Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing

February 24

Tracing School Vandals

Supposing you traced and IP vandal-edit to a particular school and the school IT people were willing; would it be possible for them to trace it to the individual logged-in user and give them detention? --Seans Potato Business 00:04, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Potentially yes, if:

• they have cameras in their computer labs
• computers are assigned IP addresses statically.

On that last point, they wouldn't have to- they could keep DHCP logs --froth^T 00:44, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

On the first point, if the computer system requires individuals to log in or whatever, then they could check those login logs. --Spoon! 00:48, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Quite true, but most schools IT departments aren't that intellectually adept, nor do they require students to have individual logons. Of course, that all depends on the school. Some are better than others in that respect.

Worse, if you share my POV --froth^T 07:19, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Formatting Flash Cards

I take a bunch of pictures in a short period of time with my digital camera, so usually if I need to free space and get ride of them I just reformat the card. Are there any repercussions to reformatting a flash card often and/or is it "safer" to delete them one-by-one? --Cody.Pope 03:49, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

It takes longer to format the card. It is much quicker to select all files and press shift-delete. Instead of updating all the bits on the card to be a zero, you just blank out the inodes. It appears that you haven't tried selecting all the files at once (crtl-a usually works fine) and then immediately deleting (shift-delete is the normal key-combo for that). --Kainaw ^(talk) 04:26, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Ah no, I'm formating with the card in the camera. It takes about 3 secs. --Cody.Pope 04:45, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

That is completely different. In a camera you can rarely select multiple pictures. You have to select one at a time. Then, you have to jump through hoops to delete an image. I assumed that if you are deleting the pics, you must have saved them somewhere - meaning that you must have connected the camera to a computer. --Kainaw ^(talk) 04:49, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Sort of (sometimes I'm blanking a whole card on the fly when I need more space and/or the pics I took were uninteresting blah blah blah), really I'm specifically wondering if formatting-often effects card life-span. Thanks! --Cody.Pope 05:41, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Not much effect on lifespam, so go ahead! Splintercellguy 05:43, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Normal formatting does NOT change every bit to 0, it just changes the allocation table in the file system to mark all area as empty space (that's why you can recover things after formatting or deleting if you haven't done anything else afterwards). Formatting does this in one go while deleting individally does this each time you press delete. Since flash memories have finite write cycle, formatting is actually better for your flash card than deleting individually, but not that much that it is noticeable. --antilived^{T | C | G} 07:04, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

According to the page Flash memory many cards come with a 1,000,000 programming cycles guarantee. You would have to be using your camera/making read writes a lot to use that up. If you took 50 shots a day (and delete them individually) that would be 100 cycles (50 writes, 50 deletes). You could do that for 10,000 days before you hit 1m cycles. 10,000 days is about 27 years. I'm guessing that it isn't quite as simple as this but I suspect that most flash-cards will outlast the product they are in so I personally think you can delete as a group, or individually and not worry at all about the impact. It is also fair to note that just because the lifetime is 1m cycles doesn't mean that under normal cicrumstances that can't be hugely higher. ny156uk 14:35, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, that was my intuition but I wasn't sure. --Cody.Pope 01:18, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Old Game, New Machine

Why would a game designed for an inferior machine play more slowly (while using 100% CPU) on a newer machine? --Seans Potato Business 06:41, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

A machine is only as good as its weakest link. Also check drivers, patches, updates etc. Or give us more detail (specs of your computers, what game etc.). --antilived^{T | C | G} 07:05, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

It may be using some automatic-slowdown system to gear the execution speed to the machine. On very fsat machines these systems don't work very well; they may trigger divide-by-zero errors or produce inaccurate speed estimates. User:Ben Standeven : 209.210.225.6 23:08, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Data

I like to get information from websites such as www.abbreviations.com for my website.

I wonder how I get all data available from those sites and need script or software for that so that I could start similar websites. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.7.69.103 (talk • contribs)

This is possibly copyright infringement, and definitely plagiarism unless you clearly state your sources. You could use an automated web downloader like wget to download an entire site, then process the resulting HTML. Droud 15:36, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Comment below moved from inside question above: --h2g2bob 16:48, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

I like to display search results from websites like wikipeia.com, answers.com on my web pages and I like to get the script to do that. Could you please tell me how to write such script or where to download it?

thanks--80.7.69.103 10:35, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

You may use material from Wikipedia, if you keep to the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. An example of this is answers.com. If you plan to use more than a handful of pages, you should use the database dumps. --h2g2bob 16:52, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

WindowsExplorer, need help

Hello there. Sorry to use you guys as some help-center though I just can't fix this. First of all; I'm running windows vista (can't be that diffrent from XP).

Secondly; In Folder options > View i reset the folder views. Resulting in that Start>Computer now wont group the objects anymore (harddrives, portable media etc, etc, like XP does too), do anyone know how to fix it back?

Thirdly; The explorer got this sidebar, as it should. Though from the begining it also had a few buttons at the bottom. I somehow removed them, and now I can't get them back again. Any ideas?

All help will be, and are, appriciated! Big thanks! 213.64.150.116 16:50, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Well for your second point, presuming it is indeed the same in XP, just open My Computer, go to the View menu and select 'Details'. Go back to the View menu and select 'Arrange icons by' then select 'Show in Groups'. Then finally go back to the View menu then 'Arrange Icons By' and then select type. That should be it. Johnnykimble 17:35, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

How do I train myself not to open so many terminal windows?

At the end of the day I might have 20 or moer console windows open on my desktop. (on linux with kde right now) I'll open a new shell to do just about anything, my command history gets all messed up and i often end up having to look through all the minimized terminals to find something. I know the desktop paradigm is that I am supposed to do most tasks through the file manager/browser but then you have to get everthing configured right first :P the command line is always quick and easy. How do I wean myself off of starting so many terminal windows and cluttering up my desktop? WHat is your strategy for having the CLI and desktop coexist peacefully? ---- Diletante 18:15, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Don't use X at all! --froth^T 21:56, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

In every default install of KDE/Gnome that I've seen, at least 4 desktops are set. I normally put a full-screen konsole on destop 4 and jump there whenever I want to do something at the command prompt. If I need more than one konsole, I double-click by the tab at the bottom to open another screen in the single-instance of konsole. --Kainaw ^(talk) 21:58, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Virtual desktops are your friend, I'll echo that.

Er... Make good use of GNU screen and perhaps find a terminal emulator that supports tabs? Also, virtual desktops and edge flipping are your friends. -- mattb @ 2007-02-24T23:10Z

For most file-management tasks, a GUI desktop will basically never be faster than a skilled CLI user, so I think your goal of moving away from that as an end unto itself is questionable. As people said, just keep a few open, and use whichever one's handy to do your task. --TotoBaggins 23:49, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

This is entirely dependant on the software used to manage files. Some shells are very powerful, like bash, while others are very limited, like MS-DOS. The same applies for GUI software. 68.15.208.73 18:12, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the tips. I guess the solution is the same as for web browsers, tabs. -- Diletante 16:21, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

I usually keep three or four "terminal" (shell) windows open. I'll emphatically echo what TotoBaggins said about the power of a good CLI -- the reason the "desktop paradigm" is so popular is not that it's more powerful (in fact, quite the opposite).

It is often the case that a particular terminal window has a fair amount of state in it: what directory you're in, what task you're working on, what your recent (and easily-recallable) command history is, etc. I'm usually working on two things at once, so my top two windows will be for those two tasks. The third window is for miscellaneous stuff, in case the first two windows are both "frozen" -- for example if they're both in the middle of more-ing something, or if there's stuff visible in the window that I want to look at for reference, and not scroll away with the output of a new command. If I end up with three windows frozen like this, I'll open a fourth. But the majority of the time I'm not working on so much that I need five or more windows. (I start losing track of things, myself, at that point.)

Having 20 or more open terminal windows to close when you log out does not strike me as a problem in and of itself. But if you find yourself rummaging through them all to find things, then yes, that's a nuisance (or worse). What you need to do is imagine that each new terminal window is expensive -- which it is, if not in computer resources, then in screen real estate and in your brain's own capacity to keep track of it. Whenever you find yourself having the urge to "open a new shell to do just about anything", try to catch yourself, and re-use one of your already-open windows instead.

History management is an interesting issue. I've often through that It Might Be Nice If a shell could somehow retain multiple history files, one for each window, and keep track of them somehow and re-use them in the analogous windows each time you log in. In fact, at times I've gotten the impression that bash was somehow doing that for me already, in that my history (across multiple windows) wasn't getting as messed up as I would have expected. But trying to actually do this could easily turn into an unmanageable can of worms that would cause more problems and nuisances than it would solve, so I haven't pursued it (yet). —Steve Summit (talk) 23:19, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

I used to need to have many UNIX windows opened at once, so came up with some strategies to find the right one. I color-coded the foreground and background, using one color scheme for writing code, another for compiling and linking, another for running, etc. I also split them up by desktop, with one for coding, one for research on existing code, one for applications, one for general reference, etc. I also gave each window a descriptive title. A typical startup command was something like 'xterm -fg yellow -bg saddlebrown -T "Compile and link" -sb -sl 3000 &', as I also like lots of scroll lines. I added the typical startups to my root menu using the appropriate resource files. StuRat 05:56, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

tunebite alternative

I am trying to find a free alternative to tunebite. The trial version only lets you do 30-second previews, but I don't want to pay for the premium. Is there a free-source or shareware alternative to this program? —Akrabbim^talk 18:25, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Use Winamp, and if necessary, downgrade your WMA input plugin. Get a Lame output plugin and play. --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 00:54, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Beware tunebite, it is not lossless like the website claims. You can use free software like Audacity and Virtual Audio Cable (edit: Virtual Audio Cable is NOT free, but you can use your sound card instead) to accomplish the same thing. Video is a bit trickier. Droud 18:20, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

XML Parsing with Perl

Hi, I'm having trouble parsing an XML document using Perl. I'm trying to get the information inside the <title> element inside all the <page> elements. Here is my code:

#!/usr/bin/perl
use WWW::Mechanize;
use XML::Simple;
use Data::Dumper;


my $mech = WWW::Mechanize->new;
$mech->agent_alias('Windows IE 6');
$mech->get('http://en.wikipedia.org/w/query.php?format=xml&what=allpages&aplimit=20&apnamespace=10&apfilterredir=nonredirects&');
my $list=$mech->content;
my $xml = new XML::Simple (KeyAttr=>[]);
my $data = $xml->XMLin($list);
open (LOG, ">>a.txt");
foreach $e (@{$data->{page}})
{
	print LOG $e->{title}, "\n";
	print LOG "\n";
}

Comments:

1. The Perl Monks website's Seekers of Perl Wisdom area will probably get you better/faster help than you'll get here.
2. You should look over How do I post a question effectively?. In particular, you never told us what your code was doing wrong.
3. You should always use strict;
4. If you insert a print Dumper $data after the call to XMLin(), you'll see that you missed a level in the structure (see below). You need to change your list to @{$data->{pages}->{page}}. It's pretty weak that Perl let you treat the non-existent $data->{page} as a listref, but that's dynamic languages for you. --TotoBaggins 00:19, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

$VAR1 = {
            ...
          'pages' => {
                     'page' => [
                               ...

Thanks

Dual monitors at different heights auto-aligning.

Something weird has happened! I have two monitors, one which is my laptop screen and another an old CRT - they're in dual monitor configuration. Thing is, the CRT monitor is about 5cm higher than the TFT one, this used to mean a noticeable jump in cursor height when moving between monitors and when having windows spanning both you'd see they didn't match.

Something seriously weird has happened recently: Without any intervention, they've auto aligned, so now there is now jumping, and i can't physically move the cursor from top of my CRT to the TFT one as there is no adjacent "Monitor Space":

-I ASCII'd a diagram but wikicode screws it up :P-

Question is, how the hell does it know!? I haven't done anything to show the monitors positioning, it just seems to have worked it out - but how?

Thanks!

-Benbread 22:12, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

In Display Properties -> Settings you'll have both the monitors, 1 and 2, shown there. You can drag them up and down and about, whatever you want. If one's smaller and has a lower resolution than the other then it'll be noticably shorter in the Settings page. By moving monitor two up slightly or down slightly you can choose whether you want it to be physically impossible to move your mouse from the top of your CRT to the TFT one, or from the bottom of the CRT to the TFT.

