Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with machine

Machine vs man quote

Albondiga — Sun, 12 May 2013 10:42:03 -0800

Help-me-find-that-quote-filter - along the lines of "over the next thousand years the struggle between machines and humankind will be a close run race but ultimately humankind will emerge triumphant"? Thank you!

How do I start searching for a sewing machine?

linettasky — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:46:16 -0800

I am looking to upgrade from my very basic, ten-year-old Elna 2110 sewing machine to something that I'll still be enjoying twenty or more years from now. I know what basic features I want, but I don't know how to translate that into a sewing machine search. There are just SO MANY sewing machines available that I'm unsure how to narrow it down. How do I articulate what I'm looking for in sewing machine-buying terms? I'd consider myself an intermediate sewer. 90% of my sewing is clothing. The other 10% is quilts. I want something that can handle all weights of fabric, from silk to denim. It needs to have stretch stitches -- I have a serger (that I've never used because it needs to be tuned up), but I've also gotten pretty comfortable sewing knits with the stretch stitches. I'd like something that can do a decent buttonhole, reasonably handle a zipper, those sorts of basic clothing things. I'm a frequent sewer; I make most of my toddler son's pants and underwear, for example.

Otherwise, I don't need anything fancy. I'm unlikely to want to do any embroidery. I don't need a computer inside. Price-wise, $1000 is probably more than I can convince my partner to spend unless there really isn't another option; $600-700 would be more reasonable for us.

I'm self/internet-taught on all of this, so the right words are eluding me. How do I put this into appropriate search terms so I can find what I'm looking for? All the review websites are just lists of brands and models, and I don't even know where to begin with that.

Mac shows Time Maching but not External HD

chicaboom — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 11:16:55 -0800

Reinstalled Snow Leopard but ejected my external drive before this. Then, when done, plugged back in via USB as my usual custom....and Time Machine still shows up, but the External Seagate drive does not. I made sure that in Finder/Preferences that the external disc box as others was checked. I tried a different cord, and different port. I opened up Disc Utility and the External HD's partioned Time Machine is available but the other part, now renamed something else (a default name from manufacturer?) is greyed out and I cannot touch it. Any thoughts? Should i now go to the boot disc of Snow Leopard? Not sure why TM shows but the rest does not.

Broken washing machine

ellieBOA — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:00:43 -0800

Brand new Whirlpool AWE 7728 washing machine won't complete the first (empty) cycle, help! So, the manual advised running an empty wash on 60 synthetic, accidentally ran 30 cotton and it is now stuck on the lavage (wash) part of the cycle. It gets to that point and then the start button flashes and it just stops. Pressing the start button just restarts the lavage cycle.

It's a French machine, came with a very short guide that just says to hit the start button again which I've tried. Also tried changing the dial to the correct 60 synthetic wash but that didn't make any difference.

Uploaded a picture to twitter as my phone and imgur aren't playing nice, direct link below, or twitter via my profile in case that doesn't work.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BEyEhR-CAAAIZle.jpg

Lifting a Washing Machine onto Pedestal

jasondigitized — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 06:43:07 -0800

My dad built a proper pedestal for our new washing machine and dryer. It is 19 inches high. The challenge is getting the washer up onto the pedestal. The washer weighs 232 lbs. It is just the two of us today. I don't want to throw my back out. Neither does he. What equipment or physics tricks can we employ to get this thing up on the pedestal?

How do I clean cotton napkins?

lynnie-the-pooh — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 07:30:05 -0800

I have cotton napkins, some 100 percent, some 65 percent. And it says on the label to wash them in cold. I want to make sure that when my child puts the napkin to her mouth that the napkin is sanitary. But I'm wondering if washing them in cold takes all the microbes out. I'm not only talking about the food, but what about my wash machine which may have just washed our family underpants. Is this common practice? Or am I missing something? Am I supposed to be washing the napkins in a bucket instead? I wanted the convenience of washing in the washing machine, but if that is not sanitary I will do the bucket. Also, if I can do it in the machine, should I do it in warm to make sure microbes are gone? Or is cold best? Also, should I line dry or do it in the dryer. Thanks in advance for your help.

