Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with platform

A bridge to?

monospace — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:23:03 -0800

What are these... bridges? I've been taking the LIRR for years, and I've always wondered. At Woodside station, there are these devices that look like expandable, movable bridges that purportedly go over the tracks. There are at least 8 of them, very close together towards the west side of the platform. I've never seen them in action. What the hell are they for? I get one, two maybe at either side, but this many?

There's no oil in Southwark

qwip — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:17:38 -0800

So, what is this orange platform on the Thames? We noticed this rig east of Tower Bridge a few weeks ago and now it's set up to the west. Makes a lot of noise some of the time. Anyone know what it's for?

Platform safety shoes - I can has?

soft and hardcore taters — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:25:02 -0800

Is there such a thing as steel-toed platform shoes? I have a short complex, and pretty much only wear big frankenstein boots. I'm at a new job that requires steel-toe safety shoes to be worn in the warehouse, and I'm wondering if the hive can point me towards awesome steel-toed platform goodness.

Note: I won't actually be doing anything requiring toe protection; one of the QA offices is technically inside the warehouse and thus Health and Safety have declared it to be a safety-shoes-only zone.

Beams and bolts and washers oh my!

@homer — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:02:04 -0800

Is this an acceptable construction technique in ironwork? The Chicago Transit Authority is finishing up a project to rebuild stations along one of its lines. A few days ago I was waiting for a train and my eyes wandered to the ironwork for the platform. What I saw was interesting and then a wee bit scary. I've been trying to figure out how to explain what I saw but a picture I took can do a much better job that I can.

Bolts and washers.

To my know nothing mind whenever beams go together the bolts go through holes, the edges aren't held down with washers. Most of the cross beams do have holes for bolts like the beam at the top of the picture. Is this technique something unusual? If not why did they do things this way?

Making preparations now to make it easier later

flatluigi — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 08:20:29 -0800

What free blogging service will let me eventually and easily move over to a domain of my own in the future? What I mean is this: Right now I want to get into blogging, but I don't have the cash to get a domain in the near future. Eventually, I'd want to move my blog from flatluigi.blogger.com to flatluigi.com/blog/ or blog.flatluigi.com (or whatever it ends up being).

Any blog platform recommendations, keeping this in mind?

Open-Source Steam

philosophistry — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:09:19 -0800

I'm looking to create a software distribution platform similar to Steam. Are there any open-source versions that I could work with? Or are there any directions you can point me to?

Looking for Tools to Develop YouTube-style application

jurczyk — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:34:33 -0800

What application/platform should I use to create a YouTube type portal (focusing on user-generated content) that allows site users to search for content (videos as well as other file types) and upload their own content? The service would provide users with a topical catalog of materials, including YouTube videos as well as FLVs, SWFs, PPTs, docs, and other file types. Users would also be able to upload their own files.

Recommend a MAME Classic!

l33tpolicywonk — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:29:38 -0800

Recommend an awesome vintage arcade game for me to play on MAME! I'm looking to get back into MAME and do some great 80s and 90s gaming, but I have no idea what's good beyond some of the more obvious classics. I've read this thread but I'm looking for less of the modern stuff, more of the 2D simple arcade classics. I'm a big platformer and racing fan, but I also enjoy top-down flying games like 1941/2/3. Quirky, little-known arcade games welcome and appreciated.

If it matters, I'm running a 2 yr old Linux machine that ought be able to handle most graphical challenges.

Thanks MeFi!

Which font format?

amtho — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:19:11 -0800

Which font format should I buy? MyFonts.com's FAQ suggests that OpenType is the wave of the future and the first truly cross-platform format. But I want to be sure that what I get will work with all my older software, older Mac OS (as well as my main Win XP machine), and wherever I get things printed. I'm about to purchase one font, but I buy fonts occasionally and would like a general rule of thumb. Different formats are available for the same price, but I must choose one and only one format for this font (the lovely "Sky Serif"). I also wonder if the format used affects embedding in PDF.

software: I've got good old Photoshop 5.5 (running on Win XP), an older Mac we have (OSX 10.early), and Kinko's should I send something there. I also use a Windows program called "PDF995" to print to PDF sometimes.

I also use a freeware program called "FontLister" which I *know* won't support OpenType, but I'm thinking of replacing that anyway. Still, it's another nudge toward buying TTF instead of OpenType.

The Mac compatibility isn't that crucial, since we're probably getting a new Mac soon.

Maybe I'm worried over nothing; do all these Windows programs jsut use font "services" provided by the OS? I just wonder whether Photoshop loads the fonts itself -- I know it will do so if fonts are in its own directory.

TTF is attractive as a fallback, but apparently there are sometimes "extra features" in OpenType fonts -- and TTF may not be truly cross-platform.

I know I can convert fonts to different formats -- I just Googled and found several options -- but I've done this before and it's not always smooth/easy. And it's a pain anyway.

Mainly I'm wondering if anyone has had problems using an OpenType font in a specific situation. Any reason not to get OpenType?

What should we call our trading platform?

Grither — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:43:45 -0800

I need suggestions for a name for an online trading platform for work, does anyone have any ideas?

Can I convert a regular bed into a platform bed?

wflanagan — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 10:45:04 -0800

Can I convert a traditional bed into a platform bed? I have a regular bed that matches a bedroom set that we have. For some extenuating circumstances, I would like to lower the bed mattress several inches.