I'm not sure why it would have auto-aligned without you doing anything, but if you installed some new software this may have aligned it for you. JoshHolloway 22:28, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure that this is an adequate answer.. regardless of the resolutoin, there's no reason for Windows to know the physical size of your screen --froth^T 23:38, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

February 25

md5

Is it possible to reconstruct the original file from an md5 hash? I don't really completely understand how md5 works, only that it gives a unique id to every file and can be used to verify files. Is it a two way process? Thanks!--Ryan 00:00, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

No, it is not a 2 way process. It is mainly for that very reason that it is used for hashing (generating unique values for a file or sequence of bytes). It's extremely difficult (to the point of being worthless to attempt) to go backwards. The situation is slightly different for passwords. A lot of websites and security systems in general use md5 as a way of storing passwords so that even if the hashed or encrypted password is found out, it is difficult to establish the real password from it. However, due to the fact that many people don't use strong, secure passwords, databases of md5 hash versions of common passwords exist, so by 'brute force' it is possible to find the unencrypted form of a hash fairly rapidly. Johnnykimble 00:28, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

What you describe is a rainbow table attack, but yeah brute forcing md5 is pretty easy. Use SHA for your secure hashing --froth^T 02:09, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

I think rainbow tables are used to reduce compute time when cracking hashes like NTLM. You can make memory / time tradeoffs. *nix often uses salts, so that two *identical* passwords don't map to the same hash. With linux, you often have a choice of different algorithms to use. I use the default, since my firewall blocks most everything anyway. If someone got onto my machine, they probably have a priv escalation exploit, and don't need to crack passes. The passes are in /etc/shadow not /etc/ passwd, and that file requires admin to look at.172.146.58.73 09:55, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Definitively not! The very definition of a one-way hash is that it's, well, one-way. To prove this to yourself, consider that while the 128-bit MD5 hash can only take on 2¹²⁸ different values, you can compute the MD5 hash for at least 2¹²⁸ + 1 different input files, so at least one of those hashes must be the same for 2 different inputs. So there's no way of knowing which input file to reconstruct. See pigeonhole principle. It's worse than I've stated here, since you can of course compute the hash for an infinite number of input files, while the number of hashed outputs holds steady at 2¹²⁸. --TotoBaggins 00:32, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

If a hash is truly one way, then brute force is the only way to attack it. With block and PK ciphers (and likely hashes), there are sometimes alternative routes to brute force. For instance, 3DES2 (2 key triple DES) and 3DES3 (3 key triple DES) both have effective key lengths of 112 bits. This is because one of the variants has an MITM attack. With ciphers like RSA / ECC / knapsack, there are mathematical routes (e.g. factorization) that should be faster than brute force, since 90 bits and up takes a lot of compute power. Some attacks are mostly theoretically, you hear about ones that requires 2^40 chosen plaintext, which seems unlikely to happen in the real world.172.146.58.73 09:55, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

If you need something that can reconstruct files, try parchive, which is seen on Usenet all the time for multi-file archives. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 05:38, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

The original file can almost never be reconstructed from a shorter file like a hash. The hash length is a few hundred bits, while the file length is potentially gigabytes. This is Information Theory 101, and it's the same reason there are fundamental limits on compression. For instance, you could map the input value 01 to the output value 1. But you run into trouble if you try to map 00, 01, 10, and 11 to *unique* one bit values. A cryptographic hash is used for security, although a side benefit is general file integrity. Checksums work fine for integrity (e.g. parity bits), but MD5 style hashes are one way, meaning it's hard for an attacker to generate a trojanized executable (e.g. Windows PE format) that has the same hash as the legitimate executable. You can think of MD5 as being loosely related to ciphers like DES, because both use trapdoor functions which are easy to compute in one direction, and intractable in the other direction. So people make a big deal out of hash collisions, but i've yet to see someone construct a trojan utility that has the same hash as its legit counterpart.

Google Answers?

What are some other websites like Google Answers? Also, do any researchers have their own service?

There's yahoo! answers, though you have to take a lot of the answers with a grain of salt. Corvus cornix 03:15, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

You might also want to look through howstuffworks. Corvus cornix 03:17, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

I read in the news recently that the Charleston County Public Library reference department takes questions through IM. I'm sure that it will be temporary because they will quickly be overrun by too many stupid questions. --Kainaw ^(talk) 03:23, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Reference Desk, or Experts Exchange. Splintercellguy 04:14, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Google Answers#Alternatives to Google Answers. --Teratornis 06:30, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

I saw quite a few bad answers on Google answers. Yahoo has some misinformation too, but at least you aren't paying $5 a question. If you are willing to pay (say $20 an hour), you might try a site that hooks you up with a consultant / freelancer. Sometimes a specialized site is best. If you want to mod a Commodore 128, the vintage computer forums / newsgroups are much better than a general computing site.172.146.58.73 10:13, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

USB Flash Drive - Cannot Access Files

I use a flash drive to store files from Quick Books. The last time I updated my files I was able to save to the flash drive without any problems. When I try to access my files today, I am getting this error "Quickbooks was unable to create the image file. The disk could be full or you may not have sufficient rights to the data directory.".

I am able to use a different flash drive that has other QuickBooks files on the same computer without any problems. I also tried using the corrupted flash drive on a different computer and I receive the same error. So, I have to think it is a problem with the flash drive itself, and not the computer.

Is my flash drive corrupt? Is there something I can do to fix it without losing the data stored on the drive?

Thanks!

Try opening the flash drive from the "My Computer" option from the "start" button (usually on the lower left). If it won't open, it is a corrupt flash drive. If it does open, then it is more likely that the drive is full. Quickbooks makes a temp file when you open a Quickbooks file. If the flash drive is full, there's no room for the temp file. --Kainaw ^(talk) 03:21, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Not sure if this is the problem in your case, but the weight of a pen drive can cause it to "sag" and lose connection. This usually shows up as no flash drive listed as attached. You can test for this by supporting it's weight with your hand (holding it completely horizontal). If this fixes the problem, then the permanent solution is to get a short USB connection cable which will allow the flash drive to rest on the table without putting strain on the connection. StuRat 05:42, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

How do I deal with halftone artifacts?

I scanned a painting (reproduced at a pretty small scale) from a book at 400 DPI, and it's come out with this repeating halftone pattern on it. Is there any way to deal with that? Using a "despeckle" filter gets rid of the detail and makes it look mushy. I have a lot of paintings to scan from this book, so any sort of specialty tool would be much appreciated. grendel|khan 03:30, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Do you mean moiré pattern? I think Photoshop can correct it. Splintercellguy 04:14, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Ah, I was looking for a descreening filter, but I think scanning any printed matter at 400 DPI is a fool's errand. I reduced it by half, which still gave me 200 DPI, and it looks quite acceptable now. (See Image:Opitz-Dedication of a Synagogue in Alsace-1820.jpg.) grendel|khan 05:06, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Google

I heard the Google will professionally search for a keyword that you choose, but, it costs money. Does anyone know the name of the service? 68.193.147.179 03:49, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

It was called Google Answers, and it's inactive now. There are some alternatives that might prove useful to you. grendel|khan 04:28, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Does ChaCha fit in that list? Pomte 12:05, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

PDF problem

I'm trying to compile a TeX file to PDF. Every time I open the PDF, at some point in the file it give me an error message "Too few operands in path", and shows a blank page. How could I solve this problem? deeptrivia (talk) 04:55, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

When asking technical questions it's important to include details like what software you're using. A minimal example exhibiting the problem would be helpful, too. In your case, a small TeX input that causes the problem, and the names of the TeX -> PDF converter and the PDF viewer you're using would give someone a chance to help you. --TotoBaggins 05:13, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

This is a general pdf problem and happens with Adobe acrobat reader. I doubt it has anything to do with the TeX compiler. Hopefully someone has experience on how to deal with this. deeptrivia (talk) 06:33, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Have you tried it in a different PDF viewer, like Xpdf or KPDF? --h2g2bob 19:06, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Updating a JTable with new information (Java)

I am rather stuck on a part of my program; I am trying to add another row within a JTable, however I can't get the component to update. I have already traced through the debugger (I am using Eclipse), and I am positive that the book is successfully added to the ArrayList, and I am positive the method that adds the data to the two dimensional array used for the data works (it displays initially). I have tried everything that comes to mind, but nothing works. The code that I am trying to use to update the JTable is as follows:

public static void redrawDataTable() {
		//jtblData = null;
		jtblData = new JTable(setJTableData(),colNames);
		JScrollPane jscrpane = new JScrollPane(jtblData);
		disp.add(jscrpane);
		//jtblData.updateUI();
		jtblData.repaint();
		jtblData.setVisible(true);
		disp.setVisible(true);
	}

Since I don't think I (or anyone, for that matter) could debug code without seeing everything in context, I went ahead and put the classes from the Java program on the web here. Any assistance on this confusing conundrum would be greatly appreciated. Kyra_~(talk) 05:14, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

It seems a bit odd that you'd be creating a new JTable every time you redraw the object. The usual way to add a row is to perform some action on the backing TableModel. I'll have a look at your code. grendel|khan 05:58, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I see that you're filling the JTable with a new String[][] every time you want to update it. If you want some other method in the HoldingDisplay class (or elsewhere) to be able to add new rows to the JTable, you're going to have to create a backing TableModel. For what you're doing, you may want to use a simple DefaultTableModel, which supports adding and deleting rows via the addRow and removeRow methods. And lucky for you, DefaultTableModel has a constructor that takes an Object[][] for the data and an Object[] for the column names, which is pretty much what you're starting with. So then, to update the table, you're just going to update its model, instead of recreating the whole table. The Java Tutorial touches on that here. Does that make sense? grendel|khan 06:07, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

The irony is that given this explanation I can explain the problem without seeing the other code after all. When you add a new component to a Container, it is by default added at the bottom of the Z-order. So all your later additions are behind the first one you put in! Of course, the real solution (as grendelkhan provided) is unrelated to this point, but I think the diagnosis is also interesting. --Tardis 03:46, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

.wmv and .mpg files play with no sound

Recently, I downloaded some AVI files from the site www.thisisthusfl.com. Windows Media Player said I didn't have the codec for the files, so I downloaded some codec package from some website (forgot which). With the codecs installed, the AVI players would play, but some of my WMV and MPG started playing without sound. I uninstalled the codec package, but the files still played without sound. I tried upgrading to Media Player 11, but that did not help. Strangely, one of the files plays with sound in RealPlayer but not with Windows Media Player, while some files play with sound in neither and some with sound in both. Any idea what is going on? -- Mwalcoff 08:04, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Get VLC Player. --antilived^{T | C | G} 08:05, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Which codec pack? Most of them are counter-productive in the sense that it messes up what used to work, at least from experience. Combined Community Codec Pack doesn't though, if you want to give that a try and let that decode everything. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 08:56, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

I checked this clip (cached link so you won't overload the server). VLC says the codecs are "cvid" (Cinepack video) and "araw", which is WAVE audio. WAVE is the most basic audio ever made, and should be supported by everything. It plays fine in VLC (but then everything always does :-). By the way, don't download codecs from random websites - codecs can contain viruses and other malware. In fact, there is a trick where videos say they need a special codec and point you to a website where you download the codec with malware in it. This doesn't apply here, but just to warn y'all. --h2g2bob 19:01, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I realize I made a very stupid mistake by downloading a codec from a random website. Unfortunately, I didn't write down the site or name of the codec. I will try the VLC player. Thanks -- Mwalcoff 21:32, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

The Combined Community Codec Pack is pretty good. It uses ffdshow show for most things, which is what VLC uses, though it apparently has somewhat better compatibility in some cases. Other codec packs tend to be iffy, unchecked, closed-source, and with many illegally distributed components. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 17:42, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

VLC uses libavcodec, which is also used by ffdshow. ffdshow is just a directshow splitter, it doesn't actually do any processing --froth^T 21:12, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Agh, d'oh. I keep messing up ffdshow, FFmpeg, and all that. ffdshow is good on its own as well, though the CCCP includes extra codecs where it/libavcodec fail. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 23:14, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

ATI Radeon X1600

How powerful is this graphics card? Specifically, I would like to know technical specifications like core clock speed, support or Pixel Shader 3, and so on. Thanks a lot!--Ryan 20:03, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Did you try the ATI site? --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 20:44, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Yes. They give good info, but i'm looking for an unbiased review (not marketing!).

Try our own article: ATI Radeon X1600. --cesarb 01:57, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Computer System

I am looking to buy a really good computer system, any suggestions? 68.193.147.179 23:19, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm kind of a Mac fanboy, but the iMac is a great computer. Fast, and runs Mac os X. Great for anyone from a beginner (easy to use) to a power user(Unix Core).

It all depends what you want it for. See my comparison of OSs. --h2g2bob 00:40, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

"Good" is subjective. Do you want to use it for gaming? Build it yourself or find someone who can't rip you off like a major OEM will. Do you want to use it for word processing? Buy a $100 computer from a second hand store and use it for that. Using it for multimedia but not gaming? You may want to buy from Dell or another OEM. There is no "good computer system", just as asking "I want to buy a good car" is a meaningless question without any context. -Wooty Woot? contribs 01:29, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

There are no computers today which anyone will likely think are "really good" ten years from now, thanks to Moore's Law. Not even three years from now. Since I tend to look ahead to the future computers that will make all present computers a joke, it's hard for me to think of any present computers as "really good." --Teratornis 05:58, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

As Wooty states, a computer is a tool. A really good tool is one which gets the job done. So, what's the job? For my job, Windows and Macs are both terrible. For my job, I need Unix/Linux machines with tons and tons and tons of RAM and more processing power than is possible to cram into a desktop box. But, I have absolutely no use for 3D graphics, surround sound, DVD players, CD burners, tons of USB ports, special blue lighting around the case... --Kainaw ^(talk) 06:06, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

I looked on wikiHow for maybe some actually useful advice, but How to Buy a New Computer is too short, and kind of unimpressive. At least it's free. --Teratornis 06:25, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

This Article lists some really good computers. -Arch dude 21:33, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

If it is cost no object, I'd get a custom built machine or maxed out Voodoo/Alienware/whatever. I'd have several external drives, a hard drive selector for SATA and PATA, an external patchbay, and about 100 operating systems. I guess my point is that you need to decide what you want to do with the machine, then purchase hardware made for that. If you are cracking ciphers, you need a fast CPU. If you are collecting porn movies, you need a big hard drive.172.146.58.73 09:21, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

A maxed out "high-end PC" like that often has a big premium over simply building it yourself, among problems. I'd never suggest purchasing a high end computer from a manufacturer. Low or lower-mid, fine, but nothing else. The obvious exceptions are laptops, businesses and other bulk purchases, etc. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 17:59, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Build an uber pc similar to what 172 is suggesting, but don't get any kind of botique product like alienware. Get a couple of nVidia SLI cards, of of them fancy PhysX cards, a few terabytes of RAID01 mirrored 3 or 4 times. Get yourself an array of 5 or 6 monitors. Ooh and grab a couple of Montecitos and a ton of memory --froth^T 18:41, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

You can usually customize a high-end PC for a lot cheaper through smaller companies; my favorite has been CyberPower PC; my last 2 computers were through them, I'll be getting another one later this year from them, and a couple friends have also bought repeatedly from them. They offer more choices for customization than any other site I've seen. I'm trying to customize a high-end video editing system (Q6600 quad-core processor, 2GB PC6400 DDR2/800 RAM, ATI X1950, WD740ADFD boot drive plus a large storage drive), and it comes out to about $2600 through them, while it's nearly $4000 through Dell and almost $5000 through Alienware. — BRIAN0918 • 2007-02-26 18:54Z

A lot of computer stores will do this. Try to locate one if your own city; it makes it far easier to return things should they go screwy. I'd still suggest buying components and installing them individually; it gets you the things immediately, and can save you ~$100-200 labour as well as the savings you get from being able to shop around for the individual parts. I've seen how some of computer technicians in the shops around here work (lazily, too quickly), and it doesn't give me great confidence. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 19:05, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

How to make a template?

