Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with internet and web

Best of the Web of Sound 09

Potomac Avenue — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:46:58 -0800

What are some amazing virally-disseminated music songs from the internet from 2009? Every year I put together a blog post of "the list of the best/weirdest/catchiest internet-disseminated and -popularized songs from this year. They don't necessarily have to have been recorded this year, nor do they have to have an amusing video or animation associated with them, though that certainly is a major bonus.

The more obscure and memey the better: I'm not looking for just the most popular, though I can guarantee Kutiman's Thru-U is probably #1.

Thanks in advancement!

Gimme 20 more!

brokeaspoke — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:40:17 -0800

Looking for a website to help me, a late thirties male, who wants to get in shape. Not obese by any stretch of the imagination, but not as slim and trim as he and his doctor feels he should be. BMI of about 26. I know the general range I tend to feel best at and in that range I do tend to fall into the healthy BMI range. I’m more concerned with feeling good than with being at the exact right weight to get to the right BMI for my height and age. I want to lose a little weight, trim up, look better, abs of steel, ass to match, etc. A silly pushups contest here in the office has spurred me on to wanting more. We’re halfway through an eight week contest, I’m in third place and I can do more consecutive pushups than I have ever been able to do at any previous stage of my life.

I want a website at which I can track all of my exercise and fitness related numbers. I looked at WeEndure. I like it a lot, but find it limited (can’t track my pushups, weights or even my body weight for that matter.) Livestrong seems too “mainstream” (or is there something I don’t know from looking the site over?) So, what I want is a MetaFitness; Something fun, flexible, challenging, snarky at the right moments, possibly downright rude at times. What are you MeFites using? The ability to easily use it with iPhone or even another smartphone in the future would be a very nice feature.

So, what have you?

How to split business ownership fairly?

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:11:30 -0800

How should my business partner and I split the ownership and income of our start up? A parter (let's call him Bob) and I (let's call me Alice) started a business with no formal agreement regarding ownership. Currently, the business has minimal income and users. We expect this to change very soon.

Alice: Alice created the project in August '08. Alice has spent $1200 out of pocket on expenses.
Bob: Bob joined the project in June '09. Bob has spent $700 out of pocket on expenses, but is fine with spending the next $500 to equal this out.

Bob and Alice have each spent an equal amount of time working on the project each month that they have been working on it. So, Alice has been working on the project for 16 months and Bob has been working on it for 6 months.

What we want to know:

How should we split ownership?
How should we split income? We're interested in splitting the income evenly until we're each making a decent/living wage.

Alice and Bob have a completely amiable relationship. We're both interested in doing what's fair.

Need recommendations on automated checkout and download

arniec — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:38:25 -0800

I need recommendations for a web host and software to allow people to purchase digital downloads using Paypal, etc. (think Rifftrax or eBooks, etc.) I want to have a web site where I can make electronic things available for purchase. Be it software packages, MP3 podcasts, or eBooks, I want to have an automated checkout and download system where people can pay and then immediately download the item they've paid for. Credit card purchasing is a must.

In my research I've come across DigiVendor Pro at http://www.idevspot.com/DigiVendorPro.php and the software is very cheap (in price), and security and reliability is a must for me so I'm not afraid to spend more if it means a more robust, secure solution.

Has anyone done this and can they recommend a good package for me?

(as an aside, I'm a programmer and web developer not afraid to get up to my elbows in code to implement or customize the solution. And yes I asked this question: http://ask.metafilter.com/120735/Need-a-store-thats-quick-and-cheap but this one is different as it's digital download automation, whereas the last one was shipping a physical product).

Fair salary for a "Usability Testing Assistant"

the jam — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:42:15 -0800

Asking for a friend: I've been offered a position as a "Usability Testing Assistant" at an established, medium-sized (50-75 employees) web company, and now I need to provide them with salary requirements. In this position, I would report directly to the Usability Testing Director. My responsibilities would include recruiting test participants, running all tests, and communicating to the company's developers insights and feedback from the tests. I've found salary ranges for a "Usability Tester" (60k-70k), but I'm not sure if that would directly apply to me, or if this position would be considered more junior. What is an appropriate salary range for my new position? Concrete numbers or links for more research would be much appreciated!

Radical critiques of cyberspace?

jammy — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 07:02:44 -0800

If Karl Marx & Emma Goldman were arguing about the internet on Metafilter, what might they be saying? What kind of radical left analysis &/or commentary exists concerning the internet, new media, & computer technology? Looking for books, articles, essays, websites, etc...

