Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with rules

Why did they make me eat fish on Fridays?

tastybrains — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:52:42 -0800

In some religions (at the very least Catholicism), eating fish on Fridays is (or at least was) a requirement and seems to remain a bit of a tradition. I was raised by some strict Catholics, but never understood what the real rule was. Do you have to eat fish, or do you just have to not eat meat? And how exactly is "meat" defined in this situation? This question is one I've wondered for a long time, triggered by my intense dislike of all seafood. Most recently, what triggered this question was the fact that it seems that all corporate cafeterias I know of serve fish every Friday (and stank up the whole place).

As a child, on Fridays during Lent, I was given a lot of shit for refusing to eat fish like everyone else. My question was always "if we can't eat meat, why can't we just order some cheese pizza?!" Really...why? Why is fish the traditional alternative to meat, instead of *real* nonmeat foods like tofu and beans and pasta and the aforementioned cheese pizza?

I also wondered exactly how fish was not meat, but chicken was. I mean, where is the line drawn between meat-dead-animals and non-meat-dead-animals? Is it warm-blooded versus cold-blooded (if so, could I eat amphibians and reptiles on Fridays if I wanted to observe this rule? Are frog legs and alligator fair game?)? Is it land-dwelling versus water-dwelling (if so, could I eat a dolphin or a manatee?)?

What about mealworms? Could I eat those?

Help me learn the rules of rugby so I can referee a game.

HopStopDon'tShop — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:10:57 -0800

RugbyFilter: help me find a resource that explains, in both intricate detail and user-friendly terms, all of the rules of rugby. I've been asked, by a clearly desperate soul, to ref a game in January and need to get into shape (rules-wise) by then. I am rugby player but haven't played for years nor can I watch it regularly on tv (although I do, clearly, have internet access). As a result the rules are all very vague in my head, as are the associated penalties. Are there sites that you know of (my google-fu is weak) that explain all of the rules, in detail, but not in complete sport-legalese.

And no, I shouldn't be a referee with this clear lack of qualifications but, as I said, this guy is desperate.

Understanding cricket

jfwlucy — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:59:18 -0800

Trying to understand issues around cricket as compared to baseball -- player drafting, financing, culture/conduct, etc. -- hoping an enthusiast can help me. Okay, I've been searching for a while (Wikipedia, Dangermouse, and ABCs of Cricket), and I think I get the basics, but I still have a few unanswered questions.

1) How do drafting/contracts/free agency work? How important are statistics in determining the value of a player to a particular team and does the previous year's performance of a team help determine the availability of their draft picks? Is this similar in each country?

1ai) According to Wikipedia, most of the financing behind cricket is international? So then does a nation pay for fielding its cricket team or does most of the money come from private backing?

1bii) What role does nationalism play? Are there rules or merely customs that limit the number of foreign players on each team?

2) I understand this diagram mostly, but what if I were batting and I did a quick 180 degree turn and popped up the ball right behind me OVER the stumps and past the long stop player? Illegal? Based on the position of my feet or the rules?

3) Wickets and bails. Do they ever get tampered with? Hidden magnets? Glue? Who checks?

4) I understand distractions by fielders (except "sledging") are discouraged. What about fan distractions? How rigidly is this enforced?

4a) What about unnecessary roughness in tagging the batter? Depends on the team and the venue?

Thanks so much for your help.

Condo property manager overstepping her authority?

urbanette — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:43:12 -0800

My condo suddenly wants me to sign an agreement saying I will abide by their draconian rules and provide a tonne of personal data to them. This is all under the guise that they are creating 'files' for residents for access to the building. Is this legal? I'm renting from an owner in a condo building in Ontario. Over the past few months, the new property manager has exhibited major control freak tendencies - there are notices about some perceived problem posted in the elevators every other day. Recently all residents received a form that we were 'required to' fill in. The form asks for you name, but all sorts of other personal details, email, job etc. There isn't any privacy or usage policy presented.

The form also has a spot for you to sign that says you agree to abide by the condo 'rules' a copy of which I have not seen since 2005. This all strikes me as odd - I think the agreement should be between my landlord and myself.

