Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing

March 20

centrino duo

why is it called duo62.240.62.168 01:02, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Because it involves a dual-core microprocessor. -- mattb @ 2007-03-20T01:05Z

Multiple user OS

Hey I had a cool idea and was wondering if anyone's thought of this before. Has anyone heard of an OS which would allow 2 users to operate a PC simultaneously, possibly on different tasks, using 2 keyboards and mice and 2 monitors hooked up at the same time? I imagine this would take a lot of power but was just wondering hypothetically. Mix Lord 01:08, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I know this would be pretty easy to achieve with X Windows. -- Diletante 01:22, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Or any *NIX OS really. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 01:24, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

ASCII in the Netherlands have built a "three headed monster" which allows 3 users to work on one Linux machine simultaneously, using a single pentium 3 box. See http://scii.nl/projects/3-headed-monster/ for how to build your own ! --213.129.227.107 01:26, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

This sort of setup used to be how most computers worked. See X terminal for an example. --TotoBaggins 01:38, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Of course a "personal computer" being shared with other users is an oxymoron.... But is normal time-sharing. As others said, run Linux and share its resources via Xwindows or telnet/ssh sessions. Even MS Windows running Citrix server accomplishes something similar, if a bit clumsily. As for one processor with multiple monitors, keyboards and mice: well, it could be done, but it would be challenging (especially the keyboards and rodents) and much clunkier than multiple PCs. —EncMstr 08:34, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Mainframe computers always worked like that, with many "dumb terminals". With a server and client, the server takes the place of the mainframe, and the client becomes more of a "smart terminal", meaning it does more than just pass info back and forth to the server. StuRat 13:24, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, not "always", but for a good long time now.

Atlant 16:05, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

There is a wonderful development called ndiyo that is about a pretty average pc being used as a 'pc server' running many computers. This is being designed with the idea of making mass-computer usage possible in poor countries, as it requires just one pc, their system and multiple monitors/keyboards etc. I think it's called thin client networking or something like that. Worth a look into ny156uk 20:08, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Moore's Law should make mass-computer usage possible in poor countries soon enough. Suppose a usable computer costs $1024. Moore's Law cuts the cost of the equivalent computer in half every 18 months or so. Cutting $1024 in half ten times leaves a cost of $1. That's in 15 years. Among the world's poorest billion people, per capita income is around $1/day. In 15 years, even the poorest people on Earth will be able to afford the equivalent computing power of what today would be considered a usable computer. Of course in 15 years, expectations will have scaled up in lockstep with Moore's Law, so the minimum acceptable computer will still cost around $1K, and the computer you want will still cost around $5000. And of course Moore's Law would have to similarly extend to peripherals to deliver a truly affordable third-world computer. The costs of large monitors and so on haven't dropped as fast as CPU costs. The only way to make displays a lot cheaper is to make them smaller, which means figuring out how to couple them more directly to the user's eyes. A large monitor sprays photons all over the room, when all you really care about is the tiny fraction that hits your retinae. Perhaps ultra-miniaturized computers will someday fit in a contact lens. Or in brain implants. --Teratornis 03:13, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't think you can extrapolate current trends that far. The price should level out far above $1, at least with what we currently define as a computer. The keyboard, mouse, network cable, and monitor (as you said) will all cost more than $1 each in the foreseeable future. Only a very different computer, say one which is the size of a pen and is controlled by voice recognition, could hope to get down to such a price, many years from now. Also, I would expect used, obsolete computers to be resold in 3rd world nations more than new computers. BTW, the article you linked to says it's every 24 months, not 18 and also says the computing power for the same price doubles every 2 years, not that the same computing power can be had for half the price every 24 months. The two are not quite the same, as something like a "quantity discount" goes into the price of units with more computing power. For example, you can get a 1 GB pen drive for $8.49 [1], but that doesn't mean you can get a 10 MB pen drive for $0.08 or $0.09. StuRat 14:06, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

How to replace my computer hard drive without re-installing all the software?

What's the easiest way to upgrade my hard drive without replacing all the software I have on the old one? I ran out of space on my old hard drive and I bought a new bigger one. I have a few programs for which I don't have the install disks anymore and it seems that I ought to be able to just make a disk image (including the boot sector) but I've been snooping around on the web for a while without finding an obvious solution.

I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 running Windows 2000 SP4. I've already bought the new HD but I haven't formatted it yet for fear of messing something up.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance!

Jon —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.92.143.173 (talk) 01:25, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

You can leave your existing hard drive in place, and not monkey with your existing installation at all. Just install your new hard drive and move all your porn and downloaded movies important documents to it, and leave your existing software alone. It will work fine. --TotoBaggins 01:35, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

This will save you the hassle of not having to buy another copy of XP/Vista either. :) -Wooty Woot? contribs 01:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

If you really want to image your drive, use something like WinHex or a commercial drive imaging product. Splintercellguy 01:45, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

it's not easy unfortunately because if you wanted to do it, you have to copy files which are in use by your operating system, which is not possible, it's the equivalent of the PC trying to pick it self up by its shoe laces. There used to be a trick with dos boot disks and an application called xcopy but that's going back years…. These days, unless you're willing to muck around with linux and a live distro I'd also recommend just installing the second disc as a secondary, problem of course is, propriety PC may not have a spare disk bay or controller…. Vespine 04:25, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Get a Linux LiveCD (eg. Ubuntu), put in the harddrives and find out what each drive is in linux (/dev/hda or /dev/sda, etc. depending on the type), and do this in terminal

sudo dd if=[your original drive] of=[your new harddrive]

eg. sudo dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb

Wait for some time, depending on the size of your harddrive and you will have an exact copy of your old harddrive on your new one (with all the boot sectors and stuff). But yeah, just adding the new harddrive and move all your stuff there would be a better idea.--antilived^{T | C | G} 06:55, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Err, is that such a good idea? I suppose it would be okay if the drives were exactly identical, but I think you may have problems otherwise. dd is not the be-all and end-all. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 149.135.29.252 (talk) 09:50, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

dd is very similar to ghost and I've done it a couple of time before, although it was with a NT4 server and it booted up without problem: since only the harddrive is changed no extra drivers would be needed and I think it would work for XP is well since only the harddrive is changed. What problems are you thinkin about? --antilived^{T | C | G} 19:55, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

dd would probably work, but is fairly tricky. Back in Windows 98 all you needed to do was:

• Partition the new drive, if needed. This is probably easier from a Knoppix LiveCD and qtparted, but MS-DOS's fdisk is, erm, usable.
• format the new drive in Windows or MS-DOS, specifying transfer system boot files, just like making a boot disk. ie: format -s D:
• Reboot. Copy all the files (drag-n-drop!) to the new PC. Make sure you select "view hidden and system files" (in View, Config I think).
• Reboot, but press del to go to BIOS setup. Pick new drive as first boot drive.

The advantages are that it's not too hard. Plus the new files should be defragmented. The disadvantages are that it's fairly slow to copy files this way. Also I have no idea if XP will throw a wobbly going "I wasn't installed on this drive... meh!" Does this still work for XP? --h2g2bob 14:49, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

The easiest way is to use commercial software developed just for this purpose. Get yourself a copy of Norton Ghost and you can image entire drives without any difficulty at all. Or monkey around wth the ad hoc solutions above, waste a lot of time and probably end up having your operating system not start up. Ask yourself if your time and your data is worth more than the $70 it would cost to just get software that would do it for you.--140.247.251.153 17:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Lol, sounds so much like an ad. If you are technically proficient I don't see why I need to shell out dough. Splintercellguy 00:01, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Creating a very mini Linux setup

I'm trying to compile a very mini linux setup to play around with. Basically I want to compile the kernel and possibly something like Busybox (for a basic shell in the meantime) and have it running on a second HDD. I'm hosting everything in VMware server so I can chop and change with my dev environments as needed.

I can compile the kernel absolutly fine, but I'm having major difficulties getting a boot loader going on the other HDD. I've got grub-install to claim that it's quite happily written a boot sector to hda0 (the host OS is on sda0) and I've got a configured grub.conf but I just can't get it to actually boot there. All I get is a flashing cursor.

I've seen things like Linux From Scratch, but this makes a bit more bulk than I'm after, and as this is a learning exercise for myself I'm not simply wanting to install a mini linux distro. Is anyone able to help with this? Elaverick 03:07, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Have you changed the BIOS setting to boot from the other hard drive? —EncMstr 08:25, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeap done that, hence why I get a flashing cursor rather than booting into the boot loader on the SCSI drive. Elaverick 10:52, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

You might want to consider Linux versions already designed to be small, like Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux. StuRat 13:18, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

GRUB might be getting confused by the boot order (it needs to know the order the devices show in the BIOS). Take a look at your devices.map, or boot from a GRUB boot floppy and install grub from it (since it will know the correct device order); you can also boot your kernel directly from the boot floppy. --cesarb 00:57, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

(Excel Question) - Increasing row height does not let text go into 2 lines

I have increased the row height in my excel spreadsheet, but still it crossess over to other cells. Is there any work around this? --Paracit 08:09, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes: Format cell (or cells) | "alignment", tic "wrap text" or "auto wrap" or whatever it's called. —EncMstr 08:24, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Try this: In a cell, type a line of text, and then hit Alt + Enter

and type the second line.

That will put both lines of text in that cell exactly as you formatted it.

Is that what you were trying to do?

Note, that in Microsoft Word, pressing plain ol' ENTER will actually start a new paragraph which very often makes Word leave a small blank line before it starts the new paragraph. If you use Shift + Enter it will move to the next line but without starting a new paragraph, i.e. no extra space. It's the same with Excel, except you use Alt + Enter instead of Shift + Enter Rfwoolf 12:20, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for answering my question :). --Paracit 14:15, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Custom messages on folders

When you hold the mouse over a folder in WinXP a little message comes up stating the size of the folder and some of its contents. Is it possible to customise this message for particular folders? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Zain Ebrahim111 (talk • contribs) 09:04, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

Yes, it's possible (although a bit convoluted). Have a look at the third post here. You need to customise the folder's icon by right-clicking it and going to Properties > Customize > Change Icon... and pick any icon. Then open Notepad and navigate to that folder and open desktop.ini (you'll need to type it and hit enter - it won't show up in the file browser). Add this on a new line at the end of the file:

InfoTip=The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

...changing the stuff after = to whatever you want the tooltip to display. You can remove the lines starting IconFile and IconIndex if you want to get rid of the custom icon. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 10:39, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

It worked. Thanks. Zain Ebrahim 11:43, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Newsnet servers

I'm looking for some free Usenet news servers (NNTP) which I can configure using Outlook Express or any other mail client. I want to also use it to post messages using my gmail smtp. Any recommendations? Regards, =Nichalp «Talk»= 14:45, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

The NNTP article links to Public News Servers on the Open Directory. What exactly do you mean by "using your gmail smtp"? If you want to post to usenet using your Google ID, you can just use Google Groups. grendel|khan 15:28, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I found this list. Apparently very few of these newsgroups allow posts to the site. To post, wouldn't you require your email address and smtp.gmail.com server set up? I would like to use a mail client instead of the browser. =Nichalp «Talk»= 16:27, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm not being allowed to post when I reply to a thread in a newsgroup. :( =Nichalp «Talk»=

nntp.aioe.org says it support up to 25 posts a day per IP address. You can even connect to it over tor, if that's your thing. I telnetted to that host, and I was able to retrieve messages; I didn't attempt to post. Give that one a shot and see if it works. Note that it doesn't carry binary newsgroups, only text. grendel|khan 20:54, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Does this JasperPrint object represent an empty report?

I was looking through the Jasper Reports docs (the article was deleted a few months ago), specifically at JasperPrint, which represents a filled-in report object, which can then be rendered to a PDF or HTML document, or an Excel spreadsheet, or whatever. My question is this: sometimes the reports come back empty. What can I do to test whether or not a JasperPrint object represents an empty report? I'm pulling them out of an object database, so it would be preferable to run some kind of test on a JasperPrint object itself. If all else fails, I'll add a test to the encapsulating object which will say whether or not the report contains data, but I'd like to avoid that if possible. grendel|khan 15:26, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

invisible contents

The first time I ran into this was in a web site folder. When I wen to delete the folder permission was denied for the reason the the folder could not be deleted because its directory was not empty? Now its happening with local and local network folders. The folders appear empty, however. How do I delete these folders? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.100.3.92 (talk) 17:32, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

What operating system are you using? --Kainaw ^(talk) 17:56, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Windows XP(x86) Pro —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.100.3.92 (talk) 18:01, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

Make sure hidden files are visible. Click Tools → Folder Options → View → select Show hidden files and folders. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:11, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

modern computer measurable impact

what are the stats in respect to the measurable impact of the modern computer on commerce? Can the impact be measured? If so, in terms of degree or fraction, what has been the impact? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.132.145.4 (talk) 17:36, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

It depends on the area. The porn industry had a first explosion with the popularity of VCRs because you didn't have to watch the porn in a movie theater anymore. The Internet (with computers) launched a second boom because you didn't have to leave your house to buy the porn anymore. Then, there's credit cards. Handling millions of credit accounts making purchases at millions of retail outlets would not be possible without computers. The cost of people to handle the paperwork would easily offset any profits. Of course, with the ease of getting credit in the early 80's, you have the retail (please, put me in debt) culture that followed. --Kainaw ^(talk) 17:59, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

High Quality GIFs

Does anyone know where to find a high quality gifs suitable to set as the desktop background (1280 x 1024)? Thanks.

