Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with conversion

Exchange rate for repaying debts?

Weng — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:41:42 -0800

FinanciallyCluelessFilter: If I borrowed money from a friend in British pounds (when I was in the UK) and am now repaying him in Australian dollars, should I be repaying him at the current exchange rate, or the historical exchange rate at the time of the loan? I'm guessing the latter, but I'm interested to know other people's opinions / if there is a standard practice. I just noticed that the difference between the current exchange rate and that of a few years ago, would make a couple of thousand dollars difference in the total of the debt repayment. (On a related point, should I/he be factoring in the actual fees for currency exchange?)

Convert now or later?

susanvance — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:26:36 -0800

Should I wait to convert my Traditional IRA to a Roth? I've got a Traditional IRA that I'd like to convert to a Roth, especially since I've got the savings to do so now. I'm 28, single and have no dependents. I'l need to split the conversion over 2 years to stay within my tax bracket, so I've been planning to convert 1/2 this month, and then 1/2 in January 2010.

However, when I called to get the paperwork to do so, the guy I spoke with strongly implied that it was a Very Bad Idea not to wait and do the whole conversion in January (even though they can't officially give advice). I am very aware that 2010 conversions will be allowed to split the tax payments over the following two years. But since I have the cash in hand now, why would I wait?

My main concerns are:
- I don't like the idea of that amount hanging over me for the next two years, especially since I don't know now if my income (or taxes themselves) will be higher in 2011.
- I suppose I could put the money I'd spend on the conversion towards funding the Roth further now, but I'm nervous about not having enough future savings to make the tax payments later. Similarly, the gains seem fairly small if I instead put that money in a CD for a year or two, given that current rates are only around 2%
- It's possible that I'll apply to grad school during the next year or two, and I wouldn't want earmarked savings to lower my loan eligibility.

Would like to open these documents

amethysts — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:36:41 -0800

I have some .pages documents and do not have Apple Pages to open them with. This question was asked back in 2005 but I was wondering if anyone has solved this problem yet. Already tried a bunch of online doc->PDF converters, and downloaded OpenOffice, to no avail. I'm on Windows XP.

If worse comes to worse I can just wait for the person to respond to my email. If it was an emergency I would get on the train and go to my school's computer lab, but I don't have a lot of time and it's cold and dark out.

Is there a way to do this without going outside? Thanks for your help.

How can I convert Microsoft Image Composer files into a usable format?

Lazlo — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:33:56 -0800

I have a bunch of old Microsoft Image Composer (.mic) files. Nothing in my current toolkit can handle the format. How can I view them and/or convert them to something useful? Google consensus seems to be I should torrent a copy of Image Composer -- which used to come with FrontPage, IIRC -- but I'd rather not risk downloading a trojan. I'm running Windows.

Thanks!

Most cost-effective way of transfering money from UK to US

moiraine — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:30:39 -0800

Need to transfer modest amounts of money from UK to a US bank account every 2-3 months. What would be the most cost-effective way to do so? I am working in the UK. I need to pay off study loans in the US, with the first loan installment due in a couple of months. I intend/ need to transfer between anywhere between $500 to $2000 to my US bank account regularly, say every 2-3 months.

The most cost-effective way that I know of would be to take out the money in the UK, change at the Post Office (with 0% commission rates), and physically the money to the US, and place it in my bank account there. This, of course, assumes my plane ticket is paid for and I am not robbed (I have done this before, and I was fine, but I don't want to do a regular basis).

Wire transfer appears to be the second cheapest method, and I am happy to pay the wire transfer fees (~20 pounds, depending on the bank). However, I understand that the bank have non-competitive exchange rates, which are hidden costs of the transfer (~50 pounds will be 'lost' in the exchange).

I considered making regular transfers from my Paypal UK to my Paypal US account. This would be extremely convenient, but there are hefty commissions -- about 5%, and I think more is taken off from the receiving end (?)

Anyway, I was wondering whether people had any personal experience with wire transfer and non-competitive fees. Any additional ideas are also appreciated. Would appreciate if there were no comments like, "But if you just paid a little more, you could save yourself the hassle!" as I am willing go through a fair amount of hassle just to pay less fees.

I have family in the US who are probably willing to cash in a check for me every month, if this makes any difference.

