Minnesota does not allow use/sale of phosphorus-containing lawn fertilizer, to keep it out of lakes/rivers for exactly this reason (preventing algae). The middle number in the N-P-K analysis is always 0.
Well, there's two things here. One is having a good credit rating, and the other is not having any major black marks against you on your credit report (late payments, large outstanding loans, too many lines of credit, etc). You should do fine on the second measure.
To build up your credit, the easiest thing to do is get a credit card with a relatively small maximum credit line, use it and pay it off (completely, not the minimum payment) every month. If you are a student this should be relatively easy to get. If you have a checking account through a local bank where you're attending school it may be easiest to go through them.
Another option may be to get a store credit card through a store you shop at, like a department store or clothing store. Since they won't give a very large credit line and you can only use it at the one store, the risk is lower to the issuer so they are more willing to give them out to people.
You won't build up a fabulous rating very quickly, but something like this can give you several checks in the "plus" column relatively fast.
Not sugary, but as convenient as a can of pop, hmm.
V8. Not sweet, and comes in single-serving bottles.
Crystal Light. You can buy premixed bottles, or little packets of the mix that are the right size for one typical water bottle. Or, you can buy a big pack of the powder and mix it with water as strong or weak as you like.
Grapefruit juice. Can have the added bonus of making the effect of any caffeine you're consuming last longer. Available in single-serving bottles.
Well, yes, I know that. The poster I was replying to was implying that there was nothing wrong with telnet and why would you move to WWW. My response was meant to convey that going telnet->www wouldn't have done anything, and that it was the SSL that was key. I guess I was not clear.
In answer to your first question, the tax deductions don't matter an iota for a lot of people. Unless you have a whole lotta deductions, you're going to be better off taking the Standard Deduction anyway so your charitable giving "doesn't count" that way.
For a single person, the standard deduction is almost $5,000; married is almost $10k. So you'd have to have a lot of deductions for other reasons, or give over that amount, to have it matter for tax purposes.
I had a broken stereo and was in on the Aiwa settlement. It wasn't just one specific model, it was a whole list of basically every stereo they made for a few years. In the end rather than send it in to be fixed (it's long since replaced, it's been broken for years), I took the $50 cash option. Good deal.
In many states, there is a system called "open enrollment". Basically, you can apply to any other school district and as long as there is space in the school, you can go there (but you have to provide your own transportation). Most (or all) of the state per-pupil $$ goes to the school you end up attending. In Iowa, my brother is currently open-enrolled into a neighboring district because the high school he would attend sucks.
Here in MN, there are several small districts that have taken advantage of this, to counter declining enrollment (due to population decline). They really push to have excellent schools, and people opt their kids in to the district.
This is much less politically volatile than a private-school voucher program (public money still goes to public schools), but it has a similar effect since it encourages good schools because students can choose to leave.
This is EXACTLY what worked for me, on advice from the on-site nurse at my last employer. If your mouse is on the left you don't have to reach as far out to use it. Also, it more evenly divides your hand-intensive work between your left and right hands (assuming you're a righty, you will be writing with your right hand and mousing with the left).
The other thing that helped was getting a keyboard tray that I could adjust to the right height. I'm short and using a keyboard on a desk means my hands are up as high as my armpits, which is about as un-ergonomic as you can get!
For the masses out there that are students, you can use the web version of TurboTax for free (including filing, and some states are also free) if you are 22 or younger (or in the military, or over 62). Check here. I've used TurboTax for the Web for the last few years and it's very nice. Even if you don't qualify you can try it out for free, they don't charge you until you either print or e-file.
There are also other web-based places that have different qualifications for free filing (eg. income restrictions, etc.). Go to www.irs.gov and click on "Free File".
This book is really well written. Much more interesting and understandable than most biology texts. It's that rare balance between information and fun that makes you actually want to read about, say, the sex habits of scorpions. Kind of like how Mr. Wizard or Bill Nye make physics principles interesting.
I think the "killer app" is being able to walk through a building that is just plans, before construction starts. Or to walk around a large object that is still in plans (eg. a plane or car) to see how it will turn out. Yeah, there's regular 3d render software that you can do this with on a small scale, but to do it life-size is something else. Especially with architectural plans.
I just moved to Minnesota, and my new DL# starts with my Soundex code too. The rest seems random though, no relation to my birthday or SSN anything, at least not obviously.
Yeah, IIRC, he won the suit that attempted to block him from continuing to use "Robert X. Cringely" as a pen name. There's a tiny bit of info here, probably more if you Google on "Cringely lawsuit".
I once wore this. Get a white trash bag and cut arm and head holes a la emergency poncho. Put it on, and cinch up the bottom at your waist by tying it at the side with a twist-tie, but leave it nice and baggy above there. Stuff the bag (through the head hole) with reasonably clean trash, colorful pop cans and wrappers work well. Voila, "white trash."
