The Question Club

My first question is one that I’ve pondered upon for years, but I never really had a large group that I could ask. You’ll understand.

I’ve always wondered what the world thinks about Massachusetts. I mean, when Massachusetts is mentioned, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do you have any preconceived notions about it, its people, its attractions, or its history? I’m really very curious. Living here, its obviously hard to not get a biased opinion when I ask. As a sort of offshoot question: do those of you outside the US differentiate between states when you think about the US, or do you just clump all fifty together? I’ve always somewhat seen the states as their own mini-countries, or perhaps divided by cultural regions (i.e., New England, the Midwest, &c).

As you know one of the main duties of parents is to protect children from themselves.
This particular role is considered by many to be an important one. For example most people feel that if they don't control the eating habits of their young child, then they'll have way too much candy and way too many vegetables to grow properly.

However this often leads to problems. As teenagers people often make decisions where their parents feel that they're hurting themselves, and in reaction to this the parents will fight with the teenager a lot to try and stop them from "ruining their life".
Lets take my grandmother's three daughters as example. One became a republican and started hanging out with said type, another converted to Christianity and adopted said lifestyle in extreme ways, and a third dropped out of high school, took early admission to NYU and moved in with her boyfriend. The first became a lawyer and had a pretty normal life, the second became an over protective mother and the last (my mom) led a tough life financially for a long while, but now lives a very comfortable middle class lifestyle.

A personal example is that my parents feel that unless they control when I can go on the computer I'll spend way too much time on it and mess up my life.

When they were teenagers they probably fought a lot with their parents about these decisions, and the fighting solved nothing.

Question: So when should parents stop trying to protect children from themselves? Why? Should it really be decided by age? How should it be decided?
Advice from parents of teenager about what's worked for them and what hasn't is also appreciated.

All right, weird virus/dialer thing? Maybe? I don't know.

I was looking in the MSConfig Startup Tab (Running Windows XP Home), and discovered this entry:

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I don't know what this is. Nothing out of the ordinary is happening on my system (ethernet connection to DSL modem), though it is running slow as per usual (only 256MB of RAM and a mostly full hard drive), not to mention things thing looks like it has been there for awhile, and I've got virus/worm protection on my system (Norton Antivirus 2006 with every security option turned on), which seems to be functioning completely normally (it blocked an intrusion attempt earlier today) and I run a weekly scan that has come up with nothing.

Looking up that specific file name, it doesn't seem to exist widely. Symantec talks about GMSoft dialers, but it seems to say that Norton should catch it, which it doesn't seem to have done. Nor is there anything with that name hanging out in Task Manager either - everything there looks legitimate.

So if Norton doesn't catch it... what do I do to get rid of it? And don't suggest using AVG, because I've found that to be complete trash on my system (it always freezes mid-scan, despite multiple downloading/installing/uninstalling over the course of several years).

Additionally, in the same MSConfig screen, there is one entry that in the item name and Command spaces is completely blank - no name, no path. What is that?

Help?

What are your thoughts on the following animal-based forms of entertainment:

a) zoos
b) aquariums
c) circuses

Harmful? Helpful? Educational? Entertaining?

Feel free to share any experiences (good and bad) with any of these places.

i'm going to australia from mid july until mid december for jya study abroad. i'm bringing a suitcase and a backpack, like the big camping one.

what should i bring?

also, what do you do when you just can't sleep because you drank too much caffeine during the day?

i'm just getting into figure skating and want to get a hold of some music. i can't seem to get anything through google, and it recently occured to me that there must be a program out there that can remove lyrics and edit music somehow (remove certain bits and edit it to a certain length). anything out there? anything for free?

What's going on here (NSFW)?
Don't say, "They're having sex, duh" or anything to that tune. What I want to know is what is the scenerio/context? Maybe I live under a rock, but I don't see this kind of thing every day. ha

What's the last new song you heard and liked?

Mine is "Not Ready To Make Nice" by the Dixie Chicks. Sounds like they're still pissed at all the freedom fries-eating rednecks.

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so the other day i made a snack at work of celery and peanutbutter and shared it w/my boss...
she turned to me and said,
"did you just make this up?"
i said "no...ever have ants on a log?"
she goes "what's that?"
i said "celery, peanutbutter & raisins"
she said "i didn't grow up where you did"

we both grew up and live in the east bay, and we're the same age...

i said "what about peanutbutter and apple?"
she said "no, i've never heard of that, either"...


it just amazed me...
gaps in our lives, i suppose...


when did you start eating pb/celery?
did you like "ants on a log"?
what about pb/apple?

