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how should i act on a date? can someone give me tips? some fundamentals for men: talk 30-40% and let her talk the rest of the time. open doors, pick up the tab, and make eye contact. one big mistake i see guys make, and one that i made back in my dating days, is making the date seem more like an interview. sure, you want to get to know the person, but that doesn't have to be crammed into one night of q&a. make an effort to strike up casual conversation, and talk about things that are in the moment. remember, people evaluate how much they like or dislike you based upon the quality of the experience they have in your presence. if you are able to show people a good time, they will be attracted to you. if you make people feel like they are interviewing for a job, they will not be so keen on another date. (watch any episode of blind date to find out what not to do.)

how many countries and territories are there in the world? there are 193 countries in the world. http://geography.about.com/library/misc/blnationalcapitals.htm there are 61 territories and 6 disputed territories. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/a0762461.html

how far is it to the moon? mean distance of moon from earth - 238,712 mi (384,400 km) greatest distance of moon from earth (apogee) - 252,586 mi (406,740 km) shortest distance of moon from earth (perigee) - 221,331 mi (356,410 km)

what language gave us the words kimono and futon? japanese.

what is the best lcd monitor 19"-25"? don't want to go overboard on budget or features. just want something better than a 17" monitor to work and play with. more interested in quality, performance, ease of use. the answer to this question changes from day to day. dell flatscreens have a good reputation. if you stay away from the very biggest screens (25" for example) you can save a lot of money. sharkeyextreme (www.sharkeyextreme.com) recommends 17" lcds for the most savings (~ $250). if you want something a little bigger, they suggest the dell ultrasharp 2005fpw 20.1" lcd. i got one of those myself and it's gorgeous. i checked www.shopper.com and found one for $518.

what state has its capital at hartford? connecticut

what song that was played whenever they showed the dancing baby on alley mcbeal? hooked on a feeling written by mark james

what does rsvp stand for? rsvp is the abbreviation of french répondez s'il vous plaît - please reply.

where's a good place to buy a skirt for beneath the christmas tree? walgreen's had two ugly ones to choose from. any place have a better selection of skirts to lay down beneath the christmas tree? target has a great selection. you can get plain red felt for $4.99, or a variety of more elaborate ones for a lot more. as always, target is a great choice!

public transportation options in los angeles? i know "nobody walks in l.a." but what if you don't have a car? what are my options for getting around l.a. by bus or other public transit? los angeles does have a public transit system, including the metro red line and other light rail. however, if you want to get around without a car, you'll have to budget significant time (and i mean significant) to catch connections and lines. plus, if you miss a connection you can get stranded (i have many times). not recommended unless you're on the main bus or rail lines. check the mta site for more info on transportation routes. also call their help number--their operators can tell you if a line is particularly problematic!

what does rss means ? it means really simple syndication or rich site summary. dave winer has a claim to the paternity.

what do you think of the maury povich show? it's cool - much better than sally jesse. plus connie is hot.

how come it seems like lottery winners are always the ones that buy tickets in low income areas.? pure luck or government's way of trying to balance the rich and the poor. i would put it down to psychology. people who feel they are well-off feel no need to participate in the lottery programs. while those who feel they are less than well off think "why not bet a buck or two on the chance to make a few million?". it would seem to make sense to me. addition: yes matt - agreed. i just didn't state it as eloquently. feeling 'no need to participate' is as you say related to education, and those well off tend to have a better education.

which was the best national team ever in a fifa world cup? in my opinion, brazil in 1970 (followed by brazil 82, netherlands 74, hungary 54) --as you see, no need to be the champion to be the among the best). please don't compare france 98 with real good teams like the ones above (yes, they won a world cup, but their team is not among the best in history). brazil 1970

how do i protect myself from credit card scam? if you dont want to pay for the services such as bank of america here are a couple of things you can do to reduce your chances of your identity being stolen 1. shred all your mail 2. by law, you can request 1 copy of your credit history every year from each of the three credit history companies at www.annualcreditreport.com i suggest you stagger your requests to each of them i.e. request experian first then 4 months later request another report from transunion, and another 4 months later from equifax. this way you get a free report every 4 months. 3. dispute anything that is wrong (most common: credit cards forget to tell the credit history guys that you closed your account or paid all your loans in full) 4. when online, try to use virtual credit numbers to make the purchases. this facility is available for citicard customers, and maybe amex. the virtual numbers are good only for 1 use, and useless after that. so if someone steals that, it is useless. 5. when buying something offline, save your receipts, and make sure your statement is accurate. (a favourite scam is to charge maybe 50cents on a statement, that way you dont notice it, but a scammer who charges 10,000 card owners 50cents a month can make $5000 a month no sweat -- and you dont even realize it) 6. also dont forget to shread any credit card solicitations you dont plan to use.

