Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with subscription

Subscriptions that aren't to magazines?

Marquis — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:27:59 -0800

What are some wonderful things I can buy subscriptions to, other than magazines and newspapers? Curious about interesting subscriptions for things that aren't magazines, zines, journals or newspapers. For example, Amy Lam's My Topics art series, or I guess McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, but really I'm most keen on things that aren't books either. Toys? Sculptures? Cool Maps? Stuff that comes in the mail monthly, quarterly, biannually... Stuff for adults, or stuff for kids.

An etsy search brings up some things, but mostly lacklustre cards/soap/baked goods/lame crafts. I know there are subscriptions out there, but I'm curious about the wonderful ones.

Insert Creative Title Here.

the NATURAL — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:05:10 -0800

You are a subscriber to McSweeney's and/or The Believer. Convince me that [either magazine, or both] is worth the not-insubstantial subscription costs. I've heard great things about both of these periodicals, but living in Hawai'i (not the most literate or quirky of places) finding these to peruse through and form my own judgment will be next to impossible.

And, although there's a special offer ($90/both for a year), that's still a pretty penny for someone like me, fresh out of school with meager wages yet an insatiable need for literary input.

Please convince me to:
- subscribe to one
- to subscribe to both
- to subscribe to neither
based on what you've experienced of McS/TB.

Thanks, MeFi.

I can't believe it's not emusic!

smoke — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:50:11 -0800

Need a replacement for the now-rubbish Emusic - options bewildering me! Hello Mefites, I've just cancelled my once-beloved Emusic subscription because their latest shenanigans have upset me so (it's not just the crappiness, it's the way they went about it).

I've been looking at the most similar alternative I can find, places like AudioLunchBox, Bleep, etc. etc. but am finding it very confusing to figure which offers the most emusic-like experience, and depth of the catalogue for a ball-parkish price (little more, little less, don't really care).

The catch? I'm in Australia, so it has to allow international signups (sigh). What does the hive mind recommend?

Paypalfilter please help me!

spacefire — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:16:22 -0800

How do I send someone a Paypal subscription invoice? I need to send someone a link via email where they can set up a recurring payment to my paypal account. I can't figure out how to do this! Please help....

How do I get DokuWiki subscriptions working with Active Directory authentication?

Xuff — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:18:39 -0800

DokuWiki Filter: Running a DokuWiki install with auth:ad for Active Directory authentication. Everything works fine except subscriptions. How do I get those emails working? When I enable the subscription option in DokuWiki's preferences the two subscribe buttons show up at the bottom of each page, and clicking subscribe works, but no emails are ever sent.

I know DokuWiki can send email because I have an address plugged in that successfully gets email notifications about changes anywhere on the wiki (this is a separate option in the configuration).

My guess is that it's not pulling the email addresses from Active Directory. There doesn't seem to be a way to check and see which, if any, email addresses are attempting to be used. I've also checked for logs showing unsuccessful mail attempts, but haven't found anything.

Details about my DokuWiki install:



version	Release 2009-02-14

popversion	2008-02-20

language	en

now	1238541295

conf_useacl	1

conf_authtype	ad

conf_template	default

page_count	76

page_size	89643

page_biggest	17258

page_smallest	40

page_avg	1179.5131578947

page_oldest	1210007408

media_count	14

media_size	5232210

media_biggest	1719324

media_smallest	7033

media_avg	373729.28571429

cache_count	489

cache_size	2147513

cache_biggest	86599

cache_smallest	0

cache_avg	4391.6421267894

index_count	50

index_size	83989

index_biggest	33291

index_smallest	10

index_avg	1679.78

meta_count	267

meta_size	168448

meta_biggest	5194

meta_smallest	1

meta_avg	630.89138576779

attic_count	564

attic_size	254659

attic_biggest	1446

attic_smallest	31

attic_avg	451.52304964539

attic_oldest	1228840840

edits_per_day	1.6630083050327

plugin	acl

plugin	config

plugin	info

plugin	plugin

plugin	popularity

plugin	revert

plugin	usermanager

pcre_version	7.6 2008-01-28

pcre_backtrack	20971520

pcre_recursion	100000

os	Darwin

webserver	Apache/2.2.9 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.9 OpenSSL/0.9.7l PHP/5.2.6