What, if anything, happened in elementary/grade school when it was your birthday? What if your birthday was in the summer? What country/state did you go to elementary school in?

1. Do you get a yearly physical?
2. Do you go to the dentist twice a year?

If no to either of those questions, how often DO you go?

Sort of a follow up on my previous question. Which is better - a Sony Vaio or Dell Inspiron?

1. Name the movie that relates to you the most.

2. Name the movie that fantasizes you the most.

3. Name the movie that you find offensive the most.

Do you still live in the same general area as where you grew up? If so, what do transplants do that annoy you? (or tourists).

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I have a huge exam coming up in October. I haven't been to school in four years so I'm really just getting back into school and the whole studying thing.

Do you have any good study tips?

Let me start by saying that I'm a city girl and I hate any type of bug.

About 45 minutes ago I'm standing in my kitchen and notice a bee/wasp/stinging-flying thing in there. I opened the back door and it flew out. I happened to look in the bedroom that is right off the kitchen and notice 3-4 more flying around in there. OMG. That's where we keep the litter box and all that, so I yanked it out into the hallway and shut the door.

I called my landlord right away, as we are renters, to fix this! Our screens in the windows are old and have some holes in them - normal wear and tear holes, not like we put our fist through them. But, since there is this many, does that mean that there is a hive right by our window? How long should I expect before they fix the screens? This room is un-usable until they are fixed. Should I also expect them to climb up and check for hives (we are on the 3rd floor)?

This morning I go into the bathroom, but stop short.... This awful sludge is covering the floors and walls.

What the hell happened?! Did the pipe explode or something?! Who should I call? My mom is at work and I'm supposed to start work this afternoon...

Why is it that when you have a normal night's sleep you wake up feeling, if not refreshed, relatively better than you did the night before? And yet, when you have a reasonably lengthed nap, you wake up feeling absolutely foul? Is it just me, or is there some curious scientific reason?

(Apologies if this makes no sense. I'm obscenely tired, and it's left me somewhat grammatically challenged.)

I know you're not lawyers, but maybe one of you might have an educated opinion about this.

Is it legal or ethical for Accounting Company A that used to represent Corporation B to send a copy of Corporation B's old tax return to a collection agency as proof of a debt owed? Especially when Corporation B is disputing the validity of the debt?

These people are a piece of work I tell you. They even flat-out lied in their 'letter of proof'.

alright....so i've been filling out job application because i need a job. but one of the applications is asking something that i'm not quite sure what it means. i tried googling it, but it doesn't tell me what it means, so here it goes.

what does "crt strokes/hour" mean?
i'm assuming it has to do with typing since its by the wpm box, but i can't figure this one out.
so thanks in advance for help, and i appologize if this is a silly question.

What are some things you always forget to pack when you go on vacation?
What are some things that you consider neccessary for a cruise vacation?

Off the top of your head, what items of clothing have you bought because you liked it at the store and then you never wore it?

What made you initially like it and then what made you never wear it?

Can you make a rough estimate of how much money you have spent on clothing you've never worn?

1. What's the most exotic animal you've ever been swimming with?
I went swimming with manta rays in the Cayman Islands a couple years back.

2. Have you ever been to BoraBora? What was your experience?
N/A

3. What is parasailing like?
N/A

4. Have you ever been banana boating? Did you love it?
I have been, at various camps, and I think it's so much fun!!
People, banana boating= 
http://images.google.com/images?q=banana+boat&hl=en
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_boat

5. What's the scariest experience you've ever had in/at the ocean?

1) do any of you guys know of a website where you can put in a list of things you want from consumer goods and get back a list of all the products that have that criteria? for example, if i was looking for an mp3 player with a rechargable battery and at least 512mb of memory, i could put that in a get a list of all the matching products, reguardless of manufacturer or reteller . . .

2) what do i want for lunch? *EDIT* by the way, i'm allergic to milk / cheese / dairy . . .

At the (dance) club this past weekend, a girl was dancing and apparently, her knee cap blew out. Like, blew out and was sticking out of her leg.

How? The floor is flat. It happened during a morrissey song. It's not like people were moshing.

I am perplexed, and, still a bit nauseated.

We figured maybe she had osteoporosis? (I know I spelled that wrong). Or, something else?

She had on flats - no high heels.

How does this happen? Seriously??

She was laying on the floor for about 20 minutes total. The paramedics finally took her out on a stretcher, her left leg was bent at a 90 degree angle at the knee, bent out, and yes, something was sticking out.

