Is the AP immortal? May 31, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentHas the AP been the same individual since the inception of the Suggestion Book program? Or have there been a series of APs who have somehow maintained a seamless continuity of wit and erudition through the years? Perhaps the AP is like the Dread Pirate Roberts in The Princess Bride — an role to be occupied with robust vigor and elan (and anonymity) for a time, and then be handed over to an eager apprentice who will subsequently be responsible for grooming the next successor. The AP would live forever, outlasting us all!
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: I tip my hat … you seem to have answered your own question to your own satisfaction. AP is both a single individual and a little bit of a lot of people. In fact, there’s a little bit of Answer Person in all of us — you just need to nurture it a bit.
PDF mania May 31, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentIs there a way to take separate pdf files and combine them into one multipage pdf file. It would eliminate my collating needs for my final paper. I don’t have expensive software. Just a mac with Preview, Adobe Reader 7.0, and adobe photoshop CS. I know you can do some stuff on adobe’s web site, but not this I don’t think.
Thank you for shedding light on this important issue!
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: To edit Acrobat files, you need to get Adobe Acrobat Professional. All you can do with Reader is use the text or image tool to copy sections and then paste into another application. You mention that you have Photoshop CS, implying that you have the Creative Suite package. Acrobat Pro is part of the Creative Suite, so please check. Beyond that, you may want to look at one of the basic books on Acrobat, such as a Dummies or Idiot’s guide.
Tires May 31, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentAP, I hit a curb this weekend and broke two of my tires. In the process of repairing the damage, I had many questions but little time to ask. I am sorry to throw so many questions out at once.
1. Can two tires that are not the same (ie. made by different companies) be placed on the same axle if they are the same size?
2. What did it mean when someone told me I had a directional tire?
3. What does the speed rating mean? Does it matter if two tires have different speed ratings? What speeds do the speed rating letters represent?
4. Does a damaged rim:
a. increase the risk of damage to my car/tires?
b. create unsafe driving conditions?
5. Why are tires so expensive?
Thanks!
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Uh, oh. I see liability issues here. Just for this one question, pretend that AP is like the TV psychics who function for entertainment purposes only. You should really ask an honest tire dealer, or perhaps a mechanical engineer here at Duke!
My dad used to purchase used tires for $5 or $10 each, so none of them would match (except the size). This was for an old beater car that he just drove around town. It didn’t seem to matter. I’ve been told that it really *does* matter, certainly for the front axle (or any axle that steers).
Directional tread will point differently depending on which way you mount the tire. Even with non-directional tread designs I’ve always heard that with radial tires they get used to revolving a certain direction. That’s why you rotate radials front to back, never side to side (although for short distances at reasonable speeds, like when you put on a spare, it shouldn’t matter).
Speed ratings indicate the highest recommended speed, and there’s usually a huge safety margin (e.g., the tires can go faster than your car can safely go). I’m sure it’s advisable to use the same speed ratings all the way around (one corner of your car isn’t going to be slower, hopefully), and you certainly want all of them to surpass the capabilities of your car.
F = 50 mph
G = 56 mph
J = 62 mph
K = 68 mph
L = 75 mph
M = 81 mph
N = 87 mph
P = 93 mph
Q = 100 mph
R = 106 mph
S = 112 mph
T = 118 mph
U = 124 mph
H = 130 mph
V = 149 mph
Z = 149+ mph
You should replace the wheel that has a damaged rim, or see if the rim can be repaired. Get a mechanic to look at it (I don’t know the extent or location of the damage.) It could lead to losing air pressure or making it more likely that the tire will catastrophically blow. Yes, this is unsafe.
There’s probably profit in the price somewhere, but there’s also a lot of engineering and rubber. It’s pretty amazing that they can run over abrasive surfaces for tens of thousands of miles before wearing out.
whilst v. while May 31, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Language , comments closedWhat is the difference between whilst and while. When should each be used in a sentence. I understand that Americans don’t use whilst but I think it is important.
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Whilst is used primarily in British English as a synonym for the conjunction form of “while.” You would not use it for the noun form of while: “I’m going away for a whilst” is a no-no. Nor for the verb form of while: “I will whilst away my time while I’m on vacation” is no good, although “I will while away my time whilst I’m on vacation” might be OK.
I don’t know if it’s “important,” but it seems to keep “while” from being used in so many different contexts. However, I don’t see any confusion arising from using “while” as a conjunction.
Since I’ll admit that I’m American, I have trouble telling when whilst is best used, so strike up a conversation with one of our British colleagues.
Html May 31, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentHow do web sites make a page without the suffix .html at the end?
For instance, http://www.lib.duke.edu/suggest/
the suggest page is obviously html, yet it has no .html at the end. How do you do that? Is it something to do with dreamweaver software?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: If the URL ends in the directory name, as in your example, where the filename is unspecified, then the browswer will open a default “index” file. It’s often called index.htm or index.html, but the server can be configured to return a file of any other name as the default when no filename is in the URL.
