Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mod

What can I do with an old laptop word processor?

ollyolly — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:00:18 -0800

I've seen great ideas for modding old laptops, but what can I do with an old laptop word processor? A few years back I bought a cheap word processor on eBay so I could write when away from home. Besides being huge and weak-batteried, the thing's been usurped by my new netbook.
I've seen a lot of cool instructions about what to do with old laptops (e.g. dedicated media center, use the display as a second monitor, etc.), but none of these work for the decrepitude that is the word processor (for one thing, the display isn't great and I imagine the memory is not large). Here's a photo I found via Google.
Any ideas for putting it to good use?

Besides claiming the year is 1995 whenever I turn it on, here's some specs:
- Brother "Super PowerNote" Model PN-8500MDS (I think Brother makes sewing machines now)
- 3.5" floppy drive and AC power adaptor
- ostensibly portable
- Claims to have "access to CompuServe and Internet Email", though I've never connected the thing
- Currently offers word processing, spreadsheet, and TETRIS
- 22 line by 80 character black-on-green LCD display (about 4"x9")

Help me retro-fy my music

wanderingmind — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:20:20 -0800

Help me write retro-styled video game music! I've finally found a system that works for me, but its supported music formats are OGG - which is nice, but too heavyweight for the kind of retro feel I want - and MOD/XM, which has definite potential... I'm trying to go for a sort of classic 16-bit feel, and tracked audio formats seem like the obvious way to go here (since they're basically what the SNES used). The thing about MODs and XM files is that they depend on instrument samples, and I've been scouring the net looking for sources. Is there any good source for reliable low-fi instrument samples that sound appropriately video-gamey? I've seen soundfonts taken from various games, but I feel a bit odd using an existing game's instrument set, and the other soundfonts I've seen are these high-end professional-type things that are similarly no good for my purposes. What I really want is just a set of about 20-30 different basic instrument noises, all free to use - generic brass, generic strings, a bass, a flute, a handful of percussion noises, things like that, in WAV format if possible (or at least some form where I won't need a special soundfont librarian program to get at them). But where would I find such a thing?

de_question

sgt.serenity — Sat, 30 May 2009 05:41:08 -0800

I'd like to make my own half life 2/counterstrike source mod - how do i go about that ? what programs do i get ? are there tutorials anywhere ?

What would you wear if you were a Coke bottle?

twistofrhyme — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:54:09 -0800

Women's style question: I love clothes with a fitted hourglass silhouette. I've found a few hourglass-emphasizing styles that suit me, and would like more. Seeking visual style ideas as well as suggestions for brick-and-mortar shops in Toronto or NYC. Mid 20s woman. 5'6, 135 lbs. I'm athletic and curvy, like this, but flatter chested and a little chubbier. I have gymnastics muscles half-hidden by baby fat so my shoulders, biceps, and thighs are somewhat large for my size. I have a small waist.

In general, any outfit with a well-defined waist will probably work on me.

Here's what I usually wear now:
Shirtdresses and wrap dresses.
Classic retro secretary hourglass dresses.
Fitted, structured ladies' menswear. I love vests, pinstripes and French cuffs.
I like structured, strong fabric with some stretch, and square shoulders rather than droopy cuts. I don't really need shoulder pads though.
I don't like to show a ton of skin (ex, very short skirts, bare shoulders, or cleavage).
Bright colors and flashy, attention grabbing styles are great. I love big belts, too.

Here are things I would like to wear but don't know how to find (in Toronto or NYC):
Dresses that look like a 1950s uniform of some type.
Mod-inspired tunic dresses like this grey boatneck dress.
Op-art graphic prints and curvy stripes like this black and white dress.
Exaggerated 50s style dresses like this amazing 1950s princess dress.
And I like high-waisted skirts and pants- I have a few, but don't really know what kind of tops to pair them with.

What other small-waist silhouette clothing ideas could I try?
Where should I shop (Toronto or NYC)? I prefer to try stuff on rather than buy online.
I also enjoy browsing photo sites such as Wardrobe Remix or Sartorialist- any more website recommendations for inspiration?
Thanks!

Which quake engine (or other) is best to start cutting my teeth on as far as modding?

blackout — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:55:11 -0800

Which quake engine (or other) is best to start cutting my teeth on as far as modding? I'm looking to do a bit of modding of a game engine. Nothing too extreme just something to get started and learn some things as I go.
First off I'm just thinking modding how the weapons work.
With an end goal of making weapons work more true to real life. I know for example most weapons in the quake II engine are hit scan, and have no travel time (other than the rocket) [I think].