I was wondering how to make a verticle template that appears on the righthand side of the article like {{Disneyparkinfo}}. I know how to make a horizontal template that appears across the bottom like {{Epcot attractions}}. Can you help me? WDWbuff 23:24, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Just take a look at a few and copy the code. Go to the Template:Disneyparkinfo and Template:Epcot attractions for example. See Help:Template for full details. --h2g2bob 00:37, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

February 26

End user suport

What's the meaning of the End User Suport which is using in computer networking?

I'm sorry, but we are no longer offering End User Support on this question.172.146.58.73 10:19, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Support here means technical support. A networking company (e.g. a router manufacturer) will often receive questions from both end-users, for example someone setting up a home network or having trouble with a network card they purchased, and from network administrators or network engineers, for example an engineer setting up an industrial-strength router. Their end-user support division will be the one providing technical support to the end users' questions. --Delirium 10:24, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

help me buying un upgraded (assembled)PC with only $600

I recently visited HP homepage and find the price too high for the pc i want with audio and video composite input output capability, now i am wondering to minimize cost by building an assembled fast pc but with a brand name case, Like an HP case and Capable Motherboard above all which is capable to run AMD athlon dual core starting from x2 5000 and with a total of 4GB memory capacity ( for which i am going to need for now 2GB), DVD writer and TV tuner. I am mainly going to use it for Video and audio editing with the addition of DVD authoring. the total price i can afford is 600 U.S dollars. So please help me where to locate some one who is able to assemble like this pc for me, or if there isn't such like that any information where i can get the components in USA cheaply so that i build the pc myself.

thanks. ese Esete 08:48, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

You don't really get detailed, hand-holding support here, just so you can save money. I assemble all my computers from parts, but that involves many hours of study, some hundreds of hours of experience, and at lot of time with those twiddly little connectors that aren't meant for humans! --Zeizmic 13:03, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

You can usually customize a high-end PC for a lot cheaper through smaller companies; my favorite has been CyberPower PC; my last 2 computers were through them, I'll be getting another one later this year from them, and a couple friends have also bought repeatedly from them. They offer more choices for customization than any other site I've seen. I'm trying to customize a high-end video editing system (Q6600 quad-core processor, 2GB PC6400 DDR2/800 RAM, ATI X1950, WD740ADFD boot drive plus a large storage drive), and it comes out to about $2600 through them, while it's nearly $4000 through Dell and almost $5000 through Alienware. — BRIAN0918 • 2007-02-26 18:54Z

Also, if you wait until April, the Q6600 should drop in price by about $300 making it a lot more affordable, and definitely better than anything AMD can offer for video editing. — BRIAN0918 • 2007-02-26 19:03Z

4GB of memory on 600 dollars is going to be a tight squeeze for other components --froth^T 20:37, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Unless he means 4 gigs of HDD to store the files he needs for image editing, but I somehow doubt it, considering image/video editing systems usually have loads of RAM. But it's true, 4 gigs of RAM alone will cost about half your budget, then add on to that a good video card, you're pretty much already over. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 22:16, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Half? More like almost all --froth^T 00:54, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

It's about $360 for 4 gigs of corsair RAM, so definately not all. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 03:04, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

---Well, sorry for the misleading i wrote about the RAM, what i mean was to say the capacity of the motherboard to the maximum it can hold, and i have corrected that and i only need 1 or 2 GBs this is related with the price.

I will have a look to Cyberpower and also
i will be glad if some one can point me
if there are other sites that offer like 

cyber for cheap and customizable pcs. thanks Esete 10:33, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Help with javascript

Hi, is there a client-side function in javascript that can imitate the clicking of a button?

For example something like: "clickbutton(document.form_name.button_name);"

My experience with javascript is very limited!

Thanks for any replies!

If you just want to submit the form, you can use document.FormName.submit() — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 11:45, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Use document.getElementById("FormName").submit() where FormName is the ID on the <form> tag. There are one or two cases where this doesn't work, for example, if the form is submitted using a <button> rather than an <input type="submit">, then there may be problems. If so, use document.getElementById("ButtonID").click() (it may be onclick rather than click, I forget for now). But this may not work on all browsers anyway. --h2g2bob 12:06, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

element.click() should simulate the click. onclick refers to the event. Where element is the element in question - in this case, document.form_name.button_name. x42bn6 Talk 14:00, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Slipstreaming software in WinXP

On the web you find many (illegal?) distributions of Windows XP that come pre-compiled with Office, Firefox, Adobe Reader, hotfixes etc, so that once the OS is installed (unattended of course) these programs are already loaded. There are also nifty distros like TinyXP which rip out all but the most basic functionality to give a much leaner and meaner OS, useful for older PC's or special applications. How do they do it, and how easy/hard is it to do yourself? How would you go about it? And is it legal if you've got a legal Windows license? I tend to FFR my PC every six months and it would be handy to create a slipstreamed copy of XP. Zunaid©® 15:23, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

nLite is your friend. Splintercellguy 15:59, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

The legality depends on where you live, and I'm cautious to provide any legal advice here (see the header on the top). It's certainly not wrong morally. Our nLite article could also be useful for a quick summary of it, and the http://www.winaddons.com/ site has several addons (as does the nLite site itself, and a few others). [1] has post-SP2 hotfixes and such. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 17:39, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

ADSL & Cable

Is it possible to have an ADSL wireless router connected to a Cable Modem, and have my laptop running internet from the wireless, AT THE SAME TIME as my desktop running internet from the cable? If so, how should I connect them up? I have found I can only get either one or the other to work at one time (PLUS, after the laptop has been on the internet, the desktop cannot be connected without hours of trial and error reconnecting.

I have a Buffalo AG54 AirStation Wireless Router (plus card for the laptop) and a Motorola SB5100 Surfboard Cable Modem. Both PCs are Win XP.

Any help would be appreciated! CCLemon-ここは寒いぜ！ 18:26, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

I presume your wireless network is connected via a wireless-router with built-in modem? If this is the case you will just need to connect the desktop to the wireless-router with an ethernet cable and configure the internet settings. Alternatively you can buy wireless-cards for desktop computers for around £10 ($20?) and solve the problem that way. I suspect it is not possible to have 2 modems connected to the net on one line (even with a line splitter) but i'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong. ny156uk 19:12, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Debranded or fake?

I just got home, from an independent but fairly established electronics store, a replacement USB cable for my iPod that resembles the original but does not bear the Apple logo anywhere. Also, its UPC (EAN?) of 8-276245-658623 apparently does not belong to Apple. The only text on it aside from the barcode is "Dock Connector", "USB 2.0 Cable" and "White." Is this a counterfeit cable, or has it simply been debranded? If it is counterfeit, are there safety concerns and/or should I expect it to fail sooner? NeonMerlin 20:02, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Sounds to me like it's just a cable. Did it purport to be from Apple? Did the packaging try to give the impression it was from Apple? I don't see why you should need to use an Apple-branded USB cable - it's just a cable! --Seans Potato Business 20:04, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

It's probably just a generic USB cable. Cable is cable :). Splintercellguy 03:52, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Reinstate disk image to different drive

Is it possible to take a drive image from my RAID 0, switch to RAID 1 and reinstate the image, so long as the data on the RAID 0 does not exceed 50% of the RAID 0 (i.e. 100% of the RAID 1) capacity? Or will the image include "deleted" data that is not in the file system or will the drive image expect to be able to use the exact same sector/block locations for all of the data?

Also what free liveCD/DVD solutions are available to take this image and place it in the spare space that I have on an ext3-formatted partition. It's important that it can store the image like just another file, 'cause I don't have any spare drives, just spare space on a drive already containing other data. --Seans Potato Business 20:02, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

I am not familiar with RAID but I think you want to dump an image of the filesystem, not images of the drives. The filesystem is agnostic about any RAID stuff you have going on underneat it. Any live cd with RAID support should let you use dd to copy the filesystem into a file in another filesystem quite easily. Or you should just copy the files over if you don't want to waste any space. -- Diletante 20:45, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Yes, the thing is you don't want any of the RAID metadata. Just take an image of the filesystem, which will be processed through the RAID controller so you end up with a copy of all of your files. like diletante suggested, use dd to stream the image over to your spare drive so you don't run out of space while building the image. Then reconfigure the controller or whatever and re-image your drives based off of the image you built. The data will be processed through the raid controller for writing, and the raid controller will now mirror it. Since the image you made doesn't contain the same sector/block information as the original hard drives (images aren't of the same format as a physical disk) it's completely transparent to the new RAID array --froth^T 21:10, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

No, the image would have the full size of the RAID 0 (it includes not only deleted data, but also the free disk space!), unless you shrink the filesystem to the target size before dumping (and image only the space used by the filesystem). It's much simpler to dump the filesystem contents (for instance, using tar), create a new filesystem, and restore to it; as a bonus, doing that will also remove any leftover filesystem fragmentation. --cesarb 15:31, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

E-mail obfuscation

I've seen a gaggle of sites which use variations of "name(at)domain.com" or "name at domain dot com" and so forth to deter spam.

Does this actually work? I know that one could easily write an address harvester that picks those up as well (it would take a single line of perl to filter them out pretty easily), but do spambot creators bother? It seems like it would be an easy thing to test using some honeypot addresses -- has this been done? What's the best way to do e-mail address obfuscation? I know that one could post them as an image, but that seems clunky and would not allow the blind to access the page. I've seen some schemes that use javascript to encode the addresses in some way though these too would not be too difficult to defeat depending on how the bot was getting the page information.

Any thoughts as to whether these work and what one ought to do? I'm interested in particular in low-skill, low-hassle approaches -- things that would not take much time per address to implement. --24.147.86.187 20:08, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

It may or may not work; it's a lazy webmaster's way of trying to avoid spam bots. You're right that one could easily write bots to look for obfusicated email addresses, so it's best to be safe than sorry. I would suggest creating an image in paint with the email address written in it and then just "My email address is <img src="./email1.jpg" />" or whatever. Alternatively if you want a quicker way, write in MS Paint a "@" sign in the font you're using on the site. Then just write "my email address is bill<img src="./atsign.jpg" />microsoft.com". JoshHolloway 20:51, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Images won't work for anything which requires 1. the ability of the visual impaired to view the page, 2. the ability of those who don't load images to view the page, or 3. the mass-production of said addresses, unless you automate it which is a big additional pain in the neck on top of #1 and #2. --24.147.86.187 03:19, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Well if you make your javascript obfuscation engine complex enough (like not just escape()) that the harvester can't easily rewrite it in perl or something, then if he's too stupid to use rhino he won't be able to use your actual javascript code and stay efficient --froth^T 21:03, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Ethical Hacker Network uses some crazy javascript obfuscation, if you need an example. Another answer I've seen is to do "name@doBUSHmain.com without the fool," or some other more humerous version. --h2g2bob 00:00, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Slashdot does this too, my email is currently shown as oskarsigvardssonNO@SPAMgmail.com (I'm confident in providing my email since it is obfuscated ;) It's pretty fun to come back each week to see what crazyness CmdrTaco is up to know ;) Oskar 17:14, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

See this old report; I don't know if any followups have been done, but the kind of people who spam are quite deliberately looking for the very easiest pickings. --Tardis 18:09, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

That's a great report, thanks. I wonder if there is anything more recent? --24.147.86.187 03:19, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Downloading file in IE > garbled letters to look at

I uploaded a file to my own webspace and when I tried to download it by suppling IE with the address (in the address bar), IE (stupidly) tried to open it and display its garbled contents). Is there any way to download this file with IE. It's a .rar file and I do not have administrative privileges on the computer I'm downloading to. --Seans Potato Business 20:37, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

It sounds like the content-type is not being sent. If it's an actual rar file then it's not that you haven't programmed it to print the program type, which is weird. I suggest you ensure that the upload mode is in ASCII mode rather than binary mode. Other than that, I wouldn't be able to help (but will give that advice as my two cents!). JoshHolloway 20:46, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Wouldn't you want to ensure binary, not ascii? Anyway, just make a hyperlink to the file (or use an existing link) and right-click it then Save target as --froth^T 21:04, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Maybe the wrong Content-type is sent by the web server. Maybe you need to reconfigure it to send the right one. --Spoon! 23:06, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

The remote server is sending the wrong MIME type. If the address is a hyperlink somewhere, right click the link and select Save As. Or just wait for the page to load do File, Save As. --h2g2bob 23:50, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

If the file isn't linked from a web page, make your own link. --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 09:56, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

February 27

MS WORD

In Word '03, when I highlight text and type it doesn't delete the highlighted text, how do I fix that?

Go to the Tools-->Options, and then on the "Edit" tab, the first checkbox is "Typing replaces selection". - Akamad 06:13, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Refreshing Problem

When I visit a website like Wikipedia, then refresh the page I do not get the latest version of the page. I have to right click on the article a click open in new window to receive a new version. Does anybody know how to fix this? 68.193.147.179 01:10, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

You can either disable cache or use ctrl+refresh to reload from scratch. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 01:14, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

The details depend on the browser. You should check out Wikipedia:Bypass your cache. Spiral Wave 01:15, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

AOL 9.0 SE E-Mail Problem

When I write a message from the program AOL, AOL adds on AOL.com AD on the bottom of the message 10 spaces after the messaged ended. But, it is only supposed to be there if I email from www.AOL.com. Does anyboby know why this is happening? 68.193.147.179 01:12, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

They seem to be adding ads everywhere to pay for their new "free" e-mail. That apparently means free of cost, not free of annoyances. StuRat 05:35, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

That's the free as in "free beer" but the waitress spit into it :D Aetherfukz 15:53, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

PSP

I have a Sony PSP which I purchased last December. It was dropped the other week and since then it has kept freezing when I turn it on and sometimes won't even boot up. Does anyone know how I could fix it? I've heard of people putting theirs through way worse so I'm hoping it can be fixable. I bought it interstate and I don't know where the receipt is. Mix Lord 01:17, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

You've probably knocked something ajar inside it. I've dropped mine and had no problems, but who knows. Unless you're just saying that to cover up the fact you screwed installation of a homebrew loader, simply send it back to Sony, they'll fix it. -Wooty Woot? contribs 01:37, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

No, I find that honesty seems to be the best policy here on the reference desk. At least when asking questions anyway. Do you think anything in it would be user serviceable? And would I still need a receipt to claim it under warranty?

