Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing

Wikipedia:Reference desk/headercfg

September 3

Old JVC Master COmmand II

I'm using an old JVC with rabbit ears. I need to watch Family Guy and the SImpsons tonight but the channel controls on the TV skip that station (channel 28). Help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.217.199.246 (talk) 00:37, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I am not a technician but I understand your urgency. Moreover, I have not touched or watched a TV for years. Heck, you may suggest that I read the television article. The root cause of your problem may be many things. Is your television in your basement or above ground level? Something may be wrong with your remote control, antennae, television, or etc. Your last resort is to get a new TV. Otherwise, try living in my shoes. Anyway, I bet that you missed your shows. Better luck next time. --Mayfare 01:21, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

caught the end of family guy....I just bought a cheap universal remote from walmart where I can punch in the numbers. why no TV? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.217.199.246 (talk) 02:08, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

If I have time for watching TV, I will get a TV service provider. (Rogers cheated on my bill twice; I have stopped using them ever since.) --Mayfare 14:36, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

What probably happened is that your TV has auto-detected your channels, but for some reason detected this channel as static and therefore skips over it when switching channels. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 22:54, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Norton's Dependence

Hello and sorry for asking too many questions day after day. My first computer displays its time in the order of day-month-year; so as the Norton AntiVirus 2007 software installed on that computer. My second computer displays its time in the order of month-day-year. The same, current antivirus software (Norton AntiVirus 2007), installed on my second computer, relies on the month-day-year format. Is this just one of the reasons why Norton AntiVirus 2007 is a strain on my system? Many thanks. --Mayfare 01:13, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Date formatting shouldn't mean anything, especially not in processor speed. The programs get the date from the computer in a direct way, not based on the internationalization formatting settings you have applied. --24.147.86.187 02:04, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I have this TV, just change the option antenna to cable, for some strange reason channel stops reading at 27, but cable goes all the way, well not all the way only goes until 53 (wich sucks), antenna goes up to 83 but stops reading at 27 (my tv is just plain stupid)

Moving an OS from one HD to another?

Recently I received a free used 160 GB hard drive. My computer currently has 110 GB (on two HDs: 71.5 GB and 37.2 GB). The 160 GB drive has Windows 2000 Professional installed and some other stuff, but I don't want to save any of it. My current system has Windows XP Home SP2 on the 71.5 GB drive.

Could I completely erase the 160 GB drive somehow? (Zero-writing?)

Afterward, to make Windows XP functional on the 160 GB drive, would I only have to copy & paste the contents of my 71.5 GB drive (that already has Windows XP installed)?

Eep. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 02:06, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

That might work, if the drive letter for the new drive is the same as the old drive. I would think it would be a lot better to leave Windows XP Home SP2 on the 71.5 GB drive, then copy any data you have from your 37.2 GB drive to the new 160 GB drive. This would leave you with 231.5 GB in your comp and the 37.2 GB drive on the shelf. The copy process might have to be in two steps, from the 37.2 GB drive to the 71.5 GB drive, then on to the 160 GB drive. This assumes you have enough space on the 71.5 GB drive for the contents of the 37.2 GB drive. Do you ? (If not, there are other options.) StuRat 03:20, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

OK, so right now I have all three hooked up (luckily I have a 500W power supply), albeit the 160 GB drive is resting beside my computer due to lack of space inside. This is only temporary until I copy over the files. The 160 GB disk has been partitioned into four pieces, but I would prefer having it as a single piece. How can I restore it? − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 03:44, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Just type mmc at Start/Run, File/Add or Remove Snap-ins and add Disk management, and you can delete the partitions and reformat your harddrive there. BUT, after you've copied all the files over it probably won't work as it doesn't copy the bootsector. I suggest you to use the dd command on a Linux LiveCD to copy your system drive over to the 160GB drive, then use something like Gparted to partition rest of the drive, and then copy all the things on the other harddrive in to the new partition(s). --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:36, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I think I will take StuRat's suggestion and keep Windows XP where it is. However now I have to remove those partitions. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 05:26, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Try going to the MS-DOS prompt/Command prompt and then type in FDISK. That utility allows you to destroy partitions and create new ones. Of course, destroying a partition makes it's contents go away, as you would expect. Note: this worked under Windows 98, I'm not sure about later versions. StuRat 14:38, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I once noticed that the copying I used for Win98 didn't work for WinXP, but then someone told me that was because it was installed on ntfs. So copying should only work if you work with the fat file system. That's just what I heard. Haven't tried it yet. DirkvdM 09:58, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Be advised that with Windows XP, it detects hardware changes and each hardware change counts as a "vote". Some components are worth more than others; the motherboard, for example, holds more votes than something like a sound card. XP might not like this, and due to the voting system your OS might become inactive. I think the limit is around 9 votes in differentiation between the hardware setup when Windows was activated, and the current hardware now. AvengeX 21:34, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I don't think fdisk is installed with Windows XP. But here is the Microsoft Knowledge Base question on it. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 21:52, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I've taken care of it. I simply formatted the 160 GB drive and now use it as my secondary drive. My thanks to everyone for their help. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 00:14, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

MP3 file

I have an MP3 file of my favourite song saved on my computer. No DRM. I want to make it the background music of my blog. I know the HTML code to do it, but where/how can I upload it online? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.126.19.150 (talk) 06:36, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Try a free hosting service, the internet is teaming with them. You can also upload it to your blog, if you administrate it on your own hosting account. You'll probably need to make sure uploading MP3s is fine with your host, as usually they're issued with cease and desist letters if any copyrighted material is hosted on their server without the permission of the copyright owner, which is often the case with most MP3 files unless explicitly stated otherwise. AvengeX 21:27, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Where can I find a free hosting service which allows uploading of MP3s? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.156.11.2 (talk) 23:56, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Where is your blog hosted on? --Spoon! 02:36, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Blogspot. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.156.11.5 (talk) 12:55, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Background music is generally a bad idea, see for example [1] or anything at [2]. Conscious 15:58, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Especially higher quality files like mp3s, because it'll force people to download megabytes of data and also raise the bandwidth used, which would turn you away from many free webhosts. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 21:43, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I will never visit your blog if you play background music. Please, offer it as a link, nobody expects music to start blasting in their speakers when browsing. I hate having to hunt down which tab is playing some stupid song that's messing up the music I'm already playing. For the sake of the internets, don't do it~ --froth^t 22:58, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

i have a problem in asp scripting can u help me out

hi i am having a problem in asp. i want to use a msgbox function in asp page and getting an error object expected and a runtime error that is can't use msg box. i dont know how to use msgbox on server side scripting and i want the solution very urgently so please reply me immediately. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.129.225.50 (talk) 10:13, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I have a frisky problem...

I now got a new laptop from Acer. It's an Acer Aspire 3680-2682. Now, the problem is: When I went to the Internet for the first time on the laptop, there was sound. But now, it's almost silent. I went to check the volume controls on the laptop and from the Start menu, but they were all normal, but it's still near-silent. What can I do to fix the problem? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sirdrink13309622 (talk • contribs) 11:08, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Possibly the sound level for some particular type of sound (like WAV files) has been turned down (some software does this automatically). Try going to Options + Properties on the volume controls to turn on all the volume sliders and make sure none are turned way down or on mute. StuRat 14:32, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

One file File System

Is there a way to store many files and directories in a single file (like a zip file) but be able to run / add / modify them without the hassel of zip files. Like, for example, a mounted ISO image that you could use like a physical hard drive? Thanks! Hyper Girl 11:24, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

You didn't mention your operating system, but the Loop device article might be a good starting point. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 19:51, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

For Windows, TrueCrypt is high-quality free software which will give you similar functionality to the loopback device. (It also encrypts the file, which may be a good or a bad thing depending on why you want to do this.) -- BenRG 23:28, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

What do I use to clean an LCD screen?

Acetone? Turpentine? Windex? Pepsi? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.10.86.63 (talk) 11:56, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Generic LCD screen cleaning wipes

OR a damp (not wet or drippign)cloth , use a 'soft cloth' not tissue paper.

OR licking also helps - then dry with an item of clothing87.102.47.218 14:11, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

LOL. Window cleaner ought to work. Those other chemicals might actually dissolve the screen, so don't use them. StuRat 14:27, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Well I tried using a moist cotton cloth, and it leaves horrible visible markings -- not really 'streaks', but darkened areas. Are you sure about window cleaner? You know that LCDs have a different surface than CRTs, right (not glass)? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.10.86.63 (talk) 16:17, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

maybe it's not clean yet! try to use a cloth with a very fine weave, you could clean it when the monitor is on.. the heat from the lampps behind help evaporate any moisture left -plus if it's on you can see if its working..87.102.47.218 17:43, 3 September 2007 (UTC) PS I use water - just keep wiping softly - oh and if you have grease spots - I was serious about licking - it works!87.102.47.218 17:45, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

CHEC?K YOUR MANUFACTURER'S INSTRUCTIONS, usually. Water is often the safest bet. Don't use acetone or turpentine!! --24.147.86.187 18:15, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Contrary to popular belief, diluted vinegar works a treat. Just remember to rinse it off with water or you'll get a nasty yellow tint on your screen. AvengeX 21:29, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

If you own a piano, you may use piano keyboard cleanser. I am interested in this question too. I will watch this question daily (just as frequently as I check my questions above). --Mayfare 21:43, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Babywipes. Works like a treat. Wipe the screen in one direction then dry quickly after with plain kitchen roll. Works fine even with those extra shuny screens. ::Manors:: 16:49, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

My toolbar won't display any windows

Yesterday, i set my itunes to show as a small bar and after that point the windows on my toolbar disappeared. The toolbar is present but any window, whether minimized or fully open wont display on the toolbar and i therefore have to use task manager to reopen them. however, after fiddling around with the movable dots i was able to fix the problem however after logging in this morning the problem reappeared. I have closed the toolbar through task manager and re opened it however the problem is still occurring.

