Is There an Easy Way to Measure the Height of a Tree? [Crowdhacker]
Trees are tall. Humans, relatively speaking, are not. And we're not the most agile climbers in the animal kingdom, either. But we are crafty, and we can out-think even the most wizened redwood. But how do you do so when all you've got is a pencil, a mirror, or a smartphone? In the first installment of a new series powered by Q&A site Stack Exchange, we're taking the question to the crowd.
Photo by Two+two=4".
Question:
I'd like to install an antenna for Internet service, but it will need to clear some trees on my neighbor's property as it requires a clear line of sight to work.
I really don't trust my estimating skills enough to plunk down money on a utility pole that might be too short or too tall. And climbing the tree with a tape measure (in my neighbor's yard) is a bit intrusive and dangerous.
Other than eyeballing it, is there a clever way that I can get a reasonably accurate (within 5' or so) estimate of the height of the tree?
— JohnFx (originally asked here)
Top Answer
Find a stick the length of your arm. Hold your arm out straight with the stick pointing straight up (90-degree angle to your outstretched arm). Walk backwards until you see the tip of the stick line up with the top of the tree. Your feet are now at approximately the same distance from the tree as it is high (provided the tree is significantly taller than you are, and the ground is relatively level).
Old logger method. Simple.
Is There an Easy Way to Measure the Height of a Tree?
The Jobseeker's Secret Weapon: If This, Then That | Apartment Therapy
If you haven't used IFTTT, we think you should check out one of the greatest free web services around. IFTTT stands for If This, Then That, and the name is practically self-explanatory. If one of the several triggers you setup happens, then the service activates whatever multiple commands you designate. But how does all this help you find a job?Turns out that many job sites have RSS feeds, and that happens to be one of the triggers on IFTTT. That's the start of the process — the end result is all up to you.
How to Get Jobs Sent to You Via IFTT:
1. Once you've created a free account over at IFTTT, sign in and click on the large "Create Task" button.
2. The text will pop up, "Ifthisthenthat" and click on the word this. You've got tons of different triggers here, but for a job hunt, you want to find and select the RSS symbol.
3. Here, you can either choose "New Feed Item" or "New feed item matches." I usually choose the former, because that way I get hit with every job listing in my category, just in case.
4. Now visit your favorite job search site, and enter in the parameters you want to use for your particular hunt. For example: I use Craigslist, which is a great place to find local stuff if that's what you want. Tap the RSS button in the corner and then highlight the link in the address bar that pops up. That's the address for the RSS feed, and that's crucial. Enter the link in the box on IFTTT and move to the next step.
5. Here's where you can have some fun. If you want those messages right away and have an Internet-connected phone, then you can have the service send the links via text message (to do that, just click on the SMS link and follow the steps). In this case, we're going to do email, so select the Email box in the top corner.
6. After you've selected the only option for emails ("send me an email," naturally), the screen shown above pops up. If you're good with it as is, then just hit "Create Action" and the next time your feed updates, you'll get an email with the name of the entry in the subject field, and the body of the email containing the links and info from the RSS Feed. Now you'll always be the first to know about a new job, and sometimes, that's all you need.
Bonus OmniFocus tip: If you use OmniFocus for the Mac, try this out for size. In the "Subject" field in Step 6 on IFTTT, type in the following phrase: "--{{EntryTitle}} >job apps @online #today $5" What's all that mean?OmniFocus allows you to sync with Apple Mail, that way you can send yourself an email and it will automatically put up a task for you in the system. The trigger for this can be anything you want, but in my case, I use two hyphens in the first part of the subject to start the process. Then, anything after the ">" refers to the "Project" field in OmniFocus, "@" refers to the "Context," "#" is for what day you want it to appear in the task manager (with today being the best way to pop it to the top of your to-do list), and "$" is for the amount of time it will take to get it done.
Now not only do you get your job searches emailed to you right away, but they're added into OmniFocus automatically so you don't forget to tackle them. Now that's some organized job hunting.
(Images: Kevin Whipps)
9 Crazy Interview Questions
via, http://mashable.com/2011/12/27/glassdoor-interview-questions-2011/
“How many people are using Facebook in San Francisco at 2:30 p.m. on a Friday?” — Asked at Google, Vendor Relations Manager candidate
“If Germans were the tallest people in the world, how would you prove it?” — Asked at Hewlett-Packard, Product Marketing Manager candidate
“Given 20 ‘destructible’ light bulbs (which break at a certain height), and a building with 100 floors, how do you determine the height that the light bulbs break?” — Asked at Qualcomm, Engineering candidate
“How would you cure world hunger?” — Asked at Amazon.com, Software Developer candidate
“You’re in a row boat, which is in a large tank filled with water. You have an anchor on board, which you throw overboard (the chain is long enough so the anchor rests completely on the bottom of the tank). Does the water level in the tank rise or fall?” — Asked at Tesla Motors, Mechanical Engineer candidate
“Please spell ‘diverticulitis’.” — Asked at EMSI Engineering, Account Manager candidate
“You have a bouquet of flowers. All but two are roses, all but two are daisies, and all but two are tulips. How many flowers do you have?” — Asked at Epic Systems, Corporation Project Manager/Implementation Consultant candidate
“How do you feel about those jokers at Congress?” — Asked at Consolidated Electrical, Management Trainee candidate
“If you were a Microsoft Office program, which one would you be?” — Asked at Summit Racing Equipment, Ecommerce candidate
