Querious

Outside of IQ tests, that is.

Many IQ tests feature a few questions to test your ability to find the next number in a series. They may be Fibonacci, or add one or multiply by seven each time or something. Maybe they are the f/stops of a camera. Undoubtedly there are a lot of number series, but outside of puzzles, what are the likely practical applications of being able to find these out?

What is the critical difference, if any, between amend and emend, between amendment and emendation. If possible please provide the mnemonic you use to keep the proper uses of these words straight. And go ahead and venture an opinion as to why emend and emendation might seem so much more rare than amendment and forms of amend.

I have a friend in Taiwan who has offered to let me stay at his house if I visit. I'm seriously considering it. I understand you can tour the whole island by bicycle, and that's my speed. But what should I make sure to see and do while I'm there? What's not to miss?

On both my new Windows XP pro machine and my old Windows 2000 machine I notice that I often get a "found new hardware" message when starting up, and of course I will not have added any new hardware in months. What gives with this? And what do you suggest I do to make this stop?

I want to do some artistic studies of hands and feet and I think that it would be ideal if I could work with a form that didn't move around, but stayed in a fixed position. How might I go about making a cast or mold of a hand or foot which would preserve as much surface detail as possible?

I'm looking for a laser that produces a line, such as is often used in levels. I want a hand-held, focusable line laser with glass optics, that either takes standard batteries, AA or AAA cell, or plugs into US wall sockets. I expect to pay under $50 including shipping for a green laser, probably much less for a red one.

We all know there was slavery in the US until the late 1800's, and some people are also aware that it was a very common practice in the Caribbean, and in South and Central America as well.

But what experience did Mexico, and the Caribbean islands nearest the US have with this peculiar institution? And how did the abolition of slavery in these parts of the world coincide with their own civil wars, or wars of independence from the foreign powers that colonized them?

A link to a relevant time-line would be the perfect answer.

Very few people use professional looking pictures in their profiles on any site. I wonder why that is. Doesn't anyone have their picture taken by someone who knows what they are doing anymore? Doesn't anyone want to look their best on their internet profile?

I have an original Canon Digital Rebel. I'm tired of having to change out the 512mb flash cards so often as I fill them with pictures. I want to buy a flash card at the highest capacity this model can use. What is the highest capacity flash card that this old camera can use? The CF cards seem to go up to 16gb.

I am having a hard time thinking of how to write a genuine, unique and informative self-summary for an online profile. It seems that I'm not very good at it, but I don't want to cop out and write something lame or unoriginal. Do you have any helpful suggestions for how I should go about it?

I recently bought a handheld GPS reciever to keep track of where I had gone exploring on my bike. It's a Magellan Explorist 500. I bought it second-hand though, so it didn't come with any software. Its usable to find your speed, the direction in which you are traveling and such but without buying at least $50.00 is software, with maps that you can load on the device but which become useless when you buy a new model, it doesn't show you were you are in any great detail.

What I am wishing for, is a GPS that can use open-source, hacked or hackable software, so that I can create my own maps, and not be suckered into a cycle of dependency on electronic devices with a planned obsolescence.

I think the size, housing and sensitivity of the Explorist 500 is good. Its waterproof, accurate and easy to use to input your own labels, its screen can be read easily in the sunlight. My only complain about it is the battery life.

I also want something that can easily be mounted on bicycle handlebars

Is the software just buggy? Do I need to do something to configure my router? Is my ISP filtering traffic to my home when it detects that I'm communicating on P2P ports?

I would love it if someone could take a guess at this problem and then point me to a guide for setting up P2P in a way that would make it actually useful for a change.

I just subscribed to a grammar lesson of the day to help me brush up on my understanding of English structure, but I feel frustrated by what I perceive as the kids talk nature of the lessons. Some verbs like is, are considered "state of being verbs" I'm used to the idea, but I want to know what linguists call them when they discuss among themselves, not what elementary school teachers call them when they present them to children from the suburbs.

Advice on a different survey of English grammar aimed at a more adult level of comprehension would also be greatly appreciated.

Please don't guess. Only answer if you know.

How could I, as an American, a citizen and resident of the US, legally make online payments of, say, from $2. to $200. completely anonymously?

I tried getting a cash-backed debit card, but discovered that using it to make payments online would require giving my address so that a PIN number could be sent to me.

It used to be possible to do things like this through services like e-gold and digital liberty dollars, but they are now legally embattled.

I'm angry that this sort of thing should be so difficult. I feel like I have had some very important rights taken away from me. Since it is completely legitimate do transact payments anonymously in cash in these amounts I assume that it should be fully legal to do so online as well.

Thoughtful answers will be rewarded.

I used to see ads for a really excellent one in the back of Omni magazine, when they were still publishing it. I have always wanted one, and don't care if it takes up my entire wall. I bought one on special in the bookstore recently, but its mostly a copy of some old victorian time-line, and doesn't satisfy me.

I'm reading John Taylor Gatto, now, on the history of schooling in America. And am aware of many of the stated and unstated purposes for its existence as it is. And I know about the Rockefeller and Carnegie institute's influence on it.

Putting that aside, however, I would like to hear some mature views about what the real purpose of education, as opposed to school, ideally is.