Use google's image search. Images that big are usually jpegs. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:01, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

When I want a good desktop background (which I don't use anymore because it wastes system resources), I usually check Wikipedia:Featured pictures, and on some pages it says something to the effect of the image having a suitable aspect ratio for use as wallpaper. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 19:20, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, we have a category with those. Category:Wikipedia featured desktop backgrounds. Some very nice stuff in here. And just curious: how much memory do you have such that a wallpaper is an issue? -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 04:31, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I might be wrong here, but I'm assuming that as they're specifying gifs, rather than just images, the user may be looking for large animations. --Kiltman67 05:27, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

rolling with the assumption that they're looking for animations to use, i have to strongly recommend the Drempels program. it looks similar to how a screensaver would (and can in fact run as one too) but instead it replaces your wallpaper with a lovely, animated, somewhat psychadelic image. use the Desktop mode. (note: it doesn't list XP as an operating system it runs on, but many of my friends with XP have used it with no problems) http://www.geisswerks.com/drempels/ --64.0.112.13 08:56, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

High quality and GIF are polar opposites. By definition, a gif can't have more than 256 colors. You might want to try PNG or JPEG? Also, get a real monitor, 5:4 isn't a proper aspect ratio.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 01:38, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

What OS to boot from

Hi there! When I bought Vista a month ago I also got a new harddrive to install it on. When the new HDD was plugged in I just put in the Vista DVD and the installation went perfect. Since many drivers won't do well in Vista I was clever enough to keep XP on the other drive, the problem is just that I can't get my PC to boot it without opening the case and switching the SATA wires. I just want to be able to choose what OS to boot from, every time I start the PC. I know it will make me choose if there are two on the same HDD, but how should I do if they are on different drives? Help... :/ 213.64.150.116 20:28, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Hmm.. you should be able to select it if you boot into the BIOS screen, but that isn't the most easy-to-use solution (though easier than playing with the wires). --140.247.248.59 21:21, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps fiddling with the NTLDR bootloader could do the trick. Splintercellguy 04:12, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

There are a couple ways to go about it. Your BIOS may have an option to present you with a list of drives to boot from when you start up the computer. Or, assuming the Vista drive is set to boot first, you should be able to use EasyBCD to edit Vista's BCD. With this tool, you should be able to add an entry for XP, which will make it appear in Vista's boot loader. You'll then get the option to choose between one or the other at boot. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 04:24, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

You could just install grub or another free software bootloader. —Dark•Shikari^[T] 17:49, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Printing to a network Printer

I am trying to set my XP Home edition laptop to print to the printers at school. I got the information printout off an HP laserjet 2300

How can i set it up to print. It is connected directly to the network.

Omnipotence407 21:02, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Using the Add Printer wizard, add a network printer using the name of the printer from the printout. Splintercellguy 21:57, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

What Name? Host Name, Appletalk name, Printer Name (under product information). I used all three (appletalk name and priner name are the same) Omnipotence407 00:54, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe what you want is either the host name or printer name. Basically, feed the wizard the NetBIOS name or an IP address. Splintercellguy 04:11, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Accessing my home computer from elsewhere

I would like to be able to access the shared files on my computer from outside my home, but how would I do this?

I am running XP Home edition on a DSL connection.

Omnipotence407 21:04, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

There are a few options but I think what would suit you best would be setting up an FTP program to allow you to access certain folders. I use Cerberus FTP for this [2] which isn't too bad. There are a few other methods but for a new user this is probably the easiest to get right safely. You may also like to look at Windows Home Server when this is released by Microsoft as this gives a little finer control over things.

Elaverick 21:10, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Another method is an SSH server. Which is probably a little bit more difficult to set up on windows. But it is more secure than FTP. Here are a couple of sites that show you how to do it: [3] and [4]. Akamad 21:23, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

If you don't mind paying, gotomypc.com is a good solution. Otherwise, I'd recommend FTP, as I've used it before and it's worked very well. JoshHolloway 22:19, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I've been using logmein for a year and really like it. It's just like being there! The only thing I can't do so far is toggle the CapsLock key. And it's FREE! --Saintrain 22:54, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

logmein seems to be a trial, not completely free (note i just discovered that the pro version is a trial, the basic is free)Omnipotence407 01:17, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

RealVNC is free and secure (well the pay version is secure) and is perfect. --froth^t 01:08, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I use Teamviewer [5] which is free. a good website is [6] it is very helpful --jake 16:22, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Text formatting using javascript

Hi! I just did some javascript to collapse table columns and need a little help formatting the text in the collapsed column. I'm trying to take the column header, say,

Col Head

and make it one character wide like

C
o
l

H
e
a
d

But the resulting text I get is

C o l   H e a d, my first try, or 
C \n o \n l \n   \n H \n e \n a \n d, or 
C <br/> o <br/> l <br/>   <br/> H <br/> e <br/> a <br/> d, and I even tried 
<p> C </p><p> o </p><p> l </p><p>   </p><p> H </p><p> e </p><p> a </p><p> d </p> !!!  

But WYSIWIG. I think the problem is that my javascript plays after the page load so f("Col Head") is not being rendered as HTML.

Is that the problem? Is there a way around it?

The code (User:Saintrain/S3/colcol.js) is "ccx.textContent = hds;", where ccx points to a DIV and hds is the new string. The DIV is otherwise empty. Is there better javascript for this? (FWIW: the DIV shares a TD with a TABLE that has the column stuff in it. Clicking on the DIV or "Col Head" toggles the "display" properties of the DIV and TABLE. Yeah, I know, but it works.)

The HTML table code is generated using a template (User:Saintrain/S3/ccColEx) and the column header is one of the arguments. Can I use template magick to reformat the header before it becomes HTML?

Thanks. --Saintrain 22:47, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

In HTML, "Col Head" will only collapse to "Col" on one line and "Head" on another. It will not put one character on each line. You must change the contents of the header. I assume you are using a <th> tag. If so, it is very easy. Ensure the tag has an id attribute, assume it is id='myheader'. Then, you can grab the tag using var myheader = document.getElementById('myheader'). The current contents of myheader is easy to get using var curhtml = myheader.innerHtml. Make a newhtml variable. With a for loop, for every character in curhtml add the character and a line break to newhtml. Then, myheader.innerHtml=newhtml. Note that the column will only reduce in width if it has to. The web browser doesn't always make the best decisions about which columns need to be wide and which ones need to be skinny. --Kainaw ^(talk) 00:07, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Woohooo!!! Look what I can do!! Big difference between textContent and innerHTML. Thanks Kainaw. --Saintrain 19:15, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Wow! I got an answer right. And my second grade teacher said I'd never graduate from the Big Chief tablet. --Kainaw ^(talk) 12:01, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

March 21

Alias with command line argument in OS X?

Hi. Could someone tell me how to make an alias to a program with a command line argument in OS X Tiger? Thanks!--Ryan 00:52, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't use OSX, but it is Unix-like, so I expect it to have "ln -s filename symbolic_link". --Kainaw ^(talk) 01:13, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

ok, the ln comand exists, now could you give me the exact syntax? THanks.--Ryan 01:37, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Exactly as I noted: ln -s filename symbolic_link where "filename" is the filename you want to link to and "symbolic_link" is the symbolic link name you want to use. For example, you have a file /home/jojo/homework8.txt and you want to use /usr/local/pub/homeworks/jojo8.txt, you would type ln -s /home/jojo/homework8.txt /usr/local/pub/homeworks/jojo8.txt. Then, when you access jojo8.txt, the computer links right to homework8.txt. --Kainaw ^(talk) 02:12, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

You might be more interested in the alias builtin to most *nix shells. If memory serves, OS X Tiger uses bash by default (otherwise you'll probably be using tcsh). In general, to create an alias you would type something like "alias aliasname='program_name with arguments'" (sans double quotes) at the shell prompt. Example:

   $ alias ll='ls -l'
   $ ll
   total 20
   drwxrwxr-x 2 mattb mattb 4096 Aug 17  2006 manuals
   -rwxr-xr-x 1 mattb mattb 8323 Sep 22  2005 manuals.htm
   drwxr-xr-x 2 mattb mattb 4096 Sep 26  2005 pdf

Note that aliases are only in effect for the current command shell session. If you want to keep them around for future sessions you'll want to include them as a line in one of your shell's startup script (~/.bashrc for bash). -- mattb @ 2007-03-21T04:41Z

Of course. That is what he wants. I put my alias commands in my .bash_rc file so they are always there. I read the question wrong. I read "how to make an alias filename for a program by using some function on the command line." --Kainaw ^(talk) 13:15, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, the question is unclear, since "alias" can mean so many different things. Also, note that there's no underscore in .bashrc . --TotoBaggins 13:18, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

He did say "alias to a program with a command line argument" in his original question. The "command line argument" part is pretty indicative. -- mattb @ 2007-03-21T17:52Z

There's also Alias (Mac OS), which I thought s/he meant, as in "make an icon that will invoke program foo as foo --some-argument". --TotoBaggins 22:51, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Blu-ray and HD DVD Focal Length

I was wondering if anyone knows what these are.J.delanoy 01:15, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Don't know if this is helpful but the article on Wikipedia says that the wavelength for Blu-ray is 405nm. Is that the same thing as focal length?Mix Lord 02:07, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

No, wavelength is not the same as focal length. The focal length is probably comparable to that of other optical disks, a few millimeters. If you require an actual figure, you can always buy a copy of the specifications books. [7] -- mattb @ 2007-03-21T02:25Z

it doesn't really matter, I just wondered if it was closer to the surface than a DVD. Thanks for the answers!!!!J.delanoy 14:43, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I doubt it --froth^t 16:06, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

My badMix Lord 00:43, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

A little Googling found that Blu-Ray recoding surface is 0.1mm from the surface. HD-DVD is 0.6mm from the surface. --24.249.108.133 14:45, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

OK, Thanks for the help!!!!J.delanoy 16:02, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Wireless Sensor Network

can you please explain the meaning of this expression p=h(x©t)

where p is priority h is a hash function and t is time and x is a node indentifier

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.255.156.97 (talk) 08:49, 21 March 2007 (UTC).

The copyright symbol © is not a mathematical function. That is what I see between the x and t in your question. Whatever symbol you intend to use is apparently not in my font set. So, you'll need to explain the function more in order to have the meaning explained in return. --Kainaw ^(talk) 16:21, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

DVD converting

Hi I just bought Madonna's Confessions Tour DVD and i thoguht it was awesome. Is there any way I can put it in my iPod for free? Thanks —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 219.78.194.72 (talk) 11:46, 21 March 2007 (UTC).

You can rip it to your hard drive using DVD Decrypter, then convert it to iPod format using Videora iPod Converter.

Doing a left join among three tables.

I have three tables; I want to left-join the latter two to the first one. Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

Table A: Name Price ID Apple 1.00 1 Orange 2.00 2 Pear 1.50 3 Kumquat 3.00 4

Table B: Brand ID Smith 1 Jones 2

Table C: Type ID Citrus 2 Green 3

I want to create a query which will return this:

Name	Price	Brand	Type	ID
Apple	1.00	Smith	NULL	1
Orange	2.00	Jones	Citrus	2
Pear	1.50	NULL	Green	3
Kumquat	3.00	NULL	NULL	4

I'm looking for a way to do a left join between three tables instead of just two. I'm using PostgreSQL, if that helps. grendel|khan 14:36, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Aha! Answered my own question. Apparently you can stack left joins, at least in PostgreSQL: SELECT * FROM a LEFT JOIN b ON (a.id=b.id) LEFT JOIN c ON (a.id=c.id) returns exactly what I wrote above. grendel|khan 15:06, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

You can stack joins of all types - even mixing and matching them - in every SQL database system I've used. --Kainaw ^(talk) 16:18, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

PC problem that impacts wikipedia

Over the past year or so, when I type the word c-h-a-t it is replaced with MFEM. I have no idea how this is occurring, but it sometimes leads to sweeping changes within wikipedia. Does anyone know how to solve it? Personal research has given me nothing to solve the problem so far. Thegreatdr 15:13, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Possibilities:

1. Whatever editor you're using has a "spelling correction" for the word "c-h-a-t".
2. You have a keyboard "macros" program (like QuickKeys) that someone trained to respond to the word "c-h-a-t".

Atlant 16:13, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

digitizing audio tapes

I work for a museum that wants to digitize a bunch of audio cassette tapes, and I'm trying to figure out whether it's worth it to contract it out to professionals. I know that once the tapes are digitized, there's all kinds of fancy software out there to clean up the sound. But what about the digitization itself? Is there some process that professionals use that's substantially better than just plugging a decent tape player into a computer with a decent sound card? Thanks! --Allen 15:52, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I would think you're pretty much paying for that fancy software and very high quality tape heads --froth^t 16:08, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Any time I've been involved in a "simple" one-off project like this, I've regretted it. The hundred and one "unknown unknowns" that will plague you have already been solved by the professionals in their first year in business. I'd say contract it out if it's a big job and you can afford it. --TotoBaggins 16:11, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

If you do decide to try this yourself, you might consider trying either Roxio Toast or BIAS's Soap. Either automate a fair amount of the drugery.

Atlant 16:18, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the responses! --Allen 12:50, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Whatever you decide, do a test first and determine if the quality is acceptable. If you are considering multiple options, test the same audio by each method you are considering, then compare the results. StuRat 18:25, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Ubuntu/firefox default web font

What is the default web font in Ubuntu (with firefox)? For example here I see Times New Roman in Windows, but something different in Ubuntu. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 16:45, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

• Just open Preferences/Content, and it'll list it there. I think its Helvetica? —Dark•Shikari^[T] 17:44, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately the option is blank, and the advanced dialogue box just gives the generic "serif". →Ollie (talk • contribs) 18:29, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Probably Bitstream Vera or DejaVu. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 22:14, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for this, Bitstream Vera Serif looks closest to me. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 18:33, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Peter Answers

How does http://www.peteranswers.com work? it's a connected omen relation between a dead man who lived in the woods named peter and a network. //chriswondra.com/2007/02/21/peter-answers-the-secret/ read] -- mattb @ 2007-03-21T17:47Z

games on a pin drive, then play on your laptop

I saw this kid playing super smash bros (n64 version) on his laptop using his pin drive. How can i get this great game on a pin drive? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.157.18.147 (talk) 19:50, 21 March 2007 (UTC).

You must use an n64 Emulator, and obtain a copy of the game usually called a Rom. Note that the legality of doing this is dubious. It doesn't matter what kind of drive you use. -- Diletante 21:15, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

And please note that I believe you mean pen drive :). JoshHolloway 21:37, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Either that, or they went and came out with a new technology without telling me. (Although a terabyte of memory on the head of a pin would be cool, the connector size would then become an issue.) StuRat 18:20, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Also note that the legality isn't dubious, it's downright illegal --froth^t 01:30, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Well this is not legal advice, but if you dumped the rom yourself from a cartridge that you owned you are probably well within your rights to play that rom on an emulator. -- Diletante 02:09, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

oh ok, cuz all the kids at this computer school do it so i was just wondering how. So i guess 500 students are breaking the law everyday. Ok thanks anyway.

Game loading times and intro FMV.