The idea is to have a uniform way of comparing students from different schools. Any two schools have different curricula, different grading standards, etc. so a standardized test allows the graduate program to determine if your background includes proficiency in the areas they expect. Very few schools, if any, admit solely (or even primarily) on the basis of exam score; much more weight is given, for example, to your personal statement where you describe your research interests. The test score just gives them another way of judging if you're sufficiently prepared to succeed in their graduate program.
Absolutely. The Cartoon Guides really do a good job of distilling down broad topics to a level Joe Reader can understand, in a way that's funny and interesting. The genetics one is particularly great, as are the History of the Universe books. I just found out they're doing a Volume III of that series, looking forward to it.
For completeness, here's an Amazon link: Larry Gonick.
I've been using WordPerfect for all of my word processing (except where a Word.doc is required for some reason) for the last 9 years. I have never once needed to use a function key. Back before the windows versions, yes, you are correct, control codes and function keys were how you did stuff. Unfortunately for WP, a lot of people formed their opinion of the program back when that was the case, and haven't seen it since. However, now it's just as graphical click-the-bold-button and user-friendly as Word. More so, because you can choose to have control over what it does to your document, unlike Word which likes to think it knows better than you do what you want.
Even my cousin, who is still afraid she'll break the mouse if she clicks wrong, prefers WordPerfect to Word. If that doesn't speak to the usability, I don't know what will.
While I would take more care than you say your friend does, I think a laptop is an excellent idea. For one thing, if you're worried about salt/water exposure, it could be sealed in a waterproof container while not in use. Also, you would be able to take it with you when you're not on the boat, if you want. And it'd probably be relatively easy to bolt to some surface for use/protection in rough seas.
I don't know for sure, but I'd bet there's some sort of adapter/charger for laptop batteries that will run on 12V. Try googling on "laptop battery 12V," there's some promising hits there.
My thought exactly. The fee schedule for AM/FM stations is here (pdf, it's on page 66), and is based on the number of listeners. Seems like it'd be a reasonable workaround, if your "broadcast station" is in a low-population area so the cost would be low. The catch of course, is the expense of the broadcast equipment, and the application fee.
Slashdot Mirror
Minnesota does not allow use/sale of phosphorus-containing lawn fertilizer, to keep it out of lakes/rivers for exactly this reason (preventing algae). The middle number in the N-P-K analysis is always 0.
H&R Block had a similar issue with their online tax prep software back in February:
news.com.com article
Businessweek article
Well, there's two things here. One is having a good credit rating, and the other is not having any major black marks against you on your credit report (late payments, large outstanding loans, too many lines of credit, etc). You should do fine on the second measure.
To build up your credit, the easiest thing to do is get a credit card with a relatively small maximum credit line, use it and pay it off (completely, not the minimum payment) every month. If you are a student this should be relatively easy to get. If you have a checking account through a local bank where you're attending school it may be easiest to go through them.
Another option may be to get a store credit card through a store you shop at, like a department store or clothing store. Since they won't give a very large credit line and you can only use it at the one store, the risk is lower to the issuer so they are more willing to give them out to people.
You won't build up a fabulous rating very quickly, but something like this can give you several checks in the "plus" column relatively fast.
Any of these would make a good pick-me-up.
I think I agree with you, but parsing that sentence is giving me a headache...
Well, yes, I know that. The poster I was replying to was implying that there was nothing wrong with telnet and why would you move to WWW. My response was meant to convey that going telnet->www wouldn't have done anything, and that it was the SSL that was key. I guess I was not clear.
Because it's unsecured, unencrypted, that's why. HTTP with no SSL wouldn't be any better.
I think what you're looking for is called "transfer foil".
In answer to your first question, the tax deductions don't matter an iota for a lot of people. Unless you have a whole lotta deductions, you're going to be better off taking the Standard Deduction anyway so your charitable giving "doesn't count" that way.
For a single person, the standard deduction is almost $5,000; married is almost $10k. So you'd have to have a lot of deductions for other reasons, or give over that amount, to have it matter for tax purposes.
I had a broken stereo and was in on the Aiwa settlement. It wasn't just one specific model, it was a whole list of basically every stereo they made for a few years. In the end rather than send it in to be fixed (it's long since replaced, it's been broken for years), I took the $50 cash option. Good deal.
In many states, there is a system called "open enrollment". Basically, you can apply to any other school district and as long as there is space in the school, you can go there (but you have to provide your own transportation). Most (or all) of the state per-pupil $$ goes to the school you end up attending. In Iowa, my brother is currently open-enrolled into a neighboring district because the high school he would attend sucks.
