Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with source

infinite zoom visual source code editor?

flexiverse — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:24:12 -0800

I saw a video from microsoft research which showed a new editor with like "infinite zoom" when viewing all source code files, like flash vector files - really cool. But i can't seem to find this video again! Does anybody know what it's called? Or a link?

nyc, blogs, websites, radio, events

bluelight — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:17:12 -0800

What websites/blogs/radio stations do you use to find things to do in NYC? Besides word of mouth, how do you find out about the various happenings around NYC?

Where's this quote from?

The Toad — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:26:10 -0800

"The poet writes the history of his own body". Did Thoreau use this sentence, and if he did, where exactly? I couldn't find the precise source via Google. Lots of people use it, all of them attribute it to Thoreau, but nobody says where it's from.

The earliest reference I found was in "A study of poetry", by Bliss Perry, 1930, full text here. (Again, no precise source given.)

Can you help, Mefites? Any Thoreau experts around?

Good WinXP sound recorder for bad eyes?

de void — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:25:59 -0800

What's a good Windows XP open source/freeware sound recorder that is easy for someone with vision deficits to use? Suggestions for a microphone also welcome. Details and... Stepdad's father will be doing a piano performance in a week. Stepdad will be flying with his Win XP notebook to attend and would like to record it, direct to MP3 if possible (but I can help him with .wav to mp3 conversion if necessary).

He has some significant vision deficits (nearly blind in one eye, huge amount of correction in the other) and uses the sight disability features in windows (large fonts, mouse pointer trails, screen magnifyer), so a complicated/cluttered interface would be a drag for him.

Money is an issue as well, so open source/freeware would be ideal.

Suggestions for a cheap-ish microphone with decent recording ability that travels well are also welcome.

Security of Important Files

inquisitive — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:36:52 -0800

How can I prevent users from copying / printing / emailing certain files from my computer, while allowing them to work on those files like reading and modifying ?? I wanted to protect the source code of the tools developed by programmers in my company. So I want the programmers to be able to access those files, read them and modify them, etc.

Yet I don't want them to be able to copy files to any other device, or print them, or even send them in email as an attachment.

Blocking internet access or external devices using Firewall or OS features is not a practical option.

Is there a solution ?

Large scale use of Linux on the desktop in organizations?

thewalrus — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:49:38 -0800

I'm looking for a list or reference to press releases/news articles about large corporations or government departments that have switched to Linux as a desktop platform. For example this week it was reported that the French police have 5,000 PCs running Ubuntu. I'd like to compile some kind of list of large organizations that have successfully replaced Win2000/XP on the desktop. Can anyone describe a real world example they have seen first hand?

I've read about significant uptake in Germany and in Brazil, and educational-specific Portuguese language specific versions of Linux. In the English and German speaking worlds I know that Novell and SuSE are making businesses out of this, so I'll check their PR archives as well...

French reference:
http://www.linuxreaders.com/2009/04/27/french-police-switch-from-windows-to-linux/

Finding an open-source programmer?

liquado — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:52:54 -0800

I'm involved in a group of small/nonprofit organizations that would like to financially support the starting of an open-source software application. While I am technically-minded, I'm not a programmer -- and I don't really know what to look for in one (hopefully to be found on MeFi jobs!). Help greatly appreciated. I'm the co-chair of a nonprofit community fishing tournament. We've been using a software package to run our tournament that, bluntly, was never very good to start, and is showing its age.

Its function is basically to facilitate the entering of weights as anglers weigh in at the scale, calculation of current standings as the tournament runs, display on a fancy screen for spectators to see, display sponsor ads, angler photos, etc., etc.

We have a group of local tournament organizers (mostly nonprofit) that would like help developing something that would be useful to all of us, but that is cross platform and open source, so that other (fishing or otherwise, possibly) tournaments can benefit from it, as well. We're not interested in developing it as any kind of revenue stream; we just want a useful product for our own tournaments.

We likely can raise a reasonable amount of money to start the project, and are forming a committee to try and develop a spec sheet for it, but I don't know how to proceed from there. Other than the obvious usual HR baseline, what do I need to know/ask/require/expect in finding someone to start an open source project for us?

