For years I've been using Homesite on a PC, which was a great text editor. Now I've switched to Mac and all the text editors I find pale in comparison, despite the fact that Homesite hasn't been updated in years. Help me find one that I'll like. [more inside]
posted by lsemel on Nov 19, 2009 - 16 answers

What are my options for RSS Readers that are text only? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Nov 12, 2009 - 8 answers

IndesignCS3Filter: Is there a way to break threaded text boxes but keep the text that is currently in the frames where it is? [more inside]
posted by nanhey on Nov 7, 2009 - 3 answers

I need some help repairing some text files. I don't really understand regular expressions and so on enough. [more inside]
posted by yesno on Nov 2, 2009 - 14 answers

Innovative Books: I am looking to compile a list of the most innovative uses of the book format. Books that break the mould in their layout and design, perhaps books that use online systems to extend their content value or push their form into new places. I am most interested in narrative and theory, but any book that is interesting (artist books etc.) would be really appreciated. [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Nov 1, 2009 - 29 answers

My (really not great) handwriting into pretty, pretty computer text? Is Livescribe the answer? [more inside]
posted by eb98jdb on Sep 23, 2009 - 4 answers

Hi AskMeFi. Can someone tell me how to combine 350 text files into one large text file so that the original filenames and dates are included above (or below) each entry? I'm using Vista Home Premium and they are all generic .txt files. I'm moving all of my notes into Evernote but want to save the names and dates of the individual txt files.
posted by chimrichalds on Sep 12, 2009 - 15 answers

Giving a speech filter: IS there any online service or program that you can put in a block of text and it will tell approximately you how long it'll take to read it out loud? [more inside]
posted by rileyray3000 on Sep 10, 2009 - 13 answers

DonatingTextbooksInAustraliaFilter: How would I go about donating a heap of recent secondary school textbooks to worthy causes. I'm in Melbourne, Australia. [more inside]
posted by micklaw on Aug 25, 2009 - 6 answers

Dreamweaver CS3 on Vista slows to a halt when typing or adding text. [more inside]
posted by sandra_s on Aug 14, 2009 - 4 answers

Natural Language Processing (NLP) Filter. I'm looking for a method (or category of methods) to judge the relevancy of a small unit of text, 100-200 chars, against similar units of text. [more inside]
posted by kuatto on Aug 8, 2009 - 6 answers

Batch convert Word docs to text files? [more inside]
posted by yarrow on Jul 9, 2009 - 5 answers

Web filter filter: I seem to remember a link to an NYT article that just contained the full text of the article in nice big letters, with no graphics, banners, or ads. It was fully attributed, with links to the original, but it was much more pleasant to read, especially for a long article. Is there a website that will filter out the clutter and provide links that can be forwarded?
posted by jpg15 on Jul 1, 2009 - 6 answers

My boyfriend Skype-IMed his mother a very dirty greeting that was meant for me. It still shows the circling icon that I think happens when you try to send a user a message when the user does not have Skype running at the time. Is there any way to delete this before she gets it? He's freaking out, as you would too, if I told you what he just told his mother.
posted by anthropomorphic on Jun 30, 2009 - 12 answers

How can I have Google Voice send my SMS to an instant message service such as Google talk? [more inside]
posted by jesirose on Jun 27, 2009 - 2 answers

[MomFilter] Looking for a reasonably cheap, reliable printer (for printing text) for an iMac. Leaning towards laser as the experiences with inkjets have been that bouts of little use lead to still full, yet dry and thus worthless ink cartridges. [more inside]
posted by blueberry on Jun 21, 2009 - 21 answers

PrepaidCellFilter: Two questions about prepaid cell plans: 1. Can I use a phone I buy off eBay with one of these plans, or is it essential to use the phones provided by the carrier? 2. If I'm mostly interested in texting, which prepaid cell provider would be the best for me? [more inside]
posted by reenum on May 21, 2009 - 10 answers

I need to make a sticker sheet in MS Word updatable -- all the stickers on the sheet look the same, but if I type "Q" in the first sticker, "Q" will appear on all the other stickers. Is this possible? [more inside]
posted by Shepherd on May 14, 2009 - 9 answers

How do I curve a text box in Adobe Illustrator CS2 [more inside]
posted by Man_in_staysis on May 11, 2009 - 4 answers

I'm on a Mac and I use the program Adium to access my AOL IM account. I also have a Blackberry Bold....At some point, I decided to try the feature of connecting my AOL IM account to my cell phone which would allow me to receive IM's on my phone even when I am logged off from the service...Now I don't know how to make it stop.. [more inside]
posted by TwilightKid on Apr 29, 2009 - 2 answers

I'm giving a big presentation in a couple of weeks and it has to be impressive. I have a fabulous idea for a graphic, inspired by the facebook friend wheel, where I want to wrap perhaps 100 words around a circle and draw lines to connect them in illustrative ways. The drawing lines part is easy, but the wrapping text around a circle part is hard (without doing it one element at a time, rotating and aligning each one just so). I *know* there's an easy way to do this, but am not quite smart enough to figure it out in omnigraffle or find another program that can do it. I can use Mac or PC. If you point me to a workable solution, you'll get your name in lights (if you wish) in addition to my unending gratitude.
posted by ezola on Apr 21, 2009 - 12 answers

How do I view .csv (comma-separated values) files IN Firefox in a nice fixed-width column format? [more inside]
posted by shmooly on Apr 15, 2009 - 4 answers

Is there a simple way to convert a multi-page website to a mobi-format book for reading on a Kindle? The site contains html-text plus graphics, but no interactivity. [more inside]
posted by grumblebee on Apr 10, 2009 - 10 answers

