Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with sharing

Sharing photomanagement tags and goodies in a network

lifeonholidae — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:27:01 -0800

I know this was previously discussed in two posts, but perhaps there are updates. I need photo management software that will allow me to view tags, updates and edits within an network. Scene: Network of about 11 computers, a shared hard drive with all of our photos. I use Picasa and love it. How do I use Picasa in all of these PCs and share the tags, face identification etc.?

I know little about networking. But I follow instructions well!

Can not, can not, can not be online (liability and privacy issues)

Intra-company knowledge exchange

philosophistry — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:08:02 -0800

How to increase knowledge exchange in a tech company. (i.e. imitate Google)? I work at a tech. company, and often we have redundant work. For example, someone spent a full day digging through implementing something from one API that another person knew how to do in 10 minutes. The thing is, former didn't know the latter knew about it, and the latter didn't know the former was working on it.

How do you increase the knowledge exchange within a technology company?

Are there books/resources on this?

I know Google has a lot of good strategies in this arena. Their most famous one is an excellent and open cafeteria which simply increases socialization among normally narrow developers.

Less famously, they also have heavenly snack rooms that keeps developers chatty.

Some in our company suggested wikis where people post their knowledge, but I believe that those strategies tend to fail as developers become wiki-shy.

MacgyverFilter: link sharing using MS Office

Monday, stony Monday — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:23:17 -0800

Macgyver IT: I want my team to use something like del.icio.us to share links. But since this is ask.metafilter, I can't use the obvious right answer. I need to make something like it myself, using ~~bubblegum and string~~ the MS Office 2000 suite and my knowledge of VB. What would be my best approach? This is clearly insane, but I want to try (please don't ask why I can't use something reasonable -- I just can't). I don't need the full del.icio.us, just links and tags. I'm also okay with having only one person at a time able to add a link to the dB, and everyone sharing a big ball of links.

I've thought about using an Excel file, but I don't know if there's a reasonable way to do that, or what that way would be. Could that work, or should I bite the bullet and go for Access? Is there a feature hidden somewhere (in Outlook?) that I'm overlooking?

Video Sharing Websites?

tangyraspberry — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:17:53 -0800

Can anyone recommend a video sharing web service for private viewing? In other words not you tube. I trying out Smugmug but, at $60.00/year, it's a little pricey.

Surely I didn't hallucinate an entire utility.

Pope Guilty — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 03:19:24 -0800

Help me identify a network sharing monitoring program I haven't run in nearly a decade. Back in the day when I lived in the dorms, there were a bunch of us that used to share various media (*cough*) by setting folders to share. (Yes, it was dumb, but it was 2000 and we were young and stupid.) One of the handier programs I had on my Windows 98 box at the time was (I believe) called "Network Monitor"; it showed you who was connected to your computer and what folder and/or file they were looking at and/or downloading, along with (I think) their download progress if they were downloading something.

I seem to remember that, but Google turns up nothing useful or relevant. Does anyone remember the program I'm thinking of?

I'm trying to share my PC's net connection with my BT phone, not the other way around

bartleby — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:11:44 -0800

How do I share my computer's (wired) Internet connection with a smartphone, over bluetooth? That's PC->BT->phone, not phone-as-modem->PC. I've got a Motorola Q9h (AT&T) WM6 smartphone, which is my work PDA and my personal phone.
It's great on the smart, as a nifty PDA; but it's not so hot on the phone - the call quality is bad.

I can just swap out the SIM to a better phone-phone and cancel the data plan that made it a good PDA.

What I'd like to do is keep using the Q9h as my work PDA - but the only way it would be functional (for my uses) is if I could get Internet on it through some other means when I'm in the office and at my house.

The Q9h does not appear to have WiFi (unless there's some hack I haven't found?), and the Micro-SD WiFi card is still a dream.

So I thought I'd look into a Bluetooth PAN to share the internet connection from my PC with my phone. But all the HowTos I'm finding are for doing it the other way - sharing the phone's mobile data connection with a non-connected laptop = "tethering".

How do I do the opposite - share a PC's internet connection over bluetooth and access it via a Windows Mobile smartphone?

Anyone done this?

A Mac, an XP, and a Vista all walk into an Itunes...

nat — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:42:17 -0800

I am having trouble sharing music files in itunes over a wireless network. The three computers involved are a Mac, an XP, and a Vista. There are 3 computers in this house, connected to one wireless network. One Vista (sigh), one XP, one mac. All 3 computers are set in ITunes (8.0.2.23) to both look for shared music libraries and share their own music libraries. The Vista machine can't see the music from the other two properly.