when did women start competing in sports? i'm sure it would be impossible to pin down the first competitive women's athletic event in the world. a couple of milestones, though: 1921: monte carlo hosts "the first true international meeting for women... five countries were represented in eleven events" 1928: women's events are first included in the olympics

how much do sound cards cost? sound cards vary depending on their quality. they also vary in price by how many channels they support, i.e. some only support 5.1 surround, and others can handle 7.1. they generally vary in price from $50 - $200. newegg has great deals on computer hardware. i recommend buying from them, and you can browse through their products and read reviews of people who have purchased them. http://www.newegg.com/productsort/category.asp?category=36

what do i need to open pdf files? you need adobe acrobat reader: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html

does anyone know a good tutoring service for k-12 around philadelphia? please try http://www.tutorvista.com for high-quality tutoring for k-12 and college students. we offer unlimited tutoring hours in all subjects for only $99.99 a month! the tutoring is done over the internet. it is one-on-one tutoring, one tutor per student. you can try it free - two hours of tutoring to try it for yourself! visit http://www.tutorvista.com or call 866-735-0516 (toll-free)

what is the difference between quote and quotation? from about.com: "to quote means to repeat the exact words of another with the acknowledgement of the source. a quotation is a phrase or a sentence from a book or a speech that reflects the author's profound thoughts."

what are the qualities that a good friend should have? kind, honest, loyal, respectful, etc. a good friend should treat friends the way he/she wants to be treated. he/she must keep must know how to keep promises. he/she must listen when a friend is talking. he/she must know how to share. he/she must be considerate.

can you recommend a residential real estate appraisal firm around kansas? i have a trusted real estate agent that could definitely recommend you to a great one. email her at [email protected] and tell her jill and steve sent you

what are the best single tracks for mt. biking in the bay area? maps, web-sites and tips are most welcome... here are my favorite mountain bike trails in the bay area: -upper stevens creek which hooks up to the montbello preserve in the cupertino/saratoga foothills -st. joseph's hill in los gatos -fort ord / laguana seca near montery -wilder ranch in santa cruz -nisene marks in santa cruz -fremont older in cupertino/saratoga

what building housed the first elevator? haughwout building in nyc 1857

what does "folksonomy" mean? folksonomy is a word formed from a combination of "folk" and "taxonomy". it's a recently developed concept of the general public categorizing information according to what's most useful for the masses, and is considered in opposition to the sometimes more formal classification systems created by an entity such as the library of congress or yahoo!. folksonomies are often implemented using tags. an advantage of tags over a hierarchical taxonomy is that it's easy to apply multiple tags to a single item, rather than having to decide which category to place the item in.

are wireless networks secure? unfortunately, no computer network is truly secure. it's always theoretically possible for eavesdroppers to view or "snoop" the traffic on any network, and it's often possible to add or "inject" unwelcome traffic as well. however, some networks are built and managed much more securely than others. for both wired and wireless networks alike, the real question to answer becomes - is it secure enough? wireless networks add an extra level of security complexity compared to wired networks. whereas wired networks send electrical signals or pulses of light through cable, wireless radio signals propogate through the air and are naturally easier to intercept. signals from most wireless lans (wlans) pass through exterior walls and into nearby streets or parking lots. network engineers and other technology experts have closely scrutinized wireless network security because of the open-air nature of wireless communications. the practice of wardriving, for example, exposed the vulnerabilities of home wlans and accelerated the pace of security technology advances in home wireless equipment. overall, conventional wisdom holds that wireless networks are now "secure enough" to use in the vast majority of homes, and many businesses. security features like 128-bit wep and wpa can scramble or "encrypt" network traffic so that its contents can not easily be deciphered by snoopers. likewise, wireless routers and access points (aps) incorporate access control features such as mac address filtering that deny network requests from unwanted clients. obviously every home or business must determine for themselves the level of risk they are comfortable in taking when implementing a wireless network. the better a wireless network is administered, the more secure it becomes. however, the only truly secure network is the one never built!

is it legal to publicly rate medical doctors? in the us and other countries. e.g. could i create a web site where i say that i rate doctor x 70/100 and doctor y 75/100, without any other explanation? what if i do provide an explanation? what if i rated mechanics instead of medical doctors? not legal advice: as long as you make it clear that you are offering your opinion, then your ratings will be protected by the us constitution's 1st amendment protection for free speech. (you are in the us, right?) if you falsely or misleadingly indicate that your rankings are based on something other than your opinion, then there may be liability for libel or even fraud. however, if the rankings are based on some criteria other than your opinion, and you are explicit about the basis for the rankings and truthful about the results, you are similarly protected. shouldn't be a difference for medical or mechanical rankings. but, keep in mind that if people rely on your endorsement and then something goes wrong, they may seek to hold you liable. the best protection against this is to be explicit about your sources (opinion, etc.) and have a lawyer advise you. good luck!

when is jojo going to the shop? jojo never goes to the shop, and if she does, she never gets me anything. why is that? why don't you all go to the shop and stop stealing from my survivors "end of the world" kit of food!!!

what makes a teacher want to leave their profession? it seems like a lot of factors contribute to teacher attrition (leaving the profession). but apparently new teachers are most likely to abandon ship. according to a 1986 survey, more than 2/3 of all beginning teachers will have left during their first four years of teaching and 40-50% of them will leave during the first seven years of their career. (huling-austin, 1986). these are some factors likely most likely to affect the attrition of new teachers: 1) beginning teachers are unable to cope with teaching problems like discipline, difficulties with parents, and lack of sufficient or appropriate teaching materials. 2) beginners are often given the most difficult teaching assignments. 3) novice teachers often receive little or no support after leaving the university and find that their teacher education programs ill-prepared them for the realities of teaching. other factors, such as salary, affect attrition rates, but perhaps the fact that beginning teachers lack adequate support and resources to handle such a large responsibility (basically parenting your students) is where the responsbility lies.