There are omnious notes about residents not being able to access their 'file' under the new 'entry system' whatever that means.

This seems rather intrusive and odd. What are my rights as a tenant?

Too many condo noise rules = no condo for us?

bibbit — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:56:03 -0800

My fiance and I are in the midst of buying a condo. Offer accepted, inspection went great, still collecting all the documents related to the condo association. Yesterday, we got a three page document that is the "noise abatement policy." We are not happy. But should we suck it up and still buy the place? The condo is in a 3 floor, 7 unit building. Built in the 1920's, gut rehabbed less than 10 years ago. According to meeting minutes, there have been issues with noise because not enough soundproofing was used. In the four times we've been in the place, we've never heard anyone in other units, but we were making enough racket ourselves and we never saw anyone either.

The noise abatement policy requires area rugs covering almost the entire floor in all major rooms (bedrooms, living room, dining area, hallway). It requires padding on the washer/dryer. It requires "major activities" such as "house cleaning, minor repairs in the unit, etc." to be done between 9am and 7pm.

This went into effect last year. The owners of the unit we have the offer in on put their place on the market in January. They are not in complete compliance with the rules, though they do have wall-to-wall carpeting in the bedrooms.

The issue is: my fiance likes his music. And his movies. And he's not a night owl, but he'll have music on until 10:30-11pm sometimes. Movies might go later on the weekends. His dream is a gorgeous surround sound system. He considers himself an audiophile. Is this compatible with such a noise policy?

We also have two rather large cats, both of whom like to run around occasionally and one of whom is a bit of a talker at night (loud enough to wake us). I can hear our current upstairs-neighbor-cat all the time when its running about. Are we in trouble with our cats?

There is a unit below us, a unit above us, a unit next to us. How do we find out if this is an association that will complain if they hear a pin drop? How do we determine if we're being unreasonable? How do we know if we're going to get nasty notes and fines if we have 6 people over for dinner and they don't leave until near midnight on a weekend? Any experiences with this?

Are shops allowed to add a fee for paying by credit card instead of cash?

wastelands — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:39:19 -0800

Does it go against Visa / MasterCard / etc. policy for a retail store, such as a restaurant or coffee shop, to add a charge to your order if you use credit rather than paying by cash? While it's incredibly common, I have heard that it goes against policy, and the store could actually risk punitive action from the credit card company if they were found out. True?

How best to manage a prize draw / giveaway?

Anonymous — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:49:22 -0800

What rules / laws govern prize draws and contests in Ontario? How best to manage a giveaway much bigger than I've done before? I'm organising a fund-raising event for a non-profit and a charity (2 separate organisations). I was expecting to giveaway a gift basket and a few CDs as door prizes. I've done this before and never worried about rules governing prize draws in the past at similar events.

Somebody has very kindly donated a trip worth several thousand dollars. This puts me into 'how do I handle this?' territory, as I regularly see long lists of contest rules and 'no purchase necessary' type statements on such contests.

Does Ontario or Canadian law govern such contests?

I was thinking of giving a ballot with a purchase (from the non-profit) or a donation (to the charity). Is this ok? Or do I have to do a 'no purchase necessary' option?

While I will exclude staff of both organisations from the draw, I want to allow volunteers to be able to be able to enter. OK? I will get the person representing the donor to govern all aspects of the draw to ensure no bias.

What else should I know? Hiring a lawyer to draw up rules is not an option. Registering for a license is more than I want to do. I just want to give this thing away to somebody who will appreciate it, raise money for the charity and promote the non-profit.

Radio Free Southwest

tropikal — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:00:15 -0800

Two part radio scanner question. Part one, Looking for a radio scanner that can receive at least police and commercial airlines. Part two, if and when I get one that picks up airline frequencies would I be able to use it during a flight (when any other electronic device is allowed)?

scrabble rule help!!

slograffiti — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:32:13 -0800

scrabble fight! ok, so we are having a dilemma. can you form the same word two times in one turn in the game of scrabble? more inside!! we know that you cannot form the same word twice in TWO turns (i.e. person one makes the word "in" and then person two makes the word "in")...Scrabble rules on box and online say "NEW WORDS must be formed in each consecutive turn..." but can one player make the same word twice in ONE turn? (i.e. "in" across and then "in" down again?)