Thanks 82.42.74.59 12:25, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like you've resized the iTunes bar, and the bit of your taskbar which shows open windows is squished. Just keep resizing the latter section until you get it right, or turn off the iTunes bar. --saxsux 16:27, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Using a font in a web page

Hi, assuming I have simple HTML in my page (using Frontpage) - how do I propagate my special font so that anyone who loads the page can use it? Or do I have to create graphics for every place I used that font? Sandman30s 13:39, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

There are a couple of technologies for font embedding, but I have a feeling they're depreciated because I never see them being used. I use sIFR when I want a headline to render in a specific font. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 13:51, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Another way is to make the text a picture, or series of pictures, then you don't have to worry about matching fonts. StuRat 14:22, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Thanks people, that webmonkey link was exactly what I was looking for. It helps when you know the technique is called 'font-embedding' :) Sandman30s 14:39, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Be aware though that it is generally bad practice to embed fonts, and it likely won't work in most browsers. Usually you want to stick with a set of a few core web fonts (Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, Helvetica, Georgia, Dingbats) that everyone should have, and even then you should specify alternatives if it is anything face (i.e. have Arial be a fall back for Helvetica, since some systems don't have the latter). --24.147.86.187 15:49, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I would avoid the techniques in the article I linked to because they're not cross-browser compatible. I've just tried them and Embedded OpenType only works in Internet Explorer. TrueDoc doesn't work in any current browser. I would stick to web-safe fonts for body text and sIFR for headers (I prefer it over images as you don't have to create a new file every time you add a heading, and it scales with browser text) — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 16:22, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

programing to access the internet

Is there some way to access the internet using a c++ console program in Microsoft Visual Studio .Net 2003? I've seen some forums on some include called "shlwapi", but I can't seem to make that work. Thank you! Indeed123 14:46, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

You are probably looking for the Winsock api. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.187.60.25 (talk) 21:23, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Problems with DVD-RW Drive

Trying to use K3b (from Ubuntu) to write a DVD-video, but it says I have no writer drives and only detects my read-only drive. I do have a writer drive connected via USB, which can be found here: [3]

I can't tell if it's just the program or the OS at large that isn't recognizing it. I tried asking at the Ubuntu forums but haven't got an answer. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 14:48, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Before trying anything fancy, let's find out if the OS has even noticed that there's something plugged in to the USB port. Go to a terminal and run sudo lsusb which should print a few lines of information about the detected USB devices. If that looks good, make sure the usb-storage, sg, and sr_mod kernel modules are loaded. Then if k3b still doesn't behave, report back on your results and we'll think up some more troubleshooting ideas. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 20:05, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, I should have posted this. It just wasn't reading that port; another one worked. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 18:41, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

lcd monitor/tv

besides the input connection in the back, is an LCD TV any different than an LCD monitor? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.217.199.246 (talk) 15:07, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Usually it's a different shape and resolution. LCD TVs will be 16:9, with resolutions of 1280x720, 1386x768 or 1920x1080. Monitors will generally be 16:10, with resolutions of 1200x800, 1440x900 or 1680x1050. Froglars the frog 16:13, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Also they are often specifically designed for different uses so the technology/focus on what is important varies. On a screen expecting constant movement/change speed-of-change would be important (the old mhz) whereas on a monitor it may not change as much so this technology can be dumped in favour of something that, say, maintains very crisp/clear images that are stable. All speculation on my behalf mind. ny156uk 17:49, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Actually I am pretty sure tit is the opposite from what you say. Most computer monitors use a TN+ grid (especially if it claims to be a game monitor) which is very good for fast movements but is lacking in contrast and vertical viewing angle. TN+ is the by far most common technology for monitors, since it also happens to be the cheapest to produce. Contrast and viewing angle vital for TV and graphical artists, which is why expensive monitors and probably (just assuming since I have never bought one) most LCD TVs use other technologies. I believe most TVs use PVA grids, at least those with a godly contrast ratio (like the insane 3000:1). See our article on TFT LCD for this information and some more. Jeltz talk 23:00, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Freudian slip there? And what about this monitor I got from my dad that's in 16:9 aspect ratio? This thing behaves like a mini-widescreen TV, but the 720 verticle pixels do make me appreciate other monitors. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 21:38, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

why so expensive?

http://www.provantage.com/nec-display-solutions-lcd2180wg-led-bk~7NECL06C.htm

why is this so expensive (~$3500 !!!)? I've seen 21.3" LCD's go for under $500 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.217.199.246 (talk) 15:10, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Because size is just a small factor in the price of a monitor. The quality of the output, the reliability etc. will affect the price. Also some monitors are highly calibarated to ensure better colour-rendition and more accurate colour representation - essential if you are producing work on screen that needs to be printed/written to some other medium. This model is presumably one that focuses on quality over price. For the average user such a price is, doubtlessly, too much but for those in the profession where such accuracy is paramount this could be the difference between acceptable and unacceptable. ny156uk 17:46, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Between me and my negative counterpart =) Acceptable 18:24, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

(Laugh!) I like that one! --Mayfare 21:36, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

drive cleaning

lets pretend that a person hypotetically happened to vist their friends house and happened to view extensive amounts of porn on the computer. how would this perosn, oh, remove all, literally all, traces of this occurence(s)? thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.23.78.253 (talk) 16:01, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

serious question, by the way, not a prank —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.23.78.253 (talk) 16:02, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

The only fail-safe way of destroying any sort of data on a hard disk (though it will work for any medium) is to physically destroy the device beyond recovery. For example, smash it into bits, shred it, crush it, etc. Formatting the drive may destroy the data, but security experts don't format their drives and dump them because it's not secure enough. It all depends on who this person wants to hide it from. Delete > Empty Recycle Bin will hide it from most people, but those with deletion recovery tools can recover fragments or even all of the data. Deletion tools such as file shredders and nonsense overwriters can prevent this, but it's not guaranteed. See file deletion. x42bn6 Talk Mess 16:08, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

There are ways of deleting various records of online activities, which vary with the browser. They may not actually remove the info from the tracks on the hard drive, but they will not be just hanging there for the next user to view by clicking the history button. In Internet Explorer, you can click Tools-Internet options- Delete browsing history. Then you will have a menu of things that you can delete. The more you delete, the more obvious it will be that you tinkered with the computer. Some choices are: Temporary internet files, Browsing history, Cookies, History, Form data, Passwords. If you delete form data or passwords, then every time the other users look at their favorite sites, it will want their user ID and password, and that might cause perplexity. Your choice. Edison 16:42, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

LiveCDs. They're the shit. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure--lucid 19:48, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Don't forget to clean the mess up too. AvengeX 21:19, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Category-based file system

Are there any category-based file systems in use at the moment, like Gmail's labels? So if I want to find a 2005 financial report from Business A, it would be labelled "2005", "finance", "report" and "Business A", rather than the complicated subdirectory format "Business A > Finance > Report > 2005", which could need standardisation (say "2005 > Report > Finance > Business A" could be more useful if, say, we wanted to collate all 2005 reports from all businesses via a batch script, which might be harder if the former subdirectory structure was in use)? I understand that some programs like Microsoft Office offer keywords for files and a specialised search program, but are there any computer systems that use a file system entirely based on categories? x42bn6 Talk Mess 16:30, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Well, you wouldn't want an entire file system based around this, but you could imagine having a file browser which used this sort of thing, though it would need the user to put in a lot of meta-data for it to work. You could, of course, do the subdirectories however you wanted to on your own file system (C:\2005\Report\Finance\Business A), but I'm assuming you want it to be more flexible than this (and allow you to see all reports at once, regardless of year, for example). --24.147.86.187 18:01, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

WinFS works like this, but as its name implies, it's still in the future and may always be. Keep in mind that you don't have to use a complicated subdirectory format just because the filesystem supports it. You could put everything in one big directory and give your report a name like "{y=2005} {c=finance} {t=report} {b=Business A}.doc". Then shell globbing is enough to select the files you need in simple cases. I've used this technique occasionally and it works well. -- BenRG 21:47, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm trying to develop one. It works reasonably well as a proof-of-concept, it just needs refinement. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.78.64.102 (talk) 23:01, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Be File System has this feature. I'm sure there are people still using it, but not many. -- JSBillings 23:06, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Is ZoneAlarm needed if using McAfee Security Center?

If a computer is protected by McAfee Security Center, which says it has firewall protection in addition to antivirus and spyware protection, is there a benefit from additionally using ZoneAlarm, or is there any possible conflict between the software products? Edison 16:33, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Conflicts are possible. I think that ZoneAlarm does a better job as a firewall because it gives slightly clearer messages and has an interface clearly designed to be a firewall rather than "bundle it together for the sake of making a Security Center". I'd disable the firewall on McAfee, though you could always uninstall ZoneAlarm instead. Note that if you disable the firewall on McAfee, it may turn the Windows Firewall back on instead - so be sure to disable it if you plan to use another firewall (because that one can conflict with the firewall too - ugh). x42bn6 Talk Mess 18:00, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Where is Options?

I see that I can go to Options and then go to Properties and do the rest to fix my sound, but where is Options? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.238.157.102 (talk) 19:09, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

What operating system and computer program are you using? In most versions of Windows, you can click Start→Control Panel→Sound (or something very similar). -- Kainaw^(what?) 19:14, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

My Windows is probably Windows Vista. Now, where can I go to options? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.238.157.102 (talk) 19:23, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

In case it isn't obvious - "Start" refers to the little icon, usually in the lower left corner of the screen, that normally has the word "Start" written on it. Click on it. A menu will pop up. It has a lot of items in it. One of them is the phrase "Control Panel". Click on that. The Control Panel will open. There are a lot of entries here also. If you look around, you will find that one of them has the word "Sound" in it. Double-Click on that and the sound options will open. That window is different per computer because it is based on the hardware you have inside your computer.

So, when someone says Start→Control Panel→Sound. they are referring to "Click on the Start button then click on Control Panel then click on Sound". -- Kainaw^(what?) 20:02, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Running PHP in a browser without installing a server

I currently do a lot of work in PHP for things that I'd like to primarily run locally. That is fine for my own stuff, since I have Apache with PHP installed and can run it off the localhost. But distributing the software is a pain, since a lot of people don't have Apache with PHP installed, and their settings are often unpredictable.

Is there any program out there that will, say, allow me to use a browser-like application but without installing a server? I'm imagining something that looks like a standard browser but could compile PHP files itself and receive sent POST data and do pretty much everything my computer currently does off of localhost but be a stand-alone executable.

It seems like a fairly obvious thing to me to want, since you can do things with PHP and other server-side applications that are really tricky to do in actual coding. For example, it is super simple to make dynamic interfaces with PHP/HTML/CSS/Javascript that are really flexible and easy to manage, whereas in any other language such a thing is really a pain in the ass — the interfaces are much more "static", and keeping track of controls and the like is really an effort unto itself.

I've never been able to find such a product, though. I tried making something similar using the HTMLViewer control in RealBasic but as far as I can tell it really can't process POST requests and it has a hell of a time intercepting the "response" to the server and acting upon it.

