Open source, command line, low "impact", png-producing, full-featured, good-looking graphing on Linux and other Unices? [more inside]
posted by DU on Sep 29, 2009 - 13 answers

Hi AskMeFi. Can someone tell me how to combine 350 text files into one large text file so that the original filenames and dates are included above (or below) each entry? I'm using Vista Home Premium and they are all generic .txt files. I'm moving all of my notes into Evernote but want to save the names and dates of the individual txt files.
posted by chimrichalds on Sep 12, 2009 - 15 answers

Is there a Windows utility that will add buttons to the taskbar for windows that normally don't get represented there? [more inside]
posted by odinsdream on Aug 28, 2009 - 7 answers

Is there a Windows utility that will display an on-screen grid over all other applications with definable sizes? I use Fast Stone Capture's ruler utility all the time as a designer, but a grid would be immensely useful.
posted by n3rt on Aug 28, 2009 - 2 answers

Sync Outlook calendar and Google - with only generic blocks of busy/free time? [more inside]
posted by VeniceGlass on Aug 23, 2009 - 1 answer

Help me find a windows application that monitors processes CPU usage and adjusts their priority accordingly. [more inside]
posted by flyingcowofdoom on Aug 5, 2009 - 2 answers

Is there an OS X key command utility or service that will let me wrap selected text in clipboard text and predefined strings (such as HTML)? [more inside]
posted by Typographica on Apr 10, 2009 - 5 answers

I'm looking for a DOS-based CPU speed tester that I remember seeing years ago. It told you how your machine compared to various pre-measured setups. I don't remember how it presented the speed (MIPS, maybe?), but there was a large table of CPU types (386SX/25MHz, 486DX/50MHZ etc.) that it compared the measured result against. Anyone know of such a program? [more inside]
posted by lifeless on Feb 22, 2009 - 3 answers

My heating bill is about twice as much as my downstairs neighbors'. What's going on, and what can I do to mitigate the cost? [more inside]
posted by backseatpilot on Jan 3, 2009 - 17 answers

What is the actual quote and who said it? Practicality is its own beauty. [more inside]
posted by fenriq on Nov 22, 2008 - 2 answers

Is there a way to keep track of how much time you spend in each "space" in Spaces in MacOS? [more inside]
posted by kcalder on Nov 19, 2008 - 5 answers

What's a good (preferably freeware) application for tagging my mp3 files based on filename and file path? [more inside]
posted by gummo on Sep 22, 2008 - 10 answers

Is there such a thing as version/revision control software for printed documents? Software developers have version control for their source code, but what about people who write sales brochures? [more inside]
posted by Chunder on Aug 22, 2008 - 12 answers

Who runs physical plant security at utility companies?? Think: cell towers, eletrical utilities, water utlities, etc... any company that has remote locations... [more inside]
posted by dyerfr on Aug 18, 2008 - 4 answers

UNIX experts: what's the best way to take a pdf file, cut out a few (non-sequential) pages, insert a few more pages from another pdf file, and end up with one new pdf file? [more inside]
posted by tractorfeed on Aug 11, 2008 - 6 answers

How much higher would a water utility bill be with a toilet that runs 24 hours a day? [more inside]
posted by kmtiszen on Aug 9, 2008 - 11 answers

MA filter: Must I have fuse box access if I rent an apartment? [more inside]
posted by pikaboy202 on Feb 17, 2008 - 7 answers

Nascent interest in economics and economic thinking. Having a bit of problem with the theory of the margin. Wikipedia is not that helpful. [more inside]
posted by proj on Jan 30, 2008 - 4 answers

I need help sorting out an issue involving my electric company, my electric bill, and the other apartments in our building. [more inside]
posted by youngergirl44 on Jan 19, 2008 - 5 answers

I'm searching for the ultimate in hand-holding, peel-my-grape recursive directory diff tools for the lazy. [more inside]
posted by adipocere on Jan 11, 2008 - 15 answers

I'm looking for examples of legitimate, non-malware programs that do not allow the user to close them in any normal way. [more inside]
posted by aerotive on Dec 2, 2007 - 11 answers

I'm currently waiting for my Eee PC and Mologogo phone (a motorola i415) to arrive. These are items I'd like to carry with me very frequently (essentially always), and I call upon the hivemind to help me figure out the best way to do so. [more inside]
posted by phrontist on Nov 19, 2007 - 9 answers

Is there a freeware program that can do batch search and replace operations on text strings inside of url files? TexRep almost fills the bill with a nice interface, but, like so many S&R programs, doesn't support .url files, nor does it work if I change the url's' extension to a supported file type like .txt.
posted by bbranden1 on Nov 8, 2007 - 13 answers

What are some things I could do with an old XP box? [more inside]
posted by Hat Maui on Oct 29, 2007 - 14 answers

Can I make the side panel of Windows dialogs more like OSX? [more inside]
posted by AmbroseChapel on Oct 23, 2007 - 5 answers

.chm to PDF conversion, Mac OS X. There seems to be no easy way to do it. Does anyone have an effective and trustworthy workflow they can recommend? (more inside) [more inside]
posted by Señor Pantalones on Sep 23, 2007 - 11 answers

What is the best font-management utility for Windows? [more inside]
posted by perissodactyl on Aug 16, 2007 - 10 answers

Does anyone know what this piece of nyc infrastructure is? [more inside]
posted by funkiwan on Jul 19, 2007 - 7 answers

I'm looking for a freeware/cheapware utility to automatically change my default printer based on what's attached (I'm using a laptop). [more inside]
posted by Alabaster on Apr 29, 2007 - 1 answer

How does one estimate utilitiy costs utilities in 4000 square foot retail space? [more inside]
posted by goalyeehah on Feb 26, 2007 - 3 answers

