Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing

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December 22

iPod Touch to iPhone

Not sure where to post this. Everyone in our department at our corporation got a snazzy new iPod for Christmas. But I really want an iPhone. What can I do? Only two stores sell iPhones in the US and the iPod was purchased at another store (a major big box electronics retailer). What are my options? --24.249.108.133 (talk) 01:11, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Sell the iPod on eBay, buy the iPhone? If you haven't opened the iPod you might be able to return it for a refund, but it's unlikely (especially without a receipt) -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 01:19, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Keep the IPod touch, from all that i heard is that the iphone isnt very good and there are better things out there that cost less. It bassicly just for like "omg dude i have a iphone" popularity thing. BonesBrigade 02:20, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Itunes Video + PSP Questions

Alright, folks, I got a couple questions for you. Firstly, what format do Itunes videos comes in? You know what I mean, like what sort of file is it, like mp3 (that's probably not it). Secondly, if I download a video from Itunes, can I run it through PSP Video 9 in order to make it playable on the PSP? I need a way to get videos on my PSP and this seems like a good way to do it, if it will work. Thanks guys. DoomsDay349 01:30, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

game deletion problem

I own the game sim theme park and whenever I try uninstall the game it says,"Unable to locate the installation log file unistu.something..." I tryed to go to add/remove programs and that didin't work. I've also tryed other methods of deletion. What should I do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.234.38.78 (talk) 02:15, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Simple!, run installation again and then uninstall. To me most of such cases had occured and I had solved it that way...This seems to be a kind of corruption of your uninstall log file. Try running registry cleaner before installing it again.I guess it's one way to solve...If at all you don't wanna re-install that game, then delete it from HDD folder and run registry cleaner which will clean all registries including this game ones which don't have correct directory(which you have deleted). Then safely you can remove other shortcuts from all programs.Hope it's ok. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Balan rajan (talk • contribs) 06:26, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Bare bones linux

I'm trying to set up a bare bones linux system under Qemu emulation. I just want it to have bash, a basic kernel, and apt-get. If it works out, I'd like to make it a liveCD. Could anyone out there help me out? I'm running OS X Leopard. Thanks in advance! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.125.175.118 (talk) 04:02, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

See Linux From Scratch. But please make sure you're comfortable and experienced with Linux, or you will be frustrated and become a LiNuX-h8Tr. --antilived^{T | C | G} 11:22, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

HDD performance or lifetime quality?

Hey guys,I've had this doubt for a while. I heard from many saying that the HDD must be partitioned to multiple root directories inorder to get the maximum data transfer. This particularly indicates that the data retrieval is always faster when the volume you acess is of low disk size.Searching a data in a high volume drive takes a longer time hence increasing the latency.Instead of configuring 160GB drive as (80+80)GB, it's good to configure as (40,40,40,40)GB. But recently to my surprise, and confusion I saw this note in one of the IBM technical refence manual for laptop denoting that partitioning more the HDD will reduce it's life. Out of these, which one is true?...Any true story behind this?.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.164.59.222 (talk) 05:41, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

I don't know any technical details myself, but what makes you think it must be one or the other? The claims that partitioning the hard drive 1)reduces latency, and 2)reduces its life, are not mutually exclusive. It could be both, and it could be neither. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 12:41, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you very much. I do have a lot of expirience. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.125.175.118 (talk) 14:51, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

I'll assume you are the OP. Where did I in any way refer to the amount of experience you have? I was merely commenting that your question is logically wrong (especially the "which one is true" part). -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 15:01, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Nope, he is the OP from the above question, "Bare bones linux". — Shinhan < talk > 11:38, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Deleted file/folder recovery

Can anyone recommend a free means of recovering deleted content from a hard drive? I have not reformatted it. --BrokenSphere^{Msg me} 06:10, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

perhaps see Undeletion --Spoon! (talk) 06:45, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

PhotoRec. --antilived^{T | C | G} 11:19, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Pop ups for real?

When we browse through the sites, we get series of pop ups. Ofcourse we've got lots of tools to block that, but however there are some pop ups or sites which offer contest and it says participating in that will make you have the chances of winning some 10 Million dollar. Is it all true?. Like some pop ups ask you to shoot the monkey or answer some question to win 10 million or more dollars. I have never been into that but just wanna know if it's true.Anyone knows how deeper this goes into?... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Balan rajan (talk • contribs) 11:00, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Do you think that companies are in the habit of handing out prizes of 10 million dollars?

(Apparently many people do think this. These people are commonly called "stupid".)

How "deep" does it go? Spyware and trojans (for those unfortunates still using the World's Favorite Operating System), I'd guess. -- Hoary (talk) 11:07, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Even if we believe them: What are the odds of winning? Will the prize be awarded by a particular date? These things are never stated up-front - so they can basically do whatever they want. They may have made the odds of winning so astronomically tiny that they will never (realistically) have to pay out. As for "Shoot the Monkey" - I don't think your browser even tells the advertiser where on the image you clicked - and I'm very sure they can't tell the timing of the animated GIF - so there is absolutely no way that can be a game of skill. SteveBaker (talk) 02:45, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Based on the previous replies, I'd say that they're just not worth clicking on. Some of them could be even scams or worse. --Bruin_rrss23 (talk) 08:09, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

A lot of them are flash based. I used to play them absent-mindedly.. they're great fun if you can block the popups they generate when you do actually punch the monkey. --ffroth 20:40, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

iTunes/WMP

I was thinking about getting an iPod Nano, but I personally detest iTunes and want to avoid using it at all. So I have two questions: firstly, I assume WMP can still put songs onto iPods, yes? And, if so, will WMP also put album art onto the iPod too? Because I like to look at the art. (: Obviously someone with personal experience will be able to answer this. Thank you! 86.146.170.27 (talk) 12:46, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

No, WMP doesn't support iPods. I have iPod Nano 2nd Gen, and I have successfully tested it with:

• iTunes
• Winamp (with ml_pmp and pmp_ipod plugins, both are in "full" install)
• foobar2000

Album art not tested.

I'm not sure about the 3rd Gen Nano, though.

--grawity ^{talk / PGP} 19:29, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

This article should help you: Comparison of iPod managers

--grawity ^{talk / PGP} 19:31, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

installing software in linux

Hi...I have got a .tar.gz installation file of quicktime for linux but I don't know how to install the application. Please help... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Piyushbehera25 (talk • contribs) 13:09, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm going to assume basic linux knowledge here. Start using the command gunzip on your file. Then use tar-xvf on the file. Then you have it completely uncompressed. Inside the new folder there will probably be a readme file. That will give you directions for the rest of the way. If you don't want to use the command line, your distro might have a gui decompressor installed.

tar will usually be able to call gunzip by itself, you just have to use tar -zxvf. Remember the space, "tar-zxvf" is not a command. z will tell tar it's supposed to call gunzip first, x will tell tar to extract, v will tell it to show you what it's doing, and f will tell it to expect the filename next. When you have uncompressed the package, there should be a file called "configure" there. cd into the package's directory and run "./configure". It will test if you have all the packages the application needs installed. If everything is OK, configure will create a file called Makefile. Then simply run "make" to build the program. If it succeeds, your program is now ready to use. If you want to have it in use for the whole system, become root and run "make install". JIP | Talk 08:04, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

JIP's advice would ge great in 99% of the cases (indeed, I started to write the exact same answer - but deleted it). Our OP is installing Quicktime for Linux - I'd be very surprised if it included sources or used a 'configure' script. Sure, use "tar xzf" to unpack it - but after that you'll need to follow the instructions on the website you got it from or look for a README file. It's annoying that there is no 'apt-get' or RPM for this package. SteveBaker (talk) 13:01, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Some Linux programs are indeed distributed as binary only. One example is Sun Java, which comes in a pre-compressed RPM format. Installing it is simple: become root and just run the downloaded package. It launches its self-contained installer which decompresses the RPMs and installs them. I don't know what installation method QuickTime uses though. JIP | Talk 17:28, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

I agree - but whatever the mechanism is, it's astronomically unlikely that it'll be "configure". SteveBaker (talk) 14:23, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

There is no official QuickTime release for Linux. You can install one of the media players written for Linux, such as Mplayer or VLC. --h2g2bob (talk) 01:23, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Mobile phone

Hello to ALL !I want to buy a mobile phone,but really not know to which one i select as the best one .so i am telling i need i smartphone which is running in Symbian OS OR Windows Mobile.Includding 3.2 megapaxial camera,ducoment viewer,screen size 2---2.6 inch,touch screen,as small as sony ericsson p1i and good at perfomance.And Finally one other ...........I can pay only 450 dollar.so please tell me .thank you ........usman

Dell computer configuration

What do you think about this computer configuration and price? is it a good deal? Please let me know. [1] Thank you Kushal^t 15:25, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

This is not the greatest deal. Look at mysimon.com, amazon.com, and other computer stores. For a computer function at dual 1.5ghz, you should be able to pay 600-700 dollars. Also, before you buy a PC, I seriously urge you to go to an apple store and consider purchasing a macintosh laptop-superior in so many ways. Besides, Dell is known to have bad tech. support —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.56.231.40 (talk) 17:21, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your answer. any more takes? Kushal^t 04:49, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

71 would be correct - if this was a desktop. As it's a laptop, $1000 is about how much you should be paying for a C2D with 2GB RAM. Good config, but I'd get it from NewEgg. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 09:21, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Somehow I am overcautious of AMD processors but this still seems to be a good deal [2]. What do you think? What about this [3]? --Kushal^t 01:13, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

The Toshiba with the Pentium D is crap, but the newegg Acer looks good, if not a little heavy. It's got a better video card, for one, and a larger screen. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 03:34, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

facebook Safari problem, mac os leopard,

I use safari on my macbook and am having trouble accessing facebook. I can access in the sign in page, but sometimes when I sign in, I am directed to a page that says;

Safari can’t find the server. Safari can’t open the page “https://login.facebook.com/login.php” because it can’t find the server “login.facebook.com”.

Othertimes, I get this message while I am logged in and surfing the site.

Does anyone have any advice? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.56.231.40 (talk) 17:17, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Does this happen to you only with Facebook or with other sites, too? What Internet connection are you using? --Ouro (blah blah) 18:42, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

It just happens when I'm using facebook. I am using wireless (wifi I think) internet or whatever wireless a Macbook uses. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.56.231.40 (talk) 01:10, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

I suppose that sometimes when you try to log on, the network is clogged up so much with traffic that you can't get through and subsequently lose the connection. This coupled with a wireles internet connection could be it. Sometimes traffic-demanding servers have narrow connections to cut costs or because of laziness, it shouldn't be so with an oh-so-popular-and-great website like Facebook. --Ouro (blah blah) 11:01, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Its weird though, because if I go to standby then boot up the computer again, everything works just fine, any ideas? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.56.231.40 (talk) 04:12, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Building a new computer from scratch

I've just built a computer almost from scratch for the first time. The only pre-installed components were the motherboard, the CPU, and the memory. I added everything else myself. Now I'm worried if the computer will break when I power it up. It cost me 730 €, so I'd rather not have it break. What I installed is:

• The power supply. This is what most concerns me. I had to plug in three connectors directly to the motherboard: one for the CPU and two for the motherboard itself. The motherboard power connector has 24 pins, the power supply has two plugs, one with 20 pins and one with 4. I plugged the two into the same socket, with the first one taking the upper 20 pins and the second taking the lower 4. Is there any chance I might have plugged them in the wrong way, and if so, will it break the motherboard?
• The storage devices. The hard disk is SATA, the floppy drive and the DVD drive are IDE. I left everything configured as it was, as I couldn't find any jumper configuration table on any of them. I presume all three devices are configured as master. Is there any danger these might break my motherboard?
• The video card. I plugged it into the only slot it would fit in. I don't think it will break my motherboard, but is there any danger of the card itself breaking?