How do I Live Trace the images in a PDF in Illus CS3?

cobra_high_tigers — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:47:25 -0800

How do I Live Trace the images in a PDF in Illustrator CS3? So, a friend has mocked up a program for a conference that he's arranging on a shoestring budget in Microsoft Word. The printer was ready to charge like $200/hr for converting this document to a printable format, which is out of the budget range my friend is working with. Basically, he said that it needed to be in a vector format in CMYK color space.

Since I have a mac, the first thing I did was to print the document to a pdf, to convert all the text to glyphs. Next, I opened a page in Illustrator, and it was easy enough to convert the color space to CMYK from RGB. Finally, I went to convert the raster images inserted in the document (.jpgs and .gifs) to vectors. The tutorials I had seen for Live Trace made it look pretty simple, but I can't figure out how to make it happen on my document.

It isn't that I'm displease with the results, it's that I can't make it happen at all. With the image selected, the Object->Live Trace->Make menu option is grayed out.

What do I need to do to the images in this imported pdf to make it so that Illustrator allows me to Live Trace them?

Thanks for the help!

Deconverting Christians

LSK — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:02:28 -0800

How do I convince [the more liberal] Christians to become atheists? (Issues you have with the wording of this question are likely addressed inside.) Obviously "Christian" isn't an all-encompassing or precise term, and there are a plural of sects, approaches and levels of worship. I'm primarily curious how to 'deconvert' the Christians who aren't so dedicated - those that maybe go to church on Sunday, but don't let the principles of Christianity rule their lives.

The difficulty in attacking Christianity is often that direct reason is rendered useless in the believer's mind by various arguments, such as these:

- Claims that God is the one aspect of life that can be dictated by faith, that he exists beyond logic, or etc.

- "But I've FELT God!" or "But I KNOW he's there!" or etc.

- "There's not enough evidence to prove or disprove God, so you have to choose one, so I chose to believe in God."
___
Various disclaimers:
1. This question's definitely not the best fit here, but the Green's the only place on the internet where people with the ability to answer this congregate.

2. Yes, I know that I'm asking how to impose my opinion on others. I understand that this is often considered to be in poor taste - see #1.

3. A previous version of this question was removed as chatfilter. I assure you that I'm asking this with intent to put this to use - I just don't feel comfortable specifying exactly where.

Applications for converting XML to Word / PDF?

UbuRoivas — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:51:19 -0800

Applications for converting XML to Word / PDF? I'm looking for an application that can convert multiple-record XML files with embedded (encoded) images into human-readable form - Word or PDF preferred.

Ideally, the application would be easily configurable as an end-user productivity tool, eg with a drag-n-drop interface for laying out which fields appear where on the output file (not unlike a mail merge).

Splitting the output into separate docs for each record in the XML would also be a bonus.

Currently, I'm taking a look at Altova Stylevision, but wondering if there are any other products that might also fit these requirements....?

How to put a new cell service & phone number on a Motorola Razr

cuddles.mcsnuggy — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:59:03 -0800

How do I delete old data on a MotoRazr Maxx cell phone which was formerly on Verizon, and set it up as an extra for someone who uses Alltel? My mother uses Alltel as her cellphone service & she's new to having a mobile phone. Mom thinks she's accident-prone, so she has asked if she can have one of our old phones as a backup in case something happens to hers. We have several outdated phones around the house and I'd like to give her my husband's old MotoRazr Maxx. Problem is, we use Verizon, and his old address book and photos & such are still on the phone even though he doesn't use it and it has no active service (we have Blackberries now). My questions are:
- How can I delete all my husband's data from the phone? The manual from Verizon doesn't explain this.
- How to set it up so Mom can use it with Alltel? Can I "install" her phone number on it myself? Or is it easiest just for her to bring it to her Alltel store & have the magical cellphone elves do it there? (is that even possible?)

I've already searched AskMefi & google but didn't really find what I was looking for. Thanks!

Currency conversion UK or Thailand

SRMorris — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:40:07 -0800

Is it better to convert my money here in England or out there in Thailand? Very simple question really but I'm not sure whether it would be best to change my hard-earned money here in England or over there in Thailand. I know not to convert money at the airport as they use higher exchange rates to make their money but any advice/tips I can be given would be smashing!

