Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with internet and websites

No-ad internet

scewinleg — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:20:00 -0800

Is there such a thing as a no-ad internet domain? I love the days of personalized websites with no ads but I'm having a hard time digging them up these days. Any suggestions???

What is the best method of putting academic papers on the internet?

huskerdont — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:29:51 -0800

What is the best method of putting academic papers on the internet? I am a graduate student who is thinking of placing academic work (thesis, unpublished papers, etc.) on the internet. Is there a standard method or protocol for placing them online? Should I really convert all of them into PDF format?

Any recommendations from those who have been there before would be appreciated.

Where can I find the best writing on the internet?

jpg15 — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 01:29:38 -0800

Is there a web site which recommends the best writing on the net on a periodic basis? There are plenty of great blogs and websites out there to read, and no shortage of recommendations. This post, for example, recommends lots of different sites. But I find my own interest in wading through all of it on a feed reader gradually waning. I am wondering if anyone knows of any human-run site which recommends excellent writing.

I am interested in high quality, thoughtful, even controversial writing on any subject. The closest thing to this that I am aware of is Arts & Letters Daily, but a significant number of their posts are book reviews or appeal strictly to very well-read humanities students. I am interested in suggestions which draw from the features and opinions of all of the major US (or English-speaking world!) newspapers, magazines, blogs, and sites.

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.

Job Searching Websites

zzazazz — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:56:52 -0800

I know there are a bunch of job search websites out there like Career Builder, Monster and Indeed and all that other crap. I was just wondering if there are any other good ones out there that may have popped up recently that may not be as well known as the usual sites.

Facebook, delicious and flickr not loading!

carofowler — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:30:12 -0800

My facebook, delicious and flickr aren't working, but all other sites are fine. What's wrong and how do I fix it? I have been trying for over a week to use my facebook account unsuccessfully.

I use Firefox 3.0.5 on a MacBook although I have also tried on Safari 3.1.2.

Usually, I am able to sign in and arrive at the home page successfully. Then, when I try to go into any other page, the page won't load and I get a "failed to open page" error or "page load error - connection interrupted" or something of the sort.

Clicking on links in my email to posted pictures or messages also doesn't work and the page will not load. I have tried deleting all facebook cookies, all cookies, restarting Firefox, restarting the computer and nothing has worked.

My account is working fine on other computers, but since it doesn't happen with any other site, this must be an issue with Facebook AND my computer.

Also, my delicious account won't load either. I tired on Safari and the home page loaded but none of the other pages and I get "connection interrupted" as well.

When I try logging into flickr (through the Yahoo! sign in page, which is where flickr redirects you when you click to sign in) i get sent to a blank page: https://login.yahoo.com/config/login_verify2?

These sites work fine when I sign in through other computers and all other sites and the internet in general are working fine on my computer. I have also tried deleting cookies for these. For delicious it works and allows me to enter the home page, but then I still can't access any of the other pages.

Does anyone know what is going on and how I can fix it?

Thanks!

Make me an internerd.

greekphilosophy — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:24:44 -0800

Help me become a better geek. So I read MetaFilter, which is itself pretty geeky. And often there are great suggestions for things to look at on the internet, sites to check out, things to keep in reading rotation, etc. And there are even a couple useful questions on the subject - but searching them out can often require knowing what you are looking for.

I learned HTML back in high school (almost ten years ago). I read Penny Arcade and xkcd. I have a LiveJournal. I play World of Warcraft.

But that's not nearly as geeky as I'm sure I have the capacity for. What can I do to up my geek factor? What do you do to stay geeky? What books/websites do you read? What skills do you hone?

How do I properly separate two ColdFusion apps on IIS by subdomain?

odinsdream — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:03:41 -0800

Two ColdFusion applications on separate subdomains in IIS are getting confused with eachother. How do I properly separate them? Note: My experience with ColdFusion starts with Metafilter and ends with my recent editing of jrun-web.xml. We recently installed an additional ColdFusion application on an IIS server. There was already an existing CF app installed, so we created a new website entry in IIS and are separating them by subdomain, by giving them different Host Header entries in IIS, i.e.:

www.domain.com -> Existing (old) app
newproduct.domain.com -> Newly-installed app

Something, however, is causing them to run over eachother. Here's the basic scenario:

1. Load www.domain.com, the old app shows up.
2. Load newproduct.domain.com, the new app shows up.
3. Try to load the old app again, www.domain.com, but the new one shows up instead.
4. After a few minutes, you can start over with step 1 and get the old app back.

This is not a browser issue, since right after Step 2 I can hop over to a completely different network and browser, and Step 3 still occurs.