Mix Lord 22:39, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Firmware in low-end GPS units

Hi,

I am interested in who makes/provides the firmware (or perhaps it's a basic operating system) that runs the common, low-end GPS units commonly available. Not the higher-end models that run run Windows CE, but the monochrome, basic system seen on basic GPS systems.

Is there a single company that on-sells this OS to Garmin, Magellan and others?

Thanks. 130.101.152.94 01:45, 27 February 2007 (UTC)MJH

Desktop publishing programs

What are the relative merits of Scribus, QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign when it comes to typesetting books? The Adobe InDesign article says that books are usually typeset in QuarkXPress, but what makes this software preferable?

Also, does Scribus have support for ligatures, swash characters, and all the wonderful things that come with OpenType fonts? --Siva 02:35, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Selective proxy use in Firefox?

Today I needed to access a site that's theoretically available only in the U.S. To circumvent this restriction, I used an open proxy. But the proxy is probably slower than my direct connection. What I'd like to do is enable the proxy only for that one site (and possibly others I'll specify later) and disable it for all others. I know you can set Firefox to use the proxy by default and turn it off for specific sites, but is it possible to do the opposite? NeonMerlin 06:12, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

I know only of Torbutton. Though it's intended for Tor, you can set the proxy settings for whatever you wish. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 06:14, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

I think Coral Cache would appear to be in the US. This can be accessed by changing site.com/page to site.com.nyud.net:8090/page. --h2g2bob 04:03, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

You can write a proxy auto-config file for yourself. The syntax isn't particularly difficult, it's just fairly simple JavaScript code. Yours might look something like:

function FindProxyForURL (url, host) {
    if ( dnsDomainIs(host, ".somesite.us") )
        return "PROXY proxy.someproxy.com:8080; DIRECT";
    else
        return "DIRECT";
}

—Ilmari Karonen (talk) 08:28, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

iPod memory

I have a 60GB iPod which is almost full. Both iTunes and the settings screen on the iPod tell me that I have 515 MB available. But when I try and copy a single short song to the iPod, iTunes tells me that there is no space. So why isn't that 515 MB available to me? I've tried resetting the iPod but it doesn't help. Many thanks. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 06:53, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

My guess is that you have half a gig allocated to firewire disk usage (as in data storage). --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 06:58, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks very much for this. So does that mean the iPod needs that half a gig to operate? Or can I free it up somehow? --Richardrj ^{talk email} 08:09, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

I think you're misunderstanding what User:Wirbelwind is saying. An iPod has a setting where you can allocate a certain amount of space to be used for data storage (e.g. text documents, presentations, etc.). That 515 MB might be set aside for that. If so, you can change the settings of the iPod to not use any of the harddrive for data storage. Dismas|^(talk) 09:33, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

No misunderstanding, I can assure you. My second question was just for clarification, i.e. I was asking if the amount of memory allocated to data storage can be changed by the user. From your response, it sounds like it can, so I'll need to look into how I can do that. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 11:45, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

OK, so I've now looked through the settings both on my iPod and on iTunes, and I can see no way to tell it that I don't want to use the hard drive for data storage. I don't currently have anything stored on it except songs. Am I missing something obvious? Many thanks once again. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 16:47, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

You haven't said whether you're on a Mac or a PC but I would think this would be the same on both systems... Connect your iPod, open iTunes, on the left you will see your playlists, library, and devices listed. Click on the iPod. This should display info about the iPod in the main window. In the "Options" section of that screen, there should be a checkbox that says "Enable disk use" next to it. Make sure this is unchecked. Dismas|^(talk) 22:13, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks very much, I'd seen that and thought it might be the answer. The checkbox is indeed ticked, but it's greyed out (I'm on a Mac) because I've also checked the option to manage my iPod songs and playlists manually rather than have them automatically sync with my iTunes library. I have to keep that option checked because I don't keep copies of my music on my hard drive (I have it all on CD). I don't see why the two checkboxes should be related, but they obviously are. Which kind of stumps me. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 22:20, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

A certain amount of your hard-drive is taken up with system-files that the iPod requires to operate. This shouldn't show in the available-space however. The only other thing I can think of other than space being dedicated to 'data storage' is that a portion of the hard-drive may have corrupted, leaving it unusable.

depending on your version of iTunes this (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61131) link may help. If you still cannot recover the file-space for songs I would consider resetting your iPod as I understand it this will remove all your songs from your iPod , as that may resolve the issue. ny156uk 18:26, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

The iPod generally has two partitions by defualt: the firmware partition and the data partition. The firmware partition will range from 10MB to even 100MB, I don't know, but certainly not 500MB. The data partition is used for everything else; iTunes prefs, iPod settings, your music, calendars, notes. So, you should be able to copy your music. Also, if there were bad blocks, iTunes would most likely say "I/O error", not "Disk full". --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 09:54, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

"System Restore" on MAC OS X

How is it possible to get my MAC iBook to restore itself to a previous date, like the System Restore option in Windows? In fact, is it possible? MAC Help was no use to me, as either I don't know what the keyword is (i.e. the name of the process), or it just doesn't exist. Thanks in advance! CCLemon-ここは寒いぜ！ 10:00, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm fairly certain there isn't one, at least not one as smooth in Mac OS X. They're going to introduce such a feature (in fact, a much more advanced one since it keeps track of versions of individual files) in Leopard called Time Machine Oskar 18:16, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

No, but a past article on either MacWorld or MacAddict tells you how you can build your own System Restore disks from the System Restore disks that came with your iBook, which is close enough. kelvSYC 22:06, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Before Leopard, Mac OS X accomplishes this through 3rd party apps. I have something in my prefpanes called "Deja Vu" which came with a suite of Roxio software. [Mαc Δαvιs] X (How's my driving?) ❖ 03:51, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Google Earth

Does anybody know how long it takes the free version of Google Earth to pick up on Wikipedia articles. I noticed and changed the coordinates for Ottawa/Rockcliffe Water Aerodrome on the 16 February because it was showing up at Cambridge Bay. It is still shown on Google Earth at the same place as Cambridge Bay Water Aerodrome. The main thing is that because the coordinates for most of the airports in the Yukon were entered in the format DD|MM|SS|00|W they all appear in Russia. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 10:02, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Google Earth is not hitting Wikipedia live. (Which is probably a good thing.) I presume they're working from our database dump files, and as you may know, those don't exatly come out with clockwork regularity -- the last one completed on 2007-02-11. At best they come out once a month or so, and I don't know how avid Google is being about picking up the new ones. --Steve Summit (talk) 20:04, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 00:27, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Another MAC question

I have a Japanese iBook, but unfortunately the keyboard is set to UK settings for some bizarre reason (I bought it in Japan - it's just a coincidence that I'm from the UK). Anyway, I want to set the keyboard back to Japanese settings (e.g. so that single quotation marks are SHIFT+7, etc.) so I can reduce my typos. Anyone have any idea? CCLemon-ここは寒いぜ！ 10:04, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

There should be a language preference in the preferences. I'm not in front of my Mac right now otherwise I'd be able to point you exactly to it. One of the options for that setting is to have a flag representing the current language setting. The flag would be up in the upper right corner next to the clock. If the flag is there, you can pull down the menu for it and change the settings there. Dismas|^(talk) 11:51, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

What Dismas said. I'm not in front of my Mac either, but if you can't find the flag, I'm pretty sure there's a Language box in System Preferences where you should be able to change the settings. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 12:09, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! I have tried both of those, but I can't get the keyboard to write Roman letters as printed on the actual keys on the keyboard when in Roman letters mode (i.e. with an 'A' in a box). It's just a minor embuggerance, as I'm using both Japanese and UK computers simultaneously, and I've got to keep reminding myself which type of keyboard I'm using. It just slows my typing speed down. I'll work it out. Cheers! CCLemon-ここは寒いぜ！ 13:07, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

I assume that you have enabled both a Roman layout and the Kotoeri layout for Japanese. If not, enable them via the International Preference pane (in System Preferences). Then use Command-Space to switch to the layout you need. You may have pressed Command-Space (or either Command-Shift-Space or Command-Option-Space, depending on your prefs) accidentally, which forces the keyboard layout to change. The procedure is similar to classic Mac OS, but I do not recall what it is off the top of my head. kelvSYC 22:09, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Loopback

why can't a pc from the same building on a different floor can not connect to the network on a different floor. in the same building.

Rephrase your queston since at this point it makes no sense. Splintercellguy 15:59, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

It can, and much further than that, considering that I'm writing this to you from a building far away from yours. As for doing so on a single cable, as your node title seems to indicate, Ethernet physical layer has material about distance limits for that medium. In the future, it would be good to sign your posts with ~~~~, and also to include key details like what kind of network you're talking about. --TotoBaggins 16:34, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Just going out on whim here. I'm heavily assuming that you mean there's a wireless LAN network in a building, where a computer can connect fine, but another computer on a different floor cannot. Wireless LAN networks have a limited range, and it can deteriorate through walls, and the second computer is out of range in that case and needs something like an wireless access point in between to connect the second computer. If this doesn't help, then please rephrase your question and supply us with more details. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 19:03, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

There are lots of reasons for a network not to work properly. Your PC could have an improper netmask or default gateway address set. The building's network could be misconfigured. The computers in your building might all be using NAT in such a way that they can reach machines in the outside world just fine, but not each other. If you can give us more information about your machine, and the machine you're trying to reach, and how, and how it fails, we might be able to give you some more specifically-applicable information. —Steve Summit (talk) 01:40, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

How does this whole "bootstrapping" thing work, anyway?

When I start my computer, a nice little 1980s style menu shows up on my screen asking me if I want to boot Ubuntu or Windows XP. If I don't pick anything, GRUB (for that is what I am using) will boot Ubuntu 7 seconds later. This menu and and configuration is stored on my linux partition at /boot/grub/menu.lst, and I can easily edit it in Ubuntu (or windows). My question is this: how does this whole thing work? I mean, the MBR is 512 bytes long, 446 of which is machine-code dedicated to launching the OS. Since 446 bytes ain't a whole lot of room to put code in (certainly not if you want a cool 1980s style menu!), I'm assuming it executes some code stored in my linux partition. That code then loads the menu.lst file and displays my options. But to do this, doesn't the computer have to mount a file system? I mean, how would the MBR-code find the GRUB-code stored in linux or the menu file, if it couldn't use a file system? And to mount a file system, don't you need the linux-kernel running? I mean, finding and opening is a system-call which the kernel sends to the correct driver, right? Does GRUB actually boot a tiny operating system, only to shut it down when I choose to start my "real" operating system? Or does it boot linux proper? I mean, it has to be able to read any number of types of file-systems, from Ext2 to ReiserFS to VFS, right? What's going on when I start my computer? Oskar 17:27, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

You're right about the stages of booting- the MBR only contains the code to load up GRUB stage 2. The "code" to read off the hard drive is in the hard drive firmware as part of the LBA abstraction. I guess that 512 bytes must be enough to get some kind of rumedial filesystem running to walk the ext3 tree to find and stream the grub code into memory. If you look at the grub binary files, there are a ton of different tiny files that each are optimized to find the grub stage 2 code for each filesystem. So if your /boot is in reiserfs, then when you install grub to the MBR, the grub setup copies this reiser-optimized boot code into the MBR. It must be extremely optimized, and almost certainly programmed by hand in machine code --froth^T 19:33, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Actually, no, the filesystem driver is written in C. See my answer below. --cesarb 19:59, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

On my fedora system, /boot is an ext3 filesystem! This surprises me. I figured it would be FAT. No matter. What happens at boot time is:

1. The level 0 bootstrap code (in ROM) loads the MBR into memory and jumps to it.
2. The MBR code (level 1 bootstrap) identifies the selected partition and loads the first sector of that and jumps to it.
3. For MSDOS and NT, this sector is called the boot sector and it contains the BIOS parameter block (BPB). Its job is to find the "boot file" to load and jump to it. In NT/W2K/XP, the rest of the file is contiguous right after boot sector. In MSDOS/FAT, it begins in cluster number 2. The basic code is like 2K or 4K long, and contains logic to parse the filesystem. In the case of grub, I looked at the /boot/grub directory to see what I could learn. There are two interesting entries:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    512 Mar 30  2006 stage1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 102332 Mar 30  2006 stage2

I bet the boot sector loads stage1 and stage1 loads stage2. With a little careful programming, the boot sector code can be used by the stage1 code to leverage 1024 bytes of honoring basic filesystem structures like simple inodes, scan directories looking for pathnames, etc. This all assumes the files are simple and don't require all the features of the filesystem, like security access checking, 4 GB long files, symbolic links, etc., etc. It does not need to understand any kind of filesystem—just the one that it is installed on. Stage2 with 100K is more than enough to show text mode menus, play music, parse complicated filesystems, etc. —EncMstr 19:45, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

The stage1 can load the stage2 directly (bypassing the filesystem; the sectors with the stage2 are recorded when GRUB is installed), but it's not usually done. Usually it loads the stage 1.5 from the remaining sectors on the first track (see my answer below), which then loads the stage2 from the filesystem. --cesarb 19:59, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Usually, when GRUB is installed on the MBR (the stage 1), it also installs the "stage 1.5" on the following sectors of the first track (for historical reasons, the first partition starts on the second logical track, leaving a full track of wasted sectors, which are used by several bootloaders and some copy protection systems). The MBR is enough to load the stage 1.5, which has a full read-only filesystem driver for the filesystem of the partition where /boot is (this is why there are several versions of the stage 1.5). It then loads the stage 2, which has all the filesystem drivers, the menu code, and everything else. As an aside, when it's not possible to use the stage 1.5 (for instance, when GRUB is installed on a floppy or a partition boot sector), it directly loads the stage 2, bypassing the filesystem (which can cause problems if the data blocks with the stage2 file are ever moved; the same problem also happens with LILO, which does not have a filesystem driver). --cesarb 19:53, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

So you are saying that stage 1.5 has enough room for code in it to contain a primitive file system driver that can read the /boot part of the file system? It's big enough, like a couple of KiBs? That's pretty darn cool. If I understand you correctly, if there isn't such a track GRUB simply hard-codes what part of the hard drive that contains stage2 and simply jumps there, right? Can I just say: this kinda stuff is awesome :)

But what if /boot isn't in a "simple" file system like ext2, but in something fairly exotic like VFS or JFS? Do you still use those kinds of drivers in stage 1.5? Do you have to custom make them, since there isn't a kernel? Or do you use the other method and simply jumps to the pre-recorded position of stage2? Oskar 23:41, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Actually, read-only filesystem drivers (which is what grub uses) are much simpler than read-write filesystem drivers, even in more exotic filesystems. You don't have to custom make them; the default installation of grub already has all possible drivers (each on its own stage 1.5 file, the installer choses which one to use depending on the filesystem it will have to read; the stage2 has them all compiled together). And usually /boot is a simple filesystem (often ext3, which grub treats as ext2), since there is no real benefit of a complex filesystem for something that's so rarely used (read on boot by grub, written when installing a new kernel/initrd or changing the boot configuration, and the rest of the time doing nothing). On my system, grub has stage 1.5 files for ext2, FAT, JFS, MINIX, ReiserFS, and XFS. --cesarb 00:27, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Very cool. Thank you for clarifying this! Oskar 02:24, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Distributed chess program...?

