Ask MetaFilter questions in the technology category

DVD recorder with digital tuner recommendations?

Dolley — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:50:23 -0800

I don't have cable or satellite, don't want cabe or satellite, but I want to be able to do timer recordings of TV shows to DVD. I believe this requires a DVD recorder with a digital tuner. Where do I find a good one for $150 or less? And setup tips and/or traps to avoid greatly appreciated as well.

Help needed with powerpoint upload to youtube

TheBones — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:23:45 -0800

Question on changing a powerpoint to a movie and uploading it to Youtube. I have created a powerpoint presentation and saved it in the .mov format and tried to upload it to youtube- no go. Imported it into quicktime pro and saved it in avi format, uploaded it to youtube, but youtube didn't keep the timing of slides so all slides went through at 1 slide per second instead of the 1st at 5 seconds, the 2nd at 10, the 3rd at 15 seconds, etc.

I have a mac and don't, currently, have access to quicktime pro, just the regular quicktime.

Any thoughts?

Help me bring my living room into the future!

COBRA! — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:14:04 -0800

My wife and I are finally getting around to getting an HDTV soon. When we do that, we want to adjust the setup in our living room to reflect the way we consume entertainment these days. Part of this means the VCR gets chucked, of course. But more
importantly, we're trying to figure out the most cost-effective way to
get content from our 2 main online sources, iTunes and NetFlix, onto
the screen. And be able to run DVDs, and have a
basic-cable-for-the-broadcast-channels hookup.

The options, as I see them (and part of the reason I'm asking this
question is that I assume I'm missing something):

- Roku + basic cable. Great, except we can't buy shows from iTunes.

- AppleTV + basic cable. Opposite problem. Can't stream from Netflix.

- Cheap, web-connected computer + basic cable. Seems like a winner,
but involves more of an outlay (this is more or less what we do now,
except that it's my wife's laptop that gets laboriously hooked up
every time we want to watch something). Plus then there's a desktop
box sitting in our living room. And, assuming the setup wound up like
our current laptop hookup, we don't have remote control of the sound.

Is there an angle I'm missing? A way to optimize one of these options? Help!

Creative Ideas to get my money's worth post facto-

priested — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:08:07 -0800

I might have to pay money for a service I basically never used. Any creative ideas on how to get my money's worth post situation? I requested new home phone and Internet service from Verizon approximately 7/30/09, after which I was told a phone number was issued to two homes simultaneously.

My phone service did not get connected until 8/4/09 and my Internet service was never connected. By 8/7/09, I requested the entire plan be discontinued as a result of Verizon’s unprofessional handling of the situation (spent about 7 hours on hold or speaking with supervisors that couldn't do anything but give me the run-around, and not even politely at that).

Upon original receipt of requested payment, I contacted Verizon’s credit department and was told I would be issued a credit for the amount owed, essentially nullifying the amount owed.

I requested this in writing but did not receive this. Now I got a letter from a collections agency (which I've in-turn disputed after getting no where on the second round of calls).

I am being asked to pay for a service I did not use for anything outside of contacting Verizon to fix the problems they created (can they charge me a whole month's worth for 3 to 4 days use?).

Additionally, they are saying I had the service longer than I did (4 days of it the phone didn't work, although their system says it did because the number was duplicated and worked elsewhere).

Here's the real question... Assuming I do have to pay the amount (it's under 100 bucks, but it is the principal!), any suggestions on how I can get my money's worth out of them? I've considered printing up thousands of flyers and posting them around town, etc...

The more creative, the better.

Why does my Canon Rebel XTi download so slowly to my Mac?

Brodiggitty — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:05:28 -0800

Why does my Canon Rebel XTi download so slowly to my Mac? Canon Rebel XTi downloads perfectly fine to my PC at home (1 sec or less per pic), but when using it at work on a mac, it takes about 10 seconds to download a single large sized JPG. This becomes a big problem when I return from a sporting event with 500 pics and it takes over an hour to get my shots downloaded.

I've also used a Rebel XT (the earlier model) on the same computer and I do not have this problem. With that camera, it's 1 second or less per pic. It's not the cord because I've tried several.

