Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with process

Sing It Slant

Sully — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:27:14 -0800

I am curious about karaoke musicians. What I mean by that is that I have noticed that a lot of karaoke music are re-creations of the original recordings. I am interested in the business, process, and culture of the musicians who re-create that music. We often get articles from reporters "embedded" in the entourage of a popular touring band - I was hoping that someone might recommend a feature article or book about the lives of these *ahem* unsung musicians. Thanks!

Needing a project management silver bullet

quadog — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:29:34 -0800

I need recommendations on a solution that will solve the project review and approval workflow at my ad agency. The current review and approval workflow in my agency is . . . well, it needs to be improved. Work is getting emailed around the agency for review. Emails are getting lost. People don't know their next actions. Getting approvals is like pulling teeth. We're going mad.

There have been numerous askmes posted on the topic of project management. The usual suspects always come up. I'm overwhelmed by the number of options and the various features.

What follows are the requirements for the solution. Actually, if the solution did only these items it be even better. The solution must:
- be easy for everyone (eg, non-technical account folks to geeky web developers) to understand and utilize. I don't want anyone telling me "they don't get it".
- allow designers to present and version work (eg, banner ads, web site concepts, links to development pages, pdfs, etc.) for review to both internal folks and outside clients
- give the option to show/hide work based on user type (ie, if you are a client, you shouldn't be able to see the early rounds of a web design, but if you are a creative director you should be able to have access to all rounds)
- important: include an clear place for feedback and approvals by multiple parties
- allow the project manager to assign and manage tasks (or cite bugs), flag contingencies, present milestones

If there's no single solution then maybe it will require a combination of solutions. Or maybe it means developing a custom solution. All ideas are welcomed.

need publisher, imagination will travel

gypseefire — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:49:06 -0800

I've recently begun work on a children's book. It is inspired by my granddaughter. I was wondering if anyone had any information on how to get a children's book published? Suggested Publishers? Also, any other information pertaining to this process, would be appreciated. ***I realize that children's books are a dime a dozen...but mine just might be spectacular ;)***

Good questions to ask my Bankruptcy Lawyer in the morning?

samuel1613 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:24:42 -0800

Questions to ask the bankruptcy lawyer in the morning to learn about the process AND to evaluate the lawyer's ability in bankruptcy. Sorry for the late question. I am visiting a bankruptcy lawyer in the morning. Without judging my circunstances, can you please give me good questions to ask to determine if this is the lawyer I should choose IF I do go down this path. What should I ask them about? Their experience? Their fees? Timeframes? Options? Please help as I know little about this process, and I would like to know if this is a good lawyer for this process. I already know all advise you provide is not legal advice, most of you are not lawyers, and I will take everything as simply friendly advise. Thank you for your help!

Locating a deadbeat

pmaxwell — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:27:22 -0800

Can I triangulate someones location with a cell phone number? After filing at small claims court, I hired a process server to serve the person (company owner) who ripped me off for $2500 (deposit on central AC system install in NY). Server went to his house – wife said he moved out, he went to office, nothing there. he has no employees. Server tried 5 different times to locate. I can't get a court date without serving him. Need a cheap way to find this bastard!

Help me find a long lost app!

flyingcowofdoom — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:08:15 -0800

Help me find a windows application that monitors processes CPU usage and adjusts their priority accordingly. I used to have a utility installed that would sit in the tray and monitor all of the running processes' CPU usage. If a process' CPU usage spiked, it would automatically adjust that process' priorty down. I have since reformatted my PC and I lost the installer for this utility. For the life of me I cannot find it! ISTR that it was called ProcessMinder or ProcessMaster or something like that but I cannot find it! I do remember that the tray icon was a little black scale, like the scales of justice. Has anyone else used this program? TIA!

Married in a Catholic church? What was Pre-Cana like?

mittenbex — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:58:19 -0800

I'm wondering if others can share their experience with the Pre-Cana classes/process before getting marred in a Catholic church. I've looked online and found very vague descriptions and I'd really like to know what we're going to be involved in. Especially interested in the FOCCUS test they have you take (I haven't been able to find sample questions and I really want to know what sort of things they ask to see if you are 'compatible'. Please share as much as you can or are comfortable with.