My face has become oily now that it's summer and I keep breaking out. I wash my face but I was wondering what great products are out there for oily skin? Maybe there some natural remedies I can do?

Origins apparently isn't making their "Dew Gooder" tinted moisturizer anymore..I loved it, it was light, gave a great tan/summer tint while being non-greasy and during the summer it was enough of a tint that I didn't need foundation, I could just use that..

Do you have a favorite summer-y light tinted moisturizer that I should try because Origins took my product away?

:o) thanks!

1) Does your body twitch before you fall asleep? Or randomly?

Sometimes I spazz out, or feel like I'm falling out of my bed. It's sorta funny, and scares the shit out of my boyfriend.

Sometimes if I'm just sitting around my left big toe twitches. Or my eyelid. Or the spot between my thumb and index finger.

My dog goes nuts when he's asleep - his legs twitch like he's running and his nose twitches like he's sniffing. It's cute as hell. I wonder what he dreams about ...

2) Do you have places on your body that if you scratch it you feel it somewhere else?

If I scratch the top of my hand the roof of my mouth tickles. Sometimes if I have an itch on one part of my body I feel it on a spot on my lower back.

3) If you run, how many miles do you run a day/a week?

I run 2 miles a day, so 14 miles a week.

I have water stuck in my ear from swimming. Anyone know a good way to get it out?

I just thought of something today.
I used to read a lot of William Faulkner...and one of the families he used to write about was the Snopes family.

so is that where Snopes.com came up with their name?

the word doesn't have a dictionary entry...and for all my brain damage today, I don't remember if the name Snopes had symbolic meaning.

It's possible I am overthinking it...but could there be a connection?

Which flavor of Ben & Jerry's heals a broken heart best?

What are "incidental damages?"
Original sentence: This Plan does not cover consequential or incidental damages, including, but not limited to, loss of use, loss of business, loss of profits, loss of data, down-time and charges for time and effort.

so, i'm in the "thinking" stage of getting another tattoo. the spot would be right inside my pelvic bone on my abdomen. i'm really into felines, so i was thinking something feline-related. not necessarily house-cat feline, but all felines. i know this is pretty broad, but i was wondering if anyone had any ideas or suggestions?

Where do you stand on the important issues? What's your opinion of abortion, gun control and the drinking age? Take my poll and let yourself be heard
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Let's say you and this friend hosted a party for the purposes of selling a line of products, such as Avon or Tupperware.  In this case, we will refer to the products as Hastefully Pimple.  So, the party was a success, many of your friends and family purchased items and it was great.


Fast foward about 45 days...

The products your friends and family ordered haven't arrived!  And guess what?  The person SELLING the products cannot be reached.  Hmmm, curious, you say, because she definitely cashed everyone's checks!  When you try to call the consultant who handled the party, the phone rings 4 times and then hangs up, so you cannot leave a message.  So, you look on the company website and notice that this person isn't listed as a consultant anywhere in your state.  When you call the corporate office, no one can confirm that she no longer works there.  They do, however, confirm that you are using the correct phone number to try and reach her.  They give you a process to follow and say that they will attempt to contact her.  You, however, are quite doubtful that they will be able to, since you havent been able to contact her.  If this is the case, would you simply follow the process to get the product you ordered or would you do that AND call the police?  All together, the product order resulting from the party was about $300, or so.  Do you think this is a matter that the police should be involved in, if no corrective action is taken by the consultant to fix the problem, or is this just being vengeful?

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I'm thinking of getting an industrial piercing in my ear. I've got three lobe piercings in each ear, the third piercing just below any cartilage. I'm a little worried about a story I either heard or read somewhere that said if you get a cartilage piercing with something like the industrial, your cartilage could collapse and you'd be left with a floppy ear.

Sounds a little fishy to me, but I was curious to hear from anyone who's had a lot of piercings in their ears - any truth to the story?

How does one go about cleaning a dog's anal glands? Not that I plan on doing so; I am just curious. Also, what are you thoughts on outdoor pets? My family has 4 dogs and 2 cats, all outside. Other than the occasional nap or thunderstorm, they seem to prefer being outside.

Edit: I guess I should mention that I live on a farm in the middle of nowhere - said pets have 50+ acres to roam around in.

Have you ever used or considered using Pro-Active?
If you have used/do use it, what specific products did you/do you) use? Did it/does it work for you?

I've been using the 5-product combination therapy that's advertised on TV (renewing cleanser, revitalizing toner, repairing lotion, skin lightening lotion, and repairing mask) along with the body wash, shampoo, and conditioner. After the first full day, I could see a difference - it was small, but it was there.

