Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with software

Help my computer become strict and overbearing.

mammary16 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:56:34 -0800

I'm looking for special task-scheduling software, and am looking for suggestions. Lately I've been setting small daily goals for myself - twenty minutes to study Esperanto, twenty minutes to learn a song on guitar, twenty minutes to perform a discrete work task, etc., and am really starting to believe that the less time I give myself for a task the better I perform.

I remember studying for the GRE, and the software I used included a "virtual proctor", instructing me at different points to end or begin a section. Does something like that exist for everyday life?

As such, I'm looking for a program which I can use to micro-schedule my day, with special alarms at specific times (1:10, 1:20, 1:50), etc. Ideally, the alarms would also display the task to be performed. Even better, I'd like something that reads aloud the text I've entered for that alarm. That way, a computer voice could cue me for my next task!

I've seen a few examples of this sort of thing online, but I thought I'd ask you all if you have a particular program you like, isn't very demanding on system resources, and (possibly) has the extra functions I've mentioned above.

Thanks!

How do you monitor up/down Internet usage on a dial-up connection?

fujiko — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:38:19 -0800

Rural Internet Connection: I need help with gauging current data use before investing in mobile broadband. So, like 4% of American homes, my parents have no access to broadband Internet service. The valley they live in is technically covered by Verizon 3G, and my dad is considering erecting his own cellular repeater. (He's a mountain goat, so I'm not worried about him running cable up 200ft of hillside.) We've already been assured that you can use 3rd party equipment to rebroadcast 3G service directly in the house.

We totally get how the repeater works and is set up.

Here's the real problem: How the hell do you know if you're using 5GB of Internet access in a month? I understand there might be monitoring software out there, but I don't know what it's called. Looking for "monitoring software" leads to software teaching you how to snoop on other people's browsing habits. I just need to know how much data they're pulling down and sending up in a given 30-day period. I want them to have better Internet access (instead of 28.8 kbps) and access to phone service during fire season (lots of things related to the phone lines get burned). He's not going to spend $600-$800 on repeater equipment if I can't make this a watertight presentation.

Anyone know of any good candidates? Remember: this is dial-up. I can't configure a router to monitor or help me monitor their usage.

Thank you!

What are my options for Mandarin and Cantonese speech recognition software?

querty — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:05:07 -0800

What are my options for Mandarin and Cantonese speech recognition software? I've found the PenPower Cantonese VoiceWriter (using the IBM ViaVoice engine), but that's about it. Too bad Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn't have a version for Chinese. Hopefully some of you might know of other Mandarin / Cantonese speech recognition software?

graphing implicit/3d/whatever (multiple plots) in maple/other software

isoman2kx — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:21:51 -0800

graphing implicit/3d/whatever (multiple plots) in maple/other software how would I graph this? I'm getting killed by the boundaries on these triple integrals and trying to visualize these graphs without a calculator or any sort of help. for example, how would you get the boundaries from this problem with a graphing software such as maple?

:::Problem::::

evaluate the triple integral where E is bounded by the cylinder y^2 + z^2 = 16, and the planes x = 0, y = (4/3) x , and z = 0.

I see graphs like this for the problem above that look like my first attachment. The closest I've come is entering it in maple like I've shown in my 2nd attachment for this problem, but why doesn't my graph look like the random professors graph from attachment #1? Mine doesn't have any curves or contours, it's just rigid useless lines. What is their secret?

I take back the maple only request but if you guys know ANY software where I can successfully enter problems like the above in to visualize them would greatly help me out. In a way I'm looking at larger picture because I want to know how to graph any set of equations, planes, functions in one graph regardless of if there's a x, y, z etc, but this problem would certainly help in getting there.

attachment 1 (not mine) :

http://tinyurl.com/y9qrlo8

attachment 2 (mine, in maple):

http://tinyurl.com/y98ngn4

please help lol :(

-travis

Income and Outgo for the Happy Couple

26.2 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:54:29 -0800

Can anyone recommend a web based money management software for two? We're trying to put our accounts in one spot where we can monitor them. The problem is we have lots of existing accounts. Here are the requirements:
- support for two users who share accounts
- web based
- ability to import from multiple credit cards, checking, savings, IRAs, investment accounts and loans
- calculators for best loan payoffs and for retirement savings
- ability to categories transactions
- budgeting
- support for the blackberry would be awesome

I will happily pay for a solution; free is not required. We're not looking to change the spending/saving behavior of either person. We just need 1 spot to look for money stuff.

