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I am a Project Manager, ask me anything

I'm not really expecting any questions but I'm sure you'll have a good time insinuating what a bad person I am. Edit: Hey, real questions! I see so much trash talk about project managers on my lovely reddit that I wanted a chance to defend my kind. Judging by the 3 up 4 down vote count I guess people either don't care or hate PMs more than I thought.

Hey Reddit. TL;DR- Asked crush out a year ago, shot down. Got girlfriend, but still not over crush. Help inside?

So, I had a crush on this girl in my department at my university. After nursing it along for about a year and a half I asked her out. She was nice enough about saying 'no', as she was still getting over a breakup from the past fall. So, I moved on (or so I thought). I met another woman and we've been dating for about a year. Here's my problem. For some damned reason, I keep having relapses for this old crush of mine. Serious relapses. It doesn't make any sense! I am in a relationship, and shouldn't be thinking about other women. I feel like a fucking high schooler (no offense to r/highschoolers- I just mean that my freaking emotions are running rampant). I'm at the point, today, where it's eating me up inside. I cant' focus on my class work or settle down. The only way to burn off my nervous energy is to work out, and even still my stomach won't settle down. I have to deal with this. I have to see this person all week long (we work in the same building and she shares office space with my friends) and every time I see her I go all "Ahab" inside (If his chest had been a canon, he would have shot his heart upon it). Ugh. This girl doesn't flirt. She doesn't do anything but be friendly and smile. She's not leading me on in any sense of the word. Fuck. I sure could use your help, Reddit. Thanks. :) **EDIT: If anything about this isn't clear, please tell me. Thanks!** **EDIT 2: What's with the downvotes? I need advice!**

Reddit, Are we turning into the Old People afraid of younger generations?

Just flipping through the first few tabs today, and there were a few posts complaining about what young people are wearing. aka Noah Cyrus in Tube Skirts, and some American Apparel ad with a girl in a full body leotard and those leg warmer socks? dunno what they are...either way. I mean, in the 70's everyone wore short shorts...like...ass hanging out short shorts...and that American Apparel outfit was pretty standard in the 80's...but now a full body leotard is unacceptable? So, is my generation going to be old cranky and judgmental toward the young generations as previous did to us? were successfully carrying the torch? cause I thought we had decided that once we were adults we'd make our own decisions.

Need help finding good quality (and free) online tv broadcasts...help!

Hi Redditors-- I'm currently living in Europe and would like to find a few great links to streaming television. Actually, I'd like to find some sports feeds. I'm not usually into watching long periods of athletic events but I don't have a tv and sports require no translation. I know I shouldn't be expecting much from a free stream/feed but I thought I'd ask all the smart people of Reddit!

Reddit: Has anyone ever visited New Zealand, if so how did you do it?

Im a college student at UNH, and one of my major dreams is to visit New Zealand. I need information on how much it cost you, where you stayed what you did. Anything and everything is greatly appreciated.

Abilities before they were keyword abilities.

So I used to play Magic ages ago before there wasn't an ability name for every little thing a card could do. And while I'm still not collecting any new cards I found it interesting enough to follow the new cards and think about how awesome of those cards would be in my old decks... Now, I was thinking it might be fun to list some examples of old Cards that had unnamed Abilities that are now named abilities. Now you can either go obvious cards (like Serra Angel and Vigilance) that have since been reprinted using the new terminology. I know with Oracle a lot of these older cards have been updated, but some of them the ability was different enough, or for some reason hasn't been changed. Let's see how many of those we can get?

A question about water and its freezing point: why does adding a compound like salt lower its freezing point?

I'm homework-tutoring an 8th grader (making sure she does all her homework and actually turns it in to her various teachers) and we were discussing physical changes to the physical properties of solutions. The example of lowering the freezing point of water, and why it was important for people who live in snowy areas. She asked me why salt would change the lowering point, and I didn't want to answer, "Because it just does." I said, "I don't know. Let's see what the book says." Unfortunately her text wasn't too helpful. I understand that the answer to this question is probably beyond the scope of 8th grade physical science, but now I'm intrigued. Any help is, as always, greatly appreciated.

What common traits do you find absolutely useless?

Gift wrapping is stupid. It's a lovely thought, but it's such a waste of pretty paper and time. I'd rather have a good hug for the amount of time invested wrapping a gift. This is why Jesus invented gift bags, he used them for his disciples. Then he hugged hookers and passed out sheep-skin condoms. He was quite the innovator.

Hey Reddit, does anyone know the consequences of walking away from a mortgage in the Netherlands?

I have googled the hell out of this one and have yet to find any useful info, so I am hoping to tap in to the hivemind and get some advice from Redditors. At some point we might need to get professional advice, but I'm hoping someone can just tell me if this is a stupid idea and if not, point me in the right direction. A while ago I fell in love with a Dutch girl who lives in Rotterdam. As I live in London, this is somewhat problematic. We have reached the point now where we would like to try living together and agreed that her moving to London is the best thing (she speaks perfect English, I can say "stroopwafels", "weit" and "Ik hou van je" - useful, but not really enough for the work environment). The problem is she owns a house with an ex-boyfriend, on which she pays 50% of the mortgage and necessary bills (taxes and whatnot). The Dutch housing market is enjoying the same fortunes as pretty much everywhere else so it is just sitting vacant until someone buys it. The mortgage is now higher than the value of the house so even if it sells tomorrow she will still owe about 20,000 EUR (the short-fall, plus admin fees that were put on top of the mortgage). Her share of the bills/mortgage payments come to around 750EUR per month. I see this as wasted money as she is never going to finish paying the mortgage or profit from the sale of the house. Some people in the UK have said that if they were in that situation here they would just walk away and let the house get repossessed. I am trying to find out if this is a possible option in the Netherlands, as I think it makes sense - even if she sells the house, she will still owe loads of money, so why not let it get repossessed? Then (in my theory) she will just be left with the admin fees, which she would be stuck with even if the house sold. She could then come and live with me in London, and stop throwing 750EUR down the drain. So, I guess my question is, does anyone know whether or not this is a good idea? I barely know anything about the UK mortgage market and nothing about the Dutch one, so it might completely stupid for all I know. What would you guys do in this situation? Oh, and if she does move here, she will bring her cat. Look at him

Dear Gamers of Reddit - Why do console kids think they have more skill than a pc gamer?

I have been friends with a few people that consider themselves gamers and they strictly play on consoles. No problems yet. But when they tell me they will "pwn" my ass in counter strike "on xbox" I have to laugh. Recently one friend was talking about MW2 and how hes so nasty on the 360. Im thinking the whole time that he is a gimp because hes on a console. Am I wrong for thinking like this? Am I just being an elitest? Or are pc gamers just naturally going to be better in every aspect of gaming? kidding about that last part. - I would just like to add that this question is specifically about controls. Strategy and inteligence between console and pc are the same. It is a question of physical accuracy. We can just turn this into a mouse vs analog stick debate if you would like.

What are some funny/awkward/odd mistakes you've seen in classes?

The phrase "standard devastation" has stuck in my mind since my junior year of high school, when a girl made that error on a math exam and the teacher shared it. What are the most interesting mistakes have you seen? (Bonus points for ones that aren't already all over the internet!)

So this is where I reddit... (Pic)

My cube. ...when I'm supposed to be working. Pretty boring, huh? Show me your cubes!!!

Hey Reddit, am I straight?

Hey everyone on reddit, I have a question. Am I straight? I have a girlfriend I have been dating for 5 years, she is wonderful and I find her incredibly attractive, however I find transgendered women very attractive also. I find transgendered woman to be as sexy or sexier than most women. I on the other hand do not find men to be attractive, and cringe on the thought. As weird as it might sound I find a penis on a transgendered woman to be more appealing than a vagina on a normal woman. I don't want to be on the bottom of a situation like that but I do find my self thinking that a penis is more attractive. (but only on a transgendered woman) make sense? So as you can see I am not sure if I am straight, I don't consider my self bi, or gay so how should I label my self? I guess it is a fetish, but I could actually find my self falling in love with a transgendered woman, just like I could fall in love with any woman. (so it goes farther than just sexual attraction)... So what do you think? (BTW I also believe that transgendered women are fully female except they were born the wrong gender and with the wrong parts)

Have any other adopted ladies on this site had a positive experience with adoption?