how do i tone my butt? what's the best exercise for butts? where do you live? i have been taking a class called "core fusion" for almost a year now, and it has been the most effective thing i've done in terms of toning my body up (all over, not just butt). it is offered at exhale spa, which has locations in boston, new york, chicago, venice (ca) and santa monica - and i believe they'll be opening up a dallas location in 2006. if you are not near an exhale, yoga has a lot of postures that will help you tone your butt muscles (maybe check out a local gym or studio?). so does pilates (which i'm not really a fan of - i find it boring). there are also the old "standbys" of squats and lunges (you can get added benefit by integrating props or machines - i.e. do the lunges or squats on the smith machine - the one that has the bar with adjustable weights that you square on the back of your shoulders while doing the exercises, or stand with your back to the wall, place a physioball behind you and roll it up and down the wall with your back as you squat). one important thing to remember about squats and lunges is not to let your knees go forward of your ankles - that puts a lot of strain on your knees and sets you up for unpleasant injuries. if you go to the gym, some of the weight machines they should have can be effective butt toners - like the leg/hamstring curl machines.

can i use 26" mountain bike rims for my cyclocross-frame bike? it's my first time building a bike from scratch and i found some wheels i really like but i was told that they aare 26" rims and not the standard 700c clinchers i think i need. would it still be compatible with my aluminum cyclocross frame? the 26" wheels won't work. they're slightly smaller in diameter than a 700c wheel–that's what cyclocross frames are built to take. back in the late 80's/early 90's you could get clamp-on cantilever brake mounts from moots, but i don't know that they make those anymore. and regardless, if you were to do that, you'd also be dropping the overall height of your bike. this in turn would mean that your bottom bracket would also be lower to the ground. that's counterproductive in terms of cyclocross applications, where you want a higher bottom bracket than you would on a road bike (for clearence issues). there's some good general information on equipment on dave carr's cross page (listed below). good luck!

how many members does the german bundestag consist of? members=seats regularly the german bundestag has 598 members. however there can be additional seats called 'ueberhangmandate'. currently the german bundestag has 614 members.

how can i find the state symbols for a state? i listed two sites. the other site provides you info about the state, each state's map and state symbols.

how many words with 10 letters are there in the us dictionary? scowl (spell checker oriented word lists) has about 70,000 10-letter words total. if we limit it to the "large" subset recommended for spellchecking in the u.s., it's about 20,000 10-letter words. if we then remove proper names, capitalized words, abbreviations, contractions, and possessives, it's about 14,000 words (from "abandoning" to "zygodactyl"). scrabble dictionaries usually have considerably fewer 10-letter words, because they remove words that can't be formed in normal gameplay. the one i have lists about 50 10-letter words.

what is the origin of the word "cop"? "so policemen are just those who catch or apprehend criminals, a worthy occupation. and a copper is someone who seizes, a usage first recorded in britain in 1846." - thus we have the word "cop"

which country is most corrupt? # 1 most corrupt is haiti, followed by bangladesh, nigeria, myanmar, chad. among the least corrupt are finland, new zealand, denmark and iceland.

where can i find a not-for-profit humane society in denver? mile high humane society is non profit. they are located at 11470 york st, northglenn, co.

what should i have in my disaster emergency kit stored out side my house? since fima is estimating that the next big disaster will be a more then 7.0 earthquake in ca.
just a reminder that on aug 2001 they have predicted 3 disaster scenarios: 
first: terror attack on nyc
second: a 5.0 category hurricane in new orleans
third: a more then 7.0 earthquake in california
we are down to the third one…… it's probably not a bad idea to stock up on the following: flashlight, battery powered radio (and batteries), non-perishable food (i.e. canned food and juices), non-electric can opener, bottled water, medications (both non-prescription and prescription if taking any regularly), first aid kit, paper plates, cups, and plastic utensils, toothbrushes, toothpaste, comb, brush, contact lens supplies, and feminine hygiene supplies, plastic garbage bags and ties, change of clothes and shoes, and an extra pair of prescription glasses if needed. the red cross offers a checklist for an emergency kit, the link is below.

which part-time mba program will add value to a software developer with 15 years experience? wow. there are some pretty negative answers in this thread. pick a good program. pick a highly rated program. the brand *is* part of the value of an mba, and frankly, the lower rated programs aren't that much cheaper. here in the bay area, haas (berkeley) has a great ranking (top 5 in part time rankings, recently been in the top 10 for full time). i am currently a student at haas (in the pt program), and i can't understand why people would pick a different program in this region. stanford, unfortunately, doesn't have a part time program. i agree with the previous poster who said you need to have an idea what you want out of it. go in with a plan on how you're going to get value from the mba, and just from being a student. i'm amazed at the access i get just by being an mba student. it opens a lot of doors. but you need to be very goal directed to get this value. i can't agree with the person who said networking in a pt program isn't good. as a current pt student, i have an *amazing* network of rising stars at a number of bay area companies, right now. comparing notes with some co-workers who are recent graduates from the ft programs at wharton, stanford, columbia, it's clear that my network is broader, more active, and more useful right now than their networks. so - to your actual question. if you are in the bay area, pick berkeley (i'm biased, obviously). really, you can gain a lot of value from any part time mba program. but talk to people, figure out how *you* can gain value from an mba, and then go from there.