Any thoughts or suggestions? --24.147.86.187 21:51, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I have never seen anything remotely similar to this. The only thing I could imagine you will find is a Firefox extension that runs the PHP CLI before displaying the HTML. Even then, the user will need Firefox, the extension, and the PHP CLI. -- kainaw™ 23:04, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Check out Roadsend PHP. Never used it myself, but it does just what you want. — Kieff | Talk 12:27, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Roadsend looks great. Unfortunately, it won't install on my system so I can't see how well it works. -- kainaw™ 16:49, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

The Roadsend website claims to include a "micro server", which I imagine would be used as a proxy for any browser. (Note, I'm not sure that I understand why PHP had to be reimplemented as Roadsend open-source, since PHP is free.) I've seen other tiny servers available (search the web). I suggest you get a tiny server, get it working (that should be easy), then add PHP to it. Since PHP can be called two ways (as an Apache module and as a CGI executable), there should be no problem calling PHP from the tiny server. You may need to create an installation script, since the resulting system will be a kludgy set of pieces. I have not tested any of these ideas. David 10:48, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Sharing Satellite Broadband Connection

Hi. I have a satellite broadband connection that is hooked up to a desktop computer. There is only one output on the modem and the connection works fine. However, when I try to split the connection using a Cat 6 splitter, to use the connection on another computer at the same time, it stops working on both of them. Would I be correct in guessing that the only way to use the connection successfully on two computers at once would be to connect the modem to one computer and then network the computer with the other one I'm trying to use? And what would the chances of this not working be?Thanks, Mix Lord 22:42, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

You need a router. There are many versions sold in all of the common stores (Walmart, Best Buy, Target, KMart...). You plug the modem into the router and your computers in to the router. -- kainaw™ 23:02, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Is there a non-wireless type that is cheaper than the wi-fi ones? And will a network card work, to share the connection instead? Mix Lord 00:29, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes. There are many non-wireless types. Mine is a 4-port non-wireless. Just shop around. -- kainaw™ 00:31, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

It's quite possible to do this without a dedicated router, you only need one of your computers to act as a router (having an ethernet connection to the other computer in addition to the existing connection to the outside world). See IP Masquerade. This is what everybody did before those el-cheap-o home routers came along. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 00:45, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Okay well I've aqcuired a network card and have linked the two computers with some Cat. 6 cable, but now each one is saying that the network cable is unplugged and the lights near the network cable plug aren't on. Is this because I'd need a hub or something else? Also, the two sections of wire I'm using are connected with a splitter for ethernet cable. Is there any reason this would affect it? Thanks, Mix Lord 06:44, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

You should connect the two computers with a crossover cable. I've never heard of a splitter for ethernet cable, are you talking about an ethernet hub? Most likely, you aren't actually getting connectivity between the two computers. You should first diagnose the network connectivity problem. After that, you'll need to configure one of the computers to "share" the internet connection. -- JSBillings 11:51, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

A splitter literally splits the cable to two connections. It is useless for computing. A hub, in this case, is also useless. A router is required (even if one of the computers acts as the router) because each computer must have an IP address and a default gateway. If you use one of the computers as the router, keep in mind that the router computer must be on for the other computer to access the Internet.

This happens a lot. People think that because they can split cable to many TVs, they can split the Internet to many computers in the same way. Cable is a one-way signal. The Internet is two-way. They are not similar at all and shouldn't be thought of in the same way. -- kainaw™ 12:11, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

An ethernet hub isn't useless, just as long as you are using it only for the private network. Sometimes, it's easier to come up with a hub and some straight through ethernet cables than it is to find (or build) a crossover cable. Most operating systems give the user the ability to run their own NAT and router, as long as you have more than one network interface. The OP never mentioned whether either computer had more than one interface, and I'm beginning to think it might be easier to just say, "buy a home router" than try to explain how to set up a private network with a NAT (particularly after hearing about the Cat-6 splitter). -- JSBillings 14:32, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Correct. That was my opinion. "Buy a home router" is the best route to go for anyone who doesn't want to learn about IP Addresses, DHCP, gateways, DNS lookup... I saw some on Amazon.com for under $20. That is far less than the cost of the broadband access. -- kainaw™ 14:39, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Excellent. Well I've tried the crossover cable but it turns out there's a problem with my network card, because the cable only registers from the port that the Internet connection was in, so I'm guessing there's also a problem with the card reader. So I'll try and get my hands on a router and see how that goes. Will I still need the crossover cable if I'm using a router?Mix Lord 21:09, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

No. Crossover cables are for connecting computer-to-computer. Connecting computer-to-hub or computer-to-router or computer-to-switch uses normal cables. -- kainaw™ 22:02, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Okay so I won't need the crossover cable but will it still be compatible with a wired router?Mix Lord 22:42, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

September 4

Limewire Searches

Why is it that when you search for something on limewire, you get different results everytime. I can do two searches for the same term or name and I will get some of the same results, but I will also get different results. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.167.145.55 (talk) 00:04, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

That's because Limewire is part of a Peer-to-peer file sharing system. Each person running Limewire is sharing files off their computer. If someone quits Limewire or goes offline, their files are no longer available. So when you make a new search, it's showing you what's available now from the folks who are online. -- 68.156.149.62 00:45, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm sure it's more complex than that- you might be getting results in a different order if the peers you're asking are answering on a first-come first-serve basis. Inter-network topology might have changed as routing tables are constantly being updated. The amount of time to connect to different peers is in constant flux because of load on different connecting routers and switches and exchanges (is there even such a thing for the internet?). And like 68 said, people are always restarting their computers or leaving limewire- think of a full 30 man game server. Even though every person might play for an hour at a time (which is unusally high on average IMO), that means that roughly only every 2 minutes a free slot opens up- not long to wait to play for 30 times as long. In the same way, there's a surprising amount of connects and disconnects on the massive limewire network which would affect your searches. Maybe there's also an actual random element too where it looks first in different areas of the network for each search to distribute load. --froth^t 22:56, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

how can I block a Certain webpage in a website?

I want to block a webpage without anyone can know that this page is blocked intentionaly and without blocking the whole website.. I tried to use hosts files but they blocked the whole website.. and using security options of the IE will disclose the trick .. what can I do else??.. PS: I'm using IE6.. thanks in advance Hunter352 00:17, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Privoxy and a few rules? Splintercellguy 02:24, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Some antivirus softwares let you block sections of website, and they don't disclose the fact you blocked them, they can just redirect the site to another one. My thoughts however are that the person you are blocking the site from may have an insight that eventually something is up with the computer itself and trying to disclose it could make it worse for yourself if they find out it is being blocked. ::Manors:: 02:42, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I do not know. However, for me, to block YouTube, I must block youtube.com and www.youtube.com. --Mayfare 19:36, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I respect your privacy but I am left scratching my head ... why would you want to do that? --69.150.163.1 21:23, 6 September 2007 (UTC) User:Kushal_one

Maddening mail

E-mail, that is. I saved all my e-mail messages when I installed Vista, and now I can't get them back on the computer. Well, actually, I can, but Windows Mail won't open them. These messages were made with Outlook 2007; can Windows Mail not open files like that? So many problems, so little time...--The Ninth Bright Shiner 01:28, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Do you not have Outlook 2007 on your computer now? Why can't you just open the emails with Outlook, the program they were made with? ::Manors:: 02:38, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I made a mistake that only I could make; I bought the upgrade disc for Office 2007. The computer was eligible for the upgrade when I bought it, but no longer so after I installed Vista. And it's gonna be a while before I can get Office back on the computer. I can't believe all the stuff I've overlooked!--The Ninth Bright Shiner 21:03, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

You're not the first person to have this problem. I've seen several posts on forums for people who can no longer use Office because they upgrade to Vista, and their Office upgrade disks won't work. -- 68.156.149.62 21:54, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Did you try Mozilla Thunderbird? --69.150.163.1 User:Kushal_one —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.150.163.1 (talk) 21:22, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Restriction Break

Americans only, Britishmen only and Frenchmen only. Now, how to break these rules?--JSH-alive 07:56, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

What rules ? If you have a question to ask, please ask it, don't send us to some web sites to try to figure out what you are asking. StuRat 11:36, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I think the questioner is asking how to get around the country restrictions on streaming TV sites — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 11:47, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Find a good proxy that is hosted in the country the site is written in and powerful enough to support online streaming. ::Manors:: 16:45, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

this PHP file needs copy editing.

<?php
if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && ('on' == $_SERVER['HTTPS'])) {
$uri = 'https://';
} else {
$uri = 'http://';
}
$uri .= $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'];
header('Location: '.$uri.'/example_directory/');
exit;
?>
Something is wrong with the XAMPP installation :-(
How do I properly cut&paste this to get example.com redirected to example_directory, examplewiki.com redirected to examplewiki_directory, etc.
or in other words to simply enable the domain names (assuming there are) pointing to the IP of the server to land in their respective folders. Plz halp! :D —Preceding unsigned comment added by 354d (talk • contribs) 09:11, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

If it is reporting that something is wrong with the XAMPP installation, you need to fix the installation before you worry about the PHP script. To put it another way, if I were to ask how to get to the grocery store in my car and I complain that it won't start, you would tell me to get my car to start before worrying about getting to the grocery store. There is nothing you can do in a PHP script to instamagically fix a broken installation. -- kainaw™ 12:14, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

As a side note, a common way to do what you are trying to accomplish is to set up multiple virtual hosts in Apache. --131.215.159.4 20:30, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

kainaw no no no XD lol - I copypasted the contents of the file it works fine the last line is what it throws (or how do they call it) when something is wrong, but it works, i.e it doesn "throw" that line. In this case, as I type the IP of the computer that the server is on I get "redirected" to the folder example_directory, because that's what's specified there in this file the http:// and https:// lines are blank and I wnated to know how do I properly compose this thing to get different domain names (supposedly that's what I type in after the https:// and http://) land indifferent folders (considerying a site is a folder on your server)
I usually get by looking for patterns (like which part repeats) well you know and then I'm just copypasting it, but I kno w nothing about php and I can't tell where there is some header or something, etc. I tried some random copypasta but in all cases it landed in http://anotherexample.comanotherexample.com/anotherexample_directory and obviously I don't need the domain name duplicated. Actually, idk, perhaps I'm assuming something this file actually doesn't do, idk.
now virtual hosts sounds like a clue 354d 07:35, 5 September 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 354d (talk • contribs) 07:34, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

If you truly copy-pasted the code above, the first "if" has unbalanced parenthesis. What would cause the error you are talking about is a missing "." (period) in the $uri .= $_HTTP['host']; line. Without the period, you would drop the preceding http or https. -- kainaw™ 13:20, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Am I missing something? How could $_SERVER['HTTPS'] be on if you're not already connected to https? Just use relative links and it'll preserve the type of connection --froth^t 22:46, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