Thanks! JIP | Talk 20:51, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

If the video card fits (without excessive use of force), it's probably in the right slot. (If the card and the motherboard are both new, it's probably a 16x PCI-E slot, and there will be no other slot long enough for the card.) If the disks have wrong jumper settings, they might not work, but I wouldn't expect that to break anything. The only part I'd worry about is the power — not having ever actually done that myself, there's little I can do to help you there, except to advise you to double-check the manuals (particularly the power connector layouts) for your motherboard and PSU. Of course, all the usual disclaimers apply — don't sue me if you follow my advice and your computer explodes or anything. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 21:21, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Double and triple check your wiring before you power it up --ffroth 23:01, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

No your computer will not spontaneously blow up just because of bad wiring. If it fits, it's probably in the right place. I have never tinkered with 24-pin motherboards but I don't think the older 4 pin 12V connector will fit in the extra 4 pins socket, as they have different shaped contacts. If it fits, it will probably work. --antilived^{T | C | G} 23:27, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

I tried plugging the 20- and 4-pin power connectors into the 24-pin socket every possible way, and only one way worked. So I think that's the right way. But I am still unsure about the fan power connectors. There are four fan connectors on the motherboard, one for the CPU fan (already installed and plugged in), one for "power fan", whatever that is (the power supply already has its own integrated fan), and two for case fans. The case fans are installed but not plugged in yet. Both of them have a small 3-pin connector with only one wire (yellow) going into it. I am supposed to plug these into the motherboard, right? What puzzles me is that each fan also has two 4-pin IDE power connectors, one male and one female. Where am I supposed to plug these in? The power supply's IDE power cables? JIP | Talk 08:46, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

4-pin is molex, not IDE. I would assume one is for power and the other is for letting your motherboard know how fast the fans are spinning and controlling them. This is a good thing. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 09:18, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Ah, thanks. I was calling them IDE power cables because they usually go together with IDE data cables. So the actual power is coming from the Molex connector and the one wire on the 3-pin connector is only used to control the fan? I thought it looked weird when I read that the pins were labelled "rotation", "+12 V" and "ground", and only "rotation" had a wire going into it. Does it matter which Molex connector in the power supply's cable I plug them into? And why are there both male and female Molex connectors on the fan? JIP | Talk 09:22, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

No, it doesn't matter, though putting them all on one line might make it easier to avoid a bunch of messy cables (you can have only one stretched across with the others tucked away. As for the male/female thing - I saw this on a fan once and wasn't sure - just use the one that works with the power supply (I believe it's male on the fan and female on the power supply, but I forget what they look like right now). -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 09:32, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

I suppose the idea with the male+female molex connectors (I assume you probably mean one connector with a male and a female end, and wires coming out the middle) is that you can stick it between an existing pair of connectors, such as those connecting your hard disk to the PSU. That way, adding the fan doesn't reduce the number of molex connector available for powering other devices. Of course, that doesn't mean you have to plug both ends of the fan connector into something — if you have a free molex connector dangling from your PSU, just plug it there. You can always plug something else into it later if you need to. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 12:25, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Also, I wouldn't suggest plugging the fans into BOTH the motherboard and the PSU. I'm not sure what effect this would have but it's not necessary. Choose one or the other. I suggest the motherboard. The two options are simply there for your convenience. Have you switched on yet? --Seans Potato Business 19:46, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

With the setup JIP describes (single wire to the motherboard connector), you are supposed to plug in both. The fan will work just fine with only the molex connector plugged in, but plugging the "rotation" wire to the motherboard will allow the speed of the fan to be monitored. (The reason for not getting the power from the motherboard as well is presumably either a) to allow the fan to be used with motherboards that don't have (enough of) the appropriate connectors, and/or b) to reduce the power load on the motherboard.) —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 17:45, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

You definitely have to plug them in both to the motherboard and to the PSU. The PSU provides them with power, the motherboard controls the logic. The rule of thumb I discovered is: look at the wires going to the motherboard. If there is only a yellow wire, your fan isn't going to be doing squat unless you plug the Molex connector in somewhere. If there are all three wires, the fan gets power from the motherboard, and the situation becomes what User:Seans Potato Business describes. JIP | Talk 20:44, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Nintendo DS - "The Golden Compass"

Is there a forum where one can ask questions as to how to make progress with this game? - CarbonLifeForm (talk) 23:08, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Have you tried GameFAQs? Dlong (talk) 02:55, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

December 23

Whois

If I do a whois query: http://samspade.org/whois/121.218.65.141 it comes back "ERROR: IP Range Reserved by IANA.org". What does that mean? —Moondyne 00:15, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Use http://www.dnsstuff.com instead. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:18, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Grabbing data

I am not a programmer. Are there any easy to use, automated ways of grabbing certain data off of a website and then taking that data and inputting it to another website? Both sites require a log in. Any help would be appreciated. 70.162.25.53 (talk) 00:50, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

You definitely need some programming experience for these kind of things. Can you please elaborate more on your requirements of the tool before suggestions can be made? --antilived^{T | C | G} 00:54, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

If you were a programmer, there are libraries that make this sort of thing easier (I've used snoopy for PHP before, which is pretty useful), but to my knowledge there aren't any "easy to use" or "automated" ways of doing this which don't require at least scripting knowledge (and a good understanding of how HTML works, especially forms). The problem is that every web page is going to do things differently, and the information you want is probably stored differently on the site you want than on any other site, so coming up with "one size fits all" solutions is not usually feasible. But if someone knows better than I, I'd be happy to hear it! --24.147.86.187 (talk) 03:11, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Unless your website has a API, you're pretty much stuck with screen-scraping, which is bad for the website (bandwidth) and difficult to script. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 09:20, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Is the bandwidth that bad? Whenever I do scraping I just pull the HTML text and not any of the images or other bandwidth-heavy things. Even if you're requerying a site 100 times, if the page is only 30K that's not really that much bandwidth, as far as things go (which is to say, for a lot of sites that is a lot less than if you just queried the site once with a regular browser). --24.147.86.187 (talk) 14:55, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Keeping an HTA window on top

Good day wikipedians, i have written a small HTA to help me manage some repetitve tasks, and i was wondering how you can set it so that the HTA window will always be on top (like floating above other windows even if inactive).. Thanks a heap in advance :)

Unless I'm mistaken, HTAs are shown in IE browser windows. To my knowledge there's no way to tell a browser to stay-on-top using its own code (imagine what malicious webpage creators could do with that!), but if you google around for "application stay on top" you can find a few third-party applications that can make any window stay on top, presumably including the HTA's. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 14:53, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

winners of super bowls and national championships

What players have won both a super bowl and a national championship in american college football?

You may find another reference desk page more helpful, this one is for computing-related questions. 86.146.169.2 (talk) 13:41, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

dancer/sometime actress

I saw something about a dancer named Africa Miranda. It's also read that she is also an actress. Is everything true? Is there someone with this name?72.229.136.18 (talk) 14:06, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

There is a cute someone bearing this name, and her website is [4]. --Ouro (blah blah) 16:00, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

ObComp: STFW. —Tamfang (talk) 00:02, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Stdout in C

Hi. I have four little C programs that have their standard inputs and outputs piped together, so that a feeds data to b, b feeds its data to c and c its own to d. They do this by using printf(). Only d can be directly quit by the user, as it contains the GUI. Is there any way I could have these programs to notice that the program they're feeding their stdout has been terminated? (This is a Linux system) ›mysid (☎∆) 15:24, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

• This will happen automatically, in that when they try to write to the closed program they will receive a SIGPIPE Unix signal. However, if they are buffering their output (as printf() will), it might not work as you expect. --Sean 16:48, 23 December 2007 (UTC)
  • They will only notice that the program has been closed until after they try to write to it. Sometimes this can make a difference. Also, within the limits of ISO standard C, this will lead to the program quitting. You can use the signal() function to make your program do something different when SIGPIPE happens, but then you're writing Unix-specific code. JIP | Talk 17:22, 23 December 2007 (UTC)
    • Oops, don't use signal(), use sigaction(). JIP | Talk 17:24, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. Actually, it would have done that if I had really terminated the program d. All I did was close the window, and forgot to connect the GTK delete event to exit. ›mysid (☎∆) 17:41, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

components of verbs

deleted because posted in wrong section: should be in language. don't know how I stuffed this up. The ibis in the corner (talk) 16:37, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Computer price difference

My father's company recently bought a new desktop PC for one employee. It has mostly the same specs as my new home desktop PC: a 3 GHz dual core CPU, 4 GB memory, 500 GB hard disk, DVD drive. The employee's PC has a better graphics card than mine and comes with Windows Vista and Small Business Office, while mine doesn't come with any software. Her PC is also a brand-name HP desktop, while mine is assembled from components. Her PC costs almost three and a half times as much as mine. What are the primary reasons for this huge price difference? JIP | Talk 16:44, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

One - brand PCs cost hugely more than self-assembled PCs. Two - better specs usually mean the equipment costs more, as does software, even when they say it's bundled for free. Three - her PC's costs cover labour costs, shipping and other such things that are not included in the price of the equipment you bought. --Ouro (blah blah) 16:49, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

The software costs go remarkably little to explain the differential. The costs (to a large system builder) of the OS and office platforms really aren't as high as a high-street consumer might believe. Even the single-use OEM license for Vista Ultimate costs less that half that of its retail counterpart - large makers get steep discounts from Microsoft (how steep is a trade secret, but it seems to go as low as about $20 US for XPpro, for example). And big builders subsidize their product further with all that "crapware" they ship - for each trialware antivirus or feature-limited DVD burner they get a couple of bucks from that software's maker (likewise for tie-ins with default search engines and dialup providers whose signup-apps are on the new machine's desktop). And they get co-marketing funding from Microsoft ("we recommend Windows Vista Gigantoslug Version" stickers on the PC and logos on their print ads, for example), which lowers their overall cost. So for a big system builder the OS is almost free and the office package a pretty modest cost. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 17:40, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

So the most important reason is that while her PC is a ready-made product from HP, shipped ready to operate and with full guarantee, mine is just a bag of components saying "you've bought these, now the rest is up to you, and if you break anything, tough luck"? JIP | Talk 17:53, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

More or less. Basically, few people buy the components separately to assemble because few people know how to put them together as they should and have the need to use a truly custom, powerful machine that they know the insides of - most of the population just needs 'a computer'. You have the freedom of choosing what you want exactly and have no sealed case preventing you from upgrading your PC by yourself. I've always had a custom machine - it's more convenient that way. --Ouro (blah blah) 18:41, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

I agree with you about people not knowing how to put a PC together. I know more about assembling PCs than the rest of my family put together and even I had trouble figuring out where to plug all the power supply cables to. The shop assembled the motherboard for me, but I've had to do everything else myself: the power supply, the IDE and SATA devices, and the fans. Sometimes I feel glad I work as a software developer and not as a sysadmin. Sysadmins don't have to worry about project deadlines but they do have to worry about pretty much everything else. JIP | Talk 19:19, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Safely remove hardware

Why shouldn't I just unplug the hardware from the USB port? --Taraborn (talk) 18:31, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Your OS (I assume Windows) might be buffering written data in memory to speed operations up. If you just unplug the device, data still in the buffer won't appear on the hardware itself. Safely removing the hardware forces the OS to flush all buffers onto the actual device. JIP | Talk 18:37, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

(ec)If the USB device is a disk (or disk equivalent, like a flash drive) there may be unwritten data pending (or being written right now). By stopping / unmounting the device you ensure that the system has flushed all that stuff out to the device before the system says "okay, we're done" and you can safely remove it. If you pull out such a mass-storage device you risk a "torn update", where only part of a change has been written (leaving a corrupt file or corrupt file system). In practice, if the LED on a flash drive isn't flashing (isn't in its "stuff happening right now" pattern) then it's generally safe to pull out the device without stopping it. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 18:38, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't, though. Often when I have moved several megabytes of data onto my USB stick, and I "safely remove" it without the LED having flashed for a long time, the OS still writes a big heap of data, possibly almost everything I've copied. ›mysid (☎∆) 18:44, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. --Taraborn (talk) 18:42, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Follow-up question: isn't it so that the system (also) shuts the power to the said USB device when we choose to 'safely unplug it'? --Ouro (blah blah) 19:23, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

It should be so, yes. Linux works just like that. Upon powering down, it automatically unmounts all storage devices, no matter how they are connected. I don't have enough experience with Windows to know if it works like that too, but I should think it does. JIP | Talk 20:32, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

That's not what he asked. I don't think it can "cut power"- the USB controller is hard wired to give power to the device. My external hard drive makes a distinctive spinning down sound when I unplug it, and it doesn't do that when I just "safely remove" it until I actually unplug it. My nice IBM optical mouse doesn't power up until the OS recognizes it though. --ffroth 20:37, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, Froth! --Ouro (blah blah) 20:41, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Partitioning USB flashdrives

Is it possible to partition an USB flashdrive (Apacer something, 1 GB) from Windows?

You should be able to. I have bought USBs that came pre-partitioned with a bunch of software loaded onto one of the partitions (which annoyed me, though I know some people like that sort of thing). --24.147.86.187 (talk) 21:58, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

sorry, forgot to say: absolutely no software was provided (even no drivers for Win98).

and if it's possible, then how? what software do I need?

I use Windows XP Pro SP2. --grawity ^{talk / PGP} 12:16, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Do you see it as an ordinary drive in Windows? If so, can you see "Format..." or something in the context menu (right-click on the drive icon)? ›mysid (☎∆) 13:51, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Ah, you'll probably need to disregard that, I thought you're just going to format it. ›mysid (☎∆) 13:54, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Win + R (to bring up the run prompt), type in diskmgmt.msc and voila, you have the disk manager where you can repartition your drives. --antilived^{T | C | G} 23:30, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

FCC Rules Part 15

A few days ago I was remodeling my room and came across my tv tuner's instruction manual and on the cover on it was something that made me curious. On the cover was written that my tv tuner complied with part 15 of the FCC Rules and that it's operation is subject to 2 conditions, that the tv tuner was to cause no harmful interference and that the tuner must accept any interference even it may cause undesired operation. And then I remembered that I saw those exact provisions on all my PC parts from the CPU to the hdd from the graphics card to the power source to the monitor and my question is why? Why must any component accept any interference regardless of the efects if might have?

