How can I auto-magically create a vCard from an email signature? I'm growing tired of the repeated copy-and-paste operations required to make new entries in my Apple Address Book when I have a nicely formatted signature file right in front of me. Is there a script or other handy tool that will do this work for me, guessing which bit of info is the name, phone number, etc. and placing them into a new vCard for me?
posted by mfitz on Oct 26, 2009 - 4 answers

Auomating Mac Filter: I want to upload a movie to a free video sharing site from the command line. How? [more inside]
posted by 47triple2 on Oct 15, 2009 - 3 answers

I want to automate a Word document for some sales drones. I'd love it if I could check for when a Quick Part field ends with an "s", and if so insert just an apostrophe as opposed to apostrophe then "s". But how? [more inside]
posted by Ridge on Sep 4, 2009 - 8 answers

I am in a market for a Windows macro recorder and am trying to decided between Perfect Macro Recorder or Jitbit or whatever HIVEMIND suggests... [more inside]
posted by tcv on Aug 20, 2009 - 2 answers

I'd like to automate my mac to do keystrokes. Like, flicking between an excel spreadsheet and firefox. I'd like free software to do this. Any suggestions? [more inside]
posted by omnigut on Jul 20, 2009 - 7 answers

Automatically login / logout of Gmail at a specified interval [more inside]
posted by passtehbrainz on Jul 11, 2009 - 7 answers

Excel n00b filter: Is there a way to automatically convert an expense sheet from one currency to another by matching the date the cost was incurred with the exchange rate applicable on that specific day? [more inside]
posted by doctorpiorno on May 29, 2009 - 6 answers

I want to assemble 4000 still images from a recent trip into a movie. I don't want to do it manually. Please tell me what software will do this for me! [more inside]
posted by jozzas on May 23, 2009 - 21 answers

Is there any way to extract/copy the automation data (e.g. volume, panning in real audio or midi) from a music sequencer so that it can be displayed and analyzed as numerical data in another programme? Is there an indirect way to do the same thing by tracing the line in a graphics programme? [more inside]
posted by leibniz on May 14, 2009 - 9 answers

Want to build a backup/storage/print server for a home network that the users will never have to be aware of [more inside]
posted by ConstantineXVI on Apr 21, 2009 - 14 answers

In Excel, is there an easy (i.e. free) way to cross-reference new spreadsheet entries with another workbook to ensure there are no duplicates? [more inside]
posted by downing street memo on Apr 20, 2009 - 8 answers

I need to automate the process of printing a report to PDF with the date in the file name, saving it in an archive folder, printing it, and emailing it as an attachment. I am on a Mac and using Pages, Automator, and AppleScript. Help me find the missing pieces! [more inside]
posted by joshrholloway on Mar 28, 2009 - 4 answers

Mefi broadcasting experts: suggest broadcast automation software for the radio station of the organization I do IT support for... [more inside]
posted by stenseng on Mar 13, 2009 - 7 answers

In Photoshop 5.5 I was able to create an action to resize a layer/selection to a maximum width (say, 200 px). I could quickly select objects of varying initial sizes, run the action, and voila, everything fit neatly in a column. I've had Photoshop CS4 for over a week and can't figure out how to replicate this; my resizing seems to always be happening as a percent of the original size. [more inside]
posted by amtho on Feb 8, 2009 - 17 answers

How would I automate converting Project Gutenberg books into ebooks for Classics.app on the iPhone? [more inside]
posted by tksh on Feb 2, 2009 - 4 answers

Help me create a short cut that opens an Internet Explorer webpage with part of the link set to change dynamically to today's date (i.e., http://boingboing.net/2009/01/27/ if I clicked on it yesterday, http://boingboing.net/2009/01/28/ if I clicked on it today). Can this be done? [more inside]
posted by unclezeb on Jan 28, 2009 - 10 answers

Automation Filter: How can I automate the insertion of data from a spreadsheet into a Word report template? [more inside]
posted by McBearclaw on Jan 6, 2009 - 8 answers

How can I automate emacs to open a file, execute a bunch of macros, then save the file in a new format? [more inside]
posted by Barry B. Palindromer on Dec 30, 2008 - 5 answers

What's the best way to mass install over an Active Directory network? [more inside]
posted by Whoop on Dec 9, 2008 - 16 answers

Please help me automate a repetitive task (log in to website, then after successful login, load some pages, then log out), in a way that can be scheduled so that it runs at two different hours each day. [more inside]
posted by mebibyte on Aug 29, 2008 - 15 answers

I have an Excel pivot table for sales performance data. I want to break that down for regional managers so that they only have access to their own offices' data while preserving the nice formatting that the pivot table provides. Is there an easy way to do that? [more inside]
posted by willnot on Aug 20, 2008 - 3 answers

I'm working for a newer growing, small business (4-5 employees or so). We have to send emails containing the same information to existing customers. For example, we have to notify customers about their accounts (for example, their CC/billing information becomes outdated) or customers send us a question. We're looking for an efficient way to do this. [more inside]
posted by fizzix on Aug 11, 2008 - 5 answers