He should be using "isset($_SERVER['HTTPS'])" instead of "!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS'])" in this case since that is what he is checking. The "isset" check will avoid throwing an error when you check to see if $_SERVER['HTTPS'] == "on". However, he is apparently a beginning programmer, so I wouldn't fault him for using a nearly identical function. In all reality, he should use "(isset($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && ($_SERVER['HTTPS']=="on")) ? $uri="https://" : $uri="http://" ; -- kainaw™ 23:47, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Casual Games Market Size Europe/UK

Hi , Does anybody know what the casual games market size is in Europe and/or the UK and what its projected growth is for the next 5 years? I have some figures for the global market size (200m players, $1.5m by 2008)but am looking for some specific European and UK data. I am also interested in casual gaming market shares - who are the key players in the industry? Thanks, EB —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.96.27.149 (talk) 13:47, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

What are "casual" games ? In the US "gaming" is a euphemism for gambling, is that what you mean ? StuRat 21:15, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Casual game. --LarryMac | Talk 16:13, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Winxpsp2 object block

Any idea how do I download a file through WINXPsp2 from a site which does not provide direct links such as rapidshare? can this feature be disabled? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.242.179 (talk) 15:08, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Internet

How can i find out if someone is looking on my computer. I am connected to a home linksys with others? Frankish12 18:08, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Your country may have laws requiring your Internet Service Provider to watch you, so law offenders can be tracked. In communist or dictatorship regimes, you may also be watched. (Wikipedia cannot say much about legal issues.) --Mayfare 19:33, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

What do you mean by "looking on your computer"? --131.215.159.4 20:28, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

If your computer has parental control, your parents may be watching you. --Mayfare 20:56, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Mysterious Ink Level Increase

Hello. Using a remanufactured ink cartridge for about three weeks, the printer status window shows that my cartridge is very low on ink. (I print a lot.) On the next day using the same cartridge, the same window shows that my cartridge is almost full as if I recently used it. Has my HP Deskjet 3420 printer mistakened my cartridge for a full one? If possible, can it be fixed? --Mayfare 19:27, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Original manufacturers generally recommend you not to use remanufactured/refill cartridges for a number of reasons. Some of these reasons are more to do with keeping the money flowing into their bank accounts rather than someone elses, but some of their reasons can be valid. This is one of the issues that I have seen mentioned in the past, that the printer may not be able to detect things such as ink levels correctly on remanufactured/refilled/imitation cartridges (the reasons for this vary from more to less technical). There's a bit of a discussion on it here in the Inkjet printer article (point 2 in the 'disadvantages' is perhaps especially relevant). Don't know of any 'fix', not that I've looked into it. --jjron 08:04, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Thank you Jjron. --Mayfare 01:06, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Improving grainy audio

Part 1,000,000 of the infinity-part series chronicling Orannis' problems with Vista! Well, it's not really Vista's problem. You see, back when I had XP, the computer came with a sound-enhancing program, I can't remember what it was, though. Something to do with True-Surround something-or-other. Anyway, this program was able to highly increase sound quality, as well as specialize it for the computer's speakers, external speakers, different types of headphones, etc. But now, I don't have such a program, and sound is much grainier compared to what I'm accustomed to. Are there any good programs out there that could improve overall sound quality? I'm looking for both a free and non-free program; one to carry me over until I can buy a better program. Any suggestions? Thanks.--The Ninth Bright Shiner 21:30, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

September 5

Fractals and Apophysis and Math...Oh My!

I recently put this question up at the Mathematics' Part of the Reference desk and I've decided to ask the computer ref. desk for more information about my question (sorry if it's "rude" or something), I didn't know. Anyways the question is below.

I recently downloaded the newest version of Apophysis (2.02) and I was wondering about this question: How Exactly do you make fractals?I already read the article on Fractals but it seems slightly ridiculous that I have Apophysis and not know how to make a fractal! I already can create thing from altering the code (I think it's a code) from fractals generated randomly by the program but is there any way to do it manually? Do you just type in random numbers like "01001001..." or is there more to it? And, will the fractal appear for a given parameter exactly the same on any other program or Apophysis? For example: if 01001001...appears as an "eye", will it look the same on another Apophysis or fractal program or will it be a completely different image for each one? P.S.- If anyone knows a good place to get started on fractals let me know!

Many thanks in advance for my confusing question- ♥ECH3LON♥ 00:03, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

I don't know if this helps but you can make heaps of different kind of fractals with the effects on the GIMP, with tools such as Fractal Explorer. Hope this helpsMix Lord 02:04, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

I have no idea what Apophysis is, so cannot comment on that. A Fractal is a mathematical concept, not a drawing. There are many "functions" that are fractal in nature and there are ways converting data obtained from these functions into x, y and z (often z=colour) coordinates. There is no reason why your package should produce the same pictures as some other program unless they both use the same conversion scheme. Some functions have obvious conversion schemes. No you don't just type in random numbers - unless you have a program that implements some particular fractal function and wants a "seed" value.

A good way to generate a fractal image is using multiple reducing recursive photocopying. In this you take any (non-empty) image (a unit square is any easy starting image) and replace it by several distorted images, overlaid on each other. Then repeat the process with the newly created image an infinite number of times. You'll get a fractal. An example of this is the Serpinski Triangle Sierpinski triangle. -- SGBailey 19:20, 5 September 2007 (UTC) -- link fix SGBailey 22:03, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Oh, I've got that and I LOVE IT!!!! Anyways, I'll come here a few times to check up on this section if you post more. To edit Control + E to change color Control + G I'll post on you're talk page too.Yamakiri 22:50, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Getting information from a Visual Basic menu

How do you find out what item in a dropdown menu that a user clicked? I tried the following code that is supposed to change the size of the items on the visual basic form:

 Private Sub mnuView_large_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles mnuView_large.Click
        If Me.FontHeight = 8 Then
            mnuView_large.Checked = True
            mnuView_small.Checked = False
            Me.FontHeight = 12
        Else
            Exit Sub
        End If
    End Sub
    Private Sub mnuView_small_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles mnuView_small.Click
        If Me.FontHeight = 12 Then
            mnuView_small.Checked = True
            mnuView_large.Checked = False
            Me.FontHeight = 8
        Else
            Exit Sub
        End If
    End Sub

When I run the program, clicking on the mnuView_large item does absolutly nothing. What am I doing wrong? P.S. I am using Visual Studio 2005 as my development software. 69.205.180.123 01:24, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

If I recall—though I don't have it in front of me—you use the e (EventArgs) object to get information about what specific menu has been clicked. Try e.value or e.Checked and see if that works... --24.147.86.187 01:47, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Rapidshare

which site or search engine is the browser of Rapidshare?Flakture 08:15, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

You cannot browse files on rapidshare- for maximum privacy you need the link to the file's page in order to download it. There are third-party registries though, mostly for warez.. --froth^t 13:45, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

C# mode for GNU Emacs?

I have GNU Emacs 21.4.1. Is there a C# mode for it that would support syntax colouring and automatic indentation for C# programs? JIP | Talk 10:12, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/CSharpMode --Sean 13:37, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

I've downloaded and installed the Moonfire Games C# mode. It required upgrading my CC mode too. However, when I load a C# file into Emacs, it spends 3 seconds loading the CC mode. This does not happen, for example, when loading Java files. What is causing this? JIP | Talk 14:25, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps you have not byte compiled the new modes, and Java is using the old versions that are so compiled? --Tardis 18:47, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

I have byte compiled them, but it still happens. JIP | Talk 04:55, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Emacs has a mode for everything if you have enough modifier keys ;D --froth^t 13:46, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Serving web pages with the correct MIME type

I have a web page that passes the W3C validation but gives me the following warning:

The document is being served with the text/html Mime Type which is not a registered media type for the XHTML 1.1 plus MathML 2.0 plus SVG 1.1 Document Type. The recommended media type for this document is: application/xhtml+xml

So I serve the document with the recommended type instead, but then everything breaks down – it doesn't validate anymore and Firefox just displays an error. What should I do? —Bromskloss 10:33, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Your server needs to send the file with the correct Mime Type or, if you are using some server-side scripting, change the Mime-Type of the document in the header. This has nothing to do with the page itself. The page is most likely fine XHTML. However, the sever is claiming that it is text/html, not application/xhtml+xml. -- kainaw™ 15:31, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Actually, with the default settings, the page gets served as text/html. The validator says this isn't correct, but the page shows up fine in browsers. But, when I reconfigure to serve it as application/xhtml+xml, both browsers and validator complain violently. I'm puzzled – I just did as the validator told me! —Bromskloss 19:31, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Can you tell us the exact error messages you get? — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 20:07, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

The rules are a lot stricter if you serve it as application/xhtml+xml. It must be 100% clean XHTML, you can't have any javascript on the page itself (at least they don't seem to work for me), you can't do document.write in <head> (Heh I spent hours last night on that one) and yeah, basically any error will knock up a yellow screen of death on Firefox. Why are you using XHTML1.1 though? I used it only because SVG scripting doesn't work otherwise. --antilived^{T | C | G} 08:13, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Commutative encryption/decryption

I would like to solve the problem of sending a message (specifically, a session key) securely between client (specifically, any "modern" browser running javascript) and server (specifically, Apache running PHP).

This problem has been solved using Diffie-Hellman secret key exchange, but existing solutions require up to several realtime seconds of computation and client/server turnarounds using a large amount of Javascript and/or Java code on the client side, and a large amount of PHP code on the server side (see http://srp.stanford.edu/demo/demo.html for a starting point for developing the code). I have an implementation, but it is just not practical to use it on all my websites due to its size and slowness.

I would like to find a solution that is much quicker, uses far less code, and is easier to compute. It should use ordinary 32-bit operations instead of simulated modular arithmetic on 1024-bit integers. I don't mind if the solution is not ideal, or has some weakness, so long as most hackers can't break it. It is generally possible to add features to a weak system to increase its security (such as applying it repeatedly, to give just one example).

I'm currently thinking about a solution involving commutative encryption/decryption. Here is how it would work:

The client chooses a pseudorandom 32-bit number, which is never sent to the server. The server chooses its own pseudorandom 32-bit number, which is never sent to the client. Each side has functions, parameterized by its secret number, to encrypt and decrypt character-string messages of any length (good functions do padding, transposition, and substitution). The functions are as follows:

EC: encryption using the client secret number
DC: decryption using the client secret number
ES: encryption using the server secret number
DS: decryption using the server secret number

As explained in the following steps, EC and ES are commutative, as are DC and DS.