My work computer is an iMac (? no tower, just a silver screen, sorry, I don't have a mac fetish) with Mac os X 10.4.10 with a 2GHz intel core duo.

We need a Hallmark card... with video!

czechmate — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:26:06 -0800

Is there a way to record just a few minutes of video (like Hallmark does with cards) so our Grandfather can keep it by his bedside and watch it to his heart's content? My Grandfather-in-law is dying of cancer at the moment and we were told yesterday that he's unable to walk and does not have much longer to live. There's simply no way we can travel there to be with him. It's a mixture of my pregnancy and money. Last minute tickets to Czech (for my husband) are just out of our league.

We want to send him a video.. something small, telling him we love him. He can't talk on Skype anymore because he's unable to get out of bed. Is there a device that allows a few moments of recording and watching, like Hallmark does with recordable cards?

Is there something we could construct (cheaply) that will do this for us? Plus, something that can play whenever he touches a button so if he wants to play it over and over, he can?

whirr click click whirr click click

bunnytricks — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:52:27 -0800

My four track recorder is making an odd mechanical noise at all times. What gives? There's a weird sound coming from the cassette deck of my Tascam four track. It's a very faint whirring sound with two louder ticks occurring fairly rhythmically back to back every second. The recorder itself seems to be working perfectly, but it sounds like some mechanism inside is activated whenever it is powered on and makes me think that the whole shebang is about to die any moment. What could it be?

how to get sound from tv's built-in speakers

anonymice — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:51:54 -0800

How do I set up my home theater to let me use my tv's built-in speakers? I normally use a Bose 5.1 surround speaker system, but would sometimes like to use my tv's internal speakers instead.

My main home theater components -- all connected by HDMI -- are:
-- Onkyo TX-SR674 Receiver
-- Tivo Series 3 HD, and
-- Panasonic TH-42PX60U Plasma TV

The tv's speakers definitely work. I've tested them by connecting a VCR directly. But I've never been able to get any sound from them when I use the receiver. So I figure either the receiver or the tv is cutting off the audio signal.

The TV automatically shuts off its speakers when it detects that external speakers are connected. But the TV's set-up menu has a setting to turn the speakers on. I've done that, but no success.

I've also screwed around with the receiver settings, like turning on HDMI audio out. I've even tried running composite audio cables from the receiver to the tv. Still no luck.

Any suggestions?

What should my son's first computer be?

emjaybee — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:41:00 -0800

What should my son's first computer be? Or rather, should it be a computer at all?

He's four, and expressing an interest in playing online Sesame Street games, etc. on our computers, but he's a little rough on things and I have no desire to have ours trashed. Plus my Mac mouse makes things hard, the whole no-obvious-button to click is confusing.

Should we get some of those semi-computer toys that you see in stores, and if so, any recommendations? Or start with a gaming system, even? (we don't have one). I want him to learn keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc. He doesn't read yet, just recognizes letters and numbers. Not wanting to blow big bucks.

Any suggestions?

Speaker Output of Amp A to RCA Input of Amp B

forallmankind — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:35:06 -0800

Is there any way I can take the speaker output from underpowered combo CD/ amp A and run it into the RCA input of power amp B? If not, what is the difference between what is running out of a speaker output vs what is running out of an RCA output?

How frustrating will Windows 7 actually be?

mitzyjalapeno — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:23:22 -0800

Will I have any compatibility issues with Windows 7, Sony Acid Pro 7.0 and recording equipment? We need to upgrade to a new computer, Macs are not financially feasible, but we could still go with a PC and still have an actual upgrade to what we're working with now. The main things we're concerned about working with Windows 7, Sony Acid Pro 7 and an M-Audio Axiom 49 controller and a Behringer Xenyx 2442FX mixer. We already own everything except Windows 7, and I don't want to replace everything else.

I hate being a slave to tv, help me get my DVR back.