How to work in software, outdoors?

mjg123 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:11:54 -0800

What kinds of jobs exist for software engineers who want to work outdoors? Rain, wind, sunshine, sleet, yes please!! I have about 10 years experience as a professional software engineer, mostly working for large companies and a bit as a contractor too. I enjoy it, and I always get good reports from clients and colleagues. But the desk/office lifestyle is getting me down, and I'd love to work outdoors.

Without abandoning the skills and salary that I've built up over the years, what kind of job could I get that would see me working outside for a considerable part of my time? I'm thinking of a minimum of one whole day outside every week, preferably more.

I really don't want to give up the software design aspect of my job, these are the problems that I love solving. But I suppose I could do without the actual programming part of it, so technical architect would be a nice job - if I could do it outside. Help me brainstorm this one, mefites!

Looking for time-planning software for a busy dog walker

primer_dimer — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:05:27 -0800

Looking for time-planning software for a busy dog walker My girlfriend's dog-walking business is busy, and it's taking a long time each night to plan the next day's walks. I'm looking for any kind of time-planning software that can help. Essentially the problem is to find the best solution to a set of constraints:

Dog A has to be picked up between 10am and 12am and walked for 1 hour
Dog B has to be picked up between 10am and 1pm and walked for 30 minutes

etc.etc.

At the moment she is planning her schedule by hand which is taking a long time. It seems to me that this is a job for a computer. I'm kind of resigned to writing some software myself to solve this problem, but any hints would be appreciated.

How can I track how much time I spend sending and reading e-mails?

k8lin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:04:57 -0800

I am looking for an automatic time tracker for my e-mail usage. I would like to track how much time I spend reading, composing, and sending e-mails, which I do for both my job and for school. I need this software to be automatic -- I do not want to have to click a button every time I open my e-mail client or every time I start writing a message. I am also not interested in learning how to write my own software to do this for me (I do not have time, although this seems like a fun project).

I am interested in tracking the minutes and hours that I spend sending e-mails to specific people, but would also be ok with using software that just generally tracked my e-mail usage. However, software that breaks down the data by e-mail address would be ideal. I normally use an e-mail client (Thunderbird) but sometimes I need to use webmail. A program that could track both would be best, but one that just works with Thunderbird or another e-mail client (I am not tied to Thunderbird; if there is software out there that does this with another desktop client I would consider switching) would be fine as well.

I have a feeling that this exists, but my Google searches on the topic aren't pulling up anything relevant. I've asked my friends and co-workers and no one has any suggestions (for search terms or for the actual program). It seems like freelancers and people who work from home would be interested in such a product, so I feel like it has to be out there somewhere. If you do not have a suggestion for an exact program, suggestions for other search terms to use and sites to look on would be helpful as well.

I would consider paying for software that does this if it meets all of my criteria (being able to track webmail and a desktop client, tracking who I sent/read e-mails from and to), especially if it is not too costly.

Little text manipulation help?

yesno — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:54:34 -0800

I need some help repairing some text files. I don't really understand regular expressions and so on enough. I have two badly formed mbox files.

One is missing the "From " indicator that a new message is about to begin. Instead, there's a "From: ." I need this second "From: " to stay there, as without it the messages all show up as having no sender when I import them into any client. Thus, I need a way to add a "From " to the line above each line where a "From: " occurs. As far as I know the "From " is just some mailer daemon's email that I don't really care about.

The second is the same, but the messages also show up has having a bad date. Currently, there is a field labeled along the lines of "Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 1:11 PM." Properly mbox files seem to look like "Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2003 12:53:22 -0600." While just changing "sent" to "date" fix that, or do I need some really good regexing?

Programs to work with Census data?

qldaddy — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:51:36 -0800

How do I create a cross-tab from Census data (SF3)? I would like to create a cross tab that shows disability status by household (or family) income at the census tract level of detail. I cannot get that table from American Factfinder. Saw the link that said "download the data and you can generate your own cross tabs". Downloaded data - got big old text (ascii) file that does not easily import into excel or access (the only two potential programs I have now). Now I have big old text file and shattered hopes.

I think I am looking for a (preferably free or shareware) program that will open and analyze this data with a minimum of fussing on my part.

Or, maybe I am looking for something completely different. You'd propbably know better than me.

Thanks in advance.

Give me your insights into help advance science

TheOtherSide — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:31:23 -0800

Science! How can I use my excessive tech / management / leadership background to enable science (while still getting paid a living wage)? I'm 15 years in to a wonderful software career. I've done it all: financial systems, enterprise systems, large-scale public-facing systems, open-source. Lately I've been developing knowledge management / learning management systems. Within a dev team, I'm usually the 'architect', though I still do serious coding.