I think "accept" means "it's okay to blow up, so long as you don't re-emit bad stuff" or "even receiving harmful interference isn't an excuse for emitting harmful interference". It doesn't mean "even if you put this tv tuner card into a running microwave it must still receive tv signals perfectly. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:00, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

The tuner was just an example, I want to know why is it required by law that any PC part must accept any intereferece regardless of it's efects.

My answer holds for everything, not just for TV tuners. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:07, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

I don't understand what question you're asking; as I read it my answer covers everything. Please ask the part you're unsure about again, in the most succinct manner you can. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:21, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Maybe the confusion is because really the two sections means the same. The first means "don't give off bad signals" and the second means "don't give off bad signals, even if you think you've got an excuse". -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:28, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes, what you say holds true for the first condition "That the devices are to cause no harmful interference", but not the second condition "That the devices must accept any interference even it may cause undesired operation" which is the one I'm asking about.

The FCC's job, in this context, is to protect the radio spectrum - nothing else. So that's the limit of the regulation. "That the devices must accept any interference even it may cause undesired operation" just means that devices don't have any excuse to emit harmful signals; even if they're receiving harmful signals; even if, to avoid emitting harmful signals, they're have to explode and shower little children with jagged fragments of burning plutonium, even then they mustn't emit harmful signals. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:40, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Part of "must accept" means is "no active countermeasures". If your cordless phone is getting interference from your neighbor's cordless phone, it's not allowed to send an "off" signal to shut it up. --Carnildo (talk) 02:48, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Scanning on Windows Vista

I'm trying to scan on Windows Vista with HP PSC 2510 Photosmart and I was wondering if anyone on the Reference Desk knew how to from scratch.

Hopefully you just install the driver and associated software from http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=2093&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=303770&lang=en , and in addition to the drivers it'll have an HP specific scanning program. Unfortunately my experience with Vista (not with HP, hopefully you'll have better luck that I) was that many drivers (for older equipment) that the manufacturer says work don't, or don't work well. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:02, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Name that Bioshock tune

Moved to Wikipedia:Reference desk/Entertainment --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:04, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Georges Bizet.

Moved to Wikipedia:Reference desk/Entertainment --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:04, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

December 24

First words e-mailed/posted/etc. - famous?

Most American schoolchildren learn (and I sure remember) the first words over telegraph ("What hath God wrought"), over telephone by Bell ("Watson, come here, I want you"), on phonograph ("Mary had a little lamb..."), and radio - (IIRC, the letter "s.") My question is, do we have other famous ones for e-mail, for posts on a network server, and so on, for the computer age? What are they? And, if not, why not? Was there so much development going on at the same time that one can't really trace the actual first, or perhaps the action ws so frenetic that people didn't think to record the first? Or, were people in the 1800s and early 1900s just more cognizant of historical achievements and therefore the "firsts" were more widely recorded?Somebody or his brother (talk) 01:02, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

This, this and our own article on the first emailer all agree that the exact wording of the first message has gone to the great bit bucket in the sky. Clarityfiend (talk) 02:27, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Copy-and-paste in Microsoft Excel

I'm working on a spreadsheet in Excel, and I copy-and-paste a series of cells a few times. Then I type something in a single cell, or edit a single cell. Then if I want to go back and paste the repeated date some more, it's not available to paste anymore. Why does this happen? I didn't copy anything else into the clipboard, so shouldn't it still be there the next time I want to paste? — Michael J 01:10, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes, you'd think so, but it doesn't ... there does not seem to be a good reason for this. Mind, if you press CTRL-C twice, you should get the Excel clipboard, which will facilitate multiple pastes with intervening edits. --Tagishsimon (talk) 01:14, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Ah, thank you. I didn't know Excel had its own clipboard. I thought it used the same standard clipboard that everything else on my computer did. I will try the CTRL-C thing. Thanks again. — Michael J 11:28, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

It's even worse than just having its own clipboard; it has a super finicky clipboard that usually only works if you have the thing you want copied actively selected. It's totally inconsistent with every other program, yet another wonderful "feature" of Excel. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 15:48, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

So to copy something you have to "actively select" it? What's so outrageous (and unusual) about that? Incidentally, it's actually the Office clipboard as it works across all Office applications. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 17:21, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

What's outrageous and unusual is that "paste" can require you to select the item you want to duplicate. --Carnildo (talk) 02:51, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

What it means is that even if you have said something is to be copied, if you don't have its rows still selected when you go to paste it then it won't paste. In, say, Word, you can select a word, hit copy, and then go and do whatever you want, and as long as you don't copy something else to the clipboard then the original text you put there will stay there. Not with Excel; if you have gone and selected something else or edited another cell then it won't let you paste the original stuff again. Totally stupid, totally useless. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 18:13, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Excel and PowerPoint don't originate with Microsoft; they were "bought out" when Microsoft was trying to first assemble its Office suite. As such, they each came with their own set of quirks and rather than force the 12 original users to learn something new, Microsoft has left many of these quirks in the programs even now, decades after the original releases of the programs.

And yes, it blows.

Atlant (talk) 00:11, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Microsoft is in my opinion just irresponsible with their software. This is the true danger of a proprietary monopoly realized — they create poor software, make it industry standard, and then have obscenely long development cycles (years and years) with software that has known bugs, non-standardized GUIs, and that every user knows requires endless amounts of struggling just to do simple things. It's a lousy, dangerous situation to be in, and neither competitors nor open source have really taken up the slack to make BETTER products (and not just knock-offs of the Microsoft ones), in my opinion. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 18:13, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Install GNUCash on Mac OS X

How can I download and install GNUCash on a Mac OS X (Tiger)? --Kushal^t 03:16, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

The documentation for Mac installation is here: http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/FAQ#Q:_How_to_install_on_Mac_OSX.3F and here: http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/MacOSXInstallation SteveBaker (talk) 05:38, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you very much. Kushal^t 05:45, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

DVD playback software

What do people recommend in terms of Windows XP DVD playback software? --121.219.224.205 (talk) 07:04, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Oh and doesn't have to be freeware or OS --121.219.224.205 (talk) 07:05, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

VLC media player. --antilived^{T | C | G} 09:34, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Media Player Classic --Ouro (blah blah) 09:59, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Second on VLC. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme (talk) 17:22, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Third on VLC.

(feeling compelled to check VLC out) --Ouro (blah blah) 09:02, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Nah Nero Showtime is much more sophisticated. One of the things I really like about Showtime is the dynamic audio feature - a lot of DVD's have really quiet audio tracks and this boosts it up pretty well. --Fir0002 11:24, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Fourth on VLC. Also, check out Media Player Classic. Its almost identical to Windows Media player in look and feel but with so many more options and a built in DVD rendering engine. Also, less resource hungry than VLC. Think outside the box 14:09, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

Using the quadrature signal of the Digital Down Converter

Hi again. This is a DSP question and probably a hard one, but well. I have programmed a digital down converter and it works fine. But it has two outputs, and I have no clue as to what to do with the "Q" one? I'm using only "I" and its data seems erroneous at times, and I'm wondering if I should somehow combine it with Q. Thanks. ›mysid (☎∆) 11:56, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Okay, answering my own question. Apparently, what I want to do is to convert this quadrature (I+Q) signal into a real signal. I would have to filter all negative frequencies out. I'll figure out how to do that. ›mysid (☎∆) 13:28, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

php/apache

i've recently installed apache2/MySQL/php5 on my pc and edited the httpd.conf file for apache, with
LoadModule php5_module "G:/Server/php/php5apache2.dll"
PHPIniDir "G:/Server/php/"
AddType application/x-htpd-php .php .html
i then created a php file <? phpinfo(); ?>, and placed it in htdocs in apaches folder
when i goto http://localhost/phpinfo.php, instead of displaying php info it asks me to download the php file instead, what can i do to fix this?--90.207.96.179 (talk) 16:35, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Well, I'm pretty sure you have a typo in your AddType line, though I don't know if that is the problem. It should be: AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .html --24.147.86.187 (talk) 17:55, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

yah thank you it works :P--90.207.96.179 (talk) 18:07, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Home Recording

My Dell has a fast processor, plenty of RAM, and a SigmaTel HD Audio card. Could I get good recording quality by simply plugging instruments into the microphone jack? -- Sturgeonman (talk) 19:05, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

You will never get any quality recording by using the microphone jack. It has very high impedance and requires very low signal source. Because of this high gain, a lot of noise is introduced. If you want to record from an external source, like the headphone output of a CD player, use the line input instead. The quality of the recording depends on many factors many of which you cannot control. One that you could and will greatly affect the quality is the volumn of your source. You want to use as high a volumn as possible yet not introduce any noise. Start recording at a set volumn. List to the recording carefully. If you detect noise, lower the volumn and repeat (if you don't hear any noise, increase the volumn). You want to record at the highest volumn w/o noise. NYCDA (talk) 19:14, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Yeah - use the 'line' input if you have one. It also depends on the instrument. My son's electric guitar needed a pre-amp plugged into the line input in order to get any quality. Also we needed to wire up a splitter plug to get signal onto both sides of the stereo image (some guitar effects boxes create stereo signals). SteveBaker (talk) 19:40, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Mystery image

What is this? --Seans Potato Business 19:30, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

It's a two-dimensional barcode. It works just like a 1D barcode except there is room for more information. The three squares in the corners allow the thing to be aligned properly. SteveBaker (talk) 19:36, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Specifically, a QR Code. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 19:41, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

I was curious about what it said so I had a hunt for a decoder. http://www.hafenscher.net/qrcode/ has a downloadable decoder, and the image Sean linked to decodes to http://seo-labo.sblo.jp/ - the domain name of the site it's on. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 19:49, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Ahh these look like they are the things I read about in The Economist a while back. They are starting to pop up all over the place in Japan - you take a shot of them with your phone-camera and it decodes and provides relevant information. They are on things like bus-stops where the data shows bus timetables, or they are on movie-posters so you can find out more about the movie, included a link to the trailer (that sort of thing). I think they were talking about expanding to having them provide information on food-stuffs in stores so you can get more detail on nutritional content/recipes things like that. ny156uk (talk) 11:33, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Can they encode more information in less space than the traditional practice of printing real letters/symbols? I would be irritated if I had to rely on one of those for bus timetable information (as if it isn't confusing enough) --Seans Potato Business 22:18, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes, they can store links to web-sites that give real-time information, that sort of thing. The idea being that you simply photograph it on your phone-camera and then it auto-opens the appropriate area. And yes space wise it could store huge amounts more than traditional text could within the same space. Not the same but there is the thing called rainbow storage which, if it came to play, could store around 250gb on a sheet of A4. Even allowing for a minute realisation of this potential you could easily store more information using this 'barcode' like system than with traditional letters/symbols. Also look at dataglyphs (http://www.parc.com/research/projects/dataglyphs/). PARC (Company) (Palo ALto Research Centre) is responsible for churning out some of the most impressive developments in the history of the modern computer. Sorry kinda gone off on a bit of random computer-technology rambling, oh well i've typed it now. ny156uk (talk) 23:15, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Rainbow Storage (yes, we do have an article about it) has been utterly debunked - it's just nonsense dreamed up as a theoretical possibility by someone with no grasp whatever of the underlying technologies. (I actually had a hand in the debunking - so I know!) There is no conceivable way to pack gigabits or even megagits onto a single sheet of paper. The PARC research suggests 1 kbits per square inch (100kbits per sheet of paper) is a realistic upper limit...and even that hasn't really been realised in practical devices because paper changes size quite markedly depending on humidity and temperature and using colour for encoding doesn't work well for long-term periods because most dyes and pigments change colour over days to months after printing. These issues can be circumvented - but only at the cost of having scanners that are vastly more precise than the data they are scanning. Such scanners are going to be horrifically expensive - and in ways that don't get better as technology progresses. Paper storage technologies have their place - but they aren't going to expand greatly from the niches they currently occupy. SteveBaker (talk) 00:59, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Cool - cheers for the info SteveBaker, kinda mildly gutted though as I remember reading about this somewhere and think - wow that's a great little idea. Oh well. ny156uk (talk) 15:07, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

The guy who came up with it was thinking about OCR - recognising printed letters. He realised that in addition to the 96 or so ASCII characters, he could also print characters from other alphabets - in other fonts or triangles and squares and stars and spirals...he made some sort of wild estimate of the number of symbols he could possibly think of in a number of fonts, etc. Then he thought of printing and scanning in colour and read that computers use R, G, B encoding with 8 bits per colour - and then multiplied the number of characters per page by the number of possible shapes he could imagine times the number of possible fonts, times the number of possible colours. Then to go one step further, he imagined his shapes being printed in two colours - one at the top of the character, one at the bottom - then he thought about coloured patterns that would prooduce yet more variations. Multiplying them all together he wound up with this insanely large number. To make matters worse, he knew that video compression algorithms can compress video down to about 100th of the normal file size - he assumed that if that were possible then he could compress his paper images by the same ratio prior to printing them! That's just crazy of course...but this guy wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. He also didn't realise was that printers have limited spatial resolution (and so do scanners) and an octagon might be indistinguishable from a circle - or a boldfaced letter 'A' might look the same as a triangle. Worse still, the assumption of 24 bits per colour is crazy - the Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/Black (CMYB) printing system relies on dithering (printing a tight grid of primary coloured dots to approximate a larger area of intermediate solid colour) - and that of those 16 million theoretically possible colours, many of them are just muddy browns and blacks that the scanner can't possible distinguish.