This is my first time ever posting onto a forum like this. I'm really sorry if this has already been posted. I searched the site but didn't see anything. :) I've heard so many negative things about adoption. How, when people find out they are adopted, they feel as if they have been betrayed or that they've missed out on something their birth mom could have given them. Or that adopted kids are spoiled rotten because their parents think they are "special." I thought I would share my experience with it in an attempt to reach out to other people who can help me relate to the positive side. Both my cousin and I are the only two kids on my mom's side of the family and we are both adopted. He is from Seoul South Korea and I am just a boring white girl from Seattle. When my birth mom became pregnant with me, she was homeless and living on the street. She was addicted to several different substances and smoked the entire length of her pregnancy with me. My dad owned a hotel in the area, heard that she was having a hard time, and let her live in a hotel room free of charge until I was born. Obviously a big case could be made that he essentially gave her room and board for a baby but they still paid all of the adoption fees and went through the proper process to get me. Since then, we've lived in a trailor park, had our car impounded by the IRS, my adopted parents have gone through a divorce, and I spent the last few years living with my grandparents. The thing is, I wouldn't trade my current family for anything in the world. They have been supportive of my dreams and aspirations, when I hurt my knee a few months ago my divorced parents spent 13 hours in a car together to drive to my college to take care of me for a week. I know that I might have had a good life with my birth mom, but the family I have been given is so incredible in every way that I have completely bypassed that experience of being "betrayed." I guess what I'm asking is if anyone else here has had a similar experience and are actually grateful for being adopted? tl;dr: I was adopted by an awesome family and can't relate to the people who feel they've been lied to when they find out they've been adopted. Since I've been told that the people who feel betrayed are a majority, is there anyone else out there who has had an awesome life with their adopted parents? Or is adoption really that bad. :(

blackmailing your parents much?

I was on the bus today and overheard a group of teens talking about drugs and alcohol and how their parents test them sometimes and I was thinking how great their parents are...then one of them spoke up and said that her dad tests her but doesn't do anything when she is positive because she saw him kiss his (male) best friend on the lips and if he punishes her, she threatens to tell her mom about dad's activity on the side! How f'd up is that!

An average sized person riding a bicycle uses the same amount of energy as a car that gets 52,000 MPG.

Humans are startling efficient machines. Here's the reasoning, if you care to read it: A gallon of gasoline contains 31,000,000 calories of energy. Cycling 12-14 MPH, a moderate pace, for one hour expends about 600 calories, assuming the rider is about 165-170 lbs. If they're 140 lbs it's 500 calories, if they're 195 lbs it's 700. That means a person who weighs 170 lbs could, other limiting factors ignored, go almost 52,000 miles using the same amount of energy as a high-efficiency car needs to go 40 miles. Meaning bicycling yields the equivalent of 52,000 MPG. If you're curious, the mileage for someone who weighs 140 lbs is 60,000 MPG and the mileage for someone who weighs 190 lbs is 44,000 MPG.

Do I need to vinergarize my hot sauce?

I put green onions, three kinds of fresh chilis, a red pepper, and 3 carrots into a blender then cooked the mixture in a pan with some sliced garlic and some roasted garlic, salt, and a healthy dose of Angosotora Bitters. After that all browned and cooked I boiled it with a full bottle of dark rum. That mostly reduced away leaving it all the consistency of salsa, so I added a whole flask of tequila and most of that boiled off as well, so I was left with a wet and chunky mixture. I bottled it and filled it to the top with vodka. I didn't want a vinegary, sour type sauce. I just don't want it to go bad and rotten, however. Will this stuff keep?

Clown Character: How Performers can get "It" and keep "It"?

What is “It” than makes a performer shine? What is “It” that makes that one person stand out in the crowd and get a standing ovation? “It’s” not the costume and make-up. “It’s” not the skills or the props. “It’s” not their presentation skills. In fact, “it’s” not even talent....

Beer prices: What's the best you've seen? Where are you located?

Hi Beer Reddit, So, I live in Massachusetts and the beer prices here are horrible (~17 dollars for a 12 pack of GOOD beer) The tax they put on it goes up all the time and the price of beer itself has also been rising. Luckily, I live on the border of MA and NH. It's about a 10 minute ride to New Hampshire but boy is it worth it. If I go to the right places I can find 12 packs of great microbrews (Long Trail, Sam Adams, Magic Hat, etc.) for about 10-11 dollars. When I'm lucky enough to find a good sale I can get it for even cheaper. For example, this week I got a 12-pack of Red Stripe for 8 dollars. Pretty good considering you'd pay more than that for half the amount of beer in Mass. To top it off, if you like cheap beer you can find 30-racks of stuff like Coors, Bud, Rolling Rock for about 12 dollars. I think that comes out to about 40 cents a beer. Not bad at all! So, let's hear some of your beer price stories. What's the best deal you ever got? Where are you from? What's the cheapest beer but best tasting for the money? (I have a feeling I'll be hearing from some Yuengling fans, but unfortunately they don't sell that here in New England :( **tl;dr** How much do you pay for beer?

Weed is too expensive, let's put it in perspective. At $10 a gram, how much would common items cost?

A good round number to work with, which seems common enough, is $10 per gram of average marijuana. So let's apply that rate to other common items. For instance... Wendy's Chicken Nuggets average 15g each, that is **$150 a nugget** (instead of aprox 20 cents each). Gold Medal Flour, a 5lb bag, goes for about $6. At $10 a gram, that is a **$22,650 bag of flour**.

I was kidnapped at gunpoint by a Concealed Carry permitholder. AMA.

In January 2007, at approximately noon, I was cut off while driving home. At the next traffic light, the guy rolled down his window and we exchanged words. He followed me home and put a gun to my head. I disarmed him, threw his gun over a building and called the cops. He proceeded to tell me he was a cop, and that I had committed a felony by taking his gun. He went to go get one of the other 2 guns in his car, but when he realized I was on the phone with dispatch, he quickly took off. He was charged with 8 misdemeanors (damage to property, simple assault, assault by pointing, possession of flashing blue lights(x2), impersonation of an officer(x2), and child endangerment) and felony kidnapping. He served no active sentence. I strongly support the 2nd amendment, and have applied for my own CC permit. AMA.

Need suggestions - I'm installing Joomla on a domain, and need to keep existing pages until the switch.

I'm updating a site with a lot of static pages, and setting up joomla as a CMS for the client. The client is worried about google rankings after the switch, but I've assured him this won't be of concern. My only obstacle right now is keeping his current site live whilst installing joomla on the server and updating the site. Should I install into a sub dir and then FWD traffic once complete? or do I need to set this up on a different server then update DNS once complete? maybe there is another solution I'm not thinking of. Thanks Reddit - all comments on this one are greatly appreciated!

To carry an ID, or not to carry an ID.

I was talking with some friends last night and we started wondering if it was better to carry an ID or not to carry an ID. If you're carrying an ID and a cop searches you and finds your ID, ya know, boom roasted. But if you're not carrying an ID, and this is my question, how does the cop know who you are? Tree Wisdom* says, "Never talk to cops." So if you're not carrying an ID, and you're not saying anything, how do they know who you are? This may be a very ignorant question, but usually when I'm ridin' dirty I don't carry an ID for that reason. But my friend seems to think it's just easier to carry an ID to make it easier on you and cop. I can see how he's kind of right, but the naive little kid in me wants to believe that you are safer as long as you aren't carrying an ID and you don't say anything. What say you? What do my fellow ents have to say about carrying an ID? *Also, we don't have hivemind here, we have Tree Wisdom.

