Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with column

I need a list of all the countries

billtron — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:55:49 -0800

I'm looking for a randomized list of every nation state in the world, preferably in spreadsheet column form. Is there anything like this?

Car column possible?

Groovytimes — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:19:20 -0800

What resources are there for getting a car column into a local paper. This question isn't so much about me as it is for my father. He works in the auto industry as a service manager at a local dealership. He came to me today asking about starting a web page which would answer individual car questions, debunking myths, etc. After discussing many options we came to a conclusion that what our local paper needed was a column that dealt with just this issue. It would be similar to an "Ask Amy" column but for cars, kind of like Click and Clack (If you listen to NPR). My questions are:

1) Is this realistic?

2) How should he prepare a proposal to submit to our local paper?

3) Are there any resources which provide information on starting your own column?

We live in a town with about 100,000 residents, most of which commute to the nearby city central.

Do you remember this advice column?

kate blank — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:47:43 -0800

Do you remember a funny, hip etiquette and/or advice column written by two young women? I remember reading this column online five or more years ago. It was two women who were young, hip and funny answering reader queries about etiquette and (maybe) sex. I am pretty sure the column name included their first names. Any ideas?

(Failing that, got any young hip etiquette columns for me to read online?)

Is there a way to get overflowing text to appear in a separate div?

carnival of animals — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:27:51 -0800

Is there a way to get overflowing text to appear in a separate div? My aim is to create a website layout resembling a two-column newspaper story. Ideally I'd like to have two column divs with all the copy in the first (left column), which has a set height value. Any overflowing text would automatically be sent into the second div (right column).

Is there any way to do this, or to achieve the same result another way? Is there any reason I shouldn't do this?

I'm prepared to manually adjust the copy in the columns if there is no elegant solution, but I would prefer it if I could get my CMS template to handle these columns somehow. I'm resigned to the fact that I'll probably have to do it manually though, as I haven't seen any CMS-run sites with a dual or multi-column layout where the copy just flows from one column into the next.

Selecting range of data based on values in a particular column

squorch — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:02:59 -0800

ExcelFilter: How can I select a range of data using VBA in Excel based on the values in a particular column? I've got a report that exports its data to excel in 4 columns: Name, Crew Station, Hours in last 30 days and Hours in last 60 days. Crew Station, located in Column B, has two values: PILOT and AIRCREW. The macro sorts the data by Column B, with PILOT rows on top and AIRCREW values on bottom. I want to select the AIRCREW range of data (all four columns) only.

"A Very Good School"

pamspanda — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 05:11:47 -0800

I am trying to locate a copy of a Charles Osgood column entitled "A very Good School". It is at least 15 years old and I have lost my original copy that was published in the local newspaper. Can you help?

Can I make an Excel chart from only one column?

niles — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:06:28 -0800

How can I create a chart in Excel 2007 showing the number of times a certain value occurs in a column? This seems like it should be really simple, but I can't for the life of me figure this out.
I have an excel spreadsheet with about 150 rows of marketing data that I'd like be able to chart, but with only a single column of data per chart. Maybe this is possible with Pivot Tables? I can't figure that out.

Here's an example: Column H has the cities everyone lives in. I want a chart showing how many people live in a given city. I could obviously count this out by hand ("Ok, that's 5 for San Diego.."), but I can't help but think Excel should be able to do the heavy lifting for me. I'm fine using macros/VBA, but this seems so simple! Famous last words, I know.

Let me know if I need to clarify this.

GeekTool issues

djgh — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:44:33 -0800

Get GeekTool to print in columns? I'm using GeekTool to print song lyrics on my desktop, with the following command:

osascript -e '''tell application "iTunes" to set currentLyrics to the lyrics of the current track'''

However, this prints everything in one long column. How can I get GeekTool to print excess output in a second (or even third) column?

ExcelFilter: How do I display the sum within that column without resulting in a "circular reference" error?

chefscotticus — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:10:56 -0800

ExcelFilter: How do I display the sum within that column without resulting in a "circular reference" error? I'm building a spreadsheet to keep track of my paychecks. I'd like to keep track of YTD totals of a column (eg, federal taxes) at the top of that column, and find a formula that I can enter once into the top that will calculate the sum for the rest of the column for as many entries as I choose to make. Simply summing the entire column results in a circular reference error.