I'm almost certainly messing up some terminology here...

heyforfour — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:20:11 -0800

I'm not a network technician but I play one ~~on tv~~ in grad school. How do I get the server connections I need, involving a virtual machine (VMWare Fusion) that needs to talk to an outside device? I use a cool experimental device that has a built-in server which transmits data back and forth. I currently access it from a Mac OS sytem, which works fine. I'm attempting to access it from a Win 7 virtual machine using VMWare Fusion, and running into problems.

My Win 7 virtual machine connects to the internet via an ethernet cable just fine, (I'm in NAT mode). However, when I plug my device into the laptop instead, I can ping it from the MAC OS host but not from the Win 7 machine. I would like it to talk to *both* the guest and host.

(For context, I have a two-part experiment; the vastly-superior standard implementation of part 1 runs only on Windows, ditto for part 2 runs only on Mac. The standard solution to this problem is two computers, but I work in a semi-mobile lab and don't have this option. yay.)

So far I've turned off all the Win 7's firewalls that I can find and fiddled with the different networking modes without success. Where do I start to diagnose what's going on? VMWare occasionally asks (for flash drives etc.) whether an item should connect to the host or guest - can I examine/alter these preferences once they've been set?

My probably-subpar googling seems to yield mostly attempts to connect to virtual servers, which is not what I want. Help me figure out how to figure this out!

Blood pressure machine woes.

MaryDellamorte — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 15:26:41 -0800

Every single time I have my blood pressure checked by a machine, it's high. If it's manually done, it is always within the optimal range (usually around 110/70). Does anyone else have this problem? How trustworthy are those machines? I've had my blood pressure checked by three different doctors (OBGYN, GP, sleep doc) in the last six months who all used the manual method and everything was perfect. Anytime I go to Patient First, they use a machine and my readings are CRAZY high. I went in last night and it was something like 158/100 (WTF). The lady came back in 10 minutes later to check it manually and it was fine. And this seriously happens every single time I go to Patient First. I also tried out one of those automatic machines in a drug store and got a high reading. What is going on here?

Merging iTunes across Time Machine images

blueshammer — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 09:02:22 -0800

Once I had backed my iTunes up using Time Machine, I deleted some music on my computer to free up space. I've since added new music, which Time Machine has also backed up, but in discrete images. Is there a way to create a "master" library with exactly one copy of every song across all my Time Machine images? In case you need a longer example, let's say I never listened to Murmur so I deleted it from my "live" iTunes. Since that happened, I acquired Life's Rich Pageant. No one Time Machine backup has both Murmur and Life's Rich Pageant in it, but I want to ("effortlessly") create a new repository of music that contains both albums.

I can't seem to come up with the right combination of keywords to find the answer to this on Google or AskMe, so apologies in advance if this turns out to be a redundant question.

(NB: I actually listen to Murmur all the time.)

Need gelato machine recommendation for the home.

viconius — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 18:49:52 -0800

Need a gelato machine recommendations for the home. I am willing to spend upwards of $1K if it is the right machine. I realize this is somewhat of a specialty product, but I can't seem to separate fact from fiction when researching this on-line. And there does not seem to be any unbiased "consumer report" style reviews.

Channeling my inner fashion designer

sunnychef88 — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 09:07:43 -0800

What's the most cost-efficient way to hem and dart my shirts? What kind of sewing machine fits my urge to adjust clothing? I've been hand sewing little alterations to my clothing for a few months now. I don't know much about sewing, but I know how to stitch a simple straight line with close together stitches that seem to hold up for lace collars and side seams to shirts! Problem is, it takes forever for me to hand sew a seam to take in a shirt. I usually just eyeball a garment and mark with a pastel crayon, then stitch along the line. Or, I'll glue stuff in place with E6000, then reinforce it with some stitching. Everything looks pretty good that way. I get compliments on my work, so maybe I have a knack for it?