If the client needs to send a secret message M to the server, it would do it as follows:

1. The client sends EC(M) to the server.
2. The server replies with ES(EC(M)).
3. By commutivity, the client now knows EC(ES(M)).
4. The client computes DC(EC(ES(M))=ES(M).
5. The client sends ES(M) to the server.
6. The server computes DS(ES(M))=M.

And similarly, the server can send a secret message to the client.

This process is only used once (as is the Diffie-Hellman scheme), to communicate a secret random key from the client to the server (or vice versa) securely. Once both sides have the same secret random key, any fast encryption/decryption methodology can be used for subsequent messages. This provides efficient session data exchange security.

The problem is that I'm not aware of any good encryption/decryption functions that are useable in this scheme, because they all fail to be commutative as defined above.

So, my question for the Wikipedia community is: can you come up with commutative encryption and decryption functions suitable for this message exchange scheme? (Commutation is not enough; the functions must be short and efficient.)

I believe this question is worth asking, because a solution would be of widespread interest and applicability in ordinary web programming, such as user login, secure form data transmission without the overhead of SSL, etc.

On the other hand, if a solution is not possible (because good encryption can never commute), it would be good to know that, too.

David 12:47, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

I suggest you either stick with proven standards or use a really simple system. Any fast nifty key exchange you think of is unlikely to be cryptographically secure. Easiest way I can think of to get a key to both client and server would be to have the client generate it and just send it to the server over HTTPS and sort of piggyback on the secure D-H exchange built into SSL. Or do something really quick and dirty with md5 or sha and send it plaintext, if security is only a nominal consideration --froth^t 22:42, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Froth, if I hadn't done so much experimentation with encryption I probably would agree with you, but I have a strong feeling that what I am proposing is possible. Note that I indicated that I didn't need a cryptographically secure algorithm, only one that would protect against typical hackers. Any encryption that does sufficient padding, transposition, and substitution should meet my requirements. I'm not looking for a mathematical proof, but something that just works okay in practice.

I believe that transposition and substitution are each separately noncommutative. Therefore, I'm looking for some restriction on these operations to make them commutative. Or else I'm looking for some other way to do encryption and decryption that uses only commutative operations (like XOR, which is easily broken as a standalone encryption method but may be secure when applied to pseudorandom 32-bit integers).

Your proposal to use SSL is unacceptable because it encrypts everything sent over the connection. This introduces noticeable slowness to page serving. It would be okay just to send short messages designed to share a secret 32-bit number, but I don't see how to limit it to that purpose, rather than being applied to all pages served for that browser connection.

Your proposal to use md5 or sha1 is fine, except that these are one-way functions, so I see no way to use them to share a secret. Finding such a way would be a major contribution to cryptography. David 11:09, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

I know little about this, but I think it is fairly standard for sites to use SSL to send password keys, then deposit a cookie with a session hash in it (md5 of the password plus the IP or something like that, keeps it from authenticating for anyone else if stolen), and then to stop using SSL. Gmail, for example, starts you off in https:// when you are logging in, then turns into straight http:// once you are authenticated. Again, I don't know a ton about this, but it seems like that is a fairly standard approach and would be easier than all of the client-side processing necessary for your method. --140.247.242.79 18:56, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

FYI if you actually go to https://mail.google.com it'll keep you on a secure transaction --froth^t 03:23, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

I believe that the fact that there are many websites that employ SSL is irrelevant to the question I have raised. I've explained why I do not wish to use SSL. David 16:30, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes, that is the standard method. But I neglected to mention that SSL has another drawback: it requires a security certificate. Since I want to be able to encrypt data in any of my web programming, I don't want to pay for certificates. On philosophical grounds, also, I object to paying (fixing the security holes of a free Internet should involve reimbursing us for our trouble and overhead, not cost us money). Yes, I know that we can create our own certificate. But since it is not rooted in a "trusted authority" (read: company with a cash cow), many browsers will bother visitors with what for them are very cryptic error messages. David 10:33, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

I do agree with all the cautionary notes above about homebrew encryption. All that said, there certainly are encryption methods that satisfy your commutativity requirement: in particular, any stream cipher, or a block cipher in CTR mode, ought to do it. However, they won't actually provide the secrecy you seem to be looking for: an eavesdropper, possessing EC(M), ES(M) and ES(EC(M)), will be able to trivially compute M. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 19:13, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm looking for a new approach. Even if it is homebrew, if it has merit it will be improved by others. I'm not familiar with stream ciphers or CTR mode, but I will look them up. Your comment about trivially computing M puzzles me. I don't see how to do it. In order to decrypt any of these three messages, one must know the secret key. Otherwise, one doesn't know and therefore cannot apply DC or DS. David 10:33, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

In a stream cipher, one uses the key to generate a pseudorandom "keystream", and then simply XORs that with the data to be encrypted as if it were a one-time pad. To decrypt, you just repeat the process. The problem, in your application, is that this means ES(EC(M)) is simply KS ^ KC ^ M, where KS and KC are the keystreams and ^ is the XOR operation. Since XOR is associative and commutative, and since X ^ X = 0 for all X, an eavesdropper can simply XOR the three values he has together to get EC(M) ^ ES(EC(M)) ^ ES(M) = (KC ^ M) ^ (KS ^ KC ^ M) ^ (KS ^ M) = (KC ^ KC) ^ (KS ^ KS) ^ (M ^ M) ^ M = M. In a sense, the problem is that your scheme reuses the same keystream KS to encrypt two values (M and EC(M)), which is a big no-no for stream ciphers.

More generally, if your cipher is vulnerable to a known-plaintext attack — that is, if possession of ES(X) and X allows an attacker to determine DS — then your scheme falls apart (consider X = EC(M)). Note that the attacker does not necessarily need to obtain the original key, merely enough information (such as the keystream of a stream cipher) to allow him to decrypt messages shorter than X. I'm not aware of any ciphers that would be commutative and not vulnerable to such an attack, though I won't swear that they don't, or can't, exist. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 15:51, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

I had also reached this realization (thinking also of the example of XOR with the local secret number), but I was holding out the hope that there could be commutative EC, ES pairs not using a function as simple as XOR for which it is impossible to guess DC or DS. You appear to have dashed this hope. However, I won't give up, and if I ever figure out a solution, I'll post it here. A simple solution would be so wonderful. David 16:30, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

features of recylebin

process of recylebin & features of it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yrocks (talk • contribs) 15:06, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Recycle Bin is a place where deleted files go before they are permanently deleted. I suppose the idea is that you get one more chance to decide whether you want to delete something. Features usually include some form of "secure" deletion, where the file is overwritten with random 1's and 0's a few times, so that it cannot be "undeleted". --24.147.86.187 15:18, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

• marks grade A*. Wikipedia should not do IP's homework. Bad 24.147.86.187! JoshHolloway 19:54, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Eh, who cares. That's either one lame question on a homework, or it's not enough of an answer to possibly count for much. Anyway it is pretty obvious, as far as these things go. --24.147.86.187 13:49, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Skinker Vs. Desktop Buddy

What is the difference between a desktop buddy and a Skinker? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 159.153.156.60 (talk) 16:16, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

I can't say. However, I think you might want to learn about Spyware before you install too many of either. --Mdwyer 21:57, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

One witty answer that was! I recommend voting it for the award ... --69.150.163.1 User:Kushal_one] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.150.163.1 (talk) 21:19, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

ِDreamweaver

How can I download a whole site with dreamweaver?Flakture 17:37, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Dreamweaver is for creating sites, not downloading them. ::Manors:: 18:14, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Dreamweaver has a built in FTP client, but you'll need all the FTP login info for the site you wish to download. The exact info you require will depend on which version of DW you're using. Exxolon 23:35, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Why does it have to be with dreamweaver (which is often considered a bad program)? Alternatively, have a look at website copier. Oops, doesn't exist? Well, HTTrack then. DirkvdM 09:13, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Windows Explorer problem: missing option in "Open With" context-(sub-)menu

I have Office installed on a Windows XP machine. For some reason, when I right-click on a .htm file in Windows Explorer, the "Microsoft Office Word" option is missing from the "Open With" sub-menu. I used to have that option.

I tried selecting Word using the "Choose Program..." dialog, but Word is not among the programs available. I can't even use the Windows file chooser (invoked by the "Browse..." button) to choose the Word executable. (I can "choose" the Word executable from the file chooser, but upon returning to the "Choose Program..." dialog, Word is NOT added to the available programs.)

Not sure if it is relevant, but in the "Choose Program..." dialog, Firefox appears twice in the list of recommended programs.

If anyone knows how to fix this problem, please help. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.236.170.228 (talk) 19:16, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

I don't know why that is happening, but you could right click the file, then save it to the computer. Then open Word and try to open the HTM file and see if it does open. If it doesn't, there might be a problem with your Word, not internet explorer. ::Manors:: 21:32, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Are you sure you don't have Firefox 1.0.0.7 AND Firefox 2.0.0.5 installed on your computer? --69.150.163.1 21:18, 6 September 2007 (UTC) User:Kushal_one

What's up with Photobucket?

It's not working for me. Is it down, or is it me? Pacific Coast Highway ^{{blab • stalk}} 20:30, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Working fine for me now. Every site has down time sooner or later. They can be caused by various reasons, but are usually fixed soon after. ::Manors:: 21:29, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

unable to connect with a provided link to a source.

When I left click a link to a source ie. a link to a very interesting fact on wikipedia, I get a dialogue box that says,"locate link browser" and will not connect me. So I right clicked, and I get "select all" and "view source" and that's it. Please help. 198.6.33.31 21:57, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

To help you more, a specific browser would be nice. A simple google search turned up an interesting hit. Read here [4] and read the various solutions. Keep me posted. Monkeynoze 23:05, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Also, is it all links or just a specific link ? If just one link, which is it ? StuRat 05:50, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Quick/easy tunneling through restrictive public wifi.