New Zealand Flag Change Debate

Here is the NZ Herald's latest piece on the issue. On the issue of flag change, we need to listen clearly to the voices of Sir Don McKinnon and the Rt Hon Mike Moore. New Zealand will one day become a republic, pushing away from the not so mothering embrace of Motherland, Great Britain. A flag change is just one small part of our nation's inevitable transition into maturity - a transition that we are currently stumbling through blindly. Removal of the Privvy Council, Foreshore & Seabed, removal of the Honours System, reinstatement of the Honours System, creation of the Auckland Supercity - these and many more are fundamental changes to the structure of our democracy, all pushed through at the behest of our governance of the time, without wide debate, without public mandate, and without a detailed vision for the future. The road to republic is inevitable, but we need a map, we need a plan, we need a clear vision for the future. We need a written New Zealand Constitution before we need a new flag.

Help with huge decision...thinking of relocating to paris after divorce.

I need some advice reddit.. last year i decided that enough was enough and i went back to school to study for a career change. This caused my wife to leave me and basically 2009 was a bit shit. I am now back in my old job, which i hate, living like a student and stuck in the fucking rat race again.. only this time minus one wife. I live in Ireland and want to move to Paris for a fresh start, but im really clueless how to start! I have given this a lot of thought as I've always wanted to live in France, and i believe this is the best chance i will get to take the leap. There is no chance of reconciliation with my wife (i wouldn't want too anyway). I can speak high school french and am learning more, but i really need some advice on how to get a job and get started in Paris... I have worked in IT since leaving school, im now 28, i have lots of experience with respected company but only basic qualifications (MCP, A+, certificates in ICT). I guess the big questions are .. 1) Will it be difficult for me to find an IT job in paris give that i speak only basic French atm and have no degree? 2) I have a dog, a german shepherd, will i be able to rent in paris with him? (its hard to find landlords here that are pet friendly) 3) Any hints/tips from people who have done something similar? how did it work out for you guys/gals ? Thanks for any help that you can provide :) *EDIT formatting

I just got Bank of America to reverse my overdraft fee, simply by asking. So can you.

Overdraft fees are a bitch. They're a tax on the poor. But now, for the second time in my three years banking with BoA, I've gotten them to give me back my money. Both times, I did this: 1. Had a significant (at least three-digit) deposit into the account a day or two after incurring the fee. 2. Called the bank at 1-800-622-8731 (CA account; other #s here 3. Told the machine "Other options," "help with overdraft fee" 4. Asked the representative nicely, "Is it possible to reverse the overdraft fee I got a few days ago, since I'm usually in good standing with the bank?" 5. Got my money back. 6. Remained in good standing with the bank. I'm betting this doesn't work if you keep your account negative for weeks and rack up multiple fees, but who knows. I've had other overdrafts, but this is only the second time I've asked for a reversal in a couple of years. Please tell me if you've done this with your bank.

I've used the Internet to bring an invention to market, and am selling products out of my garage. AMA

Being from a technology background, a friend and I have invented, patented (filed anyway), and brought a unique couples product to market using the internet and are now selling them out of my garage. Its a lot of fun. AMA! EDIT: I'll be answering questions throughout the day and into the evening. EDIT: Thank you Redditors. I've taken your advice and I'm happy to offer a 10% discount on the Armadillow, good now through Valentines Day! Thanks for your kind comments, advice, feedback, and humor. We really appreciate it. Spread the word! Reddit Discount Page:

A weird dream changed my life

Just thought I'd share this with you. I'm a 23 year old male and I've felt like killing myself for years now. I let myself go down this downward spiral and ended up as a stereotypical parents' basement dweller after withdrawing from my university when I was put on academic probation. As time went on, I started isolating myself from everyone and started pushing away all who were close to me. The most dominant thought in my mind was how/when to commit suicide, and with each passing day it seemed like the most reasonable thing to do and I just came up with more and more reasons to kill myself. Every time I tried to make a difference or change my ways, I would just fall back to my old self after a few days. Life was only getting worse, and my prospects weren't looking good. I was being a leech to society and life seemed pointless. Fast forward a couple of months of this horrible existence, and I was more determined than ever to kill myself. I considered posting my problems in this subreddit and didn't feel like going to a psychiatrist again. One night in early January, I had this rather crazy dream I'll never forget. This might be prone to false memories, but here goes: <CRAZY DREAM> I'm in this giant facility for 'useless people' and a bunch of 'government scientist' types are messing around with me and putting me through a series of tests and trials. They then make me put on a mask and tell me to get into this large elevator with a mirror in it. I comply but I feel something's wrong about this whole thing. Soon enough they say "Goodbye" and start laughing at me through a window in the door and the elevator starts going down. I'm overcome with fear as I realize I'm going to die and start freaking out, I shout "I don't want to die!". I look at myself in the mirror, pull off the mask and think "I shouldn't let myself go to waste, I can't be useless, I'm still alive". I pull out my phone to call for help, only to find out there's no network coverage since I'm underground and in an elevator. I then decide to record a message for others in case they find my body later. I start recording a video and begin this long epitaph in which I speak to the people close to me, declare what values were dear to me and what I wanted to do with my life. In the process I realize things about myself like I behaved like a fucking narcissist all the time and start weeping. Suddenly, I lose the ability to breath and get ready for this slow and horrible death full of regret and pure terror </CRAZY DREAM> ....and I woke up with my face in the pillow. I got up let out the largest sigh of relief of my life and felt this tremendous zest for life. Although things didn't change much, I felt great from that moment on. This post is getting too long so in short, I learned web programming and made some good money undertaking projects for local businesses. I started hanging out with my friends again, reconciled with my family and others who I put off and I'm getting ready to head back to my university. Now with each passing day, I find more reasons to live instead of dying. It's strange a dream brought out the best in me, I guess a lot depends on how you look at things. To those feeling down, I hope life turns out better for you. Any similar U-turn experiences? **TL;DR** Life was bad, was always suicidal, had a crazy dream in which I was being killed, realised I really don't want to commit suicide and now everything is going better than ever.

[0] What If we taxed ourselves?

What if in an effort to prove that we could make money for our country we found a way to tax ourselves and use the tax revenue to fix our schools or roads, or some kind of civil project?

Why is humility important?

My significant other has trouble understanding the virtue of humility. No matter what argument I come with it, he still sees it as a sign of vulnerability and incompetence. Any insights to help sway him? Or sway me?

Dear musical Reddit, what good contemporary music composers do you know?

I like a lot of modern "classical" music composers (Prokofiev, Barber, Sviridov, Cacciapaglia) as well as the cinematic music authors like John Williams, Hans Zimmer and Clint Mansell. So now i want to find more music like that. P.S. Sorry for my probably bad english, it's not my native language )

Seeking a MS Dynamics AX position

Greetings, I'm an ERP developer/administrator specialized in MS Dynamics AX. Currently working in a big consulting firm, have been for the past four years, and would like to switch towards a manufacturing company. If there were any opening I would gladly discuss the opportunity. Regards,

IamA guy who was part of creating what was called, "The Worst Superbowl Commercial of All Time". AMA.

Back in the '90s, I ran a corporate television network for an athletic footwear retailer. We helped create - and broadcast - this horrific commercial. Here are more "Worst ever" claims for our spot: MSNBC Switched Guyism Salon - They thought it so bad that it deserved its own article. And here is the YouTube link to the commercial. Go ahead. Ask me anything.

Beware, malicious gadgets on iGoogle causes a .pdf to be auto-downloaded in Firefox

(I also posted this to the iGoogle help forum) There is currently some nasty javascript on gingagadgets.com (their homepage) and also in their gadgets. Load the feed url and look at the bottom, some encoded javascript which in turn loads some code off of iss9w8s89xx[dot]org hosted somewhere in China. It causes my fully updated Firefox to download a .pdf (which of course is not a good idea to open...) If someone else has more info please post. I for one am getting rid of all my gingagadgets.com gadgets... The specific one I had loaded was the Architecture one.