Ideally, I don't go out and buy a platform bed. But, that's looking like what I'll need to do, unless I find a way to convert an existing bed into a platform bed.

Anyone have any advice or suggestions? Has anyone done this before?

Also, if not, the business side of me thinks it might be a good idea to make a conversion kit. Does anyone else think this is a good idea?

Getting from point A to B (the right way)

tmcw — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:59:34 -0800

I've got the skills and knowledge, mostly, but I'd like to get a better workflow with PHP/MySQL development. Right now, this is my process:

- Design DB schemas in phpMyAdmin
- Code PHP using jEdit, using the FTP plugin to directly open and save files to a Dreamhost server.
- Use CodeIgniter as a general framework.
- Occasionally do manual backups of all my sites.

This is the workflow I use for moderate web app development as well as client sites. Now, this works, actually quite well right now. But I'm thinking that directly editing files using a FTP client, on live sites, isn't as robust as I'd like. I get server timeouts every once in a while, and there's no versioning set up for my development projects.

I'm interested in how a one-man-shop like myself would use SVN, or perhaps another web host (I'm on the queue for SliceHost, and Pair Light sort of caught my eye... if anyone has suggestions in that area, they are certainly welcome) to improve his/her workflow. I especially don't understand svn at this scale. The SVN copy is inactive on the web... I checkout and checkin files? Also, would most people like me have a development atmosphere on their main desktop (LAMP, etc), or a separate development server, or a shared development server?

Essentially, I'd like to put in a little time and effort to optimize the work that I'm doing right now. Thanks for any help on any of these points.

(please don't) Shake the Shack

Foam Pants — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:04:18 -0800

I wanna dance but I am driving the neighbors crazy. Can I stop the shaking? I have a dance/workout tape that I adore and I used to do it my old apartment. I purchased an apartment about a year ago and haven't done the tape since because the floor is super squeaky and bendy. I am sure the entire apartment building can hear me (and feel me) jumping about. Is there anything that I can do, like build a platform to sit on top of the carpet? Can I just lay down a piece of plywood?

3D 2D games

Jimbob — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 22:12:51 -0800

"2D", side-scrolling platform games (Sonic / Mario style) that make full use of 3D accelerated graphics? Are there any? I've always been a big fan of platform games, and there are still some people out there producing them. However, it occurs to me, that you could make a really beautiful 2D platform style game, rendered with OpenGL 3D accelerated graphics - ie. 3D models not "sprites", the camera moves horizontally to follow the action occurring on the 3D "stage", actual 3D background instead of parralax scrolling, all those fancy reflection / transperancy effects. Has this been done, particularly on the PC?

The web as a platform for longform drama?

chocolatepeanutbuttercup — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 13:26:53 -0800

Web Drama Filter: I liked Broken Saints. What else would I like? ( I'm not looking for web comics so much as long-form dramatic pieces, with sound, 2D and 3D animation and possibly video.) Is there anything else out there using the web as a platform for viewing and distribution?

What old game am I thinking of?

Lotto — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 09:05:14 -0800

I'm trying to remember an old PC game, but the details that I can remember are rather vague. It was a platform game, I think on DOS rather than windows itself. You controlled a little hero guy who looked a bit like an astronaut (in my memory) because of his helmet thing, but I think he also had a cape or something as well. He was dressed in sort of purple clothes I think.

The object of the game involved exploring some sort of castle, and firing at various monsters. I *think* there were also semi-solid walls that you could fire at to destroy, but I'm not sure. There were a number of levels, and possibly a boss after every 10. I also vaguely remember some kind of success screen involving everything going white.

Any ideas?

Links with screenshots would be most helpful.

Interchanging Mac and WinTel files

megatherium — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 09:13:05 -0800

What files are truly interchangeable between Mac and WinTel? I know that PDF files are supposed to be readable on either platform. I suspect that ASCII text files are as well. Wouldn't RTF files be inter-legible given the fact that RTF is a tagged language based on text?

Resources for moving to C#?

mkultra — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 11:24:21 -0800

Can anyone recommend some resources from someone moving from CFMX/PHP to C#? My background is in CFMX and Oracle, though I know some PHP and dabbled in ASP back in the day. I've dealt with MSSQL before. A new project I'm about to undertake will require migrating my work environment to C#/MSSQL. I've used Visual Studio for C++ back in the late 90's, so I don't think the new .Net Studio (or whatever they call it these days) will be completely foreign to me.

Can anyone recommend some sites/books/whatever to help with this transition?

I need some recommendations for a good message forum board platform/software.

smcniven — Fri, 28 May 2004 06:00:58 -0800

I need some recommendations for a good message forum board platform/software [more inside] My development group is toying with starting a discussion board/forum to post tips and tricks, and ask questions about various problems.

We've been asked to look at various solutions and offer up suggestions at a developer's meeting later today.

We are a SQL Server & IIS shop so what ever we go with needs to work on those platforms. As well, we need something that is low maintenance, easy to install, no registration needed etc... Basically something that won't eat up too many cycles for who ever is installing/maintaining it. The system will be used by about a dozen developers intermittently.

Any suggestions would be great appreciated.