Both apps use "index.cfm" as their default page. I have lots of different applications separated on this IIS server by subdomain and this has never happened before, but they're plain PHP/HTML. I feel like this is a ColdFusion issue, but I don't know how to diagnose it beyond that.

Any tips are appreciated!

How do I change the owner of a domain name?

inkedmn — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:54:25 -0800

A friend is buying a website that I've built, as well as the domain name. He's taken possession of the actual site (i.e., the software that runs it), so now I need to make him the owner of the domain. How do I do it? I've been googling like crazy for "sell a domain" and "transfer a domain", but neither of these seem like they describe what I'm trying to do. The worst part is that searching for terms like these inevitably yields me a bunch of spammy results.

If anybody could give me some concise instructions on what to do here, I'd be most grateful :)

Thanks!

Can the U.S turn off the internet, what could the rest of the world do about it?

takeyourmedicine — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:27:11 -0800

Internet mechanics and conspiracy: With the recent news of Pakistan somehow taking YouTube down, Swiss banks forcing U.S hosts to ban WikiLeaks, under-water cables being cut and the US government having the power to ban Cuba-related domains, I was wondering: if the U.S "turns off the internet", what could be done? How powerful is it in this respect? More specifically

1. Can the U.S government take down any websites it wants? Would it?

2. How easy would it be for a country (or a whole region) to quickly construct it's own insular internet (i.e. South East Asia, South America etc) using existing hardware and internet software should something happen? Should this be done now?

3. Why does China not just construct it's own internet for citizens and ban all foreign communication?

4. What can be done to preserve one-internet-access around the world?

I know very very little about computers. News/ academic articles would be great although long-winded answers here are usually pretty damn awesome. Basically, conspiracy theories/scenarios regarding the internet refuted please...

I'm a pro designer and I don't know why my new pages aren't showing up!

FlyByDay — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:16:10 -0800

Changes to ComCast-hosted website no longer show up when viewed online, but look fine on my end and when viewing pages on their server. Why? This has never been a problem before, but I've recently made changes to my website and posted them via Dreamweaver's FTP feature. Pages look correct on my (local) site and when I view them as uploaded to ComCast, through Dreamweaver, they also reflect the changes. But try to view them in a browser, and none of the changes show up - images, text or Flash galleries. And yes, they've been checked on other computers and other browsers.

After talking via chat to someone at ComCast (who simply disconnected me when she ran out of things to say - typical) and someone on the phone who was *completely* ineffective and didn't even understand the concept of FTP, I'm not sure what to do. I'm a web professional and this is a new one. Do I need to host my site elsewhere and just start anew? I need to get this resolved because this is my portfolio site.

The site, if it matters, is www.amymalkoff.com.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Why are some major websites suddenly not working on my computer?

jordanian2 — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 10:37:20 -0800

Why are some major websites suddenly not working on my computer? My Internet works perfectly except for a few major websites like bankofamerica.com and unlv.edu. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer can't connect to them. I've always been able to connect to them until about four days ago.

I have ZoneAlarm for my firewall, but I haven't made any changes to it, nor have I installed any new software or hardware or anything.

How can I make these websites work again? I really appreciate your help!

Generating Hyperlinks Automatically?

0bvious — Fri, 04 May 2007 07:09:08 -0800

I would like to automatically generate hypertext links from a list of text. Ideally this would mean pasting a series of comma separated words into some online tool and having the system turn each word into a relevant google/wikipedia link... Does anyone know any sites/tools that will do this? Just for anyone who is interested, here's the text I want to auto-link:

Zeus, Zam, Zababa, Yu-Huang-Shang-Ti, Yeng-Wang-Yeh, Yara Ma Yha Who, Yahweh, Ya Mughnee, Ya `Aallah, Xochiquetzal, Xipe Totec, Xbalanque, Winabozho, Warohunugamwanehaora, Waramurungundi, Wakahiru-Me, Wadjet, Voltumna, Vishnu, Venus, Uttu, Urcaguary, Ulaulekeahi, Uke-Mochi-No-Kami, Ukapirmas, Turiacus, Tsukuyomi, Torngasoak, Tonatiuh, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, Thoth, Thor, Tharapita, Tekkeitserktock, Tāwhiri-matea, Take-Mikazuchi, Swāikstiks, Spandarmet, Sobek, Skadi, Shiva, Shina-Tsu-Hiko, Shamash, Shai'-ha-Qawm, Seaxnéat, Saraswati, Saosyant, Runesocesius, Roonikka, Rimmon, rDo-rje-rnal-hbyor-ma, Raluvhimba, Quirinus, Qaynan, Ptah, Prajnaparamita, Potrimpos, Poshaiyankayo, Persephone, Pellon Pekko, P'an-Chin-Lien, Osiris, Odin, Occupirn, Nzambi, Ninhursag, Nevinbimbaau, Nephthys, Nanghaithya, Nana Buluku, Nai-No-Kami, Mudungkala, Morrigan, Morpheus, Morgan, LeFay, Moaalii, Mar'rallang, Marduk, Mao, Mantis, Manisilat, Mama Pacha, Maahes, Lonomakua, Leviathan, Lemminkainen, Lakshmi, Laima, Kunapipi, Kukalikimoku, Ku, Krishna, Koko, Kiskil-lilla, Kishar, Khnum, Khahdoma, Kapohoikahiola, Kaluannuunohonionio, Joukahainen, Jengu, Jehovah, Jahwe, Izanami, Isis, Inanna, Igaluk, Huruing Wuhti, Huitzilopochtli, Horus, Hine Raumati, Hiiakawawahilani, Hendursanga, Heimdall, Hecate, Hastshehogan, Hanuman, Hades, Gudratrigakwitl, Gebeleizis, Garuda, Ganesha, Gandarewa, Frigga, Estasanatlehi, Ereshkigal, Epona, Dolichenus, Dionysos, Dhakhan, Demeter, Dēiwas, Dattatreya, Coyolxauhqui, Chimata-No-Kami, Ch'eng-Huang, Cernunnos, Carmenta, Caillech, Bunbulama, Branwyn, Birrahgnooloo, Bikeh Hozho, Berekyndai, Balac, Bahá'u'lláh, Baal-Qarnain, Athena, Asha Vahishta, Arnarquagsag, Archons, Aramurungundju, Apollo, Apocatequil, Aphrodite, Antero Vipunen, Anitun Tabu, Angwusnasomtaka, Amaunet, Amaterasu, Amaethon, Aji-Suki-Taka-Hi-Kone, Ahmeto Lela Okya, Agadjimbiri, Adnoartina

Digital camera for websites and internet display

Noodles — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 02:59:34 -0800

Hi what digital camera would you recommend for taking pictures that will be used on websites or internet display only! I have heard camera pixels don't matter if one is not going to print pictures. please give me brand and model number. thanks

How can I run my one-man software business from abroad?

csugden — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 13:45:04 -0800

How can I continue to operate my one-man software business while out of the country for 3 months? I've been preparing a piece of software which I'm almost ready to start selling. But I'm planning on going away on a long study trip abroad this summer, from late May to early September. This has been planned for a long time, and it's fixed. So how can I keep an eye on my business and make necessary changes?

I don't want to wait until I get back to launch. But I also don't want to be unable to update my website or do customer service or patch my code. I think I have a few options:
1. Internet cafes. Not fond of this idea because of security concerns, as I would want to be able to check on my sales and so on.
2. Home connection. I'll be staying with a host family (I'm going to France), and I have no idea whether they'll have the net and I don't want to be an annoying guest by hogging their net!
3. Public wifi. I would have to take my own laptop, but all my files are on it so I may have to do this anyway. Plus, I don't know whether there will be any hotspots where I'm going.
4. Get someone else to look after it while I'm away.

What do you think? If it was just email there wouldn't be a problem. I just don't want to find out there's a bug that really needs to be fixed and I can't do it for three months!

Opinions gratefully received. Thanks, Chris.

Internet Games/Sites For Young Kids?

maryh — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 21:45:20 -0800

Anyone have any recommendations for good websites/internet games for young kids? This morning, my son accidentally erased the bookmark where I keep all his websites and games. I was able to find his old standbys without much trouble, but I lost a lot of other sites (including a few in Japanese) that I doubt I'll be able get back again. This thread from last year had a lot of good suggestions, but I'm hoping that there are recent additions Mefite parents can recommend for kids aged 4-7-ish. I'm interested primarily in engaging educational sites (science, music, reading) without too much TV character stuff, but good, simple entertainment games are appreciated too.

To avoid repetition, here's a list of his old faves:
PBS Kids
Orsinal
CBeebies
Sprout
Noggin
Sesame Workshop
Nick Jr
Wumpa's World
Lego Preschool
Learn To Read

Thanks!

Why is this single website not available from my home?

sudasana — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 21:57:55 -0800

I'm having trouble resolving a single website. My home internet connection in general is fine, but one website recently hasn't been coming up with anything. When we try it from work it shows up fine. The site is www.mcgill.ca (McGill university in Canada). From a couple days ago, any time we tried to access the site firefox comes back with a local page describing a "TCP_ERROR", but the site is fine from other computers. It's only from home that this error appears. I can't reproduce the problem with any other sites, even other .ca domains. Any idea what could be blocking our access? Is it our ISP's DNS server? We live in Taiwan so our ISP is a small-time cable company. It's kind of important that we can access it as my SO is going there this fall.