Hey Reddit: Any input on making a compilation CD of relevant music for my girlfriend's 12 year old daughter?

My girlfriend's daughter loves music and is moved more by it than most girls I've seen her age. She's a dancer and is getting increasingly better at playing piano. While she's currently all about what's on the Top 40 station and what's flashy on TV, she shows an inkling for liking other music. I want to make a CD with mp3's for the year she was born, and for the year that I was 12 years old myself (1997 and 1985 respectively). The songs did not have to come out during those years, but I want to limit it to what was being listened to a lot and also which musicians/bands influenced those songs. I'm more drawn by the jazz/rock/alt-rock genres but I want to expose her to music that is STILL relevant after 12 and 25 years. I have a lot of ideas for a song list, but I want to ask the community without seeding anyone's thoughts on what they might be. What music both well-known and not-so-known would be great exposure to the fantastic amount of good stuff out there?

Just had a really weird flashback...

The first time i got some acid i got 6 really good hits and each time i did a hit or 2 at home i would see this just saw it again. I started to feel really weird and anxious, like i was coming up on acid. After the commercial was over i was almost catatonic and definitely felt very strange. I got very mild visuals; my vision was somewhat blurred and the paint on the walls in my living room moved very slightly, while the tv seemed unusually bright. This all passed in a few minutes and i felt quite cold. This wasnt unpleasant, and apart from being somewhat shocked that they played that commercial, i almost enjoyed it. I have had very mild flashback type feelings before, but never this defined before. Has anybody else ever had anything similar happen to them?

I'm a San Diego college student planning an Islam Awareness Week on campus and I am looking for negative thoughts people have about Islam

Basically, the Muslim Student Association is doing an Islam awareness week on campus to, well, raise awareness, and I was interested in what the reddit community's view on Islam is. Specifically the negative views because that'll help me in planning events that address those ideas.

Do any of you hear common phrases, used almost universally, that make absolutely no sense and frustrate you to no end?

Here's one that bugs me: "Slept like a baby" or any variation thereof to indicate a good night's rest. Really? You slept like a baby? You woke up every couple of hours crying and pee'd all over yourself? That sounds horrible.

Computer Advice: Need to make a DOS boot cd

I need to figure out how to make a Boot CD that will allow me to copy files from an NTFS drive that cant boot into windows. I am trying to transfer the files to my flash drive, but there is a problem with DOS not recognizing USB. The file I need seems to be called USBASPI.SYS Panasonic(TM) USB to ASPI driver v2.06, but I don't know how to use this file to make the boot disk. can anyone help me?

r/music, I'm looking for dark and heavy classical music.

I'm looking for some heavy cello, or ominous violin, or even some trumpet if it creates the mood correctly. Is there any songs or artists that you would lead me to, possibly a specific time period where this was common? With or without vocals is fine. Thank you all for your help.

Okay Reddit, I need some clarity on Fair Use... It seems like everything these days falls under Fair Use.

Okay Reddit, I am mainly trying to clarify the use of images for an upcoming blog. I understand the tenants of Fair Use fairly well, but I see hundreds of blogs and major websites using random images all the time. Major websites like Cracked.com appear to use images throughout their articles that are probably taken without permission (note that this is an assumption). Take for example, the second Volcano image on A quick Google Image search identifies that the file is even marked by the Associated Press. I'd like to be as strict as I can, but honestly, seeking permission for every copyrighted image is a huge time drain (even with a Creative Commons license, you still need Attribution). And, with the amount of major sites that clearly don't seek permission, I'm wondering whether it's all really worth it. Also, I am located in Canada, where we have Fair Dealing and not Fair Use. Fair Dealing is a little less lenient in that it does not cover uses for parody or satire. So, my questions are the following: * 1) Should I try my best to seek approval, or should I stop worrying about the majority of images I use since I believe that the use of such images would fall under Fair Dealing? *I should note that the images I would be using would be for a humor-related site and would simply be to add some eye candy (i.e,. content imagery) to largely text-based articles. The article content would be original and therefore the image would constitute a very small component of the overall piece. Since this is a humor-related site, one could argue that I am critiquing the content. In other instances, the image would be used in news reporting.* * 2) If I commercialize my blog, does the use of an image in an article constitute commercialization of that copyrighted image, or, since the image only forms a small component of an article, is it the article itself which is being commercialized? I hope that makes sense. * 3) Since I am located in Canada, if anyone were to try and file a copyright infringement suit, where would the suit apply if for example, the copyright holder is in the U.S.? * 4) How do you apply the exceptions of Fair Dealings or Fair Use to an image used on a blog? This is where I'm really confused. ProBlogger seems to suggest that simply using images as content imagery in blog posts constitutes as Fair Use: Has the blogosphere basically accepted that content imagery is in Fair Use? * 5) Since so many bloggers and websites use images without permission on the basis of Fair Use, what the hell isn't considered Fair Use then? * 6) If I am reporting news, for example, in regards to an individual that has been definitively charged in a court of law for a criminal act, am I legally protected from libel (defamation) if I report that the individual in question committed the act. For example, if an individual is found guilty of a crime, can I state with certainty that "individual X performed act Y" without using words such as "allegedly". * 7) Am I giving this way too much thought? Thanks!

Question concerning Justice Alito's argument in Citizens United vs FEC.

According to the transcript, the most convincing argument for the decision, promulgated by Alito, was that the distinction between media and non-media, as codified in the McCain-Feingold act, was an artificial one designed to protect journalistic interest. That McCain-Feingold exempted print media from its restrictions but forbade broadcast media was non-justifiable, and there is no discernible reason why some form of communications were pernicious but others were okay. This is what the Court's primary argument was. What's the response to this argument? I'm having a hard time finding a rebuttal. What's to stop books from being banned? What about internet videos? DVDs? What substantive difference is there between broadcast and non-broadcast media? Why is one disallowed and the other isn't? Why was this decision uniquely bad, given the fact that corporations could just form PACs if they wanted to? If it's true that such an act would strike at democracy because corporations could control political opinion, that only proves the tenuousness of democracy in the first place-- why is this an affront to democracy?

question for you ladies: Has anyone experienced, or knows someone who has experienced 'housewives syndrome'?

Ok my philosophy prof was talking about this - that some women who grew up in the 1950's and 60's and were housewives felt underappreciated and such and were depresed. They turned various mood altering substance like miltown or booze, hence that song by the Rolling Stones 'mother's little helper'....anyone have experience with this? It seems like good topic for discusion but my prof didn't say much about it.

What could I do to stay concentrated?

Dear Reddit: I found myself really hard to concentrate on working lately. I'm a freshmen at a really prestigious college and while I'm excelling academically, I think I'm not doing as good as I could. For example, for more than one of my classes last semester I could've gotten an A, but because of the loss of concentration I didn't finish some assignments and that just cost my letter grade off to a B. This semester I got enrolled into the Honors College and the coursework just almost doubled (from 6 to 11 classes, three of which are major classes, because I finished the core while I was in high school). On one hand I don't want to be on the thin ice like last semester but yet I can't help myself to concentrate on my work. So anyone can give me some advice on how to stay concentrated and pass through that psychological barrier? Thank you.

OBAMA IS GIVING A SPEECH AND SOME NEWS CHANNEL DARES TO AIR SOMETHING ELSE!

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE I CAN ONLY SEE THE SPEECH ON FIVE OTHER NEWS CHANNELS BUT THIS ONE CHANNEL WON'T ADD ONE MORE REDUNDANT OPTION FOR ME TO WATCH THE SPEECH. TREASON! Also, mainstream media is shit that gets its news from reddit, but we still get all excited when they validate our existence.