Should marriage even be a hard question?

namespan — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:38:15 -0800

Should marriage even be a hard question? Are there people for whom it was who end up very happy together? I know some people who think this decision should be mostly easy, and is, when you meet and develop a relationship with the right person. This view is very attractive in some ways: it seems to simplify some decision making. I'm looking for other points of view, formal or personal (but I'm willing to entertain points of view that reinforce the idea that "just knowing" is a better way).

My question isn't really abstract. I'm in a situation with someone who is lovely, sexy, smart, fun, and generally all kinds of awesome. We've known each other for four years, dating occasionally and across state lines for the first two years while communicating a lot long-distance; we've been together for most of the last two years, except for the last few months. She's been head over heels over me since we first met, I've been slower to get in but really liked her from the beginning and have come to love her very much. We've had some very happy times and a close connection.

Despite this, there's been a lot of tension and some trouble in the relationship, no small amount of it related to the fact she's always been ahead of me in terms of how much deeper she was in, and we've managed to make ourselves miserable over the question of whether this would lead to marriage. She's at the point where she's ready to move on. I know we're both wondering if the fact that this is difficult is the answer itself, but I also wonder if sometimes people can get stuck in some ways that keep them from getting to the other side even when it could be completely fantastic.

I'm more interested in abstract answers (studies, anecdotes, philosophy) about how couples who go commit from this point tend to do than direct commentary on my situation, but measured advice is also welcome if my question shakes something compelling out of you.

How do criminal trials proceed?

Jason Land — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:17:00 -0800

I'd like to know the exact steps that happen in a criminal trial. I was called for jury duty in California a while ago. It was about a man accused of selling cocaine. I was rejected as a juror during the selection process. I'm curious as to what would have happened next. I rarely pay strict attention to TV and movies during court scenes, focusing on the acting, and it's TV and movies, so I can't imagine it's that close to reality.

More specifically, what happens after the closing arguments? (Please also include what usually goes on before that though).

Thanks,
Jason Land

Feed my need to learn about creating

jasondbarr — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 07:47:57 -0800

Need some books on the process of creating works of art in different mediums I've been reading a lot about the process of creativity lately (inspired by Merlin Mann over at 43 Folders and his recommendation of The Creative Habit).

I'm wondering if the good people of MeFi would be interested in sharing any good books (the best books, in your opinion) specifically about the process of creating in different mediums (as an aside, I've seen this link, but I think this question is a little different). By process, I mean the generation of concepts through to completion of the project. I would think that the idea part would probably be similiar across disciplines, but I'm interested to see if that's the case. Anyway, the disciplines can range from the stuff we typically think of as big-A "Art" (painting, sculpture, music, etc.) to processes that are usually considered more linear and "left-brained". I'd prefer it not be super technical, if it can be helped, but suggest what you must. I'd rather it be the best example of the process you know of than it be dumbed down enough for me to understand fully. Thanks!

St-st-st-st-ut-ut-tut-tut-tut-errrrrrrrrr

phrontist — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 11:10:46 -0800

I'm looking for music that features really good stutter processing of vocal sounds (any really good stuttering of other sounds is welcome too, but I'm especially interested in vocals). Benchmark tracks would be Trentemoller's Moan, Modeselektor's 2000007, Funkstörung's Fat Camp Feva, Ellen Allien's Sehnsucht, and Look at Me by Villeneuve. Bonus question: Someone once told me there was an autechre track where they start with a kick drum and glitch it until it reaches audio rates, then play a melody... what is that called?

Web app alternative to OmniGraffle/Visio?

Hypocrites — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:59:28 -0800

Is there a web app that lets you diagram like you would in OmniGraffle or Visio?

It's been on my mind: what legal say do the dead have?

parmanparman — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:52:04 -0800

In the United States, what legal rights are there for dead people? Does the constitution have stipulations for the rights of dead Americans and non-Americans who die in America? Also, how long - hypothetically - does a person need to be dead until their body becomes public property and, in the case of those who die leaving kin, are dead bodies 'owned', and for how long?

