Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with customize

display order of descriptions in custom Google Maps

kalapierson — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:19:13 -0800

In a custom Google map, the points you define are listed in forward chronological order and can't be re-ordered. Any way to change this (for all visitors, not just for your own viewing) to reverse chronological order? By this I mean your description of the first point you add is listed first within the left sidebar; your description of the second point you add is listed just beneath that first description; etc.

I'm making a custom worldwide map of events that have been happening over the last 15 years (there are 120+ events so far) and will keep happening at an increasing rate.

Ideally I want my most recent entries to display first in the sidebar. Most importantly, I don't want my earliest entries in real chronological history to display first in the sidebar (because the earliest entries are the least interesting and therefore the last thing I want to feature prominently for people who view the map).

There's no really good approach here, if I know I don't want my chronologically-earliest entries displayed first. If I start now in reverse chronological order (first adding 2009 events to my map, then working backwards, ending with early-90s events), then in the future, adding the 2010-and-beyond events will just leave those sitting at the bottom of a long list.

Ideas? Workarounds? Tricks (that will work for all users across browsers and OSes) to force the sidebar display into reverse chronological order? I don't want to hide the sidebar altogether, since there are a couple notes in my description I want people to see.

Windows Worries

Rykey — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:36:02 -0800

Please help me find the best way to keep my XP windows locked in the same place, at the same size, even after rebooting. Still working on the public listening station I mentioned in this question, and I've got one last hurdle to go.

The desktop will always be opened to two windows (the VLC Media Player and the XP My Music folder). The machine will be rebooted every night. What I want is:
1) Those two windows to open, to the same size and in the same location, upon rebooting.
2) The two windows to stay locked in place (actually, VLC does stay locked in place, so I guess I'm primarily concerned with getting My Music to stay put).
3) The My Music folder to remember the customized columns and appearance I set in Folder Options, Choose Details, etc.

Doing this via Windows itself is fine, but I'm certainly open to downloading a tweak, hack, or app that will accomplish these objectives (free is ideal).

I've checked previous questions, and some of them get at my problem, but I couldn't find anything that will accomplish all three tasks.

Customizing an I-Am-Not-A-Paper-Cup.

pearl228 — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:50:28 -0800

I'd like to have a drawing, which I have as a jpeg, printed onto a porcelain I am not a Paper Cup. Does anyone know where I can have this done in NYC? This is to be a gift for a coworker. It would be perrrrrrfect, so I hope it can be done.

Somewhere below 50th in Manhattan and Williamsburg, BK would be ideal, but I can be a little flexible if necessary. The main thing is that it either be open on weekends or in midtown close to my office.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Is there a way to use a dropdown list to select wireless networks in Vista?

FireStyle — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:01:08 -0800

Is there a way in Vista (via 3rd party software like windows blinds or otherwise) to select a wireless network with a drop down list the way macs or gnome linux does? I am a Vista user, and have been having fun customizing the look and feel of the OS to create a more efficient computing environment tailored to my computing style and needs. However, I feel the wireless network sub menus method in Vista is far less efficient than clicking in the notification area and seeing a dropdown list of available networks. Any way to chnage this? thanks!

no windows vs. mac flame... i'm not interested in it.

It's so small!

piedmont — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:08:28 -0800

Help me customize my Inspiron 9 (mini) My thinking is that I can get the cheapskate version with the 4gb SSD and 512mb of memory, upgrade the memory myself, install XP myself, and slip a large CF card in to use as a semi-permanent HD. Is this a terrible plan? Any reason it's worth it to get the next size up? I don't currently own or use a webcam, any reason I may want one? Any reason to get the 1.3 MP camera over the ".3 MP" one?

Change searching in windows in Firefox

Mo Nickels — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:25:56 -0800

How can I change the behavior of searching in windows in Firefox? The Firefox search-in-browser bar is, and has always has been, awful. [I posted this to the Firefox forums and got no response.]