So I just got the stalker game and, wow, it's amazing, I'm really enjoying it. So I start a new game and it's got a bit of a load time, and I'm sitting there waiting for it to load, and as soon as it loads it goes straight into a FMV. That's fair enough, every game I've ever come across does that. But in this day and age of multi tasking, why can't a computer still LOAD a level WHILE playing the FMV? Most games have a little animation going while loading, so why can't they just play the FMV? FMVs have been around since x486 days, they aren't processor intensive, so why hasn't a single game I've ever seen, even on consoles, load a level and play a FMV? Ok, the two disk tasks would slow down the loading, but still, with SATA and raid and stuff why can't any computer seem to be capable of what seems not such a big deal? Vespine 22:58, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

As I see it, the programmer has 4 choices:

• Load data, and then stream the video - this i what you describe.
• Load video, then load the data in the background - possible, but would take longer if you didn't want to watch the video.
• Load both at the same time - as the data is on different parts of the disk, the laser would need to skip between them (non-sequential reads). This is really quite slow. Plus, CD-ROMs and hard drives are optimised to read everything in sequence.
• Interleave data and video - there's no guarantee your PC could handle that rate of video and data loading, so it would need to buffer quite a bit or risk the video skipping. Plus, again, if you want to skip the video it will take longer, as it would still need to load (or skip) through the video data. And it would be harder to develop.

Out of the 4, loading data and then video is the lesser of 4 evils (assuming the video is skippable). --h2g2bob 00:14, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't know, if the FMV was say 30 seconds and 5MB, surely that could load up in a snap and play in the back ground while the level loads, in fact, I'm going to go run a mpg on my media player and load the same game tonight and see how much longer it takes I'm sure it will work, if two applications can do it, why can't they code one application to run two threads or whatever it is that it requires?Vespine 00:57, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

playing video may not be very processor/memory intensive, but any interruptions caused by other operations will be highly noticeable and annoying, so they probably chose to annoy the user with loading rather than risk the more annoying video-skipping -- Diletante 00:42, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't think there's any reason it shouldn't be possible. You only need to buffer a few seconds ahead- and don't be unrealistic, nonsequential reads aren't that bad at all. It would be pretty much a matter of loading the level and every few seconds returning to the FMV for a few million cycles to update the buffer. This is entirely feasible. --froth^t 01:28, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Computer games with LOTS of statistics

I'm looking for a game with lots of detail and statistics that focus around character development or empire building. Some examples:

• Championship Manager series (lots and lots of stats)
• Most roguelikes (Nethack, Angband, Dwarf Fortress)
• Ascendancy

The focus here is STATS, mainly. If you can suggest any obscure or little-known games I'd prefer it but please run by some obvious ones if you think they are good candidates, especially if they are similar to Championship Manager in scale. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Magic Window (talk • contribs) 23:46, 21 March 2007 (UTC).

I am not familiar with the games you listed (except roguelikes) but you might be interested in Empire Classic (computer game) I know that there are still active games of wolfpack empire running these days so check out the link at the bottom of the article. I've only played it a tiny bit years back but I know it is full of numbers and statisttics. -- Diletante 00:02, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Ascendancy is one of my favorite old-school games. Maybe you'd be interested in Tactical RPGs in general (Final Fantasy Tactics/Tactics Advance). I also really liked the MechCommander game. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 04:52, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

If I recall correctly, Sid Meier's Civilization franchise has quite a bit of micromanagement. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 08:45, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

My mind immediately went to Space Bucks, a 1996 Sierra release developed by Impressions. It very much involves micro-management, although it is less about statistics but more about tightly managing a space transport empire. Very, very tough game to beat. Only problem? It won't really work on Windows XP, and has troubles with Windows 98. It was made for Windows 3.1 and Win 95.

Another Impressions relase is Detroit about the car industry.

Guroadrunner 14:10, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

March 22

Embedding QuickTime 3D tour

Hi, I have one of those QuickTime 3D tour video, where the user can look at a place in virtual 3D by moving their mouse around and clicking. How do I embed it into a (x)HTML file? Thanks. Jamesino 01:04, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

If you mean QuickTime VR, then Apple.com has instructions on Including QuickTime In A Web Page and Embedding a QTVR Movie in a Web Page. --Canley 07:38, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

3 monitors on Radeon 9250's

I currently have a PCI Radeon 9250 (128mb)running a 17" Relysis TE770 on my VGA output, a 17" iiyama LS704U on the DVA output (through a VGA converter - which gives an awful picture!) and a TV on the S-Video cable. What I want to do is run both the monitors as an extended desktop, but also the TV as a mirror or a further extended desktop. However, my ATI software only allows me to activate one of these secondary monitors in the "Displays" tab. To overcome this my girlfriend has invested in a Radeon AGP Radeon 9250 (128mb) (for my birthday so I can't actuall tinker about until 29th) because I read that I could enable further monitors through a second graphics card. Is this correct or will I encounter problems. CrazyFoolMrT 01:10, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Your PCI card, and your AGP card are both DUAL HEAD video cards, this means they can only spit two outputs out at any one time, even if they have 3 sockets. Unfortunately, AGP and PCI cards don't like to work together as they use the same harware interrupt or something like that. This was asked recently here and that's the most we could come up with.. If you want to run more then 2 displays, you can get a second PCI card, or a quad head (or more) video card. Vespine 03:05, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks Vespine, but this page http://realtimesoft.com/multimon/reviews/3mon_rad9k/ suggests you need an AGP and a PCI? I am confused? CrazyFoolMrT 01:11, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

You can have extended desktop on 2 monitors plus a clone of either one on a TV, but otherwise you can't do it easily. --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:39, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't mind not being able to do it easily.... Whats the hard way? CrazyFoolMrT 01:08, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe the hard way is the same as my solutions above and involve buying new hardware. Nothing you can do will make your card spit out three images if it only has two pieces of hardware that can output video. And I believe it is not possible to run a PCI card and a AGP card at the same time, that was my answer last time and no one refuted me so I still believe that. Vespine 05:51, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Google Cache browser

Is there a site I can go to so that I can navigate through the internet using Google's cache instead of normal browsing? I would like that a lot for some specific applications. Thanks! [Mαc Δαvιs] (How's my driving?) ❖ 06:10, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Sure thing Mac: Do a Google search for a topic or website, and just after the URL (probably green text), on the bottom line of each hit, you will see a link to "Cached" (probably pale grey-blue text). − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 08:41, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

You can track www.archive.org - which is the Wayback Machine, which has old caches of webpages for the past several years - although it isn't always easy to navigate quickly. Rfwoolf 14:06, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I mean that I want to be able to click on the "Cached" and be able to click in that cached page on links, that lead to other pages in the Google cache. [Mαc Δαvιs] (How's my driving?) ❖ 19:02, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Offhand, I don't know of an easy way to do this. One approach would be copy the URL of the link into a Google search, then click the "Cached" version of that URL. This would require quite a bit of bouncing around, though (browser bouncing?). − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 21:26, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

It's not perfect, but if you use Firefox then this extension will add a Google cache: shortcut (amongst others) to the right-click menu on links. There are others with similar functionality if you search the Firefox addons site for Google cache. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 22:04, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Here's what you're looking for: http://web.archive.org/collections/web/advanced.html —EncMstr 22:58, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

how does midi to wave converter works?

how does midi to wave converter works using with the help of pulse code modulation technique? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ket 31 (talk • contribs) 07:43, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

It works pretty darn well!  :-) Read about it at Synthesizer, General MIDI, and MIDI. —EncMstr 07:52, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

UNICODE website

Can any one Please Help me to Build an UNICODE website ? IF Possible please send me a piece of code.Also, instruct me for the intial setup. Its Urgent Can any one help out . —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Krishna.logic (talk • contribs) 10:56, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

Unicode is just a character encoding standard, like ASCII. Most modern web development tools support it, like Notepad, Dreamweaver and Visual Studio. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 12:58, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Hi ,

Thank's for the Reply.But i do webdesig, I am not aware of how to start building a Unicode website.So, i need to know whether to make the Unicode usage entry at the start as

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>

of my building the page and just go on with the HexCode by UNICODE.org, that will do.

Or is there anything else needed before i use the HEX Code.

Kindly guide me in this regards,

Krishna.N

No, just set your Content-Type charset to UTF-8 and make sure you actually save the file as UTF-8 (it's in the 'Encoding' dropdown when you save a file in Notepad). You can set Dreamweaver to use UTF-8 using these instructions. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 00:37, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Alerts

Is it possible to get an alert whenever a web page changes? I'd like to get alerted whenever my "my watchlist" page gets a new entry. Zain Ebrahim 12:50, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't know if it can be done directly, but per-article check out WP:RSS. I think user:kylu has an RSS from her watchlist. Unfortunately, she's on wikibreak, so you might have to look at old versions of her user page to see. —EncMstr 15:40, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Lazy Man's P2P

Is there a P2P out there, where instead of having to search for things one by one, I can just feed it a list of things I want downloaded, and it will download the closest matches? For this particular project, it would save me perhaps hours of time. 138.130.18.123 14:00, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I guess you could use a BitTorrent search engine like isoHunt? Probably not exactly what you specified but meh. Splintercellguy 15:00, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

If you are somewhat computer savvy and are using mldonkey you can try this -- Diletante 16:00, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. I am quite computer savvy, but I couldn't communicate with the console (running Windows XP), and the addon you gave me (MLautosearch) has a type of virus - according to my Norton Antivirus - but I think it's just overreacting over the one file that somehow communicates with the network. 138.130.17.23 19:38, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Executing An .exe file

I downloaded the game fifa street for pc which is a single exe file but when i click on it a command prompt window pops up and stays for 2 seconds and then closes itself. I tried doing this a lot of times but the same thing repeats. Is there anything i can do and what is going on i mean what happens to it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.95.191.49 (talk) 15:53, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

Here's how:

1. Explicitly open a command window.
2. Drag-n-drop the .exe file into that window; it's full path will appear in the command window as if you'd typed it in.
3. Press {Return}; the program will execute.

Any messages it displayed should remain in the command window for your inspection.

Atlant 16:01, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

You might want to read Trojan horse (computing). -- Diletante 16:06, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Our questioner has already run it :-(, 'might as well see what it's saying, even if it's just "pwned!". Well, unless you think the trojan is set to go off only on the, say, tenth run ;-).

Atlant 12:16, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

You open a command window, by the way, by going to Start -> Run and then typing in "cmd". Also it sounds pretty dubious to me, potentially a virus. --140.247.248.161 20:16, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

If it isn't something sinister, it might need a .dll or .ini file or something. Anchoress

How big is the exe? It could be that you've downloaded a cracked executable or a patch for the game instead of the whole thing. If it's anything under 50mb, then it's not the full game at all, and it's no use to you. Johnnykimble 09:23, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Linux on a CD drive -less Tablet PC

Hello,

I have a Thinkpad X41 tablet PC, and am looking to start using linux, on a part time basis. I am currently using Windows Xp. However, the laptop that I am presently using does not have a CD or floppy drive. It does have USB.

I was wondering if there is anyway that I can run a strand of linux (ubuntu, or anything similar). It does not have to be a fully immersive experience, a simple mounted cd emulated version would work. I seek no special tablet functions, only the ability to experience linux.

Cheers,

Jon —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 193.122.239.253 (talk) 17:04, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

This may be an obvious suggestion, but why not use an external USB hard drive? The only trick would be installing the appropriate boot loader on the drive to let you boot from it, but a Live USB installation could probably manage it. Less flexible but more ready-made would be to use a USB CD drive (although you might be hard-pressed to find one not made expensive by supporting more advanced things like DVD burning), with which you could use a LiveCD and even install a distribution (which might require repartitioning to preserve Windows) if you liked it. Alternatively, if you want just a bit of Linux-ish flavor, you could try out Cygwin, which creates a Unix-like environment within Windows. For further information and personal assistance you can likely contact your local LUG. --Tardis 20:28, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks.

You could also try Damn Small Linux - it can boot from normal USB sticks. Aetherfukz 14:47, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

IT-enabled Investments

what is the exact meaning of IT-enabled investments. i m askig this question with reference to COBIT. an answer with a precise real-life example is what required. thanx in advance —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.148.64.18 (talk) 17:31, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

This looks like a homework question. Droud 12:58, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Windows Registry

Where, if anywhere, and how, is the Windows Registry stored on a computer? (I understand what the registry is and what it does). --Joe^Talk!_Work 19:24, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

See Windows registry#Registry_locations. —EncMstr 19:42, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

U may be right but i really need an answer —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.148.64.18 (talk • contribs) 2007-03-23T16:30:40 (UTC)

What kind of answer do you need? —EncMstr 17:21, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

if you are having a problem with something like *.vxd , then type "system.ini" in the run command. Be careful what you change there, it is one of the keystones of an operating system....J.delanoy 16:08, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Remote Assistance

Im looking for a free alternative to Windows Remote Assistance. One that is much more reliable. I used to be able to get into peoples computers no problem with RA but i havent been able to connect to someones computer for so long.

thank you Omnipotence407 19:40, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

RealVNC may do the job, though it does not have features for restricting control for the remote user. On another note, did the person check his firewall/router? Splintercellguy 00:02, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Sorry i wasnt more clear. my "someones" was supposed to be "anyones." Ive had them turn off whatever firewall they have, and i even shut down mine. RealVNC seems pretty complicated. If it can be easily explained to me, that would be great. I know how to use computers pretty well, but the website isnt very clear Omnipotence407 18:07, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Maybe this can help you: Tech support with UltraVNC SingleClick, its among the easiest programs to setup for the support user. Aetherfukz 14:50, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Saving Streaming Video

Hi, I saw a funny video on youtube and I was wondering if there was a way to save it to my computer and possibly on a usb drive before it gets pulled? Is there any way to save streaming video?

Firefox has multiple extensions hereOmnipotence407 20:21, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

For YouTube I use vixy.net. --24.147.86.187 22:38, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

OS X Symbol Font

Hello,

I seem to have accidentally removed the default symbol font from my OS X 10.4 system. Is there anywhere I can download it to reinstall it?

Thank you

--CGP 20:27, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Your OS X CD? Another computer with OS X? --24.147.86.187 22:37, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

default programs for Windows Vista

I just installed Vista a few days ago, and most things are working correctly, though I am having trouble with the default programs. I have Vista business, and when I go to "Default Programs", I click on "Set program access and computer defaults", and then I change my browser to Firefox and my media player to iTunes, and then I save settings. However, next time I open Firefox, it says it is not the default browser, and when I look at the default programs again they are back as before. No matter how many times I do it, my settings are not saved. What can I do about this? —Akrabbim^talk 20:32, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

You may have to go into each of the relevant programs and tell them to not check if they are the default program for that service, and disable any settings that say "Make [this program] the default program for [whatever]". Then, specifically go to the programs you WANT to be the default, and see if they have a setting that says "Check if [X] is the default program for [Y]" and "Make [X] the default program for [Y]". However, if none of the relevant programs are running, and you go in to Default Programs settings in Vista, and you make your changes and 'Apply' and close, and you still don't run those programs, then, if you go right back into Default Programs, all your settings should still be there. As a last resort, try rebooting your computer AND/OR pressing Ctrl + Shift + Escape and shutting down all unnecessary services including Internet Explorer, Firefox, iTunes, etc. Rfwoolf 08:34, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

March 23

MySpace viewmorepics taking me to main page?

