Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with web and computers

How to create online video classes?

jabo — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:36:36 -0800

I need advice in setting up secure, online video classes. A student would pay for the class, and then be directed to a streaming video that they would be able to watch (not download) for a length of time (say a week).

I could use any advice, resources, warnings or general musings on how to accomplish this. Existing software or hosting solutions also welcome. I know html and css but only just getting my little toenail wet with php. Finally, this would be for a small business with limited resources (i.e. cash).

How cool can Wordpress get?

london302 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:43:34 -0800

What is the coolest thing you have seen/done using Wordpress. Special relevance to a corporate website. Can I get it to do cool stuff for me like IP filtering and more? I am not a web developer or a designer but am willing to read and learn and any help will be appreciated.

The site itself will be hosted as a wordpress theme and the client will use it for updating it (CMS). What I was wondering was if there are any nice plugins/tricks which would allow us to do some of the following cool things:

1. Embed Google documents which can be shared either the whole world or in a password protected section (particularly interested in presentations and spreadsheets)

2. Can we present a different set of pages to visitors from different part of the world based on their IP addresses?

3. We are planning to use Dreamhost as our web host - any good or bad experiences with Wordpress/plugins?

4. Can we backdate postings in our press release section?

ISO, W3C, OOXML/ODF: How do tech standards impact you?

trcook — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:17:06 -0800

What's your stake in international tech standards and OOXML?(I'm working up a thesis and I could use some input from the computer literate world) Ok, so I'm getting set to do my masters thesis in Public Administration, and I've decided to write about the wonderful world of international standardization-- mostly ICT(read: tech) standards (eg. HTML5, CSS3, domain naming/registering rules via ICANN, OOXML, ODF, PDF, anything from IEC ISO IEEE JTC1, etc.)

One area that I am exploring is output legitimacy in the standardization process. I have a pretty good theory, but I need some ideas about where to investigate for evidence...

This is where you come in. If you feel inclined, shout out about any of the following:
Why are standards important(to you)?

How have ICT standards impacted you/your job?

Are there International standards you have resisted implementing at your job or on a project? why?

Any first-hand accounts of political manipulation of the standards development process.

What's your take on the OOXML/ODF controversy? How will it impact you/your work? What long-term effects do you think the controversy will be?

Much thanks all,
Tom

Websites for Elementary Kids?

debbie_ann — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:09:30 -0800

What are some school appropriate websites I can use in the classroom? I find myself teaching computers K-8 this year. What are some good sites for the kids? I've found a few typing games that are educational enough to use in the classroom and they love it when I send them to one punch sites like isitchristmas? and doineedanumbrella. We also use internet tutorials pretty heavily, but I know this is just the tip of the iceberg. I'd like to have a whole list of appropriate sites (like games and funny things) for free days, as well as some really easy sites to teach the five-year-olds how to point and click.

What programming language should I use for a Digg-like web site?

jackson5 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:37:41 -0800

What programming language should I use for a Digg-like web site? I'm no web developer, but I already have a high traffic picture gallery which I want to turn into a digg-like picture voting site.

I'm going to hire a developer and would like your recommendations on which programming language I should target for the site?

My site currently does about 2 million pageviews per month already, so I expect the traffic to go up. The programming language should easily handle a lot of traffic on 1 dedicated server.

I keep hearing a lot about Ruby on Rails. I'm familiar with PHP/MySQL, but not sure if that is the best programming language for this project.

I also keep hearing a lot about cloud hosting. This sounds like a good option as well.

Basically, to sum up my question: I want to post a "programmer wanted" ad for this project. What should I be looking for from a developer?

Drupal versions & themes

Salmonberry — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 10:17:44 -0800

Backpedalling from Drupal 6 to Drupal 5, should I do it just to save a theme...how often does a Drupal update screw up custom themes? Another Drupal question from me. Our site was on Drupal 5 when I inherited it. Got a new host and off I went, putting on Drupal 6. Now there's no theme and the designer is saying it'll take hours to recreate everything to work on 6. Are Drupal themes generally fux0red by updates or can they be generated to easily upgrade with the latest version? Also, should I downgrade our Drupal install to 5 or are there significant security/bug fixes that came with 6? I'm a Drupal newbie so I really don't know.

Best resources for learning the ins and outs of jQuery in a short period of time

Artw — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:38:44 -0800

I have some exposure to jQuery, modifying existing scripts, using the $() to grab DOM elements, but want to ramp up to expert status in a short period of time - what are the best resources for that? Is there a must have book or website that isn't overly specific and goes beyond simple uses? I have a firm foundation in regular JavaScript/DOM/etc...