I am not referring to searches done using URL shortcuts nor am I referring to searches done using search box in the upper right corner of the browser window.

The search-in-browser bar is what I am calling the bar that appears at the bottom of the browser window when you search for content inside of the page that is currently loaded by hitting ctrl-F on Windows or command-F on Mac. I use Firefox 3.0 for both platforms.

The search-in-browser bar is broken (or, if you prefer, intentionally coded in such a way that it behaves in a broken fashion) in that it:

a. Continues to appear on the screen even long after it has last been used.

b. Continues to appear on the screen when a link is clicked and a new page is loaded.

c. "Match case" seems to be arbitrarily selected in between searches.

d. Takes up an inordinate amount of screen real estate, especially in a browser window that fills the monitor. This is particularly problematic on a laptop with a small screen.

What I would like to find is a way to change this behavior. I have looked for things to change in about:config and for an appropriate extension but found no joy.

What I'd like to have happen in Firefox:

1. The search-in-browser bar should disappear in user-settable amount of time after it has last been used, either X amount of time after the last search is made or after the last time a related search key command is entered. I know that you can sometimes hit escape to get the search-in-browser bar to disappear, but that doesn't always work either--it sometimes stupidly requires that you click back into the search field and *then* hit escape--not even rehitting ctrl-F/command-F and then hitting escape works.

2. The search-in-browser bar should disappear when a link is clicked and a new page is loaded.

3. "Match case" should never be selected by default or at the start of a search; or, it should be a user preference as to whether it is a default or not.

4. Ideally, the search-in-browser bar should be able to be turned off. It should return to being a pop-up window as it was on previous versions of Firefox, or it should be a user preference as to whether it should be attached to the window or should be a free-standing pop-up window.

Pimp My Wii!

explosion — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 13:51:51 -0800

How can I get the most out of my Wii (without mods or hacks)? I am the lucky owner of a Wii, and while there are still games out there that I am sure I'd enjoy, I'd like to get the most out of the cheap or free content. I enjoy the Mii Channel and Check Mii Out Channel, but the Everybody Votes channel comes across as too simple and boring.

Are there ways to "pimp" a Wii? Customizable features that I wouldn't necessarily know about? I'm wary of a hack or modchip because I share it with my fiancee, and she'd be very upset with me if I bricked it. However, any tricks or websites to know about would be great.

Custom stamp or embosser for a budding book collector?

neilkod — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:32:10 -0800

Book lovers: Do I give a stamp or an embosser to a budding book collector? You know, one of those 'library of' stamps. I've found finestationary.com, but recommendations of shops and designs are welcome.

I want to semi-permanently decorate my car's exterior.

hyperfascinated — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 11:57:26 -0800

I've just bought a new car! It's a boring silver color- what can I do to jazz up the exterior without painting it? Googling for "car decals" turns up mostly flames and peeing Calvins; I'm looking for something more original/unusual. I know about Blik Autographics - what else is out there?

The car is a 2006 Smart Fortwo, which presents a few unique challenges to its decoration- I'm not going to be able to find seat covers to fit its seats, for example. I'd love to decorate the inside, too, somehow, but decorating the outside of the car is probably going to be the easiest.

I'm in Portland, OR and would definitely buy something online.

Singin' the keyboard blues

Gordion Knott — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 03:13:01 -0800

Help me customize my OS X keyboard for my strained, RSI-inflicted fingers. A touch of RSI turned me into a left handed mouser a few years back. No major hassles on the conversion. Being a leftie is cool.

However, I'd like to relocate frequently used OS X hotkeys, such as "Command-copy" "Command-paste" and "Quit," to keys on the right side of my QWERTY keyboard. The key customization program Keyboard Maestro, while it has its benefits, can't handle these three commands (and many others). And OS X's Keyboard & Mouse preferences would require customization for each individual app, and don't seem to be workable with apps like Firefox, which "overrides" customization with its builtin hotkeys (in my experience).