Hi. I'm sure this is a really basic question to many people who watch this forum but-- A friend wanted me to check out their blog on Myspace. So, I look at it and the main page and the blog come up OK. But when I clicked on the "viewmorepics" link, it keeps redirecting me to Myspace's main page.

Do I have to join MySpace and log in just to see the pictures, even though AFAIK they are "public"? Or is there an issue with cookies or scripting or something I might have disabled in my browser which could be interfering? Squidfryerchef 01:36, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, you have to join and log in. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 02:29, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

How to Refill an HP 27 Black Cartridge?

I purchased an inkjet refill kit. For the first time, I successfully refilled my HP 27 Black Ink Cartridge. After all the ink was consumed, I tried to refill the same cartridge for a second time. I cleaned my cartridge 5 times. The printing quality was poor. It barely printed anything. Does anybody know how to successfully refill an HP 27 Black Ink Cartridge for a second time? Thanks very much. 208.72.125.112 02:28, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

If it's not being heavily used, some of the ink might have dried and is gumming up the works. I've seen the refill guys (in the mall kiosks) soak it and run hot water through to get it going again. —EncMstr 02:37, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Water will damage most print heads, try alcohol to clean it out. The print head is probably worn out, as they are fairly low quality and are supposed to be replaced with each ink refill. Droud 13:00, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

By the way, the ink cartridge is remanufactured to begin with. 208.72.125.78 03:55, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

FITS file

Hey guys, I'm trying to use VBA to get some data out of a FITS file and into an excel spreadsheet, but its been a loooong time since i've used VB, i've got the filename and opened it for input, but I cant work out how to actually get the data out into an array. Help? :) Capuchin 13:09, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Woo I got Input working finally, I guess I need the info about the file to go further. Pity the guy who knows that isn't here. :/. When i read it in, It comes up in all weird characters (just like when i open the image in notepad), the data will be there if i convert to hex or whatever right? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Capuchin (talk • contribs) 14:36, 23 March 2007 (UTC).

This might not be the answer you are looking for, but you might find this task easier using the IRAF software, specifically the hedit command. I'm fairly certain you can output from this into a text file. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 00:53, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Windows Media Player

I have downloaded Windows Media player from the Microsoft website, but everytime i try to use it, my computer asks me to Validate the software. When i do, it says i have a counterfiet copy. How can this be, if i got it staight from the microsoft website, and is there anything i can do. Is there another way to download it> —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.54.61.158 (talk) 13:30, 23 March 2007 (UTC).

Check your Windows install; that's what the genuine checker is complaining about. Splintercellguy 15:01, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

It's a genuine pain, all right. I'd use another media player, although you might have trouble playing WMV and WMP files on other players, as Microsoft won't let anybody else play their proprietary formats. This is all a good reason to avoid Microsoft altogether. StuRat 15:24, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Once you go VLC you never go back, baby! Aetherfukz 14:52, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Video Downloads

Is it possible to download videos from sites such as Youtube and put them into iTunes and in turn an iPod? Is it even legal to do so? Ipmin 13:46, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Vixy.net Splintercellguy 15:00, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

vixy.net never seems to work for me. how is it that you guys get it to work?

I use the firefox extension "Download Video". Search for it at firefox.com! It's great. You just click the icon, and it automatically downloads embedded video.--Ryan 17:11, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

http://javimoya.com/blog/youtube_en.php lets you download the raw .flv files, and has a Firefox extension you can use as well. Then all you have to do is convert to iPod's format. Somehow. Good luck! --Transfinite (Talk / Contribs) 22:40, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Doubling up the size of an e-mail attachment?

I have just been electronically chastised by my sister because I sent her a very funny attachment showing various video recordings of church ceremony mishaps. She took umbrage that I had caused her mailbox to overload and said in future I should not send her large attachments because each time they get forwarded, the size of any attachment doubles say from 3Mb to 6Mb. I have been using e-mail both professionally at work and privately at home for over 10 years and no-one else has ever pointed that out to me. So my question is, quite simply, is she correct? And if so, has anyone any suggestions as to how I can still send the e-mail and it's attachment without it having that effect? Thanks in anticipation. CasualWikiUser 13:58, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

I think when attachments are encoded in Base64, they take up more space. Splintercellguy 15:00, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

The only way I think this is true is if you have a copy in your Inbox and one in your Outbox. You aren't doubling the size of the copy that was sent, however. But, if someone doesn't want your huge e-mails, then stop sending them. An exception might be where you send an e-mail with a link to the content on a web page. Then they can't object to the size (although they might object to the content at the link). StuRat 15:18, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

No the size of the attachment will not double - she is incorrect. What is true is that if the file was say 3mb, then you SENDING the email used 3mb of upload data between you and your service provider, and when she RECEIVED the email she used another 3mb of download data to receive it. If she had to then forward it again it would use another 3mb to send it again. But that's where it would end. From that point on your service provider doesn't count any further data usage from your account for those transactions - even if your sister has forwarded it all around the world, it still only took 1 upload session of 3mb. (Note that this is only of concern to you if you have a limited amount of data you can use per month with your service provider OR if you have a really slow connection and you are concerned that large files take a long time to download). So the only way your sister can be correct is if she takes into account the data that the mail servers themselves use to propagate the 3mb file across the net to any of the people in her email. It does not however affect you.

From the straight-forward point of view, if I receive an email, hit forward, type in some addresses, and hit send, this does NOT double the size of the file, but you will be sending one copy of the file back to your service provider (who will forward it to a mail server) which will use another 3mb. That's all. Rfwoolf 16:13, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Actually, just thinking about this, your sister might believe that for every RECIPIENT in your email, you are sending that 3mb each time to each recipient. Well that's not the case. It would only be true if you personally generate a fresh email for every person you wanted to forward the email to. And even then, it would not be 'doubling', it would simply be an extra 3mb each time. So if you hit 'forward', and type in 20 names in your 'To' box, and hit send, this will upload the email and the 3mb attachment to your mail service via your Service Provider (which would use 3mb of data on your account) and then your mail server will have the headache of forwarding your email to 20 different recipients, but will be using the data of your mail server and not from your data usage. Note however that your mail service provider (which is sometimes your internet service provider) may have mailbox limits on things like how many Megabytes of data can sit on the server in your 'inbox' before you log in to download it off the server. Similarly, your mail service provider may have limits on outgoing data for your mail box. Many service providers also limit email attachment size to 10mb (but usally higher than that). Anyways, in the case of forwarding to 20 people using 1 email, this would use 3mb of upload data, and your mail server would be forwarding the email 20 times using 3mb each, which is really no big deal. Rfwoolf 16:31, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

When person A sends mail containing a photo or video attachment to person B, and when person B forwards it to person C, and depending on the vagaries of the mail software used by A and B, I have definitely seen two distinct copies of the (encoded) attachment occasionally present in the copy received by person C (i.e., me). But I don't know if this process could geometrically increase in a 4,8,16,... pattern. —Steve Summit (talk) 13:41, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

There is another point. Assume she has a 5MB limit. You send a 3MB file. When she tries to delete it, it will first copy to her "trah" folder in many IMAP email clients. That copy will fail because it goes to 6MB. So, she will have a lot of trouble getting rid of the email. --Kainaw ^(talk) 15:37, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Playstation 3 Networking

I went to a friend's house and he has an original Xbox. We played Halo 2 multiplayer, and I remarked that it would be a lot of fun if you could hook more than 4 controllers to the console. He said that you can "network" up to four Xboxes and play with 16 people without using the Internet. Is it possible to do this with the PS3? If so, if they are all the 60GB ones, can you use the wireless capabilities?J.delanoy 15:16, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

It should be possible, as it was available on the Playstation 2, but the implementation depends on the individual games. From a simple, non-exhaustive Google search, it looks like there aren't any PS3 games that can do LAN play right now. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 15:37, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Playstation 2 Controllers

Do the old PS2 controllers work on the PS3? Thanks, Asics talk ^{Editor review!} 17:35, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

From our article on PlayStation 3:

"The PlayStation 3 does not include interfaces for legacy PlayStation peripherals, though IGN.com tested a legacy controller using a PS2-to-USB adapter, finding that it is compatible, though most other devices (such as the Guitar Hero controller) may not be compatible. Nyko Technologies have started production on the "Play Adaptor", a PS3-to-USB adapter allowing for guitars and other PlayStation 2 peripherals to be used on the PlayStation 3 and is scheduled for release in Q2/2007. The PS3 supports both the USB EyeToy camera/webcam and SOCOM Headset for video and voice chat. A memory card adapter is available so users can save their PS/PS2 data to a virtual memory card on the hard drive. The PlayStation 3 can also use Memory Sticks to store save data for PlayStation and PlayStation 2 software."

--Lumina83 20:36, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Wireless connection, an MMO, and Windows Vista2

When I'm running Voyage Century Online, I often have trouble maintaining connection to the server when I'm on my home wireless connection. I never lose connection to the internet, I am merely booted from the game server, and the problem is only on my home wireless connection; other wireless networks and broadband give me no problem. This mainly happens if I stop playing for a few minutes to browse the internet or grab something to eat, and I leave the game running. If I maintain activity, however, I rarely have a problem. Could there be some sort of feature, either for Vista, my for my wireless card, for my router, or for my modem, that blocks connection when there is a lack of activity? If not, what could be causing this problem? —Akrabbim^talk 19:50, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

You may want to try updating your router's frimware, I had a similar problem with WoW and the firmware update fixed it. 161.222.160.8 23:38, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Fastest

What is the exact brand of the fastest wireless router? What is the fastest internet service in the US? 68.193.147.179 20:59, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

well i dont know about the fastest, but one that is cheap and fast is bellsouth, and the best brand of wireless router would have to be linksys.

repaint();

I FINALLY got keyboard input in an applet in Java to work. I came across a program in my comuter science book that utilizes the ActionEvent abstract method, so I tweaked and came up with a KeyEvent and that worked. I made the program where there are buttons and you have to click the button that says left to go left and the nhold the spacebar. Yes, I know it's wierd. The only thing is is that I can't get it to get rid of the old character once you have had it move, so it's more liek an etch-a-sketch than anything. THe code is kind of long, so sorry

/**
* Move
*
* Schyler *****
*
* March 23, 2007
*
*(C) Schyler *****, 2007
*/

    import java.awt.*;
    import java.awt.event.*;
    import java.applet.*;
    import javax.swing.*;
    
    public class Move extends JApplet 
    {
    	
    	private int APPLET_WIDTH = 1000, APPLET_HEIGHT = 600;
    	private JButton left;
    	private JButton right;
    	private JButton up;
    	private JButton down;
    	public int x = 500, y = 300;
    	public String a = "O";
    	     
    	          
    	     public void init() 
    	     {
    	     	
    	     	
    	     	
    	     	left = new JButton ("left");
    	     	left.addKeyListener(new leftListener());
    	     	
    	     	right = new JButton ("right");
    	     	right.addKeyListener(new rightListener());
    	     	
    	     	up = new JButton ("up");
    	     	up.addKeyListener(new upListener());
    	     	
    	     	down = new JButton ("down");
    	     	down.addKeyListener(new downListener());
         	     	
    	          	
    	     	
    	     	
    	     	Container cp = getContentPane();
    	     	cp.setBackground(Color.cyan);
    	     	cp.setLayout (new FlowLayout());		
    	     	cp.add (left);
    	     	cp.add (right);
    	     	cp.add (up);
    	     	cp.add (down);
    	     	
         		
         		
    		setSize (APPLET_WIDTH, APPLET_HEIGHT);
    		
    	}
    		
    	public class leftListener implements KeyListener
    	{
    	     	
    	     	public void keyPressed (KeyEvent event)
    	     	{
    	     		
    	     		x -= 10;
    	     		repaint();
         			
    		}
    		
    		public void keyReleased (KeyEvent event)
    		{	
    		}
    		
    		public void keyTyped (KeyEvent event)
    		{	
    		}		
    	}
    	
    	public class rightListener implements KeyListener
    	{
    		
    		public void keyPressed (KeyEvent event)
    		{
    			
    			x += 10;
    			repaint();
    			
    		}
    		
    		public void keyReleased (KeyEvent event)
    		{	
    		}
    		
    		public void keyTyped (KeyEvent event)
    		{	
    		}		
    	}
    	
    	public class upListener implements KeyListener
    	{
    		
    		public void keyPressed (KeyEvent event)
    		{
    			
    			y -= 10;
    			repaint();
    	     		
    	     	}
    	     	
              	public void keyReleased (KeyEvent event)
    	     	{	
    	     	}
    	     	
    		public void keyTyped (KeyEvent event)
    		{	
    		}		
    	}
    	
    	public class downListener implements KeyListener
    	{
    		
    	     	public void keyPressed (KeyEvent event)
    	     	{
    			
    			y += 10;
    			repaint();
    			
      		}
    		
    		public void keyReleased (KeyEvent event)
    		{	
    		}
    		
    		public void keyTyped (KeyEvent event)
    		{			
    		}		
    	}
    
    	public void paint(Graphics p) 
    	{
    		
    		p.drawString(a, x, y);		
    		repaint();
    				
    	}	
    }

I figured that the line that says repaint(); would make it redraw the string at he new x and/or y coordinates, but it doesn't. It draws the the new O but leaves the old one. If anyone has an enviroment they plug this into, they can see whta I'm tlakign about and see if they can help me fix it. Also, when I first ru nthe program the 4 buttons at he top don't appear until I roll over them with the mouse. Thnak you for any help. Thanks, schyler 22:00, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

I think you need to override update() so it calls paint() always

   public void update(Graphics g) {
       paint(g);
   }

--Spoon! 02:59, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Okay. So wher do I put this method? Do i replace the

    public void paint(Graphics p) 
    	{
    		
    		p.drawString(a, x, y);		
    		repaint();
    				
    	}

totally with the method you said? Or is it a totally seperate method to be put undrneath the paint method? Thanks schyler 18:42, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

You shouldn't be drawing directly to that container. For a cleaner solution, that also works, you should have your own Canvas to draw on, that has all the functions you need. I've written a basic one to get you started:

import java.awt.*;

class DrawingArea extends Canvas {
	
	private int x, y, distance;
	private String a;

	public DrawingArea() {
		super();
		this.x = 150;
		this.y = 150;
		this.a = new String("0");
		this.distance = 10;
		this.setSize(300, 300);
	}

	public void moveLeft() {
		x -= distance;
		repaint();
	}

	public void moveRight() {
		x += distance;
		repaint();
	}

	public void moveUp() {
		y -= distance;
		repaint();
	}

	public void moveDown() {
		y += distance;
		repaint();
	}

       public void paint(Graphics p) 
       {
               p.drawString(a, x, y);                   
       }
}