NoraCharles — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:10:39 -0800

How do I go about figuring out what is causing my cable (or power) troubles and hopefully fix it? (sorry for the length, I just want to provide as much information about the problem and symptoms in the hope that someone can help me)

I have Comcast with the DVR. I was watching tv one night and the box just turned off. It came back on and showed 8888 and reset all the channel information. I could still get to my DVR and the shows I'd recorded, but when I couldn't get to On Demand later on, I called Comcast and reported error "4" (which is what the screen told me to do.) I told her what happened and she sent a signal, but that didn't help. I unplugged for five minutes, plugged it back in, that didn't help. I have digital cable in the bedroom (with no DVR) and that was working fine, no interruptions, the channel guide was fine.
So we set up a service call because I couldn't get to On Demand and the channel guide wasn't loading, but I could still watch tv.

So later over the weekend, it popped off, flashed to 8888 and reset all the channels and the guide again a few more times. Then sometime Sunday, I lost the ability to access my recorded programs. Then by Monday, I lost all onscreen guides and functions altogether, the only thing I could do was change channels and the volume. The time was frozen at 12:00. I only mention that because in retrospect, it was like it was slowly dying, bit by bit, it wasn't like everything stopped working at once, I don't know if this matters or not.

But like I said, I could still watch all my channels - I didn't know what they were or what was on, but I could watch. I did still occasionally get the power off, 8888 problem.

The Comcast guy finally shows up today and swapped out the box. Everything seemed fine at first. Then it flashed off, came back on with 8888 and all the channels were reset. He told me that the problem must be electrical and not in the cable or with the box because something was interrupting the power and causing it to reset.

We then tried unplugging it from the surge protector and plugging the box directly into the wall, same error. Then we got an extension cord and tried another outlet across the room, same error. He had originally used the old DVR power cord and put in a new one. Same error. He told me the new box could be fried already.

He was also there to install Comcast phone service, so we took a break and did that. When we were done, we tried one last thing with the box- unplugging all the other stuff hooked up to it: a DVD player and a switcher box I had that is hooked up to a dustcovered Playstation and a VCR. All we had was the tv plugged into the box (power cord and cable) and the box plugged into an extension cord to an outlet across the room. IT WORKED!!!! I could get to On Demand and the guide was still loading, but I could see channel call letters, that channel 65 was Comedy Central, etc. He said the guide would take a while to load. I signed the paperwork and he left.

About 10 minutes after he left it happened again.

:sigh: I'm fried.

My landlord is away for the weekend, so I can't call him up and ask about the electrical in the outlet until Sunday night. I've never had problems before and everything else that was plugged into that surge protector still worked fine.

So I have several questions....

-Is it possible the new box is fried and I should just go to Comcast tomorrow and exchange it?
-I really don't want to fry another one of their boxes (if it is) so is there any other way I can figure out what is causing the problem so it doesn't happen again?
-What would my landlord look for to be wrong? Would we have to call an electrician?
-Could it be another piece of equipment that was hooked up to it that is causing the problem? Can anyone recommend a method of testing things out?

Thanks in advance!

Need ideas for a really cool (and challenging) beginner's program I can write in PHP.

kitcat — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:01:40 -0800

Need ideas for a really cool and challenging beginner's program I can write in PHP. For the final assignment of my beginner's programming class (the language is PHP), I get to write a program that will do whatever I like. I'm really dorkishly excited and I want to choose something both cool and kinda tough - something I'll learn a lot from putting together.

The program has to contain decision structures, looping and arrays at the very least. I can involve other scripts / languages or web stuff if I choose, but as it stands right now, I don't know how to run web apps - only a little bit of HTML and CSS. And there won't be any GUI, since we haven't learned any of that in conjunction with PHP. My instructor has suggested a financial calculator or a contact manager. These seem booooring. And a little bit too easy, too. Yes, I'm a beginner, but I think I can handle something more than that.

Please help me come up with some ideas. What was the coolest 'first real program' you wrote?

Mobile Me in Melbourne?

chairish — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:15:02 -0800

I'm a Kiwi who travels to Australia (usually Melbourne twice a year for a week or so). I'm currently using a Telecom NZ Nokia e71 phone. If I use data roaming it will cost me $8 NZ per megabyte. I'd like to know from any Aussies out there if you know if there are any alternatives for pre-paid data. The Telecom version of the e71 will work through 900 or 1800 GSM networks as well as 850 or 2100 WCDMA. Obviously the WCDMA is better/faster than GSM.

