Ask MetaFilter questions in the technology category

Mass texting, for teachers.

gnutron — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 16:27:25 -0800

I'm a high school teacher and every 3 months I need to send mass text messages to 50-100 phone numbers. Please a suggest a free/cheap service that I can rely on. I'm not a spammer, I swear. I just need to send a notification to families of students that have D/F grades. Google Voice limits recipients and number of texts. I already use Remind but I need to reach families that have not opted-in. I just need a tool that allows me to dump a bunch of phone numbers, type a message, and click send. It's okay if recipients cannot text back. Free would be ideal, but I am willing to pay a nominal fee to make my life easier.

Tracfone just obsoleted my phone

ackptui — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 13:42:57 -0800

I am not an avid cellphone user, I have never given anyone my number, I do not like speaking on the phone, and I definiely do not want a smartphone. Tracfone says my phone is obsolete, and due to changes in their carrier's system, will cease to function soon. I always just got a Tracfone offered phone in the past, but in their current offering there are only three flip phones, and all are out of stock (probably because of others in the same boat as me). Tracfone has a BringYourOwnPhone program, where they will furnish a SIM card so the phone will work on their system, but it must be unlocked. So, how can I buy a flip phone that is UNLOCKED, so I can try to do this.
Sorry, I am only a egg, just use the phone for emergencies (and to pick up my groceries). I think I can find a phone I like somewhere on the vast internet, but how to insure it is unlocked?"

Microphone for iPhone

ThePinkSuperhero — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 05:52:43 -0800

I am filming some informational videos with my iPhone 11 and I need a microphone to assist with sound quality. I've filmed videos using the iPhone audio before and I want to up my game - last time we got too much background noise from crickets, etc.

A lapel mic that is wireless, user-friendly and no more than $100-150 is what I'm imagining but i am open to other suggestions as well.

Can I import an excel spreadsheet into UPS?

Violet Hour — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 00:40:19 -0800

I have a large (300+) excel spreadsheet of customer names and addresses. These people each need a package shipped to them. Is there a way to import the list into UPS, or am I stuck entering each one individually? I do have access to a CampusShip account, but all I see is an address book.

Fluctuating Audio Levels in OBS

roaring beast — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 10:59:42 -0800

I’m running a basic streaming setup through OBS. Every time I power up my PC I have to either bump up or down my audio settings by about 15db. Sometimes it is too loud so I turn it down, other times it is too low, so I turn it up. None of the settings on the mixer, usb interface or PC have been changed between startups. What could be causing this? I’d like to be able to just turn on my PC and have the settings the same each time, rather than having to make adjustments each time. (specs inside) Mixer – Yamaha MG166
Audio Interface – Behringer Q502USB
Windows 10 PC
Canon HF G50 camera (not using audio) into Elgato Streamlink 4k
Another PC is also running into the Yahama mixer along with mics and instruments

How to talk about "Big Data"?

turbid dahlia — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 14:57:03 -0800

How many Netflixes to the moon and back? How much Encyclopedia Brittanica can fit on the head of a pin? How long would you need to listen to Spotify to read all emails ever? At work, we are increasingly being asked to talk about the size and scope of our data in ways that everyday punters (such as government ministers) can understand.

Back in the day, it was simple. "A whole set of encyclopedias can fit on a single CD-ROM." That was impressive, because we all knew how big a set of encyclopedias was, and how big a CD-ROM was.

But now we are in the realm of petabytes. Many of Earth's people are magically streaming gigabytes at a time to their pocket phones, out of thin air, while on the bus, and without headphones.

One example from our department (not my example):

"If I was to express the volume (Tb) of downloads in the currency of music and music streaming since the Open Data Portal went live in August last year, it would equate to more than 26 years of nonstop listening or roughly four million songs."

This doesn't butter my parsnips any more than it butters yours. It is completely meaningless because it is dealing with such scale. Nobody knows what four million songs look like, or can conceive of listening to them for 26 years. And on top of that, data size simply isn't impressive any more. Sure we all want to have a terabyte of RAM, but only people who know about RAM and terabytes really think that way. Infinite data immediately at our fingertips makes communicating about what that means really tricky.

But I'm at a loss how else to talk about apples without comparing them to other, slightly different apples.

Any suggestions?