Alternately, is there a protocol wrt to looking for programmers who just want to start a new open source project (i.e., are not looking for financial recompense)? As I said, we will likely have some financial ability to make this happen, but someone wanting to do it on their own time would be okay, too.

Thanks for any advice!

Open Source Kindle?

samchase — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:44:47 -0800

Is there such thing as an open source Kindle that uses texts from things like Project Gutenberg and the like? Perhaps after you bought the device the books would be free because they would all be out of copyright.

How to capture Polycom video stream

purenitrous — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:41:02 -0800

I have a Polycom VSX 7000 that we use for video conferencing. I'd like to capture video conference streams and publish to a web server (or youtube) for playback at a later time. (does not need to be in real time) What open source tools can I use to do this? Or can someone point me to a "how to" for this....

Source for Stock Option Prices

bright77blue — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:34:30 -0800

Stock Options data source needed. I would like to poll a site via API to get option prices on about 30 stocks - about 20 times a day. The data does NOT have to be real time - 15 to 20 min delay is fine. I can go to yahoo finance or Bigcharts, but would like the data imported into my local MySql database. A free or inexpensive (less than $20 per month) would be great. Thx!

economic logistics of open source?

figTree — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:48:15 -0800

I'm looking into the Open source philosophy to programming seems to be quite an intricate and somewhat confusing setup. I am wondering why so many people put their energy into developing libraries for some open source project with seemingly no direct return. I understand how if you structure yourself as a company you can develop using Open source and make money by providing services, support etc.

But if i want to contribute to a library, would that ever somehow make me money, just as a coder?

GooglePhoneFilter: I got Blackberry in my iPhone!

mrmcsurly — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:29:48 -0800

CanadaCellphoneFilter: How can I use a Google G1 Android phone on Canada's Telus network? I am lusting after a Google G1 Android phone. I want to replace my Blackberry and end my frustration that the iPhone doesn't have a good keyboard, and the BB doesn't browse the web properly.

I am on a corporate plan which requires me to use Telus. I don't understand enough about the specs of the G1 to be able to tell if the phone is compatible with their network.

What's the best open source search engine?

seeminglee — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:37:38 -0800

My company is looking to build a search engine to index our web site and I'm wondering if anyone has used any open package to do the task. Names, URLs, experience would be highly appreciated,

What CMS does BNET.COM use? What CMS is similar?

omidius — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:15:42 -0800

What content management system (CMS) does the site BNET.com use? Or, what is the currently available CMS that most closely matches the capabilities of this CMS? Bonus points to open source....

Wiki or CMS that will work for this?

andrewzipp — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:44:48 -0800

I need a Wiki or CMS that has a WYSIWYG editor for a site with about a 100 static pages, sorted into categories. I'm trying to revamp an extranet website for an elementary school, where they store all the information about their programs, tution, phone lists, fundraising, etc., and parents and staff can login and look at all that and print it out.

Right now I've got this site setup with Edit-Point, a really lightweight CMS, which uses TinyMCE for the WYSIWYG editor and just saves to .txt files. It's great for editing existing pages...as long as the navigation part of the site never changes.

That's the problem. They want to be able to add new pages, and change the names of existing pages, and have that be tied to the navigation. But I've got the navigation set up in a Javascript drop-down menu, which I have to go in and manually edit whenever they want to change anything. It's a pain in the ass.

I've used Wordpress before, and like it for some stuff, but I don't like how adding new 'pages' works. Maybe there's a plugin for sites that only want to have a lot of 'pages' sorted into categories, but I feel like that kind of goes against what WordPress is.

Something like PmWiki is closer to what I'm looking for, where there is just a long list of pages on the side - but you have to use their special markup, which I really don't like, and won't fly for this.

There's no budget for this, so open source would be great.

What is the source of "When you fight with a pig you both get dirty - but the pig likes it"?

zooropa — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:07:31 -0800

Where does this phrase/proverb come from? I'm looking for the source of the quote/proverb "When you fight with a pig you both get dirty - but the pig likes it."

Any ideas?