Is there yet a distributed chess program designed to utilize the power of thousands of personal computers over the Internet to play a game of chess like the SETI program that uses distributed programming to search for life in outer space? 71.100.171.80 19:25, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Something like this: Chess960@home? Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 20:14, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Yes! Thanks. 71.100.171.80 21:31, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Unless you are a true genius at chess, I would expect a single computer chess program can provide all the challenge you need. StuRat 05:26, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Actually my own personal ability to concentrate and win at chess against a personal computer program long ago proved to be inadequate even at beginner and intermediate levels. All of my losses revealed the problem to be insignificant moves I had overlooked which proved to me anyway that the ability to consider every possibility is a strength which a computer has and which I lack. Therefore my interest evolved into one of wondering what other strengths might be exploited which computers have such as distributed programming. My interest is not in playing a game of chess against a distributed computer program but in seeing how the personal computer programs I have rate such a program as an opposing player, which takes me to my next question... 71.100.171.80 11:29, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

I don't believe any computer comes anywhere close to being able to consider every possible move until the game's conclusion. If you figure an average of 20 possible moves per turn, and 60 moves turns for each player per game, that would be 20^120 total "games" possible or 1.33 x10^156. Computers can, however, consider far more moves than a person can. In both cases, though, the critical skill is an accurate "pruning algorithm" to chop off the silly branches of possibilities without wasting much time on them. For example, there's no point at looking into pawn development moves when you are in danger of checkmate, whether you're human or a computer. StuRat 18:16, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

What does "20 moves per turn, and 60 moves for each player" mean? Black Carrot 06:03, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Moves per turn are how many possible moves there are available for a player to make each turn. Moves for each player is approximate how many turns ae in an average game. Nocternal 15:00, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

That's right, I've now clarified my comments above. StuRat 19:08, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Downloading sun java packages

Hi all,

I downloaded a piece of source code that requires Java files from sun.plugin.javascript. Naturally I've searched the web and sun.com, but I can't find where I'd get such packages. Anyone have any idea?

Thanks! -Mary — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.96.110.73 (talk • contribs) 20:51, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

After a quick look on Google Code Search, it looks like it's part of Sun's browser plugin implementation. The jar file for it seems to be htmlconverter.jar, which however does not seem to exist on Sun's 64-bit JVM. I would recommend avoiding it; it does not seem to be portable and is probably for internal use only. --cesarb 22:09, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

spam help

hi, I have a spam problem on outlook express running windows xp. i get about 15 per day "giberish stock quotes" and "returned mail" . my isp is orange and my email is "fsnet.co.uk" the old freeserve one.

can you help?

I tried to set up a spam folder but it failed!

thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.105.76.80 (talk • contribs) 21:55, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

• Usually when one gets the "returned mail" spam, it means that someone that you know has a virus, and you are on their email mailing list somewhere. One good way of stopping it is to simply change your email address, and let your freinds know that they may have a virus, and for them to be extra careful with Virus protection. Zeno333 01:35, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

February 28

Does this type of user interface have a name?

IDE-style_interface is what the article calls it, but not much can be found by way of links. So is this a made-up concept? What say the GUI experts out there, anyone? dr.ef.tymac 01:41, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Forgetful computer

Two questions about memory. I have a 2 x 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon ("quad-core") Mac Pro which uses 667MHz DDR2 Fully Buffered DIMM memory units/connectors. I purchased the computer with bare bones memory, two 512MB units. My questions are thus: Other than taking up more DIMMs per unit memory is there any difference between using two 512MB units; and using a single 1MB unit? Also, if I were to purchase heterogeneous memory units (different capacities and manufacturers), is there any importance to the order in which the units are installed in the machine? That is, if there are eight DIMMs all in a line, is there a difference between alternating 512MB and 1GB; or putting all 1GB units together, then all 512MB units. Thank you for any help, these Buffered DDR2 units are not cheap! ^tucker/_rekcut 03:30, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

It's Come to my attention that the memory must be installed in risers in groups of two, so to modify the second question, is there any difference between putting four units on one riser, or splitting it up into two risers? And does having homogenous memory units change the answer to this? Sorry if I'm confusing, there are just a lot of permutations... ^tucker/_rekcut 03:41, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure if I can answer your question because I don't use Macs and I don't know what risers you're talking about. But here's what I do know. Intel CPUs use different modules for odd and even memory addresses, since the beginning. This is why on modern Intel-based motherboards, it's best to put matched RAM, one for the odd and the other for the even. They recommend not only the same brand when you're matching two chips (they have to be identical sizes when you match them), you get chips from the same batch. The same batch means that the CMOS devices are doped (they're made) under the same conditions, leading to a greater compatibility between the two. This is why you find companies selling matched sticks of RAM, and that's what that means.

When you matched the RAM, you match them by size. A 1GB with a 1GB, a 512MB with a 512MB, etc. There isn't really any difference in putting the 1GBs first then the the 512MBs, or vice versa, except for when it seeps over to the next chip. For example, say you're using 1GBs in the first slot, then the 512s, it won't use the second chip till you fill up the 1GB chip. If you use the 512s then the 1GBs, it seeps to the 1GBs faster. But as for benefits, there really isn't any that I know of.

As for putting them on different risers, if I'm thinking of the right things (where you connect two RAM chips to an adaptor that then connects to the motherboard), it's generally slower because there's more address decoders the system has to go through (the extra one to choose which chip on the riser), thus it's better to spread it out over as many risers as you can. Hope something in here helped. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 05:48, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

A MacWorld report says that performance significantly rises (+25% or +50%) when there are 4 DIMMs installed compared to two, with no significant performance increases between four and more. So as long as four or more chips are installed, you should be able to milk the most from your Mac Pro. kelvSYC 22:13, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Distributed medical research programming via the Internet...?

Are there any distributed medical programs which can use the power of thousands of personal computers over the Internet to do medial research like the SETI program that uses distributed programming to search for life in outer space? 71.100.171.80 11:30, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Take a look at Folding@home. Cheers, Davidprior 11:44, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Also see List of distributed computing projects. Davidprior 13:08, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Add page with new significance to existing page

How do we have to behave in the following situation, in order to operate in line with the wikipedia behaviour guidlines. E.g. the page which explains Tendency exists already, now a company named Tendency would like to add their company description in an objective way to this page. What should they do? tx 62.101.100.5 12:06, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

If (and only if) the company meets the requirements of Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies), you could create a page called Tendency (company) and create a link to it on Tendency. Cheers, Davidprior 13:02, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

If you're involved with this company in some way, please also read Wikipedia:Autobiography and Wikipedia:Conflict of interest. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 14:45, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

In general, the Wikipedia:Disambiguation for guidelines covers this issue. - Akamad 16:56, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

media player

why does windows media player suck so much at being on random? - i.e. always wanting to play a song that has just already been played. (i have the new version - 11 i think it is)

is there any way to get it working better? this is really starting to annoy me, it have thousands upon thousand of songs to pick from why must it pick the one that was on a minute ago, to me that doesnt seem all that random Rickystrapp 16:59, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

• Have you tried turning on shuffle?--VectorPotential^Talk 16:59, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

yeah its on shuffle Rickystrapp 17:08, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

• And it's repeating the same songs? I guess whatever algorithm they use isn't very effective--VectorPotential^Talk 17:13, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

The problem with 'random' is that we humans find patterns/sequences in anything. For instance you might want to 'note' the random-order for say 100 songs and see what occurs. You probably won't find 100 unique songs even if your library has 10,000 songs. I know in iTunes they now have a 'songs by same artist to appear less/more often' slider because users complained. The random-generator is correctly random, you just remember the 'hits'. This selective-memory is one reason why psychics etc. are believed in by so many. ny156uk 17:17, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Rather than being truly random, it should randomly select songs, then randomly pick again if the selection was played recently (say it's in the last 50% of songs in the library). So, if you had 10,000 songs in the library, it should keep randomly selecting until it finds one that isn't one of the last 5,000 songs played. Or, better still, they could only randomly pick from the 5,000 songs which haven't been played recently. StuRat 17:30, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

At the moment i would say at at least one in 8 songs is one that has been played in the very recent past(a lot of the time though it may be that a song is played then it will move to a random song then back to the one it just played i.e song A -> song Q -> back to song A). This definately occurs more frequently if i skip the song because i didnt want to hear that one, and of course that winds me up even more becasue it one i don't want to hear. Over a period of time it becomes increasbly noticable and rather annoying. There has to be some sort of solution to this, bar dragging and dropping the songs into a playlist (as this somewhat defeats the object of 'random'). Maybe it serves me right for using a microsoft product. Rickystrapp 17:50, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

In the playlist pane, you can tell it to randomize the order of the items. I'm not on a Windows computer right now so I can't detail exactly where you click to do that, but it shouldn't be hard to find. If you do that, you certainly won't hear the same song twice until everything has played (unless you have duplicates, of course). -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 18:06, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

python import: avoiding naming collisions

Having a little trouble finding documentation or help on a particular naming collision problem. I am dealing with the following situation:

   c:/foo/alpha/mymodule.py
   c:/foo/bravo/mymodule.py
   c:/foo/charlie/mymodule.py

   c:/baz/caller.py

Someone horribly saw fit to name all the modules "mymodule.py" and now I cannot figure out how to get the import statements to work unambiguously. Assume renaming the files is unfortunately not an option.

   sys.path.insert(0,'c:/foo/alpha')
   import mymodule as ModAlpha

   sys.path.insert(0,'c:/foo/bravo')
   import mymodule as ModBravo

This-a no-worky! In the "other" language perl, you could do

   require"c:/foo/bravo/mymodule.pl"; ### python have an equivalent?

I know this is bad "programming form" but just assume for this case I am stuck with this layout and situation beyond my willing. Anyone care to shed some light? NoClutter 17:36, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Insert a blank file named __init__.py into C:/foo/(alpha|bravo|charlie) (if there isn't one already), and add C:/foo to sys.path. Then, your code looks like this:

 from alpha import mymodule as alphamodule
 from bravo import mymodule as bravomodule
 from charlie import mymodule as charliemodule

By the way, comp.lang.python (linky to it in mailing list form) is a good place to ask Python questions, and you'll likely get a real veteran or two responding, instead of rather mediocre anonymous users. 88.111.161.53 19:03, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Java static keyword

Could anyone tell me the difference between a static variable and a non-static variable, in dumbed-down language? Does static allow a variable to be referenced through all instances of a class (so say variable is a static variable in a class TestClass, to reference the "global" variable will be TestClass.variable, but for an instance, test.variable?). x42bn6 Talk 17:51, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

TestClass.variable and test.variable point to the same thing; if one is changed, the other is changed. 'static' means that the variable is attached to the class, rather than instance variables which are attached to the particular object. [2] is a nice, brief overview. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 18:04, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Ah, so static variables are like a variable that points to the same reference for each instantiated class, while non-static gives each class its own reference to its own variable? x42bn6 Talk 01:46, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, and with classes which are static, you don't have to create instances of them to use them. --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 09:39, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

computer to stereo

Is it possible for me to listen to music from my computer, on a stereo, which is located in a seperate room?

Assuming you have a long enough speaker cable and a headphone jack on your computer, I don't see why not. Of course you'd probably have to run the thing through an amp--VectorPotential^Talk 18:31, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

If it's a stereo, it would probably do that itself, wouldn't it? (And the computer needs to do some sort of amplification before feeding its speakers...) You may need to get an adapter to go from the 3.5mm ("1/8 inch") jack on your computer to the two 1/4" (or "RCA") plugs that your stereo probably accepts. That is, unless your sound card and stereo support some form of digital audio cable thingie. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 18:41, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Airport Express does this, I have one - it works very well. I guess there is a pc-specific product somewhere. ny156uk 19:12, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

A Mac is a PC :/. If you mean Windows or Linux, the article has links to Airtunes implementations for both. There are other devices that do the same thing but with more features, better controls, a display, etc. Squeezebox (network music player) is a good example of that. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 19:19, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Most computers have 3 audio jacks in the back. One is a microphone/line-in jack (rather poor since line-in and microphone signals are very different). One is line-out. The other is a headphone jack. The line-out is intended to be run into the line-in of a receiver. Once it is on the receiver, you run it to an amp and speakers as you do with any other line-in source. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:46, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Personally, I would run a mini-to-1/4-inch cable from the line out on the computer. Connect it to an input on you mixer, so you use the mixer as an amp. This should amplify the signal sufficiently so you can use a stripped XLR to run to your stereo system Freedomlinux 04:29, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Just realized that my setup may be unreasonable for many users... I was just making it out of things sitting around the studio. I also have a device (well, a set of devices) that accept standard RCA audio, and transmit over your home's electrical wiring. Handy for shoving audio to obscure places without running wire. I must shamefacedly admit that I have used them in an event venue to run a remote monitor (instead of a professional setup). Ask about them at a store such as Radio Shack Freedomlinux 04:29, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Flight Sim X

I have a new copy of the flight simulator. I installed it. All the computer requirements are good, however when i attempt to play it says i do not have enough disk space. I have a 250GB Hard drive so i have no idea why it won't work. Any Tips would be nice.--logger 19:32, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

How much of your 250GB hard drive is not being used? --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:43, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

206GB are free--logger 20:26, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Is the drive partitioned. How much is free on C. Lots of programs assume they are being installed to C only.