Hi, I am visitng a relative in the hospital quite often these days. The hospital has free "internet access" but it has a draconian filtering policy. AFAICT only connections to port 443 and 80 are allowed. I use linux and all I want to do is be able to ssh to my home box so I can get my email. There is apparently some application level filtering going on because I moved my ssh server to port 80 my connections get reset. What is an QUICK EASY way I can tunnel (probably ssl over port 443) and make it look like a https connection so I don't get killed by the filter. I know there are a ton of options for tunneling but I am specifically looking for quick and easy suggestions. All i need is an ssh shell. Thanks so much! -- 71.86.121.200 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.86.121.200 (talk) 22:56, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

to answer my own question, this is a simple howto to tunnel ssh through http which uses httptunnel-- 71.86.121.200 23:44, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

A filter could in principle detect and block ssh inside http, though you'll probably be fine. You could also try ssh inside ssl, using stunnel for the ssl layer. There's no reliable way for a filter to distinguish this from real https (which is http inside ssl). -- BenRG 00:06, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

You'll have to have it set up at home too. --froth^t 12:53, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

What you may be bumping into is a intercepting HTTP proxy running on port 80. The stunnel/httptunnel suggestions above ought to work, or you might simply try running your ssh server on port 443 (since they might not have bothered running that through the proxy). —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 20:56, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the answers! Yeah its probably a transparent proxy like that. httptunnel should work but is not very robust at all, I start the server at home and by the time I get to the hospital it has ended for unknown reasons which is highly frustrating. I control a few internet-connected machines so I will try stunnel on one and ssh on port 443 on another. Jumping thorough these hoops to get real internet access is very frustrating, and I don't have time to devote to computer tinkering like I usually do. The lesson in this is to setup your tunneling proxies/vpn before you think you will need them. I will probably even set up one of those cool dns-tunnels when I get the time. -- 71.86.121.200 22:47, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Cool, yes. But please don't tunnel gigabytes of traffic through DNS requests! It's a terrible protocol for data transfer and the hacked-together methods of doing it are certainly less stable than httptunnel. Are you sure that you have the proper ports forwarded on your router and that's not why you can't connect home? --froth^t 03:21, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

THanks for your opinion but I can assure you that httptunnel by itself, though a great idea, is not very stable, I am sure therea are other similar tools that may be more robust. Sure I could write some shell scripts to keep it running but I am not going to bother. I know my way around an IP network and port forwarding is not the problem, httptunnel dying is the problem. -- 71.86.121.200 14:23, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

I would strongly recommend against bypassing their restrictions in any way. Hospitals need to be very careful of their networks, as they are a life-providing service. I doubt an stunnel could do any harm, but there may be bandwidth considerations or unforseen problems. If this were a coffee house, I wouldn't be concerned, but I wouldn't screw with a hospital's services. -- 68.156.149.62 13:03, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

I am quite sure there are no mission critical applications for this network, I am quite sure I am not violating the usage policy. I am quite sure I know what I'm doing, and my ssh session for reading my email will not cause bandwidth problems. I could even go downstairs and connect to the same network from the coffe house... -- 71.86.121.200 14:23, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

September 6

Turing

I wanna learn the basics of programing on turing. Can anyone recommend a good starting online tutorial or help. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.156.52.228 (talk) 00:31, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

See Turing machine. There is no tutorial for programming one because, in general, they do not really exist. Models are built from time to time just for fun. Under normal circumstances, they are theoretical devices used in fields such as discrete mathematics and automata theory. -- kainaw™ 02:33, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

The questioner may have been talking about Turing (programming language) — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 02:35, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Yea, my question is about the "Turing (programming language)". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.93.133.237 (talk) 11:27, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

• The Turing article has pointers to a variety of tutorials. This one says it's for people with no prior programming experience. --Sean 13:02, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

iPod and itunes

should I play songs bought from itunes in my iPod or can I play any mp3 file in my computer in iPod? What is the case in other company players like Zune and creative and samsung mp3 player? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.96.141.253 (talk) 09:31, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

You can add any mp3 on your computer to your iTunes library, which will add it to your iPod when you sync. You don't have to buy music from the iTunes store at all if you don't want to. Other players won't be able to play songs bought from the iTunes store (except maybe iTunes Plus files, if the player supports AAC), but they'll be able to play mp3s from your computer. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 11:40, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

You can however generally convert files into a compatible format; not always easy if DRM is involved as Matt said. --jjron 08:38, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Neither Windows Live Messenger or live.com is working for me

I haven't been able to log into Windows Live Messenger all day and now I'm not able to even go to live.com. Can someone who's not me go there to see whether they have some sort of problems with their server or something (although that seems unlikely) so that I can be sure the problem is on my end. Thanks! --Oskar 13:15, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

My live messenger has been logging out sporadically this past week too, I assume they're having some problems. Capuchin 14:33, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm in Malaysia and I have no problem accessing either. Though the Internet Traffic Monitor says that traffic around the world is relatively slow at the moment. x42bn6 Talk Mess 14:37, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Assuming that you are from Sweden and having Telia as your ISP this IDG article] may interest you. You just have to wait until the ISPs fix this problem. Jeltz talk 14:46, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

It is also likely that users of other Swedish ISPs and maybe even ISPs in other countries that peer with Telia may experience the same problems. For example Com Hem is affected too. Jeltz talk 14:48, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, that's it! I can't access any microsoft website (I'm using Com Hem, which uses Telia's network) although I haven't had any problems with other sites (wikipedia obviously works). I guess I'll turn on TOR or something in the meantime. --Oskar 14:51, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Hey, it works now! Cool. --Oskar 15:04, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Red Hat Linux update

I'm running red hat linux on my computer. I see an icon on my task bar in the form of a red exclamation mark. When I click it, the OS starts to update. Then I get an error saying my system is not entitled. How do I make my system entitled? Should I pay for my updates? Is there any other easy way for me to update my system? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.164.136.62 (talk) 19:05, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Beats me! --69.150.163.1 21:15, 6 September 2007 (UTC) User:Kushal_one

Why you would pay for anything in the first place I have no idea. Details? Splintercellguy 22:44, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Most likely your entitlement has expired. You will not be able to use the Redhat services to upgrade or install packages until you pay for an entitlement. If you are unwilling to pay for software updates, you could always switch to using CentOS, which will give you nearly the same packages, but you're not paying for service or support entitlements. -- JSBillings 13:05, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

How did type I error in hypothesis testing come be known as "false positive"?

The Wikipedia article on type I error, as well as numerous Google search results, refers to type I errors as "false positives". This appears to run counter the common-sense interpretation of the latter. How did "false positive" come to be equated with type I error? --64.236.170.228 19:32, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Evidently your notion of common sense clashes with mine. —Tamfang 20:47, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

(ec) Because, well, you think you've got a positive result, but it's, um, false. I'm not sure how that goes against common sense. Are you sure you haven't misread what the article is trying to say? The definition given is not the easiest one to follow by far, but at least the example given would seem fairly reasonable:

For example, a test saying a woman is pregnant when she is actually not pregnant is an example of a false positive.

Or do you in fact find that somehow counterintuitive? —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 20:49, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Visual Basic menu Click() event

I am trying to write a calculator program in Visual Basic and I would like to have a main menu like those that are common in Windows programs (File, Edit, View, etc.) Anyway, I can't figure out how to handle the MenuItem_Click() event and I can't get a subroutine to handle a click on any item in any of the menus. I tried to figure it out using the help files that came with Visual Studio 2005 (my development software) and the files in the MSDN database, but I keep banging my head against a wall.

Does anyone either know how to program this event, or have some sample source code (maybe from projects of your own.) that demonstrate how to handle the Click() event on a MenuItem? A sample in any programming language would be appreciated.

Here is the code I tried; it's supposed to change the size of the items in the form:

 Public Sub getMenu()
    Dim MenuStrip1 As New MainMenu()        
    Dim mnuView As New MenuItem()       
    Dim mnuView_large As New MenuItem()
    Dim mnuView_small As New MenuItem()     
    mnuView_small.Text = "Small Buttons"
    mnuView_large.Text = "Large Buttons"
    mnuView.MenuItem.Add(mnuView_small)
    mnuView.MenuItems.Add(mnuView_large)
    MenuStrip1.MenuItems.Add(mnuView)
    AddHandler mnuView_small.Click, AddressOf Me.mnuView_small_Click        
    Me.Menu = MenuStrip
 End Sub
 Private Sub Form_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
    Call getMenu()
 End Sub
 Private Sub mnuView_large_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles mnuView_large.Click
    If Me.FontHeight = 8 Then
        mnuView_large.Checked = True
        mnuView_small.Checked = False
        Me.FontHeight = 12
    Else
        Exit Sub
    End If
 End Sub
 Private Sub mnuView_small_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles mnuView_small.Click
    If Me.FontHeight = 12 Then
        mnuView_small.Checked = True
        mnuView_large.Checked = False
        Me.FontHeight = 8
    Else
        Exit Sub
    End If
 End Sub

Again, any and all advice will be greatly appreciated. 69.205.180.123 20:15, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

I will try and look at one of my old projects in VB.NET and see if I can figure it out. In the meantime I see a probable typo in your code:

    mnuView.MenuItem.Add(mnuView_small)
    mnuView.MenuItems.Add(mnuView_large)
    MenuStrip1.MenuItems.Add(mnuView)

Not that you have added to MenuItem the first time, and MenuItems the second and third. Not sure which is right, but they ought to be the same... --24.147.86.187 22:30, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Prohibiting image downloads

Is there a simple way to show images on a web page but keep people from saving them to their hard drives? Basically, I'm setting up a small photography web site for my wife and she'd like to keep people from taking her photos. They're not high res or anything but still doesn't like the idea of them just being right clicked and saved en masse. Dismas|^(talk) 20:31, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

In a word, no. If they can see it, they can save it. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 20:39, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

(after EC) You can put up roadblocks, but there really is no effective way. I think IE lets you mark an image as downloadable, but Firefox just laughs at that setting. And a person can just do a screen print anyway. --LarryMac | Talk 20:41, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Some image hosting places do a referrer thing, so that only their site can put it up (that is, only transmit the correct image if the referrer in the HTTP header is some specified server). I'm not sure if that will work to stop the right-click, Save Image As function, but it might. You can fool those if you're tricky, and as LarryMac said, nothing can stop a screen-grab --Oskar 20:59, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I just tried that in firefox and it doesn't work. Sorry, you'll have to live with the pain. --Oskar 21:00, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

You could add a watermark or something similar, as a deterrent. --Dave the Rave (DTR)talk 21:08, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Expanding upon my earlier answer, what you want is essentially Digital Rights Management. That article should do a reasonable job of explaining why it doesn't work very well, not even when you're a major movie studio with astronomical amounts of money to throw at it. There are ways in which you could make saving the images more difficult, possibly enough that most people would not bother. Unfortunately, creating such obstacles tends to be rather difficult in itself, and they also tend to easily interfere with legitimate viewing. Ultimately, the fact is that there's very little difference between viewing and downloading, so it's hard to stop one but not the other. And a determined person will always be able to work around any protection schemes, if only via the analog hole. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 21:28, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Put a watermark on the bottom that links back to the website and has her name on it. Then if anyone does re-use them they'll be advertising for you. Don't worry so much about a few people causally saving photos to their desktop. Professional photo services (CORBIS, Getty Images) can't stop that from happening and they have a lot more to lose from it. --24.147.86.187 22:11, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