The man I love called me to tell me I'm a horrible person after ignoring me for 6 months

We dated for 3 years in a long distance relationship. The distance was painful, so I finally decide that it would be mentally healthier for me to break up with him. I start a new relationship, but my ex takes it really hard, but I couldn't help while trying to get over him without it being terrible for me. We end up getting together a few times. We remain good friends, email/ call regularly. We still loved each other and hoped it could work out in the future. He later starts a new relationship, too. But then, my boyfriend says he could be interested in this other girl if he got to know her better. I am in no way ok with this, things go downhill over the next few months (mismatched personalities), and we break up. I was lonely, going through a hard time and call my ex for guidance. I start thinking he was probably the best for me, and I miss him terribly. I call him more. He's friendly, but not as affectionate. One day, he says he doesn't want us to say "I love you" anymore (even though we've been saying it this whole time) because of his girlfriend. I'm hurt. I felt us drifting, so I make plans to fly out and see him. I try to work a plan with him to be together in the future. He's cold about this and says later that I shouldn't call anymore because I bother his girlfriend. A few emails later, he disappears for months. I email him, call him, text him, tell him how angry/hurt I am. No response. Then his girlfriend calls me, asking for my thoughts. I politely told her that I was *not* a threat to her; if I was going to start a relationship with him, it would be a year or more from then, when he graduated college. They wouldn't even be in the same place by then because of school and careers. But still nothing. The last email I sent asked to meet with him for closure. But then, I get a call from him. He goes on to say, after not talking to me for *six months*, how the whole thing was my fault. He says that I was was selfish, so he *had* to stop talking to me. He goes on to say he doesn't want to date me again, after ignoring and hurting me for so long. I'm so hurt and angry. Physical distance forced us to break up, but we promised each other that we would be lovers forever, even if we dated or loved other people. We were so good together, and he's throwing it away. Reddit, what do you do when people are unfair like this?

Where are some good places to go/things to see in NYC that the average tourist won't think of?

Next year, around about the end of February, I'm going to New York for a week with the school for simply a getaway (no educational reason). My teachers have decided that because they have no set agenda, the itinerary should be set by the students and the only things that are set in stone at the moment are the blindingly obvious tourist destinations (Statue of Liberty, UN building etc.). Some background info: There's about 30 17/18 year olds going on the trip from near London in the UK and we're spending 4 nights in the city. Travel will be difficult but not impossible so I'd be happy for any awesome suggestions that aren't too far away. So any ideas that the guidebooks don't know Reddit?

Reddit, what do you eat for lunch?

So I recently realized that I was eating entirely too much fast food and have decided to go without for a month. The problem is lunch. All I can think to make is sandwiches and leftovers and I'm really not keen on sandwiches. So, what do you eat for lunch?

Please help an undergraduate student with some Psychological study ideas

I am currently attending a university in California, and I have 10 Ph.D. applications out. I am a Psychology major and my field of interest is interpersonal relationships, and more narrowly, infidelity. I do not graduate until June, so I have time to run a quick study, and would like to do some preliminary quick and dirty pilot research. I am interested to find out that if you have cheated on your significant other, what were your tactics you used in order to conceal this infidelity? In a sense, I am trying to find out how creative one person can be in order to continue cheating on a partner My assumptions are: 1. respondents have cheated on their current or former partner 2. have used certain tactics to avoid disclosure of infidelity 3. have come up with original tactics to do it In order to give you an idea what I am looking for, I will give you two of mine: I bought the 3rd person a bottle of Calvin Klein one as a gift and I bought myself the same. That way, after I saw them, I came home and only smelled like me. The other one was using a shared email account in which I would write a message to them and leave it in the drafts folder. Then the other person would log in, read the message, delete it and write a reply without sending it, just leaving it in the drafts folder. Just like everything, if you do not want to answer, that's cool, I gave you my examples to let you know that I will not judge you at all, I am just interested to see if us tech savvy people are more creative than our mainstream counterparts Finally, yes I know that this is a very specific subset of the population and you guys are in no way a representative sample. I am doing this to see if there is more to this "cheater's creativity" than I believe. Thank you for helping a Psych nerd out. edit: Crossposted to r/Psychology

Help! Worried about losing my ipod to US airport security

I'm a Canadian citizen and am going to traveling into the US to take a cheaper flight into another part of the US. My flight is very early morning, much earlier than I'm used to being awake. I was hoping to close my eyes during the flight and listen to my ipod. The thing is that I have co-workers expressing all these concerns regarding US airport security turning all electronic devices and in some cases confiscating them if they deem any laws are broken or have general suspicions. In this case it might be some anti-piracy issues that could come up. I have to admit, much of my music was not purchased and I've been told the authorities look for this now. Like I said, I live in Canada, where our anti-piracy laws are somewhat undefined in terms of music and so the average person doesn't worry all that much about these things... but I hear in the US things are pretty different. Can anyone confirm running into problems taking their mp3 players through US airport security and what I should expect? I would hate to leave my ipod at home but would hate it even more to lose the device all together, or even be prosecuted.

What C++ book or online guide would you recommend to a newbie?

I'm looking for a book that's easy to understand and shows by example (concise code with useful //comments and the output). My professor is using a textbook that has few relevant examples and drones on and on about terminology. I browsed through a local bookstore and found that most of their programming books were like this. So I would really appreciate your suggestions, reddit. Thanks!

Which movies makes more sense the more you watch them?

I'll start by saying; * Memento * Primer Which else? EDIT: Thanks reddit. Great response, great movie tips. (well, maybe except "Babe 2: Pig in the City", but then again, I haven't seen it more than once so who knows)

I'm all for the gay rights, etc.... but wouldn't you feel uncomfortable and violated if..

You were in the military and were forced to shower with people of the same sex that were sexually attracted to you? How do they handle this now? Do they have partitions for showering, etc.? Is this something the military has even considered? Why would it be a problem to have separate showering quarters? I'm assuming these people would be treated differently just by being open (for some people's religious reasoning), and that's part of the problem, but come on - I have pretty good inclinations when someone is gay, and I'm assuming most other do too. This is a serious question too, in light of the recent (IMO ignorant) remarks by Duncan Hunter.

What do you guys think of debuggers? Essential tool? Or crutch?

My boss just implied that he might force me to use a debugger one of these days. Apparently, I take too much time debugging (his convoluted) code. I'm against the idea; not because I dislike debuggers, but I hate the idea of not being able to debug without one. I am will to use one if ever the bug turns out to be complex, but if I didn't rack my brains first, I think it's more of a destructive habit than anything. Do note that I deal with PHP and javascript 90% of the time. Understanding the code and sprinkling a few print_r/var_dump works in 99% of cases, imho. If I was dealing with a language which isn't as easily introspectable, my use of the debugger would be much more prevalent, but I still think the previous logic applies. What do you guys think? -- EDIT -- Well, I think we established that debuggers are *awesomely useful* to quote ssylvan. I guess the real question was, what's an appropriate threshold before you fire it up?

DAE not know how to order anything more complex than "plain coffee" at Starbucks?

Case in point: "Double Ristretto Venti Half-Soy Nonfat Decaf Organic Chocolate Brownie Iced Vanilla Double-Shot Gingerbread Frappuccino Extra Hot With Foam Whipped Cream Upside Down Double Blended, One Sweet'N Low and One Nutrasweet, and Ice" WTF!

"It's so rare to find someone who understands that murder is an art."

