I'm doing a project on bike-rental/bike-sharing systems, and would like to interview a couple of people from each of the following groups:

* People who have used a bike-sharing/bike-rental system outside the US
* People in the Boston area who would use such a system
* People outside the Boston area who would use such a system
* People who wouldn't use such a system, but who'd be interested in telling me about their experiences with self-service kiosks (both good and bad)

No need to be an avid (or even a regular) cyclist (although that would be useful). Interviews can be done by phone, Skype, chat, or email. Unfortunately, I can't provide any compensation other than a cup of tea or coffee and my company for an hour or three next time we're in the same area. Please leave a comment or message me if you'd like to help. Thanks very much!

When you think of colleges in New England with a good reputation for science and engineering and/or information technology, which ones come to mind? (After MIT and Harvard.) Thanks!

Apparently not all my friends have seen this comic:

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html

And now I'm off to continue cleaning ALL the things. (Well, maybe after a little more Internet.)

I wrote to a friend in BKK last night, and she answered this morning.

( letter )

And she just sent this to me and a few other people. ( equally sad, and much scarier )

And here's the letter she mentions...( Read more... )

This has amused my linguist friends enough that I thought I'd share it here.

Gibberish rock song written by Italian composer to sound like English

LaTeX question: Is it possible to use the \textit{} command within the \footnote{} command? LaTeX is producing an error message and I think that configuration is the cause of it. Thanks!

ETA: I love the way I always figure out the answer to LaTeX problems shortly after I post the question. Maybe the thought that someone will be coming to my rescue soon helps me calm down so I can think things through more carefully.

For future reference: Finding Affordable Self Employed Health Insurance

lillibet pointed out this test on 'approximate number sense'. Take it for science! :)

My score:

You had a score of 85% correct on this test. Based on the results we have so far, the average person who takes this test scores 75% correct.

Your percentile score on this test was 98, meaning you scored higher than 98% of people who took this test.

OK, the party's over. Time for me to look for a real job.

One of T's Boston friends got picked up for drunk driving recently (he claims he wasn't drunk). He appeared in court yesterday by himself, and the judge told him to get out, find a lawyer, and come back. Would any of you in Boston happen to know a lawyer who can represent someone in court? Thank you!

( LaTeX questions. )

(which I will eventually try to figure out, if no one can help, but right now I'm trying to focus on actually writing. Although really, it IS much more tempting to get caught up in the formatting. *sigh*)

Hunh. My account seems to be undead now. What do I need -- garlic? A stake? Holy water?

So. Linguists who use LaTeX: What packages do I need?

( Here's what I think I need. )

This looks like an AMAZING movie:

http://www.thelinguists.com/

I wonder if it will come here....

Hm. My powers of denial seem to have snapped.

I think this is where people get religion or a pet.

EDIT: Ooops, this wasn't supposed to be public. But since I screwed up when I posted it, I'll leave it that way.

So I really want to declutter a bit, but I'm finding it hard to get motivated; all the usual excuses keep running through my head. "But you spent good money on that!" "You might need it later." "Keep the second in case the first breaks." "You can't get rid of that till you've read it and know it's not worth keeping." "It's too much trouble to take stuff to the hospice store today/tomorrow/Saturday/next weekend; I'll declutter later." And so on and so on, ad nauseum.

So, dear reader, how do you get past that chorus of internal voices screaming, "Keep it! Keep it!"? Any recommended reading? (I'm already on the FLYLady mailing list, but it hasn't really helped.)

EDIT: And on an extremely related note, how many silk shirts does a girl really need?

Any of you ever sold stuff on eBay or Amazon? Is it worth it? I've just been unpacking lots of boxes of books and knick-knacks I don't love enough to keep, but would rather not take to a thrift shop (if I even knew where a good one was; closest Goodwill is in Springfield, which really dampens my motivation). Some of the non-book stuff is reasonably nice, like the parts of my Japanese pottery collection that I probably won't keep, and some of it is cute but essentially worthless, like my Japanese ramune bottle. I'll probably hunt down some small relatives who will appreciate the worthless stuff, but this little voice keeps telling me that I might be more willing to get rid of the nicer stuff if I could either sell it or knew for sure that it wasn't worth my while to even try.

Decluttering tips also greatly appreciated. I know the *how*, but I can't seem to get past the *why* part.