Your code then becomes:

public class Move extends JApplet 
{
       ...
       private DrawingArea drawingArea;             
                 
       public void init() 
       {
		...
        	drawingArea = new DrawingArea();
		cp.add(drawingArea);
		...                
       }
               
       public class leftListener implements KeyListener
       {
               public void keyPressed (KeyEvent event)
               {
                       drawingArea.moveLeft();
               }             
       }

       ...
}

That's obviously not your whole class, but just the significant parts. That should give you enough to go on. Hope that helps, Johnnykimble 00:10, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Oh and don't forget to get rid of your now redundant paint method from your Move.java file... Johnnykimble 00:11, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

I know this is veering off the topic, but there is also a neater way to catch the key presses instead of using those inner classes:

public class Move extends JApplet implements KeyListener
{
       private int APPLET_WIDTH = 1000, APPLET_HEIGHT = 600;
	private DrawingArea drawingArea;
                  
	public void init() 
	{
		drawingArea = new DrawingArea();
		drawingArea.addKeyListener(this);

		Container cp = getContentPane();
		cp.setBackground(Color.cyan);
		cp.setLayout (new FlowLayout());
		cp.add(drawingArea);

		setSize (APPLET_WIDTH, APPLET_HEIGHT);
		setFocusable(true);	        
        }
                
	public void keyPressed (KeyEvent e)
	{
		switch (e.getKeyCode()) {
			case KeyEvent.VK_UP:
				drawingArea.moveUp();
				break;
			case KeyEvent.VK_DOWN:
				drawingArea.moveDown();
				break;
			case KeyEvent.VK_LEFT:
				drawingArea.moveLeft();
				break;
			case KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT:
				drawingArea.moveRight();
				break;
		}
	}

	public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) {}
	public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {}
}

That code does the same thing as the previous Move.java, but uses the arrow keys on the keyboard instead of the buttons (you will need to click once in the 'DrawingArea' to give it give it focus before you start pressing keys though). Notice the implements keyword. This means the actual applet will be implementing key presses. The only component that is listening to the key presses is the DrawingArea. There are no changes required to that code though. The main applet takes care of the key presses and calls the relevant method on the DrawingArea object. For more info on those key codes, check out the Sun documentation on them. Johnnykimble 01:02, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Reducing Network Speed To Increase Reliability?

Is there a way that I can force the connection between my wireless card and the wireless router to decrease in speed and thereby reduce the frequency with which the connection is lost? I don't need anything above 2 MBit/s since it's only used for the internet. --Seans Potato Business 23:58, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Probably, though the exact method is going to be OS and possibly radio dependent. Most radio firmware adjusts transfer speed automagically anyway. -- mattb @ 2007-03-24T03:24Z

March 24

System Restore

How do I move my computer back to when I got it, using system restore, then, erase all other system restore dates? -68.193.147.179 00:19, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

It all depends on what type of set-up you have. Most manufactures provide a "restore to factory settings" option which brings your computer back to the way it was when you got it. I think the System Restore you are referring to is the one built into XP. This does to provide a complete restore of a computer - It is more of a internal windows restore. Let me explain - Using system restore will restore all previous windows settings (such as the screen resolution)and user settings (such as your wallpaper). It does not even touch your personal data. It also either restores or removes all .exe files - I think this is an attempt to remove possible viruses that may have caused your computer to have to be restored in the first place.

If you really want to restore it to the condition when you got it (which means losing everything you've done since), you could also format the hard drive and reinstall the O/S (from CD) and then any other apps that came with it (from CD). This is rather drastic, but might be in order if it's really messed up badly. If you bought it recently, the seller might even be willing to do this for you. StuRat 15:45, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

not-for-mail

What is the function of not-for-mail in the localpart of an e-mail address or at the end of a Return-Path field in an e-mail header? Is it possible to have an actual e-mail address with a localpart of not-for-mail and receive messages at it? NeonMerlin 00:31, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but I sometimes get e-mail from companies that say "don't reply to this address". It seems odd to me that they would want to use different addresses for sending and receiving e-mails, but, for whatever reason, they do. StuRat 15:41, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Rapidshare & Download managers

Any idea how rapidshare disables the use of download managers??59.92.251.144

I am wondering this too! --Paracit 15:44, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Probably some form of user-agent sniffing. --TotoBaggins 16:12, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

it could be user-agent sniffing, but many download managers allow you to modify your user-agent, and would easily be able to work around this problem. they could also be checking the HTTP referer value to ensure that you actually came from their site. they also might be setting cookies, or using one or more of plenty of other methods. a quick search brought me to a site called http://www.rapget.com/ which seems to offer a product that will download from rapidshare and similar sites, but i've never used it and can't vouch for its safety. --64.0.112.13 09:04, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

What about IDM aka Internet Download Manager; Even if we wait for the 45 seconds and gives us the mirror from where to download the file, if we enable IDM to grab links from the browser it says "File not Found". Whereas, when you disable IDM and download directly from the browser without refreshing the page (same link) it lets you download? Also Rapget does not work anymore with rapidshare. It seems to be outdated. --Paracit 03:31, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

i don't use rapidshare much at all, and don't know how IDM specifically works, but as long as the program that is doing the downloading isn't the same one that first visited the page, the site has plenty ways of knowing and not letting you download. it could store your browser's user agent or even your entire HTTP request header, set a cookie in your browser, or whatever. when IDM tries to download the file, but has a different user-agent or a vastly different http request header, or fails to have the cookie that was set in your browser, or whatever, the site lies to it and says that the file doesn't exist at that location. furthermore, as rapidshare makes it clear that download managers are only allowed for premium users, their server may be configured in a way that would make your efforts useless anyway. i'd bet that they disable the ability to resume/accelerate/schedule/etc for those who aren't paying members. --64.0.112.62 08:58, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Connecting to a server on your own computer?

How do you connect to a server on your own computer, ie what IP address would you use to connect w/ it?

That depends on whether or not you are using a router or whether you are connected directly to the internet. You can find your IP address with a site like whatismyipaddress.com. If you don't have a router, that's the IP address you need. If you do have a router, that's still the IP address you need, but you also need to set up your router to forward the desired port or ports to your computer (such as port 80 for HTTP). --Allen 03:57, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I think you misread the question. The questioner is trying to connect to a server on the same machine as the client. In that case, use localhost or 127.0.0.1. Splintercellguy 04:14, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, that makes more sense; thanks. Having recently learned how to access a server on my own computer remotely, I was in man-with-a-hammer mode. --Allen 04:27, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

ADSL setup

hello, just need some help with my new ADSL connection. I have 3 PC's and wish for all off them to be connected to the internet. What is the best way to do this? I was thinking of getting a LAN Adsl Modem and connecting it to a network switch. Then setup up all the computers to network through the switch. Would this automatically connect them to the internet? Also what would you recommend to be built into the modem? - a firewall or router. Oh and since im at it - would anyone know of any good data encryption software? THANKS FOR ANY HELP

The best thing to do is to get a router. With minimal tweaking all computers hooked up to the router will get Internet. I'm not sure about your second question; what do you mean by "built"? As for data encryption, TrueCrypt is good. Splintercellguy 04:13, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Just get a router and a modem. You don't need anything else. Routers act like a firewall for the most part. If you want it really secure, you'd get a *nix machine with two network cards as a firewall, a router after that, then the router is connected to the other 3 computers. But a router is plenty to most people. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 05:15, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

If you only have 3 machines, just get a 4 port broadband router with an ADSL modem built in. In the UK at least, there's no shortage of places to buy them. I've had mine for about 4 years, and as I've added more machines to the network I've since added an 8 port switch as well as a wireless access point. The 4 port ADSL modem/router only cost me £60 and you get can them now for under £40 I think. Johnnykimble 10:53, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Just wanted to add that some service providers have an option to give you a modem with 4 ports for other computers - just in case that's the solution you're looking for. That way your modem and router are built into eachother. Rfwoolf 11:49, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Java Question

Does anyone know the Java command for generating sound with frequency and amplitude parameters? --Russoc4 05:08, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

This page covers creating sounds in some detail. It appears you have to do it yourself, as there's no simple createSound(withFreq, withAmplitude) call. --TotoBaggins 16:10, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

This just might be what I'm looking for. Thanks! --Russoc4 21:08, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I've also found this class: http://www.jsresources.org/examples/OscillatorPlayer.html

What's the point of invisible spam?

I contribute somewhat frequently to Achewiki, which concerns the webcomic Achewood, and it is contantly deluged with spam that only shows up in editing. Reading the communication of other people about other wikis shows the same problem. So I'm curious if anyone knowledgable in the ways of spam can tell me why this is done? I can see how regular spam might hook the occasional "newbie" (hmm, loans? Why not?) but what sort of effect is spam that can't even be seen except in the form of "look at me, I'm spam!" supposed to have? Or is this phenomenon just spambots gone haywire, incorrectly following instructions to post things visibly? $\sim$ Lenoxus " * " 05:09, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Invisible spam text will be noticed by web spiders, but not to a casual observer. Splintercellguy 06:15, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

See mw:Manual:$wgSpamRegex#CSS Hidden Spam on the MediaWiki site. --h2g2bob 21:59, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I guess that explains it. Thanks, responders. $\sim$ Lenoxus " * " 10:42, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Unreal Tournament 2004 Mutator

I used to have this great mutator that let you tweak the exact amounts of damage, ROF, and ammo of each weapon, and even let you customize the action for primary and secondary fire. Does anyone know the name of this mutator? --froth^t 06:27, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

found it, it's WeaponStuff. --froth^t 06:40, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

ADSL Question

(previous Question: ADSL Setup)

Okay, so if I get a adsl modem then connect it to a router, will I be able to network my computers together through it (the router) in the same way I would be able to with a network switch? SO if the connection to the router is the only connection i have will i be able to access files from computer A on computer B (or even C?). Can the router function without a internet connection? If not then what type of set-up would you recommend to achieve this?

And just from curiosity; with the *nix machine - what software would you recommend to run on it (OS and software)?

Here is my attempt at an answer: Does your router have a 'WAN' port - this is a port that you'll see usually separated from all the other numbered ports, and it may be labelled 'WAN' or 'internet'. Ultimately you need to connect your MODEM (or internet connection) to the WAN port of your router, then connect all your other PCs into the various router ports. Then you need to log in to the router (usually a default IP address - I don't rememember it but you'll find it from your manufacturer or someone else here might know it) by going into your web browser and typing in that IP address, the username is usually 'admin' and the password is [blank]. Once you've logged in to the router, you need to configure its settings so that the router is what connects to the internet through your service provider (usually by providing your internet username and password, and the ip address of a server to connect to -- which you can get from your internet service provider). I should add at this point that you must generally deactivate any of your service provider's connection software on your computers - they will be trying to log in to your service provider and connect, which will disrupt your ROUTER from being able to connect. If you've managed to do all this so far but you still can't connect to the net, you must sometimes be patient - try shutting down and switching off your router, waiting a couple of minutes, and trying again. It sometimes helps a great deal to check the webpage of your router company. Good luck Rfwoolf 11:43, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Oh to answer some of your other questions: YES a router can function without an internet connection, for example it can still link two of your computers together. To do that it really depends on what operating systems you're running on each PC. You may still have to log in to your router to configure stuff. My number one piece of advice in trying to get two computers to network together is... SHUT DOWN ALL FIRE WALLS - everything from your Windows firewall through to your antivirus's firewall -- get your computer's to connect to eachother first and THEN worry about your firewalls -- and obviously when you do that (shut down your firewalls) it helps to sever your connection to the internet - you don't want any worms or viruses coming in. Rfwoolf 11:46, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Passively Cooled Single-slot AGP Graphics Cards

For the past couple of months I've shunned my AGP GeForce 6600 GT for an ancient GeForce 2 MX 400. The GF2 is pretty much inadequate for anything 3D these days, but it hasn't bothered me that much because the GF2 is totally silent, having only a heatsink and no fan.

The problem now is that I want something more permanent, so that I can run 3D applications and play games, without having to switch cards. I need a card that is passively cooled, AGP, and at least on a par with the 6600GT.

There is however an added problem, and that is that I have a Shuttle SN85G, so another requirement is that the card should not take up more than one slot in size.

Does anyone know a card that satisfies these requirements?

Thanks, Johnnykimble 12:14, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

There are, or at least there were some passively cooled 6600 GT's using various stuff like heat pipes and giant heatsinks, not sure if you can find one now with AGP though... --antilived^{T | C | G} 21:03, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Excel help?

If there's any Excel experts out there, I'd be grateful for some advice. I've got a spreadsheet with two worksheets, one for monthly expenses and one for yearly expenses. Both have five columns: "Expense type", "Provider", "Estimated cost" [this is per mth in the first, per yr in the second], "Yearly cost", "Monthly cost". The latter two columns are calculated from the third.

What I am trying to achieve is to create a third worksheet as an aggregate of these two: displaying "Expense type", "Provider", "Yearly cost" and "Monthly cost". I'd like it such that it will automatically update if I change costs, or add new expenses (i.e. new rows), and such that I can manage it as a list (eg to sort expenses alphabetically, or by the highest cost). [I've defined lists for these first two worksheets to achieve this].

I'm not sure this is possible, just by manually creating a sheet with formulae (I can't see how I could do it other than manually adding a reference for each cell, which isn't exactly efficient, and would prevent automatic inclusion of future rows). I'm thinking Pivot tables may be the answer, but they seem best for summarizing things (I don't need to summarize anything, I just want the data combined as is). I know this must be possible, and I'm not looking for anyone to do it for me... just some pointers as to how I should go about it (and then hopefully Google can help me out). Grateful for any advice... _└ ^UkPaolo/_talk^┐ 12:23, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, a slow and inflexible way to do it would be with VBScript, where a script would run through and populate Worksheet3 every time you told it to. But it would be slow.

A flexible way would be to do it with just references; you'd have to make sure it updated to the last row each time (or you could a script to do that for you), but otherwise it is pretty easy. But I don't think you'd be able to sort it. --24.147.86.187 12:57, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Okay here's a thought, are you capable of doing it in Access? Even if you were, I suppose there would still be some major obsticles in doing what you want to do. Anyways, if that's not possible and you still want to do it in Excel, then I'm afraid the only thing I can tell you is, that, you do know that you can 'sort' data in Excel by clicking on Data -> Sort. This overcomes the problem that you can only otherwise sort a single column in Excel at a time, which would go into ascending order, and completely ignore the other columns - and this may help you if you want to do dynamic referencing. The problem is that you want to RELATE data together, which is what you're supposed to use a database program for (e.g. Access). The only way you're going to get a third worksheet to take a row in worksheet #1, find that same entry in worksheet #2 that may be in an entirely different row, and then process all this information - is if you make ONE worksheet persistent (not dynamic, where the data is hardcoded) and the other worksheets DYNAMIC (where the values are referred from values in worksheet 1).

