Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with codes

What does it all mean?

clorox — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:58:25 -0800

What do these codes on my CDs mean? On some of my CDs' jewel cases there are short, three- or four-character codes directly after the catalog number on the spine or the back of the case. The codes do not show up on the CDs themselves. The codes are printed in square boxes, similar to old-school track numbering and digital/analog recording identifiers (DDD, ADD, AAD).

I have only found them on records published by Decca (London, Argo, etc.), Deutsche Grammophon (and Archiv), and Philips. The only consistent trend between these is that they all have some connection with Polygram or Polydor.

Examples from DG:
445 542-2 [G][MA]
289 463 612-2 [G][OR]
439 006-2 [G][HS]

Example from Philips (this only appears on the back of the case):
420 354-2 [P][M]

Examples from London and Argo, respectively:
410 017-2 [10] [L][H]
414 595-2 [Z][H]

SLI VS CROSSFIRE VS MY BRAIN

Bageena — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 01:00:25 -0800

Question: where can I find a valid coupon/discount code for a Dell XPS 730x. I've heard there's some out there for 20-25% off, but I can't seem to find anything online that's working. Failing that, how much of a difference is it really if I just build a really sweet XPS 630? The system I want, the 730X, has an Intel® Core™ i7-920 (2.66GHz, 8MB cache), 3GB3 Tri-Channel DDR3 at 1066MHZ (3x1GB DIMM), and a pair of nVidia GeForce 9800GT 512MB3 setup SLI along. If I can't find a coupon to get the price lower, I'm looking at building (XPS 630) would have a Intel® Core™2 Q9550 (12MB,2.83GHz, 1333FSB), 8GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz (4 DIMM), SLi Dual nVidia GeForce 9800GT 512MB... the difference without a coupon is nearly $1000. It's been a lonnnnnnnnnnng, long time since I've built a PC or even scoped out the specs on the newest processors, video cards, shit, rigs at all. Like, for instance, instead of getting the SLi, Dual nVidia GeForce 9800GT 512MB on the XPS 630, should I spend the extra $100 and get CrossFireX, Dual ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB instead?
For the record, I don't do a whole lot of gaming YET on the PC, but I could. I do use it for a lot of multimedia (like 3 to 4 TB of movies and music and stuff) and graphic design. I spent a lot of time on the computer and it'll be awhile before I get to buy a new PC again. Help?

How do you manipulate the system?

JimmyJames — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:44:00 -0800

What sorts of code words, specific language or techniques are used in your industry, profession, or area of expertise that can be used to manipulate the system? Or, what sorts of tricks have you found that work in similar ways? Recent events got me wondering about professional secrets, codewords, specific language and passwords. My mother was recently in the hospital with a broken leg. Her friend (whose father was Chief of Staff at a major hospital) explained that when asked how much pain she was in to say "7" because seven was the supposed threshold for the admissions doctor to consider administering drugs.

My good friend called into work saying he was sick with "explosive diarrhea" and was told to under no circumstances should he come to work.

My uncle put added the fact that he is a Reverend of the Universal Life Church to the front of his drivers license and now gets treated differently every time someone asks for ID. These can't be the only time or place that specific language can help in navigating the endless bureaucratic systems of life. I'm interested in the tricks that you've learned in your life to help game the system.

Ugly little field codes in Word

Jimbob — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:34:49 -0800

How do I stop Word 2000 (Windows) from displaying field codes constantly? This has started happening in last week - while editing Word documents, whenever I make any kind of major change to the document, or do something like print a page, save the document, all the fields get reverted back to field codes, forcing me to constantly select all, right click, and "Toggle Field Codes". Two minutes later, the field codes will be back again. I rely on fields a lot for Endnote references, tables of figures, tables of contents etc. What's doing this, why now, and how can I stop it?

cryptography book question

Marky — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:52:15 -0800

Help me find this cryptography book... I remember reading a history of cryptography. One story it told was about a guy who was looking for a book about WW2 codes, which had been printed, then recalled and destroyed. He found a copy in a library, drove there and made a copy.

So, the questions are:

Where would I have read this story?

Who was the guy?

What was the book?