Google Forms Clearing Form When Respondent Selects NEXT

firemonkey — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 11:03:21 -0800

Google Forms is clearing forms instead of accepting responses and we don't know why. I work with a non-profit that provides free educational resources to immigrants. We use Google Forms to register new students in our classes. Because we are a non profit with no tech person on staff, we need software that is idiot-proof and fee. I thought Google Forms fit the bill, but lately we've been encountering some Google Forms strangeness.
The registration form people need to fill out in order to participate in our program has 3 pages. All required responses are marked with a *. If someone doesn't complete a required response, the form resets and they have to start all over. That behavior, while frustrating, is expected.
HOWEVER, we've lately been encountering another problem. Half the time, when the respondent fills out ALL of the questions and selects NEXT to proceed to the next page of the form, their response is cleared and they are sent back to the beginning. This is very frustrating, especially since many of the people we serve are not tech savvy and are often not willing to give it another try when they feel like they did everything "right" and still got their response cleared.
I tried it myself this morning. 2 out of 3 times my response was cleared after I selected NEXT even though I had completed all of the fields correctly. Here are my questions:
1) Has anyone run into a similar problem? Is there an easy fix?
2) Is Google Forms just not the right tool? Is there anything EASY and FREE that you would recommend instead (keep in mind this is a small non-profit where everyone is working more than one job and we are all pretty low-level tech users)

Best Phillips Hue App?

Mr Yak — Sun, 05 Sep 2021 11:27:55 -0800

I recently purchased Phillips Hue Bulbs (as well as a Bridge). Bring on the sunrise! What will make my smart home smartest? I now own two Hue bulbs. I'd ideally like them to fade on/off and between colors (e.g., a sunrise or sunset). The official Hue app can turn a set color on or off, but only at a preset time and I'm not always in bed at the same time. My dream would be for tie in with Google Calendar, where a recurring event would prompt a sequence. Barring that, I'd be okay pressing a button or a widget to start a sequence.

There are lots of third party apps that can control the Hue platform. Do you use one of these? Does it work for your needs?

Other tech considerations: I have an iPhone (with Siri/HomeKit/Shortcuts) and an Echo (with Alexa). I am happy to tinker and use IFTTT, but full coding is beyond me.

Wireless microphone with separate speaker

wenestvedt — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 17:36:53 -0800

I am curious about a wireless microphone headset for a teacher -- preferably with a remote speaker. Budget under $100. Battery should last the school day, but charging each night is fine. Can anyone suggest a specific unit, or general principles of the things, or pitfalls to avoid? My daughter is teaching grade school is a big, old Catholic school. Her fabric mask muffles her voice, but she needs it to carry to the kids in the back.

A neighbor who teaches first grade says that she uses a wireless mic, but didn't tell me any details about it.

I would like to see if I can find a possible solution for my daughter, but I know zero about this stuff. Thanks!!!

Cable conundrum

vocativecase — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 17:12:15 -0800

I have two male RCA output cables that I want to be XLR male outputs. I am not savvy at google for this kind of thing. I have RCA (F) to 1/4" (M) if that helps get to XLR male output. Sorry for the weird gender connector language, I'm not savvy with 'plug'/'jack' distinctions, etc.

Chill lofi beat tutorials for new beat makers?

pxe2000 — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 05:09:09 -0800

I'm very new to beatmaking (but not new to GarageBand or Soundtrap) and would like to learn how to make beats--just beats!--in a DAW. Details below the fold. Over the past few months I've been recording ukulele and vocals into GarageBand and recording covers. I'd like to add some beats to fill out the low end and give the songs more of a momentum, and I'm really drawn to the warmth and fullness of lofi beats. Whenever I've looked up tutorials YouTube about how to make lofi/aesthetic beats, they start with melodies--which I already have--and assume some knowledge of how to make beats, which I don't have.

My question is this: What are some resources for new beatmakers who just want to make aesthetic/lofi beats and have the melodies under control? If this helps, I want to make something that sounds a little like a glitchy, warped version of Casio presets (like this or this), but more bass-heavy.

Looking for entry-level surveys of software engineering

Anonymous — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 00:07:48 -0800

Can you recommend a good resource to give an entry-level web developer a survey or playbook of relevant topics in engineering? I have a direct report who is a recent-ish coding bootcamp grad. She knows how to code but is unfamiliar with things like common jargon used in software engineering (TDD, i18n, bikeshedding, rubber ducking, etc.) or basic principles of engineering (how to design an interface, what is appropriate test coverage, how to plan a release, how to accurately estimate a project, etc.) The company we work for is a fast-growing startup with minimal process, training, or established best practices around this stuff. I have some favorite articles on each of these topics but instead of looking up a million different articles I would love to hook her up with a book or website or collection of essays that gives a survey of software engineering in a practical way and that has enough depth to explain the general principles without going on for hundreds of pages about every minute aspect of these topics.