Is there a programme to allow me to find redundant, non-linked files on my server?

Hartster — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 01:57:24 -0800

Is there a programme, or way, to allow me to find 'redundant' files on my server: i.e. files that are not linked to from any other page? Several of our larger websites have been running for 10+ years now. I'm sure there are hundreds of images and pdfs and video files and pages and entire directories that are hanging around on the server that are no longer used. Is there a programme that can spider a website, then spider the site directory on the server and then provide a list of files that are on the latter but not the former so that I can do a bit of housekeeping?

What websites would you want to remember?

ND¢ — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 21:01:30 -0800

What websites would you write yourself a note to remember if your entire memory of the internet was about to be erased? You are you (your age, your level of intelligence, your knowledge of technology and web terminology, your interests). Unfortunately, your entire memory of ever visiting any website, or hearing about one, is about to be erased. But wait, there’s good news. The mad scientist that is about to erase part of your memory gives you a pen and paper and says that you may write yourself a list of websites, with short descriptions, that will be given to your soon to be internet-knowledge-less self. What do you write down?

Bear in mind that I’m not talking about the graduate-level sites that you may link to on Mefi now, but kindergarten level stuff. Sites that are the building blocks/cornerstones of being a citizen of the worldwide web.

Finally, this is not merely an open-ended chatty question that doesn't offer a problem to be solved, but an attempt to create a list that can be used as a means of introducing an (almost) complete novice to the internet.

Why do I think of websites as locations?

staresbynight — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 11:34:00 -0800

I've noticed I have this habit of thinking of different websites in terms of direction and location rather than just a URL. For instance, one of my webmail accounts seems to be ahead and to the left when I'm sitting in front of a computer. Metafilter is a step above ground level, and AskMe is two rungs up a ladder in a wall. My company's website is above and to my left, and my primary webmail account is straight ahead.

The question is twofold: does anyone else do this, and why might someone do it?

HTML issues

XQUZYPHYR — Wed, 27 Oct 2004 13:28:25 -0800

HTML crisis: I use relative URLS on my blog because pages archive in different files- for example, a tag for a JPEG would be /images/image.jpg inside image tags. Because I use that first slash to make the relative URL work, all image tags are broken when you type or link to my site without a "www" in the url. In other words, "www.mysite.com" shows all the images fine, but "mysite.com" loads the site with little red x's everywhere. Solution? What's weird is that I load all my HTML and Flash (swf) files through relative URLs as well, and they load fine with or without a www in the URL. COuld it be a browser issue instead of a code issue? Using Windows XP with IE, currently SP2 but this problem occured in SP1 as well.

Is it really a trap, and are there more?

e^2 — Fri, 22 Oct 2004 14:31:08 -0800

Anyone know more sites like ihateyouall.com and itsatrap.net that are just one page, elegantly simpleminded, and exactly as advertised in the url?

Entertaining IRC Logs

the fire you left me — Fri, 03 Sep 2004 08:51:23 -0800

What is the site that is a collection of IRC logs, usually pretty entertaining?

My web host is down

dg — Sun, 11 Jul 2004 05:28:57 -0800

Where did my hosting company go? I have a reseller account with ADT Hosting and they have always provided good service. Until today. [more inside] All my sites and those that I host for others are unreachable. ADT Hosting's site is unreachable. I cannot ping the IP address or the domain (or the nameservers). I have tried the following:

1. Called the phone number in the whois information - wrong number (surprise, surprise). Whois info shows:
Buhr, Scott domains@server26.com
41st Street
Long Island City, New York 11104
United States
9174477477 Fax --
2. Tried to find a phone number via Google, but I suspect that ADT Hosting is just a trading name and they are not listed under that name.
3. Called the phone number in the whois information for the name servers operating by ADT Hosting - invalid number (surprise, surprise). Whois info shows:
Connor, Ryan T. info@server26.com
41st Street
Suite 5
Long Island City, New York 11104
United States
(718) 305-987 Fax --
4. Tracked down the owner of the IP address my hosting account uses, which is Net Access Corporation and phoned them. They advise that one of their reseller customers was relocating at the time and maybe ADT Hosting was a customer of a customer of theirs, but they cannot confirm it (although the staff there were very friendly and helpful).
5. Tried, with little hope of success, e-mailing ADT Hosting's support e-mail.
6. Freaked out.

What else can I try? Am I panicking too soon? (things have been dark for around 11 hours now).

Chinese websites - best value for my advertising dollar?

hoder — Mon, 14 Jun 2004 17:08:33 -0800

On which Chinese website should I advertise? Average Chinese websites are thought to have at least ten times bigger audience, but maybe their advertising prices are not very different. So does anyone have any idea about the most popular Chinese websites and their ad prices?