Ask MetaFilter

I'm job hunting, and googled myself, like you do. The results all seemed pretty normal except for an inexplicable "associated word." It's bothering me a lot and I'm trying to figure out why it's there and if it's possible to get rid of it. [more inside]
posted by cat friend at 8:24 PM - 4 answers

My 9-year old MacBook Air is finally giving up the ghost, so I need to buy a new laptop. I think at this point I’m inclined to just stay in the Mac ecosystem even though I know there are plenty of great Windows laptops out there. Can you please tell me which Mac laptop to get and what specifications to get (amount of memory, etc.)? [more inside]
posted by aka burlap at 5:25 PM - 8 answers

I just got a Facebook notification that says "independent fact-checkers at Science Feedback say information in your post is missing context and could mislead people. We've added a notice to your post." Does anybody know how to figure out which post?? [more inside]
posted by kate4914 at 3:42 PM - 7 answers

I am transitioning to a PC from over a decade in Mac world, and I need a PDF tool to replace Apple's Preview app. Specific needs are the ability to print a document to PDF (especially from web browsers and Microsoft Office), to print as a text PDF (my understanding is that Windows Print to PDF does not capture the text layer, it just prints as an image), and the ability to OCR PDFs that do not have a text layer. I'm willing to pay if needed, but I'm not willing to do a subscription.
posted by philosophygeek at 10:41 AM - 10 answers

My work will buy me a new laptop this month. I've used mac book pros and had good luck with them for the last 12 years (using them typically for about 6 years, though less for this current one). Given the longer battery life, faster speed, etc., and that the wrinkles with the new chip should be fixed soon, I think that I should go with one of the new apple silicone chips (discussed at length here). However, my IT department is pushing me to get a machine with an intel chip. Advice? [more inside]
posted by lab.beetle at 9:15 PM - 15 answers

I changed my FB password, and I already have data monitoring. Is there anything else to do? [more inside]
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 6:41 PM - 4 answers

I have a Google sheet with a column of data that contains a block of numbers and letters in each cell, like E4U8BN. There are hundreds of them, each representing a single person. I want to tag the same email address, as in "@email.com" at the end of each of those blocks. I could manually paste them on, but is there a way to automate this? A formula, perhaps? [more inside]
posted by zardoz at 12:49 AM - 9 answers

I have Groove music playlists and VLC playlists. How can I set up my PC so that it'll play a specified playlist at a designated wakeup time? Would it be possible to set it to random play?
posted by storybored at 5:32 PM - 3 answers

I’m looking for a particular device that I’m sure exists but for which I don’t know the name, and my googling has failed (I am not good at google sometimes). Its purpose is to provide a “temporary head” for a headless computer. It looks like a laptop but is essentially a small monitor and a keyboard that can be connected to a headless computer to temporarily give it a head so you can poke around on it. Do you know what this thing is? Did I dream it? Thanks!
posted by Going To Maine at 9:43 AM - 9 answers

I'm trying to create some formatting in Excel so that a cell can be highlighted with a click to show what each person is working on. Kind of like an extended office In/Out board. I've got some VBA set up, but it's only allowing me one highlighted cell in the whole range and I want each row (person) to have its own highlighted cell. [more inside]
posted by mefireader at 6:28 PM - 3 answers

I have a new laptop which can finally play newish games. I'd like to hook it up to my TV, but when I do (via HDMI) the display options (Windows 10) sees the TV screen (screen 2 in windows) as 800 x 600 and the resolution is terrible. The same happens whether I duplicate or extend screen, and when it is connected, the option to change the display resolution is greyed out for screen 2 (my TV). Any ideas? [more inside]
posted by sedimentary_deer at 5:39 AM - 12 answers

I've been using an app called Marine Traffic to see which ships are coming into my city's port and track where they go, and last night I discovered an app called Shark Tracker by Osearch that lets you see the locations of tagged sharks. What other apps are out there for tracking things? [more inside]
posted by christinetheslp at 5:09 AM - 18 answers

We were given this item as a small thank-you gift for our volunteer work, and I'm grateful for it, but I cannot figure out what it does. [more inside]
posted by davcoo at 10:25 AM - 12 answers

I need tips and advice how to find a specific party on social media. More after the jump - [more inside]
posted by mirileh at 8:30 AM - 5 answers

We have been fooling around with containers at work. Docker got kind of gutted by Mirantis last year. What should we use instead before we go big with migrating from whole VMs? [more inside]
posted by wenestvedt at 7:57 AM - 7 answers

I want to buy and download the song by Fujifabric that's the intro to the Dr. Stone anime second season (video here, mobile link) in mp3 format. Amazon doesn't have it, I am in the US, how can I buy this?
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 1:05 AM - 3 answers

I recorded an interview on my super eye voice recorder. Then I stupidly flipped the power off switch rather than the stop recording switch. The recording title appears on the tiny screen of the recorder, but won’t play, and when I plug the recorder into a MacBook the file doesn’t even appear. [more inside]
posted by The Last Sockpuppet at 8:21 AM - 8 answers

A few months ago I built a new desktop PC that is causing FM interference with my stereo receiver setup. This interference (buzzy static) only occurs when the PC is on. I did not have this problem with my previous PC build (from 2011). I need to solve this. A few more details inside. [more inside]
posted by DarkForest at 8:11 AM - 7 answers

What is the best way to convert some 3D objects that are in the .glt (GLTF) format so that I can use them as .OBJ files (or other compatible format) in Unity? [more inside]
posted by johngoren at 5:26 AM - 6 answers

I have an asus ux501vx. I replaced a defunct fan, now it has no signs of life. [more inside]
posted by a robot made out of meat at 5:17 PM - 8 answers