**
Between the Mac and the XP machine, everything is fine. They both see each other's shared music. Additionally, they also both see the Vista's shared music.

**
Between the XP and the Vista machine, The XP sees Vista's music, but the Vista does not see XP's music.

Things I already know are set reasonably:
1) Firewall exceptions for itunes.exe and for Bonjour are set in both Vista and XP machines.
2) I also added an exception for Port 3689 to both machines.
3) The XP machine is visible under "Network" in Vista on the Vista machine. I can see and open the XP machine's normal shared files (does not include Itunes here, but it shouldn't have to) on the Vista.
4) The Vista machine has Network Discovery, File Sharing, Public Folder Sharing (read only), Password protected sharing, and Media Sharing all turned on.

Things I tried which do not work:
1) Turning off firewall on just XP machine entirely
2) Turning off firewall on just vista machine entirely
3) Turning off firewalls on both machines, entirely
4) Cursing furiously, fantasizing about installing a different OS on the Vista machine (might work if I actually did, but I'm still at the fantasizing stage). Subsequently informing the Vista machine that I really do care for it and it shouldn't take my hatred of its operating system personally doesn't help either.

Things I would prefer not to do:
1) Enable sharing through XP on all of my music on that computer, then manually tell ITunes that music exists in the shared folders. Why? well, because I don't store music in one place on XP. It would take a while to find, and I'd have to set a ton of permissions. I'm also not sure that ITunes can add music manually that is in a shared folder on another computer.
**
Between the Mac and the Vista machine, the behavior is a little better. Again, the Mac sees the Vista share just fine. The Vista sees the Mac share when I first load itunes, or when I uncheck and then recheck the "look for shared music libraries" option. If I just sit around and chill, the mac share will disappear after a few minutes. Wierdly, if I play something from the Mac, then the Mac share stays visible indefinitely (or as long as I've had the patience to wait, anyhow). So this is more annoying than actually a problem, but it might help diagnose what the Vista machine's attitude problem is about.

Any ideas? I'm stumped.

Sharing a 3G connection

hungrysquirrels — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:05:26 -0800

Home networking: sharing 3G connection on XP... I've gone through some articles and stuff but still can't get it to work. Could use some help.

My desktop connects to the internet using a USB stick, which uses 3G as my internet connection. I want to share this access with my netbook so my roommate and I can be online at the same time.

The host:
Desktop running XP
Wireless and CAT5 capability not currently being used
USB 3G stick

The client:
Netbook running XP
Wireless and CAT5 capability not currently being used

I have a CAT5 hub with some cables, and a wireless router at my disposal. Wireless would be preferred, ad-hoc I think might be ideal.

I had them connected through the hub earlier, could ping each other, but still couldn't get the netbook to access the web.

I've setup home networks, wired and wireless, a couple of times, but that was using a typical broadband modem. I don't know the intricacies when the modem is USB.

If there's any clarification questions, and I don't reply, it's because I screwed things up again.

So, network gurus, what would you do? I may just be approaching it from the wrong angle, if it is actually doable.

How do I turn a text file list of artist & song titles into an iTunes playlist?

mabelstreet — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:22:01 -0800

A friend just posted a list of well-nigh every song they played at the dance club we went to as teenagers, exported from his iTunes. I'd love to somehow be able to have that as a playlist in my iTunes, so I could listen to the collection (at least those in the list that I have on my computer). Already checked this AskMe response, but it doesn't really answer. If there's some better way (e.g. if iTunes has some kind of "send a playlist" option that I don't know about), please tell me that. Thanks!

Web based document sharing

dukes909 — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:39:02 -0800

Non-profit group looking for a web based document storage / file sharing system to allow remote offices to share (mainly download) relevant organization documents. Does not have to have check in/check out capabilities. Will need to be able to password protect access so that general public does not have access. Could also use web portal capabilities and wiki like features - a lite CMS, but not required. Have looked at things like Drupal (too complicated to get set up), Alfresco (wayy too expensive!), OWL (couldn't get demo to work). Prefer to host on our own Linux based webserver, and have tech resources for installs etc, but not extensive coding.