are humans still evolving? seems the vast majority of humans live long enough to procreate. is natural selection dead (or sleepy)? if not, what are the attributes that are being selected for/against in humans these days? evolution is ever-present as always. you could argue it's rate is a function of environment change. so to answer what's driving human evolution you need to look at the human environment as part of the equation. extreme evolution happens when an organism's environment changes and it cannot escape it. as a previous post mentioned, humans now have the ability to easily move around the world and escape a 'bad' environment. so evolution may indeed have slowed, but it is not dead. some cataclysmic change affecting the whole planet, if it doesn't kill the species completely, will certainly speed up the evolutionary process when you compare the human race a few generations either side of said event. given that evolution is the result of genetic mutation/favoritism during sexual reproduction are we seeing those more desirable for sex setting the evolutionary path while environment change is minimized by our ability to control it or escape it? is average height an example of this? it would certainly seem that humans are growing taller on average, and what western (cultural bias) woman does not want a tall mate for example. it should be noted however that who we think is desirable for sex is very culturally dependent and may not lead to the best long-term (breeding) prospects for an individual conceived to those parents.

what is the united states' annual homeland security budget? fiscal year 2004 total budget authority: $35.6 billion fy '05: $38.5b fy '06: $41.1b

what is a double layer dvd burner? movie dvds you buy in the store can contain up to 8.5 gigabytes of data. this is because they are pressed (as opposed to burned) dual-layer dvds (also called dvd-9). the recordable dvd+-rs that have been on the market for a while a single-layer dvd-5s and can store up to 4.7 gigabytes. this disrepency is why programs that copy movie dvds need to compress the dvd content after unencrypting it before they can be burned to a normal dvd. recently new dvd burners and media were introduced that allowed people to burn dvd-9 dvds reasonably affordably. so a double-layer dvd burner is one that is capable of burning 8.5 gigabyte dvd-9 format dvds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dvd#technical_information

does anyone know a good apartment rental agency around washington dc? i've had personal experience with archstone apartments and summit (just bought by camden) apartments in the past two years. while neither one is stellar, both were acceptable. both of these were in the northern virginia area - bedroom communities for d.c. best of luck apartment hunting! the housing market around here is absolutely insane.

how do you negotiate a job offer? at the point you have a job offer, you are in the best position to negotiate. this is because they have already spent the money to get all the way through the recruiting process, and if they were to start again from scratch it might cost them an additional 20-50k to bring a different candidate into the position. add to this the cost to the project of having an unfilled position for a longer period than expected, and you'll find there is a pretty large margin for you to negotiate where their net costs will be lower if they acquiese to your requests. the other factor is the overall job market. in today's market, where employment is picking up in many sectors you're in a good spot to negotiate. now the right place to phrase things is to describe competitive offers (hopefully you'll have some) in terms of their relative advantage. if one of your alternative offers pays more, you can allude to this vaguely. even if they do not, you can allude to the relative advantages (the types of challenge, the convience of the commute etc). this will create a more competitive landscape where your potential employer feels like they need to overcome other offers (and not that you are simply greedy and would like more cash). unless the potential employer has really lowballed you (i.e. you are well below industry averages for your area), you should shoot for a modest counter-proposal of 5-15%. put this out there with clear timelines for when they need to respond, and other forms you might accept (signing bonus, trading-up level/rank, etc). you should stay professional throughout the process, even if your offer is rejected. employers know that this is the right time to bring these things up, so don't worry about burning bridges by putting a request out there at this stage. ok. hope that helps!

is there anywhere that rents umd movies for psp? gamefly.com rents both psp movies and games. (they're in seperate categories if you don't see them right away.) i've been a customer for about a year, and i think their selection and customer service are both stellar. ship times seem a little longer than netflix, and pricing is higher (for good reason). i love the packaging (in addition to the netflix style paper envelopes there's a hard cardboard shield) and i've never received a defective game. the pre-owned purchase program is also a nice touch.

who to start on defense this week? should i go with pittsburgh or new england? i would go pittsburg. polamalu is almost guaranteed at least 2 interceptions against palmer.

what was the name of king arthur's sword? excalibur

will there be a third kill bill? there have been widespread rumors about tarantino's desire to revisit the character of the bride in a third installment. most of these stemmed from an interview published in entertainment weekly, in which quentin expressed his desire to revisit the bride in 15 years: "the star will be vernita green's (vivica a. fox's) daughter, nikki (ambrosia kelley). i've already got the whole mythology: sofie fatale (julie dreyfus) will get all of bill's money. she'll raise nikki, who'll take on the bride," he says. "nikki deserves her revenge every bit as much as the bride deserved hers. i might even shoot a couple of scenes for it now so i can get the actresses while they're this age." tarantino's idea is an excellent one, and in tune with the ambitious nature of the kill bill project itself. however, it is important to note that tarantino is well known for announcing interest in projects that could never see the light of day, so there is no certainty that this will come about.

which player led the usa basketball team (original dream team) in scoring in the 1992 olympics in barcelona? on september 21, 1991, usa basketball announced the "dream team" for the 1992 olympics. charles barkley, larry bird, patrick ewing, magic johnson, michael jordan, karl malone, chris mullin, scottie pippen, david robinson and john stockton were named. christian laettner and clyde drexler were later added. which player led the team in scoring at the barcelona games? charles barkley with 144 points (18.0 avg).

