Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with machine

How do I run a single Mac application on a Windows machine?

Unhyper — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:53:33 -0800

How do I run a single Mac application on a Windows machine? Is there any way to run a single Mac application on a Windows platform without some kind of Hackintosh setup? There is an application (Scrivener) that only exists for Mac, and its Windows counterparts are just substandard in comparison. Is there a virtual machine solution that can be used?

What printed this Certification?

Faint of Butt — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:50:52 -0800

What sort of machine printed this Certification of Birth Abroad? The letters are broken up and stencil-ish, but it's no ordinary dot-matrix printer. I have here a Certification of Birth Abroad of a US citizen, printed at the US embassy in Lima, Peru, in 1978, and it's blowing my mind because I've never seen printing like this before and I don't know what kind of machine produced it. The form itself is pre-printed, but the personal information filling in the blanks is the weird stuff.

The font is all caps, and the characters are broken up into individual lines and shapes. The letter H looks something like this:

| | - | |

and a Y looks something like this:

\ / |

Other letters and numbers contain curved lines, and an O is sort of like this:

n ( ) u

only not nearly as disjointed.

Identifont is no help. Do you have any ideas? I'll be happy to answer any other questions about the type.

Is it too late to save my still rising loaf of cinnamon raisin bread?

csimpkins — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:45:35 -0800

Bread making help! I missed the 'beep' to add raisins to my cinnamon raisin bread. Is it too late? I've got a loaf of cinnamon bread cooking. But it's supposed to be cinnamon raisin bread. I missed the beep to add them during the mixing cycle.

It's currently about half way through the first rising cycle. Anything I can do to to get them mixed in at this point without ruining the loaf?

Or is there any good way or recipe for taking it out after the first rise and turning it instead into cinnamon raisin swirl bread?

Ask Mefi, Go!

Perforating Paper

edmz — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:04:56 -0800

Is there a machine that will allow me to cut a hole in a stack of paper? I need to cut either circles or rectangles in stacks of paper of around 200 sheets.

In case it matters, the size of the paper is a letter. I started doing this with an exacto knife but it will take me ages to finish this. Plus, the result is not very precise.

Is there a machine that will allow me to do this?

Automatic sewing machine - I provide the design, the machine does the rest!

WhereAmI — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:04:48 -0800

Do programmable sewing machines exist? I want to be able to provide the sewing machine with a design or logo and have it sew it for me - in this case, a nice little dog to go on the breast pocket of a golf shirt. Surely something like this exists for a reasonable price? I'm thinking that a sewing machine exists that can take an image/cad file/etc. from a computer and then I just secure the material within the sewing machine's needle range, hit start and off it goes (think CNC machine or laser etching, except with needle/thread).

Your favorite espresso maker

zenpop — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:32:18 -0800

My espresso maker just gave up the ghost, after 15 years of great coffee and service. What's a really dependable, good new machine to purchase? As functional as it was cool looking, I had a fire-engine red Francis and Francis unit (shown here http://tinyurl.com/d75rd3 ) I think I paid about 700 bucks for it at the time (and see they've really gone up). Too, Ferancis was bought out by illy -- I'm open to something different).

So I'm wondering Meta peeps -- what do you recommend for a new machine/purchase?

Tools That Make Other Tools

toomanyplugs — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:27:04 -0800

How did we go from basic rough hand tools to the point of having really precise tools? Specifically, how do you make a better tool from the ones you have on hand? I came across an article on Make: Magazine about casting parts and building your own machine shop that got me thinking about how we as a species have arrived at very precise tools that are capable of creating a perfect sphere. The statement that got me thinking was:

"The order is important, because each tool requires the use of the previous machines in its construction."

How did we progress from only bare hands to these very precise machines? What fundamental laws of the universe can be harnessed to build these tools? I would expect that it required the development of measuring devices that could also become more precise.

Some of the other things that got me thinking:

The "Universal Measure" (as I found out from that scene in Stephenson's Quicksilver with Hooke and the mercury on the table), or the ideas of "straight", "square", geometric construction, linkages, etc.

Are there any good resources that speak about this? How would one go about recreating the level of precision we have now if trapped on a (technologically) desert island?

Google Translate-ing Long Files

Yakuman — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:57:41 -0800

Is there any way for Google Translate to process long files? It seems to kick out at around 38K.

CK-THUNK goes the lever of justice

Lucinda — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:06:24 -0800

Can individuals rent voting machines? I'm a member of a group that is having an important vote in a few weeks. We can do it with pen and paper, but were wondering if we could rent one of those lever voting machines (we're in New York State; they still use them) for more anonymity (and, well, the coolness factor).

I remember using one in high school 15 some-odd years ago for student elections; I don't know if the school owned it outright or not.

Google's not turning up much on the subject.

Can Nylon/Plastic gears be recut in steel?