Drive is not partitioned.--logger 08:11, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Of course the drive is partitioned! You must use partition to use a modern file system!!!! ggrrr --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 09:40, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Pardon me, I don't see why? It is possible with modern operating systems to address above 130G. Namely XP with SP2 which can see my whole secondary 250G drive. Of course it is impractical as you would want to partition C to something between 10G and 50G, but technically there is nothing wrong with a 250G C drive. Logger what OS/patch are you using? Sandman30s 10:56, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Because, even if you have only one partition covering the whole drive, the drive is partitioned. I don't think anybody uses a raw unpartitioned drive on a PC, as the loss of disk space is minimal, and it avoids confused operating systems accidentally overwriting your data. --cesarb 15:48, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I am Using Windows Vista Home Premium.--logger 19:16, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

WinXP system font name?

I know Vista uses a new font called Segoe. But what did XP use? --Navstar 20:02, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Tahoma — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 21:45, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Any moderns flight sims have A-10 Warhogs?

I'm looking for a flight sim that has a realistic cockpit and HUD of an A-10 Warthog. Are any available for Microsoft Flight Sim X? --Navstar 20:05, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Lock On: Modern Air Combat maybe?--antilived^{T | C | G} 03:27, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I can confirm LO:MAC does have A-10s as a flyable vehicle (and it is quite fun). I really wish rigid sims weren't such a niche market, I would kill for a new AH-64 Apache sim. Cyraan 05:19, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

2 IP address

My Internet connection tab shows My IP is 10.0.7.101. BUT Wikipedia shows different IP 202.79.18.2. Why this is happening?? Will it creat any problem?? Which IP should I mention in Infobox?--NAHID 22:16, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Hello. 10.0.7.101 is your internal IP address, whereas 202.79.18.2 is your external one. 202.79.18.2 should be used in your infobox. 10.0.7.101 is used for your home network, and no one on the internet will ever know this. See Private network and IP Address for more information. JoshHolloway 22:28, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

The article which best explaing what you are seeing is Network Address Translation. --cesarb 22:34, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

InDesign

Where can one find a free InDesign tutorial online that gives instructions on how to create a book (with TOC, index, etc.), rather than how to create a flyer or a magazine? Do any such exist? --Siva 23:35, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

March 1

Way to "trace" an IP number?

Is there a way to get an street address from an IP number? I was thinking about one of those movie hacker scenarios that doesn't have to be completely real, but just has to be based in reality. So my hacker has an IP number from an email. He hacks into the phone company to match it against their DSL modems. He finds a match and the phone company has the billing address on file. Does that sound plausible? I guess the only hole would be trying to find which ISP owns the TCP number. Thoughts? --Navstar 02:18, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Is there a way to get an street address from an IP number?

Not unless you're the ISP, a very bad person at the ISP, or the police with a subpoena for the ISP. Using some extrapolation and known databases, you can often figure out a general geographic location for an IP, but usually nothing more.

So my hacker has an IP number from an email. He hacks into the phone company to match it against their DSL modems.

The whole "getting into the ISP's logs and billing records" is the tricky part. It's very easy to figure out which ISP owns which IP address. Those are usually very protected systems that aren't designed to be accessible from outside networks. That being said, sensitive data slipups have certainly happened in the past, so you couldn't rule out the possibility. The only real fallacy in this thinking is that "anything can be hacked through purely technological means given a clever enough person", which really isn't true. In fact, some of the most clever hacks have involved a lot of social manipulation and diving through dumpsters. It's usually negligence that causes data to fall into the wrong peoples' hands, not a flaw in the system (though security flaws certainly turn up regularly and are sometimes exploited). -- mattb @ 2007-03-01T02:26Z

Word Retrieval

Is it true that MicroSoft Word files keep track of everything you've typed, including what's been deleted? (Deleted as in backspace, not deleted as in erasing the file.) If so, how do you retrieve that? I'd be interested in going back over things I've written and seeing how I came up with them. Black Carrot 04:33, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I think MS Word can keep revisions, I just don't know how... search the Tools menu. --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 09:42, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

It's called "reviewing"; if you go View->Toolbars->Reviewing, you can activate the reviewing menu. However, you'll need to have "track changes" activated on the Reviewing menu. Incidently, you should deactivate track changes if you happen to be a Government employee; all sorts of sensitive information has been found by clicking on the "show all changes" option[3]. Laïka 12:37, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Nifty. I'm not sure that's what I'm looking for, though. I went through the tutorial on it, and it's for red-penning something that's otherwise finished, and the markup is deleted as the changes are accepted. I was thinking more along the lines of keystroke tracking or previous save points or something. Black Carrot 05:59, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Lockpicking/Cryptography quotation?

There was a quotation by a nineteenth-century (or thereabouts) locksmith, which could be applied surprisingly well to modern cryptography and full-disclosure security debates. Does anyone know what it was? grendel|khan 05:38, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I could guess it would be along the lines of saying they could make any lock secure, but it would require a huge key. StuRat 17:52, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Left and right handed Dvorak on OS X

Does anyone know if there is a way to install left and right handed dvorak keyboard layouts on OS X?

Thank you,

Does this help? Mabris 23:39, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Excel number formats

Is it possible to create an Excel number format so that instead of displaying a number as 1.473E-03, it displays it as 1.473x10^-3, or better yet as 1.473x10^-3? Laïka 12:26, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

This Excel number formatting article should help. Droud 13:25, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

pc freezes before xp loads

i can't figure why my pc won't start; please helpIpeariso 14:02, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

By "freezes", what do you mean exactly? Is it not starting at all, does it start partially and then stop, does it display any error message? Does it beep? -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 15:22, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

And also, what stage does i freeze. For example, does it stop before any windows logos appear on the screen? - Akamad 20:11, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Data Retrieval - Expensive?

I run a 160Gb Lacie external firewire drive in conjunction with my Macbook Pro. However, it has now stopped working. The error seems mechanical ( ie, disk not spinning ), but Lacie will not offer to save my data. All the data retrieval quotes I've had seem VERY expensive. Why is this so? Can I recover the data myself? I believe the drive isnt corrupted, and ultimatley, the drive is out of warranty.

Why can they charge so much? And is there any other hope to recover my files on a student budget? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.13.35.175 (talk • contribs) 14:54, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

They can charge so much because people are willing to pay that much to recover their precious un-backed-up data. A hard disk drive is a black box; when it stops working, there's not much you can do. If the error is really mechanical, it might be stiction; you might try to put the drive on a fridge (carefully wrapped in plastic, to prevent condensation) for some time and see if it spins (if it does, quickly copy all the data; it won't last long). If it's not, it can be several things; the spindle motor might have burned, the motor electronics might have failed, the whole circuit board might not be working anymore, or a defect somewhere else is being detected by the drive's firmware (which then stops before starting up to prevent damage). Since it's an external enclosure, it's also possible that the power supply is out of specification; the drive will not spin up without enough power (and out-of-spec power can even burn the drive's electronics). If the drive can be removed from the enclosure, you might try using the drive outside the enclosure, as the defect might be in the enclosure (but be careful when doing that, as a defective drive might burn the computer's IDE interface). As an aside, an interesting article on that subject appeared on Slashdot some days ago; it's called RAID Recovery: The Data Knight Kroll Ontrack To The Rescue!, from Tom's Hardware. --cesarb 15:42, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Hindsight is always 20/20, but always back up data, preferably to a remote location. This summer, I lost 50GB of data due to a botched NTFS 'grow' operation in Gparted. While I cannot believe I attempted such an operation without a backup, I suffered the consequence of approximately $40,000 in lost data, measured in my personal time to make documents, take photographs, commercial value of photographs to sell, time for research, commercial programs, custom configurations and preference, virtual machine and emulator configuration an data, commercial music, time and bandwidth downloading freeware and ISO images, etc. (shudders). Data recovery may seem expensive, but it is often better than losing thousands of dollars of data, especially if the data includes documents, such as those for corporate records. But, the much more cost-effective solution is backing up. Listen to User:CesarB, sounds like he has a bit of experience in this. Freedomlinux 04:46, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

No experience here, just knowledge (I read a lot about these things). --cesarb 11:40, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Follow cesarb's advice (i.e., check the power supply, etc.) Remember that the drive mechanism can be moved from one external mounting box to another, or even into your computer; there's nothing magic about the LaCie mounting box. If the drive works in its new environment, you're all set, but take this as a lesson and begin backing-up your data on a regular basis.

But additionally, if the problem really is stiction in the drive mechanism, there are several more things you can try:

1. Hold the drive mechanism in your hand. Imagine the platters inside it and sharply rotate the drive in the axis in which those platters would turn. (You're trying to use the inertia of the platters to break the stiction.) Do this several times and then try operating the drive again.
2. If you're truly at the end of your rope, take your Torx screwdriver and carefully open up the drive, working in as clean a space as you can manage. With the platters exposed, turn them slightly. (They turn in the direction the heads are pointing and you should only touch the very edges of the platters or the raised hub assembly and not the disk surfaces.) If you don't hear any truly evil scraping sounds, try operating the drive again. It will actually work for a while exposed to the environment but eventually, the heads will probably crash due to dirt contaminating the drive. (I'm not kidding about this; I have several drives opened up for demo purposes and they still mostly-operate.)

If the drive works after following either of my steps, again follow cesarb's advice and immediately back up all the data you can snarf off of the drive. Don't get entranced by the sight of the head comb flipping back-and-forth and don't give into temptation and Photoshop that "one more file" before beginning the recovery process because you're living on borrowed time and the drive will fail again.

Atlant 17:56, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

It's at times like this that you need to make friends with someone who has access to a class 100 clean room. :) -- mattb @ 2007-03-01T18:10Z

I wonder if you could buy a used version of your drive on Ebay, swap your disk into that drive, and get it to work like that. That would mean working with some tiny electronic components, do you have much experience with that ? StuRat 17:50, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

The electronics boards of disk drives contain data that is unique to each set of platters (mapping bad sectors and the like; you can't just take the electronics from drive A and the disks from drive B and put them together and have the data from drive B be accessible. This is one of the reasons why the data recovery places can charge the big bucks that they do; they know how to utilize the drive-specific data.

Atlant 17:58, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Though swapping out the spindle motor is feasible (and non-trivial). Of course, if the problem is solely the motor, the above methods should be tried before attempting to replace it (I wouldn't even attempt it without a clean room and a very steady hand). -- mattb @ 2007-03-01T18:16Z

Actually, I have heard of people who did exactly that (replaced the electronics board) and it worked. It's quite possible that the data about the bad blocks can also be found on the plates (and even if not, you would still be able to access most of the data). Of course, to do that you need a board from the exact same model (sometimes down to the hardware revision, which is not announced in the model number). And there's no need to say it would work only if the problem is on the board — if the problem is on the inside of the drive (burnt motor, head crash) replacing the board would not make any difference. --cesarb 19:16, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I'd say the first thing you'll need to decide is how much you value your files. If you had to pay $x or risk losing them, how much would x be? If it's anywhere near the cost of professional data recovery, go for that. Anything you might do to recover the data yourself could also make things worse, especially if you don't know what's causing the problem in the first place.

If you do decide to try recovery yourself, the second question is whether you can still get the drive to spin up and give you some data. If not, there's not much you can do. Some of the suggestions above might help if it's a small, purely mechanical problem, but if there's more significant damage or if the controller circuits are fried you pretty much need to call in the pros.

In any case, get everything ready before attempting recovery. If the drive is right now powered down and sitting in a safe place, leaving it that way for a while isn't likely to make things worse, but spinning it up needlessly might. I'd recommend getting a new disk that is at least as large as the original — preferably two or three times larger — and some software for making disk images. A live Linux recovery CD will do nicely if you know how to use one; all Linux distributions generally come with the dd program which can image disks nicely.

If you use dd, remember to use the conv=sync,noerror option to make sure a single read error won't break everything. Also save stderr to a file; that way you'll know where any failed blocks are. If you got errors, you may want to try taking a second image; with some types of damage, the errors may come and go, so that a second read may get blocks that the first read missed, allowing you to combine the images. I've done this before myself — unfortunately, following these particular instructions won't be very easy unless you're rather good with computers already. Still, it might give you some ideas. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 23:15, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

dd_rescue (I think there are two separate programs with the same name) is better than dd when reading from failing media. --cesarb 01:35, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Cat 5 wiring problem

I want to run a Cat 5 cable to a part of my house that gets low WiFi signal. I have a big spool of Cat 5 cable. I have some outlets that can be wired.

In my first attempt, I stretched bulk Cat 5 cable under the house. The run is about 50 feet. I tested each wire for continuity and found no problems. I then went to connect the cables to the outlets. I connected like colors in the Cat 5 cable to like colors in the outlets. This gives me a female connection at both ends of the house. At one end of the house, I used a regular store bought cable to go from this new outlet to my internet hub. At the other end of the house, I used another store bought cable to go from the outlet to the computer. The computer does not recognize a network signal.

