137th St.) for the summer while I take a course at CUNY Graduate Center. I need a place to study in the evening and into the night, though not the morning. It'll be everyday from about 5pm to 11pm or 12pm. (Uninterrupted sessions of at least five hours.)

I'm fine if it's not open late night on Sundays.

I'd rather not study somewhere that brings to mind a cave, aka the CUNY Graduate Center. Also, I need it to be relatively quiet, though not necessarily hushed, and a place where people won't think I'm completely insane for talking quietly to myself incoherently. (I'm here studying Ancient Greek.)

Thanks in advance, I'm not familiar with the city.

Fix disk drive error or pay for data recovery?

dios — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:09:11 -0800

Computer has "disk read error press ctrl + alt + delete" problem. I would like to get the data off it, and put it on a new computer. Is this something I can get fixed and then get the data off of it? Or do I need to pay out the nose for a data recovery person? So windows xp computer says "disk read error press ctrl + alt + delete." Do it, and you go back to the same error screen.

I'm a computer idiot. I know nothing about them mechanically. I would like the data off the computer (photos, documents). The data was all on the d: drive (my idiot's understanding is that I had one drive that was partitioned into a c: and d: drive).

So, I don't know if that is even something that can be fixed. But I checked with a reputable data recovery place.

They did a free initial screening of the drive. This is what they responded with:

"Your drive has sustained mechanical failure and requires clean room work and proprietary procedures in order to bypass the damage and recover your data.
Your drive has sustained mechanical failure to internal parts within the drive.
The media is in working conditions, but may have intermittent problems and is suggested to be replaced.
Drive clicks 3 times and then stops, and won't ID"

Cost of recovery: $1,600.

Now, I'd like the data off there. I don't know if I want it bad enough for $1,600.

My question is this: from that can anyone tell what is wrong with the computer, and if so, whether it is something that can be fixed to get the data? I'm planning on throwing away the whole thing and getting a new computer; I just want the data at this point. But I'd rather find a cheaper route than paying the $1600 for the data recovery. So maybe fix the drive and get the data myself? Or is $1600 a reasonable price to pay to get the data given the skill required to retrieve it, or can I likely find a cheaper place for this?

What's the best way to teach my daughter to read?

lexfri — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:06:33 -0800

What's the best way to teach my daughter to read? I didn't find anything in the MeFi archives; I apologize in advance if I missed some obvious discussions.

My 2-and-a-half-year-old loves books, knows her letters and their sounds, and has expressed distinct interest in learning to read her books herself. I've found dozens of methods (both free and commercial) online for teaching kids to read, even at this young(er) age, but I thought maybe some folks here had good recommendations (or warnings!).

Help Anya learn to read. She's pretty cute!

See Jane run. Run, Jane, run!

atchafalaya — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 08:15:44 -0800

What's your take on My Baby Can Read? Well? Can they read? Or what?

I read reviews of the well-known video and flashcard series, and the negative ones say any baby would do as well given as much interaction with or without the videos. My baby, however, spends most of her time with her grandparents, who could probably use a structured program like this to follow.

So, does it work? Are there better alternatives? And what about signing? That too, or not?

Thanks!

Interesting Biographies

netbros — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:37:22 -0800

I will have time for more reading in the coming months. What are the compelling biographies and autobiographies from recent years? I am in the U.S., but would also enjoy reading about interesting international bios (English language). Thanks in advance for your assistance.

What are your thoughts on the kindle?

no bueno — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:38:55 -0800

Those of you who own a kindle, what are your thoughts? Is it worth making the jump to digital? Staring at a computer screen for hours on end isn't my forte but i am looking for a different solution to going to the library and checking out a book every week They say it has a high resolution but don't actually list what it is so i'm a little leery of that. just need some help deciding if it's worth making the jump to digital yet.

Please help identify this childhood book.

0.0.0 — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:58:27 -0800

Please help identify this childhood book. I'm 90% sure it was english, otherwise it could have been written in spanish. The book was wider than tall, probably 15" by 10", very colourful but dark and weird at the same time. The only page i remember is one where s the main character is walking through a cave or forest and all these very interesting animals/creatures looking at him. (I think there's also page with just eyes surrounding him in the dark). The creatures are oddly drawn and very interesting and it was scary if anything. I believe this was a hand-me-down but eitherway I had it late 80's early 90's. I know the details are vague but i'm just hoping someone out there can bring me to peace. Thankyou

Looking for lowbrow books

reenum — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:35:23 -0800

Looking for sites or reviewers who review books other than literary fiction I've gotten into Bookgasm and I love it. I've realized that I'm not that into literary fiction. I prefer books that are plot-based, rather than character-based. So, that gets me into genre fiction or non-fiction stuff. I'm not into sci-fi at all.