How can a writing workshop share their work online?

patnasty — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:32:24 -0800

What would be the best web-based file hosting service to use as a shared "Documents" folder for the various members of my writing workshop? I'm looking for a cheap (or even free!) way to set up a communal web storage folder so that the members of my writing workshop and I can make the latest drafts of our work available to one another in between workshop meetings.

Here are the tricky bits:

Many of my workshop-mates are fairly technophobic. If the login/uploading process is at all difficult-looking, they won't use it. Also, it would be probably be best that it not require the downloading of any sort of desktop client, unless the installation and configuration thereof would be simple enough for an 80 year old grandmother who was raised in a remote region of the Brazilian rainforest, by monkeys.

Finally, we'll be using several different document types. Some will be using regular docs, some will be using the screenwriting program Final Draft's proprietary format, and some will be using the format used by the open source screnwriting program, Celtx. It would probably be asking too much for the hosting service to automatically convert these various formats into PDF or something, so I'm pretty much resigned to having to go on and do some converting on my own... but it would be nice if, once I convert the document to PDF or HTML, for people to be able to just click on a document to read it.

Oh, and it'd be best if I could set up sub-folders for the various members of the group, so our stuff isn't all mixed up together.

So... any suggestions?

Share – 1.the full or proper portion or part allotted or belonging to or contributed or owed by an individual or group.

mu~ha~ha~ha~har — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:49:09 -0800

One internet connection shared between three computers. One jackass who uses the entire download limit(!!) and gets our speed capped(!!). So, what software or hardware solutions might there be?? Secrecy isn't a concern. That they are too stupid to be trusted is. Is there maybe something that monitors where the data is going? And also a way to hobble their line speed, once they've reached their 'share'. (I'd prefer not to just yank their cable out completely, but whatever.) I have no idea (keywords to google??) so I'm completely open to suggestion on this :) Thanks! *Other info...?
Our ISP only records a grand total. The modem (Dlink DSL-G604T) only keeps a 24hr log. (Of whatever info it is that it does collect??)
The computer in question runs XP and connects to the modem via a standard ethernet cable. It's also the only one that really needs its data being counted, if that makes it any easier?

Etiquette / protocol

SSinVan — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 20:34:09 -0800

I and four friends have rented a condo in Kona for four nights. Now, a cousin of one of us is going to "crash" in the condo for two nights. How should we share the costs? (other logistics within...) Here is the accommodation set up:
King size room (me and partner)
Queen size room (a single female friend)
Two singles room (two female sisters).

We are all good friends - including the extra female cousin - so I don't want to cause trouble, but I feel like she should contribute something. Even if she is sleeping on a couch or floor somewhere, it is still an extra body in the space.

Or - should I just suggest she buys the wine for the two nights?

Should people in debt go to certain states to get married?

serena15221 — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 18:48:35 -0800

What's the deal with married people being responsible for each other's debts, even ones they incurred before they got married? In most states, are married people really considered to be like one person when it comes to financial matters? I mean after all, you're not "one person" until you get married, so how would you be responsible for past debts of someone before you even met them? I have heard of this before, but always found it hard to believe. It seems so outdated in this day and age, that banks, credit card companies, Sallie Mae, the IRS etc. would actually dun a spouse for debts incurred by the other spouse before marriage. I always assumed that this is what some people believed who didn't know that it's not like that anymore. However, from responses I read to a recent AskMe, it would appear that this is still normally the case. How many people are even aware of this before they get married?

I understand the motive all right...if one spouse can't pay, we'll just make the other one cough up this money that they never even spent in the first place. So where's the hue and cry from an outraged public? Why would many people even WANT to get married?!

Regarding this topic, are you safe with the IRS as long as you file separate tax returns?

Should people in debt go to certain states to get married? If so, why haven't I ever heard of people doing this?

Help us stop fighting over what music is playing in the office!

twiggy — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:09:51 -0800

What's your favorite solution for sharing music (and control thereof) at the office or similar environment? Specifically, some sort of LAN or web controllable "server" type solution? We've been sharing via iTunes, but it requires one person to keep adding things to the playlist, and invariably he/she sticks to his/her own collection even though we have our libraries shared.

We're not married to iTunes or anything. We're okay with Windows and Linux. We have a mac or two lying around here. We could dedicate a machine to it if necessary, or just install something on one of our machines.