I am aware of the Pragmatic Programmer and it is along the lines of what I am looking for, but I'm wondering if there's a better resource out there -- it's a little more sprawling/unfocused than ideal and most of its advice is aimed at people who working on different kinds of systems than she is -- I don't want to overwhelm her with irrelevant information. The Effective Engineer is another good book for intro engineers but it is more about "soft skills" like allocating time and focus than it is about engineering.

Can you recommend any good resources to help? Thanks in advance.

Focus presets for hard-to-reach camcorder?

ericbop — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 09:30:17 -0800

Hi! We recently upgraded the hardware in our sanctuary for improved streaming, using 3 Canon VIXIA HF R800 Camcorders, each zoomed in on a different pulpit, and connected via HDMI to a Black Magic ATEM switcher connected to our Mac. The problem: every time we turn on the cameras, they revert to a default setting and need to be manually zoomed back to the correct focus. Is there a way to change the default zoom (like a preset?) so when we turn them on, each camera is zoomed in correctly without having to fiddle with each camera's settings before every service? Thanks!

Bluetooth earbud headphones with long battery life

jb — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 12:29:54 -0800

After many failures, I finally found some Bluetooth earbud-style headphones that suited my needs (Anker SoundBuds Slim), only to have them be discontinued. Now I'm looking for a replacement that has the same qualities. Anker has moved to only selling "true wireless" headphones - and the battery life on those is really short (only 4-6 hours).

I've looked at other makes, but I struggle to distinguish good from bad, expensive-because-they-are-good from expensive-because-they-are-fashionable, and the choices are overwhelming.

Here's what I loved about my headphones, and what I'm looking for in new ones:

- Bluetooth connection, but I'm skeptical about "true wireless"
Wired headphones break quickly and can't be used when my phone is in a waterproof pouch. I don't mind true-wireless if they have a long enough battery life (because maybe they are more durable - it's the wires that break first), but I will be immediately be buying/making a string for them so that I can hang them around my neck.

- long battery life
My Anker headphones played for 10 hours. I need at least 6 hours battery life to get through the day, preferably at least 8.

- good sound isolation
My old headphones were airtight, similar to an internal ear monitor. I could listen to quiet things in loud places (subways, busy streets) without increasing the volume too much. I've tried other headphones that claim to be sound-isolating, but they don't "suck into the ears" like airtight ones do, and therefore block very little outside sound.

- waterproof (I miss that more than I realized) - I don't want to go swimming with them, I just want them to not die if I drop them in the bath for a second

- microphone (I use them for phone/video calls)

- durable (it's not the cost, I hate sending electronics to poison the landfills - and I'll pay >$100 if they will last for years)

- available in Canada (many items available in the US may not be here)

(also, sorry for yet-another-headphone question, but the closest to my question was from a couple of years ago - and that's a few decades in headphone-time. 2 years ago, I would have recommended that I get the Anker Soundbuds Slim).

Looking for good bluetooth headphones with microphone

Legomancer — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 07:23:37 -0800

Hello! I recently decided to treat myself to good headphones and got the Sennheiser Momentum 2 AEBT model. They are over-the-ear (I don't like buds), noise-cancelling, bluetooth, with built-in microphone. They're great! Except the microphone doesn't seem to work. Whether paired by BT or wired, when I test the microphone on my Windows 10 Lenovo laptop, the volume level barely gets to 2%. I've tried all I can think of (updating drivers, re-pairing, the usuals) with no dice. The problem is, I can't find anyone talking about microphones at all. Every discussion I see (except for one single Reddit post) talks only about the sound quality, which is really good. So I don't know if I should exchange these for a new pair of same or return them and get something else. And if it comes to something else, I don't know what would be good sound quality AND be good microphones, because, again, no one ever seems to talk about the microphone.

Any tips on how I should proceed? These weren't cheap, so I'd like the money I spend to result in something that works as needed!

Aged relative + phone company = ARRGGH

SandiBeech — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 09:40:18 -0800

This might sound confused: because I am confused! My elderly relative is confused! It's possible that the phone company and the ISP are confused! I'm trying to help my relative get POTS landline phone and internet service working again. We think the phone was turned off because bills weren't paid. But now the phone company is saying that they need to install fiber optic service before the phone will work. Sometime after the phone stopped working the internet (I think DSL, aged relation has no idea) also stopped working. The internet company (a different company from the phone) says they will need to go into the house to set up a new modem, but relative says that they have never had to do that before to switch modems, and does not want the potential COVID exposure.