php_version	5.2.6

php_sapi	apache2handler

php_memory	134217728

php_exectime	30

php_extension	libxml

php_extension	xsl

php_extension	xmlwriter

php_extension	xmlrpc

php_extension	dom

php_extension	xmlreader

php_extension	xml

php_extension	tokenizer

php_extension	session

php_extension	pcre

php_extension	SimpleXML

php_extension	SPL

php_extension	PDO

php_extension	sockets

php_extension	SQLite

php_extension	standard

php_extension	Reflection

php_extension	posix

php_extension	pdo_sqlite

php_extension	odbc

php_extension	mysqli

php_extension	mysql

php_extension	mbstring

php_extension	ldap

php_extension	json

php_extension	iconv

php_extension	hash

php_extension	ftp

php_extension	filter

php_extension	exif

php_extension	date

php_extension	curl

php_extension	ctype

php_extension	zlib

php_extension	openssl

php_extension	apache2handler

Any thoughts?

Magazine scam

whatgorilla — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:42:17 -0800

Any recourse for friend scammed by magazine-subscription salesman? My friend was leaving an outdoor town-center/mall last night and was approached by a male in the parking lot just after 9pm. He claimed to be with "Worldwide Subscriptions" and said if she bought two magazine subscriptions he could get points towards a trip somewhere. He said she had to pay in cash and even offered her a "piggy back ride to an ATM." She ordered two subscriptions, and he told her the price was $186 and she claims, because of the dark parking lot, she just gave him the money b/c she was scared. She got home, looked at the receipts, and it totaled $86. Any ideas on what she should do? His name was supposedly Jason (ID# 0103)--a search for Worldwide Subscription pulls up "magazine scam" alerts all over the web; the phone number on the receipt (702-245-8074) goes to a voicemail; people online have tracked the address to a trailer-park in Las Vegas, NV.

Side note: she said he moved oddly and asked a lot of weird questions (which "through her off" and reminded me of the metafilter link on hypnotism by distraction with out of place words/actions)--e.g., "So, like, do you have a really big boyfriend or anything?" and "piggy-back" comment.

Can you recommend a pay online service or website that would be useful to an art student?

Kattullus — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:06:10 -0800

Is there an online service or website of some sort that one has to pay for that would be particularly useful to an art student? My sister is an art student and it's her birthday tomorrow. I was thinking of getting her a subscription to a website or online service of some sort that would be useful to her as an art student but I haven't found anything yet. Can you recommend any?

Daily Variety vs Weekly Variety?

travis08 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:41:56 -0800

Daily Variety vs Weekly Variety, which one should I subscribe to? I am interested in purchasing a subscription to Variety as a Christmas gift. I am having a hard time finding the merits of each option. Does anyone have a subscription and a moment to enlighten me.

Still like to turn pages sometimes.

Mender — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:51:14 -0800

What is the best way to support periodicals I value: subscribe, or buy them in the bookstore? I know this is a tough time for print media. There are a number of magazines I really enjoy and want to support. Is it more helpful to subscribe, or to purchase them in the store?

Does the answer change if the magazine has a very small circulation (like a literary magazine, for instance) or a somewhat larger circulation?

Obviously one person won't make much of a dent regardless, but I'm still curious about this.

How to setup caller id for Skype? (I have a monthly subscription).

omair — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:45:09 -0800

How to setup caller id for Skype? (I have a monthly subscription). I have a subscription to Skype (3 dollars per month, unlimited to Canada and US), so to call landlines and cell phones, I don't need to by Skype Credit - I have already paid for it. Right?

However, I cannot change my Caller Identification number, because Skype wants me to add credit first. Why? Is it actually only possible for people who pay per use, but not for subscription users? Or am I doing something wrong?

Subscription based music services

like_neon — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:49:37 -0800

UK accessible subscription based music service recommendations please. Desirable criteria:
- around 20 GBP a month or less
- allows you to keep your music even if you cancel your subscription
- legal

Cheers

what's new in technology. I mean really, really new

brandnew — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:28:36 -0800

Sites for tracking new technologies, technology trends, and innovations? I've recently been moved into a position that requires me to drive R&D projects and new innovations. I lead a small team that mainly looks at how to apply our existing IP and software to emerging technologies and social contexts.

