Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with message

New! Improved! Mood-brightening and enlightening!

fiercecupcake — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:21:43 -0800

What are some good, fun, little Internet surprises? More like this, less like Goatse. Little things you can make and send to a stranger/acquaintance/friend/lover/imaginary Internet person. Some things I use for this purpose are someecards.com and the above puri site. I'm always looking for more.

Key features:
* Free or for a nominal fee
* Surprising, inspiring, creative, fun, silly
* Not necessarily romantic

Yes, I can draw something in Paint and attach it to an e-mail, or take a picture and send it to someone, but I'm looking for something a little more unexpected. I feel like I've seen threads like this in AskMe before, but I can't find any of them!

I hate the sound of your voice.

thebazilist — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:30:52 -0800

I don't want people to leave me messages. What's the best way to say this in my outgoing message? I'd like my voicemail to be a polite- and professional-sounding version of the following:

"Hi, this is Thebazilist. You can leave me a message, but I'll probably get back to you faster if you text me or e-mail me at [my e-mail address]."

Normally I shouldn't care if it sounded snarky, but I'm applying for jobs right now.

When I call places like Jetblue, they're always interrupting my hold to tell me that I should go to their website instead. Will my message be annoying? Should I not even do this?

(Reasons: it just takes a lot of time to check voicemail, and also I feel that "tug" of guilt or obligation more when I know I'm going to have to hear someone's voice needing something from me. I know, I'm terrible.)

I already know about things like Callwave, but right now I want to try to work this "free" option.

Reaching a traveler with no phone?

muhonnin — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:00:55 -0800

I'm in the UK, and would like to get a message to a passenger who's now on an Amtrak train scheduled to arrive into Boston's South Station in a couple of hours. She doesn't have a cell phone. It would be fine to get her the message at any point before she leaves South Station. Any suggestions? (It would be very very useful to get her the message, but it's not a matter of life and death, if that makes a difference.)

timestamp in ichat?

slograffiti — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:28:01 -0800

how can i get timestamps to show up next to messages in ichat 3.1 chat windows? i know that in newer versions you can hover the cursor over the message and the time will show up. however, on ichat 3.1.9 i cannot figure out how to make the timestamp show up next to every message in the chat window. maybe i am overlooking something in 'preferences'? or do i need some special script or...?

help?

German filter: Offering condolences in German

doctor.dan — Sat, 02 May 2009 18:57:54 -0800

German filter: Help me write a bereavement/sympathy/condolence card for someone in Germany. I recently found out that an elderly neighbour that I was pretty close to passed away. I wanted to send a card to her family, but my German is pretty bad (well, mostly gone).

I'm hoping to write something expressing my sorrow and thanking the family for letting me know. Perhaps something along these lines:

It is with great sadness that I heard of your recent loss. I wanted to let you know that you have my greatest sympathy, and my heart is truly saddened.

J was more than just a wonderful person; she was always so kind and considerate and willing to help at every possible opportunity without seeking anything in return. J will always remain within our hearts.

My sincere thoughts and deepest sympathies are with you.

Any help is, as always, appreciated from the green.

Here's a Cookie and an Introduction. Enjoy Your Stay!

SpiffyRob — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 08:23:11 -0800

Can you help me find some examples of sites with "Looks like it's your first time here" messages? I'm looking for some examples of websites that display messages along the lines of "Looks like this is your first time here... would you like some help getting started?" whenever it is detected that it is a user's first visit. (Generally through the use of cookies, I'd imagine.)

Googling for things like "looks like it's your first time here" or "first visit message" has given me some good results, but I'm really looking for bigger-name sites that might do this. Retail sites, in particular, would be lovely.

A couple of examples, in case my description wasn't clear:

http://www.smallfuel.com/blog/entry/small-business-marketing-101/
http://www.blogforprofit.com/seo/how-should-you-name-your-blog/

(I know those look SEO-happy, but I swear they're not mine. This question is legitimate, I promise.)

Thanks! Sorry if this has been axed before, google mefi search makes dupe-sniffing harder.

What is message queuing for?

SirStan — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:00:38 -0800

What do I do with a message queue? (programmer geek) What is message queuing -- in general, what sort of app would I be making if I wanted to utilize the Windows Message Queuing engine?

If its just a FIFO messaging queue why not just do it directly between two systems?

If I had 5 voting machines, would I use message queuing to communicate with the server? Why wouldn't I just connect to a database directly?

When do they make sense to use?

OhDontForget to work on O2 in the UK...

skylar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:40:02 -0800

A previous thread recommended OhDontForget.com as a way of scheduling text messages to be sent to one's phone. Though the site makes reference to UK cellphone carriers, tests to my O2 phone have not worked, and the site says it is "currently only working in the US and partly in Canada". Does anyone know of a similar service that functions in the UK?

Best message board for Cooking Questions?

TigerCrane — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:55:19 -0800

Best message board for an aspiring cook? I'm looking for a message board that's a good place to ask newbie questions about cooking.