Is it on-line?

I know Stephenson had a version of this in "Cryptonomicon," but that's not what I mean.

Fuel Injectors Leaking

blue shadows — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:07:19 -0800

I drive a 97 Cavalier that is otherwise in good condition, but I am having a terrible time with the injectors leaking gas. The seals have been replaced several times, including at the dealership with the correct factory seals. Each time the leak stops for 5-7 days and then returns as bad as ever. The injectors appear to be alright and the interesting thing is that when the same seals are reused and reseated, the problem again halts for a few days. It is driving me crazy because when I turn the heater on the smell in the car is so bad I can't stand it. (Yes, I know this dangerous).

I also had someone check the car with a little hand-held code checker and it came up with the following:

IDK air rpm higher than expected
Fuel Sytem 1 - CL
Fuel System 2 - CL-fault
Calc Load 39.61
ECT 195
STFT-B1 -0.78

The engine light is on but could be due to not having a catalytic converter. Anyone know what all this means and what to do about it?

The mystery of the open garage door

wexford_arts — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 06:37:06 -0800

Why did I find my garage door open this morning? I haven't opened it with the garage door opener entry pad for several days, and I know it was closed completely the last time I used it. I have a detached garage off my back yard. (Lined up: house, back yard, garage). There is a standard door leading from the yard into the garage, but the main garage door can't be seen from the house because it is on the other side. So I can't easily see if the garage door is open or closed unless I walk around there and look.

I had a Chamberlain Whisper Drive installed last year that uses a rolling code transmitter. I generally open the door by either pressing the large button on the wall after entering the garage by the door leading into my backyard, or by entering my code into the keypad by the garage door itself.

But this morning I found the door wide open (Luckily, my bike and a few other valuable items were still there.) I don't have a car, so I don't go out to the garage daily, so the door may have been open for minutes or even days, as the last time I opened the garage door was Monday night.

So far, my theories are:

1) The small remotes stored in my back room may have been nudged so that the open buttons were pressed.
2) Someone guessed the correct code, opened my garage -- and took nothing.
3) One of my neighbours' remotes somehow opened my door, but given the rolling code, isn't this astronomically unlikely?

Any other theories? And what steps should I take to prevent this from happening again?

It would be fast and easy to change the code on the keypad, if this was somehow compromised, but I may have to actually clear all codes to make sure the small remotes are cleared, too, and only reprogram the keyless pad. (Remember, I don't drive and don't need the remotes, although I want to keep them if I sell the house so the new owner can use them).

Help me find a way to incorporate codes and ciphers into my everyday life.

Astro Zombie — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 05:51:38 -0800

Help me find a way to incorporate codes and ciphers into my everyday life. I've developed an interest in codes and ciphers, but I have no secrets that are worth keeping, and nobody to tell them to. I'm trying to find an engaging way to incorporate these tools of secret communication into my everyday life, be it through games, at work, online puzzles, or in my everyday communication. Suggestions?

.name transfer without auth code

rdr — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:40:13 -0800

I two .name domains that I very much want to transfer away from registerfly. Every registrar I've tried wants an authorization code to do the transfer. Registerfly maintains that I don't need an authorization code to do a transfer for a .name domain. From what I can tell registerfly might actually be correct. Even if registerfly is wrong I still won't be able to get an authorization code from them. Is there a registrar out there that will do a .name domain transfer without an authorization code?

Puzzle master wanted!

neurodoc — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 16:20:10 -0800

Can someone direct me on the right path to break this code? As a fun challange, I've been trying to decode a message that someone gave me. The message was created with some sort of dingbat font, and there are no word breaks. There are a total of 198 characters, made up of 38 unique symbols.

I've converted the symbols into A-Z plus 0-9 plus @ and $, and have looked at the frequency of each character. However, nothing really jumps out (1 character appears 14 times, 2 appear 13 times, 1 at 10 times, 3 at 9, and so forth on down).

Any advice on what to do next to crack this thing?