Anyway I'm looking for an engine that would be the best to start with. I've never modded a game before (done some mapping) I can program at a very amateur level, but I work with what I know, and figure out what I can't.

So what engine is gonna be the easiest for me to use, and get started modding. Something with a few tutorials as far as how to compile and run the mod would be good too.

Also what's the best FREE IDE to use, for game modding?

Wii Modding

Iax — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:28:22 -0800

Im going to be getting a Nintendo wii and want to mod chip it, but I have some questions. I don't know much about the wii modchip scene, and it is sortof confusing with all the different brands trying to promote themselves.
I will be getting a new wii, so from what I read the first gen mod chips wont work.
Whats the difference between them all?
wiikey2, wizard, and others.

I dont want to brick the wii, so which modchip would be the best going into the future?

Also, any recomendations for places in the Vancouver, BC area that do the installation would be great too.

Mods, help me patch my parka.

kmennie — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:58:18 -0800

ModFilter: I have an olive green parka, and an itch to put a patch on it. I want it to be a witty and subtle thing, though. Is this do-able? I have this coat in the 'vintage olive' colour. When I got it I had a vague flashback to grade nine and wearing a mod boyfriend's parka, and thought it would be teh LOLZ if I sewed a patch on my new coat.

Just something subtle, something that would be innocuous but which would make ex-mods grin. Perhaps one tiny bullseye? Where?

Or will something like this just make me look sad and old and confused?

My xbox - is it modded?

zippy — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:14:23 -0800

I just got an original xbox from a yard sale. Short of finding a game backup and trying to run it, or opening the case and looking for a hardware mod, is there any way to tell if it's modded?

PSP Hack/Mod advice needed

Ponderance — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:13:00 -0800

I need advice with modding/hacking my PSP. I have info and have tried and failed. Help! Okay, so I have a PSP, the old one, not the slim one. And I have a kid and no money, therefore I was contemplating selling it as I can’t afford cames, and thought I wasn’t clever enough to explore the cool homebrew options.

Then, I saw this article

http://gizmodo.com/5034551/how-to-hack-your-psp-slim-for-homebrew-apps

I ordered the TOOL battery and followed this instructions up to the point where you install the battery and put the new OS on the machine. However, with the battery installed, the green power light shows power, but it doesn’t access the memory stick. What am I doing wrong.

Some clever hive minder has done this, and the various blogs that discuss these issues are written in gibberish. Please help!

If there are details I am not disclosing that are relevane and would help you give adivce, let me know and I’ll post them.

removing modPodge'd art

mdienno — Sat, 24 May 2008 15:26:52 -0800

my daughter 'mod podged' a collage to her wall. now that i'm remodeling, she's distraught about losing her work. anyone know a way to remove it from a painted, drywall surface? i've offered to photograph it, which i'm thinking is the only solution. any other suggestions, or just save my money for therapy? thanks.

Where can I get a mod chip for the original Playstation?

bradbane — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:05:50 -0800

Where can I get a mod chip for the original Playstation? I realize this sounds like I want to pirate games, but I found my old PSX in my parent's attic and all my discs are scratched up and unplayable. I'm visiting a friend soon who has some of the same games and he said I could make copies, but I would need to track down a mod chip. My Google-fu is failing to turn up anything that doesn't set off my scam radar, and it's hard to tell what's legit when all the customer reviews I can find are years old.

I would rebuy the games used, but a lot of them (I like RPGs) seem to have become collector's items on Ebay and cost more than I'm willing to pay.

In what ways can I mod/hack my desk ?

carefulmonkey — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:23:12 -0800

I'm building a desk for my home office and I could use some help on how to personalize it. I'm building the desk by using two different cabinet bottoms I've purchased from the Habitat for Humanity Restore. The desk is going to be about five feet long since I need room for my different computer and video stuff. I could use some advice on what to add to it, the only thing I've seen is the pegboard external holder wall.

How do I unbrand an unlocked phone?

penciltopper — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:37:46 -0800

Unlocked phone, but I want to "unbrand" it. How? So I've got an unlocked Motorola MOTORIZR Z3, which I want to use with AT&T.
It was originally a T-Mobile phone, and I think they're the only ones in the US who carry it.

It works with an AT&T SIM to make calls, and I've found instructions on setting up messaging/browser connections that look like I can follow them (knock wood) to get it working on AT&T's network.

But it still has all the T-Mobile, t-zones, etc branding & firmware all over the menus, etc.

But I'd like to get rid of all that branding. How?

I've spent hours trying to decipher posts on MotoModders, etc, but it's all alien language.

Can anyone point me at:

1) a guide to acquiring and installing generic or custom firmware/OS, that a reasonably clever layperson could follow?