Need timely replacement for web-based screen-sharing software.

mrmojoflying — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:44:56 -0800

I need help finding a replacement service for the very recently defunct Convenos, a web-based meeting application for use with PCs. Long story short, I need to replace my Convenos service by the end of the week to finish a few remaining virtual research interviews. If anyone has used or knows about a similar service, I would be very obliged to hear about it. The important parameters:

-It must allow me to remotely view a research participant's desktop live.

-It needs audio, or to be able to concurrently run Skype.

-The project demands crisp visual fidelity, which excludes using web-cams.

-It should be relatively inexpensive (i.e. no stand-alone software purchase, year-long subscriptions, etc.). I paid $30/month USD for Convenos, which was ideal.

-I need it this week or my primary research may never be put to rest.

Basic costs for simple web development?

googly — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:10:14 -0800

I am writing a grant for a project that will include some relatively simple web development. Please help me with some rough estimates for labor and equipment costs. I am writing a grant for an academic project, part of which will involve developing a small website. The primary function of this website is to include a survey that asks respondents to compare visual materials (different representations of data) and answer some questions about them. [The research goal, for those who are interested, is to explore how visual representations of health information impact peoples' understanding and evaluation of that information]. I am woefully underinformed about web development, but here are two things that I know we will need:

- The site does not need to be commercially slick, but we would like it to look professional and be visually appealing, because the quality of the presentation plays a significant role in the research. I am thinking some kind of basic (flash-type?) animation rather than just a series of static pages.

- We want people to answer questions, and we want to collect data on the responses, so there will be some simple data management involved. (We can do more complicated analysis of the data on our own).

My questions:

(1) Roughly how much time would I need to budget for the programming and upkeep of something like this?

(2) Who can I get to do this work? I assume that a savvy CS undergrad or grad student could do this kind of thing, but is it necessary and/or worth it to hire a real web developer/designer?

(3) Depending on who we hire, roughly how much would this cost? We are in Montreal, Canada, BTW.

(4) We are already budgeting for some good (Mac) computers, so I think we've got the hardware portion covered - though any advice would be most appreciated of course! Do I need to budget for software as well, or can I assume that whoever I hire will already have the software? If the former, is there a standard software package that I should budget for (ideal), or do I need to have a rough figure and leave the specifics up to whoever I hire (less ideal)?

Apologies in advance for the vaugueness of these questions. If its not already apparent, I'm a total noob on these matters.

Need an alternative to MyHQ for my homepage(s).

iamkimiam — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:30:17 -0800

Need to find an alternative to MyHQ.com. MyHQ is a web-based homepage that is simply lists of links that you can add to, customize, and organize into categories. You set it as your homepage, and voila!, every place you regularly visit on the internet is right in front of you. Their site is currently down, which has happened before, but this time I fear its for reals. I am literally lost without it (not to mention the 100+ organized links that I no longer have access to). This is different from social bookmarking (please do not recommend delicious.com; its a wonderful site, but won't suffice for this purpose). This would be like if you had access to your computer's bookmarks list as a homepage, from any computer, anywhere. There has GOT to be another website that is comparable to MyHQ. Anybody know what that is?

Thanks. I'm staring at the blank browser window and am completely clueless without my handy homepage! (I actually had to TYPE "ask.metafilter.com" into the URL bar...oh, the horror!)

No Web Surfing Has Given me the Shakes and Dry Heaves

davidstandaford — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:02:40 -0800

Any advice on coming to terms with not being able to surf the internet or keep up with the news for the next year? For a variety of reasons (mostly extreme lack of time and intermittent internet access) I've realized that I'm going to have to give up using websites and blogs to keep up with current events, technology, politics, and culture.

So far, I've used my limited time on a computer to do my best to get through a few of my favorite sites in my RSS reader, but I think it will be better to just go cold turkey and I'm having a hard time convincing myself to do this.

I used to enjoy being well-informed on a variety of topics and it's frightening for me to think I won't know what's going on with the Presidential election/the iphone 3g/the latest kottke links/etc.

Any advice on how to cope with this and to convince myself not to use my scant/valuable computer time checking news/blogs?

I'm not looking for a technological fix via a firefox extension or something like that because I'm using a variety of computers. I haven't deleted my bloglines RSS account, but I guess that is the first/best step to take, but anything in the reader is also available online so it's more about convincing myself not to want to check the sites.

Overall though, I'm just looking for a way to deal with the mental anguish (exaggeration) of being almost completely uninformed for the next year.

P.S. It's not that I have no intellectual stimulation... I'm doing a year long academic program that has brought about these circumstances, so I'm trying to convince myself that learning all this other useful/important stuff can take the place of how I used to spend my time reading stuff online.

Thanks for the help!

