Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with tips

How can I make the most of a trip to Iceland in August?

chinese_fashion — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:12:56 -0800

How can I plan a trip to Iceland this August? What do you recommend to do, where to stay, what to budget ... and how can we spend money intelligently rather than in tourist traps, etc. I am hoping to meet a friend in Reykjavik this August. I'm flying in from NYC, he (is an Aussie) from Ghana.

We both love checking out natural wonder, hiking, natural hot springs, etc., but would greatly appreciate turning it out at bars at night sometimes, too. I know very, very little about the country, apart from the fact that it's both gorgeous and pricey.

What would you recommend doing while there? Any "can't-miss" things? Affordable hotels that may be a cut above hostels without being exactly opulent?

Any links, tips, ideas where to start are greatly appreciated. I'm not sure where to turn, but need to get planning.

What options are there for a low-risk hedge against inflation if I believe that Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) aren't working?

diogenes — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:49:01 -0800

What options are there for a low-risk hedge against inflation if I believe that Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) aren't working? I use an asset allocation strategy in my investment portfolio, and it calls for 15% in TIPS. The inflation premium for TIPS is based on the consumer price index, which is vastly understating inflation right now:

Bloomberg Article

The linked article suggests replacing TIPS with "derivatives tied to inflation expectations" and "corporate and agency bonds." I have no idea how to invest in derivatives, and corporate and agency bonds aren't low risk. It also isn't clear to me how they are an inflation hedge.

What do you think of those options? Are there any other options you would suggest?

What are some of your positive, personal business practices?

drkrdglo — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:58:51 -0800

What are some practices/methods/things I can do to ensure a good rapport with my colleagues as well as establish myself as an outstanding employee? I just started working at my first full-time job out of college. The job is with a large internet company and it is nothing short of an absolute dream.

I am involved in a 8 month rotational program where I will start out working in client relations. After that eight month period I will be promoted, within reason, to nearly any position of my choosing (e.g.: account executive). Since the company is facing explosive growth, there will be some great career launching opportunities.

I'd consider my current work ethic as (fundamentally): resourceful, outgoing, and efficient. I'd like to build upon that foundation with some positive habits to help myself stand out. It would be great to hear some of your reflections on what really sparked your success at a company. Maybe some positive work related habits you might have picked up at the start of your career, or even some you realized throughout your career.

I'm starting to get tipped off.

Evstar — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 13:57:08 -0800

In Ontario, are there any legal restrictions to how an employees tips should be handled in the service industry?—specifically with regard to restaurants and cafes?

Replacing windows for thermal comfort!

amanda — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 09:11:48 -0800

What do I need to know about replacing my windows? Our house is 1950s with single-pane wood-frame windows. They are cute! Our house has oil heat and this past winter we really shelled out for the warmth. We are investigating switching to natural gas but I feel like we should also think about replacing our windows. What do I need to know about this process? What should I watch for when choosing a contractor for the job? Will we necessarily lose the attractive look of our windows by putting in new ones?

Guides/tricks for my new DSLR?

meerkatty — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 10:55:24 -0800

Please help me use my new DSLR camera. Are there guides/tricks for specific cameras online? I took a course today on how to use my new Canon Rebel xti, which came with a handy password protected guide online. (The guide was far superior to the camera manual - with explanations of when and why you would use a certain function, complete with photo examples.) The course was a little basic for my needs but I can't take the more advanced part of the course for a few months. Are there guides along these lines available online?

Big bonus points for anyone who has the password for Henry's School of Imaging Canon xti Part 2 guide.

I hate tipping....

emptybowl — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:27:05 -0800

How much do you tip a 3-man team doing a 12+ hour move 3 states away? There's been a couple threads on AskMe about tipping movers but all seemed to pertain to short in-town moves.

My wife and I are moving from Annapolis, Marlyand to Northern New Jersey, so in addition to the time moving our furniture, there will be 7-8 hours of drive time there and back for the movers. We plan to have coffee/donuts/water available in the morning, and order lunch for them once we arrive at the place in NJ.