You can at least put a statement on the page where you show the pictures about the copyright, and also inlcude the copyright in the images them selves. This will discourage a few. On the way to make it difficult to save, you could break the image into 16 little tiles and then assemble it on the screen in the html. But there is way to stop it completely! Graeme Bartlett 23:26, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

You could separate the image into 16x16 grids and have 256 little blocks so you can't save them as easily, but that still doesn't fare well with the screen captures and website retrievers. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 23:33, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Many of the response before have let the perfect be the enemy of the close enough for jazz. I was tasked with something similar for a photography site dinesfavorites.com. You can view source on the page to see what was done, but the short answer is that I overlaid each of the pictures with a transparent gif scaled large enough to cover the photo. It won't prevent someone from doing a view source to get the picture url, but it keeps the casual user from stealing the picture. As an aside, I was pointed at onemodelplace.com as a site which had some protections for images. When I tried to see what was there, though, I kept getting model pages with nude photos, much to my embarrassment (looking at the site recently, they've done a big redesign on how photos are presented... in any event, I ended up using a different method than the onemodelplace technique since what I did do didn't require a lot of heavyweight javascript). Donald Hosek 00:00, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Jim Dines's photographs are lovely, but the protection is pathetic. If they were larger images, I would now have some beautiful nature for my desktop in less than 30 seconds. Nor was a "view source" required. The bottom line remains: if you can see it you can save it. Use a little common sense; to display the image on your monitor, your computer must have the image data in its memory.

Instead, try using the images as teasers and free advertising. If someone likes the image and looks at it again and again with a name and a Web address, eventually they or someone looking over their shoulder may come to buy. Artists want their work to be seen, and they want to make a living; tempting images with ad text can help do both. The aesthetic challenge is how to overlay the ad text without violating the integrity of the image. --KSmrq^T 21:42, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Again, I never claimed to have strong protection (personally I think that the pictures are way over-priced and would never buy them... in fact, that particular site was put up because nobody was' buying them!). Just something good enough to keep a casual thief from taking pictures off the site. If it's viewable, it can be downloaded. This provides a relatively low cost way to keep the pictures from being taken from a casual thief. Donald Hosek 00:44, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

I just visited your site, casually clicked the "disable CSS" button, and saved the image to my hard drive. No big deal. --Carnildo 21:48, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

As said above, you want DRM. This is wrong, and thankfully it's quite impossible. You want the user's computer to process the image but only in a way that you find acceptable.. unfortunately for you it's their computer and they have control over it. If you're not already discouraged by all these people who know what they're talking about telling you it's technically impossible, consider it on moral grounds. --froth^t 03:18, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Note that visitors can only view an image after they have downloaded it (thinking the two are separate is a common mistake). In msWindows, they would be placed under 'temporary internet files', which I have on occasion used as workaround to save 'downloadprotected' images. DirkvdM 09:07, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Getting windows licence from installed windows

I (well, family members who won't run anything but) have two Windows XP Home machines. One install has been corrupted and needs to be reinstalled. But I don't know which license is installed on which machine. The serial number shown in the "system" control panel applet of the surviving machine doesn't bear any resemblance to an XP license. Is there a way to dig a license out of a windows install (even a digit or two will be enough to let me figure out which to use). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:32, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Magical Jellybean Keyfinder? Splintercellguy 22:40, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

USB Flash drive giving me flack

I just bought a Sandisk U3 Cruzer Micro USB 2GB flash drive. It came with all sorts of U3 software nonsense on it that not only I didn't want, but I couldn't even use anyway (I run a Mac). After poking around I found a U3 removal utility (http://www.u3.com/uninstall/), and ran it from Parallels (a Windows XP virtualizer). Well, it ran for awhile, then locked up, then crashed. Great. Now I can't use the drive for anything — the Mac OS X Disk Utility thinks it has no partitions and is not writable. In Windows it thinks it has zero drive space free and zero drive spaced used.

I have nothing on the disk, I want to wipe it and reformat it as a single partition. What's the easiest way to do this at this point? I'm immensely irritated with this U3 nonsense (it mounts a fake CD drive when you put it in and then launches all sorts of software—not exactly what one expects from a blank USB drive, and it makes it incompatible with some of the hardware I need to use it with at that) and that it is taking so much time to just wipe this thing.

Disk Utility (OS X) doesn't seem to be able to do it; I tried using the old FORMAT from the DOS command prompt but it gives me "Error in IOCTL call" as a message in response. Blah. The drive mounts, and I can view its driver properties just fine, but I can't wipe it. Arrggg. --24.147.86.187 22:18, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

OK... nevermind! In removing it and putting in back in a few times it now let me erase and re-partition it in Disk Utility. Phew. WTF. I love it when hardware developers decide to "make things easy" for you by adding junk you never asked for. Just what I wanted, a USB drive pre-loaded with SKYPE and other things that I could have obtained if I had really wanted them! Hey, loading up an OS with extra, unwanted junk worked so well for Windows, why not apply the model everywhere!! --24.147.86.187 22:27, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Psst, blame the software developers. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 23:28, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Psst, the software developers probably have little to do with it. Blame the product managers, the marketers, the sales department, and all the higher-ups who instigated and approved it. David 10:41, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

I understand that U3 may not be for everyone but I use a U3 flashdrive and find it incredibly useful. The apps on it are more stable than most portable programs I use and, despite the odd problem I encounter on the school network I use it on, the U3 apps are very handy. I understand why you might be frustrated by it but U3's not all bad

Mix Lord 12:12, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

It's the sort of thing I think should be an option to install, not an option to remove. They shouldn't assume I want such a thing, or want it to set up an unwritable partition that pops up every time it is installed, and doesn't even work on my system anyway. Additionally I find it irritating when removable media comes pre-loaded with software — the point is supposed to be that it is blank media, not that it has 20 MB of stuff already on it that is set to auto-launch on insertion. It is a bad approach. If you want to make a useful, "killer app", do so, get the word out, put advertising all over the package; but don't install it automatically. --24.147.86.187 14:20, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

I also had a sandisk cruzer, and the attitude was just palpable in the software that the developers wanted to give you every possible opportunity to uninstall U3 and the only reason it was preinstalled was because their bosses told them. IIRC one of the auto-execced U3 apps that popped up when I put it in for the first time was actually a U3-signed version of the U3 uninstall utility! --froth^t 03:06, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Which Java ORM?

What's the best of the open-source Java ORM libraries out there (I've seen this list already). How do they compare in terms of stability, adoption, power and ease of use? Or perhaps, most importantly, which would be most helpful on my resume? Donald Hosek 23:26, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Opening Word 2007 with 2003

Is there anyway I can open a Word 2007 document in the .XML format if I only have Word 2003? Could I open it with IE or Firefox and then just copy and paste the content into Word 2003? Thanks. Acceptable 23:59, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Try this — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 00:56, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Does anyone have information about Macs and opening Office 2007 .docx files in Macbook with MS Office 2004? --16:13, 8 September 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kushal one (talk • contribs)

There's an opener on the Microsoft website.

Atlant 22:39, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

September 7

LaTeX pictures

Hi,

I'm trying to write a document in LaTeX using TeXnic Centre, am I'm having trouble with figures. It seems to only let me have one image per page, and just bumps all the rest of the figures to the end of the pdf. Is there a command to let it squeeze more figures on each page? Thanks Aaadddaaammm 03:44, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Objects that can move like that are called "floats" in LaTeX; here is a discussion about changing the rules about their use. You can also not use the picture environment, which creates the float; if you just include the graphics directly, it'll be in-line with the text as if it were a letter. The downside to that is that it can no longer get an automatically-formatted caption and doesn't participate in the references-to-figures system (making Figure 2 an inline will make Figure 3 be known as Figure 2 unless you modify the counters yourself, and there will be no way to use \ref to get a reference to the original Figure 2). --Tardis 15:15, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Font sizes in Excel

I have a number of Excel spreadsheets, all with similar text in them. I have formatted the text in one particular cell of each spreadsheet to 24pt Arial. But when I print the spreadsheets, this text is bigger on some sheets than on others. Does anyone know why this should be? My guess is that it is something to do with scaling - under Page Setup, I have selected the Fit To option - but beyond that I have no clue. Many thanks. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 07:25, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

If you use "Fit To" then Excel adjusts the size of the printout accordingly, and font sizes change in proportion. So if the sheet is shrunk by 50% to fit the number of pages you specify, text that is 24pt in the original will be printed as 12pt. AndrewWTaylor 07:33, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

has apple launched a PDA silently in the name of ipod?

Is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.106.235 (talk) 09:08, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

You mean iPod Touch which look a lot like the iPhone? --antilived^{T | C | G} 12:13, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

yes —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.127.32 (talk) 13:32, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Certainly it does a lot that a PDA can so I guess it depends on what you consider a PDA to be. I think...Touch screen, web-enabled, has applications, has a primative 'operating system' and bags of memory - very much like a PDA to me. It just needs to have calendar, document and perhaps a spreadsheet to make it official! I wouldn't be amazed if a defined PDA version is released in the futureny156uk 23:00, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

The Boyhood of Raleigh

Moved to Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities Exxolon 13:48, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Color in Excel

Hi all:

I have an excel file with a grid that has different numbers in each cell. I would like to visualize the patterns better, and I was wondering if there is any way to program Excel to choose a background (or font) color for the cell based on the value of the number in that cell. For example, I would like the small numbers to be black, and larger numbers to be white (with shades of gray in between)... Thanks! --Waldsen 11:42, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

In excel2000 (not sure how other versions are similar), Select the cells that you want to apply the formatting to and go to Format --> Conditional Formatting.., that should open a dialog that you can set whatever constraints you want and get it to format the cells based on the conditions you set. You should be able to set a condition for each shade you want to get the effect you describe. Hope that works for you :) Capuchin 11:58, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Excel 2003 is the same. One limitation is that you can only apply 3 conditions, but you can add a fourth by pre-formatting the text. For example, if you want x<10 red, 10<=x<20 yellow, 20<=x<30 green, and 30<=x<40 blue, you can manually format all the text red, then make conditional formatting for the other 3 situations, which would override the red for x of 10 & up. jeffjon 20:24, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