Ideally, some sort of web interface that lets other people queue up music (or even vote?) would be ideal. We've seen, but have not yet tried, tunez, but before going to the effort of setting that one up I'd like to see what else is out there, hear opinions on it, etc...

Share iTunes, with a catch.

kbanas — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:31:09 -0800

What's the best way for my dad to get access to my iTunes library? I recently gave my old MacBook Pro to my dad. On a lark, I installed SimplifyMedia and configured it with my account details so that he could gain access to the music on my home media center PC. I didn't really think he would ever do this, I just kind of did it on an impulse - but it turns out he loves the fairly large selection of music and uses it all the time.

The other day he asked me how he could get my music not just on his MacBook Pro but on his home stereo system. I just so happened to have an old Airport Express sitting in my closet, so I took it over and hooked it up to his stereo and configured it to work with his home WiFi network.

Ta-da!

Except SimplifyMedia is not really doing it for me - or, more precisely, for him. He calls me frequently to complain - songs cut off abruptly, sometimes my library disappears, sometimes it takes a half-hour or more for my library to fully populate, sometimes songs won't play at all... and SimplifyMedia is a pretty "no configuration" application, so when it doesn't work for him, my only real recourse is to reboot my home server and hope that fixes it.

There has to be a better way.

I know there are lots of programs out there (like Firefly and SuperSync) that can basically take your iTunes library file and serve it up via DAAP, and he could get any number of clients to listen this way.... but he would most assuredly then lose the ability to play to the Airport Express. Outputting to that device seems like a pretty specific to iTunes kind of thing, unless there's a way to set the master sound output to use it.

I've also had great success with the Hamachi VPN. If he installed and configured this and joined it to my "VPN Group" then his iTunes would detect my iTunes library via the built-in sharing feature, and he could simply listen this way. Unfortunately, Hamachi on OS X is a total bastard. The GUI front-end that is put out by a 3rd party is buggy and never really works, and the command line setup and configuration is a little too much for my dad to trudge through. I could set it up for him and configure an AppleScript that initializes the connection at startup, but this seems like a recipe for "only works intermittently".

So I don't know. I feel like there has to be a better way to do this. Worst case, I drive over to my dad's and do some configuration myself, but ideally this would be a solution that doesn't have a huge likelihood of completely breaking down.

Any ideas, MeFites?

Sharing snowblower ownership

ParsonWreck — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 06:20:02 -0800

What do I need to consider when sharing ownership of a power tool with my neighbours? The item in question is a snowblower, though I'm sure the same advice applies to sharing ownership of any large tool.

Some details that might be relevant: 4 of us want to split the purchase. I've known the other 3 for over a decade, and trust them (which I suppose is obvious.) One of the guys doesn't use his garage for car purposes, so has lots of room and offered to store the machine. The units we're eying would cost us at most $300 each.

Is there anything specific I should address, or be concerned about?

I rarely use a car

Brennus — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 16:55:30 -0800

Help me start a car sharing service I wanted to join a car sharing service like Zipcar but in my area nothing is available. This is odd, since I live in a large University town. Now, I want to start my own car sharing service, for which I am willing to buy a car and "rent" it out to people who joined our car sharing coop. What kind of technology can I use to allow people to use the car with a RFID card the way zipcar does it? Or are there any other ways to allow a number of people to use the car without needing to share the car key? Any other tips for a new car sharing service operator would be appreciated!

A question about corporate file sharing.

grumblebee — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:19:14 -0800

My friend runs a small company that is growing. They're starting to run into file-sharing problems (versioning, archiving, etc.). Laboring under the bizarre belief that I know something about this stuff, my friend has asked for my help. The company used to be two guys in Europe. Now it's about fifteen people in several countries (and continents), all collaborating. When it was just the two guys, it was easy for them to share files. Now it's getting complicated. They need a file and discover it's only on one guy's hard drive. and that guy is asleep (time-zone issues). Or there are several versions of a file floating around, and no one is sure which one is the most recent one.

I know about (and have used) svn and git, but I'm curious if there are any books or websites that go into details about this sort of collaboration and list good tools and techniques.

Note: this is a design shop, so many of the files are binary (Flash and PSD). This makes the svn thing a little tricky if there are conflicts. Or does it?

In any case, I'd like a resource or resources that gives suggestions for archiving (they have an svn, but it's getting huge), file sharing, naming conventions, etc.

They are mostly mac-based, but they have a few PCs on their network.