I read some Mefi threads that don't advise tailoring your own clothing, but I do love to tinker around with the fit of my clothing and add little accents to it. I mostly just taper in the sizes of boxy t shirts and sweatshirts to make them more fitted, add pieces of lace or ribbon, and hem shirts or dresses. Ideally I would be able to create darts for dressier tops (button down and silk, flowy things). I was thinking a machine could save me money as opposed to taking these items to a tailor, but I don't want my alterations to look unprofessional. I would not be making any clothing from scratch - just adjusting store bought items.

Does this sound doable for a busy student, or would I be in over my head with a sewing machine? Is it much more complicated to sew things like darts than it appears to be?

What would be some good rules for a robot golf tournament? And how many years before a golf-playing robot could beat a pro?

mnop — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 06:24:22 -0800

What would be some good rules for a Robot Golf tournament? And how many years can we expect to wait before a golf-playing robot could beat a pro? The more I think about it, the more the world could use a robot golf competition.
So, given the state of current technology, how well could a robot play golf?

1) From what I've seen online, there are a few bots designed to drive and putt golf balls... but has anyone ever attempted to have a bot play a full hole?

2) If a golf tournament were to be held for robots, what sort of rules would need to be established? What level of autonomy could be expected of them in the first competition?

3) The DARPA Grand Challenge was awesome, and there we saw bots go from failure to mastery in just a few years- could we expect the same thing for golf-playing robots?

4) Finally, how many years (decades?) do you think it will be before a robot could beat a pro on a full course?

Thanks for indulging me on this question... because seriously... golf playing robots would be totally awesome.
To me all of this doesn't seem to be a question of if it will happen (because certainly it will, how could it not?), but rather when.

Recover hacked VPS logs

kithrater — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:30:53 -0800

Is there any way to recover data from a VPS that suffered a rm -rf? A kind, anonymous individual decided to solve my memory-storage problems on my virtual machine by way of rm -rf. According to the host, only the /dev and /proc folders remain. Fortunately, I have a server snapshot from the start of the month, so nothing significant will be lost.

However, I would really like to know how this kind, anonymous individual managed to execute the command. Is there any relatively easy way to recover enough data from a virtual machine being hosted by a third party, in order to reconstruct the logs at the time of the attack?

Restore apps from Time Machine after upgrade to Mountain Lion?

Thrillhouse — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:27:22 -0800

Can I restore applications from time machine AFTER an OS upgrade? I tried googling this but it seems like it's a little TOO detailed to for google to find a response to.

I want to upgrade to Mountain Lion but since my computer is pretty screwed up right now I want to do a clean install after wiping out the drive. I have time machine backups of everything. If I upgrade from Lion to ML, can I then restore my applications from Time Machine without having to find the discs? I have an older version of Photoshop that I can't find the discs for (and ultimately the serials!) that is really the problem.

Thanks!

What sewing machine should I buy?

Jode — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 07:18:35 -0800

What kind of sewing machine should I get my beloved for her birthday? For her birthday Madame has requested a portable sewing machine. She intends to use it for occasional repairs and alterations. I imagine that if it were relatively uncomplicated to operate, she might be motivated to embark on slightly more ambitious projects as well. What model should I get to maximize her immediate delight and future happiness in the $150 range?

Narrow, tall or shallow washing machine to fit in a bathroom?

thewalrus — Sun, 27 May 2012 19:24:41 -0800

I am looking for a clothes washing machine to fit into a relatively small apartment's bathroom. The bathroom was not originally intended for the installation of a washing machine, though there is just barely sufficient space, so I'm looking for something that is sort of tall and narrow, or shallower than normal in dimensions, not cube shaped like the typical front loading machine. Several years ago I saw such machines in a Media Markt store in Germany. The machine I'm looking for is shaped sort of like this.. They do not appear to be common in Canada or North America, where people are accustomed to purchasing monstrously sized washing machines. Can anyone recommend a specific model which fits my needs, even if I need to order it from Amazon or another online US-based distributor?

