Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with stick

parking brake woes

speef — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:38:55 -0800

car help: parking brake stuck! I can't move my car... even to take it to a mechanic. I have a 2002 hyundai accent (stick shift). Today, when I attempted to start the car (in reverse out of its spot in a heated parking garage) I noticed that it was seriously resisting and even squealing... it even left tire marks for the 1 foot I managed to reverse it. Since it's a stick shift, I habitually put the parking break on. I, of course, pushed the brake lever off before I drove and the light went off as well; however, the brake is clearly still on as the car will not move. I attempted to put it in neutral and push the car, because I have noticed a few times recently that the brake will stick for a moment, and then 'groan' and 'pop' out of place when moved a couple inches. Unfortunately, this time it did not work, and the brake is still on. I also attempted to pull the lever back and forth over and over to engage/disengage the brake, but this hasn't helped. The car is good on oil, but I don't know what else I should check.

how do you fix a car that you cannot drive to the mechanic? what can more can i do myself to help it unstick?

How do I tell people I'm not going to work in an office?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:47:45 -0800

I am almost done with college. Since I've started, four separate times I've taken a semester off to study abroad, work overseas or do unorthodox things in the name of adventure. I've come to terms with myself and I know that this is I want out of life, and I know that when I graduate I'm not going to get a steady job with benefits or any of those other things that responsible people are supposed to do. How do I explain this to the people I care about in a way that makes them feel good about me? In the years since I graduated high school I've gotten pretty good at politely blowing people off when they ask me when I'm just going to finish university and get a job. "lol i dunno" usually works fine.

That's not really an acceptable answer for people close to me, though. My parents are starting to ask what kind of job I'm going to get, how I'm going pay for health insurance, what my degree is good for, and the respective answers are "I don't know, maybe I won't, probably nothing." I care about my parents and my close friends too much to cry "Nobody understands me!!!" and ignore them, but at the same time I worry that's the case.

I'm convinced I'll make out well no matter what I do, but I'm concerned that everyone I know thinks I'm a bum and is worried about me. How do I answer the question "What are you doing with your life?"?

Should I worry about my physically lost, encrypted passwords?

TooManyGadgets — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:16:06 -0800

So, I lost my USB stick. No big deal - except it has my password database on it. The password database is a KeePass variant, encrypted with a password that, while not weak, is only rated at 64-bits.

The USB drive also contains a copy of KeePass (but no other identifying information). It was a rather attractive model; I imagine that someone's picked it up and thought "ooo, shiny", and claimed it as their own.

Given that any Joe/Jane Dishonest could have picked it up, what are my chances of:

1) Having it picked up by someone who would actually try cracking it open (assuming they know how, or can be bothered), and

2) Them cracking open the database and causing me grief?

My question boils down to this: should I be worried enough to change passwords to key services, such as my e-mail?

I have a copy of the password database, so thankfully I still have access to everything I need to. (And my Internet Banking passwords aren't written down anywhere.)

Hoping for a hoop

mcarthey — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:01:01 -0800

Where to find the hoop for ye ol' stick and hoop game? I'm looking for something similar to this but without the high cost and shipping involved. I thought perhaps an embroidery hoop would work, but it has springs and screws and things attached to it. Where can I find a simple wooden hoop without paying a crazy price for it?

Help Figuring Out this Stick Thing

macinchik — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:18:37 -0800

I recall something that I believe I heard Carl Sagan say either in an episode of Cosmos or in one of his earlier books, that one could store enough information to hold an entire encyclopedia by putting a notch in a stick, if only one could measure where the notch lies to some absurd astronomically precise figure. Am I imagining this? Could have something to do with Anaximander, a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher.

This one has been bugging me for decades...

How to teach someone to drive stick?

rush — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 17:23:14 -0800

How do I teach my wife to operate a manual transmission? I have a sports car with a manual transmission. I'd like to teach my wife to drive it, but she's not comfortable learning on that particular car. I've had trouble finding rental cars that are stick. Any ideas? Any suggestions on how to teach this topic well? Any additional resources that might be helpful?