Relative just wants things to work the way they did before.

This might be easier if the phone company had a reputation for telling the truth, but their history of upselling and incorrect answers makes me question their statements.

I did find a copper line retirement notification for a nearby area on the FCC website but not for my relative's city. This relative is not interested in anything other than plain phone service and basic internet. No streaming, no cable tv, no call waiting. I think the ability to use the phone during a power outage is important.

I guess my question is how to help figure this out. Any ideas about who to talk to? It's been months.

I'm a big fan of this small fan: who can fix it?

oxisos — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 09:24:24 -0800

My Bionaire Twin Window fan (top pick on The Wirecutter) stopped working (won't power on) and I'd really like to keep it out of the landfill. It was a gift from years ago so I can't return it. I suspect a fuse might have blown but I don't have time to become an electrical tinkerer and don't have anyone in my circle who is that person. Plus, the product is on back order now so I won't be able to replace it very soon. I would like to find a handy person in Seattle who can diagnose and fix it. I suspect this will be a word-of-mouth thing because these people are usually hard to find via a web search. Do you know of anyone who could help with this?

AirPods Pro Xbox workaround

antgly — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 17:48:53 -0800

How do I use my AirPods Pro with my Polk React soundbar, Xbox Series X, and LG BX 55” OLED TV? I can’t connect my AirPods Pro to the Xbox directly. I don’t want to use my Xbox official headset, because I’m preferring the single player experience of Red Dead Redemption 2 and don’t need a somewhat watered down headset that’s used for in-game chat in the process.

Which of these laptops should I buy?

Ursula Hitler — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 17:00:23 -0800

After many months of dithering (see previous Ask) I'm close to finally buying myself a badly-needed new laptop. I'll use it for video editing, game making, comics creation and other graphics-intensive tasks, along with lots of writing. I'll be buying this on Amazon because I've saved up nearly $1000 in Amazon gift cards. I'm hoping to find something for under $1500. I've narrowed down my choices to three computers and I could use some advice about which would be best, or if there's a better choice I'm missing. Acer Nitro 5 AN517-54-77KG. This seems like it's probably the best choice to me, with the Intel Core i7-11800H and RTX 3050Ti, plus 1TB NVMe SSD. But I hear the keyboard doesn't have great contrast, especially when it's not backlit, and since I have to do a lot of writing I worry that would drive me nuts. It's also 17 inches, and the extra size will be useful for graphics stuff.

Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-54-760S. Intel i7-11800H | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, 16GB DDR4, 512GB SSD. This would be my second choice. From my research the Nitro sounds better, but I'm not an expert and maybe there are reasons to go for the Predator.

Lenovo Legion 5 15 Gaming Laptop. 15.6", AMD Ryzen 7, 5800H Processor, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050Ti. My third choice. This one's the cheapest and I hear good things, but I had a refurbished Lenovo years ago and it gave me endless grief. Lots of repairs, and Lenovo's tech support sucked.

Note that while I'm open to suggestions for alternative models, I'd really prefer to buy from Amazon directly instead of vendors on Amazon.

Software and services for tracking news and updates on 2k-3k people?

GPF — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 08:27:07 -0800

I have a long list of people (2000-3000). I know their names and smattering of other publicly-available professional details. What are programmatic ways to keep up with developments in their careers, news headlines, and other public information? I currently have a hard-to-maintain news aggregator on the project. It has lots of fiddly custom searches set up and data-based restrictions (X number of searches per alert, Y number of results, etc.) that make it a pain. I don't want to invoke it's name to avoid 'priming the pump' for similar suggestions and potentially rocking the boat with the vendor.

Solutions need not be strictly 'alert based,' although they are certainly welcome. Trying to come at it from every angle. In fact, something like an "automatically-updated directory with analytics dashboarding features" would be awesome.

I have a budget - not an 'infinite' budget, but suggestions need not be 'free.'