The move will end up between $750-1000, so I was thinking $100 a man. Is that appropriate? Too much/little?

Tips for optimizing my Macbook Pro for work AND personal use: OS 10.5 Leopard

ISeemToBeAVerb — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:28:36 -0800

I've had my Macbook Pro for a year now and I originally used it just for personal activities, the problem is, now I use it for work as well. I'm looking for some tips that can help reduce the amount of personal crap that mingles with my work crap. My main problem is that I have certain applications, folders, preferences, etc that I use specifically for work and nothing else; I'm finding myself getting distracted by having nonessential work items cluttering up my computer and making me less efficient.

I've thought about trying to create a new user account just for work, but I'm hung up on the fact that I cannot use the same .Mac account for two users on my computer. (correct me If I'm wrong on this, but when I tried to enter my .Mac account for the new user it wouldn't allow me.)

So... any tips?

Girlfriend's Mac in a coma

chinese_fashion — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:36:18 -0800

Why won't my girlfriend's MacBook start? It went to sleep when we did, last night, and when she got up this morning it was just: BLACK. This MacBook was just bought, brand-new, in November/December 2007. I was up reading MeFi last night, just walked away from it and went to bed. When we got up this morning my lady went to check her e-mail, and the screen was just black and unresponsive. The little white glowing light on the lower right edge (under my right palm, on the front) was on.

We tried all manner of keys, nothing. Held down the power button to shut it off, heard the whine of a drive stopping spinning, the aforementioned white light went dark.

I turned the machine back on, heard the drive spin and the little white light turned back on -- but still, a black and unresponsive screen.

My gf is *super* bummed right now, thinks her computer is dead. I am hopeful -- I think I've seen this happen before and it turned out ok. But what's going ON here? And what can I do to restore my girlfriend's computer ... and her spirits?

Thanks so much, guys ...

assistance with iphone

femmme — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:12:40 -0800

help me with iPhone issues.... Why do the plug in headphones suck? i want to use them for the phone....what am i doing wrong?
any other tips

Travelfilter: When to tip, who to tip and how much to tip?

stackhaus23 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:37:46 -0800

Ok, so I'm traveling to the States from the UK for the first time and I realise that you guys tip pretty much everyone. So I need to know when to tip, who to tip and how much to tip? If someone takes you in a taxi you tip them, if they get you a drink you tip them, if they carry your bags you tip them etc...

But - who else, and how much am I supposed to tip them... and when? If I go to a bar and order a drink do I slip the bartender a sly dollar bill or just give it to them when I pay and tell them to keep the change? If I'm at a cafe do I tip the server or do I put it in the jar on the counter? I'm just trying to avoid awkward situations and prevent myself from looking like too much of a noob!

Thanks for any advice...

Streamline a conversation

colecovizion — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:49:54 -0800

Outlook Cleaning/Archive Gurus: Help me eliminate emails with similar (but not duplicate) content! I'm having a hard time finding a way to automate the search and deletion of emails with similar content. I have a manual process that I'm trying to automate.

The method: Every time an email is responded to, the full text is usually retained from the previous response.

Example (without attachments):

* Person #1 sends email
* Person #2 replies to email (includes the first email's full text)
* Person #1 replies to email (includes the first two emails)

Why not just keep the latest response in the conversation and any emails that have unique attachments? This way, you can reduce the Outlook size without compromising any data! Of course, this gets more complex with multiple recipients and responses.

The setup: Let's assume 1000 emails are in 1 giant archive folder. These emails include my sent email and my received email that are ready for archiving. Hence, my manual process....

* Sort by conversation (more often than not, the email text in the body is duplicated each time there is a response)
* Delete the oldest emails within a conversation UNLESS there is a unique attachment or unique text that isn't already in a newer email

In a world without attachments, this would usually keep the most current email in the conversation (which has all of my replies and their replies).

I know this is a very specific request, however, I think this method is pretty snazzy (to blow my own horn here) because it keeps all the unique information and it eliminates the duplicate information. Hence, smaller backups and better searches.