A proper analysis of this has to start from the smallest reliably resolvable grid of 'pixels' that can be printed and scanned in colour - the largest number of reliably printable and scannable colours and so forth. When you start from actual device capabilities and work it from that end (rather than thinking about printing triangles and spirals and god-knows-what) - you wind up with the more realistic (but much less useful) figure of about 10kbytes per page. His demonstrations were initially of about that sort of range of capability - but later demos were shown to be rigged. The video he claimed to be playing off of a paper input turned out to be that the paper contained the URL of the video - or the filename or something laughable like that. Rainbow storage is well and truly BUSTED as a practical proposition. SteveBaker (talk) 07:51, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

DVD Remixing

I have a film, both on VHS and DVD. The DVD version has a key scene cut from it that is present on the VHS. I wish to insert this scene from the VHS version into the DVD version. By chance, I have a capture card in my PC, so I can record the VHS scene (although directions on quality would be welcome). I'm more concerned with ripping the DVD in such a way as to preserve its superior quality. Hopefully I can just edit the particular chapter the scene is meant to appear in; is there a particular piece of software that can work natively with the relevant file(s, one for video and one for audio?) off the DVD, or will I have to recode the video twice, and if so, how can I best preserve the quality? What program could I use to insert the VHS footage? How do I re-burn the entire thing as a DVD-video disc at the end, hopefully preserving the menu etc.?

Many thanks, and Merry Christmas.

Rawling4851 21:47, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

I'd use DVD Shrink to copy and decode the DVD to your hard drive. Then you will have a set of vob (DVD format) files. They are pretty big (up to 4GB on some movies) so you'll have to have lots of HDD space. Then, to get them in a workable format (lets say XviD format in an AVI) use something like Auto GK. This will take a while (2-3 hours). Now, use your capture card to record the scene from VHS (set your card to the highest quality, otherwise it will look awful and amateurish when you join in to the rest of the movie). You can use any video editing software to add the scene to the rest of the movie. Virtual Dub is good for this. You should end up with a nice Avi file of the whole movie, with the extra scene. You can burn it to a DVD or CD and it should play in any modern DivX certified player.

However, this does not preserve the menus. To preserve the menus etc use DVD Shrink like before. Then use your capture card to record the scene from VHS. Now you have to convert the captured VHS movie to the vob format, and you'll have to get your hands on a Vob editor. In my experience they are tricky to use and often corrupt the entire vob set. But if you can, add your extra scene via the vob editor and you should be able to burn the whole thing back to a DVD with the menus preserved. Make sure you use a program like Image burn otherwise it wont work. Have fun! Think outside the box 14:26, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

The World Is Flat

I am currently reading The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman, and I was wondering about the validity of a certain passage in it: "And the terrorist geeks in al-Qaeda are increasingly uploading their own news reports, threats, and speeches, not waiting for the BBC or CBS to come to talk to them, and then they're zapping their terror messages directly into your computer, via AOL or MSN." I can understand the first part of the sentence being the videos that surface and then are analyzed by everyone, but for the second part of the sentence, the way it's written, such an approach seems implausible. Can anyone elaborate on what the author meant? —Erik (talk • contrib) - 23:06, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

At the end, did it say, "Send this message to 20 of your friends otherwise you will have seven years' bad luck?" I have not read the book, but it sounds like he's having a laugh. I shouldn't worry too much about it. --ChokinBako (talk) 23:43, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Alright, it just seemed absurd to joke about relating terrorism to the concept of flattening. He does have a sense of humor in the book, so I'll go with that. —Erik (talk • contrib) - 01:21, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like someone who has no idea what he's talking about --ffroth 21:11, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Vista Question

I have two questions.

1. How do I stop Vista from going to sleep and eventually switching off, every time I go to do something else for a few minutes? I mean, how do I disable the 'sleep' thing?

2. How do I adjust the sensitivity of the mouse, as very often, when I move the mouse across the screen it highlights half the page? (I know this is a hardware problem, but is there a control in Vista to sort this out?).

Cheers --ChokinBako (talk) 23:39, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

The first will be in the Power Managment settings which are somewhere in the control panel. The second will be under Mouse on the control panel. I don't have access to a Vista machine right this moment but those are the headings they are under 82.31.4.72 (talk) 01:17, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

It will be called "Power Options". You can choose a plan and change the settings for each plan. --Spoon! (talk) 01:36, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Click the Vista orb (start button) and type "power options" in the search box. In the search results, click on "Power Options." Under your "Preferred Plan" (the one with the checked radio button), click "Change plan settings." Choose when you want the display to turn off and the computer to sleep. You can access the mouse settings by searching for "mouse" as you did for "power options." —Wayward ^Talk 10:04, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Ok, I did it. thanks! I am a mac user normally, so this is a little new to me.....--ChokinBako (talk) 10:52, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

December 25

.ivr format

What is .ivr format? I have a video that was sent to me in email, that plays with Realplayer with no problem, but I don't know what the .ivr format is. Corvus cornix_talk 00:37, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Internet Video Recording (IVR) is a proprietary video format used by version 11 and later of RealPlayer when streams are saved on disk. ›mysid (☎∆) 08:41, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. Corvus cornix_talk 18:27, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Nokia 2610 USB port?

at the bottom of a nokia 2610, between the charger plug and the headphone plug is a port which looks like a USB port. Does anyone have any idea what that is? the phone has a TOTAL memory of 2 MB so the port can not have much use as a data port, can it? Kushal^t 03:01, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Graphics Card

I have purchased a game that requires "Nvidia Geforce 6600 or better, or ATI Radeon 9800Pro or better" I have tried searching around to find out what better is, and cant really come to a conclusion. Is there some sort of list or ranking of the cards that defines what, in this context, the better cards are. I currently have a Radeon X600, and it isn't new and wasn't state of the art when it was, so I'm assuming that it wont work, especially since it has trouble with a lower spec game. Though this seems partly because the game thinks it doesnt support Direct X 9.0c. So can someone offer me guidance to supported cards and how good they are? ΦΙΛ Κ 15:23, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

I use gpureview to compare the cards. Sorry, looks like you're out of luck :( Also, how good am I answering questions on christmas morning!! --ffroth 15:58, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

So you think this card would do the trick? And if I did purchase that card, how long would it be before I'd be in a similar situation where retail RPG games would be demanding more than this could give again? ΦΙΛ Κ 17:11, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Not exactly high-end but it's still a very solid card. You should never count on being able to play future games (it'll be low range in less than a year and worthless in 2-3) but it will be able to play basically all games out now if you have a decent cpu. --ffroth 17:23, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

I dont want to overspend, as I only play games for a bit of fun, nothing remotely serious, but I'd like a card that is still mid range within a year, is that achievable? Or am I being overly hopeful. 172.200.130.39 (talk) 20:15, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Optimising Euler Project 5 in Ruby

Below is Euler Project Problem 5, implemented in Ruby. However, the algorithm takes ages I stopped it on about 100,000,000 and I was wondering if you could provide some suggestions for speeding it up? Also if anyone wants to tell me if I'm close or if there is an error and I've stepped over my bounds, please do. The program works fine for faster cases of range_low and range_high. 217.44.16.75 (talk) 15:35, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

# Find the smallest number divisible by every number between range_low and range_high.

satisfy = false
range_low, range_high = 2, 20
target = range_high

while (satisfy == false)

	for i in (range_low..range_high)

		if (target % i == 0)
			puts target.to_s + " mod " + i.to_s + " OK"
			satisfy = true if i >= range_high
		else
			break
		end

	end

	target += range_high unless satisfy == true

end

puts target

gets

The result grows rather rapidly as the range gets longer: in particular, if the range is 1 (or 2) to N, then the answer will be the primorial of N. To avoid integer overflow errors, you should probably be using BigNums. Also, I don't think target += range_high is quite correct; if the upper end of the range isn't a prime number, the answer doesn't necessarily have to be a multiple of it (just consider the range from 3 to 4).

In any case, your algorithm is an extremely inefficient one, since it ends up trying a lot of wrong answers. It would be more practical to write a routine to compute the least common multiple of two numbers (hint: use Euclid's algorithm) and apply it repeatedly. Note that you'll still need to use BigNums to represent the answer if the range isn't very short. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 18:15, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

I think you have misunderstood the problem statement. It seems that we are looking for the LCM of all numbers in the range. It doesn't have anything to do with primorials, and by definition it is a multiple of any number in the range, the high end included.

You're right, I'm not sure what I was thinking when I wrote the parts which I've now struck out. *slaps forehead* Probably something like "lowest number that shares a prime factor with each number in the range". —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 21:22, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

I agree that this is extremely inefficient, and that the sane method to do this is using the formula ${\textrm {lcm}}(a,b)={\frac {ab}{{\textrm {gcd}}(a,b)}}$ repeatedly, each time adding the next number in the range, and using Euclid's algorithm for finding the gcd. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 13:08, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

USB Hard drive structure

Yesterday my cousin opened his USB hard-disk(these HDDs are also known as portable hard drives) and found that USB hard-disk is just a laptop hard-disk with a USB interface attached to it. Are all USB hard-drives are made up with same structure? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Muhammad Hamza (talk • contribs) 17:48, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't claim that all USB harddisks are built like this, but those I've seen either contain a 2.5" laptop harddisk or a regular 3.5" harddisk, with a simple USB/IDE or, these days, an USB/SATA converter. I assume it's cheaper to use standard harddisks than building special ones with USB interfaces directly on the circuit board. --Dapeteばか 18:09, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

You can even buy an empty chassis 2.5 or 3.5" that includes the USB interface and plug in your own HD off the appropriate size. It's a good option if you already have a suitable drive knocking around or if you want to replace the drive that's in your machine. A 3.5" drive might be designed to take less trauma than a 2.5" drive though. --Seans Potato Business 22:41, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

December 26

Blackberry Pearl Input

My new blackberry used to 'predict' what i wanted to type when i hit each key once, but now it is in the 'ABC' input mode, where i have to hit each button a certain amount of times to reach the letter. How do i revert this change? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.239.184.31 (talk) 00:37, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

From Ask Dave Taylor:

1. Go to the main applications view on the Pearl.
2. Choose Options (it's the little crescent wrench icon) and select it.
3. Scroll down to Language and click the trackball.
4. Under "Input Language" you want to either select your language with Multitap (to enable Multitap, that is the ABC mode you are in now) or without (which puts you into the predictive SureType mode). So, select English (United States) to get the predictive SureType.
5. Now just click the menu button and select Save and you're back to normal.

›mysid (☎∆) 08:41, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Windows media player 10

I am wanting to listen to air traffic control feeds on live ATC.net, however when i click on a feed to listen to the browser goes to another page that says This program cannot display the webpage and the media player does not come up. I have checked the firewall settings and that seems in order but the feeds still won't load. Can anyone help.--logger (talk) 00:38, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm looking at this page which I assume is the one you are using. When I click the "Listen" button (black text on green background) I always get an error message similar to the one you are. However, when I click the related text link (in my case, "KBOS - Clearance Delivery - Boston, MA") the feed sometimes works. Which is weird, cause they're both the same link. I am able to listen to all the feeds I've tried using VLC player, if you're able to try that. You might have to force VLC to open .m3u files. (Create a dummy file: test.m3u. Right-click on it, choose Open with. choose VLC and tick the Always open with... option). Hope some of this works for you.--Kateshortforbob 20:25, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

PS. Thanks for pointing out that site - it's really interesting.

LiveATC streams work quite well with Winamp, give that a try. 161.222.160.8 (talk) 05:34, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

"Animor8"

For Animor 8 as the program itself I'm trying to download the file onto Vista yet their complications with how it is properly downloaded. Is anyone a user of the Animor 8 under Vista and knows how to properly complete the installation? Or of any Windows affliation? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.250.175.113 (talk) 02:40, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Operating System not supported

"OPERATING SYSTEM IS NOT SUPPORTED

Your operating system Linux i686 is not supported.

