Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with save

auto-name saved webpages

a womble is an active kind of sloth — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:41:08 -0800

Is there a way of saving a web-page from a web-browser, using a name from a source outside of the web-page? I want to save several web-pages to a folder, and I would like a semi-automatic naming convention. Previously, I have been manually saving each web-page by hitting ctrl-s, and entering sequential numbers. I am analyzing these pages using a loop, so this convention makes it quite easy to loop through all files in the folder (I am doing this analysis using a few VBA macros in excel).

One mild complication is that some of these web-pages will all have the same default name if I use the actual prompted name, so re-naming after saving is not an option as it would overwrite files.

I haven't been able to figure out how to go about doing this within firefox on windows xp, so any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Suggestions using alternative browsers/OSs are fine as I use mac and linux also.

Companies that bargain down your medical bills for you?

El Curioso — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:09:20 -0800

Have you ever used one of those companies that bargain down your medical bills, then take part of what they saved you as payment? I'm wondering if it's a legit service, and if so what kind of results you can expect.

How do you get the mat file name?

cali59 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:50:49 -0800

How do you get a Matlab script to know the name of its own .mat file? I have a bunch of .mat files that have descriptive names (ex "round fluffy A.mat", "square fluffy B.mat") and I'd like to process the data and generate a figure with the name of the mat file, only .fig. I don't want to have to hard code the filename, or use a dialog box to input it or anything, I just want a way to be able to retrieve the argument that was used in the command that shows up when you double click the .mat file, namely

load('C:\PATH\FILENAME.mat')

I'm sure there's plenty of other ways I could be doing this, but after searching google and MATLAB help, it's kind of driving me nuts that I can't just find a simple way to do this. Am I overlooking something? Thanks.

Save or Spend??

saradarlin — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:53:03 -0800

Shopping Filter: When do I need the best of the best? What is the best of the best? And how do I know the difference? In the past (read:student) when I needed something I would usually chose the cheapest item knowing that I would replace it later if/when needed. Well, it is now LATER.

We are now buying some items for more than just right now. I can sometimes get hung up on price points - for example we needed a sofa, I couldn't decide what makes for a good quality sofa, like that beautiful leather one that your parents have that has been in the living room all your life (you know the one that I mean). I was worried about spending thousands on a sofa that might last for 15 years, but what if it doesn't? So I found an attractive one on a crazy sale that WILL not last, but I won't feel so bad when it wears out (and the cycle continues - curse you IKEA!!) .

Right now we need a garden hose (I know, it sounds silly). I bought one last year, on sale, for $40. It sucked, and leaked by summer's end. This year I bought a new hose for $70, so far so good. So if I had just bought the better hose in the first place, it'd have saved $40. Now I am wondering if I would be even happier with the $120 hose (but then no $ for garden tools)...

So here is the question:

What are your favourite things to splurge on? (ie: Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer)

What are the best things to save on? (ie: I have no idea, that's the problem!)

Wordpress can't save.

lockedroomguy — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:16:11 -0800

Wordpress- When trying to save a post, I get redirected to my public blog page. When I try to write a new Wordpress post, and I either click "Save" or "Save and Continue editing", instead of doing so my browser redirects to my public blog page, i.e. the blog root. If I then re-enter Wordpress Site Admin, my post is not there. It doesn't seem to matter what's in the post--it happens even with a single character.

- New behavior as of yesterday. Worked fine on Sunday.
- I am the only person who (legitimately) makes changes to Wordpress and no one else should have access. I haven't made any changes.
- Hosted shared server at Pair.com. I opened a service ticket, and they say it's not their problem and have not changed apache or Linux recently.
- Browser and OS independent
- Wordpress 2.2.1.

I'm not eager to try a Wordpress upgrade as the first solution.

I checked the Wordpress forums. There are several open threads on a similar problem on multiple versions of Wordpress. The threads that are resolved were fixed via hacking mod_security. Didn't work for me, but I don't rule out any other solutions along those lines...

Any ideas are welcome, either to fix the problem or to place responsibility on Wordpress, my hosting provider, or elsewhere.

Thanks!

Naming a new green technology

Black_Umbrella — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 11:22:56 -0800

What would you name a green project that saves electricity throughout a building? I need some help naming a green project that my team has in the works. Basically, it will be a programmable / automated system that will replace a buildings breaker box. Main functions:

1) Prevent power drainage from various outlets and appliances, I.e. game consoles wasting $1 billion a year when idling, etc.

2) Use off peak hours if possible. I.e. charge cell phone between 12-5 am.

It has a few other abilities but this should give you the idea. I have always loved the name "Kill A Watt" but that is taken.

Any ideas for a good catchy name?