Are there any third-party programs that enable simple, works-for-all-apps customization of OS X hotkeys? (Searches on Google, Apple forums, and AskMefi have failed me.)

Even more radical, perhaps: can the OS X keyboard *itself* be customized? I'd love to place the backspace key on the caps lock key, as I did once via xmodmap on Linux.

Pimp my Huffy bicycle

bjork24 — Sat, 27 May 2006 10:11:21 -0800

My wife and I have really started to get into bike riding lately - nothing extreme or long distance, just urban riding (10 miles or less). I have an old Huffy multi-speed that I'd like to dismantle, clean up, and repaint, but I don't know the first thing about bicycle maintenance and dis/assembly. Help! I could take it to the local bike shop down the road, but I'm a very DIY type of guy, so I'd much rather learn to do it myself. Could anyone point me towards some good online resources for newbie bikers (tips on maintenance, customizing, painting, etc.)? Gracias amigos!

Adding an item to the start menu

BevosAngryGhost — Wed, 23 Feb 2005 20:11:44 -0800

Is there a way to add an item to the right side of the WinXP start menu? I tried a couple, different suggestions, but neither seemed to work for me.

Here's what I have from their examples:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@="Loads"
"InfoTip"="Desktop\loads"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Documents and Settings\\Ben\My Documents\\My Pictures\\iconworking\\cd2folder.ico"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"CLSID"="{13709620-C279-11CE-A49E-444553540000}"
"method"="ShellExecute"
"Command"="Loads"
"Param1"="C:\\Documents and Settings\\Ben\\Desktop\\loads"

Am I missing something, or does it just not work?

CMS

adamrice — Sat, 13 Nov 2004 12:11:21 -0800

CMSfilter: I am setting up a site for a friend's performance group. The key dynamic features will be a gig schedule and a photo gallery; other than that, I expect it'll be mostly static content. I'm looking for a CMS where the appearance is easy to customize and where non-technical people will be able to update the content easily without bugging me. I'm already famililar with opensourcecms.com, etc--I'm wondering if anyone has any specific recommendations. Roll-my-own is not an option.

Customizable Sites

terrapin — Fri, 10 Sep 2004 09:13:54 -0800

As part of an upcoming site redesign my office is considering the pros and cons of allowing visitors to customize content. Without going into too much detail such as what kind of content will be customizable and how, can folks recommend sites that they think do customization well?

MoveableType

adamkempa — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 19:54:39 -0800

As a self-imposed php refresher, I've recently been toying around with writing custom movable type submission frontends for a few less web-literate family members (Basically just simplified forms that throw the user input into the MT mysql database). I've got everything ticking along nicely, but none of the submitted entries will show up until I log in and rebuild the site from within movable type. My question: Is there some way to either force a rebuild from a custom form, or automate a rebuild? I've searched the MT forums with no success. I'm using MT 2.64 with minimal knowledge of its inner workings. Any suggestions / pointers / links are appreciated!

I need forum software without a presentation layer.

normy — Sat, 06 Mar 2004 06:59:19 -0800

Web forums: I need forum software without a presentation layer. [more] I need to implement a forum as part of a commercial site I'm developing. I want to have complete control over the presentation (look and feel), to integrate it with the rest of the site, but don't want to have to reinvent the wheel by building it from scratch. Is there any forum software that includes a database and and stored procedures with some kind of API that I can code against? I've already got authentication/verification of users covered, so I don't even need that part.

It doesn't need to be fancy, (the simpler, the better), but it does need to support topics and threads. Ideally, it will be for IIS/ASP/MS SQL Server, but I might be persuaded to use another platform or a third party provider, if there's no other way. I have a budget.

Is there a site that lists movie times and can be customized to list only certain theaters in your zip code?

Hildago — Sat, 24 Jan 2004 19:09:41 -0800

Anybody know of a site that lists movie times and can be customized to list only certain theaters in your zip code?