What's the current state of QuickTime VR editing software on OSX? [more inside]
posted by dbiedny on Mar 25, 2009 - 1 answer

Does anyone here have any experience working with SMS/Text message broadcast vendors? A client of mine is a very large membership organization (in the US, California if it matters) that is interested in beginning to use SMS to communicate with its members. But the whole scene is hard to get a handle on. [more inside]
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly on Mar 19, 2009 - 8 answers

Back in the 80's I played a text based college basketball game on the PC. Anyone remember it? [more inside]
posted by unceman on Mar 17, 2009 - 3 answers

I have hundreds of text strings entered through a form in a Google Spreadsheets which look like 4*3 9*2 17*3 22 37*4 52. I can easily substitute " " for "+" and concatenate a "=" in front =4*3+9*2+17*3+22+37*4+52. Now I have a text string which looks like a formula but isn't one. How can I make Google Spreadsheets interpret this string as a formula? [more inside]
posted by Akeem on Mar 12, 2009 - 3 answers

Is there a way to have a image signature in Outlook that will display predefined plain text in the event the receiver can only receive plain text emails? [more inside]
posted by schindyguy on Mar 3, 2009 - 5 answers

Excel is chapping my hide. I have a comma-delimited .csv which contains quote-demarcated text fields. The source of my never-ending joy is the recurrent use of inch-marks and commas within the textfields. Right this way... [more inside]
posted by mwhybark on Feb 25, 2009 - 18 answers

I did a dumb thing. I put together a book list in this format: first-name last-name (tab) book-title Note that there *isn't* a comma between the author's first and last name. Is there any "computer magic" I can perform to change it to this format: last-name first-name (tab) book-title The list is just in text format, for what it's worth. I'm on a Mac but also have access to a PC. I'd rather not have to cut-n-paste the last names, it's a pretty long list.
posted by edjusted on Feb 17, 2009 - 16 answers

I am looking for writings on mimesis in regards new, digital, hypertext and hypermedial technologies and cultures. [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Feb 16, 2009 - 7 answers

I'm beginning the long process of physically typing my dissertation, and I want to tap the hive mind for how to make the best use of my text editor. Yes, I said text editor: I know that programmers swear by emacs/vim/whatever for physically manipulating text, and I want to know what tricks they know that will be useful for someone writing actual English, not just code. [more inside]
posted by philosophygeek on Feb 11, 2009 - 21 answers

Can anyone recommend a powerful textual search tool I can use on anything I want? [more inside]
posted by valkyryn on Feb 6, 2009 - 11 answers

I'm writing a shell script to take a webpage and convert it into a text file. I'd appreciate tips as to how to store URLs, save the file with the URL's title as its name, and also just general tips as to how to improve the script and/or achieve the process better. Specific questions inside. [more inside]
posted by WCityMike on Jan 30, 2009 - 17 answers

Looking for a specific article on text placement on a map. [more inside]
posted by bellbellbell on Jan 26, 2009 - 7 answers

What color text on what color background maximizes screen readability while minimizing eyestrain? [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Jan 19, 2009 - 19 answers

A previous thread recommended OhDontForget.com as a way of scheduling text messages to be sent to one's phone. Though the site makes reference to UK cellphone carriers, tests to my O2 phone have not worked, and the site says it is "currently only working in the US and partly in Canada". Does anyone know of a similar service that functions in the UK?
posted by skylar on Jan 6, 2009 - 6 answers

In a monospace text editor, how can I highlight a bounded, rectangular area? [more inside]
posted by casaubon on Jan 5, 2009 - 6 answers

A friend of a friend who does not care for me told his friend that I sent him a text mesage to his cellphone and even showed his friend the message however, I did not send the message, do not know this person's cell ph # nor do I know his last name. The question is, how did he show my cell ph # as having sent a text message to his cell ph. It must be possible because my friend saw my # attached to this message in the inbox in his cell ph .
posted by tipper on Dec 23, 2008 - 13 answers

Is there any way to export all of the text in a FLA file? [more inside]
posted by suedehead on Dec 17, 2008 - 11 answers

/* Is a lot of commented out text bad for a home page? */ [more inside]
posted by pixelnark on Dec 7, 2008 - 10 answers

Communicating with a group via text and email? How can a group of 7 communicate via text and email. 3 are email only, 4 are text only, the idea is any member can send a single text or email which is delivered to all 7 as an email or text as appropriate. Does this exist? Alternate suggestions welcome. [more inside]
posted by zingzangzung on Nov 13, 2008 - 7 answers

Please help me make a change to multiple .txt files using this funny computer code thing. [more inside]
posted by foxy_hedgehog on Nov 11, 2008 - 31 answers

OSX application for displaying text as one line and scrolling it sideways - like a news ticker? [more inside]
posted by djgh on Nov 6, 2008 - 11 answers

Need a Ultra Edit Windows Free Alternative for a Not For Profit Organization. Meaning "free for non-commercial use" doesn't apply to us. Thanks! [more inside]
posted by bleucube on Nov 6, 2008 - 12 answers

How can I stay up to date on the latest election results while I'm away from my TV this evening? [more inside]
posted by nokry56 on Nov 4, 2008 - 1 answer

How can I follow election results on my cell phone? [more inside]
posted by Amanda B on Nov 3, 2008 - 8 answers

Is there a free program like Textsoap for Windows Vista? [more inside]
posted by Infernarl on Oct 18, 2008 - 1 answer

Does anyone know of a software package or service that will ring my telephone when an email is sent to it? [more inside]
posted by JeffMezick on Oct 6, 2008 - 5 answers

Obscure linux/unix text processing command: what is 'dt'? [more inside]
posted by logicpunk on Oct 6, 2008 - 9 answers