Not only would those worksheet 2 & 3 values have to be dynamic, but when they refer to worksheet 1 values they'd have to be capable of finding them in a given sorted list - which may in fact be possible. Why not look up Excel references in the help file, such as dynamic and persistent references.
Sorry I can't be much more of a help than that. Rfwoolf 16:05, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Create a pivot-table for the monthly data and yearly data on a third sheet. Reorganise the data how you require it and have sums pointing to the summarised data. You should be able to change the first 2 sheets and have the pivote 'refresh' to include any changes. This is a bit of a fiddle and not ideal but it will work. It might help you if you have an extra column called "cost period", this way you could simply have all the data (monthly and yearly) held in a single sheet (table) and run the pivot from the that. The pivot gives you huge flexibility to quickly change the way you summarise your data. ny156uk 16:37, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks very much guys, for all your advice. I'll look further into it! Cheers, _└ ^UkPaolo/_talk^┐ 11:40, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Better/easier FTP program than WS_FTP on Windows?

So I've been using WS_FTP95 for, dang, almost ten years now. However, I'm looking to upgrade. Do you have any recommendations for an easier FTP program for Windows that is freeware? I use it for basic FTP needs. Thanks, Guroadrunner 13:59, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Filezilla is what I use. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 14:23, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

i also use Filezilla, but i'd like to point out a favorite software site of mine: http://www.filehippo.com -- they maintain a relatively small list of, in my opinion, the very best software, much of it freeware. (under "file transfer" category on the front page they have two other clients, Core FTP LE and SmartFTP.) alternately, you could check out wikipedia's [Comparison_of_FTP_clients]. the reason i had to mention filehippo is because i feel the software they list on their site represents the best and safest stuff available, and it's where i always go first. --64.0.112.168 23:10, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Please help (printing digicam pics)

I have HP Image zone and my pictures are crappy when I print them. I was looking for some advice before I purchase another program for editing and printing of my digital pictures. What do you think is the best program and what gives the clearest digital photo when printing them?24.47.13.118 14:56, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm no expert, but I believe that would depend more on the printer than on the program. Various programs can perform image correction and convert images to higher color depths, but I don't think any one can print the same image better than any other. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 16:56, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

One thing that helps, but which software rarely enforces, is to always print at integer scales. For example, if you have an image that's 1024x1280 pixels, you can print it at 1X as 1024x1280 dots, at 2X as 2048x2560 dots, etc., but don't print it as, say 2000x2500 dots, as that will result in some pixels being printed with 1 dot and others being printed with 4 dots (2x2). This can significantly degrade the final image. Also, a program that provides for interpolation between pixels will look much better than one which doesn't. Finally, be careful not to reduce the number of colors during edits and saves, say from 24-bit color to 256 colors. If color pics look horrid no matter what, try grayscale instead. They often look much better. StuRat 19:11, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Can you describe the resolution and color mapping of the pics your digicam provides ? Many digicams provide perfectly adequate quality for e-mails, but are completely inadequate for large prints. StuRat 19:15, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

FORGOT WINDOWS XP USER ACCOUNT PASSWORD

I have forgotten my windows xp user account password.How can I login without the user account password?59.163.25.48 16:10, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

This may be obvious and this may not apply to you - If you can log in to another admin's account on the PC, you can go into Control Panel and into User Accounts and recreate your password Rfwoolf 16:18, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

There's a "backdoor" in XP which can be used if there's not an Administrator password set. Say you want to get into "Josh"'s account because "Josh" is the only admin on the PC, you would start up the PC and when it's on the "Windows XP" loading screen (beginning), turn the PC off by the main power. Then turn it on again and let the PC load. It should go onto Safe Mode. If it doesn't, try again until it does. When on the screen for safe mode, select "Start up Windows XP in Safe Mode". Now, continue and when given an option of who to login with, click Administrator. You can now go into Control Panel and into User Accounts and change your password.

This isn't a very conventional way to do things but it has worked for me in the past many a time :). JoshHolloway 18:16, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

And that is quite scary. I want to get Linux now.  :( x42bn6 Talk 18:45, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Just set yourself an administrator password! Start in safe mode as above and instead of changing another admin's account, change the main Administrator password. Sorted and secure...to an extent. JoshHolloway 20:13, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

You don't need to turn your computer off while it's booting to get into safe mode. Just hit F8 just as Windows is starting up and it will give you a boot menu, with safe mode being one of the options. Philbert^2.71828 23:20, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

If you do have an admin pass set, the standard way to break the security is to delete the C:\Windows\System32\Config\sam file. You can't be in Windows to do this, so instead, insert you Windows XP cd and restart. When the CD starts loading key an eye out for an option to load the Recovery Console. Once you're in that you should be at a DOS prompt. Type the following:

 cp c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\sam.bak
 delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam

Now take the cd out and start windows. That should have removed the password, and possibly destroyed your accounts. So once you've logged in, you'll have to create your accounts again. It's been a while since I've done this, and I had no problems with it, however, before trying it, I'd wait for someone else to comment on this response who knows more about the procedure than I do. If you do get around to doing it, and find you'd rather be back where you started (with the unknown password), then go back to the Recovery Console and type:

 cp C:\sam.bak C:\windows\system32\config\sam

And overwrite when it asks you to. Be very careful with this suggestion! Johnnykimble 19:12, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor --Spoon! 08:24, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

SMTP by hand

I'm trying to send an email by hand, just to try it out, and I had a little problem. Here is the transcript of our "converation" (I type italic, server is bold):
ryan:~ user$ nc -vv smtp.google.com smtp (I open connection)
smtp1.google.com [216.239.57.25] 25 (smtp) open
220 smtp.google.com ESMTP
HELO mydomain
250 smtp.google.com Hello mydomain [(mypiaddress)], pleased to meet you
MAIL FROM: john@doe.com
250 2.1.0 john@doe.com... Sender ok
RCPT TO: (myemail)
550 5.7.1 (myemail)... Relaying denied
^C sent 72, rcvd 221

Why is it denying me? Me email address is a gmail. thanks!--Ryan 17:11, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't know ... but this is an absolute longshot - perhaps it should be [username]@googlemail.com - if somehow that's what google does with gmail. Rfwoolf 17:14, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Two possibilities:

1. It doesn't like the sender domain "doe.com", but doesn't complain about it until the "rcpt to:" step, and even though it said it was okay during the "mail from:" transaction.
2. I always use angle brackets when doing raw SMTP, and my memory is that they're required:

   MAIL FROM: <john@doe.com>

   RCPT TO: <barney@bed.rock>

—Steve Summit (talk) 17:23, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I put the angled brackets, but for the same result. IT didn't work! My Mail.app works perfectly with gmail still, O well.

It's correctly denying you because the server you are trying to use is not a gmail incoming server; instead, it's one of the servers for Google's email accounts (those ending on @google.com). Your Mail.app is most probably checking the MX record for gmail.com (as every MTA should), which points to the correct servers. --cesarb 17:57, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Eh, surely you need to login with your google username and password?? After a quick google search it looks like you should be using SSL, and port 465 for your connection. When you connect to the server on the standard SMTP port and do an EHLO instead of the standard HELO, you'll get the list of extensions. Notice AUTH is not one of them. I'd guess that connections on the standard port only work for local connections without authentication. So, try getting an SSL connection to the server on port 465 and going though the AUTH/TLS process. If you're unsure about what to do, the best source of info are the relevant RFC's, SMTP-AUTH and TLS. Sorry I can't be more help, but I haven't tried any of this... Johnnykimble 18:58, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

That's not his problem, he's trying to send email to his account, not from this account (which would usually need SMTP AUTH or pop-before-smtp). --cesarb 19:34, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

http://www.gammadyne.com/relaying_denied.htm --64.0.112.5 13:27, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

The easiest way to answer these sorts of questions is to run a network tracing tool like Wireshark (formerly "Ethereal"), send some mail from your local mail client, and just watch the traffic. You might find open relay relevant to your specific problem. --TotoBaggins 23:21, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Australian hardware.

Can anyone suggest a few Australian hardware shops? I'm looking for a cheap HDD.

You can try your luck with ebay.com.au - a lot of the asian trade gets flighted there, where you can buy some really good deals (or bid for that matter) and the postage can be as little as say $8. As for stores you can try all the normal nonsense like dicksmiths.com.au - but you won't be getting any special deals there. Rfwoolf 17:16, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Harris Technology is one.

I usually use [8], for no better reason than I've used them before so I know they're okay. FiggyBee 04:14, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Re-opening nc port

How can I tell nc (on mac os x tiger) to reopen a server it has started. My syntax us as follows:
nc -v -l -p 9999
but when I disconnect from the computer connected to it, nc closes! How do i tell it to reopen automatically? Thanks again to the wiki community.--Ryan 18:31, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Is the problem that when you connect (from elsewhere) to port 9999 and then disconnect, nc closes, or that when you log out of the computer/account/window where you started up your nc listener, nc closes? If the latter, try nohup. —Steve Summit (talk) 20:58, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Try while true; do nc -v -l -p 9999; done. --cesarb 22:04, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I tried, but all I got was a terminal windows that says ">". No computer can connect, not even my own. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rgrasell (talk • contribs) 02:31, 25 March 2007

That means the shell is expecting more input. Either you are not using a Bourne shell and thus its syntax is different (does anyone know which is the default shell on MacOS X?), or you typed it wrong (which I do not think is what happened here). --cesarb 04:42, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Mac OS X uses bash. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rgrasell (talk • contribs) 06:58, 25 March 2007

cesarb's recipe is correct. I just tried it on my Mac (10.4.6), and it worked fine.

Did you type it just like this:

while true; do nc -v -l -p 9999; done

—Steve Summit (talk) 12:18, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

The only problem with cesarb's recipe (as I discovered after posting my previous message, when I went to clean up after my test) is that it's nearly impossible to quit from it! Here's a safer (and simpler) variant:

while nc -v -l -p 9999; do :; done

—Steve Summit (talk) 12:28, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Earlier versions of OS X used tcsh as the default shell. If the user didn't purchase a fairly recent Mac, they may be grandfathered into CSH syntax unless they change their default shell. -- mattb @ 2007-03-25T22:53Z

Splitting an Image file.

Hello, I know my title makes no sense, so I'm going to explain. I have a large MP3 file which is the mix of some songs. I have an image file along with it that includes the cues for when the songs begin and end. Is there any way that using the information on the image file I can split the mp3 into several mp3 for each song. Thank you --(Aytakin) | Talk 20:47, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Foobar2000 can do that, but I've only done it with APE/FLAC/WAV files, so not sure if it will work with mp3's. --antilived^{T | C | G} 20:54, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

If you have Audacity (download here) and LAME, (download here) you can import, edit, and export mp3s. I have used both of these. They are free, safe (no viruses in 4 years!) and work very well....J.delanoy 15:20, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Internet settings on slave HDD?

Hello, on my computer I have 2 HDDs. One day I took out my slave drive and when I put it back in later I was not able to connect to the internet. I should mention that while my drive was out of my case, I didn't turn on my pc. Now after I put it back in, every time my pc tried to connect to the internet, the it wasn't able to. I tried everything, disabling my connection, reinstalling my network card, etc. Lastly I took out my slave drive and turned on my pc and I was connected to the internet. Then again I put the slave drive back in and now I was connected again. When I took out my slave drive at the beginning it was b/c i was using it in an external HDD case for a laptop. Now I'm guessing, when it was connected to the laptop some of its internet settings were changed and when it connected to my pc, it was still on its laptop settings. This makes no sense to me. Because as far as I know, my internet settings should not be on my slave drive where I have no windows files or installed any programs. But I may be wrong. Can anyone explain to me what happened? Thanks --(Aytakin) | Talk 20:57, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I obviously don't know your machine, but what's on those hard drives? Could it be that there are two OSes installed on both? Splintercellguy 21:23, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

On the second there is nothing except my music and videos. Nothing installed, no OS, nothing else. --(Aytakin) | Talk 21:24, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

It looks like a hardware problem. I've already seen that happen before; usually it's the network card which is a bit loose (it's easy to bump into it without noticing), and removing and replacing the card is enough to fix it. --cesarb 21:59, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

mp3 Encoding What's better 160kb/s Simple Stereo or 192kb/s Joint Stereo?

Regarding MP3 encoding:

What's better 160kb/s Simple Stereo or 192kb/s Joint Stereo? Which is the better choice between the TWO ONLY in regards to sounds quality?

I had to skim through much of Joint Stereo: The Myths to get the answer. For almost all cases, even 160 kb/s joint stereo will produce better sound quality than 160 kb/s simple stereo, because what joint stereo really does is combine common aspects between the two stereo channels, which gives more bits to the parts that do differ, which means each channel ends up with more bitrates than, say, half the bitrate. For example, say you have 160kbps in simple stereo and each channel takes 80kbps. Joint stereo finds the parts that are the same, and let's just say that it only shares about 10kbps of bits that are the same. That means you have 150kbps for each channel, which gives each channel 75kbps independently. So each channel end up with 75kbps + 10kbps shared, or 85kbps, which is a 5kbps increase from simple stereo. Thus, the quality (except in an extreme case the article talks about) is better with join stereo. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 23:26, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

March 25

Computer

Can I type something on my computer and print it onto a notebook? 68.193.147.179 01:08, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't quite understand, do you want to print it onto a piece of notebook paper and then put that in your notebook ? Or are you asking about moving data to a notebook computer ? StuRat 05:58, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

I want to print something directly onto my planner. 68.193.147.179 23:28, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

You mean like a Franklin Planner ? Standard printers can only handle paper within a certain range of thicknesses, so you would need to be able to remove a sheet of paper in that range from the planner, print on it, then put it back inside the planner. If you want the printing on the outside of the planner, some folders have clear pockets in the front, back, and/or spine for holding printed pages and labels. If your planner doesn't have this, you would need to jury-rig one. You could take a transparency, put the printed page under that, and tape down all 4 edges, for example. You might have to cut both down to size. There are special printers for printing on surfaces like vinyl, but those would cost thousands of dollars. Possibly a print shop, like Kinkos, might have such equipment. StuRat 01:03, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Form

Is there a way I can view a picture of a form, then type the answers right above the line? 68.193.147.179 01:09, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

A bitmap picture of a form can't generally be edited. I suppose you might be able to do this by importing a bitmap into a word processor and then adding text boxes on top of the form, but this would be rather sloppy, so I'd suggest getting an online form directly, if you can, or recreating an online version (type the form in) if you can't. StuRat 06:02, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

You'd need an image editor to do that - even MSPaint might let you get away with it - but you might look into something like Corel Draw -- even Photoshop could do it. Adobe Acrobat WRITER (the software that CREATES the acrobat files might also alow you to do that as an extra option). Short answer: Get image-editing software. And sure, you can try do that in Word (which doesn't EDIT the image, but merely allows you to create text boxes on top of it) will do the job, but it's not very ideal Rfwoolf 14:09, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

System Restore 2

How do I remove all my old "system restore" dates in Windows XP Home? 68.193.147.179 01:17, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm assuming you want to do this to save disk space. There are two options that I know of (I have XP Pro but should work in Home as well). Go to System Restore, then choose settings and lower the percentage. The other is to go to right click on C drive --> Properties --> Disk Cleanup --> More Options and choose the clean up option for system restore, but be aware this deletes all but the last restore poin. - Akamad 01:58, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Browser Volume

Does anybody know of free software that will let you control the sound of an individual app?