I am most interested in work that takes relatively recent social & technological developments into account (e.g., the rise of social networking sites, mobile devices, etc., or advances in robotics & prosthetics).

Gracias!

I need a crash course in the current best-practice website accessablity standards.

anastasiav — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:42:45 -0800

Give me a crash course in making our nonprofit website accessible. What are the best practices/standards? What's the lingo? I'm not building the site, but I have a meeting with the developers who are, today. They are doing this pro-bono for us (we're a community nonprofit with a goodly number of disabled users). Its important to our CEO that the website be accessible, but she hired me because she doesn't really understand the web.

I get the web fine, but I've never had to deal with this particular issue before. My first meeting with the developer is this afternoon. Help me talk with them about this issue and not sound like a N00b!

Pros & Cons of bringing web development in-house?

MeatLightning — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:33:22 -0800

Pros & Cons of bringing web development in-house? Hi all -
I manage a mid-size e-commerce website. We currently work with an agency to build and maintain our site. We are considering hiring a dev (C# / .NET, SQL) and taking over development... or at least much of it (still may go out of house for UX, front-end dev).

Anyone have any advice, experiences, warnings, etc they can share?

Have you gone down this road? How did it go? What should we watch out for?

thanks in advance!

Who are you this time?

A Terrible Llama — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:18:38 -0800

I am interested in people's experiences in using their real names online. For those of you who operate under your real first and last names online:

Why did you make that decision?
Are you a forward-facing person at a company, site moderator, etc., where your professional capacity influences what you post?
Have there been any repercussions or regrets? Positive things?

I'm at a crossroads with this because of some professional reasons that have come up, and am questioning if I should reevaluate how I handle this.

What's in a name? Is it worth money, or should I just pick another?

twiggy — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:46:45 -0800

I have a product I'm building and I found a great name for it - but the .com is taken. Is it worth purchasing, or should I just come up with something else? In your experience - has it been worthwhile to purchase a great name, or am I better off coming up with something else? I've had a really hard time coming up with a name. I'm also stuck on this idea in my head that the name needs to be simple and make sense, especially due to my imagination of literal "word of mouth" spreading of the name in conversations.

I'm currently in email contact with the owner of a domain name I really like, and feel is appropriate to the product I'm building. My initial offer of $145 for the domain - which is what was quoted by dnscoop.com as its value - was politely rejected with "could you give me some more time to think about it? I thought it was worth more than that..."

It has been a week and a half now, and I want to follow up with him, but I'm not sure what to offer. To be clear, in his "defense" - he doesn't seem to be a domain squatter. He bought the domain to do something vaguely related to what I want to do - he just hasn't gotten around to it, so the domain has been unused for the few years he's had it.

The most I can afford to pay is a few hundred dollars - for all I know he'll reject that too, but I don't want to waste my time with the offer if people feel pretty strongly that the name doesn't matter that much.

Alternative Browsers

bluelight — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:59:11 -0800

What superior/alternative web browsers to Firefox do you use? I have been using firefox with NoScript and most cookies disabled. When it gets too annoying to enable scripts and cookies, I switch over to Internet Explorer (non-updated version). I really dislike using IE but lately, Firefox has been crashing a LOT.

I was wondering if you had any good experiences with other web browsers such as Safari, Chrome, etc. I plan on keeping firefox but I'd like to explore other options.

I use a PC running Windows XP.

Thanks!

Momma needs a brand new phone

bunny hugger — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:29:13 -0800

Boyfriend is getting a phone upgrade and handing over to me (same company). Do I buy Internet package for his account or mine? Phone upgrade question (T-mobile). My boyfriend is offered an upgrade for a new phone at a significantly reduced price if he signs up for another two years. He is going to, so that's not the thing. When he gets the phone upgrade (to a blackberry), he will give it to me (also T-mobile) because he doesn't need a new phone and because he's awesome. I've done this for him before with no hitch. Question is: I will have to upgrade to an plan option with Internet included. But do I do that for his account or mine (since I'll be the one using the phone)? Don't really want to call T-mobile and explain this, since they might have a problem with it. I'm thinking it will just be my account, but just double-checking here. Thanks.

Find a Date Tonight Website

tesseract420 — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 11:48:13 -0800

I am looking for a web site whose services are available in only a few markets--Chicago was one of them, maybe Atlanta and New York. The site was a dating site, but if I recall the concept, it was a date tonight or date within four hours. Very at random. But not http://www.iamfreetonight.com/. I've tried "sites like" on google but have come up short. Has anyone else seen this site?

