Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with open

economic logistics of open source?

figTree — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:48:15 -0800

I'm looking into the Open source philosophy to programming seems to be quite an intricate and somewhat confusing setup. I am wondering why so many people put their energy into developing libraries for some open source project with seemingly no direct return. I understand how if you structure yourself as a company you can develop using Open source and make money by providing services, support etc.

But if i want to contribute to a library, would that ever somehow make me money, just as a coder?

GooglePhoneFilter: I got Blackberry in my iPhone!

mrmcsurly — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:29:48 -0800

CanadaCellphoneFilter: How can I use a Google G1 Android phone on Canada's Telus network? I am lusting after a Google G1 Android phone. I want to replace my Blackberry and end my frustration that the iPhone doesn't have a good keyboard, and the BB doesn't browse the web properly.

I am on a corporate plan which requires me to use Telus. I don't understand enough about the specs of the G1 to be able to tell if the phone is compatible with their network.

Help me get caffeine back into my life...

whoaali — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:55:42 -0800

I can't unscrew my stove top Italian espresso maker! So it's the kind the unscrews in the middle. I've had this happen before, but I've never not been able to unscrew it for this long before. Part of the problem is that both the top and bottom are round with no edges to really grip onto. So far I've tried putting it in warm water, freezing it, and WD-40. Nothing has worked. Any ideas?

What's the best open source search engine?

seeminglee — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:37:38 -0800

My company is looking to build a search engine to index our web site and I'm wondering if anyone has used any open package to do the task. Names, URLs, experience would be highly appreciated,

What CMS does BNET.COM use? What CMS is similar?

omidius — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:15:42 -0800

What content management system (CMS) does the site BNET.com use? Or, what is the currently available CMS that most closely matches the capabilities of this CMS? Bonus points to open source....

Why do they still do open outcry?

bartleby — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:39:40 -0800

Why do they still do open outcry? It would seem that there is a more efficient way to accomplish complex trade transactions than shouting and hand signals.

Wiki or CMS that will work for this?

andrewzipp — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:44:48 -0800

I need a Wiki or CMS that has a WYSIWYG editor for a site with about a 100 static pages, sorted into categories. I'm trying to revamp an extranet website for an elementary school, where they store all the information about their programs, tution, phone lists, fundraising, etc., and parents and staff can login and look at all that and print it out.

Right now I've got this site setup with Edit-Point, a really lightweight CMS, which uses TinyMCE for the WYSIWYG editor and just saves to .txt files. It's great for editing existing pages...as long as the navigation part of the site never changes.

That's the problem. They want to be able to add new pages, and change the names of existing pages, and have that be tied to the navigation. But I've got the navigation set up in a Javascript drop-down menu, which I have to go in and manually edit whenever they want to change anything. It's a pain in the ass.

I've used Wordpress before, and like it for some stuff, but I don't like how adding new 'pages' works. Maybe there's a plugin for sites that only want to have a lot of 'pages' sorted into categories, but I feel like that kind of goes against what WordPress is.

Something like PmWiki is closer to what I'm looking for, where there is just a long list of pages on the side - but you have to use their special markup, which I really don't like, and won't fly for this.

There's no budget for this, so open source would be great.

give me a way not to lose my return open tix which are going to expire!

Izzmeister — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:56:43 -0800

I have open return tix with EL AL which expire in two months. now the doc says i may not be able to fly... If i purchased an elal ticket a year ago, and now the doctor says i might not be able to fly before they expire in two months from now, is there any way to entend the ticket?

or perhaps buy insurance in case i am not able to fly? (I am still unsure....)

any workaround appreciated! its three tix worth $2500 total if i lose them...

it's off to work we what?

phoeniciansailor — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:26:19 -0800

for anyone who has trouble hearing, seeing a movie at the theater means missing out on a lot of dialogue and piecing together the story as best they can. thankfully, many movies are now distributed with (optional) captions, and some theaters will have 1 or 2 special screenings where they show the dialogue on-screen. however for some reason, disney/pixar refuses to participate. who at disney do i need to talk to about this, to try and set things right? for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, having on-screen captions includes them in the movie-going experience like you wouldn't believe. the only other option for them is to wait for the movie to come out on dvd -- with captions. but for the summer blockbusters, that's just not the same.

i'm so happy that the alamo drafthouse here in austin shows movies with on-screen captions, but they can't get disney/pixar to send them the captioning info. i'd like to talk to someone at the studio or the distributor who can explain why. maybe all they need is a little nudge to change their mind.

but i can't seem to find any good information on who to get in touch with. can someone with a better understanding of the disney machine help with me names / email addresses / phone numbers?

any other advice or ideas are also welcomed.

