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1) how are hard disk sizes determined? Exactly what is 3.5", 2.5", 1.8", etc? Is it the platters?

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8) As far as I can tell, the only thing you really need to do to win the tournament and go down in history is to wander around that maze.

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4) I'm jealous of all the people who have space heaters at their office desks. I think people who like warmth don't realize how hard it is on those of us who like the cold. Is there any such thing as a "space cooler"? (please don't say "a fan." That just moves warm air around)

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8) Why can't JK Rowling create rules? I won't go too far into it, but in Goblet of Fire (at least the movie version), the rules for the tournamet make no sense whatsoever. As far as I can tell, the only thing you really need to do to win the tournament and go down in history is to wander around that maze. I get this from the fact that the girl (I don't know her character name) didn't complete the second task, yet still moved on for some reason. That made absolutely no sense to me.

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4) I'm jealous of all the people who have space heaters at their office desks. I think people who like warmth don't realize how hard it is on those of us who like the cold. Is there any such thing as a "space cooler"? (please don't say "a fan." That just moves warm air around)

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6) Can anyone recommend a good and/or fairly inexpensive single-cup coffe maker? My girlfriend's co-workers tend to like their coffee strong enough to melt mugs, and wants a little control over hers.

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4) I'm jealous of all the people who have space heaters at their office desks. I think people who like warmth don't realize how hard it is on those of us who like the cold. Is there any such thing as a "space cooler"? (please don't say "a fan." That just moves warm air around)

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a box of 104 extra pods

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Pods are the DRM of coffee. Who in their right mind would tie their coffee consumption for the lifetime of the device, to one manufacturer's whims on pod pricing and pod availability?

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a box of 104 extra pods

Pods are the DRM of coffee. Who in their right mind would tie their coffee consumption for the lifetime of the device, to one manufacturer's whims on pod pricing and pod availability?

Peter

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6) Can anyone recommend a good and/or fairly inexpensive single-cup coffe maker? My girlfriend's co-workers tend to like their coffee strong enough to melt mugs, and wants a little control over hers.

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I don't know why Matt but I found your post hilarious, must be the meds

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in the first movie the rules for Quidditch say that the game doesn't end until you catch the snitch, and whoever catches the snitch wins

Odd, I didn't get the first half of that from the movie, just the second. I'll have to listen to them explain that again. Do the books say how often the snitch is caught? If it's too often, they may need to adjust their scoring Have they reinstated the replay rule yet?

That portable air conditioner looks really good. Unfortunately, I don't know where I'd expell that exhaust tube (aside from the people who were cold).

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Well, here's my two cents worth on the cable protector...

http://www.onlineorganizing.com/ProductsPage.asp?name=Rubber_Cord_Floor_Protector

They have 5', 10', and 50' lengths listed...

Randy

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Isn't it just a teabag with coffee instead of tea? Seems like it's be pretty easy to make one on your own.

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Isn't it just a teabag with coffee instead of tea? Seems like it's be pretty easy to make one on your own.

Apparently, not that easy.

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in the first movie the rules for Quidditch say that the game doesn't end until you catch the snitch, and whoever catches the snitch wins

Odd, I didn't get the first half of that from the movie, just the second.

Actually, now that you mention it I believe you are correct- it is not explicilty stated that the game ends when you catch the snitch. However, the first half is implied by the second half. It'd be pretty lame to keep playing a game you've already lost!

Edit- Wait, I understand the confusion now. You are thinking that the game could end naturally, without someone catching the snitch.

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See Mark's post. There is one other place in the movies that do the "rules" injustice- in the first movie the rules for Quidditch say that the game doesn't end until you catch the snitch, and whoever catches the snitch wins. Of course this is very silly because that makes whatever anyone else is doing completly meaningless. The only thing in those rules that matter is the snitch. However, while in the book the game ends when someone catches the snitch, it is only worth 100 points (a lot of points considering a goal is only worth 10). The 100 points means that a large percentage of the time the person who gets the snitch wins, but it is not always the case. In fact, in the World Cup (seen in the Goblet of Fire) the game is won by Ireland even though Viktor Crumb caught the snitch (Bulgaria was being beaten badly so he just decided to end it on his terms).

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I still think the whole idea of Quidditch is a very poorly thought out game.

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The fact bits were added in later to show that you can't always win is evident of this.

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I
5) Has anyone here taken the GMATs? I was wondering how difficult it was, particularly if your background doesn't lend its self towards the subject matter. They claim that your area of work and education aren't determinant of how well you'll do, but I'm a little nervous about taking it. I'm doing it for a program I'd like to get into (I don't want to be a help desk technician forever...or even a few more years...).