I'm not much of an expert, but I think you'd have to mess with the registry or some other part of windows. I'm not sure, but I think that when a program wants to make a sound, it sends a message to windows which sends it to the sound card which sends it to your speakers, so you'd have to selectively interrupt the signal, and only windows would know which program it was coming from. --Chaffers 18:12, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

TV shows on the Internet

I've noticed that a lot of sites like Youtube, have episodes of TV shows. How exactly do people get the shows from the TV onto a computer so they can be uploaded? 71.218.42.144 02:11, 25 March 2007 (UTC)X

Most likely TV tuner or capture card. Splintercellguy 02:12, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Random Number Generator

Would it be possible to construct a random number generator in the following way: Create a 2 bit digital counter that counts sequentially from 00->11 and repeats, with a high clocking speed (10kHz would do it I assume), then at some random user-selected point in time (such as, at the push of an impulse button), the two bits are extracted, and a number from 0-3 is created using those bits? Would this number be somewhat random? Would the circuit favor some numbers over others?

Yes, but it's still not a true random time generator, as it depends on time. I've actually done a hardware random number generator that counts from 0 to 255 in this fashion using a PWM, which generates the seed number through this method and then uses that seed to generate a random number through software. And yes, the number is somewhat random, and I think is more random than purely using a seed. And no, the circuit doesn't favor some numbers over others that I know of. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 03:33, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

And I've used a similar method where I read the millionths of a second off the time string. I didn't rely on user selection, but instead relied on the processes running on the computer to supply random time intervals (at least in the millionths of a second range) between when the program needed random numbers. StuRat 05:49, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

This is a fine way to generate random numbers if the count frequency and the sampling frequency are absotively, posilutely, 100% not correlated. The catch is that in the real world, seemingly independent processes have an uncanny knack for becoming synchronized. The literature is full of failures of random number generators (that is, failures to be properly random) because there was some ridiculously subtle, never-suspected backchannel synchronization pathway which caused the sampler always to sample the counter at the same spot, or in the same pattern.

So if the counter were two hardware (not software or firmware) flip-flops, it was counting quite fast (why not megahertz?), and the switch pressed by the human strobed a hardware holding register (say, two more flip-flops). then yes, this would be about as random as any other source.

Atlant 18:55, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Me, I would never build a random number generator this way. If I was building a hardware random number generator, I'd use a noise source, not a counter.

If you have a random number generator you think is good (and no matter how sure you are that it "can't possibly" have any order to it), if you really want to be sure it's good you have to test it. One set of tests I know of for random number goodness is by the good professor Marsaglia. (Last time I tried, I don't think I could find any PRNG's that passed even half his tests.) —Steve Summit (talk) 14:58, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Scanning - I didn't anyone explain why a counter is not random. Assume you have 4 counts (00, 01, 10, 11) that repeat. They have a frequency of 10MHz. Assume the internal data bus has the same frequency (of course, I'm just making this up - but this is an example). Assume there are 4 devices on the bus. One is the mouse. When the user clicks the mouse, they select a "random" count. However, the counter is running in sync with the bus with the same count of 4 items. So, when the mouse gets the bus, the counter will alwasy be on the same number. This is an extreme example, but it shows how the internal hardware can sync up with a counter and cause it to favor one number over another. --Kainaw ^(talk) 16:12, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, no, because you're assuming here that each of the 4 items get an equal 1/4 of the clock cycles every second, which isn't true. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 17:11, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

It's true, Kainaw's one assumption might have been imperfect. But this doesn't mean that regularly sampling a regular clock will get you high-quality random numbers! The person who's trying to do this is making a million assumptions, all of which must be true in order for the sampled numbers to be truly random. —Steve Summit (talk) 18:02, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Strange Problems

Hello... I'm not really sure where to go with this, so I thought I'd try here. For the past few weeks my computer has been slowing down immensely. I ran Ad Aware, Spybot, AVG, Kaspersky and ran memory checks, disk checks and defragged all of my drives. Nothing has worked.

I did however notice something strange that I think may be the cause. When I open up Task Manager and look at the processes the "System Idle Process" doesn't always equal the total CPU usage (-100% of course) Now, I realize that it can just be little innacuracies and rounding errors for just a percentage or two, but I'm talking HUGE differences, 50% or more sometimes. So I'm wondering, could my CPU not be getting enough voltage or something? I've never tried overclocking, but I was having problems with my power supply a while back, could that have something to do with it?

So yeah, normally I could just take care of something like this myself, but I don't even know what to search for on this... Everywhere else I've asked I've been ignored... Does anyone have any ideas? 64.112.218.232 03:27, 25 March 2007 (UTC) Koriar

I've never heard of anything like this. I doubt it is a source voltage problem, because chances are, if it was, then your computer wouldn't even function correctly. My first guess (although I'm really only guessing) is that there is something wrong with the actual crystal that determines the clock rate. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 03:37, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

System Idle Process = The amount of free CPU cycles you have, and thus if you don't have 100% (or something close to it), something else is using your computer is well. --antilived^{T | C | G} 03:39, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

From what I understood, he meant that the processes, including idle, add up to only about 50%. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 04:14, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, no, I mean like my idle processes and everything will add up to be 100 (though sometimes 99 or 101) but the processes other than idle processes will add up to, say 25% and the "cpu usage" part at the bottom and in the task bar will say something like 75%.

Oh, and also by voltage, I mean voltage for the CPU itself, my BIOS has options to change the voltages for overclocking purposes, but I'm scared to mess with them.

Koriar 04:35, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

No it shouldn't have anything to do with the voltage, please list the processes that ususally use the cpu on here. --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:50, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, it usually has rundll32.exe on there taking up a cycle or two, firefox and taskmgr when I'm on here, cvhost will pop in sometimes, csrss.exe will sometimes too. Other than that it's just whatever is running. Most of them are taking up just their normal amount of the CPU as far as I can tell, though Explorer.exe has been running a little high on the CPU lately though (hence the virus and spyware checks)Koriar 05:18, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

I doubt if it's a hardware issue, I suspect that some piece of software, either malware or software with a bug, is causing the prob. If you have a boot disk, I suggest you boot from that to determine if the problem occurs when you boot from there, as well. You can also try booting in safe mode. If the problem does not occur in those cases, next try killing processes until you get down to the bare minimum and note when the problem goes away. This will hopefully allow you to identify the rogue process. If it's not something critical, you could just run without it. If it is important, you might want to reload that software, or possibly try another version. StuRat 05:44, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

USB/Firewire PC Card reader?

Is there such thing as an external PC Card reader? --72.202.150.92 04:45, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Yep. See this google search result, first link has an external USB one. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 04:49, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Seems like these are made specifically for wireless cards. I need a more general purpose reader. --72.202.150.92 05:07, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

I use an external USB reader for SD, so I figured they'd be out there. Google "12 in 1 USB card reader", and they can be found for a reasonable price. Hope that helps. Baseballfan Talk 08:33, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Computing information

I am currently studying IPT at high school and need information for an upcoming test. The Internet is very useful for this but I don't get to use it for very long at a time so I was wondering if there was somewhere on the web that has computing information that could be downloaded as a PDF file or something. Does anyone know of any such sites? Thanks, Mix Lord 06:13, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Try using the advanced google search, and under file format, select Adobe Acrobat PDF (or add " filetype:pdf" after your search). Baseballfan Talk 08:39, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

My keyboard and mouse seem to have a mind of their own!

Occasionally, when I am typing, funny words, which were not typed by me, appear, and the mouse pointer will go haywire. The funny words appear to contain some sort of programming code. When it happens again, I will copy the funny words here. Is there any known virus or malware which causes this behaviour, or is it a hardware/software problem? And how do I fix it?

OK, here is an example of the funny words. o binary >> ik &echo get asd >> ik &echo bye >> ik &ftp -n -v -s:ik &del ik &asd &exit

Some questions we need to know: 1) What operating system are you using? 2) Are either your keyboard or mouse wireless or bluetooth or cordless etc? You might want to do a virus check, it could be spyware or something similar. You can monitor extra programs in Windows XP by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Escape -- but as always, the processes' that it shows running can be a bit confusing - most are usually normal processes - you could look for suspicious ones and just google them to see if they're possible spyware or malware Rfwoolf 11:59, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

I am using Windows XP Home. My keyboard and mouse are not wireless, bluetooth or cordless. AVG did not find any viruses.

it looks like you're being targetted by a worm that's trying to install a trojan. a reference i found on google, although it doesn't really help is: http://www.scriptalias.com/?p=79 . basically that random code you're seeing is a series of commands meant to be executed on your computer, and if it's working, then it's using those commands to force your computer to download a file and run it. i strongly suggest you enable your windows firewall (if it's disabled), update avg, do a full system scan, run windows update, all as soon as possible. information about a virus that you /may/ have can be found at http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/trojagentcba.html . if you know anyone who's good with fixing viruses and trojans and such, maybe you should have them take a look at your computer for you and figure out if you've been hit --64.0.112.5 12:39, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeah all is not looking too friendly. I'd try to stablise and secure your system: I'd physically disconnect from the net, shut down all suspicious programs (check your bottom-right systray for example), back up any extra special files (although this is your call, the situation may not warrant a full backup of your data), I'd make sure your firewalls is up and running good, do whatever scans you can, then reconnect to the net, see if you can update AVG, update your Windows - but while you're doing that perhaps start googling some of the processes you see in Ctrl + Shift + Escape (But this may or may not help identify the malware/virus).
Last resort is to back up all your data, format your system and re-install Windows. Then make sure you do a FULL Windows update. If you use mIRC, it may help to know that worms love targetting mIRC users, other p2p software can also help worms. If you can, if you're susceptible to worms and viruses, you should consider investing in a proper antivirus software, e.g. Norton Rfwoolf 13:24, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

AVG is a perfectly fine anti-virus program, and it's much faster than Norton, much cleaner, and takes up fewer system resources (and money). ST47Talk 13:31, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I'm inclined to agree, but, having used Norton Systemworks, it comes with it's own firewall which so far I've found very effective - and informs me of all types of attacks on my computer, especially when I'm on mIRC or a p2p (and yes I'm aware that it shows off a lot by displaying warnings for things that aren't really viruses, or overeacts to any attempts to connect). Nonetheless I find Norton to have features that AVG alone doesn't have. So let me rephrease: You may wish to acquire a package such as Norton that may include its own firewall. Rfwoolf 13:45, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Respondin to the questioner, perhaps your machine has been compromised via remote access? Splintercellguy 17:29, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

The text that you see indicates that the computer is attempting to download a file via FTP. Either the origin is a malware program or remote access. Remove the machine from public networks immediately. Run pretty much any antivirus you can find, including spyware, adware, worms, trojans, etc. You may want to preform a System Restore or reinstall the operating system. At the very least, use you firewall settings to block TCP and UDP ports 21, 25, 5801, and 5901. To prevent all FTP access, you may need to block all random high ports (1024-65535), which FTP uses to free port 21 for out-of-band communication. Good luck. 71.185.113.29 02:30, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Dates in iPhoto

Hi. Using Apple's iPhoto (on Mac OS X), I've come across a number of photos which were taken with the camera's clock set incorrectly. I've since changed them, in iPhoto, to the correct date. My problem is that this only changes them in iPhoto's database, and not the date in the underlying EXIF data embedded in the photo. Now, I've found several scripts which can batch change EXIF data to a given date (or to add/subtract a given amount of time), but does anyone know of a way (I'm guessing AppleScript is most likely here...) of automatically batch copying the revised date and time set in iPhoto, to the EXIF of the actual photo file. Somebody must have had this problem before! Thanks in advance for any guidance. _└ ^UkPaolo/_talk^┐ 11:38, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Strange Problem with Internet Connection

My computer starting acting up yesterday while I was on Yahoo. The internet seemed to shut down in a weird way because whenever I clicked a link or icon it would load half way and then the "stop" icon would flash (I am using Mozilla Firefox); the process is basically instantaneous and I can't even open the website. In Internet Explorer, however, it just comes up with a typical "Cannot find server." What I can't understand is the fact that I can use the internet connection for about 20 seconds to connect to sites once I start up; after that, it will just stop allowing me even open the site. I can apparently use most aspects of Wikipedia [It is set as my homepage] (I couldn't use anything but the main page yesterday) but nothing else. The computer has been a little slow in general, but I certainly didn't do anything to trigger it (to my knowledge).

Some details:

• I am using a D-Link DFE-530TX+ PCI Adapter #2.
• I have a Comcast (Broadband) Internet connection (We called them and they said it was a computer problem, which doesn't make much sense to me because I had a similar problem with another computer, although it was just slow and actually displayed a "cannot load website" screen)
• It is a relatively old computer (About 2000 I think).
• I have about 3.7 GB of Hard Drive space remaining, so it shouldn't be a space problem.
• I used a program called WNSLookup and found this computer had a ping for about 0.05 ms with google.com, so I really don't think speed is the problem.
• I just remembered that there are some other renters where I'm living, and they probably have computers/are using the internet. Could this be what is impacting the connection?

I was thinking it might be a router problem, but I really don't know. It's almost as if a firewall is somehow stopping the connection, but I don't have any firewalls up (Not even Windows Firewall).

Any help is very sincerely appreciated... I need this thing to work. (Sorry for not signing in, but I can't seem to access my page; it's Robinson0120.)

• EDIT: When I tried to post this, it didn't load, so I tried to force it to open like I did before by holding the enter key; it worked for this page (probably because I have a connection established), but won't for others. I had to do the same for this edit post.