What's the story behind those filler pages you see when you look at unused domain names?

jeisme — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:29:33 -0800

What's the story behind those filler pages you see when you look at unused domain names? I always enjoy looking at the faux-websites that pop up when you type in a domain name that is apparently owned but not actively used ( see, for example, www.ipotty.com or http://www.poppoppop.com) .
Their combinations of computer-generated text and stock photography are often laughably bad, and I can't imagine ever actually confusing one for a real site. What's the story behind these? I'd guess they're put up by domain name squatters to generate profit from unused sites, but I can't seem to find out anything else about them. Who makes them? Are people actually making money off of them? Why are there so many different designs and formats for them?

Can you turn a website into a program?

Nonce — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 19:06:59 -0800

Is there a way to embed a rendering engine (like webkit), mysql, and php into a program that talks to itself, not the internet? I'm almost certainly using the wrong terms. But imagine a php script that reads the text "hello world" from a mysql database.

How do I turn that into an executable that launches an embedded rendering engine, runs the embedded php script, queries the embedded database, and opens a window to display it, all without ever trying to leave its sandbox/communicate with the OS via a port?

Is it possible? If so, is it possible with more complex pieces of work like a CMS or a gallery script (waving away any other dependencies) or an etc.?

Seeking best community-driven websites

Admiral Haddock — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:52:07 -0800

Looking for examples of websites that engage/inform/empower the communities and readers they serve. Examples include barackobama.com, greenforall.org and (in terms of content, not presentation/interface) this site for the UK Improvement and Development Agency. For a friend, I am looking for input on, and examples of, best practices in website design for organizations and institutions (but completely open to, say, the private sector or ad hoc projects, etc.) that inform and empower their community/readers.

Specific attributes and functions of interest include:
- a dynamic library / resource / research center
- incorporation of participatory technology (social media, wikis, etc.)
- dynamic translation of 2 languages (i.e. bilingual)

Additionally, are there any good resources on the net where (tech and/or non-tech) people discuss or critique projects like this (e.g., a blog that looks at community portals in web design)?

This question is entirely viewpoint/content neutral--I'm as interested in hearing about the Northern Michigan Bow Hunting Club as the Greater Osaka Chickens-as-Pets Collective.

Websites for Elementary Kids?

debbie_ann — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:09:30 -0800

What are some school appropriate websites I can use in the classroom? I find myself teaching computers K-8 this year. What are some good sites for the kids? I've found a few typing games that are educational enough to use in the classroom and they love it when I send them to one punch sites like isitchristmas? and doineedanumbrella. We also use internet tutorials pretty heavily, but I know this is just the tip of the iceberg. I'd like to have a whole list of appropriate sites (like games and funny things) for free days, as well as some really easy sites to teach the five-year-olds how to point and click.

Photo Contest Set-up Help Needed

SuperErin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:30:40 -0800

PhotoFilter: I need to create a monthly photo contest for my clients to participate in. Help me find the easiest way to do this. I've already seen this question, but it is from 2007, and I know things have changed many times since then. I looked at the two programs suggested, but would prefer something online that I don't have to upload to my website.

I'd like to just set the thing up, give out a link, and have my clients upload photos of their dogs and vote on the best each month. I'd prefer an actual voting mechanism, rather than just writing "vote" in the comments.

I'd prefer free, or at least inexpensive for me, free for my clients to use.

I've googled this, but there's a lot of junk to slog through, so I was hoping to get some Mefite expertise!

Thanks in advance.

Print This Site

ageispolis — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:58:52 -0800

Can I force a "print view" on sites that do not have such a feature? I want to print some blog posts and was wondering if there is a script or something for my browser that would allow me to get a "Print View" of the post, even if that feature is not built into the blog itself. News sites allow you to do this through an actual URL that takes you to a printable version of the article (like this), but most other websites do not provide this feature. It would be much easier to just hit a button on my browser than copy/paste into a word processor. Any suggestions?

Pimp my CSS please. Before I kill myself.

miss lynnster — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:34:41 -0800

I'm a designer and usually people do programming for me. I'm trying to teach myself how to customize Word Press themes all by myself though... and I thought I was doing pretty well. But then I had people look at it in other browsers. Yuck. Apparently it loads slowly for other people at times, the slideshow doesn't go all the way across, just all sorts of crap. I tried to do verification and there are a bunch of errors. I need to figure this out and move on!