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I've been happy with this one. The permanent filter is nice, I just rinse it out every few uses.

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I still think the whole idea of Quidditch is a very poorly thought out game. The fact bits were added in later to show that you can't always win is evident of this.

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Joking aside, I do believe J.K. Rowling's intent was to impress upon readers that the game has so many confusing and contradicting rules that no Muggle could hope to understand it. She didn't spend much time trying to explain those 'rules'.

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You are thinking that the game could end naturally, without someone catching the snitch.

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There is a type of question in the quantitative section of the test called Data Sufficiency which are pure evil. This type of question appears on NO other test and it will totally screw you up because thats's exactly what it's purpose is. So, my advice is to study HOW to take the test, much more than the material itself.

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You can. You can score enough points via goals or whatever they're called to reach the winning score without anyone having caught the snitch. That's how I remember it from the first book.

Nope, or at least not the way I remember it (and I've heard the audio book three times due to a slighly obsessive wife and many, many road trips). What I remember is that the game simply does not end until someone catches the snitch- evidence of this was given by an example where one match took several weeks.

Just as a sanity check I looked at a few web sites and none of them said anything about ending the game at a pre-determined score, though one did say both captains could agree to end the match. Apparently my memory is not perfect, though, because according to every site I looked at the snitch is worth 150 points, not 100.

Boy, this thread is making me feel pretty silly. I fear I know waaay too much about an imaginary game that serves mostly as a plot device to make HP a hero. Perhaps that is why I have a ban on HP audiobooks on roadtrips now!

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As usual, Wikipedia comes through. The game ends when the snitch is caught. Whoever has the most points wins. Thus, it is possible for a team to have scored more than 150 points more than the other team via goals and for the losing team to get the snitch and score 150 points and still lose. Of course, it seems like it would be stupid for them to have gotten the snitch at that point, since that means that they cut out time they could have used to catch up first.

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The game ends when the snitch is caught. Whoever has the most points wins. Thus, it is possible for a team to have scored more than 150 points more than the other team via goals and for the losing team to get the snitch and score 150 points and still lose. Of course, it seems like it would be stupid for them to have gotten the snitch at that point, since that means that they cut out time they could have used to catch up first.

Except for getting the snitch value wrong, isn't that what I said in the first place?

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6) Can anyone recommend a good and/or fairly inexpensive single-cup coffe maker? My girlfriend's co-workers tend to like their coffee strong enough to melt mugs, and wants a little control over hers.

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I contest your point that the movie said snitch=win

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2) I have no walls on the left and right of my home theater setup, a concrete slab floor, and I can't run cable through the ceiling. So I'm forced to run the wires for the rear speakers across the floor and under the couch. This leaves $70 in cables to be stepped on or tripped over. I've looked everywhere for one of those rubber cable protectors, but can't find anything. They're available at Staples and Home Depot, but not in lengths/sizes that I need. I need one where the main channel is .5" high and 1.5" wide, and the whole thing is about 10 feet long.

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Yeah, but that was easily hyperbole.

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Yeah, but that was easily hyperbole.

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I'd imagine that they're brand new. When I was shopping for a recently released Netgear product not too long ago, I had the same experience. Wait a few weeks.

I'm glad and sorry to hear that I just called their presales support line, and received next to no usefull information from them. They basically said that I should keep an eye on buynetgear.com for it to show up. What kind of business model is this? Frustrating customers with no word of a real release date is just dumb.

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There is a type of question in the quantitative section of the test called Data Sufficiency which are pure evil. This type of question appears on NO other test and it will totally screw you up because thats's exactly what it's purpose is. So, my advice is to study HOW to take the test, much more than the material itself.

Well, I just solved the first three, and I find them both fun and very simple. What are the time limits?

Edit: Aha, those are there just to explain the concept. Are the real ones more tricky?

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[Yeah, the real ones are much more tricky. They keep it real simple just to explain the concept. The other thing I forgot to mention about the GMATs is that its a Computer Adaptive Test. Meaning that 1. you MUST answer a question to continue 2. the computer "figures" out what level (easy, medium, hard) you are at and hones the test to that level. Problem with that you ask? Well, this means that the first 5 (approx) questions are the MOST important. For example lets say that the first question you get is an 'easy' one. You get it right, the next question is a 'medium' one, you get it right and now you are on your way to a harder question and then a harder one after that if you get it right. Harder questions count more towards your score than easy ones. There is a problem with all this. Consider you get the first easy and medium questions wrong. You are now stuck on the easy or medium track with no (or very few) hard questions in your future. Your chances of recieving a good score are significantly reduced, even if you get all the remaining questions correct.

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Is there somewhere an online source of more difficult ones?