• EDIT II: I just managed to open or two sites by holding down enter like I said earlier(I have to wait right until it says connecting, because it can then load sometimes), but it is difficult to actually get around them. Pictures are also not being displayed, probably because they are linked from another separate location.

it's often frustrating trying to diagnose people's computer problems over the internet, but a few easy suggestions do come to mind. you say your windows firewall is disabled; have you tried enabling it (and then rebooting, i suppose)? another idea is to open the network connections manager, right click your internet connection's icon, and go to Repair. if those two things fail to fix anything, your next step would be to determine the source of the problem. if multiple computers are having issues, then the problem is either coming from outside (router, ISP), or both computers are doing the same thing wrong (a pair of matching viruses? who knows). if you use a router, try connecting your computer directly to the internet through the modem, bypassing the router. if the problem is solved, your router is somehow causing the issue. if none of these things seem to help, hopefully somebody else will have some good ideas. wish i was there to help! --64.0.112.5 13:12, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

• Suggestion: Try clearing your browser cache (your temporary internet files) Rfwoolf 14:06, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

• Suggestion: I've had problems on comcast (now locally bought out by Time/Warner) before where I could communicate with other computers but it would appear DNS was totally messed up (especially after using Bittorrent) My only solution was to reboot the computer. You might take a look at a packet sniffer like Ethereal to see what packets are being delivered, etc. Or, if you don't want to try something that advanced, you could just try the ping command (ping www.google.com). Root⁴(one) 15:37, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Advice needed on my first software order!

After many months of trying to sell a copy of my customised software that I wrote, a client has said, "I'm ready to order your software for 3 PCs"
The problem is, I'm not sure on how I'm supposed to handle this transaction and what to do now!
Any advice would be appreciated.

Some little questions:
1] The client is overseas, so I am probably going to send him the software by post or download - but how do I send him licences, and how do I present these licenses?
2] Do I get him to sign a license agreement? If so what should it say or look like?
3] Who makes the first move: Does he pay me first or do I send my software first?
4] Here's how I think I should be handling the transaction: 1) I send him a pro-forma invoice outlining all the costs of the software, as well as a Terms and Conditions form. If he agrees to the terms he will sign the Terms and Conditions and fax it back to me. 2) I dispatch the software (by post or by download) and I will talk him through the installation process. Once installed, the software will be set to only work for a 3 day trial. 3) He must then make payment, and once I have received the money I will give him a code to unlock the software. Do you think that is okay?

Thanking you for any advice

~The one-man show software developer. 138.130.19.123 13:47, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

• I think that this scheme is perfect and it would gurantee both of the client and developer their rights. Go on with it.

Thanks. I've encountered a company on the web that wants payment upfront (in the tens of thousands of dollars) before it will ship the software.

• I'm planning on using a derivative of this EULA: here 138.130.19.123

Just curious, what does your software do and how did you market it ? StuRat 17:22, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Hi, I'd prefer to say not too much about what it does, but I can tell you that it does something in the stockmarketing industry. I did my marketing by push (pushing) by emailing and contacting various stockbrokers. The interest I got was pretty decent, and I got a few requests for quotes, but nothing ever translated into an order. Then months later I was asked for a quote by someone that was interested months earlier, and a few weeks later he emailed me to say he wanted to order. This will be the first deal I'm ever doing as a custom-developer, so if there's any advice it would be greatly appreciated. 138.130.19.123

One suggestion is to give a demo version away for free. You could either offer a reduced function version or a full function version that expires after a demo period. Hopefully once they use the program they will decide they can't live without it. I wouldn't be too concerned about the price if selling to stockbrokers, as the price isn't likely to be the deciding factor on a purchase. You should also work with customers to improve the customer interface, as the interface which programmers think is ideal is seldom the same thing the customers want. StuRat 00:37, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

PS3 wireless internet connection

I have tried two wireless boxes (Wanadoo 9730 & Netgear DG834G) both of which have a decent signal, the Wanadoo box had at worst 15% and best 35% and Netgear had at worst 80% and best 97%. The PS3 eventually linked up to the Wanadoo box, originally, and I downloaded a game. It seemed to be working fine, I then went on Motorstorm and tried to play online, it connected and said that an update must be installed, I did this, and at first attempt it reached around 10% before the error message came up and second time around 25%. The error message is "80710102" something about a DNS error. I do not know what this means, and how to fix it!
Whilst playing games offline the message keeps popping up in the corner, and when trying to connect Call of Duty to the internet it said "authentication failed". I do not know why any of this is happening, is it overloading of the servers due to it being a new release?
I am in the UK and on a machine bought in the UK. The wireless routers, I have tried each on their own (i.e. only one plugged in) and both plugged in, neither will work. I used the easy settings and it configured the IP etc. for me. I know the connection is configured correctly, as I have been on the internet from it, but the games are not playing online, and I am repeatedly being signed out. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks, Asics talk ^{Editor review!} 14:20, 25 March 2007 (UTC) I thought I better say that the Netgear is not connected to any other computers (with or without wires) and the Wanadoo box is connected to 2 other computers (both wirelessly). Asics talk ^{Editor review!} 16:10, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Advice about my LT

Hello all, I had few questions about my LT and I hope u could help
(*) How can I make the battery last longer(and I mean its life time not time till it discharges)
(*) I sometimes feel that the touch pad doesnt respond to the clicks, what can I do?
(*) The screen may sometimes look like it refreshes with a little flash, whats the problem?
Thanks a lot .
NB: Its DELL Inspron 6400

• Well, I'm familiar with a Dell Inspiron 9200, so let's see ... I don't know about the battery. With the touch pad, do you mean when you click on the buttons by the touch pad or do you mean the touchpad itself? The buttons sometimes may not work if you don't depress them in the middle of the button, like if you try press them from the corner. As for the touchpad itself, go into your control panel and find it, and see what you can change in the settings that may help. As for your screen problem, please can you clarify a bit what you mean by it refreshing with a little flash? In your display settings, you can try adjusting the refresh rates to about say 60 hertz, and as for the dpi it should be about 96. Rfwoolf 15:03, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
  

Thx alot for the advice, I adjusted the touchpad settings and its much better now. I found that the refresh rate is already 60 hertz and the i guess i found 96 dpi too small for me :D. By the refresh with a little flash i mean when sometimes u r working on many things and the computer is slow, if u try to refresh, the screen would look like its being repainted again. Thats what happens but faster and it gives a little white flash. This just started occuring lately, it hasnt been always this way. Thanks again.

I also found 95dpi too small for me - but I was picking up display problems especially on images. Here we have an excellent LCD screen that displays images all funny - especially the Wikipedia logo in the top-left of the browser - that was a prime example. Another hectic problem was certain programs would look terribly funny - with text getting cut off because it runs off the window, and all sorts of nonsense- but as soon as I adjusted to 96dpi it was all solved. The Dell website told me to do that - so I suggest you google "Support + Dell", and go to their website and specify your model number and go through the display troubleshooter etc. I did that, and with the 96dpi thing, it said you can increase the fonts of the titles on windows by right-clicking your desktop, then clicking Display, and then clicking on Appearance, and at the bottom where it says Font-size, click "Large Fonts". ... but then again, you don't seem to be complaining about funny images. Rfwoolf 16:44, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Incidentally, you cannot actually change the DPI setting for a TFT monitor as you can with many CRTs. Doing so (if possible) will only enable some software scaling. Pixels on modern LCD monitors are physically realized by individual TFTs, something that cannot be changed (as opposed to the possibility of playing with electron beam deflection in CRTs). You really should never use non-default display settings with an LCD, since the result of doing so will be obviously poor image quality (assuming, of course, that the defaults were set correctly in the first place). -- mattb @ 2007-03-25T22:49Z

Encrypted DVDs on Linux?

My friend gave me a Transformers DVD as a gift. But I'm unable to play it on my Fedora Core 5 Linux system as it's encrypted. Neither xine or totem can play it. I've tried to install VLC, but it fails because of missing dependencies. I already seem to have those dependencies, but I can't make yum understand it. Is there any other DVD player for Linux? JIP | Talk 16:12, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Do you have LIBDVDCSS installed? Duomillia 18:21, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I compiled it from the source code. I think I have version 2.0.8. xine and totem still say they can't open the DVD because it's encrypted. JIP | Talk 18:31, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Just install VLC media player [edit: I posted too quickly -- here is a link describing installation of VLC on FC5]. Droud 20:50, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

mplayer can do dvds I think. I prefer it to Totem in general. Looks like yum knows about it too. Johnnykimble 20:59, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

MPlayer downloaded and started successfully, but I am unable to actually play anything, because it can't find a VIDIX driver. My computer uses an ATI Radeon 9200 PRO card, if it's of any help. JIP | Talk 06:07, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

This time I was able to install VLC. When I start the GUI up from the Applications menu, none of the controls do anything. I tried starting "vlc dvd://" on the command line. The first time, I was successfully able to get to the DVD's episode selection screen. Actually trying to play an episode crashed VLC. Subsequent attempts crash VLC straight away. Here is the debug information it gives me:

VLC media player 0.8.5 Janus
[00000289] main dialogs provider error: no dialogs provider module matched "any"[00000286] skins2 interface error: no suitable dialogs provider found (hint: compile the wxWidgets plugin, and make sure it is loaded properly)
[00000286] skins2 interface: skin: VLC 0.8.5 Default Skin  author: aLtgLasS
libdvdnav: Using dvdnav version 0.2.0cvs from http://dvd.sf.net
libdvdread: Using libdvdcss version 1.2.9 for DVD access
libdvdnav: DVD Title: TRANFORMERS_VOL2
libdvdnav: DVD Serial Number: 3C98628C___MVB__
libdvdnav: DVD Title (Alternative):
libdvdnav: Unable to find map file '/home/joona/.dvdnav/TRANFORMERS_VOL2.map'
libdvdnav: DVD disk reports itself with Region mask 0x00fd0000. Regions: 2

libdvdread: Attempting to retrieve all CSS keys
libdvdread: This can take a _long_ time, please be patient

libdvdread: Get key for /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.VOB at 0x0000012d
libdvdread: Elapsed time 0
libdvdread: Get key for /VIDEO_TS/VTS_01_0.VOB at 0x00000192
libdvdread: Elapsed time 0
libdvdread: Get key for /VIDEO_TS/VTS_01_1.VOB at 0x00005e89
libdvdread: Elapsed time 0
libdvdread: Get key for /VIDEO_TS/VTS_02_0.VOB at 0x00005eda
libdvdread: Elapsed time 0
libdvdread: Get key for /VIDEO_TS/VTS_02_1.VOB at 0x00005f27
libdvdread: Elapsed time 0
libdvdread: Get key for /VIDEO_TS/VTS_03_0.VOB at 0x00005f60
libdvdread: Elapsed time 0
libdvdread: Get key for /VIDEO_TS/VTS_03_1.VOB at 0x00005fad
libdvdread: Elapsed time 0
libdvdread: Get key for /VIDEO_TS/VTS_04_0.VOB at 0x001f4dad
libdvdread: Elapsed time 0
libdvdread: Get key for /VIDEO_TS/VTS_04_1.VOB at 0x001f4dfa
libdvdread: Elapsed time 0
libdvdread: Found 4 VTS's
libdvdread: Elapsed time 0
[00000401] a52 decoder: A/52 channels:2 samplerate:48000 bitrate:192000
[00000402] main audio output error: couldn't find a filter for the conversion
[00000402] main audio output error: couldn't set an input pipeline
Segmentation fault

JIP | Talk 06:15, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Sony Walkman with Mac OS X and iTunes

How can I use my Sony Walkman NW-E002 on my iMac, preferably with iTunes? Thanks! --Fadders 18:28, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Sony does not list any Mac OS software for your device, so if a new drive does not appear on your desktop when you plug the MP3 player in (like a USB thumb drive), you're out of luck. Droud 20:55, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Integrated graphics

i know integrated graphics are never Good but are they ever decent? particularly the newest integrated gpu's like the nvidia geforce 6150 (normal SE or LE) or the intel graphics media accelerated x3000 ok. i know they are not as good as dedicated but will they be able to play modern games like supreme commander or oblivion at a playable level. thanks Beckboyanch 22:16, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Intel integrated GPUs are no good for games and are really only able to run Beryl and provide 2-d video acceleration. ATI and nvidia ones with shared memory (turbocache, hypermemory, etc) can play some games in really low settings, but definitely not Oblivion.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 01:34, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Fax

I've got a scanner, a document, an internet connection (non-dialup), and Windows XP. With these materials, is it possible to construct something that will send a fax? If not, is there anything that would make it possible that I could get hold of quickly? Black Carrot 22:57, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

All you need is some software to convert the image to a FAX format and send it. StuRat 00:26, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Laptop video card problems

Yes, I know this probably isn't the right place to ask this, but I'll ask it anyways. When I started up my laptop this morning, a white screen showed up with a couple of black marks on the screen. A small image can be seen on the top-right part of this screen. I don't know if this has to do with the video card, the LCD display, or just the fact that my laptop has broken. Either way, since I have no other resources, I desperately need your help. If you can't give me solutions on how to fix it, then give me links to websites explaining the troubleshooting. Thank you. 76.199.85.142 23:49, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Edit:By the way I have a Toshiba 1405 series.

I don't have an answer for you, but this is the right place to ask. StuRat 00:21, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

March 26

Eaves of Erastothenes

I am having some problem in finding two prime numbers that when multiplied together would equal to a 400 digit number. I have an a assignment dealing with the Eaves of Erastothenes and Im having difficulty finding those two prime numbers.72.40.60.1 00:48, 26 March 2007 (UTC)jc

I's actually called Sieve of Eratosthenes. Maybe that'll help you on finding information about it. — Kieff | Talk 00:59, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Unless I'm badly mistaken, the Sieve (elegant though it is) is unsuitable for numbers in the hundreds-of-digits range, so there's something fishy about this assignment... --Steve Summit (talk) 01:12, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, maybe he's actually talking about the General Number Field Sieve, but I can't imagine how that'd be confused with Erastothenes'. — Kieff | Talk 02:22, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

I have never heard of using the Erastothenes for such large numbers. Would the Sieve of Atkin be appropriate? And are you sure it must yield a 400 digit number? Seems similar to the 30,000 word summary my Latin professor assigned on a 20 minute film... Freedomlinux 02:36, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Computer help!!!

I think I deleted Windows. Please help. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.175.125.196 (talk) 03:50, 26 March 2007 (UTC).

In that case, reinstall it from CD. StuRat 04:57, 26 March 2007 (UTC)