I not only need an opinion, but also a LINK to where I can verify the rule online. My gut is saying you cannot make the same word twice, regardless of how you do it, but my fellow scrabble players dispute this. Thanks (in advance).

Legality to mail US consumer vegetable seed packets to Kenya?

Quarter Pincher — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:36:32 -0800

Are there any export restrictions (or whatnot) regarding me (a US non-business entity) sending a bunch of packages of consumer vegetable-garden seeds to a foreign country (Kenya) as a gift? I'm sure there are some restrictions on receiving foreign seeds, but.. outgoing? A gentleman I met in Kenya last year (having been there myself) has requested a number of seed packets be sent to his rural/slum community. Would I be breaking some US export law (or Kenya import.. hmm) by sending them?

Pimp My Beholder

Parasite Unseen — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:54:15 -0800

Alright, nerds: Help me mod my upcoming D&D campaign. It appears that I will in the near future be running a D&D 4th Edition campaign for a group of my friends. We've been playing the system since its release, and while we're pleased with the core mechanic, we feel that the system in place for roleplaying and character development leaves a bit to be desired. With that in mind, I'm looking to integrate rules from various other systems in order to make the campaign a more satisfying one for us.

In the past, we've had a great deal of success cherrypicking rules from roleplaying-heavy indie systems and shoehorning them into our campaigns. Aspects from Spirit of the Century worked very well in Star Wars: Saga Edition, Beliefs and Instincts from Burning Wheel worked well in a previous D&D campaign, and Drama Dice from 7th Sea gave our Vampire story a little extra bite.

What other lesser-known rules could be used to make my upcoming campaign a more memorable and enjoyable one, and how best to integrate them?

Rules Rage?

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:53:08 -0800

I seem to have a form of ... rules rage. I get truly angry over things that, afterward, seem insignificant. Help me find out why, or how to get past it. I find that I very often get .. truly angry.. over small things. I can see a common theme that I most often get angry when rules are broken - for example, if people tailgate me through the resident gate at my apartments. I suspect being a bit miffed on this is about normal, but I get flat out angry, and afterward, wonder why. Any help digging into why that angers me so, or how to deal with it to reduce it to mild displeasure?

Which Hazel?

WCityMike — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:42:13 -0800

I am a Mac owner who bought Hazel, an application that will do a number of different tasks to your files based on certain rules. (Think of it as Outlook rules for your Mac desktop.) However, I've really found myself stumped as to what to do with it, and it's basically just been sitting on my machine unused. If you have it, what do you do with it? If you don't have it or have a Windows machine, do you have any good ideas for rule logic, or automated rules, to apply to files on your desktop, anyway? Looks like it'll auto-run AppleScripts and Unix shell scripts, too. Basically looking to tap other people's minds on this one since my own seems to be balking at this particular mental problem. Thanks. (Not Pepsi Blue. I'm in no way associated with the Hazel people.)

Buy low, sell high. And?

unSane — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:11:16 -0800

What are your trading rules? I'm collecting mob wisdom on trading stocks, on short, intermediate and long term bases. This list of rules is the kind of thing I'm looking to add to. What are your own trading rules? Which rules would you have tattoed to your forehead in mirror writing so you saw it in the mirror every morning before the market opened?

I cho-choose you

about_time — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:56:05 -0800

I am a member of an academic committee that handles award nominations. Our job is to chose which of many internal applicants may apply for an external award. Often such awards accept just 1 or 2 applicants from a single organization. What is the most transparent and fair process for making such decisions? Alternatively, what are problems you've faced on similar committees? In terms of transparency, I am looking for a process that allows us to say ahead of time "here are the rules by which we will make all decisions" and then afterwards "here are the decisions we made in this particular case and why". The people who are submitting applications are my peers, that is, I can't simply say "I'm the boss, that's why". I'm also concerned with bruised egos from saying, "X is better than you."