Looking for an online tool to create, edit and share video content

3rdparty — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:07:01 -0800

Looking for an online video tool (or combination of tools) that ideally support capture, editing and sharing of content Looking to have a bunch of people spread out around the world easily capture video (similar to how youtube or seesmic allow you to record directly from your webcam), privately share it with me, then I need to be able to edit it together online (or download and edit offline), then download the finished product so I can burn it to a DVD (or at the very least view it online)

Unfortunately Youtube has discontinued remixer which possibly would have fit the bill.

Sharing is good (but not too much)

baggers — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:11:55 -0800

I have a DSL Internet connection, shared via a Wi-Fi router (a Buffallo). I’d like to provide access to this to a friend (who lives within wireless range), but without them being able to access any devices on my network (such as my windows file shares) or see any of my traffic (my web browsing etc). What’s the easiest way to do this? I have the following lying around available for use:

- an additional old Linksys wireless router (a WRT54G, I think).
- a couple of old laptops with wireless cards on them that I wouldn’t have a problem with installing a linux version on.
- A couple of wireless USB devices.

What do you think is the easiest option to do this?

Fastest way to upload and share images?

wastelands — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:43:29 -0800

What's the fastest way to upload and share images? I share images so frequently that I wonder if I could cut down my workflow to save time. Currently I use ImageHost.org. The usual workflow is:

1. Save image to local drive if the image is from a web page
2. Go to ImageHost, sometimes having to open the browser if it was closed (e.g. during gaming I close background apps)
3. Browse, upload
4. Copy/paste ImageHost link to wherever

I tried a Firefox plugin for ImageShack but wasn't all that impressed. It seemed like just as much work.

Is there an easier way, or am I at the limits of efficiency? Typically I'm sharing either a screenshot from my system or I want a more permanent location I can link to for a fleeting image on reddit/4chan/whatever that might disappear soon from expiration or the "Slashdot effect".

I'd prefer a solution that doesn't involve signing up with a website, if possible.

Small Production Office Needs a File Server

captainscared — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:04:50 -0800

I work in a very small office, less than 10 people, that is mac based doing primarily Final Cut Pro editing. I know a lot about the mac but not much about putting a server together. Here are our needs: - We will continue to work on independent systems but would like the ability to keep some files centrally located. These files will be copied to the seperate workstations as needed.
- a fast transfer protocol. Currently we are using ethernet which is not fast or efficient enough to tranfer large video files.
- We'd love the ability to harnass the prossecor power of all the computers for rendering, particularly with renders and encodes. (Is a render farm even possible using Final Cut? And how would you do it? I know this is a seperate issue from the files sharing above but we'd like to accomplish both tasks.)
- No one is particularly UNIX savy so if actual server software is avoidable all the better. But certainly not a deal breaker.

So to reiterate: our two primary goals are the ability to make quick transfers between machines and two, a way to harnass the processor power during renders and encodes.

iTunes Xp and iPhone Remote won't play together

filmgeek — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:05:27 -0800

Can't seem to get this to work. iTunes sharing + iPhone remote - Mac Book Pro works, Xp doesn't; same network. Ideas? MBPro 10.5.6. iTunes 8.0.2 (20)
Xp Service Pack 3. iTunes 8.0.2.22

Generally, the Mac works, the PC doesn't.

iTunes music sharing is on.
The mac shares it's library and pc sees (and can play) fine.
The pc shares it's library and the mac can't see it.

Apple's "remote" app - 1.1.1 (on two iphones, both 2.2)
Both iphones can pair and control the mac (the library name shows up)
Both iphones can PAIR to the pc - but no control (The library name doesn't show up)

I've tried turning on and off XP's firewall. I'm stumped.

How can we get our cats to share food better?

dubitable — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:46:20 -0800

We have two cats, Olive and Leo. Olive is really starting to put on the pounds, and we'd like to start restricting her diet a bit, but we can't figure out how to make it so she doesn't eat Leo's food. When we first got them, I tried separating out their food, but the same thing that happens now would happen: Leo would wait, let Olive take her fill, and then Leo would take what's left. He seems to get plenty to eat--he's pretty big himself, but doesn't seem overweight, like she does (on a side note, we are taking her into the vet to get her checked out very soon, so yes, we know...). And it doesn't seem to work in any substantial way to keep her in another room while he eats, he...just waits. It's bizarre.

What should we do? We need to get this little chubby cat on a diet.