This service currently available only for Windows and Macintosh. "

(tg4.tv [[5]])

Is there a way to get Firefox to identify itself as a different operating system, for example an addon? --Duomillia (talk) 02:49, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Try this. Essentially, it's all handled via user agent and you need to spoof that you're using Windows through that. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 03:31, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Masquerading as Windows doesn't help, as it requires ActiveX. I don't have a Mac user-agent string though, can anybody give me one? (And when will they learn, those ignorant morons...) --antilived^{T | C | G} 06:51, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

What pathetic little site. Sucks there is such a limitation, but I urge you to email them with complaints, asking for a cross-browser website. — Kieff | Talk 07:43, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Yeah - using ActiveX on a public website is unforgivable. Aside from the business of Linux and MacOS users being unable to access it, Windows users with any sense at all will have disabled ActiveX support because enabling it is just begging for any random site to have free access to the innards of your computer. So in a sane world, nobody would be able to visit such a site. You should (a) boycott them and (b) tell them they're idiots. SteveBaker (talk) 00:43, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

You don't necessarily have to disable it.. just ignore and frown furiously at the "information bar" when it asks if you want to install the control. If you're using IE for some reason. --ffroth 00:01, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

I could do that, but that would not result in me being able to watch tv in Gaelic :( --Duomillia (talk) 04:44, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Some of us regard that as an advantage!  :-) But you're definitely out of luck. If it's using ActiveX, it would require you to be running Windows for real - faking it in any way just isn't going to work. You should at least complain. If Linux/Mac users just sit back and do nothing then sites that make poor decisions like this will go on assuming that nobody cares and therefore not be able to justify putting in the effort to making a proper cross-platform site. If they get deluged with complaints then they'll realise that we are a substantial proportion of their user base and they'll do something about it. SteveBaker (talk) 07:35, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Camera as Web cam

My girlfriend just got a camera for Christmas. it is a Kodak Easy Share M853. Can it be used as a web cam? Thanks --Omnipotence407 (talk) 03:02, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

I don't know specifically how toset it up. But granted that it connect to your computer, yes. 24.47.171.124 (talk) 11:35, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Most if not nearly all standalone cameras cannot be setup as web cams. Even thought it can be hooked up to the PC, there's no way for the PC to tell the camera to take a picture therefore it won't function as a web cam. NYCDA (talk) 16:07, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Why not, is it a software issue? Would an appropriate program on the computer do the trick? --Omnipotence407 (talk) 18:19, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

It is more than likely a firmware issue - firmware being the program that is stored in the camera. I just spent some time on the Kodak site looking at the specs for the M853, as well as the user's manual and other info, and see no indication at all that there is any support for streaming video directly from the camera to the computer. When a digital camera is connected to a computer, the computer basically sees it as a storage device, little different from a USB flash-drive. Windows might flash up a "wizard" that is specialized for the type of device, but when all is said and done, you can access the files that are available on the device and that's about it. --LarryMac | Talk 18:41, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Canon PowerShot cameras (at least those I've owned) can be controlled programmatically over USB and could certainly be used as webcams with appropriate software. I don't know whether the software exists. -- BenRG (talk) 08:12, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Do monitors affect computer performance?

Do monitors affect computer performance by some having more lag than others? I always thought the only thing that affected the performance was the computer itself, not the monitor.

Situation: I just got a new monitor for Christmas, but my games have tons of lag now. I was just playing the same games a few days ago on my old monitor and they worked fine. They now say that my system does not meet the requirements. The only answer I can come up with is the new monitor. My old monitor is much older than my brand new one so the new one should work much better anyhow. Can someone please help? Thankyou. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.119.61.7 (talk) 03:05, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Your new monitor may have a higher display resolution than your older monitor, meaning that your video card has to do more work when rendering for the new monitor. You might want to try lower the resolution (check graphical settings) in whichever games you are having performance issues with, or turn the graphics detail down. Otherwise, you probably would have to upgrade to a newer video card. If it's the same resolution as your old monitor, there shouldn't be any specific issues between monitors. --Kopaka649 (talk) 03:19, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

RAM Speed Vs Quantity

I have two 512Mb dimms installed on my machine. One is rated at 266mhz the other at 333mhz. My understanding in this setup is that they will now both run at the lowest speed, ie 266mhz. Question then in terms of overall system performance, is it better to have one dimm installed running at 333mhz giving me less memory but higher speed, or both installed giving more memory,but lower speed ? (Computer is used for mostly office type applications, internet, email, occasional photo editing, etc--196.207.47.60 (talk) 06:02, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

As you might expect, the answer will vary. As long as you're not using more than 512 Mb of memory, it would, in principle at least, be better to remove the slower module and thereby increase the memory speed by 25%. If you have any need for the extra memory, however, the gain from having it available (and thus not having to resort to swapping) will most likely by far offset any speed decrease. It's also worth noting that modern operating systems (besides being memory-hungry like most modern software) tend to be good at finding uses for any extra memory you may have; in particular, they'll use spare memory as a disk cache, often significantly improving disk performance.

Besides, any applications whose performance is bound by memory speeds are also likely to be ones that use a lot of memory, and thus could benefit from having more available. All in all, particularly given the workload you describe, I'd definitely recommend maximizing memory size over speed. Things might be different if you were into modern 3D gaming — but even in that case, I'd suggest trying it both ways and seeing which gives you a better frame rate. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 09:30, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

You will get more performance boost if you used 512MB. Please note using 333MHz memory instead of 266MHz memory will not give you a 25% boost in overall performance even in the best case scenario. System performance is a weighted total of all it's components. In the case you describe, you will not notice the speed decrease from 333 to 266 at all. But if you run Word, IE, Outlook and photo editing applications at the same time, you will notice a vast improvement using 512MB over 256MB. NYCDA (talk) 16:03, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

What we have here is 1024MB vs. 512MB, so I take it you meant that 1024MB is better? -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 20:48, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing that out. Yes I mean 1024MB at 266MHz is better then 512MB at 333MHz. NYCDA (talk) 23:04, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

The rule of thumb when overclocking is that a 100% increase in memory speed will give you a 1% increase in overall system performance. --Carnildo (talk) 22:55, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Display problems with new computer

I recently upgraded my entire computer to a new system. It is working otherwise fine but I am having problems with the display. When I originally plugged everything in and booted the system up, it showed fine in text mode but graphics mode was messed up: it was shifted too far to the right, and when I got Fedora 8 to boot up after installation, the vertical size of the picture had somehow doubled so that the lower half of the picture was missing. The resolution (number of existing pixels) remained the same, but one pixel now took twice the amount of physical vertical screen estate, leaving me with an elongated upper half and an invisible lower half. When I got it to log in to Fedora 8, I managed to switch the update frequency from 60 Hz to 75 Hz, and that appears to have solved the problem. It's still shifted too far to the right though - I shifted the picture on the monitor all the way to the left and it's still missing a couple of pixels.

It says on the box that my graphics card is an ASUS EN8600GT but Fedora 8 reports it as nVidia Corporation GeForce 6100 nForce 430. Are these the same thing? I don't want to risk losing the picture altogether trying incompatible graphics card drivers. The motherboard has one VGA output and one DVI-D output. The card itself has two DVI-D outputs and no VGA outputs. Only the VGA output shows any picture. The card came with a VGA-to-DVI-D adapter, but when I tried it with the DVI-D outputs, none of them showed a picture. What is happening here? What is the cause of all this? How can I fix it? JIP | Talk 11:52, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

DVI connectors.

It's not actually a DVI-D adapter, I was just going by what my motherboard manual says. All three output plugs have holes for all possible pins in a DVI connector. The adapter, though, has 4 pins and a horizontal bar on the left side (like DVI-I and DVI-A shown here), and only six of a possible twenty-four pins on the right side. The pins are in the two upper rows, with the three pins nearest to the 4-pin left side on each row. The bottom row is empty. What kind of connector is this? JIP | Talk 12:12, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

As for the first part of your question - it appears you have to play around with the positioning and size of the display on the monitor more in order to get it right (uhm, what type of monitor is it?). Sometimes it happens. I tend to switch monitors about every half a year (due to moving and relocating, not because I wear them out!) so it just is like this. I can't help you with the other problem, though, but fish around fedoraforum.org, the support forum for Fedora. G'luck! --Ouro (blah blah) 15:29, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

I did play around with my monitor settings. My monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 913N. I had to drag the screen as far left as it'll go, and it still leaves a few pixels cut off. The monitor settings don't even have size settings, I'm stuck with what it autoconfigures as. The vertical settings are OK. JIP | Talk 16:53, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

I also prefer monitors by Samsung. I see yours is an LCD monitor - it won't have a size setting (I don't think most of them have, as opposed to CRT monitors, most of them do). Mayhaps you need some special driver or other utility to configure it further? I also have to sacrifice a few pixels, but I don't care enough to tweak it further, I'm satisfied with what I have now. --Ouro (blah blah) 17:11, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

I submitted the same question to Fedora Forum. Hopefully I'll get a reply there. The same monitor worked fine with Fedora 8 on a 32-bit system with ATI Radeon 9200 Pro, so it's not the monitor or Fedora 8. It's most likely the graphics card. JIP | Talk 17:44, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Fedora Forum gave m a reply. All I need to do is:

su -
rpm -ivh http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-8.rpm
rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-livna
yum install kmod-nvidia

I did this and it works all OK. JIP | Talk 20:22, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Cool. --Ouro (blah blah) 11:19, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

How to access files from another partition.

I have just recently installed Ubuntu on a partition on my Vista machine. Both work very smoothly together, and I have minimal problems with the Ubuntu (just teething troubles on my part). However, I was wondering how (or if!) it would be possible to access files on one partition from another. I have both operating systems completely partitioned, and they are not running simultaneously.

I also would like to know if it is possible to get Japanese language support on Ubuntu, so I can type Japanese.

I have a few more questions, but these will do for now.....Thanking you all in advance! --ChokinBako (talk) 12:26, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Linux should be able to use Windows partitions. They are accessed through the same devices as your normal Linux partitions, i.e. /dev/hdxn or /dev/sdxn, where x is the disk (a, b, c etc) and n is the partition (1, 2, 3 etc). You just have to know the correct file system type and mount them. msdos should work for FAT16 and FAT32 partitions. ntfs should work for NTFS partitions, but most Linux distributions don't have proper NTFS support yet. As for the other way around, Windows is completely ignorant of Linux partitions. Sorry. JIP | Talk 12:41, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the answer, but that still does not make sense to me. I have only just started with Linux, as of today. Is there any way I can search across partitions, and if so, how? --ChokinBako (talk) 13:06, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Expandoing on what JIP said, a broad-brush kind of an answer is that in Unix and Linux, each disk partition mounts as a separate volume (~"disk"). So if disk "a" has three partitions on it, you'll see three apparent disk drives: /dev/hda1/, /dev/hda2/, and /dev/hda3/. So you can use paths like "/dev/hda?/" to specify all of the partitions that are part of hard drive "A".