"It's so rare to find someone who understands that murder is an art. "Take your garden variety sociopath turned serial killer. Amateurs, all of them. Your average serial killer would wait until dark to cross the street here to where the young people will gather for dancing, drinking and flirting in their 'secret' club, named with such delicious irony. "Once inside the Butcher Shop, he will flirt and mingle and blend until he spots that one girl who reminds him of the mother who did unspeakable things to him, or who stood idly by while his sadistic father did worse. He will sublimate his rage into charm, and suggest 'let's get out of here' with the implication of exciting casual sex. "When they're alone, the charming mask will vanish, and then it'll be all about the revenge he was never able to inflict upon the parents who betrayed him. And they say sociopaths don't feel normal emotions! I think it's more the case that they simply fail to understand their own emotions, and can only express them in warped, broken ways. "My parents were great; they encouraged me, they loved me, and they gave me everything a boy could ever want. Melanoma took my father when I was twelve, and my mother tried very hard, but she wasted away quickly after that, and died when I was thirteen. They left me with a strong sense of self, and enough money to make my life into whatever I wanted. "It was a lack of challenges equal to my abilities, and subsequent boredom that lead me to develop my own little game. It's been years of study, planning and preparation, and it's begun quite well already. Before you judge me, let me assure you that I do feel quite badly for the girls. A sociopath dehumanizes his victims so he can better focus his rage on the true object of his hatred, but I feel neither rage nor hatred. I have to fake both, or else the scenes wouldn't look right. "But I've never dehumanized any of them. I know their names, and their stories; their hopes and their dreams. I mourn each and every one of the girls I've killed, and I will remember each moment I've spent with them in perfect clarity for as long as I live. That is just part of the cost of this game. "Here comes the girl with the pink hair to prepare the Butcher Shop for tonight. She calls herself Claire, but that's not her name. She's different from anyone else I have ever met, and I am comfortable telling you that she is unique. "I have something special planned for Claire."

Communal Laundry Etiquette

Hi redditors. So I go to a school and there is communal laundry. Every so often I want to put clothes in the washer or dryer and there is a load just sitting there. I've always just plopped that load onto a surface and put my clothes in. Is this rude? Should I fold the clothes? Sometimes I move wet clothes into a dryer if there is an unoccupied one. I've been doing this for years but want to know if I've been an unintentional asshole the whole time.

Where are the large graph visualization tools?

I have recently started playing tradewars again. I just got a full scan of all the warps between sectors and I would really like to see a visualization of the graph so that I could figure out where to make my claim. However I cannot find a good solution. I was wondering if anyone had a good solution they could tell me about. I have found graphviz which really seems to be the ticket, but I cannot get it to work, I it segfaults during generation, which seems to be a problem with it's digraph generation tool. the DOT file I generated that shows the relationships can be found at

TIL: New Canadian Law With Which Schools Can Punish Students for Their Interactions at Home

The law is described at The part I was worried about was "300.4 (1) If the Minister has established policies or guidelines under subsection 301 (5.6), an employee of a board who observes a pupil of a school of the board behaving in a way that is likely to have a negative impact on the school climate shall respond in accordance with those policies and guidelines and in accordance with any policies and guidelines established by the board under subsection 302 (3.3)." My question is - does this stretch to including outside of school activities or is it only at school that this is in effect?

Calling All Dems(Independents too) read text:

the repubs outnumber dem 2 to 1 in america. so what you guys could do to branch off the obamas liberal party which is way too liberal for most americans, is just rebranch your image much like the republicans are now calling themselves conservatives. First, you need to seperate yourself from the extreme liberals aka socialist/commies/obama. then just have some candidates that are just good candidates and not pick them just cause of their skin color. Good luck, and god speed. America will either be a welfare state or a war-mongering state. I doubt well ever have a president in the middle.

DAE forget a person's name seconds after meeting them?

It's like my brain doesn't even process the names of people I meet - in one ear out the other.

Why Reddit Will Never Become Digg

Don't worry, Reddit wont change. People are worried about reddit showing up on CNN, thinking it might lead to an influx of outsiders into our perfect little world. the truth is there are plenty of idiots that have accounts, you just don't see them because they are on the bottom of the page. This is why we must embrace the biased, self-righteous grammar blitkrieg of downvotes and negative comments that reddit is. Yes, narwhals and all. The moment we slip and stop acting like the total assholes that we know we are but are too proud to admit, is the day we slip into the abyss that Digg is. So go ahead, fix my grammar and point out the logical flaws of my argument, then downvote me; because it's stupid shit like this that usually makes it to the front page.

I'm confused about burning fat vs burning carbs, and how calories relate to both.

Apparently when Im working out Im either burning fat or Im burning carbs? What does this depend on? I figure the gist of weight loss is to burn more calories than I eat. But doesnt fat loss = weight loss? **What I want** (Goals): I want to lose my gut. I want to have a moderate body builders size. Not huge, just toned up. Example = Dwayne Johnson. **What Im currently doing** (Actions): I started group training twice a week at a local boxing club. I started play basketball and participate in a spin class on the off days. I try to eat more often but smaller meals throughout the day. Since Im clueless as to the whole good carbs bad carbs thing I just try to keep my calories low. I stick to a lot of salad, fish, eggs, etc. No junk food. **Stats**: 6'1, 265 lbs. What adjustments do you suggest I make in order to reach my goals most efficiently?

Both new time lines (LAX and on the island) are going to happen. They both exist because one is in 2004, the other is in 2007. Somehow this season everyone is going to end up back on the island.

From what we have seen, if you are at some point in time (2004) then everything that happened in the past actually did take place and happened. So we have the people on the island, this is 2007. We know this is 2007 because that is when ajira air crashed and thats how sun, ben, and the new people (as of last night most of them are dead) got to the island. We have people on the plane and in LAX, this is 2004. We know this is 2004 because jacks dad just died. I dont remember if claire was pregnant or not though. Sun and Jin are escaping. Lets say that 2004 happened. That means in 2007, the 2004 stuff did occur, but the 1977 did not. According to Juliet, it worked. Things are very different now. Desmond is on the fucking plane!! The plane doesnt crash. So what we saw in 2004, LAX, the plane, it all happened for sure. Now we jump ahead 3 years, everyone is back on the island. They dont think the switch worked, but they will recognize soon that it did work. These are still flashbacks but they dont know it yet. I assume since Jacob dies in 2007, they will all see him before then and something big will happen in terms of them remembering the island stuff.

Is it legal to order antibiotics from another country, and have them shipped to you in the U.S.A? (without a prescription)

A little background. I have some concerns about the future stability of the United States. I understand that those concerns may be ill founded. However, I would like to add an emergency supply of antibiotics to my emergency kit. I've done quite a bit of research and I know the following: - Antibiotics "expire". - Overuse breeds resistant bacteria. - Some antibiotics can be dangerous if used improperly. - Antibiotics have specific uses, not all of them work for any ailment. - Some places are unsafe to order from. I felt I needed to say that to prevent the doctors/nurses on Reddit from saying it. If I missed something, then by all means tell me. My question is simply this: Is it illegal to import antibiotics into the united states from another country. I have been unable to find a straight answer to this question anywhere on the web. If it is or isn't illegal can you please tell me how you arrived at that answer, and please if you can cite your source. I've seen Reddit answer some seriously tough questions, please help me!!

DAE think that the shift in the last decade of society's view of "geeky" activities just proves you should do what you enjoy no matter?

I played D&D (2nd edition) as a kid, MTG, tore apart computers, read Popular Science, the whole lot. It may be just that I went from high school to college, but it seems like all these things that people thought were sheltered kid lame past times have become accepted and even encouraged activities. More than once I have mentioned to someone how I liked Neverwinter Nights because of it being modeled after D&D rules. In the past I'd expect someone to laugh at the thought, but for some reason people find it intriguing now. But I digress, is it more of a society change or is my point of view clouding this idea?

Dear r/gaming: Logitech customer service is nothing special, don't be fooled

I have a G7 mouse, barely over a year old and the batteries started dieing on me. It takes ages for them to charge so my mouse is constantly dead unless I leave the battery plugged in for 24+ hours. On January 5, I alerted Logitech. The first reply was: "No problem, replacement batteries are on the way." I thought: "Wow, their service really does rule!" Fast forward to 3 days later and my mouse is really starting to die, even though the battery is apparently almost fully charged after leaving it in to charge for something like 24 hours, the mouse stops working; every single minute it just freezes randomly for anywhere between 5 and 20 seconds. As someone that makes their living with a computer, this got ridiculously annoying really fast. I did everything from using their recommended tools to reinstalling drivers, but the problem persisted. I sent Logitech another inquiry and after a few back and forths, they agreed to have me send the mouse in to have a look themselves. Queue 4 weeks later, not only did I never receive my replacement batteries, I also never received the pre paid package to send the mouse back to them. All my subsequent inquiries have been ignored. 5 days ago I sent a final inquiry to let them know about the situation and the problem has been apparently escalated, but not a single reply explaining anything. It's just sitting there and continuous updates on my part are left unanswered. Logitech support is nothing special and my experience with their mice has been horrible. I had an MX revolution that lasted 5 days in the past and I had to take it back because it was faulty. The store (not Logitech) were sold out of the MX, so they gave me a G7 and the difference in cash back. The G7 lasted barely a year. Just letting everyone hear a different point of view about Logitech, they are not better than any other company and do not deserve the extra praise because one other guy got lucky.