2) someone who would do it for me? I'm in San Francisco, CA, USA.

ModFilter: nothing to do with xbox whatsoever

HeroZero — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:00:56 -0800

ModFilter: I've been dating a gal for under a month. She's great! Her birthday's this weekend. What do I get her here in Chicago? Hint: She's really into '60s mod culture. My price ceiling is about fifty bucks. She has a califone school record player that she loves, and a modish clock with flip-over numbers. I wouldn't want to get her clothes or music, of course, because I don't know what she actually has. Any ideas? Any bands coming to Chicago in the next couple of months that I could buy her tickets to go see?

Secondary question: I'm baking her a cake. I was thinking of decorating the cake with a mod target on the top. Too dorky? Too obvious that I researched her hobby on wikipedia?

Fashion resources for South Asians

divabat — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 08:22:21 -0800

What good fashion/style/beauty resources are out there for South Asian (Indian/Bangladeshi/Pakistani) women that aren't all about saris and lenghas? Thanks to the response to this question, I have been investigation fashion and style a lot more that usual, and am developing my personal tastes further. (I'm keeping a log of what I like; link's in profile.)

One thing that's struck me, though, is that none of the models are South Asian - none of them look like me. They're all mostly white and skinny (and often blonde). When they bring "people of colour" in there are no South Asians, and plus size is way too big for me (I'm a 12-14 with a typical South Asian belly). So it's hard for me to tell if anything I've seen would actually look good on me because there's no one to compare it to.

My tastes run towards the gothic (Velvet Garden is AWESOME), geeky (injoke tees), businessy (I LOVE suits), and ethnic (not just South Asian). I've been thinking of trying out mod, after seeing a photo of Edie Sedgwick, but she's the complete opposite of me bodywise and I have a feeling the typical mod dresses are going to make me look pregnant.

It's harder to find makeup because I have no idea what colours would suit me. I hardly wear makeup but when I do (for very special occasions) I like to be dramatic, particularly with my eyes. However, all the talk about warm/cool/yellow/blue skin tones confuse me. Some websites have pictures or notes of people whose skin I'm supposed to match, but none of them are ever South Asian! I can't even tell for myself because my skin tone can change - right now it's on the fair side because I'm hardly outdoors, but my face can get quite dark, especially when standing next to fairer people.

Searching for South Asian fashion resources is difficult, because I keep getting stuff about saris and lenghas and salwhar khameez. They're nice, but that's not all I want to wear!

Are there any sites or places that tackle South Asian people but have a more Western idea of style?

Chip-pop?

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:03:49 -0800

Where can I find covers of popular songs done in the style of c64/amiga/mod/xm etc? The era the music comes from isn't as important as how familiar the songs are to your average joe.

size matters. what?

nihlton — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:35:25 -0800

say i bought one of those eee pc laptops (google it if you don't know). How unrealistically difficult would it be to replace the sad little screen with something larger? what do LCD connections look like? is there a seated interface, or would I have to expose the wires and soldering them manually?

would the hardware even make use of a larger lcd panel?

Making a digital picture frame from a spare 7" LCD?

evanm — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 17:32:06 -0800

Any way to make use of a 7 inch LCD screen with an RCA input to make a cheap digital picture frame? I’ve got a 7 inch LCD screen with an RCA input. I want to mount this on my wall to either playback photos or short videos (on loop). I was wondering if there’s an easy and cheap way to make this possible without a dedicated computer outputting to this.

On one of my home PCs that is always on, I have a video card with an RCA video out. Maybe this could be used if it’s possible to output content separate from what’s being displayed on my PC monitor. Or is there any kind of cheap video playback unit I could purchase that would be dedicated? Is there possibly a way to read content from an SD or CF card and output to the screen? I’m really open to any suggestions... Clearly I have little experience in creating custom electronics.

Thanks.

Would this proposed guitar modification work?

primer_dimer — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 03:40:37 -0800

Crazy idea for a modified guitar - has this been done? is it feasible? Imagine you took a normal steel-string acoustic guitar. On the fretboard, in each of the spaces between the frets (where you sometimes get dots or other types of inlay) you inlay a thin bit of metal, parallel to the frets but flush with the surface of the fretboard, stretching the width of the fretboard. These bits of metal are actually powerful electromagnets (so they have some arrangement of coils inside). Therefore, when you press the string down (in between the 2nd and 3rd frets, for example), assuming the magnets are turned on, the string "sticks" to the fretboard (held by the magnet). So if you were to take your fretting hand away and pluck that string, it would be 3 semitones higher than the open string. To release the string, you just turn off the electromagent with a footswitch or something. It's like having a capo that you can set individually for each string. Using a guitar like this you could play stuff that wouldn't be possible on a normal guitar - for instance, you could fret a C chord (which would then stay effectively "pressed down") and then play a melody much higher up the neck while continuing to play the chord using the lower strings. I'm imagining a fingerstyle type of playing here.