Atlant (talk) 16:46, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

You can use fdisk to view your partitions. Become root and type fdisk /dev/hda (or fdisk /dev/sda or something, depending on your computer's setup) and it will give you the fdisk menu. Type p to see the partition table, and q to quit fdisk. As long as you don't actually let fdisk make any changes, it's completely safe. The best way to be safe is not to use any other command than p. For example, it might show that /dev/hda1 is an ext3 partition (Ubuntu) and /dev/hda2 is an ntfs partition (Vista). Then you just mount /dev/hda2 as ntfs at some mountpoint (i.e. directory). You should be able to read your Windows files, but I don't think you'll be able to write them back. JIP | Talk 16:56, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Atlant's reply has a minor technical problem. It confuses devices and mount points. In Windows, these are the same thing. In Unix, they are different things. A device identifies your disk. A mount point is what you access it through. For example, if you have a directory called /vista, you can type mount -t ntfs /dev/hda2 /vista, and if everything works, you'll now see your Windows Vista C: drive in /vista. You could try, for example, to run "/vista/program files/applications/notepad.exe" (but remember that unlike Windows, Unix has case-sensitive filenames). [[User:JIP--ChokinBako (talk) 19:34, 26 December 2007 (UTC)|JIP]] | Talk 17:08, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Right, so, first things first. how do I 'become root'? When I login I have no choice but to use my username and password, so I believe that is not what you mean. You mean change directories in the Terminal? If so, how do I do that? I am new to Unix (sounds silly coming from a predominantly mac user, who just got his first Vista, and now wants to go back to Unix based computers). I am totally lost here.--ChokinBako (talk) 19:15, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

You become root by typing "su -". It asks you for the root password. If you installed the system, you know it already. Otherwise ask whomever installed it. Changing directories in the terminal is done with the command cd, like in Windows, expect that when Windows uses \, Unix uses /. By the way, MacOS is nowadays much more Unix-like than Windows. If you have used the Unix command line in MacOS, the one in Linux should be very similar. The major difference is that the underlying OS is different - Linux is a collaborative effort made from scratch, while MacOS is a commercial product by Apple. JIP | Talk 19:26, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Windows can access Linux ext3 partitions with a driver such as Ext2 File System Driver for Windows. There are a couple of other driver packages as well. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 19:19, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

OK, progress has been made! I have got as far as the bit where it asks me for my password, but it says the password I input is wrong. I was the one who installed it, and I only use one password on the whole system (both windows and ubuntu). Is there a default password or something, because during installation I only ever remember putting my password in for login, and this seems to be incorrect (which is impossible, because I am logged in now)? Yours, frustrated, but challenged. --ChokinBako (talk) 19:34, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

I have never used Ubuntu. I have installed a Fedora system, and during installation, it asks me for a root password. This is mandatory. After installation, it asks me whether to create a normal user. I always reply yes, and it asks me for a password. These passwords are separate. When you log in to Ubuntu, use your normal user name and password. Then, after you have logged in, open a terminal. If the prompt says "#", you are already root. If it says "$", type "su -" and type the root password. This usually different from your own password, but it doesn't have to be. All this comes from the experience of a typical 1990s Linux user. If Ubuntu has any shortcuts around this, I wouldn't know about them. JIP | Talk 20:21, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

On Ubuntu, the root account is disabled by default. To enter a root shell, type sudo -i, and enter your user password, since the account that the Ubuntu installer creates is privileged to use sudo. Splintercellguy (talk) 23:09, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Aha, so that's the reason. Like I said, I have never used Ubuntu, so I assumed it worked like other Linux distributions. JIP | Talk 04:59, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Nope, debian is stupid and has no root account. You can create it by running "sudo passwd" to change the root password, then you can su root. Then disable sudo because it's a terrible idea. --ffroth 21:09, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Debian has both a root account and a password on it by default; you're confusing it with Ubuntu, which has a root account (of course) but no root password and so no way of using su. To the original poster: not everyone believes that sudo is a terrible idea. Marnanel (talk) 21:03, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Ummm Ubuntu will mount you Windows partitions automatically with the newest Gutsy release (which comes with ntfs-3g, allowing read and write support). Are you sure they aren't on your desktop or in nautilus already? --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:28, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks everyone. In actual fact, I have just put my Linux on, and I can see my windows files now. I haven't changed a thing. They are all on the desktop now. Bizarre. Thanks a lot for the help, anyway.--ChokinBako (talk) 10:09, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Like, omigosh, 2 CPUs???

What's the difference between a dual core CPU and two physical CPUs? JIP | Talk 18:43, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

To be so vague as to be nearing incorrect... With 2 CPUs, they can only communicate through the bus. With dual-core, they can communicate directly and even share the same on-chip cache. -- kainaw™ 18:57, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. I was under the impression that 2 CPUs is inherently better, but this is obviously not so. It seems that 2 CPUs is cheaper on the CPUs but more expensive on the motherboard. This question is mostly academic anyway - I am typing this on a dual-core machine right now but I'll probably never have a system with multiple physical CPUs (I've used some at work, though). JIP | Talk 19:02, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

There are pros and cons; see Multi-core (computing) for details. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 19:12, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

My computer screen

Hey guys, my screen went black and then turned itself upside down. I'm not sure if it's related, but I've been getting a higher than normal number of blue screens. Help? YДмΔќʃʀï^→Г_C← 12-26-2007 • 20:56:00

Never mind... Restarting worked YДмΔќʃʀï^→Г_C← 12-26-2007 • 21:12:38

Maybe your video driver needs updating or is conflicting with some other drivers etc.

--TreeSmiler (talk) 22:35, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

I think there is a key combination that makes this happen with certain nVidia drivers - control-alt-uparrow, maybe? --LarryMac | Talk 16:52, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes, control-alt-down turns it upside down and the side arrows work too. I've never payed any attention to processors, but I'm told I have a Pentium M. I run Windows XP (better than vista!) and it's got intel centrino according to the stickers I never bothered to take off. YДмΔќʃʀï^→Г_C← 12-27-2007 • 18:13:54

nVidia is the manufacturer of the graphics chip, I don't think the processor should come into play. --LarryMac | Talk 03:23, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

December 27

CompactFlash vs SecureDigital

Assuming the camera can use either one, which of the two flash memory cards are best for DSLR's when one is trying to maximize write speed, transfer rate and reliability? As well, which one tends to be more expensive? Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 02:15, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

CompactFlash is typically more expensive than SD, but the prices are usually close enough that the cheaper one is usually the one that's on sale right now. Speed depends on the speed rating of the specific card you purchase. Higher speed grades usually come out in CompactFlash first, but unless you're doing professional sports photography, current high-speed cards are fast enough. Reliability depends more on brand than on format: they've both got the same chips inside. --67.185.172.158 (talk) 02:31, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Another Blackberry Pearl Question

What is a good, free dictionary app for the blackberry pearl? Thanks to everyone who helps out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.239.184.31 (talk) 02:36, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Microsoft Word documents as RTF

When I scan a document to OCR it always comes out as a .rtf file. What are the advantages, if any, of an .rtf file over a .doc file. As well the text always has b*****y "frames" around which I have to get rid of.220.238.185.131 (talk) 02:51, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

RTF (See: "Rich Text Format") is a portable document format - understood by many word processors on many platforms (eg Mac, Linux as well as Windows). Word's native format ('.doc') is a Microsoft proprietary thing that changes in hard-to-predict ways from one version of Word to the next - and is not at all well documented. Hence, your OCR software may produce RTF files in order to allow them to be read by all manner of word processors and on all sorts of operating system - or it may be that the OCR software producer didn't want to continually track and maintain different versions of his output software as Word changes from one revision to another. RTF is an ASCII-text format with 'markup' to indicate layout, style, etc. You can create or alter RTF documents with a plain text editor - much as you can with HTML or Wiki's markup language. This has some significant advantages in some text processing settings. SteveBaker (talk) 07:29, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

L2 Cache

According to [6], the L2 Cache size is 4 MB. However, at least one seller sells a computer[7] with a 1 MB L2 Cache. Does that mean they disabled the rest of the 3 MB for reasons (like suspected defect in the L2 cache) or is there a more sinister reason for it?

As a side-question, what do you think about the configuration? Kushal^t 12:36, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Intel does sell lower-end chips with components disabled for the chips that don't pass QA. As for the configuration.. it doesn't look bad. BUT:

• You're wasting your battery life on the DVD burner (just get a normal DVD reader drive and use a different computer/external burner for your burning needs)
• 1GB of memory isn't enough when 256mb of it will be consumed by your integrated graphics chip
• The 1MB L2 cache and low clock speed make that core 2 duo pretty crappy
• Widescreen is stupid for your primary display, and it makes a laptop big and ugly
• The max resolution is abysmal
• TPMs are evil, you're wasting your money on them since you'd the heck better disable it in BIOS. For your leisure reading, see Next-Generation Secure Computing Base and Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act.
• Loaded with crapware that's adding to the price
• Toshiba's terrible
• I don't believe the spec sheet that somehow all the components are driver-supported under OS X
• What's eCost?

--ffroth 21:03, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

I sure will disable the TPM chip if it comes with the computer I buy. Thanks for the reply. Kushal^t 04:32, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

What other option do I have beside widescreen? Is it very bad to have a widescreen? Kushal^t 08:30, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

If a laptop manufacturer offers a certain video graphics card for a laptop, does that mean, I can have it installed myself from third party later on? Kushal^t 08:33, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

cache problem using Wikipedia

A number of times I have had a 'corrupt' cache using Wikipedia, and have had to bypass the cache or clear the entire cache for things to look normal again. For instance today the names of all external links had an extra space in front of them, which was only resolved by clearing the cache. It is somewhat annoying because often I initially think the problem is in the article source, and look for it there in vain. I don't think it is normal to have this about every week. What could be the problem? Arthena^(talk) 12:59, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Whilst I can't answer your question, in my preferences there is a checkbox somewhere that allows you to prevent Wikipedia from caching it's on Misc. I've got it enabled, the only difference is that it loads just a little slower. YДмΔќʃʀï^→Г_C← 12-27-2007 • 18:09:55

Oh that is useful! thanks. Arthena^(talk) 23:16, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

I have the latest build of Firefox and never experienced that and I used to use Opera and never got that either (all WinXP). You don't notice it on any other websites? What about other Wikis based on the same software? --Seans Potato Business 20:31, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

I also use WinXP and a recent build of Firefox. I never noticed this on other websites, but there are no other websites that I use nearly as much. Arthena^(talk) 23:16, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Firefox 3

I asked this question a while ago but didn't get a clear answer, so I'm posting again. Thanx!

The Firefox 3 betas are out and I've installed them etc. When they release new versions or non-beta ones will my beta rv 2 version automatically update via the "check for updates" or will I have to download and install it all over again? Thanks for your help! xxx Hyper Girl (talk) 17:19, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Please email security [at] mozilla [dot] com for authoritatie answers. HTH Kushal^t 18:22, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

I don't know if it is pertinent, but Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5.x.x did not update automatically as soon as 2.0.0.0 came. I am pretty sure that the beta version that you use will not automatically update as soon as the stable version comes out. Kushal^t 18:26, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

As a Mozilla Firefox user myself, I must thank you for testing the beta version of Firefox 3. I hope you will report any kinks or errors you find. Wish you all the best, Kushal^t 18:27, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Your Firefox 2 installation will probably get the update, leaving your beta as it is for you to uninstall. --ffroth 19:06, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your help Kushal and ffroth! I guess I didn't want to get to settled in if I'd have to reinstall. Anyway, I haven't found any errors in the beta versions yet, although many of my add-ons aren't compatible - but on the whole it seems very stable (and I love the new "save your session" option when you close it!) Hyper Girl (talk) 12:22, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Hard disk partition question

I am using Fedora 8 Linux on a system with a 320 GB hard disk partitioned into four partitions: /boot, /, /home, and swap. All real partitions (not swap) have data in them, and / and /home have very valuable data. If I increase the size of the swap partition while all real partitions are mounted, is there any risk of damaging the data in those partitions? JIP | Talk 18:31, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Short answer, yes. Always back up your data before repartitioning your hard disk. Kushal^t 18:40, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

It is most likely that you will get an error attempting to repartition a mounted disk. If, by chance, you don't, you will most likely end up with a new set of partitions with no data in any of them. If, by pure luck, that doesn't happen, it is possible that you will corrupt some data in some partition that lost space to the new swap partition. -- kainaw™ 18:42, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

But no other partition will lose any space. I've accidentally left unpartitioned space at the end of the drive, and I want to grow my swap partition to fill that data. I won't touch any of the other partitions. JIP | Talk 18:45, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

That is a completely different question. It is normal for this type of question to be "I want to change the size of the partition I'm using - will that cause any harm?" Since it is swap, you should be able to remove it and re-add it. I wouldn't do it while mounted though. -- kainaw™ 18:50, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

I just grew the swap partition and it didn't cause any harm. All I have to do is turn swap off, grow the swap partition, and turn swap on again. Thanks! JIP | Talk 07:20, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

No Mozilla x86_64 plugin for Sun Java?

Back when I was running a 32-bit Fedora 8 system, I used to be able to download JDK 1.6.0_03 from Sun and use the included JRE plugin in Mozilla Firefox. But the 64-bit version doesn't seem to have the plugin. Why the heck not? If it doesn't have one, I am left with two options: use the 32-bit Sun Java plugin, or use the 64-bit one provided by GNU. This creates a dilemma: whether to have decreased performance, or risk incompatibilities between Sun Java and GNU Java. What should I do? JIP | Talk 19:06, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

You cannot use the 32-bit plugin with 64-bit Firefox - regardless of what it is a plugin for. This is a common issue with many plugins, such as a lack of a 64-bit flash plugin. The option I chose when I was using 64-bit Fedora was to install Flock, which is 32-bit, and use it when I needed the plugins. Now, I just run 32-bit Linux on my 64-bit box. -- kainaw™ 19:28, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. I don't want to install this Flock thingy, I'm happy with Firefox. So it looks like I'll have to use GNU Java. Well, it won't create many problems. All my real work with Java is with stand-alone applications anyway, and there I can use 64-bit Sun Java. JIP | Talk 19:31, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Ton_Roosendaal

In July 2002, Ton managed to get the NaN investors to agree to a unique Blender Foundation plan to attempt to Blender as open source.

Attempt to what? Release? --Seans Potato Business 20:29, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm - that description is a bit of a mess! What happened was that a group of OpenSource enthusiasts got together a campaign to purchase the sources for the blender 3D modeller from NaN and to release them as OpenSource. Tens of thousands of people contributed cash and now the Blender Foundation administers the development of a completely OpenSourced blender. There was one part of blender (the 'game tool') that was not purchased from NaN - but that part has subsequently been rewritten from scratch by volunteer developers. SteveBaker (talk) 23:46, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Google ranking of specialised directory websites

Over the years I have been using the internet, I have spent a lot of time and effort in building up and maintaining some carefully categorized and detailed collections of Favorite links for four or five areas of knowledge I am interested in. I must have thousands of these links in total. These range from things everyone would be interested in, to more specialised academic things.