What's wrong with my XML?

miniape — Thu, 25 May 2006 12:13:51 -0800

XML Character Woes: I'm getting the error Reference to undefined entity 'ldquo' (and 'rdquo, etc) when I try to open my XML files with IE or Firefox. Can you help me fix it? I know the parser is seeing it as an entity and looking for a definition, but I can't define them in the DTD because I don't know what entities might be coming in.

I've set the elements to CDATA hoping the parser would ignore it, but that doesn't change anything. I've also tried changing the entities to the various numerical entities.

My goal is just to have valid XHTML entities in the text. These files are certainly going to be converted to HTML at some point but who knows where else they'll go. They might go back into InDesign, etc.

In case it matters: I'm getting the content from InDesign and running it against some scripts to fix them up. InDesign is giving me Unicode, and I'm converting the Unicode special characters to the 'rdquo' style html entities

Need help with Seattle roofing codes/permits/etc.

markblasco — Sun, 07 May 2006 13:29:46 -0800

Help me with re-roofing my Seattle Garage - permits, codes, etc. I am going to be selling my house (In Seattle) in about 2 months. The detatched garage has to have the roof replaced. It is an old cedar shingle roof, and it already has 2 layers, so I know those will have to come off and we will have to put down a new backing and new shingles. Do I need to get a permit for this? Where can I find info on the building codes, so i can make sure that it is done right? I will have people to help me, and one of them has done some roofing, but I need to make sure everything is done correctly so that there aren't any problems when it is time to sell the house.

And now a word from our sponsors

medium format — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 11:52:20 -0800

UK Television: On ITV, what is the black and white animated bar in the corner? It comes on about 60 seconds before a commercial break. My wife tells me that it's been there as long as she can remember (I've only lived in the UK for 2 years). She's sure it's to indicate that a commercial break is coming, but can't remember why it is there.

Can I really change my local government? Maybe.

ieatwords — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 14:25:41 -0800

How does one go about having a city municipal code changed? My city council is the city’s legislative authority and sets the policies under which the city operates. I'm looking to convince our city government to change our beach curfew from 10:00pm to midnight. I have never tried to petition the government for anything. So I have no idea where to begin. I'm looking for the basics here. How do I bring my case to the city council? What would the process be? What formalities/legalities are involved, etc? I will appreciate any insight into this. I would also like any advice on how to research my case for the change. Any insight is great! I look forward to your answers!

Sending IR from my K750

lemonfridge — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 16:25:36 -0800

Capturing IR signals, and sending them from my K750i... While on holiday in Japan I purchased a couple of TINY remote control cars for use with Japanese mobile phones, or with an included remote control.

The box has a QR code on the back, which I guess either contains the software for the phone, or links to the software for the phone on the interweb.

As the QR code is of no use to me, and neither is the software..how can I capture the IR signals from the remote control and program them to buttons on my K750 (ideally the joystick) and send them back out?

I understand It'll probably be an job for a Java application of sorts..but thats about all I know.

least visible/ugly power extension codes?

grafholic — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 13:57:01 -0800

least visible/ugly power extension cords? long story short, I just moved into a studio apartment and they chose most retarded locations for power outlets in the main room, which means i have to wire around extension cables to use several of my electronics including phone and DSL.

i am looking for thin, very invisible and not so ugly power extension codes to do the job (unless wireless power extension box is available??).

my room walls are painted white if this information helps.

yes, getting a permission from the landlord, opening up a hole and creating another power outlet would be the alternative to this, but i have had many bad experiences with electricians in the past and would love to avoid this route if possible.

What technologies are used to create sites such as myspace.com?

ieatwords — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 10:54:02 -0800

I'm curious what codes are used to create sites such as myspace.com. Obviously html for the design, but what about the rest of the site. It is essentially a database. I'm not a programmer so I have no idea what type of coding is involved for searching and allowing others to fill out forms to create a profile. I'm also wondering what type of equipment would be needed to host and maintain a site such as this. I'm basically looking for what is involved on the backend on these type of sites.

Nurse's Codes?

kev23f — Mon, 05 Jan 2004 03:58:57 -0800

You know the chart they hang on the end of hospital beds? Apparently there's a myth that nurses put 2 letter codes on these that describe the characteristics of the patient that annoy/irritate/disgust them most. Has anyone heard of these?