These would be food science type questions. A few examples:

Why does Alton Brown always use kosher salt?

Should you salt before or after sauteing? Whats the difference?

Why does Julia Child use wax paper when poaching?

If you leave meat in a brine too long, what happens?

Any suggestions?

Communicating with a group via text and email?

zingzangzung — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:42:39 -0800

Communicating with a group via text and email? How can a group of 7 communicate via text and email. 3 are email only, 4 are text only, the idea is any member can send a single text or email which is delivered to all 7 as an email or text as appropriate. Does this exist? Alternate suggestions welcome. To make it more complex, everyone has different email and phone services (and won't/can't change), and most are not techie enough to send an email from their phone. UK based if relevant.

The alarm can't wake you up if you can't perceive it

theichibun — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:08:28 -0800

What is a good alarm clock program that will display a message when the alarm goes off? I'm running XP SP3.

I've been using Yahoo! widgets, but Neon Clock keeps hanging at midnight. Which pretty much makes it worthless when I have an alarm set for 12:03.

I'd really like an alarm clock that will pop up a message when the alarm goes off as opposed to just playing a sound. I'm not against sound or anything, but I don't always have the speakers on.

I've tried looking on Google, and have failed. So many options and I have no idea what is worth looking at.

Examples of double-meanings in movies, shows, cartoons?

iamkimiam — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:39:34 -0800

Looking for scenes with dialogue in G-rated movies, shows or cartoons that have hidden references for adults. The examples I am looking for need to meet the following criteria:
• Found in movies and tv shows geared specifically toward a younger audience or a general audience (both kids and adults).
• Dialogue must contain a second/hidden meaning that only adults would understand.
• The hidden message is expressed through the spoken dialogue (not by gestures, signs in the background, etc.)

An example of the type of thing I'm looking for is typical in shows like the Simpsons, where kids watching are laughing at something Homer says because it sounds silly, but adults are laughing AT THE SAME DIALOGUE, but for a different reason...because it's a reference to something in the news, politics, etc. that kids would not understand or have access to.

Yes, this is for a paper. No, you are not helping me with my homework by answering this question. Not even close.

VB: Putting filenames in a message body.

bigmusic — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:25:05 -0800

VB Script Help: I would like to put the filenames of my attachments into the message body of my emails. How do I do that? I'm not a programmer - I'm just using a script that I ran across somewhere on the Internet. I'm using Outlook 2003 on XP. So far this script renames the subject, adds a quick line to the body and then sends the message. I would like it to add the file names of the attachments (plural) to the body after my "inspirational message." Bonus: Can I point my current olItem.Body at a text file?



Sub ChangeSubject()

Set oActiveExplorer = Application.ActiveExplorer

MsgBox TypeName(oActiveExplorer.Selection)

Set oSelection = oActiveExplorer.Selection

    For I = 1 To oSelection.Count

        Set olItem = oSelection.Item(I)

        olItem.Subject = "Your weekly inspirational message"

        olItem.Body = "Inspirational Message"

        olItem.Send

    Next

End Sub

Telephone Alert of an Email Message?

JeffMezick — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:22:03 -0800

Does anyone know of a software package or service that will ring my telephone when an email is sent to it? This is for server monitoring and alerts sent from automated scripts that check to make sure things are running smoothly. It's helpful to get an email alert but it would be even nicer to also get a phone call or text message. I thought that this would be something fairly common but I'm having a hard time finding something.

I need suggestions for a message to a one-year-old to be opened on his 10th birthday.

saucy — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:29:18 -0800

I need suggestions for a message to a one-year-old to be opened on his 10th birthday. A friend's baby is turning one, and they're collecting messages to save for him to open on his tenth birthday. What cool, funny, or unique message can we write that a ten-year-old would appreciate?

Error Message Sending E-mails

tangyraspberry — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:32:36 -0800

I'm getting the following message attempting to send e-mails: "An error occurred while sending mail. The mail server responded. 4.3.0 problem running virus scanner. Please check message and try again." Is this a Thunderbird, Dell or Cedant issue?

Why does Outlook's clipboard clear when I create a new message?

AquaAmber — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:38:18 -0800

Why does Outlook's clipboard clear when I create a new message? I can't take it anymore - I must fix this. I go to a website, or a Word doc or another email and copy anything. Then I go back to Outlook, open up a new message or reply to one and whatever I have just copied is GONE. Save me, please.

Texting Trouble

iconjack — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:29:38 -0800

There's only one person in the world that has trouble getting my text messages. I routinely send and receive messages from all over the place, and so does he. We're both on AT&T; he has an iPhone, I have a Sony T616. He can send me texts just fine. The only problem either of us have is when I try to send one to him. There's no error reported, he just never gets it. Anybody have any idea how to troubleshoot? I called AT&T but just got passed around without any progress on the problem.