Girls, what would YOU like for Valentine's day?

I dont know what to get my girlfriend, I thought about making somthing because that comes more from the heart but my mind is blank. We have been dating for practically 3 months or so if that helps at all...

Where do you do power cleans?

When I would do power cleans in high school, the school weight room had a dedicated area that had barbels with rubber weights and a padded floor. However, none of the gyms in my area seem to have anything like this. Do you do power cleans with regular barbels and metal weights (this seems like a bad idea) or does your gym have weights specifically for power cleans?

DAE not have the ability to whisper?

My grandmother claims that she can't whisper. When she tries she just speaks really softly. It kind of creeps me out. Does anyone else have this disability?

When is Google AppEngine getting support for python2.6?

The issue ( ) has been around since 2008, and yet none of the comments include "official" word from Google as to when this is coming. I haven't been able to find any recent information about it. Are there plans for it? Should I hold out hope that it will happen sometime in the near future?

Fw: Fw: Fw: Re: How to clean the inside of your computer screen

To All, I know you don't clean your computer screens very often And it's hard to do the inside, so here is a way to do it.. Just click on the word "here" under lined above and presto the inside of your screen is clean.

Dear Askreddit: I am about to be a manager of a position that's never had a direct manager before. The people I'm going to be working above are notoriously racist and bad at their job. What should I learn about racism in the workplace before starting?

Upper management is going to do a sort of "revamping" of the department, meaning they're ready to get rid of everyone to achieve their new company standards of goals and this department's the bane of the company's existence. The people have never had official or formal training or rulesets enforced for them and management is prepared to replace them all. So, what do I need to know about race relations in the work place? I will be a key part of the documentation process for reasons to replace each employee and I will need to know in which ways to handle the different challenges this new position will present. How do I make sure I don't say something that can be misconstrued, yet, not give them the ability to perceive my fear? Any books I can read? I've been reading a LOT of books lately in order to prepare, and am wondering if there's anything else I can supplement as well.

Has anyone ever tried one of those "increase your penis size" ads?

If so, what results did you have? I strongly suspect they do nothing, because they would outsell McDonald's if they did.

H.264 - Why should it be free for people to capitalize on?

I'm not quite sure I understand the hate on this issue. A group of companies put time and money into a technology, spent years on it seamless integration and adoption into hardware, software, and web services, and now they are supposed to give it away? If you spent your time as a programmer or engineer building something that you wanted to make money from, would you want someone taking it for free and making money from it instead? I know a good number don't mind, but a good number do. This is not a broken model...It's how companies make money. It's how tangible goods work, it's how broadcasting works, it's how services work, and it's what the economy is built on. Your time as a programmer is valuable. If you do something, anything in the world, and you want to put food on the table and a roof over your head, you charge for it. Do you think Intel chips will be free any time soon? No. Can you make your own chips and spend years and hundreds of millions of dollars getting everyone to use them? Yes. Does that take a tremendous amount of resources (people who want to get paid, etc.) to do it? Yes. But do you complain about Intel (or other for profit companies) being shitty for charging you? No. So what's different? You're not being forced to use H.264 for commercial uses, and you are free to build something superior and give it away.

Anybody out there have any good Root Beer recipes?

I'm looking for something along the lines of Virgils, but so long as it's interesting any root beer-y, I'm game.

What are the little things you enjoy?

I enjoy the feeling of breaking apart the two sides of the string (not exactly string, they're flat) from my hoodie after it's been in the wash. I enjoy the sound my nice shoes make when I walk. Authoritative. What little things do you enjoy reddit?

Dear /r/Pets, thinking of buying a 3 MO puppy from my friend, advice?

My friend brought home a 3 MO male pomeranian/japanese spitz from a breeder off of Kijiji for her boyfriend, but because they live with their parents, neither of them are able to keep it. My family (of five) live in a medium-to-large sized home in a suburb of Toronto. This would be our first pet. What kinds of problems can I expect when dealing with changing the puppy's environment at 3 months? What kinds of questions should I be asking before considering getting this puppy? Any other pieces of advice would be appreciated! EDIT: Wow thanks for the great advice! She said that she can let me have him for around $300, but after your advice I would much rather put some more thought into getting a puppy, and see if getting a pup from a shelter is for me. I probably also should have added that we do not have small children, I am actually the youngest member of my household and I'm 21 :P, but great advice nonetheless. Thanks guys!

If Australia bans small breasts in pornography, then they should ban sex with midgets.

You don't have the right to willingly earn a living by pornography if you look young, and you especially don't have the right to procreate if you are a midget - because you're **really** just encouraging pedophiles.

DAE have a specific order of which websites you go to when you go on the internet?

I have a list of websites that i visit in a specific order. 1. Youtube 2. Facebook 3. TheSwain 4. Wimp 5. Reddit 6. 4chan

Ask WATMM: I'm looking to buy an interface for my Macbook. I run Logic Pro 8, and 4 inputs is all I need.

I'm currently in school for music/sound technology, and am looking to start doing my own recordings. I'm very familiar with what to do and how to do it, but I'm not a "gear-head" in the least. I don't know what brand, model, or type of interface would be the best yet cheapest, nor most reliable. Can anybody give me some suggestions?

What are your thoughts on the YMCA?

After a childhood of participating in their camps and sports activities, I only now realize that they're a Christian organization. I don't recall anyone addressing religion in any situation when I was there and have not come across any received criticism like the Boy Scouts of America with regard to atheists and homosexuals. Their mission is to "put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy, mind, spirit, and body for all." I remember positive words of encouragement, but never doses of Christianity. What do you think? Has the YMCA gone secular in their practices while retaining their Christian name? Have they become tolerant in their message and less focused on their historical values? Or... is something about the YMCA not being recognized?

What is the funniest line from a novel?

I've always been partial to, "Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them." (Catch 22)

Fake "pasta" made from eggplant

There was an Alton Brown recipe for 60-second eggplant parmesan a while back (he recently cooked it on The View as well). While it didn't seem anything really like eggplant parmesan, I was intrigued by the eggplant noodle concept. I cut most of the starches out of my diet last year and haven't eaten pasta more than once or twice since, and it's the only thing I truly miss. Enter the eggplant. You can slice an eggplant into pretty good fetuccine-type noodles and purge them with salt for a few hours, wring them out in a tea towel and then sautee for 10 minutes or so in olive oil/butter. It's pleasantly *al dente* and makes a good substrate for sauces. Tastes great, less filling.

Dear Reddit, Do you always use a CMS for clients, even if they only use an average number of static pages?

I find it easier to set up all clients on a CMS (Wordpress usually as its easy to configure and mod) but should I be saving my time for the smaller clients that don't really need one? My reasoning is that it sets them up for success in the long run, and additional features are easier to set up if the need comes up down the road. What are your thoughts?

Contacted by my Ex ~9 months after breakup.

