@kwehoo: Who needs to learn Linux?

@ahbi: Craigy's a very funny guy, but he doesn't do interviews, he just talks a lot of crap with his guests. The point of his work is to have some fun in front to the camera, not to elicit information.

I would advocate a middle road. Make a set of notes that covers the points you really want to get out of the interview, and then just talk, while making sure that you hit those points somewhere along the way. The smoother you can make hitting those points, the better the interview will be, but if you don't hit them,…

@TheFu: Tax laws shouldn't provide a disincentive to earn more like they do currently. That's what graduated taxation does. I ensure my AGI is just below the next tax jump.

Any withholding = too much. However, you need to have the discipline to bank enough money to cover the bill in April, and that's not something everyone has.

@moe52: Two things: if you turn the thermostat too hot, you're in danger of scalding, so don't go over 160F (that's at the bottom of the danger zone already), and, the hotter the water in the heater, the more energy you lose, so your electric bill goes up. Putting your heater on a timer and insulating the pipes as…

Reviewing your to-do list at the beginning and end of each day is a great practice, but if it takes you 25 minutes, you're getting way too granular. One or two words that describe 2-3 hours of work has always been plenty for me. On the other hand, putting aside 15 minutes for it at the end of the day is a great way…

The logical corollary of this is that if you don't allow any time for a job, then you're already done. No wonder I have so much time to play Minesweeper.

Get supa-fine sandpaper at the auto shop. It's used in bodywork.

@apropos626: Trading my car for a motorcycle made LA almost bearable to me.

Figure out which grade of gas is best for your car. Run a few tankfuls of each grade, keeping track of the mileage. If your mileage is just as good with low-octane, then stick with it, but some cars do better with higher octane gas. I get about 5% better mileage with 89 octane than with 87, but no improvement with…

@rkinne01: I agree that ties are stupid. However, they do have an odd tendency to make people take you more seriously. I used to wear business serious when I did temp work, and 100% of the time would immediately be put in charge when a group of us showed up for a job, and inevitably everyone else was business casual…

Using every bit of left-overs is almost a lost art now. Good to see it coming back.

If you try to buy something at a pawnshop, just remember that they got it for less than a third of what they're asking you for, and go from there. And don't negotiate unless you're willing to walk away if the price goes over what you want to pay.

Most of her inventions are simply obnoxious. Why would anyone want to jam other people's communications? It qualifies as borderline personality disorder (aka "being a dick").

I like ice cube trays for small parts. Start at one end and work to the other. When you reassemble, don't move to one cup until the previous one is empty. Egg cartons or trays are good for projects with larger parts.

This result is insane. I use a Win7 netbook at my in-laws every weekend, and an XP at home. The Win7 (an HP Mini 1101) is slow and cranky, despite the hours of research and effort I've put into optimizing it, while the XP netbook (EeePC) was a charm right out of the box. The XP netbook cost me about $75 less, too.

My version of a staycation is having friends from out of town visit. They want to do all the touristy things I would never do because I live here, so I get to do them without feeling embarrassed about it. It's amazing what you can discover about your own area when you're showing it to other people.

Unfortunately, there's also some good evidence that the incompetent believe they are better than average. How much good does thinking you're smart do if you aren't?