Do you know if there is a pre-pay type deal that I can sign up for to get a few MB of data - enough for Google Maps, email, etc while I am away from home?

Blackberry/smartphone idiot.

ebesan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:22:29 -0800

Blackberry/smartphone idiot... a smart move? For the complete idiot, tell me what a smartphone can really do. Wiki says alot, but I don't understand much. I'm attracted to more and better access/apps, but need to watch my budget. $$$$$ How to find a reasonable plan in NYC, for someone who does not need the phone by my side 24 hrs.

What's a Reasonable Hourly Rate for Drupal Work?

peter_meta_kbd — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:32:05 -0800

What's a Reasonable Hourly Rate for Drupal Work? I am interested to know what is the going rate for drupal programming now that we are semi-out of the recession.

A few more details:

Assume US citizen programmer is US-based independent contractor working on 1099 basis with modern 4 core setup, legal copies of windows, CS4, etc. Assume programmer works from home, does all own work, has been working with drupal for 2 years, overall programming for 10 years with a 4-year degree in the field. Programmer is responsible for setting up drupal internals, and also for doing some graphics work like making logo, and also css, etc. Programmer sometimes modifies modules, often makes custom themes, views in views module and php code, and formats with css, sometimes also some unix system administration is required and accomplished.

Thanks.

Why no iPhone -> Outlook task sync?

Izzy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:14:27 -0800

Why no iPhone -> Outlook task sync? After two plus years there's still no elegant solution for users who want to sync Outlook tasks with their iPhone. There was some talk at one point of Apple releasing a native task app for the iPhone, but to date, this is vaporware. Task sync is a feature that is not deemed optional or a luxury on competing smartphone platforms--it's something that Blackberry users just take for granted. When I ask folks about this they either have no idea what I'm talking about or I get smug, unknowing responses like "just use the calendar!"

I've tried all of the various kludges that are available and they're so annoying (and also expose your personal data to uncertain security risks) that I just end up not using them. You mean to say I have to use the cloud to sync my local data? I do like my iPhone, but I've noticed that I'm just not as organized and as effective without having my tasks on my phone. I know that there are solutions for Exchange, but that's overkill for a single user who just wants to sync their tasks with their desktop.

Would someone please provide an explanation as to why Apple or a 3rd party developer cannot provide this seemingly modest bit of functionality? A functional spec would have to include at the very least a rudimentary iPhone task app that supports the core feature set of Outlook tasks, and also supports roundtrip task sync (desktop tasks sync to phone, phone tasks sync to desktop). Extra points for alerts on the phone (though Apple's prohibition on background tasks makes this a challenge).

Best blog platform for easy commenting but little spam

bystander — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:12:42 -0800

Best blogging software to allow easy commenting by strangers but avoiding comment spam. I want to start a new non-commercial blog that encourages comments from readers, but avoids as much comment spam as possible. I realise this is tough, but what is the best current solution? I am not up to date on this area, but I want a middle ground that perhaps avoids a registration stage or moderating every comment. Is there possibly a comment option that allows a comment to be written, but it only goes live after a link delivered to a valid email is clicked? Is there a better solution? I feel captchas are not as effective as they have been, yet I want to avoid robot spam, but also make drive by valid comments be possible. Is this a pipe dream?
I can probably install any suitable software, but my preference is a *nix based solution or hosted. Free is better but not essential.

Idiot-Proof Camera

Yakuman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:15:38 -0800

What the most idiot-proof low-end digital camera? Emphasis on idiot.

Is it worth it to get an Android phone without the 3G data plan (only EDGE data)?

kenliu — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:33:24 -0800

Is it worth it to get an Android phone without the 3G data plan (only EDGE data)? I did a phone plan search on Billshrink and found out that I can get the new Google phone (the mytouch) from T-Mobile, but get unlimited data (presumably by doing a SIM card swap from a different phone) for about the same amount I currently pay per month.