How can I create a social networking site?

lukeklein — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:39:51 -0800

How can I create a social networking site? I am in Southern California (Inland Empire/Orange County) and interested in building a social networking/message board/blog site along the lines of Sermo or Metafilter that isn't really about customizable media and meeting friends, as much as it is for people within a certain specialty, let's say the veterinary community, to share their ideas about their expertise with peers, receive newsletters relevant to their work, and ask for their peers' opinions or advice. I've come across several names like Elgg and Drupal, but I don't have the technical expertise to even recognize them as potential solutions to my problem!

Are their any open source programs and/or software firms that specialize in developing these types of platforms? Do I even need to go to a large firm, or is an individual software developer sufficient? How did the guy that created Facebook do what he did?

Just to be sufficiently clear, the features I am looking to enable on this site are:

Newsletters from the admin and notable writers of the industry
Anonymous polling of veterinarians' (members') opinions in current and relevant topics
blogs
Message boards
POSSIBLY a feature that allows individual vets to create friends lists of other vets they meet at conventions and locally, to facilitate their networking abilities.

If anyone here can direct me to someone that can work with me, I would be eternally grateful.

What does browser encryption protect me from?

Avenger50 — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 23:57:47 -0800

When my browsing and downloading is "encrypted," who or what am I protecting myself from? Who or what exactly would or could intercept unencrypted browsing, downloads, or submitted form information? Is it my ISP? Is it a trojan on my computer? Is it a port-scanning hacker? Is it someone on my LAN monitoring traffic? What exactly does browser encryption protect me from?

Sending E-mails with PHP

kaozity — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 06:57:35 -0800

How do I get PHP to send an e-mail. Is there a way to do it without recompiling PHP/Apache. If not, how do I recompile PHP/Apache on a linux system to do this? How do I get PHP to send an e-mail. Is there a way to do it without recompiling PHP/Apache. If not, how do I recompile PHP/Apache on a linux system to do this?

Ideally, I would like to find a way without recompiling my software, but if there is not other way, I can recompile the software.

Does anyone know of a way to create a line graph using html or javascript?

kaozity — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 06:43:57 -0800

Does anyone know of a way to create a line graph using html or javascript? I need to create a line graph with html or jave script without paying a company $99 for their javascript it (e.g. swiftchart). The graph needs to handle multiple trends in the same graph... meaning that I would like to see 3 or more lines going accross in one graph.

Any Help?

Who do you recommend for website design in the Orlando, Tampa, Lakeland area?

the_binary_blues — Mon, 28 May 2007 09:58:59 -0800

Who do you recommend for website design in the Orlando, Tampa, Lakeland, FL area? I am looking for someone to design a solid site for my realestate business and I a want them to use a content management system so that I can edit it later. Who should I use? Pric doesnt matter if they will do an amazing job. I wish to deal with someone who is local or at least proximal to me

How can I get a list of all files in a directory on a webserver?

newatom — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 08:09:28 -0800

I think the title explains it all: I'm looking to get a list of all files in a specific directory from a web server- www.site.com/docs/. The thing is, there's an index.htm file in that directory so if I browse to it, I just get the index file. Is there any way to find out the names of all files in that directory, scripting or otherwise? I don't have access to the system other than through the standard web interface(ie: no shell, etc.) Any ideas?

Many domains, one database?

iguanapolitico — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:14:19 -0800

What would you say is the best way to have 10 domains access one database? I am a web developer but my forté is definitely not the hosting or networking side. So, say I have 10 domain names along the lines of petcare.com, puppycare.com, kittencare.com, ferretcare.com, etc. I want each web site to display information about each of these different pets, but I want to store all the information in one database on the "master" petcare.com server.

Do I need to set up 10 hosting accounts to accomplish this? (I do already have the domain names.)

What I want to do is to visit puppycare.com and for it to go to one, "master" index.asp page which says, "ok, this time she typed in puppycare.com, therefore I'm going to retrieve all sorts of puppy-goodness from the database over at petcare.com." Or have it be able to say, "all righty, this time she wants ferrets." But just have *one* index.asp page process this, not 10 different home pages on 10 different web servers.

I am fully able to accomplish the above in a one-domain scenario by typing in "petcare.com/index.asp?pet=puppies," or what-have-you. But I'd like to just type in "puppycare.com" and have it get all the info from the database at petcare.com, and have it still display "puppycare.com/blahblah" in the address bar. How would *you* do this?

I needed to bounce this off someone (as I have no partners) to see what obvious answers I'm overlooking. My focus just isn't "there" in my web knowledge.

(Doubt this matters, but it has to be Access/.asp.)

What tech to learn for a good jobby job.

blueplasticfish — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 13:51:15 -0800

What tech skills should I pick up to help in my job search after I graduate from college? I have developed database driven web applications in php, Coldfusion, and ASP for 7 years now. In a few months I will be graduating with a degree in finance and want to get a job that meshes these two disciplines. I'm thinking eventually, an IT consulting job would suit me nicely and would like to know where to go now.