In other wods, for the simplified example below, give me a function for [SUM_FEDERAL] (in B1) that will sum the individual values for each cheque without me having to adjust/copy the function for each entry of a new cheque. (I know I could simply do =SUM(B4:B100), and adjust after 100 entries, but I want a solution that both scales and makes it simple to maintain).

AB
1YTD [SUM_FEDERAL]
2
3 Cheque No. &nbsp &nbspFederal
4015
5028
6037

I imagine that there is a super simple solution -- after several hours of playing around and searching Google, I've given up and turned to MeFi.

Syntax Error at Line 1, Column 61?

WCityMike — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 16:41:58 -0800

Mystery error ... possibly with MagpieRSS in WordPress' rss.php, but I can't figure out how to fix it. In the "error_log" file, I see a constant recurring error "Syntax error at line 1, column 61". I've Googled the hell out of it, and it seems to be related to MagpieRSS, which I believe is integrated into WordPress as rss.php. However, I can't figure out what's causing it, despite a good 90-120 minutes of detective work. Even the timing seems erratic: they'll happen in clumps 1 or 14 days apart, and in the clumps, each individual error might happen eight or 60 minutes apart. It doesn't seem to happen more than two or three times at a "clump."

Google turns up a LOT of noise in the results, as Googlebot indexes the error when it occurs on people's blogs. I've seen it reference a "rss-fetch.inc" in some blogs, but I can't find a counterpart in WordPress.

Anyway ... would appreciate people's genius on this one.

help me name a column about dance

dydecker — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 13:42:15 -0800

What is a good name for a monthly column about dance music? Any suggestions appreciated. The column has a focus on new music, more about trends and the state of play rather than strictly releases. It would be nice if it could catch a hint of that in the title, but not strictly neccessary.

What is your personal narrative?

loiseau — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 07:13:33 -0800

Do you have any recommendations for solid creative non-fiction magazine columns or the like? I'm a writer and I really enjoy both reading and writing personal narratives like the NYT's "Modern Love" column or the Nerve "Personal Essays" section... the kind of thing which is sometimes called "creative non-fiction".

With a view to both finding new regular reads and finding new markets for my own writing, I'm looking for recommendations for this style of magazine writing, or anything you think is related and worth exploring. I'd prefer stuff I can read online for free, but I'm not particularly excited for Joe or Jane Blogger, unless they're professional and write in a more thoughtful memoir style, rather than this-is-what-my-kid-did-today.

Thank ye!

What kind of bugs will hover above trees in giant, narrow columns?

elvissinatra — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 09:34:44 -0800

What kind of bugs will hover above trees in giant, narrow columns? This article about a hatch of mayflies showing up on National Weather Service radar reminded me of this time a few years ago that my wife and I were driving down the expressway in West Michigan and noticed these huge columns of tiny bugs circling above the trees on the side of the road. Sort of like very tall, thin, slow tornadoes.

The individual bugs were too tiny to see, but there must've been thousands of them because the columns extended probably 50 feet above the trees, and were probably two feet in diameter.

It was one of the weirdest, creepiest things I've ever seen, and I've never seen it again. Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Any photos of it on the web?

I remember gnats flying over my head out in right field when I played tee-ball. But if I'd ever seen anything like this, I'd have been afraid they were going to lift me up and carry me away!

Help me plan out a strange segment in a weekly newspaper.

stokast — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 05:11:00 -0800

Help me plan out a strange segment in a weekly newspaper. I work for a local alternative newsweekly and I'm trying to arrange a regular segment with a local comedian/actor/celebrity. He is too busy to write something on his own and we can't afford to pay him very much anyway, so I suggested a short weekly interview. ...And he is very close to agreeing.

He's known as a bit of a weirdo and his humour is dark, daring and intelligent. I'd like the column to be creative and imaginitive.

What should the interviews be about? How should I go about it?