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I can't find an answer on Google or Adobe's site, and Adobe's customer support is closed. Hope me, Metafilter! If I try to open a PDF or PNG in InDesign, I get an "this is an unsupported file type" message. [more inside]
posted by Atrahasis at 5:19 PM - 4 answers

I'd like to get a basic understanding of how a game like Fortnite / World of Warcraft was designed / developed and ultimately works at scale. Are there any books / videos / blogs that can get me up to speed on how modern multiplayer video games are made / work? I'd like to understand how some of the magic works, e.g. real time game play over the internet, how maps are made, how the physics works, how loot is created, how ultimately a game goes from a hair brained idea to making $300 million a month.
posted by jasondigitized at 11:33 AM - 4 answers

Now that Instapaper has shut out EU customers stating GDPR compliance, I am worried about losing the thousands of links I have saved there. I can of course export their csv but I would like to be able to properly grab the pages so that I could read them offline and have a permanent copy on my own machines. I have looked at Wallabag but it is very flakey (refuses importing my Instapaper) . I would like it to be available from my iPad so any ios apps that would be useful would be great too What would you use to do this?
posted by mrbenn at 1:01 AM - 9 answers

Since yesterday I have not been able to open Chrome on my Mac. It starts to open but then closes and I get a message that Google Chrome closed unexpectedly (duh). I don't know of anything that happened between Thursday and Friday that would have caused any issues. Any suggestions for fixing this? Things I have tried inside. [more inside]
posted by Bresciabouvier at 3:09 PM - 3 answers

I have to layout and prepare a short story collection for printing and binding. Any general suggestions for style guides, or top tips would be much appreciated. I am also thinking this would be a good opportunity to learn to use LaTEX, so any specific suggestions on where to start with that would be really useful in terms of resources, templates, and which programmes/editors to look at. [more inside]
posted by coupedloups at 12:40 PM - 15 answers

I need to send two small booklets to Bogota, Colombia from the United States by next Wednesday. To reasonably expect it to arrive on time I would need to send them tomorrow. Is there a vistaprint like website or service that operates in Colombia that I could send a file to on Monday and have it printed and shipped locally? I assume this would be available in most counties, but I am told by my contact there that this type of thing does not yet exist in Colombia.
posted by Short End Of A Wishbone at 7:05 PM - 2 answers

I'm going to start teaching some beginner R workshops for students in the social sciences. My background is in teaching/using Python for data analysis/retrieval/etc. What are some things that would be useful to know, that I may not anticipate coming from Python-land? [more inside]
posted by elephantsvanish at 12:33 PM - 9 answers

I really liked Microsoft Movie Maker. But the replacement for Windows 10 is... lacking. I did a little searching, and found something in Microsoft Answers. It links to the Wayback Machine, and clicking on it gave me the installer I think I need (wlsetup-all). How do I know if this is safe to run?
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 6:09 PM - 3 answers

Title is the question. If you were a software dev stepping into a new role, what would you want to see and read. Entity relationships diagrams? Data dictionaries? Logic diagrams? Help me build a wishlist, please.
posted by tilde at 11:22 AM - 12 answers

I work in a small room that's part of a shared workspace, and we have our own printer inside our room. How can I stop it from showing up as an available printer on OTHER people's computers? [more inside]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:53 AM - 14 answers

I told my good friend that I'd type up some menus for the resort where she works. She wanted to add some items to her current menu, and change prices. I'm not a graphic designer by any stretch of the imagination but I typed them up centre justified in a clear, legible fashion. They look like standard menus but now she wants more.... [more inside]
posted by alltomorrowsparties at 9:29 PM - 21 answers

I'm moving to Germany from the US. I use several online services. Will I need to change them? [more inside]
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 11:08 AM - 6 answers

I received new bluetooth headphones as a gift. Yay! However, now it is glaringly obvious I now literally nothing how to listen to music in 2018. The last gadget I used was an I-pod preloaded by my husband. Before that records and albums (yes I am that old, never learned to call them vinyl) and later a cassette tape walkman followed by a CD walkman. WHen it became complicated I basically stopped listening to music except live concerts. These days if I listen to any music at all, it is either on the radio (my old kitchen radio from 1990s) or on my mobile using you tube. [more inside]
posted by 15L06 at 1:37 AM - 23 answers

I just got a new computer, yay! It’s Windows 10, and it’s asking me to sign in or create a Microsoft account. I don’t have one. Are there privacy concerns or other reasons not to create one? Looks like offline accounts are still an option, and my googling isn’t turning up anything helpful.
posted by stoneweaver at 5:02 PM - 11 answers

I opened Terminal on my Mac today and I noticed some weirdness. When I connect to my work network by ethernet, my Terminal window says 4sters-MacBook-Pro3:~ 4ster$. However, when I connect to a different network (by wifi), it says communication-pc:~ 4ster$. Now, in my office, we have a communications director who has a computer called "communication-pc." Is this something I need to worry about? Have I accidentally connected to her computer? [more inside]
posted by 4ster at 12:07 PM - 10 answers

The specific bad-habit-of-the-day for me is obsessively checking online news, political websites, twitter, etc. The content is getting me very depressed. I am retired, so there are few compelling time or other constraints on the amount of attention I pay to all this. I need to stop. [more inside]
posted by merejane at 9:04 AM - 20 answers

Who do you trust to recover the data from the hard drive of my busted 2014 Macbook Pro in London? It won't boot up. I'm concerned about three things: 1. how quick/convenient is it? 2. will they snoop around my data? 3. cost.
posted by the list of suspects is just you at 4:31 AM - 8 answers

I have all my music files sorted out in a folder system. I'd like to find apps for OSX and iOS (it could be different apps) that watch these folders and add/remove songs from the collection. They can be pretty basic—I just need to be able to sort and to make playlists. [more inside]
posted by miaow at 10:30 PM - 4 answers

I need a new wireless printer. I'd prefer to deal with it this week, but with a minimum of actual work to pick one. Tell me which one -- details inside. [more inside]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:15 PM - 14 answers

I want to use this clipart as part of a submission to Unicode to create a new emoji. It asks for a certificate or statement but there is nothing. What do I give Unicode or can I even use this clipart? [more inside]
posted by CollectiveMind at 8:08 PM - 5 answers