Any guidance is appreciated! Also if you have any Outlook email tricks please post for all to see!

How to be a good graduate student

peacheater — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:43:01 -0800

Help me be a better graduate student. I'm a first year computational biology PhD student at Cornell. I came here directly after my undergrad and I'm having a hard time transitioning between my undergrad and graduate school. I think I'm a good undergrad student. I go to classes and participate enthusiatically, I do homework regularly, take exams seriously etc. I have a 4.0 GPA here. I find, however, that there's a whole other skill set that graduate school demands -- steady, persistent work with no immediate payoff. I'm easily distracted and am always leaping from one shiny idea to another. It also doesn't help that my undergraduate school was in India and allowed me far less freedom in terms of what courses I could take and choices I could make. While I have spent my first year taking courses that have direct application to my research I can't help but be tempted by courses on, for example, Women and Science or Science Writing for the Mass Media, especially since I really didn't have an opportunity to take courses unrelated to my major in undergraduate school. Would it be completely irresponsible to take a "fun" course once in a while? Cornell seems to encourage students taking courses unrelated to their work. So far I've been lucky in that all the professors I've done a lab rotation with have expressed interest in my joining their lab (it helps that I come with a generous fellowship). But I find myself awkward and unsure of myself around them. Everyone else seems to slip into this casually deferential relationship with their advisor so easily. Finally, I find it amazing how graduate students here seem to maintain this mental directory of the people involved in their area of expertise: who knows whom, who worked with whom on what, who is whose student. It's all so confusing and impenetrable to me. How does one begin to do that? So, in sum, give me your advice for being a better graduate student -- especially regarding work habits, classes, making connections with faculty and figuring out who's connected to whom.

Help me understand US Treasury securities.

Flunkie — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:18:56 -0800

Help me understand US Treasury securities. I've invested in the stock market for quite some time. I've recently decided that I want to also invest some money in less risky securities, such as those offered by the US Treasury. I've been investigating, but there are still questions that I haven't found answers for.

Question 1. Is the only real difference between "treasury bills", "treasury notes", and "treasury bonds" the length of time until they mature? I understand that their price and interest rates will differ as well, but that obviously depends on the maturity length. So I guess I mean something along these lines: If the Treasury started offering "30 year treasury notes", under exactly the same rules as their current treasury notes except that they have a 30 year maturity, should an intelligent market value them exactly the same as it would "30 year treasury bonds" offered at exactly the same time?

Question 2. Let's say I use TreasuryDirect.gov (which seems like a good idea). How is periodic interest paid out? I don't mean "when" or "how often"; rather, I mean for example "Does it automatically get plopped back into the bank account that I linked to my TreasuryDirect account?"

Question 3. I use Quicken. Investigation reveals a profound lack of information on how to deal with this stuff in Quicken, but seems to indicate that it can't automatically track your US Treasury securities' values like it can your stocks' values. But this is almost unbelievable. So, my question is: Seriously? Quicken can't deal with United States Treasury securities, except manually? And if the answer is "Yes, seriously", then a followup: How do you personally deal with this?

Question 4. I gather that these things are only sold on very specific days. Do I have to log on to Treasury Direct that day, between some hour and some other, and tell it "Hey, I want some of that"? Or can I just tell it in advance that I want to buy such-and-such an amount of security such-and-such, at the noncompetitive price, whenever it becomes available? If the latter, how far in advance can I do so?

Any other hints that you think might be helpful would also be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Tips for working with optical fiber?

Mapes — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:09:54 -0800

Tips for working with optical fibers (stripping, cleaving, aligning, etc.)? I'll soon start working with an infrared laser and optical fibers as part of my research. Unfortunately, my lab colleagues don't have much experience in this area. Can you recommend any books or websites that would have useful tips on operational details such as stripping, cleaving, and aligning? Really, any tricks of the trade would be appreciated.

