HiveMind

Ask the [Seattle/Furniture] HiveMind: Buying a couch.

[covert-ops] question mark (forest)TL; DR: I am interested in buying a new couch. I would like to be able to search / browse online (marginally optional), and then sit on / lay on / poke at the couch (required) before shelling out money. The vendor must deliver to my home, preferably into my home. I live in the Seattle area, on the Eastside. Where should I go to find a new couch? (more…)

Ask the [Knitting] HiveMind: Do I have to use a long-tail cast on here?

[covert-ops] question mark (sitting inside)I’m preparing to start work on Debbi Stone’s Spectral, using a Miss Babs gradient set in Pegasus. Assuming I don’t pull my hair out in the process of splitting the balls of yarn in half by weight (and then further marking off another 11 grams on one of those balls), the next step will be to cast on.

Using ball A1 and a long-tail cast on, cast on 336 stitches.

Now, really. Is there any reason it has to be a long-tail cast on? Couldn’t I use, say, a cable cast on, and not have to either a) redo the cast on 4 times to finally get enough in the long tail, or b) have an egregious excess of yarn in the long tail going to waste?

Following the cast on are 4 rounds of k1, p1 ribbing. This ribbing is repeated as the last 4 rows before the end, and the cowl is bound off in pattern.

Thoughts?

Ask the HiveMind: *NIX geek edition (covert-ops section headers)

[covert-ops] question mark (forest)Really, really long-time readers of this site may recall its first incarnation. It was very geeky, with a *NIX motif running through it. (You can view an Internet Wayback Machine snapshot of it here.) I am attempting to recreate this feel with the newly-returned covert-ops.org site, and I need your help.

Clearly, some of the headings that I had before simply won’t work these days. I mean, who has a QuickCam any more? But, there are other sections I would like to add, and sometimes, the appropriate geeky header doesn’t immediately jump to mind, or I have too many ideas that seem equally valid. This is where you come in. (more…)

Ask the Hivemind: Pinterest for text-only sites.

question mark forestI’ve decided that I want to start using Pinterest for bookmarkers (though I’m willing to be dissuaded). Mostly, I’m tired of having some of my bookmarks available to me in (Google-synced) Chrome browser and some available to me in (iCloud-synced) Safari. (And, of course, this only gets more annoying when I move to other computers / mobile devices.) I’d like to have one place that I can go to for all my bookmarking needs. (I admit that I’m no longer sure why I quit using delicious. Didn’t they have some big going away / taken over / aliens invading scare a while back? Is that no longer an issue?) (more…)

Ask the HiveMind: Seattle/Eastside: Chicken Soup / Matzoh Ball Soup?

I have a hankering for a huge bowl of really good chicken noodle or chicken matzoh ball soup. For those from the DC area, my standard for said soup from The Parkway Deli in Silver Spring. (more…)

Ask the HiveMind: Google+ API horror stories?

Have any of y’all ever gone through the process to get a Google+ API key? Any pointers, or is it pretty straightforward? (A girl can hope, right?)

And, what did you do with it? How easy / hard was it to use? How sorts of ritual sacrifices did you have to make?

Basically, I’m looking to hear about any experiences with the whole process, if you’re interested in sharing.

Ask the (yarn) hive mind: I need a pony.

Ok, no, I don’t really need a pony. However, it might be easier to find a pony than the yarn I’m looking for. Since I’ve looked at hundreds of pages of yarn at this point, and come up with only a few candidates (none of while I’m particularly excited about), I turn to my friends, the fiber geniuses.

This starts, as many fiber quests start, with a project I wish to knit for a friend. Said friend is allergic to most animal fibers, leaving me with plant-based and/or man-made fibers. The project I am looking to knit calls for fingering weight yarn. And we would like a rainbow colorway. Got that?  (more…)

Ask the Hive Mind: priceline and/or hotwire thoughts?

20140917-rentalcarHave any of you ever used priceline.com or hotwire.com or similar services to book travel (specifically, a rental car)? What was your experience like? Would you do it again? Would you only recommend it to your worst enemy?

I’m attempting to book a rental car for Boston in October, and prices have nearly doubled since the last time I looked about a month ago. The prices are to the point where the whole ‘getting a car thing’ isn’t really feasible, except for the small detail that not having a car isn’t really going to work.

Both priceline and hotwire show some decent-ish deals, from presumably reputable sources. I’m just wary, as I’ve never used either service.

Thoughts?

Has anyone tried Google Keep?

20140912-google_keepThe subject really says it all. Google, with it’s ever-expanding list of services, launched Google Keep in March of 2013. As often happens, they rolled it out the door with little (if any) fanfare, and I’d never heard of it until today. I’m wondering if any of you have tried it, and what you think of it.

Ask the HiveMind: What should I add to my RSS feed?

Having realized that I’ve had the same things in my RSS feed for, oh, 5 or 6 years now, and that I really no longer care about a bunch of it, I’ve largely declared RSS bankruptcy. I pruned the hell out of my feeds, and now I’m no longer thousands of posts behind.

But, I do miss having content that I’m actually interested in. So, tell me, dear friends: What RSS feeds should I be following, and why? Do you have a standalone blog? I’d love to read it! Tell me about it! Favorite comics? (I already have xkcd, natch.) Geek news? Cute things? You get the idea.