Tchad — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:46:03 -0800

Sewing Gear Filter: I have a number of sewing machines that have nylon or plastic composite gears that have broken. Some of them I can have replaced, some of them are no longer made. I am wondering about DIY bionic sewing machine parts. My machines have gears similar to these. Some of them are beveled drive gears as well.

I have some access to machine shop equipment and think I could probably make the gears myself with a little patience and a couple of books, but was wondering:

If the gears were originally nylon or plastic are there reasons that go beyond cost, noise, maintenance, and weight? As far as I know it is just a function of them being cheaper to manufacture, quieter in general, and requiring less lubrication.

If I grind or cast the same shape gear out of steel am I going to ruin the other components? It doesn't seem like I would, but I thought maybe they made the gears more flexible/fragile so that they break before bending other parts.

Are there any book or tips you know of for this kind of thing? They need not be specifically sewing related, but not having a degree or experience in engineering they need to be approachable.

I have tried to get answers from antique car repair shops, but none of them want to take on small work like this. I have tried google and dealerships, but most of the information seems to be proprietary - which is fine but a few of the pieces are so old that they are no longer manufactured.

Thoughts or ideas? These machines are so good I am willing to put work or money into them.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!!!

saradarlin — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:16:44 -0800

How can I rent a soft serve ice cream maker in London, Ontario (or around Toronto) for Saturday October 10th, 2009? Family member is getting married over the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend 2009 and would like an ice cream machine for the reception. Help me, help her!

Bad coffee brew

zenpop — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:37:07 -0800

Weird coffee question for baristas or home espresso machine owners: I decalcified my machine the other day and then got sick a couple of days later. Coincidence or connection? More inside: I've a five-year-old Francis Francis machine that had never been decalcified. It started acting up. I called customer support; they told me to get a decalcifier product called Durgol and run it through the machine. I did this, and then, when finished ran four or five cycles (tanks of water) through the machine too, wanting any residue gone. Made coffee as usual once machine was working again -- which it was. Problem was that a day and a half later I felt ill -- fluish, glands slightly swollen. My low back was killing me (which always signals kidney and or bladder trouble for me -- at least it has in the past). My question: what sort of shit is in the decalcifier? Is it dangerous? Francis Francis told me it's safe and 'citrus-based' but, well, I'd like to hear from a more objective source.

You never write ...you never call

naplesyellow — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:15:26 -0800

..Advice please? My grown stepchildren NEVER invite us to their houses...NEVER I am a significant other..and have been for going on ten years. I have no children of my own. My S.O. has three grown children. One was married last year and the other two have committed relationships (they also have significant others). For ten years I have hosted zillions of functions at our house. Birthdays and holidays out the ying yang. It has been expensive and a lot of work. A whole new year of holidays is looming...but I am very very tired of hosting. Recently my s.o.'s daughter bought a house. She has not yet invited us over to see the place!! My s.o's children seldom call and if they do it is usually because they want something (for example the daughter needed a small loan to get into the house).
It is clear that these adult children are very busy like all people in their 30's are...but can you tell me what you would do in my place? I try not to complain about these youngsters..but I have noticed that all my hosting has not made them any closer to me...and that all they seem to care about is presents and money. They honestly don't seem to give a fig about us. Advice?

What were those Hoffy papers?

rikschell — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:00:46 -0800

Does anyone remember Hoffy papers? Obscure elementary-school learning machine memory (pre-1980 edition) ... When I was in the primary grades, we would sometimes go to a special room and do worksheets using a special machine that I remember very little about. This was in the late 70s, in the midwest USA, at a Catholic school, so the machine was likely old already. The worksheets were standard color and shape matching stuff, Kindergarten or 1st grade, and they featured a furry monster who looked like Grover from Sesame Street (except I think he was red), and his name was Hoffy. I'd bet it was linked with some company with a Hoffman name, but that's only a guess. Google does nothing for me, but the worksheets were printed, not dittoes, so it couldn't have been just me!

What can I do with my broken espresso machine?

veggieboy — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:15:29 -0800

I have a Francis Francis! X5 espresso machine that I would like to sell. The problem is that it's the one referred to in this question, meaning it doesn't work. What's the best way to proceed? It's a rather expensive machine — $650 — bought back in the days when I had a job (!) and money (!).

The thing is, I'm not sure I can afford to get it repaired in order to sell it. The estimate is $200 to look at it, which then can be applied to the repair. I could probably somehow manage the $200, especially if I could then turn around and sell the repaired machine for, say, $250 or $300. (Which seems totally possible.)

But, say I find out the repair is $400. I really can't afford that. So in that scenario I'm out $200 for the repair estimate and I still have a broken espresso machine.

In the end, I can't bear to just throw it out. And . . . I'm not quite to the point mentally where I can just give it away. Because I look at it and see a potential sale and thus a bit of income.