Best CFL bulbs???????

boby — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 11:18:53 -0800

Which CFL bulbs are the longest lasting and cheapest to buy? I'm concerned about saving money on my electric bill but not worried about mercury content (if lights are broken). Are there any CFL bulb giveaways that are online?

CFL or LED?

drstein — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:25:55 -0800

Should we buy CFL or LED bulbs? We're in the process of replacing all of the bulbs in the house with more energy efficient lights and the concept of newer LED units has piqued our interest.

I have 5 can lights (using PAR bulbs) in the kitchen. One is on a separate switch, so I put a CFL in it but we've been less than thrilled with it so far. It's a Phillips bulb and literally takes 2 minutes to reach full brightness, which is annoying. The LED bulbs are bright instantly.

Have any of you folks purchased LED bulbs? Happy with the light output? Noticed any energy savings? There are many to choose from but since they're a bit more expensive, we want to make a decent choice. (The ones we've seen aren't as expensive as the one on ledwaves. Our local Wal-Mart actually has an entire aisle of CFL bulbs and LED bulbs.)

What is the likelihood of recovering data that has been deleted inside an OSX account that also has been deleted?

skylar — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:53:11 -0800

I know there are dozens of data recovery question on here, but nothing that appears to address my specific question. I have an Apple Powerbook G4 laptop running 10.4.1. In preparing to sell the machine I transferred a bunch of files across to an external drive, then deleted them, emptied the trash and deleted the entire user account (while telling it not to store a disc image of that account.) Since then nothing has been written to or deleted from the disk. Now I find that not all of my files were successfully copied to the external drive so I've lost a lot of data. In particular I would like to save just one folder full of Excel spreadsheets - my past few months of accounting. What is the likelihood of being able to achieve this, either myself or using a data recovery company?

Switching off Traffic Lights

SarahM — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:21:19 -0800

I'd like to ask a relatively simple question – what would happen if we switched of traffic lights when we didn't really need them? I'd like to know from an environmental aspect what effect turning off the nations traffic lights would have towards saving electricity and reducing emissions. From a social point of view could the nation's road users manage with such a change? And from a technical innovation view point – could it and should it happen and if so how?

help managing my money

serazin — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:50:24 -0800

Financial skills building classes or workshops for a low-income person with crappy money management skills? I have demonstrably terrible money management skills - constantly overdrawing my bank account, the beginnings of credit card debt, etc. I'm a single parent and about to become a full-time student, and I'm expecting things to get worse. But I want to head off further problems at the pass.

I know that there are non-profits that help low-income people manage money better, and I think I need the help of one of these organizations! I'm willing to take a class on the topic - better yet would be some individualized coaching and support. I'm in Oakland, CA - so something in SF or the East Bay would be ideal. Book recommendations are also OK, but sadly, my limited reading of Your Money or Your Life and related stuff hasn't sunk in so well. I think in-person help might make a bigger difference. Thanks in advance,

How can I optimize my study given a time constraint of 'x' in a quasilinear scenario? (or: Help!)

cgomez — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:50:28 -0800

Looking for resources to help me understand material from an intermediate microeconomics course. Notes, practice problems, simplified explanations, anything would help. I'm currently in enrolled in the first course of a series on 'intermediate microeconomics'. The professor's teaching style isn't working too well for me as he never really delves into the math outside of mere basic equations which aren't what I'm being tested on.

Are there any particularly good sites online that would help make this course easier? With each week, it seems as though I'm just falling further behind. The topics that were covered recently are...

Preference and utility functions, finding optimal consumption bundles (optimal choice), perfect compliments/substitutes, demand curves, the Slutsky equation/substitution effect, endowment, etc.

Or if anyone has advice on learning the material. I have a little over a week and a half before the next midterm to get my act together; anything helps.

Help me budget!

DMan — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:25:26 -0800

Given that I have no bills to pay, what percentage of my wages should I save and how much should I take as spending money? I'm a college student about to be home for the summer, and I'm in a unique sort of situation. Due to circumstances I won't go into (beyond saying that my family isn't rich), college tuition isn't a concern and I really don't have any other bills to pay. However, I do need to be saving money to get a start after college, which is why I'm asking this.

I've managed to get a pretty good summer job; I'll get paid $10 an hour and I can work anywhere between 20-40 hours a week--the hours I work are completely up to me. For the purposes of this question, let's assume I work 25 hours a week.

My question is, in your opinions, how much of this should I save and how much should I take as discretionary money? I understand the importance of a budget in that it enables you to not feel bad about spending money if you've planned for it, and I'd like to figure out a budgeting plan that lets me have a bit of spending money while still saving for the future.