I did it all for the money. Broke, debt-stricken, I gave up a potentially glorious science career (right!), so that I could make it rich in the gold rush of software. I never made it rich though I've done well.

Now, I'm in my late 30s. Financially stable, no debt, great salary, interesting work. But, the ticking of time is haunting me. I want to do something seriously great before I die. I don't want to do it personally, but I want to be part of something bigger. I want to see such technological and scientific advancements that my hair shall rise.

Science is something I've always loved. Obviously, it wouldn't make sense for me to throw away all of my experiences and start afresh in a science Phd program. Plus, I work with lots of academics, and it's really an annoying bunch. Of the groups of academics I work with I will crudely summarize and generalize:
20% independently wealthy with nothing better to do,
20% did it for status and love of strings of acronyms behind their name,
20% ego-driven and interested in pursuing their ideas at all costs,
20% wanted an easy tenured lecturer role and ended up a paper pusher,
20% purely passionate, research-driven, but overworked and burdened with the other 80% of their peers.

So, obviously I want to help that last 20%. How would I do this? I'm thinking that there have got to be social/cultural/technological/financial impediments to their work.

So here's my question: What are the software / social systems that are missing today that would greatly help the pure researchers do the work that they've dedicated their life and energy to?

It doesn't necessarily have to be software systems. It could be people systems (e.g. new academic structures), financial systems, etc.

Let me know your thoughts.

What job is this? Can I make a living with this?

fishmasta — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:31:04 -0800

I hate coding. I like conceiving of what the code could do . Work please? I've always been a tech-oriented person, but never much cared for programming/tech support (I deal with enough of that from family)/computer science sort of work. Lately at work they've had me testing out new software, where I diagnose bugs, suggest better ways to implement features, etc. I've found it really fits the way I think and seems to help the IT staff out a lot (we're not a software company, but do produce our own specialized software for internal use). I've been pretty unhappy with my current job and would like to move into something more suited to my interests, so I'm wondering if this is something that might be good for me.

This sort of work is pretty random at my employer, so there isn't a way to transfer into this as a full time position. I'd like to find something that suits my tech-knowledge without the programming focus and that lets me think outside of how the software currently works and how it could work if improved. Our coders are so focused on fixing current problems that they rarely have time to think of how to improve the interface as a whole. Is this something that A) is a job people would be looking for and B) something that would pay the bills with potential for more? Thanks.

Online tool for planning and visualizing project pipelines?

jruckman — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:26:23 -0800

Is there a web-based app that lets you plan project pipelines, and set up pipeline templates and associated tasks for common project types? I love the functionality of Daylite and Contactizer for Mac, but they don't live in the cloud, and their syncing is problematic or in the case of the latter, non-existent. For my small, sometimes remote team, this is a no-go.

But I love the pipeline visualizations and associated task templates they both offer. No other solutions, including Basecamp, Omnifocus, etc, offer this.

Here's an image of the pipeline view I'm talking about.

Suggestions for an online replica of this type of functionality? Any alternative suggestions?

WIN XP Directory Tree Software help?

dorgla — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:13:54 -0800

Need software which enables saving my Windows XP file directory tree and shows subfolders as a .gif, .jpg or .bmp. Google found some software which saves it as a text file, but I want the visuals of the actual folders in the tree structure.

What version are we on now?

Drasher — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:04:25 -0800

How do software authors determine the version numbers of the releases? I am writing software for a specific electronic device. I am not using version control on it yet. (Yeah, shame! Truth is, I am intimidated.) I am working on this project alone. (Details: Front-end GUI in VB.NET back-end work done in a DLL in C++. The other part is embedded in the controller card using a PIC P24FJ256GB110.)
I expect that the software will go through some gyrations when the user figures out what he really wants. I will need to get versions for the GUI and the DLL and check for compatibility between them.
If you have suggestions about version control (for one) I'll take those too. I installed Subversion and TortoiseSVN, but I don't know how to use it effectively. I am confused as to when to do a commit. And don't even ask me about branches... I just don't get it.

Need software that does project management, email marketing and advanced analytics

Incy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:26:33 -0800

I am looking for an email management program (like campaign monitor) that also includes email analytics (like google analytics) and project management tools (like basecamp). I am in a small marketing department at a non-profit that relies heavily on email (100K+/month messages sent). My google-fu has failed me so far, I can't find anything that has all three components. Does anyone know of a one stop shop that does this? Also open to a using several programs as long as we can get them to work with each other.