How do I take this from my browser into real life?

bumpjump — Sat, 26 May 2012 08:27:53 -0800

I'm having a ridiculously fun time playing with Audiotool and am learning a ton about desktop production. Where do I go from here? It's been about a month since I started using Audiotool (a flash-based DAW) and I think I'm ready to dive into music production outside of my web browser. What gear do I need to start making hip hop beats and house/electro music? Caveat: I'm a PC user so I'm pretty sure Logic is out of the question.

Serging forward

mippy — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:38:47 -0800

I used an overlocker (serger) for the first time yesterday, and I was impressed. I'd like to get one when I am in a position to have a proper sewing space (hopefully in the next year), but can I survive without one for dressmaking well enough? And what should I be looking for in a first machine? When I got my sewing machine, the advice I saw at the time said that £200 is the right price point - more than that means features a beginner won't need, and less than that means a less sturdy/reliable machine. I got a Janome non-electronic machine for about £180 which was perfect. But I have no idea when it comes to overlockers. So:

- how much should I be looking to spend?

- what features should I look for (I'll probably be mainly using dressweight/quilting weight cotton, and I'd like to try knit fabrics) and are they as scary to thread/maintain as they look?

- what are some good, reliable models?

- if I make clothing in the meantime without using one, will it be a bad idea? I don't want to not use my machine until I have the room to get the overlocker as well, but the extra security on the seams and the better finishing on the edges made me think a finished piece will last longer. Can you make your own clothing to a good, durable standard without needing an overlocker?

Need help finding a book to help me rebuild civilization.

krisak — Sat, 05 May 2012 20:48:16 -0800

I'm trying to remember a book that explains how to build a machine shop step by step from a pile of coal. I've heard of a book that explains how to begin with a pile of coal and work your way up to a full machine shop. It explains what and how to build the next set of tools at each step.

Been searching google and Amazon for an hour an can't find the book I'm remembering. Does anyone know what book I should be looking for?

(For what it's worth, I'm preparing for the inevitable zombie apocalypse and want to cover all my bases.)

Human Flight: from small working model in footage to life size model?

querty — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:21:01 -0800

After seeing the Human Bird Wings video (doesn't matter if it's real or not), I thought about this TED Talk again. Are there any 3D programs/motion-capturing software that can map out that bird and its motion from the talk and convert a 3D model out of it? Then all you would have to do is scale it to human size and build it offline right?

The hamsters go in this end and the cans of stew come out the other

XMLicious — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:40:07 -0800

What is this machine appearing in a 1950 space exploration movie? From the context, designing a rocket in an engineering office, I would assume that it's some sort of mechanical calculator or mechanical computer. I was hoping that the hive mind could confirm or deny that and give some more specifics - manufacturer, model, is this the same kind of thing as the 50s fire control computers from this MeFi post or maybe a more general-purpose machine?

Shhhhhhhhh......

zarq — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:23:21 -0800

Please recommend your favorite white noise machine! To drown out our noisy neighbors, my wife and I used to sleep with one of these, but my kids inherited it. We need a replacement for ourselves. (We love the Oceanside sound, and would be looking for something similar.)

The reviews on the new version of the Sharper Image model over at Amazon complain that the clock is very bright in dark rooms.

If you're using a white noise machine that you love and can't sleep without, could you please recommend it?

I'm not looking for:
* Noise cancelling headphones. (I can't stand having my ears plugged or anything wrapped around my head while I sleep.)
* Laptop + mp3's (Too bulky, complex, etc.)
* CD with white noise mp3 (The kids also inherited our cd alarm clock.)
* iPod-anything. (Don't already own one, so the cost of the player plus speakers would be too high.)
* Smartphone apps or mp3's. (Our phones currently charge in a dock overnight.)

....just the perfect white noise machine. :)

Thank you in advance!

Super-automatic coffee terrific happy hour

mrhaydel — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:31:25 -0800

I'm looking for a super-automatic coffee/espresso machine (no pods) that is around $1,000 (or cheaper), and meets a few specific needs. I'm eyeing a Jura or DeLonghi, but are there others I should be considering? My girlfriend and I are interested in a new coffee-making device, and I've brought up the idea of so-called "super-automatics" to her, as I've experienced one myself in person, and think it would (more than) meet the needs of what we're after. What I'd like is help in determining what the best bang for the amount of buck we're willing to spend is!