So if I work 25 hours a week, that's $250 a week or $500 every paycheck, before taxes. 10% of that will go to my church tithe, leaving $450 for me (before taxes).

What percentage of this should I save, and what percentage should I keep for short-term spending? I'm not really asking for advice on how to invest the saved money since I'll be talking to an expert in that field in a month or so, but if you have any specific ideas about what to do with the money feel free to share.

Thanks in advance!

Photoshop is suicidal when I try and save. Errrr....

actionpact — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:48:58 -0800

Photoshop CS keeps crashing when I try and save a file. WHY? I run OSX and Photoshop CS, a 6x8 Wacom Graphire4, and a Epson Perfection 4850 scanner. Since I bought my iMac two summers ago, I've had zero trouble with Photoshop-- eerily so. But about two weeks ago I started trying to scan in multiple files with my scanner, and I started having Photoshop crash any time I tried to save more than two files. OK, I got over my annoyance with that, thinking it was some bizarre new glitch when I scanned and saved, but now I was working on one file, saved it twenty minutes ago, tried saving it again just a minute ago, and it's crashed.

To my knowledge nothing new has happened in the last month or so, like an update or something. No new programs were installed, it's been a pretty uneventful time lately. I am baffled at why it just keeps crashing before I can save. It doesn't seem to matter whether I save it as a PSD or as a TIF, it just crashes when I save something more than once or twice.

Any idea what could cause this? I know it's probably a longshot, but maybe there's something I totally am not considering that would cause this. Nothing else has problems, except for the occasional Firefox lockup. I am hoping I don't have to go and shell out for a new copy of Photoshop....it's getting pretty frustrating after a while.

7.2 mp vs. 8.1 mp Sony Cyber Shot? Where to find the best deal?

caveat empress — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:34:02 -0800

7.2 mp vs. 8.1 mp Sony Cyber Shot? Where to find the best deal? I want to buy a new point and shoot digital camera, and my trusty old Cyber Shot (and I mean old!) has been an ultra reliable workhorse, so I plan on sticking with this line.

I am a basic use type of person - I take shots to archive life, so to say. I rarely blow them up farther than 5x7, and take videos infrequently.

I do want to get a model with a Li battery, and I want to find the best deal I can (plan on buying online).

There is about $50 difference on average between the 7.2mp and 8.1mp Cyber Shots.

Any thoughts on if the 8.1 has enough pros that I should spend the extra money? Any thoughts on the other brands out there?

Also: I planned on buying through Dell, does anyone know of a better deal out there and/or coupons?

Thanks!

How to save videos from video.aol.com?

royalchinook — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 11:55:31 -0800

I would like to be able to watch videos from video.aol.com when I'm offline but am unable to save the ones that come from in2tv. The one that I'm specifically looking for is The Fugitive Pilot put out by in2tv.

I am able to save many other videos from AOL's video section but these ones are proving elusive. I've tried Video DownloadHelper which didn't seem to work for me even though other videos from AOL would work with that add-on.

Anyone else have other ideas?

Automating multiple .jpg file saves in Photoshop?

Yiggs — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:54:05 -0800

How do I automate the saving of multiple .jpg files in Photoshop? I've got a series of photos I'm using for a website, and there needs to be three image sizes for each photo - a "full" size, a smaller "thumb" size, and the smallest "table" size (for a table of contents-type thumbnail view.) All the files need to be in jpg format.

I tried recording an action to save each file as these three file types, but I could't get it to work very well. For starters, it prompts me to type the file name each time. Also, every time I save it as a jpg the "jpeg quality" dialog comes up, and I have to click through. This makes the automated action not very automated.

Is there a way I can A) stop the "jpeg quality" dialog from coming up and just save each image under the same quality? Like set a "quality default" or something? And B) not have to type in the filenames? If my original file is photo1.psd, could I automate it to save the full image as "photo1.jpg", the thumb size as "photo1_thumb.jpg", and the table size as "photo1_table.jpg" without typing it in each time?

Flash movies on DVD

paulinsanjuan — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:04:44 -0800

I want to save flash movies I find on the internet and collect them onto a DVD to watch on a DVD player. I'm helping a friend with a 3 to 4 yr old Dell running XP Home. He just bought an external DVD burner which I helped set up. He has hundreds of videos bookmarked (mostly on youtube) which he'd like to save and record onto a DVD. I installed Firefox and started looking for extensions that might do this easily, but haven't found anything great.

If it can't work as a self playing DVD, I will settle for a data DVD or CD playable on a DVD player or computer.

He is not willing to upgrade to Vista. He is low-tech and doesnt want to relearn anything.

trimming pdf's?

washburn — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:43:47 -0800

Without "pro" software, how can I trim pages from large pdf files? There are a lot of public domain pdf texts out there on the internet, but they are frequently scans of old "collected works" editions, etc., with a thousand pages or so.