Window shopping... but I want the display, not the merchandise!

kimdog — Sun, 18 May 2008 18:22:15 -0800

Sourcefilter: I've been seeing large sheets of paper or a paper-like material with cutouts of flowers, animals, and other cutesy designs used as a backdrop in window displays at stores like Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie. Where can I buy some? They look sort of like Chinese papercuts but cruder and more free form. The sheets are large (like 8' x 3')and sort of crumpled as if they were folded and cut like a paper snowflake. I've Googled, but I can't get a hit. Please help me find it!

Free and Easy Open Source Accounting Software Recommendations?

franklen — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:57:38 -0800

Looking for your experiences with open-source accounting software. I am helping co-found a non-profit organization and need software that is free (if possible), easy to use for non-accountants, and preferably open-source. Someone recommended OSAS (Open Systems Accounting Software) and gnucash. Has anyone used these or any other programs they would recommend or not recommend?

Opensource Wiki Software

spinko — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 03:43:48 -0800

Open source Wiki software! I'm looking to setup an open source wiki service very similar to wikipedia.org (but slightly different). However I know there is open source software available to download... ...

I'm looking for:

1) Totally open editing (if registered)
2) Report if abused content
3) Upload images for the wiki post
4) SEO friendly i.e. www.wikipedia.org/post_name

Php, SQL, etc

Very simple, I like the way wowwiki.com is run. I know they use opensource but I dont know which one.

Cheers if you can help.

Is there a MySQL version control system or something?

Leech — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:13:56 -0800

What is the best way to work databases like we does with version control (Subversion or CVS) for the source files? I was researching but probably I'm not using the right words or there's some special way to work.

Did Magellan really

micketymoc — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 00:33:49 -0800

Did Ferdinand Magellan really say this? “The Church says that the Earth is flat, but I know that it is round. For I have seen the shadow of the earth on the moon and I have more faith in the Shadow than in the Church.” The earliest reference to this quote comes from 1873, in an essay by Robert G. Ingersoll. Did Ingersoll make the quote up, or did he get it from somewhere else?

Librivox Recommendations?

prettyboyfloyd — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:26:01 -0800

FavoriteLibrivox books? I am getting ready for a long drive and wonder if any of you have listened to any good librivox books. After searching the web I've found a few recommendation lists

Can you add to the wealth?

Thanks.

Open source spreadsheets for the excel-challenged

cameron.case — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:13:46 -0800

Looking for open source spreadsheet templates I can use commercially (if it comes to that) for recipes, fitness programs and the like. Why? Because my excel skills suck. Thank you!

open source program for rotating signups?

apark — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:10:03 -0800

Hi, I would like some recommendations for (preferably open source or inexpensive) web based software that I can implement for my church. Everyone takes turns bringing refreshments, playing songs, etc... and there are waaaaay too many "Who can do it on Sunday the 16th? on Sunday the 26th?" e-mails going around and it gets very confusing to keep track. 1) Preferably Open Source (PHP & MySQL for example) or inexpensive. I do have some development background so I can do some coding though I am not a PHP expert by any means.
2) Must be Web Based
3) Must allow users to log-on, choose their passwords, change their passwords, etc... In other words, should have self-service account mgmnt capabilities.
4) Must have e-mail notification capability. (e.g. "Hi John, it's your turn to bring drinks this Sunday.")
5) I think our web hosting service uses Linux. So, it probably should be Linux based.

What are your thoughts? TIA!

It's not what you ask, it's how you ask it?

Gucky — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:20:10 -0800

What's the source of, "It's not what you say, it's how you say it"? Googling seems nigh impossible, given the pages and pages of presentation advice and similar that use the phrase.

It doesn't sound like just a old wives tale or Benjamin Franklin to me. In fact, it sounds rather '70s self-help book kind of quote. But I'm happy to be proved wrong.

I vaguely remember studies about body language and the like that make reference to the small percentage of attention paid to the actual message, but I can't seem to find them either.

I'd like to reference it in a presentation about the importance of a consistent editorial/brand voice, but I'd really like the source to be more than, "Hey, you know what *they* say."

I've hit Bartleyby to no luck as well, but perhaps someone has far better recollection or search skills than I.