I cho-choose you

about_time — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:56:05 -0800

I am a member of an academic committee that handles award nominations. Our job is to chose which of many internal applicants may apply for an external award. Often such awards accept just 1 or 2 applicants from a single organization. What is the most transparent and fair process for making such decisions? Alternatively, what are problems you've faced on similar committees? In terms of transparency, I am looking for a process that allows us to say ahead of time "here are the rules by which we will make all decisions" and then afterwards "here are the decisions we made in this particular case and why". The people who are submitting applications are my peers, that is, I can't simply say "I'm the boss, that's why". I'm also concerned with bruised egos from saying, "X is better than you."

I don't need suggestions for a full process from me-fi, just some rules or vague suggestions for what you think is important. For example, "If it is the last year that someone is eligible for an award, they receive a preference" as some awards are early career awards.

Thanks for you help.

Gallery-quality prints from slides.

Sreiny — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:13:07 -0800

What are my options for gallery-quality prints from slide film? I've had an inquiry in showing some of my photographs in a small gallery here in the city. All of the photos were shot with slide film. In the past I've scanned, had printed and framed these on a purely consumer level. I'd like to look into what processes (printing methods, scanning, etc), papers, framing that professional fine art photographers employ when they need to have gallery-quality photographs from transparency film produced.

For now, let's assume that price isn't the biggest factor and that the photos would be around 16x20. I'm in Chicago, if that helps. Your help is much appreciated!

A framework for designing a self-study course using free material?

TheManChild2000 — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:34:46 -0800

Is there a high-level general procedure or process that can be used to design a course of self-study in any topic? There is a broad electrical engineering topic that I intend to spend the next X months learning more about, and would like to approach it efficiently, if possible. I'm wondering if there is a generalized self-study framework that I could simply plug the details for pursuing this particular topic into.

I don't want to go out and spend big bucks on the textbooks that are available. There is a large amount of free material available to me. My general plan is to gather everything that I can, sort and prioritize it, spend a chunk of time just reading, and then see if I can pick a more specific direction after that. But hey, maybe there's a smarter way...

Learning how to model the processes of a medium-sized business

yoz420 — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:41:24 -0800

A friend has recently been offered a position that will involve modelling the company processes in her company. She has a good knowledge of the business but needs to learn to formalize this knowledge into proper business process models. Where can she start a crash course on the formal approaches to modelling and creating diagrams of the processes used in this company of about 100 employees? There is a lot of information on the web about this, but it's difficult to separate out the noise from good information. I am looking for recommendations of insightful websites or good introductory books that you have found useful in the past, as well as any advice based on your own experience of doing this sort of thing.

A phantom process was eating my CPU!

Burhanistan — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:22:26 -0800

Has anyone ever heard of a Windows Server process called "daupbsvc.exe"? This was using a significant amount of processor time on a VMWare Windows 2003 server. Google and Microsoft return no results, as do all of the relevant support forums for the applications that server runs. I seriously doubt it was a virus as that would've returned many search engine results, and that server doesn't contain any end user files nor is it used for any type of web browsing (though it can connect to the internet). I killed the process and it didn't come back. It also isn't showing up in any of the directories of that server, hidden or otherwise. Any ideas?

Physical cut-ups: Making Frankenstein vinyl records and books

0bvious — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:29:01 -0800

I want to physically cut-up vinyl records and books into pieces, which I will then glue back together in various, alternate combinations. What are the best methods of doing this? Artist Christian Marclay did a similar thing with records (anyone know any sources of info on this?), so that when he glued them back together the frankenstein records could still be played. This would mean that the cutting technique did not destroy any of the vinyl's structure, it also meant that each record had to be cut very precisely, otherwise the fragments from several different records could not be glued back together.

I also wish to do a similar thing with old books, so that you get a kind of frankenstein, mish-mash of different book combinations. It would eventually be like doing a Burroughesque cut-up on physical forms.

Any ideas on technique would be greatly appreciated. How would I go about doing this? Have you seen similar things done by other artists?

Thanks

Destroying works of art as a creative process?

CreativeJuices — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:24:20 -0800

Art Filter: MeFites, can you help me compile a list of outstanding artists, any medium, that destroy their work as part of the process? In particular I am looking for an artist that I saw a clip of on the Anthony Bordane show, "No Reservations". Stats: she is an older woman from Argentina, has worked with Andy Warhol, works with food, tries to demystify art and destroys her work.
Any other artists that destroy their work would be great!