How do I make a map from GPS data?

Kadin2048 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:38:05 -0800

How do I turn my GPS track logs into a nice-looking trail map? Do I need a GIS package? I'd like to make some high-quality maps of the hiking trails near my house. I have a handheld GPS, and I already have the downloading and conversion to GPX of the track logs worked out. However, that's as far as I've gotten. Starting from this big pile of data, which needs to be cleaned up substantially, how do I get a nice vector map?

I can load the track files into Google Earth right now, but that's not really what I'm looking for. I need some way to edit the tracks, choose how they're represented (some are the actual trails, some represent the boundaries of the park, some are surface roads, etc.), add labels, and generally turn it into something that people can use.

It seems like this is getting into GIS territory, but I admit to knowing next to nothing about GIS packages or really what they do, beyond a vague idea that it has something to do with maps. Do I need a GIS package? If so, which one? I'm willing to spend some money on this (although not the $2500 that ArcGIS apparently costs). Windows, Mac and Linux are all options, although Linux/Mac are preferred.

Some things I've looked at include GRASS, which seems to be raster-based; GeoServer, which seems intriguing but seems like more of a middleware/server component than a desktop editing application; Mapyrus, which seems something like what I'm looking for; and QCAD, which isn't a GIS at all but a CAD program, but maybe that's more what I need?

I've seen surveyors working with GPS units, so I know there must be some way of transforming that data into useful maps — how do I bridge the gap?

Any good books on web penetration testing?

jacobian — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:28:13 -0800

Any good books on web penetration testing? I'm a web developer and consultant, and I often deal with web application security. Everything I know about penetration testing I've learned in a pretty ad hoc manner, and I think it's time to give myself a bit of a more formal background.

I'm familier enough with the concepts (SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, etc.); I even teach classes on those subjects. I've got decent knowledge crypto and digital security in general. I also have a few tools I sorta know how to use (Burp Suite being the main one). But I don't really have any good grasp on the "right" way to actually conduct a formal web penetration test -- I usually just flail around for a while trying different things until I "feel" satisfied. Doesn't really make for a very scientific process, I know.

So: any suggestions for books (or any other sort of learning material) on web penetration testing? I'd prefer something more on the advanced side of the spectrum; I'd rather be overwhelmed than bored.

The Perfect Mail Client

tejolote — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:28:57 -0800

I switched to mac recently, and hate applemail. I don't think thunderbird will do everything I want, at least it didn't a few years ago. I want something like Pocomail, easily scriptable and enhanceable, and perfectly reliable (and easy and standard enough for me to fix on me own when there are problems). But Pocomail doesn't have a client for macs.

Also, I am going to have to gamble that whatever I pick will keep being updated and maintained over the years. I have a lot of mail and I really hate to move it around. In fact (I have some mail I've been unable to get to after a year now, but that's another question altogether).

Suggest mail applications for mac, preferably with some of the suggested parameters! Help me get to read (and sort) my vast tracts of mail.

How can I backup my iPhone messages?

Biru — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:08:20 -0800

How can I back up message threads on my iPhone (3G, O2-UK) into a text file or PDF? An ideal solution would be that offered by Syphone though it does not appear to support the latest versions of iPhone software. I'm sure there must be a successor to this programme, though I'll be damned if I can find it.

Help, please?

Large test data has it's answer

StickyCarpet — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:23:28 -0800

What large sets of collected or observed data have been offered, such that a hard to find hidden solution of some sort is buried in it, and the known solution is provided together, for the purpose of testing algorithms that find solutions to similar large data sets? Besides the Netflix prize, of course. I've recently heard about a similar challenge created many decades ago, and provided to military logistics experts working the Knapsack Problem. It describes a chaotic battlefield on the night after the army captures a chunk of territory. When night falls, each fighting unit, with a variety of weapons, sends one guy with a knapsack running back to the field supply depot, and there everyone is loaded up and sent back out carrying just the right amounts -- of whatever ammunition is stockpiled at the depot -- such that the battlefield situation is helped most.

Someone has somehow found the exactly right answer for one fixed set of battlefield conditions, and this data set is used to grade strategies.

Know of any others such things, in any field?