I have tested both of the short store-bought cables by themselves and found they work fine. I have also tested the port on the hub and it works fine. In trouubleshooting this problem, I replaced the computer with a second hub. I notice that the WAN light on the hub blinks. Usually it is steady when it has a valid signal.

Where did I go wrong? Should I not connect like colors to like colors?

Thank you, Johntex\^talk 15:49, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

You have too many unknown variables. I wired my house, but I just put a normal connector at the end (no outlet) so I could test it with a laptop. I still screwed up a few times. --Zeizmic 16:22, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I first tried to do this with plastic connectors and a crimper. I found that even with a very expensive crimper it is hard to get a good connection. That is when I switched to the outlets. Johntex\^talk 16:37, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Just testing for continuity is not enough. Testing for continuity only shows the cable can transmit a DC signal, but not that it can transmit a higher-frequency signal well (it needs to be able to transmit up to 100MHz). There are also several other parameters which need to be within specific limits; for instance, NEXT and FEXT. The only way to correctly test a Cat5 cable run is with a special tester. It's hard to know exactly what went wrong, but check this:

• Did you untwist too much at the ends of the cable (you must untwist as little as possible)?
• Did you use the punch tool to install the cable in the outlets (doing it by hand will not give you a good enough connection)?
• Are the outlets of the correct type (wrong outlets might cause problems, and even have the wrong colours)?
• Is the cable run near an AC power cable (which might induce too much interference)?

--cesarb 16:29, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

• I have a Cat5 tester that consists of two blue boxes with lights. Unfortunately, I can't find the instruction manual so I am not sure what the lights mean or what to do about them. I may need to buy/borrow a new tester or see if I can find an instruction manual online.
• I tried not to untwist too much but at one end I probably have untwisted 1.5 inches and maybe 2 inches on the other end.
• My outlets are not the punch tool type. They are like a phone wall outlet (but with more wires). You twist the wire under a screw to make the connection. Are the punch type better?
• The cable is under the house so of course there is electrical under the house. I made sure not to come near the breaker box and I made sure not to run directly alongside an electrical line. How close is too close?

Thanks to both of you for your help. Johntex\^talk 16:37, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

AFAIK, there are no Cat5 outlets which are not of the punch tool type (all I've seen are of the punch tool type). Twisting the connection under a screw would not make a good enough connection at the frequencies involved. That's probably your problem. As for how close is too close, I don't know; your guess is as good as mine (but remember to cross them at 90 degrees if they have to cross). --cesarb 17:00, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm.... OK. These were billed as Cat 5 outlets. I bought them at Fry's Electronics. I will replace them with the punch-type because this is easier than getting back under the house to run new cable. Johntex\^talk 17:17, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Have you tried running Cat 5e or Cat 6 cabling? It's better shielded against interference. --24.249.108.133 17:14, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

No, I have not tried that. Are they just higher quality versions of Cat 5? In other words, same connector type and all that - nothing different as far as my computer would be concerned? `Johntex\^talk 17:17, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

The 2-box tester you mention works as so: 1) Plug the boxes into each end of a cable run. 2) Turn on the box with the switch. 3) The lights (there should be 4 of them) will light up in order from left to right, 1..2..3..4..pause..1..2..3..4. A common problem is to hook up the loops backwards. Then, you either get 1..3..2..4..pause..1..3..2..4.. or you get 1..2..pause..3..4..1..2..pause.. --Kainaw ^(talk) 17:18, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

iPod problem

I have had iTunes installed on my (Windows XP) computer for some while and have just bought a iPod video (30gb) to accompany it. However, I have some video files that iTunes and the iPod seem to treat as music files. The video does play in iTunes and it objects to putting a video file in the same playlist as audio files. However, a playlist of videos alone has a music symbol next to it and I can't make the video play in the movies screen. When the iPod plays it, it plays it as if it's an audio track with a frame (not the first frame) as the album picture.

I'd like this to work properly. Can anyone tell me how I might do this?

Many thanks,

Sam (85.210.161.98) 16:43, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

music scheduling software

Does anyone know of a program for Windows XP (preferably freeware or relatively inexpensive) that can be used to play music at 6 specific times of the day and is easy to use? I've been using Raduga, but it is too expensive and has too many features for what I need. Any help would be appreciated. And do you know of any software to normalize volume across mulitple tracks? I'd very much like to keep the volume about equal between the songs. Thanks -Mysekurity 17:30, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Audiograbber is freeware and can normalize wav files, but I'm unsure about the multi-file and mp3 format ones. As for making music play at 6 specific times, you can just use windows scheduler. I remember making my computer into an alarm clock briefly with it by opening a music file with scheduler. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 05:57, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Free RAW images?

I am considering a purchase of a new digital camera that can do RAW image captures. Are there any free RAW sample images I can download to process with Photoshop's RAW importer? --24.249.108.133 17:11, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

This sample Olympus RAW file (15MB) is linked from the bottom of RAW image format. RAWpository has a bunch of RAW samples. There are some more scattered around if you Google for raw sample images. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 18:12, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! I had tried Googling "raw images" and didn't get anything useful. --24.249.108.133 19:13, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Cleaning Dust From PC

I've read many sources that say a PC should never be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner due to static, however, I've also read that many people do it anyway. At two shops that I was in recently (looking for a can of compressed air), it was suggested that I use a vacuum cleaner, including a guy who repairs computers and says that's what they use in his shop. Some people use paintbrushes to sweep across components which I imagine would also be risky. I want to know once and for all, how safe is it to use a vacuum to clean PC components? Exactly how is static electricity generated by using a vacuum? What is losing electrons and what is gaining them? --Seans Potato Business 17:23, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

A lot of vacuum cleaners have plastic hoses that do indeed build up a significant static charge (lots of little particles bumping around inside the hose). I personally wouldn't use a vacuum cleaner around any electrostatically sensitive components. -- mattb @ 2007-03-01T17:29Z

I question the need to clean dust out of your PC at all, unless it's in a saw mill or otherwise excessively dusty environment. My experience has been that they become obsolete before the dust builds up to a level that causes a problem. StuRat 17:44, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't agree with that. Significant dust buildup can easily impede air flow through heat sinks and the like, and that will cause cooling problems. I mean, cleaning out the dust isn't something you'd likely need to do on a monthly basis, but once a year might not be a terrible idea. I usually use compressed air or just take the thing outside, open it up, and use a power blower (you should disconnect any fans and still be careful about electrostatic discharge, though). -- mattb @ 2007-03-01T18:08Z

Pros do it with specialised vacuum cleaners that are designed with anti-static (mildly conductive) hoses and brushes. You might find that "toner vacuums" (used for servicing photocopiers and laser printers) meet these needs. Me, not having such a vac, I'd tend to blow the dust out with compressed air and then apologise afterwards to my wife for all the dust bunnies that were now on the loose.

Atlant 18:09, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

The recommended method is to buy canned air. --h2g2bob 19:39, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I take it outside and use canned air myself, maybe twice a year. Cleaning it does matter, if you monitor the temperature with your motherboard or whatever. As for static, I've never messed a chip up from static, and I work with them in my field. However, theoretically, it doesn't take that many volts to mess up a CMOS device, so you should be cautious. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 05:54, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Theoretically nothing, it's not difficult at all to build up sufficient charge in something like a vacuum cleaner hose to create electric fields beyond the dielectric breakdown point of materials used in modern microprocessors/DRAM. One good zap may be all it takes to cause permanent lattice damage. I wouldn't risk it if the idea of damaging important parts of your computer isn't attractive. -- mattb @ 2007-03-02T06:31Z

The suggestion to use an anti-static vacuum nozzle is a good one. Not having one of those, I just take the standard plastic nozzle off the metal pipe between it and the vacuum hose, and ground the bare pipe to the computer chassis with alligator clips. In fact, just holding on to the metal pipe with one hand and the chassis with the other should be enough to prevent a significant static buildup. Try to be careful not to touch any exposed wiring with metal objects, though — even with the power off, the power supply delivers standby current to the motherboard, and even if you disconnect the computer from the mains entirely, many capacitors will still retain charge. Grounding the nozzle should reduce the likelihood that you'll fry anything even if you do manage to create a short circuit, but the risk is still there. Besides, you don't really want to bring the nozzle of a powerful vacuum cleaner too close anyway; accidentally sucking a chip off your motherboard is never a good thing. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 22:31, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Also vacuum devices have a tendency to pull the end of the hose violently against components or traces and may cause impact damage. Do not think that blowing air is safe and can not cause static damage because it can. The problem is the motion of the air including motion produced by cans of 99% pure compressed nitrogen I believe. Brushes not moistened with an evaporative antistatic solvent are not a good thing and can generate static electricity. Solution? Minimize dust intrusion by using box filters (more surface area eqauls less air flow restriction) using high efficiency electrostatic 1/2 inch thick mesh over the incoming fan and seal all holes and cracks in the case so outgoing fans do not suck dust through these holes. Then turn off your computer once a month (or more) and remove and clean your box filters. At the end of the year you can open her up and find that the problem is none existent or at least manageable with a antistatic moistened brush. I used R-11 until banned and now use Naphtha or the R-11 replacement. But be careful. It can sometimes loosen stickers or erase other printed information. Be sure to let it dry completely before re-assembly and turning on the computer and do this only in a well ventilated area preferably outside. I usually run a backup computer overnight during the drying. Also never use a conductive liquid like water. Nocternal 08:44, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

MAC OS X 10.5

Is there a way on Mac OS (w/ Boot Camp Software) to get Windows XP and Windows Vista as well as Mac OS? 68.193.147.179 21:06, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Sure, you'd need to make a parition for each of your OSs. It involves a little work in Terminal.

sudo diskutil resizeVolume disk0s2 60G "MS-DOS FAT32" <name of Windows volume> 17G "MS-DOS FAT32" <name of windows volume> 15G

Also look up "Triple Boot Camp" in a search engine. --24.249.108.133 21:42, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Make sure you understand what you are doing in Terminal, since you want to partition it different ways depending on who you are and what you are using each OS for. Check MacWorld magazine for a great guide from this month on how to partition without losing any data (normally partitioning causes a full erase of the disk). [Mαc Δαvιs] X (How's my driving?) ❖ 03:38, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

What are 2EDS_~!3 files?

I'm running a Linux server connected to Macs and Windows. I notice each directory contains a small file called "2EDS_~!3". Is this important? Can I trash them? --24.249.108.133 21:11, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe they are temporary files created by Samba, which allows you to connect to your Mac and Windows boxes.... I'd leave them there. Mabris 23:33, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Could this be a problem with the Exchange?

I often received the following message when I attempted to send email to certain individual: “This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification. THIS IS A WARNING MESSAGE ONLY. YOU DO NOT NEED TO RESEND YOUR MESSAGE. Delivery to the following recipients has been delayed.” What should I do? Could this be something to do with the server and Exchange? Chailai 21:25, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

The message basically says your e-mail message could not be sent immediately and was queued, so something is going on with the e-mail server. Splintercellguy 22:05, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Office 2007 and Windows Vista

What is the best version of Office 2007 and Windows Vista? And, can I buy them directly from Microsoft ([4])? 68.193.147.179 22:03, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

The best option is the one that meets your needs at the lowest cost. Try these pages at Microsoft: Vista, Office. They are not generally purchased direct from Microsoft for home use. — Lomn 22:45, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I am just looking for which one has the most features. 68.193.147.179 23:11, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

The ones with the most features are the Ultimate editions of each one. Unless you're running IT for a business I doubt you'd need them though. --Kiltman67 00:17, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

For most needs, OpenOffice.org is a good replacement for MS Office, and it's free so worth a go --h2g2bob 04:03, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Here we go again... And use Ubuntu with XGL and Beryl --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 00:29, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

WinXP

I heard that there a couple of WinXP editions, which one should I get? 68.193.147.179 22:20, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

It depends on what you want/need. Please explain further. Splintercellguy 23:08, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I am just looking for which one has the most features. 68.193.147.179 23:12, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

That would be Windows XP Professional, but the advantages over Home edition are minimal. Unless you need to connect to a domain, or need to use terminal services to access your PC remotely, chances are XP Home should be adequate. Cyraan 00:21, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Cyrann, does the same go for Vista? --24.249.108.133 19:36, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Vista has far too many editions. Home Premium is ideal for most people. Home Basic lacks the media center and fancy user interface. Business and Enterprise add some features that are very useful for businesses and probably not so much for end-users, and Ultimate is like those two but with extra fluffy things (i.e. a video wallpaper). See Windows_Vista_editions_and_pricing. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 21:26, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Have you looked at our article on Windows XP? There's a section on the differences between the editions. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 00:48, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

There is also a WinXP Pro x64 bit and some others like it; is it better? 68.193.147.179 22:08, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

That only works on x64 CPUs. You would very likely have driver and general software compatibility issues with it. The main reason to get it would be if you have some reason to address very large (>4 GB) portions of memory. Again, normal users won't have such a need (and most people using that much memory are probably using Linux or another UNIX-like OS). See the article, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 04:53, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

March 2

Learning languages

Do people usually learn computer languages and programming languages by themselves or in a class? --The Dark Side 01:54, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Depends on the person, but it's probably best to learn the principles of computer programming and at least one language in a class, allowing you to more easily teach yourself other languages from books or the internet. --Canley 10:12, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Mass un-capitilization

Hi is there any way to turn all the filename of a large group (100) of files into all lowercase characters on a Windows machine? For example: "Something.jpg" into "something.jpg". I am asking because I'm hosting a website on a Linux sever, and apparently the capilization is important when establishing links.

As well, when I'm backing up files from a hard drive to a USB drive, I have the same files on both drives, but the filenames of the files on my harddrive is all lowercase and when i replace the files on my USB with my lowercased files on my harddrive, the USB files still remain capitalized. Any way to fix this? Thanks. Jamesino 02:05, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

For the first issue, a Google search: file + renamer + capitalization. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 04:26, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm well-aware that this is a very heavy-handed solution, but if you do a lot of "advanced" manipulation of files of any sort you might find it useful: Emacs. I just threw together a tiny bit of Emacs Lisp that does precisely what you want:

 (mapcar (lambda (f) (rename-file f (downcase f))) (directory-files "." nil "[^.]"))

