The_MoUsY_spell_checker's Advice Column

I'm leaving on a trip tommorow and I wanted to download some new songs onto my ipod nano. The problem is that my itunes is not recognizing my ipod nano! This is the first time this has ever happened. Could anyone tell me why this is happening and how I can fix it? I would really like to put my new music on for my trip!
Thanks!!

Look at this page for instructions:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61711
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I've never heard of a dog, or any animal for that matter that was born mentally retarted.

Has anyone heard of an animal with a mental defect?

It is definitely possible for animals to have mental defects.

However, it's not going to be as obvious as mental defects in humans. Human children are supposed to learn to walk, talk, dress themselves, and many other things. Eventually they also have to go to school. A mental defect would be obvious as it would be likely to cause difficulties in one or more of these areas.

As for mental defects in dogs, while it might be possible to tell that there is something wrong if a dog behaves strangely, but if it doesn't stop the dog from living normally, then the owner might just consider it the dog's character. After all, any pet owner will probably tell you that their pet has its own unique character. If the problem is serious, then the dog might not be able to live normally (as in not being able to eat its food by itself), and these dogs are usually put down.
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I'm starting highschool in august, and i dont know anyone or anything about the school. And I know this one girl who is a few years older than me and she goes to a diff highschool, but she said its like "uncool" to carry a backpack. She said she usually carries like a big messenger bag type thing. Is this true? And do i need a backpack on the first day? thanks.

I don't see why it would be "uncool" to have a backpack. There might be people in your school who think otherwise, but really, I doubt that it'll be a big deal.

I recommend against using a large messenger bag as your school bag because the whole load is on one shoulder, and you might end up with lopsided shoulders when you're older. Now that's definitely uncool!

Go shop for a nice one with your friends. That way, you'll have a cool backpack for school.

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i JUST got my period like right now
and i'm going swimming tomorow, wed, thurs, and friday at my cousins.
i there ANY ways i can still go swimming on my period?
i don't wear tampons =/

A pad when you're swimming will probably not be very helpful, because the pad will probably just absorb water from the pool.

It's best to use a tampon, but if you really don't want to use one, you can actually swim when you're on your period, and the blood will not come out when you're underwater. Honestly, I've done this for many times before and I've never had a problem.

However, if you decide to do this, make sure you get changed and put a pad on as soon as you get out of the water. That is, no hanging around in your swimsuit.
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when the sailor scouts transform.. um they change clothes so what do all the other people around them see when they transform? some giant light or like they are spinning around naked till they wear their outfits? O_O i've always wondered about that

It's been about 10 years since I've last watched Sailor Moon, but I'm pretty sure that the Sailor Scouts usually avoid transforming in front of other people (other than each other) anyway. With the lights and other special effects you don't see their bodies anyway.

Their outfits automatically disappear after the fight and reappear the next time they transform.
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ok, so now myspace is trying to be just like facebook, and they have your status and whatnot, but when you come up to the page that shows all of your friends status updates (on myspace) it says "INSERT NAME HERE" is now in your extended network. i never exactly knew the meaning of extended network. is that showing the profiles you have looked at, or who has looked at yours? does anyone know? cause im confused. THANKS :]]

It's anyone who is friends with you or your friends.

However, everyone has Tom (the person who created the site) as a friend when they sign up, therefore it kind of defeats the whole purpose because it means that everyone on the site is in everyone else's extended network.
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hey, i had surgery on my knee & it didn't work out, so i need to really strengthen my knee. i have been running, but it gets so boring, and i really do hate it so i want to ride my bike. also, losing a few pounds would be nice too. here's my questions

1: how long/how many miles should i bike to get a good workout?

2: does riding your bike help to lose fat on your arms & stomach? since it's cardio, it should help your whole body, right?

Ride about 2 to 4 miles or for about an hour at a time to start with, and see how tired you are afterwards. Note that you should stop if you're too tired even if you haven't finished the distance or time that you originally planned.