So any ideas on how to handle that would be welcome. It seems to me to be a fairly clear-cut case, and it looks like I don't have any options, really. But I'm hoping I'm overlooking something and the hivemind will enlighten me. (Let me be absolutely clear: I am not entertaining the notion of somehow covering up the fact that it's broken to sell it, if that were even possible.)

Finally, if there are no ways to wring a bit of money out of this machine, I'd welcome ideas on what I can do to avoid simply throwing it out in the garbage, which would be a real shame. Freecycle occurred to me, but I'm interested in other ideas.

Washing Machine: Boom!

greekphilosophy — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:34:30 -0800

Was that a helicopter in my kitchen? No. It was the washing machine. Um. Help? I was just sitting here reading MetaFilter and drinking some coffee when I heard a terrible noise downstairs. The washing machine was on its final spin cycle, but was bucking around the kitchen. I turned it off immediately, and looked inside to find the basket just sitting there - no longer centered - and hanging in a sad sort of not-right kind of way.

1. I'd like to know what's going on and how to proceed.
2. I need to know if this is something I can fix myself. And if not, what do I need to tell my repairman so that she can bring the right tools/parts to make it go again?

Information:

It wasn't overloaded. I was doing a light load. But there was a rug in there, which I am willing to bet was a little lopsided.

The washer model is a Whirlpool Heavy Duty Thin Twin. (Stacked washer/dryer combo.)

Using an Airport Extreme & USB hard drive as a small office backup system

baggers — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:01:25 -0800

I'm considering using a Airport Extreme and large USB drive as a simple backup solution for a small business (about 10 people). Has anyone used it this way, and how well did it work? We are a 10-person office that is looking for a better backup solution. I am considering buying an Apple Airport Extreme and stringing a large USB drive off this, then setting up all of our Macs to use this as a time machine backup server. However, I'm a bit concerned on how the system might handle 10 users all trying to back up at once. Has anyone used a solution like this, and how well did it perform if you did?

Looking for a piece of art

doobiedoo — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:28:57 -0800

Hi I'm trying to find a piece of art - a series of lights attached to wooden arms whose tips trace some sort of toroidal geometry. At high speeds the armature disappears and the lights form volumes as luminous wireframes, like synchronised mechanical sparklers. It was on display at the Walsall Art gallery in Birmingham, UK sometime in 2004/5 I think. It's semi popular (no really it is!) but I can't think for the life of me what to google to get it, who made it etc.

Oh venerable master machinests, I beseech you!

StickyCarpet — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:30:13 -0800

Designing a COMPUTER CONTROLLED MILLING MACHINE, small, very precise, and specialized to one type of task. Help me understand the bits and drills that will do the actual carving of the metal. This machine will take flat slabs of metal about the size of an index card, and carve dimples and grooves into the horizontal surface.

The dimples are small, precisely hemispherical, at a depth of one radius of the sphere, and in any case never deeper than the diameter of the sphere.

The size of the hemispherical removal of the metal must support a diameter of 1/25" at the largest, and 1/250" at the smallest, although I'd go to 1/1000" if it wasn't too much extra trouble.

I have a positionable X-Y stage to serve as a table (top of the line Aerotech, already have it lying around.) I imagine a drill bit at a fixed location that can be raised and lowered with precision, the metal blank is on the table and is moved around under the drill to locate the contact point.

QUESTIONS:

1) A drill with a precisely shaped tip could repeatedly drill a vast number of hemispherical dimples to create a channel, just operating up and down. (time is not an issue) What kind of half round bit could cut the channels laterally, like a router?

2) Can I purchase such bits off the shelf? Can I sharpen or reshape the bit tip if it becomes deformed with wear? What would it take to make my own bits, or can I get a blank, say cylindrical bit, and shape the hemispherical business end myself?

3) The specific metal being carved is not so important, what would be a workable metal soft enough to go easy on the bits?

4) Should I ditch the whole bit idea with a laser or some such? The X-Y stage has an MSRP of about $75K, I wouldn't want to go into that ballpark again. And I'd also like to have some way of tinkering with surplus parts that I could get a deal on, during the early development.

Throwing a party, where can I get a foam machine?

Blandanomics — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:14:08 -0800

Throwing a party, where can I get a foam machine? Hosting a party on Friday in the Philadelphia area. Cant seem to find a place to get a foam machine (either online or brick and mortar). Any recommendations/suggestions?

I'd like to pay less money for clean clothes

saffry — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 07:09:49 -0800

Does anyone know details of the Energy Star rebate in the Stimulus bill? I was going to buy a new washing machine today, but I'm wondering if my purchase would count if the bill isn't signed yet. And knowing how much the rebate would be may make a difference in the model I pick.