Which technology would be most beneficial for me to learn to help in my job search? ASP.NET (VB or C#), Ruby, Python, Java? I am an avid Debian/Linux/OSX fan, but recognize that Windows has a very large place in the market. I am NOT a Windows hater, and have been using it most of my life, but I do think there are situations where other platforms are better suited (contrary to the opinion of my formal educators).

If you are an IT consultant, tech project manager, or the like I would really like to hear your insight into this. But, of course, any input is much appreciated.

Computer & Internet news round-up 2006

MintSauce — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 07:54:53 -0800

Computer & Internet news round-up 2006. What do you consider to be the biggest or most interesting tech and web news of the last year? I've been travelling for the last 6 months and would be interested what big news I've missed. I've picked up Yahoo's various new homepages, ventures and purchases. I've also downloaded the various iTunes, Firefox, Warcraft and Adobe new releases, but what else is of note?

RSS Over Time

joshjs — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 12:28:00 -0800

How does a typical RSS feed behaves over time, as the content grows? If I set up an RSS feed and continually update it for, say, five years, won't the size of that XML file get way too big? How is this concept worked around? Do feed publishers establish a time frame, say the most recent three months, from which they provide content? Do feed readers generally impement that (which seems less likely)? Is a workaround for this problem a part of the RSS specification that I'm just not seeing?

"The web is with you, young Skywalker. But you are not a Jedi yet."

EatTheWeak — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 10:23:21 -0800

"I want to come with you to Redmond and learn the ways of the Registry. I want to be Teh Haxorz, like my father before me." Good morning, hive mind. I have grown tired of the stressful life of a noob technochondriac, and seek self-education that will allow me to use my computer with confidence.

With the help of three dear friends, I built a powerful PC. My friends with know-how have already gone above and beyond in helping me learn my way around Windows. I've no wish to trouble them further with my ignorance and panic. My computer has slowed a bit from lunging, mercurial machine it was in the first weeks after assembly. I open the task manager and examine the Processes list, but really don't understand what I'm looking at. Is that stack of "svchost.exe" a spyware cell or a routine process? Without straining the patience of my friends, I have no way to know for sure.

So self-reliance is the answer. I've heard tell that mastering the arcane art of The Registry is the key to supremacy for Windows XP. I've also heard that this is a most dangerous place to meddle. Please, mefites, if you can think of a web resource on registry management written with the beginner in mind, I would very much like to begin my training. Being that I'm a luddite at heart, I'll even settle for a book.

Useful pieces of registry manipulating software are also appreciated, but I'm more interested in developing the knowledge that will help me appraise a program's usefulness for myself.

My main aims are to get my computer running at peak efficiency, tightening up security by learning how to spot malware's machinations and the ability to spot and correct anamolous behavior before serious damage is done. A tall order, I know, but I've seldom seen this forum stumped.

Your time and input is deeply appreciated.

Auto Proxy Disable?

sprocket87 — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 11:51:55 -0800

Looking for a free app that can enable/disable the proxy settings in Internet Explorer on a timer. How can I disable the proxy settings in Internet Explorer automatically and repeatedly, probably based on a timer? Somehow our admin is forcing IE's internet options to enable a proxy connection and fill our proxy server's address automatically.

I'm manually bypassing the proxy, so in Firefox I can just disable any proxy connection. In IE I can uncheck the Proxy connection but within 15 minutes it will come back. Perhaps this is a group policy thing?

It's frustrating because IE's proxy settings are the system defaults. So if I'm using an app that connects to the net (uploader, etc), it tries to go through the proxy unless IE's proxy is off. So I need something that automatically turns it off on a timer or something so I don't have to keep doing it manually. Even worse, if I'm uploading something while bypassing the proxy, and the proxy auto re-enables, it kills my upload (assuming the proxy blocks it).

Sorry if this seems cryptic, I can provide more detail if you like. Thanks!

Is it possible make a browser window go full screen?

josh.ev9 — Tue, 30 May 2006 16:31:23 -0800

Is it possible make a browser window go full screen? Not "fake full screen," but full-on, PowerPoint style full screen mode? I'm trying to make a web-based presentation tool a la PowerPoint (except it won't encourage boring presentations), but I want to be able to have a full screen mode when the slide show is viewed.

I'd like to be able to do it in all the major browsers (IE, Firefox, Safari, etc.), and be enabled at the click of a link or submit button.

Is it possible? If so, how?

text-to-voice

Kifer85 — Sat, 06 May 2006 09:38:32 -0800

so my friend is trying to locate an online service whereby one can type a message to a phone number over the web, and an operator than reads that message to the other end over the phone. So essentially its a computer text-to-voice over phone service, it may be intended for deaf-blind individuals. any ideas?