Here in MN, there are several small districts that have taken advantage of this, to counter declining enrollment (due to population decline). They really push to have excellent schools, and people opt their kids in to the district.
This is much less politically volatile than a private-school voucher program (public money still goes to public schools), but it has a similar effect since it encourages good schools because students can choose to leave.
This is EXACTLY what worked for me, on advice from the on-site nurse at my last employer. If your mouse is on the left you don't have to reach as far out to use it. Also, it more evenly divides your hand-intensive work between your left and right hands (assuming you're a righty, you will be writing with your right hand and mousing with the left).
The other thing that helped was getting a keyboard tray that I could adjust to the right height. I'm short and using a keyboard on a desk means my hands are up as high as my armpits, which is about as un-ergonomic as you can get!
For the masses out there that are students, you can use the web version of TurboTax for free (including filing, and some states are also free) if you are 22 or younger (or in the military, or over 62). Check here. I've used TurboTax for the Web for the last few years and it's very nice. Even if you don't qualify you can try it out for free, they don't charge you until you either print or e-file.
There are also other web-based places that have different qualifications for free filing (eg. income restrictions, etc.). Go to www.irs.gov and click on "Free File".
This book is really well written. Much more interesting and understandable than most biology texts. It's that rare balance between information and fun that makes you actually want to read about, say, the sex habits of scorpions. Kind of like how Mr. Wizard or Bill Nye make physics principles interesting.
I think the "killer app" is being able to walk through a building that is just plans, before construction starts. Or to walk around a large object that is still in plans (eg. a plane or car) to see how it will turn out. Yeah, there's regular 3d render software that you can do this with on a small scale, but to do it life-size is something else. Especially with architectural plans.
My first thought when I saw the ad was "what is this Eminem wannabe doing in an IBM ad?"
Wow, I would never have noticed that.
I just moved to Minnesota, and my new DL# starts with my Soundex code too. The rest seems random though, no relation to my birthday or SSN anything, at least not obviously.
Hate replying to myself but...
Here is a good summary of the situation, from the GoogleCache.
Yeah, IIRC, he won the suit that attempted to block him from continuing to use "Robert X. Cringely" as a pen name. There's a tiny bit of info here, probably more if you Google on "Cringely lawsuit".
I once wore this. Get a white trash bag and cut arm and head holes a la emergency poncho. Put it on, and cinch up the bottom at your waist by tying it at the side with a twist-tie, but leave it nice and baggy above there. Stuff the bag (through the head hole) with reasonably clean trash, colorful pop cans and wrappers work well. Voila, "white trash."
The idea is to have a uniform way of comparing students from different schools. Any two schools have different curricula, different grading standards, etc. so a standardized test allows the graduate program to determine if your background includes proficiency in the areas they expect. Very few schools, if any, admit solely (or even primarily) on the basis of exam score; much more weight is given, for example, to your personal statement where you describe your research interests. The test score just gives them another way of judging if you're sufficiently prepared to succeed in their graduate program.
Absolutely. The Cartoon Guides really do a good job of distilling down broad topics to a level Joe Reader can understand, in a way that's funny and interesting. The genetics one is particularly great, as are the History of the Universe books. I just found out they're doing a Volume III of that series, looking forward to it.
For completeness, here's an Amazon link: Larry Gonick.
I've been using WordPerfect for all of my word processing (except where a Word .doc is required for some reason) for the last 9 years. I have never once needed to use a function key. Back before the windows versions, yes, you are correct, control codes and function keys were how you did stuff. Unfortunately for WP, a lot of people formed their opinion of the program back when that was the case, and haven't seen it since. However, now it's just as graphical click-the-bold-button and user-friendly as Word. More so, because you can choose to have control over what it does to your document, unlike Word which likes to think it knows better than you do what you want.
Even my cousin, who is still afraid she'll break the mouse if she clicks wrong, prefers WordPerfect to Word. If that doesn't speak to the usability, I don't know what will.
While I would take more care than you say your friend does, I think a laptop is an excellent idea. For one thing, if you're worried about salt/water exposure, it could be sealed in a waterproof container while not in use. Also, you would be able to take it with you when you're not on the boat, if you want. And it'd probably be relatively easy to bolt to some surface for use/protection in rough seas.
I don't know for sure, but I'd bet there's some sort of adapter/charger for laptop batteries that will run on 12V. Try googling on "laptop battery 12V," there's some promising hits there.
My thought exactly. The fee schedule for AM/FM stations is here (pdf, it's on page 66), and is based on the number of listeners. Seems like it'd be a reasonable workaround, if your "broadcast station" is in a low-population area so the cost would be low. The catch of course, is the expense of the broadcast equipment, and the application fee.