why are blueberries so good for your health? blueberries are high in anti-oxidants. also, they are low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. they are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamins c and k and manganese.

what is the meaning behind the song "the reflex" by duran duran? from the sourced website: "the reflex", duran duran i, being a huge duran duran fan, can shed some light on this song. back in the 80's when i had the word book for the album and meanings, this song simply was about a person being on stage, forgetting words and making them up as he went along. take for instance "i'm on a ride and i want to get off/but they won't slow down around the bout, i sold the renoir and the tv set/don't want to be around when this gets out". hope this can shed some light that not all duran duran songs are about sex.

as a novice runner, how many weeks/months do i need to properly train for a marathon? the answer, of course, varies for each individual depending on how fit you are, how often do you train and what your goals are. if you are very aggressive, you can do it in 28 weeks. start by walking, slowly, for a mile. two days later, walk 1.5 miles. every other day, increase the distance by half a mile until you get to 3 miles. rest your muscles on the "off" day. hold that distance on tuesday and thursday, while increasing by one additional mile on your weekend session (either sat or sun). once the long walk reaches 10 miles you can cut the distance in half every other weekend, increasing the long one by 2 miles each time. when the long one gets to 18 miles, you can do it every third weekend, covering 8-9 miles on the "short" weekends. after about the third week of training, insert a one min jog into your runs, after 4 min of walking. if this feels fine after 2 weeks, drop to 3walk/1jog. after 3 more weeks, drop to 2-1. if all goes well after another 3 weeks or so you could go to 1-1 during the week, and 2walk/1jog on the long run. find the ratio that works best for you, that will leave you feeling strong at the end, and recovering fast from these long ones. the pace for all of these should be very, very slow.

which religion is the right one? none. there is no god. religion is a primitive attempt at understanding how the world works. it has been completely replaced by the scientific method, which is the greatest discovery of all time. there is no more evidence for the existence of god than there is for the existence of leprechauns. better to spend our time enjoying our wonderful world and helping our fellow beings instead of arguing about which brand of imaginary supernatural friend is the "right one".

how can i cure my hiccups? this is to expand on another person's answer, which was correct but missing some important steps or explanation. this cure is a bonafide medical and scientific cure. the get rid of hiccups, you must deprive oxygen from the muscle that is causing hiccups. no oxygen to that muscle, it can't burn energy, no energy, no hiccups. so what needs to be done is to simulate drowning. we must trick the body to think it is drowning. this will cause it to divert oxygen from unimportant parts of the body, like that muscle causing hiccups, to more important parts like the heart, the brain, the organs, etc. so...take a glass of water, slowly exhale. pinch your nose. take about 5 or 6 sips of water (or more until you can't take it any longer) from the glass...making sure you are taking in water only. do not sip any air along with the water. stop. hold your breath for a few seconds, and inhale slowly. the hiccups should disappear. if not repeat. i have found this works 90% of the time. it only fails to work if there really is something stuck in your throat that really needs to be expelled by hiccups or coughing, or drinking lots of water.

why do canadians celebrate thanks giving? i lived in canada for a year and when ever i asked a canadian why they celebrated thanksgiving (i understand why americans do, but not canadians!) they didnt know either... so if you do know - let me know! canadians celebrate thanksgiving on the 2nd monday of october. "the farmers in europe held celebrations at harvest time. they filled a curved goat's horn with fruit and grain to give thanks for their good fortune and the abundance of food. they brought this tradition when they came to canada. during the american revolution, americans who remained loyal to england moved to canada where they brought the customs and practices of the american thanksgiving to canada." more information about the history of canadian thanksgiving: http://www.geocities.com/ouravonlea/canadian-thanksgiving.html

what is visual basic? visual basic is a programming language and software development environment created by microsoft in the 1990s primarily to make it easy for developers to create client applications on windows. it featured an way to easily create graphical user interfaces by drawing windows and controls on the screen, and an event-driven paradigm that made it easy to attach code to meaningful events in the lifetime of an application (such as a button click). the language was adapted to the web with a variant called vbscript, and embedded into microsoft office and other applications with another variant called visual basic for applications (vba). around the time of windows 98's release, it became possible to create scripts written in vbscript to run on the windows desktop. in 2000 microsoft introduced a new unified framework for software development called .net. at that time visual basic was thoroughly revised and renamed to visual basic .net. this version of the language added some capabilities, but dropped others, and was incompatible with previous versions of the language, leading some to complain that it should be been released as a separate language with a different name. still, a great deal of visual basic code is in use today and large numbers of developers still use it to create client applications, web apps, script, and macros embedded in other applications such as microsoft excel.

what's your definition of web 2.0? it seems to mean different things and different technologies to different people. the best article i've read on the subject is in the link below. in summary, the article cites the following 7 factors common to web 2.0: * services, not packaged software, with cost-effective scalability * control over unique, hard-to-recreate data sources that get richer as more people use them * trusting users as co-developers * harnessing collective intelligence * leveraging the long tail through customer self-service * software above the level of a single device * lightweight user interfaces, development models, and business models

should the a's trade zito this off-season? with harden's oblique seeming like hudson part deux.. can billy dare trade zito this year? part 2 of the question if zito is not traded, will he be signed next year and beyond or allowed to to enter free agency after 2006? imho, the a's will be traded zito this off-season or in the middle of next season. the "money-ball" philosophy has been working for them and they will continue. trading zito will also get them some good young players too.