I like the mytouch phone and Android apps. The 3G data plan is desirable, but not enough for me to pay the 20 bucks or so per month. I'm currently using a BlackBerry with unlimited data (EDGE), and it's slow, but not unusable.

So the question is - is it worthwhile to get an Android phone without the 3G data plan? Is EDGE too slow to be practical for Android apps?

Java quicksort

Benzle — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:50:11 -0800

hey java programmers, I have a beginners quicksort problem for you. I am trying to write some code in Java that will read in the numbers from a file (one # on each line of .txt file name inputted by user) put them into an array, and then run quick sort on the array, AND THEN print out the sorted array. This last part I'm having torouble with right now. I tried to format it below, but maybe copy and paste to Eclipse would be easier to read,
Errors I marked with comments, and what the error is, if anyone can help me get this to run, thanks everyone!

import java.io.*;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.Scanner;

public class sdfs {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
System.out.print("Name of file with array: ");
Scanner readIn = new Scanner(System.in);
String input = readIn.nextLine();

}

public static void testScan1(String filename) {
File file = new File(filename);
Scanner scan;
try {
int[] array = new int[5];
scan = new Scanner(file);
} catch (java.io.FileNotFoundException e) {
System.out.println("couldn't open. file not found ");
return;
}
while (scan.hasNext()) {
for (int i = 0; i <> pivot)
j--;
if (i <= j) {
tmp = arr[i];
arr[i] = arr[j];
arr[j] = tmp;
i++;
j--;
}
}
return i;
}

void quickSort(int[] arr, int left, int right) {
int index = partition(arr, left, right);
if (left < (index - 1)) {
;
}
quickSort(arr, left, index - 1);
if (index < right) {
quickSort(arr, index, right);
}
}
}

How to program a Radio Shack PRO-2018 Scanning Receiver?

randomthoughts — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:03:52 -0800

Can some one explain simply how to program a Radio Shack PRO-2018 Scanning Receiver Police/Fire/Weather/Air/Marine Radio? Bonus for finding Minnesota fire and police codes?

Can I temporarily stop Google Reader?

pdb — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:18:01 -0800

Is it possible to temporarily stop Google Reader feeds from updating? I'm going on vacation for a week sans any technology whatsoever except an emergency cell phone, and I don't want to come back to eighty bazillion unread Google Reader items.

I know I can "mark all as read" when I get back, but I'd just as soon turn off the information spigot entirely, if that's possible, and turn it back on when I get home. I have about 150 subscriptions, so I'd rather not unsubscribe/resubscribe to them all individually.

I'm not one of those people who will care what I miss while I'm gone, so I have no desire to see the vast number of unread items that will await if there's a way to avoid doing so. My search of Greader help and of the askme archives didn't uncover any ideas, but I'm not the most effective searcher in the world so I thought I'd ask.

To Build or Not to Build

sciencemandan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:25:14 -0800

I'm looking for a decent 4-bay (minimum) network server on the cheap. I'm trying to set up a backup server for a video surveillance system. I am going to end up needing 8TB or so for file space (I won't need all of that to start, but I will over time, so being able to add drives to an existing system would be nice). Windows Home Server seems like the way to go since you can add drives and it puts them in a storage pool.

So here's my question: should I go for an existing product like this, or can I build one for cheaper? I have a license for Windows Home Server, so that's not an issue.

I've built systems before, but never one for the sole purpose of network storage, so any suggestions for a case that can hold at least 4 drives, a motherboard that can take 4 SATA drives, and a decent power supply would be much appreciated. Also, knowing how much RAM and processing power would be helpful (if that even matters...I'd imagine that serving up files wouldn't take up a great deal of system resources).

Does SmartTalk Wireless suck?

4ster — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:44:18 -0800

I am considering switching to Straight Talk Wireless when my Sprint contract expires in January, and I am looking for people's experience with Straight Talk. The pricing looks too good to be true, the phones look kind of sucky, and I read somewhere that their customer support isn't great. It is also difficult to find reviews on their phones. Can anyone who has actually used their service testify to it either way? Also, if I port my number to them, and then want to leave after a month, can I port my number to another carrier?

Thanks for your insight.