I've got all the techniques down for turning my team into a gushing innovation factory. However, I struggle in providing the inputs: interesting new social contexts and emerging technologies. Currently I suck down the popular technology news sites and journals, but I always feel that we're behind the curve.

Are there blogs out there (or even subscription services) that discuss emerging technologies, social trends, etc? Perhaps a daily newsletter that showcases interesting new patent submissions, or top-secret products, or hype curves showing where VCs are putting their money?

Classics of literature of the month club, cancel and Moby Dick is yours to keep? Where to find?

bartleby — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:42:11 -0800

Some publisher used to do a set of volumes of great works, supposedly quality bindings, via a "We'll send you another volume each month, and if you cancel, the edition of Moby Dick is yours to keep" model. Who was that? It was some kind of vague collection or literary works, but not the "five foot shelf of books" or the Brittanica Great Books collection.

I remember advertisements in the back of magazines, and perhaps a TV ad where there was fawning over gilt edges and marbled endpapers.

Does this still exist? Or if not, who was the publisher/company/service can hunt down some of the books, used?

Delicious Dupefilter?

defenestration — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:26:21 -0800

When watching a tag on Delicious, whether through subscribing on-site or to the tag's RSS feed, I find reading through the deluge of posts quite cumbersome. Is there a way to filter out duplicate links to the same site that have been posted by different users? There apparently used to be a service to do just this, but it was taken down at some point.

There's got to be a way! Oh hive mind, can you help me?

Help me push this hobby even further into the pathology zone.

sneakin — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:22:11 -0800

What's a good magazine subscription for a 30-something guy who is really into watches and pens? My brother is young, hip dude who is super into (obsessed with, really) collecting and repairing and tinkering with old, antique and collectible watches and pens/ink. What are some cool publications for a collector like him? I'm especially interested in anything slightly less popular and a bit more off the beaten path (that he's less likely to have already stumbled upon).

I'm sure I can just google around for titles but I was hoping for feedback about quality of specific publications.

Can I subscribe to comics like I do with magazines?

penciltopper — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:45:17 -0800

Can I subscribe to comics by mail, like I do with magazines? 1) I keep missing issues of things I'd like to follow because I forget to go pick them up, they drift off a regular publication schedule, etc.
2) I spend too much on too many titles, and end up doubling my order with impulse buys when I do manage to swing by a shop (oh, it's been a while - what are they doing with so-and-so these days? let me buy 4 issues...)

With magazines, I sign up once, and get a year's worth of issues delivered to me, even if I forget about them.
I also get a significant discount off the newsstand price.

Shouldn't I be able to do the same deal with comic titles?
(if not, and you know why, please explain )

I know that I could find a local comics shop and give them a list of issues to save for me, and they'll call me to come pick them up and pay for 'em, like grownup geeks do.

But I'd prefer to get all excited when I get the monthly envelope from DC/Vertigo in my mailbox, and go retire to my fort made of sofa cushions and read them by flashlight with a box of crackers and a bottle of Vernor's.

Is this possible? Are there alternatives?

(If it helps, I'm mostly reading DC/Vertigo/Wildstorm, but there are a few Dark Horse titles I always forget to grab. I suppose I'm going to have to go and get my Doktor Sleepless from Avatar on my own.)

What are the quality magazines of Conservative (U.S.) political/social opinion?

radiosig — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:21:07 -0800

What are the quality magazines of Conservative (U.S.) political/social opinion? Currently I take the New Yorker, which I love to read because I find the subject matter of the articles fascinating but also, if I'm being honest, because it's generally congruent with my ideology. Recently I read an article I found thought-provoking (this one, via) from The American Interest and it occurred to me that I'm clueless as to what are the quality publications with a conservative/neo-conservative/libertarian bent. What's worth subscribing to?

Point of clarification: I'm not necessarily looking for U.S. publications exclusively, but I'd like something sympathetic to what we call Conservatism here in the states. (e.g. low/no taxes, aversion to gay marriage and abortion, etc). Also I'd like to stay away from religious magazines as much as possible (not compelling for me).

Thanks in advance!