should high schools offer classes on sat for all? i'd say yes, all high schools should offer sat test prep. the main two reasons: 1) workers 18 and over with a bachelor’s degree earn an average of $51,206 a year, while those with a high school diploma earn $27,915. (u.s. census bureau). basically, college grads earn twice as much money as high school grads. this increased income provides more security, support to raise a family, and the means for furthering ones education. 2) college grads have access to better jobs as many jobs require a college degree.

which is the more powerful crime family - the corleone's or the soprano's? assuming of course they were in power in new york and new jersey, respectively, at the same time instead of decades apart. and i'll choose your answer as the best one if you can match up members of each family who'd go head to head if they went to war. the corleones are more powerful, hands down. and for one reason, alone: the sopranos don't have the muscle to take out the heads of all five crime families in one swoop and live to tell about it, including the big man in vegas and take over his operation. the corleons are a much bigger organization with a wider network. head to head war, corleones (gf1) vs. sopranos (s1): vito (or michael) corleone vs. tony soprano sonny vs. christopher clemenza vs. silvio tessio vs. paulie fredo vs. big pussy barzini vs. junior and kay vs. carmela :-)

why are the dutch so tall? as a dutchman, and someone who's 6'4" i should be able to answer this one. specifically though there actually has been a fair amount of research around this, the average height of the dutch are indeed abover average and i've heard claims of it being "the tallest nation in the world". the average dutchman is about 6'1" (4" taller than the avg american) research shows it to be a combo of genetics, disease prevention, diet (dairy, etc.) , average wealth & wellbeing, as well as the psychosocial wellbeing.. all affecting height. so to summarize: drink your milk, get your shots, be happy and grow grow grow..oh and a bit of genetics. from a research report: genetic factors are evident in marked regional differences between the north and the south of the netherlands. in the north, boys are on average 50 mm taller and girls 20 mm taller. the populations are relatively stable, and frisians are genetically more scandinavian, whereas limburgers have southern european roots. however, although boys in turkish and moroccan immigrant groups are about 95 mm shorter than ethnic dutch, they are taller than in their countries of origin. researchers point to the increase over the past 30 years in the amount of protein in the diets of the dutch, the world's highest consumers of dairy products. miranda fredriks, one of the researchers in the recent study, emphasised other health and hygiene factors as well as diet--for example, the netherlands has a 95% vaccination rate among children. lastly it's the healthcare system and wealth, every dutch person has access to the healthcare system and overall the dutch are fairly well off to being with. it's been shown that wealth has a direct impact on height..

any great, top quality language schools in dallas? no

where can i find help about a war? for a general article about war, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/war. you can search more specifically there as well.

should the sharks trade evgeni nabokov? in short, no. if they trade him now they will see minimal returns on a trade. they are dealing from a weak position. should nolan schaefer get a shot? yes. nabokov should be given a chance to rest, start nolan for a couple of games and then get him back in there. i believe he will be able to snap out of this funk, but trading him now would be the absolute worst time for them to trade him in terms of what they could get in return.

can animals really predict earthquakes? there was a pbs program 'nature', just aired a couple of weeks ago, about whether animals can predict nature disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis. whether animals can predict earthquakes is not conclusive. but there's a scientist in berkeley (forgot his name) claimed he had predicted earthquakes accurately in the last few decades. what he used was simply newspaper ads on missing pets. he said normally you'd see about 10-15 missing pets ads, but before earthquakes, the missing pets ads would increase. his theory is contraversial, but it's worth a try. you may want to test that theory. the program also mentioned about the terrible tsunami in asia over a year ago. it mentioned none of the animals got harmed since they 'knew' the waves were coming and escaped from the disaster. one theory is that animals can hear low frequency sound from beneath the earth, like grinding sound of moving rocks. anyway, you'll find some interesting programs on pbs stations.

who wrote the screen play for "the big lebowski"? the coen brothers: ethan and joel. joel also directed the movie. and together, they've written other off-beat films like "fargo", "o brother, where art thou?" and more.

where can i get antivirus software if i don't have it installed? you should either get avg free or antivir personal edition (also free). both of them are excellent and easy to use.

is there a dictionary for slang words? here are some resources: http://www.urbandictionary.com/ http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/children/kidtalk.mspx what's really popular now is "leet speak", which you can read about here: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=leet+speak&r=f w00t

what is your favorite quotation by a famous author? "i disagree with what you say, but to the death i will defend your right to say it." -voltaire

when did the titanic sink? at 02:20 am on april 15th, 1912, the "unsinkable" titanic slipped into the sea and began its descent to the ocean floor.

is it important to send a thank you note after an interview? it is a nice touch, even in a casual workplace, to get the business cards of people you interview with, and send them a quick email thank you note. although it will not sway the decision of that particular job, if there's another job that the person knows about, they will remember you and have your email in their inbox to contact you about it. just be brief, and don't make it sound like a form letter.

how google and "evil" relate? why do people talk about google as "evil" (or "not evil")? where does this relationship come from? their motto is "don't be evil", in response to microsoft's reputation as "the evil empire".

what was earvin "magic" johnson's nickname as a youngster in michigan, before he came to be known as magic? his neighbors used to call him junior or june bug.