Is there an automated (or "simple") way to undo iPhoto effects? Some look difficult, but the "pop art" effect in particular looks like if should be fairly easy to get something like the original image back.
posted by d7415 on May 23, 2008 - 8 answers

A good, modern, local website traffic stats solution? [more inside]
posted by rokusan on May 14, 2008 - 4 answers

How do I automatically create a series of images of sequential numbers? ( 01.jpg shows the number '1', 02.jpg the number '2', etc) [more inside]
posted by Grensgeval on Apr 30, 2008 - 5 answers

How can I automate the news searches that I'm performing on the same subjects day after day after day? [more inside]
posted by abkadefgee on Apr 28, 2008 - 9 answers

BoringFilter: I have to send out a large group of emails (around 175), and I would love to use mail merge to do it, but there is an annoying twist... [more inside]
posted by BobbyDigital on Apr 4, 2008 - 6 answers

How can I use Automator to make a PowerPoint presentation run? [more inside]
posted by COBRA! on Mar 25, 2008 - 15 answers

Help me rock out some automation on my spankin' new MacBook! [more inside]
posted by drgonzo2k2 on Mar 21, 2008 - 6 answers

What's the best web site builder software for a non-beginner? [more inside]
posted by jurczyk on Mar 16, 2008 - 11 answers

Help me automate this task involving USB-disks, Excel, HTML and maybe a batch file. [more inside]
posted by Iteki on Mar 5, 2008 - 5 answers

Are there any browser plugins that allow you to see exactly what is being sent to a website (form post values, cookies, querystring, etc)? [more inside]
posted by sherlockt on Feb 25, 2008 - 7 answers

For windows batch files, is there a way to automatically close dialog boxes that open as a result of a windows program producing an error? [more inside]
posted by jldindc on Jan 27, 2008 - 5 answers

Best web server/language for running remote tasks? [more inside]
posted by mphuie on Jan 21, 2008 - 9 answers

On Windows, what are my freeware or cheap options for image transfer? Preferably something that automates the image transfer from flash card, usb, etc. into folders such as "January 2008", according to the EXIF data. Picasa doesn't seem to do this. The bloatware that came with my HP printer/scanner does, but it's ... bloated.
posted by Xere on Jan 12, 2008 - 8 answers

What is this called: A little terminal (not part of the phone) on an executive's desk that says who is on the line. [more inside]
posted by Futurehouse on Jan 11, 2008 - 7 answers

I just bought a Brother P-Touch automatic labeler. How do I get it to stop printing a a long margin before the text begins? The "margin" setting seems to only control the right margin (i.e. after the text), not the left margin.
posted by Malad on Nov 6, 2007 - 10 answers

I'm looking for sources of weather data (current conditions, forecasts) that are in text formats so that I can turn them into a Twitter weather bot. What I have in mind is either existing ASCII products (METAR, AVN MOS) or derivatives of image products that (e.g. a compact text encoding of a radar map through some kind of image analysis). Ideas welcomed. [more inside]
posted by edwardvielmetti on Oct 30, 2007 - 5 answers

I want to know what backup strategy I should be using for my computer(s) at home. [more inside]
posted by Tbola on Oct 14, 2007 - 13 answers

I'm looking for a tool that takes an RSS feed and makes a screen shot of every URL referenced therein. [more inside]
posted by Herr Fahrstuhl on Sep 15, 2007 - 10 answers

OS X: Automatically trigger actions after connecting to a network. [more inside]
posted by uncle harold on Jun 24, 2007 - 5 answers

ATL, COM, Automation in VC++ 2005 - Help me make sense of it all! [more inside]
posted by blahtsk on Jun 14, 2007 - 7 answers

Could you post your own suicide video to YouTube? [more inside]
posted by chudmonkey on Apr 26, 2007 - 22 answers

How can I automate a series of photographs using two digital cameras and a set of lights? [more inside]
posted by Tallguy on Nov 17, 2006 - 10 answers

What is the best software out there for making, printing and managing large numbers of flash cards? [more inside]
posted by killdevil on Nov 15, 2006 - 2 answers

.NET build automation software experiences/recommendations? [more inside]
posted by mkultra on Nov 13, 2006 - 4 answers

AutomationMeta- How do I create a simple automation to search webpages for offensive language (job). [more inside]
posted by redhotchips on Oct 26, 2006 - 5 answers

Laundry status / notification system; Please help me find a creative, high/low tech way to retrofit the community washer and dryer with remote progress info [more inside]
posted by AllesKlar on Jun 9, 2006 - 21 answers

I have a file in Word with a header that consists of a date, centered. Is there any way I can add 29 pages to the document to make a total of 30, dated " Thursday, June 1, 2006" - "Friday, June 30, 2006"? It seems like some sort of mail-mergy voodoo might work. [more inside]
posted by rossination on May 17, 2006 - 6 answers

Is there a freeware utility (PC) that takes in an image file containing a scan of multiple photos, then removes each individual photo, straightens, crops, and saves each photo as an individual file? Here is a sample if my description is unclear. It seems my photoshop 7 will not do it (although newer versions do).
posted by masymas on May 4, 2006 - 3 answers