Batch convert Word docs to text files?

yarrow — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:29:40 -0800

Batch convert Word docs to text files? Does anyone know of a utility to convert a large number of Word documents (hundreds) to text files in Windows XP? They are in Word 2003 (.doc) format. The Word docs are about a 1MB each because they have images, but the text files they turn into are only about 4KB. I want to run a text processing script I wrote in perl on them, but I'm not sure how to get them in text format in the first place without opening each and converting it by hand. Looking for free solutions if possible, just because it's a pain for me to pay for software at work.

Stop Burning Dinosaurs.

Jon-o — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:40:06 -0800

Waste Oil Diesel. Any satisfied users? I found a couple AskMe posts from '05 and '06 and I wanted some more current information.
I've been doing some research into running a diesel Benz on waste cooking oil and I was hoping to probe the hive mind in regards to a couple unresolved questions that I have. I'm trying to figure out if I need a special kit or not. All of the grease conversion kit websites say that a kit is critical. However, I've met people in the real-world who own and operate a number of waste oil diesels without a conversion kit (just an extra superfine filter) who claim to experience no ill-effects. Their cars start and run fine, despite the insistence by conversion kit retailers that the waste oil needs to be at least 160F to ensure correct viscosity. There are also some concerns about the waste oil causing corrosion and damage to the stock fuel system.
The science behind the kit is very convincing. However, pouring grease into a car, starting it, and seeing it run fine is pretty convincing, too.

So, do you run veggie oil in your diesel?
Did you buy a conversion kit?
Did you annihilate your car after running veg oil without a kit?
Have you had years of trouble free driving, just pouring veg oil in your tank?
Do you have an awesome recipe for SVO fuel that ensures stability and correct viscosity?

Thanks folks!

Know a great Rabbi?

semacd — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:18:08 -0800

Converting to Judaism in Boston - suggestions? Any recommendations for reform temples in the Boston area (preferably close to Lexington)? Have you converted to Judaism in the Boston area? If so, any recommendations for rabbis to work with (again, ideally close to Lexington)? Do you know anything about the temples in/near Lexington? I'm hoping to find someone great to work with, who will also hopefully perform my marriage in a year or so.

Help me spend money on techie stuff!

cachondeo45 — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:41:14 -0800

Scanners, cameras, DVC conversion, oh my! Need your wisdom, Mefites! Budgets & descriptions inside! I have the following budget for some items that we need to order at work and I am in charge of ordering them. Yipes! Here's what we need, what we need it to do, and the approximate budget available:

1. Scanner (around $400): We need to be able to scan photographs, documents, possibly negatives into high quality digital files. The scanner will be used by two people and rather moderately (around a few times a month).

2. Digital camera (around $500): We need especially to be able to take pictures in relatively low light. It needs to be relatively user-friendly as well, since non-photogs might be using it occasionally. It will be mainly used to take pictures of school groups and interviews in a small auditorium with crappy lighting that seats 164, although we'll also be using it for other shindigs. I was looking at a Panasonic Lumix, but I am completely open.

3. DVC conversion (around $1200): We need to be able to quickly and easily import mini dvcs to digital formats that can then be edited (on iMovie or FinalCut Pro, etc.) and turned into DVDs. We will have a DVD burner, etc. I was looking at this one.

Wisdom? Advice?

One goy's quest to become chosen

hatsforbats — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 12:59:29 -0800

I (think I) want to become Jewish in the California Bay Area, but need some help. My finace is Jewish, and I was raised non-religious/agnostic. The more I learn about Judiasm, the more intrigued I am. I want to potentially convert, but have no idea how to begin this process. Instead of just looking up the nearest synagogue, I want to find a rabbi who is on the same wavelength as me.

I'm a scientist by nature so I need someone who can debate logically with me and won't expect me to accept things just because he or she "said so." I know that religion requires some leap of faith, but I need somebody who can explain the basis behind the many traditions. For instance, it isn't kosher to eat milk and meat together because of the prohibition on cooking the kid in the mother's milk, but then why does this apply to birds, which don't make milk?

I'm looking for a good rabbi/synagogue in the Bay Area to help me with the process of learning and hopefully converting. Most likely I'm looking for a reform congregation, but possibly conservative. I live in Menlo Park, and would like to find a rabbi within a 30 minute drive (San Francisco and Oakland are too far, but San Jose is probably not). I know many synagogues have conversion classes, but those seem to all start with the new year (September, that is, the Jewish new year), and I would like to start the process now.