I have been thinking about launching these as seperate specialised websites, so that I could hopefully earn some money from them through advertising. The links would be annotated and carefully categorised in a hierarchy.

I'm just wondering how Google would rank such a site, as I understand things called "link farms" get very low rankings, and I would be competing in a small way with Google itself. Would Google be prejudiced against specialised categorised directories like these, or by design give them low rankings? If so, is there any way to get around this? Thanks 80.0.124.228 (talk) 21:13, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

The details of Google's Pagerank algorithm aren't public (and they change it a lot anyway). But yes, it does appear they consider such link-farms to be spam and grades them very lowly. There's no way round it (if there is, it'll only work for a while, then Google will figure out the scheme and probably blacklist you altogether). The way to get decent pagerankings is to be a destination, not a conduit - to have worthwhile content of your own. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:16, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

You shouldn't be surprised that Google gives link-farms a low score. In a sense, you are competing with Google in the search/advertising business. SteveBaker (talk) 23:40, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Rather a redundant comment as my question says "...and I would be competing in a small way with Google itself." 80.2.217.154 (talk) 16:21, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

msdos batch file to choose from a long list of options?

PROBLEM: I have a script that runs on windows xp and it needs to present the user with a long list of options (e.g., "please choose one ISBN number from the list of 100 possible choices").

If I were building this in a "GUI" app, I'd give them a Combo box control with all the names in there so they would not have to type it in (and thereby potentially introduce a mistake).

Is there a way to do this or something similar from the MSDOS prompt? the goal is to give the users on Windows the best opportunity to enter the correct data without having to type in the full entry. I can use windows scripting host also, but I have to use the native stuff that comes with windows (no plugins or downloading widget toolkits possible). NoClutter (talk) 21:48, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Purely from a logistics point of view, how will you display 100 items in an MSDOS window? --LarryMac | Talk 21:53, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Hey who is asking the questions here? :) ... Since some command prompts have a "history" facility (that allows someone to review the last N commands they typed in or toggle through them incrementally with the tab key) this kind of thing is not outside the realm of possibility. Unfortunately, implementing cmd history is not the goal in this particular case. NoClutter (talk) 22:19, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

MSDOS's UI selection is (afaik) limited to the rather crude CHOICE command; I don't know if it goes to 100 - it's intended only for very simple menus. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:27, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Choice isn't even available in the XP command line, you have to play tricks with SET. There's a crude example here, but as noted below, there has to be a better solution than CMD.EXE --LarryMac | Talk 01:36, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Really there has got to be a better way to do this than to use DOS batch file scripting, which is both very crude (very poor control) and ridiculously powerful (you can delete huge amounts of things without getting confirmation from the user)—the combination of the two make it a very dangerous language (you can easily accidentally wipe out your whole hard drive without really trying if you try to, say, delete some temporary files but end up executing it in the wrong directory).

You'd probably be better off finding someone who will help you throw together something simple. VB.NET has a free edition; it takes a little getting used to but for simple applications it is not very tough. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 23:30, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

It's unlikely that you'll "accidently wipe out your whole hard drive" with batch.. --ffroth 23:58, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Also might want to look into "HTML Applications" (aka HTA). Pretty easy to get into if you already know HTML and Javascript or VBscript. Can run without installing runtime DLLs etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.92.130.188 (talk) 00:56, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

December 28

encrypting a single file or stream with a password

I know compressed archive formats like zip, 7z, rar, can encrypt their contents using a short user-typed password (not some special binary key). I want to know if there is an equivalent but more lightweight way of encrypting a single file (without the need for the archive and compression functionalities), like a filter program that takes a stream on standard in and encrypts it to standard out, using a user-typed password. Thanks. --71.141.111.63 (talk) 00:38, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Unix provides crypt (Unix). Note that most implementations are ..."using an algorithm based on the Enigma machine. It is considered to be far too cryptographically weak to provide any security against brute force attacks by modern, commodity personal computers." Nimur (talk) 01:20, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

PGP, better known for its public-key uses, can do symmetric encryption of files. Just run gpg -c file --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 01:54, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

What's wrong with some special binary key? The contents are encrypted; it's not just the program refusing to open it if the password doesn't match. --ffroth 03:25, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

free dvd to ipod video

hi guys does anyone know of any free software available that can rip DVD's to iPod video format (.mp4)? i've tried Handbrake, but it didnt work. thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.109.44.206 (talk) 00:49, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Not directly - I'd rip it to AVI, then use SUPER to convert it to the iPod's video format. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 04:13, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Digital camera as a mass storage device

In Windows 98 SE, I could access my Kodak DX6490 as a drive and use it as a memory card reader. However, in XP, WIA takes over and only allows me transfer pictures. Is there some way to disable this feature (USBStor.ini?), or any software that communicates to the camera as a USB Mass Storage Device? The camera firmware doesn't have any setting to choose between MSD/PTP. WikiY ^Talk 01:09, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

You can try disabling WIA from the Services window, but I'm not sure if that would then cause the device to be picked up as a storage device. It couldn't hurt to try though. Click your start button, then Run. In the Run window, type services.msc and press Enter. A long list will then be displayed. Find Windows Image Acquisition in that list, right-click it, and choose "Properties". In the resulting window, click the "Stop" button and wait for the service to stop. Then in the same window, next to "Startup type", choose "Disabled". This will ensure that when you restart your computer the WIA service won't start again. Now try connecting your camera again and see what happens. You can always do those steps again if you want to re-enable the WIA service -- just choose "Automatic" instead of "Disabled" from that drop-down list, and click the button labeled "Start" in that window (not the regular Windows start button at the bottom of the screen). Equazcion •✗/C • 02:28, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

The WIA dialog doesn't appear when I plug in the camera, but nothing shows up in My Computer either. Device Manager still lists the camera under "Imaging Devices". WikiY ^Talk 03:05, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Do you have the Kodak EasyShare software installed? Equazcion •✗/C • 03:16, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

No, I don't. It used to be installed on another computer, but never on this one. WikiY ^Talk 04:00, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

That could be the problem. If you had the software installed in Windows 98 when you could access the camera as a mass-storage device, it may have been the software that was allowing you to do that. I would try installing the software in XP and see if that works. Equazcion •✗/C • 04:06, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

I have a digital camera and sometimes use it to transfer files to and fro. However I despise these USB mass storage transfer colourful helpful resource-consuming apps - I just installed the USB driver and I access it as just another drive from My computer. I did the same with my Zen Nano Plus. --Ouro (blah blah) 07:19, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Not all devices are capable of doing that, though, and some included software doesn't actually require you to use the software -- you just have to have it installed in order to access the device from Windows Explorer. In fact I did some googling on this Kodak model and I can't find anything that says it can act as a mass-storage device. If it ever did for this user, and he had the software installed at the time, I'd say that's the best bet. Again you might not actually need to use the software -- just have it installed. It may solve the problem. Equazcion •✗/C • 10:25, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

In many cases a USB mass storage driver is available for download from the manufacturer's website and will suffice, though. --Ouro (blah blah) 16:09, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Not this one. Equazcion •✗/C • 22:08, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Difference between CF cards

What are the difference between a Lexar 2GB Compact Flash Pro 300X Memory Card [8] and a SanDisk 2GB Ultra II Compact Flash Card [9] that warrants a $80 price difference ($100 compared to $20, respectively)? If I use the more expensive Lexar CF card when shooting 10 mp picture with a Canon Rebel XTi, will I notice a difference in performance compared to a cheaper card? Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 02:46, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

The difference is UDMA capability, which means the more expensive card will give you much faster transfers (45mb/s vs. 10mb/s -- this is what the "300X" means for the Lexar). However, you'll only get the speed advantage if your device is UDMA-enabled, which I don't think your Canon Rebel XTi is (but I don't know for sure so you may want to check your camera specs yourself). Also, I don't know this for sure, but I would guess the speed increase would only be apparent when transferring photos to and from your computer, and not while taking pictures. Equazcion •✗/C • 02:59, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Will there still be just a little speed advantage if I'm using a UDMA card with a non-UDMA enabled camera? Acceptable (talk) 03:10, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm not 100% on this but I'm fairly certain there would be no difference whatsoever. Equazcion •✗/C • 03:15, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Oh, thanks a lot. What would be the fastest CF card out there for a Canon Rebel then? Acceptable (talk) 03:27, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

No problem. The Sandisk Ultra II is pretty much as fast as it gets for your camera, to my knowledge. The Sandisk Extreme III may give you slightly more speed, but those are significantly more expensive for not much gain (a 4-5% boost at the most). You could always order both to try, and return one of them :) Equazcion •✗/C • 03:43, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

I just read about a Sandisk Extreme IV. Again it's more money, but this one seems to be a lot faster. Equazcion •✗/C • 03:56, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

SETI@HOME Screen saver-- It makes me seasick

Anyone know how to permanently stop the the screensaver image from rolling all over thte place? It makes me seasick.--TreeSmiler (talk) 03:54, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

It's been a few years since I used SETI@HOME, but I seem to remember that you can turn the screensaver image off. I am firmly of the belief that you should in fact do so, because it wastes a significant proportion of your cycles drawing pretty pictures instead of actually looking for aliens. Marnanel (talk) 20:55, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Source File --> Executable File

Hello. I understand that the Turing (programming language) is not well-known; but, I will accept any clues. Other than clicking the Run button in the compiler, how can I convert a Turing source file with a file extension .t into an executable file (or any running file that will not show my source code)? Thanks in advance. Have a happy new year! --Mayfare (talk) 04:46, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

If you're on Windows with WinOOT >3.0, go to the Run menu and choose "Generate stand-alone program". That should do it. Turing is really not optimized for this though so be prepared for a larger-than-expected EXE file. Otherwise, enjoy :) Equazcion •✗/C • 10:44, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Need help with using MEncoder

I want to convert an OGM file to whatever format by MEncoder. The OGM has two audio multiplexes. First for Italian, second for English. So, I want to keep two audio tracks in the output file or keeping second audio track only. What should I do? -- JSH-alive ^(talk)_(cntrbtns)^{(mail me)} 08:55, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

To select the second audio track from the input, use -aid 2. I don't think mencoder supports multiple audio tracks on output. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 09:54, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Not working. (Here's the address where I got vids: http://www.usotsuki.info:6969/stats.html?info_hash=55b0bfb1d99eac4c3a66120b1162bc5a1f95906d ) -- JSH-alive ^(talk)_(cntrbtns)^{(mail me)} 11:45, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Use a OGG splitter tool to extract the 2nd audio track and the video track first. Mux them with VirtualDub into an uncompressed AVI. Then convert that with mencoder. --ffroth 18:50, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Linux Dependency Hell

Can somebody please advise me how to get through the endless dependency issues that come up when installing new apps on Linux ? I originally gave up on Linux some years back for exactly this reason - every time you try to install something there is a new dependency that is missing, and so you download the dependency, only to find that the dependency itself needs another dependency and so on ad nauseum. I thought I'd give it another bash with Ubuntu 7.10, tried to install Vodafone Mobile Data Card Software for Linux, which needed dependency python-twisted, which I downloaded, which needed python-zope interface, which I downloaded only to find it needs python 2.4 which it also complained about because my current version (2.5) is too new ! Moral of the story ... gave up again. (Note, I am trying to install my internet software, so for now I do not have internet access in Linux - on the off-chance that it is possible to download missing dependencies automatically. (Have to keep switching back to Windows to download the missing dependencies) --196.207.47.60 (talk) 09:53, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

If you don't have an Internet connection that's supported in the installer, you should forget about downloading the pieces (which, as you've noticed, is tedious and annoying) and just get a full set of CDs or DVDs. Then you will be able to apt-get install and it will do the dependencies for you, and all you'll have to do is put in whichever disk it asks for. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 09:59, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

As Tcsetattr indicated, you are not supposed to download the packages one at a time and try to install them. You are supposed to use a package manager such as APT or YUM. Then, you "apt-get install the-package-you-want" or "yum install the-package-you-want" and it will automagically install all the dependencies for you. -- kainaw™ 16:28, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

It is not always possible to use apt-get this way. I had an old PC at home, which I decided to install Linux on. All was well until I found out that whatever was available on the installation CD was not enough to get my wireless card to work. So, I had to resort to manual installation package-by-package as well (as, obviously, I could not get to the Internet without working wireless card), and ran into the same kind of problems as the anonymous editor described above. Any pointers what to do in such situation?—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 16:37, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Exactly the reason why I abandoned linux. Spent in the neighborhood of 10 hours trying to manually resolve dependencies for MadWifi.. dual booting back into vista to download a package each time. I finally found the exact versions that the package manager wanted. When it wanted me to manually downgrade and recompile my kernel, I had had enough. No way I'm trying to figure out how to get all the C library dependencies sorted out.. isn't that like 50 packages?! Grr --ffroth 18:55, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