Has anyone made such a guitar? Is it technically impossible?

Help me pull this off without looking like a drag queen

pieoverdone — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:31:04 -0800

I'm looking for advice, instructions, and products to achieve a 60's hair and makeup look. And by adopt, I mean look like this every day. I'd like to try these looks.

Specific examples:

Barbara Eden, Ann-Margaret, Brigitte Bardot, Twiggy, Sofia Loren, Tippi Hedren , Natalie Wood, Liz Taylor, Jacqueline Bisset, Jo Anne Worley

If it helps, my hair is naturally wavy, very thick, layered, and slightly longer than my collarbone. Currently I own no gear except for a blowdryer. I'm all for buying new makeup, too. Maybelline is my preferred one, but I'm willing to go as expensive as Lancome or other upper mid-grade department store brands. Suggestions for accessories are welcome too.

Computer desk "mod"

Shakes the Clown — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:21:38 -0800

I saw a computer desk "mod" a couple of years ago, that I have been unable to find again, despite "Googleing" for hours. It involved combining a computer desk and the internal components as one . . . using PVC pipe for the frame and mounting the internal PC hardware, hard drive, power supply, etc., on the computer desk itself . . . making it easier for people who frequently futz around with their hardware, to change hard drives, CD drives, etc. faster and easier. Has anyone else seen this and can you point me to it?

PSP FIRMWARE... HELP!

Master Gunner — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 03:27:02 -0800

I was just "upgraded" to a Custom PlayStationPortable Firmware (3.52 M33-4). I need help understanding/learning how to use it. I'm kind of a *noob* at the PSP Firmware thing, but I have absolutely no idea how to use my new firmware beyond putting an .iso in the .ISO folder.

1. Are there any tutorials or guides that show me how to do other things? I am especially interested in the eBook reader capability (Don't know how to get to it, load it, etc...)

2. How do I make backups of the PSP games I already bought? (Is there a "ripper", and how do I get it/learn to use it?)

Xbox 360 modding.

PenguinBukkake — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 11:11:57 -0800

Xbox360, modded. The info out there is confusing, I hope somebody here has a good online resource or good solid info, because I wonder, will modding make my console more fragile (the ring of death will come sooner? I'm told modding does not void the warranty, I wouldn't do it otherwise; also, my console's made before Jan 07). Is modding a bad idea for some other reason I don't get now? Thank you.

World of Warcraft filter: I want to create a group channel for all 3 guilds on the site channel. Possibly mod or addon?

spinko — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:20:35 -0800

World of Warcraft filter: I want to create a group channel for all 3 guilds on the site channel. Possibly mod or addon? We have 3 guilds on the same server and want to stay as we are, however we want to chat as 1. I was looking around the web for addons, mods and even 3rd party software for this.

We have tried the /join guildname but no one uses it as the colour doesnt stand out (yes I know we can change it) and we always have to do a /6 to speak (which is annoying). So I was thinking about a mod that would automatically connect to '/join guildname' but then discard the /g and mask it in that place. So /g is infact /6 and we wont have change the colours and type /6 everytime we talke. However, would this be a mod? or is there anything out there that does similar?

The other way around this is to use Xfire, however this 3rd party application doesnt allow groups of people to chat. Good for 1 on 1 not as a group.

Irc could be used, however we can then link our 2 other alliance guilds with the 3 main ones to make a global guild chat for other servers also. Is there any applications that work in the same way as Xfire but for group chats in games?

Hope you can help.

Space-Age my Pad

sluggo — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 08:34:17 -0800

Looking for the name of this 60's - 70's interior design item: a floor-to-ceiling, metal, ornamental screen. I just bought a sweet little 1964 brick ranch, and I'm looking for a period-correct furnishing, but I don't know what it's called or where to start looking! Popular in the 60's and 70's, the item in question is a kind of fixed ornamental screen that goes from floor to ceiling inside a doorway (especially in an alcove, entryway, vestibule, etc). The ones I've seen have been made out of metal (wrought iron or brass), and consist of circular or other geometric patterns. Sometimes these things incorporate some sort of planter at the base. The only place I've seen one recently is in the living room of the Venture Brothers compound, but I think that some really cool ones were also visible in Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood For Love and/or 2046.

For a couple of examples of what I'm talking about, see here, or here.

If you know what to call these things for googling/ebay findability, let me know - and if you know where I can actually find one, even better!