How do I organize and archive my digital photography?

chrisbucks — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:08:34 -0800

What is the best work-flow process for handling digital photos from capture, processing to archive? I've been knocking off a few paying assignments lately and have had some work published in newspapers and and quickly finding myself engulfed in both film and digital clutter. Particularly for some of my modeling contracts I find myself ending up with over a gigabyte of photos per shoot. I need to find a way to deal with this. Also I do some medium format and 35mm photography which I scan into the computer.

Currently I'm working as so:
-Capture in RAW
-Edit in photoshop, retain the original CR2 file and also save a jpeg copy, then create a low-res jpeg for the web.
-Once a week back up my directory of photos to an external drive
-I send clients 2 copies of a CD of their shoot, and I burn myself a copy which I file in a accordion folder.

A lot of the photos are sorted by either subject matter or date of capture, really I have no idea what I'm doing and there seems to be several different systems going on at once.

What formats should I be saving the files in? Taking into account the best preservation of quality and of space.

I'm a bit of a digital junk collector, and I'm sure there are photos going back years which are sitting moldering away in my stacks of CDs and on drives. In terms of clients photos is there much point at all in keeping them after handing over the goods and receiving payment?

Can anyone make some recommendations on a Purchasing Process management software?

doomtop — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:32:19 -0800

Can anyone make some recommendations on a Purchasing Process management software? I'm looking for an electronic purchasing process system, preferably web-based or with some level of web-based functionality. Also very important is a high emphasis on ease of use and simplified user interface. If Google made a product like this, I would be checking that out first.

I am looking to facilitate and automate a purchasing process, including submitting purchase requests, checking the status of open requests, adding notes to requests, automated e-mail updates on requests, user-level access controls, a user-based approval process, etc.

Those are the main features. Other great things would be the ability to export purchase orders into quotes/invoices, with the ability to manage markups and select specific items from purchase requests to export into invoices.

I am also interested somewhat in Quickbooks integration (or other accounting software), but don't care so much about this aspect as the main features.

Does anyone know of any good examples of this type of product? Has anyone used this type of software before?

It doesn't matter if it's free, open-source, or costly and proprietary. All I care about is the functionality and ease of use.

These twenty docs go into a bar...

cashman — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:25:39 -0800

How can I optimize an MS Word doc compilation process? 20 into 1. There are twenty-ish people who email separate individual reports in MS Word to a final person who compiles them into a big report. Each individual report in MS Word is the same format/template. It has name fields, checkboxes and some free form stuff. Probably 3 pages or so. There are, say, 35 or so text fields that are filled out by the individual, including the checkboxes. Some of the free form stuff is like: "notified the bus driver of the route change", and the name of the report sender has to be appended to the front of that sentence for the final report.

The ideal solution to come up with one summary report would be to put the stuff into google docs, share it with all twenty folks and essentially let them compile the report, then the compiler could just be a reviewer/editor. Unfortunately, for several teeth-gnashing reasons, that can't be done. Another way would be to send the document to the first person, who then sent it to the next person, and so on, until once again, they compiled the report themselves, with no additional work for any one of them. Again, teeth-gnashingly not possible. Can't set up any web forms either.

The final person has the twenty docs. What's the best or simplest way you can think of for them to compile the information from the twenty word docs into the final word doc, aside from the stone age way of cutting and pasting?

Is there some macro that could be set to grab the information from each heading and plunk it all down in the master document, grouped? Should the individuals send the information in a plain text email that can somehow be more easily manipulated using google docs or something?

Agent for service of process for very large banks?

Kimpossible — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:01:13 -0800

How can I find out who the agent for service of process is for very large banks?

review project with team, best practices

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 15:35:43 -0800

Reviewing a project with team, now that it's over -- best practices? my colleagues have recently completed a long term (6 month) project. Some of it went ok, some of it was really unreasonably difficult. The project is a success, but the process took a toll.

We're to review how it all went down, in a few days. Does anyone have any ideas about how to do this that won't end up in a constellation of finger-pointing and complaining?

The goal is to make it constructive and help figure out how to do it better next time. At the same time, we have to acknowledge some serious errors made by various folks on the team.

Any suggestions or experience with this?