Where O where has my little file gone?

mcarthey — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:26:55 -0800

Where did the file go after it was opened from a website and edited it in Microsoft Word? A friend of mine downloaded a Word .doc from a website and instead of choosing the option to save the file, opened it. It opened in Word and she made numerous modifications, each time being careful to save it (note: not 'save as'). She closed Word and is now unable to find the file. I had her search the %LOCALAPPDATA% directory and also the autosave directory for Word, but she was unable to find it. I performed a similar test by downloading a file from Google Docs and opening it. I had the same problem and was unable to find the file. This is Microsoft Vista. I also tried Vista's find utility and chose the option to include the search in non-indexed and hidden/system files. So the question is where does the file get temporarily stored when opening a file directly from a website?

Non-degree, open university programs?

mrunderhill — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:58:59 -0800

I'm looking for universities that allow students to attend classes without enrolling.. Thinking along the lines of "Open University" offered by SFSU.

I suppose what I'm looking for are non-degree programs..

Location is not an issue.

Alternatively, I imagine it would be possible to sit in on popular lectures without anyone noticing.. Has anyone done this regularly? Tips? :)

Thanks

Free and Easy Open Source Accounting Software Recommendations?

franklen — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:57:38 -0800

Looking for your experiences with open-source accounting software. I am helping co-found a non-profit organization and need software that is free (if possible), easy to use for non-accountants, and preferably open-source. Someone recommended OSAS (Open Systems Accounting Software) and gnucash. Has anyone used these or any other programs they would recommend or not recommend?

Opensource Wiki Software

spinko — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 03:43:48 -0800

Open source Wiki software! I'm looking to setup an open source wiki service very similar to wikipedia.org (but slightly different). However I know there is open source software available to download... ...

I'm looking for:

1) Totally open editing (if registered)
2) Report if abused content
3) Upload images for the wiki post
4) SEO friendly i.e. www.wikipedia.org/post_name

Php, SQL, etc

Very simple, I like the way wowwiki.com is run. I know they use opensource but I dont know which one.

Cheers if you can help.

so. slow.

Pants! — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:57:56 -0800

Changing the default Open/Attach location in Windows XP? Due to the way our administrator set up our profiles, it takes about ten minutes to open a open/attach dialog box as it tries to go over our network to discover the contents of "My Documents" - the default folder for this dialog box.

Is there a way to change the default location to my desktop, since this is local, faster, and the primary place I have recent files saved anyway?

What is good House Selling music?

royalchinook — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:14:32 -0800

We're having an open house and other various viewings of our place and I was wondering what would be good 'open house' music to play? Preferably from iTunes Radio but other suggestions welcome

How to understand a libertine nerd who acts shy / busy ?

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:34:22 -0800

NerdTalkFilter : What is guy talk about anyway ? What does a (nerd), (in an open relationship), (that is going downhill) (which im not supposed to know about) (guy with values), (mysterious and probably shy) Very Busy Guy (in a PhD program that makes him work 24/7)

/// mean, when he repeatedly says that he is "Entirely Available" to help me, (though he is super super busy), invites me ocasionally on get togethers with friends i don't really know, only talks about common things in person, yet makes romantic hints to me when we talk online ?

What could he mean ? The reason i am confused, is because after sending him mixed messages (he was talking about inviting me over to eat a few months ago, after we had just met, but i was going through hard things of my life (cf previous posts), and, underlining this, politely turned him down because i wasn't feeling like getting close to new people would be wise at the time. He knew it, and we lost touch, mostly due to busy schedules, both being in grad school. 4 months later I went on a few dates with one of his friends, who never told him about it (both are super nerds), and he saw us, which made me rather uncomfortable, therefore i left (we were at a café). Since then, he has mentionned wanting to hang out with me once, which we tried a few times, planning on him dropping by for a drink (casual talk once again), but he didnt contact me afterwhats (it happened 2 times); and every time i'd call him, he'd be very nice and say that he would be honored / glad to be of any help i would need (for class or anything). A rather gentlemany manner, it seems. But then, not showing up or calling back looks a bit rude Or not interested to me.