Noisy shower pump in dead of night

tulipwool — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:52:55 -0800

Why is my shower pump suddenly starting up when the shower is off but hot water is used elsewhere? Can it be stopped? The pump was installed about 18 months ago when we had a shower room added. It's in the airing cupboard with the hot water tank. It was always noisy, but worked fine. Lately I've been hearing it start up for just a second when hot taps are turned on and off, which seemed odd but wasn't a problem. Then yesterday we had our kitchen sink and taps replaced, and using the hot tap afterwards I could hear the shower pump pulsing on and off very quickly. I got it to stop by turning the tap on and off again and hoped the problem would sort itself out. Then at 3am the washing machine turned itself on and the shower pump began to pulse, waking us up. It's never responded to the washing machine before, but of course the attachments all had to be taken off and replaced when the sink was changed, so something must be different.
The worrying thing is my neighbour seems to be an insomniac and had already complained about my running the washing machine at night. (Which I have to do as my electricity is Economy 7.) I expect an irate visit as soon as the sun comes up, especially as the noise started up again a second time when I thought I had turned the shower pump off and restarted the washing machine. A thick white wire runs from the pump to a switch and fuse, still in the airing cupboard, labelled 'heating and hot water'. When I turned it off the clock display for my timed central heating went out and I assumed the shower pump would be off too, but it managed to run anyway. I can't see any other switch that might turn it off, or any other electrical supply attached to it.
Googling for problems with shower pumps has suggested that the pulsing on and off problem could be due to the boiler heating the water too much (though it is already set at 60 Celsius) or to air in the pipes, but why is it coming on at all when the shower is not on?

I'd be very grateful for any advice. I don't dare turn the washing machine on until my neighbour has gone to work now, and the same may happen with the taps - I don't dare to try them either yet! More details in case they help: there is an electric immersion heater for water but it is not used and is switched off (switch outside the airing cupboard), the washing machine has red and blue hoses attached to hot and cold pipes under the kitchen sink, the water is heated by gas from a back boiler which I have checked yearly - most recently only a couple of weeks ago - the central heating is through radiators, it's a semi-detached house so I only have the one neighbour to worry about but she's very bad tempered, I'm in England, and the pump has 'Wickes Twin Impeller' written on it. Thank you for reading, sorry about the length.

Help me fix my washing machine!

sdis — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:58:24 -0800

Washing Machine troubleshooting fun! Sometimes-not-working-pump! Here's a long shot, but maybe someone knows their washing machines!

We have a Eurostar 1000a front loading european washing machine that we got from our private landlords. We moved in a month ago or so, and it worked a few times pretty well, and then every once in a while, it would end up all soaking wet. It's gotten somewhat worse, and with careful use of the scientific method aka writing everything down these past few days, we've found that there's something wrong with the pump.

The basic cycle seems to consist of 4 parts:

1. Water in
2. Agitate for a while
3. Pump water out
4. Spin and pump water out
-Repeat 4x, add high-speed spin at the end.

parts 1, 2, and 3 all seem to work.
Part 3 leading into Part 4, the pump tries to pump out water, but there's not much left, and so it keeps trying to pump but nothing comes out. Then it starts spinning, and water comes out of the clothes, but the pump still doesn't get anything out. As the spin cycle continues, the water from the clothes basically comes back into the washing machine, and sudsy water is spun around with the clothes. Then the next rinse cycle begins, with sudsy wet clothes instead of fairly dry clothes.

For a while, we thought this was due to the extremely small (maybe 0.5cm diameter opening) syphon connector thingy on our drain, because it would work better if we detached the hose on the washing machine side during part 1 each time and blew into it *hard*, seemingly dislodging whatever would get stuck in the connector each time. (seemed like if I didn't do this, it wouldn't fully drain on part 3 as well as part 4). However it wasn't a perfect fix, and to test it out, I tried running the hose simply into the sink, and got the pattern described above.

Seems like the pump gives out whenever there's not enough water to make pumping simple.

So! Now what? I don't want to buy a new washing machine, and if I can avoid it, I would like to avoid fighting with my landlord if there is an affordable fix (a big perk of this place is having a nice, friendly relationship with my landlord, and I have little to no idea how Austrian tenant laws apply in this case). Anyone know what's going on here?

Music

cluelessguru — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:23:27 -0800

Can you remember the 1970s disco songs that start with sound effects such as machine gun fire, door opening slowly , and a man laughing ominously? I just cannot recall their names. And googling hasn't helped.

Please give me the names of a few of them.

Thanks a million.

Ubuntu + Virtual Box + ??? = profit

erifneerg — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 10:57:37 -0800

Is it wise to setup Ubuntu for my parents virtual box for ie? So I'm basicly sick and tired of getting phone calls from my parents asking me why there computer isn't work or why it's soo slow. The only thing really stoping me from putting ubuntu is the fact my father need IE (activeX to be exact) for work. Would Virtual Box with IE be more of headache then the current setup?