Beyond that, browswers can open all sorts of other files. Graphic (JPEG, GIF, etc.), audio-visual (Cold Fusion, .cfn), text (.txt), and made-on-the-fly pages (created from databases, etc.). I’ve seen a million extensions. You should peruse one of the many good books on HTML, web authoring, web servers, and the like.
Bagels May 25, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentAP, you kindly helped me last time my bagels were coming out lumpy, and your suggestion to add oil to the water has had somewhat successful results. They are still not even nearly as smooth as Brugger’s, however. How do they do it? How can I bake my own beautiful, lump-free bagels?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: When you say lumpy (earlier, you said “bumpiness on the surface”), it now makes me think that the problem is more in the consistency of the dough rather than any surface treatment. I’d focus on the kneading process. After mixing the dough with a spoon or blender, you have to knead thoroughly, at least 10-15 minutes. Don’t cut corners: work hard to develop strong shoulder muscles! This should give the dough (as well as your shoulders) an elastic, uniform consistency, without lumps that show up on the surface.
Don’t worry about not shaping them perfectly (an issue you mentioned before). Authentic bagels should look like they were made by a human, not a machine.
Also, regarding the surface texture and color — and you certainly already know this — the boiling water (for the “poaching” stage) should contain sugar (some recipes call for barley malt syrup). This makes the nicely colored surface. Then, an egg glaze for the baking stage to make them shine.
The commercial bagelries certainly use industrial mixers, such as those made by Hobart, with dough hook attachments. These have about a thousand horsepower and will pull your arm out of it’s socket if it gets caught in there. They really pack a punch. See http://www.hobartcorp.com . This sort of cheating on the kneading process is probably why they get the super smooth consistency.
Lint May 16, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentWhat is lint? Also, why does it sometimes collect in massive amounts and sometimes very small ones, even if the same clothes are being washed?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Have you really tried a controlled experiment on this? Same dryer? Same settings? Exactly the same washload? Same setting on the washing machine (maybe vigorous agitation will beat more lint out of clothes). Same detergent? Really the same clothes, or just the same type of clothes? (Shorter fibers will slough off as lint more readily than long fibers.) There are a lot of variables.
The lint is the fiber from the cloth, so if something is new it will shed more lint than after you’ve washed it more times.
VPN Client for Mac OS 10.4 May 16, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentAP, I need you help seeing into the future. When will Duke offer a VPN client for the new Mac OS, 10.4?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: OIT says they’re waiting on Cisco, who makes the VPN client, to come out with a version compatible with 10.4 (the current VPN client is compatible with 10.2). There is no projected arrival date, although “three or four months” is a guesstimate.
If you’re just interested in offsite access to library databases, the workaround is to use the proxy server method, which just requires a few configuration settings in your browser.
http://www.oit.duke.edu/remote_access/proxy.html
The instructions show examples only for IE, Netscape, and Safari. Maybe you can figure out how to fudge the settings to work on another browswer. Be sure to read the disclaimer regarding security issues with the proxy server.
UPS delivers Pizza? May 9, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentIn an interview with Charlie Rose, Thomas Friedman said that UPS delivers Papa John’s pizza. Is this true?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: No, UPS didn’t buy a fleet of ‘85 Dodge Omnis, paint them brown, and stick Papa John’s signs on their roofs.
Friedman actually said “You see the Papa John’s Pizza truck go by, Charlie? Don’t look who’s driving! It’s UPS.” Note that Friedman, who was just speaking off-the-cuff in an interview, said “truck” (and not “car” or “delivery truck”). He didn’t mention anything about the process of delivering finished pizzas. He’s talking about the tractor-trailor rigs emblazoned with Papa John advertising on the side that bring supplies from warehouses to the local outlets.
In a 2002 story in the Cincinnati business journal *Business Courier* (available through databases that the library subscribes to, such as ABI/Inform), it says, “Since 1996, United Parcel Service Inc.’s logistics division has managed routing, scheduling and delivery from eight Papa John’s Food Service Quality Control Centers [i.e., warehouses] to more than 2,000 restaurants [i.e., where they cook the pizza] twice a week. … 270 UPS Logistics drivers use 96 tractors and 130 trailers, marked with Papa John’s insignia, to deliver goods from the pizza company’s quality-control centers.”
Citing you in a bibliography May 4, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , 2commentsAP, how do I cite you in a research paper? I asked you a question earlier and the answer proved very useful, I appreciate all your help!
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: I guess you could consider it to be like an electronic bulletin board:
http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/cite/online_post.htm
or an email message:
http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/cite/email.htm
Anyway, poke around at the library’s web guide to citation:
http://library.duke.edu/research/guides/citing/