Is a 2019 tablet in 2021 a bad idea?

mippy — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 02:52:12 -0800

I want to replace my current Android tablet with a Samsung one with S-Pen compatibility. Should I buy an older tablet that's the right size for me, or should I opt for a newer one that is bigger than I'm used to? Specifics inside... My current tablet is a Huawei 8.4in one, released in 2016, bought by me in 2017. I really like the paper-back size screen, which is perfect for reading on the way to work, and I'd happily replace it with another Huawei if they weren't now without the Google Play store. It's getting on a bit, and I've also realised that the Samsung S-Pen would be extremely useful for me in terms of doing my Japanese homework for my online class, so I'm looking at Samsung.

The Tab A (2019) with S-Pen: right size, but older; only available through third-party sellers on Amazon and not elsewhere. Never came out in the UK so finding it new or used here is impossible (and I'm a bit wary of buying used for something I use so heavily). If they brought out a new version of this it would absolutely be my pick, but the availability and age has me unsure.

The S6 Lite - bigger screen at 10.4 , not sure how comfortable it will be to hold and do my reading/crosswords on, but newer and higher spec, including a much bigger internal memory. I want something primarily for reading/writing, not a laptop replacement. On the other hand, maybe this would be useful?

Cost is not so much of an issue - I have Amazon.com credit I was going to use to get it either shipped over to me in the UK or to pick up if I get to visit the US this year. I don't need anything other than wifi capability

The Tab A7 would have been perfect if a) it had S-Pen compatibility b) it allowed you to install apps on the SD card, as not being able to is a bit of a deal-breaker for me. I know there;s a new iPad Mini coming out, but I'd really like to stick with Android as I already have preferred apps, some of which are paid for.

Any experience with either?

Massive T-Mobile hack...what now?

diode — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 20:10:15 -0800

As a T-mobile customer, what should I be doing to protect my online security? I've been reading how the T-Mobile breach can greatly increase the likelihood of a SIM swap attack. I've changed my pass and pin at T-Mobile and set up Google Authenticator. Today I logged into my account and of several two-factor options, one is SMS texting. The company that just got pwned in a big way is going to text me to confirm my identify.
When I think about the many platforms that text me for two factor authentication, it's really a lot if not most of the sites I frequent.
Should I bail on T-Mobile? is there any cellular service with good defenses against SIM swaps exploits?

If the tapes don't work, is the player worth it?

CollectiveMind — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 11:44:11 -0800

I am thinking about buying a Sony VO-5600 U-matic 3/4" player/recorder. This technology from the late 80's/early 90's was the television & production industry standard before Beta, SVHS, then Mini DV and finally, digital cameras. But I want to have a conversion service for old formats to digital and my assumption is there are bunches of old U-matic tapes out there with video people want saved, but with no players. But I've heard that after about 30 years, the iron oxide starts coming off tapes. I've sometimes seen stations pulling out footage from stories on 1" or 3/4"" tapes when they look back at the anniversaries of some event. I assume that video has already been transferred. But my question is, are those original U-matic tapes out there that people may want converted even able to be played? Have they held up well enough for transfer over all this time or is it not worth it to spend the money on the player?

Please help me debug noise when plugging in small bass amp.

signal — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 08:50:37 -0800

1) I recently bought a Joyo MA-10B portable bass amp. Sounds great for practicing on my passive Squier PB+J when I power the amp with batteries, however: 2) When I plug it in using the provided 1.2A adapter, and crank the volume and/or gain past 50% or 60%, a LOT of noise comes out of it, not just humming but crackling.

3) The noise subsides if I touch any metallic part of the bass, or the strings and especially the cable.

4) There is no noise when using batteries, maybe a distant whine if I turn everything up to 100%.

5) This also happens if I plug in a Telecaster.

6) I checked the grounding of the outlet I'm using with a multi-meter: plugged in the red end to the power-hole, the black to the neutral, reads 210V (Chile is nominally 220V). Plugged in the black end to ground, reads 210V as well.

7) The Joyo adapter only has 2 prongs, so I think the grounding is irrelevant?

8) Tried 3 different guitar cables, including a brand new one.

9) I also get some noise when playing bass or guitar on an Orange Crush 20 guitar amp, and in this case it depends on the angle of the instrument to the amp (parallel to amp: more noise, perpendicular: less). This noise is not as bad as on the Joyo, but I never turn the Orange up past 20% volume, so maybe it's related to that.

"We'd like to share the latest updates with you"

Epixonti — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 06:34:55 -0800

I visit a news website and I get a popup saying something like "We'd like to share the latest updates with you." I can click on Allow or No Thanks. I always click on No Thanks, but what would happen if I made a mistake and clicked Allow? Would I just be asked to provide an email address, or would notifications start getting pushed onto my browser unwanted?