I do not use Ubuntu, but my Fedora install CDs have had ndiswrapper for a long time. That allows you to use the Windows driver which is likely on the install disk for your wireless card or laptop. No need to get anything that isn't on the install disks. Once you are up and running, you can try to get linux-specific drivers, but I just continued using the ndiswrapper/Win32 driver. It is my opinion that the benefit of ndiswrapper has caused the production of linux-only drivers to slow to a crawl. Developers would rather work on something that is missing as opposed to just trying to speed up a wireless driver a little with a native driver. -- kainaw™ 19:01, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

The single livecd of Fedora 8 doesn't include ndiswrapper, but after downloading the binary rpm of it it still didn't work. Neither my OEM drivers nor the Intel drivers worked. --ffroth 22:01, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

The point of getting the full disk set is that you can do the complete installation without a network. That way you avoid fighting 2 battles at once: a half-installed operating system and a lousy network card whose driver isn't in the official kernel. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 19:53, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Nobody is keeping you (anonymous 3rd person, not tcsetattr) from downloading each and every package file to a local disk. To limit external network usage, that is what we do here. Every night we have updates to our local package mirrors and all our computers are set up to update from the local mirror, not the main repository. It is ridiculous to expect it all to fit on one CD or to expect someone else to package up a big box of CDs and send them to you - for free. If you are willing to pay for it, I'm sure someone will burn all the packages for the OS you like to a monster box of CDs - but then you'll have to mount all of them at the same time to get programs like YUM or APT to automatically handle all dependencies because they cannot know what disk what package is on. -- kainaw™ 20:02, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

(User:NoClutter took exception to the word "automagically" above in User:Kainaw's response and removed it; I have reverted this since it appears to be contrary to talk page guidelines. Marnanel (talk) 21:49, 28 December 2007 (UTC))

No problem with the revert, but just for the record, "automagically" is not a word. I didn't remove a word, I replaced gibberish with something that actually makes sense and can be found in a standard English dictionary. Since RD and talk pages seem to occupy some sort of mystifying "independent realm" within Wikipedia, I will be more than happy to accept your undoing of my entirely appropriate correction, for the sake of the "rules". NoClutter (talk) 22:01, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Firefox

Has anyone encountered problems with acess to the interent using firefox even though firewalls and proxy ones set to allow. Is it compatible with all ISPs? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.152.9.44 (talk) 10:20, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Yeah it's compatible with all ISP's, as far as I'm aware... Equazcion •✗/C • 10:58, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

This question is based on a misconception of what Firefox and ISP define. An ISP is an Internet Service Provider. It is nothing more than a connection to the internet and all it has to offer. Firefox is a web browser (among other things). It connects to web servers, fetches web pages, and displays them to the user. Your ISP allows you to connect to web servers, regardless of the program you use. Compatibility does not have to do with the ISP. It has to do with the web pages themselves. Some web pages are specifically designed to not work properly on Firefox. Some are specifically designed to not work on Internet Explorer. This is done on purpose, by accident, and through pure laziness (ignorance in most cases). So, it should be obvious that there is no such thing as an incompatibility between Firefox and an ISP, but there is an incompatibility between Firefox and some web pages. -- kainaw™ 13:12, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Not exactly correct. Free ISPs require a secure key to be sent from their proprietary browser before they'll serve you any content. It's to make sure you're using their ad-laden software --ffroth 18:57, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

I've used many of those. In my experience, you open the proprietary browser and connect. Then, you open Firefox and use it. The trick is that you must keep the proprietary browser open to keep the Internet connection open. -- kainaw™ 19:57, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Human-Computer

Is there any technology (or any technology under-Devolupment) ,to enable human to directly transfer signals/instructions to Computer by the waves generated by body part(say brain)-Sumit(pardon my English)-59.94.153.78 (talk) 10:30, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes, they do it with paralysis victims and amputees. A chip can be implanted within the head of a paralyzed individual and interpret very basic signals, enough so that with practice the person is able to move a cursor around a screen. Similar interpreters are implanted under the skin closer to the extremities so that amputees can operate robotic limbs. These are all very experimental at this point, though, and I'm speaking off the top of my head from news reports I've seen/read before, so I could be getting some of this wrong :) Equazcion •✗/C • 10:47, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

• See brain-computer interface. --Sean 14:41, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

GT4

hi,

basically im looking for a list of the prices at which you can sell cars for on Gran Turismo 4..............

thanks, --62.136.174.87 (talk) 13:30, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Here is one. Recury (talk) 18:30, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

network speed vs. firewire speed

How fast does a network have to be so that we don't have to connect our hard drives directly to the computer?

I have several projects on multiple external hard drives. While not working on a project, I place each hard drive on a shelf. When I need the project, I bring the hard drive over to one of my computers and connect it with a 6-pin firewire cable. This makes the project load (or update or save) just as fast as using the internal C: drive.

My question is, how fast would a computer network (LAN) have to be, to allow me to use one of my computers as a server? I'd like to plug half a dozen external hard drives into the server, and just access my project files "across the network"?

Can you help me figure this out? Or direct me to a web page? --Uncle Ed (talk) 16:40, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Using standard network cables on a 100BT network, you max out at 100Mbit/s. That does not include overhead for the data transfer (be it NFS or Samba or SFTP or whatever). Firewire maxes out at 3200Mbit/s. Again, that does not include overhead. You obviously won't get firewire speeds on a standard network. -- kainaw™ 16:49, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

According to our article on Firewire, Firewire can be used to set up a network. The question of how fast the network needs to be depends on how intensive you are using the drive and how much you are willing to wait for files to load. Taemyr (talk) 17:34, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

These days, there is no reason not to use 1GHz ethernet within your home or workplace since a large number of PC's support it right there on the motherboard. You typically don't get 1Mbit/sec as you'd hope - maybe you get 300Mbit/s with a typical computer that's 10x slower than Firewire on paper - but with a typical computer, you aren't going to be able to handle firewire data at 3200Mbit/s either. There is also a question of whether your hard drive can keep Firewire busy at 3200Mbit/sec. I strongly doubt it. Most hard drives range in speed (depending on where you are on the disk) from 350 to 800 Mbits/s - but that doesn't include seek times and such which for typical access patterns can drop the average speed of the drive down to 200Mbit/s or less. Using a client/server arrangement tends to smooth out seek times - and the extra RAM cache you have because the server is caching disk data in it's local RAM means that in some cases a client/server setup can actually be faster than a local hard drive! Realistically, going from a local/firewire drive to a server setup probably halves your disk throughput - but a lot depends on your access patterns. I use a file server at home - all five of our day-to-day computers (2 desksides and 3 laptops) and our web/email server use the same file server and I really can't tell whether files are on my local machine or on the server most of the time. The benefit of being able to sit at any of my computers and see the exact same user settings and the exact same set of files is ENORMOUS - something I'm more than happy to give up 50% of my disk speed for. I also like that I only have to backup my files from one central location.

Having said that, I have a Linux server and mostly Linux client machines - I'm less certain this would work out as well using a Microsoft OS on the server. There have been some dire concerns over this recently: [10] for example. I wouldn't touch the "Windows Home Server" product with a 10 foot pole! One problem appears to be that they do delayed writes over the network - so you can save a file out of your program, exit the program and only later get a message telling you that the file could not be written onto the server and that you should try saving it again!! Since you already exited your app - you're basically doomed! So, if you plan to do this - put Linux on your server.

SteveBaker (talk) 17:47, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

You mean gigabit ethernet, and 1000mbps? --ffroth 21:58, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Facebook safari problem, mac os leopard,

I am reposting this because my question still hasn't been answered:

I use safari on my macbook and am having trouble accessing facebook. I can access in the sign in page, but sometimes when I sign in, I am directed to a page that says; Safari can’t find the server. Safari can’t open the page “https://login.facebook.com/login.php” because it can’t find the server “login.facebook.com”. Othertimes, I get this message while I am logged in and surfing the site. Does anyone have any advice? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.56.231.40 (talk) 17:17, 22 December 2007 (UTC) Does this happen to you only with Facebook or with other sites, too? What Internet connection are you using? --Ouro (blah blah) 18:42, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

It just happens when I'm using facebook. I am using wireless (wifi I think) internet or whatever wireless a Macbook uses. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.56.231.40 (talk) 01:10, 23 December 2007 (UTC) I suppose that sometimes when you try to log on, the network is clogged up so much with traffic that you can't get through and subsequently lose the connection. This coupled with a wireles internet connection could be it. Sometimes traffic-demanding servers have narrow connections to cut costs or because of laziness, it shouldn't be so with an oh-so-popular-and-great website like Facebook. --Ouro (blah blah) 11:01, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Its weird though, because if I go to standby then boot up the computer again, everything works just fine, any ideas? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.56.231.40 (talk) 04:12, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

I just ran out of ideas, that's all. One more thing - reposting questions like this is sometimes frowned upon. --Ouro (blah blah) 20:20, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Gaming Problem

I just got a game, and am finding it hard to run on a Vista machine. I spent an hour (almost) installing it, and now the disk won't fire up and play the game. The box says it is compatible with Vista, but I have checked the processor, and it says I need 'PIV 2.8GHz', whereas I have only 1.73GHz. Could this be the problem? It also talks about a graphics card I need, and that "integrated/onboard graphics chipsets and laptops are not supported." I am using a laptop. Does this mean I am wasting my time trying to get it to work? any help, much appreciated.--ChokinBako (talk) 20:01, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

It depends on how important the game is to you. Basically, your computer is too slow and has poor graphics capability. So, you will need to patch the game to remove the need for a faster computer and the need for a dedicated graphics card. If you want to learn to patch games and it is of extreme importance that you play the game, then it may be worth a few years investment in learning assembly language so you can decompile the game, hack it a bit, slow it down, remove the extra graphics, and run it on your laptop. Since I seriously doubt it is of that much importance, I feel that the answer is most likely "Remove the game to save some disk space and try playing it when you get a new computer - if you are still interested in it." -- kainaw™ 20:09, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes - laptops are made to conserve battery life, so most (especially under $1000) lack a discrete graphics card, instead possessing a motherboard-specific "controller" with extremely reduced capabilities. You can buy external graphics cards now, IIRC, but they're not going to play CoD4 or other new games because the bandwidth of the PCMCIA slot is not even close to something like PCI express, and they're prohibitively expensive. Invest in a good desktop! - Wooty ^[Nyan?] 20:37, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Microsoft Live Search Books problem

This URL - http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=&scope=books - on my desktop machine gets me into Live Search Books. On my laptop, the same URL gets me only "web results". (Screen says "Book results" in a green font in the top left corner if it is showing Live Book Search, or else "Web results" if it is not).

Anyone have a clue why, or how I might coax my laptop to follow the desktop's lead? Clearing cookies & caches has no effect.

It has some relevance to wikipedia - here's a reference I've just added to a page. Works fine on the desktop, comes up as mostly blank screen on the laptop. (Let me know if it works for you). --Tagishsimon (talk) 20:30, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Capturing USB audio stream

I have a gramophone player with built-in analogue-to-digital conversion and a USB interface so that you can plug it directly into your computer. The audio signal is obviously digital as it enters the computer and I'd like to capture it exactly as it is. How can I do that? How can I, to begin with, find out what format the audio is in (sampling rate and bit depth)? I am limited to Windows XP at the moment, but I could possibly boot with a Linux live CD if that's what it takes. Thanks. —Bromskloss (talk) 20:36, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

You should be able to trace the USB traffic using SnoopyPro (I've never used it). Beyond that you're probably into reverse engineering land. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:41, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

For Linux, usbsnoop (I have tried that) works fine. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:21, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

capturing preview images and multiple print of web pages

BACKGROUND: Sally has a huge website that is really disorganized and she wants to print out all the pages and review them so she can rebuild her site with all the useless stuff weeded out. She wants hard copy printouts, but I don't think she realizes just how much "stuff" she really has, and I don't want to kill a bunch of old-growth forest just for the paper it will take to prove it to her.

PROBLEM: How can I get multi-page printouts of webpages that are on the internet without manually going to each page, choosing "print" or opening each page in the word processor? I know there are tools that go out and automatically download entire websites onto your local machine, but I want to print, not download.

Also, to save paper, id like to be able to print multiple "screens" per piece of paper. For example, something like on a single sheet of paper. NoClutter (talk) 21:54, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

picasa to iphoto

Hello,

I'm trying to migrate someone from windows XP into OS X leopard. Is there any way to transfer photos from picasa (including the album data) into iphoto?

Thank you for any help,

--Grey1618 (talk) 22:11, 28 December 2007 (UTC)