How to charge money for Web content

bricoleur — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:34:08 -0800

If you were a web developer who needed to set up a subscribers-only section of a website, where the subscriptions are paid for online (credit card and possibly PayPal), and auto-renew by default, how would you go about it? Would you find a payment gateway that handles auto-renewing subscriptions and use their API to build a little checkout app? Or find an off-the-shelf cart that supports such a gateway, and just set the cart up and enable the gateway? Or is there an altogether better way? Additional constraint: The solution has to work on a Windows server.

Specific product/service recommendations appreciated.

How to get the Sun for free?

boots — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:27:52 -0800

How do I get a free subscription to the NY Sun? I know many people who were offered free subscriptions to the NY Sun, and about a year ago, I heard that's it's possible to request a free subscription, but I don't remember how. Anybody know? I have a good address in Brooklyn, if that makes any difference.

help me "subscribe" to websites that do not use RSS with Firefox.

Infernarl — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 08:01:33 -0800

help me "subscribe" to websites that do not use RSS with Firefox. I remember in the days of IE 5 on the mac there was a feature to "subscribe" to a website. This method did not use RSS. I think it simply checked for a change in the html of the page every N minutes. I use a lot of websites that do not utilize rss and I hate having to go through my bookmarks one by one to see if anything has been updated. Is there a plugin that emulates the IE 5 functionality? Ideally in the native Firefox bookmark menu.

3rd Parth Magazine Subscriptions - What's The Catch?

thankyoumuchly — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 23:04:42 -0800

Magazine subscriptions for cheap/free... what's the catch? I've noticed third party companies/websites selling popular magazine subscriptions for fractions of what they should cost, sometimes the subscriptions are free. What's the catch?

Replacing Cingular phone?

Aanidaani — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 15:20:04 -0800

My girlfriend recently damaged her Cingular phone and she needs a replacement. She wants a cheap one, so she's considering buying a pay-as-you-go phone and swapping out SIM cards so she can use her old service. My question is, will this work? She's worried that if she buys a new pay-as-you-go phone (Such as this.) swapping the SIM from her old to the new one might not work. She doesn't want to have to buy a whole new phone + plan since she already has one and would like to continue it. Does anyone have any experience with this or know whether this is possible?

Where to download Frank Zappa via a subscription service?

bkpr — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 16:25:06 -0800

I would like to download Frank Zappa albums via a subscription service that has downloads available in mp3 or ogg. Is there such a service? I subscribed to emusic.com last month because they appeared to be the only subscription service offering Frank Zappa albums for download. I downloaded upto my limit, and this month found that they no longer offer Frank Zappa because according to an email I received from them:
"Frank Zappa's albums were available on eMusic via our
previous relationship with the Rykodisc label. Rykodisc was
recently purchased by a major record label (Warner Music
Group) that has decided not to continue its relationship with
eMusic. As a result, we're unable to offer their catalogue at
this time."

napster, audiogalaxy do no offer them. I want a service that offers downloads in mp3 unlike audible's goofy format that's tied to specific devices.

I am very unfamiliar with music subscription services other than the ones mentioned.

I need my music fix!

tdreyer1 — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 07:17:10 -0800

Poor student needs music service suggestions. Ok Mefites, come help a poor(ish) student out. I love music, but I don't really want to pay a buck per song on iTunes. What ( legal ) music services out there offer downloads cheaper than iTunes. More specifically I'm looking for a monthly (yearly is ok) subscription that will get me the most songs for my money. What I'm not looking for are internet only services like Pandora, or illegal sources like limewire. Bonus points if I can use the files on any computer easily. Thanks!

How to find Mac owners in my county?

Wild_Eep — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 21:45:43 -0800

I want to expand my business by sending out a postcard to Macintosh owners in my county. How can I get their addresses? I heard about an independent Porsche garage that expanded their mailing list (and business) by buying a list of registered Porsche owners from the State Department of Motor Vehicles.

I essentially want to do the same thing for Macintosh owners in my county.

Now, there's obviously no state-run department for computer registration. Most macs are 'registered' with Apple in some form or another, but I doubt Apple is renting/licensing/selling that list to nobodys like me.

Then I thought of magazine subscriptions. What about getting a list of MacWorld, MacAddict, MacHome, etc. subscriber addresses? How would I go about that? This seems far more likely. I get direct mail from tech companies that misspells my name in the same way MacWorld does.

Are there other ways of generating a mailing list that make more sense?