How can I make a USB stick "fixed" instead of "removable"?

chrisalbon — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:52:10 -0800

How can I make a USB stick "fixed" instead of "removable" on Windows Vista? I have been using Mozy remote backup to protect my files. I just bought a new USB stick and want Mozy to back it up as well. However, Mozy does not detect the USB stick. I checked on Mozy's site and found:

"MozyHome does support most types of external drives (excluding thumbdrives), but only if Windows sees your external drive as 'fixed.'"

Windows considers my USB stick "removable" and thus Mozy will not back it up. How can I make Windows Vista consider the USB stick "Fixed" instead of "Removable"?

Thanks!

Is there a firewire equivalent of a USB memory stick?

GuyZero — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:46:18 -0800

Is there a firewire equivalent of a USB memory stick? That is, something flash memory based that would automount on a windows PC as a mass storage device but that had a 6- or 4-pin firewire connector instead of a USB connector?

How much is memory for a PSP?

mr_silver — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 10:32:58 -0800

How much would a 4GB Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo (the ones for a PSP) cost in China? A colleague of mine is off to China and I'd like to ask them to buy either a 4GB Sandisk or Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo for my PSP.

The problem is, I don't have a clue how much a genuine one of these would cost. How would I go about finding out?

I'm based in the UK meaning that 4GB prices are around the £40 ($78) mark, hence the idea of buying in China.

Nubian toothbrush?

ijoshua — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:35:42 -0800

Where can “chew sticks” (liquorice root) be found in the Atlanta area?

Sticky pictures

BigBrownBear — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 05:23:34 -0800

How do i get photos to unstick to the glass in picture frames? We have lots of nice photos that glue themselves to the glass and we can't get them off without tearing part of the picture? Why does this happen and is there a way to save them?

A lot of stick shaking?

informity — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 00:30:11 -0800

Where does the phrase "more [whatever] than you can shake a stick at" originate? ...... and how much of [whatever] do you need before you can't shake a stick at it.

Forget flight sims, I want a driving sim

GleepGlop — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 18:09:48 -0800

Are there any manual transmission driving simulators for the PC that can do a decent job of allowing me to simulate actually driving stick? Looking for something preferably free or at least something that I can try before buying... I know you can get racing games that let you drive standard but I want something completely realistic where I can stall out and where it will tell me if Im damaging the clutch with improper shifting technique etc.

Laptops with pointing sticks

mcstayinskool — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:52:55 -0800

What current laptops have a pointing stick? I'm buying a new laptop for my wife, who really wants it to have a pointing stick (TrackPoint, in IBMspeak). I'm having trouble finding anyone publishing information on the presence of this small but significant laptop feature. I'll phrase my question in two ways:

Teach me to fish: are there any laptop shopping/review sites that allow for filtering on this little widget?
Gimme a fish: What currently available laptops have a pointing stick? My current list is
any IBM ThinkPad
some, but not all Dell Latitudes

I had a Latitude D520 all configured up and ready to buy when I noticed the picture was without a pointing stick (nothing in Dell specs mentions the presence/absence of a pointing stick).

Are there other brands with this widget?

(I'm in the U.S.)

stick figure death

atom128 — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:08:04 -0800

I remember an animated gif online where a stick figure bashes on his computer till his computer is destroyed, his hands are bloody stumps, he hits the computer with his head, and eventually dies. Where can I find it again? its one of those days at work, you know?

What is on your USB memory stick?

cornflake — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 22:44:02 -0800

What *information* do you keep on your USB memory stick? Other questions ask about applications - I'm more interested in the data that you find it useful to carry everywhere. todo lists? contact information? Bank account numbers?

Michael Schumacher you ain't, honey...

romakimmy — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 10:21:44 -0800

Driving a Stick: Help settle the debate before I shove the gearshift up my boyfriend's wazoo... I've read previous threads here on learning to drive a standard, and Googling has not been satisfactory as some sites say X and others say Y. So...

Background: I drove a stick for more years than not in the US and find myself searching for the clutch/reaching for the gearshift in automatics.