If you can ride your bike as a method of transportation rather than riding around just for the sake of it, it will be a better workout because you can't slack off because you have to get to your destination.

(For example, riding to school, although if you live in the Northern Hemisphere then you probably still have a at least a month of holidays.)

If you decide to do this, make sure you know the way to your destination and that there is somewhere you can leave the bike when you get there, and don't forget the lock and chain.

Cycling will definitely help you lose fat, but there's no way of telling where you'll start losing the fat first without trying, because this varies from person to person. Your legs will definitely become more toned though. It actually uses quite a lot of strength from your arms when you steer too.
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so, I'm a newbie on Neopets. And i was wondering a few things:

1. Can you MAKE food on there, instead of buying it. Please tell me how, if so.

2. Is there a way to plant stuff, and grow it. And if so, tell me how.


thankies!

No, you can't make food. If you want free food you can get omelettes from Tyrannia and jelly from Jellyland. (There are other places too, but these two are always available.)

As for planting, if you mean planting your own food, no. You can have a garden in your home, but you just buy plants and put them in, and they don't grow.
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When you comment on someone's "Honesty Box", can they see who commented or is it TOTALLY anonymous? And can other people see what you've commented on someone else's honesty box or is it just the person who can see it?

Thanks!

It's totally anonymous, and only the person whose box you have commented to can see it.
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I don't have time to go to the store and get myself measured but last time I did they said I was 32B but that was a while ago like a year ago. I measured myself and around the top of the rip cage right below the breasts I'm 28 inches. Around the fullest part of my breasts I'm 33 inches. What size bra would you say I wear? Thank you! =)

Here's a site with a bra size calculator:
http://www.85b.org/bra_calc.php

According to this page, you're a 32A. It would be more accurate if you measured above your breasts too (as shown in the diagram on the linked page.

Note that sizes may vary between different styles of bras. Always try before you buy if possible.
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do UV rays come through windows?

No. Glass blocks most UV rays.
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I need to learn to speak some French by Friday.

I know you're thinking "haha yeahh right" but it's important. My Dad invited a new person from his job to come have dinner with us on friday. They have 2 kids that are 12 & 14... they just moved here from France & don't speak any English at all. I speak Spanish & English fluently but I don't know any French. I really need to be able to communicate at least a little. Any phrases/yes or no questions/greetings would be most helpful! Please, no online translators.
[if you can help me sound out the words, that would be amazing!]
Thank you soo much!

I think this site is pretty good:
http://www.ielanguages.com/french.html

Start from the basic phrases. The site even has the pronunciations of the words spelled out in English.

There are also links to French podcasts on that site if you want to listen to people speak French.

Here's another site:
http://www.languageguide.org/francais/

This one has the audio for many basic phrases.

Good luck with trying to learn French in just a few days. It'll help that you already know Spanish, because French and Spanish are both Romance languages, so you should be able to recognise a lot of cognates.
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Ok so i have some pictures i want to scan onto the computer and i have a scanner and i have done this before but i forgot how. i think last time i used something on dell photo or something but everytime i scan it onto the computer with Adobe it comes up blurry, and last time it didnt. any advice?

If the scanner came with any CDs, see if there is any software on them that you can use. If not, see the instruction manual.

If you don't have that, look at the vendor's website. There should be some kind of software available.

(To find the vendor's website, look on the scanner to see what brand it is, and search for that on Google.)
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okay i used to like breakdance a lot and i tried to learn it and i even went to the club to learn it because it was fun but i stopped because i i couldnt learn it since im a beginner so i stopped and then my friens told me to try skating so i did and it was fun and now im gonna buy the skateboard and trying to learn how to do the tricks but the question is am i being a poser?

There's nothing wrong with trying out new things. If you enjoy it, it doesn't make you a poser.