On the evening of the café episode, i heard from a newly-met mutual friend whom i talked to, that the guy im talking about, had a girlfriend, which i didnt know about, and that she was in another city.. also, that they were in an "open relationship", and that his gf had heard about me (looks strange for a nerd / gentleman, but thats okay..). His gf knowing about "me" kindda freaks me out, especially since i wasnt aware of their relationship, and wasnt supposed to know about it anyway.

Let me add that the guy is known for being quite oblivious or dense, often late and focused on his schoolwork, which could explain his odd behaviour. But, since we are both "taken", or it looks so at least, i don't feel right making another step towards him (though he has shown quite an interest to spend time with me when we first met).. How could i find out about his possible true thoughts, without confronting him ? (i dont want to be the girl walking out on his relationship, and neither do i want to hurt his friend with whom ive been on dates).

All i really want is to know him better, since a lot of things got in the way. Im not even talking about dating.

Before I finish, id like to add that i have told him already that i felt like i was disturbing him when i called (since he wouldnt follow up), but he responded by saying it really wasnt the case, and that he was particularly busy at the time (which is all the time). Thanks a lot if you can explain me all these nerd code messages :)

Spreadsheet average help

regicide is good for you — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:39:23 -0800

I'd like a spreadsheet (OpenOffice Calc) to give me the average of the numbers in a certain row that will be filled over a period of months, and I'd like the formula for the average to remain valid even as I fill it, cell by cell. How? For instance, in month 2, cells A1 and B1 will have a number; cells C1-G1 will be empty. Cell H1 should display the average of A1 and B1. In month 3, C1 will have a number and D1-G1 will be empty; H1 should show the average of A1-C1, but without me changing the formula in H1 to divide by 3 instead of 2.

I want to be able to do this since I'm using many many different rows of data. I'm guessing this might be possible. Is there a formula to let the spreadsheet know to divide only by the number of non-empty cells in the row?

Thanks.

Application windows disappear when switching or opening applications

djgh — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 09:04:38 -0800

OSX troubles - whenever I open or switch applications, all other open application windows disappear. How do I fix this? I'm on OSX 10.4.11, and an Intel MacBook.

Whenever I have applications running, whenever I switch applications (either through cmd-tab, clicking on the dock or through Quicksilver) all currently open application windows disappear, rather than moving behind the application in focus. cmd-H (hide) has also stopped working - I can no longer hide applications by choice (it just happens whenever I open or switch). Also, the menu that pops up when I cmd-tab occasionally fails to register an app - e.g., I'll have Mail, Safari and Terminal open. I'll cmd-tab and Mail won't show up. Or occasionally Finder.

The only change I can recall making recently is installing Visor. However, I've since removed Visor (and SIMBL), and the problem persists. I've run Onyx and Cocktail (restoring permissions and cleaning caches etc.), to no avail.

Can anyone help? I just want my regular OSX back...

Librivox Recommendations?

prettyboyfloyd — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:26:01 -0800

FavoriteLibrivox books? I am getting ready for a long drive and wonder if any of you have listened to any good librivox books. After searching the web I've found a few recommendation lists

Can you add to the wealth?

Thanks.

Open source spreadsheets for the excel-challenged

cameron.case — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:13:46 -0800

Looking for open source spreadsheet templates I can use commercially (if it comes to that) for recipes, fitness programs and the like. Why? Because my excel skills suck. Thank you!

open source program for rotating signups?

apark — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:10:03 -0800

Hi, I would like some recommendations for (preferably open source or inexpensive) web based software that I can implement for my church. Everyone takes turns bringing refreshments, playing songs, etc... and there are waaaaay too many "Who can do it on Sunday the 16th? on Sunday the 26th?" e-mails going around and it gets very confusing to keep track. 1) Preferably Open Source (PHP & MySQL for example) or inexpensive. I do have some development background so I can do some coding though I am not a PHP expert by any means.
2) Must be Web Based
3) Must allow users to log-on, choose their passwords, change their passwords, etc... In other words, should have self-service account mgmnt capabilities.
4) Must have e-mail notification capability. (e.g. "Hi John, it's your turn to bring drinks this Sunday.")
5) I think our web hosting service uses Linux. So, it probably should be Linux based.