I don't need suggestions for a full process from me-fi, just some rules or vague suggestions for what you think is important. For example, "If it is the last year that someone is eligible for an award, they receive a preference" as some awards are early career awards.

Thanks for you help.

Take me out to the ball game?

kbanas — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:51:13 -0800

I find myself mysteriously drawn to, of all things, baseball. It's kind of awesome! Unfortunately, there are some things I still don't quite understand... So, with basketball, hockey and football all done and gone, I found myself sitting on the couch a couple weeks ago playing World of Warcraft and watching, of all things, Major League Baseball!

I've never really been a baseball fan before - I always lamented it as being somewhat boring and slow. I'm not sure if it's just because it feels like the only game in town lately, or if some sort of genetic marker has flipped.. but for whatever the reason, I'm kind of digging on watching the Detroit Tigers.

Except, there's a couple of things I don't really get. I mean, there are a lot of things I don't really get, but I figure a lot of that is nuanced stuff that will come down the line as I watch it more regularly.... so I will keep my questions to the basic stuff.

1. Baseball (not unlike every other sport, I guess) seems like a game where every single statistic that can be recorded is recorded. Now, obviously every player has a batting average. If I understand the batting average correctly, it's the percentage of time that a player gets a hit (a single, double, triple or home run) when he steps to the plate. Gotcha.

Now, is there a statistic in baseball that tracks the percentage of the time a player makes contact with the ball and sends it into the field of play and it results in an out versus a hit?

Does that make sense? I was watching a player bat the other day, and in like three consecutive trips through the rotation he sent a fly ball into the outfield and it was caught and it was an out. And I thought to myself, "Self, there has to be a statistic that's different than the batting average that tracks the percentage of time he hits the ball and it results in a hit versus an out." I suppose if I think about this too hard it gets a little hard to define, what with foul balls and so on and so forth, so I refined it to "hits the ball into the field of play and it results in a hit versus an out"..

2. If I'm playing defense - say, second base - are there any rules about getting out of the way of the runner if I don't have the ball, or can I obstruct his path to the bag?

3. When the hell can a player advance from one base to another?

I know, it seems like the most obvious of questions, but I have trouble with it. Obviously if a player gets a hit he advances to one of the bases. But once he's on base, under what conditions can he run? Under what conditions can he steal? I was under the impression that a player could only advance if another player made a hit - but then what's the deal with the sacrifice fly? Isn't that getting an out for the purposes of advancing a runner? I could have sworn I've seen players run the bases on a hit, and then turn around and slink back when the ball was caught....

Yes, I need some help.

Rules in Outlook 2003

adustum — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:06:20 -0800

I use Outlook 2003 at work, and I have several rules created to automatically sort my incoming mail into specific folders. I usually create a folder for each department and sub-folders for each person within that department that I communicate with. My question is: Normally when an incoming mail message is recieved and sorted automatically into a folder, the folder's name changes to bold and a number is displayed in blue indicating the number of unread messages in that folder. An example would be I have a Jason Johnson subfolder in my Human Resources folder. The Jason Johnson sub-folder goes bold when I receive a message from him, but not the Human Resources folder it is contained within. Is there a way to make the "parent" folder go bold to indicate that a subfolder within it has a new message? I hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance for your help.

Rules for Old E-mails in Webmail

LGCNo6 — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:35:32 -0800

Forcing Outlook Web Access (aka Webmail) to execute a rule manually? I've got a rule set up to send all my OLD e-mails (1/1/07-3/1/08) in Webmail to a new Gmail account. So far so good. But I can't get Webmail to execute the rule on the old e-mails, even if I put them in the Inbox and mark them as unread and do a Send/Receive. Webmail has no option to execute a rule manually, so what are my options?

ALSO: I don't want to sync the Webmail account with Outlook or Thunderbird--I'd like to send things directly from the Webmail interface to Gmail.