Scrolling LED message sign

msacheson — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:13:33 -0800

Where to buy electronic scrolling LED message sign ... in person? I can find what I *think* I want to buy online, but this is something I really want to see in person before ordering, so I know what I'm getting. I don't want to be like a bride on her wedding night who opens the big package and says, "Is that what I ordered?" you get the idea.

More info: I want a scrolling message sign to use in my 6th-grade math classroom. Put students' names on there for good achievements, birthdays, whatever. You know, for the kids.

Wordpress comments/message board plugin

Unsomnambulist — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:27:24 -0800

Looking for a Wordpress plug in that would combine posts and comments in with a message board. I'd like to find a seamless way to bridge blog comments with a message board. Hopefull, this exists and someone can just steer me to the utility or plug in, or maybe just tips on how to make it happen.

How it would (hopefully) work:

1. Author publishes a post just like normal.
2. The message board automatically pulls the post and creates a new thread with it, crediting author as the poster.
3. When blog readers click to comment, they'd automatically be brought to the message board.
4. The blog entry itself would display number of comments as number of replies on the message board thread.

I know there are plugins that give comments the look of message board hierarchy, but I'm hoping for something that will naturally draw traffic to a hosted message board.

Joomla or WordPress Forum Integration

eightball — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:54:06 -0800

Integrating a forum into either Joomla 1.5 or WordPress 2.5.1 I'm trying to add a message board to a site. I installed Joomla 1.5 with the thought that it would be easy to add a forum, with the user functionality in Joomla integrated with the user login in the forum. I installed the SMF Forum, and the bridge which is supposed to link it to Joomla. (I followed the instructions directly from a Joomla book). A few PHP errors later, I found this. Apparently the bridge no longer works for Joomla 1.5?

So I got to thinking that Joomla is really overkill for the kind of site I'm building anyway. WordPress will do the job fine for the main pages. But I still need a forum. After googling around, I find either outdated tutorials, or people asking my same questions on forums with no responses.

Questions:
- Am I missing something obvious about Joomla and forum installation, or is it really as difficult as I'm finding it?

- If I need to go the WordPress route, is there a clear, up to date tutorial out there?

- Which forums integrate best with WordPress (Vanilla, SMF, PHPBB, etc...)?

- Is it possible to find a theme/template that will span WordPress and the forum?

What I'm reeeeeally looking for is someone to come along and say "Yeah, I tried this and had these problems, here's how I fixed them, and here's a tutorial from this year that walks you through it."

But of course any advice/links will help I'm sure. Thanks.

Postfix/Altermime vs. Google Apps

doomtop — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:43:04 -0800

E-mail disclaimers: Postfix/Altermime setup works great except when used as an SMTP outbound gateway for Google Apps it strips the HTML version of the disclaimer. So I have finally got Postfix running the way I'd like. I'm using Altermime to automatically attach a disclaimer to the footer of every e-mail sent through it.

Altermime includes a plaintext and an html version of the disclaimer.

Whenever I send an e-mail through Postfix using a mail client (such as Outlook, etc.) the disclaimer works perfectly. It includes the plaintext version and if you view the message in html it includes the html version.

However, when I set up my Google Apps for Domains system to use the Postfix server as the "Outbound Gateway" it somehow causes the html version of the disclaimer to be stripped from the message. So the recipient gets the disclaimer in plaintext view, but if they view it in html there is no disclaimer whatsoever.

I can't seem to figure out where why how this is happening?!@?!

What is the name of this book?

bluekrauss — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:10:59 -0800

Because this question just doesn't get asked enough: please help me remember this book I enjoyed as a child in the early 1970s. In it, 3 boys are at the beach. They find at least one (maybe more) message in a bottle, and I think the message is in some sort of code. I thought the title was "Three By The Sea" but I checked Amazon.com and the book they have with that title is definitely NOT the book I'm thinking of. Anyone?

How to setup canadian sms sending business?

imaswinger — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:41:17 -0800

How do I set up a business in Canada that charges monthly fees (or per use) to send text messages to people? Something along the lines of those annoying 'joke of the day' commercials I see on TV. I can't find any companies that provide this service in Canada (I also don't really know how to look). Or I could put a sim modem in a computer, but then how do you charge money? Any pushes in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Dull Windows XP Question

wittgenstein — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 20:10:07 -0800

"Windows needs to close" - filter: The computer now seems to present that "windows needs to close" message when I try to close any window containing a web page that had video or audio on it. It didn't used to do this. I would like to fix this. This is Windows XP, not Vista. I know many here will suggest I switch to Firefox, but I share this computer with Mrs. W and I don't think she would like the change. I have cleaned the registry (not that that would have anything to do with this problem; it's just one of the things I know how to do.) I regularly clear the internet history and the temporary files, and have defagged recently. The recycle bin is also clear.

I do have realplayer installed on this computer along with Windows media player. Could that have anything to do with it?

Clearly I'm grasping at straws but I trust the hive mind to be able to tell me what to do (or what free utility I can download online that will fix this.)

Thanks.