...obviously "downcase" can become "upcase" or, with a bit more work, "abbreviate to 12 characters", or whatever else; you could also make it only affect ".jpg" files, or make it recursive (an entire directory tree at a time). Anyway, enough evangelizing; it's just an answer to many questions so I thought it worthwhile. As for the second thing, delete the files on the USB drive and then copy the HDD's files again. --Tardis 06:06, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

OCR Software

Is it possible to get OCR software that reads hand-writing?

Yes, though as I understand it, they're not as good as OCRs that do printed text. As for specific, I don't have. Splintercellguy 04:18, (UTC)

Windows XP has a built in ocr for text User:Nerdd 07:45,2 March 2007 (Utc)

Windows XP - is it possible to make your 'C: drive' spin down?

Is it possible to configure Windows XP so that it leaves the main hard drive alone for more than 3 minutes in a row? I would like to use the 'turn off hard disks' feature in Power Management to - yup - turn of the hard disk, but even on the shortest timeout (3 minutes), the main hard drive (where Windows, the pagefile and hibernate file live) never gets to stop, however little the machine is doing. Any details of exactly what services/processes might be bothering my drive would be welcome, but I'd also like to know has it ever been done?. Thanks. -84.69.45.120 04:37, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Someplace I thought I read somewhere that the NTFS file $LogFile has a header which is updated every few seconds with a new sequence number or timestamp. I thought it was described here, but I don't see it. Anyway, just because "the system" isn't doing much, doesn't mean that the internals aren't busy! Various programs check the windows registry every so often, program execute code or access data sporadically, which might cause a hard page fault. Also, windows prefetchs data it predicts is about to be accessed as part of a caching scheme under certain conditions. Turning off all of this seems akin to asking someone not to exhale for a couple hours. —EncMstr 05:35, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Even if you could, you don't want to do that. Spinning up and down often will harm the hard disk. – b_jonas 08:34, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Inverted screen

One of the computers in our college digital library is having an inverted screen(I dont know how it got into that condition).How can I revert it back to it's original position of straight screen.

Check video card/display settings for Windows? Splintercellguy 06:07, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

If it's the same as the ones we used to have, hit Ctrl+Alt+(up arrow). — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 09:37, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Running as arbitrary ring

Is there any built-in way to get Windows or Linux to assign a particular running program Ring 0 priviliges? I realize that this is very bad form but I like having control over my computer and this seems like something that's important to know. --froth^T 07:01, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

You can setuid 'nix programs to run with root privileges, but you can't do this once the program has already started running. If I understand correctly, ring 0 is essentially kernel space, and no operating system worth its salt will let you run a program in kernel space.

Yeah I don't mean root, I mean actual kernel space. If I wanted to test a program from within Linux.. a program that needs the direct hardware control that Ring 0 provides, how would I make this happen? Since linux is open-source it shouldn't be too much of an issue to add this functionality to your own kernel revision or something. --froth^T 15:00, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Write a loadable [virtual] device driver. See here. —EncMstr 17:30, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

You don't need ring 0 to have direct hardware control. You just have to do the same thing the X server does: iopl(3) or ioperm() to get access to the I/O ports, and mmap() of /dev/mem to get access to the memory-mapped registers. Of course, you still can conflict with the kernel's handling of the hardware (this has been an issue with the X server in the past; someday the relevant parts of the graphics driver will end up in the kernel instead), and you cannot handle interrupts (there is a "user-mode driver" patch floating to allow you to handle interrupts in user mode, with only a small stub in the kernel to acknowledge the interrupt). That said, unless the hardware you want to control is like USB (which can safely be managed from userspace with something like libusb), I'd recommend you write a full kernel-mode device driver (it's not that hard; I've done it recently). --cesarb 01:00, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Firefox search thing

I have two computers. Both have firefox. One of them's firefox 1.5, and the other's firefox 2.0. On the 1.5 one, when i type seperate words, not adresses, into the address bar (not the search bar), it would automatically load a page related to it. I think it may have basically been using google's feeling lucky thing that opens the search found to be the most popular. it was really nice, because i could type, say, "amazon no sun in venice" and be taken to the amazon.com site specific to that modern jazz quartet cd. this doesn't happen on the computer with 2.0. I don't know if this has always been the case. I just started using the computer again after a while of only using my laptop (with 1.5). But I was hoping one of you knew how I might be able to make my firefox 2.0 do that. i really liked it. thanks, sasha

Here you go --froth^T 07:07, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Statistical distribution of bits

Has anyone ever done a study of the statistical distribution of 1s and 0s in registers as various programs run? What would you think would be seen more often, 1s or 0s? --froth^T 07:03, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

That's going to vary widely depending on the particular register(s), their function, the program, and the alignment of Venus with Mars. Without any further information, I'd guess that the pmf converges upon a uniform distribution as time goes on. -- mattb @ 2007-03-02T07:19Z

It will vary widely, but you have to consider that most of the numbers stored in registers will be (much) smaller than the register's maximum value, especially on 64b platforms. This is a direct result of architecture (nobody has fully populated RAM, so pointers won't get the most significant bits set, ever), and would lead to more 0's than 1's, I believe. Droud 13:27, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

0 will be seen more often. Not only is zero a commonly used number, but also small positive numbers (which have a lot of zero bits) are very common. --cesarb 14:32, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Also, ASCII (commonly used for text) is mostly 7-bit (extended ASCII is rare compared to normal ASCII). The 8th bit is normally a 0. --Kainaw ^(talk) 17:21, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Photoshop JPEG color downsampling.

At what quality settings does Photoshop CS2 apply 4:4:4, 4:2:2 and 4:2:0 color sampling? --24.249.108.133 19:33, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Graphics card - what does this mean?

I'm looking at the specs for the NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT. The specs say this "NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB of GDDR2 SDRAM (1 x single-link DVI / 1 x dual-link DVI)". So does that mean that it will support two monitors from the one card, i.e. one monitor on the single link connector and one on the dual link connector? Or does it mean that it will support one monitor with either a single or dual link connector? Dismas|^(talk) 20:29, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Nevermind, I found out. One place said "(single-link DVI /dual-link DVI)" which led me to believe it was one connector which would work with both. Another place said "(1 x single-link DVI / 1 x dual-link DVI)" which made me think it was one of each on the same card. Rooting around more I found "making it capable of simultaneously supporting one 23-inch and one 30-inch Apple Cinema Display." So, I have my answer. Dismas|^(talk) 20:35, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Reset a Dell Dimension 4600

How do you reset a Dell Dimension 4600 to its original settings? 68.193.147.179 21:36, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Assuming you mean you want to reset the BIOS settings so you can get to the menu where you can configure boot devices, etc.? Disconnect power and pull out the little battery on the motherboard for a few minutes. It's not sufficient to use the unit's power switch as some power is still applied and might maintain the CMOS memory. If that doesn't do it, it might be necessary identify and operate a reset jumper on the motherboard. —EncMstr 21:55, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

I mean is there an easy way to restore the factory defaults (like reseting the "C:" drive)? 68.193.147.179 22:05, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Did your Dell Dimension come with a recovery CD? That's what you would use to restore to out-of-box install. Splintercellguy 22:07, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

I think I only have a WinXP Home reintall CD-ROM. 68.193.147.179 22:11, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Is this like a stand-alone Windows setup CD? Or is it a CD that re-creates the partition from out-of-box? If you do perform the recovery/reinstall, be sure to back up! Splintercellguy 01:03, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

It is a CD-ROM that is a "stand-alone Windows setup CD". 68.193.147.179 03:11, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

In that case, start up Windows setup, format in setup, then install? You might lose the bundled stuff though so BACK UP! Splintercellguy 03:39, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

I f I drop files into D: Drive will that save it? 68.193.147.179 03:44, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Trouble converting LaTeX PDF to SVG via pstoedit and skconvert.

I'm using beton.sty and euler.sty in a LaTeX file. I intend to replace AMS_Euler_sample.png with an SVG. I get this when trying to convert the file.

$ pstoedit -dt -psarg "-r9600x9600"  euler.pdf -f sk euler.sk
pstoedit: version 3.42 / DLL interface 108 (build Jan 19 2006 - release build) : Copyright (C) 1993 - 2005 Wolfgang Glunz
Warning: image operation ignored due to restriction of target format or driver (repeated 12 times)
$ skconvert euler.sk euler.svg
$

In the resultant SVG, the "sin" and "cos" operators don't print (they were in Concrete Roman to match the math symbols). I'm thinking there's something wrong with the beton package (if I remove beton, the operators appear, albeit in Computer Modern), in that the fonts it inserts won't convert with pstoedit... but what? And how can I fix it?

 $ pdflatex euler.tex
 This is pdfeTeX, Version 3.141592-1.21a-2.2 (Web2C 7.5.4)
 entering extended mode
 (./euler.tex
 LaTeX2e <2003/12/01>
 Babel <v3.8d> and hyphenation patterns for american, french, german, ngerman, b
 ahasa, basque, bulgarian, catalan, croatian, czech, danish, dutch, esperanto, e
 stonian, finnish, greek, icelandic, irish, italian, latin, magyar, norsk, polis
 h, portuges, romanian, russian, serbian, slovak, slovene, spanish, swedish, tur
 kish, ukrainian, nohyphenation, loaded.
 (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/tex/latex/base/article.cls
 Document Class: article 2004/02/16 v1.4f Standard LaTeX document class
 (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/tex/latex/base/size12.clo))
 (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/tex/latex/beton/beton.sty
 Package: `beton' v1.3 <1995/03/05> (FJ)
 ) (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/tex/latex/euler/euler.sty
 Package: `euler' v2.5 <1995/03/05> (FJ and FMi)
 
 LaTeX Font Warning: Encoding `OML' has changed to `U' for symbol font
 (Font)              `letters' in the math version `normal' on input line 35.
 
 
 LaTeX Font Warning: Encoding `OML' has changed to `U' for symbol font
 (Font)              `letters' in the math version `bold' on input line 35.
 
 ) (./euler.aux) (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/tex/latex/concmath/ot1ccr.fd)
 (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/tex/latex/amsfonts/ueur.fd)
 (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/tex/latex/amsfonts/ueuf.fd)
 (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/tex/latex/amsfonts/ueus.fd)
 (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/tex/latex/amsfonts/ueuex.fd) [1{/var/lib/texmf/fonts/ma
 p/pdftex/updmap/pdftex.map}] (./euler.aux) )</usr/share/texmf-tetex/fonts/type1
 /bluesky/cm/cmsy10.pfb> </var/cache/fonts/pk/ljfour/public/concrete/ccr10.720pk
 ></usr/share/texmf-tetex/fonts/type1/bluesky/euler/eufm7.pfb></usr/share/texmf-
 tetex/fonts/type1/bluesky/cm/cmex10.pfb></usr/share/texmf-tetex/fonts/type1/blu
 esky/euler/eufm10.pfb></usr/share/texmf-tetex/fonts/type1/bluesky/euler/eurm7.p
 fb></usr/share/texmf-tetex/fonts/type1/bluesky/euler/euex10.pfb></usr/share/tex
 mf-tetex/fonts/type1/bluesky/euler/eurm10.pfb>
 Output written on euler.pdf (1 page, 26806 bytes).
 Transcript written on euler.log.

Here's hoping someone has experienced similar troubles and found a way around them. grendel|khan 21:52, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, mentioning this, you informed me of a copyright violation (thanks!). When I originally uploaded the image, I added the source as well -- but it's written in plain TeX. Perhaps plain TeX that source, ps2pdf it, then try whatever juju you're doing to get it to a PDF. While you're at it, you might want to change the 3 in that integral to a t, remove the C, and change every x on the right hand side to a t (my bad): so it reads

$\int _{0}^{t}9x^{2}+2x+4\,dx=3t^{3}+t^{2}+4t$

Dysprosia 23:36, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

No dice; same error. (Though I did figure out that to suppress page numbering in that example of yours, I just had to do a \def\rightheadline{\relax}.) I wonder which mailing list I should take this to--whose fault is it, really? grendel|khan 07:50, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

TeXing it works fine for me, perhaps there's something wrong with your installation? I don't have pstoedit so I can't test further, sorry. Dysprosia 13:05, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

March 3

Test

What do I need to do with my CSS to make the FA star show up in Classic? --hydnjo talk 01:50, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Reset C: Drive on Dell Dimension 4600?

Is there a way to Reset C: Drive on Dell Dimension 4600? 68.193.147.179 03:24, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

No need to post your question twice, I will answer it. Splintercellguy 03:38, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

I f I drop files into D: Drive will that save it? 68.193.147.179 03:44, 3 March 2007 (UT

IBM Thinkpads

What is so good about IBM Thinkpads? Are they mroe reliable, more sturdy? 64.230.85.203 03:26, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

I have had the same one for 3 years. Mine never broke down, but my friend's did. He said that the service was excellent, and it was fixed quickly (same day).

What about performance wise? For example, for graphics, web design? 64.230.85.203 03:49, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Web design you just need the most basic, internet ready computer, and graphics unless you are doing huge ones (like 4000+px per side), you don't need anything special other than more ram than average. --antilived^{T | C | G} 05:55, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

This is purely anecdotal, but a friend of mine who repairs notebooks has always said that the Thinkpad T series have some of the best construction. Another insight he once offered that has proved valuable to me; no matter what brand of laptop you are after, always buy the "business" line rather than the "home" model. The former is almost always of higher build quality than the latter and will prove to be more durable. As for performance, as long as you're not aiming to play serious videogames on your laptop (please don't get this notion into your head; you'll have to sacrifice a lot in terms of portability, durability, battery life, and cash), Intel's current generation mobile platform will serve most purposes well. My last two laptops have been Thinkpads and have reliably and almost exclusively served my PC needs. -- mattb @ 2007-03-03T07:29Z

my briefcase

I will be very grateful to you if you explain how to use "my briefcase" to update files? I tried. But It sayes the files are orphans. pl. help me thank you124.43.243.237 11:19, 3 March 2007 (UTC)