will golden state warriors make it to the playoffs this year ? no they won't. there are too many better teams in front of them in the western conference. likely locks for the west include san antonio, houston, dallas, phoenix, denver, seattle. which leaves the warriors battling for the last 2 spots against lal, memphis and sacramento - all of which are better teams.

i have a desktop with a 82845 gl intel integrated video card 64mb w/ no agp slot. should i upgrade via pci? i'm concerned that upgrading via a pci card will not be any better. any advice would be appreciated. most onboard video for pc desktop motherboards are far short of performance for even a pci-only card. for the intel 845 chipset, having a dedicated pci video card can definitely improve your performance, especially for 3d games.

how can i find the dhcp server on linux ? dhcp server from where my interface got the lease on linux. there are a number of different dhcp clients that run on linux. use the command "ps ax" to try to determine what processes are running that might have something to do with your ethernet interface. dhcpcd is a popular one. look to /etc/dhcpc for any files that might be there. pump is also a frequent program in use by some versions of redhat linux. run "pump -i eth0 --status" assuming your ethernet interface is eth0 dhclient -- run "locate dhclient.leases" and look into that file if you see that process running.

what are the best places for downhill skateboarding in california? downhill skateboarding is aka slope style skateboarding. the streets of san francisco --amazing views, a lot of stamina, cool cafes to stop by...

what is the difference between permutations and combinations? the formulas would be helpful as well! permutation suppose we want to find the number of ways to arrange the three letters in the word cat in different two-letter groups where ca is different from ac and there are no repeated letters. because order matters, we're finding the number of permutations of size 2 that can be taken from a set of size 3. this is often written 3_p_2. we can list them as: ca ct ac at tc ta combination when we want to find the number of combinations of size 2 without repeated letters that can be made from the three letters in the word cat, order doesn't matter; at is the same as ta. we can write out the three combinations of size two that can be taken from this set of size three: ca ct at

what does "buck naked" mean? dating from the 1920's the expression buck naked commonly means completely or totally naked or without a "stitch" (as opposed to partially naked). synonyms include "bare naked", "buck-arse naked", and "butt naked" (also spelled, facetiously, "butt nekkid"). in the south, "buck naked" or "butt naked" means not in your house, out looking for trouble on saturday night and wearing no clothes.

who is the best soccer player in the world? accordingly to fifa and accordingly to general audience? the last (2004) fifa best player of the world is ronaldinho (playing at barcelona, don't confuse with ronaldo, playing at real madrid). read the official fifa interview with him at http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/awards/gala.html also, today (november 28, 2005), ronaldinho is going to receive the "ballon d'or" (golden ball), prize created by the french magazine french football --http://www.francefootball.fr/ -- in 1956 to distinguish the best player of the european leagues. the complete list of winners of this prize is at: http://www.francefootball.fr/ff/ballon_or/index_bo.html now, the general audience... this is tough, since there are many players that could be the best at any time (henry, lampard, ronaldo, ronaldinho, zidane -getting older, though-, kaká, eto'o, ...). but truth is that, at this moment of the season, ronaldinho is one step above the rest, and playing in the current best team (barcelona) helps him a lot.

how many answers does a typical q&a question get? well... being that people get 'points' for answering questions, i'm sure there will be a lot of 'filler' questions going into this one, so i'd guess you'll get 50 in here, but about 4 or 5 on average.

will there ever be another figure in rock that comes even close to jimi hendrix? in terms of guitar-playing chops, what about eddie van halen, eric clapton, carlos santana? in terms of showmanship, what about iggy pop, mick jagger, bono? in terms of cool guy who died way too young, what about kurt cobain?

in the quest for dazzling teeth, how harmful are teeth whitening strips? depends on your teeth. i used crest whitestrips for a time, and they worked really well (i definitely noticed a difference in the whiteness of my teeth). however, they irritated my gums to the point where my dentist told me to stop using them and they made my teeth super sensitive to cold and hot (i.e. eating ice cream or drinking tea was painful). i've never done the laser whitening/brite smile, but i've seen those treatments work wonders for folks who have (they are not cheap though). i would advise trying the strips (making sure to abide by the time guidelines) - you will like the effects of them (they do really work) and if they don't bother your teeth/gums, you should be able to continue use.

can someone *simply* explain what a stock "short" is? shorting a stock (or selling short) ideally works like this: when you think a stock is going to go down... 1. you borrow shares of stock you don't own, typically from your broker. 2. you sell those shares at today's price. 3. you wait for the stock to go down. 4. you buy the same number of shares back at a lower price. 5. you return the borrowed shares. 6. you pocket the difference between the buying and selling price. steps 1 & 5 are actually done automatically when you issue a short sale order with a broker. the advantage of shorting is that you can make money when stocks are going down. (with a normal stock purchases, you only make money if the stock goes up.) the disadvantage is that in theory, you could lose an unlimited amount of money. for example, if the stock goes up to five times its original value, you've just lost four times your investment. (with a regular stock purchase, the most you can lose is the amount you originally invested.)

is there a cure for malaria? there are several means of successfully treating malaria if contracted, yet malaria is still one of the leading causes of preventable death in the developing world. the reason is that most of these people are too poor to afford even basic preventative measures like bednets (which keeps malarial misquitoes from biting children in their sleep). bednets are important step to reducing the impact of malaria, because it is much more expensive to treat malaria once it is contracted than it is to prevent it via bednets, removing standing water, etc. there are some efforts to find cheaper alternative treatments as well, including one promising one that comes from chinese herbal medicine. http://archives.cnn.com/2002/world/asiapcf/east/11/26/health.malaria/ i've also attached a cdc (center for disease control) article that describes some of the anti-malarial drugs currently being used.