Here are the features we're wanting:

* Brews one cup at a time
* Grinds beans on demand for each cup
* Accepts pre-ground coffee, if desired
* Brews both coffee, and espresso*
* Water reservoir (no need for it to hook into water line)
* Absolutely no pods

A few more details: the one-cup-at-a-time and griding beans on demand are key, to me, as is the ability to put in pre-ground coffee too. A Burr grinder would be a plus in the unit, but I also am not sure if that's a pipe dream period, or just a pipe dream for my price range. *While I feel like I'm fairly well versed in the lingo of coffee, I do recognize that me saying the machine should "brew both coffee, and espresso" may have some subtleties about what that really means.

Basically, I'm after a machine that will brew a traditional, fresh ground cup of coffee, and also brew an espresso with little to no fuss. I like the idea of foam/crema happening automagically too.

I own (and love) an AeroPress, along with other coffee implements, but for now I'm just after the ease of a one-button brew.

The machine I've used and seen in person (and where the above features come from) is a Jura Impressa Z5, which, new, appears to be somewhere in the $3,000 range; however, in some corners of the internet, I've seen refurbished ("pre-brewed", as they apparently call it) ones for $1,000, though I can't quite tell if that model has been discontinued, or if it's just hard to find. I feel like the two of us could swallow $1,000 (maybe $1,500 tops) for a machine that theoretically would/should last us for quite some time and that we'd get a lot of use and enjoyment out of; $3,000 is a bit much though.

After falling down a bit of a rabbit hole with these two previous questions, and their relevant links, it appears like DeLonghi may make at least one (maybe more?) sub-$1,000 unit that meet my above wants, such as the Magnifica ESAM3300. I saw this question too, though it appears a lot of the suggestions were more semi-automatics than super-automatics (this sentence could easily be mistaken for gun talk or something!)

Which is where you come in to play, dear Hive Mind. I realize you are not my barista, and that I could spend a lot of time on Coffee Geek, but, I'd like some direction: are there other units at the $1,000 or less price point that may satiate my needs, or given those needs, have I already narrowed it down to two machines (Jura vs. DeLonghi)? Is there a unit I've overlooked that may just be a few hundred dollars more that would be worth considering?

I'm open to any other super-automatic stories you may have, joyous or otherwise!

Basic (as in, no bells and whistles) sewing machine recommendations for a beginner...

brownrd — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:38:36 -0800

Can anyone recommend (from personal experience) a good, basic, durable sewing machine? Mrs. Brownrd would like to buy a sewing machine. She wants a very basic sewing machine for alterations, puppet sewing, and light stuff. She has never had one before. Keep in mind basic doesn't have to mean cheap. She likened this purchase to when we bought a new oven: no electronics, no LED timer - just an oven. Any recommendations?

my virtual desktop

Xhris — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:28:43 -0800

I'm a low- to medium-grade computer techie. I've recently fallen in love with the remote desktop concept (I've been using TeamViewer). I have my main PC with all my data and the software I use, setup how I like it, and then remote into that from mobile devices, friend's computers, work computers, etc., even my laptop I now prefer to use as a portal into my main PC. Great. But of course that main computer has to be on all the time, it has to be working properly and it displays what I'm doing on it remotely that others can see. So I think I want a virtual computer (in the cloud) that I can setup as I want, load my own software on to, store data local to it. And to be able to remote into it whenever and from wherever I want.

So ... could you please help me find what I want?

Is this some very normal thing to do and I just have to subscribe to the right service? I've looked at EC2 and really quickly get overwhelmed by the options and complexity and terminology. Is that the right path and I just have to work it out?

I have access to a hosting service - could I in theory run my own virtual machine there (vbox or something?). I only know about ftp and http access into that environment. I'd need something else I guess?

Any pointers please?
Any simple-ish services I can sign up for?
Or a "how to" page somewhere?

Thanks