(Regarding safety: I'll have the safety folks approve any setup before I start working with it. This is a 1W 1064nm laser accompanied by a visible guide laser, output from an uncollimated single-mode fiber, and it will be used inside an enclosure in a light-tight room by an operator wearing OD 5 eye protection.)

Anonymous CRA tipline?

tomcochrane — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:13:26 -0800

I'm searching for an anonymous tip line for the Canada Revenue Agency... A little while ago I heard about a phone number you could call to anonymously report people who you believed were skipping out on properly reporting their taxes. My searches of the CRA website and Google have proved fruitless. Anyone have this number?

I'm fasting, help me from...slowing.

913 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:35:02 -0800

I'm finishing off a 19 day fast and have only 3 days left. This week is a bit intense for me (2 exams and a lot of running around) give me some tips and tricks to power through. It's the Baha'i Fast and it's from sunrise to sunset. No eating or drinking during that time.

So far, it has gone really well, however, I find by around 1PM, I start to get a little tired and I will usually take a nap for an hour. The next few days are going to be a little intense for me and I won't be able to take a nap during the day.

I don't get up before sunrise to eat/drink (although I REALLY should), does anyone have any advice on how I can power through these next few days? You know, special things to eat or drink prior? Exercises to keep me going through the day, whatever you can think of.

Oh, I'm willing to get up early but the thing is, I go to bed really late and I don't know if shifting my entire schedule for 3 more days is going to help.

Why do T-shirts get shorter and wider?

stuckie — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:16:00 -0800

Why do T-shirts become wider and shorter over time, and not the reverse? And is there any minimal-effort way to avoid this? I am a fairly thin-to-athletic-topped guy who likes his shirts kind of "fitted", and an endlessly frustrated that simply by regular washing, all my favorite shirts eventually seem to do this. And its not just me - going to thrift stores I find that most t-shirts have already succumbed to this phenomenon.

WHY!?! Can one buy particular KINDS of shirts that don't do this? Do I have to cold-wash, flat-dry EVERYTHING I own to keep this from happening? Is there a way to bring (for instance, used) shirts that have already gone this way "back from the dead" without scissors and a sewing machine?

Ulead VideoStudio Editing

divabat — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:17:54 -0800

Trying to make a video in Ulead VideoStudio, but am stymied on a few things. Help? I was using Windows Movie Maker but found it too limited, so I'm using Ulead VideoStudio instead. It's good so far, but I'm stuck on a couple of things:

1. Most of my scenes involve text scrolling on screen. Problem is, as soon as the text stop scrolling, it goes into the next scene too quickly. How do I make the scene with the full text stay on screen for at least a second, instead of quickly transitioning away?

2. I've got a scene which has a list. I want each item on the list to show up one by one, building the list eventually (pretty much what Powerpoint does with bulleted lists). How do I do this in VideoStudio?

I realize that my project may be easier made in Powerpoint, since it seems more like a pseudo-slideshow, but for various reasons this has to be a video. I haven't had much success in looking for tutorials. What should I do?

Tip compliance and tax refund.

clearly — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:53:01 -0800

Tip compliance. I made $4000 in wages this year, paid $95 in income tax and another $400 in 'social security tips.' Am I going to get that 400 dollars back in my refund? I made about $6000 in tips and am single.

getting tea smell all over the place

kall — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 05:29:57 -0800

What's the best way to get the smell of tea in the room or all over the House? I think tea is one of the best smelling, worst tasting things ever. And I wanted to get the smell of it all over the house, or atleast in one room. Is there a better way to do this than to make tea and leave it in the room? Because that way it won't last to long.

Fashion resources for South Asians

divabat — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 08:22:21 -0800

What good fashion/style/beauty resources are out there for South Asian (Indian/Bangladeshi/Pakistani) women that aren't all about saris and lenghas? Thanks to the response to this question, I have been investigation fashion and style a lot more that usual, and am developing my personal tastes further. (I'm keeping a log of what I like; link's in profile.)

One thing that's struck me, though, is that none of the models are South Asian - none of them look like me. They're all mostly white and skinny (and often blonde). When they bring "people of colour" in there are no South Asians, and plus size is way too big for me (I'm a 12-14 with a typical South Asian belly). So it's hard for me to tell if anything I've seen would actually look good on me because there's no one to compare it to.