What are your thoughts? TIA!

Gimme an open road...

pazazygeek — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:24:29 -0800

I want to plan a long road trip by myself. I'm not sure exactly where I want to go, but I do know that I want to take some pictures, and have an adventure. This has been an incredibly crazy and big year for me. I made some huge changes this year and for the first time in my life am on my own. I know I won't always be in this transitional state, but right now I want to take advantage of the freedom that I've created for myself.

I'm very busy at work and will be until around the 18th. I don't have any holiday plans with my family, and they will live if I tell them I won't be around this year.

I was thinking about taking a vacation somewhere, but now that it's so late, I don't think it's really feasible for me to book a flight anyplace and I don't have a lot of time to search for deals or plan.

I can, however, easily plan a road trip. I'd like to rent a car, bring my iPod, and head for points uncharted. I'd like to stop off places on the way where I can meet people, talk to them, just making brief connections with interesting people along the way. I'd like to take pictures, write about what comes up, what I learn from people.

I live in Southern California. I think I will probably go for driving up the coast, all the way up to Seattle and back, my best friend lives in Seattle. Along the way I may visit some family in Sacramento. Other than that, I don't really have much else to plan for.

I've seen most of the sites of the Pacific coast already -- The Madonna Inn, San Simeon, Hearst Castle, San Francisco, Lassen National park, Crater Lake, etc etc. I took a road trip up the coast to Bend, Oregon when I was a kid, and it was great fun. Still, I'm not looking so much for sight-seeing as I'm looking to stop in interesting towns, find a bar (or something else) and talk to some folks, and hit the open road and listen to music in between. I do think I'd like to stop and take a hike at some point, or spend some time alone in nature as well.

I can have up to 12 days to do this if I want, so time isn't really all that important. I could go up to Seattle and even go east from there.

Here are two things I'd love to hear suggestions on:

1.) Any interesting towns between LA and Seattle that you would recommend stopping in, any interesting bars, clubs or coffeehouses or other community places?

2.) As gregarious and extroverted as I am, I haven't really done the "go into a bar and make some friends" kinda thing. If I'm alone in a bar it's usually because I'm waiting for someone. I've had a few times when I've been on a business trip and wound up having a conversation at the bar with the bartender or someone who's sitting there, but it's not something I do regularly. Any tips?

Open Source Event Management Software?

breaks the guidelines? — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:54:57 -0800

Are there any good, open source event management software packages available? Specifically, I’m looking for attendee registration capabilities; other event management features are a plus. PHP and MySQL are preferred.

I want my laptop screen closed, but not _that_ closed.

Addlepated — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 13:18:13 -0800

Is there a doodad that I can hook onto my laptop that will allow me to close it partially, but not let it close all the way? Said gadget should be easily-takeable-offable, too. My primary computer is my laptop. At night, when I go up to bed, I leave it on my end table. If I leave it all the way open, the cats will come and perch on it for warmth, causing me to have such charming hard drive names as "bvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvzzzzzzzzzx" when I come down in the morning. However, if I tilt the screen forward enough that it's not accessible to the cats, by morning (either by feline monkeying or by gravity) the screen has flopped down and landed on my mouse. I have dark smudges on the screen from where that's happened, and they're bothering me. They will not go away, so I assume the damage is permanent.

So is there a little wedge thing that I can hook onto the laptop (a MacBook Pro, if that matters) which will allow the screen to close a certain amount (30 degree angle, maybe?) but not allow it to smack all the way down onto the mouse?

(Bonus question - anyone know how to get rid of the bruises on my screen? I've tried gentle circular rubbing to no avail. I get stuck pixels in that area now, too.)

Best Desktop Email?

jjsonp — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:41:41 -0800

Recommended Open-Source Desktop Email Client? Which open source desktop email program do you prefer, and why (as compared to others if you've used more than one)?

I have been using Thunderbird for a couple of years; prior to that I had used Outlook and Outlook Express.

I like Thunderbird well enough, but am frustrated that my message filters don't work (they disappear if I close down and restart the program). Also since development has ceased on Thunderbird I'm leery about using it indefinitely.

Although I have had good luck with some freeware (or paid solutions), I prefer an open source program; I like the custom add-ons individuals come up with.

I love GMail but need a regular POP client at work.