Help me transfer selected files from a computer running DOS to an XP machine via a parallel cable, and let's see if we can do it for free. [more inside]
posted by chitlin on Feb 7, 2007 - 7 answers

Utility needed: I've been hunting online for a free utility to do the following, and have had no luck, so I'm turning to the hive mind. I need something Windows-based that will scan through a directory structure and create HTML pages for each directory below the starting point with all the files listed and each one clickable as a relative link to the file. For the brave or helpful, there's a bit [more inside]
posted by hankbear on Jan 26, 2007 - 9 answers

Is there any way to "break" a mirrored disk set in Mac OS X (that was created with Disk Utility) back into two separate -- but identical -- drives? [more inside]
posted by teradome on Dec 2, 2006 - 3 answers

Is there a way to have ZIP files automatically decompress when they are copied to a remote Mac server via FTP? [more inside]
posted by designbot on Jun 30, 2006 - 9 answers

Can raided firewire hard drives from one mac be attached to another mac? In other words....here's my situation. I currently have a mac mini that I use as a backup fileserver. I have 2 250gb hard drives attached to this mac mini. Although it works fine and I'm not really looking to upgrade, the 256 mbs of original ram are not enough to run any programs on it very efficiently (as far as time is concerned). [more inside]
posted by eatcake on Jun 5, 2006 - 3 answers

A little while ago, before my last reformat, I had just found a really slick tool for generating interfaces/skeleton implementations for Objective-C classes. I can't recall the name, but it (I think) integrated with Xcode, and made programming easier. My google-fu has failed me, here. Help me, Askme, you're my only hope! [more inside]
posted by ChrisR on Jun 2, 2006 - 4 answers

I want a computer utility called "What the hell is my computer doing?" [more inside]
posted by megatherium on Apr 25, 2006 - 15 answers

Is there a way to maintain the online status of multiple accounts with one instance of ICQ? It's simple to switch to a different account, but can it be done without logging the current user out? [more inside]
posted by davebush on Feb 14, 2006 - 4 answers

Is there an OS X script or app that will quickly join images? [more inside]
posted by Typographica on Jan 3, 2006 - 6 answers

I use two monitors at work, and remote desktop in at home. Some applications, which persistently remember the window location will be hidden on startup because they're off the screen. Is there a utility out there to move all windows on the screen?
posted by anomie on Dec 14, 2005 - 13 answers

What is the best (small, simple, and efficient) CPU/RAM meter for OS X? [more inside]
posted by Typographica on Dec 3, 2005 - 13 answers

I have to start using Windows XP for a while, but I'm a Mac user. I'm trying to find equivalent software for the Windows machine. Specifically, I'm looking for a tool like MenuMeters, that can give a real time sampling of Network Throughput, CPU usage and RAM consumption. It would be great if the application could run in the background and consume very few CPU cycles, itself. And extra bonus points if the application is free.
posted by gsb on Nov 9, 2005 - 12 answers

Can anyone point me to a utility that will copy all the images from my camreas memory card (compact flash) to a directory in the My Pictures folder with the creation date. So all the pictures taken on 7/1 end up in a folder named 7-1-2005. I want it to be ea one-click deal. [more inside]
posted by TuxHeDoh on Jul 2, 2005 - 11 answers

Windows 2000/XP has three options for setting desktop wallpaper: Center, Tile, and Stretch. Unfortunately, these are all kinda dumb. If I want to set a photo from my digital camera as my wallpaper, I'm stuck with a bad fit (Center), repeating images (Tile), or an incorrect aspect ratio (Stretch). Is there any third-party utility that will intelligently resize my desktop wallpaper? [more inside]
posted by waxpancake on Apr 25, 2005 - 14 answers

MultipleMoniterFileter: My Google-Fu is suprisingly useless today. I know there's a utility for OSX that allows one mouse to move across all networked monitors, but cannot locate it.
posted by icetaco on Jan 19, 2005 - 10 answers

Multi-unit property, single utility meter. Unit size/occupancy varies widely, and so does the monthly bill. What's a fair (to both parties) way to bill tenants for utilities since their actual usage cannot be determined?
posted by nakedcodemonkey on Jan 14, 2005 - 19 answers

I want a utility (freeware?) which will scan an NCSA extended logfile and create a simple report on which referrers generated how many sales transactions.

Any recommendations?
posted by ZenMasterThis on Dec 20, 2004 - 3 answers

DVD Copy Protection Question: I'm trying to figure out what the best program is to scan a dvd for copy protection. Before anyone goes thinking I'm illegally doing something: I have a GPS dvd "Map for the Eclipse Navigation System" that you keep in the car in order to help the device. The problem is that pulling the dvd in and out of the system is causing it to scratch. So I'd like to have a copy of it for the car (it'd be useless for anyone else anyways). The problem is that it didn't work as a copy the first time, so I'm thinking there's some sort of protection. I know there are cd scan programs which do the job for CDs (ClonyXXL and such), but is there such for DVDs?
posted by Drylnn on Dec 17, 2004 - 5 answers

Is this claim made over in the blue actually accurate? ("When you recycle, you're working for Tony Soprano.") To what extent is the whole recycling process just makework?
posted by luser on Nov 29, 2004 - 16 answers

Hard disk management. I have several hard drives, running from 20GB to 120GB. My primary C: drive is on the 20GB drive, and the other day I noticed it was taking quite a while to do things, the C: drive was down to about 20MB of disk space! What I'm looking for is a disk manager that would look at hard drive and tell me what folders are taking up what space on the hard drive, so I could prune the offending directories. I'm on Windows 2000, and would prefer freeware.
posted by patrickje on Nov 8, 2004 - 11 answers