which came first, the chicken or the egg? 1. dinosaurs laid eggs millions of years ago. 2. chickens weren't around millions of years ago. 3. therefore, eggs came first. 4. later, egg-laying birds evolved into chickens.

any learning center that offers personalized tutoring programs in portland? the answer above is a great idea. of course, this will only work if you don't mind non-person to person tutoring. i would contact your local high schools and see if there are any tutors that will tutor your kid. it might help both the high school student (elective credit) and your kid (because young kids look up to high school students). newspapers are always advertising people looking for work such as nannies, care-takers, and yes...even tutors. i would try the high schools first. here are a list of tutorint centers in the portland area: http://www.anysubject.com/portland-tutors.asp http://portland.craigslist.com/lss/ http://www.mindsinmotiontutoring.com/

how do i find out how much ram my computer has? if you are on a windows machine: right click on the "my computer" icon and choose the menu item "properties". click on the "general" tab and you should see the amount ram on the window if you are on a macintosh running os x: click on the apple menu in the upper left hand corner. choose "about this mac" and you will get a window that shows you how much ram you have.

what does sarbaines oxley compliant mean? i see many firms advertising that they assist with "sarbaines oxley compliance". can you explain the legislation and who is affected? how does one become "sarbaines oxley compliant"? the sarbanes-oxley act was sponsored by senator paul sarbanes and representative michael oxley, and is a response to the auditing scandals surrounding enron, worldcom, and others. essentially it aims to protect investors by requiring public companies to adhere to certain standards around auditor independence, information integrity, and greater financial disclosure. from an it perspective s-ox compliance revolves around preserving information and ensuring that the systems that maintain financial records are capturing all the correct data. of course, s-ox compliance can be rather complex and counterintuitive, so there are plenty of consultants who earn a living by making companies s-ox compliant, as it is a requirement for all public companies.

is there a public place in bay area where one can stay late till 1 am and do home work or read. ? when i was in college denny's always worked for me. 1 soda and all night of refills(same for coffee).

are expensive urethane golf balls e.g. titleist pro v1 worth it for the normal club golfer? if you don't have a handicap higher lower than 10 or are playing super hard and fast greens does it make a difference in performance to use exepnsive 2,3 or 4 layer urethane golf balls instead of cheaper ones? i find that it does. the pro v1 for me is the best ball out there in terms of providing durability, distance and control. i've also used nike and top flight and always come back to the pro v1. but, the real answer is how the ball reacts to your swing and game. i recommend playing a few rounds with different brands.

do you have a recommendation for a clean, quiet and decent apartment complex in vegas? it depends on where you want to move. i lived in crystal creek at warm springs, henderson, nv 89014 very affordable and the place is pretty decent.

what is the meaning of life? and why do we stop searching for it? well, from wich perspective do you look at it? in my opinion, physical reality incarnations are done for the purpouse of spiritual growth..."body is a car, soul is a driver, you". aside from that, i believe all is devine, in other words, all is god, source, as some say it. i also believe that each seek's to reunite with source... :) take care, love and light

what is the difference between dating and in a relationship? the difference is the level of commitment. "dating" connotes a casual thing, not necessarily exclusive. when a person says "i'm dating bill" instead of "bill is my boyfriend", you can probably guess the relationship is relatively new and no commitment has been made. when you've decided you're in a relationship, you'll probably start referring to one another as boyfriend/girlfriend. you'll introduce each other to your close friends and family. you'll likely spend a lot of time together, and may take it for granted that you'll see each other certain nights and weekends. depending on your lifestyle, you may agree to make your relationship exclusive and stop seeing other people. if you're uncomfortable discussing taking things to "the next level" you're probably just dating, and not quite ready for a relationship.

where can i find a list of important events from a year in history? the link below would take you to a list of important events.

why in the house of commons does the p.m. often say "i refer the hon. gentleman to the answer i gave earlier"? another reason is that the p.m.'s responses are scripted in advance, where at all possible. questions from the house--especially from the opposition--are designed to get him off his game and distract him from the prepared text, in the hope of making him look bad. (a similar game is played by many television correspondents: "if the interviewee gives a pat answer, ask the question ten more times. play only the most emotive response.") by referring the questioner back to the earlier, prepared answer, the p.m. short-circuits this tactic. stilted, but effective.

how to get rid of stretch marks after pregnancy? one word: strivectin. and, its been reappropriated by the pretty people as a fantastic facial wrinkle cream. everyone i know swears by it. banish the stretch marks and forego the preparation-h. all at the same time. :-)

why is sat important? most colleges and universities use your sat score as a factor in determining admissions. while it may be possible to get a waiver in some cases, your chances at consideration are much greater if you take the sat. another reason to take the sat is for financial aid consideration. grants and scholarships, especially those run by the school or private organizations, often take sat scores along with grade point average into account.

why do people love oprah? because she personifies the classic cinderella story and the american dream. she overcame poverty and abuse to become a huge tv success. she's also very charismatic...and she likes to give stuff away.

can i view everything on the internet via the wireless network? yes...you can :)