My tastes run towards the gothic (Velvet Garden is AWESOME), geeky (injoke tees), businessy (I LOVE suits), and ethnic (not just South Asian). I've been thinking of trying out mod, after seeing a photo of Edie Sedgwick, but she's the complete opposite of me bodywise and I have a feeling the typical mod dresses are going to make me look pregnant.

It's harder to find makeup because I have no idea what colours would suit me. I hardly wear makeup but when I do (for very special occasions) I like to be dramatic, particularly with my eyes. However, all the talk about warm/cool/yellow/blue skin tones confuse me. Some websites have pictures or notes of people whose skin I'm supposed to match, but none of them are ever South Asian! I can't even tell for myself because my skin tone can change - right now it's on the fair side because I'm hardly outdoors, but my face can get quite dark, especially when standing next to fairer people.

Searching for South Asian fashion resources is difficult, because I keep getting stuff about saris and lenghas and salwhar khameez. They're nice, but that's not all I want to wear!

Are there any sites or places that tackle South Asian people but have a more Western idea of style?

credit card service fee/waitstaff

andywolf — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:37:05 -0800

lawfilter: is it legal in minnesota for credit card service fees to be deducted from a waitstaff's tip? according to this it sounds like it's up in the air in MN and a few other states. i can't find anything with more clarification as to the current standing of the law or if it's being contested in court right now.

Help me get the tips I earn!

bookish — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 12:21:24 -0800

I've been working as a waitress at a restaurant. People leave tips for the waitstaff. The restaurant takes these tips; I never get any. This cannot be legal, can it? What can I do about it? The restaurant is a small operation, and the division of labor is odd and disorganized. Waiters don't have tables, they have duties. Filling water glasses, getting drinks, taking orders, delivering orders to the kitchen, bringing food up from the kitchen to tables, totaling checks, manning the cash register-- on any given night I will do a subset of these tasks depending on what the manager feels like. So it's not clear who the tips from any given table should go to. But still, they are intended for the waitstaff, not the restaurant's coffers, and should be distributed among us rather than confiscated. Anybody know anything about the laws on this, or where to look? I'm in the US, in Indiana, if it matters.

Attempts to ask about the tips results in evasive answers-- one manager says they'll be distributed eventually (I've had several paychecks and have not seen a dime), another one says they won't be, but I'm getting 50 cents more an hour than they said I would when I was hired, and it's (a little) more than minimum wage, so what's my problem?

A compelling argument can be made for me just quitting. The problem is, I live in a town where decent jobs are difficult to come by, and for a number of reasons I'm not the most employable person. I don't have another job lined up and I can't afford to leave until I do. Beyond that, if this is actually illegal, I feel that even if I do quit I ought to do something about it (report them? how and to whom?). The business model of the place seems to be to hire people who have difficulty finding jobs, and therefore will quietly accept bad treatment; something really needs to be done about that.

Appropriate holiday tips for building staff.

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 07:33:04 -0800

New Yorkers, please advise me on appropriate holiday tip amounts for building staff. I am preparing to give out end-of-year tips for the people who work in my apartment building, and I would love to hear how others determine end-of-year cash amounts for their NYC building staff.

I own an apartment in a ~40-unit Manhattan building. There is always a doorman at the lobby desk, but otherwise the building is not at all what one would consider a luxury, full-service building. There is also a non-live-in super. I live alone and don't really require any personal extra effort from the building employees, although I feel sure that if I ever needed anything they would go out of their way to help me. Every member of the staff is friendly and first-rate, so I'd like to err on the generous side of the tip scale. I need to tip my super and each person on the roster of six doormen, who work anywhere from one to six shifts a week.

I've googled and found several articles about what to tip but they didn't seem to be particularly applicable, so I'd love to hear about your personal decision-making processes. How much do you tip your building employees? What is a good way to determine appropriate amounts?