How can I use free software to save just, say, 100 pages of a thousand public domain .pdf?

I've not yet had much help trying to use openoffice Writer or Foxit reader/editor (the option is blocked out or available only to paid Foxit users, I think).

Thanks much for any help.

Help me find obscure, romantic things to do in London

minifig — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:29:05 -0800

Can you find me obscure things to do in London to help me win my girlfriend back? So, things are a little rocky, to say the least, but we're talking and I think there's still hope, so I need a little help from the hive mind.

We live in London, and I've got some days that I'm devoting to showing her what she could have with me, so I need some help to find some romantic things in London.

The reason that I need your help is that we *live* in London, so I need something a little more obscure than a suggestion to go on the London Eye, since we've done that about 20 times already.

To give you a bit of a guide, we loved going to Denis Severs' House and I think she's been to the Soane Museum already and very much enjoyed it.

I suppose the final thing is that, under the circumstances, I don't want her to feel really manipulated, so although romantic is good, too obviously romantic might be bad.

how much money can I save by turning off air-conditioning when I drive?

esolo — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:25:37 -0800

how much money can I save by turning off air-conditioning when I drive? I know that turning on air-conditioning increases fuel consumption. How much money can I save per month if I go from using air-conditioning every time to not using it at all?

I drive a small 2002 car with 1.5L engine and manual transmission, and fill up my tank with 35L of gasoline twice a month. This costs me about $70 per month right now (Canadian dollars). My driving is approximately 40minutes a day, five days a week in the city.

If you could explain, how are the savings calculated, that would be great too!

Breaking up with MySpace, and I want my stuff back.

doift — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 08:46:47 -0800

Canceling my MySpace account. Is there a way to save/export/preserve the content of my MySpace blog? Coming to my senses and canceling my MySpace account. However, my MySpace blog has turned out to be a concise and amusing record of the last couple of years, and I'd like to preserve it in some form. Is there a relatively easy way to do this, or am I looking forward to interminable copying and pasting? It's mostly for me, but bonus points if friends could also save it easily if they wanted to.

I tried subscribing to the the RSS feed, thinking I could just save it in the reader, but it only "fed" the last 10 entries, and I suspect it would disappear once I cancel the account. Also, the links in the blog postings don't show up as links in the reader. So that doesn't seem like the best solution.

I'm relatively savvy about such things, but I'm drawing a blank here and it's embarrassing. I blame the user-unfriendliness of MySpace.

What can I do, from the big changes on down to the minutae, to make a difference?

iamkimiam — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 16:24:24 -0800

What can I do, from the big changes on down to the minutae, to make a difference? I want a more environmentally conscious lifestyle! I just recently watched the LA Times online documentary, Altered Oceans and was really inspired to make some changes in my lifestyle to help reverse the damage we've done to our oceans, earth and wildlife. What are some things I can do and small changes I can make for a positive global impact? I am looking for unconvential ideas as well as obvious ones. I am already a member of Environment California, Surfrider, and various other groups. I don't want to just throw money at the problem. I want to make adjustments to my behaviors and habits so that I am going about my life with conscious reasoning that I can be proud of.

Here are some examples of the types of ideas/changes I am hoping to hear about:
• Reuse a single plastic water bottle (instead of continually buying water and throwing out the bottles). Chop down any extra bottles, fill with dirt, grow stuff.
• Only eat self-caught seafood
• Walk to a farmers market and buy groceries there instead of driving to a grocery store and blindly filling cart with product.
• Pay all bills online and cancel all mailed statements, thereby reducing trash.

Bonus points for ideas that make life easier and/or increase productivity/efficiency.

I would also love to hear about some good resources, links, etc. Or ways that items that can be reused, instead of thrown away—if only I knew how to reuse them!

Thanks in advance!

I apologize if linking to the documentary was inappropriate. I think it's a helpful point of reference in describing the bigger problem I am trying to do my part to solve. I have no intention of making this a question with an agenda, or a chatfilter. I just want suggestions!

Microsoft Word File Recovery

Packy_1962 — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 20:15:01 -0800

Is there anyway to recover a file that's never been saved (except maybe by autosave) in Microsoft word after you accidentally hit "don't save changes" upon closing it?

Password issues

Todd Lokken — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 07:24:02 -0800

Why am I see the 'save password' window so often? All of a sudden, everytime I type in a password to some website, I am asked by windows if I want to remember this password. I always click the 'don't offer to remember any more passwords' box, but it still pops up every time. Have I been hit by spyware or something that is causing this? I'm running XP, if that helps.