I want to to make a picture book on my computer. How?

the foreground — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:18:50 -0800

What software would you recommend for a book project that needs to utilize a large amount of art from different mediums, including reproducing pictures? I am trying to emulate Paul Arden's 'It's not how good you are; it's how good you want to be", if that helps as a reference point... I have an idea for a book that will rely largely on its visual element. Perhaps not images on every page, but likely every other page or so, with significant portions of text as well. The art itself is not so much the issue, but I would ideally like a single program that can handle reproduced photo images, advanced fonts, and with flexible (and hopefully easy) editing of those images. Most importantly I need it to be able to print/display in manuscript format that I would be able to send to an editor as part of a book proposal. My background is exclusively in writing, not the art side, so I am looking for something intuitive yet professional looking enough to impress. I assume some sort of layout program that newspaper editors use might be suitable but don't know the pros and cons of each as it would pertain to a project of this sort. Paul Arden's artsy motivational books would be exactly the sort of look I am after. Thanks!

Help me with job titles associated with software development

Pontifex — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:04:50 -0800

Which jobs should I be searching for a stepping stone in the world of software development and eventually project management? Fresh out of college the depression started.

I have a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. I attempted to find some work in my area, but couldn't find anything in the way of "Junior Programmer / Software Engineer". I found some work eventually (3 months for a minimum wage service job) and have since found a relatively stable job that has nothing to do with my degree.

Now that I have some months on my resume, I'm looking around for software work in California. I'm starting in the North State and moving more steadily south, the first large city I'll be looking into is Sacremento.

I would like to have work that would provide me credible experience for developing software. Since I haven't any real world experience (Falling into the catch 22 of most intro jobs needing experience, etc) I'd like to start with an industry tangentially related to software development so that I can show some work toward real experience.

Instead of focusing on development work exclusively, I'd like to start with QA / Software testing work. I believe I could learn a lot about software development: Techniques, processes, culture, political realities of the work place, networking, etc. I also believe that such work could prepare me for an introduction into project management; Coupled with future software development work.

What sorts of job titles should I be searching for to maximize my return value for this type of work?

I also need a sanity check. In your experience does this plan provide the returns I'm looking for? Is there some other tangentially related field of software development that I should be investigating in parallel?

Professional FAIL x 2

sidd.darko — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:24:45 -0800

I have had two major professional failures in a single week. I would like insight into a couple of aspects. Sordid details inside. 1) I was written up by my current manager for performance and attitude issues. Without going into too much detail, I feel like I am taking a larger share of blame than is fair of the current project's direction. I feel there is some justification to some, but not all of his issues. I have been given 60 days to produce high quality code and a major improved attitude or I lose my job. This is a manager who has given me stellar reviews in the past. I do feel like the work I am doing is very good and there are certain technical aspects beyond my control that have caused problems for our project.

2) I was given an immediate interview by a former employer. The job is in a language that I don't have recent experience in, but it is an enterprise platform and I have been working with a close counterpart. I interviewed with three people and took assessment and thought I did really well. BUT they decided to pass.

I can do some aspects of interviewing very well .. but I often find the technical interviews unnerving. I sometimes have trouble articulating the structure and flow of some of my projects. I experience the occasional whiteboard fear. But I have had success and have been a valuable employee for the few companies I've worked for (including this one) throughout my career. I'm excellent at tracking down problems and finding solutions. This is starting to sound like a cover letter .. sorry.

I'm experiencing somewhat of a professional crisis. I've been a software developer for 14 years and these two events have really blown my confidence. So, I have a couple of questions.

How do I recover my confidence and from the humiliation I feel at being written up? I need to perform well enough to not lose my job when my evaluation period is over. I can do the work, but being there I find interactions with my manager to be uncomfortable.

How can I improve my technical interviewing skills? I know the technology, but I often freeze and stumble when listening to questions.

Thanks for insight.

Need money now thankyou.

drjimmy11 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:50:15 -0800

What are some good tech-centric temp agencies in L.A.? Hi! Yet another in my long series of job-trauma questions.

I'm currently between jobs- I'm a web/software developer, specializing in flex/AS3 but with years and years of doing html/js/ajax/php type stuff too. I have a pretty strong resume, I like to think, going back about 10 years.

I'm currently getting contacted by a lot of recruiters and going on a lot of interviews, but it's a very drawn-out process. Basically I need a gig to bring in some money now- cutting up PSDs or whatever is fine, I'm not proud at this point. I'm curious if anyone knows any decently reputable agencies who could get me something like this soon. Specific names of agencies are appreciated, referrals to specific people are even more appreciated. (meMail me if you like).

(I'd also be interested in where I can advertise myself as a flex freelancer, but I'm more inclined towards W2 right now for a few reasons.)

Thanks!