If you DON'T enjoy it and you keep doing it then it would probably make more sense to say that you're a poser, but why worry anyway? If other people are going to say things like that, they will do so no matter what you do. Don't worry. Enjoy yourself, and be careful on your new skateboard!
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Okay, so we were asked in class to look up for interesting words with interesting etymologies(word origins). We have to find 30 and I've only managed to find 12.
What are some interesting, unfamiliar words and are there sites that I can visit?
Thanks in advance!

The word "posse" might not be so special, but I think its etymology is pretty interesting.

It cane from the Latin word "posse", which means "to be able".

Now, "posse" in English refers to a group of people, which can either be a search party or just a group of friends. Either way, it doesn't have anything to do with being able. "Posse" in this sense came from a shortening of "posse comitatus" ("comitatus" means "county"), which referred to a community police force.

If this is for a class, "glamour" might be a good one. Did you know that the word "glamour" is etymologically related to "grammar"? "Grammar" came from the Greek word "gramma", which means "letter". It later on came to mean "learning", including magic, and the spelling for the word in this sense changed to "glamour", while "grammar" retained its original meaning of "learning".

These came from "Words of a Feather". Look at the website, it has a blog with more interesting ones.
http://wordsofafeather.net/

The Online Etymology Dictionary is a good site for English etymology, so you might want to take a look there too. http://www.etymonline.com/
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This author I'm madly in love with (he wrote fight club.)

I was wondering if anyone knew hwo to pronounce his last name

Chuck Palahniuk

It's kinda embarassing to not be able to say your favourite authors last name

According to Wikipedia, it's [ˡpɑlənɪk]. If you don't understand IPA, it's "PAH-luh-nik".
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how do you get one?

If you mean a forum on this site, add your user ID at the end of this URL and you'll have the URL for your forum.

http://www.advicenators.com/talkaboutme.php?userboard_id=
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hay...
i like to read before i go to bed but i have nothing to read at the moment... i just finished my last book and cant find another to read that interests me!
i just finished reading
'missing judy' by anne cassidy and i'v also red
'lola rose' by jacqueline wilson twicw cos i really enjoyed it.
have any good books i cant read? like the ones i'v mentioned? ones i can relate to???

If you liked "Lola Rose" you might also like other books by Jacqueline Wilson. I liked the "Girls in Love" series. "The Story of Tracy Beaker" and its sequel "The Dare Game" are also good.
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i have been having a problem when i login into myspace. as soon as i hit the login link i get sent right back to the myspace home page and tells me to login so i do i again. and it happens again. UGH ! i was thinking that maybe it there was something wrong with my computer or maybe myspace`s system. but i really need to get on and check my mail and stuff. someone please OH please help me out here. is it me or the computer ? i don`t know.

Make sure that cookies are allowed.

Here's a list for how to do that in various browsers.

http://www.google.com/cookies.html

Just follow the instructions for the browser you use.

It may also help to clear your cookies first since you might have corrupted cookies in your browser. (Warning: if you clear your cookies you will be logged out of all websites.)

If that doesn't solve the problem, you might have a firewall that blocks them and you'll have to configure that. If that's the case and you need help, ask another question with the relevant information.
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Okay, i'm trying this new thing were everyday i think of the good qualities of myself. And it seems to be working, i am more confident in everything! So then everything is great, until i get to school. I Love my friends. But all they do is put themselves down! One of my friends the other day, all she said almost all day was "Im Fat. I need to lose weight." and i kept telling her she doesnt. But when she keeps saying it, i feel the need to put myself down aswell, like say, "No your not, i am". And i want to be able to stop doing that. I dont know if this question makes much sence, but i tried. What im bascially saying is, How can i get myself to stop putting myself down infront of friends who put themselfs down.

lol that didnt make sence XD

Oh no, you're doing it again! Don't worry, that makes sense.

Next time your friends put themselves down, instead of saying that you're the one who (for example) needs to lose weight, just say something positive about your friends and change the topic so that you can just all focus on talking instead of feeling bad about yourselves.
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