So here's the question MeFites: do you have recommendations for rabbis or congregations in the neighborhood that can help me with this quest? Failing that, do you know of any internet resources for potential converts? I don't need an encyclopedia of Judaism, but I could use a more tailored introduction.

little orange fruits weigh what?

libraryhead — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:33:19 -0800

How much does a pint of kumquats weight? That's about 500 mL by volume, but I understand non-USians prefer to weigh ingredients. Precision is of some importance here. (Yes, I have Googled to no avail. Short of actually going out and trying to *find* a pint of kumquats out of season, you're my only hope.)

What DC voltage does an average LCD monitor use?

leafxor — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:41:54 -0800

What DC voltage does an average LCD monitor use? I'm trying to power an LCD monitor from a 12-volt battery, but I don't want to waste efficiency by inverting it to a 120-volt AC, then letting the monitor turn it back into DC current again.

Painless Corporate Migration to Gmail/Google Apps Premiere?

jacksides — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 07:59:35 -0800

We're recommending the migration of a client's web-based email service from Squirrelmail to Gmail (via Google Apps Premiere). What's the most painless way to do this? Is there a company that provides such a service? I'd prefer not to do the migration myself but will if there's some really great software that can handle it. I've seen Emailchemy, but that's Mac based.

Also - can this migration preserve the staff's existing email archives? (it's not going to go over well if everything has to be forwarded, showing emails as From:UserA/To:UserA, rather than From:OriginalSender)

Good, reputable PSD to CSS/XHTML/HTML service.

pakoothefakoo — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:41:15 -0800

Good, reputable PSD to CSS/HTML/XHTML service? I'm looking for an online PSD to CSS/HTML/XHTML conversion service. I've googled around, but I want to see if anybody could recommend a good service based on personal experience.

Also how much did it cost and what was the turnaround time?

Word to PDF conversion - where'd my links go?

operating thetan — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:55:51 -0800

How can I keep the embedded links in my Word doc when I convert to PDF? (MacOSX solutions preferred, though not required.) I have a bundle of Word docs with embedded hyperlinks that I need to convert to PDF, and I need to have those links active. In converting to PDF, (save as PDF or print to PDF in Word) the links go away. I have a copy of Adobe Acrobat 5.0 - I know how to physically add all the links, and how to create web links from URLs in text. Unfortunately it's time consuming to add all the links to all the documents in Acrobat, and the "create web links" batch function in Acrobat 5.0 only works for addresses in http format.
Are there any workarounds? Can I do this in a scalable, batch-friendly way? Software I can use - bonus points for free? I am running MacOSX Leopard, with Word 2008 though I have Word 2004 at home. Windows solutions appreciated too, we have PCs at work. Thanks in advance!

Help this struggling atheist get over her desire to believe.

lysistrata — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 10:14:34 -0800

After years of drifting along as a "spiritual but not religious" believer I am beginning to come to terms with the fact that I'm not actually a believer at all. I am an atheist with a lingering but unwanted desire to believe and it is making me miserable. Can you help me move past this? I was raised in a nominally Christian home but left the church at thirteen. From that point on and up until a few years ago I believed and took comfort in the idea that there was something larger than myself--a greater power that I could turn to in prayer in times of need--but never belonged to any organized religious group. When asked I would refer to myself as "spiritual but not religious." While I didn't belong to any particular group I definitely believed and had faith. Faith that at one point I thought was unshakeable. While this was fulfilling in some respects, over the years, due to many events big and small, I have moved further and further away from belief. In the last two years or so I have slowly started to realize that in my heart of hearts I don't believe at all anymore. In some ways this is a relief and even a little exciting. But I am also feeling a deep sense of loss and hurt not only because I feel as if I have wasted a good deal of my time on something that wasn't true but also because I can't let go of the desire to believe. I feel as if I am going to have to give up my sense of wonder at the world. I feel like I'm giving up the last remaining connection I have to deeper mysteries and that loss hurts me even though I now realize that those mysteries which captivated me for so long are likely not real at all. I took great comfort in my faith and being stripped of it leaves me feeling vulnerable and lonely.

I basically feel like I am stuck between belief and non-belief and I can't move in either direction. If I discard it all and move on to a more materialistic view of the universe I am losing something that has been a big part of my life for a long time but I can no longer pretend that I believe when I don't.