I can count on both hands the times I've driven in the last 8 years here in Rome, due to the vast cultural differences in driving (Lanes? What lanes?). Last Sunday proved a perfect time to reacquaint myself with the wheel as there was no traffic around.

The Argument: I was taught that using the engine to slow you down was good for A) long steep downgrades and B) in cases of emergency. Overuse of this technique was bad news for your transmission. I want to say that my mechanic uncle backed this theory up, but to be honest I learned to drive stick many, many moons ago and don't totally remember who told me this.

The boyfriend has apparently been taught the complete opposite, as he was constantly telling me to use the engine as my technique "would wear out your brakes in 3 months." This might also explain why I alway push the imaginary passenger's side brake when in the car with him.

I was willing to conceed difference in style/techinique were it not for the fact that his harping pissed me off to the point where I was concentrating more on ignoring him than the traffic around me (at which point I pulled over and made him drive)

So MeFites: which is worse for your car and tangentally, is this an EU vs. US technique?

mem'ries that ne'er will fade

furtive — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 07:29:31 -0800

How can I backup my USB memory stick automatically? I lost my USB memory key yesterday. Fortunately I had backed it up recently so I really only lost a few documents. I'll be getting a new stick today, and I'd like to find a solution so that whenever I plug in my USB memory stick, any new files are backed up to hard drive.

I assume there's a piece of Windows software out there that can listen for when new devices are plugged in and automatically synch changes to the local hard drive. Any other useful USB memory stick advice is also appreciated.

things fall apart

bilabial — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 12:54:09 -0800

I need to be gluing paper to paper for long lasting results. Please help me find a glue that will not let go! I have this hobby, I make greeting cards. Mostly I use scrapbook materials on prefolded cardstock (I used to cut my own card, but that is time consuming.) My problem is that after a few days/weeks/months depending on nothing that I can discern, things fall apart. My favorite so far is the Elmer's brand spray adhesive in the blue can. But even though I slap things together instantly, the pieces peel apart and leave my recipients with a piece of paper and some large confetti.

No glue stick has ever satisfied me, not even the Uhu. Bottle glue is gloopy and when it dries, boy it's hard as a rock, not at all as flexible as I need. I have glue pens that seem to be really effective for keeping the little flowers and small things in place, and I really like the foam dots that add dimension to stuff, but neither is practical for large surface area.

I've searched the website www.thistothat.com for paper to paper and wonder if I should bother with the 3M 77 or the Rhoplex or if anyone out there has had better luck with other stuff.

Oh, and double sided tape just lets go too, after a while.

I'm in Florida, so part of this might be the extreme humidity that I face here on the west coast. Part of it could be heat (we don't use the A/C at my house and I don't want to start) and maybe it's just that I've spent all this money amassing this hobby (which I've done for 5+ years and don't want to give up) and getting results that my friends find really professional, but long term disappointing.

Oh, and paste would be fine too, since the only difference between paste and glue is origin (plant vs. animal). Just help me stop sending out dweeby fall apart stuff.

What does 'Cobbler, stick to thy last.' mean?

jojopizza — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 17:26:40 -0800

What does "Cobbler, stick to thy last." mean?

Unstick my tortillas

Could it be, El Guapo ... — Thu, 18 Aug 2005 17:18:00 -0800

How do I stop my tortillas from sticking together? I keep them in the freezer since I only use them occasionally. When I thaw them out, they are sometimes glued together and impossible to separate without making holes in them. Is this preventable? Is there a way to unstick them? If I can't freeze them, how long will tortillas keep in the fridge?

How best to learn manual transmission shifting?

xo — Fri, 25 Feb 2005 09:37:13 -0800

How quickly should I be able to learn to drive a manual transmission vehicle well enough to manage some tricky conditions (large van, driving from Berlin to Brussels)? What are some tips and tricks? How often (and in what conditions) should I be practicing before I get there? Tips specific to German driving are welcome too. And as far as tips go, I may need more help than average... I had a driving phobia till my late 20s and even now (early 30s) I haven't encountered a full range of driving experiences. Just last night I drove in a snowstorm for the first time.