We dated for a while (she broke up with her then bf because of me), but she broke it off. I wasn't/ain't hurt about it happening (she was becoming very distant) and I've moved on. I did get depressed over the summer (another story) and tried contacting her then. I told her I still had feelings for her and bla bla bla. This was very childish of me (or so I think) and I was drunk (no excuse) at the time. Fast forward to January. She sends me a message via Facebook, telling me how she's sorry for the way she treated me. Apparently she "woke up one day" and just didn't wanna see my face again. She says she still want's us to be friends and asked if we could meet up for coffee. I didn't know how to react to this, but in the end I agree on the coffee. We exchange a few more messages, just chatting about life and all that. She has a new bf and she's very happy with him. He isn't very happy about the idea of us meeting and has stated so. But she said she still want's to meet me, so we made a "date" for last weekend. I told her she should call, me with both time and place, and she agreed on that. Then comes Saturday. No call. Sunday. No call. OK, so she didn't have the time (would have been appreciated if she'd phoned and canceled) and I thought nothing off it. But now it's Tuesday and I haven't herd from her. I've seen her online on Facebook, but decided to wait and see what she'd do before talking to her. Is this the work of the BF? Should I simply be the bigger man (than the bf) and tell her to go live happily ever after? And I'm terribly sorry if the text doesn't make sense. If you're unclear on something, just ask. Thank you.

I know Valentine's Day is still more than a week away, but what are some things that people who are single can do on Valentine's Day?

Any good ideas besides the usual "spend time with your other single friends" thing? I am writing a paper for school and would love some input of what other people do. Thanks for the responses! I actually do have a valentine, but now I have some great (and sometimes depressing) ideas to write about.

Hey Reddit, I got ripped off from an employer for about $500. Does any one have experience getting money back through small claims?

So after I was laid off in September, I've been doing odd jobs to try and make some extra money until I find a "real" job. A friend of a friend hired me for $10/hr to help her business move out of their building. A company that she founded which specializes in the restoration and remastering of neglected, damaged or deteriorating video, film, audio, and data media. So there was some heavy equipment, including a piece that nearly broke my toe (left it green/purple and made me walk with a limp for three weeks). After totaling all of my hours, I sent her an email with a calendar of the days I worked and the hours I worked on each day. I was supposed to be paid around $1200. After months of emails, she sent me a check for about $700. After numerous follow up emails to her, she responded saying that my claims were "entirely specious" and for me to "move on." I have email and phone records to back up all my hours and to prove she underpaid me. What recourse options do I have? Since this was supposed to be just a cash payment, will taking this to a small claims court even be beneficial? Any suggestions or advice are graciously appreciated. If it matters, I live in NYC.

If there were only two people left in the US and assuming the roads were clear, how long until they are involved in a vehicular collision?

How would someone go about solving this? Can it be calculated as odds? What if it was changed to three people? Or another way of looking at it, how many people do you need to make the probability of collision become effectively 1.0? P.S. I hate traffic.

Hey Reddit, is it possible to turn your hearing off?

This has happened to me a few times were I will be falling asleep while listening to music/watching a movie and right where I'm at the cutoff line of being lucid vs. dream world I'll notice that the room becomes silent. Though the second I realize this all the noises that were in room come back. My question being, is this something physical in my ear shifting causing the noise to desist or is it mental? Is it possible to tune out the noises in a room without having to be in a sleep like state?

I have two websites and I need to restrict access to one of them unless the user links to it from the other.

Essentially I'm trying to keep people from accessing our time/expense site unless they first log in to our company portal and click a link. I've tried URL masking and web proxying using PHP, however the T&E site uses all java and doesn't function using these methods. I would really appreciate just being pointed in the right direction! Thanks! E: We are using IIS 6.0 on a windows 2003 server. I've just determined the T&E webserver is weblogic and I have no clue how it works. Maybe you've heard of Deltek?

IAmA female who's active in the PUA/Seduction community. I read the literature, coach guy friends, and act as a wingwoman. AMA.

There's been a lot of shit being talked about the PUA community (I prefer the term "seduction community"). Reddit seems to hate it. Female Redditors in particular call PUAs losers and creeps. I'm here to give the other side of the story. AMA, about this misunderstood community or otherwise. (if you're interested, r/seduction EDIT: Dinner time @ 5:30pm Eastern Standard Time. Be back in an hour. **EDIT 2:** I wanted to make one general comment that really doesn't belong in any one response, but deserves to be right up here. A valuable skill that I think PUA teaches guys is how to evaluate and change *themselves*. A lot of guys go to a bar, get turned down by a girl, and walk away muttering "what a bitch". PUAs do not do this because they are more interested in learning about what *they* did wrong than blaming the girl. PUA teaches guys that they are in control of their own success and failure with women. This is, I believe, the most important thing PUA teaches and something that adds positive value to society in general.

I recently started a small investment advisory business. AMAA.

Likes: Vanguard, index funds, ETFs, Robert Shiller, Andrew Smithers, John Bogle, William Bernstein Dislikes: regular mutual funds, CNBC, Jim Cramer, trading too much, most personal finance periodicals **Edit**: Thanks everyone for your comments and questions. I certainly did not expect so many for a topic that most people would find unbearably boring.

Dear refund-receiving Reddit: What are you going to do with your tax refund?

I'm getting a substantial sum and can't decide whether I should use it for that "3 months expenses" savings everyone is supposed to have or whether to blow it on traveling and live a little bit. What about you?

Superbowl bets. Who ya got?

This is reposted from r/gambling because everyone is snoozin over there. Alright it's the biggest gambling day of the year. Who you got? Saints? Colts? Prop bets? Over under? I made a bet at the end of last year when the AFC was riding high that the NFC would win the superbowl this year at +210. So far that has worked to my advantage because last I checked the Saints were coming in at +180. Colts are sitting at -5 but that could change depending on Dwight Freeney's injury. The over is 56.5 but I've heard that could go up. I like the prop bet of Pierre Garcon getting over 59.5 yards (-115). Also like the Saints to get more than 26.5 pts (-115). Thoughts?

thank god I have found you gramar reddit!

Does anyone know a book or something that will teach me better gramar? I am a university student and I want to improve my essay writing skills ;)

Well, this was inevitable, I suppose...

Sent out an email about our supporting Wikileaks, and received a nasty email, and lost a customer: ----- Please take me off of your mailing list . . . I am interested in Soap NOT in supporting your "political" kind of projects . You have lost me as a customer . .. what a pity as the soap products of yours that I've had were very nice .. . and I had hoped to purchase some a gifts .. .but now will not ... .and wish to be removed from your list. A suggestion - If you want to support wikileaks, do it on your own without advertising about it. . . ---- Oh well. To each his own.

I am a web developer who is trying to help a friend build a website, she insists she wants it to be "fancy" and have flash!

I keep trying to tell her that flash doesn't work on a lot of computer like Iphones exc... and there is still a large group of people who don't even have a flash player / don't want to install one (for God knows what reason). Since she insists on wanting her WHOLE site to be flash, I have to tell her that flash runs way to slow, and google can't search it. Even if it could search it the indexing on a flash site would be way less advanced then a site that uses some good old SEO. Which is why she wanted me to help her in the first place, since Google couldn't find her old flash site! I am sure many developers have this problem of people asking for things like "fancy" and "i want flash". when you say that a simple and quick site is much better. Any suggestions on what I should do? or should I just stop helping since I am doing this basically for free? what do you think Reddit???

I know the iPad's old news, but... come ON.

"Mom will have it propped up in her kitchen where she can see it. It'll remind her of appointments and entertain her with her favorite shows while she works in her home office or the kitchen." - 'Women: The Key to the Apple iPad's Success', Lance Ulanoff Oh? Will she, Lance? Maybe I'm overreacting, but that sounds a *little* too condescending for my tastes. I know sexism ain't going anywhere fast, but still.

How many here play in a band with regular gigs?

Where do you play - what city, what types of venues, crowd size? What style of music, age, level of proficiency? Do you enjoy it, and do you have aspiration past where you are at right now? About me: pretty good lead player interested in hard rock, classic rock, metal and covers. I live in the NYC area. Played in a good band in high school and did some local (not manhattan) gigs, but we disbanded for college. I'm 24 and I want to start playing in a band, but I honestly dont know much about the new York rock scene or how hard it is to penetrate.