I want to move past this desire to have faith. I don't wish to return to religion. I would be deluding myself if I did. I just want to know how to get rid of the leftover trappings of religious belief. I want to turn this around so that instead of leaving religion behind I am moving towards something better, clearer and more rational. I'm just not sure how to do that. I don't personally know very many atheists and the few that I do were never religious to begin with so I don't know how common these feelings are.

I am looking for advice or anecdotes from formerly religious atheists or agnostics who have found themselves in a similar situation. Did you feel a sense of loss when you "deconverted"? Did it pass? Has your life improved since you moved away from religion? How has it improved? Do you ever feel as if you are missing out on something (either spiritually or culturally) because you are not religious? Are there any books out there that deal with this issue? Am I always going to feel this confused?

Metric conversion cards in DC?

thrako — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:05:34 -0800

Where could I find metric to English conversion cards like these in the Washington DC area? Anything roughly wallet sized with distance and/or temperature conversions (the more unit conversions the better) would be good.

The ultimate music archive cleaner -- looking for application to convert hudreds of GB of music to MP3

jkl345 — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:27:51 -0800

What's the best program to convert hundreds of gigabytes of music files in different formats all to MP3, while maintaining ID3 data and bitrates? I have about 130 GB of music files in about half a dozen different audio formats. It's always a huge pain in the butt to put my music on different mp3 players/computers because of the different formats and DRM junk so I’m looking for an application to clean my music archive.

Features I'm looking for:
+ PC based -- Sorry, no Mac available here.

+ As automated as possible -- The more hands-free/automated the better. Since there's so many files and so many directories, I'd just like to set it and forget it otherwise this could become a month-long process.

+ Maintaining ID3 info & converting to an equivalent/better audio bitrate is mandatory -- I’m not interested in losing all my data or audio quality.

+ The more formats it can convert the better -- I suspect there’s about half a dozen different formats in the archive – from Midi to M4A to Wav to MP3 -- but there could be more. So the more formats the software can convert, the better.

+ ID3 updating -- The ability to connect to the Net and update ID3 data that’s incomplete would be excellent (although the majority of these files are already filled out so it's not a deal breaker).

+ Cost – Free would be fantastic. But this is such a huge, time consuming job, I would be willing to pay a bit for the ultimate “set-it-and-forget-it” application that would go into the hundreds of different folders I have, convert the files and deletes the old format files.

+ DRM conversion, flagging or deletion -- I suspect there’s a handful of DRM-protected files in there. If this ultimate software could convert those to non-DRM MP3 that’d be even cooler. I’m at the point now where I just want to throw away any of that DRM b.s. though, so it’s not a deal breaker. If it could identify or flag DRM files that would be a excellent and I can take them out back and kill them off.

+ Cures cancer -- I know I'm asking for a lot here. :D Thanks for any help you can offer! I've been meaning to do this for so long.

Borrowed camcorder uses obnoxious format. How to fix?

®@ — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:55:11 -0800

Converting ".mts" to ".avi?" I've been recording stuff for work on our office camcorder. The software that came with it is useless, it's basically Canon's "picture browsing" software that they just threw in the box (if there's a "video edit" software, it's not included or mentioned in the manual). I can pull the files off the camera via USB, but they're in MTS format. I need to edit these down into discrete clips, preferably as AVI's (Adobe Premiere). Tips? Advice? I've seen a handful of programs online that claim to be able to shift MTS to AVI, but they're in that "sketchy freeware might be adware" territory. Thoughts?

DTV Conversion and VCRs

cmm — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:52:51 -0800

Help me help my wife's parents make this DTV conversion work with their VCR So my wife's parents live out in the country where cable is not available. They watch TV OTA off an antenna. They use their ancient VCR reasonably much.

They got a converter box coupon and have the box.

Am I right in thinking that they'll have to:
1) Ditch the old remote and use one that controls the converter
2) For the VCR, have another box and manually control the "recording" channel and if you want to record something at 7 on NBC and then 8 on CBS while you're out that night, you can't anymore.

Is there any better way to fix this? A newer VCR that can tune digitial things? Will a newer TiVo work over the air for them?

I assume that building a Windows Media Center or some other computer solution will be too much for them (and too much of a long distance maintenance nightmare for me).

It seems like this problem would be all over the place, but maybe cable is that pervasive now. Are people just sucking it up and dealing with two converter boxes and losing the ability to program the VCR for stations?