I just really don't know how to fix any of these things. I was already proud of myself just for figuring out how to do the new stuff I've already done. My head hurts.

Can you help?

Oh, and the theme I customized for this was "Modularity" by Graph Paper Press.

Who's doing neat stuff with the web and comics?

Brandon Blatcher — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:57:34 -0800

Most comics on the web seem to be just scanned in print comics or the equivalent of same. Can you point me to any web comics that are making use of web/internet technology to make the comics reading experience different from print comics? No need to mention Scott McCloud. For instance, all the web comics I've seen are essentially just one gif or jpeg per page. Are there any web comics that are putting each panel of a page in a div and layering them via css for dramatic effect? Are any using selectable web text in their word balloons instead of hand or computer done lettering that is just part of the art? Stuff like this, which incorporate aspects of the web to make comics, is what I'm looking for.

A website example of a rogue website that is secretly run by a large company

rev- — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:49:10 -0800

Can anyone think of an example wherein a company built a separate website about its industry without putting its name all over that rogue site? For example, if Ford built and maintained a Ning (or other community-type site, I guess) about car customization, but it wasn't obvious that Ford ran the site? I know it's an obscure question, but I'm trying to find an example of a successful rogue site that succeeded despite not having corporate oversite.

What's the right software to maintain and display a calendar of relatively infrequent future events?

gleuschk — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:49:49 -0800

What's the right software to maintain and display a calendar of relatively infrequent future events, as well as blog-like news postings? I maintain a website for specialists in my field of mathematics, and one section consists of announcements for upcoming and recent conferences. Another is for news announcements: a basic blog-style list of entries. Both are currently run by our 7-year-old Movable Type installation, in combination with a good bit of chewing gum and baling twine. I'd like to redesign the whole schmear, including the back end. Is wordpress (plus more gum and twine) the right solution? Is there some other system that makes more sense? Link.

Here's the current setup, which hasn't changed since launch in 2002: Movable Type runs two blogs: "News" and "Conferences". The former is your basic blog, except that we only show one entry on the front page, and generally have only an entry a month or so.

Each entry in "Conferences" is added when we learn about it, and post-dated to the first day of the conference. This system works ok, since most conferences are just a day or two, but there are some that are a week, month, or even a semester long, and this causes problems. When first posted, they're in an "upcoming" category that displays in one place, then changed by hand to a "past" category that shows up in another place when they're past. Drawback: I often forget to change the category, which makes me look stupid. We average about 3 conferences a month, though they tend to cluster in March, June, and October. Lead time is up to a year.

I'd like to redesign and bring it up to web-2.whateverwe'reuptonow snuff, both in front and behind. Wordpress seems to be the default these days. I could do the same acrobatics to get the conferences into wordpress, I guess, but it sure seems like there should be a better way. Do you know of one?

I run this out of my pocket and in my free time, so free and drop-in solutions are best, but if you've got good ideas, lay 'em on me.

Machine, point me to food

klangklangston — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:45:20 -0800

Where's my food? How to make a web ap that tells me how to find vegetarian food easily? Ok, so, first off—I'm not tremendously programming savvy, so don't be afraid to talk down to me in simple terms (seriously, don't assume I know anything).

Here is what I want: I want to be able to go to a page (either on a computer or a phone) and see where the nearest vegetarian food is (vegetarian restaurant or just a place that has veggie food). I would like to make this open, so that I don't have to find every vegetarian dish everywhere (crowdsource).

I assume that what I need will be some sort of database that accepts submissions easily, and that will work with google maps; and some server space to run it from.

Given that—if I want to build something that does this, what do I need and what do I need to know? Is this something that can be built by a programming novice (I haven't done any programming since high school and that was still mostly basic. I have a moderate grasp of HTML, but little CSS)? How hard will this be? What should I know when I start to build it?

How do you disable access to a root directory on a web server?

jrholt — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:14:15 -0800

How do you disable access to a root directory on a web server? We have individual files that we're happy to let people download, but we don't necessarily want them going to the root directory to download all the files.

e.g.

http://www.example.com/files/filenumber1.jpg (okay)
http://www.example.com/files/ (not okay)

Can anybody point me in the right direction so that a user who tries the second URL is denied access? Should we be looking in httaccess? cpanel? Somewhere else? I was surprised to not find an answer after Googling around.