You could write a macro that sets the colour rather easily. I forget the syntax exactly but it would be something along the lines of assessing the box's value and then setting the cell shading to be whatever you desire. ny156uk 22:57, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

I paste below an excerpt from my sudoku solver written in excel basic (If anyone wants it, I could provide the entire thing):

   For y = 2 To maxgrid
       For x = 2 To maxgrid
           v = Worksheets("Answer").Cells(y, x).Interior.ColorIndex
           Worksheets("Answer").Cells(yy + y, x).Interior.ColorIndex = v
       Next x
   Next y

-- SGBailey 08:40, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

uninstalling of spy-shredder without license/

≥ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.52.77.50 (talk) 12:22, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

• This seems to be a comprehensive guide to it - [5] - but as it says - use at your own risk Exxolon 12:57, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Online Form Fill Pre-Popping

I could not find the definition for the act of allowing information to be displayed on an online form fill when passed as part of the URL query string. Is there a standard definition or what term would this fall under? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.216.185.98 (talk) 14:44, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

What you refer to is nothing more than prefilling a form. You may be thinking about registering variables though. This is a weakness in scripting languages that allow it. For example, if you "register globals" in PHP, a user has the ability to set variables that should not be set by sending them in the query string. -- kainaw™ 15:54, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

.xnk (Outlook)

Microsoft Outlook allows me to create a shortcut to an Outlook entity (e.g., a folder in Public Folders); this has a .xnk extension. With Windos XP and Office 2003, I could double-click to open it. With Vista and Office 2007, the extension is no longer recognized. I'm trying to find a way to open the shortcut. A Google search was unhelpful. I wanted to associate Outlook with the extension, but it didn't show up on the list of available programs. Matchups 18:01, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

I searched around google and picked up a hit that the removing of the .xnk is a feature, not a bug. According to the article, these are dangerous as they can make your more vulnerable to hackers. You can enable it though; just review the steps on this page. [6] Please keep me posted. Monkeynoze 19:38, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Weird Image

When a wiki has an external link like this there is a little image of a box with an arrow coming out of it. Also when you link to an mp3 file like this there is a little speaker next to it. Does anyone know what those images are called and where they are located?

Wikiman232 18:34, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Called? Background images. Really. They're placed there by the [CSS] and it's done with selectors; for example

#bodyContent a[href ^="https://"],

.link-https {

background: url(lock_icon.gif) center right no-repeat;

padding-right: 16px;

}

will apply that background to every HTTPS link, with enough padding on the right so no text overruns it. --Blowdart 19:20, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

• The code to make that magic happen is at http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/monobook/main.css?97 , and the images themselves are at http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/monobook/external.png and http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/monobook/audio.png . --Sean 19:24, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Functionally I'd call them icons. —Tamfang 16:52, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

September 8

Slow down animations

I use MSIE7 in WinXP. Is there a way to slow down animations such as to, say, 1/10th the speed? -- SGBailey 08:34, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes, but it will take GIF editing software. Basically what you want to do is to increase the amount of time per frame by 10X. I would use Adobe ImageReady for that but I'm sure there is also a free way to do it. --24.147.86.187 12:31, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Oh — do you mean, "is it possible for me to have GIF animations play slower in my browser?" If so, the answer is probably no, unless there is some sort of outrageously clever Firefox addition that takes care of it. --24.147.86.187 13:27, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

The latter is what I meant. Ah well. Thanks. -- SGBailey 21:44, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

BBC News 24 live online

I live in South Korea and I want to watch BBC News 24 live online. However, every time I try, the stream is not loaded.

I tried http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/tvseq/n24/bb/wm/video/news24_bb.asx . However, my computer can't access to that asx.

Four addresses inside that asx also failed:

• mms://wmlive-acl.bbc.co.uk/wms/news/news24_bb_s1
• mms://wmlive-acl.bbc.co.uk/wms/news/news24_bb2_s1
• mms://wmlive-acl.bbc.co.uk/wms/news/news24_bb_s2
• mms://wmlive-acl.bbc.co.uk/wms/news/news24_bb2_s2

Now, what can I do?--JSH-alive ^(talk)_(cntrbtns)^{(mail me)} 10:23, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

What browser and OS are you using? --24.147.86.187 13:28, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Windows XP and both Firefox and Explorer.--JSH-alive ^(talk)_(cntrbtns)^{(mail me)} 13:51, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

usage of lattice constants in automotives and information about quantum computation

Hi, i want to know about the usage of lattice constants in automotives and quantum computers so please help me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sankar sudhan (talk • contribs) 11:53, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

game consoles

why do game consoles have processors in it when computers themselves have processors anyway? do I get any free games when consoles are bought? How much does a game cost? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.119.141 (talk) 14:50, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

The Wii is the only current console i know of that comes with a game, and games for the wii usualy cost around $40. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.195.124.101 (talk) 16:02, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

1) Game consoles are, essentially, specialized computers. 2) Depends on the console. Sometimes special bundles are offered at a discounted price than if you bought the console and game seperately. 3) Varies from free to very large amounts for "Special Edition" versions. -- 68.156.149.62 16:47, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Processors just run program instructions. Games are just types of programs. Consoles are just computers made to do one specific task (play gmes). --24.147.86.187 17:01, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Are you asking why game companies don't just write games for general-purpose computers? One reason is homogeneity. All the consoles of a certain type have exactly the same computational hardware, so they don't have to worry about dealing with different vendors' buggy drivers and providing a low-detail mode for low-end computers and so on, which saves development time. Another reason is intellectual property. Console vendors like proprietary systems because they can charge royalties on every game sold, and game companies like proprietary systems because they make piracy harder. -- BenRG 23:42, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Nintendo’s Wii costs US$250 and comes with a game: Wii Sports. New games for the Wii generally cost US$50 each.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 60GB version costs US$500 and comes with no games, the 80GB PS3 costs US$600 and comes with a game: Motorstorm. New games for the PS3 generally cost US$60 each.

Microsoft's Xbox 360's three versions cost US$279, $349, and $429 respectively. None of them come with a game. New games for the Xbox 360 generally cost US$60 each.

Sony’s PlayStation 2 costs US$130 and does not come with a game. New games for the PlayStation 2 generally cost US$30 -$40 each.

Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s GameCube are no longer in production and the prices of the consoles vary widely if you can find them at all. New games for these consoles are rare, but games for them are generally priced similar to, or slightly lower than the PS2’s games.

Hope that helps. 69.205.180.123 00:03, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Turn off the touchpad

In Linux, how do I turn off the touchpad on my Toshiba Satellite 5000, preferably only while a USB mouse is connected? NeonMerlin 15:15, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm taking a guess you are using Windows XP and not Vista, 2000, etc. You can find the directions here [7]. Keep me posted. Monkeynoze 19:41, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

It'd help to read his question. He uses Linux. First two words. OP: I don't know, though only turning it off when the USB mouse is in won't be an easily found feature. JoshHolloway 20:38, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Ummm he clearly said he's using LINUX? It would help to state your distribution, and it's better to ask on their forums than in here. --antilived^{T | C | G} 23:59, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Some laptops have a button (near the touchpad) or a key combination (e.g. Fn + F7 or something like that) that turns the touchpad on or off. Your manual will tell you. --141.156.250.167 23:48, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Detecting removable hard drive

I recently bought a removable hard drive(USB 2).When I plug it to the USB port of my PC, it is not detected by the explorer.How can i solve this problem.Thank u. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.70.64.15 (talk) 17:51, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

What OS version are you using (Windows XP, Windows 2000, mac, etc.) What brand computer do you have? Do you have a laptop or desktop. Thanks. Monkeynoze 19:43, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

gps in cell phones

a coworker claimed that all cell phones in the last few years have GPS, but that it's not necessarily enabled. True/false? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.217.199.246 (talk) 23:02, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

See Wireless Enhanced 911. I'm not sure if they're required to have it, but a lot of them seem to. Essentialy, it's more than just a GPS, it also used the cell-towers themselves to pin-point you. Many phones seem to have an option to turn this on for all calls, or just on for E911.(Default) My old phone had an option to turn it off entirely, but I'm just now noticing my current one doesn't. APL 23:27, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Accidentaly closed tab

I accidentaly closed a Firefox tab. Wikipedia in Portuguese was opened and I has just translated an entire article, and I didn't save anything. Is there a way to get the information back? A.Z. 23:14, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

I could find it! There's a feature called "recently closed tabs". It wasn't actually an entire article, since there's one section left. A.Z. 23:21, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

You can also right-click on an open tab and choose "undo close tab" from the menu. It's a great feature. --Sean 23:52, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

different connections for different applications

Hi. Can I have different applications use different network connections on my computer? For example, can I have my browser use my wired connection, and have my email client use my wireless connection to a particular wireless network, both connected to the Internet at the same time? Directions for Windows and/or Linux would be appreciated. Thanks. --141.156.250.167 23:51, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Dual 12V rails on PSUs

If an ATX power supply has "dual +12V rails", does that mean that some number of connectors are on rail 1, and the others are on rail 2? Is there a way to figure out which connectors are on rail 1 or 2 if it isn't documented? Or do all of the 12V connectors pull from the same power source (then what's the point of "dual" rails..)? Thanks! --72.66.219.162 23:57, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

September 9

Microsoft Excel question, probably a dumb one

I have a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, it's not for math or formulas, just to keep notes on something. Many of the cells have a lot of text in them (up to a paragraph) but I don't want all the text to be visible in the spreadsheet, as long as I can see it when I click on that cell. Does that make sense? This usually works fine, but occasionally Excel will automatically resize the cell for me, making the entire row taller so that I can see all the text in that row at once. I don't want this; it is annoying and frustrating that I don't know why it sometimes does it or how to fix it. I know that I can change it back by going to the Format menu and selecting Row and manually adjusting the height, but is there an easier way? Instead of fixing it like that each time, I'd rather just know why it's doing that so I can avoid the problem. Thanks in advance for any help you can give. --Grace 01:24, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

It's really hard to tell since we have no idea what you're doing with the spreadsheet. But there are several easier ways: Try selecting the cell, the column the whole sheet, or whatever you want to be displayed in this way and hit Ctrl+1 (the number one). This will give you the Format Cells dialog. In the Alignment tab, either unselect Wrap text or select Shrink to fit, whichever you like better. — Sebastian 09:17, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

OS X Address Book and Default Email Address

Hello,

Is there anyway in OS X address book to set a default email address? I have many contacts with multiple email address and I would like to be able to specify one as the one to always send mail to.

Thank you,

--Grey1618 11:02, 9 September 2007 (UTC)