Why won't my digital camera load photos onto my computer? I plug it in and it just sits there. Nothing happens. It used to work but now it doesn't.
I have all the software installed and everything. I don't really like using it though, I'd rather just use picasa, but picasa doesn't regognize that it's plugged in either.

Does anyone here use a CPAP or BiPap mask for apnea?

Have you ever experienced sore or irritated skin on the tip of your nose from the mask? (Not at the bridge where the mask sits on the skin, but on the actual nose itself.)

What movies, books, and/or short stories out there involve a romantic/sexual affair between a student and a teacher?

(Nothing pornographic please.)

Help! I just got invited, last-minute, to the wrap party for the film my company just finished shooting. Even though I can only go for a little while and I won't be able to drink (it's at a bar) I still really really want to go. BUT, I have NO idea how I'm supposed to dress for this sort of thing. If it helps, I'm an intern at a small indie production company, and quite a few of the people at the party will probably be coming right from work.

What's the word, guys? Casual? Dressy? Business?

I got this little wind instrument from Chacchoben (sp?), Mexico.  It's shaped like a turtle and it has four holes on the top of its shell, and you play it through the tail (I know...).  It's made out of clay, and it's supposed to be like the wind instruments the ancient Mayans played.  I'm wanting to learn how to play it, as in playing a recognizable songs or songs.  I have no idea where to look since it's not your traditional wind instrument.  I think the closest instrument to this would be an ocarina.

I have a picture of it if it helps...


Thank you if you can help me!!  :D

I'm in Scotland and this is mainly for Uk people.

Looking for a lastminute package holiday online. I've been through all the sites like lastminute.com etc and the thing that annoys me is how it may say £199 for two weeks to Greece etc but that is nowhere near the final price. So, I've been mainly stuck to olympicholidays.com which lets you go through all the stages, allows you to book online and gives you the final cost of it.

So, my question is. Do you know of any more sites which, like Olympic holidays lets you get the total cost? or,have you used sites such as Lastminute.com and do you know how much (approx) is added to the first price you see?

Thank you!!!

( I suck at explaining things so aplogies if this is hard to follow! )

Have you ever had an imaginary boyfriend/girlfriend?
Details please, like why? For how long? What purpose did they serve for you? How old were you? Or any other information you would like to volunteer.
I'm just curious.

♥

What's your background on your mobile phone?

Right now mine is the pavement from the front of my school. Mmmm, concrete goodness.
I always try to have the most boring backgrounds possible - my previous one was of my white coffee mug, and the one before that was some brown tiled floor.

How the hell do you study for math?

Im doing horribly in the class that I need to pass and we only have two more weeks in it.
My prof, is refusing to help me. Im hoping thats because he will just pass me cause I get it in class, but once it comes time for the test Im clueless.


I have a test on wednesday so what can I do that will help me remember how to work these equations?

any online sites that give you tips for the TI-84? Ive read the manual hundreds of times but it isnt doing much.

my laptop's HD is currently running at 48 degrees celsius. i know that a laptop's HD gets hot easily, but running at this temperature probably isn't all too good. got any cool cooling suggestions that i can try out? (awful joke, i know)
thanks in advance!

Do you name inanimate objects?
Ie, your car, your cellphone, your boobs, etcetcetc.
I do.

If so, give a complete list of every oject, and the name you gave it.



(My car's name is Stella.)

if bbsy turns out to be a serial killer and kills me in my sleep tonight, do you think a blinking shrine in the user info is an appropriate memorial for a tqc member killed by another tqc member? if not, what would you propose?

edit! she's not gonna make it tonight, you have 24 more hours to think!

What are your filters on LJ? Or at least, the ones you use most often?

Mine are:

People (self explainatory)
Makeup- I belong to a lot of MAC groups
Health
Time-wasters- Groups that I belong to that have nothing to do with hobbies, and are just fun to read.
TV/Fandom- Big Stargate SG-1 fan, Days of Our Lives spoilers.
Knitting- yeah, I knit. A lot.
Celeb gossip- Nothing but Ohnotheydidnt, really.
Extremely Private- entries I want to keep with only my close, trusted, not annoying friends.

Why is everyone in such bitchy moods?

