Ask MetaFilter

My 80 yo Mom's inkjet printer just gave up the ghost. Previous questions mostly recommended laser printers, which she doesn't want because she mostly uses it to print out family photos for her bulletin board - color laser would be overkill. Wireless would be great. Would like to avoid stupid auto ink refill schemes, if possible.
posted by sarajane at 1:41 PM - 7 answers

A group I'm in has an infrequently-used shared Gmail account. Currently 2FA is turned on and tied to a single person's phone number, but we need more than 1 person to be able to log in from time to time. What's the best way to handle this? Turn off 2FA and choose a super-long password? Share a TOTP seed so everyone gets the same code? We aren't going to pay for any solutions that cost money.
posted by Tehhund at 12:45 PM - 8 answers

Repair question: driver door locked Does this sound right?: on a 2000 V70, somehow the driver’s door has gotten locked and stuck. A mechanic finds that the problem is inside the latch, and ordered a new plastic part to replace the deteriorating one. But that plastic part connects with a metal piece (bar?) that should move but does not. The plan now is to take the driver seat out, take the door panel off, and cut through the metal piece. Make sense? If so, how to replace that metal piece?
posted by mmiddle at 5:23 PM - 1 answers

Had a family Zoom meeting yesterday between a computer and a phone, multiple people on each end. At one point, a "thumbs down" image (something like this but white) covered the face of one of the participants for about ten seconds. No one was clicking anything. We were unable to reproduce this phenomenon. Anyone got an explanation? [more inside]
posted by mpark at 7:18 AM - 9 answers

I’m in search of a practical way to join several wires in parallel to an individual terminal pin on a microcontroller. There are several possible ways to do this, none of which I properly understand. I feel like I will get a better high level overview of advice here that might avoid the pitfalls of specialized forums that presume I know what they are talking about. Specifics within. [more inside]
posted by aesop at 3:31 PM - 10 answers

I have have an iPhone13, and just downloaded Viber. I cannot see most of my contacts, despite allowing Viber access to my contacts within my Iphone settings. How do I resolve this? [more inside]
posted by walkinginsunshine at 9:50 AM - 1 answers

I have two lines (cable and phone) from the telephone pole across the street to my house that are unused. How do I remove them? [more inside]
posted by diode at 5:18 AM - 3 answers

Sorry if this question is convoluted or confusing... I am very confused myself as it's been several years since I even touched crypto and the fact that everything feels foreign to me already is part of the reason why I want to sell them and never touch it again. [more inside]
posted by thelasttango at 12:05 PM - 1 answers

Recently, my old work address showed up as a delivery option on UberEats even though I haven't seen it on my account in ages, and my lunch went there by mistake. I've been trying to delete it, but there does not seem to be a way to do so. [more inside]
posted by tzikeh at 12:52 PM - 4 answers

I've got the basics, but I want to completely and utterly understand Styles and how they interact with normal.dotm and embedded templates with paragraph numbering, fonts, in Word 365 for Windows desktop. I want to become a styles maven who can troubleshoot any problem that arises with my gajillion highly formatted documents of different vintages. [more inside]
posted by bluesky78987 at 12:16 PM - 3 answers

I need to block loud construction/drilling sounds while working from home. The problem is I'm really fussy about earplugs and headphones. So I'm looking for very light, over-ear headphones that have active noise cancelling. [more inside]
posted by randomnity at 11:29 AM - 7 answers

This is a question for an elderly friend of mine. I'm an informal caregiver for a couple of elders. This fellow has a telephone number that he has had since 2008. He has a new line that I got him bc of his brain injury. It has no voice mail, bc he is cognitively unable to use voice mail. He cannot FaceTime or text, or figure how to read texts on his Iphone. I have and pay for his original phone, on a number he has had since 2008, because he still gets calls, texts, notifications etc. from doctors, hospitals, and sometimes old friends on that line. How do I stop paying $25 per month for that line and still keep it going? Google voice? Forward to my phone? Other tech? [more inside]
posted by KayQuestions at 11:30 PM - 4 answers

I want a setup that has wireless speakers and an amp that will accept my old phono/CD. Suggestions? [more inside]
posted by CCBC at 2:59 PM - 10 answers

I've had it with Outlook's calendar. Luckily I'm self-employed so I get to pick the software I use. If you've tried one/some, which should I try? Criteria below the fold. [more inside]
posted by bluesky78987 at 11:41 AM - 2 answers

Is there a way to automatically filter out text messages based on words in the message rather than by blocking the sender? [more inside]
posted by jacquilynne at 9:45 AM - 7 answers

This afternoon I set up a premium bond account for my child. I just checked my phone to dismiss an Alexa notification and opened the up. It suggested the premium bond prize checker skill. This seems to be an unbelievable coincidence, so how did it know?
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 8:34 AM - 4 answers

What are some good ways to repurpose these old but still (mostly) functional bits of old tech? I'm using one iPod to stream music from the Spotify app into my tabletop radio via the aux input and it works really well. Other ideas I've toyed with: can I use one as an external hard drive? Can I use another as a security camera for my garage? Other ideas? [more inside]
posted by fuzzy.little.sock at 10:32 AM - 13 answers

I've experienced this with two cell phone numbers I've called recently: I am absolutely certain I have called a certain number (it appears on my outgoing display) and it somehow routes to a different number. [more inside]
posted by latkes at 10:10 AM - 10 answers

I think there is a sound in my house that I cannot hear but that my dog does hear and it may be irritating him. Is there an app I can get on an iPhone that would help me determine if there are sounds in the house at a pitch and decibel that I cannot hear but he can?
posted by GernBlandston at 11:49 AM - 10 answers

How feasible is it right now to eliminate streaming services and start owning media again? [more inside]
posted by backseatpilot at 8:02 AM - 35 answers