AND: I can't set up an IMAP drive, since Webmail won't allow me to do that.

EntourageFilter: Zombie rules gone but not dead

answergrape — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 20:26:32 -0800

My co-worker (at my instruction) created a rule in Entourage to move a particular piece of email to the deleted folder. Now all of his mail is going directly to the delete folder, but the rule is not the "rules" list. Any ideas how to stop it? He uses a switcher to switch between his PC and his Mac, and also gets email on his blackberry. All locations are showing his new mail in the deleted area.

I feel bad because I was trying to make his life easier, and instead I've upset his delicate email ecosystem.

The Lowdown: Online Dating Etiquette

cookie googleman — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:50:04 -0800

I'm a female about to venture into the world of online dating. Are there any norms/rules/trends that I should know about? Not that I would blindly follow rules— I would just like to be aware of them.

Weghting a sweepstakes in my favor

plinth — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:09:04 -0800

"you will automatically receive one entry for each bill payment you make" Is this sweepstakes set up by morons? What would stop me (other than a lack of time) to pay my bills with micropayments and enter potentially tens of thousands of times?

Not that I want those two minutes back or anything.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:16:38 -0800

Technical/pedantic football (soccer) question: In tonight's Albania v Holland Euro 2008 qualifier, six minutes of stoppage time was indicated, if I am not mistaken. However, the referee blew the final whistle after what I believe was less than 94 minutes, after a spectator threw fireworks at or near a player. This incident seemed to be the direct reason for the ref to call it a game. Given that according the Laws, the indicated stoppage time is a minimum, shouldn't this game technically be considered terminated or abandoned?

Bonus question: what exactly is the difference between a "terminated" and an "abandoned" game?

The Old Testament God != The New Testament God?

WCityMike — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:38:41 -0800

I'm working my way through the Bible. At the moment, I'm towards the end of Numbers. The past few books have been very heavy with detailed instructions on the various blood rituals God requires of his people — which animals to sacrifice, what manner to do it in, and lots of blood-splashing on the sides of the tent. I asked a Christian friend of mine about this, because, basically, I was wondering why these various intricacies of blood rituals weren't brought along through the history of Christianity. Catholicism doesn't require that pigeons or bulls be sacrificed in a certain way to appease the Lord, and, as far as I know, I don't believe it really ever did. I found her response rather fascinating: she said, "That's not Christianity." She then went on to explain that Christ changed much of the edicts that were laid down in the Old Testament, as sort of a reinvention of the religion. I'm wondering if people could elucidate on this. Is this a unique theological theory, or is this common Christian doctrine? If the latter, what prevents that from being applied to Old Testament dogma that is considered central to Christianity (I'm thinking specifically of the Ten Commandments)? If it's just a theory, then what are the more conservative, Bible-is-quite-literal Christian denominations' response to the question of the inconsistency of why these blood rituals (splashing blood around the tent; if x happens burn two pigeons on the altar; if y happens sacrifice a bull; being stoned to death for certain infractions; etc.) can be ignored but everything else is to be taken literally — since they believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible? How does the everything-literally-happened variant of Christianity resolve the "two Gods" issue of the OT and NT being very different in their very essences?

What are the best rules, formulas and tricks in math?

dropkick — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 09:01:25 -0800

MeFites: Share with me your favorite math tricks, truisms and formulas that clarified and simplified math problems and made life easier in high school and college. It can be about algebra, fractions, ratios and proportions, percentages - what have you. If it relates to business math, all the better, since that's what I'm currently taking. Thank you!

He farts and he cusses and stinks up the busses

Citizen Premier — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 10:36:29 -0800

Help me defend myself against an angry bus driver! I use a San Diego youth bus pass which clearly states it's for use by people ages 6-18, however a local bus driver insists you can't use it once you turn 18, because you are an adult and not a youth. In my last encounter I simply took the next bus, but I can't do that every time. An online print-out that clarified it would be nice, but I don't know where to find them. He seems like an angry kind of guy, whereas I'm shy and avoid confrontation. How do I convince him without getting him more upset?