Problem is, most sources like Bookslut and NY Times Book Review devote most of their reviews to literary fiction.

So, are there any other sites or magazines out there like Bookgasm? Meaning well written reviews of books that are not literary fiction?

Google reader popup when hit "mark all as read"; how do I get this to stop?

uncballzer — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:57:44 -0800

When did google reader start having a popup in firefox asking "are you sure you want to mark these as read?" and how do I get it to stop? Google reader started having this popup (seems to be when I use the mark all as read button with more than 50 items) when I hit mark all as read? Is there any way I can get this to stop? It's annoying. I don't think I installed any greasemonkey or firefox extensions lately that would be causing it. I also don't see any "check this box to stop the popup" under google reader settings either. Anything I'm missing? Thanks hive.

Critical Thinking for the Uncritical Thinker

zippity — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:26:54 -0800

Critical Thinking Skills - Apparently, I don't have any. What exactly entails "having" this skill and is it something I can develop? I've recently started college (for serious this time) and managed to test into one of the higher level English classes. Yay for me. However, now that I've been in the class for a couple weeks, I realize that I lack the ability to critically think.

In fact, I didn't realize there was even such thing as having critical thinking skills until the professor mentioned it in class.

Yea. UH OH time.

During class discussions it seems like everyone knows how to pull out these super vague ideas implied in the text.

Even though I really would like to do well in school this time, I've had pretty terrible experiences in the past with asking for help from teachers/tutors (though I do realize I will have to bite the bullet on this eventually), so I'm avoiding that avenue for the moment.

Can anyone please explain to me what exactly critical thinking skills even are? Is there any way for me to develop them on my own? Any kind of help or encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

(oh, and let's just assume that dropping the class or switching to another one is not a viable solution at this time)

Parish Read Ideas

mmw — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 18:43:52 -0800

I'm looking for book suggestions for a (Catholic) parish read. Good things would be wide appeal, a fairly short and very readable book, something that lends itself to interdisciplinary programming (slideshows, music, participatory discussions or lectures led by social scientists, doctors, etc., and the like), and ecumenical (appeals not just to Catholics but to others). If it's fiction, then it should have characters that people can really identify with. Anyone?

Magazine suggestions, please!

echo0720 — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 07:55:07 -0800

Do you have any fun, cool, hip magazine suggestions for someone who desperately misses Budget Living and needs more stuff to read around her messy apartment? Two of my favorite magazines died this year -- Budget Living and CHOW. I was wondering if you had any recommendations for replacement mags (print or online). I'm looking for fun, hip magazines aimed at the 20s and 30s sets. I have a wide variety of interests (architecture/design/girly stuff/personal finance/indie rock/etc...) and the magazines that I get right now include Under The Radar, Dwell, Domino, The Economist, and Real Simple (which I like but feel is aimed at women older than me who own their homes, whereas I'm young-ish, single and a renter, so it's sometimes boring). I really loved Budget Living and I'm so sad that it didn't last, so anything similar to that would be awesome, but anything else would be great too -- what do the cool kids* read these days?

*And by kids, I mean those of you in your late 20s and early 30s!

How much time do you spend on reading books _for pleasure_?

apple scruff — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 09:51:40 -0800

How much time do you spend on reading books _for pleasure_? I've developed a big list of books I'd like to read in the next year or so, and as I sort out what my schedule will be like and how much reading time I will have (PS: I'm not as anal as that makes me sound!), it made me wonder how others prioritize their reading. So, how much time do you spend reading per day? ...or per week/month if you don't necessarily do it daily.

Is it actually impossible to read text in a dream?

Krrrlson — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 22:21:58 -0800

Is it actually impossible to read text in a dream? My Googling fails to find a decent source of information :(

Sound Bites

emelenjr — Mon, 10 May 2004 06:49:16 -0800

When did the practice of TV news types speaking in—hmm, I guess they're headlines in a way—start? Lots of present participles, very few verbs. Was some kind of research done that showed people prefer to have someone tell them the news that way?