This might be stupid, but what's the deal with laptops on airplanes? I'm flying from Philadelphia to LA later this week, and I want to take my laptop with me...can you actually get internet access up there? Thanks. :)

I got a real severe sun burn over the weekend, and now i'm blistering. I've been using aloe vera and lotion but is there anything else I can do to stop the burning and itchy-ness? i would love to wear clotheing sometime this week ( i can but it hurts like hell)

( Collapse ) is the sunburn, in case you want to see how red I am.

** before anyone says anything, I did use SPF 60, re-applied often, and none of my medicines have adverse effect in the sun**

Has anyone ever played the Pacman game that allows 2 players to play at the same time? I only saw it in a couple of arcades.

It was Pacman with a twist. You could have 2 people playing cooperatively, and the ghosts had special powers at times. The red ghost occasionally grew bull horns and would charge at you very fast. The Pink one grew bunny rabbit ears and could leap all around the board....

If you played it, can you tell me what it was called???? I have been searching in vain for its name...

1. If you won the lottery, would you take the winnings in one lump sum; or spread it out over time in payments? 
I'd definitely want it all in one lump sum. I'm too impatient to have them give it to me in payments.

2. What do you see as the biggest benefit of being the opposite sex? (Guys, what would be the biggest benefit of being a woman, and vice versa?)
(I have no clue on this one...)

3. I'm paying for you to go to Dairy Queen; what do you order?
the biggest Peanut Butter Cup blizzard on the menu

4. I'm also buying you a CD from the music store that you currently don't own yet; which one do you pick?
i think i want the most recent Red Hot Chili Peppers album

5. What is your favorite alcoholic beverage? 
i LOVE me some coconut rum & orange juice

6. Let's play cards... what game are we playing? Your choice.
i enjoy Euchre... but I'm up for any card game

My Firefox has been freezing up a lot lately. I'll click on a link and it'll freeze for anywhere from a few seconds to over a minute. I can't figure out what's wrong, the only thing I could think of was installing StumbleUpon, which I uninstalled and it still doesn't work. I'm at a total loss here, am I going to have to uninstall and reinstall FF for it to stop doing this or is there something else I could do?

1. Would ( Collapse ) sandals be okay to wear to my graduation tomorrow? The gowns are silver, and it's most likely going to be outside because it doesn't seem that it's going to rain.


2. Any tips on getting the cap to fit? It seriously won't fit. Every time I manage to get the cap on it pops off. I have a big head but I don't think it's that big.

3. What are some good things to serve with spinach artichoke dip other than tortilla chips?

I finally got back online after two weeks! Yay. So, question.

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Cheers.

Assuming homophones and homonyms mean the same thing... which do you use?

And if it's not correct me you grammar nazis =P

Edit So they don't mean the same thing =P figures.

This is sorta a pathetic-ish and silly question, but anyway-

How do you make your friends? (aka real friends that you hang out in person)

I moved in with my boyfriend to a new city last December and I still don't really have any friends. Right now he has day classes and works so most of the day I'm alone in my apartment. And then I have evening classes (of which most of my classmates are older working peole with families). I don't work now but looking.

So I was wondering, what suggestions do you have for me?

1. I am not into the party scene
2. I'm very shy
3. I am poor-ish, and I would rather not do many things that requires a lot of spending money
4. I'm not religious

Where's the best places to make real life friends? Even if there's online places, communities, or links that can help me make offline friends, that'll be great too.

Have you ever used vitamin e to help grow out your hair quickly? Did it work? Is there anything else that works? I'd really like my hair to get to my shoulders, but when it hits the in-between stage I can't stand it and end up cutting it almost everytime. I'm hoping it growing faster might help.

Does anyone know of an image online of a three dimensional omega (the Greek letter, of course)?

How many kidnapping cases actually end with the kidnappers getting the ransom? In the movies and on TV, the police always say that they don't negotiate with kidnappers. Is this true, in real life? What happens, then, do the kidnappers just give up? To sum up: how do most kidnapping cases really end?

Which couple(s) on So You Think You Can Dance do you think are getting it on (read: romantically involved)?

What is the code for a "spoiler box" in HTML that works with all background colors? (if there's such a thing)

Edit: Answered, thanks!

Any good online role playing games? Sort of like RuneScape, maybe? None of the Ebaum's World ones, please. :]

I'm 17 and about to start my first job.
It's retail in the mall, and I'll be in a little stand selling cell phone accessories.

I have zero experience with anything that has to do with a job.

Does anyone here have any tips or advice on what I should do/beware of/know about for my first job?

What are 20 goals you want to achieve before you die?

Explain why in some cases too.

This probably only applies to those